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21 May 00:04

cdza Serenades Women in Public with Live Band in ‘Wooing Women in Public’

by EDW Lynch

Mike Kelton and a live band serenade random women on the streets of New York City in “Wooing Women in Public” by experimental music video group cdza.

22 Apr 00:07

Taxi navigation

by Christopher Noessel
Requieminadream

Love this website. They critique GUIs from films and games.

FifthE-attackdetection-001

The taxi has a screen on the passenger’s side dashboard that faces the driver. This display does two things. First, it warns the driver when the taxi is about to be attacked. Secondly, it helps him navigate the complexities of New York circa 2163.

Warning system

After Korben decides to help Leeloo escape the police, they send a squadron of cop cars to apprehend them. And by apprehend I mean blow to smithereens. The moment Korben’s taxi is in sights, they don’t try to detain or disable the vehicle, but to blast it to bits with bullets and more bullets. It seems this is a common enough thing to have happen that Korben’s on-board computer can detect it in advance and provide a big, flashing, noisemaking warning to this effect.

FifthE-attackdetection-008

In many cases I object to the Big Label, but not here. In fact, for such a life-threatening issue, more of the taxi’s interface should highlight the seriousness. My life’s in danger? Go full red alert, car. Change the lights to crimson. Dim non-essential things. You’ve got an “automatic” button there. Does that include evasive maneuvering? If so, make that thing opt-out rather than opt-in. Help a brother out.

Navigation aid

At other times during the chase scene, Korben can glance at the screen to see a wireframe of the local surroundings. This interface has a lot of problems.

1. This would work much, much more safely and efficiently for Korben if it was a heads-up display on the windshield. Let’s shrink that feedback loop. Every time a driver glances down he risks a crash and in this case, Korben risks the entire world. If HUD tech isn’t a part of the diegesis, audio cues might be some small help that don’t require him to take his eyes of the “road.”

2. How does the wireframe style help? It’s future-y of course, but it adds a lot of noise to what he’s got to process. He doesn’t need to understand tesselations of surfaces. He needs to understand the shapes and velocities of things around him so he can lose the tail.

FifthE-attackdetection-006

(Exercise for the reader: Provide a solid diegetic explanation for why this screen appeared in the film flipped horizontally.)

FifthE-attackdetection-010

3. There’s some missing information. If the onboard computer can do some real-time calculations and make a recommendation on the best next step, why not do it? We see above that the police have the same information that Korben does. So even better might be information on what the tail is likely to do so Korben can do the opposite. Or maneuvers that Korben can execute that the cop car can’t. If it’s possible to show places he should definitely not go, like dead ends or right into the path, say, of a firing squad of police cars, that would be useful to know, too.

FifthE-attackdetection-002

FifthE-attackdetection-004

4. What are those icons in the lower right meant to do? They’re not suggestions as they appear after Korben performs his maneuvers, and sometimes appear along with warnings instead of maneuvers.

Even if they are suggestions, what are they directions to? His original destination? He didn’t have one. Some new destination? When did he provide it? Simple, goal-aware directions to safety? Whatever the information, these icons add a lot cognitive weight and visual work. Surely there’s some more direct way to provide cues, like being superimposed on the 3D so he can see the information rather than read and interpret it.

If they’re something else other than suggestions, they’re just noise. In a pursuit scenario, you’d want to strip that stuff out of the interface.

FifthE-attackdetection-003

5. What is that color gradient on the left meant to tell him? All the walls in this corridor are 350…what? The screen shot above hints that it represents simple height from the ground, but the 2D map has these colors as well, and height cues wouldn’t make sense there. If it is height, this information might help Korben quickly build a 3D mental map of the information he’s seeing. But using arbitrary colors forces him to remember what each color means. Better would be to use something with a natural order to it like the visible spectrum or black-body spectrum. Or, since people already have lots of experience with monocular distance cues and lighting from above, maybe a simple rendering as if the shapes were sunlit would be fastest to process. Taking advantage of any of these perceptual faculties would let him build a 3D model quickly so he can focus on what he’s going to do with the information.

Side note: Density might actually make a great deal more sense to the readout, knowing that Korben has a penchant for ramming his taxi through things. If this was the information being conveyed, varying degrees of transparency might have served him better to know what he can smash through safely, and even what to expect on the other side.

6. Having the 2D map helps a bit to understand the current level of the city from a top-down view. Having it be small in the upper right is a sound placement, since that’s a less-important subset of the information he really needs. It has some color coding but as mentioned above it doesn’t seem to relate to what’s colored in the 3D portion, which could make for an interpretation disaster. In any case, Korben shouldn’t have to read this information in the tiny map. It’s a mode, a distraction. While he’s navigating the alleys and tunnels of the city, he’s thinking in a kind of 3D node-graph. Respect that kind of thinking with a HUD that puts information on the “edges” of the graph, i.e., the holes in the surfaces around him that he’s looking at. That’s his locus of attention. That’s where he’s thinking. Augment that.

So, you know…bad

Fortunately, given that the interface has so many problems, Korben only really glances at this once during the chase, and that’s at the warning sound. But if the younger Korben was meant to use this at all, there’s a lot of work to make this useful rather than dangerous.


17 Apr 08:43

Japanese internet provider offers twice the speed of Google Fiber for less money

by Jacob Kastrenakes
Requieminadream

'merica! Fuc... err oh, Japan.

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A Japanese internet service provider has begun offering broadband plans with 2Gbps downloads and 1Gbps uploads to residents in Tokyo and six surrounding districts. The service provider believes that these high data speeds make it the world's fastest for commercial internet. PCWorld reports that the fiber internet service was launched today by the Sony-owned So-net and costs just under $51 per month, including rental of networking hardware that can accept the high speeds. However, the service requires an initial installation fee of around $537, and it must be purchased on a two-year contract.

Extremely high-speed internet is more commonplace in Japan, according to PCWorld, but So-net's offer still stands in stark juxtaposition to...

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16 Apr 13:25

First lab-grown kidney successfully implanted in a rat

by Carl Franzen
Requieminadream

The future!!!!!!

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Scientists have implanted a laboratory-grown kidney into a rat for the first time, a medical milestone that they hope will soon lead to similar solutions for human beings needing full organ transplants. "It's the first one ever that's been implanted into an animal," said Harald Ott, MD and PhD at the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Regenerative Medicine and the lead researcher behind the project, to The Verge.

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16 Apr 00:13

THOUGHTS IN THE IMMEDIATE WAKE OF THE PATRIOTS’ DAY BOMBING

by Film Crit Hulk
Requieminadream

Always incredibly articulate and well thought writings.

THOUGHTS IN THE IMMEDIATE WAKE OF THE PATRIOTS’ DAY BOMBING

From Boston native Film Crit Hulk.

16 Apr 00:11

jtotheizzoe: I’m sort of thrown off today. it’s hard to be...



jtotheizzoe:

I’m sort of thrown off today. it’s hard to be motivated to bring you science when there’s Reality going on.

When something hits us upside the head like the Boston Marathon explosions, we can feel dizzy, disoriented … left swirling in a dust-storm of rapidly beating hearts, furrowed brows, held breath and shaking heads. That’s how I feel, anyway. I’ve been sitting here, repeatedly muttering statements that begin with “What the f…” and simultaneously cheering and cursing the power of social media to communicate painful news. I keep looking through Twitter and blogs, knowing exactly what I’ll see and don’t want to. So powerful, but so unfiltered. 

It’s not the first time in the past year that this message from Fred Rogers has been appropriate, and that’s perhaps the ultimate tragedy. But he’s right. Every photo of violence and blood in the streets of Boston that we won’t unsee is full of people running in to help. And if we have to look, that’s what we should focus on.

My thoughts are with Boston. 

+1 to that.

16 Apr 00:10

Boston Marathon Explosions: How To Help

by Devin Faraci
Boston Marathon Explosions: How To Help

Don't feel helpless in the face of tragedy. Here's how to make a difference.

16 Apr 00:10

Oculus Rift, as tested by a 90-year-old grandma

by Megan Farokhmanesh

YouTube user Paul Rivot equipped his 90-year-old grandma with the Oculus Rift Tuscany demo and turned on a camera to record the results.

"Oh man, it's so real," Rivot's grandma says. After she asks if the images are actual photos from Tuscany, one of the video's other occupants explains they're 3D images made with a computer. Oculus Rift's Tuscany demo takes users through a virtual villa. You can watch the video above for almost four minutes of adorable and cliché grandma exclamations.

Earlier today, Polygon reported on a Mirror's Edge mod featuring Rift support. We had the chance to go hands-on with the Oculus Rift at GDC. You can read our impressions here, albeit with significantly less "holy mackerel."

16 Apr 00:09

"It’s somewhat embarrassing, but when the raptors bark at each other to communicate, it’s..."

“It’s somewhat embarrassing, but when the raptors bark at each other to communicate, it’s a tortoise having sex.”

- The very best factoid I have ever heard about Jurassic Park.  Lots more good ones here.
16 Apr 00:06

Discuss: Is Terrence Malick's 'To The Wonder' Another Profound Masterpiece Or A Parody Of His Worst Tendencies?

by The Playlist Staff
Requieminadream

I'll need to watch to find out.

The last movie that Roger Ebert reviewed was Terrence Malick's "To The Wonder," which seems appropriately fitting. "To the Wonder" is a movie of quiet contemplation, one where an Oscar-winning movie star like Ben Affleck is mostly found in stoic silence and conventional plot mechanics are either eschewed or completely ignored. It doesn't take on the cosmic dimension of his equally divisive "The Tree of Life," but "To the Wonder" does contemplate similarly big questions about humanity, the world and our place in it. Ebert himself seemed to wrestle with his opinion before forming a conclusion (and acknowledging its complications): "There will be many who find 'To the Wonder' elusive and...
16 Apr 00:04

Explosions during Boston Marathon leave at least 90 injured, two dead (updating)

by Adi Robertson
Requieminadream

Fuck up day :(

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Explosions at the Boston Marathon finish line have been reported widely on Twitter and captured on video, as photographers catalog a disaster whose cause is still unknown. According to the Associated Press, two explosions rocked the finish line, and Boston's Police Department initially said that 23 are injured and two dead after briefly reporting 22 injured. Later in the day, that number is rose to 64 injured and at least two dead, and it's now set at 90 injured and two dead as of 5:45pm ET. Police broadcasts indicate that law enforcement is looking for potential explosive devices. The area is being evacuated and locked down, with the victims moved from the scene; emergency teams have urged others to tell people about the evacuation....

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14 Apr 13:33

Will You Blendo? Latest Humble Weekly Is A Smasher

by Alec Meer
Requieminadream

This is such a great game. Worth paying the extra money!

Not sure we’ve posted about the Humble Weekly Sale yet. This is because all we enlightened souls on RPS all dispute the concept of ‘weeks.’ It’s an artificial tyranny imposed upon us by the secret world government in order to keep us from the independent thought that would allow us to realise there are in fact 417 days in a year. The world leaders spend these hidden 52 days at a giant orgy the rest of us aren’t even aware of, let alone invited to, because we’re too busy working, paying the taxes which fund that immense, secret international flesh-fest. It makes me so angry! Thus, I’m sickened that the Humble Bundle guys feel they can make light of the insidious concept of ‘weeks’, that they can appropriate this tool of ultimate opporession for a pay-what-you-want bundle of awesome indie games. This week – OH GOD THEY MADE ME SAY IT – it’s the turn of the incomparable Blendo Games. Atom Zombie Smasher, Flotilla, 30 Flights and Loving and more are yours for a low, low, customisable price.
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14 Apr 13:32

Parents Of Driver Killed While Texting Publish His Interrupted Final Message

by Joe
Copyranter is calling this "more powerful than the usual violent, bloody images created by big fancy ad agencies."
The police report says Heit, a Northern Colorado student, drifted into oncoming traffic, jerked the steering wheel and went off the road, rolling his car. Witnesses told police that Heit appeared to have his head down when he began drifting into the oncoming lane in the outskirts of Greeley, where the University of Northern Colorado is located. An oncoming driver slowed and moved over just before Heit looked up and jerked the steering wheel. Police said Heit had a spotless driving record and wasn't speeding. Heit died shortly after the crash, but his parents released the photo of his last text hoping it will stop future accidents. "In a split second you could ruin your future, injure or kill others, and tear a hole in the heart of everyone who loves you," Sharon Heit, Alexander's mother, said.
14 Apr 13:25

Not Even Once

Not Even Once

Lol by: Unknown (via Tumblr)

Tagged: Not Even Once , cat nip Share on Facebook
14 Apr 13:24

Photo



12 Apr 21:33

Warner Bros. Hires 'The Walking Dead' Producer/Writer Glen Mazzara To Pen 'The Shining' Prequel

by Kevin Jagernauth
Requieminadream

Hey Hollywood! QUIT IT!

In case the news yesterday that the extreme sports remake of "Point Break" was going ahead didn't remind you, nothing is sacred in Hollywood. And that means even Stanley Kubrick's iconic horror masterpiece "The Shining" needs to be franchised, because it can. Warner Bros. has no problem making the movie the centerpiece of whatever they're planning, and right now that means: prequel! The news of this plan first cropped up last summer and we hoped like many ideas in Hollywood, it would just end up in development hell, forever being tossed around by idealistic young executives looking to get ahead, but never actually going anywhere. Sadly, it is moving forward as the studio has hired...
12 Apr 05:53

I’m all for it



I’m all for it

11 Apr 20:26

The Place Beyond the Pines - Featurette

Requieminadream

Great film! Saw it last weekend and it floored me!

  The Place Beyond the Pines - Featurette
The Place Beyond the Pines is the new movie from the director of Blue Valentine. Luke (Ryan Gosling) is a motorcycle performer. While passing through Schenectady, NY, he learns that a former lover, Romina (Eva Mendes), has given birth to their son Jason. Luke decides to give up life on the road to try and provide for his newfound family. His employer Robin (Ben Mendelsohn) proposes to partner in a string of bank robberies – which will place Luke on the radar of ambitious rookie cop Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper). Avery, who has to navigate a police department ruled by corrupt detective Deluca (Ray Liotta), is also struggling to balance life with his wife Jennifer (Rose Byrne) and their infant son AJ. The consequences of Avery's confrontation with Luke reverberate into the next generation, when the two sons, Jason (Dane DeHaan) and AJ (Emory Cohen), must face their fateful, shared legacy.
Directed by:
Starring:
04 Apr 20:30

(I am working a morning shift at a cafe. We are serving breakfast. A little boy and his mother enter the cafe.)

Requieminadream

LOVE IT.

(I am working a morning shift at a cafe. We are serving breakfast. A little boy and his mother enter the cafe.)

Me: “So, what will it be?”

Child: “I WISH TO DEVOUR THE UNBORN.”

(There is a sudden silence and everyone turns to look. The mother looks very embarrassed.)

Mother: “Eggs… he would like some eggs…”
29 Mar 00:12

TurboTax maker lobbies to stop the government from making your returns easier

by Sam Byford
Requieminadream

Fucked up

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In several European countries, filing tax returns is a near-automatic process: instead of painstakingly calculating figures yourself, the government estimates what you owe based on wage and bank account data that it already collects, and you make any necessary adjustments. Why isn't there a similar "returns-free filing" system in the US? According to a report in ProPublica, the primary culprit could be Intuit, the maker of popular returns software TurboTax.

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29 Mar 00:11

[glnito]





[glnito]

27 Mar 04:53

The new season of 'Game of Thrones' is a slow burn of dragon fire

by Bryan Bishop
Requieminadream

Winter is coming...

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HBO's hit series Game of Thrones likes to take its time. From the very beginning, the series has excelled at the slow burn: methodically pitting one character against another, layering betrayal atop betrayal, and finishing each of its two seasons in shocking fashion. Of course, there's also a healthy mix of blood, sex, and dragon fire along the way. If the premiere episode of the program's third season is any indication, it isn't straying too far from that successful combination — and according to the minds behind the show, some of the most satisfying payoffs yet are in store.

Last night HBO and AllThingsD hosted a screening of the episode, followed by a Q&A with author George R.R. Martin as well as executive producers D.B. Weiss and...

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23 Mar 20:14

Photo

Requieminadream

I love this.





















22 Mar 15:12

Lauded indie film 'Upstream Color' only came about after the death of a science fiction epic

by Jacob Kastrenakes
Requieminadream

My most anticipated movie of the year.

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Shane Carruth's sophomore film Upstream Color debuted at this January's Sundance Film Festival to great reviews. Despite Carruth's success with Primer — his brainy sci-fi debut — making a second film was no easy task: Carruth effectively disappeared from the filmmaking scene for eight years as he struggled to finance a sprawling, two-part science fiction epic. The director ultimately stepped away from the project to make something more manageable, and to make it the way that he knew best, by keeping the production small and self-financed. Wired spent time with Carruth and describes the events that led to Upstream Color's release.

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21 Mar 23:31

March 21, 2013


Wow. Tickets are selling a bit faster than expected! If you want to make sure you get in, please buy online.
21 Mar 23:16

HBO cancels 'Enlightened'

Requieminadream

So disappointing. Really underrated show.

HitFix's Alan Sepinwall writes about HBO's decision to cancel "Enlightened," the Mike White-created series starring Laura Dern as an anti-corporate crusader.http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching
21 Mar 08:50

Watch: New Trailer For Danny Boyle's 'Trance' Goes Inside The Mind

by Kevin Jagernauth
Requieminadream

This looks insane!

The reviews are starting to hit and you'll have our verdict soon enough, but for those of you who just can't wait for Danny Boyle's brain-tripping thriller "Trance," a brand new trailer has arrived in all its glitchy glory. You know the basics: it's a heist gone wrong, with James McAvoy as the auction house worker who holds the key to the location of a valuable painting he helped steal. The problem? He can't remember a damn thing. So Vincent Cassel calls in Rosario Dawson, and the rest? We'll you just have to watch. And as this latest look at the film suggests, Boyle is in full throttle mode, with the trademark stylized editing, and electro powered score by Underworld's Rick Smith pumping...
21 Mar 08:41

Good News: We’re Getting THE WORLD’S END Earlier

by Devin Faraci
Requieminadream

Huzzah!

Good News: We’re Getting THE WORLD’S END Earlier

Edgar Wright's next movie moves up two months to August!

21 Mar 00:28

'Fez' on iOS "Highly Probable" Says Polytron's Phil Fish

by Jared Nelson
Requieminadream

That'll be the best day ever... this year.

Yesterday, Fez designer Phil Fish took to Reddit for an "Ask Me Anything" question-and-answer session where he just about confirmed that his popular Polytron's critically acclaimed Xbox Live puzzle platformer would be heading to iOS, as reported by Joystiq.

Back in December, Fish posted on the Polytron blog that he intended to make Fez available on more platforms. While not naming iOS specifically, many people (including ourselves) felt that the perspective-switching dynamic that Fez is built around would be a perfect fit for the touchscreen. During the Reddit AMA, Fish noted that an iOS version is "highly probable."

In addition to an iOS version, Polytron hopes to get Fez on as many other platforms as possible. A Mac and Ouya version are a sure thing, a Linux version remains a possibility, and they're working with Sony on possible Vita and PSN releases. Fez will also be coming to Steam on PC May 1st.

Fez is a very unique and challenging game, and I've always wanted to hunker down with an iPad to play it. Hopefully that dream will come true after all, and once we have some more concrete details on iOS Fez we'll be sure to let you know.

[Joystiq]

20 Mar 20:05

Amazon in talks with record labels about subscription music service

by Greg Sandoval
Requieminadream

The area is really heating up. Everyone wants a piece of it. I'm still convinced Apple will be the only group that actually nets artists real money.

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Subscription music services have yet to profit but that hasn't stopped some of the internet's biggest media distributors from jumping into the business. Amazon, the web's biggest retailer, is the latest to inquire with various music companies about starting a subscription service, multiple sources have told The Verge.

Details are few and the talks have been described as very informal, the sources said. But so far, what Amazon has shown an interest in is an on-demand service that sounds pretty similar to Spotify, generally considered the sector leader. Others in the field include Rdio and Rhapsody, but Google and Apple are also working on their own projects. Google is reportedly in talks with record companies and music publishers about...

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