For those who don't get it, it's a push by a large set of gamers to get a publisher (Valve) to release details about their plans for the future of the franchise (nothing new released since a cliffhanger game in 2007), and they think if they can get 50,000 people playing an eight year old game on Steam all at the same time, it will show them there is a lot of demand for this information.
If you've never played the game, and want to, I have a free copy of the game on Steam. Back in the day, it was an awesome game. Not so awesome anymore by today's standards, but still pretty darn good.
GJ said 2 days later
Well, we got up to #11 on the stats page for Steam. Not too bad for a very old game, and we'll see if Valve responds at all.
Today I learned that in order to trigger the most gnarly human fart, you need to go to space and expose your body to "the elements."
Cool video, quite enjoyable to watch, as horrific as that may sound.
GJ said 1 day later
Gnarly fart--that's got to the be understatement of the year (so far).
Steve said 1 day later
Funny, that guy's definitely strange, but his description was cool.
GJ said 2 days later
Of course he's strange. That's Phil Plait, aka the Bad Astronomer! He's the uber-geek of space stuff. Had a short-run special on Discovery last year which was pretty amusing, and a somewhat new book "Death From The Skies" which discusses the likely scenarios in which the Earth could take a beating.
Let me see--cut education by $50M, or give $43M to a creationist museum sponsored by the anti-science group Answers In Genesis. Boy, that's a tough question--what do you think Kentucky will do in their state budget? Click here to find out.
And yes, brilliant me first misspelled education up there, if anyone wondered what the update to the post was.
Steve said 9 days later
Wow. Idiots....not much else to say.
GJ said 9 days later
Meanwhile, on January 31, 2012, the Indiana Senate voted 28-22 in favor of Senate Bill 89. As originally submitted, SB 89 provided, "The governing body of a school corporation may require the teaching of various theories concerning the origin of life, including creation science, within the school corporation." On January 30, 2012, however, it was amended in the Senate to provide instead, "The governing body of a school corporation may offer instruction on various theories of the origin of life. The curriculum for the course must include theories from multiple religions, which may include, but is not limited to, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Scientology."
Note to IDiots in Indiana--this was already covered in Dover back in 2005. In a time where school budgets are beyond stretched and teacher layoffs abound, you're busy creating a law that will get a school district sued, which they will certainly lose and end up paying lawyers for wasted work, again...all just to ensure that we inject some religion into biology class.
And we wonder why we're constantly behind other countries in educating our young. We're busy replacing science with Sunday school. Awesome.
Geoff said 9 days later
Well perhaps if we spent more time delivering messages to congress vs Valve Gaming, we might be able to do something about it. :P
With that said, it is high time we all revisit V for Vendetta and blow up congress. I just watched it the other night and nothing is more inspiring for chaos. November 5th is a ways away, but February 5th is just as good. We can start with Indiana and Kentucky. I'm sure there is something over there worth blowing up. Seriously, this creationist movement is starting to get out of hand. These people have discovery channel? They have some great stuff on there that I think even teenagers would find intriguing.
Last night they were showing scientists descending 1000+ ft beneath the earth to explore this cave full of HUGE crystals with temperatures only 11 degrees cooler than the hottest recorded temperature on planet earth. Really interesting stuff. Who would have thought the search for extraterrestrials could take place underground??? Microscopic bacteria in super harsh conditions burrowed in "ice crystals" that are 100+ degrees hot to the touch. Way more interesting than that crap in the bible lol.
It was an older discovery, but lots of research still going on down here. They might even find superman.
I'm not interested in bashing religion. It may even have a place at the table in schools, in history classes for example. The folks who want to add it to biology and geology are trying to enforce a literal interpretation of their translation of the bible into fact, because their belief is solely powered by the actual text of the bible. If the world wasn't created in exactly seven days, approximately 6,000 years ago, then their whole belief system falls apart.
Less literal religious interpreters don't find science quite as threatening. They just need to be careful not to throw their lot in with these knuckleheads.
Speaking of far out environments, check out what is going on at Lake Vostok.
Php.net
Google.com
reddit.com
Wikipedia.com > English
I believe SOPA is dead, PIPA is next.
Marc said about 2 hours later
Good post GJ. Another good read on the technical aspects of the bills (broken down from things taken directly from the bill): http://blog.reddit.com/2012/01/technical-examination-of-sopa-and.html It's actually not too technical, and I recommend reading it as it makes clear exactly what would be expected of your favorite internet sites and why it's so bad.
These bills are unbelievably dangerous to the well-being of the internet. They in no way aid in the ability to stop piracy, so being against them in no way means you're supporting piracy. If you read all about this and are against it, seriously call your senator(s). Both of the NC senators are for the SOPA and PIPA bills and I haven't been able to get through the phone system yet (hopefully a good thing). I know Kirsten Gillibrand from NY is also in support (potentially Schumer too). If you need numbers to call, check out this site: http://lifeaftersopa.cheezburger.com/
Marc said about 2 hours later
SOPA isn't dead, it's been shelved until February. PIPA is just as dangerous though.
Geoff said 1 day later
I think Obama said he would VETO it if it came across his desk. Or so I heard, never know what is the truth now a days. I'd be surprised if these actually were put into law. Not to say they won't try again eventually.
GJ said 1 day later
Obama would veto it as it sits now, but he would be ok with certain changes. I'm not convinced there's much worth saving in the bill.
This video says everything I've always thought about the penny. I have probably 50 cents worth of pennies in my cubicle (which equates to about 1 square foot of desk space and in a cubicle that's a lot of space!). If I could use pennies in vending machines, I might be ok with keeping them around. The last time I moved cubes at IBM, I scattered my previous pennies in various places throughout the cube. I check every now and then to see how many have survived their hiding spot.
Also: I'll admit it, I throw pennies out.
Parsla said 1 day later
Pennies are good for riding the mechanical horsie at the grocery store (I think that's a Michigan thing, though).
GJ said 2 days later
This guy who does the video has many other amusing ones--check out the one on daylight savings time.
Marc said 2 days later
The daylight savings time one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84aWtseb2-4) was good. For most people, the clock switching isn't a big deal, especially now that most of our gadgets do it on their own. A couple years ago people flipped out when the iPhone forgot to wake people up the day after daylight savings time kicked in. Any programmer in the world knows exactly how such a "stupid bug" happens. :) Then there's Microsoft, who seems to introduce that bug every other year. The one thing that video failed to mention was that the rules of who participates, and what timezone they participate in, tend to change more frequently than anyone would like.
GJ said 2 days later
I did love the bit on Arizona. That was freaking hilarious. He left out Indiana, however--last I checked, they don't do DST either, but last I checked was probably eight years ago, so it may have changed since then! :)
Geoff said 4 days later
Great Video, and yes Arizona sucks. I had called in an hour early to a phone conference because the damn state doesn't follow the rules like the rest of the nation.
GJ said 4 days later
No, the rest of the country sucks. Daylight Savings Time sucks donkey b....well, it stinks.
Steve said 5 days later
parts of Indiana follow it, parts don't. Not as bad as Arizona, but....
Geoff said 5 days later
well something sucks, us or them, take your pick.
GJ said 6 days later
Ah, I see the either/or fallacy argument is alive and well.
Geoff said 6 days later
well you didn't make much of an argument for the dismemberment of DST, so I feel me response is sufficient. If you'd like to elaborate on, "sucks donkey b", I'll welcome it. I would probably agree with you as I don't benefit from DST, we have no sun in the winter regardless and I do all my shopping online pretty much.
GJ said 6 days later
DST provides no appreciable cost savings, and may actually cost more money due to its haphazard implementation around the US and worldwide. For humans that spend far more time inside than out (most of us, these days), perceived hours of sunlight is of dubious benefit. Changing time suddenly like what is done for DST also has a demonstrated negative impact on person stress levels.
Thus, DST should be dropped.
Geoff said 6 days later
That is one way to look at it.
Is it possible DST is some kind of ploy by the US Government to deter our quest in the search for extraterrestrials? This non-sensenical theory could be the perfect guise for secret agents deliberatly interfering with the public's ongoing investigation into the 'greys'. We must do everything in our power to eliminate such barriers like DST, SOPA, PIPA, PETA, and the Santa Maria. Caution is advised.
GJ said 7 days later
What weed you smokin', boy?
Geoff said 9 days later
Wisdom teeth surgey, $1100. Codine, $12. High on Drugs, Priceless.
They do have a good point. Not sure what's to be done about it though. People love the touchscreen.
But, for me, all I need is 3 pedals, a steering wheel, and a stick shift.... Is there any more to life?
GJ said 1 day later
Turn signals? Lights? HVAC? Those are all things I like to modify while driving without looking at them.
Before long, though, you'll just be able to tell your car to do it. However, which is faster--saying it and waiting to see if the car responds correctly, or just doing it with a manual knob via muscle memory?
This is definitely a case of manufacturers too busy going "ooooh, shiny!" than thinking "how does this serve the DRIVING experience?"
GJ said 1 day later
Which by no means only affects automotive manufactures. They're just the latest to go down this well-worn path.
Marc said 1 day later
Being young and a nerd, I think this stuff could be better, in time. I could imagine saying something like "set the temperature to 72 degrees" and either the car would response instantly with voice confirmation, or a small notification would fly up at the bottom of my windshield saying the new temperature is set to 72 degrees. This would let me keep my eyes on the road with only the most minor notification in my peripheral vision. I would agree that right now having to confirm it on a distracting touch screen in the car is arguably worse than a manual knob, but only because it's new to us.
Consider this: When you rent a car you've never driven before, how distracted are you trying to figure out where the stupid controls are? Most cars aren't standardized across brands, so it feels very foreign with manual knobs too. I suspect as you get used to the touch screen or whatever interface it is, it will soon be very natural. As odd as it sounds, I've (slowly) developed some muscle memory to type on my iPhone. Not sure if that's cool or pathetic. :)
Geoff said 1 day later
I would agree with what Marc said. You would essentially figure out the touch screen without needing knobs. Kids these days are growing up on touch screens so future generations will come to expect it. Voice commands are even better though they still suck by today's standards; yes, even you Siri. I could only imagine what responses a car might give to someone asking it to do something with today's technology.
I wasn't impressed with Ford's Sync technology, and though I don't own the new iPhone and people swear by Siri, every demonstration I've been shown has been problematic. Pretty sure with my track record, I could get Siri to digitally commit suicide.
GJ said 2 days later
It's not about figuring things out. It's about finding them and using them *without* having to look at them. Remember, most of the time you're in the car (well, where I live anyway), the car is in motion and you really shouldn't be gazing at a touch screen. As the article mentioned, there is no tactile feedback form a touch screen, so you HAVE to look at them to use them.
In terms of voice commands, Geoff, WTF does Siri have to do with anything? Siri is an interpretative AI, which tries to interpolate meaning behind what you say. Voice commands, on the other hand, are simple statements like "Temperature Up." You need next to no programming to interpret that and take action, compared to asking Siri "what does my morning schedule look like?"
Marc said 2 days later
I think it comes down to the fact that the technology isn't there yet to be able to give you the control you need without distracting you. Manual knobs give you enough tactile benefit to guess a better than a touch screen, but in the end, the technology will get there and will almost certainly be better AND safer. We're just going to go through a pretty awful transition period, I suspect. :)
The big question is whether we can come up with something that lets you keep your eyes on the road and give you more benefit. Certainly the main point of putting these touch screens in the cars is simply to make them cooler, but they need to be adding a lot of benefit.
Siri isn't quite the same, but there's a good point to bringing it up. Siri is, by far, the best dictation implementation on the market. Ask Drew, he uses and spends a lot of money on dictation software (like Dragon Dictation, etc.) and he's quite impressed with how well Siri is at understanding THE WORDS you are saying and even what they mean most of the time. Siri doesn't always know what to give you as a response though. Just a year ago, voice recognition still struggled to simply understand what words you were saying.
The main takeaway is that voice recognition software is finally ready for primetime, we just need to incorporate it where it belongs and cars are a great place for it. Now just get me a translucent monitoring system in my windshield and we've got a whole new way to make driving more dangerous. :)
Geoff said 2 days later
Siri may be interpretive, but it still takes commands. Call Marc...is a command. And as I said before, I haven't really used it much, but demos of it have been...well hit or miss. Probably not something I want in a car to perform some necessary actions like, Play Tom Sawyer by Rush.
GJ said 2 days later
I hate to rain on the Siri parade (no, wait, I LOVE to do that), but my first generation droid does a pretty good job of recognizing what I say to it. There's a handful of words it gets wrong time and again, but by and by it picks up about 99.5% of my words.
Steve said 4 days later
There's what makes sense, and then there's what makes money. Pretty shiny things might not make sense, but if they make money, industry will provide it for customers. Can you blame them? A manual transmission is a perfect example. Want the best control you can have? You need a manual. Automatics don't do things that you can always predict, or do what you want them to do at all times, as you're not in control of it.
Things are changing fast, just wait for it.
GJ said 4 days later
Yeah, I know--customers are all about the "ooh! shiny!" thing. Just look at the Ford Explorer commercial playing now: "My car talks to me!!!"
It would seem that the first big bad superbug has been discovered, and it's our old friend tuberculosis. Scary news, indeed. 2012 is gonna be a fun ride, folks.
Note, TB can't wipe us out. I'm not implying that. But on the misery index, it's pretty freaking high and very transmittable. It could very well have an impact on average lifespan, and not in a good way.
Geoff said 26 minutes later
we are dooooooooommmmed!
GJ said about 2 hours later
Nah, but TB isn't fun. It's a form of pneumonia that has a mortality rate just over 50% left untreated, and transmits like the common cold (although not quite as catchy, per se). It tends to hit the poor and less sanitary folks disproportionally.
Geoff said about 3 hours later
Well I wouldn't call that a problem then. :P
GJ said about 7 hours later
You obviously haven't played Pandemic 2: Electric Boogaloo. SHUT DOWN EVERYTHING!
GJ said about 7 hours later
Marc said about 21 hours later
At least it's starting to spread in one of the least populated and highly sparse countries in the world.
/s
GJ said about 21 hours later
Yeah, good thing it hasn't shown up in Iceland. We'd be in real trouble then.
Wow. I had no idea how much of the universe has been mapped. Really makes you wonder how significant/insignificant our lives are. That said, enjoy your life while helping others enjoy their lives as well.
An Augustinian friar did some experiments with plants some time ago that also demonstrated evolution. It's also done with fruit flies on nearly a daily basis.
Geoff said about 19 hours later
Yeah but Sharks are way cooler.
GJ said about 22 hours later
Except they lose in the second round of the playoffs every year.
Marc said about 22 hours later
This was a cool find!
Geoff said 2 days later
always back to a hockey reference. Stick it to the Piano man.
