We don't like MPAA

We don't like MPAA and RIAA's conduct when it comes to going after P2P networks. So here's a website set up to express the community's outrage at their behaviour. Will the movie and music biz shut this down too?

This website has been erected out of consumer outcry over the passing of sites that facilitate the free availability of perpetually copyrighted motion pictures. The unauthorized downloading of motion pictures denies thousands of dishonest, lazy executives of their crack smoking livelihood, and is the only way to bring an artistically bankrupt monopoly under control. Downloading movies without authorization violates laws distorted beyond their original intent, is not tangible theft, and is impossible to stop. You can't catch everyone. The only way to win is to stop waging war on your own customers and accept the fact that we are in control, not you. You brought this on yourselves.

Swiss knife for the gals

A Swiss Army knife is certainly a useful item to have for boys. Me? My trusty knife has been with me for more than 20 years and it's still serving me well. But what about the girls? Here's one that they may find useful. This one contains needle & thread, mirror, perfume bottle, in addition to the standard items such as bottle opener and of course, the knife. Still, don't think anyone can bring this up the airplane if the owner is a globe-trekking gal.

Debian GNU/Linux on the Mac Mini

Other than the form factor, the Mac Mini didn't really impress me much. It's essentially a stripped-down computer running on the Mac OS. However, if this baby can run the Linux OS, then that would be something... In fact, the resourceful Linux community has already provided a howto on installing the Debian Linux distro on the Mac Mini. Mac running Linux? Now that's something that can get a geek excited.

Stealing vs downloading

Maybe it's cheaper to steal a CD off the shelves. This website has done a comparison between the penalties for shoplifting as oppose to downloading copyrighted materials. Taking the real world example of Winona Ryder's shoplifting case, it sets her back US$10,005 (including lawyers cost and etc.). On the other hand, a RIAA infringment is on average US$14,875. Also, the maximum punishment for stealing is US$10,000 plus 1 year jail, while copyright infringment is $3,400,000 and a year's jail term. The comparison may not be entirely accurate, but something is seriously wrong here.

Homebrew Tetris for DS!

It's a matter of sooner or later. Now, someone has actually managed to code a homebrew game for the Nintendo DS. It's of course the classic Tetris. Is this a sign that flash carts and more creative homebrew games are on the way for the DS? Hope so.

Cellphones-a musical for geeks

If you're a geek who love musicals, then this one is for you. There is now a musical called "Cellphones", and it covers everything from MP3s to soccer moms. Seems like the audience will also get phone calls on their cells during the performance! It's best for the description on the site to speak for itself though.

The night before the booth opens, twenty strangers gather and wait in line. While they wait, they rock out about timely topics such as Britney Spears, botox, SUVs, MP3s, rap music, fast foods, low fat diets, saving Michael Jackson, gay marriage, the Internet, porn, soccer moms, Enron, Bush, Starbucks, Martha Stewart, weapons of mass destruction, and of course, cellphones.

Ipod LEGO minifig

The ipod ads featuring the silhouette user with the white earbuds have certainly caught the imaginations of many. Now, these folks have modified a LEGO minifig to look like the ad. I certainly love the LEGO, not too sure about the ipod though.

Copyright does not benefit artists

The RIAA and other related bodies have always claimed that the need to prevent P2P sharing is because the take away the benefits of copyright from artists. This study which looks at British and Geman musicians actually blows away that claim. Once again, another salvo into the heart of the greedy industry.

The evidence here is contradictory. The often–made claim that copyright supports the creative basis of a society is empirically doubtful. There is a suspicion that copyright underpins vastly unequal rewards.

Creator and investor interests are not the same. Copyright suits investors (music publishers, labels) who are incentivised to market and distribute the works they exclusively control. Copyright also suits creators with a track record of hits who can extract favourable terms from investors.

Copyright does little for new and niche creators who often sign away their bargaining chips cheaply. In the absence of alternative compensation schemes, digitisation so far appears to have brought few financial benefits from disintermediated distribution.

LEGO Star Wars video game webby launch

One of my most anticipated game is not those frantic FPS or fighting games. It's actually the cutesy Star Wars game with LEGO characters. Or rather, Star Wars characters in the LEGO style. The website is now online and I can't wait till April to get my hands on this one.

Xbox-Millenium Falcon

What to do if you're a Star Wars fan (specifically a Han Solo/Millenium Falcon) and a Xbox gamer? You blend the best of both worlds and put your Xbox into a Millenium Falcon! This guy has placed the Microsoft console into the 1979 vintage series of the M-Falcon toy. Want to get your mitts on it? It's up for sale at UK's ebay site with starting bid of 800 pounds.

Chinese Military Train Soldiers To Be Gaming Geeks

It's hard to believe but it's true. A blog run by someone called Tian is reporting that during a CCTV (Chinese Central) TV broadcast, folks in the Chinese army are shown to be playing Counter Strike!

Instructor Wang Qiang quoted saying: "Our priority is not about battling Muslim terrorists, but to kick some teenager punks' asses. We are tired of getting our asses handed to us by some zit-faced kid living in Des Moines, Iowa."

Are the Chinese military that serious?

The P2P Manifesto

Despite what the RIAA or MPAA are doing, I think it's inevitable that P2P is here to stay. Here's a major addition to the movement for P2P-a manifesto for P2P. In a nutshell it's this...

P2P is unstoppable
P2P is positive for Companies
P2P is positive for the market
P2P is good for users

Mario music sheet

Hip hip hooray! Now, I can play the Mario themes on my piano!

LEGO PC cases

I've mentioned it again and again, it's amazing what you can do with LEGO bricks. This folks has surprised me with what they did-a working PC with the case made of LEGO bricks. Everything is there, CD-ROM drive, HDD, cooling fans, and all the works. There's even a Shuttle-like case! Awesome!

World's smallest P2P app

Now, this is the smallest P2P app, ever. Edward Felten, CS Professor at Princeton and outspoken supporter of the digital rights, has written a P2P app called TinyP2P using only 15 lines of Python code. The purpose? To proof that P2P software is so easy to write that attempts to ban it is futile. The record and movie industry had better start to stop P2P and making use of it to provide legit content for folks to share, rather than brand file-sharing as a crime.

Famous moments using HL2

Someone has used the Half Life 2 engine to recreate famous moments in history that were captured in photos. There's one on the burning of the monk made famous during the Vietnam war, and also the one of the assination of Oswald. It's funny what gamers can think up of when they put their creativity thinking cap.

T-shirt blog site

Who doesn't like T-shirts? Especially those with cool, witty, and killer designs? Now there's a blog that features these desirable tees and also tells you where you can buy them. Give me more cool tees!

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.