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November 27, 2006
Upscale That DVD for Cheap
I'm a proponent of technology but sometimes tech moves too fast and the cost associated for a full upgrade to really enjoy HD-DVD or Blu-ray is beyond the reach of most people.
Your alternative is to go with upscaling. Upscaling, simply put, is a way to digitally increase the line resolution of DVDs to HD. The end result depends on the quality of upscaling software but when done right, it's instant HD out of your DVD movies.
The NeoDigits Helios H4000 is probably the best looking, the most affordable, and best upscaler on the market. The unit has a small footprint, quiet in operation and first reviews are outstanding. The Helios supports both NTSC and PAL at all HD resolutions and doesn't come with any region encoding so import happy people should really love it. On top of that, NeoDigits throws in HDMI and component cables with every unit all for $169.00.
If you've got an HD capable TV but not yet willing to plunk down $1000 for one of the next-gen players or waiting until there's a definite format winner, go with upscaling. Artifacts are hardly noticeable and you can continue to enjoy your current DVD collection for under $200. And yes, this would make an excellent gift.
full review over at I4U
Posted by tranism at 3:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Link's Master Sword Forged
The Master Sword, the sword that allows Link to wield unimaginable power - power to slay tyranny time and time again. Yes that sword has been forged. A Zelda fan name Paul Hantschel sent artwork and a request to renowned blacksmith Rob Miller of Scotland for help. Nearly 8 months later and $3,300, the sword was forged.
The replica is incredibly beautiful and although not the first - it certainly the most accurate. Many of the other replicas I've seen are too thin. The Master Sword is hefty, not dainty. Only a hero with great strength like Link can wield the weight.
more pictures after the jump
Lookie here for the original post. Mr. Hantschel, I envy you.
The original sketch Paul Hantschel sent to the blacksmith
The Master Sword forged.
Posted by tranism at 2:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
November 16, 2006
HP ATOOTP TP
For those of you not familiar with article shorthand, the title reads, "Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix teaser poster". YES, can you believe it? The first teaser poster for the next movie installment (5th book) sends shivers down my spine. Seeing the release date only adds to it.
I swear, I'm on the verge of organizing a mass movie night on opening day. I got my Hogwarts scarf ready and everything. Who's with me?
Posted by tranism at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Donkey Kong's and Mario's Dad Turns 54
Shigeru Miyamoto or Shiggy as he is affectionately known, celebrates his 54th birthday today. The creator of memorable characters from Donkey Kong, Mario, Legend of Zelda, Star Fox and Pikmin have quite possibly kept Nintendo going despite the mounting competition from media juggernauts.
He is unofficially credited with reviving the video gaming industry during the mid 80's and is still considered to be THE designer newer stock try and emulate. He is also the first person to be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame. He topped that honor in March of 2006 when the French government Knighted him into the prestigious Ordre des Arts ed des Lettres.
I don't often celebrate birthdays of people I don't know but this man; his creations defined some of what my childhood was. I can't even fathom what it would have been like if I didn't have Mario and friends to turn to after finishing my homework. It helped me come out of my shell by sharing my games with other kids and in turn, make new friends. And to this day, his latest creation - Pikmin leave me in awe of the gorgeous design and addictive puzzling gameplay.
Happy Birthday Shigeru Miyamoto!
Posted by tranism at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Zelda Twilight Princess Art Style
I just wanted to post this image and follow with this statement.
"Video games can and are a art. One look at the inside cover of Nintendo's Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess and one has to admit it, there is no denying that."
For the fans that have followed the series, the image above reveals much about the game. I'll just leave it at that.
more scans of the manual here
Posted by tranism at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
November 15, 2006
Sony's Cat is Online
In my eyes, Sony has two mascots (sorta). First there was Crash Bandicoot, whom I remember transfixed himself as the anti-Mario when the Playstation launched, but nowadays Crash Bandicoot is a faded memory (we miss you Jason Rubin) meanwhile Sony has transformed its Playstation brand into a monolithic technophile icon - of course, save for Toro.
Yes Toro a.k.a the Sony Cat with his trapezium shaped face and rectangular body. He made an appearance long ago (1999) but most people remember him as a launch title on the PSP (Japanese PSP only). I never thought Sony would push him beyond the borders of the East but here he is, kickin' it on Sony's Online Playstation Network.
Just like his game on the PSP, it's all dialogue and conversation with this anthropomorphized cat and this time he's not alone. He has a friend name Kuro the black cat. It's sort of a customized RSS reader that churns out Sony Playstation news several times a day in the form of a conversation between the two cats. Although I can't read Japanese, it's supposedly well scripted and quite funny.
They live in a bachelor style apartment, barren at first but you can play trivia games to win prizes like furniture and nick-nacks to decorate their apartment.
It may not be THE killer online component but it sets Sony apart in offering a clever way of disseminating news instead of the stale old date stamp followed by PR blurb.
via kotaku
Posted by tranism at 4:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
November 12, 2006
The Pony Project
My memories of My Little Pony are fragmented and strange. All I remember is a movie I owned - the ponies end up in some forest with smurf like creatures in mushroom homes; they're trying to cross a bridge when a white pony slips and falls into the chasm; an epic battle with some villain consisting of black and blue sparkles; and OH YEA, the ponies are accompanied by two blonde kids too. Anyone know what movie I'm taking about?
Anyways, I digress. Hasbro resurrected the ponies as an art exhibition at Milk Gallery in New York, where designers were asked to customize blank My Little Pony figures. It's similar to the success of the Dunny project. Each pony sold will see 50% of the proceeds go to the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps.
Plenty of the ponies are still up for grabs so check them out online.
Posted by tranism at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
This Puzzle Hurts My Brain
I first heard about the ISIS puzzle a few weeks ago and sorta dismissed it because, it's just another brain teasing puzzle. Boy was I wrong! For one, this mofo is the hardest puzzle I have EVER tried to solve. My friend brags to me he's sorta deciphered the strange glyphs but then again, IT IS HIS BALL and he's had more time with it. I'll say this, Wikipedia came in real handy in uncovering the meaning of the hieroglyphics.
Once you've correctly aligned the glyphs, the ball opens to reveal a key with a code on it. That key leads to ISIS pyramids spread throughout the UK containing real cash prizes!
Although the contest ended awhile ago, you can now order an authentic ISIS Puzzle Ball. There's a slim chance someone else can give you the correct solution to solve yours since the company has made sure to manufacture balls with millions of possible combinations.
I'm telling you - this is a great gift for that astute and intellectual friend. It's a little pricey at £99 ($185), but the ball is exquisitely made from alloy and comes in a gorgeous wooden box with a lacquer finish.
Posted by tranism at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
November 7, 2006
It's a Yes on PS3
I've been a harsh critic of Sony's hardware design for the PS3 but that doesn't negate the fact that I'll get one - about a year later.
As the North American console launches for the industry's other two players looms near, I'm getting a slew of emails from friends and readers about which console I'm getting. To answer those question simply, I'm getting a Wii first and a PS3 a year later (hopefully). That is unless Sony wants to send me one gratis - I will be more than happy to accept.
First, why no Xbox 360 for me. I think it's an awesome machine with awesome looking games and an online component second to none. My only issues with it are no HDMI and not very many games (genres) that I would play. I'm not a FPS type person nor am I into sports. That doesn't leave me with much except for Kameo and PGR. I did play Oblivion but it screams western RPG to me (call me a purist). I think the only game that has be excited for the 360 is Fable. (Yes I actually liked the first one too). When the 360 gets more RPG's, platformers and adventure games, I'll give it a second look.
The Wii is a no brainer for me. It's dirt cheap (by comparison) and has a group of games out at launch that I want. Namely Zelda and Rayman. The aspects of the controller also have me excited and since it's not an HD console, I could care less about HDMI, as long as I am able to get my Wii component cables.
Which brings me to the PS3. I've seen the games, even played some of them. It really is next generation (in terms of graphics), not to say the Xbox 360 isn't on par. It's the exciting possibilities of Linux being pre-installed on each unit, blu-ray, and curiosity of how well Sony's new unified online experience will be. The new SIXAXIS controller is pretty cool and although I was probably one of the few who understood and liked the ergonomic advantages of the concept boomerang controller, I never really had any gripes with the dual-shock design. I like that it comes with HDMI and games are true 1080p or 1080i. I have an HD TV but no HD cable so it'll be nice to see something utilize my TV's potential. The only barriers to my getting one come launch day are three-fold; price, games and availability.
PRICE: I believe Sony when they say it's a console worth $600. I mean it's got a revolutionary processor and blu-ray. Judging by the cost of current 2 core processors commanding almost $200 bucks; an 8 core Cell for $600 isn't so bad. Not to mention dedicated blu-ray players are going for $800+ so again, $600 isn't so bad. The price just sounds crazy because the average multimedia and gamer guru doesn't have that kind of disposable income. When we start to see games leverage the power of Cell and blu-ray become the new standard - it's value will become a little more apparent.
GAMES: Secondly (I swore I would never use that word), the launch games are kinda meh. The FPS, sports, bevy of violent themed, and tuner race games don't do anything for me. The games I want are next Final Fantasies, the Kingdom Hearts, the Jak & Daxters. Those types of games probably won't be here until 1 - 2 years later and I worry the new console generation will find those games playing second fiddle as the industry shifts its focus towards the cash laden. testosterone filled male gamers of North America and Europe. I just hope there's another Jason Rubin out there, tinkering away at some new platformer to fulfill my next gen needs for a Jak & Daxter.
AVAILABILITY: All I'm gonna say here is GOOD LUCK FINDING ONE! If you didn't know it already, Sony has had numerous production problems, making the PS3 somewhat of a mirage. You might find one, but find it at an inflated price; that's for damn sure.
So you see, I do like PS3. I know sooner or later I'll get one. It's just weird because this is the first time Sony won't be my first console purchase of a new generation.
Posted by tranism at 7:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
The Way a Web Styler Should Be
Okay, I'm no CSS magician. In fact, I only started learning CSS about a year ago and my grasp of it is still, meh. It's not that it's hard or anything. It's just one of those things that progressively gets easier with more practice. So when my hero CSS app got updated, I got all giddy!
CSSEdit 2 from macrabbit (the developers are actually a group of retired magic show rabbits) is hands down the best mac CSS editor in all the land. It's a total mac app. The interface adheres to Apple's user interface standards which means it's clean, simple and very easy to use.
For noobs like me, it makes writing your own CSS super easy. There's a visual editor that lets your design your layouts all without writing a single line of code. Once you see how design gets translated into code, in no time you'll be jumping in doing it by hand. It's a great way to learn and it's how I learned CSS. SCREW BOOKS!
My second new fav feature is the validation tool. CSS is a loose enough construct that in the wrong hands, won't render correctly across all browsers. That validation tool is sorta like a spell-check function that makes sure your code is up to W3C (the almighty web consortium gods) standards.
My most fav new feature is called X-ray. With it, I can view other sites and reveal exactly how their CSS is written. Ooh how sinfully delicious!
Now truth be told, I only have the first version of CSSEdit so if the people leporidaes at macrabbit read this, I would love to get my hands on this new version since mine is demo only. :)
$29.95, runs on both PPC and Intel Macs. Buy it here
Posted by tranism at 5:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
November 6, 2006
People of the Cirque
The athleticism and artistry that is Cirque du Soleil really defies what one thinks the body is capable of. After watching Adam Menzies practice, I'm in even greater awe knowing he does this day in, day out without flux. He makes it look so effortless that I'm almost convinced I could do the same.
The flips, the balancing, the twists and twirls all show incredible strength. Just remember, he is human. It's just his equilibrium and strength are near perfection.
enjoy the video
Posted by tranism at 1:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
MIT Interactive Board
Seriously tho, those guys at MIT truly are geniuses. As the Professor here demonstrates their interactive board, I can only imagine how easier physics would have been for me to grasp if I had this learning tool.
The board is actually a large projection of a desktop application. Anything the professor draws, the computer can identify and apply the correct physics to the animated machine. Basically, the drawings come to life easily translating what is static to a visceral learning experience.
watch the video here
Posted by tranism at 1:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
November 5, 2006
OS X Atmosphere Concept
Not too long ago, 25 designers were asked to submit their dream idea for a Mac only application. It could be anything as long as the idea was sound. The final designs would be voted on by the public and now we have a winner.
The winning entry comes from Cameron Westland and his dream app is called Atmosphere. But just what is Atmosphere?
It's a screensaver desktop app that updates your desktop with current weather data. Just by looking at your wallpaper, you'll be able to tell what it's like outside. The app also has a dock which gives you a 7-day forecast. It goes a step further and lets your view weather conditions in say - your destination if you're traveling. Just picture it, you wake up and turn on your laptop. You see it's a beautiful and sunny day in Los Angeles. You hop on a plane and your background changes to dynamically show time and weather conditions. When you reach Boston, even before you get off the plane, you know it's dark, muggy and even a little wet. How f*ckin cool is that?!?!
Although just a concept, I really hope Apple takes it serious and makes it into a application. There's plenty of time to get it in before Tiger's Leopard's release.
click on the images for a larger preview
Posted by tranism at 7:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
1984 Fishbowl
The genius of human industrial design often focuses more on our happiness than our animal cousins. Designer Danny Cheung opts to take that focus and shift it towards its subject, in this case - a goldfish.
They live pretty boring lives, totally exposed for our amusement. His 1984 Fishbowl is innovative in meeting the needs of the goldfish which engages our own instinctive curiosity. The domed portholes create an ethereal magnifying lens for compelling entertainment while the opaque white walls provide refuge and privacy for our friend.
The design was the star at the Australian design exhibition workshop and is now for sale. $390 buys you a piece of art and design suitable for both you and your aquatic friend.
Posted by tranism at 7:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Shiira, Princess of Web Power
Shiira is a Web Kit based (same rendering engine Safari uses) browser for Mac OS X. The latest 1.2.2 release is much faster, lighter and includes more features than Safari.
I've been using it for about a week now and it's incredibly stable. CSS and secured sites load up fast and without any glitches. It's also more open than Safari in allowing you to customize the way it looks but it's default theme is aquatastic enough as is.
Which brings me to another point, why bother with another browser when you've got Safari and Firefox already? You already know my reasons why I chose Shiira over Safari, but here's why I chose it over Firefox.
The Mozilla group have done a wonderful job in making Firefox stable and extensible. Problem is, if you haven't noticed, Firefox runs much slower on a Mac and is prone to more memory leaks than it's brethren on the PC. That's because Firefox was compiled to be OS and processor independent thereby ignoring the advance framework the Mac has to offer. There are independent groups out there who have compiled their own versions of Firefox specifically for the Mac and they are a huge improvement. In fact, I have this one installed on my Mac. It works wonderfully but even so, it brings me to my last gripe with Firefox. It doesn't feel very Mac-like, no matter what theme you slap on it. It just doesn't dig into the advance technologies lying underneath the OS.
This is where Shiira shines. It's def. a Mac app thru and thru. It has all the features modern browsers do such as RSS support, page holders, private and offline browsing. It's Universal Access support for vision and hearing impaired people are by far the best. Another feature is the ability to view all your opened tabs via Expose style. Yes Firefox offers add-ons that give you the same ability but the feature is built into the core of Shiira taking advantage of OS X's core engine. This makes viewing 100 tabs in Expose quick and a breeze in Shiira where doing the same in Firefox would inundate you with a spinning wheel before completely crashing.
Just like Firefox, Shiira has nightly builds that anyone can participate in. It's quickly developing and already, the beta 2.0 version makes all other browsers look archaic. Tabs can be viewed as thumbnails in a dock-like interface similar to OmniWeb. You can view websites in kiosk mode which takes advantage of your screen real-estate by going fullscreen. All information such as bookmarks, browsing history, page holders, etc... are handled thru HUD panels similar to Apple's approach in application design where transparent controls appear when needed. The new Shelf feature makes organizing bookmarks super easy and no longer will you have to import bookmarks. It automatically reads them from other browsers installed on your machine so if you bookmark something in Firefox, it dynamically appears in Shiira. The interface has improved further and will look right at home in Apple's next version of OS X.
I personally can't wait for Shiira 2.0 and when it does come out, you can be sure there will be an updated post on it's expanded feature set and performance.
Download the current Universal release of Shiira here
full screenshot after the jump
Posted by tranism at 5:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
November 3, 2006
Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
November 19th is so close yet so far away for me to enjoy my Nintendo Wii and the Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess game. I've been a Zelda fanboy since the original on the NES. Ocarina of Time on the N64 was by FAR the BEST ZELDA ever but Twilight Princess looks to be just as great if not EPIC. I can hardly wait and time seems to be slowing down as I write this.
Nintendo just released two new videos for Twilight Princess. The first is the opening scene and the second is a new 2 minute trailer. ENJOY!
Posted by tranism at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
November 2, 2006
Wonderbra + Men = BIG BULGES
An Australian company claims they have invented the "wonderbra" for men. The new undergarments lift and separate your eggroll and dumplings to make you look fuller, regardless of what your real size is.
So go ahead and wear that speedo. As you can see from the picture above, you can have that much and maybe more if you were blessed to begin with.
My my, what will they think of next?
Posted by tranism at 9:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Matrixachu
Oh Pikachu, what have they done to you?!? DJ Kaseoshacho's flickr set isn't for the faint-hearted Pokemon fan but for those of you who despise the collectable battle creatures, you'll probably crack a smile seeing Pika looking very Borg.
The 12 Pikachu circuit-bent orchestra finally makes those hardy "pika!" sounds musical enough to stomach.
more pics over at flickr
Posted by tranism at 9:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)