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.