This has to be one of the neatest uses of eye tracking I’ve seen. With the recent increase in real-world advertising in online games, and the talk of advertisers and game distributors working on bringing in more, it seems at least one company has decided to check on the effectiveness of this move. And the results don’t look promising for advertisers or distributors banking on this.
Category: Random Ramblings
Anything that catches my fancy as a topic I want to cover. Truly random crap.
Snow Crystals
I 
finally received my first issue of my American Scientist magazine subscription yesterday, and consumed a chunk of it in my spare time last night. The cover has this awesome snowflake image, from a microphotography snap of a complex snowflake. Here’s a cropped shot of it, taken from the web site by the author of the snowflakes article in the magazine(apologies for that horrid grammar). I hope I won’t get in trouble from the author from snagging this photo.
In the article, Kenneth G Libbrecht discusses the creation of snowflakes, the different kinds of snowflakes, some history of snowflake studies and snowflake photography, “designer” snowflakes, and much more. Reading this is akin to reading a Scientific American article, although I find American Scientist articles to be much more readable. The article is available online, but you have to subscribe to the magazine or be a member of Sigma Xi to access it. I recommend just buying the magazine at the newstand.
It is in fact true that no two snowflakes are alike. These single crystals of ice are so affected by subtle changes in temperature, water saturation, mineral content and wind speed that it’s nigh impossible that two would experience the exact same conditions during their growth. Indeed, just a few degrees’ temperature shift can alter a snowflake from the flowery form that we typically think of into a needle or a cluster of bullet-shaped columns. Libbrecht details many of these forms and how they arise, but also how much remains unknown about the elusive shapes. One of his newest theories relates to the fact that the very thin edge of a snowflake becomes highly unstable, leading to unexpected growth. Libbrecht’s work can be applied to the growth of crystals used for semiconductors, as well as other nanoscale processes of material formation.
All that said, I really just want to direct folks to the author’s web site. There are some amazing images there, and a lot of information on snowflakes. It’s a much more interesting topic that I would have guessed.
[tags]Snowflakes, The formation and study of snowflakes, Photographing snowflakes[/tags]
Write for free help
[tags]Write for free help[/tags]
Top games 2006 – multiple sources
End of the year review time, hot shot. Here are a number of sites giving out their top XX games of 2006 virtual awards and a sampling of their awards. Check some out and see with which you agree.
- 49. Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords (PC)
- 34. Microsoft Flight Simulator X (PC)
- 23. LocoRoco (PSP)
- 4. Guitar Hero II (PS2)
- 2. Sci-Fi Blockheads!
LEGO STAR WARS II
PS2, Xb, GC, PC, PSP, DS - 5. Spandex Gaming!
GUITAR HERO
PS2 - 10. Mammoth RPGing!
THE ELDER SCROLLS IV: OBLIVION
X360, PC
Some random guy on Amazon.com:
1. Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Collector’s Edition (DVD-ROM) by 2K Games
10. Black by Electronic Arts (Whaaaaa? Note: Does not match up with the view of most of the rest of the gaming community)
16. Guitar Hero 1 Bundle (with Guitar) by REDOCTANE
CBS News on top portable games:
- “Power Stone Collection” is a collection of two older Sega Dreamcast games merged into one. It’s a solid and slick fighter that is every bit as fast and fun as it originally was. Retail price $30. (PSP)
- If puzzle games are your thing, or you enjoy music/rhythm based games, “Lumines 2” will easily fit the bill with more music options and a great price. Retail price $30. (PSP)
- Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin” will utilize WiFi capability to play cooperative in certain modes, so you don’t have to go demon slaying alone. Retail price $35. (DS)
- “Elite Beat Agents” is a quirky “touch the screen to the music” game that had me laughing within minutes of playing it! Music and rhythm game fans will LOVE it. Retail price $35. (DS – I just got this game, and it’s addictive)
There are plenty more such lists out there if you take the time to look. It’s interesting to see how much overlap there is and how many unique entries there are per list. You’ll see Oblivion and the various Guitar Hero incarnations on most lists, I think, but otherwise it is all up in the air.
[tags]Top games of 2006[/tags]
Gaming industry’s biggest blunders – 2006 edition
I love pointing out the failures of others. So when I see a site like Next Generation cover the gaming industry’s top 10 blunders of 2006, I have to pass that on.
5. Gizmondo Crashes, Exec Follows Suit
In January the underdog handheld company Gizmondo imploded and threw itself at the mercy of its creditors. At the time no one suspected that the most fascinating part of the Gizmondo story was still to come. In February Stefan Eriksson, former executive at Gizmondo, taught his Ferrari Enzo how to fly on a stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway, slicing the million-dollar car neatly in half, and creating the world’s first performance art re-enactment of the rise and fall of a videogame company.
Of course, it wasn’t really Eriksson’s fault. As he told it, a mysterious German named Dietrich was driving the doomed sportscar when it crashed. Eriksson was just innocently sitting in the passenger seat of a flying Ferrari when it collided with a pole and blood flew off his lip and onto the driver-side airbag. Happens all the time, really.
That’s my favorite. In fact, the others aren’t even that interesting. But hey, faults is faults, and I’m all about them’s getting the faultification highlightingism they deservify.
[tags]Gaming Industry’s biggest blunders 2006[/tags]
On Parthenogenesis
Yeah, I’d never heard of it either, but a cow-orker was talking to me tonight about the Komodo dragons which just reproduced asexually, and that sounded like something I needed to read up on. I knew about gender-changing frogs, but hadn’t heard about asexually reproducing reptiles. Turns out it is known among smaller reptiles and mice, but that the Komodo dragon was capable of Parthenogenesis was unknown before this event.
The world’s largest lizard has astonished biologists by being able to produce offspring by an “immaculate” conception without the help of a male.
Two captive female Komodo dragons have had virgin births by a process called parthenogenesis, when an unfertilised egg develops into a normal embryo without being fertilised by a sperm.
I hope this phenomenon doesn’t catch on. I know quite a few females who want children without a male being involved. I hate to think of all the men who will be joining me in my life unchosen chastity when female humans figure out how to do this on their own. Sounds a bit like a Star Trek episode, doesn’t it?
[tags]Asexual reproduction in the reptile world, Men to become obsolete?[/tags]
Sharp to produce blue laser diodes
Laser news!!! W00 w0000! Sharp Corporation will be investing significant sums into facilities for blue diode laser production. This should help in Blu-ray disc production, which I would imagine will help Sony with PS3 production, as well. Also, a fast ramp-up in blue diode laser production could help Sony shave a bit off the cost per PS3 produced in the near future, which would be welcome I’m sure.
Sharp Corp., Japan’s largest maker of liquid-crystal display televisions, will start producing blue laser diodes used in high-definition DVD devices such as those made by Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp.
Sharp will spend “several billion yen” to build a dedicated line for the diodes at its Mihara factory in Hiroshima, southwestern Japan, spokeswoman Miyuki Nakayama said today, confirming an earlier report by the Nikkei newspaper. Production will begin this year with about 150,000 units a month and will be expanded to 500,000 units by September 2007, she said.
The company is challenging Nichia Corp. and other companies that make the devices in a market that’s expected to expand as consumers switch to high-definition discs that offer sharper picture quality and greater recording capacity. Sony, which backs the Blu-ray DVD standard against Toshiba’s HD DVD, has said a shortage of the diodes for use in its PlayStation 3 console forced it to delay the product’s debut in Europe.
Sales of the diodes at Sharp will reach 15 billion yen ($127 million) in the first fiscal year, the report said, without specifying. Nakayama declined to confirm or deny the revenue target, calling the figure “speculation” by the Nikkei.
If I’m doing my yen to dollars exchange-rate conversion correctly, this means at least a three or four thousand dollar investment. But I’m always bad about converting yen to dollar…
But more seriously, more blue diodes lasers can only be good. Because more lasers is always better than less lasers.
[tags]Sharp to increase blue diode laser production, Good news for Sony on the blue laser front[/tags]
I would if I could, darling
and I’d never have needed to get married…
[tags]Give yourself a hummer[/tags]
How to write better
I’m a leftie. All my life, my handwriting has sucked. I’m probably too old to fix it, but I’d like to start working on fixing my penmanship. Can anyone recommend a good way to learn how to improve the mechanics of 30 years of incorrect hand positioning in writing? What can I do to improve the quality of my lettering?
[tags]How do I improve my penmanship?[/tags]
Ireland – a view from the Rock of Cashel
Just one of the few good photos I took back in the summer when I traveled to Ireland. This is a view of an old tombstone at the Rock of Cashel seen while looking out at the nearby Abbey ruins. I love these crosses. I made a walk down to the ruins there, but they weren’t nearly as interesting as the castle itself.
If I ever win the lottery, I’m going back to Ireland. Maybe I’ll stay, even. It’s a beautiful country.
[tags]Ireland, Rock of Cashel[/tags]
I know I’m not needed, but can I just watch?
What else can you say, when you find out Eva Longoria says something like this?
Eva Longoria has lesbian crushes on Jessica Alba, Jessica Simpson and Eva Mendes.
The ‘Desperate Wives’ star says the stunning threesome, who are all neighbours, have a very “special” relationship.
That’s a party I want to go to.
[tags]Eva Longoria 4-way lesbian fling[/tags]
War on liquids – an update
Thanks for boingboing for the apt name for the war. Here’s the latest update from the BBC and the AP on the terrorists believed to be planning the liquid explosives attack this past summer.