[08:46]	<srobertson>	Anybody ever play Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory for the Xbox, or maybe the PS2?
[08:47]	<JoshMalone>	nope
[08:47]	<srobertson>	to enter your player name, they present the user with a circle, around which are the letters of the alphabet.
[08:48]	<srobertson>	you simply swing your thumbstick to the right letter and mash A.
[08:48]	<JoshMalone>	cool
[08:48]	<JoshMalone>	pie menus are starting to catch on in games
[08:48]	<JoshMalone>	FINALLY
[08:48]	<JoshMalone>	Psychonauts, my current fave game, also uses pie menus to select from your inventory
[08:49]	<srobertson>	so, what about a thumbstick for the N3/442?
[08:49]	<JoshMalone>	pie menus work great for game controllers
[08:50]	<JoshMalone>	but aren't so hot for absolute entry devices or quantum input widgets like pushbuttons
[08:50]	<JoshMalone>	if the N3 has a thinkpad-style stick-mouse, that would RULE
[08:50]	<JoshMalone>	THE
[08:50]	<JoshMalone>	WORLD!
[08:51]	<JoshMalone>	finally a player with input capabilities to rival the iClod
[08:51]	<JoshMalone>	hmmmm....great idea
[08:52]	<srobertson>	A stick-mouse? Like, to control an on-screen cursor?
[08:52]	<JoshMalone>	no - just to provide force-sensitive up-dn-left-right
[08:53]	<JoshMalone>	harder you push, faster the menu scrolls
[08:53]	<JoshMalone>	etc
[08:53]	<JoshMalone>	with iPod it's: faster you move, faster you scroll
[08:53]	<JoshMalone>	this would be almost as good, and less movement
[08:54]	<JoshMalone>	it's harder to control an amount of force than a speed of movement, but it's still pretty good
[08:55]	<srobertson>	hmm. some people really hate those things.
[08:55]	<JoshMalone>	as a mouse - yes - they suck
[08:55]	<JoshMalone>	BUT - simply moving a menu can use a greater force threshold
[08:55]	<JoshMalone>	you don't have to hit a single pixel on the N3 - just a menu movement
[08:55]	* srobertson  runs off to check something
[08:56]	<srobertson>	yeah, "my" laptop does have one
[08:56]	<srobertson>	i'd really like to test that concept out.
[08:56]	<JoshMalone>	some with some here at work
[08:57]	<JoshMalone>	hmmm...a quick and dirty xlib proggy should do the trick
[08:58]	<srobertson>	i'd like to try a couple possibilities:
[08:59]	<srobertson>	1. using the... whatever it's called
[08:59]	<srobertson>	wikipedia says: TrackPoint
[09:00]	<JoshMalone>	yeah
[09:00]	<srobertson>	to navigate a sample menu; say, a list from 1 to 1000, with a push left or right taking you to another list of 1 to 1000
[09:00]	<srobertson>	a la tree browsing
[09:00]	<JoshMalone>	a thumb-jog should also work...but only if it acts as a proportional input
[09:01]	<JoshMalone>	:)
[09:01]	<JoshMalone>	I like
[09:01]	<srobertson>	2. all right, thumb jog. probably best simulated by turning your mouse on its side.
[09:02]	<JoshMalone>	no....
[09:02]	<srobertson>	3. using xbox controller support in Linux, having scroll speed controlled by variable pressure.
[09:02]	<JoshMalone>	a guess "shuttle" would have been more appropriate wording
[09:02]	<JoshMalone>	bingo!
[09:02]	<JoshMalone>	shouldn't have to pick your finger up to continue scrolling
[09:03]	<JoshMalone>	yeah....something that acts like a 2-axis joystick
[09:03]	<srobertson>	4. using xbox controller support in Linux, having fast-scrolling accomplished by "clicking" the stick and spinning it in a circle (hey, it's worth a shot)
[09:03]	<JoshMalone>	:)
[09:04]	<srobertson>	5. xbox..., where clicking and holding the stick brings up a simple on-screen radial; north is 0%, east is 25%, ...
[09:05]	<srobertson>	6. same idea as 5, except the unit displayed is not numerical, but context-sensitive
[09:05]	<srobertson>	(as in, letters for a lexical-sorted list, or particular years for a list of albums sorted by release date)
[09:06]	<JoshMalone>	yeah - that's a good use for pie menu
[09:06]	<JoshMalone>	bbiab
[09:08]	<srobertson>	one thing i'd like is to have the ability to scroll rapidly and accurately in things that aren't lists.
[09:08]	<srobertson>	For example, consider one big value-added application for the N3 in particular:
[09:09]	<srobertson>	the ability to do a four- or five-channel recording right on the Neuros.
[09:09]	<srobertson>	(I don't mean simultaneously;
[09:10]	<srobertson>	I mean as in apps like Ardour or (even more audaciously) ProTools, where you can lay down a single track, then lay down another while listening to the first.
[09:11]	<srobertson>	Although those things can do many channels at a time, too, I think the N should be limited to one input stream and one (summed) output stream for this app.)
[09:11]	<srobertson>	In order to do a punch recording, which is an absolutely fabulous feature that wouldn't take long at all to implement,
[09:13]	<srobertson>	(for the uninitiated, a punch is where, if a subject makes a mistake, the software plays back the (correct) section just before the error, allowing the musician to time his or her delivery, get in key, etc. ...
[09:13]	<srobertson>	then records only over the selected region containing the error)
[09:14]	<srobertson>	there'd have to be a way of scrolling through an on-screen display of amplitude (as shown by almost all sound-editing programs) for an entire track,
[09:14]	<srobertson>	zooming in on a particular portion with ease,
[09:15]	<srobertson>	then selecting punch points with great granularity.
[09:15]	<srobertson>	I'm not sure if a D-pad will do such a thing.
[09:31]	<JoshMalone>	latency becomes a big issue
[09:31]	<JoshMalone>	but you can "pre-punch" - that is, highlight the area to fix
[09:31]	<JoshMalone>	then start recording with defined preroll
[09:32]	<srobertson>	sorry for not explaining it clearly, that's what i meant.
[09:32]	<JoshMalone>	ah - okay
[09:33]	<JoshMalone>	I imagine working with uncompressed sound files on the DM320 will we SLOW
[09:33]	<JoshMalone>	the disk IO will be slow, the CPU MIPS are limited, etc.
[09:33]	<JoshMalone>	(oh - and VERY little RAM)
[09:33]	<JoshMalone>	(128MB)
[09:33]	<srobertson>	Yes, indeed.
[09:33]	<srobertson>	However, there are a couple ways around that.
[09:33]	<JoshMalone>	there are
[09:34]	<JoshMalone>	and commercial porta-studios do it with limited MIPS and RAM
[09:34]	<srobertson>	Are you sure about 128M?
[09:35]	<JoshMalone>	believe so
[09:35]	* srobertson  punches the air with excitement
[09:35]	<srobertson>	I was under the impression that it was 32M.
[09:35]	<JoshMalone>	well - that's the 442 specs, at least
[09:38]	<JoshMalone>	hmmm...well it says "up to 128MB SDRAM"
[09:38]	<JoshMalone>	:-/
[09:38]	<srobertson>	bring back the n64 memory expansion pack!
[09:40]	<JoshMalone>	what's dat?
[09:41]	<srobertson>	on a nintendo 64, you could add additional RAM by plugging a cartridge into a special slot on the unit.
[09:41]	<JoshMalone>	kewl :)
[09:42]	* JoshMalone  remembers what a coup the N64 was
[09:42]	<srobertson>	ah, smash bros.
[09:42]	<JoshMalone>	get the masters of computer gfx to build your game console :)
[09:43]	<JoshMalone>	it's too bad that SGI is about to go "poof"
[09:45]	<srobertson>	news to me.
[09:51]	<JoshMalone>	well - they've been in dire straits for a long time
[09:51]	<JoshMalone>	market for such expensive hardware is almost gone
[11:58]	* unknown_lamer  hugs his SGI monitor
[11:58]	<unknown_lamer>	There are an indigio2 and a few indies in the basement :-)
[11:58]	<unknown_lamer>	+ 3 more 21" SGI monitors
[11:59]	* JoshMalone  has a indigo2 in his storage unit
[12:00]	<JoshMalone>	indigo2 max impact R10k :)
[14:34]	<JoeBorn>	still no luck getting Tivo2go to work :(
[14:34]	<JoeBorn>	I'm anxious to try out your program, Nate