Jul -- Posts by Tamkis

Tamkis
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Posted on 09-30-13 03:56:23 PM, in Crazy-ass diet experiment?

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Originally posted by S.N.N.
Still going strong now, although I've found myself drifting back to fast food once a week or so. Either way, if one can actually maintain a diet like this, they're almost certain to lose weight and feel healthier.

I almost never eat fast food, and when I do, it is usually the healthier fast food places that I eat at, such as Subway or Wendy's. I am also primarly a water-drinker, instead of a soda-drinker. Especially since I am a type 2 diabetic for life, a healthy diet and exercise is paramount to my health and survival. However, I am having problems maintaining my blood sugars (they are usually over 300, which is bad, and sometimes "HI" on the glucometer, ie >600), due to occasionally eating sugary/carby things that I shouldn't and stress, and am unable to find time to exercise, due to being a Rez college student, a computer nerd, and lack of time. McDonald's and BurgerKing are absolute no-nos for me; you don't know how many times I've seen my ex-mother goto the hospital (literally almost every year) due to her eating McD's & BK and her sugars being "HI". Even their salads have sugar and are unhealhty, WTF. Ever watched the movie "SuperSize Me" during Middle School?

Unfortunately, I have been drinking a lot of caffeinated diet soda lately (2-3 diet sodas a day), due to being a poor college student, college stress, and the need to stay up later at night in order to finish work. I've noticed that I am getting really fat fast, losing tons of sleep, and getting bloodshot eyes, compared to when I drank less soda and ate healthier...

I agree with SNN on the benefits on consuming less "processed shit." As for the first 2 components of the diet, IDK.

____________________
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Tamkis
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Posted on 09-30-13 05:58:14 PM, in Any other video game collectors here?

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Video game collecting is a lot of fun! I know a little bit about the hobby myself...

Only a little bit

?
I thought that was the AVGN's entertainment room at first, or a video game store...

...also wouldn't mind a working Sega 32-fucking-X, but nah. Only reason I'd really want one is Chaotix, but I'm not gonna spend 200€+ on just one 32X and that game.

It's not usually that expensive (at least for a NTSC unit in the US); I bought my 32x for $35.00, and Knuckle's Chaotix (unboxed, loose) for about $15.00, at the local video game store. Plus there are a few other noteworthy 32x games (which I currently own), such as Virtua Racing DX and Star Wars Arcade 32x. Virtua Fighter and Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000 are also pretty cool; I want to get those 2 games someday...

genuine PAL Mega Man: The Wily Wars for MD I got for ~35€ from Amazon Marketplace.

*Drool*

I'm not really sure if I consider myself a collector in the usual sense of the word. I have a ton of games, sure (mostly NES, SNES, and Genesis), but they're games that I personally enjoy. I'm not interested in amassing a ton of games I hate or dropping hundreds of dollars on rare games just for the sake of bloating my collection. (I do have some super-rare and/or highly desirable gems, but I've either had them since before they were rare/desirable or I picked them up for an insanely low price.)

Same here. My collection is small, but with a few noteworthy gems in it, mostly loose games. In fact, it's such a compact collection that I was able to bring most of the collection (minus the portable Nintendo consoles/games) to the dorm, with everything only taking up 2 drawers, and 2 Vintage Randix VHS VTD-24 cases. Most of my portable Nintendo consoles & games and my N64 were bought from when I was growing up, while everything else I began collecting only since high school graduation (in May 2011). If there is a game I really like, I may buy it boxed. Some of the games, I made "bootleg" cases using empty VHS cases and DVD cases, with coverart from The Cover Project. The collection (minus the portable Nintendo stuff) amounts to less than 75 games (estimate).

Since High school, I've bought a Sega Genesis/32x/CD and an Atari 130XE with some games/hardware, all which I've never owned as a youth, just for fun. The main reason I bought the consoles, unlike with most other vg collectors, was in order to test some ROM hacks and homebrew that I write on physical hardware, as well as play some retro matches with classmates at the dorm. Unlike others, I ocassionally play with my games, rather than let them collect dust. (Though emulators+roms are okay, and are actually necessary for devleoping hacks/homebrew). I have yet to buy a flashcart for the Sega Genesis/32x, but I can at least burn CD-Rs for the Sega CD

. Sonic 1 Megamix is awesome on Sega CD hardware!

My brother, on the other hand, has too many video games and merch, and has all of the fancy modern consoles, like the GameCube, Wii, 3DS, PS3, and PSP Vita. Video gaming is not as important as it used to be for me as it was in the past; I'm just too busy with college/life. I'm more interested in hacking/homebrew, when leisure time permits. It's more academic

, since I'm an aspiring software engineer.

My modest collection, with consoles, and noteworthy games/hardware:

[pre]
@Nintendo
-#NES (in form of x2 N64 controller-styled Famiclones)
--&x3 games
--&NES-to-Famiclone adapter, for use on Famiclone
-#Game Boy Pocket
--%Game Boy Camera
--%Super Mario Land 1/2/3 (Wario Land 1)
-#Game Boy Color
-#GBA (Fat)
--%E-Reader!
---&(The other ill-fated 32x-like mushroom console add-on)
---&Mario Party-e
---&Most of the NES ports, minus Clu-Clu land
---&SMA4 Level/powerup/demo cards
--%F-Zero GP Legends
--%SMA4: SMB3 (with most of the JAP/USA e-Levels, thanks to ROM-hacking!)
--%SMA1: SMW
--%EZFlash V Slot-2 Flashcart!
---&Tons of homebrew on cart, some vanilla roms.
-#NDSL
--&(Currently in need of repair

)
--%SM64DS
--%Trackmania DS
---&Not rare, but fun!
--%Slot-2 Rumble pack
--%DSTT Flashcart
---&Tons of homebrew on cart
-#Nintendo 64
--%Expansion Pak
--%Transfer Pak
--%Memory Pak
--%SM64
--%LoZ:OoT
--%LoZ:MM
--%SSB
---&My gameshark killed the game's internal coding?
---&Player's can't run anymore, even when not using the gameshark!
--%V3.2 Gameshark Pro
---&With Parallel Port
---&Possible to test homebrew via GSUpload
---&Do not have access to working PC with parallel port yet

@Sega
-#Sega Genesis (NTSC Model 2)
--%Virtua Racing (SVP version)
--%Sonic 1/2 (boxed)/3 (boxed)/and Knuckles
--%Lotus 2 (boxed)
--%Pete Sampras Tennis (J-cart version)
--%Game genie (golden label)
--%Sega Mouse+Wacky Worlds
-#Sega 32x
--%(only 4 games)
--%Virtua Racing DX (cardboard boxed)
--%Knuckles' Chaotix
--%Star Wars Arcade 32x
--%36 Great Holes staring Fred Couples
-#Sega CD (NTSC Model 2)
--%Sonic CD (US)
--%NHL Hockey Night (Sega CD Box)
--%Racing Aces (Sega CD Boxed)
--%Backup RAM cart
---&Rare $50 "memory card"!
--%Sonic 1 Megamix CD-R
--%Physical copy of Tower-Tic-Tac Toe v0.3CD
---&My own homebrew game.
--%Collection of Bootleg Sega CD games on CD-R

@Atari 130XE
-#Lot recently bought at a local goodwill store during August
-#Homebrew-friendly, BASIC-programmable computer

-#Bug Hunter (Cart)
-#Flight Simulator II (Cart)
-#Bowling (5.25" Floppy)
-#Atari joystick, x2 Floppy Disk Drives, XG-1 Light gun

It's a small collection, but does indeed have some interesting items in it.
============

Admis:
Not to derail the thread, but I've been meaning to post a release topic about my Tower Tic Tac Toe Sega CD homebrew game since last week. Is the "ROM hacking" section the best place to put it?

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Tamkis
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Posted on 10-01-13 04:12:38 AM, in Upgrading from W7HP to W7Pro (legally)

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OH YEAH!

It upgraded to Windows 7 Professional, sucessfully! And all it took was 10 minutes, and a whole day of backing up data to 8 DVD-RWs. (Now I have my bi-monthly backups done too.)

Thanks

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Tamkis
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Posted on 10-02-13 01:44:20 AM, in Upgrading from W7HP to W7Pro (legally)

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Originally posted by CJ Miller
Ever considered getting a tape drive?

Eww! A tape drive.

(Funny how you mentioned about a tape drive, considering that I just recently wrote a small report about the tape drive's history for my Intro to Engineering Class at the University. Topic was to write about an important technology that was groundbreaking and was invented before 1975. Quite amazing that tape drives with up to 35TB capacity are in the works!)

Or a USB external hard drive. I have automated backups to mine. Don't even have to think about it.

Meh. I'm a poor university student, and both a external HDD and (especially) a Tape Drive are too expensive for me right now. DVD-RWs are much cheaper. I usually only backup and compress manually my data using 7Zip into 4765M blocks on Ultra compression. The only data I backup is the essentials: everything underneath my user folder, and my university flashdrive. Never applications; I figure I can redownload those if I lose data. (98% of my programs are freeware, and those that aren't, such as Visual Studio and AutoCAD 2014 Student edition, are already backupped

)

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Tamkis
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Posted on 10-02-13 02:04:27 AM, in US Government Shutdown

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Originally posted by Gabu

The only consensus these parties find? Internet and piracy laws! :specialed:

SOPA/PIPA/STOPA/ACTA/CISPA/OBAMA (Organizational B**tards Against Middle-class America)
(Okay, I made up that last one

)

There should be a double-jeopardy law against attempting to enact the same bill over and over, but with a different name...

Originally posted by "Da CNN Article" from the OP

14. How will this affect me?

In ways big and small. The mail will continue to come. The military will continue to fight. And Social Security checks will continue to be paid.

But if you need a federal loan to buy a house, you'll have to wait. If you want a gun permit or a passport, that won't happen anytime soon.

If this shutdown will affect Federal Student Loans, those which have already been taken out by genius college students like myself, prior to the shutdown...

There is nothing that grind my gears than the inability to pursue an education than due to the cop out of "money" needed for tuition. Tuition payments so that the college president can go buy himself yet another Ferrari, at the expense of students who became hobos and died. Screw Obamacare; how about some College Reform?

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Tamkis
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Posted on 10-04-13 12:51:07 AM, in Any other video game collectors here?

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I've used them to power my Genesis, Sega CD, Famicom, Disk System, NES, and Famiclone over the years. Maybe more!

I actually have an old, original Famicom adaptor, but I somehow feel safer using one that's a) designed for 120V and b) is verified working.

I have a Yobo FC Game Converter adapter for my Famiclone, back when StoneAgeGamer used to sell them. My 2 N64 controller-styled famiclones are picky when you try to hook an NTSC NES game into its PAL Famiclone cart slot via the adapter. (I have 3 NES carts). Apparently, you have to ever so slightly tilt the adapter on one end to get it to work. Also, having to plug the NES cartridge "naked" (without the cart case) is a necessity, unless you like having an oversized gameboy, lol.

Originally posted by "xdaniel"

got it for half the price (uh, 20€ I think?) as the owner just "didn't want to ever see it again" or something.

Haha, reminds of the store owner, Brian, of the local video game store, The Gamemaster's Realm. He will give shoppers strange discounts for the littlest things. Like the wireless XBox 360 controller I got for $40, due to "cosmetic damage" on the rubber of the Analog stick. It's a small store, but everything from Atari to modern consoles can be found there, and it's where I got my Sega consoles

.

____________________
"For he who serves his fellows, is of all his fellows, greatest"
--- Urner E. Goodman

Tamkis
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Posted on 10-04-13 03:10:32 AM, in Tower Tic Tac Toe (Sega Homebrew game)

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(Originally cross-posted from here)

Boring background info:

A long, long time ago, during middle school, one of the very first programs I ever wrote, using the QBasic 1.1 interpreter, was a 3D Tic Tac Toe game, which I called "Tower Tic Tac Toe". Unfortunately, the code was badly written, and the game sat on my hard drive for several years, unfinished. Fast-forward a few years later....

During early 2011, having much more experience with both the BASIC language and with programming in general, I rewrote the game engine essentially from scratch, and finally made a working, playable version of the game for PC. Not only did I compile it with QuickBASIC 4.5 (32bit/x86 machines), but I also recompiled the game to work with 64bit/x64 machines using QB64.

A few months later, during the summer of 2011, when I was becoming quite active with Sega Genesis ROM hacking, and with Sega homebrew, I discovered about a BASIC-like programming language for Sega homebrew development called "BasiEgaXors", and decided that it would be cool to port Tower Tic Tac Toe to the Sega Genesis, and eventually did, with the buggy v0.1 version. But then I lost the source code in a HDD crash. Fast-forword 2 years later...

During this April, I found a copy of my lost source code on a backup disc! So, with the BasiEgaXors compiler, I recompiled and cross-ported the program to the Sega CD & Sega 32x. (However, I was informed by a BasiEgaXors user that in the 32x version, the 32x was completed idle and unused entirely, due to bugs in the current version of the compiler, so the 32x version is on hold). Now, I've fixed a majority of the bugs, and created a Sega CD optimized version that works on actual hardware!

About Tower Tic Tac Toe:

Tower Tic Tac Toe (aka TTTT) is a Tic Tac Toe game where several games are played at once on a tower of 3 Tic-Tac-Toe floors. The game is won by getting three of your marker in a row. Not only can the game be won "locally" on a floor, but games can be won through the floors on the Z axis!

There are also powerups that can be gotten through randomization on each turn (if the option is turned on). Powerups include:

Extra marker - allows the player to put 2 markers on his turn
Deleting a marker - delete one of the other player's markers
Swapping all markers -swaps all X with Os, and Os with Xs,
Adding an obstacle - Prevent any1 from placing a marker on a cell
Sudden Death - After picking a floor, the player's marker is placed on each corner of the floor! Intense music gets played.

There are also several options to the game, including:

# of players (1-2)
Powerups (on/off)
Mode (3-floor or classic 1-floor game)
Sound test: - Test music and sfx (press C)

Controls:

Start: Select a menu item/do an action on the board
Left/Right: cycle thru the items in a menu/select board columns
Up/Down: select a row on the board
A: Decrement the floor selection
C: Increment the floor selection/play sfx in Sound test

Media:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLABbJg7X6E&feature=share&list=UUm2veQyIDpqi_HoADXLKscQ
(Skip to 3:58 for actually gameplay footage)

Page on my website

Notes about this current partial release (v0.3 Sega CD ONLY):
@"FMV" for EagleSoft Ltd added
@CDDA music! In-game CDDA sound test does not work on emulator, but hardware only, apparently.
@Stable controls!
@More graphically pleasant

Future, final plans:
@Merge current changes of V0.3CD to Genesis v0.3
@Make a real 32x version, v0.3
@PCM Sfx
@Real Sprite gfx, instead of ASCII art

Credits:
BasiEgaXors forums
Devster, for making the BasiEgaXors compiler
Gameblabla, BasiEgaXors member for helping with Sega CD optimization/bug fixes

Download (v0.3 Sega CD)+BEX Source Code
======

Admins: I hope none of you mind me putting this thread under "Rom Hacking"; it's the best match I could think of, other than "Gaming". Move the topic if you need to. Also I hope you don't kill me for posting my own written (homebrew) rom, with some "borrowed" videogame CD audio, PSG sfx, and un-original art.

People: If you get to try this game on actual Sega CD hardware, notify me of your Sega CD system type and results. I have verified that it works perfectly on my NTSC Model 2 Sega CD hardware, which is attached with my NTSC Model 2 Sega Genesis. Everything else, I haven't.

Also, I have plans to port the game to my Atari 130XE using Atari-BASIC, and QB64 Android (possibly even sell it in Google Play Store/SlideMe marketplace!). However, someone seems to have beaten me to the Atari version, more than 20 years ago, lol...

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Tamkis
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Posted on 10-06-13 01:07:32 AM, in SM64 More Warps Patch

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Originally posted by Kaze
Originally posted by Tigik
I'll try even though I have no knowledge of scripting.

(If I understood correctly, copy the Hex Data of an object and assign it to the 0x26 command to add a warp?)

no. getting the address of a 0x24 command and overwriting it with 3 0x26 commands. 0x24 is used to insert objects, so you'll have 1 object less, but 3 warps more for each overwritten object.

Yep, this is exactly the method on how I previously added more warps on the older version of the ROM for my hack.

I made a quick video tutorial on the easiest way on how to add more 0x26 warps.
http://youtu.be/WrJqWs2iBak

To be added to my webpage (eventually)

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Tamkis
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Posted on 10-09-13 04:16:31 AM, in Any other video game collectors here?

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Originally posted by Kak64

After all, this already happened with the NES, so this should be possible with the GB too.

And the Sega Genesis, the Sega CD, and even the Atari 8-bit computers! Homebrew games are quite popular for most retro videogame consoles, although most homebrew games are not usually specially released as an actual cart/CD, but as a ROM file. The next best thing to an actual cartridge is to load the game's ROM into a flashcart, and then play on hardware

.

In fact, for some consoles, homebrew development is very easy; take for example the Sega Genesis/CD/32x, which can be programmed via a specialized BASIC-like language, called BasiEgaXors, which I used to create a Sega Genesis/CD homebrew game called Tower Tic Tac Toe. Also, Atari 8-bit homebrew is easy to code, due to the fact that you can enter the code directly into the console via the system's keyboard and using Atari-BASIC. (Although, it is slow and tedious, since entering and modifying code is done command style-like). Heck, the Sega CD does not require a flashcart for homebrew, since the Sega CD will accept CD-Rs burnt with the rom's .iso image

.

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--- Urner E. Goodman

Tamkis
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Posted on 10-09-13 05:53:49 AM, in Virtua Racing (MD/32x) findings (last edited by Tamkis at 10-09-13 03:50:00 PM)

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A few days ago, I decided to open up the rom file for the Sega Genesis and Sega 32x version of Virtua Racing in a hex editor, to see if there was any TCRF-worthy material inside. You know, the only MD game with the fancy Sega Virtua Processor (SVP) chip in it, and with the awesome 3D graphics. I did not perform a Motorola 68k nor Hitach SH-2 disasm for either version, as dissasembling are above my head; however, I did perform a simple peek for string-based data.

Some interesting things were found, especially for the special SVP MD version. Below are some text strings, and their ROM addresses, for both the Genesis/32x versions. Some are unused, while others are simply in-game text (useed), which I decided to list anyways, for potential ROM-hackers.
--

Virtua Racing MD:

$4E07
(Garbage? Or character sets? There seems to be a lot of unusual type of padding like this throughout the rom. On the hexadecimal level, each character's value is incremented by 1, which is... odd.)
!"#$%&`()0123456789@ABCDEFGHIPQRSTUVWXY

$4F6C (Debug info!)
Communication Error!
DRAM clear check
Draw start
Read error !!
Line length over !!
Calculate matrix
Make polygon data
Draw polygon
Draw bitmap
DSP completed
ST reg error !!
Soft SP error !!

$1B376 (Debug info!)
ROM CHECKSUM 1
DRAM R/W 2
DSP ROM RD 3
DSP DRAM R/W 4
DSP IRAM R/W 5
DSP DRAM OVER WRITE 6
DSP POINTER

$1b3fc (Debug info!)
ERROR SKIP OK??
COMMUNICATION ERROR !!!!!

$20028 ("SEGA" TMSS String?)
SEGA

$2ECFD (In-game text)

INSTANT REPLAY? YES NO

$2FBF9 (In-game text)
\<=> RANKING \<=>
@
RANK
NAME
TIME
VR MODE

\<=> FASTEST LAP \<=>
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th

10th
11th
12th
13th
14th
15th

16th
17th
18th
19th
20th
21st

22nd
23rd
24th

$2FF9C (In-game text)
BEGINNER
COURSE RANKING
MEDIUM
COURSE RANKING
EXPERT
COURSE RANKING
EXIT
RECORDS

$301CE (In-game text)
BIG FOREST
BAY BRIDGE
ACROPOLIS

$33075 (In-game text)
PLAYER 1
PLAYER 2
PRESS A,B,OR C
----

Virtua Racing DX (32x)

$202A3 (What appears to be uncompiled Hitachi SH-2 Code? Repeats twice)
RSRV;
INST3
SLOT
CPUA
DMA
NMI
UBRK
TRAP
IRL
=====

What is most interesting in my findings are what ~~I strongly believe to be the~~ is debug info for the SVP MD version of Virtua Racing. For those who do not know, this version of virtua racing was recently emulated, via Notaz PicoDrive emulator ports. According to the Notaz's notes and other's research, the SVP is actually a Samsung SSP1601 DSP processor, which drives polygon drawing. ~~The contents of some of the strings, which mention "DSP", "polygon", matrix", do seem to be related to some kind of debug function.~~

Also, according to Notaz's notes, he mentions that somewhere in the rom is indeed an arcade style SMC function. These strings must have something to do with it!

Originally posted by "Notaz's docs"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Other notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The game has arcade-style memory self-check mode, which can be accessed by
pressing _all_ buttons (including directions) on 3-button controller. There was
probably some loopback plug for this...

The entry point for the code seems to be at address 0x800 (word 0x400) in ROM,
but it is not clear where the address is fetched from when the system powers
up. The memory test code also sets up "ld PC, .." opcodes at 0x7f4, 0x7f8 and
0x7fc, which jump to some routines, possibly interrupt handlers. This means
that mentioned addresses might be built-in interrupt vectors.

I tried (and nearly failed, physically) at pressing "_all_" butons at once on his emulator with VR running at the title screen, but nothing happened. Also, I noted that those debug strings are not in the 32x version, which shows further support that they are SVP-specific debug info. (The 32x version did 3D via its sheer horsepower.)

As for the 32x version, that data at that single rom address appears to be some kind of uncompiled SH-2 commands; however, I am not entirely sure. I also found an Easter Egg in the 32x version, in the form of a Sonic reference. If you go backwards on Sand Park, before the fork in the road, you will find the word "Knuckles"!

----

~~So, does anyone more knowledgable on Sega Genesis ROM hacking (Andlabs?) want to research for and enable the long lost SMC debug data? Is there a known SMC for the Arcade version of Virtua Racing?]~~

I do not have a TCRF account, so if anybody wants to throw this data on the wiki, be my guest

EDIT: Verified to indeed be debug data, and to also be accessable on hardware! So next post...

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Posted on 10-09-13 04:07:18 PM, in Virtua Racing (MD/32x) findings (last edited by Tamkis at 10-09-13 11:20:02 PM)

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I hate to double post, but I found some more research on the Virtua Racing SVP debug feature. Apparently, Nemesis of SonicRetro fame discovered how to access the SMC debug feature on hardware in this article. On compatible Sega Genesis hardware, and with a Game Genie (not a PAR) device, enter the GG code REAT-E61A and run the game.

Here are some emulator screenshots of the Self-Memory check function. The first is what happens in an emulator that does not support SVP, and the second in PicoDrive.

EDIT: Added the pics of the SMC debug function

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Posted on 10-13-13 02:43:21 AM, in What are you listening to now?

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I am currently listening to the secret "Title.wma" song from the Windows XP OS. It's a somber, techno, soft song, but it is quite awesome.

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Posted on 10-16-13 04:59:28 PM, in US Government Shutdown

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Originally posted by "Peardian"

The phrase "global economic disaster" comes to mind.

Correction: The phrases "apocalypse" and "armageddon" come to mind...

There's a reason China's being asking for a de-Americanized global market.

Not only that, but I heard on the news (dont remember the source) that China is demanding the debt we owe to them paid, or we essentially get bought out as the United States of China...

I better start learning Chinese...

____________________
"For he who serves his fellows, is of all his fellows, greatest"
--- Urner E. Goodman

Tamkis
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Posted on 10-19-13 08:33:40 PM, in Any other video game collectors here?

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Originally posted by Kak64

Also, I should be asking this somewhere else, but I can only use six batteries to play my Game Gear. I thought the problem was with the AC adapter that didn't work, but even with other ones (that work with other Game Gear) it doesn't.

That's pretty bad, since I have a quite large collection of Game Gear games, and batteries these days cost.
It's like, becoming a luxury to play my Game Gear now.

What should I do?

You should either buy x6 Rechargable AA batteries & a compatible charger for the battery brand, or find a way to replace the AC jack on it. The former solution is an easy but temporary "fix", while the latter solution requires dissasembling the GG and performing electronic soldering, but would be a permanent fix. Unless you are skilled in electronics soldering and are confident, the latter solution may be riskier, and if done incorrectly, can cause more damage...
--

____________________
"For he who serves his fellows, is of all his fellows, greatest"
--- Urner E. Goodman

Tamkis
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Posted on 10-22-13 02:14:51 AM, in Ordinary Art Thread 235X

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Originally posted by Kak64

I'll let you guess what this actually is. A virtual cookie to anyone who finds the easy correct answer... maybe.

Is it a Mega man, or one of the Robot Masters?
iCan haz virtual cookie?

____________________
"For he who serves his fellows, is of all his fellows, greatest"
--- Urner E. Goodman

Tamkis
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Posted on 10-27-13 08:30:13 PM, in Post Your Desk/Workstation Arrangement

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This is my current workstation arrangement at the University dorm:

Some decor

On left: Macrowave, laptop equipment and books, electronics soldering and tool equipment.
In center: Diplomas, more decor, laptop

New Printer, scanner, University-provided HDTV, and VCR/DVD Combo (functional, $5 at Goodwill, yeah!)

The accomodations are actually better and more productive here at the University than at home (noisy, distracting, mentally insane family, dirty houeshold, no actual desk with legroom at home room, etc). The other half of the dorm room is empty, where my ex-roomate, 'MrColonial" used to stay... Good.

____________________
"For he who serves his fellows, is of all his fellows, greatest"
--- Urner E. Goodman

Tamkis
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Posted on 10-27-13 08:39:41 PM, in Obligatory desktop screenshots thread

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Well, seeing that I haven't posted in this "obligatory" thread yet, I might as well, lol

.

This is my current desktop:

I'm somewhat obessed about the Atari 8-bit computers, these days, especially about my 130XE

. Though, I will admit, the desktop background is somewhat more bland than I would like... But, it serves for my laptop, which I primarily use for software engineering, hom racking, 3D CAD design, and office/schoolwork.

____________________
"For he who serves his fellows, is of all his fellows, greatest"
--- Urner E. Goodman

Tamkis
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Posted on 10-30-13 03:02:10 AM, in The worst OS you have ever used?

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Originally posted by Metal_Man88
Windows 98. It was the crashiest, buggiest thing ever.

Our family's first computer, our NEC Windows 95... omfg, had to be my worst OS of all time. From approximately 1996 to 2004, we regularly used this computer, and being relative young, I did not care about the problems it had. In retrospect, however...

This thing would crash all the time (with illegal exceptions and a Windows 3.1-like BSOD) and running CDs would kill the PC 90% of the time (especially with my favorite game, Rayman, in which the computer did not even have the hardware/software to play the sfx

). Also, opening My Computer froze the computer, and attempting to access the D:\ CD-ROM drive would also freeze it most of the time. We eventually had to put a shortcut to C:\ on the desktop to use the computer! (The disc drive was CD-ROM only; it could not burn CD-R nor CD-RWs, meaning all data transfers was done by using millions of 1.4MB 3.5" Floppy disks. Such bad memories...) Due to mechanical issues in its later years, the CD Drive barely even opened its tray, without using a kitchen knife to initially get it to open. The HDD has had to get reformatted several times too, due to boot problems.

Somewhat off-topic, I recently discovered, that for all of these years, there was a USB 1.1 port on the back of the PC. *Tamkis bangs head against wall, at all of the bad experiences in external data management that could have been avoided.* We still have this dinosaur kept in my brother's room, and someday, I may backup all of the data on a 2GB USB stick, as well as maybe program microcontrollers and make N64 homebrew with GSUpload, using the rare serial and parallel ports on it. Because my laptop lacks voltage, built-in serial and parallel ports, and an ExpressCard slot, and because Serial/Parallel to USB cables do not work

...
---

Windows 8 ranks in 2nd, in worst OSes. I watched a friend in a dorm upstairs use his W8 desktop, and ouch, I was really turned off by it (pun intended).

____________________
"For he who serves his fellows, is of all his fellows, greatest"
--- Urner E. Goodman

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