Wednesday, June 7, 2000
Half-Life 1.1 -- 9:14 pm CST, Update by The Master
Valve has announced that the Half-Life 1.1 patch has been completed, and will be released tomorrow at 11 am PST. What's new, you ask? Here ya go:- Team Fortress 1.5
- Half-Life SDK 2.0 (Full and Standard versions)
- Worldcraft 3.3
- Counter-Strike Beta 6.5
- OpFor CTF
- Firearms 2.0
- New Networking System. This release includes the TF2 networking system and is compatible with all Half-Life games and MODs. The new networking system improves play for all players regardless of their connection
- VGUI Interface. The Valve GUI (VGUI) is a set of general purpose, extensible user interface APIs for displaying and manipulating user interface elements in-game. Available to mod authors in Half-Life SDK 2.0, the VGUI is exploited in this release via new in-game menus that allow players to change class, communicate with teammates and more by simply clicking through this customizable menu system-and subsequently eliminating the need to move your fingers off critical keys during the heat of battle. The new menu system is also designed to help new players get into the game, removing the need to know any extra keys beyond moving and firing.
Microsoft to Break Up! -- 4:32 pm CST, Update by The Master
It's official-Microsoft must be broken in two, an article on CNET News, indicates the final judgment has been handed down, and Microsoft is to be broken in two.As part of a strongly worded decision, Jackson said the court "has reluctantly come to the conclusion...that a structural remedy has become imperative: Microsoft as it is presently organized and led is unwilling to accept the notion that it broke the law or accede to an order amending its conduct."A.T. Hun comments: J.t.Qbe and I were at our favorite pub, Sherlock's Home, to toast the ruling with a couple pints of Bishop's Bitter. It will be interesting to see how the appeals go. I think it goes without saying that this case will be heard by the Supreme Court, if not soon then certainly later.
He added that Microsoft "continues to do business as it has in the past and may yet do to other markets what it has already done to the PC operating system and browser markets."
Jackson also said Microsoft has "proved untrustworthy in the past." He said Microsoft should not be surprised by the ruling, either. According to Jackson, Microsoft had sought "months of additional time" in further hearings regarding a breakup.
J.t.Qbe comments: And it was good Bitter too! But the toast was merely a formality--wasn't it obvious what Jackson's ruling would be? I hope that the Supreme Court takes it on soon and gets this finished.
Sweeney on Unreal Petition -- 10:48 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun
Epic's Tim Sweeney made a PlanetCrap message boards about the recently announced petition for Epic to finally release the $#@^&*% Unreal patch! Here's what he had to say:Some of these petitions are really good ideas.Hopefully they'll actually get this bad-boy done. I almost bought it at the Mall of America the other day. I may just pick it up anyway . . .
A bunch of gamers saying "we are your customers, and we believe you should do the following to support your product..." is way more effective than randomly slamming companies and products on message boards. When looking at flames, it can be hard to distinguish good ideas from maniacal rants. But a petition shows well-thought-out, widespread public suport for a cause.
Game developers who ignore this kind of thing do so at great risk.
The Unreal patch petition is certainly the #1 issue on our radar screen at Epic right now.
No, we're not issuing a response to the petition...after all, the petition wasn't asking us to put out a press release talking about what we're going to do, it's asking us to FINISH AND RELEASE THE DAMN PATCH, so...
-Tim
Arrrggghhh! -- 8:28 am CST, Update by The Master
Okay, you MUST be able to tell that A.T. is away from his machine this week-because I'm gonna rant right here.Does anybody else around here wish there was a law allowing people to hunt down and destroy spammers with extreme prejudice? I'm absolutely SICK of having to pump 30 emails a day through SpamCop (excellent service-even though ISPs whine like crazy about it) in a vain attempt to reduce the volume. Pardon me while I send the contents of my in box to SpamCop. Jeez.
J.t.Qbe rants: Destroy all spammers. Get rid of them all. Last night I ran at least a dozen emails through SpamCop. I don't care that it took 20 minutes. If I can hurt them, I will. I think my favorite is was "Pay $50 to learn which email systems can be used as relays," or "60 million email addresses for $149. . . To be removed from our mailing list, reply to this email." Uh huh. On the upside, a number of states are allegedly passing laws which allow you to sue spammers, and some have even collected on it. I'll look for details and post them later.
A.T. Hun comments: Sorta like I had to explain to my inlaws today why someone sent them a link to a pr0n website on the first full day on ICQ. Morons. I think that the only fitting punishment for such folks is an acetylene torch to the face. Slowly and painfully, of course. A carrot peeler might work in a pinch too.
History today -- 8:11 am CST, Update by The Master
- 1654: Louis the XIV was crowned King of France in Rheims.
- 1776: Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed to the Continental Congress a resolution calling for a Declaration of Independence.
- 1848: French postimpressionist painter Paul Gauguin was born in Paris.
- 1864: Abraham Lincoln was nominated for another term as president at his party's convention in Baltimore.
- 1929: The sovereign state of Vatican City came into existence as copies of the Lateran Treaty were exchanged in Rome.
- 1939: King George VI and Queen Elizabeth arrived at Niagara Falls, N.Y., from Canada on the first visit to the United States by a reigning British monarch.
- 1942: The Battle of Midway came to an end, inflicting the first major naval defeat of the war on the Japanese.
- 1948: President Edvard Benes of Czechoslovakia resigned, rather than sign a new constitution which legalized the country as a communist state.
- 1981: Israeli aircraft attacked and destroyed the Osirak nuclear reactor near Baghdad, Iraq.
- 1988: Bangladesh, the world's third largest Muslim nation, made Islam its state religion as riot police went on alert to prevent protests against the law.
- 1990: The Warsaw Pact formally abandoned its role as guardian of Kremlin power in eastern Europe and committed itself to radical democratic change.
Tuesday, June 6, 2000
MW4 Website Opens -- 7:29 pm CST, Update by The Master
Microsoft has opened the official MechWarrior 4 website. I am pumped. Big 'mechs. Large-caliber automatic weapons fire. LRMs. Wheeee >:)Bleh -- 6:42 pm CST, Update by The Master
Slow news day, what can I say?On the Sin front, I got to the end of it last night, and the bloody thing crashed right in the middle of the closing movie. I was totally torked. Oh, well-maybe I'll fire that sucker up later and try to catch it again.
History today -- 8:11 am CST, Update by The Master
- 1683: The first public museum, The Ashmolean, was opened at Oxford, England.
- 1944: Operation Overlord (D-Day), the landing of allied forces on the coast of Normandy, France, took place. It was the largest sea-borne invasion in history.
- 1966: Gemini 9 splashed down after a three-day mission during which astronaut Eugene Cernan walked in space for a record 2 hours 8 minutes.
- 1980: For the second time in a week, U.S. nuclear forces went on red alert following a computer error warning of a Soviet attack.
- 1981: In the world's worst rail disaster, seven coaches of an overcrowded passenger train were blown off the tracks into the River Kosi, in Bihar, India. At least 800 people were killed.
- 1982: Serious fighting between Israeli and Syrian troops broke out as Israel began a full-scale invasion of Lebanon.
- 1990: A Federal judge rules 2Live Crew's "As Nasty as They Wanna Be" as obscene.
- 1995: South Africa abolished the death penalty.
- 1997: Caoimhghin O Caolain won a seat in Ireland's election becoming the first member of Sinn Fein, political wing of the IRA, to enter Ireland's parliament.
Obi-Wan Preview -- 12:00 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun
The Daily Radar has a complete reprint of PC Gamer's preview of LucasArts' Episode I: Obi-Wan. Some pretty good stuff in there. I have to disagree with their assessment of the movie though. I like Episode I quite a bit (and own it in letterbox). To each their own. Thanks Jedi Knight.net.Recent Headlines
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