Incredible Beatles mashup

This track is simply amazing. It is a mash up track that contains about 40 Beatles tune, from Blackbird to Hey Mr Postman. Just listen to it and see how many you can identify! On another note, is this track a major copyright infringement? If so, then there must be something seriously wrong with the copyright laws that disallow such creativity to be exercised.

Bollywood for the Skeptical

Need some intro to Bollywood music? Here's a downloadable collection of Bollywood tunes and a guide to the music from Bollywood films, including notes on the music and the language.

Star Wars-a "horrible" Christmas album

If you're a Star Wars geek, then maybe you can stand going through this Star Wars Christmas albums. You can listen to the album "Christmas in the Stars" and laugh, and be thankful that Ep I and II are not as bad. The author of this website has this to say about this album.

After listening to a mere 30 seconds of this thing, the only thought going through your head is: "WHY? WHY!? WHY DOES THIS EXIST!?!?!?!?" And there's no reprieve. You'll never have a decent answer to that question. If you think "Episode I" and "Episode II" have forever tainted the good memories of our childhood Star Wars films, then this album takes it one step further. This album will make you feel like not only does Star Wars suck, but that Star Wars is an evil force that raped your mind... and your family.

The NitPicker's Guide to the Lord of the Rings

If you're an elf from Middle Earth or just a picky LOTR fanboy, you just might want to read this to get a complete list of the differences between Peter Jackson's movie trilogy and the original Tolkien's text. The deviations aside, the LOTR films are still great... unless you're a complete purist.

Top 100 Toys

TV Cream complied a list of the Top 100 toys... many of these brought back fond, nostalgic memories, others, I've never even seen before. Things I remember fondly included Dungeons and Dragons, Subbuteo (where I had to save up to buy a set of second hand teams and the pitch), and the Star Wars Death Star playset which I wanted but couldn't have.

Half Life 2 causes motion sickness?

There has been reports that those playing HL2 are getting sick... from motion sickness! In my years of gaming, I've only encountered this problem when I played the classic Dark Forces. After that, I guess my body somehow got used to it. I've also met many non-gamers complaining of motion sickness when playing, or even looking at FPSes. Now, it seems like the realistic graphics of HL2 is bringing up this problem for many, some of them veteran gamers. I've not got around to playing HL2, as I'm still on Doom 3, but will certainly be wary of this problem when I check the game out.

There has been numerous reports from gamers who has experienced motion sickness in Half-Life 2, even those who play tons of games and never experienced this issue. Some people theorize that it is caused by the frame of view being set to 70 (as a reference, most FPS games have it set to 90.) Others say it’s caused by the default low refresh rate, and still others think it’s the physics of the world seeming to be so real.

Real investment in virtual land

To make money, you've got to invest money. It seems like it's the same in the virtual world and the real world. BBC is reporting that a 22-year-old gamer has spent $26,500 (£13,700) on an island that exists only in a computer role-playing game (RPG), the MMORPG called Project Entropia. The virtual island will be developed as if it was a beach front property. The buyer, with the nick Deathifier, will be able to tax other players when they visit his island, he can also lease out the land and reap the earnings. It's a completely new economy at work here and it seems like the virtual world is catching up to the real, day by day.

Records for kids

The website called Kiddie Records is posting kiddie records transferred from the original 78s vinyls into MP3s. They will post one record a week from 2005 onwards so there'll be a total of 52 records in all. Their aim is to let folks hear these records as they are not available anymore and to give them a new lease on life. Don't know if they will be violating any copyright though. Some of the titles currently listed include Disney's Story of Robin Hood, The Happy Prince, and even Dumbo!

Half Life 2 cookies

Getting hungry while playing Half Life 2? Bite into some HL2 cookies! Someone has baked some cookies in the design of the HL2 logo. Do check it out if you're Half Life crazy.

Modding the Nintendo DS to play Gameboy & Gameboy Color games!

This had to happen. Someone managed to mod the Nintendo DS so that it can play GB and GBC games. From the description given, it's only a matter of some filing and soldering, nothing too complicated. Of course, for those without knowledge of electronics, this would be a daunting task. Still, it sounds almost quite simple.

Skeletons of cartoon characters

Ever wondered what the bones of Hello Kitty looks like? This site by artist Michael Paulus gives the curious a glimpse of what the bone structure of cartoon characters could be like. Characters include Tweety, Pikachu, Charlie Brown, the ladies from Powerpuff Girls and more. Geez... makes you wonder if Tweety bird can withstand all the toon-like thumpings, won't the bones be out-of-shape by now?

Is EA evil?

Is Electronic Arts evil? Some people think they are. First, there's the bad publicity they got with the bad working conditions in the company. Now, there's the news that EA and NFL has signed an exclusive five-year deal, thus preventing other NHL football games to be made. This has led to Take-Two, publisher of the better ESPN football game to say that it's "a tremendous disservice to the consumers and sports fans whose funds ultimately support the NFL, by limiting their choices, curbing creativity and almost certainly leading to higher game prices." Even analysts are saying that "EA is both evil and really smart." So for those EA employees who're unhappy with EA and their evil-ness, they can now wear their frustration with this T-shirt that reads: "I worked 90 hours a week for EA, and I didn't even get this lousy T-Shirt."

Who says GTA is bad?

This use of GTA actually helps to scare off robbers!

Back in March, Sandy Wilson was taking care of her three grandsons when a group of men attempted to burglarize her home, pointing a gun at the kids.

The children happened to be playing a video game called Grand Theft Auto at the time. The game has dozens of random police scanner messages, which blare out calls such as "This is the police! You’re surrounded!" Believe it or not, Wilson says the burglars heard that message and thought police were outside the door waiting for them.

Hacking (personalising) the iPod

Engadget has an article on how to hack the firmware of the iPod. Well, the word hack may be the correct word to use but it's also about personalising the popular MP3 player. With the hack, you can change the graphics that appears on your iPod. As an example, the folks at Engadget turned the 'Do not disconnect' screen into a showcase for Hello Kitty. Apparently, you can also change other elements, such as the battery indicator. Hmmm, I wonder if any one would actually place a Microsoft logo there instead...

Latest from the "Doom" Set

Apparently, the production of the Doom movie is already in progress. Dark Horizons contained a report which detailed some items of interest, especially to all Doom fans...

...there are some "minor" changes done to the film's concept: The monsters have nothing to do with hell, the plot is not taking place on Mars and "space marines" are not well "space marines" as their outfits are more like SWAT team members...

Although I sincerely wish that this movie won't suck, the changes made to the movie does not sound good to my ears.

Gallery of toys made in China

This is a cool picture gallery of toys in an art installation...

The idea was to cover a gallery or museum wall with thin metal sheets and then attach the magnetized toys. The magnets are a practical solution to allow me to move the toys around the walls and give me flexibility in the way I build the installation.

Public Service Publisher anyone?

UK's OFCOM is toying with the idea to have a Public Service Publisher. Just like the BBC produced Public Service Broadcast programmes, this PSP will produce books and literature with public service in mind. Now, isn't that a great chance to use the Creative Commons license?

Catholic sex guide

What else is there to say about this... does sexual behaviour really need theological justification?

A Vatican-sanctioned sex guide is encouraging churchgoers to make love more often in an effort to offset "impotence and frigidity" and address papal concerns over declining birth-rates among Italian Roman Catholics.
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Another chapter likely to raise eyebrows unearths theological justification for post-coital masturbation for women who fail to achieve orgasm during intercourse.

Nintendo Censorship

Did you know that Nintendo US has a censorship policy? Some games released in Japan were altered for the release in US. This page details some examples which include changing blook to sweat in Mortal Kombat and changing the cross on tombstones of Ducktales to the letters RIP. Interesting.

Sony Ericsson Concept Phones

This webpage contains the many entries submitted for a Sony Ericsson concept phone design competition. Some are looks cool, others look functional. There are also some that looks futuristic, and yet others are just downright insane. Whatever it is, it'll be so cool if even one of these makes it into the market.

Turn off that TV set!

Irritated by TV sets blasting everywhere? Wanna turn them off? There's this device called the TV-B-Gone, which is a new key-chain size universal remote that turns off almost any television. The device, which looks like an automobile remote, has just one button. When activated, it spends over a minute flashing out 209 different codes to turn off televisions, the most popular brands first. Good when you need some quiet time or some prank at your local electronics store.

Give to Child's Play

The folks at Penny Arcade are doing their bit for charity again. Last year, they got gamers around the world to donate over $250,000 in cash and toys (you can check out the pictures of the amount of toys and games they bought on their website) to the Seattle Children's Hospital. This year, they are expanding their effort to more hospitals in the US. Who says gamers are not socially conscious? And won't it be good if we can do something similar in Singapore? This will help to dispel the misconception that gamers are recluse.

Understanding Games

How about that? Raph Koster, the lead designer of Ultima Online is writing this book called Theory of Fun for Game Design. It's suppose to be for gaming what Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud is for comics. For those who read McCloud's book, it is an essential read for comic book fans or anyone trying to understand what comics is all about. It explains the theory of how comic books works. If Theory of Fun can do a similar thing, then it will certainly help more non-gamers understand gaming.

Gaming helps traders score big-time

More evidence of why gaming is good for you. I bet now everyone wants to be a gamer...

Video game skills and a good poker face online are becoming essential job qualifications in the financial markets, with recruitment drives assessing potential star traders in online gaming exams.
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And part of their assessment process involves studying an applicant in a video game exercise.
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"It is unlikely that we would hire someone who didn't show good proficiency at a GameBoy or online poker or similar video-type game where hand-to-eye coordination is important."

Media Center extender using a Xbox controller

What this guy did was to repurpose a Xbox controller and a Hip Gear LCD screen and use it to remotely control his Media Center PC. Quite an ingenius use of the Xbox controller.

Bible stories using LEGO

Is there any story that you can't use LEGO bricks to tell? This site called The Brick Testament uses LEGO bricks to tell the stories in the Bible. Come on, it contains the greatest story ever told and now it's told using LEGO. Is that cool or what?

The New Games Journalism

This piece could become a manifesto for games journalism and writing in general.

New Games Journalism exists to try and explain and transfer the sensations allowed by videogaming to anyone who's willing to sit and take time to read it. It paradoxically manages find a way to be more accessible to the average human being by actually concentrating on the real reasons why people devote huge chunks of their waking hours to games rather than obsessing in tedious detail over the ephemera that surrounds it (How many levels? how many guns? Can I be Goro?). It asks the question “Why game anyway” and then gives as many answers as they are people, as interesting as people, as precious.

I fully agree. It's time games writing grows up, time to be taken seriously.

The Dilbert Ultimate House

Based on readers' suggestions, Scott Adams have come up with the Dilbert house for Dilbert to stay in. Real world experts have also helped to conceptualised this house. There are indeed some nifty features found here, including basketball court in the basement and a vacuum robot. Must be a dream home for a single guy!

Video games stars in MTV

We've seen many crossovers in media today. Book characters in movies. Movie characters in games. Comic book heroes in movies. Now, video games characters are on MTV. MTV's programme Video Mods have game characters from games like Tribes and BloodRayne forming a band and playing the music of bands like Evanescence and Fountains of Wayne. Sounds like a promo tool for the games? You bet. But it's yet another proof that gaming's cultural influence is here to stay.

Star Wars TV show in the works?

First the Star Wars original trilogy on DVD. Next year, Episode 3 the Revenge of the Sith. There's more. Apparently, a Star Wars TV show is in the works. Lucas won't be helming the thing, but a possible name which cropped up is "fan boy" Kevin Smith. As a Kevin Smith and Star Wars fan, I certainly hope this will come true. Seems like all Star Wars fans will still have something to look forward to even after the prequels are done.

P2P and the Copyright Law

Anyone who's interested in developing P2P applications, or just anyone who's interested in copyright and file sharing in general should take a look at this piece. The writer, Fred von Lohmann, is the same guy who won the Grokster case which ruled that P2P networks are legal. So, what he's saying is not just musings, but actual truths that was held up in the US courts.

The Pez MP3 Project

This is definitely a cool idea. Imagine a PEZ dispenser that doesn't give you candy but music! That will be really really sweet! Plus, you can swap the big heads with any time you want.

Worst Jobs in History

Tony Robinson, who played Baldric on the funny Black Adder series, is doing a series called "The Worst Jobs In History". This is interesting because he looks at some of the most disgusting jobs over the years, many of them found in the medieval times. In this piece, he highlights some of the jobs... and thankfully most of us don't have to do these jobs any more. Here's an excerpt for the job of Bath Attendant.

In the Georgian period (1714-1837) people were employed to help others in and out of the baths at Bath.

It was a very foul job because the posh ladies and gentlemen of the time did what we constantly tell our children they mustn't do – they p***ed in the water!

The baths were like minestrone soup by the end of the day, and you had these assistants with smiles on their faces constantly having to sweep the surface to get rid of all these little bits and pieces bobbing around all the time.

Oakley says wear your MP3 player

This one brings wearable tech to a next stylish level. Oakley is releasing the world's first digital music eyewear, which is essentially a MP3 player attached to the sunglasses. Knowing Oakley's stylish design, this gadget looks cool will make you look like a music fanatic from a sci-fi movie. Although it's pretty expensive at US$395 for the 128MB version and US$495 for the 256MB one, those with the cash will want to order it for Christmas! How about adding a HUD display to the glasses sound for the future model?

Star Wars DVD updates Xbox dashboard

Xbox-scene.com has reported that the recently released Star Wars trilogy DVD actually contains a feature that some would rather not have. The bonus disc of this set comes with the Star Wars: Battlefront game demo. But if you try to play it on a modded Xbox, the disc will automatically update your Xbox dashboard. Why is this important? Well, for those power users doing homebrew stuff on their box, this will affect those with older bioses (booting xboxdash.xbe), people using exploits or simply those who don't want their dash upgraded. Not good. Thankfully, there's still a way to get to the demo if you really want it. The site has more details of the work-around.

What's inside an iMac G5

Curious as to how Apple manage to squeeze everything into the slim form factor of the new iMac? Here's a series of pictures where a user strips open the machine so that we can see how the fit the parts inside this box. There goes his warranty but hey, it's the hacker spirit at work!

Emulator will let Xbox 2 play Xbox games

A company called Transitive Corp is claiming that they've come up with a piece of software, named QuickTransit, that allow Xbox games to be played on the Xbox 2 consoles. This is certainly good news for gamers considering that the have been news that the next-gen console will not be backward compatible. However it's too early to cheer, because it's not clear whether Transitive is actually working with Microsoft on Xenon emulation technology, and it seems like it is an unlikely scenario.

So until there is definite news, those who love their Xbox games should hope that their original Xbox consoles will last for a long, long time.

Mini lightsabers

Someone get me one of these! It's a lightsaber-like lighting device shaped like the weapon used by the Jedis. It's powered by AA-batteries and lights up just like the real lightsaber. Just imaging having a whole series of these things to decorate your house. It's the Force, baby!

Satire: Computer industry lied to entertainment industry

This blog entry is inspired by Cory Doctorow's DRM speech. It has the computer industry explaining to the entertainment players how the DRM won't work and P2P and other tech innovations are the future. It also expresses how the entertainment industry is treating their customers.

Look at us: every year, we churn out more computer games than your entire industry is worth. You know how we do it? We like our customers. We don't treat them like potential criminals, and try to make our products do less. We invent new things like online role-playing -games, where the money does not come from duplication of bits (which cannot be stopped, regardless of your DRM scheme) but from providing experiences that the people want.

Inspiring yet funny stuff. Hope the entertainment people gets it.

Google creating a browser?

What's next after getting your hands in search engines, shopping comparisions, and even email? Build your own browser of course! And this is what Google may be doing. According to this website, Google has registered the domain name of gbrowser.com, and a bug report on Mozilla's bug tracking system also offers some clues. Here's some more speculation on what a Google browser can have...

Google could use their JavaScript expertise (in the form of Gmail ubercoder Chris Wetherell) to build Mozilla applications. Built-in blogging tools. Built-in Gmail tools. Built-in search tools. A search pane that watches what you're browsing and suggests related pages and search queries or watches what you're blogging and suggests related pages, news items, or emails you've written.

Sounds good to me...

A blog of opinions

It's a well-known fact that blogs contains many people's opinions. In fact, you may just want to say that opinions are a dime a dozen in a world filled with blogs. Still, some of these opinions are carefully thought through and provide some interesting insights. This web site called Blogcritics.org is a collection of reviews taken from blogs and subject matter range from books to films to video games. Want to know what the lay person think of something? Maybe this is the place to start.

Complete Calvin & Hobbes

I love the antics of the mischevious boy Calvin and his imaginary tiger friend. Who doesn't? For those who want the definate collection of this comic strip, there are plans to release a three-hardcover slipcased complete collection of the popular comic strips in 2005. It's suppose to cost about US$150. Expensive but looks like it's gonna be real cool.

Star Wars episode 7-9

Mark Hamill in an interview has mentioned something about what George Lucas told him about the trilogy after the original Star Wars. Part of the interview is also available as an MP3 that can be downloaded from the site.

"Ludology" vs. "Narratology"

Gaming is on its way to become an academic discipline. It's not such a far fetch thing when you consider that there's a debate going on between the idea of ludology vs narratology. The former is about game play while the latter is all about the story or nattative in a game. Interesting read. Personally, I think both game play and story are just as important. Of course, you can have a great game with just either one of the two elements alone. So ultimately, it's not a case of one winning over the other but which is more important to different certain type of games.

A PC in a NES casing

For those old school gamers into nostalgia, this web site showcases someone who managed to fit a normal PC into a NES case. They even made a keyboard and mouse using the black and red colours of the NES system! It's really cool for those who're into DIY and modding.

Here's a LEGO brick phone

If you're a LEGO fan, you'd know that many people have removed the casing off ordinary objects and encased it in LEGO bricks. It's testament to the durability of these plastic blocks. I've heard of a Palm encased with LEGO, this time round, it's a phone. It's a bit old, judging by the 1985 date given on the site, but hey, it's LEGO!

Music ripping flow chart

The London News Review has produced a flowchart documenting the steps one may want to ask before ripping a CD or a music track. It starts with the question of whether a recording is at least 50 years old (based on the British copyright laws, i suppose) to asking yourself if the label owning the track you want to rip has a history of swindling its artists. Kudos to this web site for taking a humourous look at the music ripping issue and injecting certain moral and ethical questions into the thought process. It's stated that this flowchart is only version 1.0 so maybe we can expect to see improved versions of this which will include other questions?

UNIX on the Game Boy Advance

Running Unix on the GBA? Of course you can! I don't know if this proves that the Unix platform is versatile or that the GBA is such a flexible (I hesitate to use the term powerful) device. This web site documents a project called "gbaunix". It attempts to run an ancient version of the UNIX OS on the GBA using a simulator. I'm not too sure the value of this, but as an experiment, it sure is interesting.

Ludologica-critical books on games

An Italian press has published a series of books taking a critical and academic look at video games. The series takes an in-depth look at themes, techniques, context, and other aspect surrounding games. Unlike other books that tries to cover the gaming culture in broad strokes, this series focuses on individual games and dispense with the standards intro to the game which most gamers would already know. These wonderful guides into the study of games should be interesting reads.

Building your own PVR

Sick of waiting for TiVo to reach Singapore? Why not build your own? AnandTech has a 2-part feature on how you can build your own PVR. There may even be a Part 3 to this feature if there is a need. This setup uses MythTV and the Linux OS. So if you're game to try this out, it's not a bad way to make your own PVR than get one off the shelves.

Studying the body and brain of gamers

This interest in gamers that is reported on BBC is so weird. It is like gamers are a whole new species that needs to be studied and examined. Anyway, this is also a signal that gaming is becoming an important part of culture. As a gamer, I'm also interested to know what happens when I play games. If there are concrete scientific evidence with regards to the positive benefits to gaming, then gaming won't be seen as a juvenile hobby. But who cares? I love playing my games and no one is gonna stop me.

Downloaded music Top 40 chart

It seems like downloaded music is a phenomenon that has hit mainstream. BBC Radio has started to compile Top 40 charts of downloaded music. Although this chart only reflects legal downloads, perhaps if one can factor in illegal downloads as well, there could be a more accurate indication of the popularity of a song. Regardless, this is a commendable step forward for downloaded music.

Cartoon Brew website

For those interested in cartoons, check out this animation related blog.

Nutrition label for games

This is a really, really interesting idea. The idea of presenting information about games as nutritional info can certainly help folks to judge if a game is good for them, based on some criteria. The idea here is that one glance at the label and you can tell if you can learn historical knowledge, improve lateral thinking, or even hone your hand-eye coordination skills when you play a certain game. We don't know if the gaming industry will ever adopt this kind of info label but it's interesting anyway.

Sticking a finger to a takedown notice

Some Swedish folks who are running a BitTorrent tracker has received a takedown letter from DreamWorks lawyers saying that according to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA), posting the torrent file of the Shrek 2 movie is a copyright infringment. Their response is classic and is a finger to the lawyers.

As you may or may not be aware, Sweden is not a state in the United States of America. Sweden is a country in northern Europe. Unless you figured it out by now, US law does not apply here. For your information, no Swedish law is being violated.
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It is the opinion of us and our lawyers that you are fucking morons, and that you should please go sodomize yourself with retractable batons.

I wonder what is the lawyers' reply to this.

Transformers on paper=Paperformers

Paperformers are do-it-yourself Transformer robots made from paper. This website lets you download and print out outlines of the robots, and you can fold them into paper Transformers. So if you're game to do some art & craft and have a paper Bumblebee on your desk, check this out!

Play a game, see an ad

The days of ad-free gaming may be ending. A number of companies are working on technology to deliver advertising content on games. As prove of how serious this trend is, Nielsen Entertainment Media has announced that it was working with Activision, Inc. to develop a tracking technology that would monitor how many in-game advertisements a user encounters and when. The advent of this technology may change the way gaming is perceived. In current games, the billboards and ads in the game worlds tend are fake and are parodies of real world ads, they also make references to in-game content. Which would you prefer? An in-game ad for a real world product like Coke, or a funny satire of a soda ad? Will we be playing Half-Life 4 and have the space marine sipping Pepsi to regain health?

Prince of Persia ad too violent?

This is hilarious... and ridiculous. Some Canadian mum has complained that a Prince of Persia ad found on buses is too frightening for her kid. She also said that her kid was too scared of riding buses after seeing the ads. The ad features the bloodied, sinister-looking prince holding a machete-like sword in an attack position. And although no pistols are used in the game, a similar ad features him holding a gun. The ads have since been removed. The funniest bit has to be a quote by one of the bus passengers.

"They should be more careful what they're advertising because transit caters to kids as well," said Transit Windsor bus rider Betty Riley. "And they wonder why our jails are full and where these kids get these ideas from."

Google guys Playboy interview

The Google IPO has generated a considerable amount of interest among tech watchers and investors. But certainly, even interest has been generated from the interview with the Google founders that was published by Playboy in the September issue. Most of us won't be able to get a copy of that magazine, but thanks to the fact that the interview is part of the company's IPO filing, it is now in public domain. So those who are interested in finding out the workings of the popular search engine, but don't want to be caught reading the "gentleman's" rag, can now read it online.

Star Wars sequels in the works?

Well, there could be another three Star Wars films! George Lucas has always insisted that he will never make more than 6 parts of the Star Wars films, despite the fact that there have been evidence that the Star Wars saga is conceived as a 9-part epic. Now, there is a report that 3 more films that will be sequels to the original trilogy may be made. The website reporting this is deducing it from the fact that staff at Lucasfilms are tied to Non-Disclosure Agreements to not talk about them. Sounds fishy? You bet! Episodes 7-9 may be a reality afterall!

LEGO Star Wars game coming soon

This is wonderful news! Star Wars, LEGO, and games--three of my fave interests now brought together when Eidos announces that they will be publishing a LEGO Star Wars game for the PS2, Xbox, PC and GBA which will hit the shelves mid-2005. The game is developed by Traveller's Tales while the GBA version is by Amaze Entertainment.

Lego Star Wars will be an action adventure game based on the prequel trilogy of films in the Star Wars series: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and next May's Revenge of the Sith. While only Obi-Wan has been confirmed for the game, Lego versions of the other major characters from the films are sure to make an appearance.

Since the game is afterall about LEGO, there will be elements where you get to control LEGO blocks using the Force. More info is found on a report by IGN during the San Diego Comic-Con. Can't wait to see how this game will pan out!

Videogame vamp BloodRayne on Playboy

Word has it that the sexy female vampire BloodRayne from the game with the same name is going to bare all for the October issue of Playboy. This is really a first for a videogame character. Not even the well-endowed tomb raider, Lara Croft, has gone all the way to officially let the world see her buck naked. Too bad we won't be able to find a copy here, but maybe some images will appear on the net.

If you felt teased by her sexy Girls of Gaming cover, then this new feature art is going to blow your mind! Rayne is 100% topless and smokin' hot in the October issue of Playboy magazine. This is a first in videogame history and trust us when we say that Rayne does not disappoint.

US Courts: P2P Services are legal

At least the US courts are sensible enough to see that P2P services are legal. This is surely a setback for the entertainment industry that have been trying to outlaw file-sharing. Although this does not mean that sharing copyrighted files is legal, it's still a victory. Score 1 for cyber freedom, 0 for the greedy corporations.

"This is a major victory -- a victory that goes far beyond peer-to-peer and is relevant to technology innovators of all kinds," said lawyer Fred von Lohmann, who argued the case for Grokster and StreamCast before the court. "The reason we took this case is to make it clear that people who develop new technologies should not have to face endless expensive litigation from Hollywood even where those technologies may disrupt existing business models."

If you're interested, you can also download the 16MB MP3 audio of EFF IP Attorney Fred von Lohmann's oral argument in the appeal. If you'd like explore further, read the PDF of the court decision.

Fatal Frame 2 cosplayers

Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly is a PS2 horror game that oozes with atmosphere and is really, really creepy (think of Jap or Korean-style horror movies like The Ring). It features a pair of twins called Mayu and Mio. When Mayu, the sisten with a strong sixth sense, chases a crimson butterfly into the forest, her sister has to find her.

Two cosplayers in Singapore has done a pretty good job of cosplaying the roles of the twins! The costumes may be simple, but just look at the details and care when it comes to replicating the outfits in the game. If only the two girls are twins, it'll be even more convincing!

List of fixes in Windows XP Service Pack 2

Microsoft has posted the full list of fixes in SP2. They range from cryptic fixes like "IADs::Put/PutEx or IADsPropertyList::PutPropertyItem calls may not accumulate" to simple ones like "Cannot View Some PNG Images". Interesting read if you're wondering if you should apply the update.

Peter Bagge's critique of modern art

Peter Bagge is the comic artist who gave us the Hate series of indie funny books published by Fantagraphics Books. In this comic strip that he drew for Reason Online, he does a wonderful job of criticizing modern art and the establishment's view towards art in general.

Rather than try to "teach" people to appreciate art that has no MEANING or RELEVANCE to their lives, we should instead be marveling at the countless inspired man-made objects that literally surround us, both inside and outside our own homes. So who needs MODERN ART MUSEUMS?!?

Who needs modern art museums indeed?

SPUNK: Web and design culture examined

A designer friend of mine is involve in this webzine called SPUNK. Its focus is on web and design culture and contains art, stories, reviews, interviews relating to the web and design. It's a pretty wide field to cover so you can expect stuff that range from the interesting to eclectic. Stories up now include a 2002 interview with The Darling Violetta whose music is hear on the kick-ass vampire TV series Buffy and Angel, and also interviews with designers based in Hong Kong and Seattle. Check it out if you've an interest in the creative culture.

XP SP2 conflict with games

The SP2 is suppose to plug the security holes found in the current version of WinXP. However, it seems like the installation of the Service Pack will also affect some of the games that you have. If you don't play online, it probably won't affect you that much as the problem has to do with the fact that the new upgrade make changes to the way Internet connect are made. But if you play games like Warcraft III or Unreal Tournament online, you may want to hold it before you make that upgrade. A full list of programmes and games that have problems with SP2 can be found here.

50 essential classic games

If you've been playing games for a long time, games like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and even Pong will surely bring a smile to your ole' gaming soul. Many of us have spend our youths trying to control pixels on screen and beat the high score. 1up.com has a feature that will look at the 50 classic games that will be forever known as, well, classics. If you're new to the world of games, this feature is a valuable history lesson.

Superheros with AIDS

A French AIDS awareness network called The AIDES Association is running a AIDS awareness campaign that features superheroes. No, we're not talking about superheroes spreading the message, but the mighty themselves are stricken with the disease. The superheroes featured are no other than the mighty man of steel-Superman and the Amazonian princess warrior-Wonder Woman. The images are eerie and it serves as a reminder that perhaps even the mighty can succumb to this deadly diease. The campaign includes TV spots and posters. Kudos to DC Comics for having the courage to license their creations for this cause.

WinXP SP2 torrent no more

Way to go Microsoft! A service that's helps to get your security fixes out to as many folks as possible and you decide to shut it down! We highlighted the SP2torrent's effort to distribute the SP2 via BitTorrent. Now it's no more.

Microsoft sent DMCA takedown notices to our two webhosts, one of which was just linking to a torrent file on another server. We've stood up to these kinds of legal threats before, but we decided not to bother this time, because we started this site primarily as a demonstration and to that end it's already been a huge success. SP2torrent.com showed how filesharing technlogy gives people without budgets or huge servers the power to solve problems themselves, without waiting for the government or some corporation to do it for them.

Web browsing on Xbox without Linux

Other than installing Gentoox Linux, I've been searching for some way to have a web browser on the Xbox. This may not be new to those who have been tinkering with homebrew Xbox stuff, but I've just discovered that there's now a standalone browser available called Linksboks and it allows you to surf the Net on a modified Xbox. It is actually a port of the LinksBrowser that works on Unix and OS/2. For those wondering how you are going to type URLs without a keyboard, Linksboks has an interesting way of inputing text using the Xbox controller. I can now finally surf the web on my TV set!

Harry Potter-inspired rock

Harry and the Potters is a rock band that's inspired by the wizard in J K Rowlings' novel. With song titles such as Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock!, Gryffindor Rocks and My Teacher is a Werewolf, these Muggles may even be invited to rock out next semester at Hogwarts' Prom night.

Products made in Singapore

Since it's National Day, one can't help but feeling a bit proud of what Singapore has acheived. On the tech front, our tiny island Republic has impressed with a number of gadgets that are innovative and worth your time to check out. We're not just talking about Creative here. CNETAsia has done a roundup of some gizmos made in Singapore such as the Aztech HL100E HomePlug Ethernet Adapter that uses your home's power points into LAN lines and the Neuston Virtuoso MC-500, a wireless networked entertainment center for your home.

Sci-fi hip-hop music video game

This Flash clip by a band that calls themselves DJ Funken Wagnalls feat. Cottonmouth, MC, AKA the Robot Underground is an awsome piece of work which combines hip-hop, animation, and video games into a totally kick-ass music video. The clip for a song called Futurology is suppose to be "a history of sci-fi literature in hip-hop radio drama form." It starts off as a normal music video but then turns into a Asteroid-type game and the ending you get depends on how well you do. Look out for visual references to classic video games like Spy Hunter and sci-fi films like Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Also, listen to the lyrical references spanning from Shelley's Frankenstein to Huxley's Brave New World. It's mind-blowing!

WinXP Service Pack 2 via BitTorrent

The BitTorrent P2P file-sharing technology is indeed wonderful. While major established companies and organisations in the media business are doing all they can to limit or even destory P2P technology, the folks at Downhill Battle-Music Activism are demonstrating the usefulness of this technology. With the release of WinXP SP2, even the Redmond giant is limiting the download of the release due to resource limitations. In comes P2P. With this, everyone can download it immediately! And the US Congress is preparing to outlaw P2P...

Pixel illustration is an art

Working with pixels is an art. This folks at this website called eboy are truly masters of the craft of pixel illustration. Their work has a kind of LEGO-like playfulness to it. Not only have they rendered pixel-type pictures of objects like vehicles, but also full blown scenes of cities. There's even a reproduction of a scene at the E3 Gaming Expo.

Kitty beams in Doom 3

The modders are hard at work again. Yes, Doom 3 has only been released for a week and there are already a number of mods available for those who want to alter their game. One of the funniest, or cutest (depending on your point of view), things that some modders did was to change the flashlight in the game. Instead of shining a strong beam of light, they've changed it to a Hello Kitty or Thundercat beam! While many may be disappointed that you can't carry a flashlight and a weapon at the same in this atmospheric and dimly-lit shooter, the ability to flash some catty goodness must be real fun!

Animated LEGO bricks

I don't deny that I've a soft spot for LEGO bricks. In fact, my dream job is to be a Master Model Builder for LEGO. That ranks even higher than being able to work for MTV (done that already) or for George Lucas (is that possible now that Lucasfilms is setting up a studio in Singapore?). Regardless, anything with these plastic blocks makes me really smile. I bet many others feel the same and that probably explains the existence of a fan film community just for showcasing films made with stop-motion and starring scenes and characters made from LEGO bricks. A recent popular one that is making its rounds on the Net is the Spider-Man: The Peril of Doc Ock clip. Head to Brickfilms for it and many other fantastic LEGO films.

Online petition for LOTR Trilogy Extended Edition Marathon

Someone has started a petition for the movie companies to hold a movie marathon for the Lord of the Rings: Extended Edition trilogy in Singapore. How effective will it be? It's hard to tell. Given the movie company's interest to have such publicity for their films, it is likely that even without the petition, they will hold such an event. Of course, such a petition will signal to them that there IS indeed interest for it. To quote, the petition is for

1) The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy Extended Edition Movies Marathon be conducted in Singapore this December 2004;

2) The LOTR Movies Marathon be conducted at major cinemas like Shaw Lido, Cathay Orchard Cineleisure, Eng Wah Suntec and Golden Village Plaza;

3) The LOTR Movies Marathon be conducted in such a way that it starts with the Morning screening of The Fellowship Of The Ring Extended Edition, followed by the Afternoon screening of The Two Towers Extended Edition and Evening screening of The Return Of The King Extended Edition, as per how the Movies Marathon was conducted in December 2003.

So if you think you can make a difference, just add your e-signature to the list.

No NS due to Internet Addiction?

Can this be a joke? Reuters is reporting that some folks in Finland manage to get out of doing National Service due to a condition known as 'Internet Addiction'. It sounds too amazing to be true, but one never knows. If only we can get out of doing our National Duty the same way here.

A number of Finnish conscripts have been excused their full term of military service because they are addicted to the Internet, the Finnish Defense Forces said Tuesday.

Doctors have found the young men miss their computers too much to cope with their compulsory six months in the forces.

"For people who play (Internet) games all night and don't have any friends, don't have any hobbies, to come into the army is a very big shock," said Commander-Captain Jyrki Kivela at the military conscription unit.

Palm handheld makes debut on film

As a Palm user, I'm so glad to hear that there's a film the centers around a Palm PDA. Previously, movie studios have featured PDA devices in their films but usually they are depicted wrongly, and even worse, named wrongly. Hope this movie is worth watching though...

In "Little Black Book," Stacy Holt (Brittany Murphy), an associate producer for daytime talk show hostess Kippie Kann (Kathy Bates), is frustrated when her boyfriend Derek (Ron Livingston) refuses to discuss his past relationships. With the encouragement of co-worker Barb (Holly Hunter), she delves into his palmOne handheld to learn about his ex-girlfriends. The digital footprints of past and present romances are kept on a TungstenC handheld from palmOne. This little black book, used for work and play, is the technology star of the film.
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During the past 12 months, palmOne worked closely with Revolution Studios to make sure that the cast and crew were comfortable and up-to-speed using the latest features, such as how to store a digital color image on the handheld.
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"While normally this type of product placement is paid, palmOne did not pay fees to place its products in this movie," said Page Murray, vice president of marketing for palmOne. "We were honored when Revolution Studios selected palmOne handhelds. We love how the tech-savvy screenwriters created an interesting movie plot while highlighting the way people are using handhelds for work and play."

Guardian starts a Gamesblog

Blogs are hot. So are games. So it's no suprise that the UK Guardian online has started a gamesblog. Is it mainstream media trying to get hip? Or is it gaming becoming part of mainstream? Whatever it is, it means more awareness of games to a greater audience. And that's probably a good thing.

Tattoos for geeks

Mythical animals? Tribal designs? These are not good enough for the hip geeks these days. This amazing site is a showcase of geek-related design tattos ranging from the DNA double-helix to Nintendo's Link from the Legend of Zelda games.

Jenny18 passes Turing test

To pass the Turing test, a computer programme has to fool the person that it is having conversation with into believing that it is a real person. Someone modified the 'Eliza' bot and turned it into 'jenny18', a horny female who loves talking to like-minded guys. Seems like jenny18 is able to pass off as a real person, at least to horny guys. The site has the chat log of jenny18's conversation on the IRC. Funny how when it comes to sex, these folks' just loss their common sense.

All-in-one Nintendo console

This is one for the Nintendo fans--a fan-made mod which can play all the Nintendo consoles released. This include the NES, SNES, N64, and the GBA. The Virtual Boy is not included but that's no biggie.

MS pros love Britney, data admins love indie

An outfit known as the Training Camp has uncovered which type of IT professionals like which type of music. Interesting findings... Linux diehards are electro-nuts? Those boring database admins are actually pretty hip with their taste in indie bands like The Smiths? Hardcore developers are well... hardcore metalheads? And the funniest of them all... that Microsoft folkies love Britney? Well, we don't know how valid these findings are but it sure is interesting.

Propaganda Disney-style anti-Bush cartoon

Titled Brother, Can You Spare A Job?, this 7 minute short cartoon is done in the depression-era black-and-white style and was originally a "Best Animation" finalist in MoveOn.org's "Bush in 30 Seconds" contest. It tells the story of Melvin McBean and his family's struggle to make ends meet in the Bush-era economy. Imaginative political statement indeed.

Gaming site for parents

For parents who want to know something about gaming, or for parents who are gamers... GamerDad is a wonderful resource that actually doesn't take a hostile view towards gaming and acknowledges that gaming can be good for kids, and their parents too.

Club Football 2005 Leeds edition relegated

Just like the real football club which was relegated to Division One, the Leeds United version of the videogame Club Football 2005 will be dropped from the popular football game series.

When the original Club Football was released in Europe in 2003, the dedicated Leeds United fan base ensured that its version was actually one of the most successful. The team was one of around 20 from Europe due to get its own club-themed version of the 2005 game. However, since it was relegated from the English Premiership to Division 1 of the Football League, releasing the game would've caused Codemasters "development issues."

Well, the beautiful game is after all a business, eh? Betcha that when Leeds gets promoted back to the Premiership, the "development issues" will be resolved.

Foreskin = better sex?

Wired News is reporting that some folks believe that men have better sex with the foreskin present. Never thought that such a debate would even exist! Now, they're claiming that you can put it back if you've been circumcised. This must be one of the hardest (pun intended) extreme makeovers for the rest of us to believe.

Forget therapy. Forget sex toys or role playing. Build thee a foreskin, young -- or old -- man. Men who have been circumcised, who account for about 63 percent of the U.S. male population (one of the highest rates in the world), have been stripped of some significant sensory ability, say some groups that oppose circumcision.
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But all is not lost. Any man with enough patience and persistence, or willingness to endure surgery on his most sensitive of body parts, can acquire a new foreskin and regain some of that sensitivity, foreskin reconstruction advocates say.
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All of the men who have restored their foreskin seem to be pleased with the results. Griffiths said that when he had restored himself about halfway, he noticed a new and pleasurable sensation while taking a shower.

Pop and play PC games

Alienware has released a Digital Home System that is not only a MS Media Center PC, but it also features the DISCover technology that allows you to pop in a PC game CD-ROM and you can play it instantly like you would do on a videogame console. With this, hopefully you'll be able to say goodbyes to the headaches associated with installing and running PC games. The US$2000++ price tag aside, this sure looks like an intriging purchase.

Malaysia likes open source

It's another win for the Open Source movement. Other than my OS, the MS Office suite, I'm increasingly searching for Open Source software to use too!

All Government technology procurement will now have a preference for open source software (OSS), under the Malaysian Public Sector Open Source Software Masterplan made available to the public this morning.
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it also states, "in situations where advantages and disadvantages of OSS and proprietary software are equal, preference shall be given to OSS."

Shoddy, skewed reporting from BBC

The BBC is reknowned for its unbiased and objective news coverage. But even the grand 'ole Beebs can be guilty of skewed and erroneous reporting. This article titled "Singapore lifts Sex and City ban" is filled with bias remarks and factual mistakes.

Officials at the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts have censored parts of the first programme.

It is actually the Media Development Authority of Singapore that looks at the programmes. This organisation is like OFCOM in the UK.

Scenes featuring Samantha, played by Kim Catrall, exposing her breasts and using sexually charged expletives have been deleted.

What this piece failed to mention is that, yes, these scenes are deleted. But the same scenes are also deleted to all the feed that goes out to the region. Other countries like Malaysia, which has shown the past seasons of this show, also has the same edits!

Caroline Wong, a spokeswoman at HBO Asia said... "If they say nudity and language have to go, then we will edit accordingly."

The truth is that HBO does their own editing which will then go out to the other countries in Asia. The real reason for the edits is simply that the channel wants to show them to the various Asian countries. The BBC report failed to mention that.

Shame on you, BBC! More reason to read treat news you read skeptically.
 
Update: The BBC piece may be culled from an original piece by Reuters. Regardless, it's shame on these international news agencies for not doing their reporting properly. The report didn't even sought the views from MDA!

Classic Ultima - All hail Lord British!

Some of my earliest memories of Computer RPGs are from the classic Ultima series of games. This series practically defined how CRPGs should be. The fond memories of moving my avatar around the world that Lord British created, while not as graphically impressive as the Baldur's Gate series of games, is really something you won't forget.

Due to improvement in hardware, most, if not all, of the Ultima games won't run on your modern box. It is also rather hard to buy a copy of the games unless you can find the Ultima Collection.

A search on the web, however, will reveal some interesting sites and help files to enable you to run these old games on your PC. There are also numerous projects of people trying to update some of these old games. The link featured here is a FAQ of sort to help you to find and get them up and running. Recently, I've also found some ROMs of the Ultima series on the NES system. Since there's an emulator that will run NES games on the GBA, I'll soon be playing these classics port on my portable console.

To round off, I quote the Nelson's Weblog where I got the link and inspiration of this piece from...

A lot of the first 20 years of movies are lost forever because no one preserved them. I fear the same thing is going to happen with games.

Let's hope these grassroots efforts will help preserve the Ultima games.

Review: Ninja Five-O (GBA)

What is it? Ninja Five-O has you play the role of Joe Osugi, a ninja cop (which is what the title is called in Europe). As a nimble and deadly ninja, you need to kill the bad guys and save hostages and eventually defeat bosses to bring peace to the city.

The Highs: As expected, a well-trained ninja would have many nifty moves and this one is no exception. You can climb walls and swing around with your grappling hook. You can throw shurikens, and when you gain power, fireballs and laser bolts. You can slide around, crawl and use your trusty sword to jump and slash your enemies. Being a ninja is just cool!

The Lows: The game can be pretty tough at times as you only have one life. The final stage is really a killer as you have to past various obstacles in a limited time. Gameplay can also get a little repetitive as you simply go around killing enemies, save the hostages, and collect keys which open doors to new areas and proceed to the next stage.

The Bottom Line: Nija Five-O is a throwback to classic games such as Bionic Commando and the many platformers that are available. But what makes this stands out is that it packs all the excitment of those games into a nifty and tight package. The tension and excitement generated plus the many moves that you can perform makes this a fun and enjoyable GBA title.

Rip open your GBA SP

This site has pictures showing how to open up your GBA SP. Now why would you want to do that? Well, if you've seen some of those colourful shell replacements that are on sale or if you want to paint the shell yourself, this is what you would do. Recommended for the technically skilled and adventurous only. Another link that's similar can be found here.

Violent-game ban deemed unconstitutional

It seems like at least the courts in the US are sensible enough at deciding where to draw the line when it comes to the call for the ban on violent games.

US District Court of Seattle rules that a state law forbidding the sale of games showing violence against law enforcement officers violates the First Ammendent.
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Rejecting the state's argument that violence in games should fall under the state's obscenity law, Judge Lasnik noted that similar portrayals of violence can be seen in literature, art, and the media and that "there is no indication that such expressions have ever been excluded from the protections of the First Amendment."
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Addressing the state's concern that violence against police officers in games translates to violence in real life, Judge Lasnik determined that "the...belief that video games cause violence, particularly violence against law enforcement officers, is not based on reasonable inferences drawn from substantial evidence." He also pointed out that the definition of violence against law enforcement officers was impossibly vague, citing such examples as the possessed cops in Freedom Force, enemy officers in Splinter Cell, or games built around Looney Toons, The Simpsons, or The Dukes of Hazzard.

The Incredible Hulk has a blog!

This is really funny. Just to think that the green block of muscle typing his blog just cracks me up. Here's a sample entry...

Some people ask Hulk why Hulk not run for president.

Hulk have simple answer.

Hulk not smart enough to be president and Hulk knows it, unlike stupid puny human Bush in office now. Only saving grace of puny human Bush is his face looks like MONKEY.

HELLO MONKEY!!!!

Transformers... robots in 3D

Ah... many of us growing up in the 80s have fond memories of the battle between the robots in disguise. The Transformers 3D site has excellent 3D renders and movies of the Autobots and the Decepticons beautifully done in 3D. Simply amazing!

Notes & Sources for Fahrenheit 9-11

For those who would like to find out where Michael Moore got his facts for the film Fahrenheit 9-11, here's a link to the notes and sources for the film. One has to agree that some real research has gone into the making of this docu.

Breakbeat Nintendo tunes

Someone called SASKROTCH has done a breakbeat remix of soundtracks from Nintendo games titled Nintendo Breakz Volume One, including Legend of Zelda, River City Ransom, Metroid and even Bubble Bobble! When you add the thumping and irregular beats of a drum machine over the electronic midi tunes of these games, the juxataposition is simply mindboggling. This is the first in what will be a series of three.

SMS a security threat in China

Is this the classic case of "Big Brother is watching you"? Given that text messaging did have an impact on mobilising political support in the Philippines, and the way SMSes help to facilitate the gathering of flash mobs, it's no wonder the Chinese government is worried. But imagine the amount of national resources wasted having to monitor all the messaging activities that're going on!

Government officials in China this week began making daily inspections of short message service providers, including Web sites and the leading mobile phone companies, and had already fined 10 and forced 20 others to shut down for failing to properly police messages passing through their communication systems, the state-run news agency said.
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The move is the latest sign that while China has embraced Internet and mobile phone technology, the government has also substantially increased its surveillance of digital communications and adopted new methods of prohibiting people from getting unauthorized information about sensitive subjects.

US presidential candidate ads archived

As the US elections draw near, it's interesting to see how previous presidential candidates try to sell themselves on the TV over the years. The Living Room Candidate archives all the TV commercials done by presidential hopefuls from 1957 to the present day. Should be fun to watch.

The Illustrated Story of Copyright

Copyright is a hot potato issue right now, and like many other issues, copyright is not a straight forward thing where something is clearly right or wrong. To find out more about the history of copyright and how we got to the mess we have right now, author Edward Samuels has placed his book "The Illustrated Story of Copyright" on the Net. A worthwhile read if you need to get a head start on the copyright debate. The following description of the book is from Amazon.com.

The story of copyright is the history of the entertainment industry, including books, music, movies, television, computers, and the internet. Since its inception in America 210 years ago, copyright law has been the primary protector of the right of authors. Over the course of its history, however, myriad technology developments have produced constant pressure on the law, forcing copyright to adapt or expand to accommodate our creations.

In The Illustrated Story of Copyright, Professor Edward Samuels explains in a straightforward and colorful style the history and intricacies of copyright. From the printing press to the photocopying machine, the phonograph to MP3, this comprehensive guide explains the basic principles of copyright law and brings to life the relevant copyright technologies.

To watch Passion in Malaysia, be a Christian

A report on the al-Jazeera website mentions that Mel Gibson's of the Christ can only be viewed by Christians in Malaysia. It is truely strange how some countries think about censorship.

...during a session of the Malaysian parliament on Tuesday, Teresa Kok, a member of the Democratic Party opposition, asked: "Does it mean that the government is going to implement a policy where movies concerning ... Buddhism and Buddha could only be watched by Buddhists and movies related to Hinduism can only be watched by Hindus?"

Turn your GBA into a videophone

I've only just posted a link on peripherals that turns your GBA into more than just a gaming machine. Now, there's something called Cam-Pho Advance by a network solutions company called Digital Act that will turn it into a phone... a videophone! Now, what will these innovative peripherals makers come up with next? Something that'll turn your GBA into a toaster?

The Cam-Pho Advance uses a large game cartridge that comes equipped with an internal microcamera and analog modem, effectively turning the GBA into a videophone. When connected, the screen will show both the user and the person on the other end of the line. Communicating with another user is done with a speaker headphone that connects to the cartridge. The GBA's cross pad and buttons will be used to dial phone numbers and change the device's settings.

Old boys battle on the Xbox

It is certainly nice to hear that Xbox games, not just the usual sporting games, are used in a school's Past-vs-Present games.

Apart from the usual 7-aside-soccer, 3-on-3 basketball and Ultimate Frisbee, this year's Past-vs-Present Game Challenge will include the "X-generation Challenge", which will see four old boys of Catholic High piloting aircraft in dogfights on Xboxes against four current students, playing the Microsoft game "Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge".

Microsoft dresses up mice

If you're still using a plain boring old mouse to do your computing work, it's time you toss that away and bring a new rodent to your table. Microsoft has introduced a number of mice with colour and design with names such as "Groovy" (inspired by Go-go boots, VW Beetle and anything from the 60s), "Immersion" (inspired by fluid, underwater sea life) and "Night Vision" (inspired by Cyberscapes, digital screens and x-rays). They even has a Flash application that helps to match your personality to the type of mouse you should have! If you're more into "designer"-type items, there's even one designed by famed industrial designer Philippe Starck, pictured above. It's about time computer peripherals get funky!

Spider-Man 2 bloopers

Spider-Man 2 may have been a great super-hero theme action flick, but according to viewers with a sharp eye for details, it has plenty of mistakes! We are not talking about the mistakes in storyline that old school comic fans will pick on, but mistakes in areas such as continuity and factual errors. The Moviemistakes.com website has 37 mistakes... and counting...

Continuity: When the train scene first starts, it shows Doc Ock and Spider-Man landing on the front of the train and rolling back denting the roof of the train. But when Doc Ock goes to the front of the train later to rip out the speed control, there are no dents on the roof.
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Factual error: In the scene where the fusion test goes wrong and the magnetism becomes very strong, you can see that there is a computer very close to the source of the magnetism, yet the computers are not affected in any way. A computer would be very screwed up by that level of magnetism.

Download movies to your Game Boy Advance

Seems like Nintendo's Game Boy Advance is becoming more than just a gaming console. First, a Personal Organizer was released that turns your GBA into a PDA of sorts. Add-ons are also available to allow you to listen to the radio on it. With flash cartridges, you can even load emulators on them and play classic NES games. Then Nintendo starts to offer movies, or rather episodes of cartoons, on GBA carts.

Of course, an innovative company called AM3 has done a one-up on that and released a Game Boy Advance Movie Adapter which plugs into the GBA cartridge slot and allows the system to interface with 32MB flash memory cards that are about as thin as a credit card. Now, this same company has launched a service in Japan that allows you to download movie content via a vending machine.

The download service centers on a small vending machine called the "Advance Gasha-Pon." This machine is meant to be placed in storefronts and has input slots for coins and flash memory cards. By inserting three 100 yen coins (totaling around $2.70) and a flash memory card, users of the service will be able to download one of the eight cartoons contained within the machine.
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AM3 hopes to have non-movie content available for download via the Advance Gasha-Pon machines. Ideas such as Advance Comic (downloadable comics), Advance Picture (downloadable pictures), Advance Navi (downloadable maps) and Advance Music (downloadable music) have been mentioned as some of the services that can be expected in the future.

The rise of Christian games developers

Video games are generally free from religious agendas. But that may be about the change. This Gamespot report looks at the growing number of Christian developers. If there's such a thing as Christian rock music or even Christian heavy metal, it's not surprising that Christian games exist and will become more prominent. But is that a good thing? We'll just have to wait and see.

It must be thousands of times a day that holy warriors use the combined forces of prayer and giant hammers to bring the hurt to the forces of evil--but while most gamers are only interested in smiting the devil to get that coveted suit of rare armor, a growing sector of the games industry is taking it a bit further. These new Christian gaming studios are taking the religious undertones of games like Diablo II and bringing them to the forefront of the gaming experience.

Fans films expand Star Wars universe

Fan films are great, especially when it gives a unique take on a fictional universe that inspired so many, namely the Star Wars trilogy. Lucas may not have impressed many fans with his recent works in the Star Wars canon, but tons of fans are still inspired by the memories of Luke shooting down the Death Star or Han Solo's flirtation with Princess Leia. And to put their love for the Star Wars universe into action, many have created fan films based on that same universe in a galaxy far, far away. Some of these films are funny spoofs. Others are serious fictional pieces with storylines that runs parallel to the original. Whatever it is, they're prove that love for Star Wars, and the community of fans who love it, is alive and well.

The fan film genre took off in 1977 with Hardware Wars, a spoof featuring evil waffle irons, the destruction of the peaceful planet Basketball and a dyed Cookie Monster.

In the past five years, the genre has flourished thanks to some high-profile films like Troops and George Lucas in Love, and the availability of consumer filmmaking tools.
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Scott Roesch, a vice president of marketing at AtomFilms, said he was shocked at the response to the first Star Wars Fan Film Awards in 2002, when nearly 40 percent of the site's traffic was generated by the contest. One film, Star Wars Gangsta Rap, has received more than 5 million hits since being posted that year.

Roesch said there have already been more than 1 million pageviews for the 2004 contest, a measure of the depth of passion of hard-core Star Wars fans. And the growing number of entries -- the 20 finalists were chosen from nearly 100 submissions -- shows that the fan-film fad is going strong.

Violent games under attack... again!

When will people realise that games do not directly lead to violent behaviour? And why are video games opponents commenting on something they don't even know about?

The debate reflects a divide in the way people perceive games. Are games harmless, perhaps even cathartic, as many people who grew up playing them believe? Or are they teaching kids to be more aggressive, and in extreme cases, to kill?
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To game opponents -- many of whom admit they don't play video games -- it's the latter. They point to new studies that purport to show a stronger link between violent games and aggressive behavior than ever.
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Game makers counter that parents are responsible for the games kids play -- and need to understand that games aren't just for kids anymore. Some evidence also exists that kids don't particularly seek out violent games and don't have unfettered access to them.

N-the 30 pixel tall ninja

N is a Lode Runner-like Flash game that sees you as a little ninja dude running around a world with numerous enemies. But isn't ninja games a shuriken a dozen? Well, this one is unique. This badass 30 pixels tall is controlled by a physics simulation that's pretty amazing, allowing you to make leaps and jumps that will make Spidey envious. The minimalist aesthetic of this game may not match those games like Ninja Gaiden, but at about 1MB, this one provides you with hours of fun. Plus, it's free!

Games make you fat!

First they tell us that games make you violent. Then they say that games can turn you into a better surgeon. Now, they're telling us that games can make you fat! So does that mean that gamers are potential violently obese doctors?

[Swiss] researchers said that "obesity was independently associated with the time spent playing electronic games and the time spent watching television." However, the researchers' release gave no specific evidence as to why games made kids more likely to be obese other than that they were "inversely associated with physical activity."
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Interestingly, the study also found that foreign children living in Switzerland, where the per capita chocolate consumption is 21 pounds per year (twice the US average), were "twice as likely to be obese than Swiss children." The study attributed Swiss children's relative slimness to cultural differences but did not mention yodeling, clog dancing, or alpine sports specifically.

Games are good for you

This is not really something new to us gamers! But it's always nice to have some sort of official recognition.

Researchers are finding players can make sharper soldiers, drivers and surgeons. Their reaction time is better, their peripheral vision more acute. They are taking risks, finding themselves at ease in a demanding environment that requires paying attention on several levels at once.
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Researchers such as Gee credit games for giving experiences to the deskbound that they may never have or be able to afford in real life. With the explosion of online, multiplayer games, "it is nothing to see a 15-year-old leading a group with a 25-year-old and 30-year-old. Unlike in school, they are treated not just as peers but as leaders," he says.

Transcript of Fahrenheit 9/11

Can't wait to see Michael Moore's documentary about how the Bush adminstration used the Sept 11 incident to advance their agenda? Don't fret. Read the full transcript courtesy of the Red Line Rants web site.

Dance Dance Revolution leads to heart attack

We've heard of people making claims that games cause teens to be violent and kill. But what about seemingly peaceful, dancing games like Dance Dance Revolution, the popular arcade version where teens can show off their fancy dance moves following instructions on a screen? Well, if the game won't kill you, it may hastens your heart condition... at least for this girl in the US.

Kimber Wilson, 15, was playing DDR in an Omaha, Nebraska, arcade when she suddenly dropped to the floor. When the arcade owners came to her aid, they could not detect a heartbeat and had to administer CPR.
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Although Wilson's heart attack will likely conjure up more killer-video-game myths, it was caused by a preexisting condition rather than DDR.
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Ironically, Dance Dance Revolution has recently been making headlines for improving the health of many of its players. The game was singled out in an Associated Press report two weeks ago for helping many obese players lose weight, with one regular gamer dropping more than 200 pounds.

Can my PC play this game?

The Redmond giant is really trying to do everything they can to get people to play games, and of course fuel the demand for their OS, game software, and ultimately the current and future editions of the Xbox. Diehard gamers will know the trouble that one has to to go through sometimes just to get a game working. Microsoft has now release a software called Windows XP Game Advisor to help novice PC gamers find out if they game they hear everyone raving about can be played on their box. Seems like a useful tool, and it's one step in making games more accessible and less intimidating to the masses.

If Tolke1n was a hacker...

What if Tolke1n was a hacker and he wrote his epic in hackerish? Well, it would r0x0rz, wouldn't it? Presenting... F3ll0wsh1p of teh R1ng...

**the black riders attack
Merry: "OMG!!!"
Sam: "O.M.G!!!11"
Pippin: "***"
Frodo has left the server
**head nazgul stabs Frodo's ghost
Frodo has connected to the server
Frodo: "***... hax!"
**Aragorn lraps into the fray with a flaming brand
Aragorn: "PH34r!!!!!!"
Merry: "LOLOL flamed! "

If you're confused, try using the Urban Dictionary to help you decipher it.

Game Boy for girls

I've finally bought a Game Boy Advance SP! No, I didn't get the Pearl Pink version, I bought the Pearl Blue one instead. Anyway, I've found that Nintendo Spain has a clever ad campaign to try to sell the handheld to girls-a group not normally the target for games. But with a huge library of games and with a number of them being the cutesy type, it's no wonder the Spanish marketing folks came up with this campaign to bundle the Pearl Pink GBA with titles such as Lizzie McGuire, Hamtaro Ham-Ham Heartbreak, Disney Princess, and Barbie "Horse Adventures". The campaign even comes with girls drawn in the now popular "chic"-style.

However, this bundling doesn't quite help to dispel the stereotyping of girl gamers. Must girls play the Barbie games? Thankfully, there are also other excellent games such as the various Mario games that can be enjoyed by both boys and girls.

Since there's the common association of blue for boys and pink for girls, who can blame the marketing folks for coming up with this idea of getting girls to buy the pink GBA? Marketing and stereotyping, they go hand in hand...

Cory Doctorow to Microsoft: Say no to DRM!

This is a must-read for everyone interested in the future of digital media and distribution of content. Most people may not be aware but the way copyright laws are heading and all the various Digital Rights Management systems that are placed on the devices and digital content that we consume may do more harm than good. Sci-fi writer and EFF activist Cory Doctorow has given an excellent and insightful speech to Microsoft's Research Group on why DRM is not the way to go.

Here's the social reason that DRM fails: keeping an honest user honest is like keeping a tall user tall. DRM vendors tell us that their technology is meant to be proof against average users, not organized criminal gangs like the Ukranian pirates who stamp out millions of high-quality counterfeits. It's not meant to be proof against sophisticated college kids. It's not meant to be proof against anyone who knows how to edit her registry, or hold down the shift key at the right moment, or use a search engine. At the end of the day, the user DRM is meant to defend against is the most unsophisticated and least capable among us.

The text is available in the public domain and has a Creative Commons license. In addition to the html version, there's also a Wiki version (with plenty of annotations) for those who wants to find out more.

Spidey turns Indian

Can it get any more bizarre than this? Having a Manga Star Wars comics is one thing, but having the web-slinger in Indian? Hmmm... amazing but true. Our friendly neighbourhood Spidey is gonna get an Indian makeover. This time, it's not Peter Parker who gets bitten by the bug, it's an Indian kid named Pavitr Prabhakar.

Marvel Enterprises, Inc. & Gotham Entertainment Group –Indian publishing licensee of Marvel Comics and the leading publisher of international comic magazines in South Asia – announces the launch of Spider-Man India.
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Spider-Man India interweaves the local customs, culture and mystery of modern India... As Spider-Man, Pavitr leaps around rickshaws and scooters in Indian streets, while swinging from monuments such as the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal.
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Mumbai’s (Bombay’s) first web-swinging Super Hero will be joined by a reinterpretation of the classic Spider-Man villain, the Green Goblin -- reinvented as a Rakshasa, an Indian mythological demon.

Clocks with attitude

Since I've moved into my new place, I've been looking for a wall clock that's nice and affordable. So far, I've not found one that fits the bill. Nevertheless, I still keep looking. Anyway, Wristfashion has done a roundup of some interesting clocks. They not exactly what I'm looking for but they still cool in their own way.

TV vote for torrentocracy

For those who know, Bit Torrent is an excellent way of distributing files and it takes peer-to-peer filesharing to a new level. Now, would it be revolutionary if Bit Torrent, RSS, and your Television come together? Torrentocracy is a project that connects your TV to the computer and to the Internet. It allows you not only to download content, but also become part of a media distribution network. It will only support links to legal torrents. So if you have the free time and the tech know-how to set up MythTV on a Linux box, it's time to free yourself from the tyranny of the broadcasting schedule.

Flip-phones galore @ CommunicAsia 2004

This year's CommunicAsia event was held from 15-18 June at the Singapore Expo. From the new phones that were on display, it's evident that flip phones are the in thing right now. Even Nokia, who was not present at the event, launched a couple of flip models. With users demanding bigger screens and built-in cameras becoming popular, it makes sense to design phones such that they allow larger screens to be used. For a die-hard candy-bar type phone user like me, I guess I'd have to change, or just get the new Sony Ericsson K700, the new object of my desire.

Overall, the event does not seem as exciting as the last one. Maybe it's because of the slow recovery from the aftereffects of SARS which led to the cancellation of last year's show. Or it could just be that companies are now more concern about the bottomline and gone are the extravagant days of glamour and eyecatching freebies.

Check out my own photo gallery of the event.

New Sony PSX coming soon

Sony is updating its PSX personal video recorder/Playstation 2 combo device and the new ones will have 160GB and 250GB of storage. It also has a better graphical user interface and the ability to add DVD-style menus to content copied from the unit's hard drive to a DVD-R, DVD-RW or DVD+RW disc. On top of that, there's an analog satellite TV tuner. Of course, you can play all the PS2 games you want on it. Makes you lust after it right? Problem is that is may not be made available here.

Ireland Leery of 3G Phones

Is this an over-reaction or is it fear of new technology? 3G phones are still in its infant stage and already the Irish government is over-regulating it. Hope other governments do not follow the same path but take a more pragmatic view of developing technology.

The Irish government will establish a National Register for 3G mobile phones in a bid to protect minors. Critics say the plan is a lot of work for little effect, and that it erodes civil liberties.
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Irish mobile-phone companies, which are actively increasing protections for minors already, are unsure what the measure will achieve or how it will be implemented.
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Critics say the scheme is an infringement of civil liberties for little real benefit. Privacy International's Davies is convinced the measure is merely a dangerous stepping stone. "Governments always start with child protection as their MO and then move very swiftly to the other 27 categories of public interest, which includes abuse of marketing, through hate speech to whatever else. They always pick the softest target first."

Affordable media storage server

Since I have a 200GB external hard drive attached to my PC, it has become something like a media server for me, storing my movie and music files, and also actually as a backup drive. To access it on my home network, I'll have to share the drive and my PC will have to be on all day. That's why I've been searching for a way to attach the drive to my router and allow all PCs on my network access to the drive. With this announcement of the Network Storage Link from Maxtor and Linksys, my wait is over. Now, when will it be available here?

...the companies announced a partnership featuring a US$99 Linksys device that lets an external hard drive connect to a wireless router, allowing PCs to tap into the storage and share files without any physical link to the drive.
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The Linksys Network Storage Link connects to an external hard drive through one of two USB ports and includes a file management system, the companies said. It is designed to work with a wired or wireless network, and to work with other external drives apart from Maxtor products.

The FCC Song

Eric Idle is the 6th member of Monty Python. Here, he's written a song about the FCC. It may never ever be played on any radio station, but it's funny anyway. You can of course download the MP3 and play it all day on your PC.

Here’s a little song I wrote the other day while I was out duck hunting with a judge… It’s a new song, it’s dedicated to the FCC and if they broadcast it, it will cost a quarter of a million dollars.

Virtual smut city online

It's bound to happen. The porn industry has always been early adopters of technology and with gaming and 3D worlds now becoming popular, it's no wonder smut pedlars have come up with a Sims-like virtual world for porn-viewing audiences.

...the Red Light World, a 3-D adult-oriented virtual environment that offers the sex-starved a chance to visit the Dutch city's infamous quarter and take in its XXX movie theaters, Viagra outlets, sex toy stores and adult DVD shops. Players get to meet sexy singles and more, all without springing for a plane ticket or worrying about getting mugged.
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As an interactive online experience, Red Light World is actually made up of a large number of online porn sites cobbled together in a way that evokes the feeling of window shopping in Amsterdam's sin-centric neighborhood. Thus, when you walk your avatar into one of the XXX movie theaters and choose a screen to watch a film, the service launches a website with hard- or softcore movies.

LEGO World War II models

Mechanized Brick is a site that offers customised LEGO Model, particularly those of World War II vehicles, for sale. Models include the German PzKpfw. VI Heavy Tank pictured above. The models are really cool and detailed but it's pretty pricey. You can always just order the building instructions at a cheaper price but you'll still have to look for the bricks on your own.

The engrish is very powderful!

This site features pictures with funny english. Since many gamers consider their Play Station a shrine, calling it Pray Station may not be all that wrong.

The Xbox-PC hybrid?

Can it be true? Is a Xbox-PC gaming machine coming? We've known all along that it's just a fine line between PC and Xbox games but would a hybrid machine reach the store shelves so soon?

The B/R/S Group, a California-based market research company that lists Microsoft and the Xbox division specifically as clients, has been gathering consumer feedback on a device it refers to as Xbox Next PC – "a videogame console system with a hard drive and a built-in fully functional PC."
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One slide describes the unit, which would require a PC monitor or high definition television, as being backward compatible with current and next-generation Xbox titles. It would also play PC games and include a fully functional version of Windows, CD burner, DVD player (with remote control), built-in access to Xbox Live and a hard drive. Control-wise, the system would come with both a keyboard and mouse and a standard Xbox controller. The price point this particular study tested was US$599.
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As for when we'll see next generation Xboxes on store shelves - officially, Microsoft isn't commenting, but it has been giving publishers guidance to plan for a 2005 launch.

From the CNN story, it seems like the days of having to deal with errant PC games installsations will be a thing of the past, and perhaps so will all the upgrading, the tweaking of frame rates, and all other fun activities that comes with playing games on a desktop. Then again, most hardcore gamers may just want to keep console- and PC-gaming separate. After all, many would prefer seeing Thief 3 in its full glory on a PC than settle for a slightly inferior version on the Xbox.

As for the next-gen Xbox to be launched in 2005... we'll just have to wait and see.

Captured: Half-Life 2 code thieves

Details are still murky about this, but it seems that they've caught the culprits who stole the Half-Life 2 code, possibly delaying the release of the game.

In a brief, cryptic statement Thursday, [Value Software's CEO Gabe Newell] announced that "arrests have been made in several countries" related to the Half-Life theft. He didn't spell out who was nabbed, or who did the arresting. But he indicated that the game's fans were the ones responsible for breaking the case.

Maybe we'll find out if we can REALLY get to play Half-Life 2 this year.

It's a PC... trying to be a Mac

Are you a PC-user who's actually a closet Mac-user wannabe? Engadget teaches you how to transform your Windows box into a Mac lookalike.

If you just want the nifty looking dock that a Mac has, download this freeware called Aqua Dock from Openwares.org.

Bye bye to liberty in cyberspace

This is really sad. ISPs are censoring stuff even without checking whether things are in public domain.

As part of a recent research project, I posted a section of Mill's On Liberty on the internet (which is clearly in the public domain), then issued unfounded copyright complaints against it (1). One internet service provider (ISP) removed the chapter almost immediately. This illustrates the problem with self-censorship procedures, which rely on hidden judgements being made by unaccountable bodies.

Taking a dump... in a game

The loo. The john. The washroom. The gents (or ladies). Whatever you call it, it's the place everyone has to go. But what if you're a game character? While game developers have figured out that, like real life, the toilet is just as important in the virtual world, it seems like the heroes and heroines like the sassy spy Cate Archer of No One Lives Forever fame or Black Mesa's survivor Gordon Freeman from Half-Life are too busy saving the world than to relieve themselves. Regardless, the loos in games are still painstakingly rendered, albeit in varying details. This Russian site contains a gallery of virtual toilets one encounters in a game.

Blogging on-the-go

Need to post your musings but don't have a PC near you? If you have a Palm handheld and an Internet connection, there's a way to post to your blog when you're mobile. The fellow at Dented Reality has created a page where you can log on to Blogger via your Palm's web browser. It's a stripped down way to post, but it allows you to blog on-the-go.

Welcome to the mobile revolution!

Introducing Gremlin @ Home

After some time thinking and tweaking, I've finally readied my own web page hosted on my own web server. It's not entirely complete and I'm trying to keep it really simple.

Still plenty of blank pages and more work to go, including linking things properly to this blog, which I've also "relaunched".

Check out the page here. I've also included it in the link on the right bar.