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.

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.

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

(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.

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.

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.

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

Film at 11.

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.

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

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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.'