nemesis wrote:
> "nemesis" <nam### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
>> Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
>>> Are we done yet?
>> ever heard of this Asimov guy?
> 
> hmm, long time, no answer. seeking wikipedia... ^_^

Eating my lunch, fruitloop! :-P

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

Post a reply to this message

"Warp" <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote in message
news:47d28245@news.povray.org...
> Gail Shaw <initialsurname@sentech sa dot com> wrote:
> > > Tell me about it. I thought "dungeons and dragons" was a TV series...
>
> > Well, there is a spin-off cartoon series (ok) and 2 movies (terrible)
>
>   I'm not completely sure how they can say that a TV series or a movie is
> based on D&D,

Apart from the fact they were both named "Dungeons and Dragons"?

In the cartoon, there were 4 people that were identical to the character
classes. Right down to naming. Also, if I recall they were children from
this world pulled into a fantasy world. Been a while since I watched them.

As for the movies, they were named Dungeons and Dragons: The movie. Other
than that, not really. they were also really, really, really bad.

Post a reply to this message

Warp a écrit :
> Gail Shaw <initialsurname@sentech sa dot com> wrote:
>>> Tell me about it. I thought "dungeons and dragons" was a TV
>>> series...
> 
>> Well, there is a spin-off cartoon series (ok) and 2 movies
>> (terrible)
> 
> I'm not completely sure how they can say that a TV series or a movie
> is based on D&D, given that D&D is not, AFAIK, a story. If I'm not
> completely mistaken, D&D is basically just a set of rules of
> gameplay. The story itself is invented by the DM and the players as
> they go. The rules don't specify how the story should go (only how
> playing the game should go).

If I'm not mistaken there are two things in D&D, one are the rules, the
other is a more or less accurate description of the universe (what
monsters you can possibly encounter and so on). The rules are probably
somewhat specialized for the universe described.

So the films and series actually build up on the background universe of
D&D, which happens to be (tolkienish) fantasy. But the description of
dwarves, orcs, elves and so on, is based on what D&D says (which by the
way is a bit different from what Tolkien says, I believe).

-- 
Vincent

Post a reply to this message

"Vincent Le Chevalier" <gal### [at] libertyALLsurfSPAMfr> wrote in
message news:47d2a03f$1@news.povray.org...
> If I'm not mistaken there are two things in D&D, one are the rules, the
> other is a more or less accurate description of the universe (what
> monsters you can possibly encounter and so on). The rules are probably
> somewhat specialized for the universe described.

What equipment is available, what character classes there are, what magic is
done

> So the films and series actually build up on the background universe of
> D&D, which happens to be (tolkienish) fantasy. But the description of
> dwarves, orcs, elves and so on, is based on what D&D says (which by the
> way is a bit different from what Tolkien says, I believe).

It is. In D&D rules, goblins are short bown-skinned critters the live in
tribes, orcs look kinda like Neatherthals with grey skin. They're fond of
axes. Elves are shorter and more slender than humans. They have pale skin
and dark hair and live in forests. Dragons come colour-coded (red dragons
breath fire, white dragons breath frost)

There are certain things that 'define' a world based on D&D rules. Equipment
is one thing, common weapons and armour. Monsters have certain appearences
and behaviour. Magic takes a certain form (fire ball, magic missile,
invisibility, lightning bolt, fly, ...). Different character classes have an
expected appearence and behaviour (Fighter - plate armour, greatsword.
Ranger - leather armour, bow or twin weapons. Cleric - plate armour, mace
and healing spells. Wizard - no armour, no weapons and lots of destructive
magic)

Also the D&D rules include a couple of well-defined worlds. Greyhawk,
Forgotten Realms, Eberron.

Post a reply to this message

Warp escribió:
> Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
>> Tell me about it. I thought "dungeons and dragons" was a TV series...
> 
>   I'm amazed how you again and again succeed in showing your ignorance
> about basic things all computer and other nerds know.
> 
>   (No, I have never played D&D, and I don't even know the rules almost
> at all. The closest thing I have ever been to D&D is that I own Baldur's
> Gate 2. Yet I know perfectly well what D&D is.)

I knew D&D was a "tabletop role-playing game". I had no idea what 
exactly a role-playing game was until reading wikipedia yesterday. And 
looks like something I wouldn't be interested in.

Post a reply to this message

Orchid XP v7 escribió:
> - I think Star Trek sucks.

Watched it very few times.

> - I have only watched about 3 episodes of Babylon 5. The only cool thing 
> about it was the graphics being done on an Amiga.

Only heard of Babylon 5 on the geek code website 
(http://www.geekcode.com/geek.html#b5). I don't think it was ever 
broadcasted on any channel that reaches my house. :)

> - I never completed Doom.

I never saw Doom. Well maybe in screenshots. Definitely never played it.

> - I have never even *seen* Wind Commander.

Wind what?

> - I don't know what a VAX is. (I thought it was a kind of carpet 
> cleaner...)

VAX is... an old computer. Well, not old. More like ancient.

> - I haven't read the BSD license terms. (I've read the GPL ones.)

I have. I have also read GPL, but I only remember the broad terms and 
concepts, not all the legalese details...

> - I can't remember who's behind BluRay or HD DVD. (And I have no idea 
> which one is currently "winning".)

Sony is one, Phillips is the other. I think. Dunno which is which. 
However I could explain you a lot about how HDDVD DRM works, from stuff 
I read on forums. I don't care about who wins, DVD is good enough for me.

> - I have no idea how to wire up a null modem cable.

Never needed one.

Post a reply to this message

Nicolas Alvarez <nic### [at] gmailisthebestcom> wrote:
> I knew D&D was a "tabletop role-playing game". I had no idea what 
> exactly a role-playing game was until reading wikipedia yesterday. And 
> looks like something I wouldn't be interested in.

  I find that to be a bit akin to saying "I didn't know what POV-Ray is
all about until reading wikipedia yesterday, and I don't think it's something
I would be interested in".

  Brief descriptions can be deceiving.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

On Sat, 8 Mar 2008 12:15:52 +0200, "Gail Shaw" <initialsurname@sentech sa dot
com> wrote:

>
>"Stephen" <mcavoysATaolDOTcom@> wrote in message
>news:qmd3t3t5os382gqi5bg7matg4hldhatklp@4ax.com...
>
>> >Or as a  Lich.
>> >
>> I'm out of my depth here.
>
>When in doubt, ask wiki
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lich
>

You're confusing me Gail, possibly with Andrew <g>
It's not that I didn't guess that Lich are unburied dead it is just that my
experience of D&D is limited to the Colossal Cave Adventure played on a
mainframe and a buggy CD of Baldur's Gate. Did you notice how I cleverly turned
Jim Henderson's comment about replicating spiders to a music theme using
replicating brooms :-)

Regards
	Stephen

Post a reply to this message

Warp escribió:
> Nicolas Alvarez <nic### [at] gmailisthebestcom> wrote:
>> I knew D&D was a "tabletop role-playing game". I had no idea what 
>> exactly a role-playing game was until reading wikipedia yesterday. And 
>> looks like something I wouldn't be interested in.
> 
>   I find that to be a bit akin to saying "I didn't know what POV-Ray is
> all about until reading wikipedia yesterday, and I don't think it's something
> I would be interested in".
> 
>   Brief descriptions can be deceiving.

I don't know anyone (personally, and in the same country as me) who is 
geeky enough to know about D&D anyway. So even if it sounded interesting 
to me (which it doesn't), who would I play with?

Post a reply to this message

Nicolas Alvarez <nic### [at] gmailisthebestcom> wrote:
> > - I have never even *seen* Wind Commander.

> Wind what?

  He probably meand Wing Commander. Not that it probably makes any
difference to either of you, though. :P

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

Warp escribió:
> Nicolas Alvarez <nic### [at] gmailisthebestcom> wrote:
>>> - I have never even *seen* Wind Commander.
> 
>> Wind what?
> 
>   He probably meand Wing Commander. Not that it probably makes any
> difference to either of you, though. :P
> 

Maybe your definitions of 'geekiness' are too tied to a particular 
generation. For example, my parents didn't even know each other when D&D 
came out. The first computer I saw was already a PC (I have never seen 
an Amiga, Atari, Commodore64, etc. or maybe I did but I was way too 
young to remember now). According to Wikipedia, Wing Commander was 
released the year I was born.

Post a reply to this message

Nicolas Alvarez <nic### [at] gmailisthebestcom> wrote:
> Maybe your definitions of 'geekiness' are too tied to a particular 
> generation.

  Not really. "Real" geeks know the latest development in technology and
software as well as the most important history of it, even if that history
happened before they were born, and especially if that history has lasted
to these days (as is the case with D&D, although not the case with VAX).

  What I'm probably doing is tying "geekiness" to a rather particular
form of geek: A computer/gaming geek. One whose geeky hobbies consist
mostly of computers, computer programming, computer gaming and role-playing
(and sci-fi, and anime, and...)

  Of course there may be other types of "geeks" out there, specialized in
slightly different things. :)

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 12:03:32 +0000, Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:

>nemesis wrote:
>
>> no Blizzard, no Stallman, no D&D... tsc, tsc, your geeks points keep getting
>> low... :P
>
>OK, let's get this right out of the way now...
>
>- I think Star Trek sucks.

So do I.

>- I have only watched about 3 episodes of Babylon 5. The only cool thing 
>about it was the graphics being done on an Amiga.

I've probably seen about 3 in six halves

>- I never completed Doom.

Only using God Mode

>- I have never even *seen* Wind Commander.

I've seen it but only because my cabin mate playes it when it came out. BTW Wing
Commander.

>- I don't know what a VAX is. (I thought it was a kind of carpet cleaner...)

I worked with one and PDP11's :)

>- I haven't read the BSD license terms. (I've read the GPL ones.)

Nor I for either.

>- I can't remember who's behind BluRay or HD DVD. (And I have no idea 
>which one is currently "winning".)

But you could find out if you were interested, I assume :)

>- I have no idea how to wire up a null modem cable.

Why would you want to?

>Are we done yet?

No! Why not come for a drink in London on the 22nd with Dr John and me. Then you
could meet with people that might have an interest in common. No pressure Andrew
or do you prefer Andy?

Regards
	Stephen

Post a reply to this message

On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:51:31 -0200, Nicolas Alvarez
<nic### [at] gmailisthebestcom> wrote:

> The first computer I saw was already a PC

The first computer I saw was an analogue one driven by valves.

Regards
	Stephen

Post a reply to this message

Stephen escribió:
> On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:51:31 -0200, Nicolas Alvarez
> <nic### [at] gmailisthebestcom> wrote:
> 
>> The first computer I saw was already a PC
> 
> The first computer I saw was an analogue one driven by valves.

See. Different generations :)

Post a reply to this message

Warp escribió:
>   What I'm probably doing is tying "geekiness" to a rather particular
> form of geek: A computer/gaming geek. One whose geeky hobbies consist
> mostly of computers, computer programming, computer gaming

So far so good.

> and role-playing (and sci-fi, and anime, and...)

Nope.
(of course I'm interested in other stuff, just not from that list...)

>   Of course there may be other types of "geeks" out there, specialized in
> slightly different things. :)

Yes there are :) http://www.geekcode.com/geek.html#type

Post a reply to this message

Warp wrote:
> Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
>> Tell me about it. I thought "dungeons and dragons" was a TV series...
> 
>   I'm amazed how you again and again succeed in showing your ignorance
> about basic things all computer and other nerds know.

Next he'll be telling us he never heard of Colossal Cave.

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

Post a reply to this message

Nicolas Alvarez wrote:
> I don't know anyone (personally, and in the same country as me) who is 
> geeky enough to know about D&D anyway. So even if it sounded interesting 
> to me (which it doesn't), who would I play with?

That's why WoW is such a hit, methinks. All the asocial nerds who'd 
otherwise be playing D&D can now WoW with folks in other countries.

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

Post a reply to this message

Gail Shaw wrote:
> Well, there is a spin-off cartoon series (ok) and 2 movies (terrible)

http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?cat=14

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

Post a reply to this message

On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 13:03:32 +0100, Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> - I never completed Doom.

Neither did I. Not without cheating anyway.
You did play it though, right?


> - I have never even *seen* Wind Commander.

Nor learned to spell its title...

...or did you mean one of these:
http://www.angelfire.com/ma3/evermorepointers/apollo.html
http://www.bananawind.us/Commander.htm


> - I don't know what a VAX is. (I thought it was a kind of carpet  
> cleaner...)

It is, among other things.


> - I can't remember who's behind BluRay

Sony et al.

> or HD DVD.

Toshiba et al.

> (And I have no idea which one is currently "winning".)

Bluray won.


> Are we done yet?

We will not cease until we have fully explored the depths of your  
ungeekiness. Like it or not, you have become a public figure of sorts.  
Scrutiny and criticism are part of the package.


-- 
FE

Post a reply to this message

Nicolas Alvarez wrote:
> VAX is... an old computer. Well, not old. More like ancient.

Pioneering, actually.  Lots of good ideas came out of the VAX. As an 
example, VAX stands for "Virtual Address eXtension", i.e., virtual memory.

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

Post a reply to this message

Warp wrote:
> Nicolas Alvarez <nic### [at] gmailisthebestcom> wrote:
>>> - I have never even *seen* Wind Commander.
> 
>> Wind what?
> 
>   He probably meand Wing Commander. Not that it probably makes any
> difference to either of you, though. :P

I was thinking the same thing, but I didn't want *my* geek points going 
down by showing ignorance. ;-)

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

Post a reply to this message

Darren New escribió:
> Nicolas Alvarez wrote:
>> I don't know anyone (personally, and in the same country as me) who is 
>> geeky enough to know about D&D anyway. So even if it sounded 
>> interesting to me (which it doesn't), who would I play with?
> 
> That's why WoW is such a hit, methinks. All the asocial nerds who'd 
> otherwise be playing D&D can now WoW with folks in other countries.

Well, I *have* tried MMORPGs. And I didn't like them. I consider the 
"Massively Monotonous Online Repetitive Perpetual Gaming" backronym to 
be somewhat accurate.

And WoW isn't even free...

Post a reply to this message

>> - I never completed Doom.
> 
> Neither did I. Not without cheating anyway.
> You did play it though, right?

In a mannar of speaking, yes...

[Ever tried to do software rendering on a 286? Hint: this belongs to the 
class of operations that is "not fast".]

>> - I have never even *seen* Wind Commander.
> 
> Nor learned to spell its title...

OK, OK, I hit one wrong key! Sheesh...

>> - I can't remember who's behind BluRay
> 
> Sony et al.
> 
>> or HD DVD.
> 
> Toshiba et al.

Interesting. I was sure they said one of them was being backed by HP...

>> (And I have no idea which one is currently "winning".)
> 
> Bluray won.

Uh... we have a winner already?

>> Are we done yet?
> 
> We will not cease until we have fully explored the depths of your 
> ungeekiness. Like it or not, you have become a public figure of sorts. 
> Scrutiny and criticism are part of the package.

What about respect and appreciation?

Oh, wait...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

Post a reply to this message

On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 17:11:58 -0200, Nicolas Alvarez
<nic### [at] gmailisthebestcom> wrote:

>Stephen escribió:
>> On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:51:31 -0200, Nicolas Alvarez
>> <nic### [at] gmailisthebestcom> wrote:
>> 
>>> The first computer I saw was already a PC
>> 
>> The first computer I saw was an analogue one driven by valves.
>
>See. Different generations :)

No need for a smiley :-)

Regards
	Stephen

Post a reply to this message

Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
> Warp wrote:
> > Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> >> Tell me about it. I thought "dungeons and dragons" was a TV series...
> > 
> >   I'm amazed how you again and again succeed in showing your ignorance
> > about basic things all computer and other nerds know.

> Next he'll be telling us he never heard of Colossal Cave.

  Or rogue, or adom. :P

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

>> Next he'll be telling us he never heard of Colossal Cave.
> 
>   Or rogue, or adom. :P

...it's almost as if people *want* me to fail...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

Post a reply to this message

On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:24:49 +0100, Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
>>> - I can't remember who's behind BluRay
>>  Sony et al.
>>
>>> or HD DVD.
>>  Toshiba et al.
>
> Interesting. I was sure they said one of them was being backed by HP...

I think HP supported HD-DVD.


>>> (And I have no idea which one is currently "winning".)
>>  Bluray won.
>
> Uh... we have a winner already?

Sometimes you really do give the impression that you live under a rock.

http://www.hd-dvd.com/


> What about respect and appreciation?

Those are for movie stars and successful athletes.


-- 
FE

Post a reply to this message

Orchid XP v7 wrote:
>>> or HD DVD.
>> Toshiba et al.

>> Bluray won.
> Uh... we have a winner already?

Yes. A few weeks ago, Toshiba announced they lost and are no longer 
manufacturing HD DVD players.

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

Post a reply to this message

Darren New escribió:
> Orchid XP v7 wrote:
>>>> or HD DVD.
>>> Toshiba et al.
> 
>>> Bluray won.
>> Uh... we have a winner already?
> 
> Yes. A few weeks ago, Toshiba announced they lost and are no longer 
> manufacturing HD DVD players.

So yeah. Blu-ray didn't win. HD-DVD gave up :)

Post a reply to this message

>> Uh... we have a winner already?
> 
> Sometimes you really do give the impression that you live under a rock.

Why? Because I don't follow every tiny twist and turn of modern 
technology with bated breath?

Personally [and I suspect I'm not alone in this], I was just going to 
sit around and wait until either BluRay or HD DVD vanishes off the 
shelves, and then go with whatever is still on sale. Obviously you can't 
have *two* standards out there, so one of them has to die. I figured I'd 
just wait a while.

[Having said that, I haven't seen *either* technology on any "shelves". 
Perhaps this is related to the fact that I don't ever go shopping? I 
don't know, when *I* go shopping, it always ends up being really 
expensive...]

And while we're on the subject... I gather that all this "HD" stuff is 
only slightly better quality than what's already there. It's not like 
anybody is going to notice a huge increase in picture quality. And that 
makes it hard for me to get excited about it...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

Post a reply to this message

Nicolas Alvarez <nic### [at] gmailisthebestcom> wrote:
> Well, I *have* tried MMORPGs. And I didn't like them. I consider the 
> "Massively Monotonous Online Repetitive Perpetual Gaming" backronym to 
> be somewhat accurate.

  *All* online games I have tried so far have been like that. These
include all online multiplayer arena/tournament-type FPS shooters (such
as Quake3 and Team Fortress 2), team-based online shooters (Counter-Strike)
and MUDs (such as batmud).

  The only redeeming feature of MMORPGs and MUDs are that their worlds
are vastly larger than the tiny levels of FPS multiplayer shooters.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> >> Next he'll be telling us he never heard of Colossal Cave.
> > 
> >   Or rogue, or adom. :P

> ...it's almost as if people *want* me to fail...

  At least you have heard of nethack, haven't you? You must have.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

>> ...it's almost as if people *want* me to fail...
> 
>   At least you have heard of nethack, haven't you? You must have.

At this point, I'm not even sure whether it's best to answer at all.

Oh... crap.

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

Post a reply to this message

On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:47:01 +0100, Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
>>  Sometimes you really do give the impression that you live under a rock.
>
> Why? Because I don't follow every tiny twist and turn of modern  
> technology with bated breath?

Do you read no tech-related news? Any news at all?
The end of HD-DVD was fairly big news, and was at least mentioned by  
mainstream media.


> And while we're on the subject... I gather that all this "HD" stuff is  
> only slightly better quality than what's already there. It's not like  
> anybody is going to notice a huge increase in picture quality.

The increase in picture quality can be quite noticeable, but only if you  
have equipment that can display it properly.


> And that makes it hard for me to get excited about it...

A lot of people are of the opinion that selling movies on optical media is  
obsolete anyway.


-- 
FE

Post a reply to this message

Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
> Nicolas Alvarez wrote:
> > VAX is... an old computer. Well, not old. More like ancient.

> Pioneering, actually.  Lots of good ideas came out of the VAX. As an 
> example, VAX stands for "Virtual Address eXtension", i.e., virtual memory.

  Note that VAX was a 32-bit computer. This is 1977 we are talking about.
(The Intel 80386, the first 32-bit PC processor, was introduced in 1986,
ie. over a decade later.)

  (Of course the PC world lagging behind in technology is nothing new.
The DEC Alpha processor was already 64-bit in 1992. The first 64-bit
PC processor was the Itanium, in 2001, which didn't get widespread
popularity. The first widespread 64-bit PC processor was the AMD Opteron,
introduced in 2003.)

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> >> - I never completed Doom.
> > 
> > Neither did I. Not without cheating anyway.
> > You did play it though, right?

> In a mannar of speaking, yes...

> [Ever tried to do software rendering on a 286? Hint: this belongs to the 
> class of operations that is "not fast".]

  I don't believe Doom even works in a 286. (Maybe a much later third-party
port, perhaps, but not the original one.)

> >> (And I have no idea which one is currently "winning".)
> > 
> > Bluray won.

> Uh... we have a winner already?

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL1627196120080216

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

Nicolas Alvarez <nic### [at] gmailisthebestcom> wrote:
> > Yes. A few weeks ago, Toshiba announced they lost and are no longer 
> > manufacturing HD DVD players.

> So yeah. Blu-ray didn't win. HD-DVD gave up :)

  Fortunately the Blu-Ray format is the (slightly) better of the two
anyways.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

>>>  Sometimes you really do give the impression that you live under a rock.
>>
>> Why? Because I don't follow every tiny twist and turn of modern 
>> technology with bated breath?
> 
> Do you read no tech-related news? Any news at all?
> The end of HD-DVD was fairly big news, and was at least mentioned by 
> mainstream media.

Generally, no.

The mainstream news seems to only be interested in telling you about all 
the BAD news. It's damn depressing to watch.

Most "technical news" is of the form "company X says they're going to do 
Y and some analyst things that's a dumb idea". I mean, like I care.

It's annoying really - there are things I *do* care about. But it seems 
difficult to find any news about them.

>> And while we're on the subject... I gather that all this "HD" stuff is 
>> only slightly better quality than what's already there. It's not like 
>> anybody is going to notice a huge increase in picture quality.
> 
> The increase in picture quality can be quite noticeable, but only if you 
> have equipment that can display it properly.

Well, two things:

1. It has 2x the spatial resolution in both directions. That doesn't 
sound particularly earth-shattering, even on paper.

2. I saw two displays side-by-side in a shop. The one marked HD was 
certainly clearer. But it didn't make me go "wow, that's AMAZING!" 
Actually it just made me go "oh, OK, so it's 10% more crisp. And you 
want HOW MANY thousand pounds for this one??"

>> And that makes it hard for me to get excited about it...
> 
> A lot of people are of the opinion that selling movies on optical media 
> is obsolete anyway.

What, you mean like how magnetic tape is "obsolete" today? ;-)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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"Warp" <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote in message
news:47d2e9ae@news.povray.org...
> Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
> > Warp wrote:
> > > Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> > >> Tell me about it. I thought "dungeons and dragons" was a TV series...
> > >
> > >   I'm amazed how you again and again succeed in showing your ignorance
> > > about basic things all computer and other nerds know.
>
> > Next he'll be telling us he never heard of Colossal Cave.
>
>   Or rogue, or adom. :P

I've never heard of Colossal cave. Adom, nethack and various versions of
angband have consumed numerous hours however.

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>> [Ever tried to do software rendering on a 286? Hint: this belongs to the 
>> class of operations that is "not fast".]
> 
>   I don't believe Doom even works in a 286. (Maybe a much later third-party
> port, perhaps, but not the original one.)

OK, well, we *are* talking about events that happened well over 10 years 
ago. My memory isn't so hot. What I do remember is this:

1. At the time, Doom was reputed to require insanely expensive high-end 
hardware to run usably.

2. My school had old, crappy hardware.

3. A friend of mine cunningly hid a copy of Doom on several PCs. 
(Installed it in a folder named "...", so nobody would spot it.)

4. It was slow as hell!

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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Warp wrote:

>   (Of course the PC world lagging behind in technology is nothing new.
> The DEC Alpha processor was already 64-bit in 1992. The first 64-bit
> PC processor was the Itanium, in 2001, which didn't get widespread
> popularity. The first widespread 64-bit PC processor was the AMD Opteron,
> introduced in 2003.)

My mate Benny tells me that [I forget exactly who] had a 10 GHz CPU well 
over 10 years ago, but modern PCs can't do this due to "the x86 overhead".

But then, my mate Benny tells me a lot of computer-related "facts" which 
are quite clearly wildly incorrect, so...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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"Nicolas Alvarez" <nic### [at] gmailisthebestcom> wrote in message
news:47d2ddaa$1@news.povray.org...

> I don't know anyone (personally, and in the same country as me) who is
> geeky enough to know about D&D anyway. So even if it sounded interesting
> to me (which it doesn't), who would I play with?

What country do you live in?
http://www.treasuretables.org/ways-to-find-rpg-players

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"Orchid XP v7" <voi### [at] devnull> wrote in message
news:47d2f3cb$1@news.povray.org...
> >
> > The increase in picture quality can be quite noticeable, but only if you
> > have equipment that can display it properly.
>
> Well, two things:
>
> 1. It has 2x the spatial resolution in both directions. That doesn't
> sound particularly earth-shattering, even on paper.
>
> 2. I saw two displays side-by-side in a shop. The one marked HD was
> certainly clearer. But it didn't make me go "wow, that's AMAZING!"
> Actually it just made me go "oh, OK, so it's 10% more crisp. And you
> want HOW MANY thousand pounds for this one??"

Thousands of pounds? Maybe 5 years ago. I just bought a 40" HD TV for under
1000 pounds, and it's mid-high on the 40" range.
I've played X-box games on both my old TV and the new LCD. The difference is
exceptional. I couldn't even read half the text on the old TV. On the new,
it's crystal clear.

Normal DVDs don't show so much difference, but there's still a very
noticable difference in display quality. I watched the sceen with Gandalf
and the Balrog of Moria on the new TV and it was sooo clear.

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"Fredrik Eriksson" <fe79}--at--{yahoo}--dot--{com> wrote in message
news:op.### [at] e6600bredbandsbolagetse...
> On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:24:49 +0100, Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:

> >
> > Interesting. I was sure they said one of them was being backed by HP...
>
> I think HP supported HD-DVD.

They did. My HP laptop has a HD-DVD drive. Woohoo.

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Gail Shaw wrote:
> I've never heard of Colossal cave. 

AKA "Adventure", aka the first ever computer adventure-style game. (Was 
it the first game at all?)

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

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Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> 1. At the time, Doom was reputed to require insanely expensive high-end 
> hardware to run usably.

  That would be a 486, yes. It worked in a 386, but 486 was recommended.

> 4. It was slow as hell!

  With current computers you could run Doom at 1600x1200 in the original
software rendering mode without problems (assuming it would support those
resolutions, which it doesn't, at least not without heavy modifications
of the source code, AFAIK).

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Warp wrote:
> Nicolas Alvarez <nic### [at] gmailisthebestcom> wrote:
>>> Yes. A few weeks ago, Toshiba announced they lost and are no longer 
>>> manufacturing HD DVD players.
> 
>> So yeah. Blu-ray didn't win. HD-DVD gave up :)
> 
>   Fortunately the Blu-Ray format is the (slightly) better of the two
> anyways.

Actually, I saw a blue-ray display on a something-like60" display in the 
store a couple weeks ago. It was the first big-screen display that 
didn't look (to me) worse than a smaller screen. There was grainyness in 
the picture, but I was only standing a couple feet away and looking for 
it. Much better than the blocky over-compression stuff I always see on 
the big screens.

Maybe blue-ray just has better marketing and manages to get DVDs out to 
the stores selling the players, but the compression artifacts were 
definitely better, in my opinion.

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

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Gail Shaw escribió:
> "Nicolas Alvarez" <nic### [at] gmailisthebestcom> wrote in message
> news:47d2ddaa$1@news.povray.org...
> 
>> I don't know anyone (personally, and in the same country as me) who is
>> geeky enough to know about D&D anyway. So even if it sounded interesting
>> to me (which it doesn't), who would I play with?
> 
> What country do you live in?
> http://www.treasuretables.org/ways-to-find-rpg-players

...if I *was* interested, which I'm not...

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Orchid XP v7 wrote:
> 
> [Having said that, I haven't seen *either* technology on any "shelves". 
> Perhaps this is related to the fact that I don't ever go shopping? I 
> don't know, when *I* go shopping, it always ends up being really 
> expensive...]

http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20050319

> And while we're on the subject... I gather that all this "HD" stuff is 
> only slightly better quality than what's already there. It's not like 
> anybody is going to notice a huge increase in picture quality. And that 
> makes it hard for me to get excited about it...
> 

I'd assume otherwise. Of course, the people who can tell the difference 
on 20" screen from 2 meters are really rare.

-- 
Eero "Aero" Ahonen
    http://www.zbxt.net
       aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid

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