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Old Hardware Emulated : MS SDK's Simulating Windows CE (Part 2)

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  Windows CE 2.0 On September 1997, Microsoft released Windows CE 2.0. There have been many improvements made in this version as the Redmond Giant received plenty of feedback from the users that tried CE 1.0. Most of these changes made have been within the realm of usability and making the WinCE devices more usable with a typical consumer. Like Pegasus and CE 1.0, 2.0 was largely geared towards the HPC handheld devices. HPC, or handheld PC, were a form of palmtop/clamshell computers made by various companies like Sharp, Casio, NEC, and HP. The new version of Windows CE was very well received on these devices.  Like Palm and Apple, Microsoft released a SDK for software developers to write WinCE specific applications. These kits included device simulators that allowed developers to test there applications without needing a actual device. Again, this isn't that different from what Palm was doing at the time. However, at this point, it should be noted at a s...

Interstate '76

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  I've Been Drivin' All Night, My Hand's Wet On The Wheel (Na Nah Na Na Naaaaaahhhh).................... Vehicular combat games were the rage in the late 90's. Games like Twisted Metal dominated on the PlayStation. The hardware constraints imposed by the 16-bit consoles like the Genesis or SNES were no more. More powerful hardware meant that more expansive games with larger environments and more graphical effects. True 3D environments began to take hold during this time. A massive hardware arms race was occurring within the PC market as well. The 486 reigned supreme. These processors were driving games like Doom. The Intel Pentium processors began to become far more accessible as well, propelling intense FPS's like Quake, to the forefront. By the late 90's, 3D accelerators like the 3DFX Voodoo were taking the gaming PC's by storm. For open-world driving games, it would look like the scene would be dominated not by...

My Thoughts Close Of The Election (Part 2)

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  Extremism There is nothing good to say about Anitfa. However, the Proud Boys are pathetic criminals too. They are not the freedom fighters that many make them out to be. Extremism is the same, regardless of the group. There is no difference between Antifa groups, Neo-Nazis, the KKK and ISIS. I don't know why people cherry-pick extremist groups. I don't know why people will single out Radical Islam or Antifa while presenting white-supremacist and worthless Klansman as symbols of freedom and Americana. If people can call out Radical Islam and Antifa by name, they can call out the KKK and Neo-Nazis as well. Trump didn't condemn the Proud Boys until he was called out. Radical Islam is dangerous. I don't think that anybody is denying that, unless one is a sucker for sensationalist click-bait found on Facebook. However, we're dealing with an administration that thinks that Radical Muslims (and Antifa) are the only ones capable of terrorism. Extremism is an...

Breaking The Routine Supplement

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  This New Year provides the opportunity to tackle whatever obstacle that is on the horizon. This even means breaking the routine itself if must. Here is the supplement for the previous message: Breaking The Routine. The supplement is basically the items that were left out of the final message. Parts that at the last minute were deemed irrelevant, didn't flow with the final message, or in some cases, read more like a rant than anything else (ie. irrelevant).  The nice thing about having a blog is that I can still share the proper message as well as what the bits that got left out.  No Spiritual Brownie Points For You! While on the pursuit of starting the new year on good ground, it’s important not to pursue “spiritual brownie points”. The pursuit of spiritual enlightenment is not a self-fulfilling game where one keeps score. If someone ask what you would do if you saw a angel, “don’t respond that you would feel peace with God”,...

Old Hardware Emulated : MS SDK's Simulating Windows CE (Part 1)

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  Establishing Context There is one thing that we need to get out of the way..........Microsoft didn't create WinCE as a response to the success of the Palm Pilot. The research that would eventually result in WinCE was several years in the making. Microsoft was doing it's own research into handheld operating system independently of Apple and Palm Computing. In The Beginning In 1989, Atari released the Portfolio, which was a handheld palmtop/clamshell PC. Yes, this was a actual handheld PC as the portable computer was literally a IBM PC/XT Compatible PC. The machine had a CMOS variant of the Intel 8088 Processor running at 5MHz, along with 128KB of RAM, and a 240 by 64 pixel LCD display capable of a 40 by 8 character display. The Portfolio had MS-DOS 2.11 in ROM. The Portfolio had a retail price of $400 in 1989, which is the equivalent of $824 in 2019. The Portfolio showed the limitations of a PC environment on a handheld device. MS-DOS,...

Driver 2

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  A Worthy Follow-up Driver was a massive success on the PlayStation. It instantly became a must-own title for gamers on that particular system. It seemed only natural that a sequel would follow. Follow it did with Driver 2, released in November 2000 on the PlayStation. This game was never ported to the PC, as the PC version didn't sell nowhere near what it did on the PlayStation. Driver 2 was ported to the Gameboy Advance though. However, this article will focus exclusively on the PlayStation version. This game was significantly larger than the original, as it came on two disc. Their were 4 cities included in Driver 2. The included cities were larger in size compared to their predecessors. Like in games like Midtown Madness, Chicago is depicted in this game as well. Chicago has always been a favorite for 70's style car chases. The Blues Brothers come to mind. Havana is depicted as well, and can be played immediately. Las Vegas is depicted too,...

My Thoughts Close Of The Election (Part 1)

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  The Media The phrase that starts with “I read this on Facebook….” is one of the most toxic words that one can hear. On one hand, there is a general frustration with traditional media. However, people's frustrated with traditional sources caused them to gravitate towards one of, if not, worst places to get news from: social media. Several complain about the bias of American news. Yet, when several took to social media, many went straight to sources that were far more biased and partisan than anything on TV and cable (Brietbart, TheBlaze, WND, and OAN just to name a few. I've already crapped on CNN and MSNBC enough in previous articles). People were not really looking for objective news as simply mouthpieces that echoed there thoughts. Several get there news from the likes of Ben Shapiro despite the fact that he's not a news source, but a commentator. Many will blindly believe anything that has the words "Freedom",  "Liberty", "Americ...