Gaming Technology: Beyond Entertainment

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Video gaming is one early result of low-cost, powerful computer graphics. Today, the advantages of this technology are being realized in crucial areas such as health care and energy exploration, and in the future, the technology will expand into other new uses, creating long-term benefits for society and resulting in positive economic growth worldwide.
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-- Wow, I'm saving lives and the planet too by simply supporting the gaming industry. Isn't that wonderful? I will certainly keep that in mind the next time I take off in my F-16 simulator or go for a leisurely flight on Microsoft Flight Simulator. -- Chris Muller

Graphics Problem in Falcon 4.0 with BFG GeForce 8600 GT OC

I know this is going to be extemely boring for some people reading this but it's the best way I could think of to document the problems I'm having with my brand new BFG GeForce 8600 GT OC (256MB) graphics card and the Falcon 4.0 Allied Force simulator. I upgraded the graphics card drivers to the latest version (ForceWare v162.18) and I applied all the patches to Falcon 4.0 (v1.012). As you can see in the video, everything is going fine in the beginning. (BTW, ignore the scrolling dark box... it's an anomoly caused by shooting video of a computer monitor) Anyway, everything is going perfectly. The screen looks crsip and clean, the flight controls are smooth and, I must admit, this is the coolest sim I've ever flown. Then, at about 2:14 into this video (it's been about 3 minutes of flight time) the simulation stutters like it's trying to refresh the image and flashing static pixels appear. There are also flashing anomolies around clounds and the horizon but you can't see them in this video becuase I have zoomed in on the flight instruments. At this point I try to escape out of the flight but commands don't respond. Then I CTL-ALT-DEL and initially there is no response either. Finally, I hold down the power button to do a hard boot. I've done everything I know of to resolve this and spent several hours researching and updating software all to no avail. I'm not sure how to troubleshoot the hardware itself so if you have any pointers please email me at mullman71@gmail.com

Flight Simulator Adventures

I decided to fly down to Florida and say hi to the folks at NASA. As you can see from the screenshots I got a little closer to the shuttle than is allowed by law. That's the fun thing about flight simulator: you can do things that are totally forbidden in real life. (I probably would have been shot down in the real world flying this close to a shuttle during its launch) Enjoy the screens.

Wedding Plans

Hey everyone,
Can you believe the wedding of the Century is less than 3 months away. Yikes! Ryan and I have been busy with work and planning. Ryan won a Packer getaway for the game in Green Bay on November 18 so we are really looking forward to that. It is really cool to read all of your blogs. Diane, I am so sorry about your relatives. They are in my prayers.
Laura, it sounds like you are doing great. Good luck trying to kick my ass. I may be old but I can still put up a good fight.
I can't wait to see those of you who are going to be in LaCrosse for Oktoberfest and the rest of you I will see you sooner than later.
I love you all!

Jennie

Sooo excited!

GUESS WHAT EVERYONE!! Next Saturday I will be taking my first offical karate class!! I found a really good-looking dojo online (http://midwestkarate.org/rates.htm) with an AMAZING sensei, and I went to just observe the beginners class this morning and it was so cool! Then, the advanced class was right after that and sensei said I should stay and watch so I did and WOW! It was mostly black belts and they are so fricken AMAZING!! I'm super SUPER excited to start taking classes. It is kinda expensive ($80/month) but I have wanted to do this for several years now, and I think it's completely worth it. The sensei is one of the highest ranked non-Japanese black belts in the world and he's such a cool guy. He's 73, but moves and acts and looks like he's only 40. It's cool cause he's a really kind man, but you can just sense from him that he's someone who deserves a lot of respect and could probably kill you with one punch. So yeah!! Better watch out my dear siblings, cause next time you see me, I'll probably be able to woop you ;-)

PS-Chris, I can't believe you flew to Minneapolis and didn't even stop by to say hello. Tsk tsk.

Flight Simulator Adventures

The adventures continue. Today I flew a monster Boeing 747 to Minneapolis. This is the most difficult plane I've ever flown. Smaller planes pretty much fly themselves but this monster required constant attention. Here are a few shots from the flight.

Chris Muller, you are an anomaly

Chris, you're a total dork.

Also, the sounds of freedom are not guns and fighter jets. WTF are you thinking, boy??

Saint Paul is cool. I'm going to the library tomorrow to look for The Golden Compass, the Floating Brothel, and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Today there was a bomb threat in the building connected to mine and they all got to go home but we didn't even though if I take 5 steps out of my lab door I'm in that building. Lucky bastards....

I'm wearing a shirt with a drawing of a giraffe hugging a brontosaurus. I makes me happy.

I just learned that dinosaurs previously part of the genus Brontosaurus have now been officially designated as belonging to the genus Apatosaurus. That messes with my mind.

Ok love you all. BYE!

Flight Simulator Adventures

The three day weekend has given me enough free time to 1) overseed the front lawn and 2) fly to Portland, Oregon. Seeding the front lawn wasn't nearly as much fun as the simulated flight to Portland. I took off from La Crosse at about this time flying a LeerJet which, in the simulator, is a very sleek and sexy corporate jet. It's also very fast but not fast enough because I had to land in Great Falls, Montana around 5:30 pm since it was supper time. I hate pausing these games. It's just more fun to find a close airport and land then tell Diane that, "I'll just put down in Montana for supper and resume the flight to Portland afterward." I know, it's geeky and lame but, hey, that's me ;-)

Here are some screenshots from the flight. Flying around the mountains was really neat. In one of them you will see Mt. Ranier (it's got the flat top). In the other is Mt. Hood which is just outside Portland and very visible from the city. When I was there a couple years ago I was amazed at the beauty of the city and its surroundings. If you ever get a chance, you must go visit Portland. It might be loaded with liberal kooks but it's an amazing city and worthy of a visit.

You will also notice in the Mt. Hood screenshot that I am descending and turning. As I was flying around the mountain I was also setting up for my landing at Portland International Airport (PDX). It was a picture perfect landing.... See!

Flight Simulator Chronicles

My on again, off again love for flight simulators is now on again. I spent several hours of free time over the past couple of days to navigate and fly my way to Monroe, Louisiana (home of our Centurytel Corporate Headquarters). My first hop was a short 1-hour flight from La Crosse to Dubuque. I believe that was on Sunday. Then on Monday I flew from Dubuque to St. Louis. I don't remember how long that flight lasted but I suppose I could check the flight logs if you're really interested. Then on Wednesday night I flew from St. Louis to a little podunk town in Arkansas. Finally, tonight, I finished out the flight to Monroe. On the way I navigated using the radio beacons that I was able to locate via the Internet. It's pretty cool how Microsoft Flight Simulator actually maps out all the real world navigation aids. I used real world information to plot my course and it got me to my location exactly as it should have. My next adventure will be to visit Portland, Oregon but instead of using a slower than molasses prop plane I think I'll upgrade to a Leer jet or maybe even an F-14 Tomcat. The screenshot is my approach to Monroe Regional Airport (MLU) just after midnight. Obviously it's at night so a little hard to see but you can just make out the exterior of my plane and the runway lights are clearly visible. I'm taking requests for future flights too so let me know if there is somewhere you would like me to visit and take screenshots.