Foxkeh!

(From the OMG - this is teh cut3z ! department)

If you haven't seen this, you should. This is from Firefox in Japan. More browsers need cute mascots like this:



You can find out more here at their homepage.

Cheers,
Paul

More about the Original Adventure source code

(from the YOU ARE STANDING AT THE END OF A ROAD department)

Hi everyone,

You might have seen this posting on Slashdot (or in my RSS headlines) about the original FORTRAN Adventure source code being found in an archive.

Originally written by Will Crowther, Adventure was the first text adventure game. Most people are familiar with a subsequent version that was expanded and edited by Don Woods.

Long thought lost, Crowther's original source code has been located in a backup of Don Woods' Standford student account from 1977.

Matthew T. Russotto has already translated the PDP FORTRAN to g77 (GNU FORTRAN 77) - which means that most modern gcc installations should be able to compile it.

He has a link here: http://www.russotto.net/~russotto/ADVENT/

I've gone ahead and compiled it on my PlayStation 2 Linux box (mips binary) - and on my laptop under Cygwin (x86 binary). I've never used GNU FORTRAN before - very interesting. I might have to peep the source code a bit - last time I used FORTRAN was in 1983 in college.

In the meantime,

$ ./advf4-11.exe
PAUSE  INIT DONE statement executed
To resume execution, type go.  Other input will terminate the job.
go
Execution resumes after PAUSE.
WELCOME TO ADVENTURE!!  WOULD YOU LIKE INSTRUCTIONS?

yes
SOMEWHERE NEARBY IS COLOSSAL CAVE, WHERE OTHERS HAVE FOUND
FORTUNES IN TREASURE AND GOLD, THOUGH IT IS RUMORED
THAT SOME WHO ENTER ARE NEVER SEEN AGAIN. MAGIC IS SAID
TO WORK IN THE CAVE.  I WILL BE YOUR EYES AND HANDS. DIRECT
ME WITH COMMANDS OF 1 OR 2 WORDS.
(ERRORS, SUGGESTIONS, COMPLAINTS TO CROWTHER)
(IF STUCK TYPE HELP FOR SOME HINTS)

YOU ARE STANDING AT THE END OF A ROAD BEFORE A SMALL BRICK
BUILDING . AROUND YOU IS A FOREST. A SMALL
STREAM FLOWS OUT OF THE BUILDING AND DOWN A GULLY.

go east
YOU ARE INSIDE A BUILDING, A WELL HOUSE FOR A LARGE SPRING.
THERE ARE SOME KEYS ON THE GROUND HERE.
THERE IS A SHINY BRASS LAMP NEARBY.
THERE IS FOOD HERE.
THERE IS A BOTTLE OF WATER HERE.

Cheers,
Paul

Tea Rules (of Etiquette)

(from the Miss Manners Says department)

Hi everyone,

The BBC mentioned something about a tea room with "Scary" rules in Brighton. Having been to Brighton a number of times, I had to know more.

Thanks to the miracle of the Internet, I found the tea room, and I found the rules. See how many of these you can follow:

The Tea Cosy Tearooms Etiquette

Cheers,
Paul

XBOX 360 Thermal Design

(from the It's sure toasty in here department)

Hi everyone,

Saw a great on-line article about the thermal design of the Xbox 360. You should check it out - especially if you're a current Xbox 360 owner.

Fragile Part of Xbox 360? Thermal Design Expert Investigates

Cheers,
Paul

P.S. Don't worry about installing Japanese fonts if it asks you - the site is in English.