Brainwave Remote?

From mediapost.com, an article about the future. I'm pretty excited about all the "brainwave monitoring stuff, I can't wait until they can recognize speech using this technology. The implications for anyone from a handicapped person to the consumer trying to think of "that one song" are just amazing.

From the article

...the brainwave-scanning remote control? It combines gestures, head movements, facial expressions, and data on previous content usage with information on the user's conscious thoughts and emotional states, gathered with brain scans, to navigate a graphic interface that looks sort of like a huge virtual galaxy of media options.

Original article here

Game Review: Warhawk

I've been playing Warhawk for a few months now. At first, as with most games, I rented it. It was ok, I played it for a couple weeks & returned it. I had fun, it was ok.

Then a couple weeks later, I felt an uncontrolable urge to play again. I romanticized the games graphics, the lagless play, it's vehicles, the camaraderie , and most of all the satisfaction you feel when you lob a 'nade at an incoming Warhawk and the thing. So, I bought it & the expansion, because I lack self control.

Why I Like it

Warhawk is, all & all, a good to great game. The vehicles are spectacular fun, and the combat is fast paced & for the most part easy to get to.

Complaints

More maps please. And player created maps should be allowed & encouraged on any game like warhawk. I'm not sure what the technical restrictions for that are on the PS3, but I don't care. As a customer, make player made maps available.

What's in the game?

It's classless, so as a soldier you can use any weapon you see. There are also vehicles and stationary guns/missiles you can use. Communication in game is team only and via a bluetooth headset. You can spent $60 for the game w/headset in stores, or you buy the game by itself for $40. Maybe you already have a bluetooth headset. Good for you. I waited for Fry's to have a sale. I got my bluetooth headset for $7.99 last thanksgiving, and it happens to be the same model that came with the game if you bought the package. Communication is key to winning, so of course it's rare on a regular server to find teammates who will communicate.

The weapons for ground troops are pretty standard fare. There's a rocket launcher, machine gun, the afore mentioned 'nades, mines, flame thrower, snipe and binoculars (air strike). Each has it's own uses, and they're all pretty easy to figure out. It did take me a little while to learn that flamethrowers can really fuck up an enemy air vehicle if it's close enough. Also, it took me playing team fortress 2 before I realized that the bazooka isn't a bad weapon for close combat, just make sure you try to hit the ground at the feet of your enemy. Also, instead of a knife, you get a "war blade" which is ALWAYS a 1 hit kill. Amazing if you catch a player in the open, or if you catch them while they're driving by in a jeep.

The vehicles are the main reason to play Warhawk. Whether you're in them, or against them, they're awesome.

First is the jeep. Every Jeep has a machine gun and can fit up to 3 people. Jeeps are a great tool for capture the flag. Their weakness it the lack of protection they provide, and the gun seems hard to aim & hit with. If you time it right, you can kill any person in the jeep with your war blade while they drive by.

The tank is what it is. A tank. If you get a convoy of tanks going, they're pretty unstoppable & fun. Tanks can fit 2 people, one driver & turret controller, and one who can either ride protected in the tank, or stick out of the hatch to shoot.

The Warhawks are one of the two flying vehicles, and probably the most fun you'll have in game. They carry 2 people, a driver and a hostage/passenger who can't do a damned thing until he gets dropped off. You get 2 flight modes with them, one is the standard plane type flight, the other is a hover mode that allows you to sit still & wreak havoc on ground troops. They have a medley of weapons available which you can pick up in flight which I won't go into except to say that you lock onto enemies by holding the fire button down for a few seconds when they're in your sights. Took me a while to figure that out. They also have machine guns. The MG has unlimited ammo, but does have a heat limit, so if you overheat the guns you must wait for a few seconds to shoot again.

Finally, the newest vehicle, the Dropship. These are HUGE monsters that fly very, very slowly. They have lots of hit points. They have 4 MGs per side, that the driver can use. They also carry 7 people including the pilot, and each passenger gets his own missile turret. On top of all this, they can carry a vehicle, either a tank or a jeep, via some sort of magical electric tow system. The towed vehicle can be fully loaded with soldiers, or empty. A great tool for both capture the flag & zone play.

And the maps. The maps that are in game are fun, but again, MORE please.

That's all.

Drew Curtis' FARK.com

"It's not news, it's FARK.com."

"Everybody Panic."

And, for the Fark Cliche trifecta, "Today's (something) brought to you by (someplace)."

Drew Curtis' FARK.com provides a continuous stream of humorous, interesting, and disturbing links introduced with user submitted headlines. Some of the headlines are cryptic, some are a concise summary of what the link contains, and all are entertaining. The site is divided into broad categories like "politics" & "geek", but I've rarely used any but the main "not news" tab.

The headlines are comprised of 4 parts. First, there is a link directly to the source, handily visually announcing where the article originated. Next is the tag; each headline is tagged to denote what category they fall in to. These tags include "asinine", "weird", "ironic" and my personal favorite "Florida". Then comes the headline. To the right of each headline there is a forum where some people comment on the linked article, or whatever.

Before I used RSS and Google desktop, I used Drew Curtis' FARK.com to help feed my craving for knowledge. Now they are part of my RSS feeds. It is one of, if not the, the greatest source for not news on all the internet.

Why Ron Paul Didn't Win

I’m a Ron Paul supporter.

It’s amazing the responses that gets. From “But he’s crazy!” to “God Bless You.” Of course, there are arguments about his political viewpoints, why he isn’t qualified, his religious beliefs, whether or not babies are babies yet at conception, et cetera. To me, these responses are all valid, understandable, and some of them even thought provoking.

There is, however, a group of responses that outweighs all of these by far, and makes me both sad and upset. These are the responses that fly off the cuff of unsuspecting “regular” folks... The most typical of these are “He doesn’t have a chance!” and “But, you’re wasting your vote…” Both of these responses indicate to me that the only reason the other person is voting, if they vote at all, is because they think they’ll pick the winning side.

And that is an acceptable, healthy basis on which to vote for president. What better way to choose our leader? Because after all, who really wants to go to work the Monday after Election Day and have to say they voted for the losing side? Not me, buster.

/end sarcasm

What does it take to turn that around? How can people be convinced that the ones who are truly throwing their votes away are those who scream for change & still vote for the status quo?