Know How 4 Me

Mystery solved: the Nintendo zapper

bartv — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:03:42 +0000

We all know the Nintendo Zapper. The toy gun we used to connect to our NES and shoot away at our television set, trying to hit ducks.

As a technology freak, I’ve always been curious on how one of those works, how does the gun, or the NES know what you’re pointing at?
When thinking about this, I found multiple solutions to this question:

1. Digital Camera

Proposition: If you look at the front of the Zapper, it shows a little lens. Might it be possible it contains a little camera that takes a flimpse of what you’re pointing at, compares it to the rendered screen and detects what it is you’re pointing at?
Answer: Goodness no. The zapper was invented in 1985 when Polaroid was the hot new thing. There is no way they could have a digital camera that compact and precise to detect to do this.
Also, regarding computer power of that age (Microsoft was just founded in that year to give you an idea). Pointing your camera would create a 3D image for the internal camera. It would have to shape/skew/rotate that image in order to get the pixels right. Simply not done in that age.

2. Motion detection

Proposition:: We all know the Nintendo Wii. The controller has a motion detector wich basically means, if you move it, it knows how hard, in wich direction and how you moved it.
Answer: Same thing, it simply wasn’t possible back then. Nintendo invented the Wii just a few years ago. Not 20 years ago

… I gave up after 2 …

So what is it then?

Well, I’ve done some research. And I’ve found a few links: HowStuffWorks and Del Squacho.

Basically, all it does is: When you press ‘fire’ on your zapper. The Nintendo turns the entire screen Black. And only the ducks you’re hunting White.
This means that when the zapper ‘sees’ light (white = light). It knows you must have hit something!

So this:

Turns into this:

The black box generated

The only question remaining is: if it only detects if the screen is white or not. Then could you cheat if you point it at a (second) screen that only emits white?
I haven’t got a NES, could somebody test that for me

How Globalization works and will work by Thomas L. Friedman (The World is Flat)

bartv — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:16:11 +0000

I came across an incredibly good video about globalization.
It’s a presentation by Thomas L. Friedman where he explains his book The World is Flat.

I found it very interesting, I was explained ways of business and views on globalization that were really new to me.

The video is licensed to MIT so the video is not embedded but linked to their website:

The World is Flat | MIT World
(Running time: around 45 minutes.

How to sleep better at night

bartv — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:37:14 +0000

Having trouble sleeping? Do you find yourself tossing and turning in bed at night? Well so do I!
I found some great interesting video’s about sleeping tho! How to train yourself, how to know when and how to sleep.

Small video to teach you to have a short sleep schedule:

Dr. Mike Steinberg gives a few tips on why you might not be able to sleep (2:59):

ifehacker wrote a great article about this aswell: Top 10 Ways to Sleep Smarter and Better

Oh, and don’t forget the wiki page about sleep

The best tips I can give you myself after reading/seeing all of this are the following:
Before going to sleep, don’t:

Drink too much alcohol
Smoke cigarettes
Excercise right before sleeping
Drink coffee

For sleeping better I read something interesting on the Wikipedia page. Sleeping is in cycles of 90-110 minutes. For a good sleep, you’ll need to finish these cycles. So your total sleeping time should be a multiplication of those minutes:

3 cycles: 4:30h
4 cycles: 6:00h
5 cycles: 7:30h

And so on! You’ll notice waking up better, faster and more awake, try it!

Social Media explained

bartv — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:42:40 +0000

Nowadays if you want to do anything on the web, it has to be social media.
This video explains just what social media is, how it works and why it works. All in plain English, and explained by Ice-Cream!
Enjoy this 3:50 minute presentation.

8 Words to succes by Richard St. John

bartv — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:29:28 +0000

Richard St. John did a 7 year research on succes.
His result: Succes is 8 words:

Passion, Work, Focus, Push, Ideas, Improve, Serve and Persist
in this 3:46 minute video he quickly explains how these words are linked to succes

How the Credit Crisis works

bartv — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 07:08:57 +0000

The credit crisis, visually explained:
(Duration: 7:32)

Part 2 (Duration: 3:44):

Frontiers of Happiness by Dan Gilbert

bartv — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:02:21 +0000

Dan Gilbert explains how sometimes we underestimate values of things by placing them in a wrong context.
The talk tends to change your view on how you spend your money.

Duration: 25 minutes talk, after that some questions.

Video: Dan Gilbert: Frontiers of Happiness(at www.ted.com, video could not be embedded)

Mind Mapping explained by its inventor

bartv — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:52:52 +0000

Mind maps are a visual representation of your thoughts. It tries visualize the information the same way you brain does
Tony Buzan gives a short explanation of how it works, and why it works!

Extreme Programming explained by Richard Buckland

bartv — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:58:05 +0000

Richard Buckland explains how to put Extreme Programming to good use.

I found this lecture very useful as it explains Unit testing in a very easy to understand matter.