I currently use a Bamboo (MTE450). I have to say I'm just not that into it compared to my old serial port ArtPadZ's (I have 4 or 5 of them). I really like the pens from the older ones. They fit behind my ear better, they were more pencil like and less mont blanc-ish.

My best advice would be to go with a 4"x5" pad. I always scratch my head at people who get really big Wacoms. For me it's the efficiency of motion, going from one corner of the screen to the other with a little wrist, and moving my whole arm on a Wacom would get tiring. Plus a 4x5 fits better on a desk IMHO. If you need precision, you can always use zoom in the application. 

I really believe that there is no faster (or accurate) pointing device than a Wacom.

If you have any other questions, send them to defragshow@microsoft.com and Gov and I will find out for you.

Thanks,
Larry

For future events, I'll look into what we can do to keep the publishing point open a bit longer.

Thanks,

Larry

RG-550, currently only used as a MIDI controller. 

Custom Ibanez I made myself with two 'monkey grip' handles, painted by Darren Michaels who did all the original swirl paint jobs for Ibanez/Vai. It's thin like a Parker Fly. Signed by Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and Joe Dispangi. It has the elusive hand guard plate over the tremolo that Vai came up with but never really shipped due to a patent suit from Kahler. 

LNG Jem 777, #103. Signed and numbered at the factory, and then signed again "To Larry - Steve" Also has a tremolo handguard on it that Steve gave me. 

Bottom row: 

My daughter's pink hello kitty Fender Strat mini. 

Kramer ?, used only when something needs smashed. 

Charvel Model 2. A poor replacement for a much-loved Charvel Model 4 that was stolen. 

The posters are all signed by the G3 peeps, backstage patches and Vai's picks are in the corners. 

http://www.slashfilm.com/lucasfilm-tells-darth-vader-that-return-of-the-jedi-hasnt-made-a-profit/

I couldn't agree more. I had more fun flying in Desert Combat than probably any other game I have played. Ever. I think what made that game so good was how fluid it was and how accurate/fast the weaponing was. I could fly the C130 by myself and even use the canon with a macro on my throttle button.

I really loved the helicopters in Battlefield Vietnam. Being able to set the radio to old 60s songs was genius, even if a rip of Vice City. Even today, every time I hear the Temptations Get Ready, I immediately think of flying fast and low in a Huey, tearing things up. With my Thrustmaster HOTAS the control of the helicopters in BFV was just magic. Maybe flying with a keyboard sucked, but for me I think that would suck in any game.

FWIW, my favorite flying game now is Just Cause 2. Specifically the helicopters. But flying choppers with an Xbox controller is a little meh imho after so many years on a TM HOTAS. Still fun though.

ManipUni said:

Sven Groot said:

*snip*

I thought Flight Simulator was so realistic that some airlines would start their pilots out on it?

There are a lot of pilots who use Flight Sim for training. It's great for practicing checklists and navigation. Of course no (affordable) simulator can replace actual flight. When I was in flight school, FAA regs allowed you to mark down some amount of hours of simulation in your log book each year. Flight Sim isn't one of the systems you can use for this. When I finally got some simulator time, it was this horrible desktop box with some gauges on it. Like some kind of flight Eniac from the 50s. I used it for an hour, which was a horrible experience, and then went home to MS Flight Sim which was so much more realistic and detailed that it put the simulator to absolute shame.

exoteric said:

LarryLarsen said:

*snip*

The last flight simulator I tried was F-29 Retalliator, that's a couple of days ago. I never tried Flight Simulator but was in a state of monumental disappointment about decision to shut down work on the product and fire all developers because seeing some of the latest beautiful photo-realistic screenshots made me want to try it and it appeared to be the best game of its kind. I really hope this new effort is not an attempt at a dumbed down Flight Simulator but an honest attempt at continuing the series, albeit under a new name.

 

Speaking of simulation. Take a look at this Brian Beckman video about real-time simulation of tire-physics, in the context of Forza (Forrrrza). It's a great video.

 

It's worth getting, especially now that you can find it on sale. With DX10, multi-mon, and multi-core support, it's not even close to being dated yet, and nothing can touch the graphics/detail on it, IMHO.  I like Xplane, but I've been playing FS since 1.0 on my TRS-80, so I have a special place in my heart for the title.

I agree, I was more than a little disappointed when they shut that team down, but I suspected it wouldn't stay gone. It's the oldest video game in history, we can't let that one go. 

ESgarbi said:

To be honest I never wanted a tablet until I got mine at the Pdc and I truly enjoy it and use it a lot.

I remember people saying that it was under $800 but Im not sure:

http://www.microsoftpdc.com/tablet

FWIW: The PDC Tablet PC isn't actually a "Tablet PC" per se. The included stylus doesn't have passive electronics in it. There are elements to using a Tablet PC that you can't experience on this machine, such as stylus hover (without touch), press and hold for right click, and high quality handwriting digitization.

As for Tablets (I love them BTW, I have a Motion M1200, HP HC1000, and HP TX2) here are some recent tablets to take a look at. These are also all multitouch as well as being Tablet PC's. I'm including the multitouch tech type, since that matters to many of us and isn't always easy to discern on a product page.

Acer 1820PT (capacitive touch)

Asus PCT101MT (resistive touch)

Dell Latitude XT (capacitive touch)

Dell Latitude XT2 (capacitive touch)

Fujitsu Lifebook T4310 (capacitive touch)

Fujitsu Lifebook T4410 (capacitive touch)

Fujitsu Lifebook 5010 (capacitive touch)

Fujitsu T900 (capacitive touch)

Fujitsu TH700 (capacitive touch)

Fujitsu T730 (capacitive touch)

Gigabyte T1000P (capacitive touch)

HP TouchSmart TX2 (capacitive touch)

HP TM2 (capacitive touch)

HP 2740P (capacitive touch)

Lenovo ThinkPad X201 (capacitive touch)

Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3T (capacitive touch)

Panasonic CF-U1 (resistive touch)

I think I'm going to do an all-up post on C9 soon on all the multitouch/tablet devices that have recently come out. Keep an eye out.

kettch said:

Dan said:

*snip*

I know I definitely see a difference in the comfort level of the interviewees when they are in the studio. There is a completely different atmosphere when you are in somebody's office. They aren't intimidated by the lights and cameras when they can be in their own environment. If they want to scribble on the whiteboard, then they can.

 

I know it saves you guys a lot of work, but I really don't care about screen captures or fancy stuff. Intimate casual conversations are what made C9 great, and I don't think that you can accurately replicate that inside the harsh artificial environment of the studio.

Michael loves to get out of the studio too, so we'll definitely be hitting more offices this year.

spivonious said:

Favorite that I own is my '90 Charvel Predator. It's tough to beat those '90s import Jacksons as far as bang for the buck.

I LOVED Charvels back in the day. I used to have a red Model IV-A with a floating cam Kahler.

Originally my personal website (www.greenjem.com) was used to track the first 777 green Ibanez Jem guitars. They are all signed and numbered by Steve Vai. Mine is #103 and also has "To Larry" written on the back from Steve Vai. You'll see it has one of the very rare wrist rests on it that never actually shipped with the Jem because Kramer had a patent that it violated and wouldn't license to Ibanez.

The second is a guitar I built myself.

This one uses a Ibanez Saber neck and has a body that I built myself and electronics from a Saber. The body has two monkey grips instead of one, huge access cut away, the body is cut as thin as a Parker Fly, the front is signed (and scribbled on) by Joe Satriani, the back is signed by Steve Vai and Joe Dispangi (the guy who invented the Jem line of guitars). Evolution pickup in the bridge. The paint job was done by Darren Michaels, a buddy of mine who did all the original swirl paint jobs on the Jem and Universe guitars. This color scheme was eventually used in one of the G3 tours so the guitar matches very well with a couple of the posters from that tour that are also signed by everyone in G3. This one also has a Lo Pro Edge II tremelo and a rare wrist rest.

All of these and more hang in my office at home.