I am going to move to Cardiff, Wales for a whole summer by 2014. I'll need a worker's visa and a job there, plus enough money to start me off so I can get there and won't have to be a hobo while I wait for my first paycheck. Apartment hunting will be a big part of it too, especially if I decide that I want to stay longer once the summer is over. If I manage to pull this off, I might even come back with a sexy Welsh accent. I might even try to make a Kickstarter page for it too. It'll probably fail miserably, but I've got at least a few really good reward ideas for those who contribute well. Does anyone know about how much it might cost to live in Cardiff for one month? If I do make that Kickstarter page, my goal will be to get enough for a little more than my first month of rent and utilities. So, has anybody else lived in another country for an extended period of time? Any advice on how early I should start making plans? I need to start saving money immediately, but how early should I start job hunting and stuff?
Original Page with Pictures Spoiler: Full Article Website playstationlifestyle.net uncovered recently a Sony patent that describes a system to track your fingerprints, iris, and dna in order to prevent hacking and piracy, as well as for targeted advertising purpose. Sounds like a great idea… not. Your Identity and your privacy are today the major assets giant tech companies fight to control. Google has proven that targeted advertising is a very profitable business, and all companies want their share of the loot on your personal information. Beyond this, companies like Sony, that sell digital products, are spending considerable amounts of money to protect their products from piracy, through the use of malware DRMs. In and “ideal” world, DRMs would recognize the person who paid for some specific digital content, and let that person use the digital content on whatever hardware they want, whenever they want. This was, actually, the promise of DRMs and of the cloud. But practically, what DRMs actually are today is a strong limitation in how you can use your purchased content, which is usually restricted to a few devices (it used to be 5 for Sony, it is now 2), a few allowed copies (something that goes along the law of many countries), and is in general a major pain in the a##. People who bought Ubisoft games recently might know what I am talking about. Bottom line is, DRMs are not doing what they are supposed to do. Sony think they might have a solution, by providing a patent which proposes to recognize a user through biometrics, such as their fingerprints, iris, or DNA. Such a system they say, would allow to create a system such as “By associating content with an authorized user, each download may be made unique so that only the authorized user (e.g., one who has paid for the content) will be able to access it. Such a technique may be used to prevent hacking or copying to steal music, software, video games or other copyrighted content“. In other parts of the patent, Sony explain: “the invention can be used to prevent unauthorized sharing of online accounts. A biometric identifier, such as a fingerprint ID, that is generated during ordinary use of the online content allows the content server to determine whether a user attempting to access an online account is the user associated with that account.” Sony also mentions improvements to targeted advertising, when your device (potentially your console) knows who is actually currently using it. Well, I’m all for the possibility to play the content I purchased everywhere I want. But storing my DNA on the servers of the number 1 target of hackers worldwide is definitely not the solution to that. How about we simply get rid of DRMs, and let people enjoy the content they purchased however they want? Last time I checked, selling mp3s without DRM seemed to work pretty well for companies like Apple and Amazon. HumbleBundle is doing great with DRM free video games, etc… Hopefully, this is one of those patents that get filled but never used… How about you, would you like Sony to play with your biometric information? Do you think hacks in the future will require you to alter your DNA with the help of radioactive injections? Basically, Sony wants to use your DNA and other biometric information to identify you whenever you access a gaming system made by them. The information will be stored in their servers, and will be freely accessible both by Sony personnel and anybody who is determined enough to hack into Sony's servers; that is to say, every hacker with a decent amount of skill. Thoughts?
He hasn't posted on his blog in a while, so I was curious about what you think he's doing. Personally, I think he's off kidnapping KHV members for his army.
Just blew 86 bucks on Persona 4 Golden and Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward. Zero Escape gets here on October 25th and Golden gets here on November 21st. Oddly enough, Zero Escape is supposed to get here a day earlier than it would have if I had gone for one day shipping rather than 2-day shipping. Anyone else have this happen with Amazon? Also, since Zero Escape is a successor to 999, I need to get the other four endings in 999 ASAP.
I finally figured out how I'm going to attach the "eggs" to my pants and vest. I'll get the right color fabric (gold, right? Or it bronze?), then attach snaps to it and sew it over each styrofoam hemisphere as a cover. Then I'll just attach snaps to the pants and attach the eggs when I'm ready. I'm also going to use my 9/10th Doctor Sonic Screwdriver for the eyestalk, since it looks just like a Dalek eyestalk. Supplies Needed: Several 2-3" Styrofoam Balls Sever 1/4-1/2" Styrofoam Balls Darkish Brown Tweed Vest Necktie Shiny Gold/Bronze-y Fabric Darkish Brown Bowler Hat Supplies Obtained: Pffffffft, there'd be PICTURES if I had any of the supplies by now.
You have 9 hours to discuss this game of awesomeness.
WHY CAN"T BATMAN BE PRESIDENT?
Why the hell is the only piece of media that offers real insight about the upcoming presidential election made aimed that 12-14 year olds? Seriously, I learned more about Obama and Romney's platforms from an hour of Nick News than I did from three months of junk mail and TV commercials for both sides.
Source Spoiler: Full Article This is it people, a new era of video games has started. The era of actually going into the video game, and being able to feel, touch, smell and hear, yes you read that right. Just about every company you can think of has started testing and we could see this technology as early as next year. I’ll explore what its all about, what it means for you and how it will change everything. Keep Reading! Now as revolutionary as the tech sounds, its not what you think. Pressing a button will not suck you into your tv like that one episode of South Park, but companies have started working on new technology where we could get the same level of immersion and in the coming years be able to feel, touch, see and smell whats going on in the video game world. Its absurd, its real and the possibilities are endless. Just imagine battling dragons in a huge world like Skyrim albeit feeling the dragons fire or being hit by a troll and being launched in the air by said massive troll wouldn’t feel great, but it would be life changing. Games like Left 4 Dead or Silent Hill would make you really sweat profusely, make your heart race and actually fear the consequences of dying. The possibilities endless; not just the game industry would be changed completely but blatantly the sex industry as well as the film and medical industries. The technology behind it is already in development phase by an abundant number of companies and we could see audio and visual immersion as early as this year with the ability to use our senses in the next 25 years with graphics that could match or even surpass real life. We have all seen failed attempts at Virtual Reality dating back to the 1920s with a first real attempt by Sony who released the Glasstron Headset in 1997. The technology just wasn’t there at that time but now everyone is looking to change things and make use of it. Sony is going to be showing off a prototype head-mounted VR display at the Tokyo Game Show this year. Ironically it’s called the HMZ Immersive Pleasure Device. You can watch a trailer thats only in Japanese[translation below] [/media] “What level of immersion is it possible for people to achieve? Now, a new entertainment experiment explores that possibility: The HMZ Immersing Pleasure Device head-mounted display. Developed as an open experiment, this model has a head-tracking system and live camera. Tokyo Game Show 2012 limited model PROTOTYPE-SR. New 360-degree immersible entertainment sensation. The world of movies and the world of music can fly into the real world. Public experiments to be conducted on the 22nd and 23rd of September. We are now recruiting for the experience (deadline 13th September). You can witness the future of entertainment.” You may have also heard about the Oculus RIFT that’s been on kick starter and has had official backing by some legends in the game industry like id’s John Carmack who said Doom would be able to use it. It was described like this after a demo at QuakeCon2012…. “There really aren’t many words to describe the way it felt other than natural. The worst part of the demo was when I was told I was getting pulled out of the game. Honestly it took me a second to realize I wasn’t in the game anymore and remember how I was supposed to look and walk properly. This is up there as one of the greatest gaming experience in my lifetime.” He then goes on to say: ”Once that is done you can tell the depth perception of the game very easily; I noticed my gun in front of me and the walls and objects in the room, for a lack of a better term, all had their own planes of existence. We were using an XBOX 360 controller with the demo and so the controller functioned as normal with the exception of the aiming. While it is normally used by your thumb, this time you use your head to aim. The right thumbstick on the controller still serves the purpose to turn your body around and to raise/lower your weapon.” The most incredible part is John wanted to stress the fact that this is not consumer ready by any means. It is simply ready for developers to take a hold of it and start exploring the possibilities, if that’s the result at this point then i am absolutely looking forward to the final version. The Oculus team is not playing games either their headset can be ordered with their Kickstarter already funded surpassing $2,437,430 million dollars. Easy to use developer kits and SDKs are also being included in higher models along with the HD Doom 3 BFG edition sporting some nerdy, drooling specs. The Dev kit is to have (Subject to be changed/Upgraded) Head tracking of “6 degrees of freedom (DOF) ultra low latency”, a field of view at 110 degrees diagonal / 90 degrees horizontal, Resolution of 1280×800 (640×800 per eye), multiple inputs of DVI/HDMI and USB, only weighing .22 kilograms and working for both PC and Mobile devices. So with that in mind we could possibly see this work with the Vita! Assassins Creed simulator on the go anyone? You didn’t think the other big companies would sit out on this huge new multi-million or billion dollar field did you? Of course not and Microsoft, one of the many companies developing new VR technology, is looking to one up Sony and the Oculus. We saw Microsoft’s supposedly leaked xbox720 document that included a huge section on VR but wasn’t descriptive. Now they’ve recently filed for a patent and its ambitious. They plan to turn your entire living room into a Holodeck; the game world itself. A patent has been registered by Microsoft that appears to show a Kinect-enabled Xbox unit beaming images around a player onto the walls of his living room. The tech is also being designed to work with Microsoft’s Kinect Glasses technology from the docs. That means you could be looking around your living room and seeing 3D holograms in your environment. It would blend in all of your furniture and objects in your room into the world. Furthermore, i could see space become a problem with this. Time will tell if this can work just as good as the Pleasure Device or Oculus RIFT. Making the immersion into the video game even more real would be to incorporate the human sense as in you feeling, hearing, seeing and smelling whats going on around you. Many scientists believe its more than possible and there are many ways to go about it. Some new advancements have become the path to that already. Scientists and Billionaires have began the path to blending humans and technology together, along the lines of plugging your brain via USB into a computer and uploading your memories. Thats just the beginning, and if they are able to do this we could be immortal, when our body dies we could be plugged into a virtual world with other people (Just don’t delete system32). Bio medical and Nanotechnologies are becoming more expansive. Ray Kurzweil, is one of the many and he says we could be at that stage in as little as 25 years. Ray has received nineteen honorary Doctorates and honors from three U.S. presidents. He has also written six books, four of which have been national best sellers. Watch this video where he describes what he thinks: [/media] Either way im excited for the future and what it brings along, not sure if my body is ready for the amount of amazing it will bring. Here’s something fun: Don’t think graphics can match real life like Ray said? Try and see if you can guess which of these photos are real or from video games. Answer? They’re both from Grand Theft Auto IV maxed with a realism mod! I'm extremely excited to see what could be done with this. Whether it winds up being a holodeck type thing or something entirely different, I can't wait for this technology to be available for demonstration to the general public.
Question: Once you are dead, do you have the right to remain dead, or may you be brought back to life without your pre-mortem permission?
I just spent all night working an 8.5 hour shift and I should be sleeping. But I can't. Whatever. I'll TRY to sleep. And then fail miserably.
We've had many unintentional hate threads lately, so now we're going to have a love thread. The catch is that it's solely physical love. Next two people to post, you will hug. Next person after that will join in on the hug. Next two posts after that will share a meaningful slow dance that the first partner will allow the next guy to cut in on. The two people to post after that will kiss passionately for no less that four minutes, only taking breaks to breathe. The next two people after that will be placed into a room where sexual contact will take place. Every subsequent poster will join in until we have an orgy of pre-2009 KHV proportions.
Now that I have a job, I'm going to build the best computer I'll ever own. You want to know why? Because I've been wanting to build a dedicated gaming PC for years, and now I have the ability to gain the money to do so. Aspirations: Screen of at least 20", preferably mountable on the backboard of my desk 16 GB RAM, with the possibility of expanding to at least 32 GB later on. 1TB Hard Drive so I can install my 30+ Steam games and still have room for Minecraft, my PS2 emulator, PS2 backups, and the random crap that I download and ends up being useless bloatware that I never get around to uninstalling. No less than a quad-core CPU Internal Blu-Ray/DVD Burner/Reader Laptop Styled Keyboard+Touchpad Mouse Speakers on either side, must not be built into monitor. Internal capture card for whenever I get around to getting a PS3 so I don't have to turn my incredibly fun and old swivel chair 45 degrees toward my TV in order to play my console games. Excellent graphics and video cards, which I have no other standards for at the moment. Webcam that can be mounted on my monitor. Spoiler: Fits in this space Misty, please don't hate me. Cost of no more than $1,500, preferably under $1,000. Checklist: Pay for College Preorder Persona 4 Golden Clean Desk Motherboard RAM (CHOSEN) Hard Drive (CHOSEN) SSD for OS CPU Optical Drive (CHOSEN) Keyboard/Touchpad (CHOSEN) Capture Card (CHOSEN) Graphics Card (CHOSEN) Sound Card Wireless Card (CHOSEN) Case Speakers Monitor (CHOSEN) Webcam Anything else that I've missed? Please tell me.
I'm making $10.00 an hour. The catch? 11:30 PM to 8:00 AM.
I want to hate them. I really do. But then they do stuff this and it makes me want to hug them all.
What the hell happened to my nice, streamlined uploader?
Do you shake salt shakers or tap them?
And it really hurts like hell. Why me? Why me? Ow.
