'Rumble' (vibration) is returning to the PlayStation

‘Rumble’ (vibration) is returning to the PlayStation

First, Sony got sued for their rumble feature in the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 controllers.

Then, Nintendo announced the Wii controller, with motion-sensing. Nintendo didn’t say whether or not it had rumble.

Then, Sony announced the PlayStation 3 controller, with motion-sensing but no rumble. Sony explained that it was impossible to have both motion-sensing and rumble.

Then, Nintendo announced that their motion-sensing controller had rumble.

Then, Sony announced that rumble was a ‘last generation’ feature and that no-one wanted it.

Then, Sony settled the lawsuit.

Now, Sony is re-introducing the rumble feature. I can’t wait for their ad campaign. ‘That $600 games system you just got? Get ready to buy the controllers for it all over again!’

Daring Fireball on top-posting when replying to e-mails

Daring Fireball on top-posting when replying to e-mails

This is one of those debates that never dies. Some people, like Mr Gruber, loathe top-posting (starting your reply above the quoted section), although Mr Gruber’s customarily well-thought reasoning seems to be absent here. I much prefer it, because contrary to Gruber et al.’s efforts to bring their carefully-selected quotes to focus, I think they should be tucked out of the way.

Writing a worthwhile and meaningful correspondence means being able to reference a previous conversation without having to resort to cutting and pasting. Putting some effort into communicating means doing some writing. There are so many reasons to do this: the newly-written text will be more engaging to the reader; it will flow like proper prose; it will reveal your interpretation of what the other person said; and not least of all, it will look like you actually care about what you’re doing.

The quoted text needs only to be there in case the recipient really wants to go back and read their original letter, to save them the trouble of hunting it down in their e-mail client. Thus, its placement, which corresponds to its importance.

(Edit: significantly lessened my rant.)

Mario Kart Wii: Q1 2008, online play

Mario Kart Wii: Q1 2008, online play

Yay! Who doesn’t love Mario Kart?! Online is not unexpected, but still welcome.

New model PSP with video output, less weight, faster load times

New model PSP with video output, less weight, faster load times

The video output sounds very nice, although the PSP’s screen is nice enough (and my 4:3 CRT TV is unremarkable enough) that I can’t really see myself using it.

What it really needs is to be more comfortable to hold. It’s rather difficult to do so for any prolonged period of time. I suppose the new lightness might help with that a little.

And it goes without saying that the new model will have even more tricks included to stop you from running unapproved software.

… I am suspicious of marketing materials almost completely, and trust only the grip of a familiar pad and the whirl of the retail disc dancing in the drive. I am not immune to pomp, and I take in the trailer and the screenshot for entertainment, but one may rarely call this education.

… I am suspicious of marketing materials almost completely, and trust only the grip of a familiar pad and the whirl of the retail disc dancing in the drive. I am not immune to pomp, and I take in the trailer and the screenshot for entertainment, but one may rarely call this education.

—Tycho Brahe

New US PS3 model lacks hardware backwards compatibility

New US PS3 model lacks hardware backwards compatibility

Sony is introducing a new 80 GB model PlayStation 3 in the US, at $600. Accordingly, the 60 GB model, formerly that price, is being lowered to $500. (There was originally a 20 GB model for $500, which has been dropped entirely.)

The kicker is that the 80 GB model will lack the original PlayStation 2 hardware, called the ‘Emotion Engine’, which provided backwards compatibility with PS2 and PS1 games on all US PS3 models to date. The 80 GB model will instead use software emulation, which will result in many PS2 games not working as well, or simply not working at all; this does not compare favourably to the hardware-based solution, which is near-perfect.

Yet in a bizarre twist of fate, the 60 GB model (for now) still contains the EE. So that extra $100 for an 80 GB model will get you a hard drive that costs almost exactly the same, a game that costs essentially nothing to manufacture, and less hardware resulting in lower compatibility. Good job as always, Sony.

Differences between UK and US editions of Harry Potter books

Differences between UK and US editions of Harry Potter books

I had thought about getting the UK version of Deathly Hallows, but I didn’t: there was the additional expense, the additional wait, and (silliest reason of all) the US edition covers by Mary GrandPré are much prettier.

組織の銀

組織の銀

Ron Paul Facts

Ron Paul Facts

Bwaa ha ha ha.

It’s a parody of Chuck Norris Facts, which is itself a parody of… uh… Chuck Norris?

Also parodying the small but very vocal minority in support of Ron Paul’s presidential candidacy. Although, it seems to be authored by the same, so take that for what you will.

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Olde English - Michel Gondry

Bizarre and very amusing.