rb.log » Entertainment

Stripgenerator

rbanks — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:15:17 +0000

This is excellent fun. Make your own highly stylised cartoon strips. Naturally, I’ve gone with a very amusing topic for my first one. How very British.

Stripgenerator v1.0.3

On the cleanliness of coal

rbanks — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:16:00 +0000

Nice spot from the Coen Brothers on clean coal.

Coen Brothers, Dispelling the Myth of “Clean” Coal – PSFK.com

Hypercomics

rbanks — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 11:09:43 +0000

I enjoyed this “hypercomic” – a comic on an infinite canvas, by Daniel Merlin Goodbrey. Shown by Scott McCloud in his recent TED talk.

Understanding movie and video game ratings

rbanks — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 20:52:18 +0000

If you’re a parent in the UK and you want to understand EXACTLY why a movie/DVD/Video Game has been given the rating it has, so you can make rational decisions about what your kids watch, then the parents site for the British Board of Film Classification is an amazing resource (although it contains a pile of spoilers if you haven’t seen the movies or played the games as well).

It might even be a good resource for US parents, too. Even if the classifications aren’t the same, the site gives a good sense of the adult vs. child themes within each production.

Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2008

rbanks — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:14:32 +0000

This year’s Royal Institution Christmas Lecture will be given by Microsoft Research’s very own Chris Bishop. This is a massive honour, continuing a tradition started in 1825, and following in the footsteps of Faraday. The lecture’s goal is to make science accessible to the public, and are focused primarily on the young, but are very accessible to anyone of any age. They’re famous for their interactivity, using demonstrations that are very playful.

Chris will be giving his lectures around the theme of “Hi-tech Trek – The Quest for the Ultimate Computer”, dipping into a bunch of areas related to computing. They will be shown in the UK on Channel Five (see dates below) and then be available on DVD.

The Royal Institution of Great Britain | Christmas Lectures 2008

” Join us and Prof Chris Bishop on a hi-tech trek to explore the science behind the digital revolution in search of the ultimate computer.

Get an advanced preview of this year’s lecture by visiting our Christmas Lectures 2008 homepage, and play our game ‘Cats and dogs’. Computers are very good at doing calculations super-fast, but they’re actually really bad at telling the difference between cats and dogs. Help our computer learn which is which to beat the mystery guest in the lecture broadcast on Friday 2 January.

The Christmas Lectures bring alive scientific research for the whole family and are broadcast on Channel Five in prime time. This year, the lectures will be shown as follows:
Monday 29 December at 7.15pm Breaking the speed limit
Tuesday 30 December at 7.15pm Chips with everything
Wednesday 31 December at 7.15pm The ghost in the machine
Thursday 1 January at 7.15pm Untangling the web
Friday 2 January at 7.15pm Digital intelligence“

Sisters Forever

rbanks — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 01:11:35 +0000

Ari, Mackenzie and Chloe put on a show…

YouTube – Chlokenzie Show

Whiteout

rbanks — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:38:27 +0000

Wow. What an amazing idea for a game. The unfinished Swan is set in a totally white maze in which you have to blast black paint to reveal the detail and find your way out.

The Unfinished Swan

Royal Mail Games

rbanks — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 08:16:21 +0000

Really liked this project by Harriet Russell testing the capabilities and, to some extent, sense of humour of the Royal Mail. She sent 130 envelopes each of which represented an address in some cryptic way, from crosswords (see below) to anagrams. Only 10 didn’t get through.

“Despite fears of a Royal Mail backlash, Russell found the system more than willing to play her game. The crossword edition was returned completed with the comment “Solved by the Glasgow Mail Centre”

Mail Games: Testing the System | PSFK – Trends, Ideas & Inspiration

Bug or feature?

rbanks — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:23:06 +0000

Great response by EA to a bug in it’s golf game in which Tiger Woods is seen to walk on water to take a shot (the so called “Jesus Shot”). Here’s what EA took the trouble to make in response…

John Lennon Interview Animation

rbanks — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:12:25 +0000

A beautiful animation done to accompany the audio recording of an interview with John Lennon in 1969. I wasn’t sure if the animation was done back then or was contemporary until I saw the image of Bush flash by.

The interview was done by Jerry Levitan, who was 14 at the time. Somehow he got into Lennon’s hotel room with his tape deck. I love the sections that show Levitan. Lennon tries to sell the idea of doing everything for Peace, and Levitan keeps on bringing it down to earth by telling him that he doesn’t like George, and that all his friends are listening to the Bee Gees. Nice.