Check this out! The first pic shows what appears to be a 3D image superimposed over a picture of a room. But the second pic shows that the 3D-looking image is actually painted ON the room to appear 3D. Neat optical effect!
Clicky here for more.
Now granted, this kind of thing happens by accident often, and the cars will start spinning pretty quickly. But it's one thing to pass someone on the inside of a turn and accidentally nudge their tail while they're powersliding, and quite another to purposefully spin someone for no reason.
Case in point. I was in a high-speed race that had several crazy corners, and a rather long straightaway. As usual with these races, I was near the back. 7th (out of 8) to be precise. Going into the straightaway, I hit the turn too fast and smacked the wall, while the guy behind me managed to slingshot through nicely. I watched him come up behind me, and I moved to the right since I knew he would pass me and there was nothing I could do about it. Does he just pass me up and then we duke it out at the next turn? Nope. He comes up behind me, and nudges my back end. I spin around twice and slam into the wall. I just sat there fuming, and then backed up and continued the race (because no matter how bad I am doing in a race, I always finish). I was so far behind at that point that I never even saw another car and the time ran out before I could finish.
I was pretty miffed. I mean he could have passed me and finished the race fair and square, (you know because 7th is so much better than 8th at that point), but he felt the need to spin me out when I was LETTING him pass. I could have cut him off and tried to clip him going into the next corner, but I don't race like that. Maybe I should, because it seems that the only way to win on Live is to race dirty. I've seen it happen. The guy in second on the last lap, who has been slamming people into the walls and spinning them over the place, manages to nail the guy in first who's been hitting his race lines the whole time, and wins. I suppose it's inevitable that when people get their hands on any game that has competitive play, they will do anything to give them the edge.
The funny thing is, the guy that spun me can dish it out, but he can't take it. After the race I set his as Non-preferred player for Unsportsman-like conduct, and he sends me a message bitching about how I gave him bad feedback. So I blocked communication from him. Dude if you're going to be an ass, don't be a whiny ass.
But despite this, I really had fun, even though I kinda suck. Hey, I've won 1 race so far. So that's something. I'm not going to let anyone ruin this game for me, so if people are racing dirty, who the hell cares. I'd like it to stop, but it never will. All I can do is just stick to my guns and know that whatever place I come in, it won't be because I cheated to get there.
Edit: I'm not entirely sure this site is legit, even though I want it to be. For now, take this with a grain of salt.
"A New independent film company is looking to bring back firefly in a DVD-only format! Check out this site and take the survey, if enough people sign up they will re-hire the serenity crew! If you like the show at all please fill this out and don't let the series die. You can't stop the signal."
This is the latest top Digg story and I HAD to blog it! This would be so AWSOME if they managed to get the rights to the show. If you loved "Firefly," head to the site and submit your "Browncoat recruit profile." They say the more interest they get the closer this is to being a reality.
read more | digg story
Ok, so it's a bit of an odd subject but today I listened to the first show of a new podcast being put on by some of the regulars on Slice of Sci-Fi which just so happens to be dedicated to Babylon 5. For those that never watched the show, it was a radical new format for sci-fi shows since pretty much anything in the genre at that generally had something to do with some sort of trek through the stars. The main difference was B5 was planned from the beginning with a complete story arc that would span a full 5 seasons or more (depending on how well the show did). It was quite different from the stand-alone episodes that "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was known for.
The main setting for the story took place on a space station called (you guessed it) Babylon 5. Why 5? Well it just so happens that the first 4 suffered engineering accidents, sabotage, or just plain disappeared. I guess 5th time's the charm, eh? The station itself is fascinating, mainly because one of the central themes of the show was the cultural diversity between all the races living on the station. Bruce Boxleitner (station commander for seasons 2-5) described it as "A free port for diplomats, travelers and businessmen. A combination of building the United Nations and Times Square on an intergalactic scale."
Why am I mentioning this? Why does it matter? Because I love this show, and I feel the need to let other people know about it. In my view it stands head and shoulders above any other sci-fi series to date, including "Star Trek." No, that's not quite true. It STOOD head and shoulders above the rest. B5 has been my gold standard against which all new sci-fi shows are judged. The only shows to gain equal footing with B5 in my mind, are of course "Firefly", and the new "Battlestar Galactica." And let me tell you, coming from me, that is the HIGHEST praise I can bestow.
These shows MEAN something to me. They are a part of my life and as such, a part of my culture. Sure, I watch "CSI" and "Law and Order: SVU," but those shows are just passing through. Nothing compares to the depth and sophistication that B5 displayed in it's 5 year run. B5 dealt with such deep subjects as addiction, self-sacrifice, and most importantly: The struggle between authoritarianism vs. chaos; light vs. dark vs. gray. The gray is especially important because it is often the people caught in the middle of great conflict that suffer the most. War is obviously pivotal to the series, but it is the focus on the untold "third side" of the conflict that truly makes this series stand out. I guess you could say this was the first show that I really cared about. It was so easy to simply let myself be absorbed into the B5 universe and really delve into the story and the characters lives.
Maybe that's a little weird, but in fact I think it's completely normal. Babylon 5 is an epic story, told in the same tradition as the great stories of old: "The Iliad," "Beowulf," "Macbeth." The only difference is the medium; the central themes are still there. This is not just mindless entertainment, nor is it overly cerebral and pretentious. Rather it strikes a balance between being enormously fun to watch, and being deeply philosophical and insightful.
Anyone who hasn't seen this show doesn't know what their missing. Find someone with the DVDs and ask to borrow season 1, or put it in your Netflix queue. Or even buy the crappy Asian import DVDs for $10 and see if you like it. If you give it a chance and watch season 1, it just gets better and better from there.
Well, that's all I have tonight. I got a little philosophical and even waxed a bit nostalgic with this entry, but hey. That's why this is "Mike's Pensieve." ;-)
As everyone else has been doing this, I figured it was time for me to give it a whirl. So here are the podcasts I listen to at least semi-regularly. I love podcasts. They keep me sane on my drive to work and help the day go by so much faster. Plus it keeps me up to date on news and goin's ons. Though most of them deal with tech and sci-fi stuff, but hey: That's what I'm into. So without further ado, here we go. Oh, BTW, you can get all of these off of iTunes for those with iPods.
Hey! This is my first post in my new home! Wow, it feels so...liberating compared with my previous blog. I mean, I'm a fan of 1up.com (most of the time) but their blogging tools are about as flexible as a frozen twinkie. I can't even post/link my Xbox Live gamercard! And that's, you know, gaming related. I've e-mailed them about adding this feature, but of course they have ignored me completely. Figures.
So anyway, here I am! (But not in a "Three on a Meathook" sort of way. Heh, probably only 3 people on the planet will get this reference, which is about 3/4 of the total people who have seen this movie). It will probably take awhile for this blog to take shape, but I think I'm going to stay here for awhile at least. Unless Apple drops the price of .Mac accounts. Then I may publish my site using iWeb, but that remains to be seen.
Stay tuned!
