Well well well, I was notified this morning by Optimus [thank you!] that the actual entries for the IDC 2008 are finally released and ready to be voted for. And I have to say, oh boy, aren’t they awesome! I mean I started with the Cocoon demo and the music caught me right away, and of course the graphics were nothing short of marvellous. Then the Firlight & TBL demo with those cute little buttons [dude, I want some of those! =)] and the scary dissolving faces gave me round eyes. Next was the MFX demo and it’s cool style, I specially liked the beginning of this one. Then came the Inque demo with again fantastic music, and all the orange juice. I mean they even have ASD labeled orange juice. 😉 Last but certainly not least was the beautiful beautiful Still demo. The music is just otherworldly, and the visuals, oh, the visuals… no words, I’m speechless. As I mentioned before, Still always has a way of making me happy. =) So, big Kudos to all the competing teams, and now it’s time for you all to go and see the demos for yourselves. You can either watch the demos on the IDC website, or download the real-times here. Enjoy. And, well, wish me luck too as I have a competition of my own to face, tomorrow. =)
I’ve been using RSS Bandit as my feed reader for a few years now and I’m a big fan of it. I even posted an article about there here [in 2005], and I like it now as much as I did back then, or even more. The cool thing is, apparently these folk never stopped working on the project and making improvements to the software, and now as a result, there’s RSS Bandit Phoenix. This is a new version of RSS Bandit who’s alpha installer is now available for download through the RSS Bandit Website. Phoenix has all the old Bandit goodies, as well as a whole bunch of kool and new features that make it even more of a joy to use. So whether you’re already a Bandit user or you’ve never heard of it before, and if you’re as much of a feed freak as I am, do check Phoenix out. =)
Captured by the Phoenix Mars Lander a few days ago. Love it. [Click for full size.]
On other news, today I watched the panel discussion on the future of the web [Tetherless World Research Constellation]. Very informative, but no comments for now, as I’m still compiling a good part of it in my head.
As you may have already noticed through my twine feed, the IDC 2008 final competing teams have been selected, and the application demos are now available to watch through the IDC website. Similar to previous years: 5 teams, 5 fantastic demos, and 1 heck of a dilemma when it comes to voting, which you can do as of the end of June. =) The competing teams this year are Cocoon, Fairlight & TBL, MFX, Inque and Still. As for how I feel about the demos, well, I really can’t tell yet. I’ve watched each demo 3 times so far but I still have quite a few more rounds to go. But so far, I can say this, Still always has a way of making me glad I watched the demo [hence the pic!], and to top that, they brought in the duckie again! =D I have to add that the demos are not available for downloading as of yet, but I will let you know as soon as they are. So for now, go watch some demos and enjoy!
P.S.: Does the “fat guy” in Cocoon’s demo remind any of you of “Baron Vladimir Harkonnen” of Frank Herbert’s “Dune”? Cause that’s who he reminds me of somehow! =)
UPDATE: Well, I think Optimus’ comment just confirmed my suspicion. The application demos are almost all parts of previously released demos, except for some reason [I could be very well wrong about this] the Fairlight & TBL demo seems newish! So lets just wait and see if there will be other demos popping up.
A lot has happened and I’ve been way too busy to post, and lets confess, the small little bits of time that I usually find here and there to do some blogging and similar stuff, have recently been all eaten up by Twine. =P [Yes, blame it aaallllll on Twine! =D] Oh by the way, apparently I have a new set of Twine invitations. If anybody wants to be invited, let me know. [if you “really” want it though!]
So last Sunday we watched the entire broadcasting of Phoenix’s landing on Mars via the NASA JPL website. I have to admit, it was incredibly exciting. In those last 7 minutes my heart just about exploded out of my chest, and when it finally landed and sent through the “ok” signal, I had tears in my eyes. Since then I’ve been constantly on the watch for new pictures and data received from the lander. A large number of pictures taken by the lander can be found here. Do check it out! =)
This video isn’t thaaaat new, but I came across it today while looking for videos relevant to this article that has to do with Phoenix lander’s mission to land on Mars. It’s a simulation that was created last year, but I hadn’t seen it before and I fell in love with it instantly. Good music for the purpose too by the way. And if you don’t understand Spanish don’t worry, just wait for the actual video to start.
This video amazed and impressed the heavens out of me. In a way it’s sort of like a wild demo. The animation has been created out of paintings on public walls. Do check it out. =)
Earlier I had posted a few lines in regards to ASIMO’s conduction of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra performing “Impossible Dream”. Today I received an email from a good friend of mine notifying me that the video for the performance has just been released and it’s currently available on blip.tv. So, here it is, and it’s profoundly cute. =D Enjoy!
When it comes to music, I’d say Mike Oldfield is certainly a God. I’ve felt the same ever since the first time I heard his music [I was an infant then… my parents were listening to Mike Oldfield]. Mike Oldfield’s music has been with me my entire life, and I would even say that in some ways, it has saved my life. The song Shabda is from his latest album called “Music of the Sphere”. Don’t mind the video as it’s not official… just listen to the music.
Terra autem erat inanis Super faciem abyssi Lux æterna dona nobis Terra autem erat in cæli
Terra autem erat inanis Super faciem abyssi Lux æterna dona nobis Terra autem erat in cæli
[Sorry for not translating… my Latin is enough to understand this, but certainly not enough to attempt a legid translation…]
Hey, I'm Aasemoon, and this is my blog which has been around since 1998. Childhood toy project that ended up growing up with me.
You can reach me here:
aasemoon.blue
Zorbas is my kitten. You can see some pictures of him below. =)
