This doesn't look that difficult to copy. The rudder system is pretty rudimentary. The RC and UAV groups open source arduino board, firmware and sensors, from the ongoing quad projects can already handle most of it's functions. Hmmm. I'd sure like one.
How do we know you are really there? With tech you could easily fake pictures. They could be from anyone. Soooo... Take a pic of you standing in front of the countdown clock with today's newspaper.
Just Joking. Have fun CmdrTaco. I'm rather jealous of you, especially as it is the last one. I only got close to flying down there once with a friend. But I'm glad it didn't work out, because it was a cold January day and we lost 7 people that day.
This makes me want to return to the old days. You know... A time when some people setup or rented a game server out of their own pocket so everyone could have fun. The only thing you had to worry about back then was if an admin kicked you off for acting like a fool or you got caught cheating and you got banned. They didn't even know who you were.
Thanks to Sony and some of the other game companies, they saw profit in that free online play and killed off the game communities by removing the server code or crippling it so badly it wasn't fun anymore. They got rid of the game communities that cared about fun and not profit.
So now when you play online you have to worry about identity theft and your credit card number being stolen. Gee that's great. But if you think for a moment that this is only a Sony issue, you are fooling yourself. Sony is just a public target at the moment to get people to rethink doing business with Sony. So what about the others? Who is out there not looking for publicity? Just someone looking to get into your wallet. But most people are sheep and as soon as the press loses interest they will still give Sony whatever Sony wants, just like they will trust EA, AcT ans all the others.
Those free servers we all used in the old days don't look so bad now. All they recorded was your GUID, an IP and your NIC. Makes whining about privacy invasion because someone could look at your stupid dynamic IP and your handle seem rather lame now. Those same idiots bought consoles. Gotta love those consoles. Good choice... Pffft
In my opinion. There is no doubt that Bobby Kotick is Evil. Bobby's greed is in part behind the death game creativity. But don't take my word for it. There has been plenty foretold about developing games strictly for the consoles and offering poorly ported PC versions would stifle advancement in graphics, game play and new creative game technology. Not only is this link important to the subject, but the subset of links within this article tell a sad story that in just over a year how bad things have degenerated already. http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/01/activisions-bobby-kotick-brings-cash-but-not-heart.ars
Bobby was quite public in how he planed to bleed every franchise for as much as possible without any investment in advancing new innovative tech. His argument is based around a console lasting years instead of where with the PC technology advanced every year. This way he could kick out games on a revolving door manner where nothing really changes except perhaps the marketing techniques to the unwashed masses. He now controls the switch with how long any game title is to exist. His plan to fill his pockets was based around turning off an old version of a game after 12-18 months to be replaced by the latest version of the EXACT same game to keep the consoler's out there spending money on latest and greatest (anyone for football) release. His dream that 'you rent games, not own them' model, could work and be highly profitable with consoles, but not if PC's are the development platform of choice. This eliminates the need to advance technology when you develop for the consoles. Only after years when a new console finally hits the market would there be a need to spend money on development of new ideas. Even then, he wanted to control and slow down the release of new consoles to 7-10+ years. This is his version of stabilizing the market to maximize profits. PC's get in the way of that plan. PC's to Bobby are evil because they advance creativity and introduce cost risk into the market place.
Consoles offer the brain-dead public an easy diversion to their daily dreary drone life. They now can pay a price every month to play, so Bobby's pockets are always full. The words 'New and Innovative' really mean ways to generate profit and no longer relate to something new and creative in the gaming world. No longer will the world need to live live in the 'kiotic' universe that has been the old style game industry. A new industry, of stability and profit, has dawned. The consoles lead the way. No longer will game development teams need to create, innovate and take risk in order to survive and profit from their work. Now they too can be faceless, nameless drones in the sweatshop cubicles of large corporations. They to can now go home at night and play the latest greatest console games to escape their dreary lives.
The consoler's thank the gods for Bobby Kiotic for bringing stability to the gaming universe. So what if porting is done so poorly. It's not like it matters with Bobby's vision. Loss of the PC market won't cause the cost of their games to rise. Or will it?
MS didn't distribute his private information. The mother and/or the son went public on who it was. Also a game or any other internet alias isn't considered a real name of a person. No matter how attached some mouth breathers get attached to an alias they use.
You can't own a game alias either and that even applies to games where an alias can be reserved to an account cd-key temporarily.
In general it is the players that make the decision about releasing publicly the relationship a game alias has to a real person's name. So it is up yo you to keep your information private if you want to keep it private. Once you tell even one person (except perhaps your priest, doctor, or lawyer) it's then in the public domain. So it's your fault then if a guid or alias is then identified as you. IP's don't count either because there is no way to know who actually is sitting at the computer, unless someone else is standing there at the time.
I shouldn't really be surprised I guess on how many/.'ers cling to the side of a cheater by coming up with so many varied rationalizations and even guesses at legal loopholes to get a cheater off the hook. Even to the point of wanting MS punished for protecting the legit other players to have a level a playing field as possible, from those cheaters. Those cheaters that are defined simply as wanting an unfair advantage no matter what or how they exploit in the game to get it. It's still cheating. It's a game, accept the consequences for cheating. Pull up your big girl panties and get on with your life.
The modern way that cheating is detected is basically simple and yes it is accurate. Microsoft has access to the internals of the game code while you play. Here are a few examples of how MS knows if someone cheated. All the below are a few examples are checked while the person is playing online. 1) Look for the actual cheat code in the game memory. 2) Look for the specific altered values of game code that represent what the cheats modify. 3) Look for the jump point in the game memory, that the cheat code uses to hide the cheat outside of game memory. 4) Look to see if a specific file has been altered from what is expected and/or is impossible to have that value(s) 5) look at the supporting system files the game uses for specific alterations from standard.
The methods used are accurate in detecting cheaters. I've simplified the full explanation of some and left others out. I've just listed common methods that a lot of people are aware of already. My point here is if these or similar are the methods MS used, then the kid is a cheat.
It's been my experience that parents just don't want to believe their little Johnnie or Mary is a cheat. Some will once you explain how they were caught but almost as often the parent stays in denial. Denial won't change MS's view or decision however.
This woman's threat that she will cancel her child's account is a good thing. The first and obvious is that it will remove one more cheater from the on-line game community. It will teach her child a lesson. By the parent canceling the child learns a lesson that cheating has ramifications beyond what MS did to the account. Now the child will learn that just losing achievements was a more just punishment after all and by lying to his mom jut made things worse. Now he can't play online.
In my opinion MS should have permanently banned this kid from whatever game he got caught cheating in. MS should offer one redemption and that is to buy the game a second time and he can play again unless he is caught once again cheating. If the person does it again then make the ban permanent with no further second chances.
It's been my experience that showing the cheater that there are significant consequences to their actions, does work. Some are just a little slower on the uptake than others but after a couple of bans they get the message. My experience is based on what I do and it's represented by my/. alias.
I must challenge some of what Mr. Murch presents as fact but also make some observations of my own. The mountain is a great example. So let me expand on what he ignored.
In real life standing put yourself on a flat plain and a mountain in the distance. Can you tell my the relative distance that mountain is away from you? How High is that mountain? Now have Objects between you and the mountain such as a tree or in the distance a building. What are those approximate heights? Do you know how bit the tree is because of visual clues or because you brain has stored an approximation? The same now is applied to the building. Is it because you know approximately how high an individual story is to give you the sum of the buildings height?
While you think over what I wrote above, replace your physical self standing there and record the scene with a 2D camera. Now you are viewing that exact same scene from a normal theater screen. Ask yourself all the same questions as above. Are the answers different? What adjustments did you require your brain to make to interpret the scene.
Repeat this whole process with a 3D camera setup to mimic an average persons depth perception. Now ask yourself the same questions as above.
But you know what Mr. Murch I'm not going to sit here and examine the answers to those questions. I'm going to leave those thoughts for you.
Now I move on. Why are we still watching movies at 24fps on standard screens? I'm ignoring Imax in this question as it's not fair to mix it in. 24fps is a very poor substitute for live action. If only just considering the motion blur many people experience with this slow rate, why has your industry never addressed that problem? You know it will improve the feel and sense of being in the action on screen. It will reduce eye strain in theaters many people experience. (Although I'm referring to 2D movies here, this aptly applies to 3D as well). The technology exists to change to a higher frame rate but your industry does not.
I know that when I watch a 2D or 3D movie to compare the quality between different TV technologies there is a vast difference in quality that is very dependent on the screen frequency. LCD at 240hz is by far inferior to a plasma at 600hz. This is extremely noticeable with 3D content that is almost impossible to watch on an LCD screen due to the motion blur and artifacts. While less of a problem in viewing 2D content it is still very much there.
I could go on and point out perhaps more than a dozen more examples in the perception people have between real life viewing experiences and those presented by technology to our eye and brain. I could go deeper into how our eye and brain interpret what we see, but there are many papers written on studies that have been done along with the interpretations of the data.
My point to you Mr. Murch, is that I find your statements rather disingenuous, to say the least. I don't know your motives behind some of your statements but I do see how your examples are crafted to fit your conclusions. I find that rather; well I'm not sure how far to go in what I wish to say. Is it fair to say that you are being somewhat dishonest? Should I perhaps be sympathetic to you because you have trained in the art of a 2D film tradition? I'm not sure but I get the feeling you feel threatened by 3D. Do you doubt your talents and their ability to adapt to this new environment? I certainly would rather talk face to face with you than fully judge what you say from a limited written and edited article online.
We all know Mr. Ebert's leanings and I have to ask myself what influence that had on the formation and the presentation in this article. I would hope none but I have no proof either way. The only way to know, would to have been sitting behind both during the discussions for this article.
What I do conclude is that the opinions of Mr. Murch are just that. Just because he is in this industry doesn't make those opinions fact. What he presented as proof can be argu
You can basically reverse every single argument this Walter Murch made when comparing the fact we see in 3D, so 2D movies conflict with evolution. You still have issues with convergence and focus in viewing 2D movies. His mountain analogy just made me laugh when I thought of how everyone has trouble determining just how far away that mountain actually is. There are many things wrong with 2D movies that can make peoples brains hurt.. But! None of this takes away from the viewing pleasure of a well done movie be it in 2D or 3D. Just watch what you like
I must agree here with Toze on both parts. I find that a number of people in the EU just don't understand the scope of our nation. I found one thing that may help. The default km-per-cm on maps in the EU is different than in Canada. It's scaled up. They use a much higher factor there. Care must be taken not to simply place one beside the other, but to understand and convert in your mind's eye how small the Netherlands would be in direct comparison. All of the Netherlands could disappear into just one of our Great Lakes. Now look at just Ontario with that in mind and then scale out to the whole country. Hate to say, but Toronto to Ottawa isn't just a 1 hour drive as more than one EU relative has discovered. Look closer at those KM's again you people.
Secondly and once again Toze seems to have written a large grain of truth regarding the ISP situation here and how they play the game. It has been a long nasty little tradition here to have two sets of books, so to speak. One is departmentally generated FUD fed to the public and Government politicians and the CRTC and the other is to shareholders and management showing the true motives. Bell stands out historically as being one of the most creative twisters of truth ever in this country. Starting with their cost increase to have tone dialing in the 60's excuses. I sometimes look forward to what their spin will be in order to squeeze more profit. Oh and that profit is measured as, if it isn't at least a 200% markup it won't even be considered by their policy makers. This stuff would be amuzing if it was moved from the business section to the funny papers, but sadly it isn't.
There is a problem in Canada where people tend to believe our Mega Corps and it's even more true in the tech field like Bell is in. I remember one PR statement that even today still sticks in my craw. Way back when in the early days of broadband Bell actually told the CRTC and the rest of Canadians that their new PPOE system was to help the customer have a better online experience. That disconnecting the customer regularly so that a new connection must be made was to keep that dial-up feel that customers preferred. A constant online connection was not something the customer wanted in their broadband service. That was the straight up truth as told by Bell. 'Customers wanted that dial-up feel'.
With the success of pppoe, using this kind of manipulation to force the installation of what was essentially a tracking and billing system on the non technical public, has encourage ISP's like Bell to reach for the stars in creative proclamations and interpretations of survey data to their profit benefit. I could sit here and write a page on creative works of ISP's from the last number of years.
What is sad is that Canadian access to high speed internet has gone from being a world leader to what now?, 20th place give or take. Recently India past us by. ISP's in Canada obviously have no real competition and no motive to improve and I say in fact, are seeing just how far they can push an unsuspecting public in paying more for less and "Getting money for nothin and their chic for free...". Sadder more by the fact we have a relatively educated population here and it has been the taxpayer that often foots the bill to build out the network through Government infrastructure project money. It certainly not the ISP's paying for the big ticket items. I also agree with Toze that start-ups don't stand a chance the way the deck is stacked against them, unless they have some very deep pockets. Not the way the rules are set against creating a new on-ramp to the net. The two major ISP's have very high barriers erected that suspiciously seem to be made from the exact same forms and cement. The exact same politico's that support their reasons for 'needed innovation' in the market place.
With the profit motive aspect behind this whole 3rd party carbon credit investi-scam in the first place. I wouldn't call these guys hackers. They just beat the other big scam artists... err.. carbon traders to the profit punch, so to speak. This scam got scammed. At 38+ million? I hope none of that was Russian mafia money.
Who cares if Nolan doesn't shoot the film in 3D. That is his choice and that of his financial backers. So to me it is a non starter. We can assume that not every film is necessarily better for it, nor do all film makers necessarily have the talent to use it properly. Perhaps Nolan at his talent level, feels he isn't up to the task of making this one a good 3D movie. That then became a simple decision between what his vision of the film could be under his direction and his backers to make. So if they think they can make a suitable profit doing it in 2D, so be it. A great 2D film maker doesn't automatically mean a great 3D one. We saw that when movies switched over from BW to colour. Some directors and cinematographers couldn't cut it. Some actors could handle talkies either because they couldn't remember their line or deliver them well. Cameron said as much anyway.
Now I really liked Avatar 3D in the theater and the only movie I've ever gone back to see a second time, in fact three in total. It is also the only 3D movie I've seen in the theater because from the reviews it wasn't worth it to see the following offerings, that fit my interest at least. Next up I watched Avatar in 2D at home and did not enjoy it as much. The only thing that made it tolerable was the enhanced dynamic range. I don't think Avatar was anything near deserving of a high rating in 2D. Sorry to those that liked it in 2D but that's how I feel.
I side with Cameron and take it a bit farther. I do not think that there is enough of a talent pool out there in Hollywood to even envision how to make a good 3D movie, let alone those talented enough to carry it off. To make even a decent 3D movie, would require a very large, very talented team skilled in how to do it properly. This is not just about the director. It is about all the other trades from director, cinematographers, down to lighting and stunts co-coordinators. Then lets hope they pick the correct subject matter.
So to carry this to TV. Just recently I purchased my first large home theater TV set. A 54 inch Panasonic plasma 3D to be exact. I suggest you stay clear of LCD for now as they all suck in 3D and some are unwatchable in 3D due to the poor tech used, not the content. The new Panasonic and Samsung plasma's certainly are the best of the lot right now by far and the Samsung 50 inch is really being priced slotted perfectly when being priced on sale (on purpose by Samsung). Costs about the same as a 2D of similar quality and size. But I am quite happy I decided to include 3D in my purchase range and yes plasma would not be my choice if I was only choosing 2D. I decided to do a little future proofing and it seems likely to have been a the right choice. So now to my point regarding 3D on TV and theater.
The TV 3D method is not the same experience as in the theater and that should be obvious to anyone. It is acceptable, but not as immersive obviously. I guess you could say that for anything on TV vs theater to a large degree with very few exceptions. However, this choice has given me a better chance to see what all the 3D TV hate is about, beyond just the need for the glasses. What I'm finding with the limited content available and mostly cgi stuff, is the quality of presentation. I just don't think people know how to make 3D movies yet. Yes I'm basing my observations against what Cameron did both in 2D and 3D. Yes I realize I am unable to watch Avatar at home in 3D yet, so I'm limited to my determination, but I strongly think it's in the ability and not the technology that is making 3D look bad right now. From what content I have watched I can see mistakes being made even in the really good 3D. The bad ones are of course just bad period. The cable company also now has an experimental 3D channel and it is quite interesting. Some is really good and some not so much.
So for TV I will however stick with my opinion, that it is much more a people problem than it is the idea of 3D itself. I find 3D far more immersive than the 2D
If Smith's unlikely “thought experiment” scenario was to happen. Wouldn't a lot of the Canadian arctic be a shallow sea, caused by the rising sea levels? So don't rush out buying land before checking an elevation chart.
Phase 1 for IPv6 changeover. First, Just tell the boos that the internet is full unless you buy more. Explain that in order to buy more internet you need the ipv6 extension equipment. Only tell this in confidence to the highest ranking person wherever you work. This Especially includes those people working at ISP's or other large carriers as they have been feeding their customers with bullshit for years.
Phase 2 or deux Begin a spam rumor on as many social networking sites as possible. Perhaps even hang out at places that sell $200 monsters HDMI cables...cough...BestBuy. Simply Tell people that when shopping for a service provider or device, No matter what kind as it really doesn't matter. Tell them that they should ask for, neh demand IPv6 service or built into their watcha-ma-call-it. Anything less and their internet/cell/icpad/pod won't work to it's best. If it isn't ipv6 then internet will have fewer colours, calls will be slow, or sound won't be as clear and pages won't scroll properly and besides ipv4 is old school obsolete crap.
Phase 1-2 is the master plan to get ipv6 adopted. Then everyone can have one number. Doesn't matter what number it is, but everyone can have one.
I would call it just a simple palindrome, because it is the same sequence of 1 and 0's when read backwards or forwards with a 1 as the central digit. Perhaps that is all this is representing balance on both sides of centre. That certainly would be very representative of Canada and how it views its social conscience and historically how it represents on the world stage. Canada certainly is seen as peace keepers maintaining a balance between antagonists for the last 50 years, but also just as historically willing to step up to the plate of world conflict just as certainly.
Either that, or it's just balanced front to back because it looks nice and symmetrical on a badge.:)
Well I can't argue with you on the technical claims you make regarding the redesign depth. But I do take umbrage with you saying it isn't the kind of thing you want to push out in a service pack. MS has done major kernel changes that they have pushed out over XP's life. In fact the whole idea of Dx was to handle the different API's so you can and that includes replacing an API completely. I really don't see this to be much different.
My nvidia card only needed it's driver updated for 3D I certainly don't need dx10 just to obtain 3D. The 3D is working fine on my card as far as I see, although I've done nothing more than test function after installing it. I never even mentioned 3d in relation to dx10 and in fact didn't know dx10 was for 3d at all. I seem to remember as far as PC's were concerned it had more todo with new realistic texturing methods. I don't own an xbox so could care less about the problems there with 3D.
Dx10 is nothing different than going from dx8 to 9 in my mind. I'd like a far better explanation than it was 'hand in glove with the drivers'. Isn't that exactly what x10 is supposed to do just like dx9 was meant to do. An interface standard between the drivers. In fact this is all wiki says about it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectX
"""Direct3D 9Ex, Direct3D 10 and Direct3D 11 are only available for Windows Vista and Windows 7 because each of these new versions were built to depend upon the new Windows Display Driver Model that was introduced for Windows Vista. The new Vista/WDDM graphics architecture includes a new video memory manager that supports virtualizing graphics hardware to multiple applications and services such as the Desktop Window Manager.""""
When MS announced that dx10(and up) would not be upgraded in XP and would only be available in win7 (vista doesn't count), I felt cheated. Something that is basically a driver standard should be included in any xp maintenance release. What MS did was strictly a marketing ploy in my mind and an attempt to get money out of my pocket. Considering that this was when xp was very much the main operating system at the time and the announcement came out before there was any new OS, it just seemed to be a pretty shabby trick especially on gamers. So I'm resisting getting win7 until I absolutely have no choice because something I need to do requires win7. Until then I have a reasonable OS on this comp, linux on my other one and see no need to spend hundreds of dollars for basically what I see as $50 worth of upgrades that apply to me. The rest is just worthless junk that in some cases is more of an impediment than anything else.
LatencyKills. You forgot all about the legal threats they make if you step outside of the rules for receiving the products. They're in the NDA you signed. Consider those threats as free gifts.
I should say though that I don't do reviews normally and I handle PC only, not consoles. I've never received anything other than the game cd/dvd itself or as a download. Some companies are so cheap, they kill the cd-key they gave me the day after the game goes live. I'd name some of the cheap ass game companies out there, but I think that also breaks the NDA I signed. It seems to cover everything including any unborn children and capital punishment in countries or states that allow it. Let's just say, that EU companies in the north are far more likely to be the cheapskates than the ones in North American.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but I seem to remember a Slashdot thread last year on this. What I am clear on is that this is the same scientist and the same material shown over at Gizmag Dec/2009. http://www.gizmag.com/paper-battery-nanotechnology/13537/ This appears to be more of a refinement of the discovery and methods first reported by Dr. Yi Cui and team. Now the question is. When will we finally see products? Another year?
As a person with some mobility issues due to nerve damage, I can certainly see myself using such a device as this. After watching the selected movies of it in action, I could visualize how the forces that this machine exerts, would assist cases like mine. I have difficulty controlling my legs. I know this machine doesn't actually make the decisions about muscle control, but it still would help a segment of people with some nerve damage that affects the force and feedback required for steady motion. If some of the forces required to walk were reduced with an aid, then control would be improved. You see, as you exert more force you become more unstable because the nerves to fire the muscles aren't firing strong enough, no do they react or give feedback the same way, as those loads increase. Lighter loads are easier. Remove some of that muscular force required to stand and walk and you would become more stable. It's not just about simply removing dead weight from the legs. With this I would focus less about how hard I need to exert those forces and far more on the control for balance and movement if half the strength needed was removed. It would make a big improvement to stability control. That makes a huge difference for people with some level of nerve damage in getting around safely without stumbling etc. I don't think most people see it this way when they look at this device in action. It's not all about strength.
Ahh Iskender. It was a joke, and one you seemed to have let zoom way over your head. Then you insult me?
Did you really think after reading the context of that whole diatribe I was serious. Are you another one of those people that just skim? If you are, then you sadly are the subject of another one of my pet diatribes, on the sad state of this generations inability to comprehend or use critical thinking when dealing with any thought more than one paragraph long.
So let's examine what was written on either side of the link. "The most activity seems to be in making the illumination better." The subject matter regarding "better illumination" is facetious and the following retort after the link about being irradiated, is sarcasm. The link itself is a joke as well. I never said the joke was good. But it is now.
I don't particularly like people like you that over react to every single word people utter, just waiting to jump on something minor and blowing it way out of proportion. You completely failed the context of not only the sentence but the preceding subject matter. Calling me almost a fear monger based on one sentence that you took out of context, is like someone calling you an illiterate moron. I would certainly not object if someone said that. Nor would I take any other over reaction to defend you or to chastise that person. Now go check my grammar for me and criticize that as well.
Pffft. Someone read something about iridium in high school and now they are an expert on social intercourse.
For gong on over 200 years designers have slaved away at various schemes to make self winding/powered watches. None of the modern electrical self powered have ever reached the mass, 'as in cheaply' produced watch category. Sure there have been a few novelty types and even the high end ones have been rather meager successes, http://web-japan.org/trends98/honbun/ntj990207.html and http://jrse.aip.org/jrsebh/v1/i6/p062701_s1?view=fulltext that fit more into the category of novelty items. These certainly are not to be considered a mass produced success.
So you want to show the world this is no gimmick tech. Produce a simple inexpensive self powered electrical wristwatch that 1 year later the Chinese ripoff factories produce ones that sell at Walmart for $10ea.
So do that before ever moving on to the futuristic ipod'ish widgets. Then we'll all have mass produced products that run off your body heat, sweat, or the pressure of you fat ass wiggling about on your computer chair and cost no more than whatever else you have stuck to the side of your face presently.
That's just great. Then people will never have any excuse to ever put any of that crap down and be disconnected from the virtual world while the devices recharge. That will really open the market for the; As seen on TV, self powered, full body, 3D glasses included, sex suit. The more you get your grove on, the more you power the realism of your fantasy. All yours for 3 easy payments....
Now that is mass production of power at its finest.
I live around Ottawa and the animals at home wanted out shortly before the quake hit. The dog strangely went away from the house and sat looking back at me as if to say 'aren't you coming?'. She had no other intention than to sit there. Then the cat broke from one of her 50 naps a day and also showed up at the door running out away from the house.
I convinced the dog to come back but she stuck close to my legs and sat under them as i returned to the computer in the basement.
Then it began. At first I thought it was a big tuck outside rumbling down the street. In those brief seconds. The the noise increased with more shaking. I live on the airport flight path and suddenly thought perhaps a plane was in trouble low over the house, just as I realized it was an earth quake. Now the keyboard was vibrating and books fell from the bookshelf. So I quickly moved over, with the dog tripping around my feet, to the stairwell for best possible structural support. Now the concrete floor was moving up and down and the noise from the upper floors rattling was quite loud. after about 30 seconds more things quieted down and all was quite. I returned upstairs with the dog still close by. The cat had returned wanting in the backdoor. She quickly returned to new nap 25.
To top all this off. My cottage is located very near the epicentre. It is on the side of one of the thousands of Gatineau hills. There are many very large rocks above and around it. One large multi-ton one in particular is perched over the steep driveway. The same for many 100ft trees and lesser sized ones on my double lot size. I will need to go up there as the news reports damage to buildings in a town just a few km/miles down the road from the cottage. However there are also blocked roads and a bridge collapse to negotiate.
Although a mag 5 is rather small by some standards. It is very unusual for this area to feel more than a mag 4 with most being in the 2-3 range. The fault line is on the Ottawa river and is part of a very old as in maybe a 250 million year old system, that is mostly very quite in it's rumbling.
Score 1? you have got to be kidding me! The immensity of the problem with these oil plumes traveling around the Gulf and traveling up the coastlines all the way to Newfoundland and over to England. The damage is unimaginable. Not only have these plumes never been documented before to any significant degree, but the size of these things is very difficult to even form an analogy that reflects their size.
These plumes have never been addressed by any past cleanup. It is not a question of picking or tweaking an existing technology. There is no technology in existence to do anything at all. No skinners, no booms or any other exotic untried method to even attempt. This filter is the only thing that even comes close to a technology that could perhaps have an impact. There maybe even an existing deployment method in using a fleet of trawlers to sweep large ocean areas for these widely dispersed particles that make up these huge clouds of oil. Even if only a low percentage could be gathered the reduction of damage could be huge. Yes I am aware of how large an area but these trawlers along with mapping the drift patterns may just be possible if BP or the NG work up the numbers. Can;t be much worse than 20 thousand people walking a 1000 miles of coastline with shovels and bags looking for surface oil tar balls.
For all of the ramifications these statements expose for thought, It gets a score of 1?
Have not read every single comment I can't say for sure someone hasn't said this.
Now that it appears that huge Plumes of oil have been discovered at depths of 3000 feet and the oil in them is in small separated particles rather than clumps. There is no technology out there able to collect this oil and it is this oil that will cause far more long term damage, than the oil on the surface. This new invention lends itself to being configured into large trawler style nets and just as importantly could be outfitted to those very same large fishing trawlers. They simply could be lowered to the 3,000 foot deep levels just as deep sea fishing is done now. Except now they would be fishing for those huge plumes of oil.
The Phone Books for generations, have traditionally been the best booster seat ever invented for family get togethers around the dinner table. What will I do now for the Grand-kids to have them feel included at these important social gatherings. This is yet another threat to the stability of the family unit.:)
Slashdot Mirror
This doesn't look that difficult to copy. The rudder system is pretty rudimentary. The RC and UAV groups open source arduino board, firmware and sensors, from the ongoing quad projects can already handle most of it's functions. Hmmm. I'd sure like one.
How do we know you are really there? With tech you could easily fake pictures. They could be from anyone.
Soooo... Take a pic of you standing in front of the countdown clock with today's newspaper.
Just Joking. Have fun CmdrTaco. I'm rather jealous of you, especially as it is the last one.
I only got close to flying down there once with a friend. But I'm glad it didn't work out, because it was a cold January day and we lost 7 people that day.
This makes me want to return to the old days. You know... A time when some people setup or rented a game server out of their own pocket so everyone could have fun. The only thing you had to worry about back then was if an admin kicked you off for acting like a fool or you got caught cheating and you got banned. They didn't even know who you were.
Thanks to Sony and some of the other game companies, they saw profit in that free online play and killed off the game communities by removing the server code or crippling it so badly it wasn't fun anymore. They got rid of the game communities that cared about fun and not profit.
So now when you play online you have to worry about identity theft and your credit card number being stolen. Gee that's great. But if you think for a moment that this is only a Sony issue, you are fooling yourself. Sony is just a public target at the moment to get people to rethink doing business with Sony. So what about the others? Who is out there not looking for publicity? Just someone looking to get into your wallet. But most people are sheep and as soon as the press loses interest they will still give Sony whatever Sony wants, just like they will trust EA, AcT ans all the others.
Those free servers we all used in the old days don't look so bad now. All they recorded was your GUID, an IP and your NIC. Makes whining about privacy invasion because someone could look at your stupid dynamic IP and your handle seem rather lame now. Those same idiots bought consoles. Gotta love those consoles. Good choice... Pffft
In my opinion. There is no doubt that Bobby Kotick is Evil. Bobby's greed is in part behind the death game creativity. But don't take my word for it. There has been plenty foretold about developing games strictly for the consoles and offering poorly ported PC versions would stifle advancement in graphics, game play and new creative game technology. Not only is this link important to the subject, but the subset of links within this article tell a sad story that in just over a year how bad things have degenerated already.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/01/activisions-bobby-kotick-brings-cash-but-not-heart.ars
Bobby was quite public in how he planed to bleed every franchise for as much as possible without any investment in advancing new innovative tech. His argument is based around a console lasting years instead of where with the PC technology advanced every year. This way he could kick out games on a revolving door manner where nothing really changes except perhaps the marketing techniques to the unwashed masses. He now controls the switch with how long any game title is to exist. His plan to fill his pockets was based around turning off an old version of a game after 12-18 months to be replaced by the latest version of the EXACT same game to keep the consoler's out there spending money on latest and greatest (anyone for football) release. His dream that 'you rent games, not own them' model, could work and be highly profitable with consoles, but not if PC's are the development platform of choice.
This eliminates the need to advance technology when you develop for the consoles. Only after years when a new console finally hits the market would there be a need to spend money on development of new ideas. Even then, he wanted to control and slow down the release of new consoles to 7-10+ years. This is his version of stabilizing the market to maximize profits. PC's get in the way of that plan. PC's to Bobby are evil because they advance creativity and introduce cost risk into the market place.
Consoles offer the brain-dead public an easy diversion to their daily dreary drone life. They now can pay a price every month to play, so Bobby's pockets are always full. The words 'New and Innovative' really mean ways to generate profit and no longer relate to something new and creative in the gaming world. No longer will the world need to live live in the 'kiotic' universe that has been the old style game industry. A new industry, of stability and profit, has dawned. The consoles lead the way. No longer will game development teams need to create, innovate and take risk in order to survive and profit from their work. Now they too can be faceless, nameless drones in the sweatshop cubicles of large corporations. They to can now go home at night and play the latest greatest console games to escape their dreary lives.
The consoler's thank the gods for Bobby Kiotic for bringing stability to the gaming universe. So what if porting is done so poorly. It's not like it matters with Bobby's vision. Loss of the PC market won't cause the cost of their games to rise. Or will it?
MS didn't distribute his private information. The mother and/or the son went public on who it was. Also a game or any other internet alias isn't considered a real name of a person. No matter how attached some mouth breathers get attached to an alias they use.
You can't own a game alias either and that even applies to games where an alias can be reserved to an account cd-key temporarily.
In general it is the players that make the decision about releasing publicly the relationship a game alias has to a real person's name. So it is up yo you to keep your information private if you want to keep it private. Once you tell even one person (except perhaps your priest, doctor, or lawyer) it's then in the public domain. So it's your fault then if a guid or alias is then identified as you. IP's don't count either because there is no way to know who actually is sitting at the computer, unless someone else is standing there at the time.
I shouldn't really be surprised I guess on how many /.'ers cling to the side of a cheater by coming up with so many varied rationalizations and even guesses at legal loopholes to get a cheater off the hook. Even to the point of wanting MS punished for protecting the legit other players to have a level a playing field as possible, from those cheaters. Those cheaters that are defined simply as wanting an unfair advantage no matter what or how they exploit in the game to get it. It's still cheating. It's a game, accept the consequences for cheating. Pull up your big girl panties and get on with your life.
The modern way that cheating is detected is basically simple and yes it is accurate.
Microsoft has access to the internals of the game code while you play. Here are a few examples of how MS knows if someone cheated.
All the below are a few examples are checked while the person is playing online.
1) Look for the actual cheat code in the game memory.
2) Look for the specific altered values of game code that represent what the cheats modify.
3) Look for the jump point in the game memory, that the cheat code uses to hide the cheat outside of game memory.
4) Look to see if a specific file has been altered from what is expected and/or is impossible to have that value(s)
5) look at the supporting system files the game uses for specific alterations from standard.
The methods used are accurate in detecting cheaters. I've simplified the full explanation of some and left others out. I've just listed common methods that a lot of people are aware of already. My point here is if these or similar are the methods MS used, then the kid is a cheat.
It's been my experience that parents just don't want to believe their little Johnnie or Mary is a cheat. Some will once you explain how they were caught but almost as often the parent stays in denial. Denial won't change MS's view or decision however.
This woman's threat that she will cancel her child's account is a good thing. The first and obvious is that it will remove one more cheater from the on-line game community. It will teach her child a lesson. By the parent canceling the child learns a lesson that cheating has ramifications beyond what MS did to the account. Now the child will learn that just losing achievements was a more just punishment after all and by lying to his mom jut made things worse. Now he can't play online.
In my opinion MS should have permanently banned this kid from whatever game he got caught cheating in. MS should offer one redemption and that is to buy the game a second time and he can play again unless he is caught once again cheating. If the person does it again then make the ban permanent with no further second chances.
It's been my experience that showing the cheater that there are significant consequences to their actions, does work. Some are just a little slower on the uptake than others but after a couple of bans they get the message. My experience is based on what I do and it's represented by my /. alias.
I must challenge some of what Mr. Murch presents as fact but also make some observations of my own.
The mountain is a great example. So let me expand on what he ignored.
In real life standing put yourself on a flat plain and a mountain in the distance.
Can you tell my the relative distance that mountain is away from you?
How High is that mountain?
Now have Objects between you and the mountain such as a tree or in the distance a building. What are those approximate heights?
Do you know how bit the tree is because of visual clues or because you brain has stored an approximation? The same now is applied to the building. Is it because you know approximately how high an individual story is to give you the sum of the buildings height?
While you think over what I wrote above, replace your physical self standing there and record the scene with a 2D camera. Now you are viewing that exact same scene from a normal theater screen.
Ask yourself all the same questions as above.
Are the answers different?
What adjustments did you require your brain to make to interpret the scene.
Repeat this whole process with a 3D camera setup to mimic an average persons depth perception.
Now ask yourself the same questions as above.
But you know what Mr. Murch I'm not going to sit here and examine the answers to those questions. I'm going to leave those thoughts for you.
Now I move on.
Why are we still watching movies at 24fps on standard screens? I'm ignoring Imax in this question as it's not fair to mix it in. 24fps is a very poor substitute for live action. If only just considering the motion blur many people experience with this slow rate, why has your industry never addressed that problem? You know it will improve the feel and sense of being in the action on screen. It will reduce eye strain in theaters many people experience. (Although I'm referring to 2D movies here, this aptly applies to 3D as well). The technology exists to change to a higher frame rate but your industry does not.
I know that when I watch a 2D or 3D movie to compare the quality between different TV technologies there is a vast difference in quality that is very dependent on the screen frequency. LCD at 240hz is by far inferior to a plasma at 600hz. This is extremely noticeable with 3D content that is almost impossible to watch on an LCD screen due to the motion blur and artifacts. While less of a problem in viewing 2D content it is still very much there.
I could go on and point out perhaps more than a dozen more examples in the perception people have between real life viewing experiences and those presented by technology to our eye and brain. I could go deeper into how our eye and brain interpret what we see, but there are many papers written on studies that have been done along with the interpretations of the data.
My point to you Mr. Murch, is that I find your statements rather disingenuous, to say the least. I don't know your motives behind some of your statements but I do see how your examples are crafted to fit your conclusions. I find that rather; well I'm not sure how far to go in what I wish to say. Is it fair to say that you are being somewhat dishonest? Should I perhaps be sympathetic to you because you have trained in the art of a 2D film tradition? I'm not sure but I get the feeling you feel threatened by 3D. Do you doubt your talents and their ability to adapt to this new environment? I certainly would rather talk face to face with you than fully judge what you say from a limited written and edited article online.
We all know Mr. Ebert's leanings and I have to ask myself what influence that had on the formation and the presentation in this article. I would hope none but I have no proof either way. The only way to know, would to have been sitting behind both during the discussions for this article.
What I do conclude is that the opinions of Mr. Murch are just that. Just because he is in this industry doesn't make those opinions fact. What he presented as proof can be argu
You can basically reverse every single argument this Walter Murch made when comparing the fact we see in 3D, so 2D movies conflict with evolution. You still have issues with convergence and focus in viewing 2D movies. His mountain analogy just made me laugh when I thought of how everyone has trouble determining just how far away that mountain actually is. There are many things wrong with 2D movies that can make peoples brains hurt..
But! None of this takes away from the viewing pleasure of a well done movie be it in 2D or 3D. Just watch what you like
I must agree here with Toze on both parts. I find that a number of people in the EU just don't understand the scope of our nation. I found one thing that may help. The default km-per-cm on maps in the EU is different than in Canada. It's scaled up. They use a much higher factor there. Care must be taken not to simply place one beside the other, but to understand and convert in your mind's eye how small the Netherlands would be in direct comparison. All of the Netherlands could disappear into just one of our Great Lakes. Now look at just Ontario with that in mind and then scale out to the whole country. Hate to say, but Toronto to Ottawa isn't just a 1 hour drive as more than one EU relative has discovered. Look closer at those KM's again you people.
Secondly and once again Toze seems to have written a large grain of truth regarding the ISP situation here and how they play the game. It has been a long nasty little tradition here to have two sets of books, so to speak. One is departmentally generated FUD fed to the public and Government politicians and the CRTC and the other is to shareholders and management showing the true motives. Bell stands out historically as being one of the most creative twisters of truth ever in this country. Starting with their cost increase to have tone dialing in the 60's excuses. I sometimes look forward to what their spin will be in order to squeeze more profit. Oh and that profit is measured as, if it isn't at least a 200% markup it won't even be considered by their policy makers. This stuff would be amuzing if it was moved from the business section to the funny papers, but sadly it isn't.
There is a problem in Canada where people tend to believe our Mega Corps and it's even more true in the tech field like Bell is in. I remember one PR statement that even today still sticks in my craw. Way back when in the early days of broadband Bell actually told the CRTC and the rest of Canadians that their new PPOE system was to help the customer have a better online experience. That disconnecting the customer regularly so that a new connection must be made was to keep that dial-up feel that customers preferred. A constant online connection was not something the customer wanted in their broadband service. That was the straight up truth as told by Bell. 'Customers wanted that dial-up feel'.
With the success of pppoe, using this kind of manipulation to force the installation of what was essentially a tracking and billing system on the non technical public, has encourage ISP's like Bell to reach for the stars in creative proclamations and interpretations of survey data to their profit benefit. I could sit here and write a page on creative works of ISP's from the last number of years.
What is sad is that Canadian access to high speed internet has gone from being a world leader to what now?, 20th place give or take. Recently India past us by. ISP's in Canada obviously have no real competition and no motive to improve and I say in fact, are seeing just how far they can push an unsuspecting public in paying more for less and "Getting money for nothin and their chic for free...". Sadder more by the fact we have a relatively educated population here and it has been the taxpayer that often foots the bill to build out the network through Government infrastructure project money. It certainly not the ISP's paying for the big ticket items. I also agree with Toze that start-ups don't stand a chance the way the deck is stacked against them, unless they have some very deep pockets. Not the way the rules are set against creating a new on-ramp to the net. The two major ISP's have very high barriers erected that suspiciously seem to be made from the exact same forms and cement. The exact same politico's that support their reasons for 'needed innovation' in the market place.
Amoral scum is an insult to scum everywhere Toze.
With the profit motive aspect behind this whole 3rd party carbon credit investi-scam in the first place. I wouldn't call these guys hackers. They just beat the other big scam artists... err.. carbon traders to the profit punch, so to speak. This scam got scammed.
At 38+ million? I hope none of that was Russian mafia money.
I have just a simple couple of points.
Who cares if Nolan doesn't shoot the film in 3D. That is his choice and that of his financial backers. So to me it is a non starter. We can assume that not every film is necessarily better for it, nor do all film makers necessarily have the talent to use it properly. Perhaps Nolan at his talent level, feels he isn't up to the task of making this one a good 3D movie. That then became a simple decision between what his vision of the film could be under his direction and his backers to make. So if they think they can make a suitable profit doing it in 2D, so be it. A great 2D film maker doesn't automatically mean a great 3D one. We saw that when movies switched over from BW to colour. Some directors and cinematographers couldn't cut it. Some actors could handle talkies either because they couldn't remember their line or deliver them well. Cameron said as much anyway.
Now I really liked Avatar 3D in the theater and the only movie I've ever gone back to see a second time, in fact three in total. It is also the only 3D movie I've seen in the theater because from the reviews it wasn't worth it to see the following offerings, that fit my interest at least. Next up I watched Avatar in 2D at home and did not enjoy it as much. The only thing that made it tolerable was the enhanced dynamic range. I don't think Avatar was anything near deserving of a high rating in 2D. Sorry to those that liked it in 2D but that's how I feel.
I side with Cameron and take it a bit farther. I do not think that there is enough of a talent pool out there in Hollywood to even envision how to make a good 3D movie, let alone those talented enough to carry it off. To make even a decent 3D movie, would require a very large, very talented team skilled in how to do it properly. This is not just about the director. It is about all the other trades from director, cinematographers, down to lighting and stunts co-coordinators. Then lets hope they pick the correct subject matter.
So to carry this to TV. Just recently I purchased my first large home theater TV set. A 54 inch Panasonic plasma 3D to be exact. I suggest you stay clear of LCD for now as they all suck in 3D and some are unwatchable in 3D due to the poor tech used, not the content. The new Panasonic and Samsung plasma's certainly are the best of the lot right now by far and the Samsung 50 inch is really being priced slotted perfectly when being priced on sale (on purpose by Samsung). Costs about the same as a 2D of similar quality and size. But I am quite happy I decided to include 3D in my purchase range and yes plasma would not be my choice if I was only choosing 2D. I decided to do a little future proofing and it seems likely to have been a the right choice. So now to my point regarding 3D on TV and theater.
The TV 3D method is not the same experience as in the theater and that should be obvious to anyone. It is acceptable, but not as immersive obviously. I guess you could say that for anything on TV vs theater to a large degree with very few exceptions. However, this choice has given me a better chance to see what all the 3D TV hate is about, beyond just the need for the glasses. What I'm finding with the limited content available and mostly cgi stuff, is the quality of presentation. I just don't think people know how to make 3D movies yet. Yes I'm basing my observations against what Cameron did both in 2D and 3D. Yes I realize I am unable to watch Avatar at home in 3D yet, so I'm limited to my determination, but I strongly think it's in the ability and not the technology that is making 3D look bad right now. From what content I have watched I can see mistakes being made even in the really good 3D. The bad ones are of course just bad period. The cable company also now has an experimental 3D channel and it is quite interesting. Some is really good and some not so much.
So for TV I will however stick with my opinion, that it is much more a people problem than it is the idea of 3D itself. I find 3D far more immersive than the 2D
Canadian Mosquito and Black Fly Overlords.
If Smith's unlikely “thought experiment” scenario was to happen. Wouldn't a lot of the Canadian arctic be a shallow sea, caused by the rising sea levels? So don't rush out buying land before checking an elevation chart.
Phase 1 for IPv6 changeover.
First, Just tell the boos that the internet is full unless you buy more. Explain that in order to buy more internet you need the ipv6 extension equipment.
Only tell this in confidence to the highest ranking person wherever you work. This Especially includes those people working at ISP's or other large carriers as they have been feeding their customers with bullshit for years.
Phase 2 or deux
Begin a spam rumor on as many social networking sites as possible. Perhaps even hang out at places that sell $200 monsters HDMI cables...cough...BestBuy.
Simply Tell people that when shopping for a service provider or device, No matter what kind as it really doesn't matter. Tell them that they should ask for, neh demand IPv6 service or built into their watcha-ma-call-it. Anything less and their internet/cell/icpad/pod won't work to it's best. If it isn't ipv6 then internet will have fewer colours, calls will be slow, or sound won't be as clear and pages won't scroll properly and besides ipv4 is old school obsolete crap.
Phase 1-2 is the master plan to get ipv6 adopted. Then everyone can have one number. Doesn't matter what number it is, but everyone can have one.
I would call it just a simple palindrome, because it is the same sequence of 1 and 0's when read backwards or forwards with a 1 as the central digit. Perhaps that is all this is representing balance on both sides of centre. That certainly would be very representative of Canada and how it views its social conscience and historically how it represents on the world stage. Canada certainly is seen as peace keepers maintaining a balance between antagonists for the last 50 years, but also just as historically willing to step up to the plate of world conflict just as certainly.
Either that, or it's just balanced front to back because it looks nice and symmetrical on a badge. :)
Well I can't argue with you on the technical claims you make regarding the redesign depth. But I do take umbrage with you saying it isn't the kind of thing you want to push out in a service pack. MS has done major kernel changes that they have pushed out over XP's life. In fact the whole idea of Dx was to handle the different API's so you can and that includes replacing an API completely. I really don't see this to be much different.
My nvidia card only needed it's driver updated for 3D I certainly don't need dx10 just to obtain 3D. The 3D is working fine on my card as far as I see, although I've done nothing more than test function after installing it. I never even mentioned 3d in relation to dx10 and in fact didn't know dx10 was for 3d at all. I seem to remember as far as PC's were concerned it had more todo with new realistic texturing methods. I don't own an xbox so could care less about the problems there with 3D.
Dx10 is nothing different than going from dx8 to 9 in my mind. I'd like a far better explanation than it was 'hand in glove with the drivers'. Isn't that exactly what x10 is supposed to do just like dx9 was meant to do. An interface standard between the drivers.
In fact this is all wiki says about it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectX
"""Direct3D 9Ex, Direct3D 10 and Direct3D 11 are only available for Windows Vista and Windows 7 because each of these new versions were built to depend upon the new Windows Display Driver Model that was introduced for Windows Vista. The new Vista/WDDM graphics architecture includes a new video memory manager that supports virtualizing graphics hardware to multiple applications and services such as the Desktop Window Manager.""""
MS=one more item to simply try to force an upgrade. Nothing to do with a technical challenge that made it impossible. In fact there have been some dx10 emulators for XP
http://www.google.ca/search?q=umbridge+definition&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#hl=en&expIds=25657,26714,26781&xhr=t&q=dx10+for+xp&cp=5&pf=p&sclient=psy&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=dx10+definition&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=45594ad3fad1e662
I can't quote on how well they work but it certainly seems to demonstrate that dx10 was nothing more than a marketing ploy. Nothing more.
Sorry Chaos but I'm not buying into it. But that's my opinion.
When MS announced that dx10(and up) would not be upgraded in XP and would only be available in win7 (vista doesn't count), I felt cheated. Something that is basically a driver standard should be included in any xp maintenance release. What MS did was strictly a marketing ploy in my mind and an attempt to get money out of my pocket. Considering that this was when xp was very much the main operating system at the time and the announcement came out before there was any new OS, it just seemed to be a pretty shabby trick especially on gamers. So I'm resisting getting win7 until I absolutely have no choice because something I need to do requires win7. Until then I have a reasonable OS on this comp, linux on my other one and see no need to spend hundreds of dollars for basically what I see as $50 worth of upgrades that apply to me. The rest is just worthless junk that in some cases is more of an impediment than anything else.
LatencyKills. You forgot all about the legal threats they make if you step outside of the rules for receiving the products. They're in the NDA you signed. Consider those threats as free gifts.
I should say though that I don't do reviews normally and I handle PC only, not consoles. I've never received anything other than the game cd/dvd itself or as a download. Some companies are so cheap, they kill the cd-key they gave me the day after the game goes live. I'd name some of the cheap ass game companies out there, but I think that also breaks the NDA I signed. It seems to cover everything including any unborn children and capital punishment in countries or states that allow it. Let's just say, that EU companies in the north are far more likely to be the cheapskates than the ones in North American.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but I seem to remember a Slashdot thread last year on this. What I am clear on is that this is the same scientist and the same material shown over at Gizmag Dec/2009.
http://www.gizmag.com/paper-battery-nanotechnology/13537/
This appears to be more of a refinement of the discovery and methods first reported by Dr. Yi Cui and team. Now the question is. When will we finally see products? Another year?
As a person with some mobility issues due to nerve damage, I can certainly see myself using such a device as this. After watching the selected movies of it in action, I could visualize how the forces that this machine exerts, would assist cases like mine. I have difficulty controlling my legs. I know this machine doesn't actually make the decisions about muscle control, but it still would help a segment of people with some nerve damage that affects the force and feedback required for steady motion. If some of the forces required to walk were reduced with an aid, then control would be improved. You see, as you exert more force you become more unstable because the nerves to fire the muscles aren't firing strong enough, no do they react or give feedback the same way, as those loads increase. Lighter loads are easier. Remove some of that muscular force required to stand and walk and you would become more stable. It's not just about simply removing dead weight from the legs. With this I would focus less about how hard I need to exert those forces and far more on the control for balance and movement if half the strength needed was removed. It would make a big improvement to stability control. That makes a huge difference for people with some level of nerve damage in getting around safely without stumbling etc. I don't think most people see it this way when they look at this device in action. It's not all about strength.
Ahh Iskender. It was a joke, and one you seemed to have let zoom way over your head. Then you insult me?
Did you really think after reading the context of that whole diatribe I was serious. Are you another one of those people that just skim? If you are, then you sadly are the subject of another one of my pet diatribes, on the sad state of this generations inability to comprehend or use critical thinking when dealing with any thought more than one paragraph long.
So let's examine what was written on either side of the link. "The most activity seems to be in making the illumination better." The subject matter regarding "better illumination" is facetious and the following retort after the link about being irradiated, is sarcasm. The link itself is a joke as well. I never said the joke was good. But it is now.
I don't particularly like people like you that over react to every single word people utter, just waiting to jump on something minor and blowing it way out of proportion. You completely failed the context of not only the sentence but the preceding subject matter. Calling me almost a fear monger based on one sentence that you took out of context, is like someone calling you an illiterate moron. I would certainly not object if someone said that. Nor would I take any other over reaction to defend you or to chastise that person. Now go check my grammar for me and criticize that as well.
Pffft. Someone read something about iridium in high school and now they are an expert on social intercourse.
For gong on over 200 years designers have slaved away at various schemes to make self winding/powered watches. None of the modern electrical self powered have ever reached the mass, 'as in cheaply' produced watch category. Sure there have been a few novelty types and even the high end ones have been rather meager successes,
http://web-japan.org/trends98/honbun/ntj990207.html and http://jrse.aip.org/jrsebh/v1/i6/p062701_s1?view=fulltext that fit more into the category of novelty items. These certainly are not to be considered a mass produced success.
The most activity seems to be in making the illumination better. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritium_illumination if you like to be irradiated. But that is more tweaking and old idea.
So you want to show the world this is no gimmick tech. Produce a simple inexpensive self powered electrical wristwatch that 1 year later the Chinese ripoff factories produce ones that sell at Walmart for $10ea.
So do that before ever moving on to the futuristic ipod'ish widgets. Then we'll all have mass produced products that run off your body heat, sweat, or the pressure of you fat ass wiggling about on your computer chair and cost no more than whatever else you have stuck to the side of your face presently.
That's just great. Then people will never have any excuse to ever put any of that crap down and be disconnected from the virtual world while the devices recharge. That will really open the market for the; As seen on TV, self powered, full body, 3D glasses included, sex suit. The more you get your grove on, the more you power the realism of your fantasy. All yours for 3 easy payments....
Now that is mass production of power at its finest.
I live around Ottawa and the animals at home wanted out shortly before the quake hit. The dog strangely went away from the house and sat looking back at me as if to say 'aren't you coming?'. She had no other intention than to sit there. Then the cat broke from one of her 50 naps a day and also showed up at the door running out away from the house.
I convinced the dog to come back but she stuck close to my legs and sat under them as i returned to the computer in the basement.
Then it began. At first I thought it was a big tuck outside rumbling down the street. In those brief seconds. The the noise increased with more shaking. I live on the airport flight path and suddenly thought perhaps a plane was in trouble low over the house, just as I realized it was an earth quake. Now the keyboard was vibrating and books fell from the bookshelf. So I quickly moved over, with the dog tripping around my feet, to the stairwell for best possible structural support. Now the concrete floor was moving up and down and the noise from the upper floors rattling was quite loud. after about 30 seconds more things quieted down and all was quite. I returned upstairs with the dog still close by. The cat had returned wanting in the backdoor. She quickly returned to new nap 25.
To top all this off. My cottage is located very near the epicentre. It is on the side of one of the thousands of Gatineau hills. There are many very large rocks above and around it. One large multi-ton one in particular is perched over the steep driveway. The same for many 100ft trees and lesser sized ones on my double lot size. I will need to go up there as the news reports damage to buildings in a town just a few km/miles down the road from the cottage. However there are also blocked roads and a bridge collapse to negotiate.
Although a mag 5 is rather small by some standards. It is very unusual for this area to feel more than a mag 4 with most being in the 2-3 range. The fault line is on the Ottawa river and is part of a very old as in maybe a 250 million year old system, that is mostly very quite in it's rumbling.
Score 1? you have got to be kidding me! The immensity of the problem with these oil plumes traveling around the Gulf and traveling up the coastlines all the way to Newfoundland and over to England. The damage is unimaginable. Not only have these plumes never been documented before to any significant degree, but the size of these things is very difficult to even form an analogy that reflects their size.
These plumes have never been addressed by any past cleanup. It is not a question of picking or tweaking an existing technology. There is no technology in existence to do anything at all. No skinners, no booms or any other exotic untried method to even attempt. This filter is the only thing that even comes close to a technology that could perhaps have an impact. There maybe even an existing deployment method in using a fleet of trawlers to sweep large ocean areas for these widely dispersed particles that make up these huge clouds of oil. Even if only a low percentage could be gathered the reduction of damage could be huge. Yes I am aware of how large an area but these trawlers along with mapping the drift patterns may just be possible if BP or the NG work up the numbers. Can;t be much worse than 20 thousand people walking a 1000 miles of coastline with shovels and bags looking for surface oil tar balls.
For all of the ramifications these statements expose for thought, It gets a score of 1?
Have not read every single comment I can't say for sure someone hasn't said this.
Now that it appears that huge Plumes of oil have been discovered at depths of 3000 feet and the oil in them is in small separated particles rather than clumps. There is no technology out there able to collect this oil and it is this oil that will cause far more long term damage, than the oil on the surface. This new invention lends itself to being configured into large trawler style nets and just as importantly could be outfitted to those very same large fishing trawlers. They simply could be lowered to the 3,000 foot deep levels just as deep sea fishing is done now. Except now they would be fishing for those huge plumes of oil.
The Phone Books for generations, have traditionally been the best booster seat ever invented for family get togethers around the dinner table. What will I do now for the Grand-kids to have them feel included at these important social gatherings. This is yet another threat to the stability of the family unit. :)