Vermeulen

This is a really important distinction that apparently most reporters don't care about - I see this misconception everywhere

By using Google's free services you agree to giving them data - that's not how customers want to use an ISP.

Google is a company that relies on trust. If I can't trust them with my data their business will seriously suffer. Verizon in no way cares about users trusting them, it's not in their business model.

It needs to be a choice what companies I trust with my data

it's pretty clear from interviews with Assange that Wikileaks is entirely ego driven, and always has been. When his trial was happening rather than let Wikileaks distance itself from it, like other leaders like this would, he used it as a tool to argue his case to the public. He has been releasing information out of spite rather than public good. An impartial organization like Wikileaks should exist, that whistleblowers can come to - it just really can't be run like this

Google seems unable to have a partner without eventually entering their market and becoming enemies. Apple before Android, Twitter before Google+ - I guess it's inevitable with how many different industries Google tries to tackle. I think if this service is entirely defined by autonomous vehicles it's really a complete different service than Uber. No more driver ratings or passenger ratings, all the same car type, and it's own vast legal challenges

I love these interactive demos of game dev techniques. Another great one is this Aztez post on fighting game effects - http://aztez.com/blog/2014/01/06/anatomy-of-a-successful-att... - and Vlambeer's demo in their 'art of screenshake' talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJdEqssNZ-U

I am really hoping that your right, that it is them becoming a tech conglomerate rather than trying to integrate with their other products. But what worries me still, is I don't see a future where Facebook will keep the Oculus as a open system. If it's successful there is no doubt they will try to own the software/services with it - they won't just sell the hardware, then let PC developers (and open marketplaces, like Steam) get all the profit

do we really need to see a post like this for every submission on a Google service? It seems pretty obvious GCE is fundamentally different than something like Reader/Wave, both consumer products (not platforms), given away for free, and very far from Google's main focus (cloud computing)

they are obviously putting incredible resources into GCE - comparing that to some of their consumer app experiments is just ridiculous

On the same blog I actually wrote a short story with this same idea: http://www.3delement.com/?p=177

I haven't tried the new Crystal Cove version - but I spoke to a number of devs who've tried both (the new Oculus and Valve's tech), and they said also it in no way compares. Crystal Cove is an incremental update, but I from what I've heard it won't have the sort of presence of Valve's current tech. I imagine just because they are limited to what they can actually manfacture

It definitely is entirely R&D tech - considering each HMD cost around 20k, and requires the walls plastered with codes for head tracking. The HMD they currently have actually have ripped out Samsung Galaxy S4 screens (for each eye) - so that obviously can't scale in manufacturing

Jonathon Blow had a great talk on the topic of programming indie games, http://the-witness.net/news/2011/06/how-to-program-independe... One part he mentions how when he was a more novice programmer and looking at the Doom1 source code he thought they made some horrible programming choices - but only once he actually started to try to make commercial products himself did he realize none of that mattered. When the goal is to make good products with very little resources (which is the defining aspect of being indie) being pragmatic is the most important thing.

what you would consider 'good code' wasn't Notch's goal, doesn't mean he isn't capable of it

I'll be uploading the Linux/Mac versions of Capsized to Steam before the end of the week. There isn't really a reason for the delay - this is the initial launch of Capsized for Mac/Linux though

I don't understand why they wouldn't do an auction - their entire business relies on auctions for ads, and they even did their IPO as an auction. Seems like it would be a unique solution to the problem of charging for events like this

let people bid for tickets, they see the current lowest bid that got in so they can increase their bid, then charge everyone the lowest bid that got in

I think this is pretty brilliant, the ease of use and simplicity - but the fundamental problem is the requirement on Facebook. Even if your not posting on user's wall trying to spread the site I think people will still be hesitant to connect their Facebook profile to a dating site, Facebook is just too personal for something that most people would prefer to be done anonymously. Not that there is anyway around that, since Facebook gives so many other benefits for this idea

Why is it such an all or nothing approach to distribution? Getting on XBLA, which requires a publisher (I guess he must be meeting with Microsoft Game Studios then), is extremely unlikely for a indie dev's first game. Value might be able to look away from the game's lack of polish if the gameplay is really good, but even then there are indie games with a lot more polish and award recognition that don't make it on to the service. Even without Steam/XBLA a good game could still make enough money for a indie dev to make another game