If we’re in an improbable future, and the Mario Bros. franchise has taken a penchant for the slightly macabre and gritty, then this is what the player selection screen looks like. It’s the creation of one Jonathan Fletcher, and it’s “made in UDK, characters modeled in 3ds Max/Zbrush and textured in Photoshop.”
Oh, but that picture doesn’t do it justice. Do yourself a favor and watch the short video below. Only don’t expect anyone to press “Start” like we did; it can be disappointing.
If I learned one thing at CES this year, it’s that someone, somewhere, desperately wants us all to be watching videos and movies in 3D. And I’m not particularly against the idea, it’s just that, like everyone else, I find those damn glasses to be annoying. Thankfully technologies that promise glasses-free 3D are in the works, but until that time I guess this is the best option we have.
Blue Roses’ recent music video for their song Doubtful Comforts was shot using the wiggle stereoscopy technique which has recently given a new life to the animated gif. Directed by Vivien Weyrauch and Fabian Röttger, a Berlin based duo known as a nice idea every day, the video alternates back and forth between two cameras which shot each scene from a slightly different perspective. The results aren’t quite as convincing as what James Cameron managed to pull off with Avatar, but every once in a while, when the video isn’t pitch black, there is a slight 3D effect. Though at somewhere just past the 2-minute mark you’ll probably be reaching for a bottle of aspirin as it can be a little hard on the eyes. Let’s just hope this isn’t what Nintendo has in store for us with the 3DS.
If you’re not a fan of eye rape, then please do yourself a favor and do not watch the above video. Remember, it cannot be unwatched.
Much as I’m as fan of the Chevy Volt and what it can potentially represent, I’d like to have a word with whoever thought the above number was a good idea.
This. Is. Just. Awful. Just so you’re up to speed, Microsoft will be releasing Windows 7 on October 22nd and as part of their launch promotions, they’ve asked people to host launch parties for the new OS. If chosen as a host, you’d have received a free Signature Edition of Windows 7 Ultimate and run a chance to win a $750. The video above was created for these chosen hosts as both a promotional tool and somewhat of an instructional video on how to host one of these parties. Never mind now though since confirmations are already being sent out. The point here is just how freaking horrible and asinine the above video is.
I have an idea. Watch it, and then in the comments here tell us what you’d rather do than attend a Windows 7 launch party? Myself, I’d rather spend an entire day cleaning old dentures with a toothpick.
If you thought you had problems storing all the RAW files from your digital SLR camera, imagine having to deal with the stream of data coming from a digital motion picture camera capturing footage at 24 frames per second or higher. That’s why researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS in Erlangen, Germany have developed the FlashBox which docks to a digital film camera, like the ARRI D21 or the Sony F35, and stores up to 500GB of footage on a couple of swappable SSDs.
At just 5.1 x 3.1 x 2.8 inches in size and 3.3 pounds the FlashBox is remarkably light and compact, but it can capture and store Bayer raw sensor data in resolutions up to 2048×1000 pixels, or compressed using the JPEG2000 codec. A built-in LCD also allows the footage to be played back as soon as it’s captured, and a “multi-level prompting process” ensures recorded scenes don’t get accidentally overwritten which is one of the few times when nagging software is a definite plus.
The FlashBox will be available to select beta testers sometime in the Spring of 2010, but a prototype will be exhibited at the IBC (International Broadcast Convention) show in Amsterdam starting on September 11.
You kind of have to watch this video. It’s a short clip with Jem Stansfield from the UK show Bang Goes The Theory where he demonstrates a vortex cannon. This device will shoot out air at 200mph, in what looks like a smoke ring but is in fact moisture from the air condensed into visibility by the pressure differential within the vortex.
Who cares? Well just watch the video and see what a friggin’ little cloud can do.
We’re about a week late reporting on this heart-wrenching video, but we thought you’d all still be interested in hearing about Gene Simpkins, a man afflicted with a rare condition called “Moto-Neural Demyelination”, otherwise known as Duke Nukem’s disease. Why the name? Sufferers go through life with an involuntary neural compulsion to act like they’re part of a first-person shooter game.
I totally appreciate how awesome this video is, but it seems to me that an aircraft might not be the smartest place to be in the middle of a lightning storm. But hey, what do I know, I’m just one of those weird people who likes not dying.
Actually, aircraft are quite safe from lightning. It is estimated that each commercial aircraft gets struck about once a year, but the lightning gets safely conducted over the skin of the plane and never makes it inside. Much better than standing under a tree.
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