Windows Really Good Edition

While rummaging through the internet, I found this quirky website: http://www.deanliou.com/WinRG/WinRG2.htm

If you miss the days of Win 95, 98, ME or 2000 then you should give this a try.

If you do not miss how buggy these versions of windows were, then don't.

I got a chuckle from it myself.

Here are a few sneak peeks into the madness of Windows RG:

Click to enlarge

Personally the second image here is my favorite. I couldn't stand that paperclip. So buggy and intrusive.

Sorry this is such a short stub of a an article, but digging up information on the creators or any other info about it has been unfruitful.

-Denny

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Wolfram Alpha

While mucking about on the Internet I stumbled upon a unique way to find information. The reason why I am not calling it a search engine is because it isn't.

At least not in the sense that Google, Bing or DuckDuckGo is a search engine.

Here is the explanation straight from the horses mouth at http://www.wolframalpha.com/about.html

"Wolfram|Alpha introduces a fundamentally new way to get knowledge and answers—not by searching the web, but by doing dynamic computations based on a vast collection of built-in data, algorithms, and methods."

 It's a very unique idea on information gathering. In a sense the information has already been gathered. Wolfram Alpha then helps you by putting this information into context, or calculating it for you.

This is not just a math nerds tool though (Not that there is anything wrong with that). Yes it will give you the sum of pi, and give you the square root of a number (if one exists.)

But it will also run calculations on the Beetles, apple seeds, and car transmissions and show you information that you probably have never seen before. (Just to name a few)

Wolfram|Alpha’s knowledge base covers an immense range of areas including:

Mathematics »
Elementary Math · Numbers · Plotting · Algebra · Matrices · Calculus · Geometry · Trigonometry · Discrete Math · Number Theory · Applied Math · Logic · Functions · Definitions · ...

Statistics & Data Analysis »
Descriptive Statistics · Statistical Inference · Regression · Statistical Distributions · Random Variables · Probability · ...

Physics »
Mechanics · Statistical Physics · Thermodynamics · Electricity & Magnetism · Optics · Relativity · Nuclear Physics · Quantum Physics · Particle Physics · Astrophysics · Physical Constants · Physical Principles · ...

Chemistry »
Elements · Compounds · Ions · Quantities · Solutions · Reactions · Chemical Thermodynamics · Protecting Groups · ...

Materials »
Alloys · Minerals · Crystallography · Plastics · Woods · Bulk Materials · Material Hardness · ...

Engineering »
Acoustics · Audio Waveforms · Aeronautics · Control Systems · Electrical Engineering · Fluid Mechanics · Mechanical Engineering · Steam Tables · Psychrometrics · Refrigeration · Structures · ...

Astronomy »
Star Charts · Astronomical Events · Planets · Moons · Minor Planets · Comets · Space Weather · Stars · Pulsars · Galaxies · Star Clusters · Nebulae · Astrophysics · ...

Earth Sciences »
Geology · Geochronology · Geodesy · Earthquakes · Tide Data · Atmosphere · Climate · ...
Life Sciences »
Animals & Plants · Dinosaurs · DNA Sequence Lookup · Human Genome · SNPs · Proteins · Mouse Genome · Fruit Fly Genome · Metabolic Pathways · ...

Computational Sciences »
Cellular Automata · Substitution Systems · Turing Machines · Computational Complexity · Algebraic Codes · Fractals · Mathematica · Image Processing · ...

Units & Measures »
Conversions · Calculations · Comparisons · Dimensional Analysis · Industrial & Construction · Batteries · Bulk Materials · Paint · Display Formats · Ring Sizes · Shoe Sizes · ...

Dates & Times »
Date Computations · Time Zones · Calendars · Holidays · Geological Time · Birthstones · Birth Flowers · Wedding Anniversaries · ...
   
Weather »
Current & Historical Weather · Forecasts · Wind Chill · Hurricanes · Clouds · Climate · ...

Places & Geography »
Political Geography · Physical Geography · Places · Cartography · Geodesy & Navigation · Countries · Administrative Divisions · Cities · Mountains · Islands · Oceans · Lakes · Buildings · Points of Interest · ...

People & History »
People · Genealogy · Names · Occupations · Political Leaders · Historical Events · Historical Periods · Historical Countries · Historical Numerals · Historical Money · ...

Culture & Media »
Personal Analytics · Notable Texts · Periodicals · Writing · Movies · Television Programs · Television Networks · Video Games · Songs · Fictional Characters · Mythology · Awards · ...

Music »
Music Acts · Music Albums · Songs · Music Theory · Audio Waveforms · Musical Instruments · ...

Words & Linguistics »
Word Properties · Dictionary Lookup · Word Puzzles · Anagrams · Languages · Document Length · Morse Code · Soundex · Number Names · Character Encodings · ...

Sports & Games »
Sports · Games of Chance · Football · Baseball · Olympics · Stadiums · Lotteries · Roulette · Gambling · Card Games · ...

Colors »
Colors · Color Systems · Color Arithmetic · Related Colors · Colors of Light · Sets of Colors · Color Conversions · Paint Colors · Temperatures · ...

Shopping »
Consumer Products · Electronics · Office Products · Fitness Equipment · Appliances · Musical Instruments · Movie Tickets · Retail Locations · ...

Money & Finance »
Stock Data · Indices · Mutual Funds · Futures · Mortgages · Present Value · Currency Conversion · Tips · Bonds · Derivatives Valuation · Wages · Sales Tax ·

Socioeconomic Data »
Demographics · Countries · US States · US Counties · Cities · Economics · Agriculture · Energy · Salaries · Unemployment · Cost of Living · Health Care · Housing · Social Statistics · Crime · Military · Religion · ...

Health & Medicine »
Body Measurements · Growth Charts · Exercise · Diseases · Mortality Data · Medical Test Data · Teeth · Vision · Drugs & Prescriptions · Hospitals · ...

*Examples from http://www.wolframalpha.com/examples/

There are some very unique visual examples here:
http://www.wolframalpha.com/gallery.html

There is also a tour here:
http://www.wolframalpha.com/tour1.html

I personally think the best way to try Wolfram Alpha is just to go to WolframAlpha.com.

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8bit Mush, The ANSI art game

If you want to trip the light fandango, if you want that nostalgic feeling.

If you loved MUDs, MUCKs, MOOs or MUSHs, then try 8bit.

If you miss the ANSI graphics of your old dial-up BBSes, then try 8bit.

Or if you where not around during the late 70's to mid 90's and want to see what the older computer users did for fun on their machines of the day, try out 8bit.

8bit is unique because it has the black background and white keystrokes that MUD players are used too, but they have also made an extensive help and map and street system (among many others including stores and shops) with ANSI.

8bit is a high-bread.

I also suggest that if you liked playing the old nes games, you try 8bit because you will feel at home with the ANSI graphics.

Here is a sample of some of the ANSI artwork:

This is what the 8bit team has to say about 8bit:

"8BitMUSH is a collaborative virtual world, based upon text-based artwork (16-color ANSI Art, 256-color FANSI Art, and colorless ASCII Art.) Every player is encouraged to extend the world with their own creations, and explore the creations of others. The community is very social, with a unique culture and over 10 years of history.

The virtual world is based around a colorful megatropolis called ANSI City, with a surrounding suburbia and various other landscapes to explore and build upon. The virtual economy allows for players to run their own companies, invest in a stock market, and buy and sell products from various shops and vendors. Many projects and games have been coded on 8Bit using MUSHCode, the in-game programming language, including arcade games, toys, board games, interactive-fiction puzzles, a space system and much more. There are also tools to create content without writing any code, and a vibrant social community. "

If you are interested in knowing a little more about 8bit, go here:
http://ansiart.com/

If you would like to jump right into the game play, then go here:
http://ansiart.com/Play/ 

(P.S. New created characters have to go through their child hood from infancy. This goes very quickly, and is designed to teach you how to use 8bit. So be patient.)

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The Powder Toy on Ubuntu 12.10, 64bit

One of my favorite programs is a physics simulator of sorts, called "The Powder Toy."

I noticed on Ubuntu 12.10 64 bit edition, that it failed to run.

After insuring libSDL was installed, I still couldn't get it to run.

It wasn't until someone mentioned on irc.freenode.net #ubuntu (Ubuntu's official IRC help channel) that I would need to install ia32-libs that I finally got it to work again.

I thought I would post this for anyone else that was having problems with The Powder Toy.

And if you never heard of it before, and find yourself intrigued, check it out here:
http://powdertoy.co.uk/

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Watchtower Library 2012 under Ubuntu 12

I just finished installing the Watchtower Library 2012. I use the "flavor" of Ubuntu called Xubuntu 12.04 LTS, 64 bit edition.

The only problem I have seen so far is that the program seems to "hang" just a little after the beginning of installation.

It seemed like it was stuck, but then progressed again after about 2-3 minutes.

Installation went well after this, and I have already used it for the daily text with no issues.

As always, if anyone has a problem with getting the library to function on an Ubuntu machine, please feel free to email me at dennygoot@gmail.com, or comment below this article.

-Denny

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Service Droid, for your ministry record keeping

After getting my android tablet, I wanted to make sure I put it to good use.

At first I wanted to use it for the epub files that are available at JW.org.

Then I had someone tell me that there were apps available for Android for Jehovah's Witnesses who wanted to record their ministry time, return visits, etc..

After trying several, I found Service Droid.

The number one reason I chose Service Droid is because it ran without having errors or crashing.

I am not certain why Ministry Assistant didn't want to work for me, but it did not.

Service Droid also is very simple and straight forward, and so I do like that. The service time recorder gave me some issues, namely if I turned the device off or let it go into standby it would not accurately record my service time.

But since I can do that for myself, It's a non-issue for me.

Here is what App Brain says about it:

Screenshots

About ServiceDroid

A field service assistant for Jehovah's Witnesses. Keep track of your service time, return visits, and placements.

Record placements and visits in the Call Book, and the stats will update accordingly.

Stats can be viewed either monthly or by Service Year (Sept - Aug). Also easily offers to move your extra minutes to the next month when you send your report via email.

NOTE: This application requires you to use it for your Call Book to get the best out of it. If you simply wish to record your time and number of magazines placed, I recommend another app, like "On The Ministry Lite".

ServiceDroid makes automatic backups to your SD card. To see how to restore to a new device, read here: https://github.com/seanmonstar/ServiceDroid/wiki/Restoring-a-Backup

Languages Available:
* English
* Spanish
* Italian
* French
* Portuguese
* German
* Danish

Source code is available at http://github.com/seanmonstar/ServiceDroid

Please report issues to the email address listed, I will be able to directly respond and act quicker than issues mentioned in reviews.

Recent changes:
* Updated design, works better on newer phones without a menu button.
* Added support for future years of magazines
* Sort order is saved
* Fixed some crashers 

 

It is available on quite a few of the Android Markets. I got it from AppBrain.com.

 

You can get it here: http://www.appbrain.com/app/servicedroid/com.monstarlab.servicedroid

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Good free Android Markets

About a month ago I bought a Visual Land Android tablet.

While the device runs excellent, it did not come with "Google Play" the Google Android market.

The Android markets that came with it seldom wanted to work, or didn't have the software I was looking for.

I found these 2 while trying to get software I needed for my tab.

The first came as a extra gift. I installed Opera Mini, and along with mini came the Opera Mobile App Store.

Not a giant selection but a decent one, and I have never had a problem getting an app to install from it.

Then I found the mother lode. Aptoide.com.

Aptoide takes a little getting used to. Here is how you use Aptiode:

1 You install the Aptoide Android market app.

2 You Search for what you are looking for on Aptoide.com, not the Aptoide market app.

3 You add the store that offers the software you want to install. (By clicking install on the appropriate Aptoide.com app page)

4 You choose install when Android asks if it is OK to install this software.

If you just use the Aptoide app, you will only get a small portion of the apps available to you via Aptoide.

If you are interested in the Opera Mobile App Store, then click here:
http://apps.opera.com/en_us/

If you are interested in the Aptoide App Store, then go here:
http://www.aptoide.com/

I think that these Android markets will make it so much easier to get what you need on your Android tablet.

-Denny

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