Fujitsu Develops Touchscreens On Real World Objects

Japanese technology company Fujitsu is in the process of developing a new technology which could turn real world objects, such as paper, into touchscreens. The technology uses a projector and webcam in combination with image processing technology. The webcam tracks whenever the user’s finger comes in contact with the object being used as the touchscreen. This allows the user to define the borders of the touchscreen they want to use. The system only tracks movements of a single finger, as to not confuse the interactions with basic hand movements. The user may then highlight pictures or information from the object they are using and the technology will instantly copy it and put it to the side as a virtual file. Fujitsu gave an example presentation, in which they were able to copy information from the uneven surface of a book and turn real-life Post-It notes into virtual ones. The full possibilities of the technology, as well as what surfaces it will and won’t work with, are currently unsure.

http://mashable.com/2013/04/16/fujitsu-paper-touchscreen/
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Orth Leaves Microsoft After Backlash

Adam Orth, a creative director working for Microsoft, has recently “willingly” left the company. Though the reasons for his departure has yet to be officially confirmed, it is highly suspected that it was due in part to recent controversy involving his twitter account. Within the last couple of months, Microsoft has announced that the upcoming successor of the Xbox 360 (which many refer to as the Xbox 720) may contain a feature which requires that the system have an always-online internet connection. This means that even when the system is off, online features will continually occur in real time. Many people are upset about this, as the feature could be detrimental to those in areas of weak internet connections. Orth upset many fans when, via his Twitter account, he unsympathetically told the fans to “deal with it” and later disregarded areas with weaker connections, saying “Why on Earth would I live there?” Microsoft has since denounced his comments and made efforts to distance itself from him.

http://mashable.com/2013/04/11/orth-leaves-microsoft/

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Alice Cooper Creating a Shock Rock Comic

“Godfather of Shock Rock” Alice Cooper has become the next major celebrity to begin using Kickstarter. His project is called Uncle Alice Presents, and draws inspiration from popular shows such as Tales from the Crypt, The Twilight Zone, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The project is initially being developed as an anthology of comic books and a graphic novel, but Cooper desires to see it eventually become a television series. In the stories, Cooper will portray Uncle Alice, a recurring character which serves as “gatekeeper of the netherworld.” It will present short shock rock and horror based stories which Cooper suggests will take on a grindhouse style. The initial goal is just a twelve-issue series, though Cooper sees it expanding much farther. Those who pledge $10 or more may submit ideas to be put in future comics. As of now, the project has reached almost $50,000 out of its $200,000 goal.

http://mashable.com/2013/04/09/alice-cooper-kickstarter/
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Disney Shuts Down LucasArts Game Production

Disney made headlines in the last year after buying out George Lucas’ companies LucasArts and LucasFilms for a total of over $4 billion. LucasFilms is most famous for creating the extremely popular Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. LucasArts was founded in 1982, and created many popular games including The Secret of Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle. However, LucasArts has recently been most popular for producing titles based off of the popular films. These titles include the Lego Star Wars series and the Lego Indiana Jones series as well as many directly-based Star Wars games such as The Force Unleashed, The Old Republic, Battlefront, and Knights of the Old Republic. However,  Disney has just announced that LucasArts will no longer we producing games, instead shifting the Star Wars licenses to outside companies and cancelling all of LucasArts’ current production, such as the highly anticipated Star Wars 1313.

http://mashable.com/2013/04/03/disney-closes-lucasarts/
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Square Enix Faces Huge Losses

Yoichi Wada, CEO of Square Enix, a company most notable for creating the extensive Final Fantasy video game series, has recently left the company. Square Enix, despite being one of the most well-know and successful game companies in the past, is now facing a possibly loss of 138 million dollars.  Almost all high profile video games cost about $60 upon initial release. Within the last year, Square Enix has released three new well-received titles: Sleeping Dogs, Hitman: Absolution, and Tomb Raider, with a combined sales total of approximately nine million copies sold. That all adds up to about $540 million dollars, which seems unusually high for a company threatened with such great losses. Square Enix has announced that despite selling such a great amount, the titles didn’t reach their expectations. The production values of games such as these are now so high due to things such as constantly increasing graphic and marketing costs may be part of the cause for the recent successes of independent, low-budget games.

http://mashable.com/2013/03/27/video-game-costs-crash/
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Bioshock Infinite Receives Universal Acclaim

Irrational and 2K Games have just released their latest creation, Bioshock Infinite. Bioshock Infinite is the spiritual successor to 2007’s Bioshock, which was acclaimed as one of the greatest games of the generation, if not of all of gaming’s history. Now Ken Levine, designer of the entire Bioshock series, has crafted a game that, despite being very aesthetically different, appears to maintain the same epic feel. Bioshock Infinite is a first person shooter but it stands out among the overflow of bland, gray-brown war shooters. It takes place in a floating city named Columbia and draws much inspiration from late-1700s America and steampunk technology. Critics have claimed that the games narrative and environment are enthralling, the visuals are excellent, and the gameplay is smooth. Immediately upon release, Bioshock Infinite received rave reviews. It currently holds a 96% on Metacritic, with twenty-one perfect scores from major reviewers such as Machinima, Game Informer, Eurogamer and The Escapist. This places it as one of the most acclaimed games of the generation.

http://mashable.com/2013/03/25/bioshock-infinite-review/
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Implant May Prevent Heart Attacks

Swiss researchers have created what could be the next breakthrough in medical science. They have made a tiny implant, only fourteen mm long, which gets implanted under a patient’s skin. The implant regularly analyzes the blood of the patient and has the ability to send results directly to their doctor. Immediate analysis of the blood can detect symptoms of sickness before they manifest, giving the patient a better chance of being able to use preventative medicine. Perhaps most significantly, the chips can detect signs of an oncoming heart attack approximately three of four hours before it occurs. This will provide the patient access to possibly life-saving heart attack prevention. Though the chip isn’t finished, the researchers plan to make it available within the next four years. While surely not everyone will be keen on having implanted technology, people with family histories of heart disease, such as myself, could be greatly benefited.

http://mashable.com/2013/03/20/medical-implant-chip-detect-heart-attacks/
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Supreme Court Denies Piracy Appeal

In the past few years, Jammie Thomas-Rasset has become famous for accusations of her illegally downloading music from the now inexistent sharing software Kazaa. Though she allegedly only downloaded twenty-four songs, almost nothing for the average teenager’s standards, she has been fined for a total of $220,000. The case has been going on for six years now, ever since she became the first person to fight piracy charges from the Recording Industry Association of America. She recently appealed to the Supreme Court to argue that the charges against her were extreme, unfair, and unconstitutional. However, the Supreme Court has denied her appeal and refused to hear her case. They previously refused to hear the case of another accused pirate, Joel Tenenbaum, who was charged with a $675,000 fine. Thomas-Rasset has claimed that the charges will force her to file for bankruptcy, which is admittedly excessive for the pirating of property worth approximately $24, especially seeing as pirating has been proven to be committed by the US government.

http://mashable.com/2013/03/18/supreme-court-refuses-music-piracy-case/
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Augmented Reality Makes Online Shopping Easier

A new app for Android and iOS may make the lives of online shoppers even easier. The app is called Augment, and it’s likely to increase the sales of large items for online shops such as eBay and Amazon. With Augment, customers can select an item from an online store, most likely a piece of furniture or an appliance, and create a 3-dimensional image of it on their tablet or smartphone. Then, using a phone or tablet’s built-in camera, Augment will sync the piece of furniture with the surrounding room. This augmented reality simulation will show how whichever item a customer is considering buying will fit into their home without them having to actually purchase the item first. This prevents the possibility sizing misestimates and poor guesses of how much a piece of furniture will match the intended room, thereby improving both sales and customer satisfaction.

http://mashable.com/2013/03/11/augment-app/

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Video Games Added to Museum of Modern Art

The argument for video games as works of art just received some major support. This Friday, February 29, fourteen video games will be added to New York’s Museum of Modern Art.  The collection will include classics such as Pac-Man and Tetris, recent hits such as Portal and Canabalt, as well as uniqye fan favorites Myst and Katamari Damacy. Apparently, over half of the games will be playable within the museum displayed on screens mounted on the gallery walls. The intention is not to have people continuously playing the games, but to give them a brief chance to experience them. The Museum of Modern Art plans to eventually have a total of forty games available to view and play. Many critics are adamant against the idea of video games being accepted as an art form, but with this new addition, as well as recent well-received “art games” such as Journey and The Unfinished Swan, it will soon be a hard side to argue.

http://mashable.com/2013/02/27/moma-video-games-exhibit/
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Story War: A New Party Game

Brad O’Farrell, Tom McLean, and Vondell Swain have created a new card party game called “Story War.” The game, which seems to take inspiration from popular games Apples to Apples and Dungeons and Dragons, is all about using creativity and story-telling ability to defeat opponents. The game requires at least three players, with one player serving as the judge and the others as opponents (similar to Apples to Apples). A battlefield is randomly selected and each person or team is given certain cards with short descriptions. These cards are a combination of different items and warriors. The goal is for each player to convince the judge that their side would win in a head-on battle by creating a story. The game is being produced through Cantrip Games and Breadpig, and is currently raising money through a Kickstarter in order to create expansion packs. The basic game can essentially be bought via the Kickstarter for $25.

http://laughingsquid.com/story-war-a-combative-card-based-storytelling-party-game/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+laughingsquid+%28Laughing+Squid%29
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Sony Announced Playstation 4

Last night, Sony Computer Entertainment finally announced the long-rumored Playstation 4. This upcoming system will follow the Playstation 3, released in 2003, and will be the second home console in the eight generation of video game systems, after 2012’s WiiU. The system comes with a brand new controller which contains the greatest control changes in Playstation’s history, adding a touchscreen, a share button, updated analog sticks, and a light bar linked to the system’s built-in 3D camera. The system itself features an X86 processor and 8GB of RAM. For those not familiar with technical specifications, this basically means the PS4 will be by far the most powerful system to date, with specs able to compete with those of modern computers. It will also have a remote play feature, which allows PS4 games to be connected to the PS Vita. Critics of the upcoming system have argued against its strong focus on social media, calling it anything from unnecessary to annoying or intrusive. The system is also taking criticism for once again not maintaining backward compatibility.

http://mashable.com/2013/02/20/playstation-4-announcement/
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Google working to shut down piracy

Google recently began working with Visa and Microsoft to attempt to find a stop to online piracy. Piracy is an issue that is difficult to deal with by law, due to lawmakers not wanting to censor online freedom or infringe on anybody’s rights to share their work via online media.  Google’s plan is different from recent laws against piracy as it is not attempting to shut down piracy immediately. It plans to instead track and remove the sources of funding to piracy sites, making it difficult and cost-inefficient to provide links to pirated material. How effective this action will be is unclear. Similar actions have been attempted in 2010 by Visa and MasterCard to shut down WikiLeaks. However, the actions were ultimately ineffective. Piracy has survived a lot over the years, including the shutdown of popular sites Megaupload and Limewire and 2009’s unsuccessful Stop Online Piracy Act. No specific action has yet been taken by Google.

Lay's Announces 3 New Flavor Finalists

Chips manufacturer Lay’s created a contest in 2012 called “Do Us a Flavor.” The contest was run on Facebook, and allowed users everywhere to create a new flavor out of a list of many different ingredients, name the chips, and design their bag. People were then encouraged to vote on other people’s flavors in order to determine the most popular one. Today, Lay’s finally announced the three finalists: Cheesy Garlic Bread flavored, Chicken & Waffles flavored, and Sriracha Flavored. Though the results weren’t officially announced until today, some people got to try the flavors early as certain stores put the new flavors on shelves early. The three new flavors will be voted on to determine which flavor becomes permanent, similar to Mountain Dew’s two highly successful “Dewmocracy” campaigns. However, a similar contest has been previously done by Doritos which faced off new flavors Wild White Nacho and Smokin’ Cheddar BBQ. The latter won by a significant margin, but soon disappeared regardless. Hopefully Lay’s will follow through better than their competitor.  

OUYA to be released in June

The OUYA is a Kickstarted-funded Android-based gaming console that will be arriving this year. Last year, the console set records by raising over eight million dollars on Kickstarter. The OUYA distinguishes itself from most gaming consoles as it is a modifiable console on which anyone would be develop their own software. The console itself has the potential to revolutionize gaming if implemented successfully, as it offers an experience separate from major game developers Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. Just recently, the release date for the OUYA was announced. Unless the date is for some reason pushed back, consumers may now pre-order and will be able to buy the OUYA from Target, Best Buy, GameStop and Amazon this June. As of now, there is no word as to whether or not Wal-Mart will be selling the game, but given the significant popularity, it is pretty likely. Learn more or preorder the OUYA by visiting its site: www.ouya.tv.

http://mashable.com/2013/02/05/ouya-retail/

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Meta Virtual Reality Glasses

Technology company Meta is currently developing a unique pair of glasses which creates virtual objects when worn by the user. These glasses create 3D objects which the wearer can manipulate. They also appear to be able to use apps which one might be able to find on a smartphone or tablet, with access to sites such as Facebook. As of now, the glasses are only a large and bulky prototype, but the product Meta is going for will be much sleeker and more like a typical pair of glasses. The glasses use Epson stereoscopic see-through displays to provide this digital illusion. The controls of the glasses seem to work through motion tracking, though the extent of this is uncertain. The initial commercial for these show a sort of programming feature, which in the trailer shows the user giving his dog the appearance of having three heads, though practical uses for this feature are unknown.

http://laughingsquid.com/meta-augmented-reality-glasses-allow-you-to-control-virtual-objects/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+laughingsquid+%28Laughing+Squid%29
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YouTube to Require Paid Subscriptions

Starting this spring, free video website YouTube may begin requiring paid subscriptions to access certain channels. This is a strong move, as up until now, YouTube has always been allowed anyone to upload or watch videos completely free of charge. The paid subscriptions will not apply to all videos (at least, not at first) and will instead be limited to a few selected channels. Varying prices may also apply to things like live concerts (which YouTube began hosting within the past year or so).

This endeavor is sure to make YouTube money, but it is also particularly risky. Many people use YouTube specifically because it is free. There are plenty of pricy video sites out there already (Netflix, Hulu+, etc.). There are also other free video sites that are less popular than YouTube, such as Metacafe. If YouTube charges become mandatory, look out for other free video sites to begin a possible rise in popularity.

http://mashable.com/2013/01/29/youtube-paid-channel-subscriptions/
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Arist creates distorted sculptures

Sculptor Jonty Hurwitz has begun making unique and very abstract artwork. Most of the art appears to be stretched and elongated shapes, with an apparent blurring effect (like what might be seen by an object moving at especially high speeds). Yet most the true sculptures can only be deciphered using some sort of cylindrical mirror. When the elongated shapes are viewed through the cylinder, the reflection looks completely normal, revealing more understandable sculptures, such as a hand or a frog. Hurwitz creates these pieces using special 3-dimensional software. The creation of the distorted sculptures from a simplistic, understandable one requires an advanced amount of both artistic and mathematical skill. However, not all of Hurwitz’s art is so cylindrical. Some pieces require viewing from certain angles, such as a hanging clown face that, unless seen from a certain perspective, appears to be broken into many small chunks. These, and the rest of Hurwitz’s artwork, can be found on his website: www.jontyhurwitz.com.

http://laughingsquid.com/distorted-anamorphic-sculptures-by-jonty-hurwitz/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+laughingsquid+%28Laughing+Squid%29

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Video Game Street Art

Street artist Aiden Glynn has been working on project in which he creates street art based on a variety of video games. The art he does is very minimal, and usually just entails a small adjustment to something already existing in a world. Examples of his art include a barrel in front of a restaurant which Glynn added a Donkey Kong logo to and a small, 2-dimensional Mario which he placed under a broken glass block. His art has also included a few references to various Pokemon characters. However, not all of his art is based off of video game characters, as much of it is just done in a way to make ordinary objects appear cartoony, whether through real-life additions or photoshop. All of the art mentioned above, as well as a decent amount of other projects he’s finished, can be seen on his tumblr, under the name Pizza andPixels.

http://laughingsquid.com/street-art-inspired-by-video-games-by-aiden-glynn/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+laughingsquid+%28Laughing+Squid%29

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Teen Invents "College Bound" Candy Bar

Students in desperate need of money to pay for tuition often come up with creative ways to make money. This is often done by creating some type of product unique to the individual and selling it, such as art. However, 13-year-old Tucker Fish from Santa Rosa, California has come up with a new way of making college money: creating and selling candy bars. He calls these candy bars, “College Bound Bars.” In December of 2012, his parents created a Kickstarter to help him as he works on creating prototypes of his candy. The Kickstarter ends in three days, and Fish has already gained $4,417, easily surpassing his $3,000 goal. He has yet to release an actual sample of the candy bar (which appears square and chocolate-coated) but the project is already gaining much attention, possibly due to celebrity cook Guy Fieri showing support for the idea.

http://laughingsquid.com/teen-invents-a-candy-bar-to-help-pay-for-college/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+laughingsquid+%28Laughing+Squid%29

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Online Pirating by the Government

Most internet users are likely to remember the Stop Online Piracy Act (which most knew as SOPA) that flooded the news less than two years ago. Essentially the bill was made in an attempt to stop the illegal download of movies, music and other media. Previous efforts had been made, such as the infamous shut down of popular pirate site LimeWire, but for every torrent site shut down, two more popped up. SOPA’s plan would have been much more forceful, effectively censoring the internet. The internet, of course, was in rage, with even major websites such as Wikipedia protesting against it.

Even though nearly everyone was against them, many government officials insisted that the bill was necessary and made every attempt to enforce that stopping piracy was of the absolute utmost importance. This insistence wasn’t without a good bit of hypocrisy though, as allegations that staff members of the House of Representatives were taking part in the pirating. This may have led to the eventual defeat of the bill.

Almost two years have passed since SOPA, and an interesting thing has arisen in the news: government officials are still pirating using government computers. ScanEye, a program which tracks BitTorrent downloads and where they are being downloaded from. Apparently, quite a few movies and TV shows have been illegally downloaded through online torrents. It’s become quite clear that stopping piracy isn’t all that crucial to everyone in the government.

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http://mashable.com/2013/01/15/federal-employees-pirating/

Goldman's Surrealist Dream Art

Photographer Ronen Goldman has been undertaking a unique art project: recreating specific scenes from his dreams as surrealist photographs. He has named this project "Surrealist Pillow," and currently has nearly thirty photographs finished and posted on his website: www.ronengoldman.com. All of the photographs are specially designed, using unique and interesting special effects to capture the magical properties of dreams. These effects often include making inanimate objects float, such as cards, fish, and apples (which appears to be a recurring theme), but some of the more impressive photos include people with fishbowl heads and impossible stairways that appear to draw inspiration from the painting “Relativity” by surrealist artist M. C. Escher. Goldman uses advanced cinematography and unique light contrasts to bring out the bizarre unreality in most of his photos. A few of his more popular photographs are available for purchase as fine prints on his Etsy.

Article: http://laughingsquid.com/surrealistic-pillow-photographer-recreates-his-dreams/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+laughingsquid+%28Laughing+Squid%29 

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