It seems like every year I hear more about the stuff being sold at GDC then the stuff going on at GDC. I would hope Slashdot wouldn't fall prey to the same thing.
The the first I calculated was the total number of Combinations of 3000 Choose 120. This is the total possiblites the random algorithm can choose from. (It is pretty easy, just the size of the numbers are huge).
Next I assumed that it would be 3 songs picked from the same album of ten, which is 10 choose 3 (works out to be 120) and mutiplied that by the number of ways you can select the rest of the songs(2990 Choose 117). This gives you the total number of ways to pick the songs, while having 3 songs from that one album. I justed divide this answer with the previous one and came up with.005(Which should be the odds of selecting 3 songs from that one album). Which is a pretty big number if you think about it.
He gives one good example of why Itunes/Shuffle is screwed up. He mentions that he has a libary of 3000 songs, and the ITunes has a feature to choose random songs from your libary to put in the IPod. He says that 3 songs from the same album were selected from the same album.
I did some Math and programming so I could calculate every possible combination of songs, and every possible combination of selecting 3 songs from _That_ album(assuming of 10 songs). It worked out to be.5% chance that the ITunes would select Three songs from THAT album. Take in account he might have almost 30 albums. You can easily see how it might be very likely that the computer could completely randomly choose 3 songs from the same album a large portion of the time.
I think the sad fact is people dont want random, they want an algorithms that select music in some equally distributed way every time.
In both you find an issue with software.
In both you contact a party about the issue.
In Open Source you have the option to fix it yourself.
In the Microsoft case you can fill out paper work to get $5 (I'll assume you spend it on beer to forget you had the problem in the first place).
So it boils down to the fact, you can have working software, or a beer to forget you have broken software. You choose.
I've used both Nvidia, and 3com, and switched back and forth so many times(I had both unboard untill the board fired).. It doesn't seem to effect anything at all(including cpu usage). Then again I wasn't pushing more then 10mbits/sec accross the network or using a lot of connections.
Where the Buffalo Roam is a much better movie detailing the life of Hunter S Thompson, Plus it stars Bill Murrey. If you haven't seen it you should really check itout.
Here in the midwest (ironically the place the benifits the most of ethanol), they still sell low grade 100% gas. You can tell they dont mix ethanol in it becuase it cost more then the next higher octane (and they say so on the pump). A lot of people in the area dont like ethonal becuase it doesn't run good in a lot of engines. I've heard a lot of reasons why, but from what I know it can issues in certain types of fuel injectors and carberators.
I would count it if hey can actually communciate almost everything with another person in that language. That would mean two things, another group of people would know the language, and that there are enough words in the language for everyday things. I doubt anyone else really speaks the language, so it really doesn't count.
Six. I am guessing you should be able to name atleast 6 stars in one movie.
You did miss atleast two which I assumed you would be able to guess.
John Carmack
John Romero
Seriously there could be more (stars), but I can't remeber half of them, and that is the point. People just dont care about things they dont see.
How can you complain when you are guilty of this yourself. Do you keep track who makes video games or do you keep track of sound engineers that make your music? I bet you know atleast a 100 actors, actress, directors even if you dont follow movies.
No one cares about what happens behind the scenes in media unless they do something really special, and then they only get 15 minutes of fame.
Wow.. That the first time I've heard "proper software" and Windows in the same sentance.
I agree, I dont see how other slashdot users are not understanding this. Since Linux, and MacOS both have software in similar sitiuations. They just dont happen to be able to display web content.
I have seen and used the Java Bindings to various libaries. Maybe I am a perfectionist, but I find it really weird the only interface for games is in the form of an outside API, of which the API is not object orienated. I really see these bindings the limiting factor of the language for a few reasons. They seem very slapped on,are currently not included by default to the JVM, and are not a unified API. Now you might say that is a lot to ask, but Direct X has had this kind of thing for years.
On the Comercial Games side of things. I have heard of a few, but only a few. Java has been struggling for many years to get developers interested. Until they actually produce something that competes with DirectX it will not happen.
I would suggest staying with Windows for the time being. Why becuase it works for you, why fix something that isn't broken.
Now from your description I would suggest to moving to Linux in the future. This is how I would do it.
First Thing I would suggest you to do is read up on how to use Linux, and get used to it. Try out one of the bootable distro and use that for awhile, make sure you can use everything. If everything works(hardware and software), and you have the time go ahead and (Backup)install Linux.
Otherwise I would wait for when you are ready to replace your computer, and plan my purchases around Linux. Linux is really good about Hardware support, but I would be careful and double check everything you buy and make sure it would work, and isn't too hard to setup.
Once you have everything working, then transfer all your work related things to the new computer and then put that Windows Box to rest.
SDL is great. It takes care of a lot of things. I personally dont use it, but I have notice there listed of support things are more then I could of ever hoped. Things I would like to see are Networking, and fast FileInput Output added.
Even if SDL was perfect, it still leaves issues related to have to compile the source code again. Realisticly the community needs to promote a solution that doesn't need to be recompiled. Wouldn't it be nice that once you bought a game you could always end up using it even if you change your hardware, or OS.
Now SDL does have a Java linkage, but I dont really see that being a good solution. I feel the API needs to be added to the Java installer. So hopefully someone from Sun can read this and decide to make a good API for games.
Porting is still almost just as complicated when you are taking a OpenGL or a D3D game. The majority of code with OpenGL is in relation to interfacing the window (if you want to do it correctly, and if you have coded in Win32 you would understand). You might say you could use glut, but if you want to do something other then a small program, I wouldn't suggest it.
This isn't even mentioning Input (Game controls are important) and sound. Both of which Direct X accels at compared to other APIs. Even small stuff like FileIO needs to be changed. It is not so simple after all.
I wonder if they could of predicted a slashdot effect, and could of got more bandwidth..
I can't seem to download the raw data, I guess it must be true.
I worked at Wal-mart during a remodel. One of the contractors ran network cable with a RC Truck Toy. It was pretty amusing watching this thing drive around up above on the cable runs. I dont know if any other network people do this, but it sounds like a good solution to a big problem. Does someone make an offical RC Cable runner?
(Please do not comment on Wal-mart, I know I feel dirty)
From the picture it looks as if they have a thousand CD's on that thing (I am only guessing).. So if a good price for a 100 CDR's is $30, that means I need about $300 just for the CD's not to mention the light. I would like to make it cheaper, but I dont know how.
Taken from part two of Hannibles Article:
Apple is just too heavily invested in Altivec, and this processor is going to be a relative weakling in that department. Sure, it'll pack a major SIMD punch, but that will not be a double-precision Alitvec-type punch.
I totally agree with Hannible on this. The processor currently doesn't have the same SIMD effect as double-precision AltiVec. Then again if you are just doing games, then the Single Precision is fine. Cell is more limited, requires more complicated programming, but is faster at what is specializes in. For a general purpose computer it doesn't sound like the best idea.
Those light shades made from a thousand CDs are pretty cool looking. I want one for myself, but it seems pretty hard to do in the post AOL cd error. I guess I need to start collecting.
Here is the link
http://www.heise.de/ct/machflott/projekte/55857
Recycling in many cases takes more energy then finding new material. If you think about it is logical. If recycled goods were so economical(good for the environment) then why don't people pay you for the materials. Why? because it cost more energy to recycle the goods then just go dig up more raw sources (aka takes more energy). There are a few cases where recycling is more economical such as with Aluminum, but barely so. If you have ever recycled aluminum for actual weight (not the deposit) it barely pays for the gas to recycle it in the first place.
The other issue you mentioned is space. Space is not an issue. Drive through Nebaska, South Dakota, East side of Colorado. There is a ton of space in the United States. Even if we throw away everything for a thousand years we will not run out of space.
The real issue is the toxic chemicals in computers. The list is long, and they all do bad things to us. If we don't process things correctly the lead (and other chemicals) are going to end up in our drinking water. Recycling incorrectly could make it worst such as in Asia. Computers need to be process correctly even if it cost money. We will only hurt future generations if we don't.
Is it really cheaper? Think about all the engery it takes to process recycled items. Extra Gas for the trucks, extra time and energy to sort the items, and then time and energy to break it apart. Why recycle silicon when there is a large supply of it out there. The Issue is disposing of the toxic materials in computers correctly, not recycling.
Slashdot Mirror
It seems like every year I hear more about the stuff being sold at GDC then the stuff going on at GDC. I would hope Slashdot wouldn't fall prey to the same thing.
The first thing you to review is Combinations. A good write up on them can be found at http://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/faq.comb.perm.htm l/
The the first I calculated was the total number of Combinations of 3000 Choose 120. This is the total possiblites the random algorithm can choose from. (It is pretty easy, just the size of the numbers are huge).
Next I assumed that it would be 3 songs picked from the same album of ten, which is 10 choose 3 (works out to be 120) and mutiplied that by the number of ways you can select the rest of the songs(2990 Choose 117). This gives you the total number of ways to pick the songs, while having 3 songs from that one album. I justed divide this answer with the previous one and came up with .005(Which should be the odds of selecting 3 songs from that one album). Which is a pretty big number if you think about it.
He gives one good example of why Itunes/Shuffle is screwed up. He mentions that he has a libary of 3000 songs, and the ITunes has a feature to choose random songs from your libary to put in the IPod. He says that 3 songs from the same album were selected from the same album.
I did some Math and programming so I could calculate every possible combination of songs, and every possible combination of selecting 3 songs from _That_ album(assuming of 10 songs). It worked out to be .5% chance that the ITunes would select Three songs from THAT album. Take in account he might have almost 30 albums. You can easily see how it might be very likely that the computer could completely randomly choose 3 songs from the same album a large portion of the time.
I think the sad fact is people dont want random, they want an algorithms that select music in some equally distributed way every time.
In both you find an issue with software.
In both you contact a party about the issue.
In Open Source you have the option to fix it yourself.
In the Microsoft case you can fill out paper work to get $5 (I'll assume you spend it on beer to forget you had the problem in the first place).
So it boils down to the fact, you can have working software, or a beer to forget you have broken software. You choose.
Before trying to look smart, look at the pictures.
Is there anyway the could reduce the amount of data in the stack?
I've used both Nvidia, and 3com, and switched back and forth so many times(I had both unboard untill the board fired).. It doesn't seem to effect anything at all(including cpu usage). Then again I wasn't pushing more then 10mbits/sec accross the network or using a lot of connections.
Where the Buffalo Roam is a much better movie detailing the life of Hunter S Thompson, Plus it stars Bill Murrey. If you haven't seen it you should really check itout.
Here in the midwest (ironically the place the benifits the most of ethanol), they still sell low grade 100% gas. You can tell they dont mix ethanol in it becuase it cost more then the next higher octane (and they say so on the pump). A lot of people in the area dont like ethonal becuase it doesn't run good in a lot of engines. I've heard a lot of reasons why, but from what I know it can issues in certain types of fuel injectors and carberators.
I would count it if hey can actually communciate almost everything with another person in that language. That would mean two things, another group of people would know the language, and that there are enough words in the language for everyday things. I doubt anyone else really speaks the language, so it really doesn't count.
Six. I am guessing you should be able to name atleast 6 stars in one movie. You did miss atleast two which I assumed you would be able to guess. John Carmack John Romero Seriously there could be more (stars), but I can't remeber half of them, and that is the point. People just dont care about things they dont see.
How can you complain when you are guilty of this yourself. Do you keep track who makes video games or do you keep track of sound engineers that make your music? I bet you know atleast a 100 actors, actress, directors even if you dont follow movies. No one cares about what happens behind the scenes in media unless they do something really special, and then they only get 15 minutes of fame.
Wow.. That the first time I've heard "proper software" and Windows in the same sentance. I agree, I dont see how other slashdot users are not understanding this. Since Linux, and MacOS both have software in similar sitiuations. They just dont happen to be able to display web content.
I have seen and used the Java Bindings to various libaries. Maybe I am a perfectionist, but I find it really weird the only interface for games is in the form of an outside API, of which the API is not object orienated. I really see these bindings the limiting factor of the language for a few reasons. They seem very slapped on ,are currently not included by default to the JVM, and are not a unified API. Now you might say that is a lot to ask, but Direct X has had this kind of thing for years.
On the Comercial Games side of things. I have heard of a few, but only a few. Java has been struggling for many years to get developers interested. Until they actually produce something that competes with DirectX it will not happen.
I would suggest staying with Windows for the time being. Why becuase it works for you, why fix something that isn't broken.
Now from your description I would suggest to moving to Linux in the future. This is how I would do it.
First Thing I would suggest you to do is read up on how to use Linux, and get used to it. Try out one of the bootable distro and use that for awhile, make sure you can use everything. If everything works(hardware and software), and you have the time go ahead and (Backup)install Linux.
Otherwise I would wait for when you are ready to replace your computer, and plan my purchases around Linux. Linux is really good about Hardware support, but I would be careful and double check everything you buy and make sure it would work, and isn't too hard to setup.
Once you have everything working, then transfer all your work related things to the new computer and then put that Windows Box to rest.
SDL is great. It takes care of a lot of things. I personally dont use it, but I have notice there listed of support things are more then I could of ever hoped. Things I would like to see are Networking, and fast FileInput Output added. Even if SDL was perfect, it still leaves issues related to have to compile the source code again. Realisticly the community needs to promote a solution that doesn't need to be recompiled. Wouldn't it be nice that once you bought a game you could always end up using it even if you change your hardware, or OS. Now SDL does have a Java linkage, but I dont really see that being a good solution. I feel the API needs to be added to the Java installer. So hopefully someone from Sun can read this and decide to make a good API for games.
Porting is still almost just as complicated when you are taking a OpenGL or a D3D game. The majority of code with OpenGL is in relation to interfacing the window (if you want to do it correctly, and if you have coded in Win32 you would understand). You might say you could use glut, but if you want to do something other then a small program, I wouldn't suggest it. This isn't even mentioning Input (Game controls are important) and sound. Both of which Direct X accels at compared to other APIs. Even small stuff like FileIO needs to be changed. It is not so simple after all.
I wonder if they could of predicted a slashdot effect, and could of got more bandwidth.. I can't seem to download the raw data, I guess it must be true.
I worked at Wal-mart during a remodel. One of the contractors ran network cable with a RC Truck Toy. It was pretty amusing watching this thing drive around up above on the cable runs. I dont know if any other network people do this, but it sounds like a good solution to a big problem. Does someone make an offical RC Cable runner? (Please do not comment on Wal-mart, I know I feel dirty)
From the picture it looks as if they have a thousand CD's on that thing (I am only guessing).. So if a good price for a 100 CDR's is $30, that means I need about $300 just for the CD's not to mention the light. I would like to make it cheaper, but I dont know how.
It would be cool is someone wrote a emulator for this to see if you could actually find some use for 8 different Vector Processors.
Taken from part two of Hannibles Article: Apple is just too heavily invested in Altivec, and this processor is going to be a relative weakling in that department. Sure, it'll pack a major SIMD punch, but that will not be a double-precision Alitvec-type punch. I totally agree with Hannible on this. The processor currently doesn't have the same SIMD effect as double-precision AltiVec. Then again if you are just doing games, then the Single Precision is fine. Cell is more limited, requires more complicated programming, but is faster at what is specializes in. For a general purpose computer it doesn't sound like the best idea.
Those light shades made from a thousand CDs are pretty cool looking. I want one for myself, but it seems pretty hard to do in the post AOL cd error. I guess I need to start collecting. Here is the link http://www.heise.de/ct/machflott/projekte/55857
Recycling in many cases takes more energy then finding new material. If you think about it is logical. If recycled goods were so economical(good for the environment) then why don't people pay you for the materials. Why? because it cost more energy to recycle the goods then just go dig up more raw sources (aka takes more energy). There are a few cases where recycling is more economical such as with Aluminum, but barely so. If you have ever recycled aluminum for actual weight (not the deposit) it barely pays for the gas to recycle it in the first place. The other issue you mentioned is space. Space is not an issue. Drive through Nebaska, South Dakota, East side of Colorado. There is a ton of space in the United States. Even if we throw away everything for a thousand years we will not run out of space. The real issue is the toxic chemicals in computers. The list is long, and they all do bad things to us. If we don't process things correctly the lead (and other chemicals) are going to end up in our drinking water. Recycling incorrectly could make it worst such as in Asia. Computers need to be process correctly even if it cost money. We will only hurt future generations if we don't.
Is it really cheaper? Think about all the engery it takes to process recycled items. Extra Gas for the trucks, extra time and energy to sort the items, and then time and energy to break it apart. Why recycle silicon when there is a large supply of it out there. The Issue is disposing of the toxic materials in computers correctly, not recycling.