Archive for June, 2009

From Science To Mainstream

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

This PHD comic is a good gauge on what really happened to a scientific find before it goes mainstream (H1N1 flu variant, the LHC, etc).

phd051809s

It’s one of the reasons why I tend to be a bit skeptical on any news article on the H1N1 flu variant. While I sympathize anyone who had and has contracted the H1N1 flu variant, I find it deplorable to hype and sensationalize the disease as it seems to me to give a lack respect for others who had been or are currently struck with deadlier variants or other deadlier diseases.

Hiatus

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

The past 2 weeks have been busy, fun, tumulous and relaxing (probably in that order). Nope, this site of mine still has hope; it’s just on hiatus for now. Think of the last post as the season finale.

Onwards to Season 2 of The Singaporean Gamer. Probably should now be called The Married Singaporean Gamer. :P

A New Beginning

Saturday, June 6th, 2009

“I do take Nuraishah Bte Abdullah as my lawfully wedded wife with the dowry as stated.”

In one breath saying those words, I was bonded, by God and state, with my girlfriend of nine years in holy matrimony.

Phew! That wasn’t so bad, now was it? :)

I have at last fulfilled one of my life’s goals. It’s been a long nine years of courtship. We’ve been ready to tie the knot for a long time now, probably since I was still in university. Somehow I think the letter to Bill Gates and Warren Buffett asking for sponsorship for our wedding must have got lost in the mail somehow, forcing us to fend for ourselves. Nevertheless, we (somehow) persevered and with a lot (and I do mean freaking a lot) of fiscal help from our respective parents, managed to pull off the greatest stunt of our young lives. So what’s next? A family, of course! And no, I’m not going to pull that off my playing Sims 3 together.

We’ve already decided on two kids; of course, a boy and a girl would be extremely nice. The probability is 1/2 that I will have two children of a different gender. Puzzle: if I already have 2 children, and one of them is a boy, what the probability of the other being a girl? Bonus points for anyone who can supply me with the correct answer! Their names will be considered once I knock my wife up. I would love a nice simple names with a good meaning behind it, which is one of the main responsibilities that I will have to bear as a father.

Like I’ve said, I’m absolutely positively looking forward to married life. I couldn’t think of anyone better to spend my life with. Some things will change. Some things won’t. As an example of things that won’t change, she got me a PS3 as a wedding gift! That has got to be the single coolest gift any girl could give her man at their wedding. I’m looking forward to doing write-ups of PS3 games here!

Ah, the perfect girl for the imperfect guy.

“Honey, I’m very happy to have you as my wife. I cannot promise you that I will be the best husband, but I can promise you that I will never stop trying to be. I love you with very much with all my heart and wish nothing more than for us to be together until we step through Heaven’s door.”

Project Natal Video

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

If you’re a gamer who haven’t heard the name Johnny Lee, you have to come out from under that rock you’re in.

Johnny Lee become famous for his youtube video on turning Nintendo Wii remote controller into a head-tracking device. Apparently, that one video sealed his reputation for making incredible innovative devices out of everyday objects, which you can see via his project blog.

Apparently, the original idea of head tracking is attracting some very big attention from very big game companies (or rather, big companies with gaming divisions).

Johnny Lee today introduced Project Natal on his project blog. It seems to me like a 3D camera with tracking capabilities. There is a public video demo of this, but of course, since it is a demo video, I doubt that the final product will be this seamless.

One thing that bothered me though.

The human tracking algorithms that the teams have developed are well ahead of the state of the art in computer vision research. The sophistication and performance of the algorithms rival or exceed anything that I’ve seen in academic research, never mind a consumer product.

Like what a commenter had said, I hope that Microsoft will allow the researchers to publish a paper for the scientific community. If the algorithms is really that good, then there will be definitely be more uses for in other areas as well, not just for entertainment.

However, all doubts aside, that is one unbelievably cool product if it ever goes to market. And if that really does happen, can we finally have a good Star Wars game where I can wield a lightsaber properly for once?

Star Wars: The Old Republic Trailer

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

Enjoy! :D

I don’t care if this is not indicative of the gameplay or tramples on any existing Star Wars lore, it is pure awesomeness to see that many Sith lords.

Update: the video might not show up in feed readers. You’ll have to click through to see.

[From one of @mrbrown's status]