51

(1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Self-organizing jumping robot swarms. Coming to an Apocalypse near you:

52

(1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Meanwhile, on a physical stage, visual effects are happening:

53

(1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Scratch-built Wall-E

54

(49 replies, posted in Episodes)

Iron Man costume made from balloons.

55

(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

(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

(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

(34 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Indeed, but I'd rather not become another research project for my psychiatrist's students.

59

(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

(1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Squiggly_P wrote:

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

(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.

62

(1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Magic Beard

63

(1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Terry Gilliam's Do-It-Yourself Animation Show

64

(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

(985 replies, posted in Off Topic)

fireproof78 wrote:

I'm also curious how they will deal with the thirteen regeneration limit previously established.

Your choice of:

  Show
a) one of the ways The Master has busted the limit in the show
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

  Show
the High Council of Gallifrey aren't around to give him a new regeneration cycle (like they offered to The Master in The Five Doctors),
so we just have to close down production and end the show for good."

66

(7 replies, posted in Off Topic)

How all Pixar movies fit together into a single timeline.

67

(1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Parkour POV

68

(985 replies, posted in Off Topic)

A new maze has appeared in the UK, apparently:

http://i.imgur.com/vK6GoYr.jpg

69

(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

(1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Doctor Submarine wrote:
Jimmy B wrote:

I just think he's a twonk.

Well, I have a new favorite insult. big_smile

Come to Glasgow, we'll give you loads.

(Disclaimer: I'm not actually in Glasgow. But I used to be.)

71

(1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Making a mask

72

(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

(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

(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

(52 replies, posted in Episodes)

Zarban wrote:
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.