It’s almost Halloween! And though many of you are working out last-minute costumes for yourselves (and here are some ideas if you’re still stumped), some of you might be more worried about what the geeklets will be wearing while trick-or-treating. There’s nothing like being a kid at Halloween – and especially being a geeky kid at Halloween!
What can be better than SPIDER-PIRATE? – americanvirus (CC)
You’ve probably heard about the “It Gets Better” project, a YouTube campaign aimed at giving a message of hope to GLBT youth. There are a huge number of videos now, many at the itgetsbetterproject channel, including from a number from public figures like celebrities and politicians.
This latest is from Google employees, and I think it illuminates a related point: that no matter what you’re getting bullied for, whether it’s sexual orientation or being a geek/nerd, it really does get better. High school can be a tough time for anyone who’s different, but I bet a lot of geeks here can attest that it’s worth holding out for college.
Yes geeks, this is the droid you were all looking for:
Darkside swimsuit right after the jump:
Thanks Richard!
Social games are a growing trend, enabled by the growing web. Facebook, now the world’s most popular social network, is the place where most social gaming happens. Whether you’re Facebook-phobic or a social gamer yourself, the following figures may surprise you.
Pictured above: those are LEDs. On the tip of a pencil. Yep, in this article io9 talks LEDs–thin, bright, flexible LEDs that are so slight they can be slipped under paper, on pencil tips, and, well, under your skin. Just imagine the possibilities.
John Rogers of the University of Illinois is the brain behind this bright new advance in LEDs. Says io9:
He and his team have put tiny LEDs, each one smaller than the tip of a pen, on flexible electronic sheets. These sheets can be stretched and twisted up to 720 degrees without any loss in LED function, and they can hold up under soapy water or even underneath the skin, which they demonstrated by implant one sheet under the skin of mice.
My first thought? Oh crap, those Avatar-obsessed people are going to finally get their skin to glow blue in patterns.
[New ultra-flexible, waterproof LEDs can be implanted under your skin]
In case you were under any illusion about whether the Xbox 360 Kinect motion control system was being aimed at a mainstream, casual gaming, dare-I-say-Wii audience, Microsoft has scored what many US publicity seekers consider the jackpot: an appearance on Oprah.
It’s also unveiled the 17 games that will appear at or imminently after launch: with one notable exception, they are all family fare.
The Oprah appearance is scheduled for today, alongside reality show singer Susan Boyle and a 10-year-old runner up from America’s Got Talent. Hardcore gaming fare this is not. By all accounts the segment is likely to be more along the lines of Winfrey trying out the Kinect controller than Microsoft publicists getting a grilling over consumer law and the red ring of death. There’s also an appearance on Ellen De Generes’ show in the works.
As for the games, they fall into four main categories:
Family: Kinect Adventures (action game set in space/mountains/rivers/underwater – pictured), Kinectimals (imagine Nintendogs with bigger animals and more stroking), Game Party (everything from darts to table hockey) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow (waggle that wand)
Exercise: Your Shape, Dance Central, The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout, DanceMasters, EA Sports Active 2, Zumba Fitness. In other words, choose your motivation for shaking your booty, then shake away.
Sports: Kinect Sports, MotionSports and Deca Sports Freedom. (The latter features dodgeball, which is surely crying out for a vibration feature.)
Adrenalin: Kinect Joy Ride is a kart racing game, while Sonic Free Riders and Adrenalin Misfits are both variants on hoverboards (which will be here for real in five years and two days.) Fighters Uncaged appears to lie somewhere between modern mixed martial arts and the underground mystique of Jean Claude Van Damme movies and, if nothing else, certainly stands out as the one game you probably shouldn’t be buying your pre-teen relatives for Christmas.
[Via]