Archive for June, 2008:
SNIFF your Facebook friends
Fortunately, this has nothing to do with smelling your friends over the Internet, as many of my friends tend to be unwashed computer geeks. No, SNIFF stands for Social Network Integrated Friend Finder, which is a service that allows you to use your cell phone or other portable devices equipped with GPS to track your friends’ locations in the real world (with their permission). The idea is that your cell phone would alert you when one of your friends was nearby, so that you could meet up with them. You wouldn’t even need to call them to ask them where they are, as you’d have a map directly to their location. While the concept is interesting, I have to wonder if people would really want their friends tracking their movements or knowing where they are at all times. One application I could see this being used for, however, is by parents wanting to keep tabs on their children.
Jun. 3 – The Social Network Integrated Friend Finder is a permission-based service that allows friends to find each other in the real world.
The service is billed as a safe and convenient way to connect with online friends in the offline world. But do people really want their friends to SNIFF them?
Nintendo DS goes to school
Japanese schools have the right idea. Rather than punish our children for their interest in handheld video games, why not take advantage of their interest and produce games that are fun and educational? I’m sure many adults from my generation have fond memories of learning geography and history from the Carmen Sandiego series of PC games. There’s no reason why that concept wouldn’t be valid today. The games should be tested by parents first, however, because if parents find them boring, their children will find them intolerable. We shouldn’t force children to endure anything we wouldn’t inflict on ourselves. The whole idea is to make learning fun. Cable networks like Animal Planet and The Discovery Channel have mastered this but educational video games are much more hit and miss in the entertainment department.
June 27 – Nintendo games are banned in most Japanese schools, but its DS console is becoming the latest Japanese teaching tool.
Teacher Motoko Okubo uses the handheld DS and textbook software and says after years of Super Mario Bros. and other games on the prohibited list, students weren’t expecting Nintendo in class.
Japan robot scales Grand Canyon
The machines continued their slow climb to total world domination and human annihilation last week when one of their own managed to scale the Grand Canyon in 7 hours powered by two AA batteries. Meanwhile, work continues on the robot-proof bomb shelter under my house.
June 2 – It may be a Great Wonder of the World, but the Grand Canyon could not stop a determined 17-cm robot and a pair of AA batteries.
After a few returns to base camp, a carbon-plastic robot powered by Panasonic’s Evolta batteries made the 530-m rope climb in under seven hours.
Incredible Hulk is sort of a sequel to Iron Man
On Monday, I saw an advanced screening of The Incredible Hulk. As a long-time Hulk fan who was disappointed by the 2003 film, I figured this one could only be better than that Crouching Hulk, Hidden Plotline disaster from Ang Lee. The previews looked promising, so I was even starting to look forward to this one.
Fortunately, I was not disappointed. The film is definitely superior to the last movie, with better acting, a better script, an actual villain for the Hulk to fight, and even better CGI and special effects. Yes, the CGI Hulk still looks a little cartoony, but he’s definitely an improvement over the Hulk of 5 years ago, with more texture to his skin and muscles. It should be easy for fans to suspend belief and enjoy the movie.
Without giving too much away, I would recommend watching Iron Man first, as in some ways this film is actually a sequel to Iron Man. Stark Industries military technology is used to fight the Hulk, among other references, and as all Marvel fans know, these films are dropping hints left and right about Marvel’s upcoming Avengers film.
There was also a reference in Hulk to Captain America that not everyone might catch. The Abomination, the villain that the Hulk eventually fights, was originally given his powers using a form of the Super Soldier Serum, which was developed back in World War II to give Captain America his powers. Since there’s a Captain America film on the way and he’ll also appear in Avengers, this was just one more way to tie all the films together.
I think it’s nice to finally see super hero films that cross-over and reference each other, which Marvel could never do when they were licensing their properties to multiple studios. You’d think there’d be more cross-overs from their main competitor, DC Comics, as all of their films are produced by parent company Warner Bros. Yet, Warner can’t even get their Justice League film together or even the long-planned Superman/Batman team-up flick.
Anyway, if you’re a fan of the Hulk or super hero films in general, you should enjoy this film. If you thought Iron Man was great, I doubt you’ll be disappointed in the latest film starring his fellow Avenger.
The Incredible Hulk – Exclusive PremiereTrailer