New images of Andrew Garfield in costume for next summer’s The Amazing Spider-Man have leaked out into the interwebs and a detailed teaser trailer description landed not long ago. While no video has surfaced, we do have this up-close look at Spidey’s new costume, plus the new cover of EW featuring Garfield in the full suit, minus mask.
The Entertainment Weekly Comic-Con issue releases July 22, but you’ll have to hold out until July 3, 2012 for The Amazing Spider-Man to reach the big screen.
Netflix is launching today on the Nintendo 3DS. It’s not the most natural partnership, but it could be great news for parents.
The service is only available to existing Netflix subscribers, and it’s likely this will be restricted to those with a streaming subscription now the company is offering three different unlimited packages (streaming + discs, streaming only, and discs only.) The app itself is free of charge and can be downloaded from the Nintendo eShop. It will sync with Netflix access on other devices so, for example, you can start watching a movie on the 3DS and then pick up where you left off through the Wii.
Clearly for lovers of big screen, high definition movies, this isn’t exactly a winner: the 3DS only has 240 horizontal lines, is a relatively small screen, and has a screen shape that’s too wide even for movie theatre resolutions.
Still, my guess is it’s going to appeal mainly to parents who wouldn’t dream of giving their kids an iPad or a smartphone, but are still looking for a way to keep them occupied without surrending control of either the TV set or computer. Unfortunately the service works by Wi-Fi streaming, so unless you have a portable hotspot such as the MiFi, it’s not going to work on long car journeys. Parents will be able to control which movies are watched through both the 3DS itself and the settings on the Netflix account.
For now at least, the Netflix movies will only be available in 2D. However, Nintendo itself is launching a separate service in Europe and Japan today that allows free downloads of both 2D and 3D videos, with a US version expected later this year. It appears the videos will be more in the realm of demo clips than Hollywood movies.
Reader Mike Schropp sent in some pics of the CPU folding farm he built, complete with custom Lego case. As cool as having a Lego case is, though, the real purpose of the build is even better:
Around the time I began my planning I beginning to be involved in Grid Computing. I liked being able to use one of my geek hobbies in a way to help try and benefit others. Grid Computing allows for using your home computer (through the addition of a small free downloadable program) to use its CPU and or GPU for the purpose of processing data in the form of research problems, equations, and more. Normally, it takes a supercomputer days, weeks, or months to works its way through some of this research. Grid Computing leverages the power of hundreds of thousands of computers whose users donate their processing time to make this happen.
Since I was going to be building a new computer anyway it seemed like the perfect time to maximize my build for Grid Computing (Crunching).
Schropp details the process of his folding farm build, complete with parts specs and a photo gallery, to the finished product you see above. In keeping with the original plan, the custom case houses three systems, composed of the following parts list:
3X Sandy Bridge 2600k CPUs
3x Thermaltake Frio Cpu Coolers
3X Asus P8P67 Micro atx motherboards
1x Antec 1200 HCP Power Supply
2x Corsair SSD (System 1/Workstation)
1x Mushkin SSD (System 2/Touchscreen)
1x WD HD (System 3/Folding Only)
3X DDR3 for each system
8x Aerocool 140mm Case Fans
1x Metric Crapload of Lego Bricks (Technically it was about 2,000pcs)
According to Schropp, the decision to build the case of Lego came when no available cases fit his vision for the project. And while planning and execution of building a sturdy case that doesn’t buckle under the weight of the systems components or fall apart was a complicated one, the finished build is a thing of beauty–clean, functional, and strong. And most importantly, it’s a contribution to medical research and humanitarian projects, which makes it a machine worth infinitely more than the sum of its parts.
Check out the entire process on Total Geekdom. Way to go, Mike, and thanks for sharing!
Academy Award–winning production designer Stuart Craig, the man behind the look and feel of every set in the Harry Potter film franchise, gave an interview at Architectural Digest, in which he discusses the difference in working on Harry Potter versus his other films, like Notting Hill.
Because it was a franchise—eight movies—that lasted ten years, we built up a great archive of things we’d already made. Doors, windows, staircases, and bits of set got recycled and reused. It was an incredible luxury to have a kind of scene dock for stuff that was used previously, but that could be applicable to the next thing.
Craig also gives a some insight to set continuity between films, noting the ever-changing structure of Hogwarts:
Hogwarts, if you look carefully, is constantly growing and changing shape. In the third movie, there’s a tower with a little sort of prison cell at the top for Sirius Black, and then in subsequent movies that’s completely gone. In the sixth film, there’s a huge tower that’s a completely different design, and that’s the tower that Dumbledore falls from and dies. The other area of significant change is the front entrance: The courtyard in front of that was not there at the beginning, and then it got bigger and bigger and bigger until in the film that we haven’t seen yet, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, it’s big enough to stage the final Battle of Hogwarts.
If you’ve peeked inside the door at Google+ but still don’t know where to sit or what to do with your hands, Simon Laustsen has laid out a couple of super-useful cheat sheets to get you started.
The folk over at 2D photography made an awesome photography-themed rube goldberg machine that we thought you guys would enjoy watching while in action. Check it out:
Think your coworkers are responsible for the disappearance of some of your carefully hidden snacks? Need to protect something very important on your desk? Then we may have just what you need to guard your beloved geek den: The Yoda USB Desk Protector! Just plug Yoda in any of your computer’s USB outlet, and he will start scanning its surrounding for intruders. When it detects someone, his lightsaber will light up and he will say one of six phrases:
In the end, cowards are those who follow the dark side.
A disturbance in the Force there is.
Retreat! Cover you I will.
Still much to learn you have.
So certain of defeat are you, hmmm?
Rush into fight, long is the war. Only by surviving it will you prevail.
