[From Rick Marken (961129.1800)]
I've been trying to learn Java (no mean feat considering my age and and my
IQ) because I thought it might provide some people easier access to the
control demos that we talk about on CSGNet. I have finally completed a
couple of Applets and they are now available at my web site. To see them,
first go to my "Mind readings" home page at:
http://www.leonardo.net/Marken/
After ordering several copies of the book;-) click on my name which will
give you access to the two "On-line Control Demos". If you have a Java
enabled browser (I think Netscape 3.0 is Java enabled on essentially all
platforms) you will be able to see the demos. One is the basic, one-
dimensional compensatory tracking task; the other is a version of my
"Mind reading" demo (which continuously tests to determine which of three
squares is being moved intentionally).
I would be interested in hearing how these demos "look and feel" on
different platforms. I'm running them on a Power Mac (120 MHz); I've seen
early "application" versions of these programs on a Sun Sparc and on a
Pentium PC but I haven't seen them run in different browsers. If you are
able to run them and would like to make comments or suggestions, please
send them to me direct at this address (marken@leonardo.net). Let
me know if the animation and (especially) the effect of the handle on the
animated images is reasonably smooth. Also, let me know if the format of
the browser display is OK or whether it could be improved to better fit
your browser.
Let me quickly point out that I am NOT yet a Java programmer. These
programs a _not_ elegant; they are pretty ugly from an "object oriented"
point of view; and I don't use many of the nice features of object
oriented programming (that's why I'm not making the source available; it's
pretty embarassing;-)).
But at least the programs _work_. I still have a lot to learn and I'm not
sure this old dog can learn these new tricks -- but I'm trying. The Java
approach to making the PCT Demos accessible seems rather promising.
Best
Rick