Computers

Zoom Player v19 final released!

Posted on by Stian

A new version is out of my favourite video player – Zoom Player v19!

I’ve been using this excellent player for close to two decades now, and it constantly keeps improving while still allowing total control of all aspects of video playback. This is really the video player for those who love to tinker with their settings to get the most out of the software. There’s lots of new features in this version, including IPTV support, libVLC integration, screen casting and much more!

Over the past year, I have been working hard to ensure Zoom Player maintains its crown as the most versatile Media Player and Home Theater PC software for Windows. I’ve kept in constant communication with Zoom Player’s user base, and software enthusiasts from across the world to better understand which features would take Zoom Player to the next level.

Zoom Player v19 has been released!

Source: Zoom Player v19 final has been released

The AI Mirror Test

Posted on by Stian

Introducing the AI Mirror Test, which very smart people keep failing – Great article from The Verge on AI and our tendency to anthropomorphize machines that mimic human behavior, even when we’re fully aware we’re talking to a machine, also known as the ELIZA effect.

AI chatbots like Bing and ChatGPT are entrancing users, but they’re just autocomplete systems trained on our own stories about superintelligent AI. That makes them software — not sentient.

A monkey looking into a mirror at its own reflection

Who’s that in the mirror?

Just like humans, these new AI chatbots at times seem very intelligent, and sometimes just outright stupid – but we should not forget these are just algorithmic responses and not a sign of any sentience. We are still a very long way from that point – if it ever will happen.

Source: Introducing the AI Mirror Test, which very smart people keep failing

Hey Hey 16K

Posted on by Stian

Hey Hey 16K – A tribute to the ZX Spectrum and the trials and tribulations of using the home microcomputers of the 80s. Originally a Flash music video, published on the B3TA web site on 4 May 2004. Now lovingly emulated and finally pixel-perfect by the magic of the Ruffle SWF emulator.

Hey Hey, 16K
What does that get you today?
You need more than that for a letter
Old Skool Ram Paks are much better.

Hey Hey 16K

Source: Hey Hey 16K : M.J. Hibbett and Rob Manuel : Internet Archive

Trackers: The Sound of 16-Bit

Posted on by Stian

Trackers: The Sound of 16-Bit – a wonderfully nostalgic (for me) dive into the history of music trackers by Stuart Brown.

While I never made any music myself with trackers on the Amiga, I used them a lot for listening to music in MOD files. I loved to toggle playback on the different channels and “live remix” the tracks while playing, and it was a lot of fun to experiment with the different samples.

One of my favourite MOD tracks ever is “Variations” by Jogeir Liljedahl – a great example of the music capabilities of the Amiga. Another brilliant track is the classic “Stardust Memories” by Jester.

198X

Posted on by Stian

I backed this the moment I saw the trailer, I love that style of pixel art! 198X is on Kickstarter. Crossing my fingers it will be successful, and it looks pretty good so far.

198X is an arcade epic. A coming-of-age story told through multiple games and genres, worlds and characters. Experience the thrill of shooting, driving, jumping, fighting and role-playing – combined with emotional, cinematic storytelling. Welcome to the world of 198X – where a new life is just 1 credit away.

Windows Security

Posted on by Stian

I recently had to do a complete reinstall after my Windows 2000 installation started to seriously misbehave, and subsequently lost two partitions and some files in the process (grrr…). Luckily I managed to save most of my files from one of the partitions, which Windows thought was un-formatted and had no data.

The interesting part of the experience, however, is that this was the first time I’d done a reinstall with a computer connected to the Internet, so while during the install I unplugged the network connection, but afterwards I needed to connect to the Internet to download a service pack and do a windows update. This is where the problems started…

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PC troubles

Posted on by Stian

I recently decided to invest in a upgrade for my old computer, which up for the last four years has been running at a measly 450mhz – not exactly state of the art these days.

Not wanting to mess around with a new motherboard, I bought a Powerleap slot-1 upgrade with a 1.4ghz Intel Celeron CPU from Jarep Data, as well as a GForce FX5600 card and 160GB hard drive from Komplett. The total cost was about 3500 kroner, which is not bad considering that this upgrade hopefully will might make this PC last a few more years…

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Kristen Nygaard 1926 – 2002

Posted on by Stian

Kristen Nygaard, professor at the University of Oslo, passed away this weekend, at the age of 75. Together with Ole-Johan Dahl, who died in June, he was the inventor of Simula, the first object-oriented programming language. He was also one of the main people in the campaign against Norway joining the European Union in 1994.

This follows close after Edsger W. Dijkstra, who died from cancer on the 6th of August. That’s three great minds and recipients of the ACM Turing Award gone in a little more than a month. Sad indeed, and also a sign that the pioneers of the computing age are slowly passing away. Rest in Peace.