It’s A Trap!

I love Robot Chicken. It’s official.

I knew Robot Chicken was made by the people that do Family Guy, and I knew that it was stop motion but for some reason I had never watched any of it until my holiday when I put two seasons of it on my iPod.

I think it is definitely on par with Family Guy, maybe even edged it a bit becuase it was new and unexpected. I laughed so very hard at the Star Wars special they did, not about the actual Star Wars storylines, more about the storylines around the outer edge of Star Wars, things that could be infurred as true from the films.

Below is one of the funniest things I have seen in a while. I love Star Wars and I love comedy, you have to have seen Star Wars a few times to understand the comedy in this. So I hope you have.

Welcome Back Gort!

I was just having a browse through Apple’s film trailers as I normally do and I was taken aback by a film titled ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’. Considering that the 1951 film of the same name is one of my all time favourites I was hoping that this would be a remake rather than a completely unrelated film. To my delight it turned out that it will be a remake but now the problem is whether they will do the original justice or make a hash of it instead.

The original film was based on a book by Harry Bates called “Farewell To Master” and the film obvioulsy uses some creative license and includes things not spcifically in the book and also leaves out something at the end (Gort reveals he is the master and not Klaatu). The 2008 remake is rumoured to follow more closely to the book but should be a pretty accurate representation of the original film set in the present.

As sci-fi films often reflect the current social / political climate showing the hopes and fears of that generation it is no surprise to find that the film is about escalation of violence and what the consequences of that hold considering the times at wich the original was made. The original film was made after WWII and the remake will be released with the war on Terror being at its most prevailent.

I am looking forward to this (released December 12th) but I feel that it won’t be quite as good as the original but should be visually stunning. Oh and Keanu Reeves stars as Klaatu.

How To Draw A Werewolf

I found this amazing YouTube video in which someone draws a werewolf from scratch in Photoshop. I wish I could do this!

Beta & RC1 Problems / Solutions / End Result

Needed to do today:

• Need to ‘bang’ through a single number without it constantly updating.
• Send messages from Flash to Max.
• Playback from collisions in Flash.

To start with the Beta that had been the focus of our efforts had ‘broken’ as certain tweaking had meant that a few files had been edited for the worse.

After much painstaking research into how to only bang through a number once, the help of Stewart was enlisted and he helped us understand the logical way to do it, then we helped him understand why that wasn’t possible in Max. So together we overcame the ’single number bang’ issue and the project was then able to progress. (See 1 Below.)

Thankfully sending of information from Flash to Max didn’t appear to be a difficult one but the reference was less than comprehensive. The problem was not sending the information as we could ‘print’ the information in the Max window to confirm that information was transmitting, it was getting that information into the patcher window and then doing something with it.

It was the [remote] function that was needed and when turned on allowed a receive object reference in the Flash actionscript to receive a message. Further problems arose when Flash tried to send the ball number on collision as you can just insert the variable so 10 different functions needed to be created to send each number when called. (See 2 Above)

This linked to the playback patcher in Max, which was straight forward linking to the already existing playback setup.

Here is a video of the RC1 in operation in its proposed display space.

See also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ7EiZLmqIM

Microsoft Surface… “Its a Big Ass Table”

I was browsing around YouTube to find some videos about Microsoft surface to post about the actual point of it all as I was discussing today that the only thing you can do with most touch screens is look at photos, resize them and have a really cluttered desktop. Anyway, I came across the promotional video here which I recommend you watch but then I came across the video below which is a parody of the ad.

…and so you don’t think I just hate Macs, I also hate Microsoft… I am doomed.

Cam-Trax ‘Any Object Interface’

Normally when you hear about tracking you just assume that it’s a very expensive piece of kit or a highly sophisticated algorithm. Well Cam-Trax is sophisticated but with its simplicity.

The system allows you to control anything you like by tracking an object’s colours. You will understand when you watch the video below. It seems very apt considering we are all experimenting with tracking in some form or another at the moment.

Touch Screen DJ

This is a really cool use of touch screens and interactive visuals in a DJ music environment. This would have been great for Rave On Air and it seems to show great use of new digital media taking over again from the ‘analogue world’.

Future Appliance is Recycling Dishes?

I came across this video that shows what plain old-fashion ingenuity can do. The guy from MIT (surprise) thought of everything that a person might need and tried to make a machine that could do it all. This is obviously a prototype but the concept is sound.

The principle is to ‘make’ the pates on-demand to any shape with a maximum depth of five inches. By using plastics with a memory they can then be returned to they’re original shape and stored easily.

This device is space-saving too as cupboards full of plates are now stored as flat discs within the unit itself.

He also states that there is no reason you couldn’t make any shape with it and it may be possible to download designs from the internet and make a new plate, for a special occasion perhaps.

Mac Hate

This is a great video that I recently re-found after being forced to work on a Mac and talking about various problems with a friend who owns a Mac. This video perfectly sums up my feelings towards Mac. Its a love / hate thing.

Gears of War 2: Gameplay!!

Here’s a fairly long video of the new Gears of War 2 game. Looks like some nice features have been included.

Click here for the HD version