Amazing things you've done with your Amiga

[Zetr0]

that sounds pretty awsome gary! and yes i would say... amazing too

any pics?

[girv]

Originally Posted by mr_a500

Seriously, was it a program to detect digit patterns in images? Did the "brain" actually learn or was it just a fixed algorithm?

It was a 3 layer back propogation neural network with about 30 "brain cells". You gave it "images" in the form of a fixed size grid of black and white pixels and it output what digit it thought the image represented. You could add "noise" to the images by flipping a pixel or two and it still recognised the digit most of the time.

The brain did actually learn. You trained it to associate certain image inputs with the desired output - put it in "training mode", make it loop feeding in images and telling what the correct answers were. Then you'd take it out of training mode, feed in some more images and see what the outputs were. This was all in Modula-2 on my A1200. I left it running for days in training mode

You can get the sourcecode to all this from my website:
http://www.girvnet.org.uk/amiga/ (go to downloads)

If you find a use for it, I'll be very surprised

[killergorilla]

I managed to discharge some electricity from something at the back of my A1200 which sent my arm off in the opposite direction it is supposed to go.

[mr_a500]

@girv

That sounds pretty impressive. I tried downloading it from your site but I keep getting Download Error. What are those "Cow samples"? Did you actually record cows in a way similar to my ill-fated sheep recording?

@gary

That does sound amazing. So the Xenon graphics were overlayed on a Starwars animation? I've never heard of anyone ever doing that. That's one way to make an Amiga game have more colours. Awesome

@Ray

(...casually trying not to appear ignorant..) What is an AR? That's great that you hooked up something to the C= button - definitely more elegant than drilling holes and having a switch hanging out.

[girv]

Originally Posted by mr_a500

That sounds pretty impressive. I tried downloading it from your site but I keep getting Download Error. What are those "Cow samples"? Did you actually record cows in a way similar to my ill-fated sheep recording?

Grrr, I really have to do some work on my site!

The cow samples were for the RC5-64 ("Project Bovine") client. I think I just found them on a FTP somewhere; this was before Google got omniscient so they were harder to find back then

I've uploaded the neural nets source code and cow samples files to The Zone. Have fun

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by mr_a500

What is an AR?

Action Replay cartridge

[mr_a500]

Action Replay cartridge

Ah, yes. I know the cartridge, but just didn't make the connection.

@girv

Thanks. (...maybe I'll reprogram that neural net to check the WHDload page periodically and detect the percentage done of the Leaderboard slave (speech output). "Still... only... ten... percent... compleeated" )

[girv]

Originally Posted by mr_a500

...maybe I'll reprogram that neural net to check the WHDload page periodically and detect the percentage done of the Learderboard slave

err ... I've been busy ?

[rare_j]

Originally Posted by mr_a500

@rare_j

That's pretty impressive. I was going to attempt to run Samba, but then I decided I didn't have much use for it anyway.

Of course you don't! What would you network it to? You've only got that creaking A500!

[mr_a500]

Originally Posted by rare_j

Of course you don't! What would you network it to? You've only got that creaking A500!

No, I was going to use it to transfer files to/from a couple old crap PCs somebody gave me at the time. Instead, I just gave the crap PCs to somebody else.

I wasn't crazy enough to think I could network my A500 to itself. Hmmm... but now that I think of it... maybe if I....

[rare_j]

Just kidding, I've got to respect your dedication to the A500!
Never been tempted to get a PPC Mac, or Linux on a nice little Intel box for web browsing?

[mr_a500]

Originally Posted by rare_j

Just kidding, I've got to respect your dedication to the A500!
Never been tempted to get a PPC Mac, or Linux on a nice little Intel box for web browsing?

Actually, I'll probably be getting an iMac in a few weeks. Then my Amiga days will finally be over. That's the real reason for this thread - to go out with one final "gee, wasn't the Amiga awesome" thread before I disappear.

2007 will be the 20th anniversary of the Amiga 500. I think it's time to give the poor old computer a rest.

[girv]

Originally Posted by mr_a500

Actually, I'll probably be getting an iMac in a few weeks. Then my Amiga days will finally be over.

...so no rush on that Leaderboard slave then?

[mr_a500]

Originally Posted by girv

...so no rush on that Leaderboard slave then?

Nope, no rush. Well, try to have it ready for 2017. That's when I'll be semi-insane, constantly muttering about modern computers being shit and back to using an A500 as my only computer. (...although it will be unable to connect to the internet. By 2017, you need a credit card reader to connect and a 64-core 20Ghz processor to run all the simultaneous 3D-HD advertisements. Politicians are now able to use "virtual heads" with instant error correction instead of giving speeches live and their speeches can be automatically created by computer using a database of random clichéd statements.)

If 2017 is too early, try to have it ready by 2031. That will be the year when I am totally insane and only able to communicate using swear words. AOS 5.0 won't be out yet, but there will still be "big plans" for an Amiga comeback.

(oh, try to have the Zeewolf slaves updated too. I believe you said a few years ago that there were "big plans" )

[dambuster]

this evening, booted up a 20 year old computer in front of my 15 yr old son, and watched his jaw drop as it booted up in seconds.
Rubbed it in further by telling him to achieve that with his shiny new 64bit windoze m/c.

[X-ray]

I've done many amazing things with my Amigas:

1) Back when I was a student I used an A1200 and DPaint and Scala to make a presentation that showed the transport of an X-ray film through a processor. It was the only animation. Everybody else had charts and overhead transparencies.

2) In my final year as a student I made another presentation that showed a rectifying circuit in an X-ray machine. This was also a 2D animation and that one got recorded onto VHS and I sold it to them.

3) In 1996 I used my A4000T + Cinema4D + Scala + Genlock to do the folllowing project as a favour for a friend: he gave me architect's plans for a house he was going to build. I made a 3D model of the house in Cinema4D (with textures) and then made three animations of some flyarounds of the house. Recorded it onto VHS via genlock. When he saw how steep the roof angle was, that guy had the plans changed.

4) Used that same A4000T to produce the following graphics that I sold: a soft drink label (all the customer had to do was get his own barcode graphic inserted); a magazine cover for an electronics catalogue. I don't know if they used it, but they paid me for it .

5) Then I made the following items that were used by the hospital where I was working (they paid costs, not design because I was such a nice guy): 16 slides of X-ray neck injuries. The X-rays were scanned on a PC and the images were dumped on an external SCSI hard-disk I had, and then I imported those into Image FX and made high resolution labelled images. Saved them as TIFF and had slides made from them. After the slides were so well received I made two A3 posters of those injuries and those posters are still hanging in the trauma unit today!

6) Made a large A1 raytrace for a poster for our X-ray department. Resolution was abut 5000 x 3000 and raytrace time was about 3 days on an 060. That was blockmounted and that poster is also still hanging in the hospital, and was filmed in the intro of a trauma series for a TV programme.

7) Helped some friends make a really impressive presentation for a house-building project. This was an unpaid favour. They raytraced the house and all its furnishings on the PC with Imagine. They filmed actual house tiles and walls and I grabbed those tectures off tape with my Vidi RT 24 (they didn't have a digitizer back then). Then they gave me the frames and I put them together for a Scala animation. Then we got a really nice girl with a clear speaking voice and I digitized her with my Technosound sampler. We got her to read the introduction for each room of the house. I then synchronised those samples to the animations and recorded the final product to tape. I even had an animated 3D logo for our 'production company' and it had a nice metallic sound as the pieces of the logo spun into view and slammed into place.

8) Made two posters for companies (as gifts). These were both Cinema4D raytraces and each one took more than a day to render.

9) Made a very long Vista Pro animation and demo'd that at a PC-dominated demo/gfx gathering in Johannesburg. This was in 1994, with my A1200. The PC guys were very impressed at how smooth and long that animation was.

[Chain]

Originally Posted by dambuster

this evening, booted up a 20 year old computer in front of my 15 yr old son, and watched his jaw drop as it booted up in seconds.
Rubbed it in further by telling him to achieve that with his shiny new 64bit windoze m/c.

winbloze booting time is..just...

[mr_a500]

5) Then I made the following items that were used by the hospital where I was working (they paid costs, not design because I was such a nice guy): 16 slides of X-ray neck injuries. The X-rays were scanned on a PC and the images were dumped on an external SCSI hard-disk I had, and then I imported those into Image FX and made high resolution labelled images. Saved them as TIFF and had slides made from them. After the slides were so well received I made two A3 posters of those injuries and those posters are still hanging in the trauma unit today!

Ah... now I see why you're called X-ray. Seeing that you work in the x-ray department, maybe you can help me with a diagnosis. I fell out of bed the wrong way, and well... it looks like I broke the bone in my penis. (see x-ray)

(Apologies to people who have seen my penis x-ray before - I'm looking for a professional second opinion.)

[X-ray]

@ Mr_500

I have diagnosed your problem:

1) One should not insert chicken bones in one's urethra
2) The penis is undersized (according to the national average)

Actually you CAN 'fracture' a penis, but I won't go into that here, because Amiga DOES NOT make that possible

[Zetr0]

@X-ray

before you say that my friend, you best check that with Dizzy and Fred...