"The Latvian Bridge Test"
Meaning: Test case where failure of the test is potentially more harmful than not executing the test at all (thanks for Englishizing that, lo5an)
Source: Sep 20 1986 Officials in Latvia test the structural integrity of a 40-year-old bridge by driving 14 heavy vehicles containing gravel on top of it. A 250-foot span of the bridge collapses, killing ten people
The Revolution Controller and Genre Innovation
I was ready to make a nice, long winded post on why I think Nintendo's new Revolution controller is going to changing gaming forever, bring peace to the world, end hunger, and give everyone a puppy. However, this post on Lost Garden does it a lot better than I ever could (and is a little more even handed, too).
Second Life comes with 2 control mechanisms; keyboard and mouse. There's very little problem getting around in the world with these two methods. However, at Nonpolynomial Labs we believe that input can be as much part of the world as the client itself. Out of that idea grew Hooky, an input injector for Second Life.
Through Hooky, users can now control Second Life through any device that is compatible with DirectInput, and soon, any device that can be monitored through system hooks. Joysticks, foot pedals, and kitchen sinks are now all fair game for ways to experience and navigate through the world
G-Link is a device that maps the habits of a player onto their character in a game. By recording the actions and environments experienced by the player throughout the day (distance walked, amount of speaking, metrics of inhabited environments), the device maps the gathered statistics to the players avatar in the game world. If the player is inactive, then the in-game character will be physically weaker. Likewise, light levels around the player will effect their alignment in the game.
via PixelSumo
EyeSore: Real Time 3D Projection with Second Life provides SL users with a 3D visualization of the virtual world. Using two SL accounts and a polarized projection system, users can fly through the world, seeing the spectacular, larger than (real) life builds in full 3D. In this article, we outline the vision theory behind the project, as well as showing how the system was constructed.
