Technorati Tags: iphone, Testing

Bram Stoker’s Dracula was a novel told in the format of a series of journal entries and letters, all with times and dates attributed to them. This type of work is called an epistolary novel. In a brilliant move, blogger Whitney Sorrow (quite an appropriate surname for this project, no?) has set up a blog to publish each journal entry, letter and so on that makes up the story of Dracula on the dates listed on those letters. One, this lets you follow along as part of the story and will give you an unprecedented sense of the time interval over which the story unfolds. Two, you get to read a classic novel in small, manageable snippets over a period of time. *Brilliant* work.

Check out the Dracula Feed and subscribe to follow along with the story. You may need to install a garlic or stake widget to your blog for safety reasons after visiting this site.

There are other journals and other “Real-Time Literary Blog Projects” underway, some live now, listed on the Dracula Feed that look well worth checking out. Henry David Thoreau’s Journal for example.

Technorati Tags: blogosphere, dracula, epistolary

There’s a great show still in its first season on FitTV (owned by Discovery) I wanted to take a moment to note to everyone.  It’s called “Just Cook This!” and it’s currently airing at odd hours like 6pm Saturday night and midnight early Monday.  Times when people with social circles are either out having fun, already out eating or asleep.

Still, this is one of my favorite shows.  It’s hosted by a guy named Sam Zien, or Sam “The Cooking Guy”.  He’s not a professional chef, just a guy that knows how to and likes to cook.  It’s filmed in his house, as is, no pre-arranged already-finished meals waiting in the oven or any of your typical cooking show hyjinx.  If he drops something, they don’t cut it.  If a dog or cat or family member wanders by, they don’t cut it.  Sam’s main goal is to get people to stop going out for dinner, especially fast food.  So the focus of the show is quick meals that taste great and are at least a little better for you than the hurried meals bought when eating out.  It’s a half hour show, with commercials, and he still prepares 3 recipes from beginning to end.  So there’s not a lot of steps, it’s all pretty easy to prepare, and he’s not afraid to use store-bought items to speed things along, like de-veined frozen shrimp still in the shell for example.  It helps the show’s pace that he’s a bit ADHD.

So if you get a chance, check it out, it’s one of those shows that I’m hoping stays on the air.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KROuNkY_Zvo

Technorati Tags: Discovery Channel, FitTV, Just Cook This, Review, Sam the Cooking Guy

The trouble is, time has passed since the release of Final Fantasy VII.  12 years to be precise.  While the creators of the series have gone on to make great games since then, they’ve also made a few that received less than favorable reviews.  The fan-based demand for a revamp of the game for the modern generation of consoles has been huge.  Ever since the release of Playstation 2 (PS2) nearly a decade ago.  At present, such cries have fallen on deaf ears.  Why update the best selling game of all time for a new generation?  Surely, no good can come of this.  Its own sales history alone suggests thus.  Instead, let us release side stories based on the game.  Tricksey.

Playstation 3 has since been released.  As was a tech demo of PS3′s capabilities.  This demo?  A revamp of the original opening scene from Final Fantasy VII.  Just to twist the knife a little further.  Or perhaps to gauge the response?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWB78CYxGlk

Well, if you’re tired of waiting, do I have news for you…

So here’s the deal.  A wide range of people have come together for the purpose of updating the PC version of Final Fantasy VII to more modern standards.  At first, the group took character models from Kingdom Hearts 2 and such games featuring Final Fantasy VII characters and inserted them into the game.  Turns out, Square didn’t care for that and sent them a cease and desist letter.  However, it seems that it is okay for them to create character models from scratch.

Thus, a talented group of 3D modelers, and even audio engineers rebuilding the music to replace the original midi source files, have come together.  They’ve been working on this for years, rebuilding all the 200+ characters from scratch.  So far, they’re about 70% complete on rebuilding all the playable and non-playable characters, as well as updates to the music quality, screen resolution and so forth.  They have released several mods along the way to convert the old game we all know and love into this work of beauty:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbexquxkt6Y

If you own the PC version of Final Fantasy VII from way back when and want to know how to update it to look like the above, be sure to check out the <a href=”http://wiki.qhimm.com/FF7/Technical/Customising”>QhimmWiki</a> for more information.

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: FF7, Final Fantasy VII, PS3, Remake

I loved physics.  In high school, I was giving 4-hour long physics lectures and people were sitting through them the entire time, eager and interested.  My senior year of high school, I tutored a few 3rd year grad students with regard to various principles in quantum theory.  I don’t remember which ones specifically, but yeah.  Clearly it tickled my fubsey for a good while.  Now there’s a show called “Big Bang Theory” which I swear has plagiarized my high school years in the form of the epic character, Sheldon.   Having long vanquished my physics resolve, this series has reawakened something in me.  I don’t know why I’m being drawn to get back into it, but I’m going to investigate further and see where it takes me.

So, I’m starting from scratch.  I’ve been out of college for too long (going back this autumn), and I’ve forgotten much of the math.  I can still do much of it, but I don’t remember what anything’s called anymore.  So that’s fun.  See, I’m the type of person, that when I get bored, I’ll scribble a multivariable integral on a napkin or two and try to solve it.  Just because.  I’ll have to refresh myself on the math here and there as I begin my romp through physics anew.

Physics is however, not my only area of interest.  Well, not anymore.  Spirituality is huge to me — though, you’re not likely to see me mention much about it here.  The arts, writing of all kinds, web development, internal martial arts — I have many such passions.  And I’m also likely to share the most random of things from the interwebs that I find interesting.

We’ll have to see what finds its way into the blog.  On that note, enjoy:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZMwKPmsbWE

Technorati Tags: introduction, martial arts, physics, spirituality, video, Web Development