Hurray! New Bloggers!

Welcome (back) to Divertissementz Quag Prime, Albertese, Nephirij, and Timothy Radly! I look forward to your posts. It seems I've been the only poster for most of March. =/ It's nice to see some new faces.

True To The Trek

If you're a Star Trek fan and are a looking for a way to take your addiction to a level that most nerds even frown on, then take a look at this. This Trek-tastic geek has transformed his entire apartment into the Star Trek enterprise. It's got a bridge, a transporter room, and even an engineering deck. The only thing missing is the holodeck and ... living quarters? Whoops! Anyway, after 10 years of living the dream, this long time Trekkie is ready to sell. This Trekked out flat is yours for an Excelsior-Class price of $100,000. So much for that "People are no longer obsessed with the accumulation of 'things'" quote.

Michael Jackson With Frickin' Laser Beams On His Frickin' Head!!

Michael Jackson, who is currently planning some ostentatious Las Vegas show, wants to build a 50-foot robotic version of himself that will roam the desert, firing laser beams. I kid you not.

This horrifying monstrosity will actually be seen by people in airplanes above Las Vegas as they fly in. Oh boy! I can't wait to go to Las Vegas and see that as I'm flying in!


[Via Yahoo]

The Daily Fix

It's time for your daily fix of crazy videos on the internet. Today's video is a snipet from a French Beatbox competition. The fellow you see on the stage goes by the name of ROXORLOOPS. He's quite literally world famous for his skills in beatboxing, and I think you'll see why.

This clip here is only about 2 minutes long. If you want to see the rest, scroll down below the video and click on the two links down there to see his whole skit. Seriously, your mind will be blown. But I must warn you, in the second video he drops an F-bomb here and there, so be warned. Obviously, I don't promote that kind of disgusting language, but the song he uses it in... the sounds he's making with his mouth are insane! Enjoy!


Part 1
Part 2

Mario and Sonic Together At Last

SEGA. and Nintendo today made a historical announcement that two of the biggest icons in the entertainment industry, Mario and Sonic, are joining forces to star in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. 'In Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, players will compete in events that take place in environments based on the official venues of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Using a supporting cast of characters from the amazing worlds of both Mario and Sonic, gamers will be able to compete as or against a range of lovable personalities including Mario, Sonic, Luigi, Knuckles, Yoshi, Tails and more. Innovative usage of the Wii and DS control systems to maneuver a favourite character will allow players to race the likes of Mario and Sonic down the 100m track, engage in exhilarating rallies in table tennis and churn water in a swimming heat, all while competing for the much sought after gold medal.

Hopefully this new mash-up will be better than the other Olympic style games, which have been categorically awful.

Via Slashdot

Researchers Create Table Interface

Via Pasta and VinegarApparently inspired by some late night Minority Report watching, a team of researchers at the University of Design in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany have crafted a so-called "tangible table" interface that uses a series of pucks to handle all the controls. The system works by using a camera underneath the table to track the movements of the pucks (which are distinguished by marks on their undersides), along with a combination mirrors, infrared lights, and a projector to display the image on the surface of the table. While it so far only appears to be cable of simple tasks like moving, zooming, and rotating, we suspect it's only a matter of time before they realize the true potential of the device and whip up a game of Breakout.

Check out the video here.

Jehovah's Witness Saves a Life

The whole point of going out in service is to save the lives of our neighbors, and to preach the Good News across the whole inhabited earth, in accordance with Matthew 24:14 and the commandment given us to love our neighbor. But this older Brother from Cleveland, Ohio was out in service, doing the tract work no doubt, and got a chance to not only give a witness to the greater Cleveland metro area, but saved an 80 year old woman's life in the process. Check out the video!

Sprint Announces WiMax Rollout Cities

Sprint has announced the launch city lineup for their upcoming 4G WiMax rollout, so pay attention. If you live in one of the following cities, you'll be enjoying fast, wireless access by April of next year:

Chicago, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, Providence, Washington DC, Austin, Dallas, Denver, Fort Worth, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, and Seattle

If you don't live in one of these cities, well it sucks to be you. Yay for us Portlandians!

-Via Broadband Reports

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!

Nuff' said.

Bike by Ellsworth, Transmission by Leonardo de Vinci

Via Gizmodo-Bicycle transmissions have clearly caught up with those of cars. We've already seen automatic transmission bikes by Shimano and others—and now there's a continuously variable transmission (CVT) in this Ellsworth bicycle that works in a similar way to our Honda Civic Hybrid.

Well, almost. It's a bit different because it's based on an invention by Leonardo da Vinci, a continuously variable planetary (CVP) drive called the NuVinci CVP. What the heck is that? You still have to shift gears, but the response is instant, and there's no clanging or clicking involved whatsoever. That bike pictured above isn't cheap; you'll pay around $3,000 for one. Check out the video showing how the CVP drive works.

Truly a Spiritual Paradise

Unfortunately, I have not yet had the privilege of being able to attend an International Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses. However, one of my good friends from Texas went to one last year. We got into a discussion the other day about what it was like to be able to attend such a wonderful spiritual feast and she shared some interesting experiences with me. The one thing she said that stood out the most in her mind was the songs. Hearing so many of our fellow brothers and sisters from around the globe come together and sing in unison was an amazing thing to observe and will stick with her for the rest of her life. I can't wait to enjoy that.

As it turns out, even though I cannot attend one, she found a video that someone took of the Dutch side singing song Number 190, "A Song to Jehovah". Enjoy!

My MacShake

This mash-up will make you smile. My MacShake is better than yours! :)

Wii Baby

Divertissementz - So, I hear you like the Nintendo Wii. Do you have any comments?

Wii Baby-HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Divertissementz- Interesting. As I'm sure you're aware, you've started become what we in the internet community like to call, Viral. Your comments?

Wii Baby- HAHA HAHAHA HAHHAHa HAHA... HAH!

AirTap!

All I can really say is that this guy is absolutely amazing. He is, by far, one of the most gifted guitarists I have ever seen. His name is Erik Mongrain, he lives in Montreal, Canada and speaks primarily French. Which is kind of a bummer; I was thinking about asking him for some tips =P. Anyway, enjoy the video. You can see more of his work here.

More WiiJ ing

After seeing the Wii Loop Machine, I had to see what other people had done with it. Check out these videos that use different software, but to a similar end. These come from a DJ named DJ Shift 1.

The first video is simply showing off the use of the software to make a pretty cool sounding song. The second video shows how he's actually doing it.

Wii Loop Machine

Via Joystiq- It turns out we are just barely scratching the surface of the possibilities the Wii has opened up. First we had the Wiisaber, allowing everyone who had a mac and a wiimote to play as Mace Windu for a few, embarassing minutes. Now we have the Wii Loop Machine, thanks to an up-and-coming musician named "The Amazing Rolo". This innovative and not-so-pretty application turns the Wiimote into a virtual instrument, controlling the pitch, dropping the beats, and all sorts of things. Check it out, it's pretty cool.

I've been tossing around the idea of getting a Mac for almost a year now and I think this coupled with the ridiculous amount of issues Vista is having, has pushed me over to the white and glossy side. MacBook here I come.

More from The Amazing Rolo:
What we Need
Hold Still For A Sec
Expatriotic
Oh Be Gentle Strut

On The Rainslick Precipe of Darkness: Episode 1 VIDEO

I must admit, that I am not exactly the biggest fan of Penny Arcade, but I also have to admit that I find their style of satire hilarious. Granted, they all to often venture into the profane, but sometimes it's so hard not to laugh.

What originally had started as an annoying comic sent to EGM every week, has sprouted into a vast empire that spans almost all forms of media; Web, podcast, books, art. And now they have made the ridiculous jump into video games. That's right, Gabe and Tycho are now venturing into the polygonal arena of the action adventure genre in; On the Rainslick Precipe of Darkness: Episode 1.

About 40 minutes ago, the first trailer was released for the game. Now wipe the drool off your lip / mouse / PSP screen, and enjoy!

Be warned, if you have never heard of Penny Arcade, you are definitely not going to have any clue as to what is going on. While there is no speech in the video, I would definitely rate this video as PG-13. Be warned.

SXSW: Will Wright on Spore

Earlier this week at the SXSW conference in Austin, Will Wright himself addressed a small audience of around 100 people and presented an extensive gameplay demo of his upcoming masterpiece; Spore. Now, for those of you who have been living under a rock for the past 2 years, Spore is a revolutionary game that has been in development for the better part of about 7 years. How is it revolutionary, you ask? In a nut shell, Spore is a game that is run completely on procedural coding. I won't go into any technical mumbo jumbo about procedural coding, because most who don't understand it already will simply be more confused.

In Spore, there are 6 basic stages of the game that you will discover. The Cellular stage, the weird fish out of water stage, the Barbarian stage, the village stage, the Civilization stage, and the oh-so-cool UFO, explore the universe stage. At the beginning of each stage, you can actually change how your creatures look, or "evolve". *Ugh, I hate using that word, but that's basically how it works.*

Spore allows you to play your creature all the way from the cellular level all the way to exploring the milky way galaxy. And believe it or not, this game is actually online. No word on whether or not it's PvP enabled or not, but from the information gathered so far, Spore is going to massive. According to Will Wright, the galaxy in which you can travel contains several million planets which you can explore, and many of which are inhabited by other player-created creatures. The galaxy also includes nebula, quasars, stars, and a vast array of other celestial bodies.

They have not set a release date as of yet, however they have hinted very strongly that it will be out sometime before September.

Video of the Keynote can be here.