Before you've even gotten the keyboard dirty, your home computer is obsolete, largely because of incredibly rapid progress in miniaturizing circuits on silicon chips. Engineers are using the same technology to build crude, atomic-scale machines, inventing a new field as they go called nanotechnology.
I believe that nanotech and the technology used to make computers smaller are two distinct technologies. Microtechnology makes bigger things smaller, by shaving more and more off of a transistor, and nanotech is the building up of larger structures from component molecules. Basically nanotech is building things up, microtech is cutting things down.
The author of the article mentions how long it takes to create a fully immersive level. Take a look at the community that has sprung up around games like Half-Life, Quake, and Unreal Tournament. There are tons of people putting out high-quality maps (and a few shitty ones) and mods/add-ons. And it is all FREE. If the developers concentrate more on the engine, and less on the levels, we find ourselves moving toward a video game world like Snow Crash's Metaverse. You can create your own world if you are so inclined, or visit hundreds of others.
This step away from developer-created content means that games are no longer providing stories, and that means less fun to a lot of people. But what do you get in exchange? You get spaces where you can do just about anything. Leave it up to the community to develop stories and new gamestyles.
Maybe if we ever get a nice micropayment system developed, the cream of the crop of ametuer level designers could actually start to make a living off of all their hard work. I don't even play the levels that UT comes with anymore, just some great user made maps.
That's right, because if you aren't doing something useful, then you aren't a productive member of society and you should be put in jail with the rest of the communists/a& gt;.
I've recently been playing a few games featured in the The 6th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition. When I find myself in room with a lantern, an exit to the north, and a staircase leading down into the darkness, I get a special tingle that _no_ graphical engine can elicit.
There's a lot to be said for leaving things to the imagination.
Don't get me wrong, you are more likely to find me in a good UT frag-fest on a Saturday afternoon than hanging out in the GUE.
That reminds me of a guy I met at the Psychic Fair (don't ask) back in High School. This fellow began regaling my friend and I with stories of how everybody's soul fractures upon death and enters other people's bodies. He proved this with Kirlian photographs showing Marilyn Monroe's and Plato's faces. Apparently he developed a way to communicate with these folks, and they told him that he needed to colonize other planets because the Earth was dying.
The technology they told him to use for space flight was demonstrated to my friend and I with a small apparatus. It looked like a simple toy you'd find at the Science Center. A wooden stick, about the size of a pencil, had a disc-shaped magnet stuck at each end. The tip of the pencil was placed on a slanted surface perpendicular to another set of curved magnets. This caused the pencil to float.
Our new friend showed us that we could build a magnetic space fleet similar to these devices, and told us how they'd escape orbit. He spun the pencil around, and he pointed out how it begin to wobble. Then he spun it harder, and it jumped out of its magnetic cradle! Amazing! (We were having a really hard time not busting up at this point).
He finished with his plan to pull giant icebergs from the asteroid belt to Mars, and we quickly made our escape.
I'm not sure what happened to him. Maybe he got a job at NASA.
This article is just another piece of propaganda published by idiots who have fallen prey to the lies of the War on Drugs.
Not only do we have fantasy worlds like "Wake County" (see above posts), but we have sensationalist jouralism. Sure, the authorities are seizing more drugs, and more folks are coming in from the dot-com world, but what does that mean? Greater population = more drugs, and booming e-conomy = more people in the dot-com world. Since there is going to be a given number of people in any sampling of society that use drugs (in general), it makes sense that as the number of people in any particular group increases, the number of drug users is going to increase. The article doesn't say anything at all about the actual percentage of Research Triangle workers are drug users. It might be 50%, it might be 0.01%.
The author is taking a hot topic (booming tech), and trying to use it to push his own (stupid-ass anti-drug) views.
I agree that drugs can be dangerous, but there is a difference between a user and an abuser. A well-informed individual can use drugs to his/her benefit (whether it be having a good time, getting more work done, or gaining spiritual insight).
Want an example of using technology in new and creative ways to effect policy makers? Let's all get together and treat the IMF with "indifference and contempt."
Toy Z Tech has a web page up outlining a call to action. The purpose of the action is to shut down IMF web sites (this is synchronous with the protests in Prague). Toy Z Tech offers a download (a web-based IRC client) that supposedly functions as a tool for electronic civil disobience.
If you don't like a company, don't buy its product but do buy its shares. Become and owner and change the way it operates.
I'd have to recommend against that strategy. If you want to gain influence over the way a company operates, you are going to have to buy a lot of stock, more than most of us can afford. By purchasing stock in a company, you are telling it that you agree with its business practices, for the most part.
Instead, I'd suggest doing two things: 1) buying stock in the competition, and 2) speaking out against the company.
Re:It's still a democracy.....use it!
on
Lawsuits Suck
·
· Score: 1
Not only do I vote for third party Green candidates, sometimes they actually win. The City of Seattle has fiveGreen Party of Seattle members in its ranks (although one of them joined the party just for the endorsement and has turned out to be a coporate whore anyway). Although Seattle's City Council is unlikely to put an end to the injustices of the DMCA anytime soon, they have made several progressive moves.
It doesn't take the president to change the law. Check out your local elections, and support your local progressive party (the one that is most likely to support the geek cause is probably the same one that wants to end corporate dominance). Let's get some progressive candidates in at state and local levels, then we can work up to the House and the Senate. There is a movement at work, and geek support can make a difference. Just start at the roots.
A friend works at Cantametrix, which is developing what I believe to be an excellent solution to this "problem". Genres rely too much on human taste. Why not just break the music down by its pure sound qualities?
CantaMetrix has created a music browser, a sound-based search, recognition, classification and recommendation engine for music. These products enable consumers to search and find digital music based on terms they intuitively understand like tempo and energy. They can search for music based on mood--romantic, aggressive, reflective, happy. And they can find new songs similar to the songs they already know and love.
Although there is still a human element to the algorithim, you don't have to rely on other people's tastes, or arbitary labels like "Top 40".
I've used a beta of this engine, and it kicks ass. Its ability to match similar songs is pretty impressive. And you don't have to use any of the labels like agresive or happy. You can just search for songs that sound like any other song in the database.
Now imagine if every song in the universe was available in a database. You could look for titles of songs sounding like your favorite song of the moment, listen to a low-bandwidth preview, then grab them from Napster.
What we are attempting to do is engage the private sector in providing high-definition TV services and multimedia services so the taxpayers don't have to make an investment, and in fact have the potential for gaining money back from the profits that might occur," NASA Administrator Dan Goldin told a Senate hearing last month.
Okay, Dan, I'll be watching my mailbox for that refund check. I'm sure you'll be watching yours closer, though.
I'd say that the most important thing we can do is educate ourselves. Before you rag on Katz for being a conspiracy theorist, have a careful look at what is going on.
As geeks, we will probably be the last to be affected by globalization. I don't really give a f*ck if the thought police make it impossible for me to download the latest Backstreet Boys single without paying for it. But the level of control the "powers that be" are attempting to gain is frightening.
It isn't a conspiracy, it is a bunch of greedy lawyers working for greedy corporations trying to pass laws in their favor, in order to make as much money as possible. What does that mean? If the Man had his way, we wouldn't be able to post negative product reviews online, let alone create laws that favor human rights or the environment versus corporate rights.
How many people do you suppose know what the WTO protests were all about, besides a few news clips? They were about fighting corporate domination, globalization, Orwellian politics, whatever you want to call it.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is just a small piece of the puzzle.
Geeks may not have the voter turnout that "old people" have, but we have a grasp on communications technology like nobody else. Once we educate ourselves, we can begin the process of educating others, by posting messages like this, creating educational content, or just talking about it. Learn not just what is going on in the legal realm, but how your decisions (your job, what you buy, what you eat, where you shop) effect the rest of the world.
Or read Chomsky or Nader. Go see Jello Biafra next time he does a spoken word tour. Stop reading corporate controlled media entirely.
Once you educate yourself, it is your decision whether to do something or not. There are lots of outlets for activism. Join your local Green Party, write a Windows virus, quit your job as the E-trade webmaster, become a teacher...
This whole democracy thing doesn't work unless our population is well-informed and active. What's the other alternative to a democracy? A technocracy? Try plutocracy. The people with the money are the people with power. I imagine that pretty much everyone that reads Slashdot are pretty bright folks. What are we called? The emerging Knowledge Worker class? Even if we "allowed" the Man 10 times more power than he has now, you and I would probably be just fine. We will be able to find a job. We will be able to exercise most of the freedoms we enjoy now. So maybe you need to ask yourself if democracy is worth fighting for.
Slashdot Mirror
21 - the 12th planet comes back and crashes into the Earth, turning it into another asterioid belt.
And if you believe that, I've got an umbrella for sale that will protect you from meteorites, guaranteed.
Hey, if M$-Word's grammar check says that it is okay, then it must okay.
The author of the article mentions how long it takes to create a fully immersive level. Take a look at the community that has sprung up around games like Half-Life, Quake, and Unreal Tournament. There are tons of people putting out high-quality maps (and a few shitty ones) and mods/add-ons. And it is all FREE. If the developers concentrate more on the engine, and less on the levels, we find ourselves moving toward a video game world like Snow Crash's Metaverse. You can create your own world if you are so inclined, or visit hundreds of others.
This step away from developer-created content means that games are no longer providing stories, and that means less fun to a lot of people. But what do you get in exchange? You get spaces where you can do just about anything. Leave it up to the community to develop stories and new gamestyles.
Maybe if we ever get a nice micropayment system developed, the cream of the crop of ametuer level designers could actually start to make a living off of all their hard work. I don't even play the levels that UT comes with anymore, just some great user made maps.
That's right, because if you aren't doing something useful, then you aren't a productive member of society and you should be put in jail with the rest of the communists/a& gt;.
I've recently been playing a few games featured in the The 6th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition. When I find myself in room with a lantern, an exit to the north, and a staircase leading down into the darkness, I get a special tingle that _no_ graphical engine can elicit.
There's a lot to be said for leaving things to the imagination.
Don't get me wrong, you are more likely to find me in a good UT frag-fest on a Saturday afternoon than hanging out in the GUE.
That reminds me of a guy I met at the Psychic Fair (don't ask) back in High School. This fellow began regaling my friend and I with stories of how everybody's soul fractures upon death and enters other people's bodies. He proved this with Kirlian photographs showing Marilyn Monroe's and Plato's faces. Apparently he developed a way to communicate with these folks, and they told him that he needed to colonize other planets because the Earth was dying.
The technology they told him to use for space flight was demonstrated to my friend and I with a small apparatus. It looked like a simple toy you'd find at the Science Center. A wooden stick, about the size of a pencil, had a disc-shaped magnet stuck at each end. The tip of the pencil was placed on a slanted surface perpendicular to another set of curved magnets. This caused the pencil to float.
Our new friend showed us that we could build a magnetic space fleet similar to these devices, and told us how they'd escape orbit. He spun the pencil around, and he pointed out how it begin to wobble. Then he spun it harder, and it jumped out of its magnetic cradle! Amazing! (We were having a really hard time not busting up at this point).
He finished with his plan to pull giant icebergs from the asteroid belt to Mars, and we quickly made our escape.
I'm not sure what happened to him. Maybe he got a job at NASA.
The only solution would be to colonize the space and find another planet to live on.
Either that or we just let the human race die out.
This article is just another piece of propaganda published by idiots who have fallen prey to the lies of the War on Drugs.
Not only do we have fantasy worlds like "Wake County" (see above posts), but we have sensationalist jouralism. Sure, the authorities are seizing more drugs, and more folks are coming in from the dot-com world, but what does that mean? Greater population = more drugs, and booming e-conomy = more people in the dot-com world. Since there is going to be a given number of people in any sampling of society that use drugs (in general), it makes sense that as the number of people in any particular group increases, the number of drug users is going to increase. The article doesn't say anything at all about the actual percentage of Research Triangle workers are drug users. It might be 50%, it might be 0.01%.
The author is taking a hot topic (booming tech), and trying to use it to push his own (stupid-ass anti-drug) views.
I agree that drugs can be dangerous, but there is a difference between a user and an abuser. A well-informed individual can use drugs to his/her benefit (whether it be having a good time, getting more work done, or gaining spiritual insight).
Stop the drug war!
I was there, too. I was most impressed by what I perceived as the vast amounts of TRUTH coming out of the speakers' mouths.
And everyone was shouting:
Let Ralph Debate!
Let Ralph Debate!
Let Ralph Debate!
Want an example of using technology in new and creative ways to effect policy makers? Let's all get together and treat the IMF with "indifference and contempt."
Toy Z Tech has a web page up outlining a call to action. The purpose of the action is to shut down IMF web sites (this is synchronous with the protests in Prague). Toy Z Tech offers a download (a web-based IRC client) that supposedly functions as a tool for electronic civil disobience.
When video games become an official Olympic event, then I'll watch.
If you don't like a company, don't buy its product but do buy its shares. Become and owner and change the way it operates.
I'd have to recommend against that strategy. If you want to gain influence over the way a company operates, you are going to have to buy a lot of stock, more than most of us can afford. By purchasing stock in a company, you are telling it that you agree with its business practices, for the most part.
Instead, I'd suggest doing two things: 1) buying stock in the competition, and 2) speaking out against the company.
Remember, it is possible to invest in socially responsible funds.
Not only do I vote for third party Green candidates, sometimes they actually win. The City of Seattle has five Green Party of Seattle members in its ranks (although one of them joined the party just for the endorsement and has turned out to be a coporate whore anyway). Although Seattle's City Council is unlikely to put an end to the injustices of the DMCA anytime soon, they have made several progressive moves.
It doesn't take the president to change the law. Check out your local elections, and support your local progressive party (the one that is most likely to support the geek cause is probably the same one that wants to end corporate dominance). Let's get some progressive candidates in at state and local levels, then we can work up to the House and the Senate. There is a movement at work, and geek support can make a difference. Just start at the roots.
Although there is still a human element to the algorithim, you don't have to rely on other people's tastes, or arbitary labels like "Top 40".
I've used a beta of this engine, and it kicks ass. Its ability to match similar songs is pretty impressive. And you don't have to use any of the labels like agresive or happy. You can just search for songs that sound like any other song in the database.
Now imagine if every song in the universe was available in a database. You could look for titles of songs sounding like your favorite song of the moment, listen to a low-bandwidth preview, then grab them from Napster.
Barring legislation that requires schoolchildren to maintain a functional implant, here's something that could help fight Big Brother:
http://www.eiu.org/experiments/i-bomb/
What we are attempting to do is engage the private sector in providing high-definition TV services and multimedia services so the taxpayers don't have to make an investment, and in fact have the potential for gaining money back from the profits that might occur," NASA Administrator Dan Goldin told a Senate hearing last month.
Okay, Dan, I'll be watching my mailbox for that refund check. I'm sure you'll be watching yours closer, though.
Isn't it that old tech that was around before the Internet? I figured it would have ended up in a museum by now.
...are dependent for their financial well-being on the performance of the stock market, and thus, on the health of public corporations.
One should not assume that fighting corporate domination is synonomous with destroying the economy.
I'd say that the most important thing we can do is educate ourselves. Before you rag on Katz for being a conspiracy theorist, have a careful look at what is going on.
As geeks, we will probably be the last to be affected by globalization. I don't really give a f*ck if the thought police make it impossible for me to download the latest Backstreet Boys single without paying for it. But the level of control the "powers that be" are attempting to gain is frightening.
It isn't a conspiracy, it is a bunch of greedy lawyers working for greedy corporations trying to pass laws in their favor, in order to make as much money as possible. What does that mean? If the Man had his way, we wouldn't be able to post negative product reviews online, let alone create laws that favor human rights or the environment versus corporate rights.
How many people do you suppose know what the WTO protests were all about, besides a few news clips? They were about fighting corporate domination, globalization, Orwellian politics, whatever you want to call it.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is just a small piece of the puzzle.
Geeks may not have the voter turnout that "old people" have, but we have a grasp on communications technology like nobody else. Once we educate ourselves, we can begin the process of educating others, by posting messages like this, creating educational content, or just talking about it. Learn not just what is going on in the legal realm, but how your decisions (your job, what you buy, what you eat, where you shop) effect the rest of the world.
So, where do you start? Read the Global Exchange's book "Corporations are Gonna Get Your Mamma" (better yet, don't order it from Amazon, go get it from your local independent bookseller).
Or read Chomsky or Nader. Go see Jello Biafra next time he does a spoken word tour. Stop reading corporate controlled media entirely.
Once you educate yourself, it is your decision whether to do something or not. There are lots of outlets for activism. Join your local Green Party, write a Windows virus, quit your job as the E-trade webmaster, become a teacher...
This whole democracy thing doesn't work unless our population is well-informed and active. What's the other alternative to a democracy? A technocracy? Try plutocracy. The people with the money are the people with power. I imagine that pretty much everyone that reads Slashdot are pretty bright folks. What are we called? The emerging Knowledge Worker class? Even if we "allowed" the Man 10 times more power than he has now, you and I would probably be just fine. We will be able to find a job. We will be able to exercise most of the freedoms we enjoy now. So maybe you need to ask yourself if democracy is worth fighting for.