An explosion does not require a fire. When heated, a liquid nitrogen tank will explode when the pressure from the expanding nitrogen exceeds the pressure rating of the tank.
...and into some sort of sunglasses/visor display technology (a la Snowcrash) then I think that portable/laptop gaming will move to the forefront of the various hardware platforms.
There were a couple of loud "barkers" hawking the game and lots of loud music. Their "booth" consisted of a platform for the reps to stand on, a loud sound system, and 3 huge vats of these keys, which were free. The way they generated interest was that they gave away prizes for people who won a certain number of "battles".
Being 34 and taller than most of the others in the crowd, I had a interesting perspective on the buzz that was generated. IMHO, the kids were there to see what all the fuss was about, and a few stayed trying to win a prize. Mostly however, kids stood there sort of confused and in disbelief at the lameness of the "game".
I agree. As a fellow Morrowind III: Elder Scrolls addict, my first thought also was the combination of this new AI Narrative technology with Morrowind. I think the combination would be amazing.
Wow, am I the only one who likes WC3 and thinks the RPG element (using the heros) and the greater emphasis on tactics (smaller battles) was an innovation?
1) Identify an obvious "technology" that is in the public commons
2) Patent it
3) Extort small businesses via threats of expensive litigation
4)...
5) Profits
Galvanic skin response meters have been around for AGES. Basically, they operate on the theory that the less relaxed a person is, the more conductive their skin becomes. It's extremely simple technology.
Back in high school, I took a psychology class and one day the instructor (who had a Phd), brought in a friend who had hooked up a galvanic skin response meter to the serial port of a PC.
This thing had some really trippy colors and effects (much like some visualisations in WinAmp) and it would periodically reset it's "baseline" of your current galvanic skin measurement, then display a corridor or a horizon with some sort of visually indicated goal, such as a door. To move forward to reach the door, you would have to relax more (thus lowering the conductivity of your skin).
Well, to "change the world", you're going to have to offer or facilitate
some/any of the following:
- change in attitudes
- discovery of new information
- create a new "enabling" methodology/technology
- alter people's perceptions
- empower individuals in a new manner
- forge new synergies between exhisting
attitudes/perceptions/abilities/information
- likely other stuff I may not have considered
It seems to me that technology is mostly a means to an end - i.e. merely
giving everyone a fancy Palm VII is probably a sure receipe for disaster.
Now, you're group of participants is really interesting; 10-15 year olds
across the globe.
Firstly, I think that would give you an enormous opportunity to help
children/teens be "heard" in a more global sense. In other words, there are
a lot of children issues that are not paid "proper" (whatever that means)
attention on a global level. Also, especially in light of the recent
September 11 events, perhaps this cross-section of children of the world
might have some really meaningful things to say about terrorism, war,
violence, human rights, discrimination, etc. Perhaps they could function
as a highly targeted "think tank" and come up with something of interest
for the other children of the world...
Since the time window is for 2 days, I would suggest to have several
activities, programs, events, creative-collaberative sessions. Remember
that children of that age range tend to have shorter attention spans and
often are driven by instant gratification. I suggest that these various
activities are inter-related; where the back-end server systems help combine
these different, even disparate elements into a whole. Also, if some of
these activities could be asynchronous where the kids could go back to them
when the mood strikes them and continue their contribution(s), that would be
exceptional.
The media glyphs ideas are really interesting. Especially since you're
going to have several different languages. I think it would be really
exciting if the kids could construct more complex glyphs to represent more
complex ideas by dragging simpler glyphs onto each other and attaching them
according to a specific ruleset (i.e. attaching a up-arrow above another
glyph means one thing, but putting it inside means something else).
However, I think that the glyphs are limited, since the participants have
only two days. If your goal was to begin the evolution of a
language-neutral media glyph "meta language" then go for it, but otherwise,
it's possible they could get in the way, if they were the only method of
communicating. Perhaps some sort of media glyph activity could be set up
in addition to other activities.
I believe Slashdot has posted articles about some very sophisticated
translation software - that even translates spoken languages in real-time.
I would imagine that a text-based version would be much easier to implement.
Another thought is that the interfaces for these on-line collaberative
sessions should be transparent, very flexible, and "clean" or "easy" to use.
As I said earlier, many/most of the issues involved are not technology based.
I think you'd need to reserve resources very early on in the design phase to
psychological (child), sociolgical, cultural, and economic studies. Rather
than doing "new" studies, I would think that a good panel of experts from
various fields would be able to get you the input you will need. The
technology design should come after these other dicussions take place. The
technology development should come last.
This is a really exciting project, which, in my humble opinion, has
tremendous potential to not only reach out and touch 3000 children
positively, but can serve as a beacon for a great many more.
I have a great many thoughts on this subject, but I'll try to be brief. What is computer code? Firstly, it is a construct by a person (yes, some AI research has self-programming stuff, but it all starts with that researcher). Anything created by a person is expressive. This is NOT a new argument. Look into the age-old "Function vs. Form" argument. A farmer makes a plow so he can work his fields. This is a tool, but is it expressive? Well, the plow is a basic farm implement, but is it expressive? Of course it is - to design or build something even as utilitarian as a plow, the farmer must make a long series of choices (just like in coding); how big a wedge? how long should the handles be? tractor, horse, ox, or human pulled? what type of harness system? how deep should the wedge cut? should it push the turf back or roll it? All of these decisions or choices are the farmer expressing his personal ideas for solving certain various problems or goals he has in mind.
Coding is the same thing, there are many methods or algorythims with which to solve an issue or accomplish a goal. Some solutions are universally deemed "inefficient", or "ugly" by people who know how to code while others might might be valued as "clean", "snappy", or even "pretty".
Any design or creation is expressive. We've all seen bridges and buildings that express ideas. Most people can easily detect the space themes in the design of a lot of 60s arcitecture. Some of the arcitecture of the 70s can be particularly distaseful.:-)
I think that the problem here is that few people in the judicial system have any computer coding knowledge and because of this, need to have this issue explained to them via metaphor rather than an angry mob of picketers chanting, "Coding is expression! Coding is free speech!"
I think this has been done already. My understanding is that VM Labs has made a chip, and has already begun making partnerships with other companies like Motorola. Here's my source of info:
Slashdot Mirror
According to: http://www.prysm.com/about_lpd.html
The technique uses an array of solid state laser diodes.
So...it sounds like the system will not require a large depth, since there is not a single laser trying to excite all phosphors on the display.
Your project sounds great. I'm looking forward to your release.
An explosion does not require a fire. When heated, a liquid nitrogen tank will explode when the pressure from the expanding nitrogen exceeds the pressure rating of the tank.
B.
I was trying to come up with a good snarky comment like this, but shoot - you're spot on.
Please mod this up +500, Perfect.
B.
...and into some sort of sunglasses/visor display technology (a la Snowcrash) then I think that portable/laptop gaming will move to the forefront of the various hardware platforms.
B.
There were a couple of loud "barkers" hawking the game and lots of loud music. Their "booth" consisted of a platform for the reps to stand on, a loud sound system, and 3 huge vats of these keys, which were free. The way they generated interest was that they gave away prizes for people who won a certain number of "battles".
Being 34 and taller than most of the others in the crowd, I had a interesting perspective on the buzz that was generated. IMHO, the kids were there to see what all the fuss was about, and a few stayed trying to win a prize. Mostly however, kids stood there sort of confused and in disbelief at the lameness of the "game".
B.
...it looks like I'll have to buy the White Album again.
B.
Do most recent laptops have one?
I know most/many desktiop motherboards have a jumper that allows you to reset the BIOS.
Wouldn't that disable this "feature"?
B.
I agree. As a fellow Morrowind III: Elder Scrolls addict, my first thought also was the combination of this new AI Narrative technology with Morrowind. I think the combination would be amazing.
B.
Wow, am I the only one who likes WC3 and thinks the RPG element (using the heros) and the greater emphasis on tactics (smaller battles) was an innovation?
I for one am looking forward to this expansion.
B.
B.
1) Identify an obvious "technology" that is in the public commons ...
2) Patent it
3) Extort small businesses via threats of expensive litigation
4)
5) Profits
Then I can sue PanIP ! ! !
B.
Can you ping me now? Good.
B.
Just make sure you have installed the latest security patches to your nectie firewall.
B.
Absolutely LOVELY Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance reference. Nicely done. B.
Galvanic skin response meters have been around for AGES. Basically, they operate on the theory that the less relaxed a person is, the more conductive their skin becomes. It's extremely simple technology.
Back in high school, I took a psychology class and one day the instructor (who had a Phd), brought in a friend who had hooked up a galvanic skin response meter to the serial port of a PC.
This thing had some really trippy colors and effects (much like some visualisations in WinAmp) and it would periodically reset it's "baseline" of your current galvanic skin measurement, then display a corridor or a horizon with some sort of visually indicated goal, such as a door. To move forward to reach the door, you would have to relax more (thus lowering the conductivity of your skin).
It was rather neat, actually.
B.
Well, to "change the world", you're going to have to offer or facilitate
some/any of the following:
- change in attitudes
- discovery of new information
- create a new "enabling" methodology/technology
- alter people's perceptions
- empower individuals in a new manner
- forge new synergies between exhisting
attitudes/perceptions/abilities/information
- likely other stuff I may not have considered
It seems to me that technology is mostly a means to an end - i.e. merely
giving everyone a fancy Palm VII is probably a sure receipe for disaster.
Now, you're group of participants is really interesting; 10-15 year olds
across the globe.
Firstly, I think that would give you an enormous opportunity to help
children/teens be "heard" in a more global sense. In other words, there are
a lot of children issues that are not paid "proper" (whatever that means)
attention on a global level. Also, especially in light of the recent
September 11 events, perhaps this cross-section of children of the world
might have some really meaningful things to say about terrorism, war,
violence, human rights, discrimination, etc. Perhaps they could function
as a highly targeted "think tank" and come up with something of interest
for the other children of the world...
Since the time window is for 2 days, I would suggest to have several
activities, programs, events, creative-collaberative sessions. Remember
that children of that age range tend to have shorter attention spans and
often are driven by instant gratification. I suggest that these various
activities are inter-related; where the back-end server systems help combine
these different, even disparate elements into a whole. Also, if some of
these activities could be asynchronous where the kids could go back to them
when the mood strikes them and continue their contribution(s), that would be
exceptional.
The media glyphs ideas are really interesting. Especially since you're
going to have several different languages. I think it would be really
exciting if the kids could construct more complex glyphs to represent more
complex ideas by dragging simpler glyphs onto each other and attaching them
according to a specific ruleset (i.e. attaching a up-arrow above another
glyph means one thing, but putting it inside means something else).
However, I think that the glyphs are limited, since the participants have
only two days. If your goal was to begin the evolution of a
language-neutral media glyph "meta language" then go for it, but otherwise,
it's possible they could get in the way, if they were the only method of
communicating. Perhaps some sort of media glyph activity could be set up
in addition to other activities.
I believe Slashdot has posted articles about some very sophisticated
translation software - that even translates spoken languages in real-time.
I would imagine that a text-based version would be much easier to implement.
Another thought is that the interfaces for these on-line collaberative
sessions should be transparent, very flexible, and "clean" or "easy" to use.
As I said earlier, many/most of the issues involved are not technology based.
I think you'd need to reserve resources very early on in the design phase to
psychological (child), sociolgical, cultural, and economic studies. Rather
than doing "new" studies, I would think that a good panel of experts from
various fields would be able to get you the input you will need. The
technology design should come after these other dicussions take place. The
technology development should come last.
This is a really exciting project, which, in my humble opinion, has
tremendous potential to not only reach out and touch 3000 children
positively, but can serve as a beacon for a great many more.
Good luck!
B.
I have a great many thoughts on this subject, but I'll try to be brief. What is computer code? Firstly, it is a construct by a person (yes, some AI research has self-programming stuff, but it all starts with that researcher). Anything created by a person is expressive. This is NOT a new argument. Look into the age-old "Function vs. Form" argument. A farmer makes a plow so he can work his fields. This is a tool, but is it expressive? Well, the plow is a basic farm implement, but is it expressive? Of course it is - to design or build something even as utilitarian as a plow, the farmer must make a long series of choices (just like in coding); how big a wedge? how long should the handles be? tractor, horse, ox, or human pulled? what type of harness system? how deep should the wedge cut? should it push the turf back or roll it? All of these decisions or choices are the farmer expressing his personal ideas for solving certain various problems or goals he has in mind.
:-)
Coding is the same thing, there are many methods or algorythims with which to solve an issue or accomplish a goal. Some solutions are universally deemed "inefficient", or "ugly" by people who know how to code while others might might be valued as "clean", "snappy", or even "pretty".
Any design or creation is expressive. We've all seen bridges and buildings that express ideas. Most people can easily detect the space themes in the design of a lot of 60s arcitecture. Some of the arcitecture of the 70s can be particularly distaseful.
I think that the problem here is that few people in the judicial system have any computer coding knowledge and because of this, need to have this issue explained to them via metaphor rather than an angry mob of picketers chanting, "Coding is expression! Coding is free speech!"
B.
Then again, I could be wrong.
...you can hang some sort of button at the end of a serial wire - this way you can click off picts at will in addition to the scheduled snapshots.
Hehheh
I ported that game from a magazine into my Kaypro II computer.
Those were the days, CP/M was king and Bill Gates was unheard of...
B.
I think this has been done already. My understanding is that VM Labs has made a chip, and has already begun making partnerships with other companies like Motorola. Here's my source of info:
Here's an article from Wired magazine interviewing and profiling VM Labs
Here's VM Labs's url:
Is it just me or isn't the VM Labs chip pretty much the same thing?
Has anyone have current news of VM Labs progress in getting it's chip in devices?
B.
Well, M$ can't write bug-free code...it's not too surprising they can't write a bug-free EULA.
:-)
B.