Are you suggesting you need to rotate a mouse 180 degrees to turn around in current first person shooters?
The gun only needs to know what orientation and position represents it's center through calibration. It can then measure the offset from this center position, along with acceleration and rotation speed to respond with the proper on-screen motion.
It would not be that difficult to account for the user focusing on a target. The mouse based system does most of this already.
It surprises me that light guns haven't been brought back due to the popularity of First Person Shooters. How difficult could it be to add motion sensors to one... so you could tilt the gun to strafe/move, rotate to turn and lift/drop for jump and crouch?
Know how many I spent a cent on? Its a nonnegative integer smaller than 1. I don't know any people who download fansubs who also buy the DVDs...
I love it when people make an arguement like this! Seriously...
Back when I couldn't afford the stuff, this was the way I went. However, I completely changed my stance on this and replaced all the pirated material with legitimate U.S. releases later on. Do I give a rat's ass about the greedy corporations (Viz, ADV, CPM, etc...) making a buck off it every time I do this? No... but I do care about the industry as a whole being sucessful here in the U.S.
The only things I still get via pirated means anymore are series that can't even be obtained here... and as soon as those series are licensed for our market, I will be replacing those as well.
Granted, there has been occasions where I didn't buy something locally which was originally obtained via pirated means, but only due to the fact that the item in question sucked horribly. (At which point, such material quickly finds its way to the trash.)
I just had an unusual thought on this... what if the judge himself is a mac user?
Is it possible that one's preferred operating system/computer or choice could skew a decision like this into one company's favor over another? Would this be considered a conflict of interest, considering how many Mac users tend to be rabidly protective of their systems, that could easily get a ruling like this overturned?
As far as I know, something like this has not been put into practice yet, but it could certainly be a factor that could influence the decision making process.
There was a short anime series that used a premise like this called "Goku: Midnight Eye". Basically the main character's eye is destroy and is eventually replaced with an electronic one that can do much of what you've mentioned. However, in addition to that, the eye also acts as a direct link between his brain and various computer systems around him, which he can control as needed.
It's certainly an interesting concept, but I think were still a good 10-15 years off from getting to that point. Also, the prospected of having one's eyes cut open isn't exactly appealing, when you consider a set of goggles could do most of this stuff without being invasive.
These kinds of things are the normal evolution of Mac OS X after each major release. Get new features and added speed as an initial tradeoff for lower stability and reliability. Anyone who has used the Mac OS since the early days of OS X should know this.
I'm sorry, but if you are installing Tiger onto a mission-critical system, you deserve the problems you get. Give the software time to mature before rushing to employ it in your networks.
... or does this sound like an opening line for a soft-core porn flick?
"Lyon was 23 and looked at least that young. His blond hair offset a tan, handsome face. Allec says Lyon looked like he had given up a day of surfing to swing by and help out."
Still no mention of Tiger Electronics (LCD games, Furby, etc...) being pulled into the lawsuit arena yet. They've been stealing the "tiger" name since at least as long as Apple has been around.
... is that you aren't forced to use any website or service solely because it's popular. There is nothing stopping you from creating an even better service. Bandwidth is insanely cheap these days and you can download forum software for free from several developers.
If you don't want to pay another services' prices, then take the iniative to compete against them. Learn as much as you can about perl, php and interface design.
Not only is it fun, the skills you'll acquire over time will become indispensable.
Ok, I seem to have answered some of my own questions by downloading the inventor's guide (76MB PDF File) from the Vex website.
With the exception of programming, the overall learning curve seems pretty minor. The hardware assembly is only slightly more difficult than comparable Lego kits, and does not seem to require the user to solder anything.
As for additional parts, it sounds like the best option is to purchase two starter kits and combine them into a larger, more functional robot. Although, I did find another site that sells less common Vex parts, such as a pneumatic pump system. It also appears the site will be selling add-on sensors in the near future.
Overall, Vex is looking to have a bright future ahead of it. I'm just hoping it doesn't get killed off due to a lack of market exposure.
After reading up on the $299 starter kit, I'm actually tempted to buy one. Compared to the aging Lego MindStorms kit, the extra $100 cost is worth it just for the radio controller alone.
Near as I can tell, this kit tries to recreate a user experience similar to that found in the game, MindRover, but with a more hands-on approach.
Has anyone here actually used a Vex kit? I'm very curious about the learning curve and any recommendations on purchasing add-on parts. (The starter kit is good, but somewhat limited.)
Well, to be honest, this wasn't intended to be funny.
As a kid, my parents had the games/tv connected to a light switch so they could exercise control over our playing habits. Of course, this was easily abused by turning off games on our siblings to piss them off or hurry them.
Needless to say, this resulted in some nasty fights between us.
That is complete and utter bullshit. If your content is good enough, you can ask users to pay for it. I ran the Think Secret message boards for over three years without exposing the users to a single ad, and I never suffered from it.
Get a spine for once and support what you believe in for yourself. If it means going out and getting a job to do it, so be it. But don't expect involuntary support from your users to cover your expenses for you, when you're too cheap to cover them for yourself.
From what I'm reading, this patent claim may well be legitimate. Apparently several companies already recognize Immersion's patent on the technology as being valid and have licensed it from them.
I think part of the problem is simply timing. It's the week before easter sunday. People are a lot more focused on the holiday and traveling right now.
I am planning to buy one following easter, but I just don't have the time right now, despite the plentiful stock of units in my area.
What's interesting though, is that the PSP already has a stronger library of games at lauch than the DS has had since it first came out nearly four months ago. Had Sony been able to introduce the PSP with the current selection of games back in december, I think we'd be seeing a much different picture.
Agreed. Anyone who has ever been a victim of Norton Utilities trashing their hard drive knows this all too well.
As for viruses, I got by using the freeware software "Disinfectant" ever since system 7... arguably one of the best virus blocking/removal solutions ever made.
Looking at the DS as it is now, how difficult would it be for Nintendo to create a controller for the Revolution console that has an embedded touch screen in the middle of it? All they'd have to do is put a DS cartridge slot on the console and you'd be able to play your DS games right on your TV.
This could be further expanded upon by allowing players to use the built in WiFi to join and initiate download play games, or allow a mix of DS and Revolution consoles in multiplayer DS games.
This also brings other potential applications of the technology, such as seamless gameplay between DS and Revolution versions of a game. You make progress on one version, and that progress can be added to the other version. Also the revolution could act as a hub for downloading and storing added content for DS games, which can be stored on the Revolution until it's needed on the DS. Then the unit could either download the data to a running DS system or write the data to the DS cart on it's internal slot.
I have a feeling the DS by itself is only scratching the very surface of Nintendo's strategy over the next two years. The bulk of it will arrive once Revolution is introduced.
If you are dumb enough to speak out against your employer in public, regardless of whether its a blog or right outside the company door, you deserve to be fired.
At least have the brains to bash your employer anonymously. No one wants to have known morons in their staff.
My fear, isn't so much the litigation, but more with Apple's blatent attempts to cripple smaller resellers. Many of the companies targeted by Apple are in some part responsible for Apple's success in the early years.
Many of these resellers are also well respected service centers in their communities. If Apple manages to drown out these companies, what alternative do we have to playing musical chairs with Apple on defective hardware repairs?
If any of you have read Macintouch lately, a recent poll taken there shows hardware failure rates on new Macintosh computers is as bad, or worse than the failure rate of similarly configured refurbished hardware. As the costs have declined over the years, so has the quality of hardware. Considering the numerous complaints from Mac users who have had to return faulty hardware multiple times, the need for good, local service centers has never been greater.
If Apple does manage to eliminate these resellers/service centers, they will have complete control of the entire service history on every Macintosh system shipped today. This means they could entirely forego quality assurance on their hardware and simply juggle hardware back and forth until the user caves in.
Apple will probably managed to increase their desktop market share over the next few years, but it will come at the cost of platform stability. Once the platform ceases to provide any real benefits over Windows, what's to stop a sudden mass migration back to Windows-based hardware?
Apple has definitely changed in the last couple years, but it's certainly not at the point of no return yet. They can still change things if they have any desire to do so. But if they don't, their success in the industry will be short-lived.
Slashdot Mirror
Are you suggesting you need to rotate a mouse 180 degrees to turn around in current first person shooters?
The gun only needs to know what orientation and position represents it's center through calibration. It can then measure the offset from this center position, along with acceleration and rotation speed to respond with the proper on-screen motion.
It would not be that difficult to account for the user focusing on a target. The mouse based system does most of this already.
It surprises me that light guns haven't been brought back due to the popularity of First Person Shooters. How difficult could it be to add motion sensors to one... so you could tilt the gun to strafe/move, rotate to turn and lift/drop for jump and crouch?
Know how many I spent a cent on? Its a nonnegative integer smaller than 1. I don't know any people who download fansubs who also buy the DVDs...
I love it when people make an arguement like this! Seriously...
Back when I couldn't afford the stuff, this was the way I went. However, I completely changed my stance on this and replaced all the pirated material with legitimate U.S. releases later on. Do I give a rat's ass about the greedy corporations (Viz, ADV, CPM, etc...) making a buck off it every time I do this? No... but I do care about the industry as a whole being sucessful here in the U.S.
The only things I still get via pirated means anymore are series that can't even be obtained here... and as soon as those series are licensed for our market, I will be replacing those as well.
Granted, there has been occasions where I didn't buy something locally which was originally obtained via pirated means, but only due to the fact that the item in question sucked horribly. (At which point, such material quickly finds its way to the trash.)
I just had an unusual thought on this... what if the judge himself is a mac user?
Is it possible that one's preferred operating system/computer or choice could skew a decision like this into one company's favor over another? Would this be considered a conflict of interest, considering how many Mac users tend to be rabidly protective of their systems, that could easily get a ruling like this overturned?
As far as I know, something like this has not been put into practice yet, but it could certainly be a factor that could influence the decision making process.
There was a short anime series that used a premise like this called "Goku: Midnight Eye". Basically the main character's eye is destroy and is eventually replaced with an electronic one that can do much of what you've mentioned. However, in addition to that, the eye also acts as a direct link between his brain and various computer systems around him, which he can control as needed.
It's certainly an interesting concept, but I think were still a good 10-15 years off from getting to that point. Also, the prospected of having one's eyes cut open isn't exactly appealing, when you consider a set of goggles could do most of this stuff without being invasive.
These kinds of things are the normal evolution of Mac OS X after each major release. Get new features and added speed as an initial tradeoff for lower stability and reliability. Anyone who has used the Mac OS since the early days of OS X should know this.
I'm sorry, but if you are installing Tiger onto a mission-critical system, you deserve the problems you get. Give the software time to mature before rushing to employ it in your networks.
... or does this sound like an opening line for a soft-core porn flick?
"Lyon was 23 and looked at least that young. His blond hair offset a tan, handsome face. Allec says Lyon looked like he had given up a day of surfing to swing by and help out."
Still no mention of Tiger Electronics (LCD games, Furby, etc...) being pulled into the lawsuit arena yet. They've been stealing the "tiger" name since at least as long as Apple has been around.
... is that you aren't forced to use any website or service solely because it's popular. There is nothing stopping you from creating an even better service. Bandwidth is insanely cheap these days and you can download forum software for free from several developers.
If you don't want to pay another services' prices, then take the iniative to compete against them. Learn as much as you can about perl, php and interface design.
Not only is it fun, the skills you'll acquire over time will become indispensable.
... to put explosive collars around their necks that can be triggered in a restricted zone, rather than tracking the offenders?
Ok, I seem to have answered some of my own questions by downloading the inventor's guide (76MB PDF File) from the Vex website.
With the exception of programming, the overall learning curve seems pretty minor. The hardware assembly is only slightly more difficult than comparable Lego kits, and does not seem to require the user to solder anything.
As for additional parts, it sounds like the best option is to purchase two starter kits and combine them into a larger, more functional robot. Although, I did find another site that sells less common Vex parts, such as a pneumatic pump system. It also appears the site will be selling add-on sensors in the near future.
Overall, Vex is looking to have a bright future ahead of it. I'm just hoping it doesn't get killed off due to a lack of market exposure.
After reading up on the $299 starter kit, I'm actually tempted to buy one. Compared to the aging Lego MindStorms kit, the extra $100 cost is worth it just for the radio controller alone.
Near as I can tell, this kit tries to recreate a user experience similar to that found in the game, MindRover, but with a more hands-on approach.
Has anyone here actually used a Vex kit? I'm very curious about the learning curve and any recommendations on purchasing add-on parts. (The starter kit is good, but somewhat limited.)
If they start generating an AT field, kiss your ass goodbye.
Wasn't "Tiger" the name of that company that made all those hand-held LCD games from the 80's to the late 90's?
You mean like Howard the Duck?
(Still one of my favorites, even if Lucas never admits to working on it.)
Well, to be honest, this wasn't intended to be funny.
As a kid, my parents had the games/tv connected to a light switch so they could exercise control over our playing habits. Of course, this was easily abused by turning off games on our siblings to piss them off or hurry them.
Needless to say, this resulted in some nasty fights between us.
But just wait until some kid goes Columbine because this thing cut off his game before he could save his progress.
That is complete and utter bullshit. If your content is good enough, you can ask users to pay for it. I ran the Think Secret message boards for over three years without exposing the users to a single ad, and I never suffered from it.
Get a spine for once and support what you believe in for yourself. If it means going out and getting a job to do it, so be it. But don't expect involuntary support from your users to cover your expenses for you, when you're too cheap to cover them for yourself.
Apple was founded on an April Fools Day, so this would really be an anniversary event.
From what I'm reading, this patent claim may well be legitimate. Apparently several companies already recognize Immersion's patent on the technology as being valid and have licensed it from them.
Is Sony notorious for infringing upon patents?
I think part of the problem is simply timing. It's the week before easter sunday. People are a lot more focused on the holiday and traveling right now.
I am planning to buy one following easter, but I just don't have the time right now, despite the plentiful stock of units in my area.
What's interesting though, is that the PSP already has a stronger library of games at lauch than the DS has had since it first came out nearly four months ago. Had Sony been able to introduce the PSP with the current selection of games back in december, I think we'd be seeing a much different picture.
Agreed. Anyone who has ever been a victim of Norton Utilities trashing their hard drive knows this all too well.
As for viruses, I got by using the freeware software "Disinfectant" ever since system 7... arguably one of the best virus blocking/removal solutions ever made.
Looking at the DS as it is now, how difficult would it be for Nintendo to create a controller for the Revolution console that has an embedded touch screen in the middle of it? All they'd have to do is put a DS cartridge slot on the console and you'd be able to play your DS games right on your TV.
This could be further expanded upon by allowing players to use the built in WiFi to join and initiate download play games, or allow a mix of DS and Revolution consoles in multiplayer DS games.
This also brings other potential applications of the technology, such as seamless gameplay between DS and Revolution versions of a game. You make progress on one version, and that progress can be added to the other version. Also the revolution could act as a hub for downloading and storing added content for DS games, which can be stored on the Revolution until it's needed on the DS. Then the unit could either download the data to a running DS system or write the data to the DS cart on it's internal slot.
I have a feeling the DS by itself is only scratching the very surface of Nintendo's strategy over the next two years. The bulk of it will arrive once Revolution is introduced.
If you are dumb enough to speak out against your employer in public, regardless of whether its a blog or right outside the company door, you deserve to be fired.
At least have the brains to bash your employer anonymously. No one wants to have known morons in their staff.
My fear, isn't so much the litigation, but more with Apple's blatent attempts to cripple smaller resellers. Many of the companies targeted by Apple are in some part responsible for Apple's success in the early years.
Many of these resellers are also well respected service centers in their communities. If Apple manages to drown out these companies, what alternative do we have to playing musical chairs with Apple on defective hardware repairs?
If any of you have read Macintouch lately, a recent poll taken there shows hardware failure rates on new Macintosh computers is as bad, or worse than the failure rate of similarly configured refurbished hardware. As the costs have declined over the years, so has the quality of hardware. Considering the numerous complaints from Mac users who have had to return faulty hardware multiple times, the need for good, local service centers has never been greater.
If Apple does manage to eliminate these resellers/service centers, they will have complete control of the entire service history on every Macintosh system shipped today. This means they could entirely forego quality assurance on their hardware and simply juggle hardware back and forth until the user caves in.
Apple will probably managed to increase their desktop market share over the next few years, but it will come at the cost of platform stability. Once the platform ceases to provide any real benefits over Windows, what's to stop a sudden mass migration back to Windows-based hardware?
Apple has definitely changed in the last couple years, but it's certainly not at the point of no return yet. They can still change things if they have any desire to do so. But if they don't, their success in the industry will be short-lived.