Mad_Rain - Slashdot User

Comment End of the world! (Score 1) 305

by Mad_Rain on Wednesday December 30, 2009 @11:10PM (#30602434) Attached to: Russia Plans To Divert Asteroid

CyberDong writes "Roscosmos, Russia's Federal Space Agency, will start working on a project to save planet Earth from a possible collision with Asteroid Apophis

....

I don't think the news is that another asteroid is coming to crush us - the problem is that vibrators have apparently obtained sentience!*

* at least enough to post on slashdot.

The Psychology of Achievement In Playing Games 80

Posted by Soulskill on Thursday November 26, 2009 @04:07AM from the no-you-don't-get-points-for-reading-this dept.

A post on Pixel Poppers looks at the psychological underpinnings of the types of challenges offered by different game genres, and the effect those challenges have on determining which players find the games entertaining. Quoting: "To progress in an action game, the player has to improve, which is by no means guaranteed — but to progress in an RPG, the characters have to improve, which is inevitable. ... It turns out there are two different ways people respond to challenges. Some people see them as opportunities to perform — to demonstrate their talent or intellect. Others see them as opportunities to master — to improve their skill or knowledge. Say you take a person with a performance orientation ('Paul') and a person with a mastery orientation ('Matt'). Give them each an easy puzzle, and they will both do well. Paul will complete it quickly and smile proudly at how well he performed. Matt will complete it quickly and be satisfied that he has mastered the skill involved. Now give them each a difficult puzzle. Paul will jump in gamely, but it will soon become clear he cannot overcome it as impressively as he did the last one. The opportunity to show off has disappeared, and Paul will lose interest and give up. Matt, on the other hand, when stymied, will push harder. His early failure means there's still something to be learned here, and he will persevere until he does so and solves the puzzle."

Comment Re:Meteorite rings? (Score 1) 133

by Mad_Rain on Friday June 05, 2009 @07:10AM (#28220257) Attached to: First Zero-Gravity Wedding Planned

Meteorite rings are fine for some nerdy couples. For those people who like to be more hands-on and build stuff ourselves (like my wife and I), we made our own rings (with a little help from an instructor).

http://www.newyorkweddingring.com/

Comment Re:Here's the math question.. (Score 1) 138

by Mad_Rain on Saturday March 28, 2009 @11:37AM (#27370303) Attached to: New Speed Record Set For Wind-Powered Vehicles

Question is: If it takes a 40 foot high wing to move a 1 ton car, how big of a wing would you need to move a 50,000 ton container ship?

I think a better question is: Why do you need to move a ship that big on sail power alone? While it would be cool to do so, using wind power in conjunction with conventional engines improves efficiency reducing fuel consumption between 10 and 35 percent, which is a good start.

Submission + - Google Checkout sees poor customer satisfaction

Submitted by

Aryabhata

on Saturday January 20, 2007 @01:07PM

Aryabhata writes: "As per an Arstechnica report on a survey by investment firm J.P. Morgan Securities, Google Checkout has had a relatively quick and modest market penetration of six percent since its launch in June of 2006, but lags behind in customer satisfaction vs PayPal. On the customer satisfaction front, only 18.8 percent reported having a "good" or "very good" experience with Google Checkout, while 81.2 percent indicated a fair to poor experience customer experience compared to PayPal's 44.2 percent reporting good experiences. Some users have reported anecdotally that Google Checkout mistakenly canceled sales without warning or that the checkout process took too long."

Submission + - Top 5 annoying things about Top 10 lists

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Saturday January 20, 2007 @12:43PM

Anonymous Coward writes: "http://www.kevstrong.com/news/Viral/Top-5-annoying -things-about-Top-10-lists/ They drive me nuts! They are everywhere. You've seen them on the internet, the papers and even heard them on the radio in music charts. They were introduced to help give the audience a simple breakdown or summary of the best of the best but now they are out of control. There are so many things I dislike about them, so I decided to do the (un)obvious thing and create a Top 5 list."

Submission + - Utah's Newest Attempt to Block Pornography

Submitted by gc8005 on Saturday January 20, 2007 @12:23PM

gc8005 writes: There's something brewing in Utah. A new, non-profit organization called CP80 that wants to segregate Internet content based on IP ports. To a lay person, it sounds plausible, as CP80 describes port segregation like cable TV channels. But unlike the cable system, it's easily bypassed. Even more disturbing are the founders and backers of CP80, which include Ralph Yarro, who was recently fired from his CEO position at Canopy Group (see SCO fiasco), and several venture capital firms. Even Darl McBride has donated to the cause. Why are VCs backing a non-profit anti-pornography organization? What's the real story behind CP80?

Submission + - Presidential Web Sites: Urchin, Linux, and Apache

Submitted by

BigTimOBrien

on Saturday January 20, 2007 @11:55AM

BigTimOBrien writes: "There is a technology arms race in the 2008 presidential election. What technologies are being used by whom. this survey tries to get a sense of what is driving presidential web sites. Will the next president be propelled to the White House by ASP.NET (Hillary Clinton and John McCain) or will the next president be an Open Source president (Obama, Romney, or Edwards)?"

Submission + - T.J Maxx Hacked

Submitted by

wildman6801

on Friday January 19, 2007 @11:42PM

wildman6801 writes: "What happens when you use your credit or debit card at a brick and mortar? Well, for T.J Maxx customers, it means checking your credit and watching your mail. On Wednesday, T.J Maxx told its customers to watch their credit and debit statements because their retail POS's were hacked! What does this mean? Well, a nightmare for many customers. The Press Republican reports about the impact on a small town in Upstate New York. http://www.pressrepublican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic le?AID=/20070119/NEWS/701190315/1027/NEWS01"

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