My published work

Sites Unseen's new site

2006-02-15T08:59:00.000+06:00

Sites Unseen has been moved to http://www.SitesUnseen.wordpress.com

Please visit that site for this and future Sites Unseen(s).

Thank you!

Sites Unseen

2005-12-29T09:42:00.000+06:00

PC applications that every gamer should have
doiop.com/mustPlay
Joystiq.com did an excellent feature all about software and resources that will help you improve your PC gaming experience. Check the heat it out. Although a lot of the stuff in the list are for multiplayer gaming only, there are also a couple of software that will surely be very useful for normal PC gaming.

FRAPS
fraps.com
From the list mentioned above, I give you FRAPS! There are three main things that this versatile application can do. As the guys over Joystiq.com puts it: “it can display the framerate of pretty much every DirectX and OpenGL game out there. It also features an excellent screen capture feature that’s light years ahead of Window’s awful “print screen” function. It’ll automatically create a jpeg on your desktop - that’s named and time-stamped. Finally, its best feature: real-time video capture! FRAPS is the application to use if you have machinima (movies or comics created using gameplay video or screenshots) aspirations.”

Powers of Ten
doiop.com/powers10
The “Powers of Ten” explores the relative size of things from the microscopic to the cosmic. The 1977 film travels from an aerial view of a man in a Chicago park to the outer limits of the universe directly above him and back down into the microscopic world contained in the man's hand. Originally made for the Chicago Museum of science and industry. Awesome.

Amazing pictures of coffee
doiop.com/latteArt
Who knew coffee could be used for art. Amazing stuff.

Grand Theft Lego
doiop.com/LegoGTA
The most ingenious use of stop motion animation ever. Check out what happens when Grand Theft Auto meets LEGO. Awesome video.

2005 SCUBA Photo Contest Winners
doiop.com/scubaPhotos
Some very cool photos...Macros, Wide-angles, Wrecks, and a bunch more. I especially like the huge Stingray (2nd place wide-angle), the eel (or whatever it is) with a fish in its mouth, and the 3rd place wide-angle shot. There sure are some bizarre creatures underwater!

The worst movies of the year
doiop.com/shittyMovies
Rottentomatoes.com put together a list of the worst movies that came out this year. Doom is on the list, you know.

Meteor Impact Craters
http://doiop.com/EarthCraters
Some of these craters in the Earth are massive, and many people don't even realize they're there.

Huge collection of old propaganda
doiop.com/OldPropoganda
This website has over 200 propaganda posters from the 20th century. Remember, "If you are giving it up, you are going steady with Hitler!"

Silent-Bob
silent-bob.de/en/
This free program named Silent-Bob records all incoming audio through the soundcard so that if you suddenly decide you want to record something; Silent-Bob is two steps ahead of you. It has already started the recording 2 minutes earlier. Neat. But it could slow down your PC a bit win when it is running.

List of free file hosts
doiop.com/freehost
Need some please place to post host some of your clients files? Check out these free file hosts. Big list, maybe 70 entries with details like max filesize, registration, bandwidth limits, space limits, file restrictions etc.

EvilLyrics
evillabs.sk/evillyrics
EvilLyrics is a free lyrics fetching program designed for use with most popular music players (iTunes, Winamp, WMP, etc.). In addition to displaying lyrics of the song currently playing (which it handles very well), the program also has a cool karaoke mode that highlights lyrics line-by-line. And if karaoke isn't available for your song, it's easy to create your own karaoke timings. The karaoke mode works well, and in all it's a nice addition to your digital music experience. It's not the slickest interface available, but it does the job very well. 600 KB, and needs to go online to search for the lyrics.

You can also log on to my site BDcomics.blogspot.com if you’re into downloading comics, or check out my (rather good) photography at flickr.com/photos/niloy/. You can contact me for whatever reasons at niloy.me@gmail.com or leave a comment in the blog.

Sites Unseen

2005-12-08T09:33:00.000+06:00

Man attempts to photograph the whole planet
doiop.com/EarthNight
This is an awesome high-res (2400x1200) composite photo of the earth at night, showing all the cities illuminated. Very cool. Link points to a big jpg file. Use a download accelerator.

Optical Illusions
scientificpsychic.com/graphics
This site over here has some of the craziest optical illusions ever conceived. After this, head over to illusionsetc.blogspot.com, which is a blog dedicated to optical illusions. Cool stuff. More at doiop.com/illusions2

Coolest USB gadget ever!
doiop.com/USBdarts
USB Darts that you can control the aim and firing mechanism from your computer mouse when hooked to your standard USB port. Is this the coolest gadget ever or what? Too bad it missed the USB gadgets article. (If you liked the article, you might want to check out everythingusb.com, which is a blog about – you guessed it – USB gadgets and peripherals.

SoundTransmit
soundtransit.nl
This collaborative centre dedicated to field recording and phonography features a huge collection of far-out sounds. Clicking around the catalogue at random, you can find percussive chants from a Hindu ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, lively strumming from street buskers in Berlin, some deeply unsettling bomb concussions from the invasion of Baghdad. With the transit map, you can sample sounds by geography, and there's even a nifty travel feature that encourages you to book "sonic journeys" from one country to another. So tune in and turn on.

Fly through the clouds in your browser
doiop.com/FlySky
Just a must see! It’s beautiful. You can control the speed and angle of the fly.

What if Fox News had been around Through History?
doiop.com/Foxy
An interesting look at how the 'fair and balanced' folks at Fox news may have represented a few historical details a little differently... worth a look and. Hilarious? Scary? Find out for yourself.

What Was The Most Expensive Internet Domain Name?
doiop.com/ExpensiveDomain
It was finally sold at $7.5 million. Any guesses? Check it out.

Ctrl+Alt+Del: The animated series
cad-animation.com
This is big news for the fans of the popular web comic. Ctrl+Alt+Del is getting its own animated series. A trailer is available in it’s official site at cad-animation.com/QT_medium.php. The first episode will debut in February. But it will cost $2.99 per 4-5 minute episode, so that he can pay the professional animation studio and voice actors who make this happen. The comics will continue as normal. Don’t know about Ctrl+Alt+Del? You’re missing out. Check out cad-comic.com

Top 10 Bush Quotes
doiop.com/Bushisms
These are the 10 most curious things said by President Bush. (Some are pretty funny). Least you forget about his heightened state of intelligence… More at doiop.com/MrBush

Gallery of Bizarre Street Signs
swanksigns.org
A Gallery of hilarious, odd, and bizarre street signs from around the world. Classics such as "Don't Pet the Elephants", "Horrible Torture Device", and "Iceberg of Doom". Also doubles as a great source of forum avatars.

That’s it for this week. You can also log on to my site BDcomics.blogspot.com if you’re into downloading some comics, or check out my photography at flickr.com/photos/niloy/.

The two links below were not supposed to appear in the article. Unfortunately, I forgot to delete them. Notice those long links? Doesn't that make you say "How the hell am I supposed to visit that?" That's why all the links in Sites Unseen are shortened. Anyway, these two aren't really worth visiting.

Webpage that Solves Calculus Problems for You.
Are you stuck in the middle of calculus homework? Are you deeply worried about your graded homework for your calculus class? Here's an easy to way to check answer & solve calculus problems. (Both Differentiation and Integration!)

Beyond the Petabyte
http://guymal.com/techCorner/powers.shtml
Cool site detailing all the byte sizes from one bit through the yottabyte.

USB gadgets

2005-12-01T10:13:00.000+06:00

USB gadgets, you ask? Well, these are little gadgets that you plug into the USB ports of your PC/Laptop. Not your average mice/keyboards or printers. I’m talking pencil sharpeners, heating gloves, air fresheners…read on to be convinced that the world is going totally bonkers.

A glowing snowman
Yeah, that’s right. You can buy little plastic snowmen that glow, in 4 different colours, when you plug them into USB ports. Perfect for the coming winter, eh? Too bad you can’t buy it over here. (I’m going to say that a hundred more times, so that the pain sets in.) Costs $11.

Pencil Sharpener
The iSharpener is a USB-powered pencil sharpener, which in itself is either a clever satire on the rampant USB-ification of otherwise non-computer-related goods or it’s just, well, dumb. The iSharpener features an automatic pencil-sharpening action coupled with flashing LED lights, to enhance your pencil-sharpening experience and to emphasise that sharpening pencils is crazyfunawesome.

Humidifier
The USB Humidifier will quietly generate moist air to increase the humidity level in your immediate surroundings. Fill with just a little bit of filtered water, connect to USB and you are all set. Perfect for… I dunno. Go figure. Costs $39.

(mini) Christmas Tree
“Celebrate the holiday season in top geek style with a USB powered Xmas tree. Put one on your desk and another on your monitor and let the glowing LEDs shine bright. Simply plug into any USB port and the LEDs will cycle through 6 colours.” Costs $12.

(mini) Aquarium
What on earth would you do with an aquarium on your desktop? And a fake aquarium at that! But wait, it comes with two “swimming fish with hinged tails and life-like motion”. USB powered to produce a water current and light up some LEDs. Costs $20.

Microscope
This computer microscope allows you to turn the ordinary “into the extraordinary for hours of fun and learning.” Yeah, that’s right, you can now view specimens collected around the house, your desk, your shoe or the fridge. You can even break open a processor and look inside how the thing works. This microscope will provide you an easy way to zoom in (upto 200x) on a wide variety of objects to satisfy your curiosity of the world around you. Ever wondered what lint looks like or the mold growing on your week-old bagels? Now you can find out. Costs $80 and comes with all the tweezers and slides you can think of.

Speaker/Hud combo
Now this is cute and practical, for the most part. The Cubite USB-erific Speaker/Hud Combo is a petite USB powered speaker system that also has an USB hub integrated into one tiny package. This may be a little underpowered for you desktop owners, but it could fit nicely along any laptop. Costs $44.

(mini) Lava lamp
It’s a lava lamp! It’ll help you relax, whether it's an all night gaming marathon or just a typical afternoon staring at websites. Just plug it into your USB port for power and this little desktop ambiance generator will do the rest. Filled with clear "lava" and a bunch of glitter flakes, this light creates something resembling a disco ball effect on your desk and walls. Neat! Costs $10. I wish I could get one of these here!

Flexlight
A light? Yup. But it has a flexible neck that stays where you put it! Perfect for the times you’re using the computer with the lights off as it gently illuminates your notebook keyboard without disturbing others. Sweet! (I wish…) Costs $16.

Fan
Fan? Yeah, right. Need a little fresh air? This fan will “convert a USB port into a steady source of cool air.” Costs $11.

Shaver
The iShaver is a men’s shaver that charges through the USB port. Thankfully, once it is charged up you can use it independently from the computer, so all of you who envisaged standing at your bathroom mirror whilst your laptop dangles from your chin; can breathe a sigh of relief.

Mouse Pad
A USB mouse pad is kind of stretching things. I mean it has be a certain thickness and the idea that you have to plug in your mouse pad to use it kind of breaks the definition of pad, which, as we all know, is an object that sits lifelessly on another surface to… well, I don’t know what ‘pad’ really means and I don’t want to check. Anyway, this is a USB mouse pad with four ports and fancy lights around the edge. No pricing available.

TV Tuners
Now this is cool. By just plugging in that tiny thing into your USB port, you can turn your PC/Laptop into a TV in an instant. It can even record live TV. But that comes at a price: at $200, it’s too expensive, I say. And who would want to spend that much so that they can watch BTV? (This doesn’t have a port for your cable connection.) Two companies have these: TerraTec and MobiX at the same price.

Battery Charger
There must be a bazillion USB gadgets by now, and somehow they never get old. Add to the ever-growing list this new EverFast USB Stick Battery Charger. It charges NiMH batteries, which are a decent eco-friendly alternative to those alkalines you are despoiling the earth with. The charger is available in AA and AAA versions, as well as single, double, and quadruple slot variations. This sounds pretty cool, especially handy for travel. But unfortunately, these are not for sale.

Heating Gloves
These are cool-looking cameo gloves that plug into your USB port—ideal for a laptop, but our towers will work just fine I’m sure—and the excess heat begins warming your hands a few minutes later. Perfect for the coming winter. Only available in Japan.

Air Freshener
Next time you’re gaming and someone just used the room’s attached toilet, at least try to cover up the smell. Save your word document and plug in this sucker: The USB Aroma Generator from Thanko. Choose one out of three different scents for you to suck in through your nostrils and control it via your PC. We all know this has to be worth every penny if it’s taking up a whole USB port right? No word yet on what scents it comes with until you buy it… oooh mysterious. Will it be old socks or eau de poo? I can’t wait. $69.00 if you stink a lot and need something like this.

Mini HDD - So Shiny!
This is a mini hard drive that comes in 2, 4, or 6 gigabytes capacities. The nice thing is that it is fairly cheap for an item of its calibre. It is fully powered by USB, spins at 4200rpms and come in at $99 for 2GB. Best of all, this thing is shiny.

Flash Memory + Wireless Mouse
Arvel Corporations will be releasing a new groundbreaking product. They managed to take the two most overcrowded gadget categories and combine them into a sick twist deformed bstard gadget child. It is a combination wireless mouse and USB flash memory. The receiver acts as both the USB flash drive and also the receiver for the wireless mouse. Cool stuff.

All right! Now what do you get here in Dhaka? USB Mice. USB Keyboards. USB Memory Card readers. BORING!

But seriously, what else did you expect? Anyway, if you want to know anything more or want to report something cool you’ve found here, direct your emails to niloy.me@gmail.com

[ I later found this site dedicated to everything USB, http://www.everythingusb.com/. Wish I found it earlier, as it would have made the reaseach for this article very easy... Anyway, if you're interested in the USB-fication of the gadgets and all, you may want to keep an eye on that site.]

Sites Unseen

2005-11-24T09:17:00.000+06:00

The greatest gaming console for the next six months (I sincerely hope that I’ll be proven wrong about this) has been released. You’d expect the excitement about something like this would be tremendous… but that’s not the case. So far the reaction is: “eh? It’s okay.” "Good, but not great," says CNN at doiop.com/CNN360. "Don't buy the Xbox," The New York Post at doiop.com/360NYpost.

Want an Xbox 360? Wait a year.
doiop.com/WaitFor360
"Each new console forces game designers to relearn their craft. It takes about a year before they've figured out how to get the most out of a new machine. Remember last year's Halo 2? By the time it hit the shelves, the Xbox was three years old and technically archaic." An interesting article from Boston.com explaining to the gamers why buying a 360 now is not much of a good idea. Most of his reasons are understandable, really: the games are not next-gen enough, but they’ll be so in a year when the devs get to KNOW the system and the prices will drop. Significantly.

Screenshots of Xbox 360 Games!
doiop.com/360screenshots
High quality screenshots of games including Perfect Dark Zero, Full Auto, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Dead or Alive 4, Project Gotham Racing 3, Ghost Recon 3, and Quake 4.

Rejected Xbox 360 Designs
doiop.com/360design
So that waffle maker design was real? It’s nice to see how Microsoft has experimented for its console.

Dreamcast 2.0?
doiop.com/dreamcast2
Is the Xbox 360 the second coming of the Sega Dreamcast? 1up.com lists 23 parallels between the consoles that spell doom, and 10 reasons why the 360 could succeed where the Dreamcast failed.

Journey of an Xbox 360
tinyurl.com/7m52l
The Xbox 360 goes through a lengthy process from the factory to in your hands at Wal-Mart. As the Wall Street Journal says: “It takes a global train of component suppliers, factories and distributors to turn 1,700 different parts into an Xbox 360” Damn! That’s a lot. So what’s the deal with the 360? What happens to it when it’s finished being assembled and is “ready” to go? Read on if you’re interested.

Perfect Dark Zero heroine in FHM
http://doiop.com/PDZgirl
“How is Microsoft going to get you to buy the Xbox 360? Bill Gates will hack your brain. If that fails, the backup plan is Joanna Dark."

The Best Geek Novels - Top 20
doiop.com/BestGeekNovels
The Hitch Hicker’s Guide to the Galaxy right on top! (So you know that it’s a good list) How many of these have you read?

They’re made out of meat!
terrybisson.com/meat.html
A great short story by Terry Bission.

Google Base officially launched
base.google.com
Google just officially launched a new service that crawls services. According to it’s about page, “Google Base is a place where you can easily submit all types of online and offline content that we'll host and make searchable online.” Nice, isn’t it? Check it out.

“The best games in History”
doiop.com/bestgames
Nothing unusual about lists of the Top 10 or Top 100 games, but J.J. McCullough has collected lists from several sources -- Gamefaqs, IGN, Edge, CVG etc -- and picked out the handful of games that appear on most lists. These are:
1 Tetris (appears on 15 out of the 19 lists)
2 Super Mario 64 (14 out of 19)
3 (tie) Street Fighter II (10 out of 19), Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (10 out of 19) and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (10 out of 19)

Big win for Nintendo, yes? Otherwise, the PC appears to be the top gaming platform, with 19 games, while the good old SNES (11 titles) hammers the PlayStation 2 (2 titles). Of course, that's partly a function of using lists that go back to 1996.

Where is Grand Theft Auto? I think makers of these list needs to actually judge games when making these lists. The average 2005 game is way better then most of the stuff the 90’s got to offer.

Real Time 3D Physics Simulator App
ambromley.co.uk/fizz.html
This is a fun real-time 3d physics simulator created by James Bromley. You can adjust gravity, pan, rotate, and play with atoms and rods. Try it out!

The Solar System... according to scale
doiop.com/SmallWorld
Take a look at this and then wonder if we really do matter all that much in the grand scheme of things.

That’s it for this week. You can also log on to my site flickr.com/photos/niloy/. You can contact me for whatever reasons at niloy.me@gmail.com

Sites Unseen

2005-11-17T09:23:00.000+06:00

I’m starting new sections in Sites Unseen. In one of them, I’ll feature some of the (good) requests you send me. And in the other one, I’ll let you choose which game I’ll review/feature next. The reason? I just think it would be cool. Skip to the bottom if you’re interested.

Maddox hates Idaho
[doiop.com/IdahoBlows]
Maddox hates the US state of Idaho and wants to have it given back to Britain. Certainly not one of Maddox’s “awesome kick ass storeys”, but like all of Maddox’s articles it’s still a good read.

Google Never Lies
This one doesn’t have a link. It’s just a fun little thing to check out. Go to Google.com, type “miserable failure” in the search box and click on the “I’m feeling lucky” button. Look where it takes you! Also try “incompetent” and “failure”.

We aren't as good as we think we are!
[doiop.com/notGood]
No, it’s not about us RS folks finally realising the shocking truth. It’s about the whole humanity in general. Check it out, it’s an interesting read. Thanks to Rajiv for pointing me to this link.

Le Chupacabra’s Blog
[le-chupacabra.blogspot.com]
Eminent RS writer, game reviewer and anime critic Le Chupacabra has now graced the web with his new blog titled “The Lunacies of Le Chupacabra.” Okay now, jokes aside, Le Chupacabra is really a great writer and I’d say he’s a much better writer than me (although that’s not much of a praise, me being merely mediocre). Anyway, Chupacabra’s blog is actually a blog, plus a place for putting up all his articles and his own commentary on them. It’s a nice read and if you like his writing, you should check it out.

World Processor
[worldprocessor.com/catalog/world/]
Check out the world in several hundred different ways.

Game: Ringmania
[doiop.com/Ringmania]
In Ringmania, the object of the game is to clear the play field of all rings by connecting three or more rings of the same colour to make them "explode." The game includes an impressive physics implementation, as the rings have a simulated magnetized state that causes them to stick to other rings and objects. Use the left and right arrow keys to rotate the wheel, press space to temporarily increase the speed at which the rings fall. The centre of the wheel previews the next two rings that will fall. Look for the small arrow along the edge of the rim to know from where the next ring will fall. The game is over when any of the rings touches the outer rim, which closes-in gradually as time passes within each level. Click.

A very cool illusion
[doiop.com/MovingDots]
Ok, this is really an illusion, and a cool one at that. I promise nothing will jump out and attempt to scare you. Not even an iguana.

Dear God…
[doiop.com/DearGod]
Funny REAL letters sent to God by little boys and girls. All of them in one big 288 kb jpg file.

New: Requests section
What is this, you say? A section? Probably you didn’t even notice it properly. For those who did, and wondering what this is, it’s going to be a section in Sites Unseen where I’ll answer to the requests you readers send to me. So continue sending in your requests, and as long they aren’t stupid and rn’t typed liek dis, it’ll have a strong chance of being featured here. Also, don’t ask for pirated stuff either. That’s illegal.

What game should I review next?
Now that I’m thinking of reviewing games again, I thought it would be cool to let you readers decide what games you get read reviews about. Well, unless you prefer to just go Gamespot or IGN and read the reviews from there. Anyway, choose from these and let me know.
1. Age of Empires 3
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
3. Civilization 4
4. GTA: Liberty City Stories (This one is for the PSP and as I don’t have one I won’t be able to review it. It’d be more like a feature, focusing on what’s in the game and what the gamers around the world think about the game. Basically, it’ll be: “Look. Here’s what we’re missing.”)

That’s it for this week. You can also log on to my site BDcomics.blogspot.com if you’re into comics, or check out my photography at flickr.com/photos/niloy/. You can contact me for whatever reasons at niloy.me@gmail.com

Sites Unseen

2005-10-27T09:49:00.000+06:00

This one is one of my photography.

Einstien Light
[doiop.com/einsteinLight]
Einstein's Theory of Relativity, the most famous idea that so few understands, is now completely explained in five one-minute films. Well, not really. The University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia advises that it'll take some more effort on your part to grasp the whole thing, but they certainly help get the ball rolling (or the watch ticking). Get this -- the speed of light from a uniformly moving source is always the same, regardless of how fast it's moving.

Opera 9 “preview”
[Snapshot.opera.com]
It looks like going free hasn't hurt Opera Software's ability to innovate. The company has just rolled out the first "technology preview" (an alpha version) of Opera 9.0, which includes a raft of new features (basically better page rendering). You might want to check it out, but I find the current 8.5 version just fine. Use Opera along with your primary browser (Mozilla Firefox from GetFirefox.com) and you’d get a superb browsing experience. And if you’re still using the ancient Internet Explorer, switch to something useable. Seriously! flock.com/developer/]
This new browsers are not for the casual net users. This one is for the folks who really use the internet. I’m talking about blogging, sharing photos in flickr.com, or using del.icio.us and such: the real Web 2.0. For the readers who don’t have a clue about Web 2.0, it’s a new way of browsing in which websites are a lot more interactive. A rough way to describe it is by saying it is “social browsing”: you’re interacting with all the visitors of the site and their content instead of the content the webmaster put up there. I guess I’d have to write about it to tell you more. Anyway, for the power-users of the net who has blogs and sites and all, Flock is a new browser that has built-in blogging, posting, sharing and tagging tools… as well as better support for most of the (new) Web 2.0 applications. Check out this alpha version, this one looks promising.

App: Double Killer
[doiop.com/doublekiller]
This little free application lets you easily find and delete the duplicate files that you often have all over your harddisk. The program lets you define various characteristics of files to be considered dupes, such as size and creation date — useful if you have, say, several files called notes.txt that aren't dupes. Once running, it makes quick work of scanning your drive and offers one-click deletion (or moving, if your cautious) of dupes.

Game: Puki: The Swarm
[gskinner.com/games/puki/]
This one is a first-person Flash game in which you walk down an endless corridor and get attacked by cute but vicious Pukis. But it's really quite a lot more fun than it sounds. There's surprising depth to the gameplay and the graphics are great, if a bit low-contrast. Check it out.

Desktop mod: FlyakiteOSX
[osx.portraitofakite.com]
FlyakiteOSX is a “transformation pack”. Essentially, it will take your Windows XP computer, and make it look and feel (almost) exactly like Mac OSX. It really has to be experienced to be understood. And the site for FlyakiteOSX is out of this world – the site itself feels like OSX.

Game: Gravity
[doiop.com/GravityGame]
There are a lot of games (and, for that matter, screensavers) which feature cosmic bodies going 'round eachother, propelled by simulated gravity. Gravity is such a game, but with very creative gameplay. The object this Flash game is to launch your "atom" in the field of "gravity sources" and set it into orbit. If its orbit outlasts the timer, i.e. if the atom doesn't crash into anything before the timer runs out, you pass the level, and the longer your atom keeps going, the more points you get. Everything on the randomly-generated field of play attracts everything else, which makes for endless variation (and frustration).

That’s it for this week. You can also log on to flickr.com/photos/niloy/ to check out my photography..

Sites Unseen

2005-10-20T14:48:00.000+06:00

An Image Bank for Everyday Revolutionary Life
[doiop.com/eflux]
From the 1930s to the early 1970s, the Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros hoarded souvenir postcards, tore pages out of old National Geographics, and collected the work of some of the century's great photojournalists. From ancient figurines and brassiere billboards to the Triple Crown–winning racehorse Citation and a "man with traditional attire," little escaped Siqueiros's gaze or interest. Eventually, he amassed a stockpile that exceeded 11,000 images and embodied much of the struggle, the dynamism, and the beauty of the 20th century. Siqueiros organized his compilation into 14 topics, among them people and historical figures, misery, workers and industry, and "religious stamp." This extraordinary collection currently finds a home in Mexico City, but thanks to the work of e-flux, we can now view much of it online.

Manga Explains Nasa Mission
Anime fans working with NASA? Apparently, yes. Some planetary scientists made a manga to explain a NASA mission, complete with spandex-clad, big-eyed lead character and robotic dogs. You can also download the manga in colour or black/white PDF files from [doiop.com/cindi]. If you sit through the talk about dogs, it's actually pretty interesting.

Mod: Animated Desktops
If you’ve got a relatively modern machine, you might like this mod. From [deans3D.com], you can find some animated desktops that make your desktop appear to be moving. You can get an ocean view, heat waves, storm clouds and more. It really has to be seen to be understood. Each desktop modification comes with a handy Windows installer, so it can be uninstalled easily using Add/Remove programs if you decide not to keep it. Just keep in mind that each one uses its own installer, so you’ll find it in your Add/Remove list under the individual desktop’s name. You know, just in case you decide to move on to some other mod at some point.

Cubeoban
[doiop.com/cubeoban]
Cubeoban is a great Flash puzzle game in which you have to scoot the blocks around to rest on the dots of the same color. It's tricky, though, because once you set a block in motion it keeps going until it hits another block or a wall. As with all puzzle games, the levels start out simple and rapidly get more difficult.

AV Voice Changer
[doiop.com/audiofun]
You know how they always use those creepy-sounding voice changers in the movies when the villain is making a ransom call? You can make your voice sound just as creepy, or as many other ways as you can think of, just with the click of a button. AV Voice Changer can take the sound on a microphone channel and modify it sufficiently so that the voice is not recognizable anymore, but the words still are. It has a number of other features, like the ability to record any audio that plays on your computer, and even adjust your voice to more closely imitate someone else's, by analyzing both voices and determining the differences.

Game: Heli Attack 3
[doiop.com/heliattack]
Heli Attack 3 is a great arcade survival shooter. It’s prequel, Heli Attack 2, was Miniclip's best game of 2003, so you know it’s good. And this time the developers added a lot to that, new movements, weapons and enemies. Web browser games don't get much better than this, and these guys prove that you really can develop serious games in Flash.

That’s it for this week. You can log on to my site BDcomics.blogspot.com if you’re into comics, or check out my photography at flickr.com/photos/niloy/. You can contact me at niloy.me@gmail.com

Sites Unseen

2005-10-06T09:49:00.000+06:00

I feel like I owe you guys another explanation of what this doiop thing is and why almost all the links “are from doiop.com.” Well, it’s simple. Doiop.com is a free service that lets you shorten the often incredibly long URLs (the links, duh!) into something shorter and more sharable. For example, the actual link to the site showing all the creepy photoshopped manga-like pictures is [http://www.worth1000.com/cache/contest/contestcache.asp?contest_id=7470&display=photoshop]. That’s way too big and quite unusable here in Sites Unseen: would you like type all that just to visit that site? But typing out [doiop.com/RealityManga] would be acceptable for most surfers. In fact, you don’t even have to type anything. You can just head over to [niloywrites.blogspot.com] and you’ll find that all these links are stashed there your surfing convenience. And that site exists for that purpose only, it’s not my blog. Thank you.

Low Gravity and Super Slow Motion Videos
[doiop.com/SlowMo]
“Since the amazing helicopter scene in The Matrix, I have been searching for super slow motion videos depicting everyday events. Dr. David G. Alciatore has compiled a collection of over 180 super slow motion video clips to satisfy anyone with a super slow motion obsession.” I saw a video over there in which a cube of jell-o bouncing off the floor- it flattens completely like a liquid, and then magically regains its cube form. Cool stuff.

Best MSPAINT EVAR!
[doiop.com/BestPaint]
The name says it all- a large graffiti mural sort of work done all with the limited graphics program MS Paint, which seems to bemoan the current state of Rage Against the Machine, Futurama, Che Guevara, and how that clown from McDonald’s still isn’t dead.

Now that’s what I call art!
[doiop.com/PinkBunny]
An enormous pink bunny has been erected on an Italian mountainside where it will stay for the next 20 years.

Hello World!
Kempa.com has a nice write-up at [doiop.com/kempa] on the crazy interactive comics of Jason Shiga [shigabooks.com], who won the Eisner Award for talent most deserving of wider recognition. There’s even a video showing one of Jason’s interactive comics “in action”.

Royal de Luxe Parade in Nantes
[doiop.com/nantes]
A pretty amazing gallery of photos of a parade in France in which.. well, a giant Bjork puppet fights a giant elephant puppet to see who gets to eat thousands of hotel concierges and women in wooden swimsuits. The French, am I right? Frickn’ wacky. Actually, it was a celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days.

Fudge Factoy
[doiop.com/fudge]
You’ll find awesome cartoons, comic strips over here.

Reality Manga
[doiop.com/RealityManga]
Photoshop Thundedrome Worth1000.com gives everyone the big eye with their contest to see who can anime up a celebrity the freakiest. These guys goes on great lengths to point out exactly why the particular art style is so creepy.

The Box Doodle Project
[neu-e.de]
The Box Doodle Project invites you to turn those boring old cardboard boxes into wacky characters, robots, and monsters. There are 5 galleries so far, and each entry is fantastic.

Bob Peak
[bobpeak.com]
In an age where movie posters are just a bunch of Photoshopped floating heads, it’s hard to believe that films were once treated with such gorgeous and lush artwork. Bob Peak’s inimitable style proves he was a master of a dead artform that we can only pray one day gets resurrected.

Your dumb
[doiop.com/YourDumb]
UC Berkeley Professor of Economics Carlo M. Cipolla and illustrator James Donnelly team up (well, teamed- this is from 1987) to offer a somewhat windy but funny theory on why life tends to suck. Originally from the Whole Earth Review.

Every Cover of Mad Magazine, ever
[doiop.com/MadCovers]
You likely either find this immensely thrilling or completely pointless; I can’t imagine there’s a middle ground here. I’m a fan, I can’t help myself.

That’s it for this week. You can log on to my site BDcomics.blogspot.com if you’re into comics, or check out my photography at flickr.com/photos/niloy/.

Sites Unseen

2005-09-15T08:46:00.000+06:00

Sorry for the not being regular recently, folks. It’s just that I tried getting up from the computer for a while and having a life. But I guess this life thingy just doesn’t suit me. Anyway, those who are interested in comics might want to keep an eye on my other site BDcomics.blogspot.com. It’s growing and now it gets an impressive amount of 250 visitors a day.

MODIS Rapid Response System:
Satellite Image Gallery
[doiop.com/rapidfire]
Care to see the world the way our alien overlords do? Google Earth is great, but I've fallen in love with the MODIS Rapid Response System. These ultra high resolution satellite images of dust storms in Iraq, phytoplankton blooms in the Barents Sea, and even a school fire in Washington are breathtaking and make excellent desktop wallpapers and screensaver images. The gallery goes back as far as 2001, which means there are plenty of awesome images to be dug up. I've collected almost 30 spectacular views for wallpaper already. Check out some of these: Hurricane Katrina over Florida [doiop.com/KatrinaFL], Phytoplankton bloom in the Barents Sea [doiop.com/WeirdSeaThingy], School Fire in Washington [doiop.com/BurnTheKids] and Ship tracks off the western US [doiop.com/ShipTracks]

Flickr: Explore
[flickr.com/explore/]
Flickr junkies rejoice! Everybody's favourite new photo sharing site unveils a super cool feature: Interestingness. In other words, Flickr now ranks their photos by coolness. So instead of trolling through five thousand tagged photos (e.g. "New York"), you get only the primo stuff. Just gaze in awe at the most interesting photos submitted over the past 24 hours: [doiop.com/Flickr24]

Check out the Generation E magazine
[generation-e.info]
This is quite an interesting online magazine for the teens in Dhaka. I’ve reviewed it and probably the review is in this very issue of RS. Still it’s worth another mention. And if you don’t see the review, then go on and check this out. The magazine is a 3 Mb PDF file.

Must download:
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Audiobooks
[doiop.com/BDcomicsHitchhicker]
This is awesome stuff. It’s so good that I’d ask you to download them even if you use a sluggish 3 kbps dial-up (like me). Not really the traditional audiobook: it’s more like an audio-movie. It’s 140 MB in total, and will give you 6 hours of greatness.

AJ Screensaver:
14 Ways to Display the Time
[doiop.com/AJsaver]
The AJ Screensaver is for those of us that are obsessed with the time. It offers 14 separate ways to display the time, including some pretty funky ones. My favourite is the handwritten digital clock, and the timeline clock, but there are many others to suit your tastes. To get an idea of what this package of screensavers offers, check out the download page where demos of the Flash clocks are running.

Collection of Prank Software
[doiop.com/Prankware]
This site is for the mischievous folks. Website Random Good Stuff has put together a collection of links to download software for the purpose of pulling pranks on people and annoying them. From programs that make it appear that files and software are being removed from the system, to ones that make it impossible to click on the Start button, and even one that will make a computer randomly burp, almost everything you could imagine to annoy the heck out of someone is here.

Age of Empires 3 demo
[doiop.com/AOE3download]
Microsoft has finally released the demo of the upcoming sequel to the Age of Empires series. You’ll need a decent graphics card if you want to turn the settings up and if you’ve got an ‘Ol Shitty PC' (as the developers, like this [doiop.com/OldShittyPC] one talking about the game, so eloquently put it), then either get a new GPU or don’t worry about not seeing individual bricks flying over your head when you blow up the last house in a village. Oh, and check out Penny-Arcade.com’s take on the game: [doiop.com/HomeCity].

Never post your picture in the internet
[doiop.com/LookWeird]
Especially if you look weird in photos. Here’s why.

GTA: Liberty City Stories Site, Trailer Live
[doiop.com/GTA_LCS]
Rockstar has replaced the Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories teaser site with a full-fledged website, offering information, screenshots and the first trailer of what’s soon going to be the only PSP game worth playing. The trailer runs a bit over a minute and features in-game footage, mostly (funny) dialog; the site is also home to the first online screenshots for the game. [from BDgamer.net]

The photo with this Sites Unseen is taken by Thomas Hawk, [doiop.com/ThomasHawk], and has been used under the following Creative Commons licence: [doiop.com/CreativeCommons].

Sites Unseen

2005-08-25T10:41:00.000+06:00

The picture with this Sites Unseen is one of my photography.

Drivey - More Than A Sim, Not Yet A Game
[drivey.com]
Drivey is a game that isn't really a game yet. The developer is posting his demo versions as the software progresses, and although there are no game elements like scoring or racing, there is something that captures your interest about this driving simulator. It has an ambiance, a real feel to it, and it's fun in a sort of trance-like way to watch the car continue around the looping track and make it speed up, slow down and veer around. It's a tiny Windows download, and runs directly from the executable.

Ten Most Kickass FPS Weapons Ever
[doiop.com/FPSguns]
Games.Net has a whole list of top ten feature stories. Some of the more interesting include Ten Hugely Over-Rated Games, The Coolest Modern Video-Game Characters and Games to Play When You’re Stoned. I really liked the Most Kickass FPS Guns Ever list. The thing most impressive about this particular list is its inclusion of such a wide variety of games. Top ten weapons include the Voodoo Doll form Blood and Blood 2, the Shrink-Ray from Duke Nukem 3D and the Pistol from Halo (I’m playing this right now game, but it really doesn’t feel that special).

How did they leave off the arsenal from Unreal Tournament, and you can’t talk FPS weapons without at least mentioning the Deagle (Desert Eagle). Boom, headshot! [From Kotaku.com]

Second Person Shooter
[doiop.com/SPS]
Some people just have too much time on their hands. Julian Oliver, not content with the normalcy of first-person shooters, has decided to create a second-person shooter. The way his current idea works is that you see things through the eyes of your enemy and vice-versa. To play, and kill one another, you and your victim have to remain in eye and gunshot of one another.

Master Chief Reveals his Identity
[doiop.com/MChief]
This is just wrong. No wonder he wears a mask. [Also from Kotaku.com]

Comic Strip Generator
[doiop.com/trafficJam]
The whole comic strip generator thing isn’t new, but this one features a very slick Flash interface, stylish heavy black vector style line art, and plenty of options. It produces some pretty impressive output, and there is a gallery. So far, “Traffic Jam” by Vidra is my favourite.

Wallpapers by VladStudio
[vladstudio.com/home]
Some days you really just want to change things up. If you want to have a desktop background that will have people asking you where it came from, give the collection of desktop wallpapers from VladStudio a try. Beautiful "Low quality" (1024 x 768) images are available for free.

Space Worms game
[doiop.com/SpaceWorms]
This is simple game in which little dots chase you. These dots do a lot of calculations chasing you, so although that makes the game fun, it also becomes quite difficult. And after each level, they add another dot to increase the difficulty. I got stuff in level 4.

Jerk-o-Meter
[doiop.com/JerkMeter]
Those crazy kids over at Massachusetts Institute of Technology are taking a really odd idea and putting it into action. They are developing a Jerk-o-Meter to determine how engaged a person is in a phone call. The program analyzes variable such as speech patterns and voice tones and rates the person on a percentage scale. To be honest determining if someone is engaged in a conversation is pretty easy. Rather than develop this project, why not just ask the person on the other end of the phone if they are listening. If they say yes, then they are listening. If they say no followed by curses of some sort, then they generally aren’t. MIT should hire me.

Great CG Ads
[doiop.com/MilkAds]
These great CG ads with dinasours, cave men and, well, milk cans. Not really historically accurate, but nice to watch. The downloadable ads are 10-20 mb quicktime videos.

QuickTrailers
Movie trailers are fun to watch. But downloading them is a bit tricky. Apple’s official site has a huge library of trailers at [apple.com/trailers], but searching through that site and finding the direct download link for the trailers would be tricky for inexperienced users. [Quicktrailers.tk], a site by Amer Habib, comes handy here. This is a site in which you can get a lot of download links to movie trailers, all in one page. Neat!

Create your own Bush speech...
[doiop.com/BushSpeaks]
It’s a George W Bush Sound-Board, a pretty good one, featuring the most “intellectually challenging” of George Bush’s quips. Notable quotes are “of of of of”, “I think I I I”, “rally the threat of terror” and “9/11 was so unbelievably good!”

Published in the Rising Stars of the Daily Star on August 25, 2005

Oddly Enough

2005-08-25T10:30:00.000+06:00

Canadian newspapers expected to be a lot more fun to read as Canadian reporters can now use the F-word

Not too long ago, it was the word that provoked horrified parents to wash their children's mouths out with soap. But the vulgarity that falls somewhere between "fuchsia" and "fuddle" in the dictionary has persevered to earn a grudging public acceptance.

Editors are pondering how - or whether - to include the expletive. "We found the word was creeping into our news stories on a fairly regular basis, probably because people are saying it more and more in public, and various media pick it up on their microphones and recorders," said an editor.

The addition to Caps of what might well be the English language's best-known curse word would have been unnecessary 20 years ago because it just didn't appear in print that often. Now it's routinely listed in dictionaries and in movies that aren't rated R and can be heard regularly in acclaimed TV shows like The Sopranos and Six Feet Under. It's used to convey annoyance, despair, anger, incredulity and lust. It's a verb, a noun, an adjective, an adverb - even verbal punctuation.

"It's much more socially acceptable than it used to be," says another editor-in-chief. "I hear children using it a lot. I hear them walking down the street saying it, and I mean young children who are only nine or 10 years old. Maybe children that age have always been running around yelling it, but I don't think so. Somewhere along the line it has lost some of its power, but that doesn't mean that it's not still offensive to certain portions of the population."

"Daily journalism is very quick to reflect the way people use language, especially when it comes to slang. There was a time when the expression 'sucks' would have been considered vulgar; now you see it everywhere," she said.

Language is an ever-evolving beast. Today's vulgarities may very likely be tomorrow's toothless expressions of frustration. [cnews.canoe.ca]

Japanese brewery making non-alcoholic beer for children, because “Even kids cannot stand life unless they have a drink"

The Japanese company behind Kidsbeer, a non-alcoholic beverage that looks like the real thing, is apparently shipping 75,000 bottles of the stuff a month. From The Japan Times: Satoshi Tomoda, president of the beverage maker, said: "Children copy and mimic adults. If you get this drink ready on such occasions as events and celebrations attended by kids, it would make the occasions even more entertaining.”

The Kidsbeer label captures a nostalgic mood as it was modeled after classic beer labels.

"Even kids cannot stand life unless they have a drink," reads the product's advertising slogan. [boingboing.net]

South African drivers most aggressively incompetent in the world. Article writer clearly has never visited Dhaka.

South African drivers are the worst road rage offenders in the world, an international survey has found.

Some 67% of South African motorists reported aggressive behaviour directed at them in the past year - more than in any of the 10 countries surveyed.

Eleven per cent were at the receiving end of threatening behaviour, with the aggressor getting out of his vehicle, ready for a fight, the report said.

South Africa's road rage is set to worsen as car numbers rise, it says. South Africans have always had a reputation for being poor drivers, who see their cars as an extension of their egos. But the survey makes it official.

South African motorists proved more fiery than their counterparts in Brazil, France, Greece, India, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, the UK and the US. The cost of this poor behaviour contributes to a staggering toll in crashes: 36 deaths a day, and a bill of more $5bn a year. [news.bbc.co.uk]

Published in the Rising Stars of the Daily Star on August 25, 2005

Oddly Enough

2005-08-17T10:25:00.000+06:00

Oddly Enough

Tired of the police department running a deficit, city lowers speed limits

The US city of Coopertown’s 2005-06 budgets will see almost a million dollar increase in revenue from last year due to community development and increased ticketing by police officers. A large portion of the revenue will come from the Coopertown Police Department, said Mayor Danny Crosby.

For example, during the fiscal year 2003-04, the police department had appropriated funds of $125,123, which were entirely spent, but revenue in the form of court fines only totalled $17,689 leaving a total of $107,434 as a burden for the taxpayers.

“In response, Coopertown lowered speed limits and began enforcing them creating a big jump in revenue,” said Crosby. “A big jump happens with good management. We are trying to get the citizens to feel safer on our roads and have a police force that not only creates money for the city, but adds safety to the roadways.”

Court fines brought in by Coopertown police during July through Dec only totalled $10,172.25. From Jan to June court fine revenue jumped to $152,324. “Our police department will no longer cost the citizens of Coopertown. It will be self-sufficient from now on,” said Crosby. [rctimes.com]

"Mentally ill people had occasionally broken into the park and been eaten in the past, he said, but it was highly unusual"

A man was eaten by lions after running past guards into the Kruger National Park at dusk just as the gates were closing. Park spokesman said guards and rangers searched for the unidentified man in the dark after he ran into the park on, but failed to find him. He was found after dawn on Friday as the lions feasted on his corpse.

"We have no idea why he ran in," the spokesman said. "We suspect the man was mentally deranged. No one in their right mind would run into the bush at Kruger at night. It's far too dangerous."

Kruger National Park is home to between 4,500 and 5,000 lions spread across an area roughly the size of Belgium. Rangers shot one lion -- an elderly male -- as he devoured the body and were looking for a female lion, he said. “Mentally ill people had occasionally broken into the park and been eaten in the past,” he said, “but it was highly unusual.” [alertnet.org]

Morgan Stanley gives CEO two–year contract for $16 million a year, with option to quit at any time and collect it all. CEO promptly quits three days later, $32 million for no work

Leading economic indicators: In June, Co-President Stephen S. Crawford of the financial giant Morgan Stanley (who was installed in the job in order to ensure management ''stability'' during the company's currently shaky status with investors) signed a two-year contract at $16 million a year which allowed him, if he changed his mind, to resign and promptly collect all $32 million. A few days later, he resigned. The ''stability'' was needed at faltering Morgan Stanley because long-time CEO Philip J. Purcell had just been eased out, but his contract called for $113 million in unemployment pay. [sltrib.com]

Texas man decides to break up loud party by stabbing everyone. Plan goes awry when partygoers turn the knife on him
San Antonio city police said four people were stabbed during a street fight.One victim, a 16-year-old boy, was critically wounded in the incident, according to police. Three other victims -- a 30-year-old man, a 16-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl -- were also being treated for stab wounds at a Hospital.

Details were sketchy, but police said the fight began when a 27-year-old man tried to break up a loud house party, but was attacked by several partygoers. Witnesses told police the man went home to get a knife and then returned to the party, where they said he started stabbing anyone he could reach. According to police, partygoers took the knife away from the man and began stabbing him. Police were trying to determine who should be charged in the incident. [news.yahoo.com]

Published in the Rising Stars on August 11, 2005

Sites Unseen

2005-08-11T08:26:00.000+06:00

The photo with this Sites Unseen is taken by Orin.

MSN Messenger 7.5 BETA
[msnmessenger7.net]
A new BETA version of the rather good MSN messenger has been leaked and is now available for download. This version makes the experience even better and smoother, has a new look and added a few nifty features. For example, you can now record and send little “voice clips” to the person you’re chatting with.

BDcomics has got new stuff
[BDcomics.blogspot.com]
Although it seems like a bit of shameless self promotion, I recommend you BDcomics again as a lot new stuff is in the site that you’d rather not miss. Especially cool are the links to complete collection of Tintin and Asterix comics and a lot of Batman stuff. Keep an eye on the site if you’re into comics.

Office Guns
[officeguns.com]
Office Guns will teach you how to make the coolest of weapons out of seemingly innocent everyday stationary.

Art: Banksy
[banksy.co.uk]
First he turned back alleys into galleries. Then he hacked the MoMA and the Met. Meet Banksy, the most wanted man in the art world! Read more about this guy from this great article from Wired News, [doiop.com/BanksyW]. Then check out his neat website.

Art: Banksy at the West Bank Barrier
[doiop.com/BanksyG]
The Guardian offers up a recap and a selection of images from Banksy’s recent art done to the West Bank barrier wall Israel is errecting aginat the Palestine.

Art: Tyrants from afar
[doiop.com/tyrants]
“Geweldenaren Van Ver - a small short, trailer-style aiming at totally blowing away the audience and clear up the common misunderstanding - once and for all - that smaller studios in Holland indeed have enough experience and expertise to fulfill the task of doing realistic animated 3D.” Okay Holland, we get it, you kick ass. The video is 38 MB.

Game: Guess-the-google
[doiop.com/guessGoogle]
Guess-the-google is simple web app that uses Google's image search to generate a large gridded montage of images based on different keywords. Then it asks you to guess what keyword made up the image - it's surprisingly addictive.

Game site: Arcade Bin
[arcadecabin.com]
Fade_as_snowflake pointed to this awesome site full of cool flash games. I gotta thank him for this. This site has a lot of my old favourites and some new ones, and quite a few of these I saved for future Sites Unseens. Check out Snowboard, Storm the House, Helicopter among others.

Loud art
[doiop.com/LoudArt]
Shouty (and the best) Internet sensation Maddox is hard at work penning a … well, a screed or something, and evidently it requires a few purdy pitchers to flesh things out, so a call for illustrators was bellowed forth from his site a week ago. The results are pretty great. Should be a funny manifesto.

Stuff on their cats
[stuffonmycat.com]
This is a site for people who like to regularly embarrass their cats. They do it by putting all kind of stuff on their felines and taking a picture of their awkward, embarrassed faces.

Balls
[doiop.com/superballs]
Filkr user Sem caught a legion of super bouncy balls blasted into the streets of San Francisco from an air cannon for a commercial shootout. The resulting Flikr photoset has what are easily one of my favourite images to come out of the Filkr community so far.

Art: Infinite Flickr video
Check out this trippy recursive video [doiop.com/inVideo] that knits together images from Flickr's Infinite Flickr group [doiop.com/infiniteF]. The group pool contains shots of people looking at photos on Flickr of other people looking at photos on Flickr, looking at... well, you get the idea. Just peep the video for a nice brain tickle.

The Adventures of Art Lad
[artlad.blogspot.com]
Here’s something you didn’t go when you were six year old: make art and blog about it. The six year old Art Lad is genuine in his abilities as an artist, and keeps a blog chronicling his output. Right, anyway, Art Lad’s site is waist-deep in the joy of creation, and the kid is good, check out the T. Rex head.

Sites Unseen

2005-08-04T10:54:00.000+06:00

POVCOMP 2004: Hall of Fame
[povcomp.com/hof/]
An often mind-boggling collection of digital images created with The Persistence of Vision Raytracer program. Images which have never felt the sting of actual film or light occasionally seem like real life traditional photographs… that is when the artists can be bothered to depict real life; the fantasy images are a whole story unto themselves.

Edward Burtynsky
[edwardburtynsky.com]
Photographs of Edward Burtynsky showcases breathtakingly beautiful landscapes of quarries or fire-orange rivers stained with nickel tailings. He calls his eerie, painterly images "reflecting pools of our times," and much of his work explores how industry transforms nature. The 16 collections featured in the site demonstrate Burtynsky's fascination with cut rock, recycling yards, and the oil and shipping industries. His "Three Gorges" collection presents desolate images from China, where 11 cities were recently destroyed in a six-month period to make way for a massive dam and reservoir. In Burtynsky's photos, beauty could very well be the mother of death.

Solipsistic.org
Solipsistic.org: a fantastic multimedia art site which, to steal a popular phrase, is “so Goth it shits bats.” The site seems not intentionally Goth however, not in the Hot Topic [hottopic.com] sense of “Goth”, Solipsistic is more like Grant Wood’s American Gothic painting, it comes by its dark tone featuring work with a squint-eyed look at the absurdity of human beings.

Xbox 360 Hands On
[doiop.com/on360]
Jason Dunn of Digital Media News and Views got some hands-on time with the Xbox 360 during a recent Windows Vista. He has some interesting X360 tidbits to share: In some countries the console will come with a smallish remote for DVD playback, navigation and power. The graphics for Ghost Recon 3 are “jaw dropping.” The Xbox 360 sports a 20GB hard drive.

Go check out the full article for all of Dunn’s impressions and more details about Media Center connectivity with the next-gen console.

Doom Movie Trailer
[doiop.com/DoomMovie]
I hate to say it, because I know I’m going to be so very disappointed, but Doom the movie is looking pretty damn good. Check out the trailer and prepare to watch what is probably the best minute and fifteen seconds of the movie. 6.7 MB

Gamespot’s been reviewing plastic sheets
[doiop.com/bitsOplastic]
Gamespot did something few dared to attempt: they reviewed little pieces of plastic. Someone cuts a piece of plastic into a square, says its a cellphone screen protector, and tries to get people to review it. I mean more power to you if you’re going to sell a piece of plastic, but what are they going to say? It’s clear? It’s sticky? Anyway, here is a round-up of PSP screen protectors… a round-up of plastic sheets.

Wicked Double-screen LCDs
[doiop.com/dualLCD]
Sharp is developing these cool LCDs monitors that has displays on both front and the back. Cool stuff.

New cool tiny cars
[doiop.com/tinycars]
There are some impressive tiny cars on display in this site. The cars probably aren’t real, but are pure eyecandy.

Some really beautiful sand sculptures
[doiop.com/sand]
I really feel sad about san sculptures. They take up so much effort to create and ends up looking so good, but doesn’t last long. Anyway, check these out. Eyecandy.

Google Globe Trotting
[googleglobetrotting.com]
Collection of Google Maps pictures. People explore the earth with Google Maps and post interesting pictures in this site. Definitely worth visiting.

Show me the DQ
[show-me-dq.com]
“DQ Issue 3” is a (still ongoing) collection of extremely cool sketches done with ballpoint by a range of artists bound into a Flash approximation of a paper notebook. Flip through and be deeply impressed— one sketch is more impressive than the next.

Fifty-word fictions
[fiftywordfiction.blogspot.com]
In blog style, the site publishes short (and we mean short) stories on everything from romantic heartbreak to familial revenge to more interesting topics. One such story: Falling had always been his biggest fear, but now that he was fifty stories up and rapidly dropping, it didn’t seem so bad. ‘I wonder if I turned the oven off?’ was his last thought and as it turns out, he hadn’t. He would have been glad to know this. (The End)

Sites Unseen

2005-07-28T09:16:00.000+06:00

The Gurdian’s contest of rewriting bits of HBP
[doiop.com/guardian]
In the HBP, a very important character dies. Now I won’t be telling you who that character is… although most of you would have finished the book already. For those who have read the book, check out this site for some good laughs.

The Guardian ran a cool contest recently in which you’d have to rewrite the death as another writer. How would Dickens deal with such a tragedy? How would it be described as a 17th century echo poem? The entries turned out to be awesome! Make sure you read the entries “Japanese style”, “Enid Blyton”, “The Sun”. I definitely recommend all the author’s versions too, but you’d need to know the authors to get the jokes.

Mugglenet.com and The-Leaky-Cauldron.org interviews JK Rowling
[doiop.com/JKpart1]
After each book release people from the media interviews JKR, but this time, she arranged interviews proper fans too. These interesting interviews mainly offer bits of facts and such and you might just want to check them out. But do so after you’ve read the HBP as spoilers are plentiful. At one point she agrees to write a book only on Dumbledore. Interesting.

The second and third parts of the interview: [doiop.com/JKpart2] and [doiop.com/JKpart3]

Short Film “MORE”
[doiop.com/more]
This beautiful short film was nominated for an Academy Award, so you know that it has to be good. It’s quite tough to describe this film, so I won’t be trying… but it’s worth downloading and watching. 9 MB.

Google Moon
[moon.google.com]
Because Google Earth was SO last week! When you visit this, make sure you zoom to the highest level.

Daily Deviation from DevianArt.com
[dd.deviantart.com]
DeviantArt is a wonderful place to browse through some fantastic art. But last time I checked, it had 13,892,615 pieces of artwork. With so much to view, it’s easy to get lost. The Daily Deviation section becomes useful here. It’s a section where

DOOM movie won’t suck?
[doiop.com/DOOMsucks]
The San Diego Comic-Con sounded like it was quite a blast. Among some of the game-related things that happened at the convention, some of the cast of the upcoming Doom movie were on-hand to defend, I mean answer questions about the upcoming film.

Gamecloud has an excellent write-up from the event. The feeling most seem to have coming away from the Q&A is that the movie won’t suck after all. Of course that is the point of events like this, but since they did show bits of the film I’m hoping there’s some truth to the rumors of non-sucktitude.

The movie will now take place on Mars instead of some unheard of planet, there will be at least one scene filmed in first-person shooter mode. I still think this will be yet another crap-fest, but I am now open to being completely wrong.

Alien Food Symbols
[doiop.com/AlienSymbols]
Those little gibberish symbols you find on stuff? Not gibberish— alien markers so our planet will be easier to use once the invasion really picks up steam. Website Stuff explores these signs all throughout our consumer universe. We always thought that being convinced our coffee was watching us was just nature’s way of telling us that we needed some very hard drugs. Turns out we’ve been taking those very hard drugs for no good reason.

A nice little game
[doiop.com/pya]
This is a nice little game in which one guy will try to catch your cursor. Don’t let him!

GTA San Andreas: Music Extractor
[doiop.com/SAmusic]
The Grand Theft Auto series, arguably the best ever, certainly boasts having the best soundtracks. This nifty little tool (only 49 kb) will extract the soundtrack of the San Andreas to a commonly playable format (OGG, Winamp can play it). (When the page loads, scroll down and click on FREE. You’ll get the download link in the next page.)

I Hate Sweetie
[doiop.com/sweetie]
A quick CGI toon which serves as an ad for some cell phone something or other. Quality artwork, and a fine example of the proper principles of life. By this time you really should have started typing the link anyway.

Sites Unseen 41

2005-07-21T15:04:00.000+06:00

God, I love the Internet.

I’m writing this on the day the HBP’s been released. The book’s been released just a few hours ago, and here I am, downloading the chapters uploaded minutes ago. Now how cool is that?! And before you get to read this, I’ll have finished book! Anyway, if you are interested, here are the chapters: [dda.mail15.com] By the time I was writing this, it had half of the chapters uploaded. But by the time you’ll be reading this, it’ll either have all the chapters… or, it’ll be down. Also keep an eye at Mugglenet.com. They ought to have some interesting stuff since they are the only ones who’ll be interviewing J.K. this time.

UPDATE: Complete eBooks of the book are now out. Available at: http://bdcomics.blogspot.com/2005/07/download-harry-potter-and-half-blood.html

As you can probably see, the Sites Unseen is a bit different recently. More links and fewer descriptions and such. Do you like it this way? Also, the photo with this Sites Unseen is taken by me. Do you like?

Bangladesh never looked THIS good!
[doiop.com/phitarBD]
Nah! Of course it did! But the photos the link points to are awesome. Taken by photographer “pithar”, these shots are pure eyecandy. Make sure you see these. Also check out the other photos taken by this guy at [doiop.com/phitar]

Microsoft Journal Viewer
[doiop.com/MSJ]
If you use the MSN messenger then this 7 MB download is a must. Installing this will enable the wonderful handwriting feature in your messenger, allowing you to send little scribbles or “ink messages” when you chat. And it’s tons of fun… no other feature compares with this one.

Planarity Flash Game
[doiop.com/planarity]
A stark and simple Flash game with one stark and simple line of instruction: “rrange the vertices such that no edges overlap.” Seems friendlier than “abandon all hope ye who enter here”, but the two could be used interchangeably. I’m pretty sure there’s an episode of Star Trek where Jordi defeats The Borg by making them play this game.

Photos of arcades in their glory days
[doiop.com/retroshots]
While fishing through a dumpster (not sure why), someone found a bunch of discarded photos from arcades in their glory days. They're now online for your nostalgic, viewing pleasure.

Zoom
[doiop.com/bigzoom]
The term “sequential art” has come to be used by many comic strip creators who simply want a more high impressive term for what it is that they do. Istvan Banyai’s Zoom is a fine example of what the term “sequential art” originally meant, and a real treat for the eyes.

Short films from SxSWclick festival
[doiop.com/swsx]
The top five short film finalists for the SxSWclick festival are online for your viewing pleasure. I recommend downloading the ones named “101” and “Man up.” The others aren’t much good. And if you don’t have MPEG4 video codecs (i.e. have troubles watching the videos) use 8-MB VideoLan clinet (from videolan.org) to view them.

Franken-tree!
[doiop.com/okinawa]
Perhaps you can call this art? It seems someone has manipulated a tree to grow into the shape of a hut. There are some other Frankentree experiments on the home page.

iSerenity
[iserenity.com]
iSerenity takes you away from your usual desktop setting and delivers you via a variety of sounds and image environments to a tranquil, private and entertaining space. iSerenity offers the capability of a sound machine without the added expense. In addition, iSerenity is always in motion, expanding and adding new environments for your viewing and listening pleasure.

Canstruction
[canstruction.com]
Amazing sculptures made entirely from stacking cans. It sounds simple, but these guys have done some incredibly elaborate work.

FLIPBOOK!
[doiop.com/flipbook]
A little swell Flash hoodoo at the Fabrica site allows you to make short flipbook-style animations. Make your squiggles, and send them to a galley where they will be used to give poor children in third world countries brain- destroying seizures. Many attempts seem to end in random violence, but few lack the attention to detail shown in Tamagotchi Pooping [doiop.com/pooping]

Just Curious
[justcurio.us]
justcurio.us is a community site dedicated to getting questions answered anonymously. You can ask questions, or respond to questions other people have asked. It’s a neat little thing.

Grandmas: The next frontier in gaming
[oghc.blogspot.com]
On my list of funny things to see a grandma do is curse, talk on AIM and play video games. OGH is a hilarious gaming and swearing fiend who is being blogged about by her grandson. The blog features video of her in action and also some choice quotes. It’s a nice read.

Sites Unseen 40

2005-07-14T08:34:00.000+06:00

Nothing seems to be happening. So I’ll go straight to the links, but before that, take a look at the picture with this Sites Unseen. It’s my photography. Do you like? (It’s the Mohammedpur area)

Maddox hates blogs
[doiop.com/clog]
“If these words were people, I would embrace their genocide.” What follows is a beautiful list of these words and why they deserve extermination. “Lately I've been hearing a lot of stupid people parroting stupid buzz words. There are too many to list all of them here, but I'll be damned if I'm not going to try. I propose that we all agree, here and now, to strike these words and phrases from our collective for the betterment of humanity, and the improvement of my blood pressure. Thank you.

Blog: The word "blog" is literally shorthand for "boring;" a vulgar, overused word … It's an abbreviation used by journalism drop outs to give legitimacy to their shallow opinions and amateur photography that seems to be permanently stuck in first draft hell… It's an unspoken rule that every blog must use the same layout as every other blog: long, slender columns of annoyingly condensed text, thousands of links to other blogs, plugs for shitty political books, and more links to yet more blogs…

If the thousands of mid-sentence links don't annoy you, the long slender columns of text will. Most of the screen on a blog is blank for an imaginary populace of readers still using 640x480 resolution. I didn't buy a 19" monitor to have 50% of its screen realestate pissed away on firing white pixels… They don't print books on receipt paper for a reason.”

Darfur Drawn:
The conflict of Darfur through Children’s eyes
[doiop.com/darfur]
On mission along the border of Chad and Darfur, Human Rights Watch researchers gave children notebooks and crayons to keep them occupied while they spoke with the children’s parents. Without any instruction or guidance, the children drew scenes from their experiences of the war in Darfur: the attacks by the Janjaweed, the bombings by Sudanese government forces, the shootings, the burning of entire villages, and the flight to Chad.

Serious eye candy
[doiop.com/eyecandy]
The Princeton Art Of Science competition Online Exhibition: an amazing gallery of science photos presented as art.

vfxblog
[vfxblog.com]
Pushing blogs on people isn't as easy as it used to be. There are just so many of them. In Sites Unseen, I try to weed out the unworthy and bring you some of my favourites -- like this gem dedicated to special effects in feature films. vfxblog has found its niche, and covers it exceedingly well. Fans interested in knowing how an effect goes from blue screen to big screen will find articles and interviews on all the tricks of the trade. vfxblog even has space devoted to effects you're not supposed to notice. So much for "it's all done with mirrors" theory.

Really Slick Screensavers
[reallyslick.com]
Really Slick Screensavers is a collection of beautiful free screensavers. These OpenGL savers require a fast machine with a modern graphics card to run smoothly, but the CPU cycles are worth it. Really Slick Screensavers are appropriately-named and fun to watch. (Download and extract the files contained in the zip to C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\ on Windows XP)

PGR3 Photo-realistic screenshot is real
[doiop.com/realPGR3]
You know you have a good game on your hands when you can’t convince the public that a screen shot isn’t actually just a photograph. Last week, Bizarre Creations posted a screenshot of Project Gotham Racing 3 of a street scene. The image was so realistic that many dismissed it as a fake. Today, the company released the wire frame of the same image, and another photo realistic in-game screen shot and wire frame.

And these pictures don’t have the final in-game effects and lighting added yet. [From Kotaku.com]

Game Of The Year!
[doiop.com/herbie]
Note: not so much a game as a movie review.
Further note: not so much a movie as it is Herbie: Fully Loaded.

Bono’s Third World Products, Inc
[doiop.com/bono]
The world [doiop.com/world] is a mess [doiop.com/mess]. You probably have your own deity to pray to in hopes they’ll fix it, but we both sort of know this is really a waste of time. What the world needs is the healing power of Bono. And to know how much Bono rules, you’ve got to go to the Best page in the Universe [doiop.com/11worst].

Prince of Persia 3 shots
[doiop.com/POP3]
Some beautiful screenshots of the upcoming Prince of Persia 3 fresh off Kotaku.

Sites Unseen

2005-07-07T08:41:00.000+06:00

Finally the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 has been properly analysed by unbiased experts. The results are far from what Sony and Microsoft has actually claimed. It’s not shocking, really. Only clueless fanboys believed their hype anyway. The companies claimed the next consoles are going to be twenty to thirty times more powerful than the current ones. Yeah, right. Actually, they will be merely two to three times better and both of these would have pretty much the same amount of power. Now it makes sense how they’re able to sell these machines within 400 dollars. The analysis is done by the brainy folks at anandtech.com and you can read it at [doiop.com/anandtech]. (Reading the entire tech discussion may cause gouts of blood to jet from your ears.)

More analysis: Nintendo’s Next-Gen strategy
Gaming-Age forum member Chittagong (is this dude a Bangladeshi?) has posted a surprisingly thought-out and coherent take on Nintendo’s next-gen console strategy. [doiop.com/ninty] It’s just an opinion, but it’s an unusually thoughtful one, especially for a topic that tends to turn even the most rationale person into a raving fanboy.

The poster’s basic premise is that Nintendo realizes it’s not number one in the console market, and doesn’t really care. Instead they are focusing on making good games that attract specific gamers and not worrying about beating the competition. [Found in Kotaku.com]

Before proceeding to the usual links, take a look at the picture with this article. If you see some matchsticks, then I can say it’s my photography. Do you like? (It was taken with a cam-phone, so the image quality isn’t that high.)

The usual links:

The GTA Blog
[theGTAblog.blogspot.com]
My fourth site. It’s a cool new blog about San Andreas in which I explore the game world and post pictures and snide comments on weird, funny, whacky, offensive... basically anything that's interesting and can get unnoticed by casual gamers. ROFL-inducers are plentiful in the site, but just like the game, the site is not for children.

I want a game that gives you [psychological-disorder]
[doiop.com/realgames]
Yet another classic found in Kotaku! This article was actually swiped from PointlessWasteofTime.com and was written by the same guy who wrote the now kinda famous Gamer’s Manifesto (link coming up below). David Wong starts out his rant on the ultimate war simulator with this beauty of an intro:

“Like my Grandpa always said, there were no naked human pyramids in Starcraft.

There were no whiny anti-war Hollywood types or questionable war motives or granola-munching human shields. I’m starting to think that even Command and Conquer: Generals, a game so “realistic” it took a NASA-built Quantum supercomputer to run it, has left me woefully unprepared to fight an actual war.”

What Wong wants is a real, real time strategy. One that “will give me a stress headache after an hour and an ulcer after a week. I want to identify experienced players on the street by their Thousand-Yard Stares.”

What follows is a humorous and deviously insightful attack on the stupidity of real world war and real world war protestors. Read it, love it, live it.

Gamers’ Manifesto
[doiop.com/manifesto]
By the same guy who wrote the previous classic, Gamers’s Manifesto is a list of “20 things gamers want from the seventh generation of game consoles.” Fantastic stuff.

Possible screenshot from GTA 4
[doiop.com/gta4shot]
This interesting shot was posted in Kotaku last week. It might not be real, but it just could be. When you have a gameworld that’s two to three times bigger than San Andreas and looks this beautiful, you know that it’s PS3 at its greatest. Either that or it’s just the next GTA title.

Another PS2 Fan Struck Down by God
[doiop.com/BadGod]
In a vulgar display of power, God struck down on another kid, playing on his PS2, in the UK. This (dumb) kid was also playing during an electrical storm, as a result of which, he was struck by lightning, and blowing him away and having his roof catch fire. Unfortunately, no news on his controller or whether he was killing hookers in GTA. [From BDgamer.net/?itemid=19124]

Apropos of Something comic remixes
[doiop.com/apropos]
Some pretty fantastic remixed comics from website Apropos of Something. More at [doiop.com/apropos2]

Iifaros Experimental Flash Gallery
[doiop.com/Iifaros]
38 smooth examples of odd and interactive Flash animations. They all sort of feel like experiments on those black touch-screens on the Enterprise.

Flow
[doiop.com/flow]
Fantastic meaningless interactive flash animation. 668 kb.

This Sites Unseen has about 15 links and of them 4-5 are from Kotaku! Whoa! I guess some of you might feel a bit bothered about it, but it’s just that I try to point to important/interesting gaming stuff as soon as they appear, and no other site features these as beautifully as Kotaku.

Sites Unseen 38

2005-06-23T09:31:00.000+06:00

I’ve played San Andreas. I loved it. And I tried to review it. And I failed. The game is so great that it simply wasn’t possible for me to describe it. It’s that good a game.

The game’s different. It’s so different that at first it doesn’t feel like a GTA game at all. It’s a surreal and unusual experience. The game has so much depth in it! But then, it’s not a game at all. It’s an experience to be had.

If you’re not in San Andreas with CJ, you definitely should be. I don’t care what anyone says, this is going to be the best game around… until the next game in the series comes out.

The usual cool links:

First Person Gamer’s Magazine
[gamersquarter.com]
The Gamer's Quarter magazine is a quarterly publication produced by a group of passionate gamers with the desire to create a new type of videogame magazine.

MTV News sat down with the editor of The Gamer’s Quarter to talk to him about the impetus for creating a free online magazine dedicated to New Games Journalism. It’s MTV-short, but worth the read with a nice run down of the first issue and tease to the second, which just hit the website. Check out the article [doiop.com/MTVgame] and The Gamer’s Quarter, both deserves your time. The Issue two is available, [doiop.com/Gamers2] 9.4 MB. The first issue is also golden: [doiop.com/Gamers1].

LAN Gamers as art
[doiop.com/LANgamers1]
Here’s some nice black and white art shots of gamers playing in some sort of LAN tournament. Is it just me or are there an awful lot of shots of women with their mouths open? More at [doiop.com/LANgamers2] and [doiop.com/LANgamers3]

Babycal Throw
[doiop.com/throw]
A Flash game where the goal is to get one kid with a soda can in his backpack to toss it up so it will nail one of the other kids walking by. If you time it right you can get a twofer when the victim kid’s soda launches out of his pack after being hit. Catchy gameplay, and with surprisingly smooth bass centered ambient-ish background music.

Transl8it
[transl8it.com]
Web site Transl8it will convert plain English into text message shorthand or SMS-speak into English, so it’s EZ 4 U 2 figur out wot d heck dat dumb kid w n brains txtD U bout.

Tough Customers...
[doiop.com/customers]
I love secret shoppers, it empowers us all. 1Up/EGM had a woman go in to several game and electronic stores and play up the old “I’m a girl and don’t know jack about games” stereotype. The results run from heartening to horrifying. To summerize, though you really should go read the entire item it’s a gem, GameStop rocks, EB Games are elitists, Best Buy is moronic and Toys ‘R’ Us should have their games taken away from them.

42
[doiop.com/42]
There cool little Wario Ware take-off with a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy theme that’s fun and test both your dexterity and novel knowledge. I suck at it, but not as much as the most others.

It's a shame they don't tell you what you're supposed to be doing before each game, after a couple of goes I found I was failing for reasons I couldn't understand, and as you only get one life that's pretty frustrating. It takes the form of Warioware but misses the exemplary attention to balancing and gameplay that makes those games so enjoyable.

Contents under extreme Escher
[doiop.com/Escher]
The Worth 1000 image twisters give surrealist MC Escher’s iconic flat images a new life through a little interpretation. And the work is absolutely brilliant!

Google Will Eat Itself
[gwei.org/gwei]
"We generate money by serving Google text advertisements on our website GWEI.org. With this money we automatically buy Google shares via our Swiss e-banking account. We buy Google via their own advertisement! Google eats itself - but in the end we will own it!

By establishing this model we deconstruct the new global advertisment mechanisms by rendering them into a surreal click-based economic model. We inject a social virus ("let's share their shares") into their commercial body hidden under a polite and friendly graphic surface. GWEI.org is a show-case and to unveil a total monopoly of information [Google search-engine & added services], a weakness of the new global advertisement system and the renaissance of the "new economic bubble" - "reality" is, Google is currently valued more than all Swiss Banks together (sic). Let's open their goldmine to the people."

Sites Unseen... 37

2005-06-16T09:24:00.000+06:00

Well, The PC version of San Andreas is finally out! It’s hard to believe that by the time you’ll be reading this, we’ll all probably be playing that epic game. All the wait and anticipation has finally come to an end. I’ll try to give you detailed coverage on the game. Let’s see how things work out.

In other not-news, I’ve got my own PC juiced up and ready to handle the recent games. (All this time I had been reviewing stuff on other people’s PCs.) So that means I’ll be gaming more and reviewing less. There’ll be occasional reviews from me, of course, but I won’t be nearly as regular as I was before my exams. I’ll also be completely changing my reviewing style.

I’ve been working on some new projects recently. And I think it’s about time for me to introduce a few.

BDcomics
[bdcomics.blogspot.com]
It’s a site with download links to all sorts of comics. I’m harvesting links from all around the net and now the site boasts an impressive list of a few hundred links. The site gets lots of visitors and it’s now something I can really recommend. Current favourites in the site are downloads of Star Wars Episode III and Sin City. And I suggest you to check out the achieves. If you’re a comics fan, you’ll like it.

Amader Comics
[amadercomics.blogsome.com]
This is my project in which I'll try to archive Bangla comics, both from Bangladesh and from India. Armed with a scanner, my comics collection and - of course – a seemingly endless supply of free labour, this my attempt to preserve for the next generations what we once loved and cherished. It’s not that comics in Bangla are superb. In fact, they range from acceptable to mediocre. But now they are gone, and this site is like an online museum for them.

Let me clarify that I’m not too much of a comics fan. I did plan to work on a site like Amader Comics, but BDcomics turned out to be an unplanned site that worked out well. (Both the sites’ name sucks. I know they do. I just couldn’t find other name that sucked less.) What do you think? Do you like? Mail in comments, suggestions or anything for that matter at [niloy.me@gmail.com]

Animals in Cloths!
[doiop.com/clothedanimals]
Worth 1000’s Photoshop lunatics partying on, thusly: “The rules of this game are thus: You are going to put clothes on animals. Any clothes. Any animals. Do not simply paste an animal’s head onto a human’s body unless you change the exposed parts of the human to match the animal’s parts.” Some of these images are so cute that I burned little kittens, that’s how cute they are.

Sketchbook
[bearskinrug.co.uk/sketchbook/]
Kevin Cornell's sketchbook is a peek into a year in the life of his twisted, funny, and not quite PG-13 world. It's populated by odd characters such as Foxy Mama, Sock Monkeys, Son and Dad, Monsignor Jerk, Martini Bear, Cheetos Man, the Wheeled Pig, and countless penguins (probably because he read too much Bloom County as a kid). Use the "Switch Pages" icon to flip through the book. Amusing explanations often pop up when you click on a drawing. Small children probably won't appreciate the Muppet expose on page 84, and don't skip page 80, where a band of teenage girls beat up Kevin and use his sketchbook for their diary.

Unusual postcards
[unusualcards.com]
Some of the most delightfully twisted cards I’ve ever seen… so odd that it’s not really possible if they are intentionally odd, or just created by insane shut-ins who paint well.

From Russia with Cars:
Forgotten Concepts
[conceptcarz.com]
Although the car types like to think automakers' concept vehicles occupy a prominent position in pop culture, their images fade fast… not long after they're unveiled. One Russian site is protecting such forgotten concepts. It's like the encyclopaedia of automotive concept cars, Cyrillic version. Of course, I’m linking to its English-language counterpart. List of its concepts: [doiop.com/conceptlist]

Yoke 2
[doiop.com/yoke2]
Hojamaka soft is a website filled with irritatingly simple and yet ridiculously addictive flash games. I kid of liked the flying one and the tossing the paper ball into the trashcan one, but I can’t stop playing Yoke 2. In Yoke 2, you just use your mouse to move around a square head trying to avoid a field of little white dot and the occasional angry red dots. The longer you last without hitting one, and exploding, and the higher you score. Think of it as a little training for First Person Shooters.

Published in the Rising Stars in June 16, 2005

Sites Unseen ... (35)

2005-06-02T08:52:00.000+06:00

The E3 just started and ended. And it was disappointing.

Seriously!

It was supposed to be the biggest E3 yet! More than a thousand new “products” were to be introduced. The next-gen consoles would be unveiled and the new age of gaming would start. More than 70,000 industry professionals from 79 countries attended. 5000 games was shown. And still it was disappointing. Why though?

There was simply too much bullshit.

Quoting Tycho from Penny-arcade.com [doiop.com/inception] “The truth typically doesn't emerge until later, and most of the time it never does, but if you think of E3 a billion dollar puppet show it will help you contextualize the spectacle. Tightly scripted scenes prop up a sprawling technological void - the "game of show" stretched tight over thin hints about the way such a game might actually operate. What often gets shown isn't just what they want you to see, but also what they wish were true about their game and perhaps games in general.

I don't believe there is any such thing as a "Playstation 3" yet, and I don't believe in the Killzone video. What I do believe is that Sony harnessed the media and then rode it from place to place, one hand on the bridle while the other waved madly in the air.

The only console-exclusive I saw running and playable that really struck me as a next-generation experience was Epic's Gears of War [doiop.com/guilds]. I'm not "putting my weight" behind the 360, I'm saying that at this particular show, it's the only system that I consider to have been truly "launched." Nintendo's system has been introduced, in the vaguest sense, but without seeing what they intend to accomplish with their controllers we don't actually know why it would hail a Revolution. Sony showed some movie trailers in HD, said that their console could create "artificial life" and expected us to swear fealty to their system's now dynastic lineage. They even showed the intro from Final Fantasy VII in "Real Time(!!!!)," but I can't possibly be the only person who remembers they trotted out a "Real Time" dance scene from VIII when they launched the PS2 - can I? You ever see shit like that on your Playstation 2?”

Typedrawing
[www.storyabout.net/typedrawing/]
Created by a designer who considers typing words from left to right "not interesting and sometimes boring," this [very good] application practically compels you to draw with words. Choose the letters, words, or phrases you want to paint with and trace a pattern. After it's saved and uploaded, watch the image recreate itself slowly, in the exact way you sketched it, but composed of your writing instead of lines. Released in January, the application has had just enough time to build up a plentiful "best of" list. So go ahead, make a beautiful typedrawing.

Pep Bonet
[www.pepbonet.com/]
Spanish photojournalist Pep Bonet has traveled to ravaged regions around the globe and captured harrowing, beautiful images suffused with light. Although his poignant pictures speak for themselves, many of the photos on the site include a scroll-over "story" at the bottom of the page for those looking for a little more context. Together, he and his subjects create something universal and timeless.

Maddox hates Cameroon Diaz
[http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=trippin]
“Just when you thought MTV couldn't get more annoying, they give Cameron Diaz her own show called Trippin'.” “The theme song states "YOU GOT THE POWER TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE... YOU GOT THE POWER TO MAKE A CHANGE." Wow, thank you MTV, for making me feel empowered and independent, like only a multinational media conglomerate can.”

“Of course, having a show in which the hosts prattle on and on about conservation and environmental causes, it makes you wonder how they're able to do it without sounding like giant hypocrites as they fly around on helicopters and jets, all while using enough electricity to power a small city. Simply put: they can't, but that doesn't stop them from trying.”

Super Bad
[www.superbad.com/]
I really can't describe it. Just keep clicking the pictures.

Civilization Anonymous
[www.civanon.org/home.shtml]
A mildly amusing advertising website for the upcoming Civilization 4 game, in the form of support group for people who want to quit playing it, because, gosh darn it, it's just so damn addictive that it ruins lives. Be sure to catch the video [www.civanon.org/movies/trailer.mov].

Published in the Rising Stars on June 02, 2005

Oddly Rnough... (13)

2005-06-02T08:40:00.000+06:00

Incorrect spelling will not be penalized in English tests. Education surrenders.

SKOOL xams definitly aint what they used to be, LOL!!!11 Concern about the nation's spelling abilities may have spawned a best-selling book and a television series, but for today's pupils, ignorance of "i before e except after c" is no barrier to success.

Examiners marking an English test taken by 600,000 14-year-olds have been told not to deduct marks for incorrect spelling on the main writing paper, worth nearly a third of the overall marks. The rule, issued by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, means that pupils could spell every word wrongly in the most significant piece of writing that they are required to do and yet still receive full marks. Ministers are particularly concerned about exam results this year, having failed to achieve their 2004 target of 75 per cent of 14-year-olds reaching the level expected in English. telegraph.co.uk

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster has spawned a generation of ‘mutant’ super-brainy children. Welcome our radioactive superlords.

THE Chernobyl nuclear disaster has spawned a generation of ‘mutant’ super-brainy children. Kids growing up in areas damaged by radiation from the plant have a higher IQ and faster reaction times, say Russian doctors. They are also growing faster and have stronger immune systems.

Radiation from the Ukrainian Chernobyl plant swept the globe and affected more than seven million people. Professor Vladimir Mikhalev from Bryansk State University, has tracked the health of youngsters growing up in areas hit by the fallout since the 1986 accident. He compared their mental agility and health to those in unaffected areas and found they came out top in tests. The kids had been exposed to radiation in the atmosphere and their food supply. thesun.co.uk

Cambodia's royal cows predict good harvest.

CAMBODIA’S sacred oxen forecast an abundant rice harvest for the coming year on Thursday, although farmers who have just endured one of the worst droughts in living memory remained sceptical.

The ancient ploughing ceremony, overseen by King Norodom Sihamoni, marks the end of the dry season and is meant to indicate a promising start to rice-planting in the war-scarred Southeast Asian nation, where over 80 percent of people depend on farming. In a centuries-old ritual, a pair of oxen ploughed a symbolic furrow outside Phnom Penh’s gilded Royal Palace and was then offered a choice of seven dishes -- rice, corn, beans, sesame, water, wine and grass. Royal astrologer proclaimed the oxen consumed 90 percent of the rice, and 95 percent of the corn and beans, and steered cleared of the water, signifying a plentiful harvest.

But some farmers who had travelled to the capital to witness the ceremony had their doubts."I saw the oxen drinking the water. That means maybe there will be a lack of rain," said farmer Ly Sophat from the northwest province of Pursat. "I only believe about half of what they are predicting." news.yahoo.com

Have you been looking to buy a submarine or two? The Canadian Navy would like to talk to you.

FOUR mothballed submarines, acquired from the British navy nearly 40 years ago, are being put up for sale, the Canadian defence department has announced. "We are anxious to get rid of them," said the department's disposal co-ordinator. "We have been for some time."

These were the last of the subs to be taken out of service in 2000. MacDonald estimated they may be able to get $50,000 to $60,000 each as scrap metal. He said it would take a lot of resources to make the vessels seaworthy. Very little maintenance has been done on the submarines since they were taken out of service. The navy would have liked to use the subs as museums but they've deteriorated too much even for that. cbc.ca/story/

Published in the Rising Stars on May 19, 2005

Sites Unseen... 33

2005-05-19T08:40:00.000+06:00

Xbox 360 in-depth details and pictures are officially out! The next-gen console is a tower of chilled white and chrome accents wrapped around a heart of graphics-pumping, teraflop-churning gaming goodness. The 360 is a sleek console that lives in high-def sound and video, can extract media from your PC or mobile devices and can change its look to fit your personality.

The Xbox 360 is a quantum leap forward in technology; sporting three symmetrical cores running at 3.2 GHz that cam perform 9 billion dot product operations a second. The 360 will sport a custom 500 MHz ATI graphics processor. The processor will be able to produce 500 million triangles a second and have a pixel fill rate of 16 gigasamples a second. The console will also have 512 MB of GDDR3 RAM operating at 700 MHz. The systems overall floating-point performance will be 1 teraflop.

“The bottom line was, between the GPU format and cores, and 512 memory, the Xbox 360 will be significantly faster than the fastest PC,” he said. Despite the enormous increase in raw power, Microsoft isn’t really talking much about the Xbox 360’s innards though, instead they are concentrating on what they think will set their console apart from the PS3 and Revolution. [From Kotatu.com, and this link from the site has more detailed info plus the official pictures]

In other news, the Nintendo Revolution will be a tiny, sleek console that sits horizontally, according to a New York Times story.

The next Nintendo console will be no more than three DVD cases tall, or about an inch. The console will feature wireless controllers, online play, play standard DVD movies and use the format to play a “new class of high-definition games.” It will also play GameCube, that’s right it’s backwards compatible. [Also from Kotaku.com]

It sounds like we will all be getting more details at E3. Let the carnival of information overload begin.

The usual cool links...

The Best of Photojournalism 2005
http://www.nppa.org/competitions/best_of_still_photojournalism/2005/photography/winners/
A bat-breaking moment in baseball, gold mining in east Congo, and a rare view of "secret weapon" Laura Bush -- with these images, and many more, the National Press Photographers Association presents us with some of the best pictures taken last year. That means a crush of Bush fans and a quiet moment between John Edwards and Emma Claire, the "oh-wow" factor of the summer Olympics, and a young refugee of the Darfur crisis. I went eye-to-eye with a bullrider and bull named Wet Fish Justins, encountered a lone Marine in Fallujah, and saw a fallen soldier saluted by his football team. I enjoyed Lance Armstrong in stillness and one paralympic athlete in motion. It’s nice. Check it out.

Lakota Winter Counts
http://wintercounts.si.edu/
In this day of blogs, PDAs, and laptops, imagine if someone said: You can only mark the passage of time with one image -- per year. The Lakota, a Native American tribe from the northern (US) Plains, did just that. They kept careful calendars, also called "winter counts," in which they recorded the events of each year with a single drawing. This Smithsonian site brims with pictures from their winter counts. You can scroll through image after image in the overview section; slowly examine single pictographs close-up; or look at copies of calendars that stretch for decades, some by artists like The Flame, Lone Dog, or Battiste Good. The site even offers a "My Winter Counts" area where you can collect your favourite images and email them to yourself -- for later viewing pleasure.

Gaming is good for you
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/11616646.htm
Playing video games, it turns out, can actually be a good thing. The Mercury News recently ran a strangely positive article about gaming. The story is sort of light on facts, but very heavy on gaming praise. It sort of feels like the Merc is just sucking up to gamers. But there’s nothing wrong with that.

“The people who play games are into technology, can handle more information, can synthesize more complex data, solve operational design problems, lead change and bring organizations through change.”
Wow!

Ze Frank loves Condi!
http://www.zefrank.com/condi/condi.swf
The Internet’s Ze Frank guy loves Condoleezza Rice, apparently. It’s apparent, because he’s singing his soul out with about how much he loves her. 1.3 MB.

World’s coolest roller-coasters
http://www.hedonistica.com/rollercoaster/
These roller-coasters will kick you backside, so to speak. And they are mind numbingly insane!

Published in the Rising Stars on May 19, 2005

Oddly Enough... 12

2005-05-19T08:34:00.000+06:00

US Army encourages kid to lie and cheat to be accepted. Kid turns out to be undercover journalist

In an attempt to boost slumping recruitment numbers, the U.S. Army has started offering stronger incentives to soldiers. But two recruiters from Colorado have been suspended as the Army investigates accusations that they encouraged a teenager to lie and cheat so he could join up.

A reporter of a TV station reports that 17-year-old high school journalist David McSwane is just the kind of guy the military would like. McSwane says, "I wanted to see how far the Army would go during a war to get one more solider."

So, McSwane contacted his local Army recruiting office, with a scenario he created. For one thing, he told his recruiter, he was a dropout and didn't have a high school diploma. No problem, the recruiter explained. He suggested that McSwane create a fake diploma from a nonexistent school. He recorded the recruiter saying on the phone: "It can be like Faith Hill Baptist School. Whatever you choose."

So, as instructed, he went to a Web site and, for $200, arranged to have a phoney diploma created. It certified McSwane as a graduate of Faith Hill Baptist High School, the very name the recruiter had suggested, and came complete with a fake grade transcript.

What was McSwane's reaction to them encouraging him to get a phoney diploma? "I was shocked. I'm sitting there looking at a poster that says, 'Integrity, honour, respect,' and he is telling me to lie."

And there was more.

The Army doesn't accept enlistees with a drug problem, but that's what he pretended to have when he spoke with the recruiter. "I have a problem with drugs. I can't kick the habit. Just marijuana," he recalls telling the recruiter. "And he says, 'Not a problem. Just take this detox." He said he would pay for half of it, and told me where to go (to get it)." "The two times that I had the guys use it," the recruiter says, "it's worked both times. We didn't have to worry about anything."

So he then reported the McSwane to higher officials. "Let me sum up all of this with one word: unacceptable. Completely unacceptable," said Lt. Colonel Brodeur who heads Army recruiting in the region. - cbsnews.com

Train crash that killed over 100 people in Japan was caused by driver yanking emergency brake at 108 kilometers per hour in the middle of a sharp curve. "Stupid".

The JR Fukuchiyama Line train that rammed a condominium building a few weeks back was riding on its left wheels alone for the last 100 meters or so before it hit the building, police officials said as the probe into the deadly crash continued.

By analyzing data from a monitoring device found in the wreckage of the train, the Police determined it was going 108 kph when the driver activated the emergency brake during a right-hand curve. The speed limit on the curved section, which has a radius of 300 meters, is 70 kph.

The first five cars of the train derailed, with the first two smashing into the ground-floor garage of the building. A total of 107 passengers have been confirmed dead so far, and 460 others were injured.

Police believe the train -- which entered the curve at a speed well above the safety limit -- left the tracks in a nearly sideways position after the right wheels lifted off the rails and the cars tilted left. - japantimes.co.jp

11–year–old boy charged with bringing unlawful weapon to school. Deadly weapon of choice–––ten nails left in his pocket from Boy Scout outing

An 11-year-old boy was arrested this week for carrying ten nails in his pocket at a school and charged with carrying an unlawful weapon.

Dianne McCray, assistant principal at the School, asked the child Wednesday what was jingling in his pocket and the student gave her the 3.5" long nails. A school resource officer arrested him. His father picked him up and he was not taken to the police station.

The father said the nails were left in his pocket after a Boy Scout outing. He says it is ridiculous that his son faces an unlawful weapon charge. He says the boy threatened no one. - wistv.com

Published in the Rising Stars on April 28, 2005

Oddly Enough... 11

2005-05-19T08:26:00.000+06:00

"We need to give time for some American companies to take a breath" –– Toyota Motor Chairman Hiroshi Okuda's reason for planning to raise the price of his cars

Japanese car makers have taken nearly one third of the US market. Last week, General Motors posted a quarterly loss of $1.1bn, and Ford's profits fell. By contrast, Nissan had record profits, and Honda's net profit rose 27%.

"We need to give time for some American companies to take a breath," said Toyota Motor chairman Hiroshi Okuda. Mr Okuda, who is chairman of the Japanese employers' group Keidanran, said he was "concerned" about the situation at General Motors, the world's biggest car maker.

"Although a trade conflict, like ones....in the past, may be avoided, there may be some impact, because the car industry is symbolic in the US economy," the Asahai Shimbun newspaper quoted him as saying. As a solution, he suggested either forming technical alliances with US firms, or raising the price of Japanese cars sold in the US. -news.bbc.co.uk

The best way to quiet a loud party is: A) Ask them to keep it down. B) Call the police. Or C) stick your .357 magnum into a random party–goer's chest

A 63-year-old man, reportedly fed up with noise from a loud party, assaulted another man with a .357-caliber handgun, police said.

Police were called to the place after a report of a loud party. While they were investigating the complaint, officers heard that the 63-year-old, had stuck the handgun to the chest of a 23-year-old man who was attending the party. He was then arrested for felonious assault and possession of a firearm while intoxicated. -mlive.com/news/

Man murders ex–co-worker for telling a bad joke seven years ago. Your friends and co-workers are worried.

Police made an arrest and have apparently gotten a confession for an Easter Sunday murder. It all apparently started from a 7-year-old joke. Sixty-two-year-old William Berkeyheiser was shot dead on Easter Sunday, as he answered the door at his home.

That man has apparently told authorities an incredible tale of why and how this deadly murder plot unfolded. Douglas had worked as a maintenance man at a Baptist home where Berkeyheiser had been the director of plant operations in 1998. Douglas wouldn't elaborate on the joke, but apparently held a grudge against Berkeyheiser all this time. He indicated that the reason he killed Mr. Berkeyheiser was that he claimed Mr. Berkeyheiser had told a joke which he considered to be offensive because it had some kind of racial overtones. -abclocal.go.com

Windows, now with built–in spyware

In a move that could infuriate privacy advocates, Microsoft said that it is adding the PC equivalent of a flight data recorder to the next version of Windows, in an effort to better understand and prevent computer crashes.

The tool will build on the existing error-reporting tool in Windows but will provide Microsoft with much deeper information, including what programs were running at the time of the error and even the contents of documents that were being created. Businesses will also choose whether they want their own technology managers to receive such data when an employee's machine crashes.

With businesses, however, IT managers typically set the policy. If they wanted total information, they could configure systems so that they'd know not only that a user was running Internet Explorer, for example, but also that he or she was watching a video from ESPN.com. Or, they might find out not only that a worker was running Instant Messenger but also that he or she was talking to a co-worker about getting a new job. -news.zdnet.com

Published in the Rising Stars on May 19, 2005

Candies!

2005-04-28T08:35:00.000+06:00

I'm not really sure whether this should be counted a published work, but then, what about Photographers? Doesn't they count their published photos as "published work"?

Anyway, I did this artwork about a month ago. It's a 1024x768 wallpaper sized goodness!

It got published in Rising Stars today with along with a regular column, Sci Zone. Here's the scan of the article.

This is my first ever published artwork.

Published in the Rising Stars on April 28, 2005

Oddly Enough...10

2005-04-28T08:27:00.000+06:00

Man vandalizes stranger's cars for art

Police in London are investigating an artist who recently announced his most recent work was vandalizing (47) cars. Mark McGowan claims he used a key to scratch nearly 50 cars since March. He also says he intends to display pictures of himself damaging the vehicles.

This isn't the first time McGowan has displayed a flair for the eccentric. He once pushed a nut for seven miles with his nose towards Tony Blair's office. He did that to protest against debts run up by students to pay for their studies. He also rolled himself across London for four miles singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" to highlight the work of office cleaners. - local6.com

Lawyers for highway sniper to argue he didn't know it was wrong to shoot innocent people

Attorneys defending a man charged in a string of highway shootings, including one that killed a 62-year-old woman, conceded Monday that their client is the one who fired the shots in the 6-month spree. Still, defence attorneys said, jurors must decide what crimes were committed and whether Charles McCoy Jr. understood that his actions were wrong.

McCoy, 29, who has paranoid schizophrenia (psychotic disorder), has pleaded innocent by reason of insanity to aggravated murder and 23 other counts in 12 linked shootings. He could face the death penalty if convicted of the most serious charge.

The defence will attempt to prove that McCoy has a mental illness that kept him from knowing right or wrong during the shootings. - cleveland.com

Seventeen–year–old arranges to have his $50K BMW stolen so he can use insurance money to get a better car

A 17-year-old youth was arrested on suspicion of arranging the theft of his $50,000 BMW so he could collect the insurance money to upgrade to a pricier Bentley. The teen allegedly worked out a deal with accomplices to steal his white 2002 BMW M3 outside a building. He planned to use the insurance payout to get a more expensive car.

The youth's accomplices took the car, and it was reported stolen. Police later caught four people stripping the car of its parts.
The men implicated the teen in the crime and he was arrested at his workplace. - seattletimes.nwsource.com

"Why in the world would you think your cell phone would work in your house? The customer has come to expect so much. They want it to work in the elevator, they want it to work in the basement." –– Verizon Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg

Couldn't the company correct customer expectations by distributing statistics on how often Verizon's service works indoors or by providing more detailed coverage maps that show all possible dead zones? Seidenberg said it wasn't Verizon's responsibility.

Verizon owns and operates Verizon Wireless through a joint venture with Britain's Vodafone Group. Verizon Wireless was the most highly rated wireless carrier in a survey published by Consumer Reports magazine.

The Verizon chairman also mocked San Francisco's interest in building a municipal wireless Internet, or Wi-Fi, network. "That could be one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard," he told the Chronicle. "It sounds like a good thing, but the trouble is someone will have to design it, someone will have to upgrade it, someone will have to maintain it and someone will have to run it." - sptimes.com

In an attempt to improve school standards test scores, principal helps students cheat on tests

A veteran principal and school administrator has been suspended while officials investigate allegations that she helped students cheat on tests. Jayne Gibbs was placed on a paid leave after eighth graders her Junior Academy said she had given them answers to questions on a School Assessment test.

She was previously principal at another middle school in the district where students' scores on standardized tests improved dramatically during her tenure. Between 2002 and 2003, the percentage of students testing proficient in math on the local exam jumped from 11 percent to 71 percent. - channelone.com

Published in the Rising Stars on April 28, 2005

Sites Unseen... 32

2005-04-21T08:28:00.000+06:00

The whole Gaming industry is now buzzing with excitement as we’re edging closer to the biggest gaming celebration: Electroning Entertainment Exposition 2005 (E3). As much as I would love to cover on E3, I simply won’t be able to do it. However, I do recommend BDgamer.net’s E3 2005 section -- http://www.bdgamer.net/?catid=25&blogid=1 -– where you’ll very detailed coverage on E3. Right now, mainly news, rumours, line-ups from Developers are out… but from the beginning of May, the major stuff are coming out. There’s also Kotaku.com, -- http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/business/e3/index.php -- with its own excellent coverage on E3. This year’s E3 is definitely going to be very important, especially with the new consoles from all three major players in the industry -– Microsoft with its Xbox 360, Sony with PlayStation 3 and Nintendo with its Revolution console and (probably) a new Gameboy Advance – not to mention the upcoming “fourth generation” games.

The usual cool links:

Camera/Iraq
http://www.camerairaq.com/
It would be difficult to follow events in the Middle East these days and not be confronted with shocking pictures -- especially from Iraq. Distressing photographs now seem to be an inseparable part of modern warfare. Camera/Iraq delves into the "war of images" by scouring the Web for anything related to photography and the Iraq war. (The most extreme images aren't included directly on the site, although the easily upset viewer should proceed with caution.) In-depth features on Abu Ghraib, Nick Berg, and Saddam's Sons track the development of stories that dominated the press. Faked Photos collects instances where hoaxes or manipulated images were presented as truth (such as the California man who staged his own mock beheading). The site allows space for comments and links to analysis, but it doesn't preach; it simply endeavours to provide context for the next distressing picture we’ll stumble upon.

43 Things
http://www.43things.com/
What 43 things do you want to do with your life? If you're not sure, you can get inspired by the folks posting their personal to-do lists on this site. 43 seems to be the right number of things for a busy person to try to do. Whether you want to write a book or just sleep more, you'll probably find others who want to do it or have done it. Each goal has a "related goals" area, which makes for some unexpected connections. See for yourself!

The Worst Jobs in History
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/W/worstjobs/index.html
The history we are taught usually features the lives and times of the great and the good, of the haves and not the have-nots. But the famous aristocrats and monarchs could not have existed without the battalions of minions who performed the tasks that were beneath their masters. In this website, they take you on a journey through 2,000 years of British history and the worst jobs of each era. This site, aptly titled "The Worst Jobs in History," doesn't skimp on the details. Each horrendous "career" is broken down by historical period to give visitors a "day in the life" experience. You can almost smell the leeches!

Gamics
http://gamics.com/
Much has been made, in the past days, of the beautifully crafted comic book that uses the Half-Life 2 engine for its art. Apostasy looks to be the beginning of a wonderful comic book, but it’s not the only one to use game art as a medium. Gamics is an entire page devoted to the craft. Hop over there and you will see works featuring the screenshots of Final Fantasy XI, Everquest II and Matrix Online, to name just a few. Check it out, it’s sort of homebrew Manga. Also check out http://brashfink.blogspot.com/

i am 8-bit: Game Art Show
http://www.iam8bit.net/
i am 8-bit is an art exhibit going on Los Angeles’s nineteen eighty eight gallery April 19th through May 20th. An online gallery of the show is up now, with some pretty fantastic flashback-inducing works which harkens back to the glory days of video games. Check out the gallery.

The Big Red Button
http://fun.drno.de/flash/BigRedButton.swf
Do no press the red button.

Clientcopia : Stupid Client Quotes...
http://www.clientcopia.com/
There's no getting around it. At some point in your career, your patience will be tested with a stupid client who is so clueless that you'll question your sanity, career choice, and the future of mankind. This site features experiences with stupid clients around the world. While most of the war stories come from advertising and web design folks, there are also some from cab drivers and construction workers. The Top 20 are all definitely solid, but the Random link is a great way to flip through the more than 2,500 entries. Check it out, you don’t want to miss this!

Published in the Rising Stars on April 21, 2005

Oddly Enough… 9

2005-04-21T08:20:00.000+06:00

Sony gets patent for technology it might one day invent. Researchers awarded Nobel Prize for innovations they might some day make

Sony Corp (SNE.N). has been granted a patent for beaming sensory information directly into the brain. The technique could one day be used to create videogames in which you can smell, taste, and touch, or to help people who are blind or deaf.

The U.S. patent, granted to Sony researcher Thomas Dawson, describes a technique for aiming ultrasonic pulses at specific areas of the brain to induce "sensory experiences" such as smells, sounds and images. "The pulsed ultrasonic signal alters the neural timing in the cortex," the patent states. "No invasive surgery is needed to assist a person, such as a blind person, to view live and/or recorded images or hear sounds."

A Sony Electronics spokeswoman told New Scientist magazine that no experiments had been conducted, and that the patent "was based on an inspiration that this may someday be the direction that technology will take us." -story.news.yahoo.com

12–year old boy copies some dollar bills with his inkjet printer, gets caught, suspended from school. Not good enough? Secret service wants to send him to prison

A sixth grader and two of his friends were suspended for using phoney dollar bills made on a home computer to buy food in the school cafeteria. A cafeteria worker at the school found a dollar bill that didn't look or feel like the real thing. Seattle school spokesman said people in the lunch room were told to watch for more counterfeit bills.

An assistant principal called Seattle police the next day after a sixth grader tried to use one of the fake bills to buy beef jerky from the cafeteria. Seattle police spokesman said the boy made 20 fake dollar bills on his aunt's computer, brought them to school and shared them with his friends. The prosecutors' office is reviewing the case and deciding whether to file charges. School officials suspended the three boys for several days. -canoe.ca

Skate park closed because it's not handicapped–accessible. "Until it is open to everyone, it is open to no one''

The Uncle Bud Skate Park in Boston is all it was designed to be - an outdoor community centre for all ages with the skate park, a swing set, play area, picnic tables, checker and chess board, staging and seating. But designers left out a critical component: handicapped accessibility. And if town meeting fails to approve money to provide that accessibility, a state board will order the park closed.

The state Architectural Access Board, which held a hearing on the issue, has cited the town for several violations of state handicapped access regulations at the park. ‘‘(The park) seems to be a lovely place. It's a place where the community gathers. I understand that these are errors, but I am inclined to say that until it is open to everyone, it is open to no one.'' said a board member. -ledger.southofboston.com

Woman rams apartment with BMW because of loud television

A woman has been arrested after she rammed a car into her neighbour’s apartment in an apparent fight over a loud television, Canadian police said. The woman got into her 1985 BMW after becoming upset with her neighbour and drove the car across the lawn and through some patio furniture before the vehicle hit the side of the building.

There were no injuries in the incident, although the neighbour and a friend were inside the building watching television at the time of the crash. The vehicle received only minor damage. The 36-year-old woman, whose name was not released, was being held in jail pending a court appearance. -reuters.com

Published in the Rising Stars on April 21, 2005

Oddly Enough... 8

2005-04-14T08:25:00.000+06:00

Man surprised to find Narragansett police, fire and ambulence employees not particularly amused by his fake "I'm trapped in my car and dying" 911 April Fools prank

It was an April Fool's prank, and everything went downhill after that. Daniel Sturm of Narragansett was arrested April 1 for providing false information to police.

Police received a 911 from a woman who said his boyfriend Sturm had called her to say he was in an accident and needed emergency help. Three police cars, an ambulance and fire truck were dispatched, and in vain attempted to locate the site of the accident.

"We drove up and down the road looking for him," said the police. Meantime, his girlfriend and two friends were attempting to find Sturm as well. "I was nervous and shaking because I was concerned for my boyfriend's life," she wrote.

And as they were all searching, Sturm called the woman back and told her it was an April Fool's joke. She immediately called the police station. "We went from concerned to annoyed really fast. We went to his house and arrested him," said Randall. - zwire.com

A fingerprint scanner instead of car keys ensures your car cannot be stolen without your finger. Caution: This in no way implies your car will not be stolen

Police in Malaysia are hunting for members of a violent gang who chopped off a car owner's finger to get round the vehicle's hi-tech security system. The car, a Mercedes S-class, was protected by a fingerprint recognition system.

Accountant K Kumaran's ordeal began when he was run down by four men in a small car as he was about to get into his Mercedes in a Kuala Lumpur suburb. The gang, armed with long machetes, demanded the keys to his car. The attackers forced Mr Kumaran to put his finger on the security panel to start the vehicle, bundled him into the back seat and drove off.

But having stripped the car, the thieves became frustrated when they wanted to restart it. They found they again could not bypass the immobiliser, which needs the owner's fingerprint to disarm it. They stripped Mr Kumaran naked and left him by the side of the road - but not before cutting off the end of his index finger with a machete. - news.bbc.co.uk

Attention Iraqi and Iranian boat people: If you convert to Christianity, Australia will reconsider your application to stay

Australia will review the cases of a group of refuge-seekers who converted to Christianity giving refugees who change their religion privileged treatment.

A group of 30 Iranian and Iraqi boatpeople, currently living in detention, who have had their applications to stay in Australia refused, would have their cases reassessed, a government spokesman said. The group had tired all assessment and appeals procedures but would be able to begin the process afresh for a "variety of circumstances" including conversion to Christianity. Iranians who convert to Christianity could face death if they return to Iran. - story.news.yahoo.com

"Be careful with that; it's got a bomb in it" may be the best thing to say about a boxed set of Ben Affleck movies, but not about your bag at the airport

A soldier was arrested at Manchester Airport for making a hoax bomb threat before boarding a flight. The man had just handed in an over-sized bag in a check-in hall and allegedly told a member of staff: "Take care of that. It's got a bomb in it."

When challenged about the remark, the repeated the threat and police were called. He was arrested right there. Later, he was interviewed and released on police bail awaiting further investigation.

The scheduled British Airways flight the soldier departed on time despite the incident. A spokeswoman said: "We take all matters of security very seriously and we cannot tolerate off-the-cuff comments, no matter how light-hearted. We have to take them very, very seriously." - manchesteronline.co.uk

Published in the Rising Stars on April 14, 2005

Oddly Enough... 7

2005-04-07T08:27:00.000+06:00

Rapper 50 Cent disappointed that no one has shot his bullet-proof cars

Rapper 50 CENT is disappointed nobody has tried to shoot him while he's been out driving - because he spent $200,000 (GBP105,000) bulletproofing two of his cars. The MAGIC STICK hitmaker, who was shot nine times in an attack before rising to fame, has spent a lot of time and money on ensuring he's safe when he's on the road - but he's never had the opportunity to put the efficiency of the safeguards to the test.

He tells BLENDER magazine, "I have two (bulletproof vehicles), one in New York, one in LA, and it was about 100 grand each. "I'm actually disappointed though: Nobody's shot me. I spent a lot of money on that s**t!"

And when he's outside of his vehicles, 50 Cent, real name CURTIS JACKSON, relies on the efforts of just a single bodyguard. He adds, "I don't like everybody around me like that. The biggest security detail I've rolled with was about 10. That's when you had me, LLOYD BANKS and YOUNG BUCK together." -contactmusic.com

Purse snatcher shocked to discover, in mid–chase, that the purse he just stole belongs to a running champion

A Chinese thief stole a girl's money but never expected the girl would turn out to be a running champion. Chu Weiwei, from Chengdu city, was stopped by a man on her way shopping. She explains: "He said to me that I had a good temperament and that he wanted to recruit me as his company's image representative." Chen chatted with the "boss" in a nearby cafe but he ran off with her purse. When she sprinted after him he threw the purse towards her. She said: "He never knew I was the running champion of Shandong province." -iol.co.za

Shopkeeper keeps unruly teens away from his store by playing Gregorian chants on a continuous loop tape on outdoor speakers

A family has hit upon a bizarre, but effective, way to deal with rowdy teenagers - blast them with medieval music. The family had reported rowdy teenagers hanging around their shop so often they were on first-name terms with local policemen. Gangs of loud-mouthed youths swilled beer while they shouted abuse at the small general store's staff and customers.

But in a moment of inspiration, Rod Nedahl stumbled across a musical idea to shoo the gangs away and end more than a decade of torment. Since he started playing medieval religious music out of the shop, troublemakers have vanished from the pavement on Treorchy High Street, in the Rhondda Valley. For the past six months Mr Nedahl, 62, has played a Gregorian chant on a continuous loop every evening. Teenagers who once plagued the shop find the music so annoying they have abandoned the area in search of another drinking spot.

"It does a world of good for the kids. They don't like it," Mr Nedahl said. "We have been suffering with the problem for 14 years and since Christmas it has done the trick." - icwales.icnetwork.co.uk

Judge rules Florida must warn bathers that the ocean is a dangerous place filled with water and swimming things with teeth

Cities that make their public beaches attractive to swimmers have an obligation to warn the public of dangers such as rip tides, the Florida Supreme Court has ruled.

The ruling came in a 1997 case in which two people drowned off a beach in the city of Miami Beach that had food shops and a place to shower and change, but no life guards nearby. "The city engaged in affirmative actions that effectively designated the beach as a public swimming area and derived revenue from that activity," the Judge wrote. He wrote that the ocean is filled with hazards that are "simply inherent in the use of these waters." "There are sharks, barracudas, stingrays, jelly fish, undertows, riptides, sandbars, coral reefs, lightning, and literally thousands of other natural dangers," Wells wrote.

Since the 1997 drownings, that Miami Beach has put up a lifeguard stand. - news.findlaw.com

Published in the Rising Stars on April 07, 2005

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas LEAKED!

2005-04-01T15:29:00.000+06:00

Guys, you totally gotta believe this! The San Andreas PC version has been totally leaked!!! I know this is not related to my published stuff, but I just had to tell you!

Some Rockstar dudes got totally fired and stuff and were very pissed and all... so they decided to do this totally cool thing! They took whatever source they had as developers and posted it all over P2P and warez forums!

Man, that's totally awesome! Keep a lookout for the stuff... I suggest P2P sites like Kazza and eDonkey... Wareznet might also have this stuff, you never know!

Sites Unseen... 30

2005-03-31T08:49:00.000+06:00

So, you guys have been complaining why there wasn’t the readers special Sites Unseen. Well, guess what. There was a huge turnout of readers sending links. But unfortunately, most of them were bad. I simply couldn’t get myself to write a Sites Unseen featuring that stuff. Anyway, here’s some of the better links.

Moin came up with three good sites. The first one is an interesting educational site, www.physics.org. It has lots of things for you to know, learn and discover. All in all, this is a good site and worth exploring out. Moin’s second site points to something which is probably the tiniest site in the internet, http://www.guimp.com/. It has some flash animations and arcade games, all within area of 20X20 pixels! It’s very interesting just to see what the developer crammed into such a tiny area. I’ve played Pong, Pac Man, Asteroids and a car game here, and surprisingly, they are all playable! Moin’s last link is of a site that has a huge amount of flash animations, games and videos. http://gprime.net/ The guy who manages this site searches all over the internet for cool stuff and puts it up there. Not all of the stuff there are of good quality, though.

Aiman gave us some good useful links. The first one gives you unlimited Gmail accounts! It’s http://isnoop.net. Go here, and click on “Gmail account invite spooler”. Currently, they have 520,713 invites available and have already distributed 565,113 invites since they started. Although they say they have that many invites, they will only give you about 10-20. Aiman’s second link is http://www.vgmusic.com/. It’s a site with music from all kinds of games… from almost every console! Check it out!

Asif Iqbal emailed with two funny flash cartoons and a game. The first one is a very funny cartoon showing different Olympic events. http://tinyurl.com/3a7ql (1.3 MB). The second cartoon is a satire describing the difference between Italians and other Europeans. http://tinyurl.com/56247 (2 MB). Also, Asif recommended an interesting cricket game. Easy game and if you practice, you can even score 400 in just 15 overs! http://tinyurl.com/55wbz (400 kb).

Also, Sayem gave this link: http://www.smscountry.com/. It’s a site that claims to allow the users to send SMS to any country.

In other news, I’ve got my exams coming up. And even I gotta study at times. So I guess I’ll be a bit irregular about my columns. Bear with me till the end of May. After that, I’ll rule! (a lot more than I do now)

Chris Barr is Available on Thursday
http://www.chrisbarr.net/projects/thursday/
So you think your calendar is full? (Mine's certainly full. And after 21 or so hours of gaming, I can't feel my teeth.) Anyway, at least you don't have perfect strangers scheduling your time and planning your whole day, every Thursday for two months. Chris Barr does. Calling his temporary servitude "a collaborative live art and documentary project," Chris invites you to ask him to do something, anything -- as long as it can take place in or around Buffalo, New York, and it isn't illegal, dangerous, or financially challenging. Chris has been asked to stand on his hands, paint a picture, and photograph attractive women holding an "I like Spike" sign. And he's not above performing a little pedicure action or commandeering a hallway desk. So, Chris will be busy on Thursdays, but that leaves him six days a week to recover.

Uncyclopedia
http://mrpalmguru.com/uncyclopedia/
Taking a design cue from a certain user-created encyclopedia (wikipedia.org), the Uncyclopedia is a unique experiment in public domain humor. A self-professed collection of lies and disinformation, the Uncyclopedia depends upon its readers for its goofy entries on the Cuban Missile Crisis or Bands With Only One Song. But is it funny? Yes, in places. Specially when Sauron is the Lord of Dance: a cute little girly boy riding a Pegasus on rainbows. Okay, maybe not all the stuff over there are funny… but you get the idea.

Interactive buddy: the ultimate tool
http://tinyurl.com/55paa
The purpose of this cool game is for you to interact with the little guy on screen in whatever way you would like (You’ve been handed grenades, stun guns, shot guns and flame throwers, among other handy tools. So be creative!)

Maybe that doesn’t sound grand, but it’s just that I find that little wobbly thing with Bush’s face saying “I have misoverestimated my agile-ness!” very soothing. It’s also a joy to watch him exclaim “Was that a nuc-ah-ler bomb?” or “You have misunderstimated my bravery!” Also, watching Maddox cry out “I’m not as tough as I sound – please stop!” or “Okay! You were right and I was wrong.” is a nice change from his usual rants (Maddox.xmission.com). He still rules, though. Bill Gates confesses “Self-esteem is a luxury that I don’t have.” Anyway, the point is, this is a very fun and innovative tool for punishing some popular people.

Published in the Rising Stars on March 31, 2005

Gizmondo

2005-03-31T08:24:00.000+06:00

Gizmondo has taken the wraps off a portable gaming device that's seems to be the Swiss Army Knife among handheld consoles. The device, which is now available in Europe, is meant to go head-to-head with the PlayStation Portable and the Nintendo DS.

The Gizmondo combines gaming with an excess of multimedia functions—video, music, Web, GPS tracking, and a digital camera. But games won't be reduced into unworthy status: "We know that the handheld market will be driven by content and functionality, and the Gizmondo will deliver on both," says founder Carl Freer. A recently announced partnership with Microsoft will surely help....

It runs the Windows CE operating system with Media Player 9, which means it can play MP3s, plus MPEG-4 and WMV video imported via an SD slot or USB 2.0. It can also sync with Outlook to store contacts, which doesn't sound useful until you find that it comes with a SIM card and the ability to send MMS messages (but not make calls). Plus there is GPRS, WAP, a 0.3-megapixel camera… And to maximize gaming capabilities, it features the Nvidia GeForce 3D 4500 graphics solution. Gizmondo says that 12 games will be available at launch; so far, the company has agreements with Electronic Arts, Activision, Sega, and Microsoft.

The Basics:
Publisher: Tiger
Price: $459.99
TFT screen, 240 x 320 pixels
Samsung400 Mhz ARM9 Processor
64 MB RAM
128-bit 3D Nvidia Graphics
Media: Proprietary cartridges, games can also be downloaded
Online: Bluetooth technology for both local and wide-area multiplayer gaming

Notable games:

COLORS
Release date: Spring 2006

If you liked reclaiming turf in the gang-war bits of Grand Theft Auto, just think how much fun gamers will have when they’ll be fighting for actual territory against other human beings. In Colors, gamers can wirelessly link up with some peeps, form a gang, and then attempt to invade rival ganglands in gritty action-packed shootouts. And that land they’re occupying is real, thanks to the Gizmondo's built-in GPS: Gamers will mark off their area with a GPS geo-fence, so If anyone intrudes, they’ll be summoned to protect their piece of the city.

CITY
Release date: Spring 2005

Apparently the Gizmondo's killer app, this ambitious title uses the handheld's GPS features to place gamers within a virtual city modelled after the one they’re already occupying in real life. So what do they do once they’re virtually where they are? That part's a bit vague – gamers will apparently be given small missions that encourage them to explore their urban environs and interact with fellow Gizmondo users afoot in their general vicinity. It all sounds a bit Ike a crazy New Age scavenger hunt… but a potentially fun one.

CONFLICT:
DESERT STORM
Release date: Spring 2005

This port of the console hit puts the players behind enemy lines with a squad of four soldiers during the 1991 Iraq invasion. Ten missions are available for the portable edition, starting with eliminating the chemical weapons and Scud missiles white battling the Republican Guard, and ending with leading the charge in a mission to liberate Kuwait City. Up to four players can participate via wireless connection.

Given its expansive capabilities, cool design, and support from major gaming publishers, the Gizmondo just might be the console to beat this year. It's certainly an impressive, sleek piece of hardware. A major challenge will be whether the company can deliver a wide category of game titles and how gamers will respond with it’s too expensive price tag.

Published in the Rising Stars on March 31, 2005

Oddly Enough... 6

2005-03-24T08:29:00.000+06:00

Mars Spirit Rover gets unsolicited cleaning of solar panels. Aliens with dirty rag, spray bottle demanding at least a dollar

Mars scientists and engineers are elated about a dust-busting blast that has struck the Spirit rover at its Gusev crater exploration site. Rover scientists suspected something was up at the Gusev site when Spirit’s wheel tracks were disappearing. Onboard cameras could look down and see the tracks vanishing. Rover team members assumed that the site was experiencing a heavy dust loading in the atmosphere.

Turns out that a martian whirlwind – dubbed a dust devil – likely zoomed over the robot high up in the Columbia Hills. That fleeting flyby effectively cleaned Spirit’s solar arrays, giving the robot a new lease on life. Engineers report that the rover’s power reading quickly shot up to almost as high as when the rover landed on Mars over a year ago. -space.com

Man robs bank, walks across parking lot to restaurant, has a beer and a sandwich while cops search for him

A suspected bank robber was arrested and taken to jail, after a bizarre heist in Salt Lake City. Donald Archambault robbed the Zions Bank on Foothill Blvd. Wednesday afternoon, but his getaway was anything but speedy. After the heist, Archambault allegedly walked across the parking lot to a restaurant, where he casually ate a sandwich and drank a beer while officers searched for the robber.

After his meal, Archambault hailed a taxi cab and asked to be taken to Ogden. The cab was en route when authorities contacted the driver and told him about the suspected bank robber in the back seat.

"When he told me he had a gun, I just pulled over and I told him, 'Hurry up and get out of here if you want to get away."' the driver said. Police officers were waiting at the cab's destination, and he was arrested when he stepped out. -4utah.com

With just hours to go before he’s released, Man escapes from prison

Law enforcement officers are searching for a man who escaped from jail just hours before his release time. Larry Dewayne Colvin, 31, escaped from the Buncombe Correctional Center, a minimum custody state facility in Woodfin. Colvin was transferred from Dan River Work Farm in Yanceyville Tuesday evening, Johnson said. He had been serving a four-month sentence on two misdemeanor charges.

Authorities from the correctional center, along with Woodfin police and the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department, have been searching for Colvin but have not had any leads. - citizen-times.com

Talk about hard love, Florida mom abandons 3–year–old in woods to teach her survival skills

A 3-year-old girl survived frigid temperatures after being abandoned in the woods when her mother's car ran out of gas in south Orange County. The child's mother, Krissy Deshay Glover, 21, of Orlando, was arrested on a charge of child neglect and was being held without bond in the Orange County Jail. She had not yet made her first court appearance and there was no information immediately available on whether she had an attorney.

Glover told police she was headed to Tampa about 3 a.m. Tuesday with her two daughters when she ran out of gas in some woods near Orlando International Airport. At the time, it was raining, temperatures had dropped into the 40s and the wind was blowing about 20 mph, according to weather reports.

Glover left the car with her two children, leaving their jackets in the car, and forced the 3-year-old to walk barefoot beside her as she carried the infant, Torres said. She left the 3-year-old behind when she became too weak to walk farther.

At about 4 a.m., she knocked on the door of Bryan and Christa Carter, about three miles from her car. While his wife, Christa bathed the infant in warm water, Bryan Carter and Glover rushed out and found the 3-year-old about a quarter-mile from Carter's house. “She was very weak, very cold, in a hypothermic state. She was just kind of grunting and laying there face down on the ground,”' said a physician's assistant. -sun-sentinel.com

Published in the Rising Stars on March 17, 2005

Sites Unseen... 29

2005-03-17T08:48:00.000+06:00

Xbox 2 details are out, gentlemen, and it seems that Microsoft has some packed some serious arsenal in its upcoming console. Apparently, the console's CPU will consist of three 3 GHz PowerPC cores. Xbox 2's GPU will be a generation beyond the ATI X800, clocking in at 500 MHz and supporting Shader 3.0. These will be handling any game like Half-Life 2 with ease.

“On the memory front, the Xbox 2 will have 256 MB RAM; it may sound insufficient but the Gamespy states that this should not be "equated to typical PC RAM". The console will, as per rumours, not sport a hard drive, making that optional. However, it will support memory cards, ranging from 64 MB to 1 GB. Not surprisingly, the console will feature a standard DVD drive, with games being released on dual-layer DVD-9 discs, holding up to 7 GB of data. The most interesting thing is that the Xbox 2 may feature a USB 2.0 camera capable of shooting 1.2 MegaPixel still shots and VGA video; how the camera will be used is still unknown.” [Quoted from http://www.bdgamer.net/?itemid=16737]

For more info, check out Xbox 2 Official Announcement at http://www.bdgamer.net/?itemid=16739. Many major companies already announced support for Xbox 2. Also, Microsoft also released pictures of the interface of Xbox 360 http://www.bdgamer.net/?itemid=16771.

In other news, the Half-Blood Prince Book covers has been released! Mugglenet.com says: Scholastic (US publisher) and Bloomsbury (UK publisher) both released their respective covers for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! You can view the American cover, the UK children's cover, and the UK adult version. Also, Mugglenet.com has word from a editor about the book. “There is to be a new Minister for Magic. We learn much more about Voldemort. No information revealed on whether Snape will be the Half-Blood Prince. HBP will be an intense book, but with light-hearted moments.”

Also, as I mentioned before, there will be a special Sites Unseen next week. You, the readers, will be sending links of sites you like, and they’ll be featured along with your names. Cool, huh? Email your links to me (niloy.me@gmail.com) today!

The usual cool links:

Pictures of Walls
http://www.picturesofwalls.com/index.html
Once you get past the dire warning about cursing and the slightly confusing navigation (scroll down and click on the big white arrows), you'll find some spray-painted goodness in this collection of city snapshots. Using tagged expanses of brick, cement, glass, metal, and plywood as subjects, the contributors to this photo "Gallery of Grime" have tracked down moments of beauty and desperation in the often hidden landscape of urban street expression. It's just compelling to watch the walls speak for themselves.

Half-blood Prince plot generator!
http://www.angelfire.com/magic2/bringbackmolly/hbpgenerator.html
“Harry falls in love with Draco Malfoy and Winky befriends Lord Voldemort. Meanwhile, Petunia threatens Wormtail and Mrs Weasley does a favour for Lucious Malfoy. Nobody wins the Quiddich Cup, and Hufflepuff wins the House Cup. Dumbledore's Army fights the rampaging trolls and Hagrid's Blast-ended Skrewts turn out to be evil. Hagrid dies, and we learn about a dark secret about Tom Riddle. Shockingly, Dobby turns out to be the Half-blood prince.”

A great Mac Gyver fan site
http://www.rusted-crush.com/macgyver
The is a great fan site of one of the coolest serials of all time. Check out the “quotes” and “lessons”.

Converter: Webshots picture format to JPEG
http://tinyurl.com/5ofbk
Do you use the site www.webshots.com? It’s quite a neat site, really, and has a good collection of wallpapers. Anyway, the site requires you to use their specific software to use their wallpapers, and I don’t like that. This nifty freeware, sized at 1.3 MB, converts the wallpapers you download from webshots.com into JPEG files.

Game: Orbox
http://www.thefilebin.com/userfiles/niloy/orbox.swf
A fun game in which you try to reach the goal while trying not to get lost in hyperspace. 80 kb.

Breakout clone with a twist
http://www.thefilebin.com/userfiles/niloy/circle_ball.swf
A nice game, similar to DX-ball, but features a circular play area. 300 kb.

Game: Mini Putt 3
http://www.thefilebin.com/userfiles/niloy/miniputt3.swf
Neat putting game. 285 KB.

Offering the worst email address in the planet…
http://www.abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijk.com/
This site offers free 6MB email accounts. The email address would be so long that... some web forms are unable to read your email address, some email software cannot be configured, people will have a hard time typing your email address, companies will think that your email address fake AND it'll be the longest alphabetical email address on Earth!

Published in the Rising Stars on March 17, 2005

Oddly Enough... 5

2005-03-17T08:32:00.000+06:00

Sheep are rugged individualists, chickens are smarter than dogs, cows are canny tool–users and pigs are masters of deceit. George Orwell surrenders.

New studies show that farmyard animals have a range of emotions and a sharp intelligence. Fish are renowned for having a three-second memory; however, evidence suggests they can be highly manipulative and cultured. Parrots, when shown two different objects, can use language to describe differences in their colour, shape and texture. Sheep can carry the mental image of another sheep or person for two years. Chickens feel intention and expectation and can tell people apart. Pigs may use a sophisticated form of consciousness to deceive other animals for greater personal reward. Elephants make graves by breaking branches to cover their dead colleagues. They have a large hippocampus, the part of the brain that stores mental maps. -observer.guardian.co.uk

Norwegian man watches tank flatten his car while he’s still in it

Knut Okkenhaug had a startling brush with death when a naughty tank flattened his car. The accident took place on March 2, while he and his wife were driving home. The couple suddenly found themselves facing a Norwegian Leopard tank out on military exercises.

"We stopped the car after driving all the way out to the side, to where the snow is ploughed off, but the tank just continued towards us without stopping," Okkenhaug said.

"Then the tank drove up over the left side of the hood of the car and continued over the front window and roof, half a meter into the car. The tank driver clearly hadn't seen us. I leaned as far as I could into my wife while I felt the roof being pressed down into my left shoulder. Then my left cheekbone was pressed against the roof and I shrunk down as far as I could. It was quite cramped and looking back it is incredible that I survived. I said a bad word when I understood the tank wasn't going to stop, when it was over me I can't remember what I thought," he said. The 40-ton tank didn't stop until it had finished driving over the vehicle.

He was extracted with the help of a group of refugees. He said that he has some pain in the shoulder but is otherwise unhurt. Police said the incident would be investigated as a standard traffic accident. - aftenposten.no

Man requests a free pen, doesn't get it. Threatens to blow the store up with dynamite and tries to run over the store manager.

Explosive threats lead to a man hunt in Bonner Springs, Kansas. Police there say they are searching for the person that walked into a Thriftway Store and tried to get a pen for free. When he didn't succeed, he reportedly threatened to come back with dynamite and blow the store up. Police say the suspect then tried to run over the store manager in the parking lot. Nobody was hurt. -wdaftv4.com

Maryland citizens tired of living with Satan

The U-shaped street in Columbia was supposed to be named Satin Wood Drive, based on an obscure poem. But 30 years ago, somewhere between the developer's plans and the county's official map, a misplaced letter doomed the residents of Satan Wood Drive.

"You almost feel disliked,” said Jamie Aycock, a resident. “Sometimes they look at me like I'm a devil worshipper.” Residents have adopted a variety of coping mechanisms. A priest who lives on the street sprinkles holy water around his house each year. Another man obscures the name by giving it a French pronunciation. Others simply call it S Street.

Someday soon, they say, the evil name that has troubled them for so long will be driven out of the community. And when that day comes, there will be dancing and jubilation in the street. -winfieldcourier.com

Published in the Rising Stars on March 17, 2005

Sites Unseen... 28

2005-03-10T08:22:00.000+06:00

I’m thinking of making a special Sites Unseen for March 24 issue. You, the readers, will be sending links to sites you like, and they’ll be featured along with your names. Cool, huh? Email your links to me (niloy.me@gmail.com) before March 18.

In other news, DOOM movie is completed. It’s coming out it August. Apparently, the story this movie won’t happen inside a Space Station in Mars, won’t feature demons spawned from hell and there’re rumours abound that it’ll have some mushiness. What happened to our dreams of a movie with nothing but two full hours of mindless blasting of evil unforgiving creatures? http://www.bdgamer.net/?itemid=16627

The usual cool links:

Their Circular life
http://www.theircircularlife.it/
“An exploration about human behaviour… Humans are all equal. They have the same needs. They feel, act and behave accordingly to an unknown law. Urban places know this well. By living the day life of urban infrastructure and not yours, you become an external observer of what happens everyday in every place on earth: People live.” Basically, it’s a flash animation thingy where you get to see the days pass. Feel free to speed things up, slow things down, or stop time altogether. Cool stuff!

The San Andreas theme music
http://www.thefilebin.com/userfiles/niloy/San%20Andreas%20theme.ogg
I can’t believe that I didn’t pass this to you before! I’ve been listening this for months and it’s a superb piece of music. Clearly shows how cool the game is going to be. 600 kb Ogg file (will play on your Winamp Full version.)

X-men parody
http://www.thefilebin.com/userfiles/niloy/xmen.swf
“No, no, NO! Don’t change the subject! Why aren’t YOU dead?”

Dragon Ball Z Parody
http://www.thefilebin.com/userfiles/niloy/dbzparody.zip
Parody about the series poking fun at different stuff about it. Not very funny, though, as it makes a parody of a not-so-good thing. 1.25 MB.

Falling down
http://www.thefilebin.com/userfiles/niloy/falldown.swf
A game where you try to go down the gaps and stay on the screen. 185kb.

iPod versus the plain old Cassette
http://homepage.mac.com/danielturek/PhotoAlbum50.html
iPod costs 24000 tk, a cassette costs 35 tk. iPod plays itself, but needs speakers/headphones. A cassette needs a player to play, but don’t need speakers. iPod gives out the hip message “LOOK! I’m filthy rich! Bow to me!”, a cassette speaks out “I’m sad and back-dated. Please don’t be rude.” Anyway, these are realistic comparisons… and this has some cooler ones.

Game: Cheat your way out of University!
http://www.thefilebin.com/userfiles/niloy/The%20Classroom%202.swf
Studies were never meant to be fair. This happens basically duo to the indifference of Society. Anyway, when they are not fair, why should you be fair to them? Here’s a game that let’s you try that out without risking anything. Funny game. 600 kb.

Order a Pizza while playing Everquest 2
http://everquest2.station.sony.com/pizza/
Honestly... what more is left to be said? It's hilariously sad and pathetic all on its own. Unfortunately, it’s entirely true.
Here’s Ctrl-Alt-Del’s take on that:
http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/images/comics/20050221.jpg

Calvin & Hobbes comics archive
http://www1.stfunoob.com/calvin_hobbes/index.htm
All the Calvin & Hobbes comics ever published are stashed here. And some of them were actually quite good! Check them out.

Published in the Rising Stars on March 10, 2005

Oddly Enough... 4

2005-03-10T08:09:00.000+06:00

Boy fools India into believing he won fictional NASA search. Certificate reads: "You are the member of NASA"

An Indian teenager from one of the country's most backward states appears to have fooled governments, the media and even the president into believing he had topped the world in a NASA science exam. In a country hungry for international recognition, 17-year-old Saurabh Singh was feted as a national hero after announcing he had won NASA's “International Scientist Discovery” examination, which he said he took at Oxford University.

The Uttar Pradesh state government rewarded him with a 500,000 rupee ($11,500) prize and more than 100 members of the state's upper house each donated a day's salary to him. But as he was at the president's official residence awaiting an audience during the week, his story unraveled. An Indian news portal, rediff.com, contacted NASA, which denied any knowledge of the exam.

His certificate declared "You are the member of NASA" (sic) and is signed by Singh and "Chief of NASA, Cin K. Kif" -- NASA's former administrator was Sean O'Keefe. It also lists the name of Singh's father. Singh says he flew to London on Indian Airlines -- which does not fly to the city -- and took a taxi to Oxford University and back every day for the exam from January 4-8, a round trip of about 230 km. Singh told Reuters he stayed in a hotel, but told a Hindi language newspaper he stayed at Buckingham Palace.

"It was really inspiring," Singh told Reuters by phone. "And let me tell you, he [the Indian president] saw my certificate and praised me for the achievement, while you all are asking all kinds of questions and trying to dub me as a fraud." –Yahoo! News

British Air 747 loses engine on takeoff at LAX, continues 11–hour flight to UK to save £100,000 in new delay penalties

A BRITISH AIRWAYS jumbo jet carrying 351 passengers was forced to make an emergency landing after an 11-hour transatlantic flight with a failed engine. The fault occurred on take-off from Los Angeles but the pilot declined all opportunities to land in the US and instead continued on three engines for 5,000 miles to Britain.

The incident happened three days after a European regulation came into force requiring airlines to compensate passengers for long delays or cancellations. Under the new rules, if the pilot had returned to Los Angeles, BA would have been facing a compensation bill of more than £100,000. -timesonline.co.uk

In an effort to ward off evil, village marries children to puppies

Two small boys and two girls were married off to four puppies by tribal villagers in the small northern Indian state of Jharkhand to ward off evil. One of the tribals, 54-year-old Sonamuni, who blessed the marriage of her three-year-old grand-daughter Priya, said the wedding was no less important than other such ceremonies and all customs normally associated with marriage were followed.

The mother of "groom" Durga, aged one, said that if the first tooth of a baby came out in the upper jaw it was considered "inauspicious" for the child as well as the family and dog marriages had to be performed. -iol.co.za

Any plan that starts with "rob store at knife point" and ends with "wait for bus to make getaway" probably needs to be reconsidered

A man has been charged after a convenience store was robbed at knifepoint by a customer who said he wasn't happy with a recent purchase. "He approached the clerk asking for a refund on products he had purchased previously," Police said. "When the clerk refused to provide a refund, the male produced a knife and demanded his cash back." The employee turned over an undisclosed amount of money and the bandit bolted.

The uninjured clerk called police who responded and found the suspect waiting for a bus at a nearby bus stop. –azcentral.com

Published in the Rising Stars on March 10, 2005

Sites Unseen... 27

2005-03-03T08:23:00.000+06:00

Ever heard of the PS2 game SOCOM 2? Well, the next game in the series has been announced, SOCOM 3, and Sony said that they are working on it. “Three new, HEAVILY researched Areas of Operation: With every release, the SOCOM development team spends a ton of time getting the details absolutely perfect to re-create the mission environments for the game. For SOCOM 3, SEALs and Terrorists will be battling it out in Morocco, Poland, and >>Bangladesh<<.” And Bangladesh?? US forces and Terrorists will be battling it out in Bangladesh? So stupid! http://www.bdgamer.net/?itemid=16504

Anyway, Sites Unseen has been moved to the Backpack. What do you think about this? Missing the comics? [UPDATE: Sites Unseen WAS supposed to be moved to the Backpack (last page). But probably due to lack of space or something, it wasn’t moved. Probably it’ll be moved, from the next RS.]

As usual, you can email me at niloy.me@gmail.com

The usual cool links:

Post Secret
http://postsecret.blogspot.com/
If you've been longing to scream your deepest, darkest secret from the rooftops -- while still making sure your family and the neighbours never find out -- then it's your lucky day. Just write it down on a postcard and send it off, guilt-free. Anonymous confessions ranging from light-hearted to therapy-worthy have found a new public home, and it looks like many of us have been waiting for the right moment to spill our guts without signing our names. Remember when you threw eggs in the neighbour’s roof? Or couldn't resist a chocolate fix secretly? Maybe you've had it up to here with irony. Whatever your sin is, here's a chance to throw open wide the closet doors and share it with the world. But don't worry – no one will ever find out. Ever!

Maddox is writing a book
http://maddox.xmission.com/c.cgi?u=book
Partly fuelled by his desire to give children the "wrong ideas about life," and partly fuelled by contempt for trees, Maddox has decided to write a book. Hell, this book is going to be so awesome, you may want to buy two just so you can wear one around your neck. For now, sign up his mailing list about the book. “The genre is still up in the air. The publisher wants to release it under "humor" but I'm pushing to have it released in devotional literature or self help.”

Gullible.info
http://www.gullible.info
Every minute, your brain processes about 17GB of visual input, 5GB of audio input, 20MB of tactile (touch) input, 350kB of olfactory (smell) input, and 100 kB of gustatory (taste) input. If you're left-handed, you're three times more likely to be late than your right-handed friends. And you're more likely to die in September than any other month. Or so say the folks at Gullible.info. Every day they uncover some of the most unusual, inane, and startling facts that have slipped below the radar of the mainstream media. Some of it may come in handy during your next fight-to-the-death trivia competition. Do you know who was the first American president to have his own website? Or the favorite color of most Americans? Or the single food that accounts for more than 50 percent of all calories consumed worldwide? I can't verify the answers, but according to Gullible.info: Ronald Reagan, blue, rice.

The gravity ball game
http://www.thefilebin.com/userfiles/niloy/ballgame.zip
This is a nice and exciting game where you use a gravity defying ball to reach the target. And it has good music and is very addictive.

Rodeo: ride the angry bull!
http://www.thefilebin.com/userfiles/niloy/torrodeo6.zip
A tough, funny game where you have to move your mouse with a little crazy bull. It would have been very easy, but they decided to hide the mouse pointer…

Innovative bunny suicides
http://users.pandora.be/roeges/Bunny%20Suicides.htm
Who knew what made these bunnies so sad…

The MAN project
http://www.thefilebin.com/userfiles/niloy/Man.swf
Move, twist, twirl, fly a strange man around you desktop.

Parade
http://www.thefilebin.com/userfiles/niloy/parade.swf
This will keep you busy for hours! Or not?

What if…
http://www.flipflopflyin.com/whatif/
What if things had turned out differently? What if your shattering talent had been recognized earlier -- or recognized at all? How would you have dealt with the fame? Would you have used it to help cure hepatitis, or cashed out like Jimi Hendrix? These are some of the questions on Craig Robinson's mind. Craig is best known for his minipops, tiny pixelated images of celebrities. In What If, this clever graphic designer presents a massive decision tree populated with potential Craig minipops. There's Craig the international soccer star, Craig the renowned architect, and even Craig the happy guy living in Berlin. Follow dozens of potential Craigs through stunning successes and catastrophic misfortunes. Then maybe have a think about your own situation...

Published in the Rising Stars on March 03, 2005

Oddly Enough... 3

2005-03-03T08:08:00.000+06:00

Man puts ad in paper to sell 42" plasma TV, dismayed when potential buyers end up robbing him for it

Three suspects were arrested Thursday night for allegedly robbing a man of his plasma TV and leading police on a 10-minute chase that ended in a crash with a street light.

James Reynolds told investigators that around 8:30 p.m. three gunmen burst into his apartment at the Cascade Village complex in Westminster and staged a take-over style robbery. They bound him and then took off with a lot of his electronic equipment, including a plasma TV that he had advertised for sale in the newspaper, Westminster police said.

When the robbers fled, Reynolds freed himself of his restraints, ran to a neighbor's apartment for help and called police. He told investigators that he recognized one of the attackers as a prospective buyer whom he had invited into his apartment and shown his TV to earlier in the day. -thedenverchannel.com

Scientists find New galaxy completely devoid of stars, name it BTV

Strong evidence for a massive galaxy totally devoid of stars has been found in the Virgo cluster, about 50 million light years away from Earth. If the existence of this "dark galaxy" is confirmed, it will vindicate the favoured theory of how galaxies form - and will present fresh puzzles to solve.

The new galaxy, which consists of a gigantic cloud of hydrogen gas and exotic dark matter, contains enough material to give birth to tens of millions of stars. Yet something is preventing this from happening. Such dark galaxies have been predicted, and could outnumber normal galaxies by as much as a hundred to one, but this is the first time anyone has confidently claimed to have seen one. -New Scientist (NO, they didn’t actually name it BTV… just my little joke)

Churchgoers will be ordered to pray for Camilla. It's good to be the Queen

Churchgoers are to be commanded by royal warrant to pray for Camilla Parker Bowles as part of regular Sunday services after her marriage to the Prince of Wales on April 8. The Queen is planning to issue the warrant in formal recognition of her new daughter-in-law’s status as one of the most high-ranking members of the royal family.

At the moment, only the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and Charles are individually remembered by the Church of England in state prayers during services of matins and evensong. -timesonline.co.uk

US Army spends $5 million to create Xbox game, “Full Spectrum Warrior.” Cheat codes are “Halliburton” for unlimited supplies, “Rumsfeld” for unlimited lives.

In a unique deal with Hollywood, the Army spent more than $5-million in taxpayer money to create Full Spectrum Warrior, a video game that was supposed to teach soldiers about urban combat.

The Army got what some say is a mediocre training tool, but the companies that designed the game got a sweet deal.

The Army says it's satisfied it got a good game at a fair price. The companies say Full Spectrum Warrior was a bargain. "The Army got an incredible deal," said Josh Resnick, president of Pandemic. "This kind of product had never been done before." But the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense says the game was "full-spectrum welfare" for the companies - and a lousy deal for taxpayers. -sptimes.com

Published in the Rising Stars on March 03, 2005

Oddly Enough... 2

2005-02-24T08:10:00.000+06:00

Landlord evicts tenants by setting off tear-gas grenades

A West Point landlord has been arrested for allegedly trying to evict one of his tenants by setting off a tear gas grenade. It happened around 1:30 Wednesday (16 Feb) morning at a home in Lanett Alabama -- cops say Joseph Hammock had an argument with one of his tenants, and set off a tear gas grenade at the rental property. Investigators say this was the second time it had happened in a week. Police from several different agencies arrested Hammock at his home. They found another explosive device on the dash of his truck, and called in the bomb squad to search the property. The Bomb Squad says it found several more explosive components and survivalist literature. -720thevoice.com

Bush tells Syria to remove troops, adhere to UN resolutions and stop influencing other countries with military power

How ironic!

President Bush called on Syria on Thursday to withdraw its forces from Lebanon as Lebanese opposition leaders vowed to topple the country's pro-Syrian leadership. He said Syria should adhere to a U.N. resolution demanding its troops leave Lebanon and should allow an election scheduled for May to be free and fair.

Bush goes to Brussels next week to meet European Union and NATO leaders. European diplomats have said Syria will be near the top of the agenda for the talks. "I look forward to working with my European friends on my upcoming trip to talk about how we can work together to convince the Syrians to make rational decisions," he said. -Yahoo! News

Women Who Avoid Marital Fights May Be More Likely To Die

Married women who avoid conflict with their spouses have an increased risk of dying from any cause, according to a news release from the Second International Conference on Women, Heart Disease and Stroke. But married men were less likely to die than their single counterparts over a 10-year period, despite other health risks.

Researchers from Boston University and the Eaker Epideiology Enterprise tracked nearly 4,000 men and women, about 3,000 of whom were in marriages or "marital situations" for 10 years to see if they developed heart problems or died. The couples were asked about things such as disagreements, overall satisfaction and conflict resolution.

"Married men were heavier, older, and had higher blood pressure and a less favorable lipid profile compared to unmarried men," principal investigator Elaine D. Eaker said. "Unmarried men were more likely to be smokers."

Married men were about half as likely to die as unmarried men. On the other hand, marital status and traditional measures of marital strain had no effect on women developing heart disease or dying. –Local10.com

Florida teacher demonstrates the art of bomb making to chemistry class. Emphasizes use of electric detonator to stay clear from blast

A 42-year-old Freedom High School chemistry teacher was arrested Monday after students told authorities he taught his class how to make explosives, the local Sheriff's Office said.

David Pieski, a teacher at Freedom for two years, used an overhead projector in class to give students detailed instructions in bomb-making, including advising them to use an electric detonator to stay clear from the blast, according to an arrest report.

Authorities said in Pieski's classroom, they found information, including the chemical breakdown, for an explosive predominately used by Middle East suicide bombers. One student said he set off an explosive device at Hunter's Creek Golf Club on Jan. 6 and videotaped it, according to Pieski's arrest warrant. The videotape shows a fiery explosion, and the voice of a young man shouting a curse can be heard. - sun-sentinel.com

Published in the Rising Stars on February 17, 2005

Sites Unseen

2005-02-17T08:20:00.000+06:00

The next consoles, Playstation 3 and Xbox 2 have been announced, with much hype and anticipation. The companies are blabbering on and on about how powerful the consoles will be and how gorgeous and movie-like graphics they would render. Well, they said all that before PS2 and Xbox came out, so mostly they are hype. Still the few released screenshots and gameplay footage are absolutely awesome. They are extremely beautiful and looks real in an odd uncanny way.

Take a look: this happens to be the next Need for Speed game. http://tinyurl.com/6nlw3 ... Look at the car. Just look at it! Is this supposed to be a video game? Here’s another one: http://tinyurl.com/5hmkl ... A rugby game? Look at the shadows, the grass, the players… You can almost feel the excitement of it! More in this site: http://tinyurl.com/4f43r... and Dark Sector has some footage www.darksector.com... Also here’s another game that looks superb: http://www.elderscrolls.com/

Looks like that the consoles are only planning for better graphics… and that is sad. I guess we won’t be able to jack into the game-world anytime soon.

And in other news: TotalGames.net is quoting MCV on reporting that Rockstar Games is already hard at work planning the next entry in the GTA series for the PS3. The interesting part is that they (Rockstar) is looking for locations outside of the US...with Europe being a "strong contender".

And if you want a Gmail account, mail me with your first and last name.

The links are available at my blog, niloywrites.blogspot.com, so that you don’t have to type them up.

The usual greatness:

Swank Signs: Dedicated to the art of mocking public works
http://www.swanksigns.org/
Ever stopped by a sign in the road that was so hard to make out it can only have been meant to be understood by aliens? That's the idea behind this gallery of graphic mysteries and confusing primitive writings. "Dedicated to the art of mocking public works," the site invites you to submit photos of signs that are utterly incomprehensible, frankly menacing, narrative-ly burdened , plainly insulting, creepily suggestive, and, finally, strangely reminiscent of human-robot hybrid science fiction. Signs from all over the world, including Japan, Germany, Malaysia, Russia, and Vietnam add to the mix. Don't forget to check out the suggested meanings at the bottom of each page.

The Red book of Westmarch
http://www.geocities.com/redbookofwestmarch/
A wonderful site dedicated to the works and worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien. You can find all kinds of resources about Middle Earth here. And http://www.geocities.com/palmtolkien/ has pictures from the books, music, fonts, screensavers and programs. Tolkein fans should check them out.

These researchers sent all kinds of weird stuff over mail
http://www.directcreative.com/aaexperiments.html
Now that’s a good way of testing a postal system. And funny too.

The Box Doodle Project
http://www.neu-e.de/
Artist David Hoffman presents this fantastic scrolling gallery of cardboard art. The only requirement? The art must come on a box -- which he generously supplies as well as the tools to create your own doodles. Dozens of talented illustrators have contributed flattened-box creations that range from the amusing to the slightly creepy. Most, however, fall firmly in the whimsical category. If a particular box doodle catches your eye, it's probably linked to a great individual artist site. Try the super nifty Box Doodle Tool: Pick any of three boxes, a colour, and a pen and start drawing. It's more fun than you might think

An atlas of the universe
http://www.anzwers.org/free/universe/index.html
This web page is designed to give everyone an idea of what our universe actually looks like.

A guy smokes 800 cigarettes in 6 minutes
http://img101.exs.cx/img101/2162/haveyougotalight2hr.jpg
One smoke, and you have lungs cancer. Lovely!

Yongfook.com
http://www.yongfook.com/
Thank you, Japan, for inspiring a seemingly endless supply of goofy web sites! This highly entertaining blog celebrates the infinite wonder of Japanese processed foods. This is a virtual horn o' plenty of bizarre Nipponese edibles. There's some really strange stuff called Chicken Dust, which is actually kind of muddy and is supposed to be poured over rice. A brave foray into the bewildering world of ramen features some real doozies, including one labeled "Soy Sauce Flavor." And introduce yourself to an entirely new take on the bachelor's favorite edible genre: "Boil in the Bag." According to the package for beef curry, it has "good taste and nice flavor." But Jon Cockle disagrees and finds that, unlike other cultures that "tend to improve original recipes...Japan has perfected the art of making them crap." Dig in, gaijin!

Published in the Rising Stars on February 17, 2005

The 2005 PC guide

2005-02-17T08:16:00.000+06:00

Technology is advancing at unbelievable speed at our time. The latest cutting edge technology is getting replaced with bleeding edge technology before it even gets to the customers. The scientists have now created a spaceship that can visit space every other day. The first talking Cars are approaching. Robots are now moving more fluidly than ever and some are involved in combat warfare. The gaming industry has finally grown to such enormity that now it’s bigger than both the movie industry and the music industry put together. And yet another year with even more advancement looms ahead.

Are we going to pitilessly fall back when the world is advancing like that? Probably.

Still, we could at least equip our PCs with some good stuff… so…

Buy new or Upgrade?

Tough decision, my friend, because this decision is very important and it’s complex. Complex, because it involves all kinds of scary creepy things like budget limitations, hardware limitations and limitations of proper advice/support/knowledge/facts... the only non limited thing is the wish and desire of having the hottest computer. But if you have a computer from ancient times – year 2000 or earlier – than it’s most likely that upgrade is not possible without buying everything - processor, motherboard, graphics card, RAM - again. Yes, upgrade is still possible… but it’s too complex and there would be lots of opportunities for the salesman to take advantage of you. Why don’t just forget about it? Sure, you can’t play the latest Half Life game or San Andreas when it comes for the PC, but those games are not that good… the details in Half Life are not as realistic as in Matrix… and San Andreas is so big that you might get lost with even a Boeing 747! Bad games. Also they waste your valuable time, think about that!

However, If you own a PC bought later on, and just want to play the latest games - say Half Life 2 - invest on a mid-range graphics card like the ATI Radeon 9200 SE and things will go just fine. By the way, if you use SD rams and don’t have 256 MB yet, try to get one soon… they are conspiring to put the “SD RAM”s out of the market. Then you would be able to enjoy the most minutely detailed thriller ever made (Half Life 2) and lose yourself in the awesomeness of the San Andreas state when the game comes to PC. To sum up: if you got a decent processor, get a good graphics card which your motherboard would support. And have 256 MB RAM.

Well, that’s almost all I can say about upgrading. Yes, I only mentioned two things, but a completely detailed upgrade guide suited for Bangladesh would be hundreds of pages… not quite suitable for Rising Stars.

So, next choice: buying a whole new system

When buying, or lets say, “choosing” hardware for a new computer, you’ll probably realise that the task isn’t exactly rocket science, but it’s close. Still, do not go for the complete PC systems… as they almost always lack in some features. Instead, go for choosing each piece of hardware differently… and then having someone assemble it.

The first thing you must decide is what are you going to use the computer for? Gaming for 25 hours a day? Or work and browse internet and download pictures and watch movies, but not gaming? If you choose the latter, then go for a Celeron processor. (Around Tk 3500) Contrary to the popular belief, the Celeron processors – although very cheap – are good at everything… everything except 3d Animation (that is, gaming). So, if you are not a gamer fire up a Celeron 2Ghz up, a motherboard with built-in AGP and soundcard, 128 MB RAM, a 40/60/80 GB hard disk… and you got yourself a fine PC all within 25000 (when you include the monitors, speakers, CD/DVD drives, modems and other stuff).

But if you are a real gamer, the greatest athlete of our time, a Celeron just won’t do. You need a Pentium 4 or the also-quite-good AMD processors. Go for a 1.6 GHz or more - which would keep any game (of this year or earlier) running smoothly with a good Graphics card - but keep in mind that the hyper-threading 3GHz processor isn’t that hyper; it’s just twice as powerful as a 1.6 GHz. P4 2.2 GHz is Tk 7200 while P4 3 GHz is Tk 12000. Also get a 256 MB RAM (128 MB are around Tk 1500, 256 MB are around Tk 3000). Motherboards vary so much that it’s very hard to recommend a specific one. Just ask the salesman about one compatible with both your processor and chosen graphics card.

As for the Graphics card – your primary and most important arsenal against high-end games – the ones the market offers are disappointing. Within the Tk 5000 range, there are only a few types available. I’ve done some research… and I found the ATI Raydon 9200 SE with a 64 bit 200MHz processor costing at around 3500 the best of the bunch.

Myth: “The memory of the graphics card (64 MB, 128 MB) is the most important thing in a graphics card.”
Fact: The memory hardly matters anything as you can always share as much memory as you want from your RAM. The real thing that matters is the Core Processor Speed measured in MHz (don’t confuse it with the bus speed). Every graphics card has a processor in it… the faster the processor is, the better and more capable the card is. However you wouldn’t find it written down in the packaging box of the card… it’s usually hidden in the manual. It’s a part of some marketing ploy of theirs.

CD Drives are good, but DVD drives are tempting. The combo drives (DVD + CD RW) are excellent. Hard disks are cheaper now… so you should invest on a 80 GB 7200 RPM one (around Tk 4000). As for the sound card, the one that came built in with your mother board would have been enough… but if you have a set of 5 speakers to feed then go for something from Creative. And choose your speakers according to your need. Go for the Prolink internal modem (around Tk 500) if you need a modem. Now get a casing and have your PC assembled!

It helps to know…

Love your eyes: get a glare guard. Glare guards (often mistakenly called “screen filters”) are a must if you wish to use the PC for more than 2 hours daily yet don’t want to be horribly short-sighted.

Go for all black: when buying a new PC, buy everything in black (casing, monitor, CD/DVD drives, keyboard and mouse). Not only it looks cooler than an all white PC… but when it gets dusty, the dust would be less visible.

Steer clear of “porichio” shops or shops recommended by someone: unless you want an actually-working warranty. In almost every case, the “porichito” shop would charge much higher for everything. On the other hand, as he’s a “porichito”, he would give better customer support and a warranty that would actually work. Non-“porichito” shops usually charges lower… but don’t guarantee its warranty.

Look out for extended warranty: many shops offer extended warranty – three years instead of a year – but you would have to ask for it. Often, they charge an extra Tk 300-500 for it.

Windows XP is better: No matter what you knew earlier (or what the salesman says), the XP is actually way better than other older Windows.

Note: the prices mentioned here are subject to change over time

Published in the Rising Stars on February 17, 2005

Oddly enough...

2005-02-03T08:39:00.000+06:00

Canadian town donates $10,000 to Tsunami fund, wants it back for fireworks display

The Canadian Red Cross will return a $10,000 tsunami relief donation to a northern Saskatchewan town after its council said the motion to approve the expenditure passed accidentally.

On Jan. 10, three members of Meadow Lake's council voted in favour of dipping into the town's $30,000 centennial fireworks fund to make the donation to victims of the Dec. 26 Indian Ocean tragedy. Two councillors voted against the motion. The vote passed 3-2. Meadow Lake's mayor, who was in hospital at the time, later challenged the validity of the vote.

By that time, the cheque from the town of 5,000 residents had been handed over to the Red Cross. However, Red Cross spokesperson said the agency had no problem refunding the donation. - CBC News

Robber asks out victim for a date

Police say a man involved in the recent robbery of a Domino's Pizza delivery woman would be a good candidate for ``World's Dumbest Criminal.'' After two men robbed the woman, one of them called the victim on his cell phone to apologize - and to ask her out on a date.

The victim declined the request, instead giving the cell phone number to police, who arrested Brent Brown, on Thursday.

Officers searched a residence and found the pizza boxes in the trash can with the original receipt still attached. - AP

The absolute worst person in the world

A British man who sent hoax e-mails to relatives of people missing since the Asian tsunami, saying their loved ones had been confirmed dead, was sentenced Monday to six months in prison.

Christopher Pierson, from Lincolnshire, eastern England, targeted people who had placed appeals for information about relatives and friends on the Web site of Sky News, claiming to be from the "Foreign Office Bureau" in Thailand.

He told the judge he was remorseful over what had happened and was visibly distressed during sentencing at London's Bow Street Magistrates Court. Pierson, bankrupted in 1998, was depressed over the death of his son and the court heard another son had been diagnosed with unstable diabetes that required 24-hour care.

A picture of a father grieving on television prompted him to send the e-mails, as he wanted the family to have closure over the death of their loved one, the court heard. - Reuters

Half-ton man drops nearly 500 pounds, and is still fat

Patrick Deuel talks at Avera McKennan Hospital, in Sioux Falls, S.D., about how he has lost 321 pounds since June after checking in at 1,072. Deuel, 42, was scheduled to leave the hospital, seven months after he checked in grave condition, at 1,072 pounds. After undergoing stomach-reduction surgery in October, he is down to 610 pounds and is healthier.

Now, the man looks forward to the simple things others take for granted, such as taking out the trash and shovelling snow. "We've given him (another) shot at life ... and I hope he seizes on it," said Dr. Fred Harris, leader of the nine-person medical team responsible for Deuel's care at the Hospital.

Deuel could someday go back to work if he sticks to his diet, keeps building his strength and increases his level of activity, his doctor said. "My hope is Patrick will be able to remain mobile enough to get out of the house and get a job," he said.

He said eventually he would like to get down to 240 pounds -- although the last time he saw that on the scale was when he was in sixth grade. - Wftv.com

Published in the Rising Stars on February 3, 2005

Mac Mini and iPod Shuffle

2005-02-03T08:35:00.000+06:00

Apple's recent unveiling of the iPod Shuffle and the Mac Mini caused a big stir and with good reason. There’s a lot more than what meets the eye on both these "downsized" devices.

For years, people have criticized Macs for being more expensive than Windows PCs. Although at one time that was the case, when you look at comparably equipped Macs and brand-name Windows PCs—that is, once you add the hardware features and software that comes with a Mac to a Windows PC—the differences in price are much smaller, if they exist at all.

But with the release of Mac Mini, things have changed. Apple has achieved a new goal: to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk. Yes, the Mac Mini is small. In fact, it’s so small that you’d have to stack eight of them to top your regular Tower casing. And it’s sleek and beautiful, sized only at 6.5" x 6.5" x 2" and 3 pounds. And the tiny machine comes with a G4 1.25 GHz processor, 256 MB RAM and a 40 GB Hard drive. A different model, with a better processor and 80 GB Hard drive, is available for $600. And all these comes comes with a hoard of Apple’s brilliant software and, of course, the Mac OS X.

But the minis are CPUs only. They call it BYO DKM, bring your own display, keyboard and mouse.

Welcome to the iPod shuffle. It's Apple's first $99 iPod, and also the first to lack a screen, wheel controller, hard drive, and 1,000-song storage capacity. Apple is now offering the simplest and cheapest 512 Megabyte ($99) and 1 Gigabyte ($149) portable music players on the market, with the ability to hold ten or twenty albums worth of music in an iconic white casing the size of a pack of chewing gum. Featuring super-simplified controls with none of the decidedly non-mainstream visual interface oddities of earlier devices, the iPod shuffles are designed so that anyone can use them.

With only a single exception, the iPod shuffle is as simple as a portable digital music player could be. At 3.3" x 0.98" x 0.33" and only .78 ounces, it is cigarette lighter-sized and weighted, dramatically smaller than any earlier product to bear the iPod name. Still, it can play songs randomly (it can shuffle the songs) … hence the name iPod Shuffle. It can promise rechargeable 12-hour battery life just like a fourth-generation iPod, but the actual battery length is about 16-18 hours.

Oh, and as Apple’s website says, do not eat the iPod shuffle.

Published in the Rising Stars on February 3, 2005

Sites Unseen

2005-01-26T18:39:00.000+06:00

Every once in awhile, I am reminded how amazing and exciting it is to live at a time like this. Think about it, we're disappointed (and I agree, I would like to see higher res photos as well) about the quality of sounds and pictures FROM ANOTHER FREAKING PLANET! (moon, whatever).

Seriously, how cool is it we can take that for granted? These images of an alien world, with detail, not some blurry photo from space, are easily available on our computers. I mean, about a hundred years ago, people were amazed by electric lights, and powered aviation had just started. From Kitty Hawk to Titan in a hundred years (+/-)? Un-freaking-believable! Life is good.

Most of the official pictures are in this NASA site: http://tinyurl.com/3naaq Here's this probe from one world, landing on another, and what does it see? http://tinyurl.com/4qljj A shoreline! What a wonderful throwback to the age of exploration here on earth. The coolest thing I have seen from the great site gathering these open images is a poster combining and tying together all of the pictures seen so far (2 MB). http://tinyurl.com/52pm3 Oh, and Maddox has his special exclusive picture form the Titan probe, something “that ESA/NASA doesn't want you to see!” http://tinyurl.com/6j9vo

If you feel overwhelmed by all these links to be typed before you can visit the sites, go to my blog, niloywrites.blogspot.com. The whole Sites Unseen and all these links are over there for your “convenience.”

Let’s now go on with the regular cool links:

Coolest T-shirts on the planet
http://www.t-shirthumor.com/
T-Shirt’s humour has some of the coolest and funniest t-shirts in the planet. Their t-shirts has cartoons on them and goes like these: “To do list: Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, The blue states, Canada”, “Tommy Stick-figure”, “not Latte, not Cappuccino, not Espresso, not De-Caf, just regular, FREAKING' COFFEE! thank you.”, “And an Windows 95 styled loading box titled "Loading humorous message. Please wait..."”

Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, makes a comix less fun than writing the caption down. Maybe reading it aloud is worse. Anyway, the thing is, the t-shirts are especially humorous. Some of them are rude and offensive, but rightfully so.

Outdoor Adventure and Exercise section of a bookstore
http://tinyurl.com/5849v
Gaming magazines on the outdoor adventures section? Looks like the bookstores have finally given up.

Bill Gates Poses for a Teen Magazine spread…
http://tinyurl.com/45kvt
Why, Bill? Why? No, seriously… why?

Bow Man
http://tinyurl.com/6ohvb
Fun little game involving two men with bows and arrows, tying to kill each other. Only 34 kb, this game is a must play. There are some difficult features in it, and the game can be played with a friend.

Vegetable Cruelty Militant Movement
http://www.vegetablecruelty.com/
“What a terrible sight. This poor fruit is being ripped in half by an evil primate. Very disturbing...” “Caged in and ready to be sent off for torturous cooking. These innocent strawberries don't deserve to die like this! Nobody does.” “The world was shocked when it found mass graves in Iraq. How do you feel about finding mass graves in your local supermarket each and every day of the year??” No additional comments.

Compare your height with Celebrities
http://www.ringophone.com/TallOrNot.swf
Enter your height on Tall or Not and you can compare your height to a long list of famous people.

Published in the Rising Stars on January 27, 2005

Sites Unseen

2005-01-20T11:32:00.000+06:00

Gmail invites anyone? I’m giving out Gmails again. No limitations this time, everyone who asks for an account will get one!

Floating Logos
http://www.siberart.com/signs%20pages/logos_home.html
First, let's make this clear: The logos aren't really floating. Through the miracle of digital enhancement, the photos have been altered to remove the posts and poles that keep the signs in the air, giving them the eerie appearance of gravity-defying weightlessness. Without any visible means of support, even McDonald's signs take on a ghostly quality. Though most of the logos designate fast-food outlets and gas stations, this sign seems some how appropriate floating above the Earth.

Microsoft’s Anti-Spyware
http://tinyurl.com/5p7co
Microsoft has stepped into the anti-spyware arena with a fast and useful tool. It’s still in beta, but it already ranks as one of the best anit-spyware around. The software only works for Windows 2000 and XP.

Bullies for hire
http://www.eastsidemall.com/bulliesforhire/bullies.html
A service that lets you to hire bullies to bully your children.

Peace Art Project Cambodia
http://www.peaceartprojectcambodia.org/
Even the first few years of the new millennium have been a big bust world peace-wise, some folks still insist on keeping hope alive. In the finest tradition of beating swords into forks and spoons, 23 University students from Columbia have been trained to sculpt in a unique medium -- decommissioned weapons. No shortage of material here; after more than 30 years of civil war, ending in 1998, the Cambodian government destroyed 125,000 weapons across the country. The students have secured thousands of these, including guns, tripods, mine casings, and destroyed ammunition. A look at the sculpture gallery shows the results: machines meant for killing transformed into such peaceful and useful objects as a bicycle, stool, and even a doggie.

Be a GOD for a while
http://www.jraxis.com/atheism/simulator/
A “God Simulator” that dares to poke fun at the Almighty.

Sam’s Mailbox Picture Collection
http://sblom.com/mailbox/
Is anything more indicative of the human spirit and mankind's eternal quest for beauty than a lovingly crafted mailbox in the shape of a cow? Whatever your answer, you can still enjoy Sam's storehouse of the most bizarre mailboxes on the planet. Apparently, some people like to receive their TV Guides and credit card bills in something a little more complex than the traditional lunchbox-shaped container. Sam has done us the service of posting the wildest and wackiest of these, adorning streets from Texas to New Zealand.

Published in the Rising Stars on January 20, 2005

Project KEO: Explore humanity

2005-01-13T13:44:00.000+06:00

“Once upon a time, on the edge of a distant galaxy, was a planet called Earth. On this planet lived and exceptionally gifted species: Man. This species possessed such knowledge and talent that before long, it was able to exert an influence on its own destiny. It was at that moment that each member of this species was offered an equal opportunity to testify life, their own life. Holding a mirror up to ourselves in the year 2006, this record would convey both the richness and diversity of the human experience.”

Imagine recording a message that will traverse through outer space for years and years... 50,000 years, to be precise, and then return to Earth so that our descendents can read about the way we were. If that sounds like a fairy tale or science fiction, think again. It is as real as reading this article!

Project KEO is about a satellite doing just that: traversing through space for the next 500 centuries, carrying information, images, and messages from present-day humans, then returning to touch base with Planet Earth so that our descendents will know how life on earth was in 2005 CE.

“Everyone is invited to leave their message that will transcend time and space and reach out to our distant descendants. Each of us has 4 uncensored pages at our disposal; in which to express ourselves and who we are to describe what makes us tick as individuals; to bequeath a unique and personal "blueprint" to future generations. To witness life on this planet, our life. This is an invitation to reflect on ourselves in a different way. Through our own personal message, we can attest our own personality. Through reading each other's messages from all over the world, we may rediscover our common humanity.”

Project KEO has invited messages from all over the world till the end of this year. These messages will be loaded on to the satellite before the satellite is launched into space at the end of AD 2006. The idea behind Project KEO is to transmit the messages of ordinary people living on Earth today to our descendents, telling them whatever it is that they wish to convey. All messages, whether of one line or a maximum of four pages (6,000 characters), will be included, uncensored, on the KEO satellite.

Right from KEO’s launch around 2006, all of us can know about each other’s experiences by logging on to the internet, where all the messages, made anonymous will be accessible to all. By sharing each other’s experiences, by understanding each other’s aspirations, we can know each other better and thus live together in harmony.

To make ensure it’s survival within these long years, the spherical KEO satellite has several anti-shock, anti-cosmic, anti-debris, anti-meteoric and thermal shields that will protect it during its 50,000-year-long space odyssey. It shall be adorned with wings that will flutter in response to temperature variations in outer space. The influence of planetary and lunar attraction, and the laws of ballistics, will make it return to Earth.

The project will be the largest collective artwork ever undertaken in the history of humanity, and UNESCO has designated KEO as the 'Project of the 21st century'.

“In keeping with the glorious human creations that flag the history of humanity, KEO will be penned down in the same league as that of the Pyramids of Egypt and the Great Wall of China, as a universal masterpiece that is the porter of the collective memory of the inhabitants of the 21st century who wish to address themselves to their future descendants. Each person is invited to participate free of cost in this project.”

Some extracts of the messages:

… "I envy the people in the future when they find the capsule and read the billion letters from all the people. I hope it will help them feel they have it good, or that they could have done better. Either way it will help them to realize how clever we really are. I tingle with excitement every time I think that people from the far, far future will be reading my letter and realizing what it was really like in those days. Thank you for saving a little space for my letter in your wonderful satellite"…
Jackson, 14 years, Spain

"… Dear Future Beings, I am writing to you with optimistic hope that you exist, that you have the science and technology to decipher this, and that you have the incentive and freedom to do so. One of my great interests is palaeontology. It is ironic that if my physical remains exist at all now, they are probably in the form of fossils-similar to those fossils that have decorated my home…"
Chris, 45 years, USA

"… I'll tell you how to make hamburgers. You need: 1 pound ground lean beef 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 4 tomato slices (if you like them)…"
Joshua, 10 years, Canada

" I was born in Afghanistan but live in Canada. If in 50 000 years, people still inhabit this world my message to you would be to please become blind to the plagues of human suffering that have devoured our planet for many millennia. I hope that in the future you see humanity and its diversity in one unified colour and that you have abolished the racism and the stereotypes that your ancestors were guilty of. I hope that you live in peace and that you have stepped into a light unparalleled to the dark manifestation that exists in my time. I hope…and wish…you are different. Walekumasalam..."
Tamim, 18 years, Canada

Act today. It’s on those who dare to move, that can make the world progress. Be those who dare… express yourself at www.keo.org

Published in Rising Stars on January 13, 2005

Sites Unseen

2005-01-13T13:40:00.000+06:00

The Age of Empires series has always been one of our favourites. After the Age of Conquerors and the Age of Mythology, Ensemble's finally back on the historical track with the announcement of Age of Empires III. Having had my fill of Orcs and Nazis, I was understandably intrigued. So I decided to hunt down information about this newly announced title.

“Age of Empires III (there's no subtitle). The period we're covering is basically from the end of Age of Kings until the industrial age. This is a game about taking the European power that you governed in Age of Kings and sending it across the sea to struggle for control of the New World. The teasers on our website are building up to launching the Ensemble Studios' Age of Empires III site.

The colonial time period is a good fit for an Age game. Although military technology has advanced, the fundamentals of combat haven't changed from the Age of Kings time period the way they would, say for WWI. That is, the game starts with a lot of units familiar from Age of Kings, like Pikemen and Crossbows. Even in the later part of the game, where there are lots of gunpowder units on the battlefield, cavalry still fight hand-to-hand with swords. Other aspects of the time period work well with our gameplay, such as exploring an unknown map, starting a new town, eventually coming into contact with other players, and having to resolve differences (usually by force). That is pretty much the story of colonization and conquest of the New World in a nutshell.”

Well, this sounds does sound like awesome gameplay… but the best thing about it yet is the in-game screenshots. They are absolutely gorgeous Grade-A wallpaper material! Check them out: www.ensemblestudios.com/

The usual links:

Skeptic?
http://www.skeptiseum.org/
According to the Skeptiseum, many "abductees" are just people having "waking dreams" or fantasy experiences. Created by the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, the Skeptiseum displays the results of its investigations into the paranormal. View the list of spine-chilling exhibits -- from ghosts to psychic phenomena -- and then delve into the truth behind them. In the harsh glare of the Skeptiseum's spotlight, many of these anomalies appear to be frauds or old wives' tales. The site claims the infamous Big foot footprint is an elaborate hoax, as are crystal balls. And Zener ESP cards just don't provide scientific evidence that we know what you're thinkin'. Before you pay your astrologer a visit, consult the Skeptiseum. It may just save you a fortune in fortune-telling.

"God action figure, complete with Kingdom-Come Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle"
http://tinyurl.com/5zj25
It’s probably only a joke site… and it’s pretty offensive. But it’s also very funny.

Automatic flatterer
http://tinyurl.com/1cl9
Check this out. You’ll like it.

An extremely addictive game
http://www.theflashgames.com/road_blocks-swf.html

How to create miniature oranges
http://tinyurl.com/63qvc
Man! That needs too much patience. Still, they look good in the end.

Artwork of UFO’s
http://www.ufoartwork.com/
The truth may or may not be out there. Despite that uncertainty, Matthew Hurley is convinced of one thing: UFO art is most definitely out there. He collects images of frescos, tapestries, illustrations, oil paintings, and early photographs depicting unidentified flying objects. Thousand-year-old “petroglyphs” tell the story of an alien ship crash-landing in Death Valley, and saucer-shaped objects are the subjects of ancient French cave paintings. Chinese illustrations depict flying cars, and silvery saucers are hidden in a Buddhist mural. UFOs work their way into religious art -- witness a red saucer in a 15th-century painting of Jesus and spot the spaceships behind a Yugoslavian fresco of Christ's crucifixion. Other alien artwork illustrates a light battle in the skies of Nuremburg in 1561, a UFO hovering over Renaissance Rome, and a red fireball suspended above China in 1890. Hurley also points out various hoaxes and misinterpretations -- for example, the Bayeux Tapestry shows an actual sighting of Haley's Comet in 1066, not a UFO. As for the rest of these images, we may never know what they mean.

Published in Rising Stars on January 13, 2005

Project Doom: The end is near

2005-01-13T13:31:00.000+06:00

Remember when life was simple and games were simpler, and you 'oohed' and 'aahed' over Wolf 3D? Well, if you're nostalgic about games like that, fear not, we now have another of our own Deshi version of a 'Seek and Kill' game...

Four developers from BUET: Mahmudul Alam Dipu, Mehrab Shahriar, Naimul Khan and Mehadi Hasan has developed a new FPS game. Actually, it’s still a demo. Released in early January, the game consist of one level in which you get to play as Bipul Arman. An experienced and talented Intelligence officer, he gets to protect an important conference – Earth Summit 2004 – from a bomb threat and thereby save the world.

The Story: In the 2004 Earth Summit, nation leaders from around the world will have a conference in Dhaka, working on their way towards world peace, stability and utopia. But shadow looms ahead as there is a suspicion of a bomb attack on the conference amid the tight security. However, top officials are only seeing this threat as a hoax and are refusing to provide extra security without sufficient proof of any attack.

But Bipul Arman, a talented intelligence officer doesn’t want to take any risks. Based on his instinct and experience, he knows that something is terribly wrong. So he decides to infiltrate the conference building undercover, killing all the security people, so that he can search for any suspicious element that could be used as a proof that the impending bomb attack is not a hoax.

As the game starts, you find yourself in the back alley of the building in which the conference would take place. The building is located in a remote mountainous area of Dhaka, in a wide plateau surrounded by big mountains. The security is absolutely state-of-the-art Grade-A pentagon material. There are suited rifle wielding guards at every corner who starts shooting at you the moment they notice you. Should you try to sneak past the guards, you’ll be stopped by security doors that require special ID cards to open. And there are also automatic wall-mounted Miniguns (or BFGs) that starts shooting at you if you venture in too far. Also there are laser beams that criss-cross many doorways, so that no one (except anyone who knows how to crouch) can pass.

Eventually, as you try to and kill all the guards, bypass laser beams, deactivate automatic Miniguns and hunt down for any hints or clues about the attack.

The game is available for everyone to download. The size is 20 MB. Link: http://tinyurl.com/46evq

Play the game and tell the developers what you think.

Published in Rising Stars on January 13, 2004

My World with the Tree

2005-01-08T14:49:00.000+06:00

Before your raise your eyebrows, consider the fact that this peom was written by a student of class Six. All mistakes are kept uncorrected for originality.

There was a tree in our neighbourhood,
With its leaves gay and green,
It’s branches to and fro,
With its roots pretty clean.

I would sit under that tree,
In its calm, quiet shade
When it was time me to play,
I was to be sitting there instead.

I would sit there and see
Birds at their flight,
Grass waving towards me
In such a delight.

I would sit there and feel
How a pleasant breeze blow.
Deep in my heart,
How it flows.

I would sit there and feel;
The peace of quietness,
In the most peaceful scene
In the most happiness.

I would sit there and hear
How the little bird sing,
How the tree murmurs
When wind blows on its twigs.

When I am sitting there
Or laying in the grass,
I would see the leaves flutter,
In the most peaceful breeze.

And I wish there was a stream
Beside my tree,
With clear water and stones beneath,
And rocks on it two or tree.

Once I learnt somewhere, that,
Trees and plants can think and feel,
Love, sorrow and happiness,
But they (plants) are still.

I wonder if the tree would think and feel,
That I would sit in its shed,
Deep in imagination, or playing with the grass,
He may wonder what I am doing there instead.

Whatever he things of me.
Let it be good,
I’d go there everyday,
And I wish he understood

I think somehow if I could,
Make friends with the tree!
And share with him,
My feelings, sadness or grace!

And if somedays I couldn’t go,
To that tree and rest in its shed;
I wonder if anyone else knew that place;
And could be there instead.

Written in 2000. Published in my school's Yearbook of the same year.

The benefits of Smoking

2005-01-04T08:44:00.000+06:00

Thinking of quitting smoking from the New Year? Think again! Here’s a short list of all the wonderful things in a cigarette:

ARGOLEIN
You would need a gas mask to protect yourself from Argolein, a chemical used in tear gas. It’s the same chemical you’ll find in a cigarette. Funny, you don’t get a gas mask when you buy a pack of smokes.

ARSENIC
This bad boy isn’t just an ant killer. It’s a deliciously poisonous ingredient found in your favourite brand of cigarettes.

BENZENE
Used as a solvent in fuel and in chemical manufacturing – and to make cigarettes. And as an added bonus, it gives you cancer.

METHYL ETHYL KETONE
You gotta wonder how stuff that’s used in lacquer - a black resinous substance obtained from certain trees and used as a natural varnish – ended up in a cigarette. Did some cigarette manufacturer say, “Hey, that’s toxic. Let’s smoke it.”?

TAR
In tobacco smoke, tar is dry particulate matter containing hundreds of chemicals, many of which are classified as hazardous waste. And you thought it was only for roads and potholes.

TOLUNE
An central nervous system depressant. It reduces intelligence, causes hearing and colour-vision loss, headaches, dizziness, memory loss and impaired reaction time.

UREA
You’re familiar with urine, right? Urea is in urine and in some places around the world it’s added to cigarettes to make them taste better. Ewww!

FORMALDEHYDE
That’s right. The same stuff they use to keep dead bodies to rotting too quickly is in every drag you smoke. Yummy!

There are something like 4,000 different chemicals in cigarettes and at least 50 of them can give you cancer. It might seem scary but it’s true: Tobacco is the only consumer product known to kill half of its users. There is a 50% chance of you being in the other half… so don’t bother.

Tobacco stains your teeth, gives you bad breath, and can lead to cancer of the mouth, gums, lips, etc… oh well…

3,105,407 deaths caused by smoking this year (6,210,822 caused by cancer)… so what? Six billion are still living.

Don’t stop smoking; you’ll probably be hit by a bus anyway.

Smokers wept at my feet.

Published in Rising Stars on January 6, 2005

Sites Unseen

2005-01-04T08:39:00.000+06:00

Happy New Year, guys. I’m giving out Gmails as a new year’s gift to my fellow surfers. The first four to ask for a Gmail will get one. As for the new year, Sites Unseen will undergo some major modification pretty soon. And check out my blog at niloywrites.blogspot.com

Best of photojournalism 2004
http://www.nppa.org/competitions/best_of_still_photojournalism/2004/
The biggest news stories of the year are always accompanied by photographs. It's no surprise, then, that the collection of photos from the recipient of the Newspaper Photographer of the Year award include an image of Iraqis defacing a Saddam Hussein mural. Or that the second-place winner's entries feature photos of an Iraqi prison. But some of the best photos in newspapers, magazines, and on the Web don't accompany the big stories. The photojournalists featured in the National Press Photographers Association competition have captured amazing flights, local heroes, and heart-stopping rescues. The winning photographers in over two dozen categories offer thousands of pictures that are sure to move, amuse, and enlighten you.

G33KY G00GL3
http://www.google.com/intl/xx-hacker/
One of the countless reasons why Google rocks.

Clean your soul, online
http://www.comeclean.com/
Confess and see other people’s confessions.

Old-Computers.com
http://www.old-computers.com/
Most of us readily associate the names Apple, IBM, and Compaq with computer hardware. But do you know the names Acorn, Luxor, or Eagle? Starting in 1973 with R2E's Micral, a computer with a processor speed of only 108 KHz, this site archives over 500 old computers. Rounding out the "old" machines is Amstrad's PCW 16 from 1994, a robust computing wonder that clocked in with 16 MHz and an operating system named Roseanne. This homage to defunct hardware shows how far computing power has come in the past few decades.

10-year-old arrested, handcuffed over scissors
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6699151/
Apparently, she also had a sharply pointed pencil.

Avenge yourself in the New Year!
http://www.revengelady.com/
Annoying co-worker got you down? Recently got dumped by a physically attractive but intellectually shallow person? Don't get mad, take a nice little revenge. Dispensing time-worn tips on the fine art of getting even (and then some!), in this site the Revenge Lady offers advice with a smile. The Q-and-A column ("put a mouse trap in his desk") is the real draw here, but you'll also find a handy guide to the rules of revenge and a life-affirming list of top-ten revenge stories. And remember, "Let your creativity blossom. Don't go for clichés like putting gum in important papers. Yawn. Be original. Enjoy yourself. Give your mark an experience they'll never ever forget."

Cartoons and their skeletons
http://michaelpaulus.com/gallery/character-Skeletons
In this "The Skeletal Systems of Cartoon Characters," the illustrator has boldly imagined the calcite cores of beloved cartoon favourites. As you might guess, most of these characters sport some seriously strange skulls. Witness the gaping eye sockets of Buttercup from the Power Puff Girls. Note the hypertrophied mandible of Fred Flintstone. Gaze in awe at the bizarre frontal lobe of Betty Boop. And who knew that Pikachu's tail had vertebrae? This exhibit clearly debunks the myth that toons are all the same under the skin.

Published in Rising Stars on January 6, 2005

Hot Gadgets and Toys of 2004

2005-01-01T16:53:00.000+06:00

Stuff that matters...

The PSP
Sony’s smooth handheld console – or portable entertainment centre, as it likes to describe itself – took over Japan with a storm. It has a WIDE screen, can perform like a PlayStation 2, supports MP3s and Movies and has some cool (wireless) multiplayer games. It has only been released in Japan, at a price considerably cheap for a powerful gadget like that. Both PSP and the Nintendo DS has plenty of potential… lets see how things turn out in 2005.

The Nintendo DS
The newest handheld console – from Nintendo – was a blast! With two screens, one of them touch sensitive, smooth wireless support, a truckload of innovativeness and about a dozen new games (and dozens more coming), the Nintendo DS rocked the gamers and will certainly rock on.

SLIMLINE PS2
The new slim PlayStation2 is an unbelievable 75 per cent smaller than its chunky ancestor, and has a built-in network port for online gaming.

Wheel Fun: Segway Centaur
www.segway.com/centaur
Take a Segway scooter, add a second pair of wheels and a banana seat, and you’ve got the Centaur, a concept vehicle that can take on ANY terrain – rocks, grass, sand, you name it. Like the original Human Transporters, the Centaur uses dynamic-stabilization technology (you shift your weight to steer) but adds a thumb throttle for extra liveliness. Steering sensors and a computer conspire to make sure you don’t topple over when you pop a wheelie.

James Bond Stealth Camera
http://tinyurl.com/vyo0
Given that cameras now come hidden in most phones, who would think to look for one in this Zippo-style lighter case? Great for anyone striving to be the 008.

Microsoft’s Stark Optical Mouse
www.microsoft.com/hardware
It may look like a futuristic tree ornament, but this stylish mouse with cool blue lighted strip along the middle is just a wired mouse designed by some celebrated designer.

Robosapien
www.wowwee.com
A fast walker an a big talker (if Caveman can be considered a language), this one is more excitable that your average toy. Just be ware of it’s Kung Fu fury!

It's more than likely (if you believe most Science Fiction authors), that at some point in the future there will be a conflict between humans and robots. At first it will seem as if the robots are too powerful and advanced to overwhelm. You won't be able to trust your toaster at this point. Then some high school kid from the basement of the science building will realize that all the robots can be effectively shutdown by using a hacked TV remote and some chewing gum and the world will be saved. Yay. Until then, though, robots should be considered friendly.

And if you need a friendly robot, look no further than the Robosapien. This remote controlled biomorphic robotic wonder is the perfect fusion of technology and personality. Applied biomorphic robotics gives him the ability to move and act in humanoid ways. And, when Robosapien communicates, you will know exactly what he is feeling! This fellow can do 67 pre-programmed functions: pick-up, throw, kick, dance, kung-fu, fart, belch, rap and more; 3 demonstration modes.

I-Top Pro
www.irwintoy.com
When this top is spinning, the LEDs on its side form letters, numbers and messages. It’s full of simple addictive games like Top This, where it counts its own rotations. There’s also a Magic 8-Ball mode for the indecisive.

It’s also a Watch!
www.summithut.com
Suunto’s T9 Wristop Computer crams a GPS tracker, barometer, altimeter, compass and more into one wearable package.

The Gravity Defying Game
http://tinyurl.com/4sjkq
If you're tired of playing crazy eights and your thumbs are just too sore to play any more console games - try out Space Game. It's an addictive desktop electronic game that allows you to maneuver a levitating ball through an obstacle course. This isn't your typical desktop game. The whole thing looks like something off of a moonscape set from Star Trek. It even glows in the dark with an included black light.

An audio cassette drive for your PC
http://tinyurl.com/yqgs2
The PlusDeck 2 is a full-logic cassette deck for your PC. Use it to archive your old cassette tapes of 80s hair bands into digital media files for playback on your PC. Or better yet, archive your favourite audio files onto cassette - perfect for playback in your car that is still not sporting an in-dash CD player. Myself, I see the PlusDeck as the ultimate in retro-cool PC mods.

Remote controlled Flying Saucer
http://tinyurl.com/udit
Needed for your own alien invation, the flying saucer (constructed of a metallic nylon) is surprisingly quiet during operation and so sneaking up on someone is quite easy. The multi-controller Transmitter modulates the thrust from each propeller independently allowing you to take off and land vertically, spin in place, and fly in all directions! Awesome!

Published in Rising Stars on December 30, 2004

Sites Unseen

2004-12-30T11:23:00.000+06:00

A whole new year is looming ahead and the internet - like most other things - is preparing for it. Surely, there are lots of things for us to do to keep in pace with it… but before doing any work, lets see what the passing year had offered. So, there you go, the best finds of 2004!

Awesome:
maddox.xmission.com : The best page in the whole universe. And you got to agree with Maddox, the site’s owner. This one is the best!
www.Jkrowling.com : Our favourite author’s wonderfully interactive website. Full with news, rumours, FAQs and loads of Easter eggs and story hints.

Cool:
www.die.net/earth/ : A computer-generated view of what the earth looks like at present.
http://www.worldometers.info/ : Real-time earth statistics, very scary sometimes… especially the rapidly increasing “Total deaths today” counter.
visualthesaurus.com : “Inventive. Imaginative. Ingenious. Fanciful.” This site lets you explore the relationships between words in a outstanding way.
www.mugglenet.com : The one source for any news related to HP. They got everything that matters and their Editorials are simply great.

Useful software:
MSN 7 beta: messenger.msn.com/beta/ The Coolest Messenger from Microsoft yet! With loads of hot new features, this one is a must have!
Wordweb: www.wordweb.co.uk
Opera: www.opera.com The fastest browser in earth. Need I say more? So do yourself a favour and switch from Internet Explorer… the slowest.
Google’s desktop search: desktop.google.com An awesome search tool from Google that searches all your drives for documents – it even searches inside them - and provides instant results. Must have.

Funny:
www.darwinawards.com : Awards for people who killed them stupidly. Cruel, but somehow it makes you laugh. Shame humanity!
www.spamusement.com : Poorly drawn cartoons inspired by actual subject lines…
www.ctrlaltdel-online.com : A site full Comix which rock, dedicated to the gamers out there.

[Hilarious] flash animations:
Lord of the flies: tinyurl.com/58psk
Smart women: tinyurl.com/3oku9
Potter puppet pals: awesome HP fun animation
www.flashplayer.com/animation/potterpuppetpals.html
www.flashplayer.com/animation/potterpuppetpals2.html

Artistic:
www.deviantart.com : The most creative – and one of the best - community in the earth.
www.oneword.com : Instant creativity generator! This site lets you write whatever you want on one random word for a minute. After writing, compare it with others and decide who’s the wittiest.
http://signsoflife.goose24.org : Lots of truly funny Signs from around the world.

Nice:
www.iusedtobelieve.com: this site is a major database of what the little kids believed when they were kids. Very refreshing.
www.thehungersite.com: Just log on to this site… find the yellow “donate” button and click it. There, you just gave 1.1 cups of staple food to a hungry person. It’s that easy for feed a hungry soul. Last year, this site donated about 3000 metric tonnes of food.

Sad:
www.twofacesofbush.com : Bush lying about some things.
www.bushflash.com/1000.html : The names and pictures of the first 1000 Americans who died in Iraq.
tinyurl.com/624a4 : All about war… the reasons, the justifications and the consequences…

It certainly was a good cyber-year and it’s soon going to be over. Fire up those browsers, ladies and gentlemen, it’s another 365 days of virtual reality ahead.

Published in Rising Stars on December 30, 2004

The HOTTEST games of 2004

2004-12-30T11:16:00.000+06:00

The One game to rule them all:

Grand theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2, PC coming around May)

With Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar gives gamers what they want. And no, it's not the drugs, hookers, unnecessary cursing, or easily run over pedestrians. What gamers want, what they've wanted for years really, is freedom. The opportunity to do whatever they want, and when presented with rules and objectives, the ability to accomplish them however they want. It's no surprise that so many developers—some for better, some for worse—are imitating GTA's open-ended nature: It fulfils the desire to explore, to be creative, to make your own fun. "Sandbox" gameplay, as it's frequently called.

With three cities and a massive countryside, the world of Grand Theft Auto has finally hit the pinnacle. This is the best game of the generation so far by a mile. With the entire state at your mercy, just how much crime you commit there is entirely unto you

Nine other lords:

Half Life 2 (PC)
Gordon Freeman is back, ladies and gentlemen, and I am happy to report that all you have heard about this game so far, all the praise, all the endless preaching about its graphics and gameplay and aural excellence was not hype after all. It was all understatement. Everything in the game is integrated to near perfection, and it all works together to provide the player with a seamless experience that is as unique as it is exceptionally involving. The world of Half Life 2 is extremely realistic, and the fact that everything is so true to life gives an impression of simplicity in the graphics that could not be any more misleading. Because everything is exactly where it should be, and behaves exactly as it should behave, it hardly ever gets noticed. Then you will stop in the middle of a street, realizing that the game is modestly providing your eyes with a realistic rendering of an entire town, complete with reflections on glass, asphalt and metal, a perfect polygonal skyline dominated by the harsh Combine citadel and multiple fully skinned and animated high-polygon character and vehicle models, all without missing a step or making it look like a video game. That’s what I call a religious experience. Grab a gravity gun and explore the year’s most minutely detailed thriller.

Sims 2 (PC)
Milloins of people fell in love with the customizable suburbanites of The Sims, which became the best-selling PC game of all time. The Sims offers a simple concept, players get to create a little computer person (or a whole family), design them a house and then completely run (or ruin!) their lives from their career, relationships and even bathroom habits. So what is The Sims 2? Well take everything I’ve just said and make it 100 times better and you have The Sims 2! Now they have life goals (like raising a child or racking in cash) and short time aspirations (like making a new girlfriend or buying a [Playstation 2]). And you can make your characters look just about anyone. Like the original game, Sims 2 also features Maxis’ trademark humour, such as when a Grim Reaper shows up bearing a clipboard and a cell phone. Play this game out over many Sim generations, and you get as sublime a sense of the whole human comedy as any art form could give.

Rome: Total War (PC)
Build the world’s greatest empire, and heap glory on your family, battle by battle. Do you know what it’s like to line up thousands of Roman troops – from the legionaries to the attack dogs – and bring them thundering down on your enemies? If you’ve had played Rome: Total War, the best strategy game yet made, your answer would be yes. You can direct the entire bloody battle from a distance or zoom in and see the reflection on a soldier’s helmet! And you’ll need political skills too. Manage your provinces well, avoid the assasins, and you’re on your way to be the next Caeser.

Halo 2 (Xbox)
Halo 2 had a lot to live up to: three years worth of mounting fanfare, lunatic hype, and heavy pressures from Wall Street and the mighty Bill Gates himself. In many ways, Bungie's FPS lived up to what is considered unreachable hype; in other ways, it didn't. But across the board, the best first-person shooter on Xbox in 2004 was Halo 2. While dual-wielding seems commonplace now, the action added a new wrinkle to an already fantastic game. Vehicle jacking created a new sense of excitement in both single and multiplayer modes as well, and if you didn't enjoy the blunt, cliff-hanger ending, the Xbox Live online play should ease the pain. With better level design, very good graphics, superb music, audio effects and voice-overs, Halo 2 earned this award hands down.

Burnout 3: Takedown (Xbox, PS2)
Burnout 3: Takedown maintains an amazingly crisp visual edge while giving games a superb sense of speed and it’s also one of the best racing games of this generation. While most driving games reward you to steering clear of other drivers, Burnout is quite the opposite! It’s not about the racing; it’s about causing enough drive-time carnage. In it’s awesome Crash mode, your task is to speed madly into a series of busy intersections and create enough dollar’s worth of auto carnage to merit a gold or a silver medal. Time slows down at the moment of impact, and you can keep steering your careering car for the maximum havoc potential. Never knew crashing your car could be so much fun? This game is a must for anyone with a need for speed!

World of Warcraft (PC, a MMORPG)
After years of development, World of Warcraft (WoW) finally debuted last month and has quickly become one of the hottest-selling titles in history. So has all the nail-biting and anxious anticipating been worth it? Absolutely! World of Warcraft (rightfully nicknamed “WOW”) is a wonderfully complex and rich game that’s delicately balanced, extremely playable, and mind-numbingly addictive. Rich in legend and filled with adventure, the World of Warcraft awaits! For the first time, you'll experience the lands of Azeroth from a new, in-depth perspective. As heroes, you'll explore familiar battlefields, discover new lands and take on epic quests and challenges in Blizzard's massively multiplayer, on-line, role-playing game. However, it requires monthly subscription fees and a fast broadband… which means almost all of us in BD wouldn’t be able to experience it.

Unreal Tournament 2004 (PC)
Reload, rev up and ride out. The new Tournament is faster, higher and meaner. Land and air based vehicles take combat to a new level; while an arsenal of new weaponry, daunting arenas and battlefields and the challenge of the Assault and Onslaught modes make the gladiator blood sport of the future a brand new experience. Buckle up; it’s gonna be one hell of a ride!

Doom 3 (PC)
Few words describe terror like hell, demons and darkness. Those are what Doom 3 is all about: Scaring the living daylights out of you and it does that very well. Doom 3 is scary because of the way it presents itself. Dark, eerie hallways are just the beginning. What really wears on ones nerves is the way you’ll – most of the time – hear things creeping around and then all of a sudden bust through a wall or the floor and come screaming and hurling straight at you. If that’s not enough, there are many times that you’ll be surrounded by monsters – it keeps you on your toes for sure. Trust me: You do this enough times with a loud 5.1 audio system and with the lights turned off and you too will be screaming like a little girl.

Sid Meier’s Pirates (PC)
Sid Meier's Pirates! is not 'a game'; it's a combination of many games from different genres, intertwined to create one of the most pleasurable gaming experiences of 2004. Firaxis has combined action and strategy with a bit of RPG elements to develop a charming naval world inhabited by pirates, Incas, Europeans, Jesuits, and one young man who's searching for his lost family. You begin the game as this young man, the son of wealthy merchants who is determined to spend his life searching for his kidnapped family. The game has lush 3D visuals and a host of minigames. You can try out your hand a sword fighting or sneaking into a hostile town at night. Wooing the governor’s daughter now involves dancing the right steps at a society ball. Best of all, Pirates lets you play exactly the way you want to, turning the entire Caribbean into your giant sandbox.

And five other Lordlings who just didn’t make it to the top

Need for Speed: Underground 2 (PC)
The new NFS – with enhanced customization features and more open-ended gameplay - is even better than the previous and also superb NFS Underground. But this year’s horde of awesome games dominated the Top Ten. And anyway, Burnout was better.

Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-Earth (PC)
With wallpaper-quality visuals and smooth game play (and the fact that it has anything to do with Middle Earth), this game could have easily made to the Top Ten. But the story – too ordinary and very un-dramatic for a LOTR game – drags the game pitilessly down.

Star Wars KOTOR II (Xbox)
This game, offering a deep story, interesting characters, and new Force powers to lighten up your gaming experience, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords won't disappoint fans of the series. With the Jedi Order in ruin, the Republic’s only hope is a Jedi Knight struggling to reconnect with the Force and is faced with the galaxies most dire decision: To follow the light or succumb to the dark side…

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)
Snake Eater is a superb game - and one of the best games of the year – with extraordinary gameplay and intense plot combine with riveting music, high-definition sound and astonishingly detailed graphics for a completely unique interactive gaming experience. But there were 13 other games even better than this one.

Pro Evolution Soccer 4 (PC)
This one is the best football game ever. It has everything that you'd expect from a football game and then plenty more. When you score a goal in PES4, as I do, even if it's just for a split second, feel like you’ve really put one past the other team. On a football pitch. It's suspension of disbelief. It's also proof more than anything that PES4 was designed by football brains for football brains.

Published in Rising Stars on December 30, 2004

Sites Unseen

2004-12-30T11:13:00.000+06:00

The latest chatting tool from Microsoft, the MSN messenger 7.0 beta is out. And it simply ROCKS! There’s a whole new bunch of the cool features like Wink, Nudge and Inking. Wink is a new type of animated flash emoticon and it looks very trendy. The Nudge function brings the chat window to the top, plays a sound and vibrates it. It is supposed to be used to get the attention of the person you are chatting with. And the hot new Ink feature – which you can only use if you have Handwriting Recognition installed – lets you send little scribbles drawn instantly with the mouse. All these new features add up to a great chatting experience. Download it from http://messenger.msn.com/beta/

Also, a new MSN Web messenger is released which let’s you use the basic functions of the chatting tool on the go without requiring you to download and install the software. It runs directly from the browser and loads within minutes and it’s quite neat. http://webmessenger.msn.com/

World Sunlight Map
http://www.die.net/earth/
A world map showing current sunlight and cloud cover
The World Sunlight Map provides a computer-generated approximation of what the earth currently looks like. While less impressive than actually being into orbit, this is much more accessible to most of us.

Bug Hunt: Killer Addictive Bug Game
http://tinyurl.com/5jtmb
Kill the BIG bugs with Assault Laser guns. Fast addictive game with plenty of power-ups and a huge infestation of BUGS!

Grandmother Being Deployed to Iraq
http://www.infoaboutnetwork.com/view/news/672/
A 72-year-old great-grandmother is preparing for deployment to the war zone in Iraq and will become one of the oldest Department of Defence workers in the war zone. [Insert your own jokes here.]

This has to be one of the greatest university pranks ever!
http://www.harvardsucks.org/
On November 20, 2004 at some big inter-university game, Harvard student’s displayed their true spirit by holding up huge signs reading “WE SUCK”. Classic!

10X10: an interactive exploration of the words and pictures that define the time
http://www.tenbyten.org/10x10.html
This site automatically collects and graphically displays the most important words and photographs from three of the Internet's top news sources (Reuters World News, BBC World Edition, and New York Times International News). The result is a grid of 100 images, each connected to a single word. Click on an individual photo, and the image enlarges in a pop-up window that includes a series of related headlines linking to the day's news reports. Images and articles are updated hourly, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Because it runs without human intervention, it reveals the most important issues of the moment -- free of bias, politics, and hidden agendas. Take ten minutes for 10×10 and see what's happening now.

Extreme Accounting
http://www.extreme-accounting.com/
Face it -- today's extreme sports are tired and boring. Anyone with a pulse can free dive off an observation deck. But how many people can finish an audit by the time they parachute into the traffic intersection? Let Arnold Chiswick introduce you to the exciting world of Extreme Accounting. Peruse the gallery to see some of today's brightest extreme accounting stars practicing their craft: balancing spreadsheets on a sheer cliff face, rolling returns in the cockpit of a F-15, or comp-trolling in a huge run. You're also invited to investigate a complete history of the sport.

Try and fool this program…
http://20q.net/
20Q.net is an experiment in artificial intelligence. The program is very simple but its behaviour is complex. Everything that it knows and all questions that it asks were entered by people playing this game. 20Q.net is a learning system; the more it is played, the smarter it gets.

Published in Rising Stars on December 09, 2004

Sites Unseen

2004-12-29T19:52:00.000+06:00

This week, I’m giving a few links to some flash animations, not only because they are worth a few laughs but because they ROCK! Also, if you are interested about downloading MP3 files, check out www.mp3.elizov.com. It’s a neat site and has quite a big collection (and it’s somehow legal). But most important thing is that this site doesn’t bug you while you are searching for songs. (Thanks to Tafhim ul Islam for the link.)

Lord of the Flies
http://tinyurl.com/58psk
“this is A Story of four friends who got KILLED by A FLY, And I DO MEAN A FLY as IN those little pesky little things that bug you about when you are eating or watever, they fly you know. SO sit back and relax and watch some stupidity in action!” It’s a flash animation and it’s only 400 kb.

Who knew desktop icons could be so violent?
http://tinyurl.com/555ys
Calm and quiet desktop icons that have nothing to do but to point to your favourite (or “un-favourite”) applications and games suddenly come alive and start whacking each other ruthlessly. Neat and cool to watch. It’s about 600kb.

Smart women!
http://tinyurl.com/3oku9
How do you keep an Idiot busy? Ans: you could a) write PTO on both sides of a blank sheet of paper and give it to him or b) point him to this link. (You could replace Idiots with blondes/Bush/ dumb person of your choice). Joking aside, this little animation (270 kb) accompanies a true conversation between a woman who “locked herself inside a car” and an emergency call answerer.

Building With Books
http://theory.csail.mit.edu/classes/bookbuild/
What does a booklover’s ideal bedroom look like? It's filled with books, of course. But these books aren't just stuffed in bookcases and piled on the floor; they're the building blocks of the furnishings. Taking a novel approach to building furniture, these MIT artists constructed every stick of furniture in this bedroom using old, discarded, and donated books. The surprisingly comfortable bed and its pillow, sheet, and quilt supply both reading and sleeping material. This room was made for book lovers, no matter what their taste in reading -- or building -- material.

Hit the Looser
http://tinyurl.com/5foax
This is an addictive game with some similarities with Pool. But the concept is different and you got only 2 balls to deal with. And instead of pushing the ball, you got to pull a string attached to the ball.

Bata Shoe Museum
http://www.batashoemuseum.ca/
Next time you find yourself limping at the end of the day and cursing your shoemaker, take a virtual step into the Bata Shoe Museum to see how much worse it could have been. The museum's online collections record the evolution of sandals, slippers, clogs, and boots from around the world over the past 4500 years.

Published in Rising Stars on December 02, 2004

Sites Unseen

2004-12-29T19:49:00.000+06:00

I love the guys at Google. They are ultra cool. They got an awesome mission “to make ALL the information in the world searchable”. That’s a HUGE task (all info includes printed pages, books, audio, video and whatever we through in front of them). And, “all the information” in the world includes stuff in your PC. So that’s what their latest innovation is about: making it easier than ever to find stuff in your harddisks.

Firstly, Google’s Desktop Search, searches all your drives for any text, MS word, Excel or PowerPoint document. It also searches all the html pages and all outlook emails. It even searches the content inside those documents and files and results are given out instantly. It only works in Windows 2000/XP. desktop.google.com

Secondly, Picasa, also from the great Google. This cool piece of software makes ALL the pictures in your computer searchable. That’s very useful if you have gigabytes after gigabytes of pictures and wallpapers. It can also be used to edit the pictures and view slideshows. But mostly, it’s a great searching tool for pictures. www.picasa.com

James Bond's Gadgets...
tinyurl.com/4dbka
The gadgets have been an integral part of every James Bond film, amazing the audience with technology beyond its time. Find pictures and information on your favourite gadgets in this site. The man behind it all - Quartermaster, or better known as 'Q', head of Q Branch has provided James Bond with gadgets and jokes in every almost James Bond film. One of the most loved characters throughout the James Bond series, Q will never be forgotten!

Average IQ of each state and who they voted for...
attenuation.net/files/iq.htm
Very revealing and very intriguing. It shows that states with peoples with higher IQ levels voted for Kerry. A hoax? I have no idea. But they say the IQ levels were calculated via the results of different national exams. And the IQ levels were once featured in the Economist.

Ancient Observatories: Chaco Canyon
www.exploratorium.edu/chaco/
Not far from Arizona's Kitt Peak Observatory, on a remote high plateau in northwestern New Mexico, the desert wind whistles through the shallow 10-mile canyon that was once home to a mysterious people. From approximately 850 to 1150 A.D., the Chacoans built a vast and well-organized stone city, where they studied the movements of sun and stars. And then they disappeared. Chaco Culture National Historical Park preserves the heritage of this vanished desert community and the lonesome, glowing spirit of place that remains. Listen to G. B. Cornucopia, a veteran park interpreter, talk about history and astronomy at Chaco; listen to Andrew Garcia talk about dancing in the footsteps of his Pueblo ancestors. Discover and explore petroglyphs, kivas, great houses, solar maps, and more.

Bizzaro
www.bizarro.com/
This is the official site of one of my favourite comics, Bizzaro. There’s lots to do in this site. Check out the latest comics, do the puzzles or just find out more about the famous comics and its creator.

Kite Aerial Photography
www.thehaefners.com/kap/
Scott Haefner has created a mind-blowing photography portfolio by hanging a few thousand dollars' worth of camera equipment from a kite line. This is a serious operation -- a remote-controlled camera housing lets Haefner pan, zoom, and do everything put peer through the viewfinder. The shots speak for themselves -- taken several hundred feet off the ground, they fit somewhere between aerial and landscape photography. Don't miss the 360 degree panoramas, which are positively vertigo-inducing. Your talented host is also happy to share various tricks of the trade, just in case your photographic muse urges you to defy gravity.

Published in Rising Stars on November 25, 2004

Sites Unseen

2004-12-29T19:44:00.000+06:00

I got a hold of the new Eminem album, and let me just say this: IT IS AWESOME. PURE RAPPING HOTNESS. I doubt anything else is going to play on my Winamp for about a month. I already erased everything else off my playlist and have this on an endless loop.

I don't recommend anything that I don't personally do or believe in, and if you are a rap fan at all, get this album. It is truly great. I don't care what anyone says, that man is one of the greatest artists of my lifetime. Here are the lyrics, if you want to check them out: tinyurl.com/3vy8f. But get the album first! Disclaimer: not for children.

I also came across a handy site named tinyurl.com. This site’s extremely useful as it shortens the way-too-long URLs and makes it easier to pass them to others. Finally I’ll be able to recommend sites with long links to you.

Ever wonder what the US elections would be like if a Bollywood director was in charge?
www.badmash.org/dishoom.php
Just an extremely funny parody about the US election, created by some really cool Indian dude. Cast: John F. Sorry, Bush the bewildered, Amitabh Bacchchan, Ali G, and the Terminator. Pochafies Indian Movies, Bush, Amitahb Bacchchan, Bush, Kerry, Bush, Schwarzenegger, Bush, Ali G, Bush, Dick Cheny, Bush and some other people. Oh yeah, and Bush too. (Thanks to the Girl Next Door for the link.)

WAR, simplified
tinyurl.com/624a4
The human species would not exist without it...no matter how sophisticated we try to make it, the basic rituals of war has remained the same. Here's how it works.

Man tries to convert lions to Jesus, gets bitten
46-year-old leaps into den at Taipei Zoo, calls beasts to Christianity
tinyurl.com/6tm3u
Pity, the lions were probably not interested about Jesus. This is a news item, and it’s quite funny!

Real time Earth statistics. Pretty scary sometimes.
worldometers.info/
6,443,227,536 was the world’s approximate population when I wrote this. 45,267,759 people died this year and 110,089,358 were born. 25,794,738,144 hours were spend downloading stuff this year. 9,642,910 hectors of forest were lost this year. There are 273,750,000 hungry people right now, 9,375,103 children under the age of 5 died this year. Scary.

If you bother about some quality illusions
www.coolopticalillusions.com

Cars, good ones and lots of them
tinyurl.com/4andz
Hundreds of the hottest Ferraris and Vipers arranged in rows after rows. Can you take it?

How to fold a shirt, properly! The ancient Japanese origami technique...
http://www.howtofoldashirt.net/
With the Eid at our doorstep, I guess most of us will have to do quite a bit of packaging luggage. This site has a little video of someone perfectly folding up a T-shirt within seconds! Awesome skill and easy to learn too. Hot stuff for his Eid.

That’s all for this week. Happy Eid, or in other words, Eid Mubarak.

Published in Rising Stars on November 11, 2004

Sites Unseen

2004-12-29T19:41:00.000+06:00

There has been 152 crop-circles in 2004!
www.circlemakers.org/totc2004.html
Crop-circles! A mysterious phenomenon. Are the made by alines? Or are they made by tall people disguising with strange cloths and masks? Who knows for sure? All we know that there has been 152 crop circles of far this year!

A collection of Unexpected photography
www.filemagazine.com/
FILE Magazine publishes images that treat subjects in unexpected ways, very unexpected ways.

Extreme Ironing? And these guys are serious!
www.extremeironing.com/
Ironing to the extreme! Where else to iron your beloved garments than on the top of a mile-high snow-clad mountain? So the next time you go mountain climbing, pack an iron and a ironing board with you!

Know how to lace your shoes? Here's 22 way to lace 'em up!
www.fieggen.com/shoelace/lacingmethods.htm
I didn’t know the complicated art of lacing shoes until I was 12. Pity, if I knew about this site then, I could have learnt the art much earlier!

Published in Rising Stars on November 4, 2004

Sites Unseen

2004-12-29T19:38:00.000+06:00

The election-war in the US is becoming tenser. And Bush is dramatically catching up with Kerry. Americans are wholly ignoring the plights Bush brought them and are focusing on whether Kerry will be “up to the task”. Almost the whole world is against Bush now, but still Americans are thinking that he is the “tough” man for the job. Oh yeah, he is a tough man. Not everyone can invade a country without even some lame excuses.

A man with below-average level of intelligence… whatever… you’ve heard enough of these already.

I just never thought that I would live to see the smouldering ruins of the earth.

On the brighter side, the best game developed by the human species was released on October 26 (the day before yesterday). Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has been released at last! Although we PC gamers in Bangladesh won’t be able to play it until May 2005, for the lucky PS2 owners, it’s total paradise. I personally don’t own a PS2, but by the time you will be reading this, I will be playing the great game and will be working on the review. Mind you, it won’t be a full review… because it’s simply impossible to fully review something so awesomely huge… There are fourteen cities in it for God’s sake!

Rockstar Games also released Grand Theft Auto Advance for the Gameboy Advance on October 25. Although GTA Advance isn’t as grand as the GTA: SA, it’s still a superb game. In the GBA, this game has 2D top-down graphics like GTA 2, and mind you, GTA 2 wasn’t a bad game. The city is thrice as large as Liberty City and has everything and more from GTA 3. This game can be considered as something of a consolation for the PC gamers, because although we’ll be missing the good stuff, the GBA Advance is good enough to keep us busy until we can play the big thing itself!

And as for the Anime fans, I’m sorry, but you failed to prove that Anime aren’t cartoons. Yes, Anime is different, catered mainly towards adults, usually has complex plots, and the art style is way Japanese! But that doesn’t mean that they aren’t cartoons. Nevertheless, thanks for your mails.

The price of deception
www.bushflash.com/1000.html
By August, one thousand Americans have died in the Iraq War. And they didn’t die for a justifiable reason. This flash animation is a tribute to them. 2.5 MB

I hear there’re rumours on the... the internets.
www.rumorsontheinternets.com/
The word “internet” is a single noun. George W. Bush, the most powerful man on earth, needs to know that.

The Dream of Flight
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/wb-home.html
From biblical tales of Elijah's fiery chariot in the sky to the Greek legend of Daedalus and Icarus, plus countless winged angels and flying carpets, humans have imagined themselves soaring through the air like birds. The timeline of flight starts with kites, invented by the Chinese around 1,000 B.C.E., and takes off past Leonardo da Vinci's flying machines in the Renaissance. But it wasn't until the Wrights that the dream really got off the ground.

Put your tray tables up, return your seat backs to their upright and locked position, and prepare for a celebration of the anniversary of human flight.

The Vampire Cult Magazine
www.bbc.co.uk/cult/vampires/
A site for the vampire fans, phobics and maniacs. The site also doubles as a magazine.

Nice snowboarding game
www.cbc.ca/kids/games/snowboarding/
Skate downhill and go past stunt-gates while avoiding the obstacles.

WHOA! Drive yourself nuts!
www.desertbeagle.com
Screen full of tiny little people running like mad! Pretty useless, unless you want drive yourself crazy.

Published in Rising Stars on October 28, 2004

Sites Unseen

2004-12-29T19:31:00.000+06:00

A real treat for Astronomy lovers
www.photomeeting.de/astromeeting/_index.htm
No, the gorgeous images in this site are not from NASA or the Hubble telescope. They are courtesy of Stuttgart-based (Germany) Stefan Seip, humble IT consultant by day and fearless astronomy photographer by night. His quest for the best images possible takes him to the depths of the Black Forest where ambient light isn't a factor. From his lonely perch he captured comets, shooting stars, the aurora borealis, and other atmospheric phenomena as well as the galactic "big guns" like supernova remnants, double stars, planetary nebulae, and pinwheel galaxies galore. Click around to see what a little moonlighting can do for the soul

The best comix for you, if you are a gamer!
www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/
I love these comix! And you will too, if you are a real gamer…like the gamers who stop only playing to eat or sleep. As for the non-gamers, you are missing some real treat, but as you won’t understand a thing about these comix, move on to the other links.

A game with numbers
content.ugoto.com/?id=2203&type=4
It’s a nice little game in which you have to chase some numbers. But if you hate numbers, Maths, Equations and those kinds of devilish stuff, then this one isn’t for you.

Heaven for Car Lovers!
www.jalopnik.com/
This site is a must-visit for all the car lovers out there. Latest news, rumours, gossips, official snapshots, spy photos and loads of more stuff by Mr. Jalopnik. He loves automobiles of all kinds, "flying cars, vintage cars... and sometimes just because the curve of a hood." Naturally, his site features photos of everything from Corollas to concept cars to hot rods. Also included are celebrity rides and industry news, as well as design trends from Detroit and beyond. Especially cool are the spy photos, taken by gear-head paparazzi who'd rather snap camouflaged cars than chase after Britney.

Wanna buy an Island?
www.vladi-private-islands.de/home_e.html
This site is for the extremely privileged ones who want to buy or rent a whole island! Nothing for us do over there, just for marvelling, that there are people rich enough to buy an Island and there are people weird enough to sell them!

Learn all you could about OIL
www.pbs.org/wnet/extremeoil/
It's not just something to run cars with, it's in our clothes, CDs, medicines, and plastic. Oil is everywhere -- fuelling modern life. So unless you live in a cardboard box, you are a consumer of black gold. And when the "easy oil" floodgates close forever, what extremes will we go to drill in unexplored terrain? To better understand the world’s crisis, follow the BTC pipeline's winding geographic and political route from the Caspian through to the global market. Then dig into oil's dark past to uncover how fossil fuels first formed, when we learned to tap it, and how crude oil became a commodity. Like it or not, oil is the lifeblood that feeds our appetite for consumption. Before it all goes away, we have critical issues to tackle.

Published in Rising Stars on October 21, 2004

Sites Unseen

2004-12-29T19:17:00.000+06:00

Exactly how would you feel if you stumble upon the news that there are about 8000 people in earth who don’t believe that the earth is a sphere? What’s more shocking is that their numbers are slowly, but steadily increasing! These people don’t believe that the earth is a sphere; rather it’s a flat disk. They believe that the atmosphere is just a dome over the earth, holding the sun, the moon and the stars. They don’t believe that the earth is a round thing either; they believe it’s, at the same time, both a pentagon and hexagon. They believe that this somehow proves that FIVE is equal to SIX and are devising a whole new mathematical system according to that. They also don’t believe that Australia exists! www.flat-earth.org/

Sometimes I just feel like disconnecting from the internet and weep silently for humanity.

The Visual Dictionary
http://visualthesaurus.com/
This site is outstanding for exploring relationships between words, and ideal for brainstorming ideas in work and education. Let’s see what the New York Times has to say about the site: “Inventive. Imaginative. Ingenious. Fanciful. "Duck - here comes an adjective. As you click deeper in, a similar word edges in from the right. Clearly this is not your average thesaurus. Strange stuff, perhaps, to the textual domain.” This site will require Java to run (small Java test: if you can chat in websites, you have Java installed).

Some people just don't understand that pencils are meant for writing only
http://www.infofreako.com/jad/enpitsu-e.html
What do you do with a pencil? What the HELL do you do with a pencil? You write with it; you draw something with it; maybe you even stab someone with it. But you DO NOT spend hours after hours curving “sculptures” out of pencils. I just don’t understand Japanese people. They like Anime; they are ashamed of Toilets! And now they are making some kind of “sculptures” out of flimsy pencils?

Two faces of Bush
www.twofacesofbush.com
Bush? Lying? Never!

Humans for sale!
http://www.humanforsale.com/
Have you been thinking about putting yourself up for sale lately? Ever wonder how much money you could get on the open human market? HumanForSale.com will attempt to place a value on your life using a variety of criteria in 4 basic facets of life (physical, mental, lifestyle, personality). This is obviously a very subjective matter and is not intended and does not claim to be scientifically accurate. The more honestly you answer the questions, the more realistic the dollar value returned will be. (Notice to single-neuron entities, this site is only a JOKE)

Just an awesome game!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/blobs/blobmate/
Eat you way through ice towards ice-creams and squash the enemy before they squash you! The game is great, quite hard to play but isn’t unfair. Very addicting.

Published in Rising Stars on October 14, 2004

Sites Unseen

2004-12-29T17:04:00.000+06:00

100 GB email accounts, anyone?
www.hriders.com/
If you think Gmail’s one GB account isn’t big enough for you, then head over to the hriders.com site. They are giving away 100 GB accounts! Can you just believe them? Of course, the email service isn’t as good as Gmail’s one… but the size is 100 times bigger. And if you are somehow able to fill up the 100 GB, they’ll give you a 1000 GB account. Damn!

Discover the forces of nature
www.nationalgeographic.com/forcesofnature/
Earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes and hurricanes… so devastating yet so interesting. This site let’s you discover things you never knew about these disasters. You can also create your own disaster and “play” around with it.

A cool game I didn't knew existed. I wish I knew about it when I was at my boring school.
www.cepophan.com/foldit/
The folding art game… extremely easy and enjoyable. First, take a paper and fold it twice… then draw something wicked. Pass it to someone else and let him draw something. Take the drawing back and draw something wicked again. Let someone else draw something one last time. When it’s finished, unfold it and be amazed. This site has a vast gallery of drawings made this way.

The real Y2K bug: Some people just has too much time to waste
www.mashie.org/casemods/y2k19.html
When four years ago, when the whole world was buzzing about the terrible Y2K bug, some geeky folks just discovered that they have too much time to waste. So those geeks spent six long tiresome months determinedly working to create the ultimate Y2K bug. After spending six months working on their “monstrosity”, they finally came up with a tricked-out computer that looks like a real bug and can flap two wings. Pity. Maybe, it’s a good thing that the world isn’t run by geeks.

Just a cool optical illusion
www.snafu.com/Rotation.html
The best illusion I’ve seen so far. Nothing fancy, just a tricky image to confuse the “sights” department of your brain. Worth visiting.

Awesome pavement art
users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm
Some people are just too creative. This Julian Beever is one of those people who can easily amaze you by their work. He draws brilliant pictures in pavements, pictures which are so beautiful… that you fell like stopping staring at them in awe. I especially like his “3D” illusions.

Toughest game ever!
www.spikything.plus.com/games/marblemayhem/
Yes, you have my word; this game is the toughest of all games, even tougher then chess. Still, it’s pretty addictive…

All right, nice folks, let’s end things here. I guess these links will be enough for one week.

Published in Rising Stars on October 7, 2004

Sites Unseen

2004-12-29T17:01:00.000+06:00

Nothing much has been happening lately, and I haven’t got much to say. So let’s dive into the virtual abyss of the Widely Weird Web.

Poorly-drawn cartoons inspired by actual spam subject lines!
http://www.spamusement.com/
Ever wondered how silly spammers could be to use subject lines like “Bet you never seen this before…” and “Instant money for free!” This site takes a truly evil step towards blasting them. The result? Some of the best cartoons I’ve ever seen. Trust me, they are awesome when I say they are. And don’t worry, none of cartoons contains anything you won’t like.

How the great companies of today were named!
http://www.fact-index.com/l/li/list_of_company_name_etymologies.html
Did you how the giant companies of today named themselves, where companies like Apple, Microsoft, Nokia, Sony… got their titles? I liked what the site has to tell, especially the bit about how Apple got named. Apparently, Steve Jobs was furious in a meeting when the executives failed to come up with a good name for the company (the company was expanding and it needed a new name). Enraged, he threatened to name the company with a silly name like “Apple” (he liked apples) if the executives fail to come up with a better name by 5:00 pm. It seems now that the executives failed.

The “Good” wife's guide
http://www.robinsweb.com/humor/good_wife.html
Ah! This one’s always nice to read. First researched and published for guiding the American women in the 1950s, the guide is now digitized and available online for everyone to cherish!

Proper phone etiquettes
http://contactsheet.org/junk/telephone1.html
Are you sure you know everything about phone etiquette? Then consult Uncle Sam’s ultimate guide for making friends over the phone! Another publication from the 1950s, this guide is a real deal. Funnily illustrated and written, it’s nice to read.

Did you know Drugs are bad?
http://www.freevibe.com/
Well, this site tells you that they are, but it does so in style. It’s not like the boring drone-like lectures about drugs, but something you’d feel like pursuing. It’s about teenagers from across the globe fighting against the addiction, against its effects and against anything that glamorises drugs. Check out the information section while you are visiting the site.

You send it
http://s4.yousendit.com/
This site’s great for sending large attachments, and it send files sized up to 1 GB. Although you would probably never need to send anything that large, this site is great for sending files that are too big for sending via Hotmail or Yahoo. Just type in the target email address, select the file to attach and press “send”.

The dullest blog in the world!
http://www.wibsite.com/wiblog/dull/
If you are somewhat experienced with the weird internet world, then you would have known about blogs (websites, used for voicing opinions or as open diaries). A huge number of people use blogs… by 2003, 7 percent of America was blogging! With that amount of blogs, it’s obvious that there are some really, really awful blogs. This site mockingly bashes those extremely dull blogs that makes you want to weep silently for humanity.

Published in Rising Stars on September 30, 2004

Sites Unseen

2004-12-29T16:58:00.000+06:00

I’ve been using a Gmail account lately and I’ve got to tell you, the experience is superb. It’s not exactly indescribable by words, but it’s pretty close. Especially when we’ve been using emails from Yahoo and Hotmail for years.

Even if you ignore the fact that the 1000 MB account is virtually impossible to fill up, you just can’t ignore the ease and simplicity of using a Gmail. You’d never have type an email address twice; Gmail will remember every address that crosses its path. You won’t have to load pages after pages to send an attachment. You can read what’s in an email straight from the inbox. And you won’t probably be deleting mails here, so you got a search tool as powerful as Google to search for your mails in your (soon to be vast) inbox.

By the way, we’ve been receiving some requests to include troubleshooting tips and protection against spy-ware and viruses in Sites Unseen. I’m sorry but you’ll never see such type of stuff in Sites Unseen. Sites Unseen is about introducing you to great websites; it’s not about fixing your PC!

Know more than you should
http://media.dsc.discovery.com/knowmore/
“Know more than you should. Dare to think. Ignite your imagination. Make the most of your mind.” Interesting slogans, eh? This site is full of them. And the site will make you fell like making the most of your mind. If you visit the site, don’t forget to watch the imaginative video ads. The videos are about 2 to 3 MBs each and they are worth the loading time.

Do not use the Internet Explorer anymore
www.stopie.com
You live in Bangladesh. You are not endowed with something like an enormous 128 kbps net connection. So why do you have to worsen you online experience by using the slowest browser on earth? The world is advancing, my friend, you probably should too. If you need further persuasion, visit this site. Anyway, this doesn’t apply to the ones not using Internet Explorer.

The great ones who kicked the bucket in style
http://team3764.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=692#7111
You shouldn’t laugh at people killing themselves stupidly. But maybe, sometimes you should do things you shouldn’t do, especially if it results in some good light-hearted laughter. Visit the site and try to keep a straight face.

“Writer’s block” buster
www.oneword.com
Instant creativity generator! You’ll be given one random word and one minute to write. Write whatever that comes into your mind. Write as much as you can. Don’t bother much about what you are writing, just write, Write, WRITE! After you completed writing, you can post your writing and you get to see what other people from all around the world has written. This site is a must for anyone trying to do some creative writing. And it’s worth visiting everyday.

“A game worth dropping off school”
http://www.123games.dk/game/other/peanut/peanut.htm
Well, that was their slogan for a while. I don’t see myself quitting school for a game like that, but yes, the game is awesome. Flash game, about 200 kb in size.

Apparently, they have sense of humour!
http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html
Apart from bashing everyone by always doing the best, the people at Google seems to have some humour too. Dunno if Microsoft or Yahoo has a page like this. Anyway, Google is revealing it’s secret of being the best search engine… it uses trained pigeons to process the search requests.

Steve Ballmer sells Windows 1.0
http://www.notworksafe.com/ballmer.wmv
It seemed that it was unfair to say that Microsoft doesn’t have any sense of humour. Although they don’t have any quirky pages on their sites, they actually did some funny stuff. This one is a funny ad in which Steve Ballmer (a very powerful guy at Microsoft) sells Windows 1.0. It’s about 900 kb.

Published in Rising Stars on September 23, 2004

Power to the muggles

2004-12-29T16:52:00.000+06:00

Gizmos straight out of Harry Potter are coming to market. Got a spare $500,000 for a flying car?

So, we all think that magical people are soooo cool. They got soo many awesome stuff for themselves, broomsticks and invisible cloaks and stuff. While witches and wizards have magical stuff for them, we muggles are not left behind. Thanks to our technology and ingenuity, maybe we’ll soon be able to read out of magical books, race witches and wizards in flying cars and, well, play hide-and-seek with invisibility cloaks.

But come to think about it, most wizards are quite lazy anyway. Their magic does so many things for them that they hardly have to work as hard as we muggles do. So when we try to have our gadgets and gizmos to act like bewitched or charmed objects, we have put in a hell lot of effort, crazy amount of calculations and, well, piles of microprocessors.

Here’s a case study. Two different groups of muggles and wizards are asked to make a BMW to break-dance while standing on its hind-legs (back wheels). A wizard steps forward, concentrates on imagining some dancing cockroaches, says a funny word, waves his wand and there! The BMW gracefully stands on its back and dances its trunk off. What does the muggles do? They make a group of the world’s elite scientists, work relentlessly and after six months come up with a prototype BMW laden with hydraulics, gears and engines that would be able to jerk vigorously along the music for 15 minutes before breaking down. Anyway, this “case study” is made up anyway. But I’m sure that muggles would be able to do better.

So it may come as a surprise to discover that Harry's world, where flying cars and invisibility cloaks are the norm, isn't that far from our own. Scientists the world over are perfecting inventions that could make the magic created by J.K. Rowling part of everyday life.

Need an invisibility cloak to escape from school? Scientists at the University of Tokyo's Tachi Laboratory, the school's virtual reality research centre, have invented an ingenious camouflage material that makes the wearer seem transparent. When worn as a cloak, it displays the scene behind the wearer onto the front of the light-reflective material. A camera records the images from behind the cloak, and then transmits them in real time to a projector that displays the images on the front. For the moment, the illusion only works from one side, but the inventors think commercial uses will be manifold. By the time it's available in around 2008, the technology could, for example, help pilots see through the floor of their plane to make landings easier.

More potter tech is coming your way. In the third book, Harry is introduced to the "Marauder's Map," a magical, flexible display that shows Harry where people and creatures are in his school, even as they hop down corridors and into rooms. A similar technology is soon to be released by Netherlands-based Royal Philips Electronics (PHG ) unit Polymer Vision. Polymer's flexible display screens will be able to receive data through a transmitter. That way, for example, a soldier in the desert could get info from a distant control tower, which in turn picks up data from surveillance planes tracking enemy units. The soldier could then follow nearby enemy movements on a map shown on his flexible display. Take that, Dementors!

But what about that flying car? That's coming, too -- sort of. Moller International of Davis, Calif., is a publicly traded company set up specifically to develop something called the M400 Skycar. It can travel on local roads at 35 miles per hour, but its real purpose is to take off vertically from small spaces like parking lots, then cruise at low altitudes at more than 350 mph. The price tag is a hefty $500,000. The company is hoping for approval from the Federal Aviation Administration. If Moller gets the nod from the regulators, it could develop a market for the craft and build enough sales volume to warrant a lower list price (Galleons not accepted -- and Gringotts Bank is not making loans to buyers).

Books are cheaper than flying cars, even in Potterland, where library tomes have a habit of holding a reader's attention with talking and moving pictures. Back in the world of muggle science, New Zealand researchers have found a way to add detailed 3-D talking animations to books. The reader sees the 3-D images through a handheld viewer that watches where the reader is looking and plays music and narration at the same time. Its name? Magic Book. Should be required reading at Hogwarts.

Although we won’t be seeing wand shaped remote controls that would do everything for us anytime soon, stuff that we now read in “fantasy books” are coming to life faster than we can properly start imagining them. I’m still waiting for riding a broomstick. Maybe one day, I’ll be able to ride my grandchild’s broom.

Published in Rising Stars on September 02, December 2004

Cell watch: Siemens SL55

2004-12-29T16:44:00.000+06:00

This mobile proves that the value of beauty is almost worthless. This very phone is alleged to be “the best looking phone out there” by most critics. However, as with most other beautiful things, its beauty is only skin-deep. The phone comes with a host of reliability and reception problems.

Features:
Colour screen
WAP 1.2.1 (GPRS)
MMS & EMS
2 Games plus Java downloadable games
10 Polyphonic ringtones (16-voice) + facility to download more
Infrared modem
Voice control and voice recorder

Weight: 79gSize: 82 x 45 x 22 mm
Standby Time: 200 hours
Talktime: up to 3 hours

Pros: The best looking phone in the world. You would probably agree about this too. And the ring tones aren’t so bad either. After pressing a key, the mobile does seem to response, although after a few seconds.

Cons: Absolutely everything else. The software frequently crashes, deletes everything in it (address book entries, messages, pictures, downloads etc.), bad reception, faint colour display, agonizingly slow key response… and many others. No camera (you can buy an attachable one, though), no radio. Games take ages to load.

We can only pray to almighty God that Siemens would actually test their mobiles before marketing them.

Published in Rising Stars on August 19, 2004