Thursday, September 20, 2001

Non-Microsoft Dirty Tricks -- 10:37 pm CST, Update by J.t.Qbe

This evening I fired up Internet Exploder (death to Netscape!) and found that an outfit named Pointcom (won't link the *#&%^@s) had managed to change my browser's default page to point to their own. That was slimy. Death to Pointcom and jackals like them!

President Bush Lays Down the Law -- 8:51 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Wow. The President really let them have it tonight. Here's a report on his speech on MSNBC. My favorite quote and probably the most powerful one was this to Afghanistan's ruling Taliban:

They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate.

Any further questions? I didn't think so. May God bless America and may he be with our troops heading off to begin the defense of our country and our freedom.

J.t.Qbe comments: I heard the speech while driving back from Ann Arbor tonight, and it was really good. Even the flaming liberals on NPR couldn't find too much cause to run it down. Interesting days ahead.

Serious Sam Part Deux -- 5:45 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Croteam has officially announced their follow-up to Serious Sam entitled Serious Sam: The Second Encounter. Here's a snip from the release:

"Serious Sam: Second Encounter" introduces three worlds where cyberpunk once again meets fantasy fiction, and features frantic action in 12 massive single player levels. The Second Encounter includes three new episodes based in beautifully detailed ancient civilizations: South America, Babylon, and The Medieval Age. With fourteen total weapons at his disposal, three brand new, Sam is more serious than ever. He battles against hordes of old enemies and seven adversarial species in an effort to reach the Mental once and for all.

The game should be out in November and go for $19.99. Can't beat the price, that's for sure. Blue also has some screenshots of the new game for your perusal.

MS Licensing Change -- 3:42 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Yes, even more fun from Redmond! Information has come out about Microsoft's licensing changes for businesses. Here's what is in store:

Gartner estimates that medium-sized businesses upgrading software every three years would pay anywhere from 33 percent to 77 percent more under the new plan than they did with the old. Four-year upgraders would pay 68 percent to 107 percent more.

Basically you have to upgrade to WinXP and Office XP right now to even qualify for the program. Then you must upgrade every two years or pay full price for every box. Maybe some of these companies could start throwing money at the Open Office project to make office apps just like they need them and then dump M$ altogether. Thanks sCary.

Threewave Screenshots -- 1:59 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Dekard posted some screenshots on the Quake3World forums of the new maps that will be included in the Threewave CTF Unification mod for Quake III Arena which is reportedly "not too far off." I can't wait until this comes out. Those levels look awfully cool. Thanks Shacknews.

New NVIDIA Linux Drivers -- 12:25 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

NVIDIA has released version 1.0-1541 of their Linux XFree86 4.x drivers. Here's a list of the changes:

• OpenGL 1.2 ICD with NVIDIA Extensions for Vertex Programs and Register Combiners
• More robust Quadro2 Go and GeForce2 Go mobile support, including Toshiba 3000 series
• Optimized multi-thread support for multi-processor systems
• Fixes problem with X startup on some GPU's (see readme)

Thanks Stomped, of all places.

MS Dirty Tricks -- 12:19 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

An Infoworld column details some of the dirty tricks Microsoft is trying to pull on people. Granted, there is a bit of speculation in this article so take parts with a grain of salt. My favorite bit though is this passage from the FrontPage 2002 EULA:

You may not use the Software in connection with any site that disparages Microsoft, MSN, MSNBC, Expedia, or their products or services ...

Of course, no self-respecting webmaster would touch FrontPage with a 2002 foot pole. I wonder if a similar passage exists in the EULA for Office XP? If not, how long will it be until it is in there? Thanks Slashdot.

The Master comments: I wonder how well that EULA would hold up in a court of law. Limit MY free speech will you? I don't think so.

A.T. Hun comments: The problem is that most companies, and certainly most individuals, don't have the time or money to challenge this in court. So if they want to use FrontPage, they are stuck. I think anyone would willingly subject himself to FrontPage would need his head examined, but that's just me. Text editors all the way, baybee!

UPDATE! Someone on Slashdot commented that the FrontPage EULA mentioned is for use of the FrontPage logo, not the program itself. Anyone care to verify this one way or the other? At any rate, the rest of the article stands as is.

Win2K vs. Linux -- 12:15 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

One person who was very familiar with DOS and Windows took it upon himself to answer the musical question Can Linux be used as a replacement for Windows 2000? His answer was a resounding "yes" with a few caveats. Some of the problems he encountered could easily be fixed with a slightly greater knowledge of Linux. All in all it gives a good overview of what to expect if you would try to make that shift. Thanks Slashdot.

Half-Life/CS Updates -- 11:50 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun

I rebooted to Windows today (blech) to update my copies of Half-Life and Counter Strike. Unfortunately, yesterday's updates still weren't showing up. If you want them, you'll have to snag them at File Planet or one of the other mirrors.

Wednesday, September 19, 2001

Half-Life 1.1.0.8 Released -- 1:12 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Valve has released the 1.1.0.8 patch for Half-Life as well as Counter-Strike 1.3. These patches add, most notably, the multicast spectator technology as well as voice-over-IP. The best way to get the patches is through the Half-Life launcher. Here's a change that is sure to annoy some people:

Bunny hopping removed from HLDM, Counter-Strike, TFC, and DMC

New Quakes Revealed -- 12:49 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Planet Quake got information on two rumored products from id Software. Quake III: Gold Edition is, as many people speculated, Quake III Arena and Quake III: Team Arena bundled together. Final Quake: BFG packages Quake, Quake II, and Quake III Arena together. Both should go for about $30. Since Quake IV has been announced, shouldn't Final Quake really be Penultimate Quake or something?

Past Two Days' News

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