Escape From City 17 – Part Two

It’s been two-and-a-half years since “Escape From City 17 – Part One” was released by David and Ian Purchase, but as promised in Feb 2009, when we said we’d let you know when part two came out, here is the sequel.

A story about the connection that grows between two people during the battle for city 17. Made in the same gritty guerrilla style as the original, it was made on a $250 budget, previously owned/donated software, time, and an HVX200 camera.

It’s been a long wait, but on that kind of budget, it’s understandable. The Escape From City 17 films are adaptations of Half-Life, and despite their ridiculously inadequate budget, are extremely well made. If you didn’t see Part One, check it out here, then come back and see the new installment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lyUNs7eNhs

[PurchaseBrothers]



Stupid Robots Are Stupid [Video]

Set aside your fears of SkyNet and Asimovian human enslavement; if they are anything like these, I for one welcome our robot overlords. Bucking the trend of super-smart robot developments, Bacarobo participants seek to build the stupidest, least useful automated machines ever.

Bacarobo, the Stupid Robot Championship, is a showcase for just such robots. The event takes place on 30 October in Budapest, Hungary, and has three main rules: the robots must operate automatically, they must be useless and they must be funny.

The contest originated in Japan – “baka” means “stupid” in Japanese – running in 2007 and 2008 before moving to Hungary in 2010. Entries last year included the Binbot, which attempts to follow a model fly where ever it goes, a hula-hooping bot powered by an electric drill, and a pair of shivering robots that live in a fridge.

While Bacarobo may not be as high-tech as other robotics contests such as the Robocup, which aims to develop robot football players good enough to defeat a human team by 2050, the organisers do hope the event will raise the profile of robotics in Budapest and Europe.
The designer of the winning robot will also receive a €2000 prize.

[New Scientist]

Bane-Obsessed Fan Preemptively Declares His Love in Ink

Too soon? It’s probably too soon, right? Apparently not, at least for this dude from Istanbul. Using only leaked pre-release set photos from The Dark Knight Rises for reference, he got Tom Hardy’s Bane tatted on his bicep. Now, ok: even if you’re already a fan of a certain character or story or what-have-you, isn’t it better to play it safe and wait until the movie actually comes out? This whole thing has me confounded. I’m crossing my fingers it a hoax, like that Facebook avatar “tattoo” from a few months ago.

[Flavorwire]



Jedi Kittehs [Video]

FinalCutKing caught some kittens just playing around with their lightsabers like that’s ok. I say we demote them back to Padawans.

(Does it work that way? Fill me in, Geeks.)

[neatorama]

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Gameplay Sneak Peek [Video/Gallery]

OK, so there was no Ezio in this morning’s pop culture Corgis post, but we’re thinking this may redeem the artist’s oversight a bit: new video of gameplay and a pageful of screenshots should sate you until Assassin’s Creed: Revelations drops on Nov 15.

What sequel would be worth it without new stuff? As reported by Chris Burns, Ezio now has mad bomb-building skills:

Ezio must find shells, gunpowder, and all manner of ingredients to to create bombs that have an array of different characteristics. You must also find crafting tables, these tablet strewn throughout the game of course, to craft bombs of many delights. At one point during the demo you even get to see Ezio’s ability to essentially plug a bomb into a dead body, lure in several enemies with the body and blow them to kingdom come as they get near enough to the scene. Brutal!

Word.

For more gameplay and storyline details, check out SlashGear’s AC:R breakdown. Pre-order Assassin’s Creed: Revelations on Amazon.com right here.

The Astronaut’s Guide to Life in Space [Video]

http://vimeo.com/27738605

NPR requested from NASA this 1980s-era video with commentary by astronauts of various missions. The footage, which we edited, arrived on VHS. We don’t know much about it, except that it’s playful in tone, so we decided to have some fun with it, too. Here’s an “instructional video” on survival in space, in case we ever decide to resurrect the program.

Emily Bogle & Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
[NPR via mental_floss]

Build Your Own da Vinci Catapult

If you want your kid to be creative, you can teach him or her about Leonardo da Vinci geek-style by building this weapon of mini destruction, AKA da Vinci Catapult. Jonathan Liu of Geek Dad built one:

The kit, which includes everything you need to assemble and fire the catapult (except for a tape measure), takes roughly an hour to assemble and then can be used to launch a small clay ball or other small objects. It’s a combination of two designs drawn by da Vinci in the Codex Atlanticus, using bent wood rather than twisted ropes for the energy needed to launch the projectiles.

[Source]

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5 Million Dollars 1 Terabyte: Illegally Downloaded Files as Art

You’ve got to admit, it’s a pretty brave to say to a judge “downloading all those illegal files worth $5 million is just art, Your Honor.”

Here are the details on the “5 Million Dollars 1 Terabyte” sculpture:

A new exhibit at the Art 404 gallery, 5 Million Dollars, 1 Terabyte, blurs the boundaries of between sculpture and skullduggery, conspicuously displaying a hard drive with $5 million of stolen property.

“5 Million Dollars 1 Terrabyte” (2011) is a sculpture consisting of a 1 TB Black External Hard Drive containing $5,000,000 worth of illegally downloaded files.

[Source | Via]

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