Episode21

Revolutionary Interface

A Mock up of the Nintendo revolution interface which will allow us to play emulated games is now available [1]
Games will be rentable or purchasable for NES, SNES and N64 - together with the Revolutions porported Gamecube compatibility - it will be the most compatible console ever [2]
Fantastic that a main stream publisher has realized the popularity and potential profitability of emulated games - but will the price be right?
Could they do more - an online playground for orginally locally playable games?
It's still unclear where purchased games will be stored without a Hard Disk (streaming download? memory card?) - how much they will cost - or if they will be region limited

Inspired by this Digg story (don't bother clicking - it doesn't work any more [3] we've discovered the fantastic service Radio.Blog.Club [4]
Like Pandora [5] app we discussed previously - but much more flexible and content rich.
But Radio Blog Club is much more than just this - its also a stand alone application that allows you to stream music on your website (or blog.)
You can download the RBC software [6] convert all your mp3 files to their RBS file format, upload to your web host, install the online app and you're site viewers will have a play list of your (largely undownloadable) songs to listen to

Logitechs new cam software is the first consumer level software to create an animated avatar [7]
More than just a cool toy, its the first step to dynamic AR communications which will allow rich anonymity and the development of increasingly expressive and immersive virtual worlds

And article in the last edition of New Scientist [8] details the awarding of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics prize for research on nuclear and future flight to a paper proposing 'gravitophotonic' hyperdrive technology
The technology is based on the theories of the obscure German physicist Burkhard Heim
Heims quantum interpretation of Einsteins General Relativity proposes a 2 dimensional subspace - which could potentially be used to travel vast distances in negligable time
The US military and department of energy have expressed interest in putting Heims theories to the test
When Heim unveiled his revolutionary theory in 1957 it aroused interest from von Braun and members of the nobel committe - however due to Heims reclusivity - caused by deformitys derived from a laboratory accident, and inability to secure funding within Germany, led to the disapearance of the theory for half a century
Heims theory has been since been used to predict the mass of fundamental particles more accurately than any other theory
A more developed version of Heims Theory - predicting an eight dimentional Heim-Dröscher space, is behind the award winning paper

Each year Edge magazine asks a question of many of the worlds most famous scientists
Last years question - "What do you believe is true even though you cannot prove it?" [9] provoked a storm of intriguing ideas
This years question 'What is your dangerous idea?' has generated even more intelligent challenging responces [10]
Some ideas include:
- Mirror neurons providing a rational basis for ethics - V.S. Ramachandran
- Consciousness does not exist - Susan Blackmoore
- Evangelical Science taking the place of Religion - Carolyn Porco
- The Self Aware Internet - Terence Sejnowski
- Zero parental influence - Judith Rich Harris

Google Video Store
Google have monitarized their video service - offering an alternative to Apples iTunes video store
The video store is geographically limited (read 'FU non US citizens - But the added navigation dropdown greatly increases usability[11]
Episodes of Star Trek DS9, I Love Lucy and other 'classic' shows are available, in addition to B-movies and music videos - but nothing to cope with iTunes exclusive shows
Shows are in X format, and can be put ont PSP and iPod - but vary in image quality
Classic Twilight Zone Episodes are also available - "You are about to enter a world where Google made a service that is worse than Apple's and that god awful AOL video store. This world is called Google Video Store."
Google have announced their own DRM - no word yet on what technology it uses

Google have launched a pack of software - all already available, but all useful to 'newbies'
However the pack seems more of a marketing proposition than a compilation of essential software - note the absence of SpyBot, and the presence of the inferior 'Adaware' - or the use of Norton AntiVirus over the free AVG Suite [12]
Still no sign of a Google Office Suite, either online or downloadable
The Pack includes
- Adobe Reader 7
- Ad-Aware SE Personal
- GalleryPlayer HD Images
- Google Desktop
- Google Earth
- Google Pack Screen saver
- Google Talk
- Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer
- Mozilla FireFox with Google Toolbar
- Norton AntiVirus 2005 Special Edition (Six month trial version)
- Picasa
- RealPlayer
- Trillian

Guerrilla News Network - An Independent Media Organization - which allows independent journalists to create an online presence and publish evidenced articles and media [13]