November, 2001

Sunday 18 November 2001

Well we are back again! My connection went down for over 36 hours last week and I haven't been able to upload due to a port conflict in my FTP program, so I will post a biggie today and see if I can't catch up on all the news I have missed over the past couple of weeks. So if I put some old stuff up that you already know about forgive me! Now let's get on with it before Tel$tra decide to play with the system again and stuff everything up!

It seems that the Australian scientists and NASA are having a little race to be the first to develop a new type of propulsion system for aircraft and other things. The interesting thing is that the Aussies have spent about $1 million on it and NASA have spent about $12 billion. Now guess which one had a successful first flight? Check the story out here.

Now here is an idiot for you! This bloke has filled a large number of balloons with helium and floated up 11,000 feet! I bet his hand hurt from hanging on for so long! Check out the full story here!

Here is an interesting story about how people can use digital files to send secret messages to each other! This is concerning the US Security officials as they believe this may be the way that terrorists have been communicating. The basics of the process are simple. Digital files such as images and MP3's can be manipulated slightly to carry the message without disturbing the image or audio stream! All you need is the program to remove and decode the message and you can communicate without being detected! Quite an ingenious technology, and they probably got the idea from watching Star Trek episodes! You wait, they will probably try to ban them now as well! Anyway, you can read the full story here.

For all you Operation Flashpoint Guru's out there (as if you didn't already know this one) there is a new patch (Ver 1.3) available from the official site or any of the many mirrors. Go grab it if you haven't already done so.

So you want a cool looking box with all the modifications it can handle? You want to crank that processor up as fast as it can go and then some? Well we all want that! But usually such a special system comes at a very loud price! Well you can change that now! The guys over at GamePC have posted a guide on silencing your PC. Read it and enjoy the peace and quiet.

The scourge of all web technology - The Cookie - is coming under attack over in Europe! Officials believe it to be the worst form of SpyWare available and want the technology banned! CHeck out the full story here. Advertisers are pissed about it!

Now this is really a great idea! They have developed a Digital VCR that allows you to record 320 hours of viewing pleasure and automatically strips the adds from the shows. Now that's what I call an advance in technology! It also does other things, one of which allows you to send the recordings over the internet! Now that one is getting it into trouble with the networks. They are taking it to court before it gets released in an effort to stop "Piracy" of their shows! Read the full details here.

For those of you who are frustrated, pissed off, and generally unimpressed by the Microsoft Windows OS, there is always light at the end of the LINUX tunnel for you. Now don't despair, if you thought that LINUX was difficult to learn and install then there are numerous guides and information sources on the net to go to when you have problems or need help! One such site has posted a guide to installing the latest versions of the Open Source OS. So if you are in this category, or just simply curious to see what else is out there, check out this site and see what the fuss is all about.

For those of you with a more gaming oriented bent, then check out this guide to setting up a LINUX Counter Strike Server. This guide starts you off from a clean machine and guides you through the installation and everything else, in order to get your LINUX CS server up and running like a dream. Check it out as it has a wealth of information!

Sunday 11 November 2001

Well, here is an update to the site finally! I know some of you have been waiting for this for a while! So without further ado, let's get on with it............................

Well, it is final. The add on pack for Operation Flashpoint will be released to the public on 30 November. The retail boxed version should be in stores at that time but the add-on will be available for download from Codemasters on that day. I can't wait to get stuck into this one! I am looking forward to it more than I am to the new Black & White add on - Creature Isle. Creature Isle should be available at about the same time.

It seems now that you can turn back the clock and see the past in all it's glory! Well, at least you can on the internet anyway. There is a new device called the Wayback Machine that allows you to search for web pages that reach as far back as 1986! Hows that for nostalgia! Anyway, you can read more about it here.

Now everyone knows that raw speed in a processor is not the be al and end all that Intel make it out to be, right? Well AMD and Apple have begun their campaigns asserting that very same fact. Even Intel have sort of agreed with them! Now every one knows that the current line of AMD Athlon chips completely out perform an equivalent Intel chip in every area. Apple have been arguing the same case for years. So it is no surprise that they are now kinda joining forces. So if you want to know more about speed, go here and find out!

Well, I haven't been able to finish the update today because of a combination of Tel$tra and a small problem with my loggon to the site to upload the page, but I will keep trying and see how we go tomorrow!

Cheers!

Wednesday 8 November 2001

Well, it has been quite a while since I last updated the site. Yes I am still working on my thesis. Unfortunately it is overdue and I haven't finished it yet. I have been working through some things that have been blocking me in my quest to complete the thing. I think I have now got it all under control. I hope so anyway.

So if you will excuse me for a few more days, I promise that I will get back to regular informative updates and sharp comments. My God! We have a federal election here in Australia this weekend and I am missing out on all the political hyperbole and smoke screening. And you know what? I don't miss it at all! My wife reminded me this afternoon that the election was on Saturday and I didn't even realize, and I somehow don't really care about it. No one has any REAL policies anymore and they are all Politicians anyway, so you can't really trust them to do the right thing so why change the fools that you know to fools that you don't know? I will have to think about this, but when I finish my thesis!

Hopefully I will be back among the newsworthy soon! Cheers!