Info Porn

Don't mess with large herbivores...

Microsoft Surface

Holy shit! This is the tech demo I linked to in the last post's thread, which is over a year old. But now it's not a tech demo, it's Microsoft. Cower in FEAR!!!

From a slashdot post...

"I find this very interesting from a marketing perspective. They are promoting this as if it was a product, and yet it isn't on sale - and even the implementations they are talking about (T-Mobile, Sheraton Hotels) are really trials with partners that won't be happening until the end of next year.

So what is this all about? The Vista and Office '07 launches haven't gone well from a marketing perspective - there has been a lot of press basically saying that Microsoft is losing its competitive edge. Couple that with the iPhone, and the fact that Apple is almost certainly going to be launching new products with multi-touch capabilities over the next year or so, and I think it is clear what is going on. Microsoft really want to improve their image in relation to Apple - they don't want Apple to be seen as the innovator and them as the company that's lost it.

Notice on the website [microsoft.com] that they have a section called "origins" giving the history of the technology within Microsoft - I think they are trying to reverse the image that they copy Apple. Now when the touch-screen iMac is launched (or whatever) Microsoft will have done a fairly good job at taking some of the shine off the launch, even though they don't have a consumer product in the area, nor will they have for some years."

More on the tech of this thing from Ars Technica...

The Cave

A 4-d CAD model has been created of the human body. A 4-d model simply relies on a layering system through which different sets of information can be isolated. VR caves, which I've seen in lectures about architectural modeling, use anamorphic projection on the surfaces of a small room to immerse a subject; like a panorama, baroque architectural painting, or in a simulator. Also, this is a bizarre image.
via Science Daily.

Re: NWN 1.69

I posted the above on the NWN forums. Bioware is taking a long time on the 1.69 patch, which will be the last for NWN 1. If they do not move the game to some sort of open source arrangement, they will be missing a tremendous opportunity for the most modular game ever made. Link.

Takako Minekawa...

... possesses obtuse and inventive powers of musicianship. Rare qualities for someone who comes from a J-pop background. Recommended for all deranged persons.

OpenDNS

Tell it like it is...

I called my rep about this. You should too.

This is also spot on...

"But (someone protests), can't you at least admit that the Democrats are better than the Republicans? And if you love the country, or care about the world, aren't you obligated to support the lesser of two evils, even if it's only slightly less evil?

To which I reply: What's really evil is being forced to choose between people on the one hand who support the war, and accuse anyone who questions it of "helping the terrorists" -- and people on the other who oppose the war, criticize the war, pledge to the end the war, and then vote to keep it going.

Or being asked to choose between the village idiot and someone who's consistently outsmarted by him."

And from Greenwald...

"This has long been the principal flaw of Democrats and it has not changed. They are both fearful and incapable of defending any position unless, from the outset, they are assured, by their conniving and principle-free consultants, that most Americans already agree with it. The idea of forcefully articulating a view in order to change public opinion -- such as explaining why de-funding is a perfectly valid option like all the others for ending the war -- never occurs to them."

Fallout 3

"We're running out of time!" *spoilers*

"JACK: WE'RE OUT OF TIME, THIS BOMB DETONATES IN 30 SECONDS!

TERRORIST: Mr. Bauer, how do you stay so dry under such intense pressure?

JACK: Read the label. (pause) READ THE LABEL!

TERRORIST: D... Degree for Men?? This can't be.. its odor and wetness protection are unparalleled!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooo!

JACK: Chloe this is Jack, tell CTU I'm setting up a perimeter...

(Jack swipes degree under each arm)

JACK: ...around PERSPIRATION!"

...as penned by Quest For Glory II of Something Awful.