shadowatasta

Thanks for the link, Nybb. But, it doesn't answer my question about music in the background during recording eg. at parties, where there are other sounds like people having conversations. Could someone enlighten me on this? Thanks.

This is an interesting topic. Anyway, I did an assignment on this topic for an Astronomy class while I was at university (in Australia) - it was an elective. I discovered some interest theories such the "Dogon" (Mali, Africa) who are believed to have obtained knowledge of the stars from extraterrestrials (from Sirius). There are a number of articles and reports about the Dogon tribe and their knowledge of Astronomy. Here's one link: http://www.unmuseum.org/siriusb.htm Obviously for reason of not failing, I had to conclude with a "maybe". I had almost full marks for that assignment. Searching for intelligent beings from other planets, as opposed to bacteria/microscopic organisms, has always been a dream of mine since I was very young. I used to look at the stars a lot. The Universe is immense and I don't think that it is possible that we are alone and the current technology is not adequate enough for this project. But this is my opinion, of course. Of course, I have read stories (in books/magazines) of people claiming to have seen UFOs and some, alien beings.

I've been using Windows 98SE since I bought my computer in 2001, which I am still using. I've heard and read that Windows XP has a lot of issues such as security holes, which must be patched and many of today's viruses/trojans/worms seem to target Win XP. Another reason that I have not switched to XP is that I have a number of old games, most of them bought before 2000 and because of this, are not compatible with XP. This means that I wouldn't be able to play them anymore. The most obvious reason is that Win XP is quite expensive in my country and that I might want to upgrade my hardware as well - My system is a P-III 1GHz (256MB RAM).

Being an avid amateur photographer, I have thousands of photos both from film and digital cameras. Currently, I have put some of my photos on my homepage (ISP's server) but I have not thought much about copyrighting since they're only photos, although the content is original. But I'm not really worried since the only visitors that I have are my friends and I have not put it on any search engines. In my country, this "copyright protection" issue has finally hit home. There's a law, effective from Jan 2005, that prohibits the distribution of illegally copyrighted material in any form (including those on the web). Recently, 3 local men were caught violating this law (it was in the news) and they'll probably be fined and jailed.I find that I'm more paranoid now, even though I alway stay clear of putting up copyrighted material on the web. For written words, pictures/photos and videos, it's straight-forward but for music, I find that it's more complicated. (In my opinion) Not all songs/music are copyrighted eg, classical music by the great masters (Bach, Mozart. Beethoven, etc). Their music were written hundreds of years ago and they're already dead. Of course, recordings made by groups/choirs/orchestras may be.As you can see, I'm a little muddled when it comes to music and copyright. If a personal video recording contains background music as played from a stereo, is it illegal? This question has been bothering me for some time.

I haven't played that many FPS games but I used to play the ones that I did a lot. One of the first FPS game that I played was Wolfenstein 3D. I loved playing the game so much that I started getting a headache whenever I played. I also played the "Spear of Destiny", the sequel to Wolfenstein 3D. Other games that I played were Duke Nukem 3D, Quake (I & II), Hexen, Heretic and Doom I & II. If any remembers, Hexen & Heretic were magical versions of the genre. I also have "Return to Castle Wolfenstein", which is currently installed on my computer.I have a demo copy of the Unreal Tournament, as part of the package for my graphics card (Voodoo 3). I only played it once because I got bored of it after a while. Unfortunately, my system is 'too ancient' for the current FPS games like Doom III. So, I won't be playing them at this moment in time, whether I want to or not.By the way, I loved Duke Nukem 3D for it's humour factor.

I'm on 512K Broadband with a maximum download speed of 3488 kbps and a maximum upload speed of 448 kbps. I may decide to upgrade to 1500 kbps as I have a great offer from my ISP. My contract will be ending soon and is up for renewal but I haven't decided whether to upgrade or not.

I'm currently using Netscape Composer for my web-pages and serves my needs for my homepage on my ISP's server. At the moment, I have only one website to manage and there are a lot of limitations put by my ISP, so it's in html with some javascripts. I'll probably be using PHP if I can get hosting here at Asta.I've also used Notepad but I find it less helpful because you can't preview your changes. If I could afford a professional web design software like Dreamweaver, I would be using it instead.

It could turn out to be a good job if you enjoy programming and development but you have to be prepared to make sacrifices - tight schedules and lots of overtime. Besides time, you may have to deal with demanding or difficult customers. I used to be a programmer in a small telecommunications company selling PC telephony products. At the moment I'm looking for a job in a non-programming capacity and I've been trying since I left a few years ago. With competition from fresh graduates, foreign talent (who work better and cheaper) and outsourcing, it is getting more difficult to get an IT job in my country, particularly as a programmer. In my country, many of the best IT jobs have gone to foreign talent, especially from India and China.

I own a Sony-P72 DSC and it can record movie clips for as long as the memory stick allows. The max. resolution for the clips is 640x480 (VGA) and the zoom function cannot be used, although you can set the zoom before recording. Unfortunately. the flash cannot be used so it's best used outdoors on a sunny day. For indoors, it gets grainy unless there's sufficient lighting. I guess it depends on the size of the CCD and the camera, and also whether a lighting source can be mounted. Now that I have a digital video camera, I have no need to use the movie function on my digital camera, except maybe to record sound. The best thing about recording on a digital camera is that it loads directly on the computer using a USB cable without needing to convert the files (.mpg or quicktime), unless you want to convert to other formats.For quality recording, I wouldn't recommend using a digital camera.

As a kid, I was into photography and my first camera was a Kodak 35mm film camera that held disposable flash bulbs and since then, I used a few other cameras. Then, I bought my first SLR camera (Canon EOS) and used this camera for a number of years. I even replaced it with the same make and model when the inner lens (or mirror) broke while I was studying in Australia for my degree.I only bought a digital camera in 2003, a Sony-P72. Unfortunately, there are limitations such as poor performance in low lighting and the pictures become grainy. And SLR digital cameras are still expensive. I still have my Canon SLR camera.

I have MSN Messenger but I'm not using it anymore. I prefer to use Skype as you can hear the other person(s) you are connected to and you can even send text messages to each other. But I hardly use it anymore since I was done with my Project ie. my project mates and I used it for conferencing.

Apart from having an email account with my ISP, I have both Hotmail and Yahoo. I also used to have email accounts in other providers like Bigfoot but I hardly use them anymore.Since Yahoo has increased the size of the mailbox as well as the max. attachment size, I have a preference for Yahoo over Hotmail, although I only use Yahoo email for close friends. For other reasons, I use either my ISP email account or Hotmail - I use Hotmail more often. Unfortunately, hotmail accounts have a tendency to be "stolen" or used by other people without your knowledge. I've had mine hijacked by people sending spam mail. I only knew about them when the mailer daemon sent back unsuccessful mails.Concerning gmail, I've never used it before so I can't compare it with Hotmail and Yahoo.

I used to play this game when I was still using my Apple-compatible. In fact, I used to play a lot of text adventure games, many of them with graphics. I always had problems near the beginning of the game and thus, have never finished it. I only bought the book later when I saw it at the bookstore. It's a really weird but amusing story, though.

I'm currently using the Pentium III-IG that I bought in 2001 and I've replaced my CD-Writer and hard-drive when I had problems with them. I also had to replace my monitor and mouse. My current sound and graphics cards may be obsolete but as long as I'm not having problems with them, I'll stick with them. This is mainly due to the fact that I can't afford a new PC at the moment and I've not bought a new software/game in a long time. The only new hardware I have installed is an IEEE 1394 Firewire card that came with the digital video camera that I bought a year ago. I also have a printer and scanner connected. There's also a DVD ROM drive but I don't use it much as I have a problem playing movie DVDs on it, regardless of Region code.

I was using a 40GB hard-drive (IBM) until it suddenly stopped working last year - it couldn't be read by my computer. The worst thing was that I was in the middle of an assignment due the following Monday (it stopped working on a Friday) and lost all my data. I practically ran out to the store and got an 80GB hard-drive as it was only $20 more than the 40GB one.Needless to say, I had to reinstall all my software and start my assignment from scratch. But I managed to complete it by Monday. Unfortunately, I am unable to securely connect my current hard-drive and have resorted to using a large clothes peg.

I'm currently using WS_FTP, mostly to upload files to my homepage on my ISP's server and to manage files on it. I've used another FTP manager once but I've forgotten what it's called since I'm no longer using it, especially after having to replace my hard-drive last year.The WS_FTP I use is pretty old but it works fine for me.

Maybe I should say 'hi' to Firewire - I'm from Singapore, too. I'm currently on the 512Kbs Broadband Unlimited but my current subscription is ending soon and I've been offered by my ISP to upgrade to 1500kbs at a discounted rate, which is about 10 dollars more than what I'm paying at the moment. Alternatively, they also offered the same package at a lower rate but it's for 24 months. I'm thinking of upgrading as the 1500kbs but I'm not sure how much faster it will really be. To those with 1500kbs Broadband, is it worth the extra expense?

Hi. I first started on the path to programming when I joined my school's Computer Appreciation Club when I was in Sec. 2 (= 8th Grade) but we only got a computer at the end of that year, an Apple-compatible. So, I had to use the school's Apple II computers for most of the year, as did other members who did not own a computer - we were grouped to use them before school started. We also learned programming languages, a different one each year - Basic, Turbo Pascal and Assembly.Years later, I studied for the NCC Diploma and subsquently, finished with an Advanced Diploma in Computer Studies/NCC Higher Diploma. We had subjects with programming and that was where I first practiced coding, nothing complex though. The first real test of my coding skills other than for assignments was when I was asked by my sister to create a programme that generates random unique numbers for one of her university assignments. But, it wasn't bug-free as my sister pointed it out to me.I also did some programming while I was working in a bank, mostly in DBase IV and Access basic. I resigned so I could further my studies in Australia and it was for a Bachelor of IT. I did a lot of programming since it's a "Science" course, especially in C/C+.After graduation, I found a job as a programmer and the language that I used was Visual Basic. Now, I'm trying to learn web languages like HTML and PHP.

I have played a number of RPGs but there are a few that I can play again and again. Although the graphics may be better in games like Quake I & II, I prefer a game that I can replay many times, such as Might & Magic VI - VIII.To answer the question, the best RPG that I have ever played are the Might & Magic series and Lands of Lore II & III. For the Might & Magic series, the best thing about the game is that it's a 'pedigree' - anyone remember Might & Magic I - III and World of Xeen? Maybe that's the reason why I'm still playing M&M. As for Lands of Lore, I got hooked on the series only after I started playing Lands of Lore II: Guardians of Destiny. It's a great game, except that the final battle to be a little too difficult with a timer ticking after assisting the rebirth of the hero's nemesis ie. if it ran out before reaching the final room, you lost. Although Lands of Lore III is not as good as the second installment, I find it easy to play and complete it successfully.

I love RPG games, especially in a fantasy setting. Unfortunately, my PC's too old for the newer games like Doom III, which require a lot of graphics memory and I only have a Voodoo3 16mb card. So, I have to content myself with older games which I still play from time to time.My all-time favourite RPG's include Lands of Lore III, Might & Magic VI - VIII, Diablo , Diablo II (expansion), Stonekeep and Shadowcaster. I'm not sure about how to vote in the poll since the time-period is not a selection criteria for me. The game-play and sometimes a good storyline is what attracts me to a game.

A warm 'hello' to everyone at Xisto! I'm new to web hosting but not new to forums. The only website that I have is my homepage on my ISP's server, so I don't have much experience in website development.I've just completed a masters of business in IT and have graduated with a Bachelor of IT majoring in Applied Computer Science. So, I think I might be able to contribute in the forums.Other then this, I'm also looking for a suitable free hoster to put up personal video clips and photos, which I'm having some difficulty in finding. Of course, I have to post the minimum amount of 'quality' posts before I qualify for at least one of the free packages. Thanks.