Indeed. Most people do behave as if they were buggy software running on a meat box.
The further they are up the ladder, the more they need an upgrade, eh?
There's a concept for Sci-Fi...(mebbe already been done?) the day they find they can actually reprogram brains (and I don't mean with a big helmet, which looks like a collender with lights and wires on it.) wooooo.
64,000 bugs in the bean, 64,000 bugs, whack one back with a service pack, 64,008 bugs in the head
"Scientists from the University of Oxford have recorded New Caledonian
crows using tools in the wild for first time. The footage was captured by attaching
tiny cameras to their tail feathers. The wireless cameras weigh just 14 grammes and
can be worn by the crows without disturbing their natural behavior. The trick has
provided the first direct evidence of the birds' using tools in the wild and may
represent an important development in animal behavior studies.
That's pretty neat, we have a lot of crows where I work and I've observed ravens at
campgrounds which are very well practiced in employing ingenious methods of
WHAT! WAIT!
14 gram video camera? 70 minutes of video footage? Whoa! What's the real news for nerds story here?
Damn, I need one of those cameras!!! (c= I've been fiddling with converting these webcams for
astro imaging I wonder what I could take from the top of (or bottom of) a kite or one of those tiny helicopters. W0000t
Crows, yeah, very clever birds. Probably could learn a lot from them... wow, neat camera...
this is not about a fugue state or tourette's or about some novel variation on "the devil made me do it!" style legal defense
it has to with tiny variations, not large coordinated sustained activities
Perhaps variations, er, vary from person to person. Some vary widely, others very little. I recommend a massively expensive government subsidised research grant to follow this up.*
I wish my coworkers would show some spontaneous brain activity.
Rules of the Office
1. The boss's jokes are always funny.
2. When in doubt, see rule 1
Are you certain you want your co-workers (or are these cow-workers?) to be funny?
I worked with someone once who was silly at the most inappropriate of times. I finally hit him (just a tap) in the shoulder and insisted he be serious. I regretted hitting him, but not because he didn't deserve it.
Do you think you're funny, or do you think other people don't think your funny because you've been drinking?
That, I think was what I referred to with the italic think. I was at the pub last evening and someone interjected a bit of humour about something I was talking about. It was a clunker, perhaps because the jester was 3, nay, 4 sheets to the wind and working on adding another.
We may think we're funny at times, but it's all subjective. Some people really are funny (frinstance a humourous book sells well because many people mutually agree it is indeed funny, otherwise it would appear strange, bizarre even) and some, usually your boss, think they are funny but clearly are not.
So basically what this paper is saying is that everybody has a random number generator running in his head to slightly alter his action from what everybody else would do.
I wonder if they can explain that rate at which people create humour. Clearly some are so witty they require a sledgehammer to the foot to get them to settle down and be serious for once, while others, such as Mr. Bent (of TP's Making Money) have suppressed or severly underdeveloped funny bones.
2. When I'm really really tired or slightly drunk and think I'm funny.
Also tend to come up with humourous ideas when I'm under pressure and mind is racing through problems -- I'll think, "Hey what if this were like so..." and the inevitable side-tracking happens. The Bob only knows how many funny things I'm come up with over the years and remember bugger all about any more. Good to know the well doesn't run dry though, there's always a fresh batch of insanity right around the corner to inspire another joke.
I think my brain patterns were trained on early issues of MAD and Monty Python.
How the hell is Facebook worth $10 billion? Less than a year ago, they were estimated to be worth $1 billion...does anyone seriously think this site can bring in real revenue?
Just because Microsoft overpaid for 5% does not make Facebook worth 10 billion dollars. Microsoft have overpaid to get a chunk of companies in the past which have since died away. Invest in Facebook at your own peril.
Even if you think that, if it's not a bomb, why can't she be released? Why does somebody have to be held for carrying something that we thought was a bomb but turned out not to be? The situation is normal so everybody can go home, or am I missing something?
Yes, you are missing something. If they let you go they'd be admitting to a mistake. Apparently cops in Boston don't make mistakes, YOUDO
And when you have made the mistake of making them look like dumbasses they take it very personally indeed. Even the courts back them up.
If I were a leader who wanted to inspire fear and vigilance in the country, I would be very happy with the way things worked out in Boston.
and they british best not try anything if they know what's what
Because we all know DRM isn't going anywhere. Sadly.
Sure it is, it's going and telling everyone about us, what we like to listen to, how often, that sort of thing so the music and entertainment business can figure out what we like (apparently a lot of utter shite) and they can manufacture more of it. As for software, it's a grand opportunity to pass along our personal information to companies who, through negligence, make it available to crackers.
At every opportunity I deny access to outside sites whenever the firewall pops up and squeals on the DRM phoning home. Hasn't stopped anything from working so far.
The author does not report the facts. The law does not prohibit the copying of DVDs or CDs; it disallows the circumvention of anti-copying technologies like Macrovision et al., something that has been illegal in the US for a decade. The law specifically allows users to make backups of DVD and CD movies, software and music and other digital content for their own archives and to use/play on alternate devices (i.e., ripping movies to your hard drive to watch on a DVR or other device, ripping music to play on an ipod or other device, etc.). These specifically-named consumer rights are actually broader than those granted by law to American consumers. I am not sure what the author relied upon for his translation of the law, but I can assure you that it does nothing like what he suggests.
Different countries, different customs. The British Constitution allowes Parliament (not the funk group) to change laws as it sees fit. Not so rigid as the U.S. Constitution.
But by your subject I thought this post was going to be about "Copying Comments", which, oh hold on, someone at the door...
Remember, games are sold in a free market economy. There isn't anything close to a monopoly among game developers
Seems with all the exclusivity contracts we're seeing some real stitching up of loose ends like that.
To be on the XBox, Wii or PS3 you have to kowtow to the console makers. EA has been signing exclusive contracts with sporting leagues to limit your ability to see the name Tiger Woods, Thierry Henry and Barry Bonds.
Granted, there's no exclusivity on creativity, but there's probably a lot more miss than hit with the non-sports and non-tied-to-IP-games.
I may sound cynical, but it isn't me who is out there managing these sorts of enterprises and figuring out how to make products more profitable. I don't cut my staff when I realise there's a new tool which cuts the amount of work in half. It happens though. Perhaps these people get assigned to a different project, but there's still only so many projects to go around. Eventually they become Surplus to Needs.
What I'm getting at is that graphics improvements have been one of the factors that have allowed game creators to explore new game genres in the past. While the 3D-age has often focused on rendering quality to the point of forgetting the purpose of graphical improvements, that's not to say that a major switch in technologies couldn't bring new gaming experiences with it.
I think you'll see some kind of hybrid. Consider the following problem: How much rendering work does it take to raytrace a helmeted figure on an ATV vs. a handfull of dirt. The dirt will take far more work to render in raytracing, so a lot of things of that nature will still be done by shortcut.
The more the hardware can do for you, the less developer resources you need to spend on getting shadows and reflections to look good. The less developer resources spent on BS means that you can spend more developer resources on things like improving gameplay. Maybe EA won't do it (they don't strike as a very innovative company anymore), but somebody will.
Sorry to awaken you Mr. Rip Van Winkle, but this is the 21st century. Game ART and game PLAY are done by different groups. It's now a production team that makes a commercial game, not some kid in his parents basement plugging away with an assembler and basic paint program. That paradigm may exist still in very small shops, but not where the titles destined for mass market are done.
I do remember well the development environment for early 8bit gamers, those were heady days and certainly produced a lot of fun games, but they don't work like that anymore. So shadows and such aren't an excuse for gameplay which doth sucketh verily, totally forsooth and stuff.
Slashdot Mirror
I for one welcome our new tool using crow overlo a ds!
I think Crowbar Overloads have been with us longer than you think.
it always did have something to do with power!
Indeed. Most people do behave as if they were buggy software running on a meat box.
The further they are up the ladder, the more they need an upgrade, eh?
There's a concept for Sci-Fi...(mebbe already been done?) the day they find they can actually reprogram brains (and I don't mean with a big helmet, which looks like a collender with lights and wires on it.) wooooo.
64,000 bugs in the bean, 64,000 bugs, whack one back with a service pack, 64,008 bugs in the head
That's pretty neat, we have a lot of crows where I work and I've observed ravens at campgrounds which are very well practiced in employing ingenious methods of
WHAT! WAIT!
14 gram video camera? 70 minutes of video footage? Whoa! What's the real news for nerds story here? Damn, I need one of those cameras!!! (c= I've been fiddling with converting these webcams for astro imaging I wonder what I could take from the top of (or bottom of) a kite or one of those tiny helicopters. W0000t
Crows, yeah, very clever birds. Probably could learn a lot from them... wow, neat camera...
Perhaps variations, er, vary from person to person. Some vary widely, others very little. I recommend a massively expensive government subsidised research grant to follow this up.*
*the dribble-glass made me do it
It's all in your head.
Rules of the Office
1. The boss's jokes are always funny.
2. When in doubt, see rule 1
Are you certain you want your co-workers (or are these cow-workers?) to be funny?
I worked with someone once who was silly at the most inappropriate of times. I finally hit him (just a tap) in the shoulder and insisted he be serious. I regretted hitting him, but not because he didn't deserve it.
Do you think you're funny, or do you think other people don't think your funny because you've been drinking?
That, I think was what I referred to with the italic think. I was at the pub last evening and someone interjected a bit of humour about something I was talking about. It was a clunker, perhaps because the jester was 3, nay, 4 sheets to the wind and working on adding another.
We may think we're funny at times, but it's all subjective. Some people really are funny (frinstance a humourous book sells well because many people mutually agree it is indeed funny, otherwise it would appear strange, bizarre even) and some, usually your boss, think they are funny but clearly are not.
So basically what this paper is saying is that everybody has a random number generator running in his head to slightly alter his action from what everybody else would do.
I wonder if they can explain that rate at which people create humour. Clearly some are so witty they require a sledgehammer to the foot to get them to settle down and be serious for once, while others, such as Mr. Bent (of TP's Making Money) have suppressed or severly underdeveloped funny bones.
1. Early in the morning when I'm fresh
2. When I'm really really tired or slightly drunk and think I'm funny.
Also tend to come up with humourous ideas when I'm under pressure and mind is racing through problems -- I'll think, "Hey what if this were like so..." and the inevitable side-tracking happens. The Bob only knows how many funny things I'm come up with over the years and remember bugger all about any more. Good to know the well doesn't run dry though, there's always a fresh batch of insanity right around the corner to inspire another joke.
I think my brain patterns were trained on early issues of MAD and Monty Python.
Reading about Making Money atm, met the author at Kepler's last night.
How the hell is Facebook worth $10 billion? Less than a year ago, they were estimated to be worth $1 billion...does anyone seriously think this site can bring in real revenue?
Just because Microsoft overpaid for 5% does not make Facebook worth 10 billion dollars. Microsoft have overpaid to get a chunk of companies in the past which have since died away. Invest in Facebook at your own peril.
Even if you think that, if it's not a bomb, why can't she be released? Why does somebody have to be held for carrying something that we thought was a bomb but turned out not to be? The situation is normal so everybody can go home, or am I missing something?
Yes, you are missing something. If they let you go they'd be admitting to a mistake. Apparently cops in Boston don't make mistakes, YOU DO
And when you have made the mistake of making them look like dumbasses they take it very personally indeed. Even the courts back them up.
If I were a leader who wanted to inspire fear and vigilance in the country, I would be very happy with the way things worked out in Boston.
and they british best not try anything if they know what's what
Sure it is, it's going and telling everyone about us, what we like to listen to, how often, that sort of thing so the music and entertainment business can figure out what we like (apparently a lot of utter shite) and they can manufacture more of it. As for software, it's a grand opportunity to pass along our personal information to companies who, through negligence, make it available to crackers.
At every opportunity I deny access to outside sites whenever the firewall pops up and squeals on the DRM phoning home. Hasn't stopped anything from working so far.
My boss bought me a vista machine for work. It's gathering dust nicely.
Oh, I'll put it to use eventually, but likely after the first major patch level
All my base will not belong to you, Mr. Gates. That's good news.
I'm still not going to buy a Vista machine.
Different countries, different customs. The British Constitution allowes Parliament (not the funk group) to change laws as it sees fit. Not so rigid as the U.S. Constitution.
But by your subject I thought this post was going to be about "Copying Comments", which, oh hold on, someone at the door...
[NO CARRIER]
You have a calling.
5. Wasabi dispenser
That's no 'circuit board', that's a Proto Board!
Remember, games are sold in a free market economy. There isn't anything close to a monopoly among game developers
Seems with all the exclusivity contracts we're seeing some real stitching up of loose ends like that.
To be on the XBox, Wii or PS3 you have to kowtow to the console makers. EA has been signing exclusive contracts with sporting leagues to limit your ability to see the name Tiger Woods, Thierry Henry and Barry Bonds.
Granted, there's no exclusivity on creativity, but there's probably a lot more miss than hit with the non-sports and non-tied-to-IP-games.
I may sound cynical, but it isn't me who is out there managing these sorts of enterprises and figuring out how to make products more profitable. I don't cut my staff when I realise there's a new tool which cuts the amount of work in half. It happens though. Perhaps these people get assigned to a different project, but there's still only so many projects to go around. Eventually they become Surplus to Needs.
Hrmmmm.... looking at the "device" from the images on the link makes me think the police overreacted.
This is BOSTON we're talking about!
Not that one, but looks good from reviews.
The ART and PLAY teams are still both being paid from the same source of funding, correct? I think the grand-parent's point still stands.
More like, with the way business works, they'll just cut the art staff. Got to watch that bottom line, y'know.
What I'm getting at is that graphics improvements have been one of the factors that have allowed game creators to explore new game genres in the past. While the 3D-age has often focused on rendering quality to the point of forgetting the purpose of graphical improvements, that's not to say that a major switch in technologies couldn't bring new gaming experiences with it.
I think you'll see some kind of hybrid. Consider the following problem: How much rendering work does it take to raytrace a helmeted figure on an ATV vs. a handfull of dirt. The dirt will take far more work to render in raytracing, so a lot of things of that nature will still be done by shortcut.
The more the hardware can do for you, the less developer resources you need to spend on getting shadows and reflections to look good. The less developer resources spent on BS means that you can spend more developer resources on things like improving gameplay. Maybe EA won't do it (they don't strike as a very innovative company anymore), but somebody will.
Sorry to awaken you Mr. Rip Van Winkle, but this is the 21st century. Game ART and game PLAY are done by different groups. It's now a production team that makes a commercial game, not some kid in his parents basement plugging away with an assembler and basic paint program. That paradigm may exist still in very small shops, but not where the titles destined for mass market are done.
I do remember well the development environment for early 8bit gamers, those were heady days and certainly produced a lot of fun games, but they don't work like that anymore. So shadows and such aren't an excuse for gameplay which doth sucketh verily, totally forsooth and stuff.