JRT,

Many thanks for your usual excellent and artistic impression which has been forwarded to the respective parties.
No doubt, I will receive a response from them very soon!

How does that David Copperfield 'illusion' work? It has done me eight times in a row!
It seems that providing you hold complete concentration on the chosen card - it works!
I suspect malign and demonic forces are at work here...

If a computer screen can monitor our thoughts, what privacy have we got left?

Actually, there is nothing new here. SWMBO has been accurately reading my mind for years.

Folks,

Dux:

I am pleased that you liked the mag. cover. Those rosy cheeks of Lady "M's" remind me of our own little grandchild's when she comes in after a long play outdoors. Speaking of outdoors, it is pouring snow this morning but, alas, nothing is sticking. A beautiful and rare sight nonetheless. Last week's snow is but a memory.

LOL! Lady "T" tells me that I am a creature of habit and my mind should be easy for her to read. Not so! My cluttered mind is like alphabet soup, all the letters are in there for her to see, but unfortunately they do not actually spell anything....

Eight times?? That must be a record. I agree that it is an astounding, mystifying bit of legerdemain. Of course making the Statue of Liberty disappear must have been a tad more difficult for David.

As for our screens monitoring our thoughts.... well, I don't mind that so much....it is still MY screen. Rather it is those cold, calculating, interested eyes secreted somewhere behind our screens and down that long cable taking note that keep me up at night.

The real enigma here is why on earth would anyone, anywhere for any reason care to monitor any of us? OK, I don't know about the rest of you highly suspicious chaps but it is a serious waste of time monitoring moi.

Folks,

What do you think of the newest trend in software streaming? Buy and Download. It is said that we are shifting from PC-based to a web-based software. What? Are "we" really? No more colorful boxes to collect, no CDs for the kids to accidentally turn into coasters? Pay & Play..... set it and forget it...what is the world coming to?

After seeing what happened in the past when servers on just this website received a virtual lobotomy and went crashing down; I'm not so crazy about having my software on the web. Not all of it and not all my data backups either. Yup, I know they will have copies of it spread about on different servers, maybe backed up on tape or other media..... hummm... that might protect it and then again, the more copies there are of my stuff floating about.... Actually I have very little that I care enough about to archive in that way. Most people probably don't either. Business is quite different if the security is there.

Wings of Prey looks interesting. Do you download all the software and install it or does some of it stay web-based and then you essentially log on for multiplayer gaming? I watched the intro and it was as exciting as it was meant to be. Has anyone tried this title or anything like it? I'd say you would need to have one of the newest super boxes hooked to a cable the size of a garden hose to enjoy it though. I really don't know. Will someone smarter than I am enlighten moi? OK then, that should cover just about 99.99% of you out there...

Streaming software. It is the newest buzz-word along with cloud-computing. Will it work? At least it seems to require a rugged multiplayer code to handle lag, and it will require a decent graphics card I assume, to display the software on one's computer. Much simplified of course.

I guess that multiplayer could be named as examples of some sort of very early implementations without being concieved as such. The opponents aircraft or whatever are drawn on your screen and move about realistically but the computations for the other aircraft aren't performed on your rig: the data about position, direction, speed etc. are being sent from the remote server.

Now if the computations for your own aircraft aren't being performed on your own rig either but on the server as well.... then you'd be able to cope with a rig with minimum spec CPU but would need decent Gfx capabilities. With GPU's becoming so powerful that they start taking over jobs from the CPU, perhaps the scenario is not entirely unlikely.

It does raise the question whether we'd want to own a game or sim physically on a medium like a CD or DVD disc or if we are seeing the next phase in the play and forget culture that seems so prevailing. Play a game for a few weeks and when you're done or bored with it just forget about it. This however does not allow for games becoming classics, the sort of games that you and I would like to own, would like to keep on the shelf and installed on the computer, like for example our dear BoB.

As for my data on the net, well, it sure is nice to have a backup of your email addresses, your phone numbers etc. stored "safely" on the net - as long as there are no commercial interests in the data. But what if the provider sneaks in some terms of use that transfer the rights for my data to the provider? Then we are quickly entering into very dark waters.

WoP: There's a free demo http://yuplay.com/story.php?title=Wings-Prey-9 so ar least it is possible to try before one buys, but be sure to take a look at the system recommendations at the bottom of the page.

I definitely think that it works like any other game we've known about in that you download the lot and the only thing sent over the internet is the data concerning other players in multiplay.

I'd be interested in some more information about this title as well. As far as I can see there is a required download of some client software in order to run the game and I'm not too keen about that. Furthermore I'll go on record and state that I am not too keen on the graphics either. To my eyes they look way too much like someone has been let loose in the filtering and post-processing department.

Folks,

MG:

Thanks for all those interesting points. You covered the subject well and answered all my questions. Not only that you also brought up several new points. I heartily agree that this will appeal to those of the "disposable generation" who haven't the time,attention span or interest in owning a piece of software. Software stores are full of discarded pre-used games today. I will certainly appeal to those who publish software. The retailers will be left holding an empty box.

Looking at it from my personal point of view, I can also see that in one scenario that you mention where all the heavy lifting is taken up by an external server we might all be able to run even the most demanding of games with less than State-of the Art hardware. That might appeal to me.

Frankly I can also see the need for console gaming as well. That was never of much interest to me. Now that the genre has matured and when console games like BoB and IL2 become available, I'd possibly go for that. We have a Play Station XX for the kids and there are some great titles out there. I haven' seen any "flight sims" that were not of the arcade variety but I'm fairly certain they must exist or they soon will. Now such consoles connect to the Internet as well offering many new gaming opportunities. I hate those controllers though. I still prefer my trusty old joystick, thank you.

Thanks also for the link. I'll check that out. Perhaps, as has been the case with other Sims, the intro looks different from the graphics in the game itself.

What happens when the servers crash and they no longer remember your username and password?

Folks,

Has anyone seen Dux lately? The last time I saw him he was headed toward the woods behind Farmer Drubbin's barn pushing a wheelbarrow full of empty Château Thames Embankment bottles.

I suspect he was going to Olga's stil in hopes of filling said bottles with whatever the alcoholic beverage of the day might be dripping from her copper tubing. She is known to be making both vodka and sour mash.

Leroy just said he hopes Dux has not stepped into that Cossack bear trap she set trying to catch him. Leroy has been poaching from that still for weeks, and he is missing the enamel on his teeth to prove it. C51 why don't you trot down there and see if he is Ok? Mind you don't step into that trap yourself. And whatever you do remember Flight's orders not to drink any of that awful stuff.

We have a mission to fly tomorrow. Ummm? OK, you can bring some back here to put in your Spit's petrol tank. I agree it will give you at least a 20% boost in power on takeoff. If you do not follow those instructions and you get caught drinking one drop I am just as certain that Flight's boot will give you at least a 50% boost on a much shorter takeoff.

And if you do find Dux and he's OK... do invite him to join us if he is not too busy drinking and staggering about with a bear trap on his ankle. In any case he is not on the roster to fly in the morning.

Leroy! Where the blazes are you going with that canteen? C51 needs no help finding Dux. He can bring him back in the same wheelbarrow you were brought back in 2 weeks ago. Don't you have enough chores to keep you busy? We can find a few more. How about wiping up after Dux when he gets back?

Sometimes I think MG is the only sober pilot we ever have around here and he is ruddy Danish. C51 said he has vowed not to drink anything stronger than tea until his country is free again. When that happens I expect he'll join us in earning one heck of a hangover.

Wait! Come back C51, I just glanced out the window and saw Olga headed down the path to her still carrying two hundred pound sacks of sugar. If Dux is still down there she'll sort him out. No C51 neither you nor Leroy have any business going down there to watch. It is too dangerous. If Dux is found at the stil we can lean out the window and hear his agonizing screams from here.

Folks,

Many of you watch the History Channel I'm sure. If you do you'll know about a particular program that uses state-of-the-art CGI computer animation to recreate historic air battles of the past. I enjoy watching that, perhaps you do as well? The "camera angles" can be amazing as there is no limitation save that of the animator's and the director's imagination. Usually they have one or more of the actual participants in the battle describing the action as they remember it.

Well, the other night I was flying IL2 '46 and I had a most unusual experience similar to what I've only seen on that program. I had created a "Get Yamamoto" quick mission. There were zeros, Betties and P38s flying over what was supposed to be Bougainville. During the action I came in too close on one of the doomed Betties with all my guns blazing and she disintegrated.

I found myself flying right through the wreckage as the stricken craft was coming apart. I clearly saw the cockpit area detached from the fuselage and beginning to tumble. As it rolled I could see inside for a brief second and then I was out into the blue Pacific sky again and the flaming wreckage was left plummeting down to the jungle behind me. I've not seen anything quite like that in BoB or any other sim before. Of course unlike IL2-'46 BoB no longer supports my video card and that limits my experience just a bit.

For instance, I cannot take advantage of all the features of DX9C so the shading isn't there. Even that is only really noticeable with the 110s. Parts of them are snow white. Everything else looks great to me and BoB is my favorite sim. I just thought some of you might enjoy hearing about the experience I had with the Maddox game. Most of you have that one too I imagine. I know both Dux and C51 do.

I'm only sober when on the ground! You'd never get me up in one of those kites unless I can have a wee dram first.

I've never seen the effects you describe from your Il-2 flight in BoB but perhaps this has something to do with my poor marksmanship?

Here the tarmac is braking up because of the continuing frost day and night, makes for some bumpy rides from time to time.

Gents,

JRT, McG,

That's right, JRT. 'Now that the genre has matured' will be what some game developers have been waiting for and wanting to hear, and not only in the flight sim area. Also, we must all have yearned at one time or another for the Game/PC compatability that the console can give us.

I have had too many PC games which have required major surgery to get them to run and then not always to run at all. We need not look back with nostalgia and yearn for the days of CD installation and the eventual triumph over hardship to get the thing to run any more than we regret the passing of the V1, the ration book and Granny's wartime recipe of black pudding made from coal-dust, frying-pan scrapings and Spam leftovers baked in a sweaty sock.

Let us therefore look forward to the future with confidence.

Folks,

MG, Dux:

MG, your honesty is touching but I'll continue to give you the benefit of the doubt my friend.

LOL Dux, the black pudding from coal dust, and frying-pan scrapings sounds tasty compared to the SPAM. SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM... (ala the Pythons). Pardon me for breaking into song. We do eat SPAM for breakfast on the odd occasion and it is not too bad if it is well and truly fried. Otherwise, no thank you. Un-fried (IMHO) SPAM is about as tasty as a large, slippery slice of garden slug.

SPAM has its devotees who swear by it rather than at it so it should be quite palatable as it is after all created in some diabolically clever, mechanical way from delicious pork shoulder meat. Having said that, something important seems to be lost in the process.

My dear old Granny never made black pudding from anything in her 95 years as far as I know. She did enjoy chitterlings or chitlin's as they are called down here. They are of course hog intestines. And as far as I am concerned even when they have been well washed any one who can stand to be within 1000 yards of the things when they are cooking has great intestinal fortitude themselves far beyond all reason.

Your point is well made and I agree that we should not have nostalgia for those old days when we had to start our computers with an OS floppy in the drive and squint at monochrome monitors. My first computer even with an added side-car had less RAM than your garden variety throw away watch. I well remember all that but I do not yearn for those days to return.

There was a certain pride in being able to keep everything going. There was great pleasure, surprise even when you loaded a new piece of software and it actually worked. Most of the time there were problems. I was so proud the first time I wrote a simple program in MS BASIC and it ran properly. The hours I would spend typing in code to get it to perform a simple process astounds me today. Then there would be hours of de-bugging and testing. Finally when all was working as expected you'd restart and press enter..... 2x2=.... .... 4. Why was that so much fun? Then there was pre-written code found in computer magazines that I'd painstakingly type in and then alter to do my bidding. Each line of code had a checksum and at the end if it did not add up you had a problem and had to go back line-by-line. Did I ask why that was so much fun?

My first computer was a PC Junior. Obsolete before I got one, it was purposly designed to be incompatible with almost everything. The monitor spewed so much radiation that I'm surprised that I did not begin to glow in the dark. The joystick was a little 3"x3" box with a little spindle coming up out of it. I did have a cord-less infra-red keyboard that was ahead of its time. You learn more on a primitive system I suppoose. You have to do everything yourself. I learned quite a lot on that old PC Junior.