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User: Jaqenn

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Comments · 178

  1. Re:Welcome to yesterday Sony on Sony: Emotion-Reading Games Possible In Ten Years · · Score: 2

    There's a Game Developers Conference video for available for free which relates experiments done by Valve with biofeedback integrated into gameplay:

    http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014734/Biofeedback-in-Gameplay-How-Valve

  2. Re:Ideal replacement for paper signs and posters? on New Type of e-Paper Can Be Used Up To 260 Times · · Score: 1

    If you can blank it by applying a current to the entire paper, can you blank a portion of it by applying a small current to that part of the paper?

    In other words, can someone soldier together some kind of eraser-wand out of magnets and batteries and vandalize the posters by erasing portions of them?

    I guess it's no different than someone could do with a sharpie marker today, though.

  3. Re:No. on Can Minecraft Change the Gaming Industry? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The correct answer is Yes, but not for the reason stated in the article.

    Minecraft is a huge moment in the gaming industry because it demonstrated that Gamers are interested in being shown a tech demo that's fun, and paying for the tech demo now in return for a full game later.

    This is huge, because if a game developer takes money from a publisher there's a conflict between 'Make a profit on that loan' and 'Make the best game possible'. If a game developer takes money from a gamer, their interests are aligned to 'Make the best game possible.'

  4. Re:Insight from a religious person on Court on Video Games: Less Cleavage, More Carnage · · Score: 2

    I'm talking about something important to me here, and I'm not eager to be attacked and labeled because of it. I seriously considered posting AC because the comments so far look like a roving lynch mob...prove me wrong.

    As an aside, I believe strongly that the first amendment is a good idea. I do not agree with the law which was pushed by California. I play lots of video games.

    I'm not trying to talk about that, though, I'm trying to give my insight about the repeated comments of 'How can you complain about sex when clearly you don't care about violence'.

    There is a gap between the person that I want to be and the person that I am. I absolutely believe that everything you see and think and do is slowly turning you into a different person. I try to choose entertainment that doesn't move me further from the person that I want to be.

    Encountering profanity makes me want to swear more. I do not appreciate this.
    Sexual depictions makes me want to have sex with someone, even if they are not my wife. I do not appreciate this.
    Violent depictions currently do not make me want to go kill something. I therefore don't account it as particularly damaging...perhaps I am wrong.

    The idea that my discomforts should change what you get to have is one that I'm unclear on my opinions towards. For the purposes of this post I'm only trying to demonstrate that people can put different weights on different types of content and not be stupid.
    Please stop acting like everyone who does so is stupid.

    Gah...forgot to unclick post anonymously.

  5. Next Killer App on LulzSec Document Dump Shows Cops' Fear of iPhones · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I say the next killer app is one that streams what you're recording to offsite storage so that it can't be confiscated by smashing your phone/camera. If there's not enough bandwidth it can scale down to sending keyframes and low quality audio and pad out the rest of the video when you stop recording.

  6. Re:Pac-Man is too hard on AI Takes On Pac-Man · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Gamasutra did an awesome article a few years ago talking about the creation of PacMan. Link: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3938/the_pacman_dossier.php

    It included a fascinating discussion of the Ghost AI behavior. The short version is that the Ghosts can't turn around*, and try for the shortest path to their target tile. The Red ghost is aiming right under you, the Blue ghost is aiming for 3 tiles ahead of you, the Yellow ghost is aiming for 3 tiles behind you, and the Orange ghost is aiming for the center of the map (which he can't reach, so he orbits the spawning area).

    This leads to interesting tricks where you manipulate the Blue and Yellow ghost by changing directions right as they pathfind, so that they target a tile that you don't care about and get out of your way until the next fork in the maze.

    It is my understanding the current world record holder did NOT memorize map patterns and timing, but by learning the AI behavior and manipulating the ghosts. This was successful because people who memorize the routes are screwed if they mess up timing on a turn or something, but this technique lets you have a fighting chance to recover.



    *The ghosts take short breaks every ~15 seconds where they stop targeting you and start targeting an assigned corner of the maze. When a break starts or stops all ghosts suddenly reverse direction as a tell. They reverse direction even if it means not killing you, and even if it means they're going away from their target tile.

  7. Re:Best possible example on Writing Linux Kernel Functions In CUDA With KGPU · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As opposed to having them done by my Intel CPU, for which Intel has helpfully provided full schematics.

  8. Question: on Writing Linux Kernel Functions In CUDA With KGPU · · Score: 3, Interesting

    (I have never written kernel level code, and the statement that follows is only from listening to what other people are doing)

    I thought that a tiny bit of kernel code reflecting calls into a user level process was old news, and has become established as the preferred development model. Is there a reason that it's undesirable?

    Because the summary makes it sound like we're sad to be following this model, and we're only doing it because we can't pull NVidia's driver source into the linux kernel.

  9. Re:Other genres on Roguelikes: the Misnamed Genre · · Score: 1

    I would heartily call Spelunky a roguelike. Random levels, frequent death, and a learning style where you don't get taught what something does before you interact with it the first time.

    For the record, Toejam & Earl count too.

  10. Dr. Horrible Says It Best: on Linux Patent Protection Network Lures Facebook, HP · · Score: 2

    Billy:It's a symptom. You're treating a symptom, and the disease rages on, consumes the human race. The fish rots from the head, as they say. So my thinking is, why not cut off the head?
    Penny: Of the human race?
    Billy: It's not a perfect metaphor, but I'm talking about an overhaul of the system.

  11. Re:Just so you know... on Steam Success Holding Up Half-Life Development? · · Score: 1

    Businessman claims, "My competitors should stop kicking my trash and go do something else."

    Film at 11.

  12. Re:Yeah,. right on Geohot Battles Back Against Sony · · Score: 2

    Sony filed their case in California. They want the case tried in California for lots of reasons, probably including that it is close and convenient. Or maybe they know the state's laws better? Or maybe they think that what he did is illegal in California but not elsewhere?

    Sony is trying to demonstrate that they had a working relationship with GeoHotz in California, then time went by, then he wronged them, so the case should be tried in California.

    GeoHotz wants the case tried in his home state (New Jersey). He probably wants this for lots of reasons, including that it is close and convenient. Or maybe his lawyer knows the state's laws better? Or maybe what he did is illegal in California but not in New Jersey? So he is trying to demonstrate that everything that matters in the case happened in his home state, so it should be tried there. This apparently involves demonstrating that he never had a working relationship with Sony in California.

  13. Re:Vote by SMS? on Ask Slashdot: Setting Up Wireless Voting For Students? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Then make your programming class code the back-end system for a computer.

    Letting the programming class count all the votes might be just as good as letting the programming class cast all the votes.

  14. Re:Poor Acronym on MIT-Designed Game Used To Train an AI System · · Score: 1

    They are paying in the following currency: the interesting experience of logging into their server and pushing buttons.

    Now lets wait to see if the labor market contains people who want that pay.

  15. Re:Always wondered where these came from... on Russian Payment Processor Runs Massive Scareware Operation · · Score: 2

    I got a virus with these exact symptoms a few months ago. My wife called me at work to say the PC was acting wonky, and she had accidentally clicked an ad that brought her to some random website which she then closed.

    My suspicion is that the website contained content which triggered some flash or firefox vulnerability. I can't prove it, though.

    Sound like the lead in that you guys had?

  16. Re:Good news for microlithography folks... on World's Most Powerful Optical Microscope · · Score: 2

    There's a TED talk about this concept that you ought to watch. http://www.ted.com/talks/joe_derisi_hunts_the_next_killer_virus.html

    I'm butchering his words, but it's something like they make a wafer with millions of slots shaped like every virus they've ever seen, and you spread infected fluid on the chip and the area with slots that shape turns a different color.

    Skip to about 10:00 mark for a relation of them using it to diagnose a viral infection that had never been documented before.

  17. Re:Sounds Like A Plan on 61.9% of Undergraduates Cybercheat · · Score: 1

    Is it illegal to use the internet to investigate an applicant? (Not being sarcastic, I actually want to know.)

    My understanding is that a US employer can discriminate against the applicant for anything they want, as long as it wasn't race/gender/sexuality/religion/marital status.

    Is this not correct?

  18. Re:Stop copying Windows please! on USB Autorun Attacks Against Linux · · Score: 1

    Can we agree that when not comprimising the integrety of your system, thumbnail sized previews of a large collection of image files is a desirable feature?

    Because I like it a lot, and if you claim that it's useless for everyone, everywhere then I think that calls into question anything else you might claim.

  19. Re:I may have been one of the first players on Oregon Trail — How 3 Minnesotans Forged Its Path · · Score: 1

    My 4th grade class did something like this as well, and I thought it was awesome. We had to write out a family character sheet of sorts, and choose what equipment to buy and bring. The students were grouped into traveling parties of 4-6 families.

    In retrospect, I think the random encounters were done well. Instead of dice rolls, your success/failures were usually like this:

    - automatic success if you choose the right path or brought the right stuff
    - skill based success with scaling difficulty if you choose other paths, usually 'throw a penny into the trash can from 5 (or 10 or 30) feet away'. If you failed they didn't kill your party, but they made you write a report on whatever you failed at.

    An example would be 'You're travelling through the desert, and there's lots of snakes and scorpions. You have to be careful to check your boots each morning before you put them on, or you might be bit.

    Remember to check your boots by throwing a penny into the trashcan from 10 feet away. If you fail, write a 3 page research paper on snake bites.'

  20. Re:Here's my model on Michigan Governor Wants 'Open Source' Economic Model · · Score: 1

    In a deal hammered out by the state's Democratic leadership, the lame-duck legislature pushed through a 67% increase in the state income tax and a 45% increase in the corporate tax....

    I'm tired of seeing numbers presented like this. Semi-related XKCD: http://xkcd.com/558/

    From the same article, the real numbers are: income-tax rate from 3% to 5%, corporate tax from 4.8% to 7%.

    I'm not saying the tax increase was a good idea. I'm not saying it's not burdensome. I'm just saying that the phrase '67% increase' is intended to incite anger without understanding, while 'from 3% to 5%' is intended to inform.

    A few years ago my state was having gubernatorial elections, and the challenger played these radio ads about 'The incumbent raised taxes on food by 20%! I'm a single mom and I don't know how I'm going to keep food on the table!'. Nice and inflammatory, much more than the reality of 'The incumbent raised taxes on food from 5% to 6%, making my grocery runs cost $1.25 more every two weeks.'

    Again, I'm totally open to the argument of it was wrong and stupid, but don't creatively calculate the tax increase to disguise what actually happened.

  21. Re:Definition, please on Bufferbloat — the Submarine That's Sinking the Net · · Score: 1

    Doesn't sound like an efficient way to allocate resources when even grandma has a fat cable or DSL pipe. It would be like everyone trying to shove their way to the front of a line and only backing off when getting punched in the face.

    As I recall the amount of data that TCP tries to cram down the pipe ramps up linearly as packets arrive successfully and ramps down exponentially when packets are dropped. I've even read criticism that this strategy wastes capacity, because treating every lost packet as HOLY CRAP HALF THE TRANSMISSION RATE artificially caps real-world speed at 90% (or 80% or 95% or something) of theoretical maximum speed.

    That's more like everyone shuffling their way to the front of the line without making eye contact, and backing off when they get closer than 3 feet to each other.

  22. Re:Not holding my breath on IBM Makes a Super Memory Breakthrough · · Score: 1

    Do you mean vow of celibacy? Because vows of chastity are really not that uncommon.

  23. Re:Well good luck finding me on Online Behavior Could Influence Insurance Rates · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've been using a pseudonym for a long long time...but that includes creating accounts for WoW or whatever other services, and I've given them enough billing information for someone to link my pseudonym and my real name.

    So Mr spectro, you've really used a pseudonym and kept that pseudonym separate from anything that could be traced to you? Because otherwise you're just one data breech away from the link.

  24. Re:Structural Unemployment for Middle Men on UK Games Retailers Threaten Boycott of Steam Games · · Score: 1

    I will dance on Direct2Drive's grave when I'm done pissing on it.

    It's better for your shoes if you piss on the grave after dancing.

  25. Re:sure thats cool on Blizzard Announces Final Diablo 3 Class, PvP Arena Battles · · Score: 1