Deer
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Fujitsu wants to fix Japan's deer problem with software
Fujitsu is teaming up with a Japanese forest research institute to learn how animal populations grow. The pair will look into Sika deer, a creature that's causing plenty of environmental damage due to overgrazing. Traditionally, these sorts of studies require a manual survey and plenty of theoretical calculations, but Fujitsu is hoping to build software that is significantly more accurate. The eventual plan is that this project can help conservationists prepare effective defenses to ensure the deer don't cause permanent harm. Given that the country hunted the deer's only natural predator to extinction a century ago, it's probably the least that they could do.
Playdate: Running wild in 'The Deer God' and 'Castle Crashers'
Fun fact: If you do a Bing voice-search on Xbox One for The Deer God, instead of coming back with the option to download the indie sidescroller you'll see results for the 1996 Greg Kinnear flick Dear God, an Avenged Sevenfold album with a song named "Dear God" on it and absolutely zero games named The Deer God. Actually finding the absolutely gorgeous venison-focused title takes a lot more work, which is strange considering that it's one of this month's free downloads as part of Xbox's Games with Gold promotion. No matter! We did the digging for you and are going to play the game live on Twitch (along with Castle Crashers Remastered) starting at 6 pm ET / 3 pm PT.
Hunt Hardcore works for beginning and experienced hunters
Hunt Hardcore offers a variety of social media type features that allows hunters with all levels of experience to share their adventures and seek help to become better hunters. The free universal app requires iOS 7.0 or later and requires users to register an account or use their Facebook account to login. The app contains a lot of the same information as the hunthardcore1.com web site. As with most social media apps, Hunt Hardcore allows users to make friends through the app and follow the new friends' postings. As users submit comments, trip stories, photos and video they receive activity points and the app then ranks users based on their point totals. You can also search users by name or get a listing of all members. Users will find a section devoted to photos posted by other users. The section contains lots of photos showing hunters in a variety of locations. Some show the hunters' kill while others show the animals the hunters were stalking. The one issue I had with this section was that none of the photos had any details about the photo such as when and where the kill took place or any other specifics about the actual hunt. The most information users will find is in the app's forum. Here the section is broken down into six different sections: Big Game Hunting, Bird and Small Game, Weapon Specific posts, State Hunting regulations, Taxidermy, and Hunting Products. Each of these segments contain numerous posts from users dealing with those specific areas. For example under the Big Game Forum you will find sub headings for Elk, Whitetail Deer, Bears, Wolves and other predators, and more. As you move deeper into the forum you can get details of hunting trips including some with photos and videos. Another section is devoted to classified listings where hunters can sell all types of weapons, tents and other camping gear, GPS devices, and a few listings for hunting trips posted by outfitters who specialize in putting hunters in a position to take down a particular species such as a New Mexico cougar, or Wyoming elk. Hunt Hardcore has some other features posted but these did not include a lot of information. One labeled Quizzes had no content, another had a blog but it had not been updated since December of 2012, and a third for polls had just three or four polls listed and just one of those dealt with a hunting issue. The others sought input from users on site logos and features. Overall if users stick to the forums and utilize the apps huge member list I think they will find Hunt Hardcore useful. Making friends with other hunters in different parts of the country or state you live in can be especially helpful. The photos and videos make interesting viewing but I wish they offered more specifics about the hunting trips.
Improve your hunting chances with Hunt Predictor
Experienced hunters have a better chance of being successful because of that experience, Over time and lots of actual hunting they learn about the impact of wind, temperature, sun and moon times, and location. Now you can gain some of that same knowledge in a shorter time with Hunt Predictor. This free universal app runs on iOS 7.0 or later. Hunt Predictor provides users with detailed information on a number of valuable elements necessary to be a successful hunter and ties all the data to specific locations. Users input the locations they plan on hunting. You can enter the latitude and longitude coordinates if you know them or simply find your destination and double tap until the map zooms in close and the coordinates can be saved for future use. The app breaks out specific predictions for three types of prey, deer, turkeys, and waterfowl. Select which type of animal you are seeking and then select your saved location. Hunt Predictor brings up a seven day chart with breakouts for each day and the overall chance of success. Select your planned hunting day and the app reveals breakouts for overall weather, barometric pressure, temperature, moon illumination, wind speed and direction and the time of year. At the top of the page is an adjustable graph for the entire day. You can change the time and see what changes occur in the various conditions. Find the best time to hunt and the worst then compare what changed. That will give you an improved big picture on conditions and what to look for in the future. All three animal areas work the same. Another feature included in Hunting Predictor is the ability to track your hunting buddies. You can invite friends directly from you contacts or search other users for people you know. Once you have hooked up and become buddies the app will display your locations so you can keep track of each other during your hunt. This would be especially helpful if you have split up and are hunting in the same general area so that you don't mistake other hunters for game. The predictions offered in this app are based on algorithms developed through thorough research and input from hundreds of hunts. Hunt Predictor is powered by sportsmantracker.com so once you start using the app you can also gain access to that website and all the tools offered there. Take advantage of both Hunt Predictor and the sportsman.com web site and improve your chances of coming back with a trophy buck. Give it a shot.
The Daily Grind: Would you play a chat-free MMO?
A recent post by blogger Bhagpuss intrigued me, as he detailed his experiences playing a pseudo-MMO called The Endless Forest. In this game, every player is a deer going through an (endless) forest, exploring the wilderness and tricking out his or her beast. What interested Bhagpuss and me is that there's no chat function in the game, just various emotes that can be used to connect with other players. This made me think of the recent console sleeper hit Journey. In that game, players couldn't directly chat either, but did have a limited array of visual cues to signal intent and foster teamwork. I've read plenty of stories where players say that being denied chat actually made them feel closer to their teammates and really think about the value of human connection. Therefore, I'm putting today's discussion into the realm of the slightly absurd. Would you play a chat-free MMO? How could such a thing work over the long haul? What advantages and disadvantages would come into play? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Typewriter parts used to construct model deer, give small children nightmares
It's a deer. Made out of typewriter parts. And for whatever reason, it's downright terrifying. Jeremy Mayer's creation (yeah, that Jeremy Mayer) was recently shown at the Device Gallery in San Diego, measuring an intimidating 20- x 36- x 38-inches. It's apparently dubbed the Deer III, which means that at least two others could be roaming an unlit street near you. Something tells us your insurance company will never believe the story should you be unlucky enough to collide with one.
Lil' Game Hunter achievement now set to 75 pets
In patch 3.0.8 there is a new achievement call the Lil' Game Hunter, which you get upon collecting a very large number of pets. The achievement gets you the pet pictured above, a little fawn. He's cute, and hopefully won't stop in his tracks when he sees my motorcycle's headlight.Previously the achievement required getting a total of 100 vanity pets, however that total has now been lowered to 75. That is much more accessible for people to achieve, and really requires just a little bit of farming and AH watching. Definitely within the grasp of more people than when it was 100, which would have required more-or-less getting your hands on some super rare pets and/or ebayed TCG loot cards (a subject which some feel is borderline ethical).Click on the above image to get a better view of the fawn, and start collecting now!I plan on taking him for a walk through Elwynn Forest when I get him.For help with tracking your non-combat pet collection, head on over to the most excellent Warcraftpets.com.
TurpsterVision : Dancing in the Endless Forest [Updated]
Every Tuesday think "T" for Turpster and take the "a" in "day", capitalise it, remove the little bit in the middle, turn it upside down and you get a "V". Put the two together and you'll have TV for TurpsterVision -- the best Internet video podcast on Massively! (Nevermind that business about it being the only video podcast on Massively...) Check it out after the break!If you want to know how EPIC the intro for TV would have been had Turpster not had the help from the fantastic, awesome, uber-talented, Johnny Voruz from Unforgotten Realms then be sure to check out the extra video we included after the break! We'd like to note that Turpster is a highly trained professional, and as such, you should not attempt to recreate anything you see in TurpsterVision!
Canadian billboard gets pedal-powered, shows off LED efficiency
Considering our everyone's infatuation with everything LED is fairly evident, we couldn't help but stop and stare at a Canadian billboard sporting no fewer than 1,500 LED lights, all brightly shining to spread some holiday cheer. But the method to the madness is what's important here, as this particular poster had no direct contact with an AC outlet, and reverted to getting its juice from some 120 pedal-pushing volunteers instead. The DDB/Vancouver project was lit for five consecutive days on behalf of BC Hydro, and was setup to display just how efficient LED lighting really is. According to BC Hydro, the same amount of wheel-turning energy would've only lit up 120 incandescent bulbs, which would've left Rudolph a bit dimmer than expected. The only thing missing, however, was a government-employed robot to crank out a few more miles once the humans went home for the holidays.[Via OhGizmo]
