Star Trek The Video Game

I am not sure the developers of the new Star Trek game know what Star Trek is, because it isn't Gears of War, it isn't Doom, Left4Dead or Deadspace. There are lots of games out there that have these standard sets of cannon fodder. If this was an SG1 game or a Star Wars game I would have said fine, but this is supposed to be Star Trek.

Sprial Firework

Not sure if these can be bought on general sale, but it looks very cool.

A Game Of Thrones Mod For Crusader kings II

I bought Crusader Kings II hoping for a game that was slightly more complex than Risk and slightly less complex than any of the Total War series as I always struggle with the simulated battlefields (mainly I don't have the patients for that kind of battle). But what I got was a game that is so insanely complex that I find it impenetrable. I might give it another go in a few weeks, but at the moment I find the whole relationship structure of the game to be very difficult. But while reading up on the game I found out about the Game Of Throne Mod which if you like the TV series will probably have instant appeal to you.

Sight

Sight is an awesome short film about a possible future for augmented reality. I love the part where the guy is staring at the blank wall.


Sight from Sight Systems on Vimeo

We don't have the technology for all this today, but very soon we will.

Queer Core

Queer Core is specifically a genre of music that is very connected to homosexuality, either by imaginary, context or subject matter. Here are a few videos I liked.

Non-Euclidean Level Design

Not the first game demo or game to show this kind of impossible level design, but a fun demo anyway.

Wrecking Crew Orchestra

At the turn of the 20th century there was a popular form of magic called Black Art where a magician could make objects levitate, appear and disappear with ease. This was done through use of special lighting conditions and black velvet cloth to mask the workings of the trick from the audience. A hundred years later and Orchestra a Japanese dance group, create an innovative dance of black art and electro luminescent wire.



It takes a lot now to impress me, but this certainly did.

DirectX 11's Tessellation

I was planning on writing a long post about Tessellation, but This Nvidia Article does a good job and what I really wanted to post was these videos.

This first video shows off what tessellation is.



This second video is a good practical (i.e a none gimmicky) application of tessellation.



And then the future applications for this technique, which is really interesting.

Alex Moore Visits Occupy London

Alan Moore is a writer of many fine graphic novels and this video is of him visiting Occupy London. It is an interesting video because he identifies with the protesters after having control of some of his work taken away from him by large corporations. Plus many of the protesters are wearing the mask from V for Vendetta a story about revaluation, which he wrote for.

Alan Moore visits Occupy LSX from inka stafrace on Vimeo.

SOPA

This is a really good video about SOPA, but some facts are slightly missing.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

The US would seek extradition to prosecute breakers of SOPA abroad like they do with existing copyright laws.

The US currently controls domain name registration so would use that as a weapon against governments, people or organisations that didn't comply with their domestic SOPA laws.

And SOPA contains a section whereby anyone discussing or educating people about circumventing SOPA would fall under SOPA's restrictions. In the case of the video I have posted above that would mean VIMEO could be taken down and without due process or representation.

Zelda Mod For Skyrim

This is one of the better mods I have seen so far for Skyrim. It is a Legend Of Zelda, Link Character Mod.

USS Enterprise Engine Noise

I have often wondered what I would be like to be on the Enterprise and have to put up with the sound of the engines all the time. I have also wondered what it is about the engines that make that noise considering there are no moving parts on the engines and any noise from outside wouldn't carry due to the vacuum of space. There is a video on YouTube that loops the enterprise engine noise for 24 hours.



However a better and higher quality version can be herd from Linux's play app. Use the following command to generate the noise procedurally:

play -n -c1 synth whitenoise band -n 100 20 band -n 50 20 gain +25 fade h 1 864000 1

Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: Master Lockpicking Guide

This is my lockpicking guide for Skyrim. You can either read the description below or watch the video I have recorded. The video is a little dry, but contains all the reliant information. I will add however that if you are in a town and you want to break into a house without being seen; you should crouch and wait for the eye in the middle of the screen to close (indicating that you are hidden) before starting you lockpicking attempt. This will ensure that your lockpicking attempt is conducted in secrecy.

In Oblivion you could lockpick by the sound of the tumblers rising, but this isn't possible in Skyrim. You need to keep looking at the tip of the pick (see screenshot).



If you are on an area of resistance the end of the pick will judder. You need to probe around the lock until you find an area of smooth motion with the pick. Once you have found it, don't rotate the lock all at once. Rotate it gradually, always looking at the end of the pick. If you find an area of resistance, release, move the pick slightly and start turning again. Apply this technique and you will be able to break even master level locks with a low level character.

Playing Skyrim As A Pacifist Character

WestSideLuigi isn't playing as a pure pacifist because a pacifist is someone opposed to violence, but he is playing Skyrim without killing humans, beasts, the undead or even ghosts, and that is interesting.

Equal Marriage Rights in Australia

GetUp! Australia is an action group committed to promoting the environment and a better future for Australians. And they have produced this very excellent video for their Gay Marriage campaign.

More Musical Tesla Coil Action

Musical Tesla Coil Hat

A guy made a Tesla Coil Hat that plays the mortal Combat theme tune. The video doesn't show the hat itself very well, so checkout The Guy's Blog.

Using Your Old Graphics Card To Run As A Dedicated PhysX Processor

I am currently upgrading from a Nvidia 9800GTX to a Nvidia 580GTX and with the current SLI technology can't have them running together because the GPUs and graphics memory is different on both cards. But a configuration that is supported, is using my old card as a Dedicated PhysX Processor.

I wondered wither this would be better than just letting the 580GTX do all the graphics rendering and physics work. And I found this video when I Googled:



In the video he is using a 8600GTS which isn't as powerful as my 9800GTX, but it is interesting to see that the benchmark scores higher when the 580GTX is allowed to do all the work. I don't think it can be stated strongly enough that the results will change from benchmark to benchmark. But as on overall indicator I don't think I will keep my 9800GTX as even if it could conceivably provides a little extra performance if my 580GTX is under extreme graphics load, the extra heat and power consumption required to keep my 9800GTX makes the whole thing not worth it.

Full Immersion Battlefield 3 Rig

One of the challenges that The Gadget Show set themselves recently; was to create a fully immersive Battlefield 3 playing experience. What they created is rather impressive and makes me wonder why I can't pay to get this kind of experience at somekind of gaming center.



I think one improvement that they could make would be to use electric shock pads, instead of the paintball guns. Not sure if that would work commercially, but would provide better feedback.

Heidi Klum's Halloween Costume

It isn't often that I care about celebrity news, but the Daily Mail did an article on Her Costume At Her Annual Halloween Party. And wow it was impressive.