Saturday, November 6, 2010

Properganda in the streets



Last night saw New York’s Times Square turned into a shrine for Microsoft’s Kinect. In an opulent/obscene (delete as you see fit) display of corporate wealth, the company booked the entire square for its launch of Kinect, and put on a spectacular show.

While rapper Ne-Yo led hundreds of dancers through a routine, every one of the jumbotron screens in Times Square displayed Kinect advertising. Traffic through the whole area was blocked, and queues reportedly stretched for three blocks. Those at the front had waited since Monday to be first.

Kotaku has a few shots of the event in progress, so go >here for more. It looks like some sort of modern Nuremberg Rally for soccer moms, but you can’t argue about Microsoft’s commitment to force-feeding Kinect to the whole of the civilized world.

Microsoft recently announced it was aiming for 5 million Kinect sales by the end of 2010. On this form, you can actually see them pulling it off.

Needs a F-22E Strike Raptor before next decade

Better get Lockheed Martin's rear into gear and build something comparable to the PAK FA! Be sure it's called the F22E Strike Raptor.







General characteristics

* Crew: 1
* Length: 19.8 m (65.9 ft)
* Wingspan: 14 m (46.6 ft)
* Height: 6.05 m (19.8 ft)
* Wing area: 78.8 m2 (848.1 ft2)
* Empty weight: 18,500 kg (40,785 lb)
* Loaded weight: 26,000 kg (57,320 lb)
* Useful load: 7,500 kg (combat load) (16,534 lb)
* Max takeoff weight: 37,000 kg (81,570 lb)
* Powerplant: 2× New unnamed engine by NPO Saturn and FNPTS MMPP Salyut of 175 kN each. Prototype with AL-41F1 of 147 kN each,[61] definitive version with new engine >157 kN[61]
* Maximum Fuel weight: 10,300 kg (22,711 lb)

Performance

* Maximum speed: 2,100 - 2,600 km/h (Mach 2+) (1,305 - 1,625 mph) ; at 17,000 m (45,000 ft) altitude
* Cruise speed: 1,300 - 2,100 km/h (808 - 1312.5 mph)
* Ferry range: 5,500 km (3417 miles)
* Service ceiling: 20,000 m (65,616 ft)
* Rate of climb: 350 m/sec (68,900 ft/min)
* Wing loading: 330(normal) - 470(maximum) kg/m2 (67(normal) - 96(maximum) lb/ft2)
* Thrust/weight: 1.19 at 30,000kg weight. 1.37 at 26,000kg [59]
* Maximum g-load: 10-11 g

Armament

* Guns: None on prototype. Apparent provision for a cannon (most likely GSh-301).Possible two 30mm cannons
* Hardpoints: Two internal bays estimated at 4.6-4.7 metres by 1-1.1 metres.[64] . Other sources suggest two auxiliary internal bays for short range AAMS and 6 external hardpoints

Avionics
N050(?)BRLS AFAR/AESA built by Tikhomirov NIIP and based on Tikhomirov NIIP N035 Irbis-E . It will be the second aircraft based AESA Radar to be built by Russia, the first being the Phazotron NIIR ZHUK-A Radar in the MIG-35.

Designed armament

Two Izdeliye 810 Extended beyond visual range missiles per weapons bay. Multiple Izdeliye 180 / K77M beyond visual range missiles. K74 and K30 within visual range missiles can also be carried.
Two KH38M or KH58 USHK air-to-ground missiles per weapons bay. Multiple 250–500 kg precision guided bombs per weapons bay, with a maximum of ten bombs in internal bays
Other possible loads include one 1500 kg bomb per weapons bay or two 400 km+ range anti-AWACS weapons on external hard-points. A maximum weapons load of 7500 kg is reported.




General characteristics

* Crew: 1
* Length: 62 ft 1 in (18.90 m)
* Wingspan: 44 ft 6 in (13.56 m)
* Height: 16 ft 8 in (5.08 m)
* Wing area: 840 ft² (78.04 m²)
* Airfoil: NACA 64A?05.92 root, NACA 64A?04.29 tip
* Empty weight: 43,430 lb (19,700 kg)
* Loaded weight: 64,460 lb (29,300 kg)
* Max takeoff weight: 83,500 lb (38,000 kg)
* Powerplant: 2× Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 Pitch Thrust vectoring turbofans
o Dry thrust: 23,500 lb[199] (104 kN) each
o Thrust with afterburner: 35,000+ lb (156+ kN) each
* Fuel capacity: 18,000 lb (8,200 kg) internally, or 26,000 lb (11,900 kg) with two external fuel tanks

Performance

* Maximum speed:
o At altitude: Mach 2.25 (1,500 mph, 2,410 km/h)
o Supercruise: Mach 1.82 (1,220 mph, 1,963 km/h)
* Range: >1,600 nmi (1,840 mi, 2,960 km) with 2 external fuel tanks
* Combat radius: 410 nmi (471 mi, 759 km)
* Ferry range: 2,000 mi (1,738 nmi, 3,219 km)
* Service ceiling: 65,000 ft (19,812 m)
* Wing loading: 77 lb/ft² (375 kg/m²)
* Thrust/weight: 1.08 (1.26 with loaded weight & 50% fuel)
* Maximum design g-load: -3.0/+9.0 g

USAF poster overview of key features and armament

Armament

* Guns: 1× 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A2 Vulcan 6-barreled gatling cannon in starboard wing root, 480 rounds
* Air to air loadout:
o 6× AIM-120 AMRAAM
o 2× AIM-9 Sidewinder
* Air to ground loadout:
o 2× AIM-120 AMRAAM and
o 2× AIM-9 Sidewinder for self-protection, and one of the following:
+ 2× 1,000 lb (450 kg) JDAM or
+ 8× 250 lb (110 kg) GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs
* Hardpoints: 4× under-wing pylon stations can be fitted to carry 600 US gallon drop tanks or weapons, each with a capacity of 5,000 lb (2,268 kg).

Avionics

* RWR (Radar warning receiver): 250 nmi (463 km) or more
* Radar: 125–150 miles (200–240 km) against 1 m2 (11 sq ft) targets (estimated range)[105]
* Chemring MJU-39/40 flares for protection against IR missiles.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Top 30 RPGs

Greatest RPGS of all time

1. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
2. Mass Effect 2
3. The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion
4. Diablo II
5. Dragon Age
6. Final Fantasy VII
7. Neverwinter Nights
8. Mass Effect
9. Fable
10. Deus Ex
11. World of Warcraft
12. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II
13. Final Fantasy IX
14. Fallout 3
15. Final Fantasy XII
16. Kingdom Hearts
17. Guild Wars
18. Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance
19. Baldur's Gate
20. Final Fantasy VI
21. Paper Mario The Thousand Yaer Door
22. Bioshock
23. Neverwinters Nights 2
24. Final Fantasy Tactics
25. Final Fantasy X
26. Earthbound
27. Chrono Trigger
28. Final Fantasy IV
29. Chrono Cross
30. Xenogears

Minnesota Twins season in review

The Minnesota Twins had a pretty good year in their new ball park. They won 94 games, won the American League Central division, and made the playoffs. This team spent 127 days in first place, built a lead as big as 12 games, and went 48-26 after the all star break to lock down the divisional title. They did so by beating up on their divisional rivals; they only went 9-9 against the Detroit Tigers but were 38-16 against the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, and Kansas City Royals.

The Twin offense is led by Catcher Joe Mauer. He has another great year as he hit .327 with 9 home runs and 75 RBI. As a team they scored 781 runs for fifth best among the 14 AL clubs. Their team BA was .273 good enough for third amongst the AL teams. However they only hit 142 home runs and that is certainly due to their new home and not playing in the homer dome. The really good number here is they struck out only 967 times while drawing 559 walks.

Their pitching staff gave up 671 runs, and the staff ERA was 3.95. They were led by Carl Pavano who went 17-11 with a 3.75 ERA. As a staff they had the least amount of walks (383) of the entire American League. They struck out 1,048 batters which was just the 10th best number among AL staffs. Their closer, Joe Rauch, converted 21 saves and had a 3.12 ERA.

All in all this is a pretty solid club. Let us not forget they played half the season without Justin Morneau. However the Twins are proving that one of the better ways to win in the AL is with a strong rotation and great defense. This team gave up 1,493 hits, but only allowed 671 of those runners
to come around to score. That is a very impressive number.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Birthday Present

Guess which series has David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Robert Patrick in it?

Two years ago, I bought the best SCI-FI TV series, Star Trek TNG ( not really battlestar galatica). Today I'm getting the 2nd best SCI-FI series where The Gray making a cameo appearance. The first movie was pretty good. The 2nd movie was disappointing.


A lot better than Warehouse 13 or star trek voyager!

Here's my Jack-o-lantern this year.

Friday, October 29, 2010

PlayStation 3 closing in on Xbox 360 in console race

Sony’s PlayStation 3 console is now a mere 3 million units behind Microsoft’s Xbox 360 in the pathetically named Console War™. According to newly released data from each platform holder, PS3 has sold 41.6 million units worldwide, compared to Xbox 360’s 44.6 million units.

Recent sales make happy reading for Sony also: since May 2010, 5.6 million PS3s have been sold, compared to 4.3 million Xbox 360s.

This isn’t necessarily a surprise. Previous reports have indicated that the PS3 was slowly overturning the Xbox 360′s headstart, and now one analyst is predicting Sony’s tortoise will grab second place (behind Nintendo’s all-conquering Wii) from Microsoft’s hare by the end of 2012. Take the mic, EEDAR’s Jesse Divnich:

“Worldwide, Sony will eventually take the lead from Microsoft, likely by the end of 2012. North America is a tougher challenge, and as we have seen lately Microsoft’s lead is widening. I don’t know if the PlayStation 3 will ever overtake the Xbox 360 in North America. Maybe 2014? 2016?”

Of course, as Divnich later points out, third place doesn’t seem so bad this generation. While Nintendo’s GameCube suffered from its third place finish in the last console generation, it only sold around 22 million units. With years left in the tank, both the PS3 and Xbox 360 have almost doubled that, and have a better software tie-in ratio (that is, how many games every console owner is buying).

So, could this be the first console generation where three platforms sell 75 million+ units each? The Wii’s already made it!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Opera 10.6 is unpopular, yet better than firefox.

It doesn't lag like firefox, and it has ad block and flashblock. You can clear all your data with one click. Just have both so when firefox decides to repeatably crash. Opera to the rescue.

opera:config#UserPrefs|EnableOnDemandPlugin
^ blocks flash via URL bar

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also I imagine that Bluray is good for Playstation and bad for movies. DVDs are better due to saving 40% on everything. If you have a 1080i camera (and they're under $200 now), just murder the bitrate to 1 Mbps and 80 kbps he-AAC and 2 hours fit on DVD. 1080i is a good resolution. I don't know what is clearer, 720p at 2 Mbits or 1080i at 1 Mbit. It'll look like Satellite transmissions.

1 Mbit meets transparency with 2010 AVC encoders.