Top 25 Censored Stories of 2007

On the Project Censored site, there's an article on the 25 stories that made the news, but was not extensively covered. Do read some of the stories as some of them are rather shocking. Are there real reasons why these stories are not picked up and have been practically ignored by the media? Number 18 on the list is a story whereby a physics prof challenges the notion that the collapse of the WTC towers on 9-11 is due to the planes. Read it to find out more.

Guitar Hero II for the 360

The time to rock is here! After so much waiting, Guitar Hero 2 for the Xbox 360 is finally available here. It's interesting that the local distributor New Era brought in the game from Australia. The box says that it is the PAL version but it seems like the disc can be played on the local NTSC version of the console. There's even the OFLC (Ozzie's version of the ESRB) rating on the box. Anyway, this region coding thingy is really confusing and everyone should do what the PS3 is doing, which is have region-free titles for all.

Back to GH2. This is what I dreamt of playing for so long. Since I didn't get the PS2 version, I'm so stoke that there's one for the 360. I spent last night playing Nirvana's Heart-Shaped Box, and even my wife got into the game. She even did better than me in the scores! This shows the accessibility factor of the game and is highly, highly recommended. I only wish that I can get another controller on the cheap so that I can play co-op, as the game allows different parts in the co-op play, i.e. one playing lead and the other either rhythm or bass.

Another thing on the wish list is the number and price of the downloadable tracks. I hope there will be more tracks from GH1 that is made available. I really would like to rock out to the riffs of Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water and Cream's Crossroads. These are available on the 1st Guitar Hero but are not available as downloadable tracks. Also, the pricing for the current downloadable tracks is on the steep side. 500 MS Points for 3 tracks works out to be about $3.70 per track. Considering that you can get 47 tunes just by getting the original game, it seems rather expensive. We can only wait to see if Harmonix will revise the price or offer some bulk discount in the future.

Meanwhile, I'm gonna strap on the X-plorer guitar and rock on!

Uncyclopedia: The nonsense encyclopedia wiki

If Wikipedia is the success story of the value of social networking, in particular the Wiki, providing us with a wealth of knowledge, the Uncyclopeia is the flip side. It's a wiki encyclopedia, but instead of facts, it's all inaccurate. So what's the use if it's inaccurate? Well, it's extremely funny, and 100% nonsense. Check out the entry on the iPod.

A deviCe called the iPod Photo iS now on the market, but buyers should note that iT iS not actually an iPod, but just a photo of one.

The Greatest Long Tracking Shots in Films

The Daily Film Dose blog has an excellent piece on long tracking shots in films. If you understand the language of film-making, you'd notice long takes in scenes without any edits. Most of the time, you'd be left amazed at the amount of co-ordination needed to execute such a long, continuous take. The blog looks at various such scenes in cinema and also include clips of these shots. The most impressive in the whole list has to be "The Russian Ark", in which the whole damn movie is done in one single take. When I saw the movie, my jaws just dropped from the start to finish.

Google Reader on the Wii

I don't really use Google Reader to read my RSS feeds. But now that Google has released a version of their reader on the Wii, it may be worthwhile trying it out.

Free Culture on a free disc

I like this. It is an ISO that you can download and burn which shows off the best stuff available in Free Culture. If information wants to be free, then media and content needs to be free too, and this disc is a grand example of the effort to keep info and culture free. Included in this disc are free books, free movies, free audio and free software. You can't beat free.

Video games for adult couples

This is when video games are made for adult usage. By adult, we mean really adult, the kind used to enhance fun under the sheets. Well, in this case, you might be standing while using this, but it's certainly not for kids. Anyway, check out the video showing a new form of controls in a game, known as the "Intimate Videogame Controllers".

CG Night Elf - Not a photo?

The sexy night elf from Warcraft... Is this a photo or a computer-generated work of genius? Check out the link to see how this life-like piece of work is done. Quite amazing.

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Google it.

12 Important U.S. Laws Every Blogger Needs to Know

So you blog? Then you need to know these. They may be US laws, but it is always good to know more about these legal things... well, things about Tax Laws may not be too relevant, but issues on deep-linking and copyright is still good to know. Knowledge is good so no harm being aware of these, right?

A real mouse!

Talk about a mouse. Check out the link for a real mouse, hacked into a computer mouse.

Piano Solo based on Pi

Pi is the magical number that goes on and on. Otherwise know as 3.14159..., it is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter and is a "transcendental real number". On the linked page, someone has done the ultimately geeky thing and used the numbers of Pi to play a piano solo. Each number is represented by a note and the whole piece is played up to 1000 decimal places. This is what I call mathematical musicality. Cool!

Create your Mii without the Wii

Want to have one of those Miis that you see on the Wii but can't get your hands on Nintendo's console? Fear not, you can create your own Mii using the Mii Editor. The interface is just like that found on the Wii, and you can also export your creation to be used as your "mugshot". Cool!

Singapore not on World's Cleanest Cities list

We Singaporeans love to pride our city as a "clean and green" place. Streets are spick and span... and all that. Well, apparently it is not so if you refer to Forbes.com's list of the top 25 World's Cleanest Cities. The ranking is based on

the Mercer Human Resources Consulting that cull from 300 cities, identifying overall quality of living as well as special reports on regions. It is interesting to note that size does not appear to be a factor either in terms of size of population or physical size of the city. The most common trait in common to each is a focus on high tech, education and headquartering of national and international companies along with an extensive public transit system.

Cities in the list include Calgary (#1) and Honolulu (#2). Maybe Singapore's not on the list because it is not really a city but a sovereign state?

Pippin sighted

Pippin sighted
Originally uploaded by Gremlink.

Saw this rare sight when I was in Hong Kong. It's a Pippin! It's the first time in my life that I laid my eyes on an actual set of the Apple gaming/multimedia player platform. I found this at a shop selling old tech/mac stuff. Check out this Wikipedia entry if you want to know more about the Pippin. Interestingly, it is also voted as one of the "25 Worst Tech Product" by PC World.

Jack Black is the Computer Man

Jack Black is so funny in this comedic short about a "Computer Man". Hilarious. Part 2 is also available.

Darfur atrocities on Google Earth

Google aims to "Do no evil". To help them achieve their goal, they have teamed up with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to map the carnage in the Darfur region on Google Earth.

Using the high-resolution imagery of Google Earth, users will be able to zoom into the Darfur region for a better understanding of the scope of the destruction.

More than 1,600 damaged and destroyed villages will be visible, as will the remnants of more than 100,000 homes, schools, mosques and other structures destroyed by the Janjaweed militia and Sudanese forces.

Follow the link to CNN's story on this and then go check it out on Google Earth. Be aware of the dangers of genocide, and thank God that we're not in that situation.

Speeding up P2P

If you think that Bittorrent's method of grabbing files from multiple sources is ingenious, the folks at Wired reported that researchers have released code for a file transfer system that can speed up downloads by up to 500%!

The gist: By identifying relevant chunks of files similar - - not just identical - - to a desired file, SET increases the number of potential sources for downloads, which in turn will generally translates into faster P2P downloads.

For more info, read the linked article. This certainly is not gonna help stop the tide of P2P file sharing.

Update: More details on how this SET filesharing system works can be found on Ars Technica.

20 Questions With N'Gai Croal

This is a podcast by the folks from Gamasutra. In this, Tom Kim talks to Newsweek video game/tech writer N'Gai Croal. This is one of the best and most insightful podcast that I've heard on the topic of gaming. Here, Croal talks critically about the game industry and also some more serious issues like the portrayal of minorities in games. Interesting stuff. Essentially listening if you want to keep a pulse on the analytical side of video games.

Chicks dig the DS

I'm a dude, not a chick, but I love the DS too. As mentioned on the CNet opinion piece by David Carnoy, females do love the DS. Can't blame them right? It's a fun handheld!