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September 2003
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Entries
September 07, 2003
Who is Alex Schure?
A couple of time I have seen an odd quote, attributed to one Alex Schure:
Our vision is to speed up time, eventually eliminating it.
It turns out Mr. Schure is an interesting fellow. He founded the Computer Graphic Laboratory at the New York Institute of Technology in 1974. Much of the basic technology used in CGI today was developed by the group as they worked on an CGI animated film called The Works.
According to Brief History of the New York Institute of Technology Computer Graphics Lab, the group's accomplishments included:
- First RGB graphics cards
- First RGB paint program
- Invention of alpha channel graphics
- Invention of mipmapping
It is incredible to think that I lived in a time when there were only three computers with RGB graphics cards in the whole world.
The meaning of life revisited
Okay, we all know that the answer to the question "what is the meaning of life?" is 42. But ... why the number 42? Remember folks, a macro is not a variable.
Perhaps more to the point -- what is yellow and dangerous?
September 08, 2003
Underwolf?
Did Sony steal the idea for Underworld from White Wolf?
Yes, there is a lawsuit about it. As usual Penny Arcade has said all there can be said about this issue — and more.
Sigh ... the damn RPG industry — is about the cannibalization of myths and stories into new forms. To have WW crying about intellectual piracy over werewolves and vampires is like Disney complaining that other companies are using animation. Okay, okay, the analogy isn't 100 percent accurate ... but the lawsuit is still dumb.
That said, if Underworld starts talking about Tremere and stuff, maybe I will change my tune. But so far from the website and trailers it just looks like standard gothic horror, with an emphasis on Goth. So is WW claiming Goth as their IP?
September 18, 2003
Isabell
Well, its just after lunch in Goldsboro and I'm stuck at work after a backup took too long to complete and I decided not to drive home in the wind and rain. So I'm just listening to my iPod and reading more than a few web sites. Yes, we've still got power — I did shut down most of the servers after the backup just to be safe.
Right now the wind and rain isn't too bad, but we do have a few hours more of this.
More space stuff
I was looking for information about the ill-fated Galileo space probe and found a NASA solar system simulator. An interesting way to see the layout of our solar system, now or in the past or future.
The Internet is tired today
The general mood of the Internet (or, rather, Internet users) can now be calculated.
It is interesting seeing sites like this, sites that might have been big DotCom ventures just a few years ago now bee-bopping happily along in obscurity.
Get the goat!
I think I might have mentioned this before ... but what the heck. The folks at Xiph are the parents of Moaning Goat Meter &mdash "the ultimate sixty-ton cast iron lawn ornament for the desktops of today's hacker set."
The basic idea is a computer performance monitor that itself uses enough RAM to affect the computer's performance and is way too baroque for actual performance monitoring. I'm thinking of installing this on the tiny little Sun IPX (harp) just for the heck of it...
Fine journalism
Fine journalism -- but watch the drink recipes.
The folks at Pigdog have an interesting anarchist/libertarian reporting style, but their drink recipes are a little over the top.
September 24, 2003
Kawaii Cuthulu?
So ... what if H.P. Lovecraft had been Japanese? Thanks to Joy at Confessions of a G33k for the link, although she was certainly not pointing to that particular page.
Underworld mini review
First off — Underworld, the movie, is nothing like White Wolf's World of Darkness game setting. The back story is totally different, there is less overt magic (none?) and nothing like WW's Vampire clan structure is even hinted at. Even the capabilities of the two groups of monsters are different.
Second, the story is more interesting and complicated than I had expected, and I was pleased with that. The movie isn't just "Romeo and Juliett for Goths" and both Vampires and Werewolves are reinvented, in a way somewhat similar to the Blade movies. Neither side is as powerful or as weak as they are often portrayed in movies and books.
Third, the story wasn't told on the screen as well as I'd hoped. Some of the violence seemed too stylish, there were some voiceover and flashback bits that seemed a little clumsy, some things were over-explained (to me). The ending seemed a bit re-writeish and begging for "Underworld II."
That said, it is a good movie and worth seeing.