Self-organizing jumping robot swarms. Coming to an Apocalypse near you:
51 2013-10-05 15:35:06
Re: Cool vids...again. (1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)
52 2013-09-25 00:54:06
Re: Cool vids...again. (1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)
Meanwhile, on a physical stage, visual effects are happening:
53 2013-09-23 15:27:48
Re: Cool vids...again. (1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)
Scratch-built Wall-E
54 2013-09-07 16:15:07
Re: Iron Man (49 replies, posted in Episodes)
Iron Man costume made from balloons.
55 2013-08-30 22:06:49
Re: Star Trek Into Darkness (359 replies, posted in Off Topic)
Yep.
Just cancelled my pre-order for it and tweeted Paramount the reason why (assuming they're less clueless about twitter than about marketing, and actually pay attention to what people say to them, of course).
Not entirely futile, though, as some of my friends are following suit as a result of what I've posted on The Socials, and tell me they are either cancelling or choosing not to buy now as well.
56 2013-08-30 21:54:40
Re: 3 Adolescence Defining Movies! (27 replies, posted in Off Topic)
2001: A Space Odyssey had a huge effect on me, but I saw it before I was 13, so that's not in this list. (And, before you ask, it's not in my other "3 films" list because I only saw it once growing up, whereas I saw the other films over and over again.)
So, my adolescence list is:
Star Wars (1977) -- duh, as Trey said. Also, the first film I saw in Germany, in German.
Alien (1979) -- liked it so much, I dragged my parents to see it, with hilarious consequences.
Star Trek: the Motion Picture (1979) -- blown away by the visuals, still love the music, first time I experienced a movie get a standing ovation from the audience.
57 2013-08-30 21:43:14
Re: Star Trek Into Darkness (359 replies, posted in Off Topic)
In other news, apparently Paramount are working hard to crush sales of their own product by gutting the Blu-Ray of extras, including the filmmakers' commentary.
58 2013-08-30 00:30:57
Re: 3 Childhood Defining Movies! (34 replies, posted in Off Topic)
Indeed, but I'd rather not become another research project for my psychiatrist's students.
59 2013-08-29 23:07:46
Re: 3 Childhood Defining Movies! (34 replies, posted in Off Topic)
I don't know what this says about me, and that's probably a good thing, but the three films I remember seeing over and over again in our local cinema when I was a child are:
Thunderball (1965)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
Paint Your Wagon (1969)
60 2013-08-24 17:38:22
Re: Cool vids...again. (1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)
o_0
Definitely watch the 'Gerrit's Tagebuch' videos as well; all the behind-the-scenes stuff shows you that the people behind this are world-class geeks (and that's a good thing, by the way). I'm pretty sure some of the stuff they've done with miniature vehicle control is as advanced as any other research in the autonomous vehicles field.
I'm so tempted to travel to Hamburg just to visit this place, and I'm sure my wife would want to come too.
61 2013-08-24 17:28:29
Re: Cool vids...again. (1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)
Your weekend vintage pen demonstration.
I must find out what the bluey-greeny ink is. I find the art deco pen design appealing, despite not being a fan of chunky pens. Apparently, the zip-like thing on the back of nib slides up and down to adjust the flexibility of the tines.
63 2013-08-20 21:33:39
Re: Cool vids...again. (1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)
Terry Gilliam's Do-It-Yourself Animation Show
64 2013-08-11 20:53:14
Re: Cloverfield (25 replies, posted in Episodes)
Teague's First Law of Character Dynamics: the dickishness of a constant observer can never be zero. (Dickishness is usually measured in microTrumps, because values approaching one Trump are incredibly difficult to replicate under laboratory conditions.)
65 2013-08-04 19:05:50
Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah? (985 replies, posted in Off Topic)
I'm also curious how they will deal with the thirteen regeneration limit previously established.
Your choice of:
b) it was a culturally imposed limit by Gallifreyan society, and that's gone
c) the tank of regenerations was topped up by River Song's sacrifice in Let's Kill Hitler
d) something else the writers will think of when the time comes
Because I don't think there is any way the BBC will say: "well, he's only allowed thirteen incarnations, and
66 2013-07-16 21:12:56
Topic: The Pixar Theory (7 replies, posted in Off Topic)
68 2013-07-13 18:14:19
Re: Doctor Who is awesome, yeah? (985 replies, posted in Off Topic)
A new maze has appeared in the UK, apparently:
69 2013-07-03 21:00:43
Re: Cool vids...again. (1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)
(Posting this because Doug Engelbart just died. Who? Well...)
Imagine living in a world where 'computing' means batch processing, teleprinters, punched cards, and computer operators running everything for you. It's 1968.
You attend this presentation, now known as The Mother of All Demos, where Doug Engelbart and his team basically demonstrate: windows, mice, pointers, graphical user interfaces, hypertext linking, dynamic document manipulation, remote networked collaboration with streaming video, collaborative document editing, and approximately everything we think of as a complex modern computing environment.
All at once.
*Mind* *blown* does not begin to cover it.
More info here.
70 2013-07-02 20:58:20
Re: Cool vids...again. (1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)
Jimmy B wrote:I just think he's a twonk.
Well, I have a new favorite insult.
Come to Glasgow, we'll give you loads.
(Disclaimer: I'm not actually in Glasgow. But I used to be.)
72 2013-06-04 22:12:06
Re: Cool vids...again. (1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)
Maybe so that, by 2013, they could create this virtual news studio that's almost indistinguishable from their physical ones?
BBC News comes from a virtual version of their real sets at 9pm UK time for an hour, apparently, and that's the start of one such news programme. Jump to 2:07 to see the real news room with a news set on the right, dissolving to the virtual set at 2:10.
73 2013-06-04 21:05:38
Re: Cool vids...again. (1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)
BBC News virtual sets, in use from 1993.
I always thought that big, floating glass crest was a classy example of audacious, in-your-face computer graphics, and the blue-and-bronze intro with the orchestral music swelling over the spinning globe (with Britain just slightly brighter than the rest of the world) before the pullback to reveal the huge BBC coat of arms is just perfect.
74 2013-06-03 22:29:01
Re: Last Action Hero (52 replies, posted in Episodes)
Looking on IMDb, I'm actually surprised at how few movies named The Last Something have had sequels.
Whereas, we're up to Final Destination 5, and the Final Fantasy video games actually have a branching series of sequels, with things like Final Fantasy X-2 being the follow-up to Final Fantasy X, but distinct from Final Fantasy XI. (Although, to be fair, 'sequel' might not be the right term to describe how successive Final Fantasy games relate to one another.)
I do wish that, following Highlander's tag line of "There can be only one", Highlander 2's had been "Oops, there's another one, apparently".
75 2013-06-03 21:17:00
Re: Last Action Hero (52 replies, posted in Episodes)
Marty J wrote:Glass Trap With A Vengeance, Live Free Or Glass Trap, A Good Day To Glass Trap... aren't those awesome?
I think the sequel to The Glass Trap would have been The Aluminum Trap. Then The Concrete Trap. Then The Digital Trap. Then The Bear Trap.
And finally, the movie where John McClane has to prevent all of LA from getting venereal disease: The Clap Trap.