rocktronica
Joined 16 years ago
Karma
281
Submissions
62
Member since
Sep 6
Recent submissions
Comment · 5 months ago
Yeah, that's the first thing I thought of too. It came out in 1997 and predates all the Game Boy stuff. IIRC there was a "Game Boy don't TOUCH the net!" marketing campaign but I can't seem to find find it now. The commercial is a fun nostalgia trip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-ON6wxHtUE
Even if you got the extra modem gear, tho, the browser was text-only. I doubt many kids got it; I did not.
It was ambitious of Tiger (a movie-tie-in LCD game company) to try to rival the big dogs, and it makes sense but is a shame it couldn't. I'm sure there's a lesson in there somewhere.
Comment · 1 year ago
If you'd like to get out of the weeds, "The Beauty of Games" by Frank Lantz (of Universal Paperclips fame) is a thought-provoking read. The basic premise is that games are the aesthetic experience of systems and reason, cause and effect. If dancing is your body's way to explore music, games are your brain's way to explore logic. A little academic, but pretty interesting!
The other thing I want to say is that game feedback should be taken with more than a grain of salt. The worst feedback I've ever received was on a handmade, physical roll-and-write that I gave someone for free. Gamer culture is strongly opinionated and quick to hyperbole... but not always right.
Comment · 4 years ago
Agreed with other commenters' advice to err towards good documentation. Don't just go for cheap.
Another consideration is community: I think the Adafruit guides (https://learn.adafruit.com/) are really great, especially for folks just starting out / who are more project-focused. Poke through there with your kid and see if anything sparks interest.
Shameless self-promo, if he's into music: I make an Arduino-compatible "synth" electronics kit. It does require soldering (so maybe isn't the best choice just yet) but is a nice step towards making something that looks like a real, finished product. https://www.oskitone.com/product/scout-synth-diy-electronics...
Comment · 6 years ago
I've picked up indoor gardening and designed some 3D-printed, self-watering planters that screw into jars.
https://blog.tommy.sh/posts/adventures-in-self-watering-plan...
Comment · 8 years ago
I was surprised this didn't already exist, so I made it... even though it's honestly just a wrapper around curl and ffmpeg!
Comment · 9 years ago
Believe it or not, lots of folks use Youtube as a music player and just waste the video bandwidth
Comment · 9 years ago
That would entail them permanently storing the images, which they probably don't want to do.
Comment · 9 years ago
This is incredibly useful, regardless of the veracity of its "computer vision."
A technique that seems to work well for it with simple drawing style icons is to thicken and simplify as the image gets smaller, so it seems like the stroke of the drawing is consistent across sizes.
Comment · 9 years ago
There are a lot of great photos and PCB closeups that obviously won't translate into narration.
Comment · 9 years ago
Regardless of legality, it will be interesting to see how this is spun if/when Zuckerberg runs for public office.
https://tommy.sh/