Month: December 2010

Black Market Memories by David A. SchrammBlack Market Memories by David A. Schramm

Black Market Memories Book Cover

Black Market memories is a story about a settlement many light years away from Earth named Jamestown. The residents can be individuals that had crippled bodies of some sort, then were given the opportunity to be “free” in a Stellar Unit (SU). The brain is scanned over a period of time then digitized and placed into a mechanical body. I would not classify these as cyborgs, but essentially AI that controls a ship of sorts. Some use the settlements as a base for research trips to find new worlds. (more…)

Amazing agile flying machines from ETH ZurichAmazing agile flying machines from ETH Zurich

I just ran across a cool video of a flying robot playing Jingle Bells on an electric piano. The tempo seemed a bit off, so I clicked through to YouTube to see if there were any more videos. A link for how it works popped up, so naturally I clicked it. Base off of the video, it looks like a human was controlling the robot, so not as impressive as I initially thought. They show some background on “co-pilot” routines that assist the human controllers to keep them from making mistakes. I find this interesting because eventually with AI, these little machines could be completely automated. This reminds me of the creepy surveillance robots from Dark Angel. With special routines to keep these from bumping into obstacles, I can definitely see them flying around our cities sometime in the near future. If you want to see the Jingle Bells video, click through the via link at the bottom. I found this video more interesting though.

via Geekologie

The Humble Indie Bundle #2The Humble Indie Bundle #2

Earlier this year I posted about the original Humble Indie Bundle. Well the guys that brought us the first one are back just in time for the holidays! The games this time are Braid, Cortex Command, Machinarium, Osmos, and Revenge of the Titans. I have had Braid for a while and liked it. It’s platformer with time travel. I just got Osmos a couple weeks ago from a friend through a Steam multipack sale. Osmos is a great game if you like physics and casual play.  Check out the official sites to try before you buy if you want. Either way, it is a great deal. Help support indie developers and charities this holiday season!

The Humble Indie Bundle #2

The original bundle users got a Steam unlock code in the mail. Check out the Wolfire blog if you missed that email.

-edit-

They just announced you can get Bundle #1 if you donate above the average AND activate both on Steam! All those that donated before the announcement get Bundle #1 regardless of how much they donated. How cool is that?

Sunshine (2007) Directed by Danny BoyleSunshine (2007) Directed by Danny Boyle

Sunshine DVD

Sunshine is another movie I noticed on a “must watch” Sci-Fi movie list. The premise of the movie is that the Sun is dying, leaving the Earth in a permanent winter. A group of astronauts are riding on the back of a big bomb the equivalent size of Manhattan island. They are supposed to launch the bomb into the sun to kick start it back up to full brightness. Sounds simple enough, right? (more…)