Warning: squirrels.

What's the next big computer game?

Now that Grand Theft Auto IV is out, I've been wondering what the next big video game will be.  Spore promises to be big if only because the game's designer, Will Wright, has a history of making games that are massive hits [e.g., SimCity and The Sims]. I am extremely excited about Fallout 3, first because the teaser trailer was astonishing and second because the game is being designed by the same team that made Oblivion.

There is a third game I've added to my "okay, this could be cool" list: Mirror's Edge. Scheduled to be released around the same time as Fallout 3, Mirror's Edge is a first-person action-adventure video game that focuses less on shooting and more on interacting with the in-game environment. The following trailer from GameTrailers.com shows you gameplay footage of what Mirror's Edge will look like.

The second video deconstructs the trailer, pointing out some things you might have missed.

Color me intrigued.

Oblivion running on the CryEngine

Take one of the most beautiful video games ever made (a game that holds a particular place in my family's heart), add a soundtrack by Dvořák, and re-render the game's landscape using the absurdly powerful CryEngine and you end up with the following. I defy you not to be moved.

Cal State chooses Angel and Moodlerooms ... for now

For those who think that accessibility is not important, here is a cautionary note from California. Last week, the California State University [CSU] system announced its intent to award master enabling agreements with learning management system providers Angel Learning, Inc., and Moodlerooms.

One of the reasons why Blackboard/WebCT, the largest educational learning management system provider in the world and the system used by 18 of CSU's 23 campuses, was not chosen was that BeachBoard failed to meet the CSU's minimum accessibility requirements. Blackboard's barriers to accessibility were found to be both serious and densely distributed across the application.

Desire2Learn was not chosen both because of concerns about its possible patent infringement and because it too has accessibility gaps, although those gaps are few and may be repairable.

The California State University system recently established the goal that all instructional materials and instructional websites [including learning management systems] for all course offerings at all 23 campuses will be accessible by the start of the Fall 2012 semester.

Blackboard and Desire2Learn will be given a chance to fix their accessibility gaps and resubmit a proposal for reconsideration at a later date.

<opinion>Considering the fact that it usually takes campuses up two two years to migrate from one learning management system to another, and considering that the CSU's 100% accessibility deadline is only four years away, time is rapidly running out for BlackBoard and Desire2Learn to 'cure their ills.' One thing is for certain: The higher education academic technology community is in for some interesting times.</opinion>

Weighted Companion Cube - 2008

After carefully considering the positions of McCain, Clinton, and Obama, I am prepared to endorse a candidate for President of the United States: the weighted companion cube.

The weighted companion cube will never threaten to stab you. The weighted companion cube cannot speak. In the event that the weighted companion cube does speak, the Enrichment Center urges you to disregard its advice.

Sounds like the perfect candidate to me.

Podcast: The MacBook Air

And here is another audio clip, this time in MP3 format. Back in January the Cybersquad talked about Apple's new MacBook Air. It's a cool product, I guess, but I was underwhelmed by what you got for the money. For a couple hundred dollars less, you can get a much better laptop computer ... FROM APPLE!
 

Audio clip: Antivirus and antispyware programs

Here is another audio clip from Website Wednesday Night, this time talking about what antivirus and antispyware programs are and why they are essential to protecting your computer.  If you have Real Player [or an alternative audio player like Jet Audio or Real Alternative that can handle .rm files], you can listen to our recommendations online.

Hulu.com

Fast on the heels of the online release of Nine Inch Nails' totally amazing digital album "Ghosts I-IV," NBC Universal and Fox today announced the public release of their hulu.com television- and movie-streaming website. The site lets you watch complete episodes of televison shows, both current [e.g., 30 Rock, Family Guy, House] and classic [e.g., Adam-12, The Bob Newhart Show, Welcome Back Kotter], and full-length Universal and Fox movies [e.g., The Big Lebowski, The Jerk, The Usual Suspects]. Short clips are also available for many popular television shows and movies.

While hulu.com offers full seasons of many classic television shows [e.g., Firefly, Ironside], it only has the newest episodes for current shows [e.g., the first eight episodes from The Office season four.] 

For those who are afraid that the goons from the RIAA or MPAA will kick down your door and cart you away for watching hulu.com's bootleg television shows or movies, rest easy. The television shows and movies are not bootlegged. Hulu.com is owned by NBC Universal and Fox, and those companies placed their copyright-protected content on hulu.com in the hopes that you actually WOULD watch it.

Now for the really amazing part. Hulu.com is completely free. There is no charge to watch any of the site's streaming television shows and movies.  How is this possible? Simple: advertisements. According to Advertising Age

Hulu is running traditional 30-second ads in long-form video -- albeit with only 25% of the ads one might have to sit through while watching TV. When it comes to short-form video, Hulu allows a 10- to 15-second video overlay, which viewers could click if they want to interact further with the advertiser.  [Source: http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=125646]

In other words, if you watch a television show at hulu.com, expect to see a 30 second commercial before the show starts and then another 30 second commercial at each regularly-scheduled commercial break.  Think TV, complete with ads, but on your computer screen. If you ask me, that's a small price to pay for free content.

March is turning out to be a really cool month.

Nine Inch Nails: Ghosts I-IV

It should come as no shock that experts have predicted that the music industry as we know it is doomed. But what will take its place? One possible replacement is music that you purchase and download directly from the artist. For example, multi-platinum English alternative rock band Radiohead recently released their seventh album, "In Rainbows," not on compact disc but rather as a DRM-free digital download. Two things made "In Rainbows" unique.  First, the album was released without a record contract.  [Radiohead left record label EMI in the early 2000s.] Second, Radiohead employed a "pay what you want" system.  If you didn't feel like paying anything for the album, all you had to do was pay a 45 pence [approximately 90 cents] credit card transaction fee.

American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails is following Radiohead's lead. The band's latest album, a 36 track instrumental collection titled "Ghosts I-IV," was released online last Tuesday. The first nine tracks are available for download as free, as high-quality, DRM-free MP3's at http://ghosts.nin.com/. You can purchase and download all 36 tracks for five dollars, and for $10 you can get Ghosts I-IV shipped to you on a two CD set. The CD is not yet available in stores.

Even if you are not a fan of Nine Inch Nails, take a moment to review the Ghosts I-IV website or the  media player below.  I think that what we're looking at here is nothing short of the future of music distribution. In the not too distant future, you will purchase your "corporate" music--e.g., Metallica, Usher, anyone from American Idol--from an iTunes-like online store and your "independent" music--e.g., Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails--directly from the artists.

GTA IV - Liberty City Radio Stations

One of my favorite things about the Grand Theft Auto games was the in-game radio stations. I have fond memories of driving around Staunton Island listening to "Non piu andrai farfallone amoroso" from Le Nozze di Figaro on Double Clef FM,  driving around Little Haiti listening to Talk Talk's "Life's What  You Make It"  on Flash FM, or driving along the railroad tracks in Flint County jamming to the southern national anthem--Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird"--on K-DST.

Over the next month and half, the folks at Rockstar Games will be unveiling the 16 radio stations that will be built into Grand Theft Auto IV.  Snippets from two in-game radio stations are available today. The first is IF99, an international funk station that plays classic funk songs from West Africa, the U.S., and elsewhere. The second is Vladivostok FM, a Eastern European community radio station that plays popular music from Russia, Belarus, the Ukraine, and beyond.

Yeah, this game is going to rock.

*NOW* it's officially dead

News from Tokyo this morning:

Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses
Company Remains Focused on Championing Consumer Access to High Definition Content

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. This decision has been made following recent major changes in the market. Toshiba will continue, however, to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.

HD DVD was developed to offer consumers access at an affordable price to high-quality, high definition content and prepare them for the digital convergence of tomorrow where the fusion of consumer electronics and IT will continue to progress.

“We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called 'next-generation format war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop,” said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality.”

Toshiba will continue to lead innovation, in a wide range of technologies that will drive mass market access to high definition content. These include high capacity NAND flash memory, small form factor hard disk drives, next generation CPUs, visual processing, and wireless and encryption technologies. The company expects to make forthcoming announcements around strategic progress in these convergence technologies.

Toshiba will begin to reduce shipments of HD DVD players and recorders to retail channels, aiming for cessation of these businesses by the end of March 2008. Toshiba also plans to end volume production of HD DVD disk drives for such applications as PCs and games in the same timeframe, yet will continue to make efforts to meet customer requirements. The company will continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives within the overall PC business relative to future market demand.

This decision will not impact on Toshiba’s commitment to standard DVD, and the company will continue to market conventional DVD players and recorders. Toshiba intends to continue to contribute to the development of the DVD industry, as a member of the DVD Forum, an international organization with some 200 member companies, committed to the discussion and defining of optimum optical disc formats for the consumer and the related industries.

Toshiba also intends to maintain collaborative relations with the companies who joined with Toshiba in working to build up the HD DVD market, including Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, and DreamWorks Animation and major Japanese and European content providers on the entertainment side, as well as leaders in the IT industry, including Microsoft, Intel, and HP. Toshiba will study possible collaboration with these companies for future business opportunities, utilizing the many assets generated through the development of HD DVD.