Disqus - Latest Comments for jmlane

Re: HoRNDIS: USB tethering driver for Mac OS X

Jonathan M. Lane — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:41:54 -0000

I am also curious about building on 10.5. I'm going to fool around with Xcode and the source, but given I have no OSX/Xcode development experience, a public account of the advice given to IzI above would be nice for reference.

Re: http://www.co-optimus.com/article/8289/ghost-recon-future-soldier-xbox-360-and-playstation-3-giveaway.html

Jonathan M. Lane — Wed, 23 May 2012 17:21:40 -0000

Call me old fashioned, but I am loathe to add too many fancy doodads to the classic gun play of Ghost Recon. That being said, I do like the stun guns and the non-lethal hacking mechanic they added. I think a long-range non-lethal rifle, much like a sniper-tazer would be a cool gadget for a high-tech stealth recon force. Depending on the delivery system, you could attached various "charges" to the rounds, allowing for mini-EMPs for anti-material uses as well.

Should you have found that interesting, please send me a voucher for one inter... err, Xbox 360 copy of Ghost Recon Future Soldier. kthxbye!

Re: A primer on Python decorators – Thumbtack Engineering

Jonathan M. Lane — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 01:30:15 -0000

The Fibonacci memoization example definitely reminded me of the CS class when we learnt about recursive functions.

Re: http://www.co-optimus.com/article/7435/warhammer-40k-space-marine-chaos-unleashed-dlc-available-today.html

Jonathan M. Lane — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:51:35 -0000

Seems like fun. I need to convince some people to play this with me some time when the game goes on sale.

Re: http://thecadre.ca/post/11028221430

Jonathan M. Lane — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:35:20 -0000

I am not arguing against adapting the election bylaws to impose a reasonable analogy to this practice for digital media. It is perfectly reasonable to mandate that campaigns cease on the date of an election since that is the precedent. Proper consideration needs to given to what is expected of ubiquitous and/or participatory digital media used during a campaign, since the shared authorship of these services can complicate the issue.

Re: http://thecadre.ca/post/11028221430

Jonathan M. Lane — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:31:52 -0000

Political candidates aren't expected to shutdown or delete their Web sites on election dates, as far as I am aware. They may not be allowed to do whatever is equivalent to "not campaigning on the day of" in terms of ubiquitous digital media, but they are certainly not expected to tear it all down or delete their sites, accounts, and digital services.

My point is that certain digital campaign tools can have derived value to a group of people beyond the political candidate and their campaign crew. In the case of Logan O'Brien's Facebook group, the active participants during the campaign may wish to see their questions and statements preserved.

A suitable policy that effectively translates the spirit of the bylaw preventing active campaigning on dates of an election is needed for digital media, given the partially immutable aspects of certain implementations thereof, without mandating that valuable resources be permanently deleted.

Re: http://thecadre.ca/post/11063960359

Jonathan M. Lane — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:26:28 -0000

I appreciate The Cadre's initiative in bringing the UPEISU's outdated and somewhat contradictory election bylaw to the attention of the campus community. Maybe that should be the focus in any future follow-ups on this topic? Highlighting that Logan O'Brien failed to follow The Cadre's advice and warnings on Facebook seems rather trivial in comparison to root issue in this turn of events.

Re: http://thecadre.ca/post/11028221430

Jonathan M. Lane — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:18:13 -0000

In case anyone missed the point, UPEI Student Union election bylaws are outdated and need to revised to reflect the present realities of Student Union election campaigns.

Re: How I got the Turntable.fm Gorilla in less than 48 hours

Jonathan M. Lane — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:01:49 -0000

How do you suggest doing that exactly? If Turntable.fm is checking geolocation by IP on the back-end, there is not much you can do (that I am aware of) that will let you pose as from the US geolocation save proxing your traffic through a valid IP. Maybe I am missing something here....

It would be interesting to see if there is a more optimal IP masking technique that you could employ on a US-based server that would avoid unnecessary overhead from tunneling all traffic over SSH. My first instinct is to setup a NAT or something similar, but I lack the necessary understanding of networking theory to really know what is practical in this case.

Re: ‘Reply above this line’ culture must die

Jonathan M. Lane — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 11:02:34 -0000

I appreciate the context provided by inline replies and frequently make use of this practice, however I almost always prefix an inline reply with a top-posted message greeting the recipient and explaining that I'm replying inline below. This seems to be the best way to make sure my reply and all my comments are noticed in lightly formatted emails (typically plain text) when sent to non-technical email recipients. Nerds and geeks know how to pick out replies from quoted emails, but less experienced users may not be able to deceipher the plain-text formatting syntax or they may not use a mail client that parses the mail content and present it in a readable fashion.

If you are posting to a group of people you suspect know enough about email tech to be able to figure out that your inline replying without and sort of preamble, my all means adopt that standard. Expecting average email users to adopt this practice which is seemingly very backwards unless you are an old-school email or USEnet user is a bit unreasonable. Bottom posting caters to the power users who have options for customizing their email presentation (threaded mailbox or mailing list archive views, etc.) that the inexperienced or unfamiliar do not know how to take proper advantage.

Re: http://www.co-optimus.com/article/5218/could-raven-software-be-working-on-the-next-call-of-duty.html

Jonathan M. Lane — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 02:33:57 -0000

Sabre

I think Soldier of Fortune is the best fit, in fact. Good call.

Re: http://www.co-optimus.com/editorial/655/co-op-casual-friday-forbidden-island.html

Jonathan M. Lane — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 02:29:22 -0000

Sounds like a great game. Thanks for the review.

Re: http://www.co-optimus.com/article/5223/co-op-casual-friday-forbidden-island.html

Jonathan M. Lane — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 02:29:22 -0000

Sounds like a great game. Thanks for the review.

Re: http://www.co-optimus.com/article/5219/our-weekend-in-gaming-backlog-edition.html

Jonathan M. Lane — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:51:53 -0000

Probably whatever my friends are playing (BFBC2 Vietnam, Monday Night Combat, Halo Reach, Black Ops, etc.) or work on a solo game if I get bored and want to kill some time while I try to recover from this flu.

Re: http://www.co-optimus.com/article/5218/could-raven-software-be-working-on-the-next-call-of-duty.html

Jonathan M. Lane — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:46:53 -0000

Sabre

Singularity is even less of a likely candidate to be termed a "realistic" shooter. Not even sure if it was a military-themed shooter (I didn't play it).

A revamped Castle Wolfenstein game could be cool. Really enjoyed the little bit of Return to Castle Wolfenstein online I played, back a few years ago.

Re: http://www.co-optimus.com/article/5205/new-video-for-operation-flashpoint-red-river.html

Jonathan M. Lane — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 17:00:39 -0000

Mrxknown_JG

Well, I understand your concern with the lack of customization. Honestly, it isn't very authentic for rank-and-file soldiers to have modified weapons or kits, unless they are high-ranking veterans and/or members of special units with operational flexibility (great opportunity to implement a rank/reward system while simultaneously respecting this military principle).

I am of the opinion that Codemaster should continue to strive for milsim authenticity in their games, rather than trying to copy the success of arcade-shooters such as those of the Call of Duty franchise. It is very possible to have a fun and enjoyable milsim-esque FPS, without compromising authenticity and plausibility in the game mechanics and plot.

Re: http://www.co-optimus.com/editorial/650/mmo-co-opportunities-volume-vi-2011-s-upcoming-co-opportunities.html

Jonathan M. Lane — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 16:43:10 -0000

Very cool. Will lurk on that forum also.

Re: http://www.co-optimus.com/article/5191/mmo-co-opportunities-volume-vi-2011-s-upcoming-co-opportunities.html

Jonathan M. Lane — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 16:43:10 -0000

Very cool. Will lurk on that forum also.

Re: http://www.co-optimus.com/article/5111/no-co-op-or-any-multiplayer-for-mass-effect-3.html

Jonathan M. Lane — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 03:44:59 -0000

txshurricane

Indeed. I recognize that there is a difference. Describing anyone as close-minded is probably a bit too harsh for a discussion on the relatively unimportant topic of video games. That being said, I would still chastise anyone stubborn enough to refuse to admit there is any value in games without co-operative game-modes, as that would most certainly suggest intolerance or a lack of reason on their part. The actual quantification of the perceived value of those games is really irrelevant and discussing that would likely just cause more unnecessary friction, as this is really a matter of personal preference.

I applaud any gamer with the will to use their purchasing power to dictate their preferences to game developers and publishers. I respect Marc's choice to not buy games without co-op modes. The reason the video game industry can be so indifferent in terms of customer satisfaction or competitive pricing is because most gamers are unwilling to stop consuming in order to deliver a message in the only medium publishers really care about&#058 economics.

Re: http://www.co-optimus.com/article/5205/new-video-for-operation-flashpoint-red-river.html

Jonathan M. Lane — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 02:50:23 -0000

Great news! I am really looking forward to Red River, as the Operation Flashpoint series has been a long-time favourite.

I also recently acquired Dragon Rising for the Xbox 360 and am enjoying the "authentic" (codemaster is careful to avoid calling their newer games milsims for some reasonsince when is that pejorative?) military FPS style of the game. I do have my issues with the implementation in DR, but based on some of the developer interviews I've seen regarding Red River, I suspect codemaster is well-aware of those problems and on the path to correcting them.

All DR player on XBL or players looking to acquire a cheap copy in anticipation of Red River, feel free to connect with me for some online play. Hopefully we will have a decent amount of Co-optibots playing this title around launch to get some good co-op parties on the go.

Re: http://www.co-optimus.com/article/5207/this-week-in-co-op-a-firefight-visual-odyssey.html

Jonathan M. Lane — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 02:40:16 -0000

Ah, very cool. Didn't realize it was that simple. Thanks for explaining.

Re: http://www.co-optimus.com/article/5111/no-co-op-or-any-multiplayer-for-mass-effect-3.html

Jonathan M. Lane — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 02:38:13 -0000

It seems to me that the argument being presented against single-player only games is more akin to "if it doesn't have co-op, I don't want it, because there is no perceived value in games without co-op". Perhaps that statement is a way to rationalize not being able to play single-player only games or maybe it is a legitimate perspective on that game-mode. Regardless of the reasoning, that is an opinion, thus subjective, and ultimately a matter of personal taste, however the statement does invite the more enthusiastic fans of single-player franchises to come to the defense of those games.

I would just like both camps to agree that both single-player only games and games with co-operative game-modes both have value, as well as the fact that preferences toward one or the other class of game is a personal choice that does not have to devalue the opposite. If Co-optimus community members want to hold firm to the stance that games without co-op modes have no value to them, I will accept that as their opinion and drop this topic. That won't stop me from thinking that that is a very close-minded attitude. In the end, the choice is ultimately theirs to make, as nobody with a balanced life has time to play every video game.

Re: http://www.co-optimus.com/article/5207/this-week-in-co-op-a-firefight-visual-odyssey.html

Jonathan M. Lane — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 02:15:14 -0000

Looks like you all had a lot of fun.

Firefight was a well-received addition to the Halo series of games with the release of my favourite title, ODST. Lots of fun was had with my friends surviving as many waves of Covenant invasion as possible, before we finally got beat-down by some inevitably gravity hammer wielding Brute.

Those screenshots are very nice. Did you use File Share and a Bungie Pro account to export them from the Theatre?

Re: http://www.co-optimus.com/review/652/ilomilo-co-op-review.html

Jonathan M. Lane — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:08:25 -0000

The demo was a lot of fun. Curious to see footage of co-op gameplay, since that was something I did not get to try.

I see a lot of potential in this game; it's cute, it's simple, and it's fun.

Re: http://www.co-optimus.com/article/5202/ilomilo-co-op-review.html

Jonathan M. Lane — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:08:25 -0000

The demo was a lot of fun. Curious to see footage of co-op gameplay, since that was something I did not get to try.

I see a lot of potential in this game; it's cute, it's simple, and it's fun.