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There are many open source games available, something most of us don’t consider. Many of these are multi-platform and various genres and categories of open source, free games ensure there’s something for everyone. If chess is your thing, you may want to have a look at DreamChess. DreamChess runs on Linux, Mac and Windows and has the ability to save games in PNG format, undo moves and play sound effects. A reasonable chess engine is supplied, but many XBoard-compatible chess engines may be plugged into DreamChess.

It’s nowhere near as feature-rich as ChessMaster or Fritz, but the basic options for playing chess are provided.

There are various difficulty levels to choose from. These are determined by the chess engine in use.

The greatest pity about the program is the fact that only one view of the board is available. It’s adequate, but it would be nice to pan, zoom and rotate, if only to a limited extent.

With the promise of a network play option to be included in the next release, DreamChess is worth a look.

Computer monitors are hardly something I’ve ever spent too much attention on. The ones I’ve had have served for lengthy time periods. My trusty AOpen 19″ CRT has been connected to numerous PC‘s. Mel’s 17″ CRT was in desperate need of an upgrade – even a Windows XP user wants to see more of her screen

P4 is now kitted out with a stylish 19″ Samsung 932BF.

For katana, something a bit more impressive was called for. The 22″ Samsung 2232GW

Unpacking these was similar to removing pizza from a box, unlike the experience of old when 19″ and 21″ CRT boxes could hardly fit through a door and included instructions on how to invert the packaging to safely extricate the content. Then, there was the anticipation of the desk cracking once the CRT had been gingerly maneuvered into position. Like pizza from a box: lightweight and easy. Both feature the same chassis design finished in high-gloss black. Except for the small, round power button on the lower right of the screen there is no other distraction. It glows blue to indicate the power-on state and flashes when the monitor goes to standby.
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The Lego Eiffel Tower stands 108cm high on a 50cm square base.

The scale is 1:3000 and the model is made up of three parts that allows it to be moved or stored easily. C’est cher: at USD 199, you may as well spring for a ticket on Air Frogs and see the real thing

If you spend your time at different customers all running their own collection of SAP systems, you eventually end up with a SAP Logon Pad that provides no assistance when it comes to selecting the right system. Even if you name your entries intelligently, possibly including a SID, customer name and system description, you still need to scan long lists. Many SID‘s may be duplicated, making a quick click launch of the SAPGUI impossible. Enter BasisTechnologies. They provide a simple application for Windows-based operating systems that reads the list of systems used by the SAP Logon Pad and allows entries to be grouped. LogonX:

The application resides in the system tray and simply hovering the mouse over the icon causes the list of systems to pop up. Select one to launch a SAPGUI connected to that system’s IP address. The 4MB download is available without charge.

Let me start by saying that listening to Audible content using an iPod and not fiddling with conversion to CD‘s and then to MP3‘s is the way to go. Whether I should blame iTunes or Nero or both, I’m not sure. I ended up with skipping tracks and content that would end in mid-sentence. Transferring the two large files to the iPod was a much more pleasant and seamless experience. Paper is certainly a simpler medium… Last comment about the audio book: the narrator, Brian Emerson, does a reasonable job but seems to have difficulty in providing the necessary intonation when the end of a sentence approaches.

Confessions of an economic hitman is John Perkins‘ firsthand account of his life and career. Initially starting out as a volunteer worker in South America, he was soon employed as an economist for Chas. T. Main. The company provided a variety of engineering services, foremost among them the development of power plants. Perkins’ role was to forecast economic growth based on what he perceived the power requirements of third-world countries would be. Based on the assumptions, plans for construction of infrastructure were provided to those countries along with the requisite financing. It is Perkins‘ assertion that his role as an economic hitman (EHM) ensured the indebtedness of these countries to the USA and its large corporations and government. Oil is the most obvious resource the US is after, and the reader follows Perkins‘ trail from South America to the Middle-East and Asia.

I found the book quite fascinating, especially the insight provided regarding historic events, such as the rise of the Ayatullah Khomeini, construction of the Panama Canal and the dealings of Bush and company. My favourite factoid: the mention of Arbusto, a small oil company set up by George W Bush. Arbusto is the Spanish word for bush

Where the necessary leverage could not be brought to bear by the EHM’s, the US government would send in CIA jackals to assassinate leaders. Perkins mentions both Omar Torrijos (president of Panama) and Jaime Roldós Aguilera (president of Ecuador) whose deaths are speculated to have been caused to further a sinister cause. According to Perkins, military intervention is the final move used by the US government. Iraq and Afghanistan are but two examples, with the invasion of Panama in 1989 being another.

There are some who consider Perkins to be embroiled in a conspiracy theory. I guess each statement has a counter argument, as with all things in life. In principle, I consider Perkins account the be honest. I don’t believe he has anything to gain by making up wild accusations. You may want to read (or listen to) the book to make up your own mind

If you’re a gear head, you’ve probably already heard of Alexander Roy. Combining gadgets and high speed, he’s been a winner of the Gumball 3000 race more than once. His Team Polizei emblazoned BMW M5 is the ultimate toy, featuring GPS devices, laser and radar jamming equipment and switches to deactivate brake lights.

In 1983, the first illegal high-speed attempt to drive from New York to Los Angeles resulted in a record that stood for a number of years. The time to beat: 32 hours 7 minutes. You may enjoy Wired‘s story of Roy’s attempt to beat that record in October 2006. Read it here.

If you have an established acronym that once served its purpose to describe a particular set of technologies, there’s no greater bonus than being able to revive that same acronym to describe the same technology, except in a more modern context. Buzzwords are all the rage, and the latest one is service oriented architecture (SOA). Granted, it’s more a buzzphrase than a buzzword, but that’s not the point.

SOAP is a protocol for exchanging XML-based messages over computer networks, normally using HTTP or its secure cousin HTTPS. SOAP used to refer to Simple Object Access Protocol. Now that SOA is so popular, SOAP is more commonly referred to as Service Oriented Architecture Protocol. In the final analysis, it’s just what is always was: exchanging messages primarily over HTTP. As always in computer science, one can rely on the fact that most everything has already been invented. It’s just a bit faster, a bit more refined or, in this case, simply renamed.

A nice feature of the Gnome Nautilus file manager: hover the mouse pointer over an audio file and see the icon change.

Then, the audio file starts playing until the mouse is moved away. For a desktop user, there are many features in Linux to make computing a pleasant experience.

Oliver Stone directs some interesting and controversial movies. This one is certainly not among them:

Never mind the fact that Alexander the Great was supposed to be, well, great. No way that trait is ever shown in this 3 hour waste of time. The most irritating thing about the characters is that each seems to interpret the ancient Greek language somewhat differently: some speak with a normal accent, others inflect with a bit of Scottish and still others with a bit of Welsh. The most horrific is Jolie‘s Russian accent.

Why?

Durban acted as host to the world during the preliminary draw of 170 teams who will fight it out to qualify for a place in the 2010 tournament. The event was well coordinated and overall, I think we can be confident that we match other host nations when it comes down to the flash and glamour needed.

Out on the street, it’s a different matter entirely. First off, an Austrian visitor to the event was killed on a golf course in Durban, mobile phone and wallet stolen. He’d been invited to attend by none other than Franz Beckenbauer. Two delegates from the German football association had their personal belongings stolen while breakfasting in a hotel. So, we can argue that crime occurs everywhere, at any time. You’re not safe anywhere in the world. Maybe. Adding 1000 extra police officers during the staging of the preliminary draw in Durban is one way of trying to minimize crime. But that didn’t help – there is little any number of extra police officers can do if the public at large is incapable of behaving in accordance with any law. There is no such thing as crime prevention, only a reaction to what has happened.

Let’s hope these incidents were anomalies. Sadly, I don’t believe they were. Already, foreign newspapers will carry a story of murder advertising an event that is more than two years away. Glitz and glamour cannot hide the fact that crime will undermine everything that is done to make this event a success.