Archive for October, 2006
Some NES Ringtones
I’m sure these can be found elsewhere on the net, but after I got my new cell phone, I edited out some of my own NES ringtones from .nsf files. Thought other people might find them entertaining.
Super Mario Brothers – End Level
Super Mario Brotheres – Low Time
Super Mario Brothers – Starman
Super Mario Brothers 2 – Starman
Super Mario Brothers 3 – Dum Dum Dum
Super Mario Brothers 3 – Flying Fortress
Super Mario Brothers 3 – Level
Super Mario Brothers 3 – Level Select
Super Mario Brothers 3 – Pick a Box (I use this one)
Super Mario Brothers 3 – Star Thingy Sound
Super Mario Brothers 3 – Star Thingy Sound 2
Super Mario Brothers 3 – Star Thingy Sound 3
Super Mario Brothers 3 – Starman
Comments are off for this post286 vs. Pentium 4
I bought my current computer a little over two years ago. I think I bought it at a really good time, too. Until the release of Intel’s new Core 2 processor, I have felt no need to upgrade my computer since the 3ghz my processor runs at has been more than efficient for everything I’ve needed to do these past 2 years. I did add extra storage space and get a new video card, but those were upgrades more for fun than pure necessity. So it would seem that the rate of progress in the computer world has slowed down just a bit. Really, I think the Core 2 chips have been the first real breakthrough in the last 2 years. When I bought my 700mhz machine for college, within 2 years my roomate had bought a new machine that ran at 1.4ghz, twice the speed of my machine. Although the Core 2 chips don’t run at 6ghz, they do have twice the processing power with the 2 cores.
But thinking about the slow rate of upgrades in the last 2 years made my wonder: Just how much have computers progressed since my first computer, a big desk hog 286? Yeah its magnitudes faster, holds more data, and added multimedia to its repertoire, but how much has it really changed? In some areas we’ve come a long way. In others, we’re right where we were over 10 years ago:
1. My 286 was a large rectangular box that sat horizontally on my desk. It was a lovely beige color. My Dell is also a large rectangular box, although it sits vertically under my desk. It is black with some extra plastic stuck on the front to make it ‘stylish’.
2. My 286 had a single core processor that ran at 15mhz and had 512 kilobytes of ram to help it on its way. My Dell also is a single core processor, but runs at 3ghz and has 1.5 gigabytes of ram to make those spreadsheets extra zippy.
3. I interact with the Dell’s hardware through one of two operating systems. One is a free OS called Ubuntu (6.06), the other is produced by a company called Microsoft and is found on the majority of computers around the world: Windows XP. My 286 was controlled through one operating system. It was also produced by the Microsoft corporation and was called MS-DOS. (I think it was somewhere around 3.0).
4. My 286 had two input devices: a keyboad and mouse (although the mouse was only used in certain applications). A keyboard and mouse is also how I control my Dell. The mouse is optical and has a scroll wheel while the 286 had 3 buttons and a big dirty ball that controlled movement. Besides the addition of one key (windows key), the keyboards are exactly the same.
5. I looked into the 286 first through a 14′ monochrome monitor that displayed a dazzling disply of dull gold. We later updated to an amazing VGA monitor. A 17′ LCD serves me and my Dell today.
6. The 286 stored system and personal files on a magnetic platter mechanism with a capacity of 30 megabytes. The Dell has 3 of the same type of mechanism. In total, they hold 950 gigabytes of data.
7. Backing up and transfering files on my Dell can be done through burning optical discs, (either a CD with 700 megabytes or a DVD with 4.4 gigabytes), a USB key (up to 4 gigabytes), or a floppy drive (1.44 megabytes). 2 disc drives served the 286: one 5.25″ drive holding up to 1.2mb or a 3.5″ floppy drive holding 1.44mb.
8. I was treated to a variety of delightful blips and bleeps from a little 2′ internal speaker in my 286. I can listen to any recording from my CD collection with my Dell through a pair of M-Audio BX8′s, and can process sound with up to 24-bit/96kHz fidelity.
9. Most graphics intensive game run on the 286: Wolfenstein 3D. On the Dell: Doom 3. (but how much has gameplay improved?)
And the really sad comparison?
10. Both computers are powered from the same source: burning coal.
1 commentOh Pa Pa Da: Dizzy Scatting
From this cd, comes today’s excerpt featuring Dizzy Gillespie scatting. Just for fun, ’cause it makes me smile.
[audio:dizzy.mp3]
Comments are off for this postFriday Afternoon Links
One DRM database to rule them all
Your every move at the airport could soon be tracked?
Mmmm.. Blue Screen of Death. .
Google Doesn’t Own All Video on the Internet
Sure, Google is plopping down an inordinate amount of money on Youtube, giving them control over so much video content on the net. But they don’t own all of it yet. Here are some sites offering up nice animated alternatives to Youtube (although I bet a good deal of it ends up there anyways).