I keep asking, where are the works? Where is the software that does ten or twenty or a hundred times more? Where is the human needs that are ten or twenty or a hundred times better met?
Instead, we have the mandated code generators feeding uncomprehended text into integration pipelines hit testing for textual correctness without meaning, purpose or intent.
This is a machine that turns strings into waste heat. That's nearly all it is.
It is money on fire.
@oscherler @vga256 Ugh, what a cop out. If they're doing news properly, you'd get all the "20 seconds summary" information from the headline, subhead, and first paragraph anyway.
Here are four screenshots of early dev builds for Age of Empires 1. The graphics, UI, and gameplay all went through huge amounts of iteration over 2+ years of development, and my new book recounts the journey: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gabedurham/age-of-empires-how-ensemble-studios-made-history/
My new book includes a chapter on how Microsoft and Ensemble put together the packaging (including predictable MS in-fighting over branding) and how they marketed the game. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gabedurham/age-of-empires-how-ensemble-studios-made-history/
At one point the Age of Empires developers considered adding natural disasters to the game. But it wasn't consistent with their presentation of an inviting, sunshine-drenched world or their player-centric design philosophies.
(On a related note, there's an anecdote in my book from Bruce Shelley about Bill Gates trying the game and asking if it's meant to be educational -- it wasn't, and Shelley had a great explanation for why.)
The Age of Empires tech tree from October 1995, two years before the game came out, was already much simpler than Rick Goodman's earliest attempts to distill ancient history into a research + upgrades progression system, but still way more complex than the final version—which was rooted in the idea of "ages" in history.
A render of the chariot unit from Age of Empires that was included with the E3/June 1997 press kit for the game. (The game was in beta at the time.)
@DestructoDisk We just have to keep building and running our own intentional spaces and enforcing the cultural values we want within them. Fedi networks, self/independently-hosted blogs/newsletters and forums, small web, and so on. Be the change we want to see, carve out our own island oases, and pray that it's enough.
Age of Empires dev milestone schedule from October 1996 (revision 14!). This is shortly after the game had been delayed six months, and shortly before it got delayed a further six months. Note that it doesn't mention the wonders anywhere, because they hadn't actually thought of wonders yet.
That the future we were building has been snatched away and replaced by chatbots, compulsive gambling, and permanent surveillance.
A new study by MIT Media Lab suggests that outsourcing basic tasks to AI could reduce our brain activity by up to 55 percent. This “cognitive offloading” may affect our ability to solve problems, recall information, and even shape the language we use. However, there are three approaches you can introduce when using AI to help strengthen your critical thinking skills.