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.

Potal 2's Subplot

It turns out that Portal 2 had a rather interesting subplot.

 

In addition to the video the turrets where originally designed to protect babies from home intruders, which explains their odd vocal inflections.

Random Fact

Naming a folder "Windows 7 Tools.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}" (without quotes) will create a toolkit of windows 7 utilities for fixing and diagnosing system issues. I suspect this was made to help Microsoft engineers.

I built a Portal 2 Test Chamber

I have been playing around with the Portal 2 level editor and it is very good for easy level building. The best test chambers on there at the moment seems to be by CaretCaret, but he has used Hammer (the big boys level editor) and I suspect the most popular levels will always be the ones built with Hammer, but I am still liking the in game editor. Here Is My Level, it took me a couple of hours and isn't amazing, but I think it is reasonable.

Random Fact

In New York city most of the Crosswalk buttons function as Placebo Buttons.

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.

Piracy Has Cost The US Economy $58 Billion

There are a lot of large numbers floating around when it comes to the cost of Piracy. Rob Reid in his TED talk explains where some of this money is calculated from.



Rob is a writer who is just about to publish Year Zero a novel about what happens when Aliens develop a taste for Human pop music.

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.

Samsung's OLED Window

I am not saying that all windows in the future will be interactive, but I think the benefits of having clutter free screens around the home so you get the information you want, when you want it, is a very appealing idea.

At Home Genotyping

We aren't yet at the stage here everybody has their genetic code sequenced, but it looks like it will be a standard medical tool for people in the future. The main benefits being that you could findout what medical conditions you might have a genetic inclination to get or other physical or dietary traits that knowing about would help you live healthier for longer.

Costs for sequencing are rapidly diminishing and there are now a few companies that offer a similar service, but by using genotyping to rapidly (and much more cheaply) give you access to that kind of information information.

23andMe ($99 to $207)
deCODEME ($500 to $1,100)
Navigenics

It should be noted that even if you do have a genetic marker that suggests you will get heart disease. That just means that you might, there are still many other factors that lead to most conditions.

The IGF Pirate Kart Entry

In March next year the Independent Games Festival will award a few independently produced games some awards and raise the profile of those titles. A few in the past like Minecraft, Limbo and Mechinarim have had extra promotion which has helped the developers sell more units and raise their profile.

Next year has an interesting entry, the Pirate Kart. This is a single IGF entry of (at time of writing) 321 games.

A download link to the 1.4GB pack is on the Front Page if you feel like playing some very random games.

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

Google's Memories for the Future Project

To remember The Tsunami that hit Japan earlier in the year. Google has put together a streetview project called Memories for the Future that allows you to see the streetview data before and after the tsunami.

It is a shame the site doesn't support linking, otherwise I would have linked to a few interesting areas.

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.

SpaceChem is Now Free For Schools

SpaceChem, the indi puzzle game of combining elements to make molecules, is now Free For Schools. I think this is cool because in the advanced levels, you need to use the game's periodic table to make the target compound. SpaceChem comes with a level editor, so educators can create class specific levels to accomplish learning objective.



I find this exciting because it is this kind of thing that will be part of the future of education.

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.

Happy Halloween

I love this guy's house videos.

Epic Anime Adobe After Effects Fights

One of the things I love about computing is the upward trend towards everything becoming cheaper, faster and more accessible. Where as once computer special effects where for the privileged few, now we are seeing a growing number of independents using them in their film projects. And One of the things I love about martial arts is the rewards you get for time invested. The below videos combine both of these things to good effect.

Cover Up Makeup Advert

This is an advert for Dermablend Pro a skin concealer for scars, tattoos and blemishes for makeup people to use on models, tv people etc.



I love this advert, firstly because of Rick, but mostly because it is a very good advert that has style and demonstrates the product very well.

Japanese Anti-Piracy Advert

In Japan, this is played before every film.

Mercury Arc Rectifiers

The Mercury Arc Rectifier was used in the days before semiconductors to convert high voltage mains current to CD current for train lines. My favorite thing about this is that they are rather complex pieces of glass that wouldn't look out of place on a TARDIS.

First World Problems

The third world has problems like starvation, war, finding drinkable water and lots of other fundamental problems. The first world has problems like, waiting for more than ten minutes on hold when trying to pay a bill and, being unable to find the correct remote control for the TV. The funniest one I have heard is that someone had to see Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows in 3D because the 2D showings had sold out.

Reddit has a subgrop called FirstWorldProblems which is full of these although a lot could be argued to be problems for everyone.
Zach who has a channel on youtube called Funnyz did a rap called first world problems.

Breaking up the Monopoly with Modern Board Game Design

Scott Nicholson is currently on sabbatical at MIT where he is infusing everyone with boardgame enthusiasm. His main research focus while at MIT is to create a toolkit for allowing groups of students to use a boardgame toolkit and simple parameters to develop their own boardgame to learn about a subject.

A few weeks ago he did an open talk about himself, boardgames and what he is doing at MIT and his research focus. He is an excellent lecturer so it is worth a watch.

The Euthanasia Roller Coaster

Euthanasia is an interesting subject, both the ethical side, and the mechanism. How would one kill themselves in a nice way?

Julijonas Urbonas at the Royal College of Art has created the Euthanasia Coaster. This is a Roller coaster where the rider is subjected to a negative ten gforce for one minute resulting in the brain being starved of oxygen and the death of the riders. I am not sure wither one minute is enough to kill someone, but I am sure Julijonas has done his research. The riders would experience a feeling of euphoria as their brains are starved of oxygen. And I think this is a very interesting art project. Roller coasters try to terrify riders with sirens and warning singes as they queue for a ride, but here we have one that I am sure most of us wouldn't want to take, but it's design is simple and elegant. And I am sure if it was built, it would be ridden.

Video Link

DragonCon 2011 Cosplay Montage

I want to do some cosplay, but I have no idea what to go as. I am held back by my indecision because of the time it will take me to put a reasonable costume together.

The US Military's Don't Ask Don't Tell Is No More

Don't Ask Don't tell was a compromise between throwing gay service people out of the military and allowing them to service. Gays where allowed to serve as long as they where closeted. Some seen this as an evil policy against gays, but the policy has now been repealed. I hope this goes some way to promoting equal rights in the US as I believe that most straight people assume that everyone around is strait except for the rare few. We know that more than 7% of the world's population is gay and that means that if you are in a room with fifteen other people, then there is a good chance that one of them is gay.

I thought the news of DADT would be met with quiet applause, but many gays in the military have been coming out and have been celebrating with a flurry of YouTube videos. AreYouSuprised has been doing videos anonymously on YouTube about being gay and in the military. The first video where we get to see his face, was posted two days ago where he comes out to his Dad.

Random Fact

There isn't a video on YouTube of someone popping a pimple.

LED Viking Mohawk

I just thought this was really cool.

George Did It AGAIN!

I have mostly been on the fence about some of the changes George Lucas has made to Star Wars over the years. Some I have liked like the removal of the black boarders around some of the special effects and the updated Wampa Feading Scene. And others I am very much on the fence about like the updated Sarlacc Pit. However now with the BluRay Release Of Star Wars, Lucas is adding some extra dialogue to the scene where Darth Vader kills Emperor Palatine. This scene was perfect before, the silent defiance was all that was needed, but now Lucas has Darth Vader saying "No!"

There has been some leaked audio of the 'NO!' and WideAsleepFilm has edited it together with a copy of the scene. I think it's a crime against good cinema and something that shouldn't have been changed, but see for yourself.

[Source: Ain't It Cool News]

Random Fact

The G-spot is named after Ernst Gräfenberg.

Minor Characters in Star Trek

Aboard the Enterprise-D there was a load of unnamed characters that where seen on the ship briefly and then never again. Then there are the characters with names that only appeared in one or two episodes. With the power of Memory Alpha I wanted to find the most qualified of these characters, those characters who where always there, but probably never noticed by audiences.

• Darien Wallace
  Is the only one here to have a full name, but I don't remember seeing him in any episodes or films.


• Jae
  Served aboard the Enterprise-D and Enterprise-E.


• Martinez
  I remember seeing him in a few episodes, he has a long medical history.


• Russell
  Served on both the Enterprise-D and Voyager.

Random Fact

The front door of 10 Downing Street cannot be opened from the outside.

Grapes In The Microwave

Apparently if you cut a grape in half, but leave a small piece of skin joining the two halves. And then place the grape in a microwave, you get plasma.

Random Fact

In water apples float and pears sink.

Dancing In A Sky Diving Simulator

The guys are from Team4Speed.

The Making Of An Angry Video Game Nerd Episode

James Rolfe talks about how he plans, records and edits an episode of The AVGN. I think the art of editing gets overlooked by the public when it comes to praising the makers of a film, but this video shows how time consuming it is.

Tags: GameTrailers.com, ScrewAttack - The Making of an Angry Video Game Nerd Episode, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Deus Ex Live Action Trailer

Hmmm live action trailer for new Deus Ex game...

Do You Have Free Will? Tshirt

I didn't know this, but Albert Sweigart writer of Fine Book On Phython and an Atheist is also a designer of tshirts. His latest design asks Do You Have Free Will?

Bandai's Konapun

Konapun is a product that Bandai make for kids 8+. It consists of a set of sachets and a small kitchen plastic to make food in by mixing the sashays with water and using the tools in the kitchen. The food food is very realistic miniature versions of the real thing. This food is not edible. Japan loves small cute things and many restraints have plastic versions of their meals in their windows so entice customers. So yes it feels wrong that you can't eat this food after preparing it, but this is Japan and that kind of thing is accepted.



More Konapun on YouTube.

Guy Calls Out Nintendo

Sometimes companies just aren't interested in making money.

New Android Marketplace

Looks very much like the Windows 7 interface. Just saying.

The Vagina Blog

Quoted from an interest blog:

I’m a 23 year old female with a hellgina. A normal period for me is a veritable biblical flood. I’m chronicling the process of figuring out what the fuck is wrong with me, as each day and each procedure passes. - My Uterus Hates Me

GIF Sound

A week ago Squidbrain posted a question on the popular social news network Reddit, Can you get .gifs with sound? The answer to Squidbrain's question is no, because a gif is an image file standard that supports animation and not (currently) sound.

However there has been a thing running for a little while called YoutubeDoubbler where you play two YouTube videos together that overlap in a nice way.

The same thing exists for gifs and the website for that is GIFsound.com.

Cooking Meat

Dancing Dog

Daft Punk

Nyan cat

Hypnotoad

The Impossible Project, Revival Of The Polaroid Camera

In October 2008 The Impossible Project saved the last Polaroid production plant for integral instant film in Enschede (NL) and started to invent and produce totally new instant film materials for traditional Polaroid cameras. In 2010 Impossible saved analog instant photography from extinction by releasing various, brand new and unique instant films.
Therewith Impossible prevents more than 300,000,000 perfectly functioning Polaroid cameras from becoming obsolete, changes the world of photography and keeps variety, tangibility and analogue creativity and possibilites alive.

- About Impossible

Star Wars The Old Republic CG Backstory

A few very nice CG videos have been released in the runup to the release of SWTOR and some kind YouTuber has put them together into a fifteen minute compilation. Best watched full screen in HD to be sure.

Smart Clothing

This is a set of cufflinks that blink in time with a Macbook's sleep blinking. Interesting, but only if you are in meetings a lot with a Macsbook is sleep mode.

iCufflinks by Adafruit from adafruit industries on Vimeo.

More Windows 7 Backgrounds

You can find more nice official Windows 7 backgrounds in C:\Windows\winsxs.

Random Joke

What do sheep make planes out of?
Sheepmetal

The Undead Mod

For a while now people have been playing games about the zombie uprising (or outbreak depending on the cause of the apocalypse), the best zombie game at the moment is probably Left 4 Dead 2 and there has been some attempts at making Zombie Apocalypse Simulations, but a love child of both would be Arma2's The Undead Mod.

Arma 2 is a very complicated military simulation game and The Undead Mod adds zombies. Why a large developer hasn't worked on something similar I don't know. There is clearly a market for this.

The Pledge Of Allegiance Is Brainwashing

Ever since I discovered the American Pledge Of Allegiance I have been bothered by the idea of very young kids daily oathing themselves to their flag, when they are too young to understand what they are doing. In recent years I have seen The Pledge, in my view, as more of a brain washing mechanism. The Whitest Kids U' Know, a show on IFC, demonstrates this.



In 1892 when The Pledge was first used in schools it was accompanied with a Bellamy Salute named after the writer of The Pledge. Most people seeing this today would describe it as a Nazi Salute. And so while at war with Germany the salute for The Pledge was changed to a hand over heart gesture. I find this interesting because the parallels of blind nationalism is still there, even with the adapted salute.

The pledge was originally designed to promote national equality for immigrants so everybody saying The Pledge could be seen as American. However I don't see The Pledge as symbolizing national pride, but an attempt to hold onto national pride in an age where America is a declining superpower.

Call Of Duty Elite and Pay Monthly Multiplayer

It happened, Activation will soon be charging a monthly fee for a higher tier multilayer experience in Call Of Duty. What you get is clan play, Facebook integration and gameplay stats. I would like to first pointout that clan play and stats was first supported in ye' olde Unreal Tournament from 1999. And people will pay for it.



The hardcore will stick it's nose in the air and say no, but the casual gamer, the gamer who is the primary demographic for Call Of Duty will pay for it because it will be sold as a premium multilayer experience. If it gets enough people playing it might even become a great multilayer game with, no screaming kids, always play with friends, competitive/comparative micro stats, great servers and continued developer support.

You might be saying 'no no no no no no', but it's here to stay. Just remember to cancel your account if yo try it for a bit and then stop playing.

Unboxing Videos

Some unboxing videos are good, but most are long and very uninformative. So this one is more of an anti-unboxing video.

Extreme Couponing

There is a part of me that finds this amazing and fascinating, then there is another part of me that struggles to believe that what she is doing is legal.

Otomata

There have been a few flash proceadural music makers, and I think Otomata is one of the better examples. Here is a pattern I made.

2D Film Glasses

2d-glasses.com is a site where you can buy 2D glasses for 3D films. I think this is interesting, I am not going to buy a pair so I can say I paid extra to see a 3D film and watched it in 2D thanks to my matching polarised glasses, but some people genuinely hate watching 3D films and need these to enjoy films with friends.

Sugar Might Be Really Bad For You

Robert Lustig is a Professor of Pediatrics and treats fat kids for obesity. He talks about how the sugar replacement in many sodas (high fructose corn syrup) is worse than drinking a sugared beverage.

Zero Punctuation's Review of Portal 2

Normally he does satire, but occasionally he says something interesting about a title. Other than the gripe about Portal fans I agree with everything Yahtzee says.

Sean Plott's Life Of Starcraft

Sean Plott is a StarCraft commentator, strategist, champion, player and goes by the handle Day[9]. He talks about his love for StarCraft, a history of his life with the game and what is has done for him. More importantly it is a story of hard working paying off.



His brother is Tasteless another player and professional commentator who is so cool he has his own Theme Song. And if you are interested in some Crazy StarCraft II stratagice checkout This IGN Article.

Hawken

Hawken made by indi startup Adhesive Games is a MechWarrior type game. Unfortunatly for MechWarrior fans there hasn't been a good Mech Warrior game for years. However Hawken looks awesome and worth keeping an eye on.

Blinky™

Blinky is a short film by Ruairi Robinson, maker of short films, about a domestic robot that doesn't meet it's owners expectations (played by Max Records).

Blinky™ from Ruairi Robinson on Vimeo.

A Great Demonstration Of How LCD Displays Work

I have read a few descriptions over the years on how LCD displays work, but this is the best by far.

Escaped Animal Drills In A Japanese Zoo

It's funny because they don't want any of the visitors to be frightened so use a guy in a costume. Keep watching as they Tranquilize and net him.

The Auto Tattoo

This is a fully automatic tattoo machine. It is an interesting idea because since the design is reproduced and consistent, it shouldn't be considered art. However would that stop people using it?
I imagine someday automatic machines will be available to do many custom designs.

Great Physical Comedy

Gamarjobat are a Japanese Manzai (double act) who do excellent silent physical comedy. Their English isn't amazing, but you wouldn't tell by watching their amazing act.

New Thundercats Animated Series

Cartoon Network has commissioned a new Thundercats TV series and it looks good.

Tron Uprising

Disney are making a 2.0 TV series for 2012. The early trailer looks very good.

The Internet Movie Firearms Database

Films are filled with firearms, and lots of people know their firearms so it makes sense that someone would create The Internet Movie Firearms Database. It doesn't have every film imaginable because it is a community based projects and concentrates mainly on real firearms. So it's Star Trek First Contact page is (at time of writing) missing the Star Trek Phaser. However the page on The Matrix ("I need guns, lots of guns") is rather detailed, even down to the make and model of tear gas canister used in the abandoned building before Morpheus was captured. It is also interesting to see the number of films that the M16 Has Been In.

Earth Hour 2011

A reminder that Earth Hour takes tonight between 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm.
Here are some pictures from last year, click the images to see a before and during.

Last year I turned my PC off and read for an hour.

Burrito Bison

Burrito Bison, available on NewGrounds is one of the best flash games I have played in a while. It is one of the shoot character across level and see how far you can get while bouncing and earning money as he goes, games. You play a wrestler who has been abducted by a city of GummyBears and must squish your way out of GummyLand. The only innovation I see here is the introduction of barriers that you have to have enough speed when you reach them to power through. I have played a few new games of this type recently, but Burrito Bison is fun because later in the game you can combo large jumps to rescue yourself and the game in general has a lot of personality.

Goon The Collaborative 8Bit Art Project

Goon City and Goon Tower are both rather fun. If you have a look around you will find more subtle references in Goon City.

Pure Chase Supercuts

This is a great compilation of supercuts.
The music is 7 vs 8 by The Jesus Lizard.

Pure from Jacob Bricca on Vimeo.

The World's Largest Art Gallery

Stockholm Metro is said to be the worlds largest Art Gallery. And it is easy To See Why.

Plug

Plug isn't exactly an indi film as it is made by Steambot a company that does a lot of artwork for both the film industry (Avatar and Tron 2.0) and video games industry (FarCry 2, Splinter Cell and Assassins Creed). But it still looks very interesting.

Plug - teaser one from vyle-art on Vimeo.

How To Use A Mouse And Keyboard On A Console FPS

The XIM is a really coll device that lets you play with a Keyboard and mouse control interface on your console (360 or PS3). Obviously the immediate benefit is that you can pown everybody by having a way better control interface. The only problem is that it is made by a small group of guys who can't keepup with demand. Still if you have a look at the videos page the advertised experience is very impressive.

Commander Shepard Antham

You can fight light a Krogan, run like a leopard, but you will never be better than Commander Shepard.

Lazy Teenage Superheroes

A half decent college short film! I don't know much else about it as The Official Website doesn't contain any.

The World Is Being Gamified

New Scientist has a video about how the world is learning from the positive feedback loop in video games. This will cause everybody to be offered achievements and points for using products and services.

A 17 Gigapixel Image

I wouldn't normally like to something that requires a plugin, but it is the Microsoft Research HD View Plugin and I trust those guys. The plugin allows you to view the mountains on yosemite-17-gigapixels.com. A site that had five mountain photographs that will amaze you because of their size. It's like having your own spy satellite.

Hand Drawn MineCraft Texture Pack

Scribblecraft is a nice looking texture pack. It's the kind of pack that makes me want to try doing my own textures.

Voxatron

Voxatron is a fun looking indi game made by Lexaloffle.

Random Fact

On the 16th of July 2186 the Longest Solar Eclipse for 5000 years will take place. The area with the longest totality will be in the Atlantic ocean and will last for 7 minutes and 29 seconds.

A Sword Form From The Perspective Of The Sword

This is a sword form from the perspective of the sword tip. I wonder if I could make something similar.

Shift In Language

Language is dynamic and this video shows this off very well.

European Boundaries 1 to 2000 Years AD

Euratlas.net has This Page showing the history of European country boundaries from 1AD to 2000AD, at 100 year intervals. A rather interesting insight.

Scott Nickleson's Boardgame Publishing Lecture

Scott of Board Games With Scott was asked by MIT's Comparative Media Studies to talk about Boardgame Publishing. Scott puts together a fun lecture with a lot of information about himself and the industry I didn't know about. Here is a link to the lecture.

Legal Torrents

ClearBits is a website that hosts Creative Commons material for download through torrents. Have a look thought their stuff because they do have some interesting material.

Zelda Ocarina Of Tetris

OpenLase

Hector Martin is a laser hacker and has created an open source laser engine. He did a presentation at last year's Chaos Communication Congress about his engine, but he did it with lasers!



There is more information and demos on His Blog

Happy New Year!

I have a good feeling about this year.