Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (DS)

Paltform : NDS
Developer : Square Enix
Publisher : Square Enix
Genre : Strategy RPG

Revenant Wings tells the story of Vaan and Panelo, two of the main characters from FFXII. Together they travel around Ivalice searching for adventure, and eventually finding it on the floating continant of Lumeres.

Developed exclusively for the Nintendo DS, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings is an all-new experience that makes full use of the Nintendo DS's unique features. Featuring full Touch Screen functionality, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings allows players to control massive armies, unleash special moves and activate Gambits, all with the use of the stylus. The world of Ivalice comes alive through the respected musical stylings of Hitoshi Sakimoto and the direction of Motomu Toriyama, the director of Final Fantasy X-2 and the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII

What Is Open Source?

Open source is a set of principles and practices on how to write software, the most important of which is that the source code is openly available.

The Open Source Definition is used by the Open Source Initiative to determine whether or not a software license can be considered open source. The definition was based on the Debian Free Software Guidelines, written and adapted primarily by Bruce Perens.

Under The Open Source Definition, licenses must meet ten conditions in order to be considered open source licenses. Below is a copy of the definition, with unauthorized explanatory additions. There is a link to the original unmodified text below. It was taken under fair use.

1. Free Redistribution: the software can be freely given away or sold. (This was intended to encourage sharing and use of the software on a legal basis.)
2. Source Code: the source code must either be included or freely obtainable. (Without source code, making changes or modifications can be impossible.)
3. Derived Works: redistribution of modifications must be allowed. (To allow legal sharing and to permit new features or repairs.)
4. Integrity of The Author's Source Code: licenses may require that modifications are redistributed only as patches.
5. No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups: no one can be locked out.
6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor: commercial users cannot be excluded.
7. Distribution of License: The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties.
8. License Must Not Be Specific to a Product: the program cannot be licensed only as part of a larger distribution.
9. License Must Not Restrict Other Software: the license cannot insist that any other software it is distributed with must also be open source.
10. License Must Be Technology-Neutral: no click-wrap licenses or other medium-specific ways of accepting the license must be required.

Richard Stallman originally accepted Debian's document as a good definition of Free Software, but later created the Free software definition - in part to differentiate Free Software from Open Source. In practice, licenses which meet the open source definition almost always also meet the Free software definition and vice-versa.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: The Sealed Grimoire

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Fuuketsu no Grimoire
a.k.a
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: The Sealed Grimoire

Platform: NDS
Publisher: Square-Enix

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 is a strategy roleplaying game from Square Enix for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It is a sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

The game takes place in Ivalice, like Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Final Fantasy XII. There are seven playable races in the game: Hume, Moogle, Viera, Bangaa, Seeq, Nu Mou and Gria. Chronologically, the game takes place some time after Final Fantasy XII.

Similar to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Luso Clemens is a mischievous boy who lived in the real world until, after being punished for being late countless times and sent to library clean-up duty right before summer vacation, he finds an old book in the library. The book abruptly becomes blank in the middle, after mentioning that someone must "tell the name of the one who will 'bury the vacuum.'" He then writes his own name on the blank page, "Luso Clemens," after which he is transported into the world of Ivalice. Dropping into the middle of a forest right in front of a large bird called a "Dekatrice" (a play on the adjective "dekai," huge, and "cockatrice"), he is told by a warrior named Cid nearby that if he wishes to live, he should join his clan, the Garee clan. Luso excitedly does so, and, in front of a judge, swears into the clan, after which he magically transforms into a soldier, complete with sword and fantasy garb. Luso tells Cid that he probably should be looking for a way home, because his aunt will be worried about him. Cid agrees to help him find a way home, and Luso agrees to help the clan and see the world of Ivalice until he goes home. This is slightly different from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, in that he is not overly concerned with getting home. However, unlike in the previous installment, the main character travels to the real Ivalice, instead of a creation of his imagination born of strong feelings; this fact is reinforced by the reappearances of familiar characters such as Vaan and Penelo.

Additionally, references to Final Fantasy Tactics are present through the existence of the Kamyuja criminal organization, which first appeared in Final Fantasy Tactics in relation to the characters Marach and Rapha Galthena.

Square Enix is currently developing the game's grid-based battle system, and increasing the number of character jobs. Some enemies also appear in larger scales, taking up multiple squares on the grid. The world map is also developed to be more in-depth with the introduction of "area maps". The area maps will feature multiple battle locations and a town, which will work similar to its predecessor. It also revealed the existence of enemy clans that will also travel the world map.

no$gba emulator for NDS (Nintendo Dual Screen)

no$gba (Nocash Game Boy Advance) is a Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS emulator for Microsoft Windows and MS-DOS. It supports most Nintendo DS homebrew, and a majority of commercial ROMs. NO$GBA includes a variety of options for emulation, including multiple save types, and multiple cartridge reading. It is able to load multiple GBA/NDS ROM files for the purpose of multiplayer functions.

Latest release : no$gba 2.6a

the following changes in v2.6a:

• Faster 3d rendering, backup detect, rtc-irq, better texture interpolation
• Perfectly accurate edge-marking, translucent-poly-id, shadow-poly support
• Capture in vram display mode, debug gui/warnings, cpu/ipc/div/sqrt details
• free-download: old no$gba v2.6 gaming version now free for everybody - enjoy
• debug/symbols: resize function for Alt+L symbol list window (saved in .ini)
• debug/internal: changed computer_id handling for compatibility with win vista
• nds/debug: allows nintendo to mis-use clipmtx_result for detecting their emu
• nds/debug: allows to override mis-declared-thumb-functions by crude $t labels
• nds/rtc: triggers IRQ when SI changes HI-to-LO (only when SI-IRQ is enabled)
• hll-version: demangles strange new "_ZN3txt3txtEii" and "_Z3txtii" type labels
• nds/gba/rcnt: allows to generate SI interrupts manually by toggling RCNT bits
• nds/gba/rcnt: internally memorizes rcnt-output bits (additionally to inputs)
• nds/rtc: passes rtc 1Hz/2Hz/4Hz/8Hz/16Hz or per-minute IRQ to rcnt SI input
• nds/3d: soft-speedup: uses clean 80286 shift opcodes (instead slow 80386 shrd)
• nds/3d: soft-speedup: new scaled side_clip_x allowed to re-remove pre_add_mask
• nds/3d: soft-speedup: scaled side_clip_x coords from 0..len to 0..7FFFFFFFh
• nds/3d: soft-accuracy: texture/color interpolation with variable pre_add_mask
• nds/details: emulates all newly discovered ipcfifo/div/sqrt technical details
• nds/help: added tech specs on div/sqrt (readonly results, start/stop timings)
• nds/help: added tech specs on ipcfifo (edge triggered, underrun, fifo-disable)
• nds/help: added user settings 076h (language mask) and header 01Dh (ique flag)
• nds/3d: soft-detail: edge-mark: recurses surrounding depth values (less only)
• nds/3d/help: added more technical notes on edge marking (depth and polygon_id)
• nds/a22i: auto generates chinese crc upon .fix directive (only if version=2)
• nds/help: added info on chinese title in icon/title region (addr/version/crc)
• cpu/internal: reduced 32bit test/and to 8bit (al/bl/cl/dl instead eax/ebx/etc)
• cpu/detail: emulates mis-aligned thumb bx/blx and arm bx/blx (with warning)
• cpu/detail: emulates mis-aligned rd=r15 in arm alu opcodes (thanks jonathan)
• nds/3d/help: added double-blended-edge-glitch (edge-marking plus anti-alias)
• nds/3d/help: added translucent-edge-glitch (edge-marking plus anti-aliasing)
• nds/backup: supports re-detection (games with faulty initial initialization)
• nds/backup: added bus-width auto detection (redirecting to new general types)
• nds/backup: added new types (3x general types) (and 1x sanyo, thanks flubba)
• nds/3d: soft-detail: edge-mark: handles edges at screen border (via clear_id)
• nds/3d: soft-detail: edge-mark: applies edges in respect to surrounding pixels
• nds/3d: soft-detail: edge-mark: internally stores edge_flag for possible edges
• nds/debug: allows some games to initialize not-existing port 4001004h to zero
• nds/debug: allows nintendo to use faulty ldmib with base-inclusion-writeback
• nds/debug: allows nintendo to use invalid stmib/ldmib user bank writeback
• nds/debug: allows nintendo to write more serious nonsense to (R) baseband regs
• nds/timings: re-fixed arm7/arm9 sync (new arm9-66MHz timings vs arm7-33MHz)
• nds/video: supports capture from 2d/3d engine in vram display mode (nanostray)
• nds/help: added note on undoc nds7 port 4001080h (used by ds-lite firmware)
• nds/help: added optical mouse sensor (slider controller) (thanx daniel palmer)
• nds/help: added firmware wifi internet access point settings info (thanks cue)
• nds/help: added user settings 066h (year) and 075h (ext language) (thanks cue)
• screenshot: converts 32bpp images to 24bpp (smaller and more standard files)
• nds/3d: soft-detail: prevents rendering of translucent polys with same poly_id
• nds/3d: soft-detail: supports shadow polygons (mask/render, step 1 and step 2)
• nds/3d: soft-speedup: scaled perspective correct clp.x from 0..len to 0..7FFFh
• nds/3d: soft-speedup: mmx: faster texcoord_clipping (no_repeat,repeat,flipped)
• nds/3d: soft-speedup: pre-calc tex_clip proc, collapsed 32:32 tex_xy to 16:16
• nds/3d: soft-speedup: pre-explodes edge_color_table, optimized alpha blend
• nds/3d: soft-speedup: mmx: processes two rgba-pairs and tex_xy-pairs at once
• nds/3d: soft-speedup: mmx: nonlinear color_rgb and texcoord_xy interpolation
• nds/3d: soft-detail: stores fog bit in framebuffer (opaque/trans=replace/and)
• nds/3d: soft-speedup: mmx: linear color_rgb and texcoord_xy interpolation
• nds/3d: soft-speedup: merged texture addressing and blending into single proc
• nds/3d: soft-speedup: mmx: faster texture blending (modulate/toon/highlight)
• nds/3d: soft-speedup: pre-calculates soft3d_tex_blend_proc for blendtype/mmx
• nds/3d: soft-speedup: uses mmx (if present) (otherwise stays 80386 compatible)
• nds/3d: soft-speedup: collapsed scanline_rgba from 32:32:32:32 to 8:8:8:8 bits
• detect: added no$gmb-386/486/cpuid detection, internal: rdtsc (3d/re selftest)

To get the latest 2.6a release, just point your browser to the No$GBA page, where you can find more information about how to donate and get the latest release.

Download the previous no$gba 2.6 release, now freely available.

Netbeans 6 Has Been Released

Netbeans 6 has been released a few day ago.

The highlight feature of Netbeans 6 are :
*. Enhanced Editor
*. Easy-To-Use Java GUI Builder
*. Visual Mobile Development
*. Ruby and Rails Support
*. Visual Web and Java EE Development
*. Visual UML Modeling
*. C and C++ Development

Download free Netbeans 6.0
http://download.netbeans.org/netbeans/6.0/final/

Sun Microsystem buy MySQL

Sun Microsystems has agreed to buy MySQL AB for $1B, giving them additional leverage in the open source community and providing access to MySQL to its larger corporations. The deal is expected to close during the third or fourth quarter.

The grand question, of course, is: what does this mean in the long term? Sun already offers JavaDB as a smaller-scale DB (compared to 'large offerings' like Oracle9 and IMS). Is Sun merely diversifying its own portfolio, looking for an additional revenue stream from MySQL AB's customers, or shifting away from JavaDB/Derby? Consider the following quote from Sun's press release:

Policy

….is a deliberate plan of action to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome(s). The term may apply to government, private sector organizations and groups, and individuals.
Examples:
presidential executive orders,
corporate privacy policies, and
parliamentary rules of order


Policy may also refer to the process of making important organizational decisions, including the identification of different alternatives such as programs or spending priorities, and choosing among them on the basis of the impact they will have. Policies can be understood as political, management, financial, and administrative mechanisms arranged to reach explicit goals.

According to William Jenkins in Policy Analysis: A Political and Organizational Perspective (1978), a policy is ‘a set of interrelated decisions taken by a political actor or group of actors concerning the selection of goals and the means of achieving them within a specified situation where those decisions should, in principle, be within the power of those actors to achieve’.
Thus, Jenkins understands policy making to be a process, and not simply a choice.

Clarke E.Cochran, et al.: "The term public policy always refers to the actions of government and the intentions that determine those actions".
Clarke E.Cochran, et al.: "Public policy is the outcome of the struggle in government over who gets what".

Thomas Dye: Public policy is "Whatever governments choose to do or not do".

Charles L.Cochran and Eloise F. Malone: "Public policy consists of political decisions for implementing programs to achieve societal goals".

B.Guy Peters: "Stated most simply, public policy is the sum of government activities, whether acting directly or through agents, as it has an influence on the life of citizens".

Intel® Core™ Duo Processors

The Intel® Core™ Duo processor breaks new ground. Its dual-core technology rewrites the rules of computing, delivering optimized power efficient computing and breakthrough dual-core performance with amazingly low power consumption. Intel Core Duo processor is available in Intel's premium laptop platform, Intel® Centrino® Duo mobile technology.¹ It can also be found in select Intel® Viiv™ technology-based systems.²

Outstanding dual-core performance
With its two execution cores, the Intel Core Duo processor is optimized for multi-threaded applications and multitasking. You can simultaneously run multiple demanding applications such as graphics-intensive games or serious number-crunching programs - while downloading music or running virus-scanning security programs in the background.

Power efficiency

Demand for greater power efficiency in computing is on the rise from desktop to laptop PCs. With an Intel Core Duo processor, you get a balance of great dual-core computing capabilities and power savings. Its enhanced voltage efficiency supports cooler and quieter system designs as compared to traditional desktop and laptop PCs. And thanks to the innovative energy efficient technologies built-in, the Intel® Core™ Duo processor is able to transfer power only to those areas of the processor that need it, thereby enabling laptops to save power and desktops to have thinner, sleeker designs.

A vibrant media experience

The Intel Core Duo processor enables your Intel Viiv technology and Intel Centrino Duo mobile technology multimedia experience to be all the more vibrant. Featuring Intel® Digital Media Boost, the Intel® Core™ Duo processor enables accelerating technologies for applications such as CAD tools, 3D and 2D modeling, video editing, digital music, digital photography and gaming. This is one of the key ingredients that help Intel Viiv technology and Intel Centrino Duo mobile technology to give you a truly rich multimedia experience.

Smarter, more efficient designs

The Intel Core Duo processor features Intel® Smart Cache which helps deliver a smarter and more efficient cache and bus design to enable enhanced dual-core performance, and power savings.

An essential ingredient in Intel® Centrino® Duo mobile technology

The Intel® Core™ Duo processor is Intel's first mobile dual-core processor and a key component of the new Intel Centrino Duo mobile technology platform.

by : http://www.intel.com