I've been playing E&B since mid-December and it's just getting to where I feel like I've done most of the missions and seen most of the content available.
They do add new content once a month with the game patch, and things have been exciting again in the past week since the newest patch, but it does start to wear off more quickly now.
I keep wishing it had come with a universe like that implemented in the old game Elite II/Frontier. That universe went on forever. I guess it was generated with some sort of fractal algorithm. No end of exploration there =)
E&B is a good game, the first MMO i've tried. I'll stick with it for a while, but the developers definitely need to read this article =)
There was one 3d modeling software I used a long time ago which would slightly "wiggle" the wireframe back and forth, maybe by about 2-3 degrees of rotation.. enough that you kept your current view but could make out some depth from the wireframe.
Now as Marketing techniques continue to get better and better, it will mean that companies will continue to shift more and more money into the budgets for #2 than #1.
This is why we're getting more crap today than ever before. Marketing is getting better at fooling us, and we just keep falling for it.
Eventually they'll find a way to sell us a chunk of granite for $50 bucks and convince us that it's the best 3D game ever, and we'll happily buy it.
I think Freelancer is an unofficial derivative of Elite/Frontier. There are a couple others as well, including Earth and Beyond (live) and EVE Online (beta).
The official game (which may never come, and if it does, will be a long time from now), has a small FAQ.
Last I heard of FPGAs they were being touted in the same realm of likelyness as FMD or MRAM... I had no idea they are out there and working in reality already...
One thing I've seeked for some time though -- is there a site which runs in a similiar manner as this one, which delivers general news, and has a large community?
I just started using the Vasco system, it's a very impressive piece of work. Smart card credit cards are already available, so why not generate a unique number?
What would be even more interesting would be if such a device could generate a unique number for a particular charge at a particular merchant.
Why not a system like this:
1. You get a code number from an online merchant.
2. You type that code and the amount to pay into a smartcard device. Optionally select if the merchat can charge this to your card more than once, every n week(s), n month(s), n year(s).
3. You get back a code from the device.
4. You type that code in to the merchant's website.
5. Now the merchant has access to charge you the amount you specified and optionally at an interval which you have chosen.
They can store this number in their database safely because nobody else can use it but them.
Is this a bad idea?
This actually sounds a lot like Earth & Beyond. They are expected to continue to advance the storyline, add new sectors, and expand on PvP, but for some aspects of gameplay, sometimes it seems like it's still in beta =)
I've been playing E&B for about a month now, and while it's quite addicitve and fun so far, I've heard from higher level players that there's not much to do yet when you get to the top...
Digital cameras just can't handle low-light situations, by their very nature.
The Hubble Space Telescope probably does a bit of work photographing 'low-light situations', and I have a feeling they use a digital camera for that, since film would be a bit bothersome...
I haven't read Stephensen book yet, and while I'd imagine the movie Johnny Mnemonic has some very polarized reviews, I really thought the depection of the "internet" in that was very interesting from a metaverse sort of view...
Another BBC show which I enjoyed quite a bit was the Secret Life of Machines. It only had a very short run, but it broke down explaining complex devices with very simple descriptions...
Slashdot Mirror
I'm visualizing an RV parked next to a phone booth, with a wire running out to a coupler modem rigged up with the payphone.
I've been playing E&B since mid-December and it's just getting to where I feel like I've done most of the missions and seen most of the content available.
They do add new content once a month with the game patch, and things have been exciting again in the past week since the newest patch, but it does start to wear off more quickly now.
I keep wishing it had come with a universe like that implemented in the old game Elite II/Frontier. That universe went on forever. I guess it was generated with some sort of fractal algorithm. No end of exploration there =)
E&B is a good game, the first MMO i've tried. I'll stick with it for a while, but the developers definitely need to read this article =)
There was one 3d modeling software I used a long time ago which would slightly "wiggle" the wireframe back and forth, maybe by about 2-3 degrees of rotation.. enough that you kept your current view but could make out some depth from the wireframe.
True, though it's hard to say...
Is the MMO space sim 'Earth & Beyond' based on Elite, or would it have come about anyway, even if Elite had never existed?
Same goes for Wing Command, Freespace, etc... Someone would have thought of it eventually.
For company expenses, let's take:
1. Research & Development
2. Marketing
Now as Marketing techniques continue to get better and better, it will mean that companies will continue to shift more and more money into the budgets for #2 than #1.
This is why we're getting more crap today than ever before. Marketing is getting better at fooling us, and we just keep falling for it.
Eventually they'll find a way to sell us a chunk of granite for $50 bucks and convince us that it's the best 3D game ever, and we'll happily buy it.
*shrug* eh.. I do this all the time... Nothing new here =)
I think Freelancer is an unofficial derivative of Elite/Frontier. There are a couple others as well, including Earth and Beyond (live) and EVE Online (beta).
The official game (which may never come, and if it does, will be a long time from now), has a small FAQ.
His name was Robert Paulson...
His name was Robert Paulson...
His name was Robert Paulson...
This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time.
I'll say...
Last I heard of FPGAs they were being touted in the same realm of likelyness as FMD or MRAM... I had no idea they are out there and working in reality already...
Amazing =D
[long GUI wishlist] Yeah, I miss the Amiga OS too... ...sigh...
One thing I've seeked for some time though -- is there a site which runs in a similiar manner as this one, which delivers general news, and has a large community?
I just started using the Vasco system, it's a very impressive piece of work. Smart card credit cards are already available, so why not generate a unique number? What would be even more interesting would be if such a device could generate a unique number for a particular charge at a particular merchant. Why not a system like this: 1. You get a code number from an online merchant. 2. You type that code and the amount to pay into a smartcard device. Optionally select if the merchat can charge this to your card more than once, every n week(s), n month(s), n year(s). 3. You get back a code from the device. 4. You type that code in to the merchant's website. 5. Now the merchant has access to charge you the amount you specified and optionally at an interval which you have chosen. They can store this number in their database safely because nobody else can use it but them. Is this a bad idea?
If this is being done on a counter, you would lose the storage space within.
I wonder if this new storage medium may even be more volatile. Is it vulnerable to EMP attack?
The more variety of speed/storage density tradeoffs we have, the more capabilities we have to find uses for them.
I've been playing E&B for about a month now, and while it's quite addicitve and fun so far, I've heard from higher level players that there's not much to do yet when you get to the top...
The Hubble Space Telescope probably does a bit of work photographing 'low-light situations', and I have a feeling they use a digital camera for that, since film would be a bit bothersome...
http://www.glassheads.org/wwys/
Just curious, is it a coincidence that Iron just happens to be the most magnetically attractive element as well, or is there a relation?
What about anti-matter anti-mass? What's that?
I haven't read Stephensen book yet, and while I'd imagine the movie Johnny Mnemonic has some very polarized reviews, I really thought the depection of the "internet" in that was very interesting from a metaverse sort of view...
(I can't say much, I'm from there myself) =P
Another BBC show which I enjoyed quite a bit was the Secret Life of Machines. It only had a very short run, but it broke down explaining complex devices with very simple descriptions...
And Star Wars Galaxies will still only be a few months away from release...
I'm 99.9% confident that the universe is between zero and 42 quadrillion eons old.