What the parent poster said! I design boards for a living (along with doing some VHDL stuff in FPGAs). My expertise is digital, but I do have an Electrical Engineering degree -- and I could not properly design a switching power supply -- at least that what what I was told by my power supply guy after I tried laying out his circuit on the board.
I have also tried my own experiments in this area. I had an old Celeron 466 system, and my scanner, speakers, and force-feedback joystick all ran off of 12V. So I hooked up my computer's 12V rail to some connectors on the back (with caps attached to help reduce noise). Here were the results:
1) Scanner - worked like a charm. But you had to plug in the power while the computer was off. Otherwise, the whole computer would reset iself. This was my one success.
2) Speakers - Worked, but you could hear the hard drive heads moving. The amount of noise was too much, so I had to go back to a separate wall-wart.
3) Force Feedback Joystick - This was a Microsoft model, which connected to the Game port (not a USB model). Apparently, this stick did not like sharing its power ground with its signal ground. The computer shut off instantly, and the joystick was fried. This goes to show that you need to have FLOATING power supplies in any scheme like this.
In the end, my grand experiment was not really worth it, as I spend a couple of hours soldering and drilling, and all I did was to remove one power supply.
But if somebody DID make a power supply box that had the following: 3x12V, 2x9V, 2x6V, 3x5V, all at 2A each, and they could do it for under $100, then I would be very tempted to buy one. Unfortunately, I suspect that this type of supply would go for a lot mroe than $100.
Hey. You could even have a mega-multicore chip and do first person shooters with realtime raytracing... each core is responsible for raytracing a small area of the screen. I'm sure that there's a company working on this. I saw a demo video in a computer graphics lecture. I'll have to check my notes.
You will see this when the processing power of a current A64 or P4 goes for around $2! There is a reason that current GPUs look the way that they do -- it is a LOT more efficient than ray-tracing.
What you speak of is certainly a neat concept, but it will not happen in my home for a LOOOOONG time, because a "mega-multicore" chip would be insanely expensive.
Oh, and butterfly and switchblade knives are always illegal, concealed or not.
<sarcasm> Makes sense. Wounds from butterfly knives always bleed more. </sarcasm>
That type of law makes absolutely no sense at all. In the right hands, a kitchen knife is just as dangerous as a switchblade. If somebody asked me if I would prefer to be cut by a 4" fixed-blade knife, or a 4" butterfly knife, I would ask "what difference would that make to me?"
1) Reach to your belt and pull out something that, while not being perfect, is quite functional.
2) Leave whatever building you are working in, and go out to your car to get pliers.
Replace "plyers" with "screwdriver," lather,rinse, repeat.
Multi-tools are certainly not perfect, but they are useful enough to carry -- just for the convenience factor of NOT having to go all the way out to the car. I have carried my Wave for over three years, and I love it.
Neat idea, but I recently read a review stating that the Mini (at least the base version) lacked the processing testicular fortitude to be a full-blown media center. Plus, it does not have the storage to be a server (unless you upgrade the HD) Anandtech Review It still has some potential, but it does not seem to be designed for this role (at least without some serious upgrading)
I was recently trying to design a space ship for an RTS mod that was designed similarly to the stealth fighter. I realized that if you didn't know the direction of the incoming radar beam (which you wouldn't in 3D combat) it was going to be nearly impossible to design.
Which was exactly why it took a computer to be able to design stealth aircraft. The F-117 is an ugly faceting monstrosity, but it is faceted because at the time that it was designed, the computers were not powerful enough to do continuous surfaces. But advancing computing power has enabled the design of the F-22 and F-35.
But one key of stealth design is to avoid any 90-degree angles -- between ANY two surfaces. If you accomplish this, then you have done much to reduce the radar signature.
OK. Let's assume that your figures are dead-on accurte. That means that over HALF of the money that is paid each month is pure profit! Well, if this really IS the case, then other people will come out with BETTER games for CHEAPER, and cut into their business. But this has not happened yet. I am not a MMORPG player, but I have heard a lot of complaints about various issues. So clearly, nobody is doing a better job for cheaper.
There is an old saying for those who want to start their own business: If you are charging significantly less than everybody else, then they know something that you don't.
PS: I don't know about your computers, but most of the computers that I use like to be kept in an air-conditioned building, and be fed electricity -- none of which is free. And a server for $2k seems overly optimistic. You also have to factor in that fact that this will likely be rack-mounted, with a UPS and redundant power supply (none of which are cheap -- Server quality supplies and UPSs are not $49.99 after rebate from CompUSA).
Making the new GB come out a less then a year after their past new GB is pushing it. It takes a good year or two for good games to come out.
At the risk of sounding redundant, what you said makes no sense. "It takes a good year or two for good games to come out" -- The SP already launched with HUNDREDS of games -- it was just a GBA in a different box. The SP does not count as a "new system." The SP is just a tweak to an existing system. So, in reality, it was four years between GBA and the DS. That is about par with other game systems. Nothing so see here. Move along, folks.
I recommend the older version of the Wave. Do you really need a whole rack of bits hanging off of your belt? The only down side of the old Wave is that it only has one size phillips bit, but that bit fits most thing just fine (just not the really small phillips screws).
The newer Waves DO have some nicer main blades, but the scissors are worse, and I do not like havinge to carry extra bits just to use a screwdriver.
But, in the end, there is not one-size-fits-all solution. Stick with the reputable brands (Leatherman, Gerber, Buck, etc.) Decide what features that you need, and how much weight that you are willing to carry. The old Wave is near-perfect for my needs, but may not be for yours.
And if it costs less than $25, it is junk. It will break, and let you down when you need it the most. Quality is worth paying for.
Buy a cheap USB-to-ethernet adapter, and run a 2nd network to your laptop. VPN over the primary NICr, and shared drive over the secondary NIC.
Note that I have not tried this, but *in theory* is should work. It, however, depends upon how the VPN software is written.
If you check out the sales, even if this does NOT work, you should only be out $10 or so (assuming that your Mac can talk to a cheap USB NIC - check for compatability before you buy).
Can you please explain to my anybody would want floating point for the frame buffer???? The whole point is to drive the DAC going to the monitor. I have NEVER seen a floating-point DAC. No silicon that I know of could handle such a large dynamic range. I also think that most people would find it quite difficult to tell the difference between 24-bit color and 30-bit color. I know that I probably couldn't.
And even if you have a LCD panel, the DVI interface still sends 8-bits per channel.
If you define "problem" to mean that you can loose in court, then I suspect that you would be OK.
If you define "problem" to mean that you wind up in court in the first place and have to blow your life savings and any equity in your house on lawyer fees, then I could see that there might be a problem.
Remember, the court appoints you an attorney for free ONLY in criminal matters. In civil court, you are on your own.
Heh heh heh. Let TIVO miss an episode of their favorite show because of this fiasco and see what happens. People don't pay a lot of money for digital cable to just be told that they cannot do things that they can with a $30 VCR.
Your numbers sound about right. But you are forgetting something...
100% of the people who pay for cable are the ones who pay for cable! This might sound odd, but let me explain. The broadcast flag does not HAVE to be enabled at the source. The broadcasters can turn it on and off. If HBO started using the broadcast flag, they might change their minds if 10% of the people both wrote letters AND canceled their service. Men, you can grab by the balls. Companies, you grab by the wallet. The problem is that consumers TOLERATE this stuff. If ABC doesn't let you TIVO, then don't watch. Networks live and die by Nielson ratings.
I dumped all cable and broadcast TV over a year ago. I get my movies from Blockbuster, and I get my news from news.yahoo.com. I am happy.
Ethernet cable runs through a transformer at the interface. So a little DC voltage between the two grounds is not a problem. As long as the voltage difference is not large enough to cause arcing (which would also be a safety problem) then this should work.
Etherenet was DESIGNED to work in cases like this. It is not like using a parallel printer cable which is limited to 6 feet. Ethernet was designed to run 100 meters (about a football field).
There is nothing wrong with using an existing engine. I am not an expert, but I can imageine in my mind how a game is made, and I imagine two different types of people:
1) Creative types. These people come up with the plot and story. These people make or break a game.
2) Programmer types. These guys code the whole thing. They do not have to know about plot, just how to play sounds and throw stuff on the screen. If they do not do their job, the games can be unplayable due to bugs. However, no amount of effort on their part can make a game great if the creative types have not done their job.
Of course, a game also needs people to paint all of the pretty pictures and make up the sounds, as well as cast voice actors, handle the sound, etc. But by using a proven, debugged engine, you decrease the risks.
And I do not play RPGs for the graphics. I still find the Fallout series to be some of the best gaming ever, and that game will run on a Pentium 120 with a 2D graphics card. Eye candy is nice, but give me a nicely-developed plot and great playability any day!
Lets assume that you spend $500 on a card today, and you will need double the performance in two years.
-- WITH SLI -- $500 today. $150 in two years (card depreciated) Total $650
-- WITHOUT SLI -- $500 today. -$150 in two years, sell card on eBay. $500 in two years Total $850
Of course, this assumes that two cards = double performance, and that the capability of a $500 will double in two years. If these assumptions are not correct, then YMMV. But you get the idea.
I don't understand why everyone totes FarCry. Sure, the game LOOKS great, but a game that looks great and doesn't have a storyline to speak if is worthless.
What was the storyline behind Tetris??? And how about Bejeweled?
And in chess, nobody ever actually explaines why the black and white kings hated each other in the first place! And don't even get my started on backgammon!
I guess my point is that if the game play is particularly engaging, then you do not need no stinkin' storyline.
But then again, the gameplay in a FPS is pretty limited. The only difference is storyline, graphis, weapons, and enemies.
And you, sir, are correct. I assumed that he was flaming Bush for the California GPS system. I was not aware that he was discussing the Patriot act. My bad for not checking the parent.
And I am NOT ultra-conservative. I am just annoyed by ultra-liberal. For your information, I tend to be conservative on moral issues, and liberal on money and privacy issues. And I think that certain parts of the Patriot act are just plain terrible and stupid.
Lucky you. For many people, living within biking distance of work means paying an increase in rent/morgage greater than the savings afforded by riding a bike.
I'm confused as to how you track people with a GPS device. GPS is _passive_. All GPS satellites do is emit a signal. They can't track anyone - the Pentagon has zero idea of how many people are using GPS at any particular time, let alone who they are.
Simple. The GPS receiver can also be programmed with the coordinates of the state borders. As you drive, increase the milage count as long as you are within the state. The processor which does the counting would also have some sort of radio transmitter/receiver. When you stop for gas, your GPS controller talks to the gas pump. After they compare basketball scores and gossip, the pump is told the total in-Kalifornia miles, and the pump adds the tax.
What I wonder is if the actual path is recorded, or just the milage. Would the path be sent to the pump, or just the milage. Also, how suceptible would this be to hacking (my guess is VERY).
Waaaait a second here. This is GOOD NEWS. Geeks drive for free!!! Somebody somewhere will figure out how to defeat this thing.
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What the parent poster said! I design boards for a living (along with doing some VHDL stuff in FPGAs). My expertise is digital, but I do have an Electrical Engineering degree -- and I could not properly design a switching power supply -- at least that what what I was told by my power supply guy after I tried laying out his circuit on the board.
I have also tried my own experiments in this area. I had an old Celeron 466 system, and my scanner, speakers, and force-feedback joystick all ran off of 12V. So I hooked up my computer's 12V rail to some connectors on the back (with caps attached to help reduce noise). Here were the results:
1) Scanner - worked like a charm. But you had to plug in the power while the computer was off. Otherwise, the whole computer would reset iself. This was my one success.
2) Speakers - Worked, but you could hear the hard drive heads moving. The amount of noise was too much, so I had to go back to a separate wall-wart.
3) Force Feedback Joystick - This was a Microsoft model, which connected to the Game port (not a USB model). Apparently, this stick did not like sharing its power ground with its signal ground. The computer shut off instantly, and the joystick was fried. This goes to show that you need to have FLOATING power supplies in any scheme like this.
In the end, my grand experiment was not really worth it, as I spend a couple of hours soldering and drilling, and all I did was to remove one power supply.
But if somebody DID make a power supply box that had the following: 3x12V, 2x9V, 2x6V, 3x5V, all at 2A each, and they could do it for under $100, then I would be very tempted to buy one. Unfortunately, I suspect that this type of supply would go for a lot mroe than $100.
What you speak of is certainly a neat concept, but it will not happen in my home for a LOOOOONG time, because a "mega-multicore" chip would be insanely expensive.
Ask again in 10 years.
<sarcasm>
Makes sense. Wounds from butterfly knives always bleed more.
</sarcasm>
That type of law makes absolutely no sense at all. In the right hands, a kitchen knife is just as dangerous as a switchblade. If somebody asked me if I would prefer to be cut by a 4" fixed-blade knife, or a 4" butterfly knife, I would ask "what difference would that make to me?"
Need plyers? You have two choices:
,rinse, repeat.
1) Reach to your belt and pull out something that, while not being perfect, is quite functional.
2) Leave whatever building you are working in, and go out to your car to get pliers.
Replace "plyers" with "screwdriver," lather
Multi-tools are certainly not perfect, but they are useful enough to carry -- just for the convenience factor of NOT having to go all the way out to the car. I have carried my Wave for over three years, and I love it.
Neat idea, but I recently read a review stating that the Mini (at least the base version) lacked the processing testicular fortitude to be a full-blown media center. Plus, it does not have the storage to be a server (unless you upgrade the HD) Anandtech Review It still has some potential, but it does not seem to be designed for this role (at least without some serious upgrading)
Which was exactly why it took a computer to be able to design stealth aircraft. The F-117 is an ugly faceting monstrosity, but it is faceted because at the time that it was designed, the computers were not powerful enough to do continuous surfaces. But advancing computing power has enabled the design of the F-22 and F-35.
But one key of stealth design is to avoid any 90-degree angles -- between ANY two surfaces. If you accomplish this, then you have done much to reduce the radar signature.
OK. Let's assume that your figures are dead-on accurte. That means that over HALF of the money that is paid each month is pure profit! Well, if this really IS the case, then other people will come out with BETTER games for CHEAPER, and cut into their business. But this has not happened yet. I am not a MMORPG player, but I have heard a lot of complaints about various issues. So clearly, nobody is doing a better job for cheaper.
There is an old saying for those who want to start their own business: If you are charging significantly less than everybody else, then they know something that you don't.
PS: I don't know about your computers, but most of the computers that I use like to be kept in an air-conditioned building, and be fed electricity -- none of which is free. And a server for $2k seems overly optimistic. You also have to factor in that fact that this will likely be rack-mounted, with a UPS and redundant power supply (none of which are cheap -- Server quality supplies and UPSs are not $49.99 after rebate from CompUSA).
I recommend the older version of the Wave. Do you really need a whole rack of bits hanging off of your belt? The only down side of the old Wave is that it only has one size phillips bit, but that bit fits most thing just fine (just not the really small phillips screws).
The newer Waves DO have some nicer main blades, but the scissors are worse, and I do not like havinge to carry extra bits just to use a screwdriver.
But, in the end, there is not one-size-fits-all solution. Stick with the reputable brands (Leatherman, Gerber, Buck, etc.) Decide what features that you need, and how much weight that you are willing to carry. The old Wave is near-perfect for my needs, but may not be for yours.
And if it costs less than $25, it is junk. It will break, and let you down when you need it the most. Quality is worth paying for.
You could try another approach...
Buy a cheap USB-to-ethernet adapter, and run a 2nd network to your laptop. VPN over the primary NICr, and shared drive over the secondary NIC.
Note that I have not tried this, but *in theory* is should work. It, however, depends upon how the VPN software is written.
If you check out the sales, even if this does NOT work, you should only be out $10 or so (assuming that your Mac can talk to a cheap USB NIC - check for compatability before you buy).
To make sure that they feel right at home, include a BSOD screensaver.
How about "Where in Tiajuana is Carmen Sandiego?"
Can you please explain to my anybody would want floating point for the frame buffer???? The whole point is to drive the DAC going to the monitor. I have NEVER seen a floating-point DAC. No silicon that I know of could handle such a large dynamic range. I also think that most people would find it quite difficult to tell the difference between 24-bit color and 30-bit color. I know that I probably couldn't.
And even if you have a LCD panel, the DVI interface still sends 8-bits per channel.
Since no cards like this exist currently, how did Id test this feature while debugging?
My car is worth less than 1/3 Mac Mini, you insensitive clod.
That depends on what you define as "problem."
If you define "problem" to mean that you can loose in court, then I suspect that you would be OK.
If you define "problem" to mean that you wind up in court in the first place and have to blow your life savings and any equity in your house on lawyer fees, then I could see that there might be a problem.
Remember, the court appoints you an attorney for free ONLY in criminal matters. In civil court, you are on your own.
Heh heh heh. Let TIVO miss an episode of their favorite show because of this fiasco and see what happens. People don't pay a lot of money for digital cable to just be told that they cannot do things that they can with a $30 VCR.
Your numbers sound about right. But you are forgetting something...
100% of the people who pay for cable are the ones who pay for cable! This might sound odd, but let me explain. The broadcast flag does not HAVE to be enabled at the source. The broadcasters can turn it on and off. If HBO started using the broadcast flag, they might change their minds if 10% of the people both wrote letters AND canceled their service. Men, you can grab by the balls. Companies, you grab by the wallet. The problem is that consumers TOLERATE this stuff. If ABC doesn't let you TIVO, then don't watch. Networks live and die by Nielson ratings.
I dumped all cable and broadcast TV over a year ago. I get my movies from Blockbuster, and I get my news from news.yahoo.com. I am happy.
Ethernet cable runs through a transformer at the interface. So a little DC voltage between the two grounds is not a problem. As long as the voltage difference is not large enough to cause arcing (which would also be a safety problem) then this should work.
Etherenet was DESIGNED to work in cases like this. It is not like using a parallel printer cable which is limited to 6 feet. Ethernet was designed to run 100 meters (about a football field).
If you like copper, then go for it!
There is nothing wrong with using an existing engine. I am not an expert, but I can imageine in my mind how a game is made, and I imagine two different types of people:
1) Creative types. These people come up with the plot and story. These people make or break a game.
2) Programmer types. These guys code the whole thing. They do not have to know about plot, just how to play sounds and throw stuff on the screen. If they do not do their job, the games can be unplayable due to bugs. However, no amount of effort on their part can make a game great if the creative types have not done their job.
Of course, a game also needs people to paint all of the pretty pictures and make up the sounds, as well as cast voice actors, handle the sound, etc. But by using a proven, debugged engine, you decrease the risks.
And I do not play RPGs for the graphics. I still find the Fallout series to be some of the best gaming ever, and that game will run on a Pentium 120 with a 2D graphics card. Eye candy is nice, but give me a nicely-developed plot and great playability any day!
Not quite in this case....
Lets assume that you spend $500 on a card today, and you will need double the performance in two years.
-- WITH SLI --
$500 today.
$150 in two years (card depreciated)
Total $650
-- WITHOUT SLI --
$500 today.
-$150 in two years, sell card on eBay.
$500 in two years
Total $850
Of course, this assumes that two cards = double performance, and that the capability of a $500 will double in two years. If these assumptions are not correct, then YMMV. But you get the idea.
What was the storyline behind Tetris??? And how about Bejeweled?
And in chess, nobody ever actually explaines why the black and white kings hated each other in the first place! And don't even get my started on backgammon!
I guess my point is that if the game play is particularly engaging, then you do not need no stinkin' storyline.
But then again, the gameplay in a FPS is pretty limited. The only difference is storyline, graphis, weapons, and enemies.
And you, sir, are correct. I assumed that he was flaming Bush for the California GPS system. I was not aware that he was discussing the Patriot act. My bad for not checking the parent.
And I am NOT ultra-conservative. I am just annoyed by ultra-liberal. For your information, I tend to be conservative on moral issues, and liberal on money and privacy issues. And I think that certain parts of the Patriot act are just plain terrible and stupid.
Lucky you. For many people, living within biking distance of work means paying an increase in rent/morgage greater than the savings afforded by riding a bike.
What I wonder is if the actual path is recorded, or just the milage. Would the path be sent to the pump, or just the milage. Also, how suceptible would this be to hacking (my guess is VERY).
Waaaait a second here. This is GOOD NEWS. Geeks drive for free!!! Somebody somewhere will figure out how to defeat this thing.