monkeys, computers, ukuleles, robots, games. What's not to like?

06 Apr 09 Robots playing Game Theme Tunes

What a combo!!

First up we have a CNC Machine playing ‘Still Alive’ from Portal…

Huge Success!!

And here is a Laser Cutter playing the Theme to Super Mario Bros

lazzor music! from hypatia on Vimeo.

Love it

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30 Mar 09 First Person Shooters good for the eyes

Interesting article on livescience.com about how playing PC FPS can improve the eyes ability to perceive ‘fine contrast differences’ in tests. This is the ability discern slight differences in shades of gray, or contrast sensitivity, and could make the difference between seeing the car in front of you or not seeing it, if driving at dusk or in fog.

In the new study, her team tested the contrast sensitivity function of 22 students, then divided them into two groups: One group played the action video games “Unreal Tournament 2004″ and “Call of Duty 2.” The other played “The Sims 2,” which is richly visual, but does not require as much visual-motor coordination…

..Those who played the action games showed an average 43 percent improvement in their ability to discern close shades of gray — close to the difference Bavelier had previously observed between game players and non-game players — whereas the Sims players showed no improvement.

Yay, another positive sideeffect of gaming!

link: http://www.livescience.com/health/090329-game-vision.html

Tags: Computers, Games, science

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25 Mar 09 Is this the future of gaming?

OnLive is a new video games on demand service that may just change the way you play PC games. The brainchild of Rearden Studios founder Steve Perlman, formerly of Atari, Apple, WebTV and more, and Mike McGarvey, formerly of Eidos, the technology looks to revolutionize the way computer games are brought home. Instead of spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on the latest video game hardware that will make games like Crysis playable at nearly maxed settings, let OnLive’s servers handle the processing. All that’s required is a low cost “micro console” or a low end PC and a broadband internet connection.

They claim to have got round the issue of lag and if this is the case, (and this is a BIG IF) it could end the console wars once and for all!

I am excited!

via Kotaku

Tags: Computers, Games, Onlive

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26 Jan 09 PacMan arse tattoo

er.. i cant think of any other way to describe it!

Tags: arse, pacman, tattoo

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18 Jan 09 Toys in the attic

Quite literally!!

We were having our loft insulated during the week, but because life is never straight forward, we actually have two lofts, and two hatches/man-hole covers (what ever the correct term is!)
The men successfully laid the insulation in the main loft, but when they came to do the other space they found that it was “full of old comics and magazines” – So, like a good home owner it was my job was to clear them out this weekend.

The previous bloke who owned the house was a bit of an odd-bod by all accounts, so I was secretly hoping it was going to be full of antique “Gentlemans Quaterlys” But unfortunately this wasnt to be. Amongst all the rubbish and dust (lots of horrible black dust) were piles and piles of old childrens comics from the 70′s, and not the good ones either. They were all ‘Whizzer’ and “Whizzer & Chips” from between 1973-1975. A quick look on the interweb showed that they werent really worth anything (about 70p each) and they were so flithy (and not in the way i was hoping) that i decided i would just bin them.

But then, as i was approaching the end, i found this BEAUTY…

Its an ‘Invader from Space’ game – Yay! It was produced by Grandstand in 1980 and was one of the first tabletop electronic space invaders game ever released. (and pre-dates the much cooler Astro Wars)
It was thick with dust when i brought it down, but after a good clean and new set of batteries, it looks and works fine. Looking on ebay they seem to change hands for between £15 and £25, but as i wasnt allowed one at the time, theres no way im going to part with it now

Tags: Computers, Games, grandstand, Invaders from space

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16 Jan 09 This was a triumph

Ok, so its not really a triumph, but I FINALLY got round to playing Portal over xmas. I have previously been mocked for not playing it until recently, and Im actually rather embarrassed to even bring up the subject.
My justification is that I already owned Half Life 2 & episodes I & II, so there didn’t seem much point in splashing out £30 on the ‘Orange Box’ (Also, I wasn’t that arsed about Team Fortress)
I downloaded a copy Portal:Still Alive from Xbox Live marketplace, which is the original game PLUS 14 additional challenge maps, and special hard versions of the original game maps. So actually, I have played MORE Portal than the rest of you (you know who you are!)

Why am I even mentioning this? Well, I stumbled across this video the other day, and thought it was great.

http://vimeo.com/1612411?pg=embed&sec=1612411

The track features at the end of the game as the credits roll, and was written by Jonathan Coulton – but then you would have to live under a rock not to know that!

Tags: , Computers, Games, JoCo, Jonathan Coulton, Portal

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