TopRoms 2023 Edition - A Collection Full of Surprises

I know many of you have been waiting for this but the time has finally come for a new TopRoms release. I was hoping to release something like this earlier, but some of may know that life happened. However, we can put that aside for now and announce this exciting edition.

What's New:

- A Super Famicom collection for some of the most amazing Japanese RPGs patched and translated into English by fans. I got so many requests for Final Fantasy V, so obviously, it's in there!

- Homebrew games for the NES. It's amazing how there are still some fan developers who make games for a thirty-plus year old console. I only included freely available homebrew games since many of them are still for sale.

- The addition of some of the best sport games ever released both franchise and non-franchise titles. For the NES, Genesis (in its own folder) and PlayStation (in its own folder too).

- A sprinkling of some additions of more great games for various systems. Things that have been suggested by you and others that I've discovered.

What's Fixed:

- Moving the MAME collection from split to merged so that all games have their dependencies included in the ROM archive. Some games wouldn't start without them and it's really hard to tell what game needs what, especially with how big the MAME collection is.

I got many emails about people showing me how they use the collection such as turning the Steam Deck or Switch into a mean emulation machine, filling their dedicated emulation handhelds, or to populate their HTPC with awesome games. I personally use the collection on my smartphone and my HTPC.

One thing to keep in mind is that the only emulator I test TopRoms with is RetroArch. If you have issues with other emulators, let me know and I’ll look into it.

The torrent can be downloaded below or on the TopRoms page. Remember, you can point your torrent client to the existing TopRoms Collections folder and it will only download the changes. Please seed the collection since the initial upload is only on my local server.

TopRoms - 2023 Edition Torrent Download

Keep those emails with requests coming and I'll do my best to make TopRoms even better. Let me know about any issues you encounter downloading or using TopRoms! Send to toproms@cdahmedeh.net

I hope you enjoy this new release!

LAN Party Games that Run on a Potato and Any Platform

When I picture a typical land party, I imagine a bunch of passionate geek gamers bringing in their massive desktop weapons or laptop desktop replacements. Machines with powerful GPUs enough to run NASA spacecraft and cost as much as one.

An AI-generated image of a LAN Party on the Highway

However, what if your peers only have modest machines with an integrated GPU? Essentially, a 'normal' laptop. Imagine hosting a party with those, no one will be able to run these modern demanding games and no one will be enjoying the slideshow and crashes in their games.

So I'm including here a bunch of games that can run on a potato but still provide a fun experience without the need of a 20-pound computer. Of course, no one is going to be wowed by the presentation, but fun will ensue anyways.

I came up with a few arbitrary criteria that these games should have. First, the game must be less than 25$ CAD and easy to procure online. It must run on my mule netbook Latitude 3190 that only has an Intel UHD Graphics 600 as the iGPU reasonably well and be playable. Also, it needs to run on Windows, macOS and Linux either natively or via some compatibility layer like Wine or Proton.

Finally, I won't try to make the list exhaustive, however, I do want to try and make some variety with some genres. Not every party game needs to be a first person shooter. One more rule is that I will only include one game per genre. But, I will leave a list of games that are similar without description.

Quake Live - First Person Shooter

Classic FPS arena shooters games I find to be an enjoyable because of how easy and accessible they are. No fiddly mechanics or complicated rules. However, it still comes with a ton of customization options and almost a hundred maps. Several games modes like Free-for-All and Capture-The-Flag will keep the replayability high. A game that will easily take over even the longest marathon LAN parties.

It is available on Steam for 10.99$ CAD and I've been able to run it even on my backup 10 year old desktop that runs Linux through Valve's Proton.

Similar Games: Counter-Strike, Xonotic, Cube 2: Sauerbraten, Red Eclipse, Warsow, World of Padman, Urban Terror, Halo CE

Live for Speed - Racing Simulator

I've never been to a session where people were playing racing games, apparently the genre isn't popular with the typical comic-book geek. However, they provide a very difficult challenge of keeping a car on the road and for some hilarity on turn one T1 where everything goes wrong.

Live for Speed has been in development for over 20 years and the developer has maintained its modest graphical style so it runs even on lower-spec systems Scawen even tests that his game runs on Wine.

While it works pretty well with a mouse and keyboard, a gamepad is recommended for more precise control.

LFS comes free as demo version which includes, in my opinion, the best track in the game, Blackwood, and two very well-balanced road cars. The full game is a bit expensive at ₤36 but I'm including it here because the demo has enough content to keep the fun going for hours.

Similar Games: Speed Dreams, rFactor 1

0 A.D. - Real-Time Strategy

I know almost nothing about Real-Time Strategy games because I have no idea how to play them. However, I know that they are extremely popular, especially in Asia. Player of these types of games are extremely competitive and parties all over the world are hosted just to fight for the win.

Unfortunately, I don't play RTS games but I totally understand the appeal so my experience is a bit shallow and heavily relied on research to find some of the best games.

0 A.D. is completely open-source and free, and runs on multiple platforms including Windows, macOS and Linux. Amazingly, it is still being developed to this day.

Similar Games: Warzone 2100, League of Legends, Dota 2, StarCraft, Age of Empires 2, Brood War

Tabletop Simulator - Board Games

Board games can be a fun way to spend some quality time with friends but you need the actual set. Also, you can't play with people across the world. This is where Tabletop Simulator comes in, a physics sandbox designed to emulate board games.

The game has so much expandability with a massive repository on Steam's Workshop so you'll be hard pressed to not find a board game that you and your friends will like. Remember, however, it is up to you to implement the rules and TTS doesn't have an engine that keeps track of the rules. So that means, you can flip the board out of anger with no consequence.

Tabletop Simulator sells at 21.99$ CAD on Steam but you can buy four copies for 66.49$ CAD. It runs natively on all three major platforms.

Similar Games: Zillion of Games 2

Garry's Mod - Physics Sandbox

What happens when you take a masterpiece game like Half-Life and remove all the rules and story from it. You end up with an incredibly entertaining sandbox where you can do whatever you want.

This is the kind of game where you create your own fun whether you want to blow things up, make a Rube Goldberg machine or set fire to wooden structures. Of course, it comes with full Steam Workshop support where you can find thousands of props, maps and weapons limiting things to only your imagination.

Garry's Mod is available on Steam for 10.99$ though I also recommend getting Counter-Strike Source along with it because some of the props and addons need them. It runs natively on Windows, macOS and Linux.

Similar Games: Minecraft

open.mp (GTA: San Andreas) - Open-World

Grant Theft Auto, for those who lived under a rock, is a open-world game that combines multiple elements from different genres such as FPS, beat-em-up and driving. Essentially, you're a criminal that is yielded weapons and have the ability to steal cars and drive. Most people play in a sandbox mode where they do whatever they want such as wrecking havoc in the city while there is also a story mode which follows an action-adventure style playing essentially as a criminal.

While GTA V is one most of the popular multiplayer games according to the Steam statistics, it still needs a pretty decent machine to run. However, GTA multiplayer experiences did exist before for San Andreas with the SA:MP mod. The mod was left stagnant eventually but fortunately a group of open-source developers came up with open.mp as a drop-in replacement to continue these tantalizing multiplayer experiences.

Unfortunately, San Andreas isn't available through the normal means anymore so you either need to buy a physical copy off eBay or get it through other means. It runs well under Wine on macOS and Linux. In fact, the game is so modest in it's requirements that there are versions for mobile.

Alternatives: Midtown Madness 2

RetroArch Netplay - Classic Games

For your classic gaming fix, you can still enjoy an amazing multiplayer experience with friends. And since emulators run classic systems, you don't have to worry about performance. There's a huge selection of great games for various consoles. I'm plugging in my TopRoms Collection to get you started.

RetroArch and other emulators like Dolphin have made it extremely easy to set up Netplay, a multiplayer program for emulators, as easy as picking a room from a lobby interface just like many other multiplayer games. This used to be incredibly complicated but now its headache free.

The emulator is available here for free and it's fully open-source. Not only does it run on Windows, macOS and Linux but also mobile platforms like Android and dozens of other systems.

Armagetron Advanced - Snake Game

What happens when you take Tron and turn into a fast-paced arcade snake game? You get Armagetron Advanced, where you play in a 3D arena driving futuristic bicycles leave a trail of walls behind you. Try to trap your opponents into them and don't crash into yours or that of others.

There's not much to say about the game due to its simplicity. It comes with excellent netcode so it will run even on poor networks. The game is open-source and free, running on all three major platforms.

OpenRCT2 - Tycoon

This is a game that has a special place in my heart mostly due to the nostalgia factor. However, building a theme park is quite an enjoyable experience for me. There are so many types of props that you can make your park as fanciful or simple as you want.

OpenRCT2 is a reimplementation of RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 with multi-platform support, increased stability and a neat multiplayer feature.

In order to run OpenRCT2, you need a copy of the original game that you can get from Steam for 10.99$ or DRM-free from GOG for 8.13$. Of course, it runs on all three major platforms.

Alternatives: OpenTTD

YSFlight - Flight and Combat Simulator

Flight simulators are typically games that need a ton of horsepower to run due to their amazing graphics and complex and realistic gameplay. However, one developer, Soji Yamakawa, in the very late 90s, thought that there should be something more accessible.

Enter YSFlight, a combat flight simulator that has very simple graphics and sound but still provides the same kind of fun of flying in the air in addition to its combat mechanics. Setup is minimal, simply requiring you to pick your plane and map, and you’re good to go. It will also recognize your joystick quite quickly too!

YSFlight is available for all three major platforms and has been recently open-sourced. You can get many addons from here.

Alternatives: FlightGear, IL-2, Falcon

OpenLieroX - Artillery

Imagine the Worms game, but in real-time. This is what you get, OpenLieroX. It is based on the original Liero game but with a ton of extra maps and weapons.

Dig your way through a sand trap or use your weapons to make a big opening with a bomb explosion. Frag the other players in the free-for-all mode or play in teams. It is fun that will last for a really long time.

OpenLieroX is open-source and free, running on all three major platforms.

Alternatives: Teeworlds, Warmux, Worms Series

tetr.io - Falling Puzzle Game

I still have memories of the flash game Tetris Friends, an official version of the game with multiplayer support and a ton of single-player challenges. The controls were very solid generating some very exhilarating and exciting gameplay. Unfortunately, a few years ago, it was shut down.

The spiritual resurrection came out a few years ago as tetr.io bringing back essentially most of the gameplay of the defunct Tetris Friends. The presentation is excellent with your choice of relaxing or intense music and so much customization. It features excellent single player modes that keep track of your progress while also allowing you playing the game with other people on the Internet. The dynamics follow the official Tetris guidelines.

Tetr.io runs on the browser though there is a desktop version that again, runs on all major platforms.

Alternative: A List of a ton of Tetris Clones

Conclusion

So there you have it, a list of games to consider for your next friendly LAN party. However, since these games are not demanding, your party room won't turn into a sauna and people can bring in their regular laptops with the platform of their choice.

I tested all the games on my mule that I mentioned earlier. It runs a derivative of Arch Linux and was able to play all the games on it pretty smoothly. On my actually daily driver, which still has an integrated GPU, it doesn't break a sweat.

I hope you enjoyed this list and inspired you to run your own casual people friendly LAN party! If you have some suggestions of your own, feel free to leave a comment below and share with the community!

Sonic Origins Plus - A 'Dreamview' - What Could Have Been

We've all seen reviews of Sonic Origins stating that it was a mediocre disappointment. The Plus expansion was supposed to address our concerns but many of us are still unhappy.

Sonic Origins was supposed to be definitive version of the classic series but Sega clearly didn't put enough passion to make it one. Rather than get angry and emotional, I present what could have been added to Origins to make it the ultimate rendition of the masterpieces we loved so much.

This isn't another review, but rather a 'dreamview'. An re-imagination of what could have been and see a product that would leave us with goosebumps rather than a lump in our throats.

Before I get on with my daydream, I just want to briefly say again that playing Sonic Origins felt like a chore rather than a nostalgic marathon through some of my favourite games. You'll see many of us loyal Sonic fans online have been left with mixed feelings as well.

Salvage the Music

MJ Sound Team Cues

It has become fact that Michael Jackson and his collaborative associates have been involved in some way in the Sonic 3 soundtrack. His signature style was present in some of the music found in the game and it has been confirmed what tracks have been his. Namely, Carnival Night Zone, Ice Cap Zone and Launch Base Zone among some other iconic tracks.

A remastered rendition of LBZ1 according to MJ and his team.

Since MJ's death in 2009, there was an odd coincidence that Sonic 3 & Knuckles was never rereleased anymore unlike the previous games that got tons of rereleases in various compilation collections. It's suspected that there's a legal mess that has yet to transpire concerning the inclusion of his team's music in Sonic 3, and that for every new release of S3&K, Jackson would greenlight the project.

This was not possible anymore and Sonic Origins erased all evidence of the collaboration with some hard to listen sounds.

In a parallel universe, the legal battle would never have happened and Sega would have managed to sort out some licensing solution.

Apparently, 41 cues were composed by the team ready to be transformed into FM goodness. About ten of them did make it into the game but imagine if all of them were produced for the Genesis. It would certainly generate a very distinctive OST and likely something extremely memorable.

Having a choice between "Sonic Team OST" and "MJ Team OST" like the dual-track selection in Sonic CD would have surely been very exciting and hearing the before unheard cues would be incredible.

The Prototype Tracks

Of course, in the real world, this secret legal battle clearly hasn't ended and replacements were in line for Origins.

I didn't worry too much because we already had heard the original pre-MJ tunes in a prototype version from November 1993 a few years ago. Turns out, they were excellent compositions that had the energy and punchiness of the rest of the OSV and just as memorable.

Including these tracks would have been a great compromise for Sonic 3 and kept most fans quiet. Marketing at Sega confirmed that not all the sounds from the original release would make into Origins so these tracks were theorized to be the replacements.

We were even promised that Jun Senoue would do so-called FM makeovers of these tracks and they had all the tools to make them even more memorable than ever. However, when the replacements were leaked, some of us started to bleed from our ears.

CNZ Act 1 as butchered in Sonic Origins

CNZ Act 1 as it sounded in the November 1993 Prototype. Compare with the Origins Version.

What we got instead was recordings from probably an even probably older prototype than the one that Hidden Palace uncovered that sound bland and unfinished. Ironically, one of the first mods released for Origins was getting the music replaced. Too bad you can only mod the PC version.

As much as I love some of Jun Senoue's work, especially in Sonic 3D Blast, I don't think he should be allowed near a Yamaha YM2612 FM synthesizer anymore.

Alternatives for Sonic 3

Many Sonic lovers knew about this little conundrum and were ready to provide alternatives. What they produced were excellent and although we'd miss the originals, these reinterpretations would have made us quite happy.

Woofle, Bouncy Glow and Mastered Realm on YouTube all made some amazing renditions that I would secretly like to think Sega knew about but never considered including.

Sonic CD US Past Versions

By default, Sonic Origins uses the US soundtrack for Sonic CD. Although I'm in the minority who prefers the US OST, I still believe that the Japanese version was still quite the banger and should have been the default.

An odd thing in the US version of the Sonic CD OST was that the "past" theme melodies sounded nothing like the ones in the "Present", "Bad Future" and "Good Future" renditions. In fact, they were the same as the Japanese versions and were better suited for them.

I suspect the breakneck speed at which the US OST was developed, they never had time to do "Past" themes because of the holiday due date and the complexity of making them in Sega CD's native sound hardware. However, Spencer stated in an interview that the actual reason was political.

This would have been a great opportunity to bring Spencer Nilsen back and have him complete the circle. Such an idea, however, is something that Sega probably never even considered. Fortunately, one fan had the imagination to create "Past" renditions that would make Nilson proud.

A YouTuber by the name of King Meteor produced some hypothetical US versions of the past themes.

Bring Back the Lost Levels

Dust Hill as Presented in a Magazine

Magazine reviews and screenshots along with hearsay and speculation have revealed that many zone ideas were never implemented. It lit up the imagination of many gamers of what these lost levels would have been like.

Sonic 2 was one game were many zones were scrapped since the game was originally supposed to be a bit longer. Zones like Dust Hill, Genocide City, Hidden Palace and Wood Zone were the best-known ones. Sonic CD had a level officially known as R2, which is also known as Relic Ruins.

Many ROM hacks have tried to bring these zones back and it fills the imagination that they could have been in the original releases in the nineties. Luckily, Christian Whitehead brought back Hidden Palace Zone in his Sonic 2 release and the Dust Hill concept made it into Sonic Mania as Mirage Saloon.

Implement a Proper Save System

This is the biggest pain point in Sonic Origins, in my opinion, and has seen solutions in not only fan game interpretations of Sonic but even Sonic Team official releases.

Just a little background for those who haven't thrown some of their money into the trash, Sonic Origins has essentially only one save slot for the Anniversary mode. If you want to have more, you need to pick a different character. In other words, you get ONE save slot per character and that's it. There is technically a 'level select' mode after finishing the game as a time attack feature.

Sonic 3’s Excellent Save System

Even the infinite lives system from Anniversary mode can't save the game’s way of tracking progress. The original Steam versions of the Sonic series had a solid save feature through emulation, but they pulled those out in favour of Sonic Origins. Clearly, Sega believed that Origins would be so good that these emulated renditions were not necessary anymore.

You'd expect that game that strings four massively long games would have a solid way of tracking your progress. It doesn't need to be complicated, just some freeform save slots that you could pick from and have the game insert your progress into there. It doesn't need to be more sophisticated than even Sonic 3. It would be even better if it adopted Whitehead's port of Sonic 1 and 2 that would allow you to replay the levels after finishing the game.

Add A Difficulty Setting

There's an ongoing debate whether lives are needed in games anymore as there are more and more casual gamers finding retro games difficult. Some argue however that lives are needed to force the player to take less risks and strategize more to beat the game.

However, I think that this whole debate is a matter of taste and what kind of gameplay style you enjoy. At the end of the day, the gamer should be the one picking the gameplay style.

Origins did exactly that, with one big caveat. Playing with lives, in their 'Classic' mode, made you lose the widescreen aspect ratio and the drop dash move. Essentially making the interpretation of these games useless since the whole point of Sonic Origins was to get the enhanced format for modern platforms with widescreen support and 60 fps gameplay.

At this point, you might as well play the game on original hardware or through an emulator.

Rings Added to Death Egg Zone in Sonic 2 Absolute

An earlier compilation for the Sega Saturn called Sonic Jam had an 'easy mode' which would strategically place rings in difficult sections of the game. The three rings in Death Egg in Sonic 2 made a huge difference in terms of how the final boss was played for example.

Bloodstained - Curse of the Moon, showed how the lives system could be implemented. You could either play in normal or casual modes and one would have a lives system and the other gained you infinite lives.

Instead of having a compromise between classic and anniversary modes, I believe that a difficulty setting would have been much more appropriate. Perhaps an easy mode would give you infinite lives and strategically placed rings, while a hard mode would limit you to lives and original level layouts.

Bring in New Characters and Abilities

It was very exciting news when we learned that Sonic Origins Plus would finally have Amy Rose as a playable character. Although her move set is a bit disappointing, it was refreshing to replay the classics with a new character for replayability and a new experience.

On the other hand, Sonic Mania brought also two new characters, Ray and Mighty played with a very unique style. Since Sonic Origins was made using the Retro Engine, it would have seemed to be a no-brainer to port into Origins, since they were already there in Sonic Mania, which also runs on the Retro Engine.

Sonic's Drop Dash move gave a completely new dimension to his gameplay and felt like a natural addition. Jumping into a spin dash makes it easy to cross hills and loops in addition to getting some attack power. I was pretty pleased to see it added into all 4 games in Origins ported from Mania.

But, Sonic had other moves that he did in subsequent games like the Homing Attack and Light Dash. Homing Attack would allow Sonic to be directed and thrown straight into an enemy while spinning. Light Dash would put Sonic in path where he would follow a row of rings in the air. Interestingly, these moves are present in a ROM hack Sonic 1 Megamix.

Conclusion

I still hold from my post last year about my anger from Origins that it's not the definite way to play these games. Sonic 1 Absolute, Sonic 2 Forever, Sonic CD Restored and Sonic 3 A.I.R. are still the way to play our favourites. In addition, they all have great modding capabilities which add a dimension of replayability and customization to these games that Sega will never be able to provide.

To leave on a good note though, I have to grindingly admit that Sonic Origins got one thing right. And that's presentation. The islands rendered in 3D along with the fantastic animated cartoons in between the games transitions and the butter smooth 60 fps widescreen gameplay. Sonic Origins isn't horrible, it's still a great way to play some of the most influential games ever. However, it could have been so much better.

I finally found my daily driver. A quick review of the HP Spectre x360 13.5

After dumping my ThinkPad P16 for a refund, I felt like I was going to have to give up on the laptop world. It seems that the issue of portability always leads to a story of compromise. I never purchased the best laptop, but rather felt like I was picking the least worst one. My new machine is still a tale of sacrifices but at least the papercuts don't hurt as much this time.

I had to teach myself a lesson of being less impulsive and do much more extensive research to pick my new daily driver. Eventually, I settled on a HP Spectre x360 13.5 and generally pleased with the choice that I've made. No, I haven't found computing heaven, but this piece of equipment has successfully proved itself useful for 95% of my use cases.

When I went for the ThinkPad, I was in impulse buying mode and maxed out the machine unnecessarily. I mean, I configured it with 128 GB of RAM that I've historically never filled. The 'just in case' mentality that permeated me limited my choices quite a bit. It seems that workstation laptop is an oxymoron. Spending a premium did not lead to a premium experience.

Eventually, I decided to take a step back and review my actual use cases. Thankfully, I've been keeping track of my computer usage for years using ManicTime and HWInfo. What revealed itself was that I was overbuilding my machine. Most of the demanding applications that I use can now run on affordable and efficient processors and on average, I was using 24 GB of RAM.

Realizing that I needed to put my arrogance aside and downsize opened up the opportunity for many more laptops but it still wasn't an easy task finding something that I'd be happy with. The HP machine ended up opening opportunities for me rather than limiting despite the more limited power.

Machine Specifications

I ended up gaining a few perks but there are still a few quirks here and there. This is a summary of what I gained and what I lost.

1. Battery life was the biggest game changer for me because I was no longer tethered to a wall outlet anymore. My previous workstation laptops could barely hold for an hour before shutting down. If I really had to squeeze in a little bit more, I had to close down as many applications as possible to minimize CPU and GPU usage. Now, I don't have to worry about that anymore and enjoy several hours of battery life. I can be a bit more nomadic now.

2. When at home or at work, my laptop is connected to a docking station for a desktop like setup. Plugging in my previous laptops into a Thunderbolt docking station was like playing Russian roulette. I'd pray that all the displays would come to life and often they wouldn't. Unplugging it to get going out was a risk in having the machine crash. Now, with the docking station I have at home, and the one at work, the displays come to life every single time and unplugging is painless knowing that the machine will still be alive.

3. I've had really bad luck with thermals in all my past laptops with overheating being common and no amount of repasting and clever placement of thermal pads would save the laptop from throttling under heavy load. It didn't help that the laptop was too hot to touch nor was the loud noise a pleasant thing to hear. Because of the more efficient CPU and integrated GPU, I haven't had a single throttling incident and even when pushing the machine hard, the whirr of the fan is tolerable. Otherwise, while using it casually, the fan never spins up.

4. It's a convertible therefore it can fold into a tablet form factor. I don't need to carry both an eBook reader and a laptop anymore. When folded, I can read books to my heart's content. I'll admit I miss the eInk screen from a proper eBook reader but adjusting the colours to a sepia tone and bringing down the brightness makes it an acceptable experience.

5. I can finally look at a beautiful OLED screen because workstation laptops for some reason come with terrible TN panels, low resolution and impractical 16:9 aspect ratio. Now, with a resolution of 3000x2000, I get an incredibly crisp and vibrant image and using fractional scaling to make sure I have just the right amount of screen real-estate. The 3:2 aspect ratio takes the cake.

6. The build quality is vastly superior to what felt like plastic in my previous machines. The aluminum construction feels solid with no flex or give. It really feels like a premium product that will last for a while.

7. Unlike my previous purchases, the laptop didn't cost the price of a used Miata. I still wasn't that cheap but it's less than half the price of what I paid before.

8. Unfortunately, I have lost the behemoth GPU power that my previous laptops had and it has limited the games I can play. While I usually use the HTPC connected to the TV to play more demanding games, I still want to play on the small screen sometimes. However, the games that I often play are pretty old and run fine with the integrated graphics. For example, my simulator of choice is Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004, which I still use because I invested a ton into it. It runs well and looks great. I'm considering an eGPU setup but it seems like there might be headaches associated with it.

9. LatencyMon revealed some DPC latency issues and explains why I get some skipped frames while watching 4K YouTube videos and for games that claim a smooth 60 FPS framerate. I suspect it's a combination of power management settings and Windows Defender. I have not investigated this yet.

10. The operating system was filled with a ton of bloatware and unnecessary applications. It took a while to uninstall everything and clean up the mess that the uninstallers didn't completely get rid of. I could have gone for a clean OS install but I felt like setting up the machine like that would take more time. This is the unfortunate part as having Windows as your operating system of choice.

11. HP's support is quite lacking compared to Dell and Lenovo. They only offer drop-off depot service which means I can be without my machine for several days. Dell and Lenovo offer excellent warranty with next business-day onsite repair service.

12. I can no longer brag that I have as much RAM as some storage devices anymore.

I've had my system since June now, about to reach the 4 months mark. The experience has been quite pleasant so far save for a few minor hiccups. A story of compromise still remains but I'm quite satisfied with the machine. The machine has proved to be pretty practical fitting my lifestyle well and it looks like I'll be keeping it as a daily driver for years to come.

The HP Spectre x360 gets my recommendation and approval.

Will ChatGPT Replace Me?

I didn't expect the topic of AI to be so polarizing since last year. There are fears that it will replace many of us and some literally saying that it will take over the world. A dystopian future where your automotive accident insurance claim will be evaluated by a computer rather than a human adjuster.

Personally, I didn't feel worried. When Stable Diffusion was finally available to the public, I played around with it feeding it prompts and the results didn't impress me. In fact, they freaked me out because of how uncanny the images were.

So when ChatGPT became public, I predicted that it would have that same uncanny feel and that it would generate results that just feel a bit off. I thought, to the trained writer, they might be able to detect that a piece of text was AI generated.

Soon enough, I started hearing tales from close friends that they were using ChatGPT to write their essays for a hated philosophy course. Their essays were convincing enough to land them decent grades and pass the course.

I underestimated the usefulness of this AI system.

Going back to Stable Diffusion, the uncanny valley effect that I mentioned made me realize that what it lacked was depth. Everything that came out of it was just too clean and perfect. When we humans are presented with something that lacks those subtle cues, we start feeling uncomfortable. We know it's not right.

Last night, bored before sleep, I signed up for an OpenAI account and got into ChatGPT. I started asking it basic questions and it would respond with some pretty accurate and neutral output.

However, I decided to get tough with it and see if it could answer a question that I wrote about a few years ago and was basically the only online who ever wrote about it. "What games simulate automatic transmissions correctly?", all the games it listed were the popular racing titles, none of which don't simulate automatics accurately.

Now the above is just an anecdotal example and someone more clever than me would have provided better prompts for more accurate answers. Or get it to spit out very inaccurate information, or just make up facts. What they have termed as hallucinations.

After spending some time with ChatGPT, I started noticing that it always followed the same essay-like structure. An introduction with the thesis, a series of arguments that were even numbered, and a conclusion with a disclaimer that the answers could be subjective. For a school essay, this structure is perfect.

But, just like the freaky stable diffusions images, the results from ChatGPT lacked character and nuances that make each writer unique.

It had mechanical feel and felt generic but many popular websites write in that style since many of the authors are ghostwriters and they must purposely compose something vacuous.

CNET for instance was caught using ChatGPT output as articles for their website. Because their content is already pretty generic, it didn't seem like anyone noticed. They only got in trouble when they admitted themselves that they did this.

Personally, I'm not afraid that ChatGPT will replace me. I do know it will improve over time and other competing AI products might do a better job. In some near future, I can imagine an AI system would be able to replicate my style.

Especially in the realm of non-fiction, the amount of research done for a certain topic is easy to determine based on how depthful the discussion is. Humans can fall for the same trap as AI programs doing something shallow and poorly researched.

For example, the infamous Wikipedia "Bicholim Conflict" hoax describing a war that never happened. If you find a blogger or website writing about it as fact, then you know that they didn't look beyond Wikipedia for their research. Having that featured gives a good idea on how much effort the writer puts into their work.

I asked ChatGPT to tell me about this conflict, and I was impressed that it didn't fall for it, simply stating that it couldn't find anything about it or that it was lesser well known, or even fabricated. Another explanation though would be that the article was removed when ChatGPT was fed data to learn and maybe it's not as smart as it seemed.

For me, I will embrace ChatGPT as a tool to help me research, but just like Wikipedia, it would be a starting point rather than a replacement for good research. ChatGPT is seen for me as an interactive encyclopedia. And just in case anyone has any ideas, I won't be copy-pasting from the output or paraphrasing it.

When it comes to the general public, I don't think we should make laws to limit access to applications like ChatGPT or put huge disclaimers. Just like any tool, we should be taught about the limitations and drawbacks so we can use them appropriately.