Monthly Archive for July, 2008

Almost a gnome

Published
by
oever
on July 31, 2008
in kde
. 0 Comments

While reading ESR’s blog I came across a questionnaire to find out what kind of D&D character I’d be. I’ve only once joined in on a D&D role-playing evening and found it was not for me. This query is interesting though because of the many questions you have to answer and for which you have to make up your mind about which of the given options applies best to you.

Here are the results. Scroll to the bottom to find out about the gnome part.

I Am A: Lawful Good Human Wizard (5th Level)

Ability Scores:

Strength-13

Dexterity-14

Constitution-14

Intelligence-15

Wisdom-15

Charisma-17

Alignment:
Lawful Good A lawful good character acts as a good person is expected or required to act. He combines a commitment to oppose evil with the discipline to fight relentlessly. He tells the truth, keeps his word, helps those in need, and speaks out against injustice. A lawful good character hates to see the guilty go unpunished. Lawful good is the best alignment you can be because it combines honor and compassion. However, lawful good can be a dangerous alignment because it restricts freedom and criminalizes self-interest.

Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.

Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard’s strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

Alignment:
Lawful Good —– XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (24)
Neutral Good —- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (22)
Chaotic Good —- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (18)
Lawful Neutral — XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (23)
True Neutral —- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (21)
Chaotic Neutral - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (17)
Lawful Evil —– XXXXXXXXXXX (11)
Neutral Evil —- XXXXXXXXX (9)
Chaotic Evil —- XXXXX (5)

Law & Chaos:
Law —– XXXXXXXXXX (10)
Neutral - XXXXXXXX (8)
Chaos — XXXX (4)

Good & Evil:
Good —- XXXXXXXXXXXXXX (14)
Neutral - XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)
Evil —- X (1)

Race:
Human —- XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)
Dwarf —- XXXXXX (6)
Elf —— XXXXXX (6)
Gnome —- XXXXXXXXXXXX (12)
Halfling - XXXXXX (6)
Half-Elf - XXXXXXXXX (9)
Half-Orc - XXXX (4)

Class:
Barbarian - (-23)
Bard —— (-21)
Cleric —- (0)
Druid —– (-25)
Fighter — XX (2)
Monk —— (-2)
Paladin — XX (2)
Ranger —- (0)
Rogue —– (-2)
Sorcerer — XX (2)
Wizard —- XXXX (4)

Intel takes Swing at OLPC and Connects

Published
by
admin
on July 31, 2008
in Main
. 0 Comments

Intel’s low-cost laptop initiative has had a boost from Portugal’s government, which has pledged to provide school children with 500,000 computers based on the chipmakers Classmate PC design. The announcement brings Intel’s rivalry with the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organisation into the limelight once more.

Back in may, the OLPC group announced that its XO laptop computers would work with Microsoft’s Windows, as well as a homegrown Linux-based OS. The move was seen by many as a way to make the “$100 laptop”, which actually costs $188, more palatable to education ministers who were unsure of an open source system.

Now with this deal, Intel has matched OLPC’s total orders to date – 600,000 units as of May. This has made many people question whether the inclusion of Windows has made any notable difference.

Intel spokesperson, Agnes Kwan, has said that the company will serve as a “technology adviser to Portugal’s Ministry of Public Works, Transportation and Communications, which is coordinating the laptop program.”

Kwan said, “Parents of young school children will be able to choose between computers running Microsoft’s Windows operating system and ones with an open source Linux operating system, and that the government will distribute the machines to Portugal’s elementary school students over the course of the 2008-2009 school year.”

As of the middle of this year, “hundreds of thousands” of the Classmate PCs had already shipped to customers in more than 30 countries, according to Kwan.

Kwan declined to disclose how much the laptops will cost parents or other financial terms of the deal. She said Portugal’s Ministry of Education is “working out pricing details”.

Classmate PCs are based on Intel’s design and include its processors, but they are pieced together by other manufacturers and sold under various guises.

OLPC XO and Intel’s Classmate PC are just two of a growing number of small, low-cost computers aimed at the millions of students in developing countries around the world who have not had access to technology or the internet.

The relationship between Intel and OLPC, whose XO machine uses microprocessors made by Intel competitor Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has been a bumpy one.

The two declared a truce last summer, but earlier this year relations turned frosty again when Intel abruptly pulled out from OLPC’s board of directors.