The Spam Thread!

[cpd2009]

BTW, I didn't know there was a Jazz Jackrabbit game for DOS. Is that the same as the Konami games, or did a different company develop that?

I guess you started with Jazz Jackrabbit 2?

And well, Epic MegaGames developed it. Before they ditched their fun-loving image for a gritty one and focused only on the Unreal series.

Blake mentioned that above, and I realized that I confused Jazz Jackrabbit with Bucky O'Hare. Konami made a game featuring Bucky O'Hare, a green rabbit who had his own TV cartoon that is now rather obscure. I knew Konami made a game with a green rabbit, but I guessed wrong.

[RAMChYLD]

To be fair tho, Jazz Jackrabbit copied a couple of different games, notably Sonic. Seriously, look at the bonus levels!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bOfcEFbQmI[/youtube]
For comparison, here's Sonic CD's
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuBUta53axU[/youtube]

Because of this, I won't be surprised that Jazz's appearance was inspired by Bucky.

Although the fact that Jazz's 3D bonus levels were completely software-rendered and did not use a GPU of any kind, and was playable on a 386DX/33, is impressive. I even had to patch it (merge the registered full version with the Holiday Hare shareware, then patch the game's Turbo Pascal CRT divide by zero bug) to make it run on a P2-550 properly!

Yeah, my current retrogaming rig is overkill with 256MB of RAM and a P2-550. I'm gonna add a Voodoo-1 (or if possible, two Voodoo2s in SLI) to the machine once I have some cash. I already added a SIMMConn and a 8MB DIMM Module to my AWE64 to boost it's memory, and a Gravis Ultrasound PNP with 8MB of RAM as well (two 4MB SIMMs) so that Epic MegaGame titles (and The Lion King) sound better.

[huckleberrypie]

Well, come to think of it, Epic's Unreal has been used to power a bunch of light-hearted children's titles as well, and was also used for rendering the sets for LazyTown. So much for being a gorefest Unreal and UT has been known for since 1998.

[RAMChYLD]

Oh wow, Google now has street view of my neighborhood!

[cpd2009]

To be fair tho, Jazz Jackrabbit copied a couple of different games, notably Sonic. Seriously, look at the bonus levels!

Because of this, I won't be surprised that Jazz's appearance was inspired by Bucky.

Although the fact that Jazz's 3D bonus levels were completely software-rendered and did not use a GPU of any kind, and was playable on a 386DX/33, is impressive. I even had to patch it (merge the registered full version with the Holiday Hare shareware, then patch the game's Turbo Pascal CRT divide by zero bug) to make it run on a P2-550 properly!

Yeah, my current retrogaming rig is overkill with 256MB of RAM and a P2-550. I'm gonna add a Voodoo-1 (or if possible, two Voodoo2s in SLI) to the machine once I have some cash. I already added a SIMMConn and a 8MB DIMM Module to my AWE64 to boost it's memory, and a Gravis Ultrasound PNP with 8MB of RAM as well (two 4MB SIMMs) so that Epic MegaGame titles (and The Lion King) sound better.

I wonder if the Mac versions of Jazz Jackrabbit would run on Connie, my Performa 6214CD? She's from 1995, so she should meet at least minimum specs, but I need to double check. I clearly see the similarities between Jazz and Sonic's bonus stages too, and Jazz actually looks like fun!

Voodoo.... I recall our first family PC from 1999 contained a Voodoo Banshee card. OS was Windows 98. I also ended up getting a game programmed specifically for that card on Black Friday 2000... a cheap cart shopping game called "Mall Mania". PS1-level graphics but they run rather well if you have a Voodoo card. The game can still run well on Windows 7, at least, if you have a Glide Wrapper.

[cpd2009]

Oh, one more thing. I wasn't able to get to Menards for Black Friday, so I wasn't able to check out this in store special...



This was one of the showcase items of their BF 2014, and it seems Menards is going back to no-name Chinese stuff for certain electronics. I speculated that the "GAME" function was referring to a disc that contained NES ROMs, and judging by the inclusion of a "joystick" in the product description, I could be right.

Overall, this appears to be a no-name LCD projector imported directly from China. I input the model number in Google, and all that shows up is this. It also has RMVB support and a 320x240 LCD resolution.

I probably won't buy it since I simply have no room for a projector, and also because I still have my no-name Chinese DVD player I got for Menards BF 2011.

[RAMChYLD]

Hope no one here ever used one of the cheapo tablets for banking.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://bgr.com/2014/11/26/cheap-black-friday-android-tablets/">http://bgr.com/2014/11/26/cheap-black-f ... d-tablets/</a><!-- m -->

[cpd2009]

Hope no one here ever used one of the cheapo tablets for banking.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://bgr.com/2014/11/26/cheap-black-friday-android-tablets/">http://bgr.com/2014/11/26/cheap-black-f ... d-tablets/</a><!-- m -->

I did, once, back when I still used Daffodil. Nowadays, it's Hazel. I never used Poppy for banking. Also, some legit apps require the option to allow apps from third party sources, and if the device is rooted out of the box, it makes it a great experimental tool for Android experts. It's a security risk though for the typical consumer who just wants a tablet to browse the web or play Angry Birds.

Interesting you bring this up. It appears that cheap Android tablets are reaching saturation points here in the USA. Hardware stores... Hardware Stores... sold cheap no-name Android tablets on Black Friday this year. Proof below from "MAC'S Hardware".


I'm no economist, but if hardware stores are now selling cheap Android tablets from China, a saturation point must exist. It's similar in scope to how many US companies were making video games before the 1983 Crash, such as Quaker Oats and CBS.

[huckleberrypie]

Was it just me, or does Bluebox's advisory smell like FUD?
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://m.androidcentral.com/bluebox-security-scanner-attempts-scare-living-shit-out-you">http://m.androidcentral.com/bluebox-sec ... it-out-you</a><!-- m -->

Sure enough, some of them tablets are known to have trojans like the infamous Demo lock, but imo any device can be subject to hacking especially if you're complacent when it comes to security.

[cpd2009]

Was it just me, or does Bluebox's advisory smell like FUD?
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://m.androidcentral.com/bluebox-security-scanner-attempts-scare-living-shit-out-you">http://m.androidcentral.com/bluebox-sec ... it-out-you</a><!-- m -->

Sure enough, some of them tablets are known to have trojans like the infamous Demo lock, but imo any device can be subject to hacking especially if you're complacent when it comes to security.

I questioned Bluebox mentioning the ability to install from so-called "malicious third party sources", but this is referring to the Unknown Sources option in any Android tablet. There are indeed malicious apps that can be installed this way, but there are legit ones like QuickPic photo browser or the Amazon AppStore. However, people who buy these bargain tablets likely aren't experts and they want a quick gift for a person who wants to check their banking stuff via the web on these tablets, and to play games. For these people, it's actually best to leave the Unknown Sources off by default if it comes with Google Play installed and they likely don't need root access either.

So to me, it does have a bit of FUD, but also a bit of truth when it comes to the typical Android consumer. Experts like us can easily avoid the security pitfalls such configurations provide. The typical consumer? Not so much.