Tuesday, January 25th, 2005
The Corrupt Stack Frame picks up a +6 SegFault.
The Corrupt Stack Frame wields a +6 SegFault!
What do you want to wield? [- a or ?*]a
a - a blessed +3 debugger called GDB (weapon in hand).
You miss the Corrupt Stack Frame.
You miss the Corrupt Stack Frame.
The Corrupt Stack Frame hits! The Corrupt Stack Frame hits! --more--
The Corrupt Stack Frame hits! Your debugger seems less effective!
You miss the Corrupt Stack Frame.
You kill the Corrupt Stack Frame!
Whoot! cvs commit
But wait... --more--
The Corrupt Stack Frame's medallion begins to glow!
The Corrupt Stack Frame looks much better! The medallion crumbles to dust!--More--
The Corrupt Stack Frame hits! The Corrupt Stack Frame hits! --more--
Your debugger seems less effective! --more--
The Corrupt Stack Frame spreads to your other code!--more--
The Corrupt Stack Frame hits!--more--
You die...--more--
Do you want your possessions identified? [ynq] (n)y
d - A repository full of broken code.
I’m debuggin ListPatron :)
Tuesday, January 25th, 2005
I have joined in the online IRC Idle RPG game on #nethack-idlerpg (Freenode), in seek of fame, fortune, high levels and extraordinary ammounts of idle time. I’m kind of chatty, so this might become a problem.
The goal of the game? To be idle. Yes, that’s right, idle. Do not speak a word. Do not disconnect, do not /quit, /nick, etc. You’re not supposed to do anything! All is controlled by the RNG (Random Number God). Of course, people playing nethack knew al along that absolutely everything is in control of the RNG, so this is nothing new to them.
Here are my player statistics and my position on the world map.
This is the most useless thing ever! I like.
Tuesday, January 25th, 2005
Coincidence has it that after my post on the DVORAK keyboard layout (sorry, can’t link to it. BBcode is broken), a discussion about the same topic has now emerged on slashdot. I’ll quote some of the more interesting posts: (some contents stripped)
Ironically, QWERTY was actually designed to slow down the typist to prevent jamming the keys, and we’ve been stuck with that layout since.
Stop perpetuating myths .
All the “evidence” to support that theory comes from a single paper (all three links point to it). If you are will to read a reasoned rebuttal to it then read this.
Short version. The two authors are economists who don’t know crap about typing. Dvorak wrote a 500 page book about just typing of which only a small part was about his alternative keyboard. So, believe the suits or believe somebody who actually knows what he’s talking about.
In reply to the post about the rebutal. I don’t really find the rebutal all that reasonable. First of all, it’s highly unscientific and reads more as a rant than any really thought-out rebutal. (much like this post) I mean, with captions like this “Claim: Dr. Dvorak Was a Mercenary Huckster”, who will take you seriously?
The rebutal tries to smoothen out the bumps that the “fabel” artcile has made in the claim that DVORAK is superiour. For instance:
The “Fable” article takes a direct swipe at Dvorak’s motives; pointedly mentioning that he owned the patent for his keyboard, and, in the same breath, that he received at least $130,000 for “studies.” The clear implication is that Dvorak was out for profit and used grant money for his marketing R&D.
…
What about Dvorak’s patent? The article’s authors might like us to think anybody who holds a patent is a fraud. I doubt it. The article doesn’t mention that Dvorak sank a good deal of his own money into building Dvorak typewriters (Cassingham). On the face of it, that does show vested interest, but it also shows that Dvorak believed in his invention!
So what? He may or may not have been after monetary gains, who cares? That’s not the point of the “Fable” article, it’s a mere example. The point is that there is no scientific evidence of DVORAK’s superiority other than the studies done by Dvorak himself, and those were biased. You can’t change the facts. Maybe Dvorak actually is a better layout (whatever that means), but it’ll have to be proven by independant back-up studies, not by perpetuating a myth for which there is no evidence. The rebutal article contains tons of this kind of flawed reasoning.
Really, some people just don’t seem to understand how science works.
The Fable article does not attack the superiority of DVORAK. It attacks the methods with which that fact was established.
My oppinion on the whole matter is quite easy: I don’t care if QWERTY is better or worse than DVORAK. Really, if you can point out some good evidence of the fact that either one is better, I’ll probably agree. (don’t forget to define ‘better’). However, do not keep perpetuating myths just because you heard someone else claim DVORAK was faster.
Sunday, January 23rd, 2005
Cool online strip
Saturday, January 22nd, 2005
Well, this study suggests that there is no proof for the fact that DVORAK is actually a better/faster keyboard layout.
But the evidence in the standard history of Qwerty versus Dvorak is flawed and incomplete. First, the claims for the superiority of the Dvorak keyboard are suspect. The most dramatic claims are traceable to Dvorak himself, and the best-documented experiments, as well as recent ergonomic studies, suggest little or no advantage for the Dvorak keyboard.
Thursday, January 20th, 2005
There’s a theory called the Broken Windows theory which states, roughly, that once degredation starts, it will soon become worse if not attended too. The theory further suggests that the degradation has more influence than one might expect.
This theory is usually brougt in relation with vandalism and crime. I found an interesting transscript of a speech which goes a little deeper and links it with discussions, debates and perhaps all social interaction.
Interestingly enough, I’ve recently witnessed this behaviour on the Rec.Games.Roguelikes.Nethack newsgroup in this thread (Scroll down to the first post by Wavy_G).
A quite common scenario. Of course Wavy_G is a troll, that much is obvious from his other posts. However, had “Antti V V Vierikko” never fed the troll (ironically, by stating “YHBT”, which means You Have Been Trolled, he actually feeds the troll. A common error) there would have been no problem. Next up comes “BWIGLEY”, and trolls some more. *Blam* The thread explodes and the troll (whomever it was that was trolling) succeeds.
Thursday, January 20th, 2005
Check out these nice tits: www.nice-tits.org.
(Suitable for work, trust me. Otherwise I wouldn’t post it)
Thanks for the link, Flunk!
Wednesday, January 19th, 2005
I’m having so much fun reading microsoft.com, I’ve decided to share some more with you:
Learn how Internet Explorer is setting the new standard in privacy, reliability, and flexibility on the Web.
(source)
Q.How do I turn off pop-up ads? A. This fix is for advanced users because it may affect your Web browsing experience.
(source)
Pop-up advertisements occur when the administrator of a Web site adds code to the page you are visiting, making the ads open on your machine when you first visit the site, or at other times while you view the site.
(source)
Or when you use Internet Explorer and some asshat installs adware on your PC through it.. then you’ll get it 24/7, courtesy of MS.
Reliability You Can Count On — On Internet Explorer
(source)
Continuous protection improves Internet browsing safety by guarding more than 50 ways spyware can enter your PC. […] Microsoft researchers quickly develop methods to counteract these threats, and updates are automatically downloaded to your PC so you stay up to date.
— On their anti-spyware tool (source)
As opposed to just creating products that are secure in the first place. Gotta love it.
Spyware expertise you can rely on.
— On their anti-spyware tool (source)
Whoops, forgot to mention that they just bought the product from some other company and that they have no real expertise on spyware yet!
Automatically stay up to date. Updates to counteract new spyware are automatically downloaded to your PC
— On their anti-spyware tool (source)
Oh my, just like the spyware it’s trying to protect you from! Wauzers.
Microsoft Embraces Interoperability. Find out how Microsoft product interoperability helps you reduce the cost of maintaining existing systems and gives you flexibility for the future.
(source)
The courts seem to disagree on the level of Microsofts interoperatibility.
As an industry leader in the design and development of innovative computer technology, Microsoft’s efforts are reflected in a range of
(source)
As Microsoft themselves have admitted time and time again, their motto is “Embrace and extend”. Nothing innovative ever came out of Microsoft, except for annoying paperclips that won’t go away. Name one thing Microsoft has invented that wasn’t already invented by somebody else? Their GUI? Stolen from Xerox. DotNet? Idea stolen from Java. Etcetera.
The information technology industry is united in supporting public policy that maximizes choice and opportunity for governments around the world. To this end, Microsoft works with the Initiative for Software Choice and the Business Software Alliance to promote: Neutral public procurement rules that allow governments to select software that offers them the greatest value.
(source)
I’m not even going to comment on this.
Well, that’s enough. Just thought I’d share a good laugh I had with you.
Wednesday, January 19th, 2005
Tee hee, check out this page:
Find Out Which Operating System Your Computer Is Using at Microsoft.com. Here, let me quote a bit for you:
Find Out Which Operating System Your Computer Is Using
There are many versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system. You may be using Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows XP, or another version. To make sure you know which version is on your computer:
1. Click Start, and then click Run.
Yah, whatever, Microsoft ;-)
Monday, January 17th, 2005
Fairly useless Nethack Statistics.
The text of all posts on this blog, unless specificly mentioned otherwise, are licensed under this license.
