< January 2007 >

Unless you lived in a cave pixeling with charcoal and eating bugs, you know there has been a lot of talk about Microsoft's latest operating system, Vista.

But, has Microsoft realized they aren't the power house that they once were? The "Release party" was almost a complete failure. Back during the release of Windows 95, the empire state building in New York City changed many of their lights to make the Windows logo in the logo's colors...

However, this release, there was no huge party... In Manhattan, NY, CompUSA was planning on staying open until 2am after the midnight release of Vista, most of the customers, all 100 of them, were gone by 12:40am (Source).

And now, combined with the news of 90% of games possibly not working on Vista, and the European Commission planning on filing anti-trust charges, has Microsoft built its own coffin?

I will be doing a review of Vista the beginning of next week and see if it is really worth the upgrade.

Posted by Ensellitis @ 1/31/2007 05:31 | 19

Pixel Blocks

Looks like you can now physically pixel (and voxel) with PixelBlocks. They have a pretty decent range of colours, and as they are semi-transparent, obviously colour depth can be increased at certain angles.

Posted by pmprog @ 1/30/2007 13:03 | 5

Perler Bead Pixel Crafts

A collection of pixel characters & emoticons made entirely out of beads. Sweeet!

Posted by utt73 @ 1/30/2007 09:23 | 5

YouTube to fill YourWallet

YouTube has announced plans to start paying users for submitting original movies.

"We are getting an audience large enough where we have an opportunity to support creativity, to foster creativity through sharing revenue with our users," Hurley said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "So in the coming months, we are going to be opening that up."

No price has been set, yet. But perhaps this is the chance for some quick money if you are crafty with your camera.

Posted by Ensellitis @ 1/29/2007 17:28 | 10 | Source

Mobile pixel avatar chat "Mini Friday"

Sulake Corporation, the company behind the massively popular multinational virtual hotel chain Habbo are testing an avatar chat concept for mobile devices called "Mini Friday". At the moment the client is still under development and only available for a limited set of S60 Nokia mobiles. The idea is the same as in Habbo Hotels; create an account, personalize your little avatar and chat away.

A word of warning though, if the data transfer rates on your mobile contract are out of this world, you probably might want to stay away.

Those of you who ever used Mobiles Disco back in the day should feel right at home ;)

Posted by Toby @ 1/28/2007 13:12 | 6

Pictaps

Draw stuff in 2D and watch it dance in 3D, its pretty cool!

Check it out!

Posted by Domobot @ 1/27/2007 10:12 | 19

Spring cleaning!

Ah, clean up time is around the corner... Let's get started early. I am going to need all your guys help, too. The links are a great part of this community... However, websites die or move from time to time, leaving behind a URL of a site that someone may want to go to, but can't...

So here is where you come in... When you have some free time, browse through the links and click all that you can. When you stumble upon a dead one, click on the comments link, but don't leave a comment! Copy the url of that link, and sent it to me via PM.

To show my appreciation, anyone who sends me a dead link will receive a nice little award and some points.

Posted by Ensellitis @ 1/27/2007 05:12 | 4

TEDDY: 2D to 3D modelling

Check this out.

It's a java client program that will take 2D drawings and render them into 3D models.
I'm pretty sure with the skills we have here you can make something intresting. :D

Posted by Souly @ 1/25/2007 13:04 | 7

Fattaru and Kellerman music video collab

For all of you guys interested in comics (and art in general) this music video might be interesting to watch: http://bubblare.se/fattaru_horde_jag_skal It is a video for a Swedish hip hop group named Fattaru. The comic artist who made the video is Martin Kellerman. You can check out his comic Rocky here: http://www.rocky-digital.com (you can read some strips in English). The lyrics are about drinking and partying and the consequences that might bring.

Just sit back and enjoy the music and this very cool and unique video!

Posted by Mirre @ 1/24/2007 06:10 | 6

XXX to screw BluRay?

What says it better than the actual article? Let the copy & pasting commence!

"First we begin with something of a history lesson. Back in the early days of the VCR there were two rival formats, VHS and Sony's technically superior Betamax.

Sony didn't want any filth appearing on Betamax, so the adult entertainment industry went with VHS and the rest is history. Betamax may have survived among professional broadcast users, but VHS won the living rooms of average consumers. "

Read the rest...

Take that you conservative congressmen! Porn does have a say

Posted by Ensellitis @ 1/22/2007 19:38 | 7 | Source

Storing data in a photon

So... Is that new 500gb hard drive just not doing it for you anymore? Want something bigger? How about the possibility of storing thousands, if not millions of gigabytes in the space no bigger than a matchbox or smaller?

Well, scientists are getting closer. The have found a way to store an entire image onto a single proton, slow it down for storage, then retrieve it again.

From the article: “It sort of sounds impossible, but instead of storing just ones and zeros, we're storing an entire image,” says John Howell, assistant professor of physics and leader of the team that created the device. ”It's analogous to the difference between snapping a picture with a single pixel and doing it with a camera—this is like a 6-megapixel camera.”

As it says in the comments, Wave-particle duality FTW!

So instead of storing data like they do now, you are basically creating the human mind, in some aspects. Terminator theorists, begin the preaching.

Posted by Ensellitis @ 1/22/2007 19:26 | 10 | Source

Onion AV Club Ricky Gervais Interview

The comic genius behind The Office and Extras dishes about artistic integrity and other uppity bullshit.

Check it!

Posted by sedgemonkey @ 1/22/2007 01:22 | 0

Is Yahoo the new AOL?

"When you install or download a Yahoo program you are given the option to include several ‘features’ things like a tool bar for internet explorer, links added to your desktop, your bookmarks to other Yahoo portals and services. Some users are complaining that even after opting out of these extras, Yahoo changed their default searching function."

This brings back memories... I have been a victim of this as well. After installing the new Y! Messenger, I had icons for Yahoo mail, toolbars, etc., even after choosing NOT to install them. The good news is that they are hurting Internet Explorer's customer base, since many of these "features" do not work on Firefox and Opera.

Posted by Ensellitis @ 1/18/2007 05:55 | 5 | Source

Spam is worth 101 years

Jeffrey Brett Goodin has been found guilty for running a phishing site that stole people's personal information.

He is the first person in the US to be convicted under the 2003 CAN-SPAM Act (as well as 10 other counts, including wire fraud, misuse of the AOL trademark and attempted witness harassment), and faces a sentence of up to 101 years in federal prison.

Does this mean that we are coming nearer to some form of resolution to the spam epidemic? Or does this mean scammers are going to find more sophisticated ways of deceiving their victims?

Posted by Ensellitis @ 1/18/2007 05:47 | 13 | Source

5 minutes till midnight

Yesterday, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the famed Doomsday Clock ahead, from 7 minutes till midnight, to 5 minutes till midnight. The reasoning stated was "Board members of the Chicago-based Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists magazine cite nuclear weapons programs in Iran and North Korea, unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere and 25,000 nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia, including 2,000 that are ready to launch."

For those who don't know, the Doomsday Clock* is a symbolic clock that was created by the board of directors of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Midnight represents destruction via nuclear war.

The clock hasnt been this close to midnight since the late 1980's during the Arms race. Tick... Tock...

Posted by Ensellitis @ 1/18/2007 05:35 | 18 | Source

1up.com's 101 Best Free Games

1up.com has released their list of the 101 best free games, and both A Game With a Kitty and I'm OK made the list. Congratulations!

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3156339
http://www.origamihero.com/#3
http://www.imokgame.com/

Posted by Torpedoes @ 1/17/2007 20:04 | 19

Top Pixel Art - December 2006

The following pixel artists produced Pixel Joint's top rated pixel art for December 2006. Many thanks go out to this month's top pixel artists and all the members who took time to rate.

Colossal Katamari by Snake

Shoesnail idle animation by Fool

Girantis by Snake

Shrewd by buloght

Pupp by Fool

Russian folk characters by Fool

Mockup by Fool

Wolfie VS Raptors by buloght

Doggy by Fool

Cirrhose by exocet

Posted by sedgemonkey @ 1/16/2007 03:15 | 16

Adventure Time Cartoon, Best Cartoon Short Ever?

Adventure Time is a short cartoon produced by the team at Frederator Studios, the people that brought you Oh Yeah! Cartoons and subsequently spawned Chalkzone, The Fairly Oddparents, Cow and Chicken, Powerpuff Girls, My Life as a Teenage Robot among many others.

They also have a cartoon podcast that updates weekly at Channel Frederator, which has various user submitted cartoon shorts, that is more than worth a mention.

I haven't enjoyed cartoons this much since the Fox Kids era.

Posted by Blick @ 1/15/2007 20:28 | 8

Cardboard Art

These illustrations on scraps of cardboard prove you don't need no fancy-dancy paper or canvases to produce terrific art.

Posted by sedgemonkey @ 1/15/2007 03:21 | 7 | Source

Legend of Zelda's Link cupcake pixel-art

From the delicious Flickr photoset description...

Link is 36" x 44" and made of 143 cupcakes!

Posted by sedgemonkey @ 1/14/2007 14:38 | 5 | Source

Fat German Rabbits to Feed Poor

"An east German pensioner who breeds rabbits the size of dogs has been asked by North Korea to help set up a big bunny farm to alleviate food shortages in the communist country. Now journalists and rabbit gourmets from around the world are thumping at his door."

Full story

Posted by Ensellitis @ 1/14/2007 02:49 | 7 | Source

Beckham signs 5 year $250 Million contract

MLS is without a doubt the "fifth" major sports league in the United States right now behind the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL. How in the hell can the Galaxy afford this?

Posted by sedgemonkey @ 1/11/2007 13:41 | 11

The iPhone

Maybe you saw it coming. Apple has announced that it is making a cell phone. A cell phone that includes a widescreen iPod, powerful internet and a touch interface. As if Apple's stock hasn't risen enough...

http://www.apple.com/iphone/

Posted by Faktablad @ 1/9/2007 17:11 | 54

2DGamers Triannual Game Competition Has Begun!

Over at 2dgamers.zapto.org, I am having a game design competition 3 times a year. This gives the designer 4 months to complete his/her entry. I feel this much time is necessary to make a good entry. If anyone here is interested in making a game and entering the competition, you are welcome to do so.

Read the full post...

Posted by 2dgamers @ 1/8/2007 05:39 | 4

Multi-Touch Interactive Screen

This is fairly old, but if you haven't seen it yet it's definitely worth checking out.

Video of a guy demonstrating a new touchscreen technology that allows more than one active touch point at once.

Plus, more detailed information

Posted by Torpedoes @ 1/4/2007 09:58 | 9

MIT I/O Brush

I/O Brush is a new drawing tool to explore colors, textures, and movements found in everyday materials by "picking up" and drawing with them. I/O Brush looks like a regular physical paintbrush but has a small video camera with lights and touch sensors embedded inside. Outside of the drawing canvas, the brush can pick up color, texture, and movement of a brushed surface. On the canvas, artists can draw with the special "ink" they just picked up from their immediate environment.

Check the video out on YouTube

Posted by sedgemonkey @ 1/4/2007 00:05 | 2 | Source

Silent Star Wars

Some clever soul put together a fantastic silent film re-edit of the original Star Wars trilogy. Bless you, YouTube, bless you.

Posted by sedgemonkey @ 1/3/2007 22:36 | 3 | Source

Top Rated Pixel Art of 2006

The title says it all... Pixel Joint's top rated pixel art pieces submitted in 2006.

Enjoy and congrats to all the magnificent artists.

Posted by sedgemonkey @ 1/2/2007 20:48 | 5

Funniest SNL Sketch of the Season

If you haven't seen or heard about this brilliant SNL digital short yet your internet card is hereby revoked. It's right up there with last year's Natalie Portman's rap and Lazy Sunday.

Posted by sedgemonkey @ 1/1/2007 22:22 | 10

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