http://gkahla.net/blog Gaming, Interfaces, and Metaphysics Thu, 08 May 2008 14:05:15 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Given the vocal stance Microsoft has taken about the end of Windows XP's life cycle, one might be surprised to hear that you can get one of Asus' EeePCs with the venerable OS pre-installed. However, that would be naive. http://gkahla.net/blog/2008/05/08/eeepc-a-success-for-asus-linux-and-microsoft-wants-some/ In the interest of being able to eat in the future, I find myself trying to carefully track the trends in computing. Who will I sell my services to in the future? Am I going to have to bite off the cost of development tools on Microsoft's Vista platform? How ... http://gkahla.net/blog/2008/03/21/the-digiratis-fatigue-or-why-vista-hasnt-taken-off/ One of the hardest parts of game design would appear to be the interface between characters' skills and the capabilities of vehicles and other interesting hardware. Whether you're a mecha pilot, a net-running decker, or a rigger piloting drones into a fight, the question remains "How does my character's Pilot ... http://gkahla.net/blog/2008/03/17/rpgs-and-the-hard-partstm-of-game-design/ I got a new monitor; one capable of 1680x1050 resolution. (I earned it - trust me!) Plugged it in, hit the "input selection button" and it discovered I was using the DVI plug for my X session. I logged off my desktop session and logged back in. My screen was ... http://gkahla.net/blog/2008/03/11/xubuntu-1680x1050-monitor-and-xorgconf/ Long ago, in the barbaric year 1994, the primitive game company MicroProse produced a little gem called Master of Magic. In this game, there were 5 "colors" of magic, White, Black, Green, Red, and Blue. You create settlements and grow population bases. You field troops from humble, conscripted Spearmen up ... http://gkahla.net/blog/2008/03/08/master-of-magic/ Ending the grand experiment of "one blog for gaming, another for everything else", I've decided to rely on the host I'm actually paying a lot of money for... So, while I enjoy my LiveJournal, it's content will heretofore be found here at Gerall's Blog. (Or whatever I decide to call ... http://gkahla.net/blog/2008/03/07/attempting-to-cross-post-to-livejournal/ Gary Gygax passed away yesterday morning due to multiple strokes. His creative output has changed the life of every gamer you've ever met. I've met the members of my tribe (my closest circle of friends) all through the outlet of roleplaying games. Old-school, pen-and-paper, dice clattering on the dining room ... http://gkahla.net/blog/2008/03/05/ode-to-gygax/ I recently replaced the OS on my machine at home with Xubuntu, and wanted to use Lifrea to do some podcatching. I found that getting Firefox to use Liferea was not as straightforward as I thought, but with some help from #xubuntu on irc.freenode.net, I sorted out the final solution. ... http://gkahla.net/blog/2008/03/03/firefox-lifrea-and-the-ubuntus-a-tricky-marriage/ My wife has purchased a new mp3 player, the Samsung YP-P2 8gb. It's a cool little gadget (native A2DP Bluetooth, mp4 video capable, pictures, touch screen, etc, etc). Unfortunately, out of the box it only speaks MTP. My lovely wife's PC boots a Debian GNOME desktop, which only groks UMS. ... http://gkahla.net/blog/2008/02/27/linux-and-the-samsung-yp-p2-mp3-player/ I own an actual iPod, created by the magic elves in the Apple factory and invested with the magic that makes it work with the iTunes store. At least, it was... Then, I found iPodHackers.net. http://gkahla.net/blog/2008/02/22/mp3-players-my-budget-and-the-future/