Un viaggio straordinario nella latenza dei computer dal 1977 al 2017. Tutto quel che c’è da sapere per capire come mai un Apple II è più “diretto” di quasi tutto quello che esiste oggi. Molto, molto nerd. Molta, molta soddisfazione. Grazie all'amico Giovanni che me lo ha segnalato.
Money quote: “It’s a bit absurd that a modern gaming machine running at 4,000x the speed of an apple 2, with a CPU that has 500,000x as many transistors (with a GPU that has 2,000,000x as many transistors) can maybe manage the same latency as an apple 2 in very carefully coded applications if we have a monitor with nearly 3x the refresh rate”
https://danluu.com/input-lag/
Money quote: “It’s a bit absurd that a modern gaming machine running at 4,000x the speed of an apple 2, with a CPU that has 500,000x as many transistors (with a GPU that has 2,000,000x as many transistors) can maybe manage the same latency as an apple 2 in very carefully coded applications if we have a monitor with nearly 3x the refresh rate”
https://danluu.com/input-lag/
I dolori (e le gioie) di un giovane programmatore alle prese con il suo primo videogioco per... GameBoy
Money quote: "Everyone has childhood dreams. Mine was to make a game for my fist console: the Nintendo Game Boy. Today, I fulfilled this dream, by releasing my first Game Boy game on a actual cartridge: Sheep It Up!
In this article, I'll present the tools I used, and some pitfalls a newcomer like me had to overcome to make this project a reality! Due to it's length, this article will be split in two parts:
Part 1 : Tools used / Technical challenges / Art challenges
Part 2 : Audio Constraints / Making Cartridges / Player Feedback (Upcoming)"
https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DoctorLudos/20171207/311143/Making_a_Game_Boy_game_in_2017_A_quotSheep_It_Upquot_PostMortem_part_12.php
Money quote: "Everyone has childhood dreams. Mine was to make a game for my fist console: the Nintendo Game Boy. Today, I fulfilled this dream, by releasing my first Game Boy game on a actual cartridge: Sheep It Up!
In this article, I'll present the tools I used, and some pitfalls a newcomer like me had to overcome to make this project a reality! Due to it's length, this article will be split in two parts:
Part 1 : Tools used / Technical challenges / Art challenges
Part 2 : Audio Constraints / Making Cartridges / Player Feedback (Upcoming)"
https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DoctorLudos/20171207/311143/Making_a_Game_Boy_game_in_2017_A_quotSheep_It_Upquot_PostMortem_part_12.php
Game Developer
Making a Game Boy game in 2017: A "Sheep It Up!" Post-Mortem
What does it take to release a new game cartridge for the Game Boy in 2017?
Here�s my experience, with a lot of details on the tools I used and the challenge
Here�s my experience, with a lot of details on the tools I used and the challenge
Scrivere. Varie volte ho condiviso articoli su VIm, che come editor per il codice funziona alla grande ma può avere senso anche come editor per la prosa. La strategia è lavorare con documenti txt "arricchiti" dal markdown, cioè da un sistema di marcatura leggera che consenta di dare struttura al testo infischiandosene dello stile.
C'è un passo ulteriore: backup e versioni di quello che state scrivendo. Una strategia è quella basata su Git, che è uno strumento pensato per controllare le versioni del codice sorgente, coordinare il lavoro di più programmatori (ma questo ci interessa meno) e avere anche una copia di sicurezza in remoto se usate piattaforme gratuite come GitHub o BitBucket. Vanessa Gaudenes introduce molto bene il discorso
https://medium.com/@sayhellotovanessa/git-for-writers-write-fiction-like-a-good-programmer-ea6f0309a69a
Money quote: "Since Git is a tool to control drafts and resources in a directory, to make infinite versions of it and allow merges while keeping its original (or main) version, I think it is the writer’s best friend. You can keep many versions of your novel or watch the process you took while writing. It is amazing."
Qui potete imparare a usare Git con un tutorial interattivo molto carino, che parte da zero. Vivamente consigliato
https://try.github.io/levels/1/challenges/1
Qui un altro approfondimenti su Git per scrittori
https://thoughtstreams.io/joeld/git-for-authors/
Qui un programmatore che cercava di creare qualcosa di originale dedicato agli scrittori: un GitHub per la prosa (ma va benissimo GitHub o BitBucket)
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6296630
e infine qui alcuni limiti nell'utilizzo di questa tecnologia
https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/the-limitations-of-github-for-writers/48299
Money quote: "GitHub, in its current form, can serve the needs of writers and scholars, just as it currently serves programmers, and more recently, groups adding laws and government regulations as repositories on the site. For many reasons, however, both GitHub, and the broader approach to collaboration that it has promoted in the world of coding, is not ideal for writers and there are good reasons to support the development of alternative services more suited to our academic or other writing needs."
(Pealtro sono molto interessanti anche i precedenti articoli dello stesso autore su Git)
E quasi dimenticavo: Git vs Mercurial, che è come dire MacGyver vs James Bond...
https://importantshock.wordpress.com/2008/08/07/git-vs-mercurial/
C'è un passo ulteriore: backup e versioni di quello che state scrivendo. Una strategia è quella basata su Git, che è uno strumento pensato per controllare le versioni del codice sorgente, coordinare il lavoro di più programmatori (ma questo ci interessa meno) e avere anche una copia di sicurezza in remoto se usate piattaforme gratuite come GitHub o BitBucket. Vanessa Gaudenes introduce molto bene il discorso
https://medium.com/@sayhellotovanessa/git-for-writers-write-fiction-like-a-good-programmer-ea6f0309a69a
Money quote: "Since Git is a tool to control drafts and resources in a directory, to make infinite versions of it and allow merges while keeping its original (or main) version, I think it is the writer’s best friend. You can keep many versions of your novel or watch the process you took while writing. It is amazing."
Qui potete imparare a usare Git con un tutorial interattivo molto carino, che parte da zero. Vivamente consigliato
https://try.github.io/levels/1/challenges/1
Qui un altro approfondimenti su Git per scrittori
https://thoughtstreams.io/joeld/git-for-authors/
Qui un programmatore che cercava di creare qualcosa di originale dedicato agli scrittori: un GitHub per la prosa (ma va benissimo GitHub o BitBucket)
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6296630
e infine qui alcuni limiti nell'utilizzo di questa tecnologia
https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/the-limitations-of-github-for-writers/48299
Money quote: "GitHub, in its current form, can serve the needs of writers and scholars, just as it currently serves programmers, and more recently, groups adding laws and government regulations as repositories on the site. For many reasons, however, both GitHub, and the broader approach to collaboration that it has promoted in the world of coding, is not ideal for writers and there are good reasons to support the development of alternative services more suited to our academic or other writing needs."
(Pealtro sono molto interessanti anche i precedenti articoli dello stesso autore su Git)
E quasi dimenticavo: Git vs Mercurial, che è come dire MacGyver vs James Bond...
https://importantshock.wordpress.com/2008/08/07/git-vs-mercurial/
Medium
Git for writers: Write fiction like a (good) programmer
An introduction on Git as a writing tool
I videogiochi non sono solo una cosa per ragazzini.
Money quote: "Catherine first launched for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 back in 2011. Visually, it has the vibe of a modern day Persona game (and notably, featured longtime series artist Shigenori Soejima as its art director). Narratively, it explores adult relationships and their complications: infidelity, lust, sexuality, and so on. Vincent Brooks, the game’s hero (and I use that term loosely), is torn between the pressure to marry his longterm girlfriend Katherine and a seductive young woman he meets named Catherine. The choices he makes — how he answers their respective questions, for example, or responds to texts — impact his relationships with them and, ultimately, his fate."
https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/28/16810556/catherine-full-body-remake-ps4-psvita
Money quote: "Catherine first launched for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 back in 2011. Visually, it has the vibe of a modern day Persona game (and notably, featured longtime series artist Shigenori Soejima as its art director). Narratively, it explores adult relationships and their complications: infidelity, lust, sexuality, and so on. Vincent Brooks, the game’s hero (and I use that term loosely), is torn between the pressure to marry his longterm girlfriend Katherine and a seductive young woman he meets named Catherine. The choices he makes — how he answers their respective questions, for example, or responds to texts — impact his relationships with them and, ultimately, his fate."
https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/28/16810556/catherine-full-body-remake-ps4-psvita
The Verge
Soon you’ll have no excuse to ignore one of the best games about love and infidelity
Catherine’s incoming remaster is the perfect excuse to revisit it
Sempre parlando di videogiochi. Negli Usa c'è da un po' di tempo la pratica dello "swatting", cioè mentre si gioca online (e magari il nostro avversario è in streaming su Twitch) si chiama la polizia dicendo che in quella casa c'è un terrorista. Arriva la Swat che sfonda la porta e arresta il tizio che fino a un attimo prima sparava come un ossesso dentro Call of Duty, e gli amici giù a farsi grasse risate. Solo che questa volta c'è scappato il morto, perché ogni tanto la Swat ha il grilletto facile.
Money quote: "In this case, Wichita local Andrew Finch, whose family members say did not play video games and was a father of two young boys, answered his door only to face down a SWAT team-level response. Allegedly, one officer immediately fired upon Finch, who later died at a hospital. It’s unclear why Finch, who is said not to have had a weapon on him, was fired upon. The Wichita Eagle reports that the police department is investigating the issue, which occurred late Thursday night."
https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/29/16830626/call-of-duty-swatting-prank-kansas-man-dead-police-shooting
Money quote: "In this case, Wichita local Andrew Finch, whose family members say did not play video games and was a father of two young boys, answered his door only to face down a SWAT team-level response. Allegedly, one officer immediately fired upon Finch, who later died at a hospital. It’s unclear why Finch, who is said not to have had a weapon on him, was fired upon. The Wichita Eagle reports that the police department is investigating the issue, which occurred late Thursday night."
https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/29/16830626/call-of-duty-swatting-prank-kansas-man-dead-police-shooting
The Verge
Swatting over Call of Duty game results in deadly police shooting of Kansas man
The victim was unrelated to the online feud
Gli sviluppatori? Si estingueranno, parola del Ceo di GitHub - il mio articolo per Macity
Money quote: "La retorica dei nostri tempi moderni nonché digitali vuole che il mestiere del futuro sia scrivere codice. Una sorta di nuova arte, all’incrocio tra la matematica e la logica, il mestiere del futuro. Una volta si mandavano i figli a fare giurisprudenza, “che con quella cadi sempre in piedi”, dicevano le nonne. Oppure, ancora meglio, medicina, perché “l’hai mai visto un medico povero?”. Ecco, oggi li mandiamo tutti a fare informatica, o meglio ancora li andiamo a stanare alle medie, alle elementari, e gli insegniamo a programmare in C++, in Python, in Swift, in qualsiasi cosa basta che i dirigenti ministeriali che autorizzano i piani, degli analfabit totali per la maggior parte, vedano schermi neri con caratteri colorati e pensino “Questa sì che è una roba da hacker!”. Ecco, attenzione perché c’è un problema."
https://www.macitynet.it/gli-sviluppatori-si-estingueranno-parola-del-ceo-github/
Money quote: "La retorica dei nostri tempi moderni nonché digitali vuole che il mestiere del futuro sia scrivere codice. Una sorta di nuova arte, all’incrocio tra la matematica e la logica, il mestiere del futuro. Una volta si mandavano i figli a fare giurisprudenza, “che con quella cadi sempre in piedi”, dicevano le nonne. Oppure, ancora meglio, medicina, perché “l’hai mai visto un medico povero?”. Ecco, oggi li mandiamo tutti a fare informatica, o meglio ancora li andiamo a stanare alle medie, alle elementari, e gli insegniamo a programmare in C++, in Python, in Swift, in qualsiasi cosa basta che i dirigenti ministeriali che autorizzano i piani, degli analfabit totali per la maggior parte, vedano schermi neri con caratteri colorati e pensino “Questa sì che è una roba da hacker!”. Ecco, attenzione perché c’è un problema."
https://www.macitynet.it/gli-sviluppatori-si-estingueranno-parola-del-ceo-github/
Macitynet.it
Gli sviluppatori? Si estingueranno, parola del Ceo di GitHub - Macitynet.it
Se pensavate che scrivere codice fosse il lavoro del futuro siete in errore: lo faranno i computer, dice Chris Wanstrath
Raramente affrontiamo in modo critico argomenti come quello della “guerra giusta”. È successo durante la seconda guerra del Golfo e poche altre volte, nell’ultimo secolo. Ancora meno si parla dello statuto morale in base al quale uccidere altri esseri umani nei conflitti. Una riflessione che però dovrebbe essere portata avanti, perché tutt’altro che inutile. Qui la visione è legata all’aspetto della comunicazione e della rappresentazione, ma è molto stimolante, apre a prospettive nuove.
Money quote: “What we found was that dehumanising victims predicts support for instrumental violence, but not for moral violence. For example, Americans who saw Iraqi civilians as less human were more likely to support drone strikes in Iraq. In this case, no one wants to kill innocent civilians, but if they die as collateral damage in the pursuit of killing ISIS terrorists, dehumanising them eases our guilt. In contrast, seeing ISIS terrorists as less human predicted nothing about support for drone strikes against them. This is because people want to hurt and kill terrorists. Without their humanity, how could terrorists be guilty, and how could they feel the pain that they deserve?”
https://aeon.co/ideas/our-enemies-are-human-thats-why-we-want-to-kill-them
Money quote: “What we found was that dehumanising victims predicts support for instrumental violence, but not for moral violence. For example, Americans who saw Iraqi civilians as less human were more likely to support drone strikes in Iraq. In this case, no one wants to kill innocent civilians, but if they die as collateral damage in the pursuit of killing ISIS terrorists, dehumanising them eases our guilt. In contrast, seeing ISIS terrorists as less human predicted nothing about support for drone strikes against them. This is because people want to hurt and kill terrorists. Without their humanity, how could terrorists be guilty, and how could they feel the pain that they deserve?”
https://aeon.co/ideas/our-enemies-are-human-thats-why-we-want-to-kill-them
Aeon
Our enemies are human: that’s why we want to kill them
At last count, more than 600,000 of Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya minority had fled the country for Bangladesh. Ever since Rohingya militants attacked Myanmar police outposts, resulting in a dozen deaths in August 2017, Myanmar security forces have be...
Switch: niente cartucce da 64 Giga fino al 2019 - il mio articolo per Macity
https://www.macitynet.it/switch-niente-cartucce-64-giga-al-2019/
https://www.macitynet.it/switch-niente-cartucce-64-giga-al-2019/
Macitynet.it
Switch: niente cartucce da 64 Giga fino al 2019 - Macitynet.it
Nintendo avrebbe dovuto rendere disponibili i cartridge a metà dell’anno prossimo. In forse alcuni giochi che richiedono più memoria
Una bella riflessione in campo scientifico - ma mi pare valga anche in molti altri settori - sul rapporto con la scrittura e quello con la formazione
Money quote: “I do not “edit” students’ writing. I believe in authorship, and unless we work on collaborative papers, I think that being lead author means just that — having written a solid 90% of the words in the paper. My master’s advisor (or was it someone else?) summed up grad school as the process by which we take people that read papers, and train them to be people that write papers. A large part of this training is finding your own voice, and you can’t find your own voice if someone else is shoving down their words down your throat”
https://medium.com/@tpoi/write-dont-type-6250f4c7f0b
Money quote: “I do not “edit” students’ writing. I believe in authorship, and unless we work on collaborative papers, I think that being lead author means just that — having written a solid 90% of the words in the paper. My master’s advisor (or was it someone else?) summed up grad school as the process by which we take people that read papers, and train them to be people that write papers. A large part of this training is finding your own voice, and you can’t find your own voice if someone else is shoving down their words down your throat”
https://medium.com/@tpoi/write-dont-type-6250f4c7f0b
Medium
Write. Don’t type.
These last months, because of a combination of projects being completed, grants being due, and students’ manunoscripts shaping up, I spent an…
Un punto di vista originale sul problema delle batterie e telefoni rallentati di Apple: e se l’idea dell’obsolescenza programmata fosse in realtà uno specchietto per le allodole? Il problema vero secondo questa ipotesi sarebbe un altro: gli iPhone 6-6s-7 (soprattutto 6-6s) sono bacati perché si spengono per eccesso di consumo quando la batteria è appena sotto il pelo. E comunque lavorano male con iOS 11.
Ipotesi intrigante.
Money quote: “iPhone 6 and 6+ have a hardware problem. Apple’s solution should include resolving that problem via hardware recall and replacement, an expensive option. Instead, they slowed the performance of all our phones, and made us pay for the hardware failure.”
https://medium.com/@mrsallee/forget-conspiracies-why-apples-reason-for-slowing-your-iphone-is-hostile-584b91a42603
Ipotesi intrigante.
Money quote: “iPhone 6 and 6+ have a hardware problem. Apple’s solution should include resolving that problem via hardware recall and replacement, an expensive option. Instead, they slowed the performance of all our phones, and made us pay for the hardware failure.”
https://medium.com/@mrsallee/forget-conspiracies-why-apples-reason-for-slowing-your-iphone-is-hostile-584b91a42603
Medium
Forget conspiracies: Why Apple’s reason for slowing your iPhone is hostile
Apple has admitted to intentionally slowing performance of older iPhones, a story that’s been discussed the Web-over. But the global…
Forwarded from MacchiaChannel via @like
Il New York Times racconta la storia di come Ridley Scott ha rimpiazzato Kevin Spacey con un altro attore, in un film che doveva uscire di lì a due settimane, riuscendo a rigirare 20 scene, rimontarlo e distribuirlo alle sale in tutto il mondo prima di Natale, senza tardare di un solo giorno.
Link: http://nyti.ms/2C0wiCN
Link: http://nyti.ms/2C0wiCN
Nytimes
The Race to Erase Kevin Spacey
“I took action,” the director Ridley Scott said of his whirlwind reshoot of “All the Money in the World,” which featured Christopher Plummer in a role originally filmed by Mr. Spacey.
Apple, un 2017 indimenticabile per i prodotti della Mela - il mio articolo per Macity
https://www.macitynet.it/apple-un-2017-indimenticabile-prodotti-della-mela/
https://www.macitynet.it/apple-un-2017-indimenticabile-prodotti-della-mela/
Macitynet.it
Apple, un 2017 indimenticabile per i prodotti della Mela - Macitynet.it
Che anno è stato quello che si chiude per Cupertino? Un anno eccezionale sul versante tecnologico, con un telefono unico che rilancia la gamma degli smartphone e tante novità a tutto campo, dal Mac agli iPad
Ok, quasi ci siamo. Per oggi è tutto, ci risentiamo l’anno prossimo!
Sarà la Svezia la nuova regina degli audiobook? - il mio articolo per Macity
https://www.macitynet.it/sara-la-svezia-la-nuova-regina-degli-audiobook/
Sarà la Svezia la nuova regina degli audiobook? - il mio articolo per Macity
https://www.macitynet.it/sara-la-svezia-la-nuova-regina-degli-audiobook/
Macitynet.it
Sarà la Svezia la nuova regina degli audiobook? - Macitynet.it
Storytel è la startup che sta cercando di cambiare il mondo degli audiolibri: vuole diventare la Spotify dei libri letti
Un altro che con la forza di volontà ha fatto tutto. Se oggi fosse vivo l’Alfieri, chissà che blog avrebbe aperto...
Money quote: “One particular conversation sticks out.
In order to even be considered by agents and publishers, writers need to already have a substantial readership (i.e., a platform). I told one of the agents my goal was to have 5,000 blog subscribers by the end of 2015. She responded:
“That would not be possible from where you currently are. These things take time. You will not be able to get a publisher for 3–5 years. That’s just the reality.”
“Reality to who?” I thought as I hung up the phone.”
https://medium.com/personal-growth/how-to-train-your-brain-to-get-what-you-want-1a40d9ca4753
Money quote: “One particular conversation sticks out.
In order to even be considered by agents and publishers, writers need to already have a substantial readership (i.e., a platform). I told one of the agents my goal was to have 5,000 blog subscribers by the end of 2015. She responded:
“That would not be possible from where you currently are. These things take time. You will not be able to get a publisher for 3–5 years. That’s just the reality.”
“Reality to who?” I thought as I hung up the phone.”
https://medium.com/personal-growth/how-to-train-your-brain-to-get-what-you-want-1a40d9ca4753
Medium
This Is How You Train Your Brain To Get What You Really Want
In April of 2015, I got serious about my goal to become a professional writer. I had written an eBook, Slipstream Time Hacking, and was…
Quanto si guadagna a fare gli skills di Alexa, i programmi per l’assistente digitale di Amazon? Niente, poco, relativamente molto. Alle volte le cose succedono per caso: forse una piccola opportunità che è già passata. Comunque, sta prendendo corpo.
Money quote: “In May, he got an email from Amazon telling him to expect a check in the mail as part of a new program that pays cash to makers of popular skills. That first month, Amazon sent him $2,000. It got better from there. He's received checks for $9,000 over each of the past three months, he said”
https://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-alexa-economy-echo-speaker-google-assistant-siri/
Money quote: “In May, he got an email from Amazon telling him to expect a check in the mail as part of a new program that pays cash to makers of popular skills. That first month, Amazon sent him $2,000. It got better from there. He's received checks for $9,000 over each of the past three months, he said”
https://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-alexa-economy-echo-speaker-google-assistant-siri/
CNET
What Amazon's Alexa economy pays the people building its skills
Who's creating Alexa skills? Indie developers and marketing companies looking to profit from voice-controlled computing. Some cash in, and some don't.
Se volete partecipare, potete votare il canale che preferite (incluso Mostly) nel settore tecnologia. Non mi pare si vinca nulla, però: né io né voi.
Forwarded from Migliori Canali Telegram | @appelmoladg via @QuanBot
Quale reputi sia stato il Miglior Canale Telegram del 2017 nella categoria: Tecnologia? 📲
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▪️ Tom's Hardware | @OTInews - @tomshardware
▫️ Toolperstartup - @toolperstartup
▪️ #PCTFacile 💻🖱📱- @PCTFacile
▫️ Mostly, I Write - @mostlyiwrite
▪️ MyDigitalFin - @MyDigitalFin
▫️ News Dal Web 📰 - @NewsDalWeb
▪️ Postpickr Channel - @Postpickr
▫️ Rachele Zinzocchi - @RacheleZinzocchi
▪️ Tom's Hardware | @OTInews - @tomshardware
▫️ Toolperstartup - @toolperstartup
Seguite il link al bot per i voti, sempre se vi va: regaliamoci una gioia almeno all’inizio dell’anno! - https://news.1rj.ru/str/QuanBot?start=poll_319208_466579
Un articolo al confine tra le cose sensate e anzi interessanti della psicologia del comportamento con i suoi influssi sulla nostra biologia, e il delirio americanoide più puro. L’oceano dell’auto-aiuto è popolato da bestie sempre più strane e orrende. O forse sono io che dovrei cominciare a leggere altre cose.
Money quote: “Your personality is not a fixed and intrinsic entity. Rather, your personality and character are fluid and ever-changing, based on the roles you play. Consider the experience of Heath Ledger, whose death many believe was due, at least in part, to his over-attachment to his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight”
https://medium.com/personal-growth/to-re-invent-your-identity-and-hack-your-biology-according-to-a-really-cool-study-ba17d51b755
Money quote: “Your personality is not a fixed and intrinsic entity. Rather, your personality and character are fluid and ever-changing, based on the roles you play. Consider the experience of Heath Ledger, whose death many believe was due, at least in part, to his over-attachment to his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight”
https://medium.com/personal-growth/to-re-invent-your-identity-and-hack-your-biology-according-to-a-really-cool-study-ba17d51b755
Medium
How To Re-Invent Yourself And Hack Your Biology (according to a really cool study)
In 1978, Ellen Langer, a Harvard psychologist, conducted an important study. She gave houseplants to two groups of nursing-home residents…