The problem is that AI in general is "hard". Not just for games. We still don't understand well enough how our own intelligence behaves to model it successfully in games. As a programmer, I can model a process pretty easily. I can model objects fairly well. What I can't model is something that is nebulous and undefined.
That's part of the business model of printers these days. Provide a subsidy on the hardware and make it up in consumables (ink, paper, etc.). Keep in mind, that printer that is cheaper than new ink cartridges only comes with "starter" cartridges which hold less ink than the normal ones. So, it might be cheaper, but you also get less ink (and therefore have to replace more frequently). But, you can probably make up the difference by selling the older printer on eBay or something.
I'd like to see the profit point on printers. How many ink cartridges do I have to buy for them to make up the loss on the hardware? Do companies plan for that payback over time? What is their estimate on how long it takes?
I believe that it is Washington state that has instituted the SPAM law....and this isn't the first post related to suing spammers to show up on Slashdot...I seem to recall them as being related to Washington state, not Washington D.C.
(Not a physisist either -- for that matter, I didn't even get A's in physics) but weren't a majority of the advances in physics made by refining prior equations -- adding factors or constants -- so that it isn't really proving something wrong so much as it is clarifing something that has been (at the layman level, not the physics level) true enough.
I think that "muscle memory" is really the key. I started programming back in 4th grade on the C64. No training, just hunt and peck with my two index fingers. As I got better at the locations, I went from two fingers to four....then later to six. I stuck there for a while. In high school, I took 6 weeks of typing (which I cheated at, don't tell my teacher -- I was still the fastest in class), but it allowed me to learn how to use all 10 fingers.
Now, I type without ever looking at the keyboard, but I also don't type using the traditional fingering. My hand wanders around so that most letters are typed with my dominant fingers, but when necessary, I can hit any key with any finger. As stated by someone else above, I can even look back over my shoulder to talk to someone while I complete a paragraph. The key to touch typing is knowing where all of the keys are by "feel" not "sight", not necessarily keeping your fingers on the home row keys.
What would it take for a great single-player RPG now? A game so enjoyable that it overshadows the enjoyment factor of playing a similar game with hundreds of others.
The horn-rimmed glasses on the yellow smiley face looks great as a clock.....or you can decorate it yourself with acrylic paint.... To top it off, I had a dual-CD case (the ones that would fold out flat, not the ones that resembled a book) and it makes a great clock stand.
Layne
Off-topic, but who knew that MS-BOB was ahead of his time fashion wise...he and HRG from Heros would make a great duo.
You could do something similar to the Guess Who game to make it easier to reset. Go from 10 minutes down to seconds.....but save that for version 2....no sense trying to jump Moore's law.
I was under the impression that the best use of fuel in an automobile was to drive at the speed that your particular vehicle reached so that you had the lowest RPM in the highest gear. The fuel is spent turning the engine, so fewer turns (RPMs) equates to less fuel spent. The higher gear indicates a higher speed. So, you are getting the most work from your engine for the least fuel spent. On my car, that is around 58MPH, but your milage (haha) may vary.
But that is off-topic. Back on topic.....
There's no up-front money for the customer until the security deposit is paid, which is when the contract is signed. If they don't deliver to the contract, you have something enforceable that will let you recoup that if they fail to install the equipment. If the creditors make me pay *gasp* less than I'm paying now for electricity, then it is as if the company is still there. If I had bought the system myself, I'd have the same problem of roof damage, so to me that's a wash (plus, you can always get a rider policy for your homeowners insurance if you are that worried about it). And since the amount I pay is based on the amount generated, if it gets damaged and the creditors don't repair it, I don't pay for the electricity that isn't there. Still sounds like a good deal.
Even with the tax breaks and rebates available to me (Austin, Texas), I don't see enough benefit to having a system installed just yet. While I hate the concept of MLM, if you are the customer in this situation, what is your risk? Even if the company goes belly up, you've been buying cheaper solar power for less than your normal electric rate. When they go under, their creditors will have to figure out how to go collect the hardware from every customer they sold to......and the creditors may just offer you significant discount to buy the system outright just so they don't have to pay to remove it, store it, and auction it off.
I'm actually considering this program and hoping that after a year or two they DO go under. I think that would be the best of all worlds. Maybe it's just me. But I wouldn't sign up to sell the stuff.....it's not worth my time.
This post and all of the replies to it that are above mine are spot on. Sure, it looks nice to have a great college on your CV / Resume (whatever you want to call it). But in the end, what determines whether you are going to do well at your profession is you the individual.
I had to opportunity to go to Georgia Tech but decided that I would rather stay in my home state and go to Louisiana Tech. The main reason being that ROI factor that was described by a sibling post. LaTech was free for me (full scholarship). At GaTech, I would have received about half of the out of state rate in scholarships/grants (which by the way was more than the full in state rate @ LaTech). Would I have gotten a better education at GaTech? Most likely. But, I've always been one of the top performers everywhere I've worked since (Fortune 500 companies, so it isn't like I'm comparing myself to only three people). Those top schools only get your foot in the door easier. You, the individual, keeps you with a job.
But if you really want to get into those schools, the key is finding some way to set yourself apart. You have to be unique and memorable. I tell my daughter (who is a Sophomore right now) that there will be hundreds of people with top grades and the typical extracurricular activities. If you want to get into a top school, you have to do something different and something memorable. Whether it's start a small business during a summer (especially for someone going into a business related degree), in your case, participate in a unique engineering project (for example, if your field is construction related: mech-e construction-e, whatever, then design and build a neigborhood play house that is structurally sound). These types of projects show off your interest in the subject, help out the community (always looks good on your application), and will probably be quite fun for you. When you submit it to the schools, don't just write an essay about it, turn it into a professional portfolio. Since this is "above and beyond" the normal application, it will instantly make you more memorable.
Besides, CMU is a well respected school. The difference between CMU and MIT is negligible in the grand scheme of things. If you are expecting to immediately go into an advanced degree (masters, PhD), then getting your undergrad from CMU and your post-graduate degree from MIT or CalTech is more than sufficient.
/me is also 34/me also prefers "pause action" RPG's/me understands the need for levelling.
The main reason that I want to go through the levelling process is because I may not want to take Magic Missle as my first combat spell. Consider it self challenging. If you automatically get the best available weapon/spell each time, it's just as bad as if you started as uber-dude. Sure it can seem pointless to work up from peons, but ever game does it.
In Half-Life (the original), wasn't your first wave pretty much head crabs? You start with single-pop enemies and work your way up to the harder ones. Same for weapons. They start you with the pistol. You don't get the BFG9000 until much later in the game.
RPG's just tend to do it slower and throughout the entire game (once you get a rocket launcher, does it really get any harder). But you get Magic Missle. Then you level up and you get fireball. And you level up and get lightning. And you level up and get Finger of Death.
Then, in related news, McDonalds corp announced a lawsuit against SCO claiming rights to this 'Darl McStride' due to infringement on their "Mc" naming convention. Federal Court judge Mayor McCheese ruled in favor of McDonalds corp handing over all of the assets of SCO to McDonalds.
In an odd twist, this now forces the Big Mac to become open source where it is revealed that the special sauce is really not so special - it's 1,000 Island dressing.
So, if they aren't doing the Electric Slide correctly, maybe they aren't violating his rights. Maybe they are doing some *OTHER* dance that isn't copyrighted......and doing it right.
We can submit his site as a violation of copyright. Unless he can prove that he's got the rights to use Spiderman's image.....and is that Voltron, too? I'm not sure who the other two are supposed to be.
The reason that physical implementations are "easy" is because it's pretty obvious when two parts will work together or whether they will need some sort of adapter:
Oh, look, two holes that are an inch in diameter. One on part A and one on part B. If I want to attach them, I can use a screw that is one inch in diameter. Oh, and this washer that has a one inch in diameter hole will fit on that screw....same for the nut.
In software, just because two pieces have an XML shaped "hole" doesn't mean that they are compatible.
Daunting at first. But once you get some instruction, it is actually a whole lot easier than it seems. I've even learned to make 3D models. Another thing that once you find out how to do it right, it's really pretty easy.
In fact, I think that some of my business experience helps me more than others in the program. I have a better feel for structure within a process than most of them. Scope / Requirements / Design / Code / Test translates into the game world as Pitch / Game Design / Technical Design / Code / Test (with Art being like having a Web Tech team that does the HTML and Styles for you).
But if you ever did any old school Windows programming (where you had to actually hand roll your event loops), that's basically the core of game programming. Everything else is event handling (fire event, score event, death event, etc.) and calling libraries (graphics, sound, etc.). Granted, that's boiling it way down, but equating it that way should give you an idea of how easy it really is.
Slashdot Mirror
The problem is that AI in general is "hard". Not just for games. We still don't understand well enough how our own intelligence behaves to model it successfully in games. As a programmer, I can model a process pretty easily. I can model objects fairly well. What I can't model is something that is nebulous and undefined.
Layne
Why bother? They already use the LL servers for that.
Layne
That's part of the business model of printers these days. Provide a subsidy on the hardware and make it up in consumables (ink, paper, etc.). Keep in mind, that printer that is cheaper than new ink cartridges only comes with "starter" cartridges which hold less ink than the normal ones. So, it might be cheaper, but you also get less ink (and therefore have to replace more frequently). But, you can probably make up the difference by selling the older printer on eBay or something.
I'd like to see the profit point on printers. How many ink cartridges do I have to buy for them to make up the loss on the hardware? Do companies plan for that payback over time? What is their estimate on how long it takes?
Layne
Every time I watch TV, I seem them catch the predators, muderers, etc.
20/20 To catch a predator
Law & Order
Law & Order SVU
Law & Order Criminal Intent
CSI
CSI:Miami
Cold Case Files
etc.
Layne
I believe that it is Washington state that has instituted the SPAM law....and this isn't the first post related to suing spammers to show up on Slashdot...I seem to recall them as being related to Washington state, not Washington D.C.
Layne
(Not a physisist either -- for that matter, I didn't even get A's in physics) but weren't a majority of the advances in physics made by refining prior equations -- adding factors or constants -- so that it isn't really proving something wrong so much as it is clarifing something that has been (at the layman level, not the physics level) true enough.
Layne
I think that "muscle memory" is really the key. I started programming back in 4th grade on the C64. No training, just hunt and peck with my two index fingers. As I got better at the locations, I went from two fingers to four....then later to six. I stuck there for a while. In high school, I took 6 weeks of typing (which I cheated at, don't tell my teacher -- I was still the fastest in class), but it allowed me to learn how to use all 10 fingers.
Now, I type without ever looking at the keyboard, but I also don't type using the traditional fingering. My hand wanders around so that most letters are typed with my dominant fingers, but when necessary, I can hit any key with any finger. As stated by someone else above, I can even look back over my shoulder to talk to someone while I complete a paragraph. The key to touch typing is knowing where all of the keys are by "feel" not "sight", not necessarily keeping your fingers on the home row keys.
Layne
Instead of America On-Line, AOL will become Astronaut On-Line.
:)
I wonder if a spaced based router will improve their ping response times.
Layne
Oblivion?
Layne
I did this with an old MS-BOB CD I got at a TechNet conference:
http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/clock3.html
The horn-rimmed glasses on the yellow smiley face looks great as a clock.....or you can decorate it yourself with acrylic paint.... To top it off, I had a dual-CD case (the ones that would fold out flat, not the ones that resembled a book) and it makes a great clock stand.
Layne
Off-topic, but who knew that MS-BOB was ahead of his time fashion wise...he and HRG from Heros would make a great duo.
To many instances of prior "art" (and I use that term very liberally).
Layne
You could do something similar to the Guess Who game to make it easier to reset. Go from 10 minutes down to seconds.....but save that for version 2....no sense trying to jump Moore's law.
R /ref=dp_images_1/104-9632234-2647149?ie=UTF8&s=toy s-and-games&img=1&childASIN=B00000IWDR
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B00000IWD
Layne
I turned my MS BOB CD (free @ TechNet New Orleans oh-so long ago) into a clock. That happy face with glasses looks great with hands. And I used a tri-fold dual-CD case as the stand. You can get the clock movements from here: http://www.klockit.com/depts/movements/dept-162.ht ml or here: http://cart.clockparts.com/index.php?cPath=180
Layne
I was under the impression that the best use of fuel in an automobile was to drive at the speed that your particular vehicle reached so that you had the lowest RPM in the highest gear. The fuel is spent turning the engine, so fewer turns (RPMs) equates to less fuel spent. The higher gear indicates a higher speed. So, you are getting the most work from your engine for the least fuel spent. On my car, that is around 58MPH, but your milage (haha) may vary.
But that is off-topic. Back on topic.....
There's no up-front money for the customer until the security deposit is paid, which is when the contract is signed. If they don't deliver to the contract, you have something enforceable that will let you recoup that if they fail to install the equipment. If the creditors make me pay *gasp* less than I'm paying now for electricity, then it is as if the company is still there. If I had bought the system myself, I'd have the same problem of roof damage, so to me that's a wash (plus, you can always get a rider policy for your homeowners insurance if you are that worried about it). And since the amount I pay is based on the amount generated, if it gets damaged and the creditors don't repair it, I don't pay for the electricity that isn't there. Still sounds like a good deal.
Layne
Even with the tax breaks and rebates available to me (Austin, Texas), I don't see enough benefit to having a system installed just yet. While I hate the concept of MLM, if you are the customer in this situation, what is your risk? Even if the company goes belly up, you've been buying cheaper solar power for less than your normal electric rate. When they go under, their creditors will have to figure out how to go collect the hardware from every customer they sold to......and the creditors may just offer you significant discount to buy the system outright just so they don't have to pay to remove it, store it, and auction it off.
I'm actually considering this program and hoping that after a year or two they DO go under. I think that would be the best of all worlds. Maybe it's just me. But I wouldn't sign up to sell the stuff.....it's not worth my time.
Layne
This post and all of the replies to it that are above mine are spot on. Sure, it looks nice to have a great college on your CV / Resume (whatever you want to call it). But in the end, what determines whether you are going to do well at your profession is you the individual.
I had to opportunity to go to Georgia Tech but decided that I would rather stay in my home state and go to Louisiana Tech. The main reason being that ROI factor that was described by a sibling post. LaTech was free for me (full scholarship). At GaTech, I would have received about half of the out of state rate in scholarships/grants (which by the way was more than the full in state rate @ LaTech). Would I have gotten a better education at GaTech? Most likely. But, I've always been one of the top performers everywhere I've worked since (Fortune 500 companies, so it isn't like I'm comparing myself to only three people). Those top schools only get your foot in the door easier. You, the individual, keeps you with a job.
But if you really want to get into those schools, the key is finding some way to set yourself apart. You have to be unique and memorable. I tell my daughter (who is a Sophomore right now) that there will be hundreds of people with top grades and the typical extracurricular activities. If you want to get into a top school, you have to do something different and something memorable. Whether it's start a small business during a summer (especially for someone going into a business related degree), in your case, participate in a unique engineering project (for example, if your field is construction related: mech-e construction-e, whatever, then design and build a neigborhood play house that is structurally sound). These types of projects show off your interest in the subject, help out the community (always looks good on your application), and will probably be quite fun for you. When you submit it to the schools, don't just write an essay about it, turn it into a professional portfolio. Since this is "above and beyond" the normal application, it will instantly make you more memorable.
Besides, CMU is a well respected school. The difference between CMU and MIT is negligible in the grand scheme of things. If you are expecting to immediately go into an advanced degree (masters, PhD), then getting your undergrad from CMU and your post-graduate degree from MIT or CalTech is more than sufficient.
Layne
Not after they have to pay legal fees for both side in all of their future cases......
Layne
I'm going to put in for exclusive rights to be the registrar. Let's see....
*.mercury.sol
*.venus.sol
*.earth.sol
*.moon.earth.sol
*.mars.sol
*.jupiter.sol
*.saturn.sol
*.uranus.sol
*.neptune.sol
*.pluto.sol ---- wait, scratch that.
I'll have to charge extra for *.uranus.sol. Who wouldn't want to register something like: stickitin.uranus.sol
Layne
/me is also 34 /me also prefers "pause action" RPG's /me understands the need for levelling.
The main reason that I want to go through the levelling process is because I may not want to take Magic Missle as my first combat spell. Consider it self challenging. If you automatically get the best available weapon/spell each time, it's just as bad as if you started as uber-dude. Sure it can seem pointless to work up from peons, but ever game does it.
In Half-Life (the original), wasn't your first wave pretty much head crabs? You start with single-pop enemies and work your way up to the harder ones. Same for weapons. They start you with the pistol. You don't get the BFG9000 until much later in the game.
RPG's just tend to do it slower and throughout the entire game (once you get a rocket launcher, does it really get any harder). But you get Magic Missle. Then you level up and you get fireball. And you level up and get lightning. And you level up and get Finger of Death.
Layne
Some places already *DO* ban the use of headphone for drivers (which is what I presume you meant by banning "iPods on car drivers [sic]").
8 96.html or do your own Google search http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=headphone+law s+driving
Check this link out http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-127
Layne
Then, in related news, McDonalds corp announced a lawsuit against SCO claiming rights to this 'Darl McStride' due to infringement on their "Mc" naming convention. Federal Court judge Mayor McCheese ruled in favor of McDonalds corp handing over all of the assets of SCO to McDonalds.
In an odd twist, this now forces the Big Mac to become open source where it is revealed that the special sauce is really not so special - it's 1,000 Island dressing.
Layne
So, if they aren't doing the Electric Slide correctly, maybe they aren't violating his rights. Maybe they are doing some *OTHER* dance that isn't copyrighted......and doing it right.
So there.
Layne
We can submit his site as a violation of copyright. Unless he can prove that he's got the rights to use Spiderman's image.....and is that Voltron, too? I'm not sure who the other two are supposed to be.
e nt/sitebuilderpictures/dancers.gif
http://the-electricslidedance.com/sitebuildercont
Layne
The reason that physical implementations are "easy" is because it's pretty obvious when two parts will work together or whether they will need some sort of adapter:
Oh, look, two holes that are an inch in diameter. One on part A and one on part B. If I want to attach them, I can use a screw that is one inch in diameter. Oh, and this washer that has a one inch in diameter hole will fit on that screw....same for the nut.
In software, just because two pieces have an XML shaped "hole" doesn't mean that they are compatible.
Layne
Daunting at first. But once you get some instruction, it is actually a whole lot easier than it seems. I've even learned to make 3D models. Another thing that once you find out how to do it right, it's really pretty easy.
In fact, I think that some of my business experience helps me more than others in the program. I have a better feel for structure within a process than most of them. Scope / Requirements / Design / Code / Test translates into the game world as Pitch / Game Design / Technical Design / Code / Test (with Art being like having a Web Tech team that does the HTML and Styles for you).
But if you ever did any old school Windows programming (where you had to actually hand roll your event loops), that's basically the core of game programming. Everything else is event handling (fire event, score event, death event, etc.) and calling libraries (graphics, sound, etc.). Granted, that's boiling it way down, but equating it that way should give you an idea of how easy it really is.
Layne