What if I don't own a console -- or don't want to own a console?
The wonderful thing about computers is they can simulate anything else -- including a game console, or better yet, a more complex interface (such as a flight sim) - while also allowing me to concurrently search the web, write in my blog, podcast, record my music, and write software...a console can't do that.
The more we move away from the general purpose computer, the more we will be constrained by the limitations imposed on us by the console makers - and each will have their own standards and OS - creating walled gardens, instead of standards based architectures. Furthermore, if consoles are opened up to be as general purpose as a computer --- why bother having a console in the first place?
The problem is, if the Government forces a standard, it will be a crap standard that won't allow for innovative new services.
Unless that standard is FIDI to the home, with something like OC12 bandwidth - I'll be happy with what I've got (3MB/sec up - 1MB/sec down DSL). More thank likely it will be 1MB Up, 750K Down cruft.
No thank you - if providing that to everyone in the universe prevents me for getting better service, or worse, causes my rates to rise to such a level that I can't afford an enhanced service...ugh...
"Hacker complains that mass market gear is not hackable enough....pictures at 11".
Come on now, we know the ratio of geeks able to benefit from an open development platform is infinitely small in comparison to the average Joe - who just wants to use something that works without him having to know anything about how it works.
Woz may not like it, but I hardly think that heralds the demise of either platform (iPod/iPhone).
Why doesn't Google just get on the OpenSIM bandwagon? They could push forward development of a system that already interacts with the 2nd Life grid (IBM and Linden Labs had the first 'Gridnauts' travel between grids at IBM and the 2nd Life test grid a month ago) -- and help establish the communications protocols and policies for handling avatars and intellectual property on the grid.
No -- they have to create something uncompatible, in an effort to --- what?
1. Create crippled 2nd Life competitor. 2. Announce it will be the next gen game platform after lukewarm reviews. 3. ??? 4. Profit!!!
The experience you are talking about is not going to be supported in a browser plugin. The 2D browser should be an appendage, like the ubiquitous notepad, launched from within the virtual world, but separate from it (and SL supports that today).
To become a gaming platform you need near-real-time communications and rendering, you need tunable physics that can mimic the real world or conversely places unheard of or unattainable by most people (e.g. weightlessness of space). Doing this will also give you the photo-realistic experience you describe.
For me -- I want the 3D window to be full screen to get the most benefit - visually, and for working/building/communicating in that 3D world. It can't be a little window in a 2D browser - because neither experience will be good.
You actually have to use an external graphics editor (gimp, photoshop, et al) to create image textures for texture mapping; you then upload them (either as a batch zip file, or individually). I've uploaded.jpg.png.gif.bmp formats without any issues and used them in world. So from that perspective, how is that any different than web 2.0?
The LSL language is typed into 'note cards' (essentially SecondLife's text files) - and the note cards support syntax highlighting. To apply a script to an object, you drag and drop the note card into the object's 'content' tab area. You can then also use the Mono compiler to improve the running of the script (byte code compilation I believe). For the simple things I've scripted I haven't had to use the debugger - so I can't comment on its effectiveness or lack thereof.
Now - for more complex applications, you also have other alternatives -- the client viewer code is open source -- so you could retrofit the compatible viewer to include the development tools/capabilities that you find missing. Actually that is probably not a bad idea for a FOSS project to make development in SL easier --- and who knows someone might already be working on, or releasing that already . (P.S. There is also the OpenSIM project - which is a clean-room implementation of the SL server side system - that such companies as Cisco, IBM, Microsoft and others are using to create their own grids)
As an aside, you can also embed URLs not only in your note cards, but also in objects in the world -- which will launch your 2D browser of choice when clicked - so you already have a means of bridging the gap between the 3D and 2D world on a very simple and standards based level.
So -- SecondLife provides a lot of flexibility - and given initiatives to standardize communication protocols to support grid-hopping between the SecondLife grid and external OpenSIM grids/servers - I don't see how Google will be able to catch up - aside from making a dent in the casual chat users in SL -- who could give a rat's patootie about building/scripting -- but then again what SL resident would really miss them? (Also I would hazzard they would probably return to SL after seeing the cartoon-ish system that Lively is).
I compiled some of my scripts using the Mono compiler in SecondLife -- and it improved performance significantly. LLabs is making progress - albeit slower than some people want.
Given the sheer amount of ground that Google has to make up -- I don't see how Lively will compete. If anything, I can see Google Lively taking away some of the chatterboxes away from SL - but is that really a bad thing? (improving the signal to noise ratio is win-win as far as I'm concerned)
There actually is the IBM/OpenSIM/LindenLabs initiative to standardize movement between sims running on other systems. The first 'Gridnaut' transported between systems about a month ago - and there are numerous external OpenSim grids being run, and hundreds of single OpenSim sims accessible from the SecondLife test grid.
So -- the basic architecture for what you describe is already in place in an early form. They are now in the process of working out how to handle moving user intellectual property/content over along with the avatar for a continuous experience grid-hopping.
A lot of the issues brought up in this thread are already being addressed on a more mature platform -- so I don't know what Google can bring to the table. The lively spaces are very limiting, and there is little if any user created content - and what I saw was more akin to the old 'Palace' chat rooms than a real virtual world. Google's statement looks like they are targeting SecondLife's space -- but they are far behind - particularly from a standardization perspective, given IBM, Microsoft, Linden Labs et al participation.
Is this really NASA's job? Isn't there some other organisation in USA that does weather prediction etc?
No wonder they're not getting anywhere replacing aging shuttle fleets if they are playing with rubber ducks and earth climate modelling.
The parent post was not insightful.
Anything that can effect aviation and spaceflight is critical to understand. Furthermore their charter charges them with not only understanding these phenomena, but also to advance scientific knowledge for applications in these arenas.
Only Switzerland spends more, per capita than the US -- and their population is so small in comparison that it is noise. Russia is way down on the list, and China isn't on the list -- unless you count Hong Kong.
What does this mean? It means that per capita, Russia and China have more hackers than the US -- and if you believe most of the bot-nets originate from those places -- they probably account for a percentage of the US number too.
If you have a quadrophonic surround sound system using speakers -- then only way to triangulate the location of the sounds that are directly in front of, or directly behind you is to move your head. Once a sound is largely coming from off center - then you don't have to move your head because that serves the same purpose. This is the same issue with analog sounds -- if I am facing directly towards a given sound, and I have no other cues (such as echos off walls and such) -- I can not tell if the sound is in front of, or behind me.
Under most circumstances, your ears are getting cues from the diminished sounds coming from the other directions (echos and so forth) - which allows you to triangulate. With headphones, you have no such cues unless they are provided artificially.
The point I was making about what you described is that with a headphone set up, without some virtualized effects that mimics these diminished sounds and echos and the changing of the ears' location e.g. turning of the head -- you won't get any benefit - no matter how you turn your head with those headphones on, you can't have the sound swirl around you - as you describe without some additional input.
I've played video games that do provide surround sound - and the problem with playing with headphones is as I described. Luckily you can face your avatar's head in a different direction - thus artificially changing the orientation of the ears within the virtual sound field to allow you to triangulate. This is not currently possible with recordings - unless you are listening to them inside of a game that mimics a quadrophonic system...
I don't understand how this would work in practice. From your description, the sound would still be directed at one ear in a fixed manner; your left ear, for example, can't hear the right front speaker when you turn your head right because they are isolated on your ears.
The only way I could see this working would be to somehow move the speakers in reference to your ear - but to be effective, you would need 4 Boze bookshelf speakers hanging from a harness attached to your head -- or do that electronically to virtually create the same effect (bleeding over left/right and front/back in response to head movement). This concept actually might be good for gaming, where 3D sound is important (hear the enemy sneaking up on you in an FPS, and triangulate their position, by turning your head slightly).
Quadraphonic recording and playback have been around since the 1970s.
I recall my friend's dad had such a system -- it was cool but very expensive.
I also did multitrack recording later on.
One of the key aspects of creating a recording is that for most applications it is going to be mixed down to a stereo master. As such - you really don't want too much separation between the tracks - because it can be annoying for someone to listen to if taken to an extreme (particularly if they are listening through headphones). Most commonly you use a minimal separation where the instruments are still grouped in front of the listener -- but slightly offset (spread) to create the illusion of dimensionality - without blasting one of their ears, while the other strains to hear anything...
The rare exception would be to intentionally shift a given voice/track far left/right -- or even moving/traveling along those extremes - to provide an effect that compliments the music --- quite a few Pink Floyd, and Beatles tracks come to mind as early examples of this technique.
I am trying to think of contemporary music that goes out on that limb..but can't recall any from the major labels. I've heard some very interesting indie music that toys with this in more subtle ways.
Ultimately -- I don't think there will be a large enough demand for surround sound in music - given that most listeners are listening via a stereo device - iPod or the like. There certainly will never be a demand for a portable device that provides surround sound -- because you only have two ears; if you are facing directly towards the source of a sound, or directly away from the source -- you can not tell if it is in front of or behind you. The only way surround sound becomes useful, is when you can rotate your head in the sound field, thus allowing you to triangulate the location of the sound. You can't do that with headphones --- at least not traditional ear buds, or over ear phones.
I have a SanDisk player which has the microSD slot. I love the player- it also has a built-in FM tuner, and can show pictures and play video.
I bought a 2GB microSD drive to provide more room onboard. I would love to collect more SD cards so I can store music and other cruft - and swap it out at my whim without having to unload the songs I've loaded into the built-in memory. As a result this is appealing to me:
1. I get to try out new music I may not have heard.
2. I get another microSD card that I can load as I want, after I erase/save the music that came with it.
Win-Win for me. I know there was a reason I liked SanDisk -- now I like them even more.
PS. -- you can also hack the SanDisk players - for those who want to do more with it than just play tunes.
My fans are mostly well behaved as well. The dogs know how to sit and stay, but the cat never gives me any space or privacy at all - particularly at feeding time...
I am more concerned about the other end of that - time-keeping --- the communications networks get their time hacks from clocks based upon the decay rate of isotopes (e.g. a cesium clock).
The cool thing is, if this periodical effect is a constant function, then we can adjust our clocks based upon this new knowledge -- making them more accurate over the long haul.
As for carbon dating, assuming what I said was true, I don't see why you could not apply the function to get a more accurate reading - not that carbon dating is that accurate to begin with (from a human standpoint - if you are talking about increasing your accuracy by hours or even days -- that still lays well within the realm of statistical noise when you are talking about millions of years).
Any contract can be modified prior to the point of acceptance...
Take a red pen and line out and initial the things you disagree with. Similarly, you may add things you want to see.
If they sign the modified contract, then they are on the hook for it.
At the same token, if people would stop signing these 'boilerplate' contracts, companies might actually think about changing their policies - because they would be losing business to others who can. That being said, they would probably charge more to offset the flexibility they previously enjoyed.
Both looking a gift horse in the mouth, and complaining about its mode of transport:
"Oh no! I wanted to see it arrive via stretch limo pulling a gold encrusted bling-ed out horse trailer - and you bring me a rusty one instead...oh the humanity!!"
Slashdot Mirror
What if I don't own a console -- or don't want to own a console?
The wonderful thing about computers is they can simulate anything else -- including a game console, or better yet, a more complex interface (such as a flight sim) - while also allowing me to concurrently search the web, write in my blog, podcast, record my music, and write software...a console can't do that.
The more we move away from the general purpose computer, the more we will be constrained by the limitations imposed on us by the console makers - and each will have their own standards and OS - creating walled gardens, instead of standards based architectures. Furthermore, if consoles are opened up to be as general purpose as a computer --- why bother having a console in the first place?
...vote one party into the white house and the other into congress in the hopes that they spend more time bickering than doing anything..
Get with the program; I've been doing this since 1982! (when I could vote)
The SL client runs on Linux - so there is a virtual world for Linux.
Perl can read and write files using posix comliant I/O -- what else do you need?
The problem is, if the Government forces a standard, it will be a crap standard that won't allow for innovative new services.
Unless that standard is FIDI to the home, with something like OC12 bandwidth - I'll be happy with what I've got (3MB/sec up - 1MB/sec down DSL). More thank likely it will be 1MB Up, 750K Down cruft.
No thank you - if providing that to everyone in the universe prevents me for getting better service, or worse, causes my rates to rise to such a level that I can't afford an enhanced service...ugh...
"Hacker complains that mass market gear is not hackable enough....pictures at 11".
Come on now, we know the ratio of geeks able to benefit from an open development platform is infinitely small in comparison to the average Joe - who just wants to use something that works without him having to know anything about how it works.
Woz may not like it, but I hardly think that heralds the demise of either platform (iPod/iPhone).
Why doesn't Google just get on the OpenSIM bandwagon? They could push forward development of a system that already interacts with the 2nd Life grid (IBM and Linden Labs had the first 'Gridnauts' travel between grids at IBM and the 2nd Life test grid a month ago) -- and help establish the communications protocols and policies for handling avatars and intellectual property on the grid.
No -- they have to create something uncompatible, in an effort to --- what?
1. Create crippled 2nd Life competitor.
2. Announce it will be the next gen game platform after lukewarm reviews.
3. ???
4. Profit!!!
The experience you are talking about is not going to be supported in a browser plugin. The 2D browser should be an appendage, like the ubiquitous notepad, launched from within the virtual world, but separate from it (and SL supports that today).
To become a gaming platform you need near-real-time communications and rendering, you need tunable physics that can mimic the real world or conversely places unheard of or unattainable by most people (e.g. weightlessness of space). Doing this will also give you the photo-realistic experience you describe.
For me -- I want the 3D window to be full screen to get the most benefit - visually, and for working/building/communicating in that 3D world. It can't be a little window in a 2D browser - because neither experience will be good.
You actually have to use an external graphics editor (gimp, photoshop, et al) to create image textures for texture mapping; you then upload them (either as a batch zip file, or individually). I've uploaded .jpg .png .gif .bmp formats without any issues and used them in world. So from that perspective, how is that any different than web 2.0?
The LSL language is typed into 'note cards' (essentially SecondLife's text files) - and the note cards support syntax highlighting. To apply a script to an object, you drag and drop the note card into the object's 'content' tab area. You can then also use the Mono compiler to improve the running of the script (byte code compilation I believe). For the simple things I've scripted I haven't had to use the debugger - so I can't comment on its effectiveness or lack thereof.
Now - for more complex applications, you also have other alternatives -- the client viewer code is open source -- so you could retrofit the compatible viewer to include the development tools/capabilities that you find missing. Actually that is probably not a bad idea for a FOSS project to make development in SL easier --- and who knows someone might already be working on, or releasing that already . (P.S. There is also the OpenSIM project - which is a clean-room implementation of the SL server side system - that such companies as Cisco, IBM, Microsoft and others are using to create their own grids)
As an aside, you can also embed URLs not only in your note cards, but also in objects in the world -- which will launch your 2D browser of choice when clicked - so you already have a means of bridging the gap between the 3D and 2D world on a very simple and standards based level.
So -- SecondLife provides a lot of flexibility - and given initiatives to standardize communication protocols to support grid-hopping between the SecondLife grid and external OpenSIM grids/servers - I don't see how Google will be able to catch up - aside from making a dent in the casual chat users in SL -- who could give a rat's patootie about building/scripting -- but then again what SL resident would really miss them? (Also I would hazzard they would probably return to SL after seeing the cartoon-ish system that Lively is).
I compiled some of my scripts using the Mono compiler in SecondLife -- and it improved performance significantly. LLabs is making progress - albeit slower than some people want.
Given the sheer amount of ground that Google has to make up -- I don't see how Lively will compete. If anything, I can see Google Lively taking away some of the chatterboxes away from SL - but is that really a bad thing? (improving the signal to noise ratio is win-win as far as I'm concerned)
There actually is the IBM/OpenSIM/LindenLabs initiative to standardize movement between sims running on other systems. The first 'Gridnaut' transported between systems about a month ago - and there are numerous external OpenSim grids being run, and hundreds of single OpenSim sims accessible from the SecondLife test grid.
So -- the basic architecture for what you describe is already in place in an early form. They are now in the process of working out how to handle moving user intellectual property/content over along with the avatar for a continuous experience grid-hopping.
A lot of the issues brought up in this thread are already being addressed on a more mature platform -- so I don't know what Google can bring to the table. The lively spaces are very limiting, and there is little if any user created content - and what I saw was more akin to the old 'Palace' chat rooms than a real virtual world. Google's statement looks like they are targeting SecondLife's space -- but they are far behind - particularly from a standardization perspective, given IBM, Microsoft, Linden Labs et al participation.
Is this really NASA's job? Isn't there some other organisation in USA that does weather prediction etc?
No wonder they're not getting anywhere replacing aging shuttle fleets if they are playing with rubber ducks and earth climate modelling.
The parent post was not insightful.
Anything that can effect aviation and spaceflight is critical to understand. Furthermore their charter charges them with not only understanding these phenomena, but also to advance scientific knowledge for applications in these arenas.
What is the networked computers per Capita in these nations?
Hmmm this might be indicative:
Computer Expenditures Per Capita
Only Switzerland spends more, per capita than the US -- and their population is so small in comparison that it is noise. Russia is way down on the list, and China isn't on the list -- unless you count Hong Kong.
What does this mean? It means that per capita, Russia and China have more hackers than the US -- and if you believe most of the bot-nets originate from those places -- they probably account for a percentage of the US number too.
If you have a quadrophonic surround sound system using speakers -- then only way to triangulate the location of the sounds that are directly in front of, or directly behind you is to move your head. Once a sound is largely coming from off center - then you don't have to move your head because that serves the same purpose. This is the same issue with analog sounds -- if I am facing directly towards a given sound, and I have no other cues (such as echos off walls and such) -- I can not tell if the sound is in front of, or behind me.
Under most circumstances, your ears are getting cues from the diminished sounds coming from the other directions (echos and so forth) - which allows you to triangulate. With headphones, you have no such cues unless they are provided artificially.
The point I was making about what you described is that with a headphone set up, without some virtualized effects that mimics these diminished sounds and echos and the changing of the ears' location e.g. turning of the head -- you won't get any benefit - no matter how you turn your head with those headphones on, you can't have the sound swirl around you - as you describe without some additional input.
I've played video games that do provide surround sound - and the problem with playing with headphones is as I described. Luckily you can face your avatar's head in a different direction - thus artificially changing the orientation of the ears within the virtual sound field to allow you to triangulate. This is not currently possible with recordings - unless you are listening to them inside of a game that mimics a quadrophonic system...
I don't understand how this would work in practice. From your description, the sound would still be directed at one ear in a fixed manner; your left ear, for example, can't hear the right front speaker when you turn your head right because they are isolated on your ears.
The only way I could see this working would be to somehow move the speakers in reference to your ear - but to be effective, you would need 4 Boze bookshelf speakers hanging from a harness attached to your head -- or do that electronically to virtually create the same effect (bleeding over left/right and front/back in response to head movement). This concept actually might be good for gaming, where 3D sound is important (hear the enemy sneaking up on you in an FPS, and triangulate their position, by turning your head slightly).
Quadraphonic recording and playback have been around since the 1970s.
I recall my friend's dad had such a system -- it was cool but very expensive.
I also did multitrack recording later on.
One of the key aspects of creating a recording is that for most applications it is going to be mixed down to a stereo master. As such - you really don't want too much separation between the tracks - because it can be annoying for someone to listen to if taken to an extreme (particularly if they are listening through headphones). Most commonly you use a minimal separation where the instruments are still grouped in front of the listener -- but slightly offset (spread) to create the illusion of dimensionality - without blasting one of their ears, while the other strains to hear anything...
The rare exception would be to intentionally shift a given voice/track far left/right -- or even moving/traveling along those extremes - to provide an effect that compliments the music --- quite a few Pink Floyd, and Beatles tracks come to mind as early examples of this technique.
I am trying to think of contemporary music that goes out on that limb..but can't recall any from the major labels. I've heard some very interesting indie music that toys with this in more subtle ways.
Ultimately -- I don't think there will be a large enough demand for surround sound in music - given that most listeners are listening via a stereo device - iPod or the like. There certainly will never be a demand for a portable device that provides surround sound -- because you only have two ears; if you are facing directly towards the source of a sound, or directly away from the source -- you can not tell if it is in front of or behind you. The only way surround sound becomes useful, is when you can rotate your head in the sound field, thus allowing you to triangulate the location of the sound. You can't do that with headphones --- at least not traditional ear buds, or over ear phones.
I have a SanDisk player which has the microSD slot. I love the player- it also has a built-in FM tuner, and can show pictures and play video.
I bought a 2GB microSD drive to provide more room onboard. I would love to collect more SD cards so I can store music and other cruft - and swap it out at my whim without having to unload the songs I've loaded into the built-in memory. As a result this is appealing to me:
1. I get to try out new music I may not have heard.
2. I get another microSD card that I can load as I want, after I erase/save the music that came with it.
Win-Win for me. I know there was a reason I liked SanDisk -- now I like them even more.
PS. -- you can also hack the SanDisk players - for those who want to do more with it than just play tunes.
...using BEOS to find a woman guilty of killing her former fiancé.
I knew there was still a use for BeOS after all these years...
22% shared sensitive information from their prior employer ... ?! What could that be?
That could be illegal.
My fans are mostly well behaved as well. The dogs know how to sit and stay, but the cat never gives me any space or privacy at all - particularly at feeding time...
Five words: not in my back yard(pocket?)
I am more concerned about the other end of that - time-keeping --- the communications networks get their time hacks from clocks based upon the decay rate of isotopes (e.g. a cesium clock).
The cool thing is, if this periodical effect is a constant function, then we can adjust our clocks based upon this new knowledge -- making them more accurate over the long haul.
As for carbon dating, assuming what I said was true, I don't see why you could not apply the function to get a more accurate reading - not that carbon dating is that accurate to begin with (from a human standpoint - if you are talking about increasing your accuracy by hours or even days -- that still lays well within the realm of statistical noise when you are talking about millions of years).
I'm not sure how I would respond to some of the troubles other people experience or have reported here.
Thanks for the advanced warning...now, where did I put that bullet proof vest...?
Any contract can be modified prior to the point of acceptance...
Take a red pen and line out and initial the things you disagree with. Similarly, you may add things you want to see.
If they sign the modified contract, then they are on the hook for it.
At the same token, if people would stop signing these 'boilerplate' contracts, companies might actually think about changing their policies - because they would be losing business to others who can. That being said, they would probably charge more to offset the flexibility they previously enjoyed.
Both looking a gift horse in the mouth, and complaining about its mode of transport:
"Oh no! I wanted to see it arrive via stretch limo pulling a gold encrusted bling-ed out horse trailer - and you bring me a rusty one instead...oh the humanity!!"