Gecko Bloggle

Via Slashdot, the tech sector’s CNN, (or at least National Enquirer)

An anonymouse reader writes “Tom’s Hardware has a feature up on the makings of Tron which may interest latent fans. Through interviews with the creators they explore the makings of Tron, from how it came to be picked up by Disney to how the effects were put together (‘While the majority of the film takes place in the computer world, only 15 minutes worth of footage actually used CGI’, because it would have taken years to make the film otherwise). They then explore why the film flopped at the box office. ‘It was like we put LSD in the punch at the school prom and it was just way more than they can handle,’ said Steven Lisberger.”

If you thought the conversations about Star Trek, Star Wars, and The Matrix got heated (when comparing special effects to plot), check out the commenting threads going on for this story.

One comment [edited here] struck home for me, especially, from tinkertim

I saw Tron, opening night, and its one of the things that made me really, really want to figure out how those nifty looking typewriters with screens could do so much. I didn’t know what memory was, I didn’t know what a processor did, I barely understood how a calculator worked and if you said Binary I’d say “Sure, I have a Huffy!”.
We’re always looking at value as something monetary. Tron made me go get my first trash-80 (Err Tandy TRS-80 heheh) and later my first Commie. I wanted to know how those things worked.
The value of the film wasn’t how much it grossed , if you want to calculate that, then calculate the life time earnings of those who got into computers partly because of seeing it and you may be surprised :)
However only 15 minutes of CGI? I somehow (not sure why, because I know what was available then) thought most of it was CGI.. but yes, that would have been very very difficult at the time. My bubble sort of broke reading that article, never really thought about the making other than being fascinated as a child with the results.
Entertainment isn’t entertainment to most if it requires too much thought.
Tron got to be the pavement others were able to ride in on. So wallet aside, I don’t think the film was a flop. I was too young to remember any hoop-la coming from Disney about the film.. I wonder how it would have done if it had been underplayed before release.
Cool article, if you can wade through the advertisements :)

I remember getting sucked into this movie almost as badly as Star Wars: The Master Control Program made me tremble with fear, and when the old guy died, I’m pretty sure I teared up.

I’m *such* a geek.

{to the tune of “If I had a million dollars”}

If I had $200, I wouldn’t have to reach for the cord…
If I had $200, I’d poke myself in the ear ’cause it cosssssts more…

Logitech Wireless Headphones for iPod

Heaphones that are that latest “sport” style.

But cordless.

With remote ON THE FREAKIN’ EAR.

http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2006/02/the_world_of_sm.html
Funky multiple-point touch screen goodness.
(don’t try the video unless you’ve got high speed, I’m guessing)
There’s needs to be a long way to write “dope” so it sounds like “duuuuuude.”

Looks like they’re finally putting sticky toes to good use in CPU architecture…

IT Week has the full story.

Although they don’t occur naturally, they have similar properties to setae, which are those tiny hairs on the feet of gecko lizards. Actually, the ends of setae split into many nanoscale fibres called spatulas, and these spatulas are so fine that they form molecular bonds with almost anything they touch. Those bonds allow geckos to climb walls and hang from a pane of glass.

…and that would be “gecko lizards,” as opposed to “gecko mammals?”

Maybe next time I’m about to throw away some little piece of broken hardware, I’ll start sticking it to other broken bits, and make some of these little robot doohickey things.

Dylan Tinlun Chan is a genius, of sorts (and bit and pieces).

Very very cool, and unlike so many of the other do it yourself sites (like Hack-A-Day), this stuff looks like it could be made by non garage-full-of-ex-military-hardware types.

Like me.

Maybe one that’s SILENT.

Researchers recover typed text using audio recording of keystrokes

Berkeley, you magnificent bastards.

Okay, so a while ago, I got one of these
free MP3 player things, and since I think Arwen listened to it, uh, once, I’m bombing around on the net looking for weird things I can do with it.
…and end up stumbling across this little gem of mistranslation:

To hug AutoBaby and enjoy easeful and comfortable car life in network age, Autobaby is the new lover in network era.

I mean, it’s BLUE backlit and everything, and 128MB, and doesn’t require any software to run it, unlike my little rubberized friend
that I listen to during my morning commute.
But c’mon… “new lover?”
Where were they even going with that?

iPod speakers shaped like a dog, and it dances and has lights and everything.
Yes please. Here’s my $70USD

So, um, Nilo? Next time you’re in Japan? Please?

[Edit: This thing arrived – Nilo Rodis is now officially my hero]

Mostly a reminder to self, but the ViewSonic Aircync V210 Wireless Display is pretty cool…

Gotta check out the Airpanel Smart v100 series too…

Found today at Engadget, and looks like it’d be kinda fun at a club or something…

Also good for reminding people who talk really loud…