Robots to Crawl Under the City 94
Johan Louwers writes "Robots will crawl tubes in a short while to investigate power cables running in the tubes to make sure they are still undamaged or in need for a repair. The Robotic Cable Inspection System is developed by Alexander Mamishev, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Washington.
Making use of infrared thermal analysis and acoustic partial discharge analysis, the robot will be checking mile after mile of cable while crawling his way in the tubes."
Submission + - Best Co-Op Games Through Time?
An anonymous reader writes: I was playing some Chip&Dale on a NES emu with a friend the other day and as many of you probably know the game is much easier in singleplayer, so we gave it up after a short while. As we searched for other games to play in cooperative mode I slowly recalled all the great co-op games I had played in my earlier days (however I'm not that old).
And my question to all you slashdotters is: What games did I miss, and what are your favorites?
Below is my personal list of games that featured 2 player co-op that I really enjoyed, in chronological order:
Chip & Dale (NES)
Goof Troop (SNES)
Spec Ops (PSX)
Serious Sam 1 & 2 (PC)
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (PC, the times it actually did work was great/PS2/Xbox)
And there was a few others that I haven't quite remembered yet... I think. Remind me!
PS. I've never been a Diablo/that-kind-of-RPG fan, please hate me DS.
And my question to all you slashdotters is: What games did I miss, and what are your favorites?
Below is my personal list of games that featured 2 player co-op that I really enjoyed, in chronological order:
Chip & Dale (NES)
Goof Troop (SNES)
Spec Ops (PSX)
Serious Sam 1 & 2 (PC)
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (PC, the times it actually did work was great/PS2/Xbox)
And there was a few others that I haven't quite remembered yet... I think. Remind me!
PS. I've never been a Diablo/that-kind-of-RPG fan, please hate me DS.
Submission + - Outsourcing Online: How to Finding Good Help
Abdoulah Sangare writes: "Are you a small business? Internet startup? Or maybe you just don't have exactly the skills you need amongst your team. A new generation of freelancing websites could offer the solution to your problem. These sites exist to provide a controlled environment where clients like you can post projects to an audience of thousands of skilled freelancers, who will see your project and bid on it if they can offer what you need. Once your listing deadline is up, or as soon as you are happy with the choice of bids, you can choose the contractor you want to work with and kick off the project straight away.
Web and graphic designers, web developers, programmers, writers and translators are just some of the skilled professional freelancers who register with these sites, so that they can be put in touch with markets they couldn't reach unaided. Typically they will be based not only in the USA and UK, but all over Europe and Asia. This gives you, the project sponsor, a much more responsive and competitive marketplace to choose your contractors from. The size and variety contained within these freelance marketplaces means that you can be sure of a good choice of skilled freelance professionals at short notice, and at competitive rates.
For example, Project4Hire.com, a freelancing site, presently has more than 5500 registered contractors, spread over all aspects of custom website development, programming, graphics design, freelance copywriting and translation. The site operates a feedback-based rating system for all contractors and clients, so that it is always possible to get an idea of a person or company's reputation and experience before committing to working with them. Work can be assigned one or more of a total of eighty categories, divided up into eight main areas. It is easy to see how freelancing sites can offer a breadth of choice for both contractor and client that is unrivalled by any other form of advertising or recruitment.
The benefits of using these sites can be considerable. As a business or an individual, you will inevitably only have a limited skillset within your staff, probably focused on your core activities. Employing freelancers gives you a way around this, offering cost and time efficiency, and giving you access to a much wider skillset than normal without having the cost and complexity of employing anyone directly. For small to medium size projects and tasks, especially those that are quite self-contained in nature, employing freelancers is often the best way to get the job done.
The other benefit of using a freelance marketplace to find your freelance professionals is that it helps to reduce some of the risks faced when using freelance professionals. Financially, you will want to be sure that you will get the work you paid for, and that the freelancer you have contracted will support you until you are happy that the work meets the specification provided. Most of these sites offer escrow payment facilities — Project4Hire.com provides a system called Safe Transfer — to ensure that neither client nor contractor need suffer any anxiety about the financial side of a project. When the contractor is awarded the project, the client can pay the full amount of the winning bid into the escrow account, where it will be safely held until the completion of the project. Together with feedback-based rating systems, this kind of facility means you can be confident when assigning work through a freelance marketplace site.
Whether you need a web designer and programmer, some graphics designing, or some professional copywriting, freelance marketplace sites can give you access to a responsive and competitive group of professional freelancers, together with the reassurance of dealing with a reliable and known organisation. Next time you want to outsource a project, why not give one a try?"
Web and graphic designers, web developers, programmers, writers and translators are just some of the skilled professional freelancers who register with these sites, so that they can be put in touch with markets they couldn't reach unaided. Typically they will be based not only in the USA and UK, but all over Europe and Asia. This gives you, the project sponsor, a much more responsive and competitive marketplace to choose your contractors from. The size and variety contained within these freelance marketplaces means that you can be sure of a good choice of skilled freelance professionals at short notice, and at competitive rates.
For example, Project4Hire.com, a freelancing site, presently has more than 5500 registered contractors, spread over all aspects of custom website development, programming, graphics design, freelance copywriting and translation. The site operates a feedback-based rating system for all contractors and clients, so that it is always possible to get an idea of a person or company's reputation and experience before committing to working with them. Work can be assigned one or more of a total of eighty categories, divided up into eight main areas. It is easy to see how freelancing sites can offer a breadth of choice for both contractor and client that is unrivalled by any other form of advertising or recruitment.
The benefits of using these sites can be considerable. As a business or an individual, you will inevitably only have a limited skillset within your staff, probably focused on your core activities. Employing freelancers gives you a way around this, offering cost and time efficiency, and giving you access to a much wider skillset than normal without having the cost and complexity of employing anyone directly. For small to medium size projects and tasks, especially those that are quite self-contained in nature, employing freelancers is often the best way to get the job done.
The other benefit of using a freelance marketplace to find your freelance professionals is that it helps to reduce some of the risks faced when using freelance professionals. Financially, you will want to be sure that you will get the work you paid for, and that the freelancer you have contracted will support you until you are happy that the work meets the specification provided. Most of these sites offer escrow payment facilities — Project4Hire.com provides a system called Safe Transfer — to ensure that neither client nor contractor need suffer any anxiety about the financial side of a project. When the contractor is awarded the project, the client can pay the full amount of the winning bid into the escrow account, where it will be safely held until the completion of the project. Together with feedback-based rating systems, this kind of facility means you can be confident when assigning work through a freelance marketplace site.
Whether you need a web designer and programmer, some graphics designing, or some professional copywriting, freelance marketplace sites can give you access to a responsive and competitive group of professional freelancers, together with the reassurance of dealing with a reliable and known organisation. Next time you want to outsource a project, why not give one a try?"
Videogames Fill Psychological Needs for Players 143
codegen writes "The CBC (among others) is reporting that researchers at the University of Rochester and Immersyve Inc. have released a study indicating that people enjoy video games because they satisfy a psychological need. The study showed that the interrelations between players in MMOGs were particularly important. From the article: 'Gamers said they felt the best about their experience when the games they played produced positive outcomes in scenarios related to the real world ... The researchers evaluated players' motivations in virtual worlds by asking four groups of people to play different games, including a genre known as massively multiplayer online (MMO) games, which some industry watchers regard as the future of video games.'"
Child's Play Profiled by NYT 28
There's a very nice profile of the Child's Play charity up on the New York Times site. It goes into some detail on the history of the gamer's charity, and paints the participants in a positive light. Good press all around. From the article: "... Common purpose drew Bernie Burns to get involved. Mr. Burns is a member of Rooster Teeth, a troupe that produces 'Red vs. Blue,' an online comedy series based on the game Halo. Rooster Teeth attended the Child's Play dinner auction this year and successfully bid $9,000 to record dialogue for the coming video game Halo 3, a prize comparable to being given a cameo appearance in a movie. The game's developer, Bungie Studios, would probably have allowed the troupe to record the dialogue anyway, but 'it's for charity,' Mr. Burns said of the $9,000 bid." The article states that the charity has raised $2 Million over its lifespan, and the official site is currently this year's contribution to that number is around $885,000.
New iPod Owner Onslaught Overwhelms iTunes 395
Billosaur writes "In the post-Christmas rush to power up and use their new iPods, an onslaught of downloaders brought iTunes to its knees, according to CNN. Monday and Tuesday saw users posting message after message about slow downloads and the iTunes site denying them entry. The heavy traffic was apparently more than the system could bear, what with the large numbers of people receiving iPods and iTunes gift cards. Perhaps Apple was underestimating just how successful they were going to be?"
What Questions Would You Ask An RIAA 'Expert'? 616
NewYorkCountryLawyer asks: "In UMG v. Lindor, the RIAA has submitted an 'expert' report (pdf) and 26-page curriculum vitae (pdf), prepared by Dr. Doug Jacobson of Iowa State University who is the RIAA's expert witness in all of its cases against consumers, relating to alleged copyright infringement by means of a shared files folder on Kazaa, and supposed analysis of the hard drive of a computer in Ms. Lindor's apartment. The RIAA's 'experts' have been shut down in the Netherlands and Canada, having been shown by Prof. Sips and Dr. Pouwelse of Delft University's Parallel and Distributed Systems research group (pdf) to have failed to do their homework, but are still operating in the USA. The materials were submitted in connection with a motion to compel Ms. Lindor's son, who lives 4 miles away from her, to turn over his computer and music listening devices to the RIAA. Both Ms. Lindor's attorney (pdf) and Ms. Lindor's son's attorney (pdf) have objected to the introduction of these materials, but Dr. Jacobson's document production and deposition are scheduled for January and February, and we would love to get the tech community's ideas for questions to ask, and in general your reactions, thoughts, opinions, information, and any other input you can share with us. (In case you haven't guessed, we are the attorneys for Ms. Lindor.)"
