Heh - that's funny. The musician in me bubbling up to the surface. I was trying to use the nicer term, as in "borrowing someone's riffs" or even a musical nod to someone, as opposed to just ripping them off outright.
I think the lines between video games and reality are becoming more and more blurred. There are a lot of really interesting UI interactions I've seen a lot of "serious" apps riff from the gaming community with great success. It think it's important, as a lot of the younger folks these days are learning their computer chops from games, and the transfer of knowledge is pretty significant.
During grad school, I worked in an HCI lab with a pal that used the Doom engine to do experiments on people's ability to wayfind in a virtual environment. I know it's not game development, but it made for a really interesting experiment. I'm assuming there were lots of hours spent "testing the environment" as well.
I agree. The whole point of the Wired article this was attached to was on just how easy it is to disappear. According to the article (which is a fascinating read), the reason most folks get caught is because they don't fully distance themselves from their old lives. They eventually get lonely, bored, tired, and try to call or email someone, or use an old credit card. If you fully wanted to just "walk away", you could, but you'd have to really walk away. The point of the contest was more for fun and publicity. Like Whiteox said, he could have easily just sat in his mum's basement for a month, but that wouldn't have been any fun at all.
You all need to read the patent. Microsoft is not trying to patent the graphics, layout, colors, etc. What they are claiming is the specific implementation (i.e., the computer component) that ties together the graphic with the data set. TF(P) states:
"A computer-implemented method, comprising: associating a sparkline with a location in a document to provide a visual representation of one or more data values included in the document"
Yes, Tufte did come up with a nifty name, and yes MS is using that name to sell their stuff (without giving Tufte credit). But, as many have already mentioned on this thread, graphs very similar to these have been around for quite some time.
So what is the argument really about? If these charts are so prevalent, what is Tufte complaining for? As anyone knows who's been following Tufte for as long as I have knows that his real contribution to the field of graphics is his minimalist approach - his crusade to remove the graphics of the world from "chartjunk". His goal is to present the user with the most amount of information using the least amount of features. So, aside from a nifty name, to what exactly is Tufte laying claim? The same could also be asked of Microsoft - are they claiming a specific layout, color combination, or feature set? Or are they just trying to capitalize on the name "Sparklines". If the former, I don't think anyone has a case. If the latter, that does seem fairly reprehensible.
You are all on the right track, but think in terms of shooting down a missile instead of an aircraft and you will get a better picture. Shooting a missile with a missile has been described as "hitting a bullet with another bullet". A laser would have little trouble tracking a missle, however. Going from missiles to aircraft is just shooting at a much slower, larger target.
OK, let me clarify, since y'all are in a vicious mood. Aren't there more important thing going on in the world of Slashdot? I think we get it right for the most part - I am definitely not a/. basher. However, I read the "Recent Submissions" quite a bit, and I've seen some pretty good quality articles passed over. Then every once in a while, something like this comes along, and it just boggles my mind that an article like this could have a higher priority than some of the other submissions.
TFA mentions using the excess heat to heat the building. I wonder how feasible it would be to actually recycle the heat to generate more power? Anyone have an idea on how much heat could be generated by your typical server farm?
The F6F was actually designed from the start to counter the zero. A Zero crash landed in the Aleutian Islands almost completely intact (it flipped over). The analysis from this flyable Zero provided the design rationale for the Hellcat.
The floatplanes were actually recon aircraft (the Yokosuka E14Y Glen which were in fact recovered after missions. TFA mentions that they were actually stowed in the conning tower. I believe the were also used on straifing and/or bombing missions - the bombs were small incendiaries intended to just start forest fires.
Suicide aircraft were actually made by the same company (Yokosuka MXY7-K1 Ohka "Cherry Blossom"). The sad part was that Japan was so short on pilots that most of the "aviators" were highly untrained, possibly children. I don't think they did very well - I seem to recall reading that not one was ever used successfully.
Back in tha day, they had to use a big boom arm for ships without a deck. For recovery, the aircraft would land next to the ship/sub and a big crane would just hoist them out of the water. this page shows a pretty similar process for an old OS2U-3 Kingfisher. Some pretty cool pix at the bottom of the page. I wouldn't want to be the pilot during recovery.
Haven't you ever played Descent III? They have "Black Shark Missiles" which deliver a MBH. Very effective for clearing out a room, but you don't want to be too close to one when it goes off...
Slashdot Mirror
Could be kind of painful.
Heh - that's funny. The musician in me bubbling up to the surface. I was trying to use the nicer term, as in "borrowing someone's riffs" or even a musical nod to someone, as opposed to just ripping them off outright.
I think the lines between video games and reality are becoming more and more blurred. There are a lot of really interesting UI interactions I've seen a lot of "serious" apps riff from the gaming community with great success. It think it's important, as a lot of the younger folks these days are learning their computer chops from games, and the transfer of knowledge is pretty significant.
During grad school, I worked in an HCI lab with a pal that used the Doom engine to do experiments on people's ability to wayfind in a virtual environment. I know it's not game development, but it made for a really interesting experiment. I'm assuming there were lots of hours spent "testing the environment" as well.
I agree. The whole point of the Wired article this was attached to was on just how easy it is to disappear. According to the article (which is a fascinating read), the reason most folks get caught is because they don't fully distance themselves from their old lives. They eventually get lonely, bored, tired, and try to call or email someone, or use an old credit card. If you fully wanted to just "walk away", you could, but you'd have to really walk away. The point of the contest was more for fun and publicity. Like Whiteox said, he could have easily just sat in his mum's basement for a month, but that wouldn't have been any fun at all.
...that they're taking off on a cloudy day on the video? Maybe that's why it was only a runway test ;^)
You all need to read the patent. Microsoft is not trying to patent the graphics, layout, colors, etc. What they are claiming is the specific implementation (i.e., the computer component) that ties together the graphic with the data set. TF(P) states:
"A computer-implemented method, comprising: associating a sparkline with a location in a document to provide a visual representation of one or more data values included in the document"
Yes, Tufte did come up with a nifty name, and yes MS is using that name to sell their stuff (without giving Tufte credit). But, as many have already mentioned on this thread, graphs very similar to these have been around for quite some time.
So what is the argument really about? If these charts are so prevalent, what is Tufte complaining for? As anyone knows who's been following Tufte for as long as I have knows that his real contribution to the field of graphics is his minimalist approach - his crusade to remove the graphics of the world from "chartjunk". His goal is to present the user with the most amount of information using the least amount of features. So, aside from a nifty name, to what exactly is Tufte laying claim? The same could also be asked of Microsoft - are they claiming a specific layout, color combination, or feature set? Or are they just trying to capitalize on the name "Sparklines". If the former, I don't think anyone has a case. If the latter, that does seem fairly reprehensible.
You are all on the right track, but think in terms of shooting down a missile instead of an aircraft and you will get a better picture. Shooting a missile with a missile has been described as "hitting a bullet with another bullet". A laser would have little trouble tracking a missle, however. Going from missiles to aircraft is just shooting at a much slower, larger target.
OK, let me clarify, since y'all are in a vicious mood. Aren't there more important thing going on in the world of Slashdot? I think we get it right for the most part - I am definitely not a /. basher. However, I read the "Recent Submissions" quite a bit, and I've seen some pretty good quality articles passed over. Then every once in a while, something like this comes along, and it just boggles my mind that an article like this could have a higher priority than some of the other submissions.
Come on /. - maybe a stretch to call this news. Aren't there more pressing things going on in the world?
I think you were thinking of NORAD?
TFA mentions using the excess heat to heat the building. I wonder how feasible it would be to actually recycle the heat to generate more power? Anyone have an idea on how much heat could be generated by your typical server farm?
Maybe this thing will have enough power to run Windows by 2018??
That's funny - Microsoft is doing something along the same lines. I guess you have to do what you can to make a buck, times being what they are.
Hey! I read it.
The F6F was actually designed from the start to counter the zero. A Zero crash landed in the Aleutian Islands almost completely intact (it flipped over). The analysis from this flyable Zero provided the design rationale for the Hellcat.
The floatplanes were actually recon aircraft (the Yokosuka E14Y Glen which were in fact recovered after missions. TFA mentions that they were actually stowed in the conning tower. I believe the were also used on straifing and/or bombing missions - the bombs were small incendiaries intended to just start forest fires.
Suicide aircraft were actually made by the same company (Yokosuka MXY7-K1 Ohka "Cherry Blossom"). The sad part was that Japan was so short on pilots that most of the "aviators" were highly untrained, possibly children. I don't think they did very well - I seem to recall reading that not one was ever used successfully.
Back in tha day, they had to use a big boom arm for ships without a deck. For recovery, the aircraft would land next to the ship/sub and a big crane would just hoist them out of the water. this page shows a pretty similar process for an old OS2U-3 Kingfisher. Some pretty cool pix at the bottom of the page. I wouldn't want to be the pilot during recovery.
Haven't you ever played Descent III? They have "Black Shark Missiles" which deliver a MBH. Very effective for clearing out a room, but you don't want to be too close to one when it goes off...
So, if I copyright my tax forms, can I charge the government for each copy they receive?
Interesting - you can buy A-rod's house online. I guess winning the world series doesn't pay as much as it used to.
(..and yes, I am a bitter Red Sox fan)
I can see it now: Please enter your SSN, Credit Card Number and Birthdate. If you're worried, take a look at our privacy policy .
...it will probably take about that long for me to figure out the lyrics to my Municipal Waste DVD.
Pretty ironic. I don't think Go (...er..the old Go) was all that popular, though. Has anyone out there ever used it?
How is this news? Google was unaware that the name was taken. I do think they'd be stupid to keep it, though.