Interview with Chilly Willy Part 2

Acerthief: You just had a problem over at another forum. What happened, tell us about it.
Chilly Willy: I have different accounts under different names on various boards. I
don't often visit some of them, so I don't have quite the reputation
on those boards as Chilly does. I was on QJ.net the other day and
noticed a thread. Someone had a cousin who (supposedly) couldn't
afford a memory card and wanted to know if they could play games from
the flash inside the PSP, and if so, how. I have played a fairly large
part in the examination and reconstruction of the idstorage, and have
read MANY threads on the corruption or destruction of the flash by
misadventure. So my advice was to not try to run games from the flash.
I gave a couple reasons: first, on the Phat PSP, there's really no
room, second, even if you have room, like on the Slim, you run the
risk of bricking your PSP.

The original poster flamed me, calling me an idiot who had no idea
what he was talking about. He accused me of giving bad advice merely
to boost my post count. In so many words, he told me to bugger off. He
also claimed that if you wanted more room on the Phat for running
games, you could just downgrade to 1.5.

I was a little peeved, needless to say. I posted back telling the
person that he was the idiot, and had no idea who he was talking to. A
"VIP" then stepped in, told me I was an idiot, a nobody, to bugger
off, and locked the thread. After a couple PMs with the "VIP", i
figured out that he has mod powers in the PSP forums strictly based on
his own post count, and had no real knowledge of how the PSP works. I
tried to convince him my advice was sound, but he just didn't get it.

The argument was over two main points: is it safe to write the flash
on a constant basis; will installing 1.5 allow you the room to play
games.

First, I get emails every day from people who have managed somehow to
kill their flash just updating the firmware or writing a custom theme.
Every custom firmware (or update) that comes out has BIG warnings that
any time you write the flash, you do stand a chance of having a
problem. Is it a big risk? Not too big, but it's best to write the
flash as little as you can. Won't DC and the Pandora's Battery fix
everything? No. Some problems are unrecoverable. Folks at lan.st have
been researching some of those issues. Another point to consider - a
person with no money for a memory stick is NOT going to have a Pandora
Magic Stick on hand; he's almost certainly using it for something else
as he's too poor for multiple sticks.

The second argument was especially silly. If you switch to 1.5, you
won't be playing ISOs and whatnot - not without something like the old
devhook... which would again require a memory stick the person claimed
not to be able to afford. You're also only going to be freeing several
MegaBytes of space - perhaps room for a SMALL demo, or a few homebrews
that don't have big files - so you won't be playing Doom or Quake.
Which reminds me - someone repacked an OLD version of PSPDoom with
eLoader and managed to con QJ.net into posting it as a "new" 3.xx
compatible port of Doom. More than two thousand downloads of it were
reported last I checked. That is a WHOLE LOT of people who are going
to be very disappointed.

I was so disappointed in who are running QJ.net and how they run it
that I'll likely not go back.

Acerthief: So what do you think one needs in order to be a "pro-"noob?
Chilly Willy: First, don't lock a thread the instant an argument pops up (that isn't
otherwise violating the rules, like no talking about piracy). Second,
no matter how many posts someone has, DON'T GIVE THEM MOD POWERS!!
You're better off giving someone with no posts but knows what they're
talking about power compared to someone who merely has several
thousand "me too" posts. I probably deserved a rebuke for my response
to the guy's flame, but to take the other guy's side and then lock the
thread is unforgivable. It's their bad luck that I wasn't really a
noob, but someone who knew what he was talking about.

I sometimes flame people myself, and often I wind up apologizing as
well. If you instantly lock a thread, no one will gain any
understanding, and no one will have a chance to perhaps apologize.

Acerthief: What about exophase.com? How's the atmosphere here comparing to other forums?
Chilly Willy: I like eXophase. It's more casual... that's how I'd put it. You
sometimes get arguments, but they're usually not as biting, and the
mods there can usually keep things from going to far without locking
the thread. I get in fewer arguments myself there because of the
atmosphere. Everyone is more laid back, so you really don't feel like
making a fuss. It's too much bother.

On the other hand, ps2dev is no place for beginning programmers (or
non-programmers). The folks there (myself included) are hard-core
programmers who get riled up wading through a dozen "How do I install
the toolchain in Windows?" posts everyday. It doesn't matter that
there are a hundred TRILLION threads on setting up the toolchain in
Windows - someone is invariably going to post another every hour. If
you come to ps2dev and make a thread asking how to get a list of files
from a directory, expect to be run out of town on a rail. Actually, I
think that was the last flame I posted on MaxConsole - someone
recommended a noob go over to ps2dev to ask for help in learning to
program.

Acerthief: What will the PSP be one year after now, in your own words.
Chilly Willy: Exactly what it is now: the best handheld with the most stuff. You
have a decent selection of games for all ages. You have the ability to
play music and movies. You can surf the net. If you have custom
firmware, you then have perhaps the largest selection of homebrew this
side of linux. Personally, I find the PSP to be the most fun I've had
programming since the Amiga.

Acerthief: Will you still be in the scene then?
Chilly Willy: Yep! Maybe I'll even have my update to Basilisk II out by then.
(inside joke on ps2dev)

Acerthief: You have other hobbies? I bet you do, tell us.
Chilly Willy: I like to play tennis or bowl when I can.

Acerthief: What other consoles do you have other than the PSP?
Chilly Willy: Let's see: Atari 2600, SNES, Genesis with CD and 32X attachments, PSX,
PS2, GameCube, and the PSP. The next one I'll get will probably be a
PS3. I'm just waiting for the first major price cut.

Acerthief: Least favorite console? Most favourite?
Chilly Willy: I don't think I've met a console I didn't like. I still use them all -
sometimes not even emulated (I have my Genesis/CD/32X sitting right
here beside me). They're all mostly about the same with one being a
little more favorite (at the time). My current favorite is the PSP. I
LOOOOOOOOOVE my PSP.

Acerthief: Apart from coding, what do you like to do in your free time?
Chilly Willy: Isn't that the same as Q16? (Hm.... Good point)
I watch more Japanese anime than American television.


Let's spice things up and wrap the end. Let's have fun:

Acerthief: Do you believe in "love at first sight"?
Chilly Willy: Yes. Unfortunately, the people I fell in love with at first sight were
looking at someone else. (Ouch, man)

Acerthief: Even for blind people?
Chilly Willy: I think they probably have this one area better, even if they might
not think so. Without having to deal with the superficial, they are
forced to take their time and get to know the person. I may be
completely off base, but I bet blind people have less heartache than
the rest of us. Feel free to set me straight.

Acerthief: Last but not least, do you have anything to say to your lovely fans in the beloved world of PSP homebrew?
Chilly Willy: Don't take things too seriously. Even if someone like me is bitching
at you, just keep at it until you reach a place where you're
comfortable. If you like my stuff, thank you. If you don't, well, I
was doing it for myself, so I won't hold it against you. Everyone has
their own tastes, and yours may not be anything like my own.