This leads to a really interesting question. Is it better to have a populace with a poor grasp of science, handed to them by sci-fi shows, or to have a society in which science is something that only happens in laboratories? I'd rather take the former - poor understanding can be improved upon. No understanding is difficult to further without "education", and the majority of people seem thoroughly disinterested in that...
I think there was also the job of people who had to clean the hulls of boats, both modern and old. Cleaning the hull of a wooden or steel boat (as opposed to plastic or polysomething) must be horrible. Yay for barnacles.
You are the reason science will never be popular as it should be with kids and teenagers. So what if it lacks controls? If it gets them into *REAL* science, they'll learn about the importance of rigourous testing. If it wasn't for watching Tron, the Last Starfighter, and WarGames in my youth I'm fairly certain I wouldn't be a Computer Science undergrad right now.
Science does not "requires that nothing be published without peer review and approval" - that's the most rigourously painful, while still truthful, definition I've seen. Science is the Scientific Method: Observe, Hypothesis, Test, Repeat.
3D Objects are created entirely inworld. Animations and textures are created outside of the client. Object flags (Mod, Copy, Transfer) can be toggled according to the existing flags and your creator and owner status on the item.
I charge my Nintendo DS off USB constantly. It's only marginally slower than using the normal mains, as far as I can tell. You can only supply so much electrical (I don't know whether to say "charge" or "power" here) to a device at once, I guess.
Namco. Used on the original Ridge Racer, a mini-version of Galaxians on a time limit (beating it would unlock cars 5-12) and on the original Tekken, all the bonus stages from Galaga. Beating that could unlock Devil Kazuya.
ASUS A8Jc here. 1 Gig RAM, 512MB Geforce GO 7700, Core 2 Duo, and far too many ports (USB, SD Card, Infrared, you name it) and loving every square inch of it. It's served me better than well these past 6 months, and I'm hoping it'll still hold up to par two years from now. As if...
My circadian clock must be broken then. I can't remember the last time I slept to anything resembling a schedule. (In case you're curious, it's 2:18am as I post this and I'm wide awake.)
When you understand the sheer number of Elderly people in Japan.. the ageing population problem... you'll see there is no way they feasibly provide around-the-clock care and affection for the elderly. Real pets are too difficult to care for, too large for the average retirement home, and too far too unsanitary for people who's immune system is rapidly growing weak.
The product (the seal) has been created by researchers, not homes and carers. They're not foisting toys on them. They think that the basic biofeedback in a simplified but near-realistic form will have a positive effect on the psyche of these aged men and women. Yes, it is no substitute for real human contact. But it's still cute, and it's still trying. It's only "condescending and insulting" when you offer these things instead of real human contact. As a supplement to their current experience, I feel it could only be positive.
And besides - the most likely goal of this project is to get it mass-manufactured and marketed to all ages. They're just looking for funding via the "look, it's good for people" charity side of things. And should it be mass-manufactured, it'll drop in price and quickly become affordable for retirement homes without destroying their already meagre budgets. In the long term, it works out well if this gets the funding it needs.
Pattern I see is "Films that make me cringe for their terminology, but are still worth watching" with a few anomalous points. By the way, you missed Antitrust.
The radioactive part of a smoke alarm is in the presence of you and your family, every day of the year. Oh noes. The lead sheet over your balls is because YOUR BALLS ARE DAMN SENSITIVE TO THAT KIND OF THING, and dental X-rays are pretty focused and strong. The dentist leaves the room so 1. he can monitor the results and 2. to prevent being exposed to that kind of thing many times a day for multiple years.
The radioactivity in the toy is still damn stupid, but the average inhabitant of Cornwall probably still gets more radioactivity. Look it up if you don't know that classic example.
But that's the thing. It DID work. And well. Okay, so no HDR lighting for me, and certain transparent textures didn't work right but it played damn fine regardless.
We're talking about consumer products here. Not something you need years of training an a license to operate, although I appreciate your chain of thought. If you're designing for someone who needs control, make the complexity transparent. Put all the controls there. If you're designing for someone who wants simple things... This is an issue of audience. I stand by my point of "complex system with a simple UI" for the majority of products. It doesn't matter how many gears, devices, switches and Rube Goldberg contraptions have to activate for me to change what song I'm listening to, I want to do it simply and quickly. That should involve one, maximum two buttons.
Slashdot Mirror
This leads to a really interesting question. Is it better to have a populace with a poor grasp of science, handed to them by sci-fi shows, or to have a society in which science is something that only happens in laboratories? I'd rather take the former - poor understanding can be improved upon. No understanding is difficult to further without "education", and the majority of people seem thoroughly disinterested in that...
And some of them drop $1000!
Ghosts and Goblins sprang to mind, but... are you talking about Gauntlet? That has too many damn Ghosts. VALKYRIE NEEDS FOOD.
I think there was also the job of people who had to clean the hulls of boats, both modern and old. Cleaning the hull of a wooden or steel boat (as opposed to plastic or polysomething) must be horrible. Yay for barnacles.
You are the reason science will never be popular as it should be with kids and teenagers. So what if it lacks controls? If it gets them into *REAL* science, they'll learn about the importance of rigourous testing. If it wasn't for watching Tron, the Last Starfighter, and WarGames in my youth I'm fairly certain I wouldn't be a Computer Science undergrad right now.
Science does not "requires that nothing be published without peer review and approval" - that's the most rigourously painful, while still truthful, definition I've seen. Science is the Scientific Method: Observe, Hypothesis, Test, Repeat.
3D Objects are created entirely inworld. Animations and textures are created outside of the client. Object flags (Mod, Copy, Transfer) can be toggled according to the existing flags and your creator and owner status on the item.
I charge my Nintendo DS off USB constantly. It's only marginally slower than using the normal mains, as far as I can tell. You can only supply so much electrical (I don't know whether to say "charge" or "power" here) to a device at once, I guess.
Namco. Used on the original Ridge Racer, a mini-version of Galaxians on a time limit (beating it would unlock cars 5-12) and on the original Tekken, all the bonus stages from Galaga. Beating that could unlock Devil Kazuya.
ASUS A8Jc here. 1 Gig RAM, 512MB Geforce GO 7700, Core 2 Duo, and far too many ports (USB, SD Card, Infrared, you name it) and loving every square inch of it. It's served me better than well these past 6 months, and I'm hoping it'll still hold up to par two years from now. As if...
"Woah. Quake must be to Taiwan what Starcraft is to Korea..."
My circadian clock must be broken then. I can't remember the last time I slept to anything resembling a schedule. (In case you're curious, it's 2:18am as I post this and I'm wide awake.)
You've got your poles mixed up...
When you understand the sheer number of Elderly people in Japan.. the ageing population problem... you'll see there is no way they feasibly provide around-the-clock care and affection for the elderly. Real pets are too difficult to care for, too large for the average retirement home, and too far too unsanitary for people who's immune system is rapidly growing weak.
The product (the seal) has been created by researchers, not homes and carers. They're not foisting toys on them. They think that the basic biofeedback in a simplified but near-realistic form will have a positive effect on the psyche of these aged men and women. Yes, it is no substitute for real human contact. But it's still cute, and it's still trying. It's only "condescending and insulting" when you offer these things instead of real human contact. As a supplement to their current experience, I feel it could only be positive.
And besides - the most likely goal of this project is to get it mass-manufactured and marketed to all ages. They're just looking for funding via the "look, it's good for people" charity side of things. And should it be mass-manufactured, it'll drop in price and quickly become affordable for retirement homes without destroying their already meagre budgets. In the long term, it works out well if this gets the funding it needs.
Pattern I see is "Films that make me cringe for their terminology, but are still worth watching" with a few anomalous points. By the way, you missed Antitrust.
Nice try, but would the nose of your render turn blue when rolled over? :P
Opera got cheeky and did something similar, albeit after passing: http://files.myopera.com/chuanz/files/acid2.png
Minesweeper flags on MSN games. Been around for ages. I play it against a friend of mine when we're both bored.
Sorry if I overreacted; I took his example to mean the total radiation exposure from such a kit being equal to a single dental X-ray.
The radioactive part of a smoke alarm is in the presence of you and your family, every day of the year. Oh noes.
The lead sheet over your balls is because YOUR BALLS ARE DAMN SENSITIVE TO THAT KIND OF THING, and dental X-rays are pretty focused and strong. The dentist leaves the room so 1. he can monitor the results and 2. to prevent being exposed to that kind of thing many times a day for multiple years.
The radioactivity in the toy is still damn stupid, but the average inhabitant of Cornwall probably still gets more radioactivity.
Look it up if you don't know that classic example.
Trust me, I've done both the Tokyo and London commutes (only as a student, though) and really... enjoying either could only be a product of masochism.
But that's the thing. It DID work. And well.
Okay, so no HDR lighting for me, and certain transparent textures didn't work right but it played damn fine regardless.
Say it three times and we can pretend it doesn't exist:
They did it for the lulz,
They did it for the lulz,
They did it for the lulz.
I gotta agree with the AC, considering his point about FPSes.
Crap PC: £300
Half-Life 2: £20
Running HL2 on Intel Integrated Graphics: Priceless
You sound like someone defending betamax. A worthy effort, but a wasted one.
We're talking about consumer products here. Not something you need years of training an a license to operate, although I appreciate your chain of thought. If you're designing for someone who needs control, make the complexity transparent. Put all the controls there. If you're designing for someone who wants simple things...
This is an issue of audience.
I stand by my point of "complex system with a simple UI" for the majority of products. It doesn't matter how many gears, devices, switches and Rube Goldberg contraptions have to activate for me to change what song I'm listening to, I want to do it simply and quickly. That should involve one, maximum two buttons.
I'm looking forward to getting a job where I can take mass transit to work.
:D
Tokyo or London?