Watch it here

Watch it here

WinUAE 0.9.92 (22.12.2004) "WinUAE 1.0 public beta #3"

======================================================

Final beta before 1.0 (?)

Bug fixes:

- Regular HDF TD_GEOMETRY returned incorrect data. (caused some

larger HDF's fail to mount, 0.9.91 only)

- Filesystem bug fix (0.9.90-91), files with Windows

System or Hidden -flag set didn't open properly in all cases.

- Stardust starwars-scroller in cycle-exact mode.

- SuperStardust AGA tunnel-section and Superfrog intro bee flashing

plus other sprite emulation fixes.

- Random disk formatting verify errors when using non-turbo mode

(was broken couple of releases ago)

- Display corruption/crashes if display width was larger than 1024

and display depth was 32bit (only native display mode, Picasso96

was unaffected)

- Windowed mode window close button didn't work if "Use CTRL+F11

to quit" was enabled

- input-panel autofire yes/no-selection

- AVIOutput video recording bug in interlaced modes

New features:

- Filesystem emulation now uses NTFS named streams to store Amiga

FS protection flags and comment instead of __UAEFSDB.__-files.

(non-NTFS drives still use old method)

- Postscript printer emulation using Ghostscript. All Windows

supported printers work now. Amiga-side only needs standard Amiga

Postscript printer driver.

- Automatic print job flush after user configurable timeout.

- Improved hardfile creation, filesystem selection (OFS/FFS/SFS) etc..

- Disk swapper key shortcuts.

END+1-0 (not numeric keypad) = insert image from swapper slot 1-10

END+SHIFT+1-0 = insert image from swapper slot 11-20

END+CTRL+1-4 = select drive

- GUI drag'n'drop. (no more ugly up/down arrows)

- screenshots are now named _xxx.bmp

- user configurable emulation speed adjustment from 5 to 100 fps

- rar and 7zip -archive support (using archiveaccess.dll)

- some custom chipset emulation improvements here and there.

- improved drive click sound emulation

- X-Arcade build-in key mappings

- onscreen disk and HD leds flash red while writing

- "Always on top"-windowed mode setting

and more..

Download it at official site : WinUAE

With 70% of game completion, I finished all the missions. One of the best game ever.

The current thinking has been that Microsoft would leverage its success in the console business to eventually have its products dominate the living room. It's all about integrating various forms of entertainment, not just games. Robbie Bach goes into further detail about MS' consumer strategy for the Xbox 2.

It's been said numerous times that the location of the next-generation console battle is likely to be the living room, as both Microsoft and Sony are aiming to create systems that not only play video games but also serve as entertainment hubs.

Further proof of this surfaced in a recent Business Week interview with Robbie Bach, senior vice president of the Games Division at Microsoft Corp. and Chief Xbox Officer (CXO). Bach reveals that things like digital photos, video, music, and general communications could all potentially be combined into one device.

A digital lifestyle

"It's one of those things that's in the process of happening. You see the opportunities for integration coming. We're taking advantage of those. It takes time for that to take effect in the marketplace.

A digital lifestyle is developing that incorporates things you do online with things you do with entertainment, with things you do with gaming, with things you do with music, movies, TV. As that all comes together, Xbox is certainly going to play an important role. And that means it needs to integrate with other parts of Microsoft that are going to play an important role as well," explains Bach.

An example of where this could be headed can already be found in Microsoft's newly released Media Center Extenders, which work wirelessly with Media Center PCs to allow users to access video, music, and pictures and then play them on any TV or stereo around the house. Before any kind of integration can take place, however, Bach points out that the individual components must succeed on their own first:

"It's important at the foundation level for things like Media Center, MSN, Xbox to be successful in their own right. You're seeing with all three properties that their success is broadening. Then the opportunities to integrate them become more palpable.

The Extender product, which I use at home, is a great product and proves that integration can deliver great customer benefit. The number of people doing distributed video in the home today is not large now. It's increasing. It's a market for the future."

"World's best game console"

When questioned specifically about the successor to the current Xbox, Bach seemed reluctant to discuss the next-generation console, but he then hinted at Microsoft's plans for integration of all kinds of entertainment, including the gaming sector. "Well, we haven't talked about the next version of Xbox. But people know we're working on it, and people have to assume it's going to be the world's best game console. That's the place where it needs to start. But we do think there are going to be opportunities to enable what we've called 'integrated innovation' scenarios. You can assume that everything we do -- the gaming side and things that integrate with other forms of entertainment -- is going to get better and better and better."

Areas for integration

Bach then proceeds to break down the forms of entertainment that he feels will become a necessary part of MS' "integrated innovation" scenario.

Imagery: "Certainly, there's the idea that you're going to want to share what I'll call for lack of a better phrase your digital memories, whether that's digital photos or digital video."

Music: "Music is clearly a scenario that everyone is focused on... The consumers we talk to in MSN or Xbox or the Windows team say music is a very essential part of what they do whether it's on an Xbox or a PC or some other device."

Broadcast video: "You can think about sharing broadcast video. That's going to be a richer scenario. The work we're doing in Microsoft TV with Comcast is really good. It's well integrated. The idea that you're going to want to share that, that you're going to want to have that on a network -- that is going to happen."

Communications: "Communications turns out to be a very important scenario as well, whether that's chat, messaging, blogging, telephony."

Clues about MS' communication plans for the next Xbox were revealed as far back as May 2004 at the E3Expo where a video camera similar to Sony's EyeToy was demonstrated with the help of the lovely Jenny McCarthy who participated in a web cam chat with MS' J. Allard.

Whether or not all of these "integrated innovation" scenarios will actually come to fruition for the Xbox 2 remains to be seen. Hopefully, the Consumer Electronics Show (January) and Game Developers Conference (March) will give us a much clearer picture.

Filesize: 663.8 MB

File-Type: application/zip

Hosted since: 05/12/2004 03:51

A guy recorded this 3hours video, showing you how he completed the game..

Fraunhofer IIS, Thomson and Agere Systems unveil free MP3 Surround evaluation download. Full versions of MP3 Surround encoder and decoder available from www.mp3surround-format.com.

MP3, the world’s most popular audio compression format, goes multi-channel. Scientists and engineers from Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS, who developed MP3 together with their colleagues from Thomson, the exclusive licensing representative for their MP3 patents, and Agere Systems, have joined to launch MP3 Surround into the consumer and commercial markets. This technology will enable 5.1 channel surround sound for a broad spectrum of applications including web-based music distribution, broadcasting systems, PC-related audiovisual or gaming applications, consumer electronics and automotive systems.

MP3 Surround supports high-quality multi-channel sound at bit rates comparable to those currently used to encode stereo MP3 material, resulting in files half the size of common compressed surround formats. At the same time, the new format offers complete backward compatibility to any existing MP3 software and hardware devices.

Attracting attention at several recent events and fairs, the new MP3 Surround format has become eagerly anticipated by the vast MP3 user community. The web site www.mp3surround-format.com now provides users immediate download access to free MP3 Surround evaluation software, demo samples and detailed technology information

Thomson, which has partnered with Fraunhofer IIS since the launch of MP3 in 1992, is adding Fraunhofer Institute’s new MP3 Surround technology to its licensing program.

“The free MP3 Surround evaluation software will enable everyone to test the latest feature of the digital audio standard. We encourage music artists, engineers and producers to experience this new multi-channel audio format and realize the benefits of its portability and backward compatibility,” said Henri Linde, Vice President, Growth Initiatives, Audio & mp3 program of the Intellectual Property and Licensing unit for Thomson

The evaluation encoder enables the creation of MP3 Surround material out of five or six channel “.wav“ files. The Fraunhofer IIS MP3 Surround player is capable of decoding and playing back the surround format’s files as well as stereo MP3 material. This software-only solution runs on any standard PC with multi-channel audio capabilities.

MP3 Surround was developed by Fraunhofer IIS in collaboration with Agere Systems. Using a psychoacoustic technique called binaural cue coding, MP3 Surround captures the spatial image information of multi-channel sound. This method is critical in achieving the compact file size that MP3 users expect.

“We are delighted to advance MP3 into the area of multi-channel audio, with the help of Agere Systems. As surround sound is increasingly gaining importance in the marketplace, we are confident that MP3 Surround will attract the attention of music production professionals and consumers alike,” comments Juergen Herre, Chief Executive Scientist at Fraunhofer IIS.

“Together, Fraunhofer IIS and Agere are developing technology that will contribute to the delivery of a compelling compressed multi-channel audio solution,” said Peter Kroon, chief multimedia architect for Agere’s Mobility business. “This work is part of Agere’s overall commitment to provide advanced multimedia technology that enables consumers to stay connected.”

The evaluation period of the MP3 Surround encoder will expire on the 31st of December 2005, while the Fraunhofer IIS player will continue to remain fully functional. The use of the software is allowed for personal and non-commercial purposes only. Professionals can license MP3 Surround from Thomson at www.mp3licensing.com.

Watch it here

Alors que les fournisseurs d'accès à Internet par l'ADSL proposent en masse des accès 8 Mbit/s grâce à l'ADSL Max et se penchent sur l'ADSL 2+ (jusqu'à 16 Mbit/s), le câblo-opérateur NC Numéricable annonce son offre au débit record de 20 Mbit/s. Noos prévoit entre 8 et 10 Mbit/s en janvier.

Cette offre est proposée au prix de 59.90 euros par mois, NC Numéricable précise que le débit en voie montante (upload) est de 512 Kb. A noter que pour tout nouvel abonnement, NC offre pour l'instant les 106€ de frais d'ouverture et les 50€ pour le modem. Aucun frais de résiliation n'est demandé.

Il s'agit principalement pour les câblo-opérateurs de reprendre pied sur le marché en proposant la même chose que les FAI de l'ADSL. En tous cas cette course aux débits ne peut-être, espérons le, que bénéfique pour l'internaute, dans la mesure où la concurrence fait rage !

I just uploaded some photos of my trip in CA, time for you to wait for the video..

http://www.onickz.com/trips/california.htm

You can download this eyecandy here : http://www.aubade.com/telechargements/fichiers/calendrier/2005.zip

Contractor UK says that there is the very real chance that there could be a shortage of IT jobs in the UK in ensuing years. However in Australia, this holiday season is shaping up to be far from merry for many IT Companies who are facing a resource shortage that they are finding hard to counter.

This year has seen some of the biggest releases in gaming history and as many of the much anticipated releases are about to hit the shelves, employers are saddling up for what is expected to be a rocky ride.

Australian software consultancy company DotDuck has already begun the hunt for staff in preperation for the Gaming silly season, as releases such as Microsoft's Halo2, Vivendi's Half-Life 2 and EA's Need for Speed Underground 2 approach.

A spokesman for the Industry has been quoted as saying "Annual leave for the weeks following November 16 have sky rocketed as it was confirmed that Half Life 2 would indeed be released on that date"

Further to these statements, CEO of IntelliWAre John Smith reported that staff were in fact leaving their jobs to cater for their gaming needs. "Some staff already used their annual leave with the release of ID Soft's Doom3, and Rockstars GTA: San Andreas, and rather than face the prospect of minimising game time to 5-6 hours per day we're finding that employees are just leaving. It sounds absurd but it really is happening"

Rather than try and compete with games, one IT company based in Sydney declared a company holiday the day GTA: San Andreas was released.

With a crisis looming, IT companies are starting to point the finger, and the consensus is that John Howard is to blame.

It is the belief of many companies that the Australian Welfare system is tailored to the simple lifestyle of the hard core gamer.

Most of the gamers are able to survive on the so called "Minimum" living allowance due to the fact that for the cost of a broadband adsl connection they are able to download more games than you can poke a preverbial stick at. Not only this but the minimalist lives led by a gamer is inexpensive as a Melbourne gamer "Randy" explains.

"Usually i game 20-22 hours a day, i expend very little energy so i don't need to sleep. Food is a snap as i can order pizza using vouchers for as little as $5 and because i dont shower i have no water bill. Electricity is a little pricy, as i have my xbox, pc, ps2 and plasma screen running 24 by 7, but this is offset by my phone bill. I have no friends so I don't make any calls. My parents occasionally call but I have caller ID so I don't need to talk to them."

"The last time i went outside was to buy a new stash of DVD-R's after my adsl connection was out for 3 days."

IT companies are saying this trend is on the rise with employee's realising that work offers little to no incentive when you can "get by" on the government handouts.

Colin Jones from ITSecure in Hobart argues "Even the best marketing in the world can't compete with free, and thats basically what the government is doing. Giving people free money"

The problems with employment however are not the only ugly heads raring with the gaming explosion. Mary from downtown Adelaide reports that her husband left her for his PS2.

"He simply said that his life as 'Carl Johnson' was much more exciting and Carl didn't nag like she did, let him play with guns and sleep with ho's"

A similar story was told by Donna of rural town Dubbo, who said the family's farm is being auctioned off this week after her husband Darryl refused to work on the farm after his copy of Doom3 arrived. "He just sat there and played for about 36 straight hours when it first arrived. We tried to get him to stop by turning the power off at the mains, but he got violent and tied us up in the bedroom. Luckily a neighbour found us and let us out, but Darryl barely batted an eyelid when he was summoned to appear at Dubbo court. He simply reloaded the BFG and said i'll be out when i finish this level"

That was 6 weeks ago, and Donna has since left.

Welfare groups are also joining the uprising, urging that legal restrictions be imposed on children playing games as one 14 year old was found slumped over his PS2 after having a heart attack. He had drunk 14 Red Bull energy drinks in less than 24 hours after going 38 hours without sleep. The coroners report said that "His 128kg frame just wasn't built for that sort of gaming"

Doctors have also begun receiving cases of children as young as 12 are getting arthritis in their thumbs, elbows and hips as their bodies cave in under the pressure of intense gaming. "Even boiling an egg for these children will become a chore" not that it will matter as 131166 can be assigned to any speed dial, and even the most arthritic 12 year old can muster the co-ordination to hit one key.

Dean Brown, the Federal Minister for Gaming announced on monday that "we are working with gaming vendors on staggering release dates to give gamers an oppurtunity to finish games, within a reasonable time frame. We are also looking to incorporate timers and other devices that will limit game play to 4-5 hours a day"

Gamers are not happy tho and a picket outside parliment house yesterday turned ugly as flaming controllers and sharpened DVD's were flung at riot police. One gamer said "I haven't been out in 32 weeks, but if these pigs think they can stop me from gaming till i drop then they are violating the most basic of rights of every human being to have a recreation"

New Cell Processor Details Emerge

The big three involved in Cell development have kept things under wraps for several months, but that all changed today. Get the latest information on the "revolutionary" microprocessor that will power the PlayStation 3.

New information regarding the chip that will be at the heart of the next-generation PlayStation has surfaced today, with the three companies that are collaborating on the Cell microprocessor—IBM, Toshiba Corp. and Sony Group (Sony Corporation and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.)—revealing some key concepts about the chip's architecture as well as some detail on the firms' respective plans for the use of this "breakthrough" technology.

Introducing "super" chip

The advanced Cell microprocessor was confirmed to be a multi-core chip; it will be comprised of a 64-bit Power processor core and "multiple synergistic processor cores capable of massive floating point processing." This parallel computing architecture allows for rich media applications and "super computer-like performance."

Other key features of the Cell chip include support for multiple operating systems at the same time, a real-time resource management system for real-time applications, a flexible on-chip I/O (input/output) interface, and an on-chip security system for intellectual property protection.

In addition, the three companies claim that the chip, which will be built using 90-nanometer (nm) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology, employs a special circuit design to increase overall performance while saving power at the same time.

IBM's senior vice president, Dr. John E. Kelly III, commented, "Less than four years ago, we embarked on an ambitious collaborative effort with Sony Group and Toshiba to create a highly-integrated microprocessor designed to overcome imminent transistor scaling, power and performance limitations in conventional technologies. Today, we're revealing just a sampling of what we believe makes the innovative Cell processor a premiere open platform for next-generation computing and entertainment products."

Processing media rich applications

Ken Kutaragi, executive deputy president and COO, Sony Corporation, and president and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI), offered just a hint of what Sony has in store for consumer electronics and the PlayStation 3: "Massive and rich content, like multi-channel HD broadcasting programs as well as mega-pixel digital still/movie images captured by high-resolution CCD/CMOS imagers, require huge amount of media processing in real-time. In the future, all forms of digital content will be converged and fused onto the broadband network, and will start to explode."

He continued, "To access and/or browse sea of content freely in real-time, more sophisticated GUI within the 3D world will become the 'key' in the future. Current PC architecture is nearing its limits, in both processing power and bus bandwidth, for handling such rich applications."

The three companies have been collaborating on Cell since 2001 at a joint lab in Austin, Texas. Pilot production of the chip is scheduled to start sometime during the first half of 2005 at IBM's 300mm wafer fabrication facility in East Fishkill, NY. Sony has already contributed about $325 million to the plant for chip production.

Now that's power

As indicated by the comments above, Cell's technology will have wide-ranging implications that extend beyond Sony's next-generation PlayStation. IBM is currently developing a Cell-based workstation with SCEI that could potentially provide up to 16 teraflops of power, meaning it could perform 16 trillion mathematical operations per second.

This incredible power could give Intel and its Pentium processors a very real challenge. Intel's architecture typically requires multiple chips to handle specific tasks, while Cell's multi-core chip incorporates an "all-in-one" design that could potentially cut costs significantly, as well as increase speed.

In addition to its computing applications, Cell's impact will also be felt in the consumer electronics field. Both Sony and Toshiba plan on launching their own high-definition televisions powered by the Cell processor in 2006. Sony expects to launch home servers for broadband content in 2006 as well.

Given the fact that Cell pilot production won't even start until sometime in the first half of next year, it's fairly clear now that the PlayStation 3 won't be released in 2005—most in the industry have been guessing late 2006 as the target date for a while now. However, the industry will likely get its first glimpse of the next-generation PlayStation at the E3Expo next May.

Many more technical details on the Cell will be revealed at the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco from February 6-10.

[source: gamedaily.com - thx to cgshady]