L.A. Noire

Rockstar's last game, Red Dead Redemption, was a masterpiece of digital experience. But their next game, L.A. Noire, promises to be even better. Not only is this new environment (a 40's detective story) just as rich and atmospheric, but their facial performance capture is so good they've made it an integral part of the gameplay. You must become a detective, and correctly read whether the people you meet are lying or not. Wow!

It's *kind of* like Pegasus

Today's games are nothing short of astonishing. Take Red Dead Redemption, for example. In that game you become a character in what feels like a Zane Grey western novel, or a Frederic Remington painting.

But today's games are also staggeringly complex programs. And sometimes they glitch. As in this case, where the part of a human character was inadvertently mapped onto a horse model. What's incredible is how much it *almost* works.

His Snake Men and Bird Men glitch videos are pretty damned funny too.

The Brothers Mario

Okay, this made me laugh really hard. I just love well-made machinima. Tip of the hat to Saja for twisting my arm to actually watch it.

Welcome to East Germany 2.0

Hold onto your hats, this ride is just getting started.



But I like this version better.

On a related note, Walmart is going to set up special monitors in their stores, to play messages from Fatherland Security, such as this one:



War is peace.
Ignorance is strength.
Slavery is freedom.

The History of Sauron, abridged

My friend Lotus recently re-read The Silmarillion, saying, "Finished reading The Silmarillion again the other night, man that's a cool story, much better the second time...I tell ya though, someone needed to write a poem for Sauron. I actually feel bad for the dude by the end of the entire mythology. What a shitty life."

This was his impromptu summarization of the Life of Sauron:

Sauron born.

"Woo, I'm a Maia! Oh, hey Melkor, how's it goin'?"

2 days later, "Servitude to Melkor blows, but has some perks."

Tries to rule Middle Earth. Gets ass kicked by Luthien and her mutt Huan.

Gets his toe stabbed.

Goes to Numenor. Minor miscalculation of Valar's rage. Gets ass kicked in same wave as the Numenoreans.

Makes rings, sets up shop in Mirkwood.

Gets kicked out of house by Gandalf and Saruman.

Dwarves won't do what the rings tell them to. Fucking dwarves.

Elves take theirs off. Fucking Elves.

Ensares men with 9 rings. Go me! Men spend more time screeching and running around than actually doing anything effective. Fucking men.

Loses hand to Isildur. Fucking Isildur.

Makes big come back. Gets ass kicked by fucking Hobbit.

FUCK THIS.

Indeed!

I pledge allegiance

I pledge allegiance to the TSA,
And to the Regime for which it stands.
One hand down our pants, the other around our throats,
With scanners and taxes for all.

-- As seen on the Lew Rockwell Blog

Ron Paul kicks ass and names names

Go Ron! I am pleased to see a huge public outcry at the TSA's naked power grab.

Oh, and here's a personal message from me to DHS Secretary Genital (er, Janet) Napolitano, (who wrote this): "You can go f*ck yourself, Ma'am."

I'm proud to be participating in National Opt-Out Day, Nov. 24...and on all other days, too. I will not voluntarily fly until the goddamned TSA is removed from our airports.

Recent peek at Storm of War: Battle of Britain

IL-2 Sturmovik and its follow-on sims were some of my favorite air combat sims of all time. Developer 1C has been working on a next-gen sim based upon the Battle of Britain, called Storm of War. It looks *amazing*.

Why he hasn't had any in five years

This is a recreation of a real conversation I had with some fellow on IMVU, as detailed in my Hall of OMFG.

Au revoir, Benoit!

Benoit Mandelbrot, the father of fractal mathematics, passed away a few days ago. I created this fractal image in his memory.

Paintings of light and water

The simple refraction of the outside world from rain on the windshield produces marvelous Daliesque images. Check it out!
Under The Unminding Sky 2008-2010

Blender smoke test compilation

I've compiled a number of my Blender smoke tests from the week spent learning it. Learning how to use an emission texture to make the hot parts of the flame glow brightly was a big breakthrough, and I thank all the helpful tutorial makers who showed the way.

Another Mandelbulb flythrough

These things never fail to astonish me. Best watched in HD!

This next one feels like a trip inside a borg ship.

My first YouTube video!

Am I late to this party or what? Here's my very first YouTube video: a flame animation I did in Blender 2.54 this morning. Enjoy!

Perhaps if you ask nicely I could be persuaded to make a tutorial.

Mandelbox Trip

Check out this awesome journey through a Mandelbox. Best viewed in high def!

And most amazingly, it was created and rendered with a free program called Mandelbulber. Check it out!

I recommend watching that video, muted, while Eric Whitacre's "Lux Aurumque" plays. It has just the right note of splendor and awe.