Atari games and Intel processors

The asynchronous nature of the state-of-the-art reinforcement learning algorithms such as the Asynchronous Advantage Actor-Critic algorithm, makes them exceptionally suitable for CPU computations. However, given the fact that deep reinforcement learning often deals with interpreting visual information, a large part of the train and inference time is spent performing convolutions. In this work we present our results on learning strategies in Atari games using a Convolutional Neural Network, the Math Kernel Library and TensorFlow 0.11rc0 machine learning framework. We also analyze effects of asynchronous computations on the convergence of reinforcement learning algorithms

Atari, Creative Making & Zombie Computers: Robbo. Solucja.

In 1989, Janusz Pelc wrote the game Robbo on an 8-bit Atari, one of the first personal computers, which enjoyed a cult-like status in Poland before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Robbo, a small robot, collects screws and has to get through 56 planets. The game has achieved cult status, spawning hundreds of remixes and modifications. Beginning in the 1980s, fans (once mainly young boys, today adult men) played this game, collecting screws and running away from enemies such as bats, flying eyes, devils etc., while drinking beer, smoking cigarettes, eating crisps and telling jokes. One of the places where you play Robbo are the so-called demoparties, which gather computer geeks, technology nerds and fans of old computers. They are the heroes of Robbo. Walkthrough (2018), the first computer generated book published in Polish as Robbo. Solucja. The game’s basis is a text generator with soundtrack, made using technology original to the Atari. The concept and text was created by Piotr Marecki. The project was presented as part of the wild compo during the demoparty Silly Venture 2017 in Gdańsk. The program lasts 56 minutes and generates walkthrough for the 56 individual planets. However, it is looped, so it generates an inexhaustible amount of solutions, one of which contains a published book. All of the elements of the work – text, music, code, composition, as well as graphics – were created by Polish Atari enthusiasts. It premiered at the Atari-themed party and are being distributed among retro computers enthusiasts. While Robbo generator can be regarded simply as an entertainment or a joke, its authors believe that it also comments critically and playfully on computational obsolescence. The practice of returning to the discarded and dead (or “zombie”) media, in this case the Atari computer, is one challenge to the seeming inevitability of technological acceleration. This essay describes the history and making of Robbo. Walkthrough and provides a critical commentary on the value of “zombie” computing

TechNews digests: Jan - Nov 2006

TechNews is a technology, news and analysis service aimed at anyone in the education sector keen to stay informed about technology developments, trends and issues. TechNews focuses on emerging technologies and other technology news. TechNews service : digests september 2004 till May 2010 Analysis pieces and News combined publish every 2 to 3 month

A Survey of the Economic Role of Software Platforms in Computer-Based Industries

Software platforms are a critical component of the computer systems underpinning leading– edge products ranging from third– generation mobile phones to video games. After describing some key economic features of computer systems and software platforms, the paper presents case studies of personal computers, video games, personal digital assistants, smart mobile phones, and digital content devices. It then compares several economic aspects of these businesses including their industry evolution, pricing structures, and degrees of integration.software platforms, hardware platforms, network effects, bundling, multi-sided markets

Entering the Economic Models of Game Console Manufacturers

This paper deals with the video game console market. We are not interested here in portable consoles nor in PC games. Our work focuses on the role of core competencies in console wars, analyzing the way these competencies are activated within the firms' business models. The home console market also exhibits crossed network externalities, which requires console manufacturers the ability to conciliate the interests of both developers and gamers. From a strategic point of view, core competencies are closely related with market performance. Today, Sony's and Microsoft's business models are quite similar. However, Microsoft and Sony remain far behind Nintendo and its Wii, which suggests that core competencies do not discriminate on performance as much as the positioning choices made upstream when the strategy is crafted. The link between core competencies, economic model and strategy is at the heart of this study.video game console, business model, core competencies, two-sided market, platform.

Organizing High Tech: Unions & Their Future

[Excerpt] Statistics compiled by the American Electronics Association—a leading defender of high tech\u27s union-free environment\u27—indicate the difficulty unions have had organizing electronics workers. The AEA surveyed almost 1,200 firms about union activity in their plants between 1971 and 1982. They reported fewer than 100 NLRB representation elections during that period, with unions winning only 21. These figures understate labor\u27s problem. Through a sophisticated mixture of paternalism and repression, the high tech industry has prevented the vast majority of employee organizing efforts from reaching the stage of a Labor Board election. As a result, the AEA\u27s 1900 member companies have only 90 union contracts. In this article, we will examine the job problems facing high tech workers, the factors inhibiting union organizing in their industry, the experiences of some recent high tech campaigns, and strategies for overcoming the obstacles to worker self-organization in this crucial sector of the U.S. economy

Comparison between Famous Game Engines and Eminent Games

Nowadays game engines are imperative for building 3D applications and games. This is for the reason that the engines appreciably reduce resources for employing obligatory but intricate utilities. This paper elucidates about a game engine, popular games developed by these engines and its foremost elements. It portrays a number of special kinds of contemporary game developed by engines in the way of their aspects, procedure and deliberates their stipulations with comparison