syd mead silently stalks gadgets.boingboing

Syd Mead, visionary concept designer (Blade Runner, Tron, Aliens, Strange Days) has climbed his way onto last week's gadgets.boingboing with two posts.

One is the concept imagery for the city of Doha, Qatar..

..and the other's an official LEGO remake of the classic Spinner model from Blade Runner.


furby's death by drill

A Furby-kínzásnak perverz módon cizellált szubkultúrája van, fittyenti le az ajkát Colende, aztán elküldi a linket és ezzel meg is nyeri "az éjszaka legrosszabb youtube-videója" versenyt, ami neve ellenére inkább arról szól, hogy mivel tudjuk a másikba belefojtani a szót több ideig, nyert, nyert. Állatvédők és az emberi jogok barátai leszedálva nézzék csak. Nem tudok fogalmazni, nem tértem magamhoz még a Diablo 3-bejelentés okozta pozitív sokktól.


Diablo 3 - officially in the works. Goodbye, life.

Diablo 2 and its expansion pack was the first game I ever bought for money. (I'm a fucking liar, Might and Magic V, the French cyberpunk B.A.T. and some other mindless masturbations on floppy disks came earlier. But this was the first game I bought and then played a LOT. Compared to myself, at least.) And I might be buying a second set, just for backup.

The good thing is, it never really got boring. The gameplay - continuous looting and grinding, that becomes boring after a while and the labyrinth jungles were just a hassle. But the music, the whole atmosphere, it just got you going on. And no game, no game got ever close to this, not Titan Quest, not Sacred, not the other hack and slash games that got published throught the years and then died off in misery and solitude. (One coffee does that to your stylistic glands, you know.)

But now, it's all butterflies, songs and brutal, virgin-raping hellfire. Blizzard has just announced Diablo III and following the news, it's going to be full-3D, environment-interactive and as far as I know, the Barbarian and the Witch Hunter Doctor (thx, Korovjov!) are two classes to be featured. (Funny thing, on one of the forums there was this guy who wrote my friend works for Blizzard so I payed him a dinner and asked him to tell me everything. And basically the guy told him what we know now and obviously noone believed him before :D) Now that's some awesome news for today, just to start a terrific Saturday :)


golden ray migration

Dawe sent me his nature sexobject images the other day, golden rays migrating off the coast of Mexico, pictures by Sandra Critelli, an amateur photographer who just "stumbled upon" this by the way fantastically awesome phenomenon. (via telegraph)


radioactive toothpaste. really.

A szerkesztőség még mindig nem hajlandó elhinni azt az apró tényt, hogy tényleg kipróbálnám a nyomokban tóriumot tartalmazó Doramad radioaktív fogkrémet (Auergesellschaft, Berlin), de ez igazából nem jelent semmit, mert a chicken pussyk egyike sem hajlandó hatvanezer forintot eldobni azért, hogy Pripjatyban fotózhassuk le magunkat a ferris wheel előtt, majd azt a képet nézve csikorgathassuk akkor már nem létező fogainkat egy narancssárga színkóddal jelzett karanténban valahol Ózd mellett, homlokunkhoz szorított fogfúróval. Pedig volt ilyen.

A fogkrémre írt magyarázószöveg szerint a radioaktív sugárzás javítja a fogak és az íny természetes védekezőképességét, a baktériumokat hazapöccentik, a mosolyunk fehér lesz, csak ne használjuk sokat. A vicc csak annyi, hogy míg a tórium alfasugárzása nem hatol át a bőrön és például a tórium-alapú gázégők használata teljesen biztonságos, addig szervezeten belülre kerülve az alfasugárzás beköszön a tüdőnek, a vérnek és a májnak, külön-külön is. Dawe, köszönöm az ötleteket :)


cyberpunk linkbox: [personality, images, everything]

After unsuccessfully coping with the proper recital of a tale of tribal girls killed, raped and then killed again by stone tree giants and shaven mud monkeys (and then casting them into napalm bath tubs), I'm back with some cyberpunk book generosity. If you all followed Twitter, you probably know if I have less time to update and even if I have time, it's pretty hard doing it in 35Celsius, when the best thing my brain is capable of is trying to find its way out my ears. And I haven't taken anything yet, god, no.

So you will receive a brief linkbox now, because my frontal lobes are screaming with caffeine overdose and I'm repeatedly trying to smash the new Baal CD in my mouth. Which makes a lovely picture, and Dead Rock Enemy is quite a hymn to clean out the epic monster lair, by the way.

Mermaid song.

BOOKS: Seeds of Change (Near-future paradigm shifts in everything from race relations (in Ted Kosmatka's vivid and moving “N-Words,” where cloned Neanderthals encounter violent hatred from Homo sapiens) to the morality of uploaded consciousness (in Blake Charlton's clumsy but charming “Endosymbiont”), with varying success) via io9, amazon link [xxx] In The Garden of Iden (fantastic novel about time-traveling cyborgs who work for the 24th century Company) via io9, downloadable bookin pdf


promo reel of tony jaa's "ong bak 2" on twitch - now for real


Twitchfilm has an exclusive baby that's not yet on Youtube now - a very official promo reel from the directorial debut of Thailand's supreme action hero Tony Jaa. Jaa's earned an instant ticket into the martial arts "unbelievably good as fuck" class with his first movie Ong-Bak and strengthened it with a more brawly and brutal sequel (with just as good technical finesse) Tom Yum Goong. This movie has also been called Ong-Bak 2, this being a universally bad move as the movies have nothing to do with each other.

Ong-Bak 2, on the other hand, has nothing to do with these - the movie is about a youngster whose life is saved by a group of martial artists. The little guy makes quite an effort to study and blend all his masters' skills together and trust me, if you thought Jaa has nothing to do with kung fu or close-quarters melee fight, watch the Twitch trailer and you'll be so amazed.


year one: happy birthday, planetdamage


今全部が続けます.
And so it continues.

Aki ismer, az itt elnyomhat egy biztató mosolyt: egy éve született meg a planetdamage első bejegyzése, számos blog után, az ld50 előtt is volt valami, zónafutó néven két külön blog is üzemelt nagyon rövid ideig (ezeket majd utólag visszakötöm,  ha megtalálom őket), amibe belekezdek, nem feltétlenül viszem végig, az egy év pedig (a The Dose tündöklését és bukását megnézve pedig) súrolja a popzene jogosan rettegett harmadik albumát - ott fordul át a banda valami teljesen másba vagy ott döglik meg enyhén kellemetlen vergődés után. Úgyhogy, lányokfiúk, indulhat a játék az egyéves tiszteletkör után. Körülbelül ugyanolyan hangulatban és helyzetben született meg az első post is, mint a mostani, ideje elérni az escape velocityt, aztán ka-boom, galactic grinder liberation front!

Az eddigi évek azt mutatják, imádjátok a statisztikát, kipiszkáltam az Analytics beszáradt csatornáiból az ideillőket: egy év alatt 24742 visit (furcsa is volt ám a napi többezres látogatottság után megint tucatnyiótoknak blogolni úgy, hogy nem is kommenteltek, leszáradt kezű, girhes banda), 2:00 minutes average on site (ezt kritikusan lerövidítjük, a visitet pedig megszázszorozzuk, ez lesz, ez lesz, éljen a burst culture), absolute unique visitors 9976 (majdnem elértük a tízezret, húzzatok bele holnap, mindenki szóljon a mellette ülőnek).  A nyelvi megoszlás szerint 50% magyar, 41% angol, 1% japán, most ezek után szokjak vissza a magyarblogoláshoz? Kétnyelvűzzek? Súlyos kérdések ezek. Üdvözlöm azokat az olvasókat is, akik Wii-ről, Playstation 3-ról vagy PSP-ről nézték meg a siteot (erős tippem van két emberre is, szevasztok).

A legtöbb hivatkozó, akiknek ezúttal is köszönöm: hardergeneration, hardwired, vividfluxury, mofokarcsi, sickreality, angelace, zhadnost, elitalice, trentemotion, pinktsunamii, razzor, synthetic-smile, tvlp, grinding.be, rootcoffee, eegflatline, japanitup, dailysensation, braincrack, resiklo, gemeskut, muma, worldshots, kultplay, pinktentacle és természetesen, warren ellis. Köszönöm azoknak, akik megtalálnak a napi linkajánlókkal, tudjátok, kik vagytok.

A leggyakoribb kulcsszavak: himawari naga sabi steampunk soulstorm angelspit lolcatbible cyberpunk 2007 gas mask fetish belkin n52te kin dza dza dvd 初音ミク louis vuitton karas porn tokyo vocaloid bree olson toribash gyurmalin blu-ray hardcore babafejek sanzhi ufo houses appleseed ex machina japánpornó lego tachikoma magnetic motor chinese porn scandal coder keyboard hazmat fetish kávégépek mirror's edge tinnitus bukkake the gene generation dna hacker chronicles.

For all my English readers: Planetdamage is a full-fledged narcosis blog baby now, completely one year old, greasy, grimy and it's just starting to find its voice. Find me on Twitter, email or right in the comments and tell me what you think. All the Hungarian stuff above is a brief summary of the Google Analytics stats and since you're all geeks with eyes of filter, you can most probably make out the most of what I've written above. The stuff you haven't, that's not really important. Spread the word.


vész budapest utcáin: red bull cola

walkunafraid szerint a világ, amikor korareggel azzal a jóhírrel riaszt be a balróljobbra, majd jobbrólbalradülöngős szokásos villamospótlós túrán, hogy mégiscsak van rosszabb dolog a hígfos állagú, automatából kinyert omniánál.

she sez, noshát, 240 forintért kipróbálhatod, milyen az, amikor a klasszik coca kóla ízéből kivegyészkedett, méterben kapható rágógumi utánérzését cseppfolyósítják. alig várom a redbullcola rágót, aztán a redbullcolarágóból facsart levet, érzed az önaprózó fraktálokat a folyamatban?

állítólag nincs benne foszforsav, mesterséges aroma/színezék/tartósítószer sem. a színe olyan mocsaras.

kedvelem.:)

szerinte a kolossy téri piacon kapható. szerinted?


emperor workstation mod

Every single site from Gizmodo to Ubergizmo thinks that the Emperor workstation mod by NovelQuest has something to do with the Star Wars Universe. Nothing about neural induction links and operator HQs, obviously.  As for the specifics, those will be released on the 24th of July. I am so ordering one of these. As you can see, it has three monitors, also surround sound, air filtering, light therapy, webcam and battery backup. I can't also miss saying,

At the press of a button, the Emperor’s tail section (the large articulated arm that holds the monitors) rises to allow the user to be seated, then lowers back into position the three monitors at the perfect height and angle for perfect viewing comfort.

Yes, yes. Everyone added this as blockquote. (Link sent by PinkTsunamii, thx)


robocop remake in 2010

We have a remake of Verhoeven's Robocop coming up in 2010 (according to the pic taken at Licensing International Expo 2008, found on Superherohype) - and if you think that's a lie, MGM actually had a press release in March about bringing back the Robocop franchise. And below, you have one of the original movie posters. (Retro is scary.)


magnetic: funk falsetto dystopia from 1983

IO9 recommends Earth, Wind & Fire's (*gasp!*) 1983 PV "Magnetic" with all the eighties' SF sensibilities that rage from shifty street dealers (under neon) to teeth-gritting policemen (under neon) and gladiators (under neon). Instead of hacking a video player into this site, just click on the pic to get to youtube. This one is very much not to be missed. (No, I promise I won't get as low as Jem, Mask and DJ Kat Show. Really.)


ghost in the shell 2.0

Mamoru Oshii's cyberpunk cult hit Koukaku Kidoutai receives a major visual (and sound) update. The 2.0 edition of the movie, ready to be screened in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Sapporo on the 12th of July, will feature new CG/SFX for a number of scenes and also a 6.1 surround sound recording. While the original soundtrack of Kenji Kawai remains, it's been overseen by Academy Award-winning sound enginner Randy Thom (who's also been working on GITS2: Innocence). (As a reminder: Oshii's latest film, The Sky Crawlers will open on August 2 in Japanese cinemas.)

The Ticket Pia agency has three before/after image comparisons (scattered throughout the article) and apparently the visuals have been brought on par with the 2004 visual standards of Innocence, they're just more sombre and orange. (That fits oh so well with dystopia.)


ocular zen: brussels, part three

The Epson e-paper, again, now righteously held by one of the developers. I don't really have more info on the conference to spare, if you're a Hungarian reader, check the lead article on HVG Online on the green IT conference. The rest of you, shiny pictures of the Atomium below.

Had to add this one, though.

The best pics off the Atomium trip. And honestly, the place looks so much better from the outside than the inside. The experience is fuller if you've queued, traveled in the elevator, checked out the cafe and had a look from the topmost orb but the inner pics are just not good enough to publish. And we haven't checked the restaurant located in the topmost orb - don't remember the menu too much but you're good to go with some 30-50 euros/head, I think? Okay, so much for Brussels.


under a steel tenkai

from pixdaus

UPDATE 1: PinkTsunamii sez that this very much looks like the Oriental Pearl Tower of Shanghai, so it's not Japanese and it's "merely" a TV tower. Comment appreciated.


urgently!: info-sculpture

Urgently! is an info-sculpture that explores such phenomena as information overload, Web 2.0 and information aesthetics. News coming from the Internet in real time, is thrown right away into a giant recycle bin in order to be updated at the next moment. A snake-like LED display coming in and out the bin shows the RSS feeds from various news channels. Urgently! metaphorically represents digital data - an endless flow of information that is updated every second and gets obsolete and trashed immediately after that. The piece is wirelessly connected to a computer network in order to retrieve the data. A user can select news channels and control update period. (at make:blog, via grinding)


the torture game 2

No comments. This will rob you out of your miserable time so easily. (link)


daisy chain of the sepia roboto and the japanese scientist

Ne. Picture found on LJ (original post here), no source available.


ocular zen: brussels, part two

Do not make me describe the impact of the LOLplane. Four hours of sleep with having lots of party members and diplomats behind you and then this plane navigates its way to the adjacent gate reading LOL. Life is not without a certain sense of irony.

And the better-looking from the Mini-Europe theme park. Not much to add apart from the fact that my cam died, I did all these with an iPhone (which is fun as long as you point and click. When you want to zoom or change any settings, it becomes a hassle, because you can't change any settings, you've gotta download a separate photo app for all that) and it wasn't raining. Last update on Brussels contains the Atomium pics.


ocular zen: brussels, part one

A couple of pictures here from my Brussels trip earlier this week, because I'm too lazy to write a complete rundown of the things seen there. If you've been following my Twitter feed, you might already know about a few details. More groups of pictures coming up in the following days.

Saeko Sato of Epson, showing off the e-paper prototype. (For Hungarian readers: I've covered this earlier on.) It's ultra-light, ultra-thin, good to read and an amazing thing to hold. (Similar to the iPhone. You ditch it until the moment you can hold it in your hands, then, snap, zeitgeist.) The thing I haven't taken a photo of is a wireless phone charger that does the whole charging thing in two hours, obviously you need a special kind of phone for that (and you also have a safety mechanism that kills the induction). The e-paper won't be seen on the shelves in four days, whereas the charger will be on the market in Japan in 2009. I managed to ask the developers whether they are contracted with two certain Japanese phone companies, their laughter and reactions said I hit bullseye with at least one telco. No names, but you can figure it out for yourselves.

That's a very bad piece of ego trip. That's also for Salander, who says he can't imagine me wearing anything elegant. He probably doesn't know it was all black, which covers up the whole act of not being in urban camo.

That's a pic taken inside the European Parliament. I don't know what this statue is (what I believe is symbolizing the member countries), because I was too busy asking around about the photo policy. Too bad I didn't do a few shots at the hemicycle, anyways, seeing the rows of translator cabins was amazing.

The European Parliament, again, from a very, very bad angle. And it was raining. With no extra set of clothes, no umbrella and a Leopold Park that was littered surprisingly well, even by the Budapest standards.

That's the Atomium, a fucking huge monument built for the '58 Brussels World's Fair. Lots of interior pics as well, but that's coming up later.

A level 5 Dungeon Runners viking. It's still raining, but now I have an amazingly unstylish and silver Atomium umbrella and I'm getting soaked under it because I'm trying to make good photos with one hand with a compact camera that's doing the evil grip fu to slip away from my hands. We're in the Mini Europe theme park just beside the Atomium, by the way. (And it's raining.)

Neon decoration somewhere at the Zaventem Airport, classic wireframe matrix style. (More to come later on.)


saturday's loot

Sinred: they still have a copy of Black Man at the bookstore near you.


new babylon a.d. trailer

According to the newest (and also, French) trailer of Babylon A.D., cheesy rocket action (and Vin Diesel) will scar our face on the 27th of August.