People are neverending Earth consumers. We're used to throwing items away and buying new ones as soon as they lose their neat looks or need a repair. However, there's a solution that helps us give back to the place we've taken things from.
الخميس، 28 مارس 2019
Fall 2017 Game Jam FAQ
Sign up for the Fall 2017 Game Jam here!
What's a Game Jam?
You have one weekend to form a team and build a game! Game Jams are exciting and fun opportunities for students of all experience levels to engage in game development.
When and where does the Game Jam start?
The event starts on Friday, October 27th in ECE 104 (Electrical and Computer Engineering, Room 104). We encourage participants to show up at 5:00 PM to socialize and form teams, and kickoff starts at 5:30!
When does the Game Jam end?
Games are due at noon on Sunday, October 29th, and the closing ceremonies begin shortly after. There, teams present their games to the judges and contestants, and we announce the winners!
Do I have to stay at the event for its duration?
Nope! Most teams do choose to stay at the event, but the only parts of the Game Jam that participants absolutely have to attend are the kickoff and the closing ceremony. On the other hand, the event runs continuously for its duration, so some teams choose to stay overnight!
But I don't know how to make a game!
You don't need to have prior game development experience to be a valuable team member! If you can write code, draw art, make 3D models, design levels, compose music, record sound effects, or write a story, your team can help you learn how to apply those skills to game development!
Can I form any team?
There is no restriction on team size, but we recommend sticking to no more than two people of any skillset (art, programming, music, etc.), since that makes it much harder to designate tasks.
Can I make any game?
Pretty much! We only ask that teams make new games, instead of working on existing projects, which is why the Game Jam has a mystery theme to be announced during kickoff that all teams' games should use as inspiration! Reusing individual assets from past games, such as existing art, code, or music, is fine.
This all sounds great! How do I sign up?
The link's at the top, remember? But because you've been such a good listener, I'll link it again here.
Wait! I have more questions!
You can contact us with any other questions you might have! The organizers for this Game Jam are Riley Driscoll, Joseph Scheidemandel, and Dani Jaramillo, so they're the best officers to ask.
الأربعاء، 27 مارس 2019
Why You Have To Live In Your Mother's Basement (Monday Musings 69)
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| Best book on Peronal Finance |
In this politically divisive time, regardless of what you think of Sen. Warren, please don't be too concerned that she co-wrote the book (with her daughter) and keep an open mind even if you don't like her politics, as the advice here has helped lead to my own financial stability, even in tough times.
You can go to the library and check it out, if you want to read the best book on personal finance for the average person without giving the authors further funds. I read quite a few personal finance books and this is the best I've found, where it shows how to take concrete steps and learn what you need to do now to improve your financial situation.
Warren and Tyagi write very clearly and interestingly; I found it a page turner. Indeed, it's riveting to find out that you can take charge of your finances and live well!
I'll have to re-read the book first before I summarize in detail, so thank you for your patience.
In the meantime, upon doing some preliminary number-crunching, I'd say this book can work if you make $10/hour at 20K (though I will have to do more research and work the math so I may have to revise these estimates), if and only if you can somehow manage to live with your parents or friends to obtain "cheap" rent.
The average American income is around $25,000, according to the Census Bureau. The numbers could be as high 47K on average, though billionaires can be skewing the curve.
After taxes, let's say your income goes to $20,000 for easier math.
Ideally, the place you live should cost 1/3 of your net income, per All Your Worth. Indeed, research has shown that people tend not to fall into debt as readily if their rent/mortgage is 1/3 or less. Americans have a tendency to "buy more house" than they can afford to "keep up with the Joneses".
At any rate, 1/3 of 20K is $6666. Divided by 12 months, the rent should only come to $555.50, or let's say $500. In Philadelphia, you can get a "cheap" apartment for $800, so let's say $1000. We're left with $20K minus $12K or a mere $8000.
In NYC, rent would be at least $3000/month (this is a "cheap" apartment) at $24K/year which is above the entire income.
Those who live in NYC, and you're making $25K, you can see why you can't live on your own, and you must live with your parents or friend(s) or other roomies. Hopefully that leaves you with a rent of "merely" $500/month.
As for those who live in more "reasonable" cities, we are down to $8K with the rent being on average $1000/month. Food is $400/month, if you pinch the pennies, coming out to $4800. We're now down to $4200 (8K - 4.8K dollars).
That leaves $350/month (4.8K/12). Utilities run $200/month at best so we're now at $150/month. Gas costs, say, $20/week (I live in New Jersey, so can buy relatively cheap gas for the Eastern Seaboard), so $80/month down to $70/month.
For internet/phone bill, that cone out to over $70/month, so no streaming for you!
With at best $70/month left over, what if, among the potential emergencies, your car breaks down, which you might need to get to work. Then you're wiped out completely and in crippling credit card debt (if you can charge auto repairs on your credit card). With the compounding 20% annual interest, you may have to declare bankruptcy or go homeless.
I know I'm being dire here, but I think this is the reality for a lot of Americans.
In other words, to be more financially sound, you'll have to live with your parents or friends or otherwise share living space.
The intent of this post is to argue against the snide dismissal of the phrase, "he probably lives in his mother's basement", and recognize the realities of life today in the US.
A lot of hard-working people shouldn't be ashamed when they have to move back in with their parents given the rising living costs, to prevent crippling debt, bankruptcy and/or homelessness.
What do you think? Should we make fun of those who have to live with their parents, or understand that with the realities of drastically rising cost of living with stagnating wages, that we should be more understanding and have more compassion?
The How of Happiness Review
الثلاثاء، 26 مارس 2019
TGR Episode 13 - Ramblings, Fun Times, And Hot Coffee
Hey guys, hope you enjoyed all of the panels from last year's Gearbox Community Day. We're only a few days away from the huge day, and already my cockles are already tingling with excitement. That means we are just that much closer to the Borderlands 2 release and launch party. I've got a couple of good friends coming in from out of town, so I didn't really have a lot of time to put the show together this week. Enjoy though, it's mostly just ramblings and a few stories.
On today's Twisted Gamer Radio:
- The Bioshock Song
- Fez Developer Won't Fix His Game
- Things I'm Playing And Shit I'm Doing
- Fucked Up News: Kid Has Heart Attack After Call of Duty Gaming Session
- Sound Clip Corner: I Don't Want Starbucks!
Contact Us:
Listen right now! Subscribe via iTunes, rate us over there, and leave us a comment. You can also listen over at Stitcher.com through assorted smart phones and tablets on the go. Just download the Stitcher app!
E-mail us news, topics, comments or questions to: Twisted Gamer Radio
Call in and be heard on-air: (469) 248-5668 (POOT)
The Distorted Gamer Blog
An Update On Android Things
Posted by Dave Smith, Developer Advocate for IoT
Over the past year, Google has worked closely with partners to create consumer products powered by Android Things with the Google Assistant built-in. Given the successes we have seen with our partners in smart speakers and smart displays, we are refocusing Android Things as a platform for OEM partners to build devices in those categories moving forward. Therefore, support for production System on Modules (SoMs) based on NXP, Qualcomm, and MediaTek hardware will not be made available through the public developer platform at this time.
Android Things continues to be a platform for experimenting with and building smart, connected devices using the Android Things SDK on top of popular hardware like the NXP i.MX7D and Raspberry Pi 3B. System images for these boards will remain available through the Android Things console where developers can create new builds and push app updates for up to 100 devices for non-commercial use.
We remain dedicated to providing a managed platform for IoT devices, including turnkey hardware solutions. For developers looking to commercialize IoT products in 2019, check out Cloud IoT Core for secure device connectivity at scale and the upcoming Cloud IoT Edge runtime for a suite of managed edge computing services. For on-device machine learning applications, stay tuned for more details about our Edge TPU development boards.
السبت، 23 مارس 2019
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