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Android and Linux racing to be next gen consoles

Here’s an interesting race being run in vendor-sport land. We have two serviceable but aging consoles (PS3 & Xbox 360) and a new me-too console from Nintendo (Wii who?) Maybe we’ll be talking about PS4 and Xbox 720 in six months, but right now there’s a bit of buzz around consoles built on Linux or Android (which is really Linux inside). I give the advantage to Steam and Linux. Compare the loud noise in Google’s Play market to Valve’s Steam market.

GameStick Android console is the size of a USB stick

PlayJam, a company that currently operates a social/casual games network for smart/connected TVs called The PlayJam Network, has spent the last 12 months developing “GameStick,” a dongle-sized Android gaming console that plugs directly into a television’s HDMI port. The device currently exists in several different functional prototype forms, but bringing it to market will require the aid of an ongoing Kickstarter campaign, which has recently surpassed its fundraising goal of $100,000.

Steam-Powered Mini-PC Gets Detailed At CES

It might not be the strongly-rumoured Steambox games console itself, but on the floor of the Consumer Electronics Show 2013 a physical prototype of a Steam-powered mini-PC has been on show.

 

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Has the prison population gone down?

Probably not. Federal populations increased. State populations decreased, likely due to budget crunches created by the recession. We know about that here in California. A key line from the report: The majority (83%) of the decline in the correctional population during the year was attributed to the decrease in the probation population (down 81,800 offenders). Chalk this up as another effect of the bureaucracy.

The Prison Population is Down

After more than thirty years of constant increase, prison populations have leveled off and in the last few years have begun to decline (pdf). It’s a momentous change and Keith Humphreys argues that the story has been under-reported because few people want to play up the good news

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Unrelated links

Links to stuff I found interesting recently, not related to each other:

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Rollins radio interview with Full Metal Jackie

It’s good to get a check-in from Rollins. I’m sad to read that he’s “stopped thinking lyrically” and has no plans to make more music. Everything he does is entertaining.

BLABBERMOUTH.NET – HENRY ROLLINS: ‘I Like Stress; It Keeps Me Rockin”

I’d rather give and get respect in that I’ll respect you as a default in that I’ve never met that person, you’re going to get my respect and you’ll go in with 100 points — all you can do is lose. Start a relationship with me and a man on the street and that person will get 100 percent of my respect. All that guy can do is lose, in that he can maintain the level of respect by respecting me and if I can’t get his respect, if he doesn’t seek my respect by giving me his well then he can have some fear instead. So when you are getting walked on or good-natured and just being trotted upon, maybe you should have brought a little more fear to the table, pal. So let me give you a starter course in fear and here’s a teaspoon that you know have coursing through your system when you see my face and there’s a lot more we can bring. If you want to go back to respect, I’d much rather comport this relationship in that way and so when someone says, “You’re a pretty scary guy,” I know that I’m not, and you know that I’m not, but I’ll let that ride [laughs] until we can shut that application down because you truly have nothing to fear from me. I’ll be the first in line to help.

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SAE – Amiga Emulator in your browser

The Amiga emulated using HTML5. Works best on Chrome. This is really impressive.

SAE – Scripted Amiga Emulator

This site is a demonstration of the project ‘SAE‘, an experimental Amiga emulator in pure javascript and HTML5.
For details, please see the description.

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