Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
PC Games (Games)

Activision Wants Consoles To Be Replaced By PCs 344

Posted by Soulskill from the oppose-on-principle dept.
thsoundman writes with this excerpt from thegamersblog: "We live in a world where we have multiple platforms for gaming: PC, PS3, 360, Wii, etc. Each platform has varying amounts of power when it comes to playing games. Activision, one of the leading cross-platform publishers, wishes to move away from the 'walled gardens' set by Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. ... [Activision CEO Bobby] Kotick’s solution is to turn to the PC, where it can set its own model for pricing — not unlike what Blizzard has done with World of Warcraft and Battle.net. Kotick stated that Activision would 'very aggressively' support the likes of HP and Dell in any attempt at making an easy 'plug-and-play' PC that would hook up directly to the TV."
Robotics

Willow Garage Robot Fetches Beer, Engineers Rejoice 114

Posted by samzenpus from the the-perfect-robot dept.
kkleiner writes "Willow Garage has pulled off the ultimate engineering feat: teaching a PR2 robot to fetch you a beer from the fridge. Not only can the PR2 select the correct brew from the fridge, it can deliver, and even open the beer as needed. That's right, all the humans have to do is drink and relax. Prepare yourself for some major robot-envy as you check out the PR2 delivering much-needed refreshment in the video."

Comment this may not be you (Score 1) 304

by Logibeara (#31628430) Attached to: What's the Best Way To Get Web Content To My TV?

but I'm sure a lot of Slashdot readers have at least one old desktop around. All that is really required is a TV with a VGA input, and most new ones have an HDMI cable input as well. If you're lucky that old desktop already has an HDMI cable output on its video card, otherwise go with VGA or buy a cheap HDMI enabled video card. Having a separate media box is very convenient because you never have to disconnect it

As for the couch sitting importance go for a decent Bluetooth mouse and keyboard.
If you get a cheapo, your experience will consist of writhing around the couch trying to get signal before you give up and find a surface closer to the reciever.

Comment Re:It's always the hype problem. (Score 0) 483

by Logibeara (#29958960) Attached to: IT Snake Oil — Six Tech Cure-Alls That Went Bunk

But, if you're looking for HAL, you have another 2001 years to wait. Nobody seriously is working toward that, except as a dream goal. Everybody wants a better prediction model for the stock market first.

Computational Perception and Developmental Robotics are a strong undertone in computer engineering courses at ISU. I don't know about other schools, but a HAL like computer is much less than a "dream goal". I can say without a doubt that it something similar will be engineered in much less than 2001 years. Technological growth is speeding up nearly exponentially(steam engine, combustion engine, flight, electricity, moonwalk) I'm sure everyone has heard the spiel. http://www.ece.iastate.edu/~alexs/dissertation/dissertation.pdf Asst Professor at ISU, Alex Stoytchev's dissertation focuses specifically on building a system of robotic learning, commonly called "Developmental Robotics". While his robot only had the ability to categorize objects based on resonance sound and mass, it still shows that fundamental building blocks for a one day "HAL" are already in existence.

Slashdot Top Deals

Someone is unenthusiastic about your work.

Close