AI RC choppers are not new or particularly funky. Mine's quite smart too. Granted this is rather funkier than normal but it's no massive leap forward as some may have you believe.
This game sounds like a groundbreaking new system for tracking potential violent offenders. Conspiracy theorists should start checking out where Rockstar got its advance for this project right about now...;-)
I'll bet some horrifying data could be gathered on the speed with which riders' heads impact the pavement after an accident.
Speaking as a motorcyclist, thanks for that unnecessary and rather gruesome little tid-bit. =/ I'll save you the research though; if I'm doing 90mph on my bike and I hit something that jolts me clear, then my head will hit the road at a little under 90mph. Or I suppose if I hit a truck doing 60mph head-on then similarly my head would hit the grill at just under 150mph.
Now, "horrifying data" aside, I also have a concern about HUD's in bike helmets. A few/.'ers have already pointed out that HUD's (Heads-Up) mean that you don't have to look down at your instruments thereby taking your eyes off the road. This much is true, but it's not always that helpful really. Every motorcycle I've ever ridden has had the instruments in a position that are quite easy to read with a casual (and speedy) flick of the eyes as opposed to a full head tilt. This means that I choose when I fill my head with this information and wait for moments of safety (i.e. not passing any junctions with those lethal car things peering out of them). But with a HUD, the rider has an abundant display of information all the time. Now actually I'm not so sure this is a good thing. I wouldn't mind a HUD too much myself, but we have to bear in mind that many motorcyclists are fairly casual (think born-again-bikers). These people are already a liability to themselves and others and I can't help but think that a HUD with all the 'cool data' (GPS, telephone, trip computer, fuel, speed etc.) would distract them a little too much.
Military jet pilots travelling at supersonic speeds with a huge and deadly payload screaming towards some unsuspecting target not only need that level of information in a HUD, but they also have to be trained to cope with it.
Aside from military pilots, perhaps F1 drivers and some other 'extreme' activities, I think that HUD's are an unnecessary and potentially quite dangerous distraction for your average civilian motorcyclist.
"His HUD was still frozen on the last thing he did before the crash. Apparently he was trying to dial the 1-800-How's my driving service."
This is a radio controlled glow-fuel (that's a simple internal combustion engine) helicopter that can be bought for a few hundred dollars and put together in an afternoon. As I said, I have one in my garage - a Century Hawk Sport with plenty of extras.
You can connect these things to PC's, run software simulations, install sophisticated gyro-stablizers and auto-pilots - you name it. FMA's co-pilot is a good start.
Now knowing all this, and having put together one myself, it sounds and looks suspiciously like "steadicopter" (who spent NIS 5million on a RC helicopter!!!) decided to cash in their insurance.
If the best you could do was put a "predator-like" white plastic bubble around your RC heli's cockpit then I must say, I can see why they gave up.
Palestinians take note - you can meet Israel's drone tech with a visit to Century.
Native people fighting against an occupying force are known as freedom fighters, not terrorists.
Indeed. Traditionally and throughout history, resistance movements or 'freedom fighters' tend to go for the hardest target they can get away with. Terrorists on the other hand go for the softest targets they can get away with.
Iraq had neither before the invasion although now it clearly has both. The U.S. military is coming under attack much in the same way that the Nazi occupation forces came under attack from military remnants and resistance fighters in 40's France. The aid organisations and international bodies such as the U.N. and I.C.R.C. are coming under attack from the mostly non-Iraqi extremist enemies of America. The truly scary thing is that once upon a time, these resistance types wouldn't have even considered speaking to the terrorist types - but now the Neocons seem to have done an excellent job of uniting them.
Where the RIAA should get in trouble is with the recent subponea issued for the wrong person. They essentially deprived this person of their right to privacy by wrongfully requesting that the person's ISP reveal their identity. This was in clear violation of their rights... and if the RIAA didn't have more lawyers than quality musicians, the person could do the country a world of good by suing the RIAA.
IANAL and certainly not someone who claims to understand the way U.S. litigation works but surely this is an opportunity for...well, opportunism.
I would expect some enterprising and enthusiastic young lawyer to persuade this person to pursue the matter in order to elevate their profile in a case that would doubtless attract global headlines.
With enough grass-roots support and perhaps even some corporate support solicited from ISP's, privacy bodies and human rights groups for example then it could even have far reaching and popular effects.
Yeah, point taken. I've been feeling a bit queasy about quite so many game violence article, too. We'll see if we can't cut them down somewhat in the future (or at least post round-ups).
Along with software patents, other IP-related matters, corporate consolidation and risk-a-phobia, this is nevertheless one of the most significant 'threats' to games that we face in these litigious and tempestuous times.
Even games based on real history have to be artificially toned down because of modern sensibilities - and Germany, for example, has already gone way too far. Anyone that cares about gaming needs to take an interest in what the mainstream gets to hear and read. IMHO, it's just another front in the war that/. is so good at fighting.
A lot of people suspect that. I personally think it's the best explanation. However, even if Blaster caused the outage and every "expert" at the plant knew it, it would NEVER be published that way. That would open up a whole new can of worms in the public eye. A security and publicity nightmare. No, if Blaster caused anything that issue will be quietly swept under the rug. Maybe Microsoft will suddenly not get a contract with the power generators anymore, but that's as far as we'll ever hear of it.
In case you missed it, Newsforge has a very interesting and relevant article.
A quote:
In that article, [Kevin] Poulsen offers a detailed description of how another Microsoft worm, Slammer, crashed two Unix-based control systems at the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in Northern Ohio.
It may be Microsoft's fault but it's not just Microsoft's operating systems that suffer.
Hang on a second, this is/. isn't it? I see a fair few responses looking to poke fun at the movie makers but shouldn't this be something we praise? Well let's take a look:
Pros:
An independant movie maker cutting out the MPAA-friendly 'Hollywood scene' altogether.
Direct distribution.
Low fee for download - about a fifth of the price of a cinema ticket.
Different quality levels available and the ability to store the movie and rewatch it.
The movie is also available on DVD and in the cinema so the consumer has plenty of options on what they pay for and what they get.
Some nice taglines: "This is not Hollywood", "This is not conventional", "This is not the end of cinema" etc.
DRM-tastic you can't watch it on any other PC than the one you downloaded it on. Until you've cracked it naturally. You've effectively paid your money to 'rent' the movie on that machine (in fairness the download fee is about the same as a 2 night DVD/VHS movie rental, which you have to return).
M$ Windows only
M$ Windows Media Player 9 only
Limited availability online - they're taking it offline on Sept 19th (subject to change), which means they've got a two week hype window for a movie that we'd have otherwise never heard of.
"This is not the Blair Witch Project" should read "We want to be a flash-in-the-pan Internet phenomenon like the BWP.
Biggest cast member seems to be a bit-part from Harry Potter.
Flash used as basis for website not as enhancements to it.
Franki and Jonny may need to calm down a little and explore some other web technologies.;-)
Oh and the director is virtually unknown but has achieved the respect of some of those that have seen his work.
In short this looks like a truly great idea hijacked by a bunch of overzealous marketing types that now see the Blair Witch symbol as more potent icon than the dollar symbol. As a result it's now just a-n-other overhyped budget movie release.
A Vivendi subsidiary would never have been allowed to delay their first title for nearly 2 years.
I used to work for VU on the games side before and during the 'merger'. People went over two years alright. I can't say for sure that it happened on a first title but it definitely happened. When we visited one particular developer's office (nameless naturally) all they'd really achieved in two years was a 12 page promotional booklet and a pathetic amount of research. Although the reverse of the wallchart behind the pool table showed a pretty hectic tournament history...;-)
What happened to the Havas involvement in Middle Earth? What happened to Bablyon 5? What happened to WON.net? Dig around a little and you'll soon see that the list of tragedies within VU is considerable and apparently ever-growing. My sympathies are with Blizzard. I know exactly what the 'VU uncertainty factor' feels like. At least whatever happens they no longer have to put up with Jean Marie Messier. And I hope for their sake that they'll be sold to a group under better management.
I'm devastated. Jimi Hendrix is on the list. First they tell me he's dead, and now they tell me he's a spammer. I guess he went to hell and that's where they taught him how to spam. Tragic.
Oh and I wonder how stealthy "stealth man" is feeling right now. Heh. Hehehe.
Apart from the obvious "innocent until proven guilty" matter, how about we don't publicly hang some kid for tweaking a virus until we've found the real author and proved his/her guilt.
But is spending 7 hours a day exploring the world of EverQuest really that productive or mind-expanding?
No, but playing something historically authentic and equally playable would certainly be more constructive than spending the time fragging terrorists or camping for the next uber-loot spawn.
But rather than concentrating on why the media picked it up (not a whole heck of a lot of media yet, either, and it's been quite some time), why not discuss something more useful?
You're right. We don't need to concentrate on that. I'll tell you why the media picked it up so we can move on. They picked it up because EverQuest 2 is on the hype offensive.
It'd be nice if a MMORPG tried to make gameplay a rewarding and even educational experience instead of pure reward-centre fuelled crack.
If the $$$ are your goal then you'll go for addicted customers every time.
If morals and ethics are up there alongside $$$ in your list of goals then you won't try and take advantage of all the potential crackheads out there.
Sure the addicts are suckers - and it IS their fault. But providers of everything that is consumed, be it food, drugs or entertainment, have a social and moral responsibility too.
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Of course it was - my bad. Note to self: don't post or moderate before my 11am medication (caffeine).
RolEx. I wish people pronounced things how they were spelt instead of spelling things however they pronounce them. =P
Don't mod that up ffs. :(
I mentioned this when the Israeli company pulled an insurance job on its "multi-million dollar" effort.
AI RC choppers are not new or particularly funky. Mine's quite smart too. Granted this is rather funkier than normal but it's no massive leap forward as some may have you believe.
Quick links:Century, FMA, Open source RC Heli auto-pilot project
This game sounds like a groundbreaking new system for tracking potential violent offenders. Conspiracy theorists should start checking out where Rockstar got its advance for this project right about now... ;-)
I'll bet some horrifying data could be gathered on the speed with which riders' heads impact the pavement after an accident.
/.'ers have already pointed out that HUD's (Heads-Up) mean that you don't have to look down at your instruments thereby taking your eyes off the road. This much is true, but it's not always that helpful really. Every motorcycle I've ever ridden has had the instruments in a position that are quite easy to read with a casual (and speedy) flick of the eyes as opposed to a full head tilt. This means that I choose when I fill my head with this information and wait for moments of safety (i.e. not passing any junctions with those lethal car things peering out of them). But with a HUD, the rider has an abundant display of information all the time. Now actually I'm not so sure this is a good thing. I wouldn't mind a HUD too much myself, but we have to bear in mind that many motorcyclists are fairly casual (think born-again-bikers). These people are already a liability to themselves and others and I can't help but think that a HUD with all the 'cool data' (GPS, telephone, trip computer, fuel, speed etc.) would distract them a little too much.
Speaking as a motorcyclist, thanks for that unnecessary and rather gruesome little tid-bit. =/ I'll save you the research though; if I'm doing 90mph on my bike and I hit something that jolts me clear, then my head will hit the road at a little under 90mph. Or I suppose if I hit a truck doing 60mph head-on then similarly my head would hit the grill at just under 150mph.
Now, "horrifying data" aside, I also have a concern about HUD's in bike helmets. A few
Military jet pilots travelling at supersonic speeds with a huge and deadly payload screaming towards some unsuspecting target not only need that level of information in a HUD, but they also have to be trained to cope with it.
Aside from military pilots, perhaps F1 drivers and some other 'extreme' activities, I think that HUD's are an unnecessary and potentially quite dangerous distraction for your average civilian motorcyclist.
"His HUD was still frozen on the last thing he did before the crash. Apparently he was trying to dial the 1-800-How's my driving service."
This is the "Steadicopter".
This is a radio controlled glow-fuel (that's a simple internal combustion engine) helicopter that can be bought for a few hundred dollars and put together in an afternoon. As I said, I have one in my garage - a Century Hawk Sport with plenty of extras.
You can connect these things to PC's, run software simulations, install sophisticated gyro-stablizers and auto-pilots - you name it. FMA's co-pilot is a good start.
Slashdot readers will be pleased to know that there's even an open-source autopilot project.
Now knowing all this, and having put together one myself, it sounds and looks suspiciously like "steadicopter" (who spent NIS 5million on a RC helicopter!!!) decided to cash in their insurance.
If the best you could do was put a "predator-like" white plastic bubble around your RC heli's cockpit then I must say, I can see why they gave up.
Palestinians take note - you can meet Israel's drone tech with a visit to Century.
Hopefully we'll get a few less of that spam now
Possibly. Either that or the global coverage that this story gets will give many more arsewits the same idea....
Native people fighting against an occupying force are known as freedom fighters, not terrorists.
Indeed. Traditionally and throughout history, resistance movements or 'freedom fighters' tend to go for the hardest target they can get away with. Terrorists on the other hand go for the softest targets they can get away with.
Iraq had neither before the invasion although now it clearly has both. The U.S. military is coming under attack much in the same way that the Nazi occupation forces came under attack from military remnants and resistance fighters in 40's France. The aid organisations and international bodies such as the U.N. and I.C.R.C. are coming under attack from the mostly non-Iraqi extremist enemies of America. The truly scary thing is that once upon a time, these resistance types wouldn't have even considered speaking to the terrorist types - but now the Neocons seem to have done an excellent job of uniting them.
Is this /. or MUD-Dev? From the responses to all the MUD/MMORPG related topics I'd say we have more players here than anything else.
Where the RIAA should get in trouble is with the recent subponea issued for the wrong person. They essentially deprived this person of their right to privacy by wrongfully requesting that the person's ISP reveal their identity. This was in clear violation of their rights ... and if the RIAA didn't have more lawyers than quality musicians, the person could do the country a world of good by suing the RIAA.
...well, opportunism.
IANAL and certainly not someone who claims to understand the way U.S. litigation works but surely this is an opportunity for
I would expect some enterprising and enthusiastic young lawyer to persuade this person to pursue the matter in order to elevate their profile in a case that would doubtless attract global headlines.
With enough grass-roots support and perhaps even some corporate support solicited from ISP's, privacy bodies and human rights groups for example then it could even have far reaching and popular effects.
Yeah, point taken. I've been feeling a bit queasy about quite so many game violence article, too. We'll see if we can't cut them down somewhat in the future (or at least post round-ups).
/. is so good at fighting.
Along with software patents, other IP-related matters, corporate consolidation and risk-a-phobia, this is nevertheless one of the most significant 'threats' to games that we face in these litigious and tempestuous times.
Even games based on real history have to be artificially toned down because of modern sensibilities - and Germany, for example, has already gone way too far. Anyone that cares about gaming needs to take an interest in what the mainstream gets to hear and read. IMHO, it's just another front in the war that
Mod parent up. It's your answer.
In case you missed it, Newsforge has a very interesting and relevant article.
A quote: It may be Microsoft's fault but it's not just Microsoft's operating systems that suffer.
Sorry to reply to my own post but apparently we've killed it already.
From their site:
"This is not working. We are currently experiencing a temporary technical problem in the delivery of the film," said the message.
"Our team is working on the delay and the film will be back online as soon as possible.
"This is a world first - thank you for bearing with us."
They had all my sympathies until the mentioned that "world first" line again.
Pros:
- An independant movie maker cutting out the MPAA-friendly 'Hollywood scene' altogether.
- Direct distribution.
- Low fee for download - about a fifth of the price of a cinema ticket.
- Different quality levels available and the ability to store the movie and rewatch it.
- The movie is also available on DVD and in the cinema so the consumer has plenty of options on what they pay for and what they get.
- Some nice taglines: "This is not Hollywood", "This is not conventional", "This is not the end of cinema" etc.
- Written by the guy that wrote The Full Monty.
Cons:- "UK-only" online release
- DRM-tastic you can't watch it on any other PC than the one you downloaded it on. Until you've cracked it naturally. You've effectively paid your money to 'rent' the movie on that machine (in fairness the download fee is about the same as a 2 night DVD/VHS movie rental, which you have to return).
- M$ Windows only
- M$ Windows Media Player 9 only
- Limited availability online - they're taking it offline on Sept 19th (subject to change), which means they've got a two week hype window for a movie that we'd have otherwise never heard of.
- "This is not the Blair Witch Project" should read "We want to be a flash-in-the-pan Internet phenomenon like the BWP.
- Biggest cast member seems to be a bit-part from Harry Potter.
- Flash used as basis for website not as enhancements to it.
- Franki and Jonny may need to calm down a little and explore some other web technologies.
;-)
Oh and the director is virtually unknown but has achieved the respect of some of those that have seen his work.In short this looks like a truly great idea hijacked by a bunch of overzealous marketing types that now see the Blair Witch symbol as more potent icon than the dollar symbol. As a result it's now just a-n-other overhyped budget movie release.
A Vivendi subsidiary would never have been allowed to delay their first title for nearly 2 years.
;-)
I used to work for VU on the games side before and during the 'merger'. People went over two years alright. I can't say for sure that it happened on a first title but it definitely happened. When we visited one particular developer's office (nameless naturally) all they'd really achieved in two years was a 12 page promotional booklet and a pathetic amount of research. Although the reverse of the wallchart behind the pool table showed a pretty hectic tournament history...
What happened to the Havas involvement in Middle Earth? What happened to Bablyon 5? What happened to WON.net? Dig around a little and you'll soon see that the list of tragedies within VU is considerable and apparently ever-growing. My sympathies are with Blizzard. I know exactly what the 'VU uncertainty factor' feels like. At least whatever happens they no longer have to put up with Jean Marie Messier. And I hope for their sake that they'll be sold to a group under better management.
I'm devastated. Jimi Hendrix is on the list. First they tell me he's dead, and now they tell me he's a spammer. I guess he went to hell and that's where they taught him how to spam. Tragic.
Oh and I wonder how stealthy "stealth man" is feeling right now. Heh. Hehehe.
Apart from the obvious "innocent until proven guilty" matter, how about we don't publicly hang some kid for tweaking a virus until we've found the real author and proved his/her guilt.
Mod parent up. It's bad enough that the BBC runs such a misleading article - don't let's perpetuate the nonsense here on /. please.
But is spending 7 hours a day exploring the world of EverQuest really that productive or mind-expanding?
No, but playing something historically authentic and equally playable would certainly be more constructive than spending the time fragging terrorists or camping for the next uber-loot spawn.
But rather than concentrating on why the media picked it up (not a whole heck of a lot of media yet, either, and it's been quite some time), why not discuss something more useful?
You're right. We don't need to concentrate on that. I'll tell you why the media picked it up so we can move on. They picked it up because EverQuest 2 is on the hype offensive.
It'd be nice if a MMORPG tried to make gameplay a rewarding and even educational experience instead of pure reward-centre fuelled crack.
If the $$$ are your goal then you'll go for addicted customers every time.
If morals and ethics are up there alongside $$$ in your list of goals then you won't try and take advantage of all the potential crackheads out there.
Sure the addicts are suckers - and it IS their fault. But providers of everything that is consumed, be it food, drugs or entertainment, have a social and moral responsibility too.
Take the nature of your employers into consideration before saying 'no' to them.
You might just end up being found "dead in the woods".
And hang on a second - didn't we just cover poor journalism?