About 10 years ago, when visiting an air force base in Australia (as a journalist) I asked about the clear navigational dome on some of the older aircraft. I expected to hear a response about how the aircraft in service were all so old that they predated more modern navigation methods, but was suprised to hear,
"The US government may be able to turn off the GPS system, but they still can't turn off the stars".
They were serious. This pretty much illustrated to me that most countries don't trust the GPS system for critical purposes.
I'd second that. I've read most of the novels mentioned, and Richard Morgen's "Altered Carbon" leaves most of them behind.
It's one of the only books I have read where you don't see many of the twists coming despite his rubbing your nose in it.
I really object to it's omission. I guess I should probably make it personal...
(heh, not seriously...)
GrpA
Re:What's wrong with games just they way they are.
on
But Is It Art?
·
· Score: 1
Yes, I know how much work and time and money goes into games. I was developing them commercially over 20 years ago... Back when you started game development with a soldering iron and not a keyboard. (Well, maybe with a cassette deck, if you were using a Spectrum or similar PC of the era).
And yes, I wrote and made things I liked, although my job was also to write/make/build games that appealed to others, and I enjoyed that too.
I guess that would have been when I was writing the sermon. And you better believe I made stuff to be as popular as possible with the target audience. And yes, it was a niche audience.
But Im not so arrogant to beleive that you need to be a high-value game developer to make a great game you (and others) enjoy. That would be insulting to people who have single-handedly written classics, or the smaller companies.
I don't need to write games, because I can find what I like already made, but there are many people all over the world who have a great idea that they'd like to play, but can't find it so they write it - The world knows them as "Independant Games Designers". My eldest son, at 13, is one of them.
The greatness of a game is in the gameplay to those who enjoy it...
GrpA
What's wrong with games just they way they are...
on
But Is It Art?
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I'm getting tired of hearing how games need to change to meet some social ideal of the people pushing them.
I pretty much like games just the way they are, and seriously, if I didn't like them, and I really felt that something was missing from games, I'd just get off my backside and write a game I liked...
Why is it that when a niche happens to like something, someone always feels it's time to change the status quo to increase the appeal to people outside of that niche, at the expense of the people within it.
Sure, I don't like all games. But there are plenty to go around, and I find there are still lots of games that I do like... Even the commercial ones.
I'm in the choir and I like the sermon... Please leave it that way.
Having recently started looking at Intel laptops, I was hoping for a little information on the Laptop processors, especially as the clock speeds stated and actual are so varied. Sadly, the article only touched on Laptop series processors and failed to provide any real depth to this point.
It's a pocket-harddrive sized file-server with WIFI and Ethernet. The server side is often handy.
It's probably not as small as you may be looking for, but it is pocket sized (a little larger than a 2.5" HDD) and runs embedded Linux and SMB, with file shares, which makes it quite a useful took to carry around.
It wouldn't take much to convert it to battery operation,
Heh, this question is not as difficult as it seems. All off the shelf stuff.
Sure, you need positive pressure in the case, but think Auto Shop!
They sell high volume paper/oil air filters. The oil traps the airborne dust particles quite effectively, and they are easy to replace.
So, just find an old turbo, install a brushless motor from a RC plane and controller with a servo activator PCB (many hobby places sell these) so you can adjust the speed - or even control it straight from the PC.
Use this as the impellor, with the Turbo attached to the case (mock up the back end, or even use it as the exhaust) and just attach an Auto Pod Filter...
Don't forget to add "Phulli Sik" stickers to the side of the case, and maybe a few logo's on the front.... AMD, Nvidia, etc. Attached to the drive bay door at a slight angle. (With an Intel sticker cut in half, upside down, on the spoiler.... You gotta have a spoiler).
Bonus points if the Turbo spools when you use a pedal accelerator on driving games.
Oh, and wear your cap on backwards at Lan parties.
Well, it might sound funny, but this would actually work. Of course, you can buy car air filters as flat panels also, and the oil comes in a spray can, but that's just cheating now!.
This isn't quite correct. The Mechwarrior books (and before that, the Battletech books) were all written following the BOARD game...
Many fantasy books were based, some loosely some specifically, on board games and RPGs long before computer versions were common.
A lot of thought goes into a role playing game. An entire universe is created before the characters.
People with an interest in that universe (who regularly "played" in it) would talk about their adventures they had experienced, appropriately decorated with imagination.
Some of these turned into stories, and I'm pretty sure the genre began there....
Computer RPG's. Board based RPG's.. There's not a lot of difference... Just the media changes.
That's the question you need to ask. Once answered, you will find the right hardware.
Ruggedised stuff usually is not that cheap.
Aside from ruggedised computers, as a general rule, Toshiba stuff usually stacks up pretty well, but even Toshiba's break things like plugs and drives pretty commonly.
Aside from high strength, also consider small. Small size automatically improves structure (think inverse square law)... Half the size, means four times the structural strength... Although it's actually higher, because all you are really reducing is the form factor.
I have a small 90's era Libretto that I carry around to play GO on, so it gets very harshly treated. But it's suitable for travel as well. PCMCIA adaptors are small, hard to break (if you get good ones) and cheap to replace if they do. It gets dragged around with me everywhere, and it's still working. And I don't really take care of it. But I can log on to networks, comprise emails, play go and serve files... It's great.
Something similarly small, and perhaps second hand (newer palmtops often have overheating problems) makes a great PC with little weight or space taken up.
But maybe a PC isn't the best choice? Perhaps a games box, eg, PSP or DS.... Or even a palm device?
Again, the smaller, the easier to cart around, and the stronger.
Finally, what are his friends carrying around? Something similar is often a good idea, even if it's not the best choice.
Think of something to just get the job done. If it's just for a few years, consider something that will just last that long. Also field strippable can help (Seriously!).
And keep in mind that in a year or so, he'll know what he wants. Better then to get you to send it to him, so whatever he leaves with might only need to last a year.
Finally, keep in mind the operating system you choose. You want something he can fix himself, even if he needs to blow it all away, so being able to boot from a CD or USB you include and fix all might be a good idea too.
I know it's not the theme of the article, but it's just as obvious...
One chip means smaller and lower power consumption possibilities as well. It goes hand in hand with cheaper.
It will help lead to phones in watches as well as integration into other devices (eg, directly into mobile PC's as a standard chipset for GPRS integration. )
Cheap is nice too, but it's just part of the overall advantage.
A generalisation I realise, but the difference is there... China supports their hackers- instils a sense of public pride, and influences their skills to the betterment of their community.
In the "West", hackers are merely seen as a threat to governmental regulation... And demonised.
It's not that suprising China is doing so well in this new environment. Some of their new technology is very innovative - hacker style.
>>No one notices a few Kilowatts disappearing.
>>Except ricers.
>I'm sorry, but you're completely full of shit.
>Every time my A/C compressor clicks on while
>I'm driving, I can tell; I drive a manual, and
>if I'm paying enough attention, I can tell
>especially if revs are low (ie 2k).
That's because you're a ricer - I can tell from your response;) (Tongue in cheek)
Heh. Don't take that seriously. I'm not trying to start a flame war. And I apologise if you took exception to my generalisation.
I'm quite familiar with HP and power ratings. AFAIK, the compressors are most efficient at low RPM, when there is plenty of torque available, so the effect would be even less....
However, for the sake of a quick post to an audience in which probably only about 1% of readers understand the relationship between torque, power and rpm, I thought I'd simplify.
As for my experience and background with cars? Have a close look at my alias.
GrpA.
Vapour phase airconditioning uses direct power from the engine, which often has an output of 100+ Kilowatts. More in a recent design.
No one notices a few Kilowatts disappearing. Except ricers.
Peltier devices come from the Altenator with an output capacity of around 1Kw or less, And most of that is used by Lights, Engine management etc... And for charging the battery
There's not a lot of electricity spare to run a Peltier based cooling device.
I've built something similar myself for a car once, but it only provides piped air - and didn't have to cool the whole cabin.
A 12 amp peltier device consumes a LOT of power... About 150 watts Not all cars can spare that much. And it doesn't cool much either.
I'm sorry I can't get the article up though. I really wanted to read it:(
Otherwise you might as well leave your objectives at soldering.... Choose something you actually want to do with hardware and progress down that path.
The objective you choose will define the path you need to take.
I started with wanting to build a Joystick interface for Sinclair Spectrums back in the mid-eighties. So then I went out and got books on microprocessor interfacing and spectrum architecture. The learning was simply a natural process then.
There is plenty of fun hardware stuff you can do. Hack a cheap 2 channel radio control into a 10 channel monster with a mini PC in charge ! Build a set of servo's to control a camera remotely ! But choose something you actually wanted to do, or you will just waste your time doing stuff that seems pointless.
I'd second the suggestion of getting some Forrest Mimms stuff. The books seem kind of basic, but they are good... I used to keep them in my reference library way back when I was employed as a serious R&D Engineer as a quick reference to some stuff I was uncomfortable with.... (I was mainly digital, and only sometimes dabbled in analogue).
Also, the Electronics Cookbook is a more serious text that is very useful. Especially if you start to get into more powerful circuits or RF.
After that, you'll need more specific texts that relate to what you are doing.
And as every great hardware hacker knows, if you have a need, the knowledge will slowly present itself. It's the one fixed law of the universe.
Try Bittorrent... Seriously.
It's one of the few applications that can route around congestion, because it takes bits of a file from various locations. Hence, some will have less congestion than others. And it will balance the remaining download automatically to congest as many paths as it can.
Other swarming technologies should be capable of this also - I know some people who were working on just such a project a long time ago, which involved distributing files and applications across a swarming network, although they never got the vendor capital they desired and so canned the project.
You can also write applications that do this dynamically.
Set your routers to provide path differentiation (not difficult - most routers can handle this, based on policies) and determine a method to distribute load based on packet loss or receive rate and differentiate path with a swarm based algorythm.
Of course, that's purely at the application level.
At the lower network level, you need to consider that it's really not a good idea to let routers decide how to do this for themselves. Other than prioritisation based on TOS or similar, routers are much better to keep routing at a simple level.
It's better to build in the intelligence at the application layer rather than the network layer if possible -
Regards
David
To put this in perspective for non-go players...
on
Computer Cracks 5x5 Go
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Since computers have started to beat strong chess players, it *is* taken for granted by many that computers can beat reasonably strong people with today's processing power.
Presently, if a typical geek started playing Go, they would get their ass kicked by the weakest computer for a week or two.
After a month, they would be winning the odd game, if the computer gave them a 3-stone headstart. (Like 3 free moves to start in chess).
After three months, they would win some games in an even match against the weaker programs (Turbo-go)
After six months, they would be winning against a 3-stone or higher handicap for the computer.
Then they find a stronger Go program.
They start to lose every match again.
After another month or so, they start to win on the weaker levels.
Take it six months ahead, and they are smashing the computer in an even match with no handicap, playing white (white moves second) or at lower levels against a 3 or 4 stone handicap.
The only thing that makes the game playable against a computer is that Go has an incredible handicapping system that lets uneven players play against each other.
So what makes this story interesting? Aside from the brute strength issue?
The first moves of the game, often in the corners in roughly a five-by-five area (Joseki) are only recently being evaluated for best move potential...
That can affect the outcome of professional matches played for big $$$$.
But more importantly for people like me, I can't play humans much... Kids, wife and home environment mean I can't spend 30 minutes undisturbed, so playing against human opponents is out for me.
Any technology that makes computer programs stronger, improves algorythms or makes me play harder will keep my morning bus trips interesting.
Because Go programs have got a long way to go if they are easily defeated against a human opponent with just 1 year experience.... Who would be easily classed as a novice let alone just a weak player.
I needed to build some apps for work. Database access, call logging, client timesheets etc.
I started to develop for Symbian at first - which is pretty good, and the SDKs are free, and there are a number of languages supported also.
But then I began developing web-apps for the phones that were sensitive to the phone's high bandwidth cost. Keeping the graphics to a minimum.
Now I can access databases remotely, pull down maps, and perform all the tasks I was going to run on the phone via the built in web browser.
It costs me five or ten cents per task for bandwidth on average... But that's nothing compared to SMS costs, and because it's not phone specific ( it is afterall, just a webpage ) now some of my co-workers have started to use the apps on less smart phones...
I think we'll see more webpages designed for 208x320 resolution in the future.... We could use a small banner "This website best viewed at 208x320" - but that's just a waste... Would cost me 0.1 cents per banner...:)
If you show them anything with AC or that has any cyclic voltage variation, show it to them on an oscilloscope.... It's much easier to a 12yo if they can visualise what is going on.
However basic electronics is the stuff that 12yo kids get - show them the foundations...
The wire-wound rheostat. The two-pencil carbon arc. Heating nichrome wire to make a poor filament. Build a battery in a beaker. Hand-wind a motor and build it on plywood with wire. Electromagnet locking to a piece of metal. Morse key, with a solenoid recording the results.
You want to show them something so that the building block *stays* in their mind....
If the idea is simple enough, it stays with them forever.
GrpA
Wrong path in my opinion....
on
230mph Electric Car
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
The real threat to the existing car industry isn't this. It's the electric scooters that already come out of china for around $50 in bulk. They are light, easy to maintain and do around 20Kph.
But you can already get electric scooters that go up to 100kph, and just 1Kw of electric motor will get you up to around 50 to 60 Kph.
How long before a 5 to 10 Kw electric car, weighing around 300Kg, with a lightweight tube-steel frame for a single person comes out under $2000 using the same technology as they build into present bikes and scooters?
The biggest hurdle to this was cheap electric motors in mass supply. Battery technology was at the right level a few years back. Now the motors are available because of scooters with hub drives appearing. Mostly being built for use *in* China.
And the niche for a vehicle that carries a single person around at 80 to 100 Kph for daily commuting that could park in a MC bay still exists (Clive Sinclair's M5 was a realisation of this niche, but failed for a number of reasons, although they are still worth more than when new)
I'm waiting for the $2000 model.... Even if I do have to license it, it will actually make it cheaper to drive to work...
Besides, I have a much more serious car to drive for when I want to have fun, which is wasted on the daily commute trip!
Because CRTs obviously aren't an important use of a very LARGE vacuum tube for us geeks now are they???? Let alone people who watched TV's long before plasma sets were available...
Slashdot Mirror
About 10 years ago, when visiting an air force base in Australia (as a journalist) I asked about the clear navigational dome on some of the older aircraft. I expected to hear a response about how the aircraft in service were all so old that they predated more modern navigation methods, but was suprised to hear,
"The US government may be able to turn off the GPS system, but they still can't turn off the stars".
They were serious. This pretty much illustrated to me that most countries don't trust the GPS system for critical purposes.
GrpA
Maybe I've been missing it, but it's a rather ironic poor choice of title to choose to represent themselves isn't it?
GrpA
I'd second that. I've read most of the novels mentioned, and Richard Morgen's "Altered Carbon" leaves most of them behind.
It's one of the only books I have read where you don't see many of the twists coming despite his rubbing your nose in it.
I really object to it's omission. I guess I should probably make it personal...
(heh, not seriously...)
GrpA
Yes, I know how much work and time and money goes into games. I was developing them commercially over 20 years ago... Back when you started game development with a soldering iron and not a keyboard. (Well, maybe with a cassette deck, if you were using a Spectrum or similar PC of the era).
And yes, I wrote and made things I liked, although my job was also to write/make/build games that appealed to others, and I enjoyed that too.
I guess that would have been when I was writing the sermon. And you better believe I made stuff to be as popular as possible with the target audience. And yes, it was a niche audience.
But Im not so arrogant to beleive that you need to be a high-value game developer to make a great game you (and others) enjoy. That would be insulting to people who have single-handedly written classics, or the smaller companies.
I don't need to write games, because I can find what I like already made, but there are many people all over the world who have a great idea that they'd like to play, but can't find it so they write it - The world knows them as "Independant Games Designers". My eldest son, at 13, is one of them.
The greatness of a game is in the gameplay to those who enjoy it...
GrpA
I'm getting tired of hearing how games need to change to meet some social ideal of the people pushing them.
I pretty much like games just the way they are, and seriously, if I didn't like them, and I really felt that something was missing from games, I'd just get off my backside and write a game I liked...
Why is it that when a niche happens to like something, someone always feels it's time to change the status quo to increase the appeal to people outside of that niche, at the expense of the people within it.
Sure, I don't like all games. But there are plenty to go around, and I find there are still lots of games that I do like... Even the commercial ones.
I'm in the choir and I like the sermon... Please leave it that way.
GrpA
Having recently started looking at Intel laptops, I was hoping for a little information on the Laptop processors, especially as the clock speeds stated and actual are so varied. Sadly, the article only touched on Laptop series processors and failed to provide any real depth to this point.
GrpA
I use an ASUS WL-HDD 2.5 for these kind of things.
0 &model=460&modelmenu=1
http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=12&l2=44&l3=
It's a pocket-harddrive sized file-server with WIFI and Ethernet. The server side is often handy.
It's probably not as small as you may be looking for, but it is pocket sized (a little larger than a 2.5" HDD) and runs embedded Linux and SMB, with file shares, which makes it quite a useful took to carry around.
It wouldn't take much to convert it to battery operation,
GrpA.
Heh, this question is not as difficult as it seems. All off the shelf stuff.
.... You gotta have a spoiler).
Sure, you need positive pressure in the case, but think Auto Shop!
They sell high volume paper/oil air filters. The oil traps the airborne dust particles quite effectively, and they are easy to replace.
So, just find an old turbo, install a brushless motor from a RC plane and controller with a servo activator PCB (many hobby places sell these) so you can adjust the speed - or even control it straight from the PC.
Use this as the impellor, with the Turbo attached to the case (mock up the back end, or even use it as the exhaust) and just attach an Auto Pod Filter...
Don't forget to add "Phulli Sik" stickers to the side of the case, and maybe a few logo's on the front.... AMD, Nvidia, etc. Attached to the drive bay door at a slight angle. (With an Intel sticker cut in half, upside down, on the spoiler
Bonus points if the Turbo spools when you use a pedal accelerator on driving games.
Oh, and wear your cap on backwards at Lan parties.
Well, it might sound funny, but this would actually work. Of course, you can buy car air filters as flat panels also, and the oil comes in a spray can, but that's just cheating now!.
GrpA
Most (possibly all) of the Mechwarrior games, except the first one, were directly based on Michael Stackpole's stories as well....
He is an exceptional author. I think he's branched out quite a bit since then..
GrpA
This isn't quite correct. The Mechwarrior books (and before that, the Battletech books) were all written following the BOARD game...
Many fantasy books were based, some loosely some specifically, on board games and RPGs long before computer versions were common.
A lot of thought goes into a role playing game. An entire universe is created before the characters.
People with an interest in that universe (who regularly "played" in it) would talk about their adventures they had experienced, appropriately decorated with imagination.
Some of these turned into stories, and I'm pretty sure the genre began there....
Computer RPG's. Board based RPG's.. There's not a lot of difference... Just the media changes.
GrpA
That's the question you need to ask. Once answered, you will find the right hardware.
Ruggedised stuff usually is not that cheap.
Aside from ruggedised computers, as a general rule, Toshiba stuff usually stacks up pretty well, but even Toshiba's break things like plugs and drives pretty commonly.
Aside from high strength, also consider small. Small size automatically improves structure (think inverse square law)... Half the size, means four times the structural strength... Although it's actually higher, because all you are really reducing is the form factor.
I have a small 90's era Libretto that I carry around to play GO on, so it gets very harshly treated. But it's suitable for travel as well. PCMCIA adaptors are small, hard to break (if you get good ones) and cheap to replace if they do. It gets dragged around with me everywhere, and it's still working. And I don't really take care of it. But I can log on to networks, comprise emails, play go and serve files... It's great.
Something similarly small, and perhaps second hand (newer palmtops often have overheating problems) makes a great PC with little weight or space taken up.
But maybe a PC isn't the best choice? Perhaps a games box, eg, PSP or DS.... Or even a palm device?
Again, the smaller, the easier to cart around, and the stronger.
Finally, what are his friends carrying around? Something similar is often a good idea, even if it's not the best choice.
Think of something to just get the job done. If it's just for a few years, consider something that will just last that long. Also field strippable can help (Seriously!).
And keep in mind that in a year or so, he'll know what he wants. Better then to get you to send it to him, so whatever he leaves with might only need to last a year.
Finally, keep in mind the operating system you choose. You want something he can fix himself, even if he needs to blow it all away, so being able to boot from a CD or USB you include and fix all might be a good idea too.
Just some thoughts.
GrpA
http://www.prognosis.com/ Also, consider IP SLA (Cisco) GrpA
I know it's not the theme of the article, but it's just as obvious...
One chip means smaller and lower power consumption possibilities as well. It goes hand in hand with cheaper.
It will help lead to phones in watches as well as integration into other devices (eg, directly into mobile PC's as a standard chipset for GPRS integration. )
Cheap is nice too, but it's just part of the overall advantage.
GrpA
Although it does make it a little hard to see where I am going...
But it has the added benefit of keeping out the mind control rays...
GrpA
A generalisation I realise, but the difference is there... China supports their hackers- instils a sense of public pride, and influences their skills to the betterment of their community.
In the "West", hackers are merely seen as a threat to governmental regulation... And demonised.
It's not that suprising China is doing so well in this new environment. Some of their new technology is very innovative - hacker style.
GrpA.
>>No one notices a few Kilowatts disappearing. >>Except ricers. >I'm sorry, but you're completely full of shit. >Every time my A/C compressor clicks on while >I'm driving, I can tell; I drive a manual, and >if I'm paying enough attention, I can tell >especially if revs are low (ie 2k). That's because you're a ricer - I can tell from your response ;) (Tongue in cheek)
Heh. Don't take that seriously. I'm not trying to start a flame war. And I apologise if you took exception to my generalisation.
I'm quite familiar with HP and power ratings. AFAIK, the compressors are most efficient at low RPM, when there is plenty of torque available, so the effect would be even less....
However, for the sake of a quick post to an audience in which probably only about 1% of readers understand the relationship between torque, power and rpm, I thought I'd simplify.
As for my experience and background with cars? Have a close look at my alias.
GrpA.
Vapour phase airconditioning uses direct power from the engine, which often has an output of 100+ Kilowatts. More in a recent design.
:(
:)
No one notices a few Kilowatts disappearing. Except ricers.
Peltier devices come from the Altenator with an output capacity of around 1Kw or less, And most of that is used by Lights, Engine management etc... And for charging the battery
There's not a lot of electricity spare to run a Peltier based cooling device.
I've built something similar myself for a car once, but it only provides piped air - and didn't have to cool the whole cabin.
A 12 amp peltier device consumes a LOT of power... About 150 watts Not all cars can spare that much. And it doesn't cool much either.
I'm sorry I can't get the article up though. I really wanted to read it
Good on them though for experimenting
GrpA.
Otherwise you might as well leave your objectives at soldering.... Choose something you actually want to do with hardware and progress down that path.
The objective you choose will define the path you need to take.
I started with wanting to build a Joystick interface for Sinclair Spectrums back in the mid-eighties. So then I went out and got books on microprocessor interfacing and spectrum architecture. The learning was simply a natural process then.
There is plenty of fun hardware stuff you can do. Hack a cheap 2 channel radio control into a 10 channel monster with a mini PC in charge ! Build a set of servo's to control a camera remotely ! But choose something you actually wanted to do, or you will just waste your time doing stuff that seems pointless.
I'd second the suggestion of getting some Forrest Mimms stuff. The books seem kind of basic, but they are good... I used to keep them in my reference library way back when I was employed as a serious R&D Engineer as a quick reference to some stuff I was uncomfortable with.... (I was mainly digital, and only sometimes dabbled in analogue).
Also, the Electronics Cookbook is a more serious text that is very useful. Especially if you start to get into more powerful circuits or RF.
After that, you'll need more specific texts that relate to what you are doing.
And as every great hardware hacker knows, if you have a need, the knowledge will slowly present itself. It's the one fixed law of the universe.
David.
I'm going to convince my kids to play hookey and they can come along too!
Try Bittorrent... Seriously. It's one of the few applications that can route around congestion, because it takes bits of a file from various locations. Hence, some will have less congestion than others. And it will balance the remaining download automatically to congest as many paths as it can. Other swarming technologies should be capable of this also - I know some people who were working on just such a project a long time ago, which involved distributing files and applications across a swarming network, although they never got the vendor capital they desired and so canned the project. You can also write applications that do this dynamically. Set your routers to provide path differentiation (not difficult - most routers can handle this, based on policies) and determine a method to distribute load based on packet loss or receive rate and differentiate path with a swarm based algorythm. Of course, that's purely at the application level. At the lower network level, you need to consider that it's really not a good idea to let routers decide how to do this for themselves. Other than prioritisation based on TOS or similar, routers are much better to keep routing at a simple level. It's better to build in the intelligence at the application layer rather than the network layer if possible - Regards David
Since computers have started to beat strong chess players, it *is* taken for granted by many that computers can beat reasonably strong people with today's processing power.
Presently, if a typical geek started playing Go, they would get their ass kicked by the weakest computer for a week or two.
After a month, they would be winning the odd game, if the computer gave them a 3-stone headstart. (Like 3 free moves to start in chess).
After three months, they would win some games in an even match against the weaker programs (Turbo-go)
After six months, they would be winning against a 3-stone or higher handicap for the computer.
Then they find a stronger Go program.
They start to lose every match again.
After another month or so, they start to win on the weaker levels.
Take it six months ahead, and they are smashing the computer in an even match with no handicap, playing white (white moves second) or at lower levels against a 3 or 4 stone handicap.
The only thing that makes the game playable against a computer is that Go has an incredible handicapping system that lets uneven players play against each other.
So what makes this story interesting? Aside from the brute strength issue?
The first moves of the game, often in the corners in roughly a five-by-five area (Joseki) are only recently being evaluated for best move potential...
That can affect the outcome of professional matches played for big $$$$.
But more importantly for people like me, I can't play humans much... Kids, wife and home environment mean I can't spend 30 minutes undisturbed, so playing against human opponents is out for me.
Any technology that makes computer programs stronger, improves algorythms or makes me play harder will keep my morning bus trips interesting.
Because Go programs have got a long way to go if they are easily defeated against a human opponent with just 1 year experience.... Who would be easily classed as a novice let alone just a weak player.
GrpA
I needed to build some apps for work. Database access, call logging, client timesheets etc.
:)
I started to develop for Symbian at first - which is pretty good, and the SDKs are free, and there are a number of languages supported also.
But then I began developing web-apps for the phones that were sensitive to the phone's high bandwidth cost. Keeping the graphics to a minimum.
Now I can access databases remotely, pull down maps, and perform all the tasks I was going to run on the phone via the built in web browser.
It costs me five or ten cents per task for bandwidth on average... But that's nothing compared to SMS costs, and because it's not phone specific ( it is afterall, just a webpage ) now some of my co-workers have started to use the apps on less smart phones...
I think we'll see more webpages designed for 208x320 resolution in the future.... We could use a small banner "This website best viewed at 208x320" - but that's just a waste... Would cost me 0.1 cents per banner...
GrpA
If you show them anything with AC or that has any cyclic voltage variation, show it to them on an oscilloscope.... It's much easier to a 12yo if they can visualise what is going on.
However basic electronics is the stuff that 12yo kids get - show them the foundations...
The wire-wound rheostat.
The two-pencil carbon arc.
Heating nichrome wire to make a poor filament.
Build a battery in a beaker.
Hand-wind a motor and build it on plywood with
wire.
Electromagnet locking to a piece of metal.
Morse key, with a solenoid recording the results.
You want to show them something so that the building block *stays* in their mind....
If the idea is simple enough, it stays with them forever.
GrpA
The real threat to the existing car industry isn't this. It's the electric scooters that already come out of china for around $50 in bulk. They are light, easy to maintain and do around 20Kph.
But you can already get electric scooters that go up to 100kph, and just 1Kw of electric motor will get you up to around 50 to 60 Kph.
How long before a 5 to 10 Kw electric car, weighing around 300Kg, with a lightweight tube-steel frame for a single person comes out under $2000 using the same technology as they build into present bikes and scooters?
The biggest hurdle to this was cheap electric motors in mass supply. Battery technology was at the right level a few years back. Now the motors are available because of scooters with hub drives appearing. Mostly being built for use *in* China.
And the niche for a vehicle that carries a single person around at 80 to 100 Kph for daily commuting that could park in a MC bay still exists (Clive Sinclair's M5 was a realisation of this niche, but failed for a number of reasons, although they are still worth more than when new)
I'm waiting for the $2000 model.... Even if I do have to license it, it will actually make it cheaper to drive to work...
Besides, I have a much more serious car to drive for when I want to have fun, which is wasted on the daily commute trip!
GrpA
Because CRTs obviously aren't an important use of a very LARGE vacuum tube for us geeks now are they???? Let alone people who watched TV's long before plasma sets were available...