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User: CaptainOblivion

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  1. Re:Who else out there wanted KITT? on Google Working On Siri Competitor Majel · · Score: 1

    And also Star Trek has far better brand recognition than Knight Rider, especially among 20somethings (and as everyone knows, us 20somethings are all that matters)

  2. A Shame on Google Working On Siri Competitor Majel · · Score: 1

    I was kind of hoping Google wouldn't try and jump on the Siri bandwagon; everyone I know who has a new iPhone used Siri a few times at first for the novelty and then realized it wasn't really very practical at all. I wish Google would allocate these resources towards making something new and interesting rather than just ripping off unnecessary competitor features.

  3. Re:iPhone vs Android on Android Market Hits 10 Billion Downloads, Games Dominate · · Score: 3, Insightful

    My experience with interface is the reverse; I struggle to get iOS to do what I want, while Android makes perfect sense to me and operates smooth as a whistle (smoother, since whistles have little holes in them to make the sounds). This leads me to believe that as far as the interface of the two goes, it really is just personal preference and what you're used to, rather than a clear-cut "one is definitively better than the other" situation.

  4. Re:10 cent downloads for 10 days on Android Market Hits 10 Billion Downloads, Games Dominate · · Score: 2

    I would assume it's like the steam sales, where the dev agrees to sell their app for crazy cheap (because a download doesn't cost them any money) and the number of sales explodes so they end up making more money.

  5. Re:I bet it couldn't solve the Billy Maze on Min7 Micromouse Robot Solves Maze In 3.921 Seconds · · Score: 1

    Have they explained in Star Wars canon how hyperspace works? If it's fifth dimension space folding, maybe the Falcon was able to fold space such that the Kessel Run was reduced to 12 parsecs, which were then traveled at near light speed, whereas when other ships do it they are not as efficient at folding space and thus have to travel a further distance at the same cap speed?

    Or maybe I should stop throwing ideas off the top of my head.

  6. Re:Why not just wave your arm in the air... on Siri Envy? Iris Brings Some Voice-Assistant Features to Android · · Score: 1

    "Apple being first with a checkbook" IS Apple's brilliance.

  7. Re:Infinite control on How Apple Is Beating Nintendo At Its Own Game · · Score: 1

    It is true that driving games gain some benefit from tilt steering (provided the tilt sensors are accurate and responsive enough, of course... the pre-motion plus wiimote was not sufficient) but having tried to play some driving games on my phone I have determined that it really doesn't work for me to be tilting the screen I'm playing on. I've only seen one game turn the view the opposite direction such that what I'm seeing stays level, but even then I'd prefer a separate controller to turn and a screen that stays put.

    And yes, considering that Apple has effectively started a war on buttons, I think it's safe to say that they won't be releasing anything with buttons and thumbsticks built in any time soon.

  8. Re:Infinite control on How Apple Is Beating Nintendo At Its Own Game · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Except the controls are always in the way of what you're trying to see, as are your fingers, so you're pretty much limited to the bottom two corners. And there's no way to feel the buttons, so you can't see what you're hitting while your fingers are covering them up. Onscreen controls are not remotely viable for anything other than very casual games.

  9. Re:Mod me down, but... on New Apple Multi-Touch Patent Is Too Broad · · Score: 1

    Ah, but I disagree- clearly patents are granted based on the results of popularity contests, we're posting in the discussion for an article about exactly that happening.

  10. Re:On the contrary on Improving Productivity (With Science) · · Score: 1

    Huh, you're right, it is kind of annoying how Safari leaves borders on either side. And it assumes I won't be going to any webpages wider than the one I'm on when I press the button.

    Safari does make a decent Firefox downloader, though. Better than IE, at any rate.

  11. Re:On the contrary on Improving Productivity (With Science) · · Score: 1

    No maximized state whatsoever? I'm confused. What do you call it when the window fills the whole screen? There's even a fullscreen mode, where programs (mostly games) can fill the whole screen (no menu bar, and covering the dock even if it's set not to hide)

    Just offhand, some apps I use that fill the whole screen when I press the green plus button are Photoshop, Firefox, Chrome, and Blender (which can also go into fullscreen, since it's not designed to use the static menu bar and thus that would be wasted space).

  12. Re:On the contrary on Improving Productivity (With Science) · · Score: 1

    I'm curious where one might find that (+) button? The button marked with a plus on the top left of a window is a plain old maximize button in every program I've stumbled across. Admittedly I've only been using macs since OS 9.

  13. Functionality? on The iPad As a Shape-Recognition System · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm suspicious this is a hoax (after all, doesn't the iPad's screen detect capacitance- not visuals like patterns and shapes?) ...but even if it's real, I noticed the guy was consistently pressing down pretty hard with everything it detected. I wonder if the object's own weight isn't enough to trip whatever sensor they're using.

  14. Re:Stupid question, but one that's always bugged m on Underwater Ocean Kites To Harvest Tidal Energy · · Score: 1

    I'm glad you took my question at face value, instead of seeing the point I was making. Yes, technically if someone were to cover the entirety of the planet's surface with solar panels (of course ignoring the fact that there's nowhere near enough resources, manpower, or time in a person's life to actually accomplish such a feat) then most of the sun's energy would not reach the surface (I'm sure a little of the warmth the panels soaked up would reach the surface via heat transfer) but no country, or even every country combined together, could actually pull that off.
    Likewise, the amount of wind turbines required to sap all the wind energy from the atmosphere would be staggering, and you couldn't just put them on the surface, you'd have to stack them so they reached the higher levels- the atmosphere's moving around up there, too- and you'd have to pack them densely enough that no air could get past any blades.
    I would hope you don't actually consider either of these things to be even remotely feasible, even if they are theoretically possible.

    See, saying QED after a post really just doesn't make you sound any smarter at all. It tends to have quite the reverse effect.

  15. Re:Stupid question, but one that's always bugged m on Underwater Ocean Kites To Harvest Tidal Energy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    A follow-up question- would it be possible to build so many solar panels that all the energy from the sun gets sucked up and the planet freezes over?

  16. Re:Can't lose! on Sony Sued Over PS3 "Other OS" Removal · · Score: 1

    Yes, I sure am glad that the English language is a static thing, exactly identical in usage to when it was first spoken!

  17. Re:Sony. We Innovate! on Sony Demos Natal-Like Control System · · Score: 1

    Wasn't the Sony ps2 the first major console to have this? (the eyetoy- I know it sucked, but the idea was there)

  18. Re:who would object? on Mixing Coal and Solar To Produce Cheaper Energy · · Score: 1

    I'm sure many teenagers would disagree with your one-step-at-a-time analogy; I myself used to climb the stairs in about 4 steps.

  19. Re:I am clearly missing something on Building the Sports MMO Genre · · Score: 1

    That's what many people said about about a little game called Guitar Hero, and look how that turned out.

  20. Re:I thought it was the mouse. on Can New Game Control Schemes Hope To Match the PC Keyboard? · · Score: 1

    I find a joystick tends to cover too wide a range of motion, and the number of buttons and variable configuration of a keyboard are lost with any analog stick I've seen, though something like one of the more expensive 3dconnexion sixaxis dealies has around as many buttons as I'm likely to use- but I don't think many gamers would drop hundreds of dollars to get a controller that's probably not compatible with many, if any, games.

  21. Re:I thought it was the mouse. on Can New Game Control Schemes Hope To Match the PC Keyboard? · · Score: 1

    Hmm, I seem to have lost all my whitespace. My post is rather harder to read as one solid mass of text...

  22. I thought it was the mouse. on Can New Game Control Schemes Hope To Match the PC Keyboard? · · Score: 1

    The true strength of PC gaming, to me at least, is the combination of speed and precision that a mouse brings, which to my experience no joystick or thumbstick can match, and the range of motion no touch screen can cover (after all, you don't have to stop moving the mouse when the cursor is at the edge of the screen) However, I am not satisfied with a keyboard, simply because of the digital input. I primarily play platformers and FPS, I'm sure I would say differently if I were an RTS gamer- but when I use a controller I love the ability to move faster and slower just by tilting my thumb several degrees, and being able to pick any angle of motion rather than one of 8 directions is fantastic. Unfortunately, the thumbstick I use to aim or look around tends to fall short for a task that often requires the ability to turn upwards of 180 degrees and hit a target that's often around 20 pixels tall, before the target does the same to me. My ideal control setup would be a mouse in one hand, and a keyboard set on a 2-dimensional slider in the other- to move forward I would push the entire keyboard forward, and so on. As long as your hand remained on the keyboard the relative position of keys would remain the same so there'd be no added need to look at the keyboard to find a key after moving it. Potentially if the slider didn't have a spring one could leave it in a position while keying in commands, somewhat like an autorun, but finding the center again could then be an issue.

  23. Re:Great advertising for new versions! on Why Game Developers Should Shut Up About Used Games · · Score: 2, Funny

    Someone needs to learn a thing or two from "Don't Copy That Floppy!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xfqkdh5Js4

  24. Re:So it's true on iPhone 3G Finally Available In US Contract-Free · · Score: 1

    When most people are standing in the store holding the shiny new phone, they just can't (or don't care to) add.

    Which is funny, because almost every phone on the market nowadays have calculators built in. People need to start taking advantage of all these features, gosh dernit!

  25. revolutionary on Legendary Thinks Outside "The Box," Hits Pre-Release · · Score: 1

    "it-it's unique, it hasn't been done yet." hey guys, I have an idea nobody's tried before: a game where you -wait for it- shoot monsters! but wait- to make it completely original, we'll bring ancient mythology in, because it's totally new!