The Spam Thread!

[huckleberrypie]

Adventures in Game Compatibility!

I'm finally getting around to installing the remainder of my PC game collection on Pearl. Some of these games date to the early 2000s, which means that you manually have to go into the program directories and set program compatibility to get them to launch. I have a budget pinball sim called "Ultimate Pinball" from ValuSoft. Each table is it's own EXE and they won't play unless you run them in Windows 98/ME compatibility mode.

This brings to mind Apple's quest to get rid of 32-bit apps from macOS with the next release, going for all 64-bit apps. While it seems logical to move forward with technology, Apple doesn't seem to care that many Mac users still use 32-bit apps especially if they prefer older versions. Windows 10 continues to use 32-bit apps, and likely will continue to do so for a long time as many industries use Windows and still use 32-bit apps or old versions. Now if they would just bring back 16-bit app support....

Yeah, and it applies to iOS too. iOS 11 dropped support for 32-bit binaries - it's fine if the developer cares about their apps and makes updates every so often to account for changes in the ecosystem, but some (yes, I'm talking to you, American Girl...) don't seem to give a rat's arse about maintaining their software and have neglected their legacy applications, leading to some games being incompatible with newer OS releases. And speaking of American Girl, it seems like they removed the mobile apps section on their Play site lately. Could that be part of the cost-cutting strategy they're making after they incurred losses due to them bungling up with marketing strategies and such?

And I ought to make Daddy Warbucks scream like that Big Enough guy:

[cpd2009]

TFW when you see a sample artwork on a particular kids illustrators portfolio website, spending years trying to find what book it's from, and finally locating it... as a six pack of leveled readers.
https://shop.zaner-bloser.com/shop/produ...d-squirrel

It appears I don't have to be part of a school to order this since this particular publisher sells to homeschoolers. It also appears to be in stock and for $16, I can't really refuse this set despite consisting of six exact copies. I'll see if I can order it in the morning.

And yes... I like cute furry cartoon animals besides foxes.

[huckleberrypie]

Yup, she's OK:

[cpd2009]

Cheap Black Friday Android tablets are rather pointless. I have had several over the past 8 years or so and because of their low specs, they tend to go out of date faster than name brand tablets. Plus with my Android phone, I don't see a justification in owning an Android tablet anymore other than to load my small library of games on it. I can just get Bluestacks or some other Android emulator and play there.

Over the long Thanksgiving weekend at home, I'm going to try and dig out my now ancient Polaroid tablet from 2011, a Black Friday special. I found the power adapter but not the tablet itself. Being one of the first budget Android tablets that wasn't name brand, it had a resistive touch screen. I also remember it having Android 2.3. If I could ever find that tablet again, I'd like to see just how many apps are incompatible or no longer function. I also still have that off-brand "Bright Tab" which I may also bring back up with me.

Menards also has a very very cheap "Smart Watch" on Black Friday for just $10. But I already have this watch... from a Dollar General Black Friday sale two years ago. It looks exactly the same as mine if the photo is an accurate representation of the product.
https://www.menards.com/main/p-149197803...yer_hosted
And here is the link to the manufacturer, based on brand name: http://www.xtremecables.net/SmartWatchwN...tions.aspx

With my smart watch, all I can do is really basic functions like make calls, use a remote camera shutter, send texts and receive notifications. In order to connect it with an Android device, you need to download an app of Chinese origin. The DG watch has "Fundo Companion" while this Xtreme watch uses "SmileNotification". I still wear my smart watch on occasion just because, but the app is very sketchy and seems to run the battery down fast. Makes you wonder if these watch apps are doing more sinister things in the background....

[huckleberrypie]

Yeah, I remember that Bright Tab thingy... The one with the demo mode/adware crap embedded in system with certain components stuck within boot.img. Still haven't gotten around into having it sanitised unfortunately.

On a different note, Nvidia's marketing blunders have ensured that the RTX 20xx series didn't get the positive reception they anticipated. From what I can tell, it's like GeForce FX all over again.

[cpd2009]

Back at my old residence to spend Thanksgiving with family, and got Steam installed on Greta. I found a way to use her Nvidia card with my Steam games, and it involves manually adding the EXE files to the Nvidia program list. Zaccaria Pinball would hang if run on Intel graphics. It does play on the Nvidia GPU but I can only use MSAA to 2X before FPS starts dropping. I'd imagine Pinball Arcade will be the same way but it's no big deal for a laptop.

I also located the Bright Tab, but I'm debating if it's worth it to try and sanitize the ROM. It really does need it. I remember random ads for sketchy Chinese apps starting to appear after a few days during my trials last time. But the battery life is poor and the LCD has a bad viewing angle. I may just try to locate the Polaroid tablet instead.

[huckleberrypie]

Back at my old residence to spend Thanksgiving with family, and got Steam installed on Greta. I found a way to use her Nvidia card with my Steam games, and it involves manually adding the EXE files to the Nvidia program list. Zaccaria Pinball would hang if run on Intel graphics. It does play on the Nvidia GPU but I can only use MSAA to 2X before FPS starts dropping. I'd imagine Pinball Arcade will be the same way but it's no big deal for a laptop.

I also located the Bright Tab, but I'm debating if it's worth it to try and sanitize the ROM. It really does need it. I remember random ads for sketchy Chinese apps starting to appear after a few days during my trials last time. But the battery life is poor and the LCD has a bad viewing angle. I may just try to locate the Polaroid tablet instead.

The Bright Tab malware issue is why I decided to just settle with branded tablets instead. To be fair, even those supposedly-reputable brands do get flak for privacy and security issues as well, but some of the cheapo/low-end tabs I've been messing around with e.g. the Nabi and LeapFrog tabs running off MediaTek SOCs are trouble-free in my book, performance issues notwithstanding.

[huckleberrypie]

So I presume the IGP would be given a bit more oomph if I dual-channel this laptop, aye?
https://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/details/v9wdz

[cpd2009]

So I presume the IGP would be given a bit more oomph if I dual-channel this laptop, aye?
https://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/details/v9wdz

It should, but it will also give Windows more RAM as well. My old Mac Mini had it's shared graphics memory increased when I upgraded it from 4gb to 8gb.

I also must note that after using Windows 8.1 over the holiday weekend, it's missing features that make Windows 10 good, such as being able to use the mouse wheel to scroll web pages or documents in unfocused windows. Important when I am fiddling with Winamp while wanting to scroll a web page too. I also miss my modern Windows apps too.

I think a laptop upgrade may be in order, but I'll put it as low priority at the moment.

[cpd2009]

I had a great Thanksgiving holiday with family. I succeeded in bringing about 75% of my massive VHS collection, consisting entirely of things recorded off TV. Some I recorded myself in the mid to late 2000s, others were from thrift stores or yard sales for the purpose of harvesting old TV commercial blocks or promotional materials. I didn't have time to locate the old Polaroid tablet, while I left the Bright Tab behind.

I also found both of my cheapo part-15 FM transmitters, for the purpose of sending the audio from my satellite radio receiver to my FM radios around my apartment. It's powered either by AAA batteries or USB, and I had a spare wall adapter laying around.