The Spam Thread!

[huckleberrypie]

Problem with Apple is that they have so much of a mindshare that people will still buy into their bullshit even when it's fairly obvious that it's not worth the investment. Apple may have had the upper hand during the PowerPC days when the 864MHz PPC chip smoked a Pentium back then, but other than exclusive software nowadays I don't see the need to own a Mac or an iDevice.

[cpd2009]

Problem with Apple is that they have so much of a mindshare that people will still buy into their bullshit even when it's fairly obvious that it's not worth the investment. Apple may have had the upper hand during the PowerPC days when the 864MHz PPC chip smoked a Pentium back then, but other than exclusive software nowadays I don't see the need to own a Mac or an iDevice.

For me, personally, it's the inability to upgrade or tinker easily with Macs that ends up being a turn off. I'm not spending $6,000 on a Mac Pro to gain that ability.

As long as Tim Apple Cook leads the company, they will probably continue on this path. With more and more of their design flaws and business practices becoming more well known, even some die-hard Apple fans are beginning to turn on the company. It's also one reason why LowEndMac exists as well.

But boy, do I wish the day would come where macOS could be installed legally on any x86-64 rig without third party hacks or tools. It's probably never going to happen though.

[cpd2009]

I think Yoshi's Crafted World is the best use of Unreal Engine yet.

Just sayin'....

[huckleberrypie]

I think Yoshi's Crafted World is the best use of Unreal Engine yet.

Just sayin'....

You know what? There was this fan-made Super Mario 64 demo built with UE4 (which as you and I would guess, is something Nintendo isn't pleased with given how they're a bunch of zealots lol), and the fact that there's a Mario universe game which ran on the same engine made it full-circle.

[cpd2009]

I think Yoshi's Crafted World is the best use of Unreal Engine yet.

Just sayin'....

You know what? There was this fan-made Super Mario 64 demo built with UE4 (which as you and I would guess, is something Nintendo isn't pleased with given how they're a bunch of zealots lol), and the fact that there's a Mario universe game which ran on the same engine made it full-circle.

Maybe Nintendo has their own Mario 64 HD remake in the works? I recall that a fan remake of a Metroid game got shot down by Nintendo since they were working on their own official remake of said game for the 3DS. But still, look at other companies. Hasbro wasn't this harsh with fan-made MLP content as it helped keep G4 popular for a decade.

Anyway, the infamous Windows 8 has been forever immortalized in the best way possible.... the inner pages of a kindergarten learning workbook.  (look at the laptop screen)


Turns out, said illustrator of this book does use Windows. A self reference, perhaps?

[huckleberrypie]

And is that Bada or Firefox OS on the phone?

Yeah, both Nintendo and Disney are notoriously litigious, for all the right and wrong reasons. Nintendo's legal vendetta is however justified in some cases like with NTDEC brazenly using the "Nintendo" trademark without permission, and when some porn studio decided to make a lewd Super Mario film.

Word has it that Nintendo, perhaps through either an intermediary or a shell company, bought the rights to the Super Hornio Bros. films so they could sue anyone who still sells it. The Big N knew they had no firm ground to stand on in court as the parodies, lewd and offensive as they are, are protected speech (though I'm not sure as to how pornographers would be afforded full protection given the already morally-grey nature of their work, not unless they do something stupid to let's say minors), so they decided to begrudgingly acquire the films in a quasi-legal move against third-party distribution.

A similar extralegal tactic was employed by Sony on Connectix who did a PS1 emulator for the Mac (ironically, Steve Jobs presented it at one of his keynotes, and yet Apple isn't too keen about people emulating their hardware despite previous legal precedents); Sony lost the case but since they have more money than sense they decided to just straight-up acquire the emulator and throw it out of the window. Which is funny as the PS1 Classic is nothing more than a MediaTek-powered single-board computer with commercial games on it, running off an unofficial emulator no different from the ones Sony tried to suppress back in the day.

As far as Hasbro is concerned, at least they were fine about MLP fan works as long as "there's a line to be drawn"; they did object to a fighting game citing "copyright infringement", though it seems that has more to do with what they perceive as a violent depiction of MLP:FIM. The game was retooled as it wasn't worth the court battle, with Lauren Faust herself stepping in to help out with the artwork.

[cpd2009]

Spotted in the wild... a second hand Dell Inspiron Gaming PC. Found at a local pawn shop for $400. I couldn't find the service tag number, so I googled the model number d27m and it's likely an Insipron 5675 series. There is an AMD Ryzen 7 sticker on the front of the case, and the case itself still has much of the protective film. The tower probably wasn't used much, but since I can't really see what condition the internals are like or what the specs even are, it's a bit of a hard sell at the moment.

I may head back to that store tomorrow and see if I can find a service tag number and ID the actual specs of this box.

Depending on the specs, $400 might be okay for a second hand Dell gaming rig, or I may be better off building new or going on eBay if I wanted something prebuilt. That Dell rig has been sitting at that pawn store for the past few months with no takers.

[cpd2009]

I just got done playing Epic Mickey on the Wii. I found the game along with it's sequel in a Walmart bargain bin for around $10 each. It's not your typical Disney game as it was developed by a team lead by Warren Spector, who was also the lead designer of games like Deus Ex and System Shock.

Turns out that there are so many secrets and collectibles in this game that I will have to play through it multiple times. The game is designed this way, as certain choices you make in the game affect your progress. This makes Epic Mickey one of the few good third-party titles.

[cpd2009]

Oh yeah... there's this:
https://www.ea.com/games/heavy-weapon

I have this game on the PopCap Hits Vol.2 compilation for PS2. You use the left analog stick to move the tank and the right stick to fire, kind of like an old fashioned twin-stick arcade shooter. It's quite a fun and challenging game, using every stereotypical Cold War trope in the book.

[cpd2009]

I wonder if I am having some kind of mid-life crisis of sorts. I promised myself that I'd stick with DIY PCs, but yet, I can't really shake off the prospects of acquiring a Mac of some kind.

I have flip-flopped on this many times already, so I'll spare the details. I guess one reason why I tend to go back and forth is my idiotic decision to sell off my mid-2011 Mac Mini about five years ago. It's already been left behind by Apple as of High Sierra, but as many popular apps still support High Sierra in 2020, that old Mini would still be rather useful if it wasn't for it's 5400rpm drive slowing it down. By the time those popular apps stop supporting High Sierra, the Mini would probably be ready for replacement anyway. If it wasn't for David encouraging me to get the Mini, I'd have gone for an iMac.

I also think I'm just beginning to get flat out bored with typical Windows PC setups, especially DIY towers like Pearl. I'm also starting to appreciate all-in-one or minimalist setups more, whether it be PC or Mac. I find AIOs more attractive because of the lack of wires going everywhere and not needing additional power outlets for monitors or speakers. Bonus points if a wireless or Bluetooth keyboard are included. The overall clean appearance of my old Mac Mini setup was another reason why I initially went for it.

One more reason, I guess, is the fear of my PC acquiring some kind of crippling malware or ransomware. I do use a good AV software (in this case, Avast), but I'll tell you, ransomware scares me, even if I decide to keep my most important stuff on external drives. I already know Macs can get malware too. To Apple's credit, their walled-garden approach helps limit the chances of malware infiltrating their App Stores. It doesn't eliminate the possibility of App Store malware altogether though.

Even though Macs or PC AIOs are far less serviceable than my DIY tower, I wonder if I even need a DIY setup. My computer needs aren't what they were even two years ago when I built Pearl. I don't make videos as often as I used to and I have shifted more towards digitizing old VHS tapes or analog video sources. My gaming needs have shifted towards consoles. Most of the time spent on my PCs as of now is just watching YouTube videos or reading news articles. I'd think my DIY tower would be better off in the hands of someone else who needs a new PC.

What set off this latest round of flip-flopping? Affordable used Mac Mini's on eBay or OneWorldComputing (aka OWC). I have my eyes on a 2014 model, which LowEndMac would probably call a "road Apple" due to the soldered-on RAM. Both sites offer used models that have 8GB RAM and faster SSDs. They do only have dual-core Intel CPUs, but given my rather modest needs nowadays, I could get away with a dual-core for 3 to 5 years.

I feel like I'm a bad person for constantly flip-flopping like this. Seems like I'm complaining a lot about my inability to stick to promises. If I keep wanting to get a Mac, does that mean I should just get one and be done with it? On one hand, it would be nice to have access to both popular OS'es without having to deal with virtual machines or resorting to making Pearl a Hackintosh. On the other hand, Apple does have some REALLY shady business practices. But so do many other companies I end up doing business with such as Amazon or Nintendo. I also still like reading posts off LowEndMac showing the more advanced Apple owners doing their best to keep their Mac hardware as current as possible despite Apple considering their hardware to be obsolete.

I am going to file my IRS tax return tomorrow, and I should get my refund within the next week or two following that. Estimates indicate that I should have enough for that refurbished Mac Mini with some left over.