Newer machines have them. My rig at work has four 3.0 and four 2.0. No idea what I'd ever do with them (and the devs have admitted to being extremely generous with that spec), though I'll admit to having said that about more than one now-ubiquitous technology over the years.

Internal expansion slots will probably disappear sooner or later, and "video cards" will become little external boxes.

Actually, hard drives did that exact thing. They started out as external boxes, then became internal hardware, and now they're external boxes again.

So did "sound cards." Then they went ISA / MCA / PCI. Now, nearly all of the "Sound Blaster" products made by Creative are, once again, external boxes.

Come to think of it, video "cards" used to be external boxes.




All this has happened before...






After my first taste of "real" VR multiplayer FPS (head, hand and body tracking in a fully immersive stand-up rig) circa 1992-93, followed by >20 years of broken promises and zero progress, I've given up hoping.




EDIT: even more reason to lose hope:

"It was announced earlier this year that every Oculus Rift would include an Xbox One controller."

Bundling said controller with every headset means it'll obviously become the default target controller for all application development.

As compared to a mouse and keyboard, I strongly dislike console-style controllers for FPS use. They were fine for pushing a meth-addicted hedgehog and a chick wearing body-armor around 2d scrolling platformers, but for positioning and targeting in three-dimensional space, they're a blunt instrument.

 

Why 4x USB 3.0 Ports? Why not 1x Displayport + 1x USB 2.0 Port? Why is this mysterious device pretending that it has to render it's own video?

The XBONE controller is destined to become useless. It's primary uses will be: A. Draw the console crowd to the PC environment, and B. be a semi-functional gaming device for those who are too incompetent or unwilling to learn how to keyboard. The incompetent ones will eventually return to "consoles" which no longer require a TV, leaving us free to enjoy the wonders of personalized input devices.

 

I'm so incompetent that I can only use a steering wheel...

 

BPEarthwatch: "Watching the End Time Signs for the Return of Our Lord Jesus Christ."

 

People ask me if I'm getting a Rift maybe due to the context of me working for a company who makes virtual reality displays...

I say "no" because I agree with the company president: it's not going to be a good consumer product. The minutia of how the thing plugs into your computer and how you control games is maybe relevant to a few people but ultimately it isn't what will make or break the rift. There is one thing that made the rift and one thing that will carry it through profitability and ultimately its demise:

Hype.

You can throw millions of dollars of R&D at hype and make it look and feel like some very good hardware, but it's not new or groundbreaking or even an invention. Clearly the thing is unpatentable and there are tons of copycat products out already from google cardboard to HTC to Sony's PSVR. When it all comes down to it, you've got some heavy box on your face that will most likely make your neck stiff and give you eyestrain headaches.

Is it cool for 5 minutes? Hell yeah it is. I love 5 minutes of good VR. Is it good for 30+ minutes? **** no and all of our customers with HMDs would agree. even the first prototype of the rift was cool for 2 minutes. It was literally a ski mask with a phone in it. It was low resolution and big field of view and it was impressive. But having been in VR for almost 10 years and having seen just about every decent system that came out in that time, I can tell you that we haven't made the big leap yet. The rift is definitely an improvement in price and field of view. I have only seen the prototype, DK1, and DK2 so I can't comment on the final version's image quality yet.

Still, even though I don't want one, I still bet the boss lunch that Oculus would sell about 1 million units in the first week (including preorders) because I think the hype engine will overshadow what the thing really is. And prepare yourself for the huge backlash on forums about problems people have with this thing. It will be a HIGH percentage of the buyers.

I'd be more interested in an optical see-through version anyway. Check the video below. This dude came up to us with the prototype of the thing he's showing made from some lenses and 3d printed parts and a random android phone. He asked if we were interested in developing a product around the technology and we said "naw dawg" because we just dont do consumer stuff. I think it has way more potential than the rift and isn't really any more complicated.


BTW if someone is bitching about their video card not being up to snuff, Braineack might want to buy it off you for cheap.

 

Request for comment:

Is the following overly passive-aggressive, or does it convey the appropriate tone? As background, I work in a television station, which is an office-type environment. The restroom in question is located in the engineering side of the building, and used principally by educated professionals. Specifically, it is between the management office, the master control room, the production control room, and the server / equipment rooms. Certain members of the graphics department, the digital media group and creative services also frequent it Nobody using this restroom was raised by wolves. The news department (many of whom were raised by wolves) have their own, rather larger restroom on the other side of the building.

 

It was perfect up until #2 (no pun intended), at which point it rose to the level of insult. It's not that I don't agree with it, just noting the (obvious) demarcation point.

I would add an item #3: "Or, wipe up after yourself (because your mother doesn't work here)."

Optional on that mother part.

 

I would just cut off #2 after sit down and post it.

 

I'm seriously considering printing that and posting at work.
We've this new guy that does it so bad and so often that we're getting ready to have an intervention.

 

Agree with good2go. I personally refer to the "unless you mommy works here, your should clean up after yourself.
On this subject, I've never understood the classic gripe about men not lowering the seat. To me, NOT RAISING THE SEAT is much more egregious.

 

Reminds me of a story I was told at a place I worked many years ago. Seems someone was doing the same thing in a factory restroom. A bunch of the workers started checking the stalls, and they figured out who it was. Confronted him face to face. It stopped for a while, then continued. So, they broke into his vehicle and pissed all over the seats in it. Management refused to do anything, claiming vehicles were left in the parking lot at your own risk. Seat pisser quit, but the story lived on.

There isn't an adult male in the US that doesn't know the (unwritten) rules. I say post the notice as written, and look for the person who comes out looking angry. That's your culprit. If it continues, make it widely known who is responsible. Peer pressure is a highly effective means of behavior modification.

 

That feeling when you look at the pile of crap in your basement and realize that in sub-2 weeks someone else will be carrying it up the too-narrow stairs and loading it onto a moving truck for you. Awwwww yeah.

And to top it off, someone else gets to carry my Autox wheels, tires, spare exhaust, springs, jacks, jackstands and welder. Good thing too, because I'm lazy and all of it will go into a garage at the new place rather than basement. And I pay for none of it.

 

Seat pissers suck, so do the non poo flushers... leaving their poo to be on display.

 

Yes. Just be direct. State your desire as concisely as you can.

"Please lift the seat or wipe it off when you finish pissing" for example.

 

also this happened:



Jasper Wallace y8s

born on the same day as Alfred Russel Wallace (1/8... middle name was already chosen well in advance)

The midwife helping me catch the baby actually used the word "****" while we were in the middle of everything.

 

CONGRATS!!



(Trust mommy is doing well also?)

 

VR subject, main problem that i see is content. There's no easy way of taking the current games and other media and converting it to side by side 3d format.

Few months back when i tried the DK 2 there were some games made specifically for it but i'm not getting the oculus so i can watch some shitty flash game in 3d.. if i get it it will be because i wanna play the games i LIKE in VR and theres no programs that convert the regular format into side by side 3d format.


As far as the kid goes.. Why not just get another cat sir?

 

Cats will not feed you and change your diaper in old age.

 

Is there an App for that?

 

mommy went into labor at 330pm. parked at 520. baby born at 701pm. home the next evening by 10pm.

better than last time: 33 hrs of labor!

she is doing awesome.

we have cat already. it never learned to talk and flush poop.