I avoided using the term uncanny valley as too many people take it gospel, when in reality it is basically just an idea some guy came up with. It's a good idea, and I agree with it, but it is still just a random idea with no actual backing aside from masses of geeks who go "yah, that makes perfect sense".

Also, it is specifically in terms of things that approach humanity (why we feel more comfortable with something like TF2 characters, than we do with those humanoid robots like the Einstein head). Where I am talking about errors in how things work, not just graphics.

Oh, and the last comment:
Until a game actually can reproduce reality (but twisted so that we can play whatever game it is), I will generally stick to the very unrealistic. If a game tries to be as close to reality as they can every little error will break you out of the game ("wait, he shouldn't have fallen like that"). However a game that creates it's own reality is by it's nature correct in all things that it does.

In real life if some one is close to an explosion they don't gib, however when I see some one eat a rocket and fall apart into nice chunks (be it TF2, Quake, whatever) it works because it is internally consistent.

That really is the key to me. I have no real interest in the 'realistic' games out there (be they FPS like AA, or something like ARMA) simply because they aren't realistic.

"Oh no, my gun jammed, I have to do this quicktime event to make sure I can fix it quickly."

Not fun.

Now, if a game could really 100% put me into a situation where it is simply my skills vs the game (holodeck), I would be down for playing a good bit of that. The flip side is that I would still likely spend more time running around tossing fireballs at people who respawn in 10 seconds. I'm an SF/F geek, not a military geek, thus it is what I want.

I think the people that talk about realism in games are simply military/whatever geeks. How many people do you know that play those really serious flight sim games that can't quote you the specs on a few hundred planes? They aren't in it because it is realistic, they are in it because it is what they are into in the first place.

I wonder if they actually think of this as deriving revenue from pirates. I mean, any decent release will include cracked copies of what ever DLC there was. However some one who prefers to buy used games of piracy will NOT get the DLC that the original purchaser or the pirate gets, so I suspect that the people behind this know they are really only targeting the 2nd hand market with this.

There was an article a while back about DLC packaged with games, and some one (iirc, it was a high up in EA) said that it was aimed directly at the 2nd hand market, and made no mention of piracy.

FTFA.
Use 2 seconds of this "common sense" that every one is complaining that no one uses.

Yes, the patent system is horrible currently, that doesn't mean that the people in charge are TOTAL morons and wouldn't think of this idea.

Wrong. To be fair, they are asking an entire industry to take on responsibilities for processing notices given by an entirely separate industry.
This would be akin to Gucci telling eBay it needs to process all of Gucci's notices, rather than eBay itself being required to police Gucci's auctions.
This is a bullshit attempt to Karma whore on Slashdot IMHO.

That actually is a rather awesome idea. Reminiscent of the Sprawl trilogy's Simstims, but more likely to happen some time soon (good 3d scanning/modeling of a human vs wetware).

Having actually RTFA, you are correct.

The person wanted an electronic copy because the copying fee (25 cents a page) was restrictive ($656 all told). He was told that the only electronic version they can give out is the one done by a 3rd party company, and they charge $200. He is free to look at the the laws in other formats (local library), however the only ways for him to currently get a copy of said laws are a hard copy or this program.

The writer's interviewee (Robert Freeman, executive director of New York's Committee on Open Government) argues that "A contract cannot reduce or diminish rights of access conferred upon the public by a statute such as the Freedom of Information Law", and thus they should provide him with a digital copy that is unencumbered of the 3rd party's software.

I have no clue if any of this is correct or not, however it seems reasonable for the local govn't to say "we provide it in 2 forms, both have associated costs, you can also get it for free from your library".

Side note: I have never run into a web page that inserts a "read more at XYZ" at the end of a C&P you do from their web page...

That's the key.
People will talk about locking down the computer, or making them use linux or a thin client, or whatever. But it is too late. Do you honestly think you can convince your parents to use a different system ,when it took them that long to learn how to use the damn current one?

My dad was smart and bought his mother something along the lines of a dumb terminal. It goes on the web, and checks email, and that is it (It might even be running linux!). But his case was easy, this was her first computer.

Really, the answer is: You're boned. If you have tried a few times to explain out to them why they shouldn't open the email that says "I Love You", your cause is lost. These aren't clients/employees, you can't tell them "well, sod off" and quit.

The problem with removing down modding is that there is then no way of filtering out the actual spam, aside from setting your reading level above the default which then means that you miss the ACs with good comments that don't get modded up.

I still think that the slashdot system is the best I have seen, I just wish there was some more stringent way of knocking people out of the moderating system, and that up mods counted for a lot more than down mods.

One of the interesting effects of down modding a good comment is that they CAN'T down mod all of the replies that it garners, and there are enough people that read at -1 that there will be comments.

Until they ONLY make releases for those types of sets.
</paranoia>

Sort of random:
I read at 0 because I have found that this gives me the best overview. Things seem to only end up at -1 if they really deserve it (copy paste stuff), however things will sit at 0 even though they are reasonable comments, or at least as reasonable as some of the +5, insightful stuff. So I don't think that the slashdot system is bad, just that you need to read at 0 to get the best use out of it, after all, every so often AC says something worth reading, which is why we are supposed to focus on modding things up instead of down.

Because it is cute, and amusing, and to people who read esquire magazine it is an interesting introduction to a technology that is gaining in popularity.

Congratulations, you aren't the target audience. However I suspect that the target audience will have fun messing around with it.

As for all of the "This isn't AR" comments. No shit. But it is what is currently being called AR, and in a sense it is AR. IT isn't very good AR, or very usable AR, but it is AR. Instead of the ideal overlay of images on reality, it is an overlay of images over a live video. Not perfect, but close enough to entertain some people, and to give proof of concepts ideas.

An acting career?

I hate you all. I really do.

When the revolution comes this is what it will be over!

The telcos will be the first up against the wall!

well, ok, probably not, and we probably have more important things to worry about, but inexpensive and good internet would be really damn nice...