Came across these Commodore 64 game playthroughs on the Archive. I spent way too many hours glued to the 64 when I was kid. Here’s a few of the more memorable games I recall wasting my youth with.
M.U.L.E.
Impossible Mission
Radar Rat Race
Last weekend, San Francisco was overrun with thousands of Santas for Santacon. It ruled. I posted pix previously here. I also took a bunch of video and threw together this little montage. Music is from Jingle Punx, hope you guys don’t mind. If you like what you hear, go see their show in Oakland on Dec. 26th. Enjoy!
Last night, I stopped by Obscura Digital‘s holiday party where they were demoing some of their cool projection toys. Just inside the entrance was a life size “3-D” reflective glass video projection, similar to what you might see in Williams’ Pinball 2000 series of hybrid video pinball machines (Revenge from Mars), but writ large. Apparently this is an old technique, though still pretty cool to see on such a large scale. Next to that was a geodesic dome used as a projection screen inside. A projector was positioned on the floor in the center with a fisheye lens facing straight up. Kicking back in a lounge chair, the effect is like being in an IMAX planetarium.
Another thing that caught my eye was a cool interactive multi-touch screen. Here’s Jay giving it a whirl, checking out some of Obscura’s previous projects.
Jay interacts with the touchscreen from ekai on Vimeo.
Obscura has also done some amazing large scale projection projects on the sides of cities. Bright, multiple building projections in New York City and Dubai. The videos on their site will keep you entertained for awhile.
I’m really bummed to have missed the Blip Festival again this year. I first heard about it at SXSW last year when I saw a screening of Reformat the Plant, a documentary on the chiptunes scene and the first Blip Festival. As an 8-bit video game and computer junkie, this was what I’ve been waiting for. BBtv was there this year.
New design from Srini over at Unamerican. I’m loving the super slow scroll button on the product page. One click, kick back and watch the page slide by at 2 pixels per sec. Be sure to catch the homepage mix on the door in. A killer soundtrack for holiday sticker shopping.
This is freaking pimp. The White Holly, a boat normally used for research did a bit of Burning Man style research on the high bay waters off Sausalito this past weekend. Fire art, blinky lights, a pulse jet, Dan Das Mann sculptures, fireworks, a loud ass Victory Siren and an upside down Telsa coil! From Megavolt2‘s description of the video below.
On Saturday December 13, 2008 the former navy ship White Holly, now a privately operated scientific research vessel run by Captain Vince Backen, was entered into The Sausalito Yacht Club “Parade of Lights” held in Sausalito, California in the San Francisco Bay. Boat parades will never be the same… the event was organized by Dan Das Mann and Karen Cusolito in collaboration with Jack Schroll and Black Rock FX (El Diablo – jet engine fire effect, Chrysler air raid siren, smoke generator and methanol mines,) John Behrens and Omega Recoil, (upside down Tesla Coil,) Epiphany by Dan Das Mann, Karen Cusolito and Pyrokinetics (Danya Parkinson and Jo Bard,) Headless Point Studio, American Steel Studios, Flaming Lotus Girls (Mini Mega Junior – fire poofer,) Camron “Teiwaz” Assadi and The Crucible of Oakland California (flame cannons on the upper poop- deck,) Bonefire Bob and over 150 others! All of this so they could have a good time for approximately two minutes…
Burning Man long ago escaped the playa, so it’s no surprise to see some of the best stuff make it out the serene waters of the bay. I hope I don’t need to buy tickets next year.
You need to watch the above video in HD. Then check out this other great video of the action. Geeked.info has some more info and links to other videos and photos.
The annual rite of passage known as Santacon or Santarchy took place in cities all around the world yesterday. San Francisco, being the epicenter of freakdom and home of too many Santa suits, represented quite well. I suited up and joined the red massive on the ‘Klassic’ route which started in the tourist area of Fisherman’s Wharf. Here’s the photos I took.
Update: I finally got this video edited. Check it!
I’m finally plowing through the massive amounts of footage I shot at Roboexotica in Vienna. This cocktail robot, the K&K Kavalier Klavier by students at FH Joanneum in Gratz, is a piano that allows one to “compose a drink”. You’ll notice a bunch of liquors and mixers mounted at the top. They connect to a series of tubes in the back that connect to valves controlled by a microcontroller that magically determines the right mixture of liquids based on the song you play. Here’s Astera making Red a drink with a little Bach piano concerto.
Astera plays a drink on the Kavalier Klavier from ekai on Vimeo.
Bre Pettis posted an amazing photoset of old Austrian illustrations of how one might die by electrocution that he discovered last week while we were checking out the Technisches museum in Vienna.
Also in the energy section of the museum was an interactive model of how to move radioactive objects around. Here’s Bre giving it a whirl.
Bre knows how to handle unstable materials from ekai on Vimeo.
They both begin with an A, but that’s about all Austria and Alabama have in common. Don’t let Austrians and Alabama mix. The results can be quite… wrong, yet somehow still entertaining.