Please perform the following steps to achieve a good impression of a game before purchase. Note that, by suggesting the following steps, I do not advocate piracy nor do I do this personally. At least, not any more -_-;; Simply do the following in order to review a game that seems interesting:
1) Start download of a full version game over the web. Demos are like movie trailers. Full of the best stuff
2) Since it usually takes a while to download, during this time, look at online forums, ask friends about the game. If the game seems like crap, stop the download.
3) Play the game. If it seems crap, trash the DVD or lend it to a friend that wants to try the game out. Make sure they buy the game if they like it. Better yet, buy it for them as a present or something.
4) If the game is good, buy it.
Replace downloading with renting if the game is available and skip to step 3. I tend to play Japanese games nowadays as they aren't all cookie cutter versions of classic games. Well, some of them aren't.
- Essential: Enjoy safe, useful software for your computer
- Simple: Download and install everything in just a few clicks
- Customizable: Choose only the software you want
- Up to date: Get updates and new software via Google Updater
For the average user, who generally uses Windows, this is pretty sweet. No fuss, easy to use pack of "tools" that are easy to use and keep up-do-date. Sure, one can argue about having non-open source software in the pack, choice of Anti-virus software and so on. But, to the average PC user, all he or she cares about is having easy to use, maintainable software.
Especially if bass line can be heard from the otherside of the road. Even if you don't burst your ear drums, I am sure the brain cells responsible for the ears will commit suicide in an attempt to further streamline the brain. Who needs a million brain cells to interpret music that goes "doof doof", "doof doof".
From Wikipedia:
A joke is a short story or short series of words spoken or communicated with the intent of being laughed at or found humorous by the listener or reader.
[US President]: Hey, I hear that you are letting your minions copying CDs down there. You do remember the agreement we had right?
[AUS President]: huh?
[US President]: The FREE trade agreement?
[AUS President]: Oh yeah, I forgot. Don't worry, should be fixed in a jiffy. Btw, I got to get back to Australia in a week. The people seems to get a bit worried when their president is away for more than a few months.
[US President]: Ok, I guess I can replace you with an intern. Go ahead and get out from underneath my desk.
All hail to our Yanky overlords. I, as an Australian, welcome our inclusion into the United States of America as its newest state. I also welcome renaming our parliament to "Congress" and our Prime Minister to "President". One can only hope that the states will outsource its prison facilities over here.
Please try l33tZip, the *BEST* compression software available. We have taken the best settings of WinRAR and changed its name to "FAST". OMFGWTFBBQ best invention ever!!!111
"Gee, Judge, I bought this car that came with locks on its doors. Since someone car-jacked me and used it to rob a bank, it must be my fault".
Replace lock with user password and car-jack with hack, and its pretty much a valid comparison, no?
One should not have to know everything about a PC to own one. Just enough to use it as a tool, which is what a computer is. That's a perfectly good defense. Unless, of course, people are assumed guilty and must prove their innocence. Last time I checked, the states seem to be using the other system, then again, you never know these days ^___^
I am currently working towards a PhD in robotics, computer vision and hopefully a bit of Machine Intelligence (also known as A.I.) Working with people much smarter, much more dedicated and much more experienced than myself, I can say for sure that, this article is marketing at its best.
As an example, this quote from the summary text: The knowledge further includes translation, processing and analysis components that are responsible for processing of vocal and/or textual and/or video input, extracts emotional characteristics of the input and produces instructions on how to respond to the customer with the appropriate substantive response and emotion based on relevant information found in the knowledge base
The text in bold means "we marketing and advertising gurus don't really understand the technical details, so just believe it. We command... I mean, we persuade you!"
On a more serious note, here is a summary of A.I. technology research at the moment. Robots or software "agents" CANNOT do the following:
1) Adapt to a large variety of changing stimuli
2) Recognize patterns from a large variety of information
3) Function autonomously to the point where they can perform useful tasks, without human supervision.
4) Building large maps and localization using the built map (without prior knowledge or the use of beacons, GPS etc)
- Where "large" is defined as a quantity we humans would see as "intelligent".
So far, researchers can:
1) Solve a variety of toy problems, some of which, is actually useful. Note that the world "toy" does not mean that the solution is trivial, nor the contribution by the researcher. Just that the intelligence of the solution is very far from being human-level.
Of course, this is a generalization of the achivements. And probably my own pessimistic vision of robotics is mixed in there as well. But, sadly, hardware and software is still way behind with regards to enabling fast and reliable learning by robots and agents. The fact that getting something working in a simulation means little in having it work in practice, is a whole other rant.
In short, this article has as much truth in it as my experimental results from my undergrad days...
Ooooooh, Mr. I-can-be-bothered-to-give-up-on-free-will, bragging that he has the genetic make up, the pre-destined ability or to perform the actions required to give up on free will.
I, for one, am too lazy to do that. Or read that article. Btw, this was generated automatically. I am still watching Poker on the coach. As I am too lazy to call my friends, set up a table, get some snacks, and play actual poker.
-- Humour (real men spells it with a 'u') Bot 2000 (too lazy to update year)
In their paper, it mentions that they would like to employ this in a situation where cameras are disabled selectively . Also, the detection part of the system will tell you where the photo is being taken from, and with face recognition, the person taking the photo can be identified (just my thoughts, they didn't say this part).
A possible scenario will be having multiple cameras and detectors, so that you can pin-point the location of a person taking photos where they are not supposed to, and then alert those scary people in black suits.
Seems it can be "tuned" to detect the retro-reflectivity of CCD Cameras.
CCD sensors are mounted at the focal plane of the camera's optical lens, making them very effective retro-reflectors. Although many objects in the environment exhibit this property, they are typically imperfect retro-reflectors and can be distinguished from CCD cameras
Also, the authors did say that there are many ways the system can be fooled. Personally, I would just attach a paper tube to the camera, long enough to allow a photo to be taken while blocking out the IR beam from the detector.
For those worried about getting IR beams in their eyes, remember that they are just using your standard IR LEDs, not LASER LEDs. From the paper:
Our system has little impact on the human eye, only a slight glow that a person may see
In summary:
1) It is harmless if a false positive (camera-like device) is detected. It cannot damage cameras.
2) This probably won't work on CMOS cameras, which are likely to be the next generation technology used in digital cameras.
3) Limited angle of detection, range of detection (based on resolution of sensing camera) and numerous counter measures makes this system an interesting prototype at best. Its still a ways off being used by the 3-letter government agencies./end ItsNotMyWorkSoIHaveToPointOutItsFlawsMode
Slashdot Mirror
Baby back ribs
Please perform the following steps to achieve a good impression of a game before purchase. Note that, by suggesting the following steps, I do not advocate piracy nor do I do this personally. At least, not any more -_-;; Simply do the following in order to review a game that seems interesting:
1) Start download of a full version game over the web. Demos are like movie trailers. Full of the best stuff
2) Since it usually takes a while to download, during this time, look at online forums, ask friends about the game. If the game seems like crap, stop the download.
3) Play the game. If it seems crap, trash the DVD or lend it to a friend that wants to try the game out. Make sure they buy the game if they like it. Better yet, buy it for them as a present or something.
4) If the game is good, buy it.
Replace downloading with renting if the game is available and skip to step 3. I tend to play Japanese games nowadays as they aren't all cookie cutter versions of classic games. Well, some of them aren't.
Crap Music
Especially if bass line can be heard from the otherside of the road. Even if you don't burst your ear drums, I am sure the brain cells responsible for the ears will commit suicide in an attempt to further streamline the brain. Who needs a million brain cells to interpret music that goes "doof doof", "doof doof".
From Wikipedia:
A joke is a short story or short series of words spoken or communicated with the intent of being laughed at or found humorous by the listener or reader.
Hmm, this got me thinking about a new Australian Tourism Slogan:
"Come Down Under and See Green Glowing Wonders!"
Of course, this will be after we help our friends from the states "dispose" of some unwanted "materials".
[US President]: Hey, I hear that you are letting your minions copying CDs down there. You do remember the agreement we had right?
[AUS President]: huh?
[US President]: The FREE trade agreement?
[AUS President]: Oh yeah, I forgot. Don't worry, should be fixed in a jiffy. Btw, I got to get back to Australia in a week. The people seems to get a bit worried when their president is away for more than a few months.
[US President]: Ok, I guess I can replace you with an intern. Go ahead and get out from underneath my desk.
All hail to our Yanky overlords. I, as an Australian, welcome our inclusion into the United States of America as its newest state. I also welcome renaming our parliament to "Congress" and our Prime Minister to "President". One can only hope that the states will outsource its prison facilities over here.
Please try l33tZip, the *BEST* compression software available. We have taken the best settings of WinRAR and changed its name to "FAST". OMFGWTFBBQ best invention ever!!!111
"Gee, Judge, I bought this car that came with locks on its doors. Since someone car-jacked me and used it to rob a bank, it must be my fault".
Replace lock with user password and car-jack with hack, and its pretty much a valid comparison, no?
One should not have to know everything about a PC to own one. Just enough to use it as a tool, which is what a computer is. That's a perfectly good defense. Unless, of course, people are assumed guilty and must prove their innocence. Last time I checked, the states seem to be using the other system, then again, you never know these days ^___^
I am currently working towards a PhD in robotics, computer vision and hopefully a bit of Machine Intelligence (also known as A.I.) Working with people much smarter, much more dedicated and much more experienced than myself, I can say for sure that, this article is marketing at its best.
As an example, this quote from the summary text:
The knowledge further includes translation, processing and analysis components that are responsible for processing of vocal and/or textual and/or video input, extracts emotional characteristics of the input and produces instructions on how to respond to the customer with the appropriate substantive response and emotion based on relevant information found in the knowledge base
The text in bold means "we marketing and advertising gurus don't really understand the technical details, so just believe it. We command... I mean, we persuade you!"
On a more serious note, here is a summary of A.I. technology research at the moment. Robots or software "agents" CANNOT do the following:
1) Adapt to a large variety of changing stimuli
2) Recognize patterns from a large variety of information
3) Function autonomously to the point where they can perform useful tasks, without human supervision.
4) Building large maps and localization using the built map (without prior knowledge or the use of beacons, GPS etc)
- Where "large" is defined as a quantity we humans would see as "intelligent".
So far, researchers can:
1) Solve a variety of toy problems, some of which, is actually useful. Note that the world "toy" does not mean that the solution is trivial, nor the contribution by the researcher. Just that the intelligence of the solution is very far from being human-level.
Of course, this is a generalization of the achivements. And probably my own pessimistic vision of robotics is mixed in there as well. But, sadly, hardware and software is still way behind with regards to enabling fast and reliable learning by robots and agents. The fact that getting something working in a simulation means little in having it work in practice, is a whole other rant.
In short, this article has as much truth in it as my experimental results from my undergrad days...
Ooooooh, Mr. I-can-be-bothered-to-give-up-on-free-will, bragging that he has the genetic make up, the pre-destined ability or to perform the actions required to give up on free will. I, for one, am too lazy to do that. Or read that article. Btw, this was generated automatically. I am still watching Poker on the coach. As I am too lazy to call my friends, set up a table, get some snacks, and play actual poker. -- Humour (real men spells it with a 'u') Bot 2000 (too lazy to update year)
In their paper, it mentions that they would like to employ this in a situation where cameras are disabled selectively . Also, the detection part of the system will tell you where the photo is being taken from, and with face recognition, the person taking the photo can be identified (just my thoughts, they didn't say this part).
A possible scenario will be having multiple cameras and detectors, so that you can pin-point the location of a person taking photos where they are not supposed to, and then alert those scary people in black suits.
Seems it can be "tuned" to detect the retro-reflectivity of CCD Cameras. Also, the authors did say that there are many ways the system can be fooled. Personally, I would just attach a paper tube to the camera, long enough to allow a photo to be taken while blocking out the IR beam from the detector. For those worried about getting IR beams in their eyes, remember that they are just using your standard IR LEDs, not LASER LEDs. From the paper: In summary: 1) It is harmless if a false positive (camera-like device) is detected. It cannot damage cameras. 2) This probably won't work on CMOS cameras, which are likely to be the next generation technology used in digital cameras. 3) Limited angle of detection, range of detection (based on resolution of sensing camera) and numerous counter measures makes this system an interesting prototype at best. Its still a ways off being used by the 3-letter government agencies.