Farewell, Goodbye, Aloha Bill Gates!!!

A particular goodbye to one of the best informatic persons over the Earth and a thanks for the work done in Microsoft!

The movie is very Funny !!!
Ciao

Lord Hol Napult

RSS FEED - Here's how I update myself about my favorite sites!

What 'an RSS feed (o Atom Feed) ? Simple, It’s the faster and more efficient way to reach the News and always keep ourselves updated.

Internet, among other things, is a huge information portal.

His power is now valued by RSS feed, which are pages of text in code built by the site operator, but with the particularity of being PORTABLES and rather AGILE to download.
The format of these pages is called XML, an international standard for portability of data.
This means that any FeedReader RSS (Software for managing the feeds) can download the XML file chosen, and manage them at the best, showing in a list of folders (eg: Blog, magazines, download) the names of sites that in turn contain the Arguments, which in turn contain text and images…To put this, it seems complex, but the result is that you can reach, for example, all the day's news of the major newspapers that you have choosen, with an easy opportunity to scroll and read what we you think it’s interesting. Just an update of your Feeds after launching the application and you're done.

For Example, Online Newspapers feeds report the day's news.
About Blogs, they report the listing "Post", and so on.
The symbol that identifies RSS feeds on a site is on of the following, but sometimes it’s not so easy to find :



The softwares that manage feeds also allow you to easily highlight the news from those already READED by those which are NEW, returning a navigation much more streamlined.
Unlike , It should be very different scrolling site by site, loading advertising, banners, pop-up ads and dodging false news (now the bad way is this…) to find out if there is something that interests us.

In any case if the news reported by the feed is incomplete or not enough complete, it should be generally require just a double click to open the address of the site and read the news from the official source…

At Last, I give a series of FREEWARE software very useful to manage Feeds! Some are integrated with your web browser (they are called PLUG-IN and go upon Firefox or Internet Explorer) but, as counsel, it is better to install a dedicated software about Feed Reading because the performance management is the best…

So, what are you waiting for?! Install an RSS Feed Reader and link your first feed, the one of this BLOG!
Just copy and paste the link below in the list of your Feeds, perhaps in a "FeedFolder" such as "Favorites BLOGs" :) :
LHN's Blog English version:
http://lordholnapult.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
LHN's Blog English version:
http://nooneshootsforever.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Freeware Feed Reader RSS:

1. GreatNews Windows (USB - no Install!!)
2. Snarfer Windows
3. Sage plug-ins FireFox/ThunderBird
4. Urss plug-ins Mozilla
5. Straw Linux
6. Netnewswire Lite Mac OS X

Lord Hol Napult

In Italy everyone against Games Developers

Open Letter to Punto Informatico (Informatic Online Magazine)

I've sent a letter to an Online Italian Magazine about Information and Communication Technology, called PUNTO INFORMATICO.
It is titled: In Italy everyone against Games Developers.
I thank P.I. and all those who have watched and commented with their views this article.
Sincerely Thanks,
Lord Hol Napult

- In Italy everyone against Games Developers - Rome -
Hello Punto Informatico, I'am a fan of video games since I was a child and I would say my opinion about Video Games, as we work in Italy?
I have already created a video game, and it has already been published by you about one year ago; it is called "No One Shoots Forever."
Inside the video games there is its history (Main / credits / history) and I decided to keep it inside because I've thought it was interesting; it describes the effort I made developing that game.
I came from a group of people from Italy in touch via Internet (which in fact was too dispersive) and I fell to do everything alone.

Sadly, I did not find fans like me who gave me an hand, and so I arranged to make code, graphics, sound, level design, beta testing and all that is necessary to reach at what I consider a good freeware product (free of charge) . The fact that after 2 years and some months of work, the product is released as freeware, was due to purpose that I wanted to reach a little reputation in this sector, but not between videogame players, but between the Italian software house that produces video games.

I thought, int the past, that there was some attention for developers emerging ...
Incredibly, there wasn't just a poor attention, there wasn't even the software house in Italy!
In addition, I must admit that people who would like to make videogames are thousands ... those who actually have the capacity and desire are a many less.

This videogame should be my true calling card! Unfortunately, things went differently.

I had to suspend the "video coding" (now I'm working inside financial IT) for lack of time and money need, but nobody (and I say NONE!) has really contacted me for a job.
Strange, since I received a corner inside various magazines (The Games Machine in 2005 and some European magazines).
The sum of Downloads (about 30,000) took nothing good to me. The road in Italy is really uphill, such as a climbing for climbers.

This also means that everything that KOALA GAMES have said is correct... they seek for state funds, become developers and publishers at the same time, in short, create themselves this new sector because neither institutions nor entrepreneurship benefits to the cause.

Now take two aspects of the problem. For example, the SIAE (Italian society for Authors and Publishers) problem, because I've tried to register at least one software in my short career.
Here's how they register a software in Italy:
1) The registration of a Software is optional.
2) The software must have a "SIAE sticker" upon each CD, and this is available only recording software (but wasn't it optional?). This legislation stickers are even in CONTRAST with European directives.
3) To register a software you must obtain that the software has been "PUBLISHED", that is made with a publicly exposure and then distribution to a client.
4) If I register to SIAE, it is because I want to be sure that in case of PUBLICATION the software will results uniquely mine, and nobody could thief the idea, the CD or whatever else about the Software.
5) If the recording have succeed (about a costs of 130 euro!) you will receive the confirmation of registration with the reg. number, otherwise... heh, otherwise,I have not received anything. Neither YES, or NOT. For 130 euro a silly postcard that said: "REFUSED because ..." could also be sent.
6) The provincial SIAE offices didn't know anything about Software registration, and the only ones who know are in ROME, in the "Software Registration Office"
7) The telephonic help desk suggest to call Tuesday or Friday for 2 hours. Incredible, but even in those days and in those hours the automatic voice is the same! But you cannot say it:"Hey! But it is NOW!".

Then there is the question that assails the bureaucratic italian softwarehouse.

Abstract: Shareware market (where Shareware is often the single solution for small software house just born ...) is made by trial programmes that are unlocked and become fully operational by registering on the site, upon payment of the amount.

Question: How could a developer or a small development team to risk the financial activity, pay a regular accountant, self-development (we speak about years of work, eh ...), issue invoices "to myself" (in case of sales) and throw away about 50% / 60% of the price of software in various taxes and charges, when not even know if it will sell a copy of their program?
And I haven't talked about the costs of the offices, hardware, software, and anything else is required to create a Software.

They would like tho call this a "risk business"? I think his true name is LEGALIZED FAILURE FOR SURE.

It should also be considered that wealthy entrepreneurs are indicatively "elder" and is not easy that they would pay in advance a team of young boys that use young technologies that entrepreneurs don't know and don't understand, in order to archieve (if thing goes right) some results on the marked, such as the sale of video games.
It also must be considered that the extra-Italian reality they touch is very advanced from the Italian Reality.

That is why the Koala Games pay much attention to their REGIONAL contributions (blessed them, I should wait for eons some NATIONAL contributions), they persuade investors to finance them (I do not know how they reach that and using what of their vodoo practice), they die under hours of work and produce in strict times their games.
I conclude by saying that as a programmer I refuse to make Videogames in strict times, because I've an high respect of what I consider a new modern ART, and modern art needs its time to be created.

Now it is better than I lower my voice tone and I return to make my good stand-alone freeware ... but "if I would like to write seriously my videogames, I would have written this message in a non Italian language... " .
Best regards.

Useful Links:

1. Publication of the letter upon Punto Informatico
2. Comments and Replies to Letter
3. RSS FEED

Lord Hol Napult

Poll - How many Raindrops fall upon your soul ?

At the Poll - How many Raindrops fall upon your soul ? - you have answered as follow:

1. None - I'm always happy = 0
2. Some - I'm quite happy = 4
3. Many - I feel tyred = 1
4. Infinite - I'm in Sadness = 1

What to say... battles make us tired, but sometimes we win!

Lord Hol Napult

Pure Code

I travel free through the code,
a surreal vault,
inside the debug of my mind,
I almost see the Great Equation.

The dynamic has linked,
an infinite virtual World,
and in the foolish of this jump
I also look for my identity.

As a condor in his desert,
I reach its limits,
but I see sand unscripted,
or just space for my future.

Lord Hol Napult

Fuck Off Day 2 - 25 April 2008 (Vaffanculo Day 2)

Here we are again, as time before in a not so far 8 September 2007, to send our governing board to the appropriate place.
Governing board.
Isolating these words increase the disgustive feelings inside. If it wasn't for the sacrifice (and the money) of so many italians the governing board shouldn't be able to administrate even a Roost; where to put the fodder, when clear the crap... or sell it to the near farmer that could use it as plant food....

Not even a Roost they should be able to manage, and this is UNCONFORTABLE.

I wasn't agree to write this post, this is my Blog and I want to speak about videogames and technology down here.
The pressure about economical condition, social , ambiental, cultural, territorial and everything finishing in "AL" that make sense , well, this bad conditions, disgregate itself thanks to our Governing board.

There are 3 powers inside a democracy, and a fourth more ; I list them to you:
Legislative Power: create laws that move the Country
Jiudiciary Power: judging the citizens with the established laws in a Country
Executive Power: the Police, that make to respect the laws of the Country
and, what about the Fourth?
Informative Power: TV, Radio, are tools for Mass Information.

What about the situation in Italy?
The Legislative Power put its hands upon the Jiudiciary Power ( law to suspend magistrates, when uncomfortables), put its hands also upon the Executive Power ( indulge law 2007 = insufficient police and high crime), and , could be miss, put its hands also upon the Informative Power.

If , today, Berlusconi has been elected again is because people live without true information (and he holds 6 on 7 televisions and many magazines).

I recall to you the sentence of the MEROVINGIO inside The Matrix: Cause and Effect.
Nothing can be decided, because decisions has been already got from who that hold the Power, and all the rest is a chain effect, an obvious consequence, a flood, a progressive and UNAVOIDABLE reaction .

Whith the V2-Day we, poor martyrs of the net, we who have choosen the RED PILL to know the TRUTH, we who tire ourself beyond our jobs time, well, we start from the hole of the situation: INFORMATION!

I think that if a programmer, a whitewasher, a butcher or a gate-keeper must worry in the evening about POLITIC is because those who should worry about POLITIC don't do it, and so there must be someone else to think about.

I'm Tired.

So , let we see Friday 25 April 2008, in every Italian town, but this time, behind the finger, they will find us!



Lord Hol Napult

GRID - Distributed Computing against the AIDS, the Cancer and other sickness

There are sickness that the human race hasn't well understood yet and for that thousands people, every year, die relentlessly.
There are politics interests, economic interests and sometimes social interests that block the researches intent to take their jobs over there, where it's necessary.

Then, there is the informatics, that is the power to make today in 1 second what I've done yesterday in 10 years.

The distributed calculation is base essentially upon this paradigm where some specific needings can be directed upon computers to reach a great results. Times ago there was big complex computers , where the big computation jobs where solved, but today, ladies and gentlemen, there is a small softwarine of about 10 Mb!

It's name is GRID, or BOINC, and it's capable to distribute computation, that should employ thousands of "clock years" to be executed, to many machines displaced all around the world.

Thanks to that, the World Community Grid Project , try to utilize all this possibilities to allow the American Universities (and more..) to formulate hypothesis about the evolution of a Cancer Cell or a virus like AIDS(HIV) if submitted to some treatments.

In easy words the reseraches studies configure the GRID, and the rest of the "world" execute all the computing operations to return an aproximately fast result....
Here it is a statistic of the actual numer of registered users "engaged" in the fight for survival:

But there are some Technical matters that must be cleared:
Before everything, GRID runs upon every known system (from Win 98 to Vista to Linux), but the main characteristic is that it doesn't slow down in any way your computer.
In fact it downloads from the net small chunks of calculation to compute, and during te "IDLE" clocks of the system, it solves them.

But, what's an IDLE Clocks?
Essentially they are moments during the time that the processors doesn't anything; because there isn't inside a machine the function "don't do anything", the processor execute void operations waiting to return operative.
If , for example, I execute 4 or 5 programs but this programs don't continuosly elaborate operations, the processor execute also many IDLE operations; think about when you use a Word processor and you wait some time to think what you have to write... inside this seconds your computer process automatically fake operations, but...
...thanks to GRID this operations can be used for the followings tasks:

1. Cancer Research
2. AIDS Research
3. World Overheating
4. other..

Registration waste only 4 minuts, installation included. Once you have registered you can decide what's your preferred research for your Idle clocks (but also all togheter...).
You will gain points and partecipate to a classification of the bests.

What to say , if you have a PC, internet, and many Idle clocks, why don't you help the future children and anyone of us ?

I wait for you...

Software Link: - World Community GRID -

Lord Hol Napult

Good Easter-Day to everyone...

...who is reading this BLOG.
Let's try to find a good healthy mental sanity at least in these days of Peace.

PIG:Good Easter-Day
LAMB: Fuck Off!!

Ciao.

Lord Hol Napult

Commodore 64 - The Infinite Legend (C64 Rulex)

Sometimes the Informatic eons runs faster than the light, quicker than a bullet... but you cannot exclude that they leave a permanent mark inside of us.

I'm also an old school videogamer (if the term is enough) and my first computer was the one you can see above: the Commodore 64.
Just think that 64 wasn't a casual number, it really was the amount of Kilobytes of RAM hold...
Let's make this clear:
- 1 byte is composed of 8 bits, i.e. 8 cells that can be ON or OFF (Ex: 10010011).
- 1 Kilobytes are 1.000 bytes.
- 64 Kilobytes are 64.000 bytes.
- 1 Megabyte are 1.000.000 bytes, that also are 15,6 times more!
If you get an old Floppy Disk of 1,44 Mbytes, well, that floppy contains 22 times the RAM of our beloved C64.

I esteem still now the love that some people put into coding a similar machine with 8 bits.
It's a very hard Task, I should say absurd, it's like to realize a super "checkmate" between all the pawns of a chess!

The main screen that I remember with love it's just this, simple and a bit poor, but difficult to forget...
I remember full days that started from here and ended only where the fantasy laid us, taken by videogames that was for a piece to play, for another to wait (loading time lasted hours), and another again to imagine.
In that times in fact, the graphics was so beat-upped that you was forced to interpret it by reason, or better, by your imagination.



Ok, time passed by and the process of crystalization of my records paints them inside like stupend moment of my life... probably they really was like said, but not everything has been lost. And Who should lose a piece of himself so precious ?!?

I will then put to your attention this magic site, searched and found casually, but surprisingly nice!

www.lemon64.com

Here you will find for first the mythic coders that made this history.
And take care about that, because someone of them, today in 2008, are still around coding actual games!
Anyway the very important pass of this site are the original Commodore 64 musics that you can download for free!
I dare to do that ( for sure you need lot of courage!), and I'm not repent about.
I will notify to you my bests musics and you MUST DOWNLOAD THEM, so you will be free to appreciate all of this:

1. Last Ninja 2
2. Creatures
3. Creatures 2
4. Myth
5. Golden Axe
6. Turrican 2
7. Armalyte
8. Catalypse
9. Barbarian
10. International Ninja Rabbit
11. Rolling Ronny

Of course to hear them you need also a small software opensource, easily downloadable. It's name is SIDPlay, and the music you will download are, casually, ".sid":

SID Play Download

I wish to you a Good listening, and maybe a deeply remembering...
Press Play on Tape!

Lord Hol Napult

Dark Path (Oscura Via)

Those who walked the Dark Path,
condemning the rejectful existence,
may they listen the awful screams from their ancestors,
cause they fall to the Lie.

Those who ploughed the Dark Path,
condemned to a rejectful existence,
may they hear chorus and horns of the Successors,
cause the Glory will celebrate them all.

Those that, for Science or Pain, look for the Dark Path,
and during their frisk, no Path they found,
may they tend the ears to Me,
cause my Existence seems without Veins,
such as a ploughed field without stream,
but Blood and Water big Lament do.

Those, at end, that occurs just Now to the Dark Path,
may they choose to turn the ear frontward or backward,
because the First Step of the Free Will,
will be Infamous or Blessed for Eternity.


Lord Hol Napult