The Lost Realm

Reality augmentation is one of the more interesting areas within Computer Science, but some students at the University of South Australia have made it even more fun. They decided to use an augmented reality system to play Quake on their campus. The system allows them to physically run around the campus while shooting at computer generated bad guys. The hardware might not look all that pretty, but this sure beats laser tag for coolness.

I just can't believe that someone in Adelaide is doing cooler research than I am. Somehow, that's just wrong.

While breeding animals to increase productivity, disease resistance and attractiveness has long been part of our culture, a naked chicken is something I'm not sure we really need. They claim it will decrease waste and produce leaner meat. I claim it's not really all that appetising anymore.

Perhaps it's simply that we're not used to seeing a bright red, featherless chicken, but it simply doesn't look natural anymore.

Perhaps it's right that the Xbox has a green screen of death, because it must be feeling more than a little ill about now. Despite Microsoft's billion dollar confidence in the Xbox, the public remains generally disinterested. Nintendo's Gamecube has been selling out here in Australia, leaving Xboxes sitting on selves.

Microsoft initially reduced the price of the Xbox worldwide to match that of the Gamecube, but Nintendo have gone one better and reduced the Gamecube's price even further. Is this the final straw for the struggling console? Could this be the nail in the coffin for Microsoft? Can I possibly include any more cliches in this paragraph?

After this webserver was upgraded to a newer version of PHP, everything broke. Yup, everything. I guess that's what happens when people change their minds about how imported globals work. It is more secure to do it the new way, though.

Although I thought I fixed everything, I forgot about the DIY argument gizmo. Why didn't anyone tell me it was broken?

As shown in a recent demonstration, fingerprint-based security can be easily fooled using Gummi Bears. Fake fingers created with gelatine, from sources such as Gummi Bears, are able to fool most commericial fingerprint scanners with an 80% success rate.

To prove how simple it would be to pretend to be someone else, the researcher took prints from a glass, enhanced them with super-glue, digitally photographed them, performed further enhancement and then printed them on a transparency. This transparency was used to etch a circuit board that was used to mould a gelatine finger. This also fooled commerical scanners 80% of the time.

This is the reason we don't want fingerprint-based security; even Gummi Bears know how to get through it.

Last night, along with every other self-respecting geek on the planet, I went to the midnight opening session of Star Wars, Episode II. I did the same for Episode I, and actually found myself a little disappointed. Episode II, however, does not disappoint.

Episode II is perhaps the fastest paced and most involved movie in the series to date. The special effects are quite astounding, including stunning scenery, explosions and an impressive cast of computer generated characters, most of whom stand quite comfortably next to their real-life counterparts. In fact, the CG characters were often the better actors. The sound was also equisitely executed, making good use of the abilities of modern theatre sound.

The movie strikes an interesting balance between politics, love, character development and action. The plot is somewhat thicker than previous Star Wars movies, and while this means kids may not enjoy it as much as the previous episodes, I think it was exactly where the series needed to go. Kids will enjoy the kabooms and flashy effects, while adults can enjoy a little bit more of a plotline.

I was honestly worried that Lucas might mess up Star Wars with these new movies, particularly after seeing Episode I, but it seems my fears were unwarranted; Episode II is most certainly worth watching on the big screen at least once, if not twice.