The chances of this technology catching on is somewhat unlikely for several reasons, most of which have already been pointed out. First off, there's the cost of the technology. The cables alone cost around $50 apiece, and that price is unlikely to drop considering the hardware inside the cable alone. Secondly, because of the licensing, there isn't a lot of third party support. If you recall, this is one of the major reasons firewire never caught on as big as USB, even though it had some nice features that made it more ideal for large amounts of data transfer. then there are also the insecurities, backwards compatibility, etc.
I suspect that in the end it will be more of a niche product, much as firewire is. (And considering Apple's attitude about any technology they've had a hand in developing, I think I'm rather glad of that.)

His interpretation is incorrect. There are several passages in the Bible which condemn homosexuality, both in the Old and New Testaments, most notably in Leviticus, Corinthians (written by Paul), and Romans (also written by Paul). As Paul (and most Christians at that time) was a Hebrew, he would have been referring to the Hebrew law derived from the Old Testament.
The passage mentioned in the video above is most likely referring to Corinthians, one of Paul's letters that contains references to both of homosexuality and the hair issue. It should be noted that the passage referring to homosexuality is what Paul refers to as "unrighteousness," or actions that will result in damnation, most notably for those who are Christians that still participate in these actions. This is important to note, because, if I recall correctly, the first letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians was one to admonish them for their significant deviations from Christian beliefs. He was pointing out sins that were occurring amongst their own membership, especially in the first part of his letter.
The second half of this letter, in which the references to hair can be found, consists more of guidelines for a more holy life for the members of the Corinthian church. This is more of a cultural constraint, since during this period of time, it was accepted that men wore their hair short and women wore theirs long. Those wearing their hair otherwise were rebelling against societal norms, which Paul contended was not the Christian attitude that should be displayed. For modern Christians, this passage states that going against societal norms is perhaps not the correct attitude a Christian should take.
Now some modern Christians are a little more literal in their interpretation of this guideline. My own church, for example, is a bit more strict and does follow the whole "men=short hair, women=long hair" deal, but it depends on the church's interpretation. (Also, I'm simplifying here, as there's a bit more to that passage than just how you look to others, but I'll keep it at that for now.)

So what does this all mean? Dudley's example was an incorrect one. Perhaps he misspoke, or perhaps he did get some of his research incorrect. He is right that many Christians are somewhat hypocritical in their actions. I certainly have had my own issues in this area. However, it does not mean that just because they are hypocritical in one area, they should be hypocritical in another. Better to correct the issue at hand than to bring another issue into the mix.

Oh, I never meant to imply that it was easy. I've had to build a cpu twice, once for Computer Architecture and once for Digital Electronics. One was entirely simulated and one was loaded onto an FPGA (a programmable chip). Using software like Xilinx ISE or Altera, you can simulate the necessary logic gates to build and test the electronics, then "install" it to an FPGA. It took us about 2-3 weeks to do it, but it was definitely a hectic and stressful few weeks. What he probably did was simulate the setup and then build it to a couple of breadboards (which I can see there in the videos) using some component chips. (Here's a list of some on wikipedia.)

Now he also did a graphics module, which is not necessarily harder, but is built quite differently, so I estimate that took another month or so to figure out. Once those two major components are done, the rest of it is pretty easy to hook together, and all that's left is putting together the software.

So yeah, assuming he was doing this in his spare time, a year sounds about right. It just takes dedication and the willingness to learn the process. Nice to see a teenager willing to take the time to do it, and the results are testament to that.
>> ^marinara:

really? I agree, it's not a theoretical/conceptual feat. It's an engineering/fabrication feat. But, I can't ever use the word "easy" to describe what this teenager did.

It's not as hard as it seems. Most CS majors learn to do this in their computer architecture classes, and usually implement it via an fpga. However, this guy had the patience to use the most basic building blocks, chips and wires, to do it. Definitely a nice accomplishment.

Mint is a nice alternative to Ubuntu, but Slackware still wins Best Linux EVAR from me.

It's very impressive, but I'm just slightly disappointed that my favorite, Nausicaa, didn't make it in there. (But then I guess it would be harder to work in, because even though there's more material for it than all the other movies combined, none of it is quite as architecturally recognizeable.)

Truly an epic rock ballad!
With unicorns and rainbows!

Westy hits on some good points. The reason so many games end up looking so similar is that the developers are constrained by the code and examples of work they see done with engines like this and as a result they don't explore the engine further to make the game their own. There are some exceptions. The Quake engine was notable for powering games like American McGee's Alice (which looks great to this day), the Star Trek: Elite Forces games, and the Star Wars: Dark Forces/Jedi Knight games. So developers can definitely come up with some unique looking games, but the have to spend time learning and understanding the engine they're using, and with all the extensive stuff in modern game engines, it could end up being a lot more work than just writing your own game engine (even if it doesn't look quite as fantastic.)

Deus Ex, which is my favorite game of all time, displays the weaknesses of this method. Because the developers were so reliant on another team's engine, they had to hack a lot of the stuff into the game to get the results they wanted. As a result, the game sometimes felt a tad clunky. (But it's still the best game evar!)

But the most important thing is that graphics like this don't make a game better. I was recently talking to a buddy and comparing the original Unreal Tournament from 1999 to UT3. While UT3 is a gorgeous game, it's just nowhere near as fun. It's distracting in fact. To me the old graphics are more appealing because I can see what I'm doing.

The point of all this is that while a tool like this can be a boon to developers in some areas of game creation, there are just as many detriments that can have a negative effect on a game that could be better done by the developers writing the engine from scratch.

For those that may have missed out playing this back in the day, Good Old Games and Impulse both sell the game now, so you can probably pick it up for very little and relive the past. (And there's still a very active community going.)

Those muscles are sure getting a workout. Imagine his eyelids after a couple of months of watching movies/tv like this!

Young Flynn and CLU were surprisingly decent, I thought. Obviously CG actors will always have some flaws that betray them for what they are, but I think the only noticeable flaw for CLU was the mouth, especially when it was open.
It's called suspension of disbelief. If we could do it for the Wizard of Oz, or Star Wars, we can do it for CLU.

Agreed. This was surprisingly well done.

*dead

Unfortunately I can't find a replacement for that opening scene, so it will have to be dead for now. Here's the music from it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOSS-ZFDMo4
I won't use that as a replacement, since it really isn't the same video.

I really want to support the DCS series, but I don't care for their drm. Guess I'll just wait for Lead Pursuit's next release . . . if it ever comes.