These things might make cool rave lights since they would glow so when people dance! And they wouldn't run out, so they would be reusable for the next event.
Linus does not endorse DRM
on
Linux and DRM?
·
· Score: 5, Informative
...Linus Torvalds has already endorsed DRM on the Linux platform...
Quoth Linus:
"I also don't necessarily like DRM myself...I think you can use Linux for whatever you want to--which very much includes things I don't necessarily personally approve of."
That's not exactly a ringing endorsement. If it is, then Linux could be construed to have endorsed browsing Slashdot, child porn, and writing viruses.
Why hasn't anyone developed a system that, from the End-user perspective, works similarly to MSI installations (which work very well)... In principal, DEBS/RPMs work similarly to MSIs...
MSIs are fundamentally different than packages, although they aim for the same purpose.
First, MSIs typically run executable code and/or scripts to perform the installs. But packages usually contain just a list of files and locations, with no scripting required. This is important since a security-concious administrator won't want to run an MSI-like package since nothing stops it from doing rm -rf/. It alsmo makes them easier to create and maintain. Technically, an RPM or DEB can run scripts, but it is uncommon, and you can easily tear them apart and see the script they are running with a few simple commands.
Second, MSIs don't have a central database where all the file information is stored. There is some use of the registry for this, but it isn't quite as good. With RPM/DEB, I can ask the package manager: "What package does/usr/libfoobar.so.1.2.3" belong too?" and "What versions of/usr/libfoobar.so are installed and where?" These are just a few simple examples, lots more can be done.
As far as the granny meter, I rate APT distributions as easier than MSI, because most MSIs display between 3 and 10 screens where you must click "Next" or scroll down and click "I agree." As a consultant to many such peoples, I have been amazed that, many of them cannot get through these installs! An RPM/DEB install with APT handling dependencies does not have any prompts - you just click it, the progress bar goes by, and it is done!
Why do we see such absurd dependencies that don't seem to happen in the windows and mac worlds?
Fundamentally, Linux packages don't have the dependency conflicts that Windows packages have. Windows packages commonly overwrite shared files all the time. By splitting the dependencies into separate packages, that DLL-hell should go away: nobody will overwrite another package's files. But instead, we get it in another form because dependencies aren't stated properly in the packages. I just hope that things will improve over time.
Dead on bro. Remember when Microsoft added "self-healing" to Windows XP because so many companies were making crap installs? Deleting dlls, installing dups, putting them in wrong directories. This is the exact same problem as Windows has/had, but in RPM & DEB form rather than EXE & MSI form. It seems like coders just don't get package management well. And if you look at APT, it even has a healing-like feature now!
This is good to know, but we need a solution. This is going to get worse before it gets better. What existing laws can we sue these people under?
Could some simple law be developed that says software cannot do the opposite of what it says it does. Would this work? Or could we make an anti-spyware law that limits what software is allowed to report on without your consent? (Of course, some of these apps probably tell you that they do this in the EULA, which no one reads, but that is a separate issue)
How much water is there in the poles? Is it enough to create rivers or lakes or oceans? Is it just enough to humidify the atmosphere? Or is it not enough to have any planetwide impacty at all? That seems like it will be the key thing. It will be most exciting if we find there is enough to cover the planet.
Microsoft won't be able to convince the user base to leave '98 until they can convince the application vendors to support XP. Most off-the-shelf software is not Windows XP logo compliant. Browsing the shelves at CompUSA I barely found an application with the logo, other than MS Office. (Not that all companies will pay to have the logo, even if they are compliant.) Until they get this type of compliance, you must run as administrator to use Windows XP, which defeats many of its advantages.
In looking at the changelog, I see lots of 2.4 fixes are being added into 2.6.1. I understand the kernel versions are completely parallel development paths. So does this mean there are lots of 2.4 bug fixes that are still not in 2.6? If so, I would think that might be something worth waiting for before upgrading.
Are you takign the course to learn image manipulation, or to learn the UI. If you are taking it for the UI, then no, it won't help. You will have to learn that on your own. To learn the tools - yes, you will have to translate that knowledge though. Allow me to give my experience as a Photoshop user moving to Gimp
I find Gimp hard to use. The Slashdot & Linux community will say that it just takes "getting used to" but I suspect that is the same crowd who will tell you that applications don't need to look & act in a consistent manner. I think the cause is that Gimp uses a number of old-skool interface concepts that fewer and fewer apps use these days.
Gimp uses the multiple-dynamic-windows approach, rather than the docking toolbar approach. This is the biggest headache, and probably the only one that it is impossible to "get used to." When you click on a tool, tool windows may appear, disappear, or resize. They may appear or resize right in front of another window that you need to see. Sometimes running a filter opens one or more windows, but you don't realize it because they open on top of each other and you may see only one of them, or none of them. Compare to MS Office, OpenOffice, or Photoshop, where the existing tool windows simply change their content.
Because Gimp "tool" windows are "top-level" windows, you cannot use alt-tab to switch between Applications anymore since you will have 5-10 more windows to go through. It also clutters the taskbar. (Some environments can group windows to help with this, but this causes other problems) If another window obscures Gimp, you can't simply click on one Gimp window and they all are visible. You must click on each window, or you must minimize the other application. Essentially, it has to have it's own desktop.
Gimp has a "main" window which has a menu for commands like File and Help. The image manipulation options (File, Edit, Select, Filters,...) are a right-click menu on the image. This saves screen space by not displaying the menu at all times, but is confusing at first.
Gimp options are powerful and highly technical. For example, Photoshop has a median filter that asks you for the radius. Gimp has a median filter that asks you for radius, adaptive Y/N, recursive Y/N, black level, and white level. It is an excellent filter, but it is confusing at first.
It's tough to imagine these things without seeing it. I hope that Gimp 2.0 offers a more toolbar approach that is more consistent with the way most applications work. I think that will really help to make it more mainstream.
Sorry, this isn't great literature. In general, I don't think coding tips should qualify for Slashdot headlines. This one isn't even new or interesting. Sorry.
Asking techies about paper for archiving is like asking the phone company how to communicate using tin cans and string. Go paperless!
I run my life as paperless as possible. I use electronic statements whenever available, and I scan the remaining paper. It takes me about 15 minutes per month. I have a CD with all my taxes, bank statements, car repair history, etc. back to about 1994. I keep a copy at home, and a copy at a remote location just in case.
As for sorting, I name the files by the date, and place them in folders based on the institution. It's not searchable without knowing the date, but I don't care. OCR could solve this, but I don't consider it worth the time.
Can we stop calling all MPEG4 video "DIVX?" It is quite annoying. It would be like calling all operating systems "Windows." I am downloading the file now, and it may indeed be compressed with DIVX, but it should be called an MPEG-4 video since that is the final output format, regardless of the AVI FOURCC marker. Maybe we should call "HTML" "MicroSoft Web Content" if I use Microsoft Notepad to generate it, but "Emacs Markup-language" if I use Emacs.
1) Will this lead to improved AIBO robots? 2) Is Sony planning on building a robotic housekeeper? 3) How long before we have mechs?
I know that last question sounds silly, but I do wonder if we ever will have humanoid robots to augment our abilities. A super-strength robot suit (AKA lots of Anime, Animatrix, Alien movies, etc.)
You've got to be kidding me. Crazy taxi doesn't even pretend to have a real driving feeling. Yor car can steer in the air, partially climb walls, and jump!
Firstly, I must say that some portions of what he says are good common sense.
He proposes moving violent games to the top shelf, out of reach of small children. No objection there. (Adult midgets might get pissed though.)
He points out that stores don't care about the rating system, and will sell anything to anybody. Maybe the "voluntary" system should pose recommendations on store behavior, or enforce them. Or maybe the efforts should be spent education partents to pay attention!
But he has a serious flaw in his logic:
HomeLAN - The industry has had its voluntary game content rating system in place for some time. Why do you believe that an actual government law is needed as well?
Leland Y. Yee - The rating system is not working; it simply has no teeth to it. And the huge profits are too seductive. Our office witnessed a 13-year-old girl buy Grand Theft Auto, Vice City. The clerk sold her the game without asking her age then said, "classic game."
Summary: The existing regulation isn't good enough, so lets make more regulation. This never works.
Further on:
Wal-Mart covers Cosmopolitan magazine yet sells these violent video games where women are beaten and murdered without any consideration of how it affects children.
Interesting - I see Cosmopolitan as equally damaging, or more damaging, than GTA: Vice City. It's okay to brainwash a 13 year-old into thinking she needs to be sexed-up, but being violent just isn't lady like! Maybe this guy needs to see a proposal for magazine ratings. He might reel from that and get a sense of balance.
...neatly sidesteps the copyright question and allows treble damages to be levied against anyone who uses information that's in a database that a corporation asserts it owns. This is an issue that crosses the political spectrum.
Those kind of damages could hurt your ears! Most laws are limited to triple damages. (In Timothy's defense, Slashdot topic misspellings are at an all time low.)
Who will return money to the consumer for those overpriced CD's?
Good question. But if people bought those overpriced CDs, then were they overpriced? Even if they were, the purchaser does not have any legal or moral right to get money back. The deal is already done. Just dont buy the overpriced item next time. Also, the purchaser doesn't have the legal or moral right to steal from the company just because something was overpriced.
But we also have laws against monopolies and price fixing.
And several music companies have already been prosecuted to this effect. Let those laws take their course, don't apply a vigilante attitude or it will go both ways. You steal CDs, so they sue. Your dog pees on their lawn, so they kill your dog. This doesn't solve anything.
It all comes down to "us" getting even with "them".
Most of the spam I receive doesn't ask me to reply to purchase anything. They simply direct me to a web site of some sort. This eliminates mass-email replies as a possibility. If they use web forms, they can easily tell legitimate orders from phony ones by verifying the credit card numbers, phone numbers, addresses, etc.
I found the exact opposite user sentiment with Mozilla. I have tested Mozilla on two different variants of Mom (tm) and they were ecstatic. No more popups, fewer goofy ActiveX animations. They understood the security concepts that I explained (so those outlook attachments can't hurt me in Mozilla Mail? Cool!). Once, one of the Moms even ran into a bug and so I went to the Bugzilla site and found a workaround. They were so shocked that there was such a community of support, they wanted to know what other programs were like this! One Mom wants an open-source replacement for Quicken!
The key thing here is to give them useful features without bombarding them. The popup stopper is a killer app, no doubt. But cookie prompts are just too much, so I set cookies to be limited to the current session. Fixes the tracking problem without sacrificing convenience. I turned off saving of forms and passwords, and they learned to like re-entering passwords since it meant their son couldn't see their financial data. One mom also enjoyed being able to right-click on the Monkey and turn him off. Woohooo!
They key is in presentation. Don't install a firewall that prompts them constantly. Or a cookie manager. Or a download manager. If there isn't a way to secure a system without prompting the user everytime, then it won't be accepted.
Far be it for a lowly coder to question Mr. Carmack, but this seems like a hack. The analysis Slashdot linked to indicates that the problem is caused by a series of errors: 1) Rounding to integer units in the computations 2) Rounding to milliseconds in frame-rate-control 3) Using frame-dependent computations
These aren't new problems, they are 3 no-nos in game design. Locking the frame rate has many disadvantages (pointed out in other posts). By doing this, it implies that Doom III is still using flawed calculations. How long before somebody decides to create a mod unlocks the frame-rate without fixing the problem? Maybe the timeline is the issue, so I hope it is something addressed in a future patch.
Let me clarify:
1) Most calculations moved from fixed-point integer math to floating-point math in Q1. Integer positions may be okay, if the number is large enough (64-bit?). 2) Timings are accurate enough now that this should not be an issue. Many engines keep values such as the # of ms for the last frame, and the rolling average in floating-point units. 3) This is one of the most common mistakes in game coding and demo coding. Take falling as an example: y1 = y0 -.5*a*t^2. Instead of computing a delta-y at each frame, you should recompute the entire equation each frame, and offset it again from the original point. This means that anything from 1fps to infinite FPS will be accurate, limited only by the accuracy of the FPU.
Some people will argue that these approaches are slower. But for most games, only about 20% of the time is spent doing calculations for positioning, AI, etc. Most of it is rendering. So a few extra floating-point multiplications per frame is not an issue, even on a slow PC.
What refresh rate is your monitor running at? Some monitors can achieve 100hz, but very few of them. If you run at an FPS higher than the monitor's refresh rate, it doesn't display the extra frames, it just displays tearing artifacts.
These are all great applications. But why do any of them want to go to COMDEX? COMDEX tends to show off cool new technology like PDAs, video game hardware, and anything flashy. The fanboys won't care about a great email client. I like the idea of these projects getting exposure, but this may not be the best place.
I was playing Gauntlet Legends for Dreamcast and realizing that I did everything possible to destroy generators before tackling the enemies. This minimizes the # of enemies I killed, but minimized the amount of experience I gained. The game encourages stupidly shooting as many enemies as possible, rather than finding intelligent solutions.
RPGs should try to recognize intelligent behavior patterns. Experience should be gained for rapidly defeating an area, finding secrets, and making efficient use of ammo and special items. I know some action games offer bonus points for defeating enemies in a cool way (Ex: IF the last hit is a jumping melee attack, rather than just hiding and shooting from a corner). This would work with experience as well.
Slashdot Mirror
Can't someone fork the 4.3 version and just continue to use the old license?
These things might make cool rave lights since they would glow so when people dance! And they wouldn't run out, so they would be reusable for the next event.
But seriously, PiezoElectric power will likely be used as a parasitic power source for lots of small devices. Self-charging laptops, Forever Flashlights, etc. It might be the only way to power nanoscale devices like found in The Diamond Age
Quoth Linus:
That's not exactly a ringing endorsement. If it is, then Linux could be construed to have endorsed browsing Slashdot, child porn, and writing viruses.
First, MSIs typically run executable code and/or scripts to perform the installs. But packages usually contain just a list of files and locations, with no scripting required. This is important since a security-concious administrator won't want to run an MSI-like package since nothing stops it from doing rm -rf /. It alsmo makes them easier to create and maintain. Technically, an RPM or DEB can run scripts, but it is uncommon, and you can easily tear them apart and see the script they are running with a few simple commands.
Second, MSIs don't have a central database where all the file information is stored. There is some use of the registry for this, but it isn't quite as good. With RPM/DEB, I can ask the package manager: "What package does /usr/libfoobar.so.1.2.3" belong too?" and "What versions of /usr/libfoobar.so are installed and where?" These are just a few simple examples, lots more can be done.
As far as the granny meter, I rate APT distributions as easier than MSI, because most MSIs display between 3 and 10 screens where you must click "Next" or scroll down and click "I agree." As a consultant to many such peoples, I have been amazed that, many of them cannot get through these installs! An RPM/DEB install with APT handling dependencies does not have any prompts - you just click it, the progress bar goes by, and it is done!
Fundamentally, Linux packages don't have the dependency conflicts that Windows packages have. Windows packages commonly overwrite shared files all the time. By splitting the dependencies into separate packages, that DLL-hell should go away: nobody will overwrite another package's files. But instead, we get it in another form because dependencies aren't stated properly in the packages. I just hope that things will improve over time.
Dead on bro. Remember when Microsoft added "self-healing" to Windows XP because so many companies were making crap installs? Deleting dlls, installing dups, putting them in wrong directories. This is the exact same problem as Windows has/had, but in RPM & DEB form rather than EXE & MSI form. It seems like coders just don't get package management well. And if you look at APT, it even has a healing-like feature now!
This is good to know, but we need a solution. This is going to get worse before it gets better. What existing laws can we sue these people under?
Could some simple law be developed that says software cannot do the opposite of what it says it does. Would this work? Or could we make an anti-spyware law that limits what software is allowed to report on without your consent? (Of course, some of these apps probably tell you that they do this in the EULA, which no one reads, but that is a separate issue)
How much water is there in the poles? Is it enough to create rivers or lakes or oceans? Is it just enough to humidify the atmosphere? Or is it not enough to have any planetwide impacty at all? That seems like it will be the key thing. It will be most exciting if we find there is enough to cover the planet.
Microsoft won't be able to convince the user base to leave '98 until they can convince the application vendors to support XP. Most off-the-shelf software is not Windows XP logo compliant. Browsing the shelves at CompUSA I barely found an application with the logo, other than MS Office. (Not that all companies will pay to have the logo, even if they are compliant.) Until they get this type of compliance, you must run as administrator to use Windows XP, which defeats many of its advantages.
In looking at the changelog, I see lots of 2.4 fixes are being added into 2.6.1. I understand the kernel versions are completely parallel development paths. So does this mean there are lots of 2.4 bug fixes that are still not in 2.6? If so, I would think that might be something worth waiting for before upgrading.
Could this also have affected life on Mars, but it never recovered?
(Rhetorical question - we can't really know)
Are you takign the course to learn image manipulation, or to learn the UI. If you are taking it for the UI, then no, it won't help. You will have to learn that on your own. To learn the tools - yes, you will have to translate that knowledge though. Allow me to give my experience as a Photoshop user moving to Gimp
...) are a right-click menu on the image. This saves screen space by not displaying the menu at all times, but is confusing at first.
I find Gimp hard to use. The Slashdot & Linux community will say that it just takes "getting used to" but I suspect that is the same crowd who will tell you that applications don't need to look & act in a consistent manner. I think the cause is that Gimp uses a number of old-skool interface concepts that fewer and fewer apps use these days.
Gimp uses the multiple-dynamic-windows approach, rather than the docking toolbar approach. This is the biggest headache, and probably the only one that it is impossible to "get used to." When you click on a tool, tool windows may appear, disappear, or resize. They may appear or resize right in front of another window that you need to see. Sometimes running a filter opens one or more windows, but you don't realize it because they open on top of each other and you may see only one of them, or none of them. Compare to MS Office, OpenOffice, or Photoshop, where the existing tool windows simply change their content.
Because Gimp "tool" windows are "top-level" windows, you cannot use alt-tab to switch between Applications anymore since you will have 5-10 more windows to go through. It also clutters the taskbar. (Some environments can group windows to help with this, but this causes other problems) If another window obscures Gimp, you can't simply click on one Gimp window and they all are visible. You must click on each window, or you must minimize the other application. Essentially, it has to have it's own desktop.
Gimp has a "main" window which has a menu for commands like File and Help. The image manipulation options (File, Edit, Select, Filters,
Gimp options are powerful and highly technical. For example, Photoshop has a median filter that asks you for the radius. Gimp has a median filter that asks you for radius, adaptive Y/N, recursive Y/N, black level, and white level. It is an excellent filter, but it is confusing at first.
It's tough to imagine these things without seeing it. I hope that Gimp 2.0 offers a more toolbar approach that is more consistent with the way most applications work. I think that will really help to make it more mainstream.
Call me Flamebait.
Sorry, this isn't great literature. In general, I don't think coding tips should qualify for Slashdot headlines. This one isn't even new or interesting. Sorry.
Asking techies about paper for archiving is like asking the phone company how to communicate using tin cans and string. Go paperless!
I run my life as paperless as possible. I use electronic statements whenever available, and I scan the remaining paper. It takes me about 15 minutes per month. I have a CD with all my taxes, bank statements, car repair history, etc. back to about 1994. I keep a copy at home, and a copy at a remote location just in case.
As for sorting, I name the files by the date, and place them in folders based on the institution. It's not searchable without knowing the date, but I don't care. OCR could solve this, but I don't consider it worth the time.
Can we stop calling all MPEG4 video "DIVX?" It is quite annoying. It would be like calling all operating systems "Windows." I am downloading the file now, and it may indeed be compressed with DIVX, but it should be called an MPEG-4 video since that is the final output format, regardless of the AVI FOURCC marker. Maybe we should call "HTML" "MicroSoft Web Content" if I use Microsoft Notepad to generate it, but "Emacs Markup-language" if I use Emacs.
Sorry, pet peeve, I'm done now.
1) Will this lead to improved AIBO robots?
2) Is Sony planning on building a robotic housekeeper?
3) How long before we have mechs?
I know that last question sounds silly, but I do wonder if we ever will have humanoid robots to augment our abilities. A super-strength robot suit (AKA lots of Anime, Animatrix, Alien movies, etc.)
...can provide real driving feeling...
You've got to be kidding me. Crazy taxi doesn't even pretend to have a real driving feeling. Yor car can steer in the air, partially climb walls, and jump!
Firstly, I must say that some portions of what he says are good common sense.
Summary: The existing regulation isn't good enough, so lets make more regulation. This never works.
Further on:
Interesting - I see Cosmopolitan as equally damaging, or more damaging, than GTA: Vice City. It's okay to brainwash a 13 year-old into thinking she needs to be sexed-up, but being violent just isn't lady like! Maybe this guy needs to see a proposal for magazine ratings. He might reel from that and get a sense of balance.Those kind of damages could hurt your ears! Most laws are limited to triple damages. (In Timothy's defense, Slashdot topic misspellings are at an all time low.)
Good question. But if people bought those overpriced CDs, then were they overpriced? Even if they were, the purchaser does not have any legal or moral right to get money back. The deal is already done. Just dont buy the overpriced item next time. Also, the purchaser doesn't have the legal or moral right to steal from the company just because something was overpriced.
And several music companies have already been prosecuted to this effect. Let those laws take their course, don't apply a vigilante attitude or it will go both ways. You steal CDs, so they sue. Your dog pees on their lawn, so they kill your dog. This doesn't solve anything.
True. Stealing doesn't solve the problem.
Most of the spam I receive doesn't ask me to reply to purchase anything. They simply direct me to a web site of some sort. This eliminates mass-email replies as a possibility. If they use web forms, they can easily tell legitimate orders from phony ones by verifying the credit card numbers, phone numbers, addresses, etc.
I found the exact opposite user sentiment with Mozilla. I have tested Mozilla on two different variants of Mom (tm) and they were ecstatic. No more popups, fewer goofy ActiveX animations. They understood the security concepts that I explained (so those outlook attachments can't hurt me in Mozilla Mail? Cool!). Once, one of the Moms even ran into a bug and so I went to the Bugzilla site and found a workaround. They were so shocked that there was such a community of support, they wanted to know what other programs were like this! One Mom wants an open-source replacement for Quicken!
The key thing here is to give them useful features without bombarding them. The popup stopper is a killer app, no doubt. But cookie prompts are just too much, so I set cookies to be limited to the current session. Fixes the tracking problem without sacrificing convenience. I turned off saving of forms and passwords, and they learned to like re-entering passwords since it meant their son couldn't see their financial data. One mom also enjoyed being able to right-click on the Monkey and turn him off. Woohooo!
They key is in presentation. Don't install a firewall that prompts them constantly. Or a cookie manager. Or a download manager. If there isn't a way to secure a system without prompting the user everytime, then it won't be accepted.
Far be it for a lowly coder to question Mr. Carmack, but this seems like a hack. The analysis Slashdot linked to indicates that the problem is caused by a series of errors:
.5*a*t^2. Instead of computing a delta-y at each frame, you should recompute the entire equation each frame, and offset it again from the original point. This means that anything from 1fps to infinite FPS will be accurate, limited only by the accuracy of the FPU.
1) Rounding to integer units in the computations
2) Rounding to milliseconds in frame-rate-control
3) Using frame-dependent computations
These aren't new problems, they are 3 no-nos in game design. Locking the frame rate has many disadvantages (pointed out in other posts). By doing this, it implies that Doom III is still using flawed calculations. How long before somebody decides to create a mod unlocks the frame-rate without fixing the problem? Maybe the timeline is the issue, so I hope it is something addressed in a future patch.
Let me clarify:
1) Most calculations moved from fixed-point integer math to floating-point math in Q1. Integer positions may be okay, if the number is large enough (64-bit?).
2) Timings are accurate enough now that this should not be an issue. Many engines keep values such as the # of ms for the last frame, and the rolling average in floating-point units.
3) This is one of the most common mistakes in game coding and demo coding. Take falling as an example:
y1 = y0 -
Some people will argue that these approaches are slower. But for most games, only about 20% of the time is spent doing calculations for positioning, AI, etc. Most of it is rendering. So a few extra floating-point multiplications per frame is not an issue, even on a slow PC.
What refresh rate is your monitor running at? Some monitors can achieve 100hz, but very few of them. If you run at an FPS higher than the monitor's refresh rate, it doesn't display the extra frames, it just displays tearing artifacts.
These are all great applications. But why do any of them want to go to COMDEX? COMDEX tends to show off cool new technology like PDAs, video game hardware, and anything flashy. The fanboys won't care about a great email client. I like the idea of these projects getting exposure, but this may not be the best place.
That's over 8000 images. These are the ones the article refers to:
Creatures
I was playing Gauntlet Legends for Dreamcast and realizing that I did everything possible to destroy generators before tackling the enemies. This minimizes the # of enemies I killed, but minimized the amount of experience I gained. The game encourages stupidly shooting as many enemies as possible, rather than finding intelligent solutions.
RPGs should try to recognize intelligent behavior patterns. Experience should be gained for rapidly defeating an area, finding secrets, and making efficient use of ammo and special items. I know some action games offer bonus points for defeating enemies in a cool way (Ex: IF the last hit is a jumping melee attack, rather than just hiding and shooting from a corner). This would work with experience as well.