3D Analyze: Virtual Graphics Emulator

I decided to check this out as soon as I heard about it. This beauty of a software helps us to play games which require graphics cards. Games such as The Matrix: Path of Neo (requires nVidia) I always wanted to play, now run on my PC efficiently. Earlier my PC specifications were

1GB DDR RAM

Pentium 4 (2.4 GHz)

Onboard Graphics Card (Intel) with 64 MB graphics memory

After applying 3D Analyze, it has now changed to:

1GB DDR RAM

Pentium 4 (2.4 Ghz)

NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra with 128 MB graphics memory.

You can get the software from here.

After installing, fire it up. You should see something like this.

Click for a high-res image

Now click on Select and choose your game EXE file. I chose Quake III Arena – a game released way back in 1999, but still gives many machines a run for its money. At high-end graphics settings, it can be quite a challenge for the computer to render the images, but at the same time, really breathtaking for the user.

Click for a high-res image

After the file gets loaded (which is pretty quick), all you need to do is set the desired settings after the options become available. I think Quake III works best with the following settings.

Click for a high-res image

Notice that VendorID is set to 4318 and the DeviceID is set to 816 – meaning that the NVIDIA GeForceFX 5900 Ultra graphics card is selected. Refer to the key given beside.

Now, click on Save Batch File! at the bottom of the window to save the settings. I do not consider this step to be important, as you can get the settings back after selecting the EXE once again, but saving batch files of numerous games in one folder can help in locating them quickly.

Now click Run and play!

I even set the resolution to 1600×1200. And it runs smoothly! Before it used to crash to the desktop

Click for a high-res image

Update

Thanks to Alok, I was able to obtain a list of games that work with 3D Analyze. Comment if it worked, or didn’t!

Update 2

Need. For. Speed. Carbon. Will. Not. Work. With. 3D. Analyze. And. Neither. Will. Need. For. Speed. Undercover. Or. ProStreet. You are free to try and experiment, though.

Cool eBay Items

There are these really great items at eBay, and are priced at exorbitant rates. However, if you find some of ‘em cool, and have enough money, just by them or inform me.

1) Ultra Rare 20th Anniversary Mac

Apple manufactured only 12000 TAMs (Twentieth Anniversary Macs) and held 399 of them for spare parts. The remaining 11601 were sold only in five countries: USA, UK, Japan, France and Germany.

Price: $900 (Rs 39,332)

2) Steve Jobs Bobblehead iPhone Dock

This is a cute little iPhone dock to charge your iPhone/iPhone 3G with our beloved Steve Jobs standing beside in a Macworld-keynote style posture.

Price: $89.99 (Rs 3,943)

3) Every NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) Game Ever Released

This seller is offering a collection of all the 700 NES games ever released along with an NES System and all posters and warranty. It also includes California Raisins and Final Fantasy II, two games never released for the NES as they were already out for the SNES.

Price: $3800 (Rs 1,66,520)

4) PlayStation 3 Bundle Signed By Metal Gear Solid 4 Cast

This is a rare item at eBay. A brand new PS3 signed by the MGS cast. It has never been opened, so it’s brand new. It also includes seven CDs containing soundtracks of previous MGS editions.

Price: $599.99 (Rs 26,417)

5) Limited Edition Dark Knight Xbox 360

You’ve seen the movie, now you see the console. Microsoft has released this special edition Dark Knight Xbox 360 for a whopper of a price. But the strange fact is that even though the Xbox 360 is cheaper than the PlayStation 3, The MGS PS3 is cheaper than the Dark Knight X360!. Still, it looks great.

Price: $1200 (Rs 52, 834)

Review: Kung Fu Panda

The latest animation movie released by Dreamworks recently, was Kung Fu Panda. I must say, it was one of the most **awesome** films I have seen this year. I was interested in the film mainly due to stars like Angelina Jolie and Jackie Chan giving their voices to characters. I did’nt go in with much expecations, but came out thoroughly impressed.

The flim grips you merely five seconds into it and you can never get much of it. From the start of the film, I was falling of my seat — laughing. It’s the perfect blend of comedy, heart and action. It’s perfect in every aspect.

The film is based on this big, fat, panda known as Po (voiced over by Jack Black) who is the son of a noodle maker, but aims to be a kung fu master. He even has dreams of being one. It happens so, that one mean tiger Tai Lung (voiced over by Ian McShane) is destined to return and only one warrior – the dragon warrior – can stop him as he has the power which nobody will ever have. Po accidentally (and hilariously) lands on the spot and is chosen as the dragon warrior by the wise turtle Oogway (voiced over by Randall Duk Kim) and is now to be trained by master Shifu (voiced over by Dustin Hoffman), who has already trained five great warriors, known as the Furious Five – Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Crane and Viper and is completely disillusioned about how to train the fat and flabby Po.

How the panda learn kung fu, is the best part of the movie. I must say, the animation is more than perfect. The emotions of all the characters has been captured beautifully and superbly. The cinematography is awesome, the special effects are great, the fights are excellent, and so is the screenplay. I was unable to find a single flaw in the entire movie.

To sum it up, Kung Fu Panda is one of the best movie I have ever seen. Even if you see it a million times, you cant get enough of it. I’m going with a rating of four out of five and a big, huge thumbs up for directors Mark Osborne and John Stevenson’s Kung Fu Panda. Its a much watch film and is sure to get an Oscar nomination.

Raing: 4/5 (Very Good)

Amazin’ Download Speed!

Everyone knows Rapidshare for its great file database and crazy DRM procedures. Even if you have a 2Mbps broadband which should give you a speed of about 256 Kbps, you get only 40 Kbps from Rapidshare. The only way to have simultaneous downloads and awesome speeds from Rapidshare, is to become a Premium member. However, it is quite impractical. But hope is not lost. What you need, is not a membership, but Rapidshare Premium Link Generator. In five minutes from now, you will be downloading files from Rapidshare at high speeds.

Lets have a look at the ingridents first:

1) A broadband internet connection

2) A download manager

3) A temporary e-mail account service

4) The download link of the file

5) A Rapidshare premium link generator site.

Steps:

1) Go to 10MinuteMail and create a temporary e-mail account by clicking “Get my 10 Minute Mail address”

10 Minute Mail

2) Copy the generated e-mail address.

The temporary e-mail ID

3) Now go to RSGenerator an click Register. Type your nickname and paste the e-mail ID.

4) Go back to the tab where you created the ID and you will see a mail containg your password. Copy the password and login at RSGenerator.

5) Click Index at the top of the page.

Index

6) Paste the link in the space provided and click “Download”

Download

7) You will immediately be redirected to the site where you can have high-speed downloads. pause downloads and even download simultaneously.

If you want more sites like these, see this.

See the results yourself

Comment if it worked, or didnt!

Review: Mr. Bean’s Holiday

I know this has come out too late, considering that the DVD is out already, but I saw it just yesteraday on HBO and am giving my honest views.

The IMDb profile

Mr. Beans Holiday begins with Mr.Bean (Rowan Atikinson) winning a trip to Cannes, France via Paris at a raffle draw, along with 200 euros and a video camera. However, what we see (as usual) is disaster in the making. You are drawn into the plot just in five minutes and, honestly, never come out of it. Wearing his usual brown suit and unaware of the disasters which lie ahead of him in this trip, this one is guaranteed to bring you into peals of laughter.

Mr. Beans holiday is not a bad film after all, but its not a good film either. Rowan Atkinson performs his role earnestly and to keep you hooked on to the film – showing what a fine actor he is. Even the small boy Stepan (Max Baldry) and actor-producer-writer-director Carson Clay (Willem Dafoe, of Spider-Man fame as Norman Osborne) are pretty good. But Bean’s French girlfriend Sabine (Emma de Caunes) is a big let down. Neither do her looks, nor does her acting inspire you to any extent. But the blame must be shared with the writers for her poorly written role.

The plot is rather disappointing. Some of the comedy scenes are great, but as the movie progresses, it becomes rather predictable. Of course, two scenes are a treat to watch – one in which Bean and Stepan beg for money and the other in which Carson Clay’s movie Playback Time is played.

The film starts off well, but ends with a disappointing climax. Bean has to reach the beach in Cannes, his girlfriend Sabine has to attend the Cannes Film Festival and the Russian kid Stepan has to meet his lost father in Cannes as well. With a common ambition, they all set off for Cannes, but end up at the film festivals where all of them reach their targets.

Overall, Mr. Beans Holiday is not a bad watch. In fact, its rather fun. But its not worth wasting your time wathcing this kind of time-pass movie when there are other great flicks like The Dark Knight running in your nearby multiplex. So I’m going to go with two out of five and an average rating for Mr. Bean’s Holiday. Watch it only if you have nothing better to do.

Rating: 2/5 (Average)

Win-doze

This is a post about why Windows sucks big time and why Ubuntu Linux or practically any Linux version can give any version of Windows a run for its money.

Reasons to use Windows

There are basically three reasons to use Windows:

1. Microsoft Office 2007 (because OpenOffice.org can never give such awesome text effects; and I’m still trying to figure out how make this work with WINE)
   
2. iTunes (because Apple does not offer support to Linux and iTunes doesn’t run on WINE. Although I can use Rhythmbox to transfer songs to my iPod, but still adding photos, making playlists is not possible. And Ankur Bannerjee does not like Rhythmbox and I agree with some of his points too.)
   
3. Safari (because it does not work with WINE either and it’s text rendering is awesome; although it is quite buggy and unstable)
   

That’s it, folks!

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