VT-Vincent

I upgraded my old HTPC to it, unfortunately it wasn't really a great experience. The machine was a 6 year old Lenovo that isn't officially supported beyond Windows 7 and it had some stability and odd USB problems as a result. On my new HTPC, it's running fine and it does seem to be a step in the right direction. It doesn't feel out of place as a desktop OS in the same way Windows 8 did, but there's still some UI work to be done. The modern/metro/8/whatever-the-f***-we're-calling-them-this-week apps still feel out of place and a little disjointed alongside the classic Windows desktop. It's also sad to see some compatibility issues coming up with older software, notably some emulators that still use DirectDraw.

I went from being a computer technician in a high school to managing a deployment of iPads in a middle school. They break them, I replace them.

Usually they have you install a virtual USB driver on the computer then install the printer normally using that virtual port. What's the model number of the router?

This is a tough one for me. Even though it was late, I ended up buying all of them over this last generation. The 360 is the console I probably use the least since it doesn't really have any exclusives I want or any compelling features. There may be a Wii U and Vita in my future (with a price drop plus one or two compelling games) and probably a PS4 at some point. The next Xbox though, I'm not so sure. It's pretty much a mystery right now but considering how the last generation went I could see skipping out on it.

Welcome aboard!

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the support! That's something that kind of surprised me to be honest, when I first started this I knew of similar stories as well. For the most part, it did actually adapt very well. The only area that has been a little bit of a problem is around my stomach but that seems to be getting better over time. I think because I lost it gradually it adapted as I went along much better. A lot of people who lose this much weight usually do it quickly as a result of medical procedures so it's more of an issue. I'm glad to say the response has been mostly positive but there have been a few people that were concerned I lost too much or thought I may have been doing unhealthy things to lose it. I suppose that's only natural. I've certainly gotten a few double-takes when I've encountered some colleagues I haven't met in a long time, lol. I'd say the biggest motivation is actually all of the old photos I have, I'm not proud that I let myself go that badly and those serve as a reminder that I need to maintain it. There's also the financial motivation too, I've had to replace my wardrobe 4 times since I've started this and if I gained it back it would be quite expensive to do it again! I certainly have my moments of weakness, but I do actually allow myself one "cheating day" a week. That way I can enjoy the foods I like without derailing my diet. Whoops!

I've actually been using it since the launch and I've upgraded all of my machines. I actually agree with Microsoft that the Start Menu was under-used, at least in my case, so it's removal didn't really bother me that much. I will say though that the "Modern" interface is god-awful. It seems like the only idea Microsoft had in mind was to make these applications as useless as possible and waste as much screen real estate on the least amount of information as they could. Virtually all of the apps are completely worthless and inferior to their desktop counterparts.

As of late I haven't been very active here at 1Emu, or any other forum for that matter. I also haven't been maintaining my online projects for a while now. So what have I been up to? Well, it has been a project of self-improvement and one of the biggest parts of that has been getting my weight under control. At my worst when I started this about 2 years ago, I used to weigh 285 Lbs. and I'm only 5'11". I'm glad to say that I've made a lot of progress, as of a few weeks ago I'm down to 165 Lbs. Here's the closest thing I have to a before-and-after, the photo to the left is from late 2009 and I weighed about 260 Lbs there: So what did I do? To be honest there wasn't any silver-bullet to it. I just started eating better with very small changes, like cutting out soda or just ordering a little less fast food. Doing that alone made me drop about 30 Lbs in only a few months. That motivated me to start doing more like walking a mile or two per day and cutting out fast food completely. Today, I walk 5-6 miles per day and I track my calories carefully and try not to go over 1,200 per day. It it took a lot of time and hard work, but I have to say it's been worth it. Today my target weight of 150 Lbs. seems well within reach. If I could tell anyone struggling with this problem one thing, it would be to believe that you can do it. It's really tough not to see those immediate results but it's important to realize that even small changes do make a difference.

Welcome back, it's great to see the place back up!

The lowest I remember is $1.29/gal. At that price, I could have filled my car up for about $13 instead of $40

RockNES, an NES emulator for Windows was updated today. Here's what's new in this release: Download: http://rocknes.kinox.org/

I've been on my Samsung 24" as my main monitor for a while now, it has a max resolution of 1920x1200. I also have a small 17" 4:3 Samsung that I use as a second monitor and that is at 1280x1024. I'd really like to buy a 27" but most of them are the same resolution as my current monitor, unless of course I go to a dual DVI workstation monitor which would easily set me back $1,000 or more. If I wanted to pay that much, I'd just break down and by the 27" iMac I've been eyeing up for a while now.

RockNES, an NES emulator for Windows received a minor update today: Download: http://rocknes.kinox.org/

Sadly I don't see prices dropping much. The closest thing we have ever seen for a price drop was when we transitioned from cartridges to optical media. For a short generation, we went from $60 to $50. They won't drop prices significantly as long as they can still sell the game. They will only drop prices when they can't sell it anymore. It's really awful how these companies are just using digital distribution and DLC as a way of raping their loyal customers. A good example of how it could be done right would be Steam. The prices on most games are drastically lower than their boxed counterparts and for the most part the DRM scheme they use is fair. Why not make a service like that which people might actually enjoy?

Digital distribution is an inevitability and to be honest I don't even necessarily have a problem with it. Implementations like Apple's are actually relatively fair. They allow for use of any purchased apps on up to 5 machines and any machines you are not using can be easily deactivated. Unfortunately the console manufacturers haven't taken the same strategy and actually managed to turn it into a massive disadvantage. Considering how they are also interested in nothing but making money in the here-and-now I also can't wait to see how quick the online infrastructure of today's consoles is dumped when we move to the next generation. Sad to say, I don't think we'll be going back and playing any of today's great games 10 years down the line I'm sure Sony won't mind charging us again for them though in their classics store.

Stella, a multi-platform Atari 2600 VCS emulator has been updated today: Download: http://stella.sourceforge.net/

Stella, an open-source multi-platform Atari 2600 VCS emulator has been updated today. Here's a list of what's new in v3.5.5: Due to changes in the debugger, old state files will not work with this release. Fixed bug in sound restructuring introduced in the last release; in some cases, there could be some sound 'crackling' when starting a ROM after at least one ROM had already been loaded. Several significant improvements to the debugger I/O tab: added controller input widgets for many of the built-in controllers, allowing to control joysticks, paddles, etc from within the debugger. added ability to modify the SWCHB/SWBCNT port B registers. added ability to view TIA INPTx and VBLANK latch/dump bits. [*]Reworked 'mcontrol' argument, and added ability to map the mouse axes separately for paddles 0-3 or driving controllers 0-1. In such modes, the left mouse button is tied to the x-axis, and the right button is tied to the y-axis. [*]Mouse 'specific-axis' mode is now saved per-ROM, meaning that each ROM can have separate settings. For example, this allows one ROM to use paddles 0 and 1, while another can use paddles 0 and 2, etc. [*]The key-combo for switching the mouse between controller modes is now 'Control-0' (Control-1,2,3 have been removed). This switches between all possible modes for the current virtual controllers. [*]Fixed bug in 'Fixed Debug Colors' mode; under certain circumstances, playfield graphics could be coloured as being player graphics. [*]Fixed bug in PAL color-loss setting in Video Settings; changing the settings wouldn't take effect until the ROM was reloaded. [*]Fixed bugs with cheatcode handling; loading a ROM with a cheat disabled would sometimes trash the emulation. More work is required in this area, including the ability to create more advanced types of cheats. [*]Updated ROM properties database for all Sega Genesis controller compatible ROMs. Also, the mouse can now emulate a Genesis controller, with the left/right buttons mapped to buttons B and C, respectively. [*]Added 'FA2' bankswitch scheme, thanks to code from Chris D. Walton. This scheme will be used in an upcoming 'Star Castle' ROM. [*]Updated internal ROM properties database to ROM-Hunter version 7 (thanks go to RomHunter for his tireless research in this area). [*]Added several PERL tools to help in automation of analyzing RomHunter ROM set releases. [*]Fixed compile issues in Irix when using the default compiler instead of gcc. Thanks go to Rainer M. Canavan for this code. [*]Updated included PNG library to latest stable version. Download this release here: http://stella.source...t/downloads.php

I drive a black 2009 Honda Civic. It's not much, but it gets me from point A to point B.

Atari800MacX, a port of David Firth's Atari 800 emulator to Mac OS X has been updated recently. Here's a list of the changes in this release: Changes in v4.6.0: Note, this may be the last release supporting PPC, 10.4, and possibly 10.5. If you have any bugs you need fixed or new features you feel you have to have for these older versions, please email me and I will consider them. Bugs Fixed: Fixed issues with arrow keys in full screen menu and some of the Atari arrow key mappings. Fixed issues with assigning tab, return, and delete as joystick keys when using international key mappings. Download and Project Page: http://www.atarimac....tari800macx.php

SSF, an outstanding Sega Saturn emulator for Windows has been updated today. SSF's changelog is in Japanese so the following is a Google translation of the changes in this release: Download and Project Page: http://www7a.biglobe.../~phantasy/ssf/

That's a very impressive build you have there. Unfortunately it has been my experience that higher-end machines usually don't go for what they are really worth on places like Craigslist. In the past when I've upgraded my machines I usually sell the old parts piece-by-piece on eBay. I have had moderate success doing that but it's still rare to recoup most of the value. The one thing that is almost always a complete loss though is the case. There isn't much of a market for after-market cases. If you are going to do Craigslist, I'd suggest pricing out similar new computers through manufacturers like Dell and HP so you can have some idea of the value then price down from there. When listing on Craigslist I always put my asking price about 10-20% higher than I actually expect to get so you can have some wiggle room with pricing. If you still have the original box to your case you may want to consider shipping it to your new location. USPS Parcel Post and UPS Ground are fairly cheap for the size you will be shipping.

Ootake, a Turbo Grafx 16 emulator for Windows has been updated today. Here's a list of changes in this release: The performance of these days' PC improved. So the default setting was made high-definition setting. At the menu space of "Save State" and "Load State", "the elapsed time from the game start" is indicated. If the save file is started with the old version (before v1.14), the elapsed time isn't indicated. If the game is reset by [F1] key, it's possible to reset the elapsed time. Or, after state file of the old version is read, if you carry out the "File->Set Resume" menu, the elapsed time is reset. [*]A severe indication restriction mode of Sprite (at width 336 pixel mode) was mounted. When the check is put at "CPU->Perform SpriteLimit" menu, it's effective. In "R-TYPE Complete CD", a flicker of sprite (character) becomes the same motion (intense flicker more the "R-Type I" of Hu-CARD) as a real machine. [*]The speed and timing were brought close to the movement of a real machine. In "Metal Angel", the problem which cannot start a game (from v2.58) was solved. [*]Additionally, a detailed part has been improved and corrected. [*]The execution file for "Windows 98/Me" was opened to the public. The operation test is not done. Please see "Readme98.txt" in the ZIP file about details and notes, etc. http://www.ouma.jp/f...ke263-for98.zip [*]I began Twitter. (Japanese language) http://twitter.com/kitao_n Project Page & Download: http://www.ouma.jp/ootake/

To be honest, I actually don't mind Windows as much as the ecosystem that surrounds it. Malware is one of the biggest issues on the Windows platform but UI and general design sensibility seems to be lacking from most applications these days. On the Mac side, most dedicated Mac applications have better UI design. While Microsoft has actually tried to curb their developers in the right direction with UI guidelines, everyone just seems to ignore them. Unfortunately when it comes to the malware issue, all Microsoft has really done is implement UAC and release MS Security Essentials. Both are essentially just band-aids for the gaping wound. They need to fundamentally rethink the way applications interact with the OS to fix this problem. The Mac side is an interesting beast. I have the unique position of working in a school district that uses Macs almost exclusively so I have had a lot of hands-on time using and troubleshooting the platform. One of the biggest issues that bothers me about OS X is the performance hit. The OS feels much less optimized for the hardware than Windows and is noticeably more sluggish in just about every task. Pair this with mediocre specs on their computers and it's clear that they are not the platform for performance. Another gripe I take with the Mac side isn't really Apple's fault, but there is a lack of 3rd part support. Most applications that are dual-platform are superior on the Windows side. Trillian Astra and Microsoft Office both being great examples. The toughest part for me over the years has been choosing between the two and I really haven't decided to pick either one over the other. I switch between the two and use both sides for different reasons. It's certainly nice to see another viable consumer OS on the market though.

They are doing themselves more harm than good in these debates. It seems like there are at least a few choice clips from every one of them. I think the best one so far had to be the entire audience booing a gay solider who asked a legitimate question. It's amazing that party could actually disrespect someone who is risking their life to defend them. I remember seeing an Iowa poll the other day and the results were pretty interesting. Newt was in the lead with Mitt Romney and Ron Paul behind but they were all within 5 points of each other.

I actually switched from Firefox to Chrome back when Firefox was on version 3.6.x. I used to like Firefox for it's web development plugins but a lot of those are on Chrome now so it's kind of a non-issue. The speed is definitely what made me switch, not just in loading web pages but just the responsiveness of the application. Chrome also has a better browser sync feature than FF.