Are you used to using the command ls in Linux, BSD and Mac OSX? Do you keep typing ls instead of dir in Windows? Well, you’ll be glad to know there is a simple solution to ease your burden. A submission to the Internet show Hak5 (episode 1019) suggested creating a file called ls.cmd which contained only the word dir and placing it in the c:\windows directory. Now, when you type ls it automatic replaces it with dir.
This alas has a bit of a glaring problem. If you typed ls *.bat it would only run dir not the logical expectation of dir *.bat. However, with a small re-write this is possible since the suggestion was basically a Windows batch file (.bat) and can come with a host of other commands.
So, I did a minor re-write which maintains some of the common parameters which are shared by both directory listing tools.
@echo off
dir %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
This new file saved as ls.bat (I’ll call a spoon, a spoon, thanks) now executes dir and passes parameters. So if you type ls *.bat you get dir *.bat as expected.
There are a lot of other improvements to make like changing ls parameters into the dir equivalent. But that is a project for another day.
If you’re a major user of Facebook chat and Firefox, then this may be massively of interest to you. You can load Faceboook Chat so it is always present on one side of the window, and what’s more it’s not even a plugin.
Click on the bookmarks button (of Bookmarks at top of screen) then select Show All Bookmarks. No create a new bookmark somewhere convenient in your bookmarks menu and call it ‘Facebook Chat’ for example. Now the address to type in is
http://www.facebook.com/presence/popout.php
Now, and most impotently, click the box below which says “Load this bookmark in the sidebar” (you may have to click downward arrow button to see this).
Now, once you click on the bookmark, it will always open Facebook chat in your side bar and it will always be visible on any website. E.g. You could be looking at things you cannot afford on eBay while talking to your friends and never have to switch tabs.
This last fortnight, I have been mostly playing… Not a lot to be honest, been rather busy doing other things so spent the bare minimum amount of time playing.
- Runes of Magic – PC
- Sam & Max 101: Culture Shock – PC (bought all 16 games for £11.67 on Steam)
- Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty – PS3 (thanks Sony)
- Bulletstorm – Xbox 360
- American McGee’s Alice – PC (awesome game, catching up before sequal, Alice: Madness Returns)
This next week, I’m hoping to play more games. Alas I have to catch up with my reading, but I’ll probably put in a few hours on the following…
- World of Goo – PC/Mac
- Uno – iPod / Xbox 360
- Broken Sword II – Mac / PC / Linux / PSP / DS / whatever I fee like (Scummvm)
- Fallout: New Vegas – Xbox 360
- Red Faction – PC (just bought on Steam for £1.24, score)
- Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty – PS3
- American McGee’s Alice – PC
- Portal 2 CO-OP Levels – PC & PS3 (hopefully can manage this with brother on PS3 and me on PC)
- Sam & Max 101, 102 & etc – PC
- PLUS MANY MORE, hopefully!
The sequel to one of my my personal favourite games, Portal, comes to the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC and Mac.
My dilemma is that while my PCs & Mac will run the original game, I seriously doubt it will play the modern games. So which console version do I buy?
Generally speaking, when I buy a game available on both PS3 & Xbox 360, I will buy the Xbox 360 version since I’ve had it for longer and I prefer the UI.
However, since Valve have decided to bring Steam to Playstation 3, by buying said version you get the PC & Mac version for free as long as you link your PSN & Steam accounts. See the Destructoid article.
In this basis I’m giving great thought to buying the PS3 version to get the PC version for when I can play it. This way I’m getting 2 games for the price of 1. While if I bought the Xbox 360 all I’d get is Achievements.
Plus, if I want the extra Xbox Gamerscore points at a later date (and I probably will), I can rent it via Love Film or buy it cheaply second hand.
So, I think the Playstation 3 is likely the best choice… But what do you think?
The following is a review I submitted to the IGN Game Changer competition to find new writers. Unfortunately it was not selected…
Some of my fondest gaming experiences from my childhood and teenage years were those associated to the Point-And-Click Adventure. But in 2004 the studio Lucas Arts, synonymous with Star Wars and Adventure gaming, decided to cease its Adventure lineup and merge the staff with its other projects.
This was signaled, by many, to be the death of the Point-and-Click Adventure. And, in the most part, was true. But, in secret, many people were working to continue the legacy.
The Open Source project known as ScummVM, have made it their goal to make all classic Point & Click games playable on modern systems including Monkey Island, Broken Sword and Discworld. They have largely been successful and most games boast 90%+ compatibility. As a bonus, these 160 games are now capable of running on some 35 platforms, including Windows 7, Mac OS-X, Linux and even iOS. This dedication to the genre has greatly increased the market for the games, seeing continued sales of Lucas Arts classics since its inception.
Similarly, Telltale Games was formed by three former employees of Lucas Arts as a response to public outcry over the cancellation of the Sam & Max sequel, Freelance Police. Now this company boasts several IPs, including Sam & Max and Monkey Island (licensed from Lucas Arts). Telltale have also expanded their market by developing for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and iPhone to complement their traditionally PC-centric genre.
The Renaissance of the Point-And-Click Adventure is here, it’s cross-platform and it’s brilliantly nostalgic.
The following is a review I submitted to the IGN Game Changer competition to find new writers. Unfortunately it was not selected…
Chrono Trigger (1995) and its sequel Chrono Cross (1999) were never released in Europe quite to the dismay of many Square Enix (formally Squaresoft) fans. An updated version of Chrono Trigger was finally released in European the Nintendo DS in 2009.
Until the DS release, dedicated fans were required to import the game or run an illegally downloaded version in an emulator. Imported versions also had to be run using a modified console or a pass-through cartridge.
The question is… Why would you not bring out a game in Europe when it has sold almost 3 million units? The only logical reason is that it was believed to be a loss leader in europe because of being translated into several languages.
After playing the game myself, I can say it really does live up to the expectations, and then some. The game is so completely involving which is a real surprise for a game of its age. The storyline is engrossing, the characters are well written and likeable. The winding storyline where you’re traveling through different time periods of the same location is inspired and manages very well to not be too confusing.
It is truly a shame this game was never released in Europe until the DS version, it’s excellently written and truly a joy to play. Frankly, I think that SquareSoft and Nintendo were idiots not to release it, for it would have had a huge market, but it’s their loss. Buy it, loose yourself in it!
As promised, here is the Internet Apps loader for Windows XP.
@echo off
ping -n 1 www.google.co.uk
If %errorlevel%==0 GOTO programs
goto end
:programs
echo Starting Pidgin.
start pidgin
echo Starting Skype.
start c:\Progra~1\Skype\Phone\Skype.exe
:end
exit
Basically it’s the same script with a few changes since the languages are different. The start command loads programs in the same way the trailing & did in Linux and allows the batch file to close at the end and not take up memory.
The @echo off simply prevents excessive text from popping up while the batch file runs.
The main difference is the procedure like layout. The If statement sends it strait to the programs procedure if there’s a connection, otherwise strait to the end.
To make this load on startup, put the .bat file somewhere sensible like in the windows folder, then create a shortcut to it in your startup folder in start menu.
UPDATE: Have made an updated version of this script, available here.
I’ve been writing these little scripts for some time on various systems to detect whether my laptop is connected to the Internet and only run Internet specific applications on login.
#!/bin/bash
ping -c 1 www.google.co.uk
if [ $? = 0 ]; then
echo – Starting Pidgin -
pidgin &
echo – Starting Dropbox -
dropbox &
echo – Starting Twitux -
twitux &
else
echo NO INTERNET CONNECTION FOUND
echo WILL NOT BOTHER STARTING APPS!!
fi
It’s a fairly simply process basically the ping command sends a single ping to google.co.uk and the $? returns a zero if the ping was successful. Then it runs the desired applications. The applications must be followed by a &. This allows the apps to run simultaneously instead of one after the other, and allows the script itself to quit once the apps are running.
Before you can run it you’ll likely need to change the permissions. Use chmod a+x net-apps.sh
To add the item to Xubuntu’s login go to… Menu > Settings > Sessions & Startup… Application Autostart… Then just add your own entry to start your new bash script. It should also work with all other Linux distros without much trouble, I’ve used a similar script on regular Ubuntu before now.
Hope this helped everyone, think this is particularly useful for all those netbooks kicking around with skinny linux distros like JoliCloud and Ubuntu Netbook Remix.
Will blog another version for Windows XP (and later) very soon. Anyone got any other requests? How about Mac OS-X & BSD, I’ve never had a go at those.
