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.