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Tag: Quake

  • John Carmack Stepping Down As Oculus CTO To Focus On AI Research

    John Carmack Stepping Down As Oculus CTO To Focus On AI Research

    John Carmack is a legend in the video game community, having co-founded id Software and taken the lead on ground-breaking games such as Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein 3D, Rage and others. More recently, he has held the role of CTO at Oculus VR.

    Now, in a Facebook post, Carmack has announced he is resigning his position to pursue AI research. He plans on being a “consulting CTO” for Oculus, but only in a modest role.

    “Starting this week, I’m moving to a ‘Consulting CTO’ position with Oculus.

    “I will still have a voice in the development work, but it will only be consuming a modest slice of my time.

    “As for what I am going to be doing with the rest of my time: When I think back over everything I have done across games, aerospace, and VR, I have always felt that I had at least a vague ‘line of sight’ to the solutions, even if they were unconventional or unproven. I have sometimes wondered how I would fare with a problem where the solution really isn’t in sight. I decided that I should give it a try before I get too old.

    “I’m going to work on artificial general intelligence (AGI).

    “I think it is possible, enormously valuable, and that I have a non-negligible chance of making a difference there, so by a Pascal’s Mugging sort of logic, I should be working on it.

    “For the time being at least, I am going to be going about it ‘Victorian Gentleman Scientist’ style, pursuing my inquiries from home, and drafting my son into the work.

    Runner up for next project was cost effective nuclear fission reactors, which wouldn’t have been as suitable for that style of work. 😊”

    If Carmack’s new focus has even a fraction of the success he’s enjoyed in the gaming industry, the AI field will likely reap significant benefits from his participation.

  • Puerto Rico Earthquake – 6.4-Magnitude Rattles The Country

    A strong earthquake hit Puerto Rico after midnight on Sunday, the quake was centered in the Atlantic Ocean.

    The epicenter was approximately 35 miles north of Hatillo, and 17 miles deep according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

    The National Weather Service’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has reported that there is a possibility of a widespread tsunami, but it is not expected to be destructive.

    Some damage was reported as several people experienced items falling in their home and many others said they felt the buildings sway in San Juan, which lies approximately 61 miles from the earthquake’s epicenter.

    The area is no stranger to earthquakes – many of similar magnitude have hit the country in the recent past. A 5.4 magnitude occurred in March 2011 and December 2010.

    Reports indicate that there was minimal damage. The capital San Juan, where 400,000 people live, is located on the same side of the island where the possibility of a tsunami could occur, although authorities have not issued a warning.

    This quake is almost 4 years to the day after the powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake ravaged Haiti. It also occurred just a day after services were held in Haiti to remember the estimated 316,000 people killed in that quake of January 12, 2010.

    The Caribbean tectonic plate is a sliver of crust caught between the North and South American plates and, to the west, the Cocos plate. When they move in opposite directions the Caribbean plate gets squeezed, thereby causing tremors and earthquakes.

    Although in recent years Puerto Rico has not fallen victim to a major tremor, the U.S. Geological Society notes that the subduction zone “is capable of hosting M8+ earthquakes.” That said, the tectonic history of the region includes known earthquakes of magnitude-7.5 in 1914, magnitude-7.3 in 1787 and 1918 and magnitude-7.0 1917.

    These quakes were recorded to have caused major damage, and the 1918 quake, which created a tsunami, killed 116 people.

    Image via NDN

  • 5.1 Earthquake Shakes Northern Italy

    5.1 Earthquake Shakes Northern Italy

    Just two days after a small 4.6 magnitude earthquake gently shook Lima, Peru, a mid-sized 5.1 magnitude earthquake has now shaken northern Italy.

    The quake occurred at around 12:30 local time on Friday and was centered one mile from the city of Fivizzano, a small town close to the coastal city of La Spezia. It had a depth of only 6.4 miles (10.3km) and was felt throughout northern Italy. People as far away as Venice reported feeling weak shaking from the event, while people in closer cities, such as Florence and Livorno reported light to moderate shaking. No serious injuries have been reported as a result of the earthquake, though some light damage to houses near the epicenter have been reported.

    The Italian earthquake was mild when compared to some of the sizable seismic events already seen this year. During April, a 6.8 earthquake hit Papua New Guinea and a 7.2 magnitude quake shook the islands off the northern coast of Japan. A large 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit southeastern Iran that same month killed dozens of people in neighboring Pakistan. More recently, a massive 8.2 magnitude earthquake struck in the Sea of Okhotsk, just off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.

  • Lima, Peru Shaken by Small Earthquake

    Lima, Peru Shaken by Small Earthquake

    The capital of Peru was shaken Tuesday night by a relatively small earthquake.

    The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake at a mild magnitude of 4.6. The epicenter of the quake was around 22 miles (35km) off the coast of Lima, and occurred at a depth of around 38 miles (61km). The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued no tsunami warnings as a result of the light quake.

    There are no reports of damage or injury as a result of the earthquake. The quake was felt by residents of Lima as only a light shaking. The quake was also felt by some residents of the smaller city of Barranca.

    The ring of fire – the coastal areas of the Pacific where earthquake and volcanic activity is prevalent – has been particularly active already this year. Earlier this month, the big island of Hawaii also experienced a small 5.3 magnitude earthquake. In May, a massive 8.2 magnitude earthquake struck in the Sea of Okhotsk, just off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. Before that, large earthquakes also struck northern Japan and Papua New Guinea.

  • Notch vs. Pirate Quake 3 Match Delayed

    Last week I brought you the fascinating story of how the creator of Minecraft, Markus “Notch” Persson, was challenged to a bout of Quake 3 Arena by a person giving away free copies of Minecraft. The match seemed to be the perfect ending to what could have been ugly. Notch could have threatened the pirate with, or actually taken, legal action. Instead, he politely asked that the pirate stop giving away his work. The site was shut down, but the pirate, obviously a Minecraft fan, used his opportunity to converse with Notch to propose a friendly game of Quake 3.

    The match was scheduled for today at 1:00 pm EDT, but has been delayed. Notch made the delay announcement on Twitter:

    @notch
    Markus Persson    The quake livestream is not happening today. Other, bigger things are! And now, a bad url: http:/www.eample/com/index.html 35 minutes ago via Twitter for Android ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    The fact that Notch says the match is not happening “today” makes me think the event might still happen, and could be rescheduled. Also, what “bigger things” could be happening that would prevent a quick Quake 3 match? Only time will tell, and Notch is known for sometimes being cryptic on Twitter. Notch announced on Sunday that he would be slowing his internet interaction with fans for a while:

    @notch
    Markus Persson    I will be mostly afk for a few days due to some (positive) private stuff going on! <3 Translation for 4chan: omg vacation 1 day ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Despite his joke, Notch insists he is not on vacation. The first inkling that the Quake 3 match might not happen came soon after, when a curious fan wondered how this “vacation” might impact the bout:

    @Fyllm
    Philip Murphy    Hey @notch Are you still going to do the Quake match this Monday now that you’re on vacation? 16 hours ago via Twitter for Android ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @notch
    Markus Persson    @Fyllm I don’t think I’ll be able to. (And i’m not actually on vacation) 16 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    The news is disappointing, but hopefully the match will come to fruition in the near future. In the meantime, we can feel free to speculate on what Notch’s short internet break might mean for his projects. Does it mean that the final touches are being put on a playable beta for his new science fiction game, 0x10c? Your wild theories are welcome in the comments section below.

  • Quake 4 Is Coming Back To The Xbox 360

    Quake 4 Is Coming Back To The Xbox 360

    I bought an Xbox 360 near launch which came with the usual problems of console launches – there are no good games. It was a little better with the launch of the Xbox 360 since there were Rare’s titles and a little game called Quake 4 to tide me over. I’ll be able to relive those days again in June with Bethesda reissuing Quake 4 on the Xbox 360.

    If you’re unfamiliar with Quake, think of it as Doom’s amped up little brother. Whereas DOOM was id Software’s slower, horror-based first-person shooter, Quake 4 featured high-octane shooter action punctuated by ridiculous alien weapons and gratuitous violence. Quake 4 continued this fine tradition with a campaign that pushed the violence quota for shooters while supplying a multiplayer that was fast and furious.

    Like all other Xbox 360 launch titles though, Quake 4 is a little hard to find these days. With id being bought up by Bethesda last year and RAGE being a bust, many people, including myself, just assumed Bethesda would ignore this little gem. That’s why it’s great news that Quake 4 will be seeing new life on the Xbox 360.

    It’s important to note to prospective new players that Quake 4 is not exactly a pretty game. It was a launch title on the Xbox 360 running on the Doom 3 engine. Don’t let that dissuade you though as developer Raven Software did id’s legacy proud.

    The reissue of Quake 4 will cost only $19.99 and release on June 19 in the U.S. and Europe, including Germany. It remains to be seen if Germany will still censor Quake 4’s most famous scene, the transformation of the lead character into a Strogg. It’s made even more impactful as the scene is done entirely from the first-person view.

    If you own a gaming PC, you can pick up Quake 4 on Steam right now. It’s definitely worth it. It’s not as fine of a game as Quake II, but it’s hard to go wrong with any of the Quake titles. Now we just need id Software to make a new DOOM and Quake, only then will the first-person shooter genre find balance.