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Sunday, January 29, 2017

I've been using L3DT to make maps for my OpenSim grids but it has a few shortcomings.

I've been using L3DT to make maps for my OpenSim grids but it has a few shortcomings. I uploaded the latest version of the Heightmap for the Twin Isles and in-world it looked like something I'd built in Minecraft! There's no easy way for me to create gentle rolling gradients manually - I have generate it from a design map or import an image. To create a gentle gradient manually in L3DT I have to use the "Bulldozer" tool. This is great for making roads and train lines, but looks horribly artificial. Otherwise I can attempt to smooth or avalanche things!

The editing features a very primitive. You can for example, only make a plain rectangular selection to copy and paste from, and you can't use that selection to do operations in either. :( So I've decided to upgrade to LEVELLER. It has a much better feature set and should be more fun to play with. I'll still be using L3DT, but mostly for general laypout and generation, and exporting to Opensim. Otherwise Leveller will fill in the gaps.
http://www.daylongraphics.com/products/leveller.php

You never know when you might need this!

You never know when you might need this!
https://astrographer.wordpress.com/2014/01/26/tutorial-for-forcing-icosahedral-maps-onto-flat-maps/

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Oooh!

Oooh!

Originally shared by Scott Manley

I did the math for the spaceships in The Expanse - good news is fusion works, bad news is it melts ships.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWZqp0QoXcw&feature=autoshare

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

It seems the NEW Google+ is soon to be the ONLY Google+.

It seems the NEW Google+ is soon to be the ONLY Google+. I've swapped over and already it's made me irritated and cross.

After I pull down the list of comments, and have finished checking that, it automatically sends me to some bogus "Exploring Page" Very handy, so thatI then need to go back to HOME to get back to my stream, and if I was in the middle of reviewing that, I lose my position!. Arghhh! :-(

Also, the top bar dissapears when I'm no longer at the top of the feed. It never did that before.

I have sent them feedback on this.
https://support.google.com/plus/answer/1678224?hl=en

The action comes as part of a wave of commutations and pardons in President Obama's final days, with the outgoing...

The action comes as part of a wave of commutations and pardons in President Obama's final days, with the outgoing leader now responsible for more than 1,385 commutations and 212 pardons, frequently for non-violent drug offenders.

Unlike many I know , I don't (for reasons of my own) consider Assange, Snowden, or Manning to be heroes. However, both Assange and Snowden "ran", whereas Manning stood their ground, and that I can respect.

Now a pardon wipes out the conviction while a commutation leaves the conviction intact but wipes out the punishment, so Manning is still guilty as charged. This was NOT a single act however and I am interested in seeing WHO ELSE was commuted as well.
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/01/18/obama-commutes-wikileaks-source-chelsea-mannings-sentence-report

What would happen if the Earth stopped rotating?


http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/greatmomentsinscience/what-would-happen-if-the-earth-stopped-rotating/8180664

as predicted in StarTrek IV

as predicted in StarTrek IV

Originally shared by Scott Swain

Transparent aluminum
http://www.tssbulletproof.com/optically-clear-aluminum-provides-bulletproof-protection/

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Streuth, there is an open XML based data exchange format for data interoperability of railway applications!

Streuth, there is an open XML based data exchange format for data interoperability of railway applications!

 Also see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RailTopoModel and http://nrodwiki.rockshore.net/index.php/Main_Page
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RailML

An open source version of BVE Trainsim (see http://www.bvets.net/en/)!

An open source version of BVE Trainsim (see http://www.bvets.net/en/)!
https://sites.google.com/site/openbvesim/

Another open format specification to describe a road network's logic!

Another open format specification to describe a road network's logic!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDRIVE_(specification)

The RoadXML© format is an XML file format which is designed to answeGr the needs of many simulator applications:

The RoadXML© format is an XML file format which is designed to answeGr the needs of many simulator applications:

Golly, never knew such a format existed. I wonder if there's one for Trains and Railways?
http://www.road-xml.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61&Itemid=56

I came across this while looking for something related to L3DT.

I came across this while looking for something related to L3DT. OpenDS is a Open Source Driving Simulator, based on Unity, with commercial options. There's also an interesting list of other driving simulators on one of its wiki pages: http://www.transportationtechnologyventures.com/simwiki/index.php?title=Other_Simulators

No, I don't think so.

No, I don't think so. But I barely use mobile phones, and mostly access my social media from a desktop I can walk away from.
http://www.cjr.org/analysis/facebook_and_media.php

Old School Hex Maps Using Inkscape - Art Tutorials Wiki


http://artwiki.wikidot.com/old-school-hex-maps-using-inkscape

I've been teaching a series of scripting classes on Kitely.

Originally shared by Mike Higgins

I've been teaching a series of scripting classes on Kitely. The next class is on texture animation and mesh. Wednesday morning at 9:00 AM PDT and a repeat on Friday evening at 6:00 PM PDT. I've called my classes "intermediate scripting". This one the scripting is dog easy, but you may wish you knew more about mesh and UV mapping. This video shows what you will learn in just one hour. HG students welcome, come to grid.kitely.com:8002:Panthalassa and click on the teleport arrow for the Archery Range.

https://youtu.be/WZkl9ck9aKc

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Interesting idea.

Interesting idea.

Originally shared by Rob Jongschaap

Mathematical Model Reveals the Patterns of How Innovations Arise

'... The rate at which innovations appear and disappear has been carefully measured. It follows a set of well-characterized patterns that scientists observe in many different circumstances. And yet, nobody has been able to explain how this pattern arises or why it governs innovation.Today, all that changes thanks to the work of Vittorio Loreto at Sapienza University of Rome in Italy and a few pals, who have created the first mathematical model that accurately reproduces the patterns that innovations follow. The work opens the way to a new approach to the study of innovation, of what is possible and how this follows from what already exists.

The notion that innovation arises from the interplay between the actual and the possible was first formalized by the complexity theorist Stuart Kauffmann. In 2002, Kauffmann introduced the idea of the “adjacent possible” as a way of thinking about biological evolution.

The adjacent possible is all those things—ideas, words, songs, molecules, genomes, technologies and so on—that are one step away from what actually exists. It connects the actual realization of a particular phenomenon and the space of unexplored possibilities.

[...]

Nevertheless, even with all this complexity, innovation seems to follow predictable and easily measured patterns that have become known as “laws” because of their ubiquity. One of these is Heaps’ law, which states that the number of new things increases at a rate that is sublinear. In other words, it is governed by a power law of the form V(n) = knβ where β is between 0 and 1.

Words are often thought of as a kind of innovation, and language is constantly evolving as new words appear and old words die out.

This evolution follows Heaps’ law. Given a corpus of words of size n, the number of distinct words V(n) is proportional to n raised to the β power. In collections of real words, β turns out to be between 0.4 and 0.6.

Another well-known statistical pattern in innovation is Zipf’s law, which describes how the frequency of an innovation is related to its popularity. For example, in a corpus of words, the most frequent word occurs about twice as often as the second most frequent word, three times as frequently as the third most frequent word, and so on. In English, the most frequent word is “the” which accounts for about 7 percent of all words, followed by “of” which accounts for about 3.5 percent of all words, followed by “and,” and so on.

This frequency distribution is Zipf’s law and it crops up in a wide range of circumstances, such as the way edits appear on Wikipedia, how we listen to new songs online, and so on.
...'

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603366/mathematical-model-reveals-the-patterns-of-how-innovations-arise/
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603366/mathematical-model-reveals-the-patterns-of-how-innovations-arise/

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Nice concept, even if it's only for an RPG.


Nice concept, even if it's only for an RPG.

Originally shared by Ian Stead

Side projection of the DRV Far Horizon
The finished book features full deckplans of this and its compliment of craft too. Complete with an entire adventure set in the outer reaches of the solar system.
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/202309/Far-Horizon

In March 2016, French authorities fined Google €100,000 for not expanding France’s “right to be forgotten” rules to...

In March 2016, French authorities fined Google €100,000 for not expanding France’s “right to be forgotten” rules to all Google users worldwide.

I think this cuts both ways. When a business entity like Facebook has terms of service, the "default" seems to assume that USA law applies on those, regardless of where the user lives. But if the net is international, then surely intentional law should apply?
http://www.computerworld.com/article/3156296/internet/france-you-do-not-own-the-internet.html

Saturday, January 7, 2017

I remember using a DAT recorder to sample noises and sounds in my 1st year of my Bachelor's Fine Art (1997).

I remember using a DAT recorder to sample noises and sounds in my 1st year of my Bachelor's Fine Art (1997). It was supposed to be easier to use with Adobe Premiere. At that time we were shooting on Super VHS and then converting that to digital format  for Premiere as well.

No wonder when Premier compiled a video it'd start with an estimate like "32,458 days" - just as well that would progressively shorten as the compile went on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4K1QKKPX_g&feature=share

Wouldn't want to live in an apartment of that building!


Wouldn't want to live in an apartment of that building!

Originally shared by What's Hot Online


That train route tho

Gosh - I wonder how it'll develop next?

Gosh - I wonder how it'll develop next?
http://manteresting.com/sites/default/files/field/image/nail/2016/Jan/24/telephone_story.jpg

I'd hate to see the non-compact version!

I'd hate to see the non-compact version!
http://www.manteresting.com/sites/default/files/styles/pin_teaser/public/field/image/nail/2014/Sep/29/compact.jpg?itok=3ump5lq1

Well this didn't catch on

Well this didn't catch on
http://manteresting.com/sites/default/files/field/image/nail/2016/Dec/20/tiny_tv_-1960s.jpg

Like something in a 70s SF film.

Like something in a 70s SF film.
http://mymodernmet.com/hjertefolger-arctic-circle-cob-house/

Friday, January 6, 2017

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Hmmm, maybe.

Hmmm, maybe.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2016-12-15/optimism-helps-you-live-longer/8121114

Gosh.

Gosh.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/news/88120433/israels-flying-car-passenger-drone-moves-closer-to-delivery

This is how the "robot takeover" begins. ;-)

This is how the "robot takeover" begins. ;-)

Originally shared by Rob Jongschaap

Kuri the robot could replace your little brother as the cutest member of your family - The Verge

'... The voice-controlled robot is designed to do all sorts of things around the house, and unlike the Echo or Google Home, it’s on wheels. So yes, you can have a robot buddy follow you around while blasting Ludacris or whatever other music you like. At launch, however, the robot isn’t going to be natively compatible with any music streaming services, like Spotify or Apple Music, so instead, it’s going to act more like a Bluetooth speaker on wheels. Mayfield says it’s working on partnerships.

Kuri’s equipped with a laser array to help map a user’s house and has a 1080p camera behind its eyes for remote security check-ins, the feed of which can be accessed through its companion iOS / Android app. It controls smart home devices through IFTTT and knows to automatically return to its docking station when its battery is low.

Kuri also responds to touch if users, especially kids, don’t want or know how to use voice controls. “Hey Kuri” is its wake phrase, by the way. Like a family member, Kuri can recognize people with its built-in facial recognition software. ...
...'

http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/1/3/14128376/kuri-robot-home-release-mayfield-robotics
http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/1/3/14128376/kuri-robot-home-release-mayfield-robotics

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Whether they care about that is another matter. ;-)

Whether they care about that is another matter. ;-)

Originally shared by Rob Jongschaap

BBC - Earth - Your cat can pick up on how you are feeling

' ... New research has found the first strong evidence that cats are sensitive to human emotional gestures. ... '

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20151015-your-cat-can-pick-up-on-how-you-are-feeling?ocid=fbert

Man’s other best friend: domestic cats (F. silvestriscatus) and their discrimination of human emotion cues | SpringerLink

'... Abstract

The ability of domestic dogs (C. lupusfamaliaris) to follow and attend to human emotion expressions is well documented. It is unknown whether domestic cats (F. silvestriscatus) possess similar abilities. Because cats belong to the same order (Carnivora), but did not evolve to live in complex social groups, research with them enables us to tease apart the influence of social structure versus domestication processes on the capacity to recognize human communicative cues, such as emotions. Two experiments were conducted to determine the extent to which domestic cats discriminate between human emotion cues. The first experiment presented cats with facial and postural cues of happiness and anger from both an unfamiliar experimenter and their familiar owner in the absence of vocal cues. The second experiment presented cats with vocal cues of human emotion through a positively or negatively charged conversation between an experimenter and owner. Domestic cats were only modestly sensitive to emotion, particularly when displayed by their owner, suggesting that a history of human interaction alone may not be sufficient to shape such abilities in domestic cats.
...'

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10071-015-0927-4
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20151015-your-cat-can-pick-up-on-how-you-are-feeling?ocid=fbert