X-Wes

Congratulations on your initiative to switch though! I have to warn ahead of time that Debian can be considered a less candy-coated flavour of Linux. There are several Debian-based distributions that hold the user's hand much more firmly, such as Ubuntu. However, if you do decide to go for Debian, I wish you all the luck, since I may be considering switching to Debian (on a laptop, no less) very soon. Perhaps, if one of us runs into trouble, the other can lend a hand where it's possible. Either that...or we'll both be in this forum soliciting answers to questions If you do run into problems, please take a look at debianHELP, a great community-driven support site. I've been able to work out a few minor issues there in the past; try it out if you like. Other than that, I do hope that you manage to get things rolling. If you run into a situation where you need help with something that's general to all Linuxes, try out the Linux Documentation Project. Lots of great HOWTOs, as well as a few full books--one of which I'm in the process of reading. And of course, as always, best of luck

Wow, what an in-depth reply! I can't complain at all though--it was fun reading about all that. Quite a bit I didn't realise, actually! I never knew that Super Mario World had been originally named Super Mario Bros. 4. After all, Super Mario World was destined for the Super Famicom (Super Nintendo outside Japan). In any case, there actually were 4 Super Mario Bros. games in Japan. They were named Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario Bros. USA. The difference between the naming conventions in Japan and those outside Japan was an interesting development. For clarity, names used in Japan are marked (J) while those used outside Japan are marked (U). Super Mario Bros. was released worldwide. Super Mario Bros. 2 (J) was not released outside Japan at first, though, since it was considered too challenging for foreigners. Thus, a game originally named Doki Doki no Panic (J) was remade to become Super Mario Bros. 2 (U). Of course, when this game was re-released in Japan, it had to be renamed as Super Mario Bros. USA (J). And finally, Super Mario Bros. 3 was released worldwide. (Super Mario Bros. 2 (J) was eventually released in Super Mario All-Stars (U) as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.) I'm not sure whether this was what you had meant in your post, but indeed, there were 4 Super Mario Bros. games. However, a return to the 2-D Mario world would be lovely to see. While a mod of a game to make it platforming is hardly a platform game, those mods sounds really, really interesting. The idea of a platformer of any variety is enough to be rather intriguing. Hopefully, the mod crowd will include a few Mario/Sonic veterans who will be able to create a fascinating, original platformer. I look forward to trying some mods out as soon as I'm able to get a copy of Half-Life 2. Almost enough to convince the admins here to open a platforming board</kidding> ^_~

This may well have been the most life-saving-est thing I have found in a long, long while. Up until now, I have been using TweakUI to configure how Windows XP bunches up my windows into groups. I always wanted a way to close/tile several windows. Up until now, I had assumed that doing so with fewer (two or so) windows was impossible. Doing this with windows of different programs? Simply impossible, I thought. In conclusion: thank you for making my day. Or month. Or year. Or however long I keep using Windows

I have found (and used, to much delight) a tool to convert my phpBB database to an SMF database. The results were amazing--I could literally give my users a new URL to use and the forum banter would not skip a beat. From what little I've seen of SMF, I really like it. The feature set is much more complete, and the default theme is XHTML and CSS valid to boot. And the board is fast--very fast. I see little reason to switch back to phpBB. However, my users are very familiar with phpBB. The entire lifespan of my forums were conducted on phpBB. A migration would likely not be very harsh at all, but I would like the option of reverting sometime within the next few months if certain problems arise. Is there any way, then, to convert an SMF database to phpBB format? While I'm likely going to switch permanently to SMF, some degree of safety would be comfortable for me. Ironically, if I have the option of switching back to phpBB, I would move my users to SMF in a heartbeat. Anyone happen to know of any such thing? Thanks very much in advance By the way, don't sweat it if you don't find a solution. No SMF to phpBB converter will only delay my move slightly, but I'm on my way to SMF regardless.

Could I ask for a few more suggestions? I currently use phpBB, and I find that I'm not thoroughly pleased with the experience. I'm not much of a fan of Invision Power Board either. I haven't tried SMF, but seeing as how it is included as a default installation script on my Xisto hosting account, I can give it a try. Given all of these things, what other message board/forum software would you recommend? As a post-script, I would like to also mention that I prefer simpler boards with the ability to add on new features. While phpBB had a large selection of add-ons and hacks, I would prefer to have more lightweight boards. Thanks in advance!

Unfortunately, MapleStory is in beta testing at the moment. Due to a few hackers (and half a million script kiddies), signups for the game have closed for the moment. However, MapleStory is a very fun game. The player chooses a job class after familiarising himself or herself with the game, and then does many RPG-ish things to prepare. These typically include buying or making weapons, buying ammunition (for archers and thieves), and perhaps finding a party to join. However, one of the most unique features of MapleStory--the one feature that will make you love or hate MS--is that the world is two-dimensional. All battles occur on a single plane. MapleStory smacks of some old platforming classic, yet its battles are thoroughly exciting and new in their process. Many learned skills will have to be applied at key moments in a battle, especially against a fierce, strong enemy. Having said all this, I do not recommend MapleStory. I am slightly too addicted to the game, as are all my friends. Save yourself while you can =P

Is this the right forum to be posting about Super Mario Bros. games? Years back, during the height of Nintendo's popularity and before Sega's fall, games like Super Mario Bros. were all the craze. This game, like any other, needs to have a specific type. Thus, we have a classification of games known as the platform games. A platform game is traditionally a two-dimensional game where the main character jumps from platform to platform fighting enemies. The character is seen from a side view, and the screen scrolls (typically) from left to right. Some of the titles in this category are instantly recognisable: Super Mario Bros. series, Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, Mega Man series, Pitfall!, Prince of Persia, Ghosts n' Ghouls series, Sonic the Hedgehog series, Kirby series, and many others. As games moved to a three-dimensional world, platform games adapted to the new space. 3-D platform games typically feature a third-person view centered behind the character with--of course--platforms onto which the main character must jump. Some games of this type include: Super Mario series, Sonic the Hedgehog series, Kirby 64, and some others. Anyone who is to simply walk into a gaming store is unlikely to ask, "Show me your platformers section." Sure, there are first-person shooters, role-playing games, and even the loosely-defined "adventure" games into which platformers are lumped. However, there is no longer a specific section for platformers--nor is there a market for such games. I'm sure that many of you who have played video games will remember seeing or playing your first Mario games. Many of you will have seen Sonic on sale in stores, or have heard a friend rant and rave about a Mega Man game. However, those days appear to be fading. No longer do we have the 2-D games that we've seen years back. Mega Man games continue to sell; Mario Sunshine still entertains some disappointed core fans. However, there does not ever appear to be a game that can have the honour of being called Super Mario Bros. 4. But if there is, I will be the first to buy it. And when we have all played it, the Xisto forums will have a place for platformers. You heard it here first. ^_~

As a matter of fact, they do. There are certain servers that are dedicated only to newbies of rank Metal Axe or below. Gunbound is a relatively entertaining game. It combines two of the most simple ideas in a simple, pretty way. Gunbound has many mobiles to choose from, and playing with any of these mobiles is not unlike playing with a physics engine demo. There is a lot to try (Boomer at 89 degrees is always good for kicks). Different shot weights and different throw patterns create lots to try. Next, the circumstance that exists in which you try all of these things changes with each game. The wind/gravity feature changes the nature of each shot, and teleports will always keep even sharpshooters and shotgunners on their toes. Finally, there is a distinct air of competition often seen in Korean online games. The rank system exists, but each person's rank is very prominantly displayed at all times. Also, the top ranks are percentage-based, and hence getting to the top is akin to climbing a growing mountain. All said, though, getting bored of Gunbound is very possible. I rarely play anymore, but you can find me GB as Aeipher from time to time.

As far as I can tell, SHTML represents Server-Parsed HTML. I get this sort of an answer from Answers.com. When looking up SHTML on Wikipedia, I get redirected to SSI, Server Side Includes.

Rather than using an MD5 hash or asking the poster to supply a unique ID, I would like to propose the idea of automatic sequential numbering of the NOTEs using a JavaScript global variable. My original reply still exists, but I have since been able to concrete my findings somewhat. First, take a look at the sample (attached). The one-time JavaScript code is still the same; the function toggle is still defined as before and such. However, the "nested divs" section is changed, with some JavaScript added. Here is the revised section: <div id="notice" style="width: 505px; border: solid 2px #FF0000; background-color: #FFFFCE;"> <div id="header" style="width: 505px; color: #FFFFCE;"> <script> if (typeof noteCount == 'undefined') { var noteCount = 1; } else { noteCount++; } document.write("<div id=\"rightbox\" onClick=\"toggle('notemsg" + noteCount + "', event)\" style=\"width: 15px; height: 15px; border: solid 2px #FFFFCE; background-image: url(http://Xisto.com/misc/bbcode/closebutton.jpg); color: #FFFFCE; float: right; cursor: pointer; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9px; font-weight:bold;\"></div>"); </script> <div id="leftbox" style="width: 20px; height: 15px; border: solid 2px #FFFFCE; background-image: url(http://Xisto.com/misc/bbcode/topleft.jpg); color: #FFFFCE; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px;"></div> <div id="middlebar" style="padding-left: 5px; width: 475px; height: 16px; border: solid 2px #FFFFCE; background-image: url(http://Xisto.com/misc/bbcode/notetitle.jpg); color: #FFFFCE; float: center; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold;"><b><center>Notice from {option}:</center></b></div> </div> <script> document.write("<div id=\"notemsg" + noteCount + "\" style=\"width: 475px; padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; background-color: #FFFFCE; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 12px;\">{content}</div>"); </script></div> Again, it will be necessary for this entire section to be created when the NOTE tags are replaced. My primary worry at the moment is whether the {content} tag will operate properly inside the document.write function. Right now, I see no problem, but I can't be sure without consulting with someone who is familiar with PHP. However, the working HTML file seems to represent a step in the right direction. Hope this helps! (And if it doesn't, thanks for forcing me to brush up on my JavaScript!)

Sure. First off, though, I should mention my typographical convention: I type all HTML tags in uppercase while typing all XHTML tags in lowercase. In HTML, case doesn't matter, but XHTML tags must be in lowercase. Also, where I omit closing tags in HTML, I will state whether those tags are optional or invalid. (Someone tell me if I missed any instances ) XHTML examples are only valid when closed the way they are shown. I separate examples in the code with the standard HTML comment notation--this notation is the same for HTML and XHTML. In HTML, various elements have no closing tag. These include <LI>, <P>, <BR>, and <IMG>. Closing tags are optional for the first two, but are invalid for the second two. Here is a comparison of the elements in the two languages: Optional Close Tag: <!-- HTML --><OL><LI>This is a list item<LI>This is another list item<LI>And yet another item</OL><P>This is a paragraph. It is short.<p>Here starts my next paragraph.<!-- XHTML --><ol><li>This is a list item</li><li>This is another list item</li><li>And yet another item</li></ol><p>This is a paragraph. It is short.</p><p>Here starts my next paragraph.</p> No Close Tag: <!-- HTML --><BR><IMG SRC="infiltriticator.jpeg" ALT="A picture of the infiltriticator"><!-- XHTML --><br /><img src="infiltriticator.jpeg" alt="A picture of the infiltriticator" /> Thus, for elements that are optionally closed in HTML, close them in XHTML. For elements that are not closed in HTML, add a slash before the closing bracket. Other than remembering to use lowercase, that's the only difference between HTML 4.01 (the last version of HTML) and XHTML 1.0. One thing I should mention--quite a few elements have been deprecated since HTML 4. This means that a lot of elements are recommended to be taken out. While many features that have been deprecated are still in wide use, better coding practices have come along. Thus, in future XHTML releases, we may see such features dropped. A few of the elements to be removed include <strike>, <u>, and <font>. (These are to be replaced with Cascading Style Sheets.) One new addition to XHTML 1.1 is Ruby markup. However, Ruby appears to be most useful in East Asian languages, so I have relatively little to say about it. Take a look at the Ruby Specification for more details. Having said all this, not much has really changed between HTML and XHTML. Other than changing the way a few tags are coded, most of the underlying language is the same. It is for this exact reason that there is not widespread migration to XHTML--there is no huge benefit for doing so yet. If you do decide to switch to XHTML, though, I highly recommend that you check out some of the websites devoted to that topic. Unfortunately, I have never looked into finding information about XHTML off the web (I learn from these old-fashioned "book" things), though I'm sure someone would be happy to point out a few if you wait here a while. Hope this helps, and please let me know if I've missed anything. Thanks!

I'm currently using two screens. Sort of.I have an external monitor hooked up to my primary computer--a laptop. They're both running off the same modern NVidia video card, though, so lagging isn't an issue. Yet.The flat-panel LCD is actually better for gaming though. The external monitor is an old 15" whose brightness is just starting to go...

I don't consider myself a game programmer at all. In fact, I don't consider myself a programmer. However, I'm currently in the process of learning programming (and thus, I'm browsing the programming forums to see what info I can absorb).One of the toughest projects I've worked on so far was Chess in Java. No, there wasn't an AI. No, the game was not 100% bug-free. No, the game wasn't made individually (I was in a group of three).However, it was a fun experience nonetheless. The game works properly in about 90% of fully-played games, which means that an glitch occurs every several hundred moves. Even then, the glitch is merely a little box that pops up when it's not supposed to, and is easily dismissed.Lessons learned: Games are tougher to make than they seem, gameplay is the most fun part of a game to code (though most frustrating), and Java was not designed for the dedicated game programmer.I only hope that one day I'll know how DirectX works. And I guess learning more C/C++ wouldn't hurt.

Ah, the cookies controversy and the Gmail fiasco... Cookies are used by more search engines than you'd expect. Yahoo, Overture, MSN Search, and AllTheWeb also use cookies the last time I checked. If you're very worried about cookies, I recomment using a web browser that will delete all your cookies after each browsing session. For example, Mozilla Firefox or Opera. As for Gmail not deleting E-mail messages from their servers: you seem to be under the impression that other E-mail services do delete messages. If for nothing other than to identify spam, most E-mail services keep as many E-mails as they can afford. In addition, they stay quiet about the practice, not disclosing it in any privacy policies or terms of service. Yes, we should take steps to ensure that Google does not control our future. No, I don't believe that time is coming up today. No, probably not tomorrow either. Frankly, I worry more about a world where nothing functions without drivers that run only on Windows.

Yes, Darren0330, you'll need a plugin to see the animation. Most web browsers already have this installed. However, just in case you don't: For modern versions of Internet Explorer, a box should pop up when you try to view the animation asking you whether you would like to install the Macromedia Flash Player. Click Yes and follow the steps. For Mozilla-based products or modern versions of Netscape, you'll want to go here: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ I'm very unfamiliar with Opera, but I think the above link works for Opera as well. Good luck!

HTML is the Hypertext Markup Language. That's where it all started. Back when the world wide web was new, HTML was the only way information got passed between a server and your web browser. HTML typically stores "static" pages. An HTML page does not change, so it's pretty much the same every time you load it. When you go to an HTML file on the Internet, the server just spits out the page to you. (Sometimes HTML files *contain* things that change, like images or scripts, but the HTML file doesn't change until someone goes and changes it.) HTML was all good and well for a while, but eventually it got slightly off-track. HTML 2 came out, followed by HTML 3 and HTML 4. By HTML 4, though, things were getting ugly. The original idea of an HTML file was to contain information, but web browser makers (Netscape, Microsoft) tried to put in a whole bunch of funny features like scrolling and blinking text. In other words, HTML was due for an overhaul. Thus, XHTML was created. And it's still being developed. XHTML 1 was essentially HTML 4, with very minor changes. XHTML 2 is still being worked on right now. The jist of the difference between HTML and XHTML is that XHTML is based on a more logical way of writing web pages. XHTML is written more like a database and less like forum code. To the programmers, XHTML is more meaningful. But it's still just about the same, just newer and better. Not necessarily practical in all situations, but just newer and better. SHTML...well, um...well... SHTML is HTML with server-side includes. This means that the server is actually combining HTML files together (right when you ask for the page). However, I've never actually used SHTML, so I'll leave this reply to someone else. I'd hate to answer incorrectly, after all. Hope that helps! By the way, nice name (>")>

I believe the type of operating systems you're discussing include MenuetOS. Indeed, MenuetOS appears to be the most famous x86 assembly OS project, having been mentioned on Slashdot, among other places. Even so, MenuetOS classifies itself as a hobby OS. Writing an operating system today is no small prospect. It's simply impossible for a company to manage an assembly project the size of Macintosh OS, Windows, or Linux. And with the constant changes in hardware specifications dictated by the software makers--nobody really wants to write a solid OS in assembly. At least, nobody wants to write another Linux in assembly. Inline assembly... well... I can't say I've done much of that. Anyone else got an opinion on that?

I would recommend that the beginning programmer start with C. C is a relatively simple language at the beginning stages. However, despite its simplicity, it teaches the beginning programmer many ideas that can be used in further studies in different languages. While C itself might not serve the needs of a given programmer in his or her career, C is a good first-step on the path to learning programming in general. For example, a beginning programmer will probably know little about variables and functions beyond what is taught in a typical mathematics course. C allows the programmer to understand the process of defining variables as a certain type, and it allows the programmer to see the idea of calling a function. Java certainly does make writing simple code just as easy, but the syntax is confusing at first. For example: int main(void) // Cpublic static void main(String[] args) // Java The knowledge of C need not be very deep. Some brief teaching on variables, functions, if-else statements, and loops is all that is needed. In fact, the C that needs to be taught can be just a few lessons long. However, a programmer who already understands these things will be less intimidated by longer method headers and such things in Java. Of course, I'm a huge assembly fan, but that's not exactly what this poll is asking =P