suberatu

I have Frets on Fire, and I like it a lot. My biggest problem with it though, is that there aren't many songs available for it (at least not ones that you can find easily). It doesn't have the huge contributing community that other rhythm-based games on the computer (such as Stepmania) have.

I like to add salt, pepper, and curry before frying. The curry really comes out a lot and (in my opinion) makes the eggs taste much better (because of the added spice factor).

I actually have a copy of "The C++ Programming Language" by Bjarne Stroustrup (creator of C++). Just to clarify, it is a different book from the one djole_home mentioned. I tried to learn from this book, but it was VERY difficult (at least for me) because of two things:1) The author expects you to either have some programming foundation or be able to pick up on the basics rather quickly.2) It is very fast paced. Every time a new topic is introduced, the author goes through ALL the ins and outs of the topic.Some people like this style of teaching/learning because of its intensiveness. If it works for you, that is fine, but if you are just beginning programming, I recommend you find something else.My high school offers a C++ course and (while taking it as an independent study) I used the book they provided to learn C++. I can't recall offhand the name of the book, but it was one meant for students just entering the field of programming. It was easy to read, flowed smoothly (for the most part) and gave nice examples with concise but sufficient explanations. If you are just starting out and want to learn C++, I recommend a book that is structured in such a fashion over the more 'hardcore' books out there. That being said, it's really your decision what to use (what kind of book, or even abandonning books altogether and using the internet). You should definitely check out a bunch of different books/resources, see which one you like best and then use that one (or more than one if you prefer).

It seems good, but do you think you could possibly give a brief expanation of what each segment of code does exactly? You know, for those of us who aren't so fluent in php but might want to make tiny modifications to such a shoutbox.

I don't have any experience with php, but at least now I know how to output basic text (or variable text) to the screen. Thanks for the brief, but useful tut.

Very nice indeed. Like somebody said before, reminds you of XPlay (some time ago when it was better than it currently is today).

Fermat's Last Theorem is (as the name implies) a theorem that (until recently) went unproven mathematicians for centuries. Pierre de Fermat was a 17th century French lawyer who also happened to be especially gifted when it came to mathematics (especially calculus). In the margins of his legal papers (and such related materials) he would often scribble down his thoughts on particular subjects of math, as well as various problems, proofs, theorems and formulas. After his death, mathematicians often tried to solve or prove some of his formulas and theorems. One that consistently baffled mathematicians went something like this (according to Wikipedia): In layman's terms, this can be said as: The interesting thing to consider about this theorem, is that it is simple and easy to comprehend, yet it is/was nearly impossible to prove. The inherent paradoxial simplicity/complexity of this theorem in essence "pissed off" mathematicians, because while schoolchildren could understand it, they (the mathematicians, being the experts that they were) could not solve it. Adding to their frustration was the following note which Fermat wrote in the margins of his copy of the Arithmetica (an ancient Greek book dealing with mathematics) in which he stated: Despite all of the best efforts put forward by mathematicians, the theorem remained unproven. After a time, it was finally given up on. It was not until recently that Professor Andrew Wiles put forward a proof for the theorem, that the mystery was finally solved. The proof is reported to be over 200 pages, and involves such high level mathematics that the overwhelming majority of the population on earth would probably understand nothing in the proof other than the declaraction of the theorem itself. The proof involved work related to Elliptical Curves and Modular Functions. I'm not even going to pretend that I have ANY expertise in these areas of mathematics, so here I will leave you with links to a documentary put out by UKTV (found on YouTube) which does a great job of explaining the full story behind the theorem and Andrew Wiles's proof. It also gives you an idea as to what exactly Elliptical Curves and Modular Functions are, as well as attempt to inform you about how Andrew Wiles attempted to use them in his proof. The documentary is split into 5 parts and runs about 46 minutes (give or take a few).Part 1: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ Part 2: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ Part 3: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ Part 4: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ Part 5: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

Man, I remember trying to host myself off my own computer, using Apache and Dynamic DNS redirection to my IP Adress. That was a long, labor-intensive experiment, and sadly I never got it to work. (Oh well, now that I have Trap 17, I don't need to worry about that anymore).

Yea, I'm Egyptian and I know that there are actually guys who make a fortune out of making caligraphy art (like the praying man or the bird, not just calligraphy script). Some of them have pretty amazing works. Here are some more samples if you're interested in more of them (you can find a bunch on Google too): Picture 1: This piece is a composition cat/tiger-like creature with its head turned. Like all the others, it is done in Arabic calligraphy art. Picture 2: Another cat/tiger-like creature, looking forward with one of its paws raised. Picture 3: I'm pretty sure this one is a crane (it's probably the most amazing one I've seen yet, too). Picture 4: Another piece depicting a man praying.

While I don't actually understand the php programming fully, I can see that this is indeed a VERY useful script. One quick question though, does the htaccess configuration of the page you are trying to view matter? I.e.: If you were trying to view a source of a page that would usually give you a 403 error (Forbidden, you do not have access, etc.) would you also be blocked from viewing the source through this script?

That is simply awesome. Massive props to the guy who made this. He should go down in the record/history books for it or something.

Well, http://charas-project.net/ is an essential one. It has custom character, face, and battle sprite generators. They're basically online apps that let you pick a base face or body and add-on features step-by-step (such as hair, clothes, and accessories). You can access these "makers" by clicking the one you want (right under the Google search bar and to the left of the ads). There is also an offline version of these programs available for those with slower internet speeds. Crankeye's download section (http://www.crankeye.com/index.php?page=downloads) also has a ton of useful utilities for custominzing things such as in-game icons and glyphs, as well as opening titles. There are tons of other resources out there that you can easily find from a simple google search, but I have found these two to be among (if not the) best out there.

I guess its nice to know how to do something like that, but when exactly would this come in useful? i.e.: Why would you (have to) change an ethernet card's MAC Adress??

Simply amazing. I knew Tesla made some important contributions to physics and the study of electricity, but I thought that (aside from the Tesla coil) it was mainly theoretical stuff. I never thought his work(s) could have such practical uses. That invention is just plain cool.

Wow! Major coincidence. The guys on IGN's podcasts (Podcast Beyone or GameScoop, I forget which one) were just talking about how awesome it would be if Bionic Commando was remade/reinvisioned.

Yea, I've used RPG Maker 2000, and 2003, and I currently have RPG Maker XP Postality Knights Edition (spelling?) installed on my comp. It's very handy, and fun to use, but creating a "full" game actually takes lot of time and it can be tedious to find suitable battle sprites, characters, faces, and backgrounds. Luckily though, there are a myriad of RPG Maker communities around the net that offer a vast array of tools and downloadable graphics. They help a lot. I never actually finished any of the projects that I started on (any version of) RPG Maker, but I had a lot of fun while trying.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (more commonly known as just plain "Oblivion") is an amazing game and one of my favorite RPGs. It's very vast and the gameplay is epic, especially with custom modifications (you will find that the mod community for the Elder Scrolls series is one of the most dedicated and talented). The game is meant for singleplayer, but fortunately one very ambitious modder decided to try to code the game for multiplayer (http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/), and he's done an amazing job so far. While the features are limited, it's still a great thing. You technically can't "share" quests, but you can still get them seperately then run around together and DO the quests, so you and your wife might enjoy it.

I don't really watch TV series at the moment because having to wait a week to find out what happens to a characters at a cliff-hanger really bothers me (it's just not worth it). I will say though that I used to watch LOST (first season) and found it amazing, and I also used to love Arrested Development (still pissed off about its cancellation).

I used to like it too (though I knew it was fake), but then it became more of a bad soap opera than anything else. I stayed away from watching competitive fighting for a while, but I've recently become interested in actual televised MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) stuff like UFC.

It's pretty easy stuff, but useful for those who don't have any background in webcoding/design and want to be able to know how to do this kind of stuff.

Very helpful guide indeed. It's brief, informative, and the step-by-step screenshots really help newbies get a better understanding of it. Thank you for the tutorial, and I hope that I will find some good use for this soon (probably a sig or avatar as was suggested in previous posts).

Sorry, I guess I really should have been more specific. Basically, Fermat's Last Theorem states that an + bn = cn is not true for any integer n greater than 0. That is, a2 + 2 = c2 is true, but if you change the power to any integer greater than 2, you will never get values for a, b, and c that make the equation true (the only exception is when you get a rounding error from a basic handheld calculator). This was a problem that had previously gone unsolved for centuries, until Andrew Wiles proposed a proof (which he re-edited a year or two after the original publication) to prove the theorem. Two of the main elements of his proof were modular functions and elliptical curves. I'm not a mathematical prodigy, so I can't really explain what they are very accurately, but there is a 5 part documentary on YouTube which explains the theorem and how Wiles came to solve it (Link to Part 1). I highly recommend that anyone with the slightest interest in mathematics watch this documentary. It is very educational and interesting as well. P.S.: I have never actually seen the proof with my own eyes, but it is said that it is around the area of 200 pages, and that its mathematics are so complex that the majority of people living on earth would not understand what they are reading. Seeing how complex and long the actual proof is (which took Wiles over 7 years to formulate), I was actually joking about the $5 offer for another proof, since it is nearly impossible, and anyone who can actually formulate another is bound for much greater things than a $5 bill.

I am offering $5 to whoever can prove Fermat's Last Theorem without making any references to modular functions or elliptical curves.

Years and years ago I had America Online (shudders!), but thankfully now I'm with Verizon. I can't say they're the best (Roadrunner and cable in general is much faster than Verizon's DSL), but their customer service has been very helpful whenever I've encountered a problem (only happened a couple of times) and they don't do some of the things other ISPs do like limiting bandwidth and blocking specific sites. So overall, they're pretty good.

For most of the music I play, I use iTunes, with Winamp as a backup. For movies however, it's Windows Media Player Classic all the way. With WMP Classic (with Real Alternative installed), you never have to struggle to find correct codecs, and subtitles work like a charm -- you don't even have to configure the path to them, they just play. I also have the VLC Media Player, and Zoom Media Player because I find that they usually have a higher success rate in playing incomplete files that other programs automatically deem as 'corrupt' from the get-go.