Mother of all documentaries? Not quite but Michael Moore's new project, Bush-bin Laden film, sounds like it could be good for a few laughs and a shudder.
Publiclife, the grooviest toilet (bar) in London, is hosting another PLUG AND PLAY on May 18. Sign-up to play or simply upload your content via the bluescreen. Very 2003.
The BBC's television license fee may be somewhat controversial but it sure contributes to a lot of useful resources. A quick scan across the published BBC R&D whitepapers web site came up with the following interesting papers.
Virtual identities in interactive broadcasting
Real-time production and delivery of 3D media
Simutainment: A factual TV documentary as a 3D interactive experience
Evolving technical architecture for BBC public service digital television
Use of image-based 3D modelling techniques in broadcast applications
Use of 3-D techniques for Virtual Production
ILM has released OpenEXR, an open source high dynamic-range image format, previously used internally on motion picture production work. The pixel format is also compatible with NVidia's CG format which suggests that there may be considerable hardware support for this in the future.
The Museums and the Web 2003 conference has papers online, including one on the use of cinematic techniques in a multimedia museum guide.
"ContactEurope is a series of VJ festivals held throughout europe. Our next event will be held in Milan, Italy from the 9th to the 11th May 2003.
The festival is being organised by a collection of multimedia artists across Europe aiming to bring the European scene a little closer together."
Stress getting to you? Apply to be a zombie extra and you may be "awarded with a loving photographed head explosion". Is this the job ad of the month? Spaced Out Forum -> Shaun of the Dead goes into Production
Stress getting to you? Apply to be a zombie extra and you may be "awarded with a living photographed head explosion". Is this the job ad of the month? Spaced Out Forum -> Shaun of the Dead goes into Production
"The more you click your mouse, the greater the chance of suffering from pain, swelling and other repetitive strain injuries in the hand, neck and shoulder, two teams of Danish researchers told a scientific conference." Computer mouse key culprit in repetitive strain injuries.
Will MMORPGs soon require health warnings? Recent articles on Ultima Online economics (in WIRED Jan/03) and interviews with Everyquest veterans (PCPowerplay Jan 03 - share a link anyone?) highlight the unhealthy aspects to game play.
Dan Dixon has put up a user primer on online reputations, Reputation - what does it mean?, discussing his research at BBCi.
Three more days to catch Stelarc: The Prosthetic Head at the ICA in London. The head is a 3D avatar, featuring a brain by alicebot, IBM text-to-speech, and text-to-animation by eyematic.
Free : with day membership
Last month, Dreamworks signed a deal with Mike Myers to re-work existing movies with new characters and storylines. "Film sampling", says Dreamworks, will put a new spin on existing movies the way rap artists re-work old songs.
First contact with XBox Live and while it's early days for choice of games (about 5), the experience is revolutionary. No real set up difficulties, other than having to tediously enter credit card details via the XBox controller. I was soon in Whacked!, running around a giant sink trying to hit some kid from West Virginia over the head with a stapler. Wacky games, I dunno... What was the most amazing thing about XBox Live? Being able to talk to other players during the game, and use a "mask" to disguise your real voice. Role-playing gamers are going to love this. After trying several masks, Robot, Large Man, and Kid (yes, you heard right), it became obvious that you will never know who you are talking to through an XBox. Controversy awaits no doubt.