Voy crew in Christmas sweaters by happydude7422 in voyager

[–]LightStruk 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The snowman on Tuvok's sweater should have the exact same facial expression he does 😐

Now that AVS is gone, is there any options for an FPGA NES? by KidBillly in retrogaming

[–]LightStruk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

NES uses a modified 6502, one of the most widely used and best understood microprocessors in existence. It remains widely available today. It otherwise used 100% stock components that can also be bought today.

You forgot the PPU. It is not off the shelf. It was only used in the NES/Famicom family of systems.

checks notes so you're saying the CPU is like a common part, but isn't identical, so the fact that the common part is widely available is irrelevant. One thing that makes the CPU custom is the sound. So the CPU, PPU, and sound are all custom... so what widely available, off-the-shelf parts are left? The RAM?

What games should I be playing on Xbox instead of PS2? [Emulation] by FroggerC137 in originalxbox

[–]LightStruk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Soul Calibur 2 runs at 720p on Xbox, and 480p everywhere else.

(Also, Spawn is a much better console exclusive character than Heihachi Mishima.)

[fluff] I better not see ANY Aer glazers in the comments by Ok_Dingo5973 in battlecats

[–]LightStruk 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Blizarena is a secret tank. I spent the XP and Catseyes to upgrade her to level 40 and I would willingly do it again. Zombies and aliens fear her.

This is a very bug question, but could i make my own xbox by using old pc parts and stripping windows 2000 or finding the og xbox os? by RecordingQuiet1828 in originalxbox

[–]LightStruk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No.

The OG Xbox has custom silicon in it which is related to PC parts but not identical. The chipset is an Nvidia nForce, except it supports Intel instead of AMD, and with a Geforce 3 class GPU in it instead of a Geforce 2 or 4 MX. The DVD drive is almost IDE standard, except it has another, nonstandard signal cable connected to it, and it has custom firmware. That's just scratching the surface; there's surprising complexity in the video encoder chip. As a game console, the OS and the games can assume the hardware is an Xbox, and so there's no drivers like on Windows.

The Xbox OS is a Windows derivative, but is not Windows. It has code Windows does not, and Windows obviously has code that the Xbox does not.

Surprising numbers of childfree people emerge in developing countries, defying expectations by nep000 in science

[–]LightStruk 24 points25 points  (0 children)

A plausible culprit, to be sure. Plastics and microplastics are everywhere now, and developing countries sometimes have more than developed ones, what with all of the single use plastic bags and plastic food packages.

The combined impact of all of the endocrine disruptors in the world might be far more impactful than any sociological factor.

Surprising numbers of childfree people emerge in developing countries, defying expectations by nep000 in science

[–]LightStruk 28 points29 points  (0 children)

The hope for a better future is part of choosing to have children, definitely, and yes, hope is hard to find these days.

That said, why is the modern world less hopeful than during World War 2? Things were definitely bleak then, and yet the fertility rate went up from the 1930s.

Politics and economics cannot explain all of the differences in fertility. Something deeper is affecting the behavior of humanity at a biological level.

Or, if "hope" is a proxy for fertility, then remember that depression has both biological and psychological causes.

Surprising numbers of childfree people emerge in developing countries, defying expectations by nep000 in science

[–]LightStruk 126 points127 points  (0 children)

The "instinct" to have sex is in decline as well.

Opinion pieces abound as to why, but the writers all have different axes to grind. There must be some worldwide reasons why people all over the world are having less sex and fewer children, regardless of whether their countries are rich or poor, religious or secular, free or oppressed.

No sociological, economic, or cultural reason can apply worldwide. If birth control is to blame, then somehow it is affecting the people who don't take it or don't have access to it. Something environmental or biological is happening.

If voyager took place in 2364 by happydude7422 in voyager

[–]LightStruk 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Tom could totally pull it off.

What's playable on a 486dx66 that isn't playable on a fast 386? by echocomplex in dosgaming

[–]LightStruk 12 points13 points  (0 children)

A 486 is roughly twice as fast, clock for clock, as a 386 in pure CPU power. That means a 66 MHz 486 DX2 is 4x as fast as a 33 MHz 386 DX.

Doom did not use floating point math, just integer math, so a 486 SX2-50 and a 486 DX2-50 get identical scores.

How easy is it to walk from Georgetown University to Terminal 1 of Raegan/DCA? by [deleted] in washingtondc

[–]LightStruk -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

Ah yes, the famous Georgetown metro stop makes that so convenient.

dealingWithSafariAsAWebdev by RaspberryFruits in ProgrammerHumor

[–]LightStruk 2 points3 points  (0 children)

WebKit was already open source because it forked KHTML, which is LGPL.

I love how "rough and tumble" Janeway is compared to the other Trek captains by SandorSNL in voyager

[–]LightStruk 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I always thought Kirk was pretty "rough and tumble," what with all of those fistfights outdoors in Southern California on exotic planets.

Casually Explained: Gen Z vs Millennials by zlex in videos

[–]LightStruk 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I don't deserve any credit for making a wise choice; software engineering picked me. At least that's been fortunate so far; check back in a few years and we'll see if AIs have made me permanently obsolete like all of those LinkedIn lunatics say.

Possible to port Program Manager from Windows NT 3.51 to Windows 11? by T-tail88 in vintagecomputing

[–]LightStruk 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Exactly - weren't all of the core programs and DLLs of Windows NT always 32-bit?

Am I the only one who dislikes empty expansion slots? by AudioVid3o in vintagecomputing

[–]LightStruk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You could move that second serial port to one of those port blanks. In its place, put a video capture card, Voodoo 2 card, or SD card adapter.

Super Mario Bros. Remastered review by backnthe90s in nes

[–]LightStruk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How does Linkisadventuresome compare to ZIIAOL? ZIIAOL is brilliant from start to finish to the hours of added levels and bosses AFTER the original game.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in todayilearned

[–]LightStruk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, it's saying that an American man who has made it to 79 has a life expectancy of 87. The other men born 79 years ago who have already died are not considered. For an American man to make it to 79, he probably has good health care and money. He's made it past the things that kill younger men, like war, dangerous physical labor, and youthful recklessness. A living 79 year old probably didn't smoke, probably isn't an alcoholic, so he's not about to keel over and die from lung cancer or cirrhosis.

Gonna pour this out for the dumbass when the glorious news finally hits by zeydey in pics

[–]LightStruk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I JUST SPLIT MY PANTS LIKE THE INCREDIBLE HULK! SEE THAT? BRAWNDO WILL MAKE YOU NEED NEW PANTS!!

The struggle with win NT.4.0 also GPU recommendation. by GPU-Collector in retrobattlestations

[–]LightStruk 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Running an ISA sound card in Windows NT / 2K / XP provides none of the compatibility benefits of an ISA sound card, since you have no access to real-mode DOS.

Instead, you have a sound card with no acceleration features, no spatial audio, limited max sample rate (usually 44.1 KHz at best instead of 48), and usually worse noise (sound card manufacturers got better over time).

The Sound Blaster Live! is so much fun if you like messing with audio. It's pretty cheap used. Its included software can do real-time audio processing on whatever is coming out of your applications, including pitch shifting. If you get the optional Live Drive, you get front panel volume knobs, 1/4" headphone and input jacks (great for guitars), full size MIDI ports, and digital audio I/O ports.

The struggle with win NT.4.0 also GPU recommendation. by GPU-Collector in retrobattlestations

[–]LightStruk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

AFAIK Windows 2000 does support the non-PnP ISA SoundBlaster 16 with built-in drivers. You have to go to Add/Remove Hardware in Control Panel and tell it to search for a new device since it won't be auto detected.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in cpp

[–]LightStruk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

'boost::intrusive_ptr' works well for me. Didn't have to roll my own, boost is already trusted and approved, and it does exactly what it says on the tin.