ATI heeft voor Q3 geoptimaliseerde OpenGL drivers gereleased. Hier heb je de info van AVault:

ATI Technologies has released an updated driver for the RAGE 128 family of graphics chips. It is a Windows 95 and 98 driver set with an integrated OpenGL ICD component. This driver requires the Microsoft software OpenGL driver, OpenGL32.DLL, for proper operation. It is also the recommended for Quake 3 Arena testing as it has been specifically optimized for that game. Go here to reach ATI's Special Purpose Driver site, then locate the OpenGL CD v1225 on the list. It will not operate with Windows NT systems and DirectX 6.1 is required.

En nu we het toch over ATI hebben: bij Demonews hebben ze een review van de ATI All-in-Wonder 128L gepost. Da's ook een Rage128 kaart. De review lees je hier.

Mocht Tiberian Sun om een of andere reden toch niet de gestelde release date van 27 augustus halen, dan hebben de RTS freaks gelukkig altijd nog TA: Kingdoms om zich mee te vermaken. Die release wordt namelijk ook aan het eind van de zomer verwacht. PC Gamer heeft een preview, waarvan hier wat info:

One of the most difficult aspects of creating an RTS game is ensuring each side is properly balanced against the other sides. Thankfully, Kauzlaric and his team have recognized the importance of proper game balance and are taking steps to ensure Kingdoms pulls it off. "It (balancing the four sides) was no picnic," he says, "but playing and playing and playing the game every day for months was key. Careful management of unit stats mixed with good old-fashioned gut reaction did the trick. Having a brilliant team didn't hurt either. I think Garrett Link did a great job of tuning this game. Beyond that, keep in mind that we're still talking about TA here -- the download units will change the face of the game more significantly with TA: Kingdoms than it did with TA. A strategy that works one month might be foiled the next with the introduction of a new unit."

De screenshots zien er ook goed uit. Hier heb je er drie:

Alienware heeft een white paper report gepubliceerd over de PGC (Parallel Graphics Configuration) Technologie, die door Metabyte ontwikkeld is en waarop Alienware een licentie genomen heeft. Hier heb je de belangrijkste info, nl hoe het werkt het:

First of all, the Wicked3D PGC solution is not "SLI" at all. SLI is an acronym for "Scan Line-Interleaving", the idea of using 2 video cards in a single system, with one card responsible for rendering the even scanlines and the other for the odd scanlines. The same triangle data is sent to both cards. Theoretically, this would allow for twice the raw performance as measured by the pixel fill-rate. The theoretical performance benefit, as measured by triangles processed per second, however, should remain the same. This is the familiar SLI technique that is available on our Wicked3D featuring Voodoo2 product as well as other 3Dfx Voodoo2 based products.

On our Wicked3D PGC, however, the familiar term SLI is used only to represent the idea of using multiple video cards in a single system to work together and render a single image. The technique used to do this is not "Scan Line Interleaving", each card is not rendering either the even or odd scanlines. Instead, Wicked3D’s drivers intelligently divide the entire display area into a top region and a bottom region. Each card is then responsible for the rendering of one of those regions. Unlike Voodoo2 SLI, different triangles are sent to each card. This means that theoretical performance, in terms of both the pixel fill rate as well as the number of triangles processed per second, can double when using two Wicked3D’s in PGC mode. The bottleneck in rendering performance is alleviated and potential triangle processing capability is increased for future CPUs. Testing indicates that actual game performance increases using PGC can be dramatic.

Verder vind je er o.a. een paar benchmarks. Check 't hier.

3DFiles heeft een movie van Driver gepost. Hier heb je wat info over het spel:

GT Interactive's new game, Driver for the PlayStation® game console and PC puts gamers right into the middle of the action and squarely behind the wheel of the most wanted getaway car. Driver delivers the clutch-your-seats, adrenaline-charged action of a heart-stopping, Hollywood-style car chase, propelling players along a high-speed, all-out thrill ride through the wild streets of four major U.S. cities.

Driver's true-to-life modeling of automobile physics, ultra-realistic environments, cutting-edge graphics and revolutionary replay mode allow users to experience the most elaborate, realistic interactive driving experience imaginable.

Assuming the identity of an undercover cop named Tanner, players sell their services as a driver-for-hire to the highest bidder in order to infiltrate a powerful crime ring spanning four of the nation's largest cities - New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami.

De download locaties vind je hier. Hier heb ik alvast 3 screenshots, dan heb je enig idee wat je kunt verwachten (een super klein filmpje op 160x120px):

3D Spotlight heeft een goede review van de racegame Midtown Madness gepost. Hier is een stukkie info over de gameplay:

Midtown madness is not your usual, follow the same route, get the finish line, driving game. Midtown madness lets you use your own judgement as you go up and down real Chicago streets. It’s like a combination of simulation and high-speed racing rolled into one. The vehicles are similar as the ones will find on regular city streets. Vehicles available include the ’99 Ford Mustang, Ford F-350 truck, City bus, Cadillac Eldorado youring Coupe, Panoz Roadster and others that will be locked until you get bast a certain amount of races. There are three different single layer modes that you can choose from. The cruise option lets you go through Chicago without the worry of time or damage. It is mainly a practice option to help you get to know the streets of Chicago. With the quick race option, you can select any type of race you want in any time in any weather condition. In checkpoint race, you go through a series of checkpoints before any of your opponents do. Circuit race allows you to lap around a predefined section of the city. The Blitz Race has you go though a certain amount of checkpoints before the time runs out.

Lijkt me best een lachen spel, lees maar eens!

The Adrenaline Vault heeft een korte preview geschreven over Kingpin, een 3D Action / Adventure game. Weinig diepte in de preview, maar er staan wel een aantal mooie screenshots in, Kijk maar eens.

O ja, de release staat gepland voor 15 juni.

Riva Extreme heeft een review gepost van de Elsa 3D Revelator 3D glasses:

The 3D Revelator Glasses create this "stereo" effect by alternating which eye gets to see the screen, as mentioned on the previous page. This is because the user really can't concentrate a single eye on each of two side-by-side monitors! The glasses accomplish this by using LCD screens as lenses. If you look at your calculator, chances are this is what it uses too. An LCD is clear when there is nothing happening inside. It turns opaque (you can't see through it) when voltage is applied to it. So, when it's very fast (120 times per second) it almost looks like looking through two pieces of slide film. Dope! The Revelator comes with the glasses (duh), a phat oakley-esqe soft case (so you can take it to school or on the road I guess), a Y-cable (it has a D-Sub on one end, and a ps2 and a D-Sub on the other end), and a reviewers guide. Oops, scratch that one, uhh heh heh. Heh. There are actually two models available, the corded model (the base model, which they gave me, grrrr) for $49, and the slightly tighter cordless (infrared) model for $79. Both will make the girlies want to take you home (not really, but hey, do you tell your girlfriends what kind of stuff goes on in a Quake2 game? I didn't think so). They are actually quite light and unobtrusive.

Je zult er wel een videokaart van Elsa bij moeten kopen, anders werkt het ding niet. Ook zul je een behoorlijk vette monitor moeten hebben aangezien een refreshrate van 100-120Hz vereist is.

Vorige maand werd met Live!Ware 2.0 update door Creative gereleased. 3D Soundsurge bespreekt de nieuwe mogelijkheden. Hier heb je een stukje:

The Live!Ware 2.0 drivers implement support for the EAX 2.0 property set. Probably the most obvious change in this regard is support for occlusions and obstructions. Creative uses the term occlusion to describe a situation where a sound is coming from behind an enclosed space. For example, the listener could be in one room with a stereo blaring in a second enclosed room with no opening. In these circumstances, Creative's statistical model simulates a sound where both the direct path and reverb is muffled as a result of the total occlusion of the sound. Obstructions refer to a situation where there is an object between the listener and the sound source but there is not a complete blockage of all sound between the listener and sound source. Again, using the same example of a listener and a stereo, speakers may be obstructed by their placement behind a bar counter with the listener on the other side. The direct path of the sound to the listener in such a real life situation would be blocked, however the sound reverberating around the room would not be blocked. In these types of circumstances, Creative's statistical model simulates a sound where the direct path is muffled but the reverb is not.

Het is een behoorlijk goed artikel. Check 't hier.

Action Xtreme heeft een review gepost van de Xitel Storm Platinum, een geluidskaart gebaseerd op de Aureal Vortex II chipset, met digitale S/PDIF interface én een 'force feedback' koptelefoon. Hier heb je wat info over de geluidskwaliteit van de Storm Platinum:

The sound quality that this card put out completely surpassed my expectations. This is my first PCI sound card and I've gotten so used to the quality of the SoundBlaster 16 type of card. When I played Half-Life for the first time with the Storm Platinum I was so immersed that I thought some of the sounds I heard through the headphones were made by my wife sneaking up on me!

The next thing I tried was MP3 playback. I was really looking forward to recording MP3’s onto my Minidisc recorder. First I listened to some various independent artists that I downloaded from http://www.mp3.com. I picked a couple of songs I liked, hooked up my MD via the optical cable and off I went recording...

As impressed as I was with the Storm Platinum's gaming sound, I was equally impressed with its Wav output. It sounds so much more like my home stereo than my old SoundBlaster 16.

Vergeet ook niet om mijn review van de Storm Platinum te lezen.

Hmm...Microsoft heeft duistere plannen met de programmeertaal perl (o.a. erg handig voor server side scripting bij het bouwen van websites enzo). Check dit nieuwsbericht bij News.com:

Microsoft has hired ActiveState Tool Corporation to beef up the Windows features of the Perl programming language, an open-source technology. In the open-source movement, programming instructions may be freely shared, a contrast to the carefully guarded code from Microsoft.

ActiveState's goal isn't to help Microsoft make Perl its own, but rather to make Perl work better on machines running the Microsoft Windows operating system, chief executive Dick Hardt said today. ActiveState is a company devoted to selling Perl products, such as easy installation routines and services like notifying companies of the latest Perl developments, Hardt said. "Our mission is to make Perl as popular as possible," he said.

The announcement provoked accusations at the Slashdot discussion Web site that Microsoft was trying to "embrace and extend" Perl--in other words, add proprietary features to the Windows version of Perl that would make it incompatible with non-Windows versions.

"It's not said explicitly that this will be an all-snafu'd up implementation of Perl, but with [Microsoft] involved you can lay your bets pretty safely that it will be," wrote one skeptic.

Hardt, though, said new additions to Perl will be released as open source. "What Microsoft is saying is, 'Perl is an important technology. We want to make sure it runs well on our platform,'" Hardt said. "Are they controlling it? No."

Waar gaat dit heen?

Nog even over die Abit mobo's van K7. Ik ben niet helemaal into de AMD scene, maar volgens JC (AMD-freak bij uit stek) heeft Abit iets tegen AMD. Lees deze posting van 'm maar eens (gaat trouwens over dat rijtje K7 geruchten in een nieuwsbericht van eerder deze dag):

At your own risk, check out this rumour compilation about the K7. Most of it I don't buy at all, but some is true and some of it I will hope for even though I know it's approaching some level of impossibility (like the 900MHz at quarter micron). I do want to point out that this poster (the Yahoo:AMD one, not the SI:AMD person who passed it along) thinks that Asus, Abit, and GigaByte will be the three major Slot-A motherboard vendors. What we really know: GigaByte already announced, Asus has been a serious contender in the rumours for a long while, Abit likes avoiding AMD at all costs, but it's always possible that they may get greedy here. Hmm...SoftMenu III on Ev-6?

Is het echt zo erg? Abit heeft plannen gehad om een super socket7 plank te bouwen, maar die plannen hebben ze op het laatste moment afgekapt (vanwege de brakke ss7 chipsets?). Of was het die zogenaamde deal met Intel? ("jullie geen ss7 planken, dan tolereren wij overklokken")?

AMD zal een K7 voor mobiele computers op de markt brengen, zodra de .18 micron fab (in Dresden) zijn produktie start. Serieuse concurrentie voor Intel:

Sources very close to AMD, in fact in their suite in room 2407 in the Grand Hyatt, said today that the K7 will be produced for notebooks next year.

The microprocessor will be produced when the K7 moves to .18 micron technology, said the source.

Currently, AMD is positioning the chip as a solution for the workstation and server market.

The fact AMD is moving the K7 to a mobile platform reveals how serious it is at taking on Intel at its own game.

Sharky Extreme heeft een revie gepost van het Soyo PW-9801 mini-notebook. Da's weer eens wat anders dan videokaarten, mobo's en geluidskaarten:

In the Soyo PW9801 mini-notebook we're talking about a 233MHz CPU, up to 128MB of SDRAM, two fully functional USB ports, two internal PCMCIA slots, an 8.4" TFT color panel display, up to 5GB of internal HD space, external CRT video support, full parallel and serial ports, two stereo speakers, and even a dedicated SoundBlaster card for audio.

Die 233MHz CPU is trouwens een Cyrix, dus waag het niet om er games op te gaan spelen (gaat toch al slecht omdat de videokaart van het ding geen DirectX ondersteund). Anyway, mocht je geïnteresseerd zijn dan lees je hier de review.

Koen van Hardwareinfo.net heeft een artikel geschreven met een vooruitblik op Intel's nieuwe IA-64 processor architectuur en de nieuwe Merced processor. Goeie info in begrijpbare Nederlands. Hier heb je de intro:

Van buitenaf lijkt de evolutie van de Intel processoren ontzettend hard te gaan, maar toch valt dit tot nu toe wel mee. Al sinds de 386 processor heeft Intel een 32-bits processor voor de PC op de markt gebracht. Ten tijde van de Pentium (en ook van de Pentium II en III) is deze processor "geupgrade" naar 64-bits, maar de databus is nog steeds 32-bits gebleven: tot op de dag vandaag. Ook is zelfs onze allerlaatste Pentium III 550 MHz processor nog steeds gebaseerd op het oude x86 principe. Het de hele tijd sneller maken van bestaande processor architecturen kan natuurlijk niet eeuwig door gaan: tijd voor wat nieuws dus. Zo dacht Intel ook en samen met HP is er een geheel nieuwe processor architectuur bedacht onder de naam IA-64. In tegenstelling tot de IA-32 processoren (386 t/m Pentium III) zijn de IA-64 processoren compleet 64-bits: niet alleen de processor kern maar ook de gehele databus. Dit houdt niet alleen in dat de processor geheel nieuw wordt, maar ook dat alle chips die in de PC om de processor heen geplaatst worden (I/O controllers e.d.) vernieuwd moeten worden. De IA-64 processoren hebben een aantal zeer interessante verbeteringen in de processor architectuur. De voornaamste zullen we zodadelijk bekijken. De eerste IA-64 processor die op de markt zal komen heeft nu nog steeds de codenaam Merced. Merced zal halverwege 2000 produktieklaar zijn en is alleen bedoeld voor zware server-systemen.

Verder lezen doe je hier.

Het volk bij C|Net's Gamecenter heeft een Voodoo3 vs TNT2 shoot-out in elkaar geschroefd. Ik pak hier ff een stuk over beeld kwaliteit verschillen tussen de V3 en TNT2:

It seems as if we've been waiting forever for games to start to take advantage of 32-bit rendering, and with the release of the Quake III test, we finally had the chance to see its benefits. Running the game in 16-bit color on either card produced some annoying artifacts. For instance, there was banding in the sky, and smoke trails and explosions looked blocky and pixelated. However, all of these problems disappeared when run in 32-bit color on the TNT 2, allowing us to play the game as it was intended.

Going forward, the lack of 32-bit rendering on the Voodoo 3 looks to pose a big problem in image quality, with the Quake III test offering one of the first opportunities to see its full impact.

Helaas hebben ze geen screenshots om het kwaliteitsverschil te bewijzen. Verder wel een paar benchmarks. Het artikel is van Gamecenter, dus niet al te veel diepgaande info.

Gamers' Crypt heeft een flinke emmer Quake 3 Arena screenshots gepost. Een aantal screenshots zul je waarschijnlijk elders al eens zijn tegengekomen. Ze blijven leuk:

Dankzij een 'foutje' in de PIII werkt deze processor niet met i810 mobo's. Op zich niet zo'n probleem, aangezien die i810 vooral voor Celeron systemen was bedoeld, maar pc boeren die van plan waren om goedkope PIII + i810 systemen te gaan bouwen hebben pech gehad:

An erratum that affects the Pentium III's SSE or Streaming SIMD multimedia instruction set is keeping Intel's new 810 chip set from working with the chip.

The erratum, called MaskMovQ, is a Pentium III glitch. And while Intel has created a workaround for it, the 810 doesn't support it, making it incompatible with the Pentium III. Intel isn't supporting the workaround in the chip set because the 810 was not designed or validated to work with the Pentium III, said Intel spokesman Dan Fancisco.

Op AGN3d een bericht gevonden van een review van de Guillemot Phoenix2.
Dit is een op de TNT2 Vanta gebaseerde videoplank.
De TNT2 Vanta is een tnt2 chipset voor de low-budget (en dus goedkope) pc's, hij heeft maar 8mb geheugen en haalt daar ongeveer dezelfde kwaliteit images mee als de Voodoo Banshee met 16MB.

Hier zijn een paar features van de TNT2 Vanta Chip.

Single Pass Multitexturing

Bump Mapping

8-Bit Stencil Buffer

8 Ram

64 bit bus

TNT2 core architecture

Support for Software and Hardware DVD playback

Flat Panel Support

.25 micron die

Bij TNT.Net zijn ze best wel positief over deze videoplank, hij is niet duur en presteerd behoorlijk goed.
Je kan het hier zelf lezen.

FiringSquad heeft een preview van deze toffe game gepost, hier heb je een stukkie en wat screens:

DK2 features improved graphics over the original. This time, the eye candy is 3D accelerated in Direct3D. This allows for more creature animations and some nifty lighting and shadow effects with torches on the walls, spells, etc. Sound of course will be a big part of the fun in Dungeon Keeper 2. Expect more of the same funny sounds and speech from your monsters, but this time you can enjoy it in 3D, powered by Creative's Environmental Audio (EAX) system.

Lees verder...

3dfx heeft een deal gesloten met Dell en zal voor Dell's nieuwe lijn van pc's custom built Voodoo3 kaarten bouwen.

Dell's commitment to quality makes them an ideal OEM partner for 3dfx as we seek to raise PC-based entertainment to the next level,'' said Greg Ballard, president and CEO of 3dfx Interactive. ``We look forward to working closely with Dell to bring 3dfx® brand technology to home and small business customers who require high-end 3D graphics.

HIER lees je alles.

In die K7 info posting van zonet werd nog gesuggereerd dat de release van de K7 op 22 juni zou plaatsvinden. Bij Sharky Extreme zeggen ze in hun Weekly CPU Prices column dat de release date verschoven is naar juli:

In other AMD news it seems that the K7 will miss its June introduction date (no surprise to SE readers, we've said that "K7 month" is to be July since Christmas) look for the initial K7-550 to debut in the middle of the month or very close to it. Initially we'd guess that strong AMD OEM customer Compaq will be eating into the available K7 units pretty heavily in July, don't expect to easily obtain the new CPU until August most likely.

Dat laatste (dat de grote OEMs als eerste de beschikbare K-Zevens zullen wegpikken) zal zeker waar zijn, maar die release dat? AMD heeft altijd gezegd dat het in juni zal gebeuren, dus ik gok op de 22ste .

Gisteren kondigde Brian Hook al in zijn .plan file aan op te stappen bij ID.
Vandaag is bekend waar hij naartoe verhuist.

Yesterday Brian Hook announced that he is leaving id software for a better offer from another company, but he did not let us know the name of the company. Gamespot was the first to leak the information on what company he has moved to, Verant Interactive. (The company behind EverQuest) Not a lot of information was released on the move, but it looks like he will be working on the next version of EverQuest. Considering that Brian Hook is quite good with 1st person games, it will be interesting to see if they will bring that 1st person Quake 3 level aspect to EverQuest.

Jazeker, Brian verhuist naar Verant Interactive.
hier staat het (korte - dus heb ik het maar helemaal overgenomen) bericht.

Dat Gigabyte een K7 plank ging bakken werd twee dagen geleden al bekend. Vandaag werd deze info bevestigd in een press release:

Taipei, Taiwan, June 1, 1999 - Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. of Taiwan today announced plans to produce motherboards optimized to support the yet-to-be-released AMD-K7™ microprocessor. The new motherboard, which is expected to go into mass production early in Q3, will optimize the many enhanced features of both the new processor and the new AMD core logic (chipset).

Key features will include 5 PCI slots and a 200 MHz front side bus (North Bridge-to-CPU) which is based on the Alpha EV6 protocol.. Comprehensive hardware health monitoring, ACPI 1.0 and APM 1.2 power management, and Super I/O capabilities will also be standard. The motherboard will be produced in the ATX form factor.

In a brief interview provided to the Taiwanese press, senior Gigabyte executives praised the new motherboard as the latest example of Gigabyte's fundamental and enduring focus on product innovation and providing its customers with the widest range of high performance computer technologies.

Micro$oft gaat haar software beveiligen met de safe-disc technologie van MacroVision, het bedrijf dat ook de kopieerbeveiliging in videobanden en dvd's grotendeels domineert.

Macrovision Corporation (NASDAQ:MVSN - news) announced today that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT - news) has signed a two-year agreement to use Macrovision's SafeDisc(TM) PC CD-ROM copy protection. Under the agreement, Microsoft will use SafeDisc on a wide variety of educational, games, and personal finance software distributed worldwide.

Ik vraag me af hoe lang die beveiliging stand zal houden.
Anyway, hier lees je het hele verhaal.
Wil je meer weten over Macrovision en de Safe-Disc technologie, kijk dan hier.

Ik kwam via AMD Zone bij deze page @ Silicon Investor.

AMD Information
by: Superstring_matrix 39409 of 39419
This is what AMD insiders have leaked:
1) AMD will release the benchmark on June 10 at the Microprocessor Dinner.
2) AMD will officially launch the K7 on Tuesday June 22.
3) K7 on the Firing Squad was a Rev. B and the shipping version is the Rev. C. Rev. C includes fixes on the K7 and the Irongate chipset.
4) K7 beats the PIII hand down on the FPU and integer benchmarking.
5) K7 yield is very very good.
6) AMD hits 900MHz K7 on 0.25um.
7) AMD will launch 500MHz, 550MHz, and 600MHz initially. They will release the 650MHz and 700MHz when Intel launches the PIII and 600MHz and 650MHz respectively.
8) 3 big K7 MB makers are Asus, Abit, and Gigabyte.
9) Intel is screwed.
10) Time to buy AMD.

Klinkt allemaal erg lekker, maar of het waar is?

Game Over gooit er nog maar weer eens een NFS4 review tegenaan. Ze geven 'm 77% en dat is toch niet echt geweldig:

I just couldn’t get away from the nagging feeling that this "new" game High Stakes is what Hot Pursuit should have been. Instead EA seems to be to have decided to keep back the extra tracks and career mode and then wait six months and release it as a totally new game. Bad move guys. I think it would have been better for EA to of released this game as a add-on CD to Hot pursuit.

The game is good, very good, but using tracks from a previous game seems either very slack or a double bonus depending if you bought the last game or not. To me it thats just an insult to the people who bought Hot Pursuit. Maybe EA should do some sort of trade-in deal for those people with Hot Pursuit... eh? heh I think not.

Ik lees bij AGN 3D dat beta 1 van DirectX 7 klaar staat om neergehaald te worden. Check deze link.

Graeme Devine (ja, er staan (stonden) meer mensen op de loonlijst bij id dan onze vriend Brian Hook ) heeft z'n .plan geupdate met wat info over Q3Test:

We're working on a new Q3Test update, no schedule other than "soon", but the fixes are almost all internal. We've still got a few issues we want to get going internally at id (notably multi-network machines).

Brian is leaving, and I just want to wish him well. He shall be missed. We're not going to be bringing anyone else in during Quake3 development. [break]En verder nog iets wat de Linux freaks hiero zou kunnen interesseren:[/break] I'm a bit behind on feedback email and it's all Lilith and Eve's fault. I went to watch their show over the weekend and Realplayer said I needed to upgrade, so I did, and since then I've been toast. I'm sure it's not Realnetwork's fault, there's simply too much beta about my Windows install to make it safe for things like DLL files.

Since then I've shifted to Linux (RedHat 6.0) as my major desktop. No more Win32! My questions to the techies amongst you are:

- we've had issues with Linux machines randomizing timestamps on Win32 filesystems when we use smbmount to mount NT servers. How do we fix this? I'm unable to get smbmount to compile in the Samba 2.04b (it errors out with a bad identifier -- NR_OPEN).

- the email client situation is not quite on par with Win32. Netscape seems the nicest, but KMail, Balsa, and others I've looked at seem to be in active development and not quite ready for solid use. Is this the case? I like Outlook type interfaces over Pine type interfaces.

I looked online, usenet, and other misc. mailing lists, but wanted to see what real world people out there are using and doing.