Disqus - Latest Comments for thesprunk

Re: Kickstarter: Novus Aeterno

thesprunk — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 10:15:06 -0000

I think he meant Star Citizen not Sim City.

Unless Star Citizen has merged/been bought by Actiblizzard? which I don't think it has but you learn something new every day.

btw if you havent heard of it: https://robertsspaceindustr...

Re: Kickstarter: Novus Aeterno

thesprunk — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 10:12:49 -0000

there's a game called Lord Of Ultima (separate from Ultima online, although loosely based on it) that plays a bit like an MMORTS. A few thousand people per server and you're able to build armies and bases and move units around in real time with construction and move orders across continents/oceans often taking many hours. There's a "night" mode that is enabled from like midnight to 8am that decreases all offensive attacks by something like 40%, so that if your offensive manuever would land troops at their door during this time it's quite possible that you'll sustain substantial losses or even a full on rout even if you're facing far inferior forces.Not impossible to attack, or win, at night. But incredibly costly.

Something like that could be implemented here depending on how the game play works. Additionally you could have reinforcement timers. there are options for how to overcome this in an MMORTS, but this specific challenge is one of the reasons MMORTS's struggle to take off. Striking a balance that is "fair enough" without giving advantages to others for simply being in a "favorable timezone" is a pretty big challenge, especially in "single server" persistent online worlds.

Re: AMD announces next-gen Radeon HD 7970 for $549, says it 'soundly beats' rivals

thesprunk — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 01:13:21 -0000

Ati had pretty good drivers until AMD decided they wanted to ruin the other half of the gaming industry as well.

Re: Poll: Are you getting a Verizon Galaxy Nexus?

thesprunk — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 23:58:14 -0000

How about no I'm waiting an actual Google nexus, not a Verizon nexus. A sprint or Tmo compatible version that is supported directly from google like the previous aka real nexus phones would be nice.

Screw Vzw

Re: The Galaxy Nexus' Super AMOLED display is a minus, not a Plus

thesprunk — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 23:04:12 -0000

"this results in a lower overall sub-pixel density"
Way to completely ignore the much higher pixel density, thereby largely compensating for this "disappointment."

Re: Microsoft unveils Windows 8 (video)

thesprunk — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 01:23:25 -0000

Well that's ... cute?

Vista, round 2. "It looks so pretty!" "Can it do anything?" "erm ..."

Re: Apple iMac refresh official: Thunderbolt and next gen quad-core processors

thesprunk — Tue, 03 May 2011 23:53:31 -0000

Traditionally apple uses Laptop parts in their imac lineup, and according to intel ark, there's no true i5 Quad core http://ark.intel.com/Produc... . In fact, they say they use a 6M Cache 2.5GHz quad core. Which is weird, cause there's no 2.5GHz quad core with 6M Cache (be it 4 real cores, or 2 cores with SMT) anywhere in their mobile line up, in i5 or even i7. the desktop i5 2400S does however match those specs, so maybe they're using an actual Desktop processor for once (kudos apple)? They're still using a mobile GPU though, so that's an odd pairing, but certainly don't see why thats not doable.

I'll take that challenge though:
$234 Xeon E3-1230: 4 cores, 8 threads 3.2GHz, Sandy Bridge http://www.newegg.com/Produ... (intel ark suggests to sell it for $215, which is the max per 1,000 unit price, which is the price that OEMs like Dell and Apple pay)
$114 GIGABYTE GA-H67N-USB3-B3 http://www.newegg.com/Produ...
$200 LG IPS226V-PN 21.5" IPS display http://www.newegg.com/Produ...
$50 G-SKill 2x2GB DDR3 1333 CAS8 Ram http://www.newegg.com/Produ...
$100 OCZ Vertex 2 60GB SSD http://www.newegg.com/Produ...
$60 Samsung EcoGreen F2 1TB http://www.newegg.com/Produ...
$170 SILVERSTONE Fortress Series FT03S http://www.newegg.com/Produ...
$120 Sapphire 6770 1GB (about as close to an equivalent as you can get for a 6850M)
$50 rosewill Stallion RD450-2-SB 450W Power supply http://www.newegg.com/Produ...

Puts your right at $1100, leaving you plenty of leeway for a nice keyboard and mouse, and lets not forget those are consumer prices. Oh, and you get a much better processor (double the threads), Small stylish case, an SSD AND 1TB storage (compared to the imacs 500GB) and a marginally better graphics card for less with plenty of wiggle room in price.

I'm not harping on apple here. I'm simply saying that it's not that hard to match the price/performance at all and still have style/premium/quality products. What you truly buy when you go apple is a damn good warranty, and a sleek/slim design that you cannot easily replicate.

Re: Seagate copies Samsung's notes, re-breaks areal-density barrier with 1TB HDD platters

thesprunk — Tue, 03 May 2011 23:17:57 -0000

They're forgoing 7200rpm (hell eeven 5400) 4TB internal for a 3TB external? Great. Samsung had great products. Seagate? nah. Hopefully the massive share that samsung took of Seagate stocks will encourage seagate to up their game, but for the time being I'm sticking to Western Digital and Existing Sammy products.

Re: Ubuntu 11.04 'Natty Narwhal' brings new Unity UI, controversy to the desktop

thesprunk — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:37:59 -0000

what are you talking about? Ubuntu has always been built upon Debian. And mint has always been built upon ubuntu.

Re: Android 2.3.4 heading to Nexus S over the air, bringing video and voice chat to Gtalk

thesprunk — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:22:22 -0000

This is an update to the Nexus S, which is basically the development platform. In essence, this is essentially a beta-launch. Very few phones (aside from the Nexus S) are even running 2.3.3.

It will be included in Ice Cream as well, so what we'll most likely see happen here is most people wont get 2.3.4, but rather 2.4 (which includes everything in 2.3.4 and then some) or 2.3.3 for upcoming launches and updates. This is just a limited test run. Take note that Google isn't making much hype about it. They simply confirmed it in a devblog.

Re: Android 2.3.4 heading to Nexus S over the air, bringing video and voice chat to Gtalk

thesprunk — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:16:33 -0000

Yes. Mines rooted and when they pushed 2.3.3 I got the OTA update along with everyone else.

Re: Samsung Galaxy S 4G will actually cost $200, unfortunately

thesprunk — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 09:13:39 -0000

I think you guys made a mistake. The title should read "will actually cost $250" or "will actually cost $200, after MIR".

Advertising the price of something while including MIR is a farce. Because you have to pay more than the advertised price for a chance at getting some cash back in the not so near future. Screw that.

Re: Google shows off Fragments API for Android 3.0

thesprunk — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:58:14 -0000

They already used F.

Re: Nexus S suffering from random data loss, reboots? (updated: fixes coming!)

thesprunk — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 02:53:47 -0000

I've had all of these issues with my nexus S, hooowever i wouldnt call them very troubling or major. It never seems to happen while I'm using the device for something (other than music, so guess I'm lucky) and the data signal issue does not require a restart to fix. After about 30seconds it picks it back up, or if you reboot it fixes it sooner. And it reboots pretty dang quick, even with live wallpapers and widgets and launcher pro etc etc bogging it down. It's good to see these are rectified, and can see how it would trouble some people, or perhaps me in some instances, but its a sporadic and very infrequent issue for me. The sudden reboot happens only when i've had the device on for at least a week. And the fix for them is simple. Despite these issues the Nexus S is by far the most superior and stable phone I've owned since I jumped onto the smart phone bandwagon. (gotta say my Samsung blackjack the original one, aside from being slow as all hell and not much in the way of fully featured, was the most reliable phone I've had).

Re: RIP: Symbian

thesprunk — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 06:35:27 -0000

RIP Nokia

Re: Nokia CEO Stephen Elop rallies troops in brutally honest 'burning platform' memo? (update: it's real!)

thesprunk — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 08:31:48 -0000

I'm pretty happy with my Nexus S's expandability, customizability, and hackability. The n900 is an awesome device, but it could very well be Nokia's Swan Song if they don't get their act together. And for power users, the n900 is no longer reigning champ. It has some strong competition already on the market that is vastly outselling it and has a massive ecosystem of developers, software, power users, hackers, tinkerers and the like behind them.

But the point is, Devices like the Nexus S and N900 don't carry the companies behind them. Like Elop said, it's the Ecosystem. There is far more value in a phone that allows access to a very active community of users (casual and power alike), developers (from the parent company, 3rd parties, or the freelance/enthusiast), and market place that makes the phone, not the hardware. This is why Apple and Google have been succesful. Apple didn't reinvent the phone. They simply shifted the focus from the individual device, to the ecosystem the device gives you access to. They just so happened to take the walled garden approach, and used a single device to do it, so no body noticed. They all applaud them on building a better device, when in reality, they built a better ecosystem, and sold it to the masses with a device.

Re: Nokia CEO Stephen Elop rallies troops in brutally honest 'burning platform' memo? (update: it's real!)

thesprunk — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 08:21:45 -0000

Elop is new to Nokia, he wasn't overseeing the company (as CEO or any other position within Nokia, he was emplyed by microsoft) during these many mis-steps. He joined Nokia as Pres/CEO on september 21st 2010.

Re: Nexus S OTA 2.3.2 update rolling out now, your SMS relations will thank you

thesprunk — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 20:23:51 -0000

I dunno, I'm pretty happy with my Nexus S on T-Mo.

Re: Autonomous Audi TTS scales Pikes Peak in 27-minute climb

thesprunk — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 06:12:16 -0000

Wait, the human piloted craft crashed while filming the automated craft which successfully completed a difficult course?

That's a hell of a study.

Re: Full Samsung Continuum specs leak out in Verizon comparison charts?

thesprunk — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 22:06:09 -0000

If I recall correctly Flash isn't exactly a prevailing feature on any Apple device... (Heck, just about anything other than a Windows x86 computer)

Re: Full Samsung Continuum specs leak out in Verizon comparison charts?

thesprunk — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 21:59:57 -0000

Yes. They just said that.

Re: The PlayStation Phone

thesprunk — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 22:48:25 -0000

Holy fuck. Yes.

Re: Samsung Wave II has its Super Clear LCD tested against Galaxy S Super AMOLED display

thesprunk — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 10:23:22 -0000

As we don't have a calibrated base to compare it to, it's hard to say which is the more color accurate, but the one on the left/bottom (Which I'm assuming is the wave) seems to have better definition/sharpness than the S-AMOLED.

Honestly though, for a phone, I don't think Color Accuracy is exactly high on my list of desires. *general ballpark* is fine. This does show a surprisingly stark contrast for displaying the same image, but really, Sharpness and Brightness are far more important to me than color accuracy on a phone, and in this particular instance, the LCD seems to beat the AMOLED. Very surprising.

Re: Google's Andy Rubin on Windows Phone 7: 'the world doesn't need another platform'

thesprunk — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 03:07:16 -0000

Lol again with the frag-jab.

And this seems mighty pretentious. "The internet? But we have libraries full of books! PHone lines that connect people directly across the globe! A Postal service for sending tangible goods! Why on earth would you want something different!?"

Re: T-Mobile myTouch announced: Android 2.2, video calling, and HSPA+

thesprunk — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 00:41:03 -0000

T-mobiles actually got a 4G Network, and its far more widely available than sprints. For some reason they aren't pimping it out though (They like to throw around HSPA+ but everyseems to gloss over that as one of the many acronymns in the wireless industry). Sprint seems to be shouting "4G" as loud as they can, but T-mobile barely includes it in the fine print. Also, most of T-mo's Android devices support the 4G speeds, as opposed to sprints 2.

Direct Speed Comparison: T-mo wins http://www.intomobile.com/2010/06/04/data-speed-showdown-sprint-4g-vs-t-mobile-hspa/
But depending on the city and time of day the tables could turn, but essentially, they're an even fight. T-mo says their network supports 21Mbit/s down, with room to go over 50Mbit/s, while Sprint says peak speeds of "over 10Mbit/s".

And considering the 3G Network on Sprint and T-mo are the same speed, that's a moot point. If you're in 4G Coverage (far more likely on T-mo as they offer it in over 50 cities and growing fast), then it should be no problem. If you're in 3G, you're going to have the same issue regardless of who you go with.

Oh, and T-mo doesn't hit you with 10 dollar/mo add on charge for 4G data like sprint, making T-mo cheaper. More so if you go off contract.