Is there a difference between an iris scan and a retina scan? The iris contracts and dilates depending on light levels. It would seem that this would make it difficult to use for identification, unless the camera forced the iris to contract to a fixed diameter by flashing light into the eye.
Perhaps the article was referring to retina scans, but used the term "iris" due to a misunderstanding.
This sort of thing has been going on for years. Actually it's as old as film itself. Gollum is an animated character, with Serkis serving as the "animator" in realtime. Well, animated feature films have been around since Snow White, so why haven't we seen:
Norm Ferguson nominated for his performance as the Queen (as a hag) in "Snow White"?
Marc Davis as Maleficent in "Sleeping Beauty" or Tinkerbell in "Peter Pan"?
Ollie Johnson's magnificent performance as Baloo in "The Jungle Book"?
Glen Keane as The Beast in "Beauty and the Beast"?
How many great performances have you seen in classic animated films, perhaps without really realizing that there was actually a talented actor behind that pencil? Strange that only now, when the gloss of a digital render gives a "realism" to the performance, does this become an issue.
Welcome to the club, Andy Serkis. The Best Actor nomination should be about performance, but Hollywood still runs on celebrity face power.
I was surprised that they did not mention the airstrip at Disney World in Florida, adjacent to the approach road to the Magic Kingdom. Perhaps because it is no longer recognized by the FAA, and is instead being used for bus staging.
According to this page, Imagineers built grooves into the runway which would cause aircraft axles to rattle off "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah" upon take-off or landing.
You're right, the CG of X2 matches LXG, but what about SW:AOTC? We can write off DD and MIIB (but not MIB). ILM did some great CG on LOTR, but wait till we see HULK. Oops... sorry. That movie title is an actual english word.
I counted 83 cuts in that 1 minute, 8 second LXG trailer, which leads me to believe that the filmmakers expect people to still-frame through the entire thing (thank you, Contour Shuttle Pro with the USB jog dial). Of course, if they didn't expect us to watch it at the full frame rate, they should have been more careful with their physical effects. Did anyone else notice the goofy way that last pillar wobbled when the car struck it a glancing blow? It was clearly a fake set piece suspended from some stage catwalk.
That's my advice to George. He'd better work on getting some new creative properties going instead of spreading Star Wars around. That crap is wearing pretty thin.
Take away Star Wars and what has he got? Grim Fandango?
Most people using Maya or any 3D modeling application for anything other than dabbling would rather not waste time clicking on buttons. 3D modeling workflow is such that the modeler needs to spend all his time focusing on the model, rather than stopping to hunt-and-peck through menus or to click on some icon that does nothing but waste screen space 99% of the time. Maya uses marking menus to speed up workflow, and all professional 3D apps use keyboard shortcuts for the same reason.
If you really want to be innovative, you will do away with widgets entirely. Oh, wait, it's already been done.
Back in the mid-80's the Soviets cloned the Apple ][, probably as proof of the worthiness of their technology. I'm sure the Chinese are doing a better job. The Agat still had Woz' name burned in the ROM.
From the article: (the MPAA and RIAA)...have issued a statement saying Kazaa is perpetrating an "intricate international shell game aimed at evading the U.S. court's jurisdiction and avoiding liability" by spreading its operations around the world.
Haven't these huge multinational corporations, the likes of which are represented by the MPAA and RIAA, been spreading their operations overseas for years now for the very same reasons?
Many will argue that even though bacteria are found living at great depths, life had to originate in the shallows of Earth's oceans where chemicals in the ocean could react with the atmosphere.
This theory is being contested, as described in this article, which claims that life may have first arisen in the depths of the ocean, sheltered in a pre-cellular state inside of iron sulphide pockets. Since life can survive beneath the surface, and if it can arise without the need for an atmosphere, then it might indeed exist almost anywhere that liquid water is present.
I've praised the HP 200lx in the past, and while I will not claim that it is the most powerful palmtop in the world, it is certainly no executive toy. This is a truly useful and intelligently designed piece of equipment, despite being nearly 10 years old, and I use mine constantly.
The PIM software is absolutely amazing. It was designed by Lotus (as in Lotus 123, which is also built into the 200lx), who were purchased by IBM. Since the 200lx is out of production, perhaps HP/Compaq or IBM could release this great "abandonware" PIM suite so that it could be ported to a more modern platform. Let's have a truly useful modern PDA, for a change!
Re:Not a film person, but...
on
Film Gimp
·
· Score: 2
Quite correct. It is a frame editor, not a movie editor.
Gimp has actually had the ability to edit sequences of frames for quite a while. That's right, regular old plain vanilla Gimp can do it. Originally it was in a plugin called GAP (Gimp Animation Plugin), but became folded into the main prog. The animation controls are under the "Video" section of the pop-up menu.
Film Gimp improves on this basic functionality in many ways, like onionskinning (transparency between frames). More importantly, it gives Gimp 16 bit per channel color depth instead of the standard 8 bit. 16 bits is necessary for film work in order to match the increased color sensitivity of film stock.
Forth is used as the backend scripting language for the 3D animation software Realsoft 3D. Realsoft also also happens to be my favorite dark horse candidate in the highly competitive 3D animation marketplace, notable because it runs on Linux.
When you think about it, a low level language like Forth is ideal for such an application. Realsoft strives for realtime OpenGL animation playback, with physically correct simulation, particles, deformation hierarchies and tons of geometry thrown at the screen. Forth is fast enough to solve custom animation expressions without getting in the way.
There is absolutely zero chance that any DVD manufacturer would sell a DVD player in the U.S. with the word "DivX", "DivX;-)" or anything similar printed on the box. Manufacturers would quite rightly want to avoid confusion with the "Divix" format. The customer might easily think that the player was somehow comptible with their old Divix disks or, worse, that the player was an old model that was incompatible with curent DVD's.
So if they can't call it DivX, what do they call it? Mpeg4?
And for those of us who want a DivX player, how does the manufacturer let us know without scaring off the rest?
As much as I support this legislation, the article was flawed when it said of Christopher Reeve:
"Reeve has said he has regained some feeling in his fingers and toes and urges further stem cell research as a way to treat paralysis."
Which would seem to indicate that he has somehow already benefitted from step cell research. AFAIK, he hasn't. His recovery so far has been almost entirely the result of physical therapy. The cause of stem cell research is harmed by inaccurate reporting, even when it seems to support the cause. Objectivity and honesty are the only way to go. Let the other side make the unproven, irrational claims. In the long run they will lose the fight.
Just by coincidence, I happened to be researching this very subject earlier today. The best informational site that I found during my brief search was here.
A good bit of advice is to file an $80 provisional patent. It will protect your idea for one year, long enough (hopefully) to start generating a profit. if all works out, you will then be able to afford the patent fees. Note also that for small inventors the fees are halved. it's about $370 for the initial filing, then $1k and change at the 3, 7.5, and 11.5 year marks, for a maintenence fee.
Re:Guardian Interview with Christopher Reeve
on
Politicizing Science
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
As a kid, I thought he made a kickass Superman, but ever since I saw him on the Celebrity Atheists List, Christopher Reeve has been a hero and inspiration.
Reeve has every reason to chicken out and go the religious route, as do many people who have their lives so disrupted. What courage to put his faith in things that really matter: the continuing advance of science, the companionship of loved ones, and the power of personal force of will.
Thanks to that, he has started to recover some movement and sesnsation over much of his body. No miracles involved.
An IP address is a 32 bit binary number, split into 4 8-bit numbers, each separated by a '.'. In decimal form, the 8-bit binary is represented by a number from 0 to 255. To convert, multiply each number in the IP by it's corresponding place in the 32 bit binary, then add the whole mess together.
The first number would be multipled by 2^24 (1 followed by 24 0's in binary), the second number by 2^16, the third by 2^8, and the fourth by 2^0 (no multiplier).
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, one of the more interesting things I've seen at Skycraft, years back, was a pilot parachute for the space shuttle's solid rocket booster.
Is there a difference between an iris scan and a retina scan? The iris contracts and dilates depending on light levels. It would seem that this would make it difficult to use for identification, unless the camera forced the iris to contract to a fixed diameter by flashing light into the eye.
Perhaps the article was referring to retina scans, but used the term "iris" due to a misunderstanding.
"Yeah, I think you're right. Full reverse! Chewie, lock in the auxiliary power."
- Norm Ferguson nominated for his performance as the Queen (as a hag) in "Snow White"?
- Marc Davis as Maleficent in "Sleeping Beauty" or Tinkerbell in "Peter Pan"?
- Ollie Johnson's magnificent performance as Baloo in "The Jungle Book"?
- Glen Keane as The Beast in "Beauty and the Beast"?
How many great performances have you seen in classic animated films, perhaps without really realizing that there was actually a talented actor behind that pencil? Strange that only now, when the gloss of a digital render gives a "realism" to the performance, does this become an issue.Welcome to the club, Andy Serkis. The Best Actor nomination should be about performance, but Hollywood still runs on celebrity face power.
I was surprised that they did not mention the airstrip at Disney World in Florida, adjacent to the approach road to the Magic Kingdom. Perhaps because it is no longer recognized by the FAA, and is instead being used for bus staging.
According to this page, Imagineers built grooves into the runway which would cause aircraft axles to rattle off "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah" upon take-off or landing.
You're right, the CG of X2 matches LXG, but what about SW:AOTC? We can write off DD and MIIB (but not MIB). ILM did some great CG on LOTR, but wait till we see HULK. Oops ... sorry. That movie title is an actual english word.
I counted 83 cuts in that 1 minute, 8 second LXG trailer, which leads me to believe that the filmmakers expect people to still-frame through the entire thing (thank you, Contour Shuttle Pro with the USB jog dial). Of course, if they didn't expect us to watch it at the full frame rate, they should have been more careful with their physical effects. Did anyone else notice the goofy way that last pillar wobbled when the car struck it a glancing blow? It was clearly a fake set piece suspended from some stage catwalk.
That's my advice to George. He'd better work on getting some new creative properties going instead of spreading Star Wars around. That crap is wearing pretty thin.
Take away Star Wars and what has he got? Grim Fandango?
I got some 1MB 80ns 30 pin SIMMS.
Most people using Maya or any 3D modeling application for anything other than dabbling would rather not waste time clicking on buttons. 3D modeling workflow is such that the modeler needs to spend all his time focusing on the model, rather than stopping to hunt-and-peck through menus or to click on some icon that does nothing but waste screen space 99% of the time. Maya uses marking menus to speed up workflow, and all professional 3D apps use keyboard shortcuts for the same reason.
If you really want to be innovative, you will do away with widgets entirely. Oh, wait, it's already been done.
This kind of reminds me of the Agat.
Back in the mid-80's the Soviets cloned the Apple ][, probably as proof of the worthiness of their technology. I'm sure the Chinese are doing a better job. The Agat still had Woz' name burned in the ROM.
From the article:
(the MPAA and RIAA)...have issued a statement saying Kazaa is perpetrating an "intricate international shell game aimed at evading the U.S. court's jurisdiction and avoiding liability" by spreading its operations around the world.
Haven't these huge multinational corporations, the likes of which are represented by the MPAA and RIAA, been spreading their operations overseas for years now for the very same reasons?
Suck it up, guys.
You mean the Soloflex?
That's the first thing I thought of, too.
Many will argue that even though bacteria are found living at great depths, life had to originate in the shallows of Earth's oceans where chemicals in the ocean could react with the atmosphere.
This theory is being contested, as described in this article, which claims that life may have first arisen in the depths of the ocean, sheltered in a pre-cellular state inside of iron sulphide pockets. Since life can survive beneath the surface, and if it can arise without the need for an atmosphere, then it might indeed exist almost anywhere that liquid water is present.
It's off topic, but since you mentioned it, Detroit is also full of abandoned places to explore.
Check it out.
The next time you visit Disney World, don't pick on the guy in the costume. See what he has to endure?
I've praised the HP 200lx in the past, and while I will not claim that it is the most powerful palmtop in the world, it is certainly no executive toy. This is a truly useful and intelligently designed piece of equipment, despite being nearly 10 years old, and I use mine constantly.
The PIM software is absolutely amazing. It was designed by Lotus (as in Lotus 123, which is also built into the 200lx), who were purchased by IBM. Since the 200lx is out of production, perhaps HP/Compaq or IBM could release this great "abandonware" PIM suite so that it could be ported to a more modern platform. Let's have a truly useful modern PDA, for a change!
Quite correct. It is a frame editor, not a movie editor.
Gimp has actually had the ability to edit sequences of frames for quite a while. That's right, regular old plain vanilla Gimp can do it. Originally it was in a plugin called GAP (Gimp Animation Plugin), but became folded into the main prog. The animation controls are under the "Video" section of the pop-up menu.
Film Gimp improves on this basic functionality in many ways, like onionskinning (transparency between frames). More importantly, it gives Gimp 16 bit per channel color depth instead of the standard 8 bit. 16 bits is necessary for film work in order to match the increased color sensitivity of film stock.
Forth is used as the backend scripting language for the 3D animation software Realsoft 3D. Realsoft also also happens to be my favorite dark horse candidate in the highly competitive 3D animation marketplace, notable because it runs on Linux.
When you think about it, a low level language like Forth is ideal for such an application. Realsoft strives for realtime OpenGL animation playback, with physically correct simulation, particles, deformation hierarchies and tons of geometry thrown at the screen. Forth is fast enough to solve custom animation expressions without getting in the way.
Damn. That's a good point.
There is absolutely zero chance that any DVD manufacturer would sell a DVD player in the U.S. with the word "DivX", "DivX;-)" or anything similar printed on the box. Manufacturers would quite rightly want to avoid confusion with the "Divix" format. The customer might easily think that the player was somehow comptible with their old Divix disks or, worse, that the player was an old model that was incompatible with curent DVD's.
So if they can't call it DivX, what do they call it? Mpeg4?
And for those of us who want a DivX player, how does the manufacturer let us know without scaring off the rest?
That's a shame...
Hey, QIII V1.32 just hit the servers yesterday! Let the killing begin!
Uh, I mean fragging.
As much as I support this legislation, the article was flawed when it said of Christopher Reeve:
"Reeve has said he has regained some feeling in his fingers and toes and urges further stem cell research as a way to treat paralysis."
Which would seem to indicate that he has somehow already benefitted from step cell research. AFAIK, he hasn't. His recovery so far has been almost entirely the result of physical therapy. The cause of stem cell research is harmed by inaccurate reporting, even when it seems to support the cause. Objectivity and honesty are the only way to go. Let the other side make the unproven, irrational claims. In the long run they will lose the fight.
Here is a list of theatres in the US that are/will be screening "Spirited Away".
Just by coincidence, I happened to be researching this very subject earlier today. The best informational site that I found during my brief search was here.
A good bit of advice is to file an $80 provisional patent. It will protect your idea for one year, long enough (hopefully) to start generating a profit. if all works out, you will then be able to afford the patent fees. Note also that for small inventors the fees are halved. it's about $370 for the initial filing, then $1k and change at the 3, 7.5, and 11.5 year marks, for a maintenence fee.
As a kid, I thought he made a kickass Superman, but ever since I saw him on the Celebrity Atheists List, Christopher Reeve has been a hero and inspiration.
Reeve has every reason to chicken out and go the religious route, as do many people who have their lives so disrupted. What courage to put his faith in things that really matter: the continuing advance of science, the companionship of loved ones, and the power of personal force of will.
Thanks to that, he has started to recover some movement and sesnsation over much of his body. No miracles involved.
An IP address is a 32 bit binary number, split into 4 8-bit numbers, each separated by a '.'. In decimal form, the 8-bit binary is represented by a number from 0 to 255. To convert, multiply each number in the IP by it's corresponding place in the 32 bit binary, then add the whole mess together.
The first number would be multipled by 2^24 (1 followed by 24 0's in binary), the second number by 2^16, the third by 2^8, and the fourth by 2^0 (no multiplier).