Month: November 2006

Just to prove that I actually have done some real work this autumn, here are some results of my research/thesis Game Sound Effects Synthesis using Statistical Methods (working title):

• Some sound examples
• A screenshot of the GUI

Yes, most of it sound really bad, but then again, this is just randomly made. I have a lot of work cut up before me still, although I already have written some 2000 lines of code. Wish me good luck!

Many people prefer sites such as Youtube or Metacafe over Google Video, but Google offers something the others aren’t: upload of (infintely?) long movies, and direct download of movies for iPod or desktop computers. These features makes Google Video a great place to find longer movies or tv-shows for those long flights or cross country train rides. What is especially useful for those with iPods is that you won’t have to go through the lengthy and troublesome process of converting the movies to iPod-format – Google will serve you with the right format (just click Download for Video iPod/Sony PSP).

I compiled a little list of more than 15 longer movies I found on Google Video and downloaded for my iPod
(note: Some of these videos might or might not be copyrighted, and could subsequently be taken down, and/or be less than legal to download):

• New! Hitler Speaks (46 min), a documentary based on film recorded privately by Adolf Hitler or Eva Braun. The films were previously silent bu leading edge lip reading software has enabled German experts to re-voice them, providing a chilling insight into Hitlers private world.
• New! Iraq: The Hidden Story (48 min), a Channel 4 documentary about Iraq.
• Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning (1 hr 43 min) – a hilarious, yet somewhat silly, parody film of Star Trek, which makes a fantastic effort in special effect and other areas, in spite of having a minimal budget. The movie might be more funny if you have a connection to Scandinavia 😉
• Tetris – From Russia with Love (58 min), a BBC documentary on the creation of the legendary game Tetris, with some early game industry history thrown in for good measure.
• Will Wright and the game Spore (39 min). A presentation of the very original game Spore. Features Robin Williams in the end!
• On the Edge (52 min), a great Blade Runner documentary from Channel 4 that is a must see for any cyberpunk/sci-fi fans.
• Revenge of the Nerds (1 hr 30 min), a classic nerd movie from 1984, now being remade for release in 2007. Read more at IMDB.
• Pixar’s Cars. Yes, it was online for some time, but when I saw it referenced in, for example national Swedish media and digg.com, the movie was quickly taken down. Luckily, I was fast enough 😉
• Rammstein Live in Berlin -98 (1 hr 31 min). There is nothing like Rammstein live!
• The Best Bits of Mr. Bean (1 hr 11 min). If you like Mr. Bean, here is all of it in one package for you!
• Warriors of the French Foreign Legion (50 min), an interesting documentary on the French Foreign Legion.
• The Story of One, (59 min) a witty Terry Jones documentary from BBC about the history of numbers.
• The Doomsday Code (1 hr 41 min), a Channel 4 documentary that takes a spin on the Da Vinci Code hysteria.
• Richest People of the Middle East (45 min), a Discovery documentary that happens to have Swedish subtitles. Interesting!
• Nosferatu, (1 hr 24 min), a famous silent Dracula-movie from 1922, a true horror classic. Read more at IMDB.
• Night of the Living Dead (1968), (1 hr 35 min). A classic horror flick, which I personally don’t really like, but I know many others do. Read more at IMDB.
• Vampire Hunter, (1 hr 42 min), full anime movie (with not-so-good sound quality). I have yet to see all of it, but the artistic quality is good!
• Ricky Gervaise faux Microsoft training video, (20 min). Famously leaked, intentionally or not, from Microsoft. If you like The Office, you’ll like this. Oh, I don’t mean MS Office 😉
• Ghostrider – The Final Ride (53 min) – one of those getaway movies where people drive like crazy, in this case driving a motorcycle like crazy through Stockholm. Not really my cup of tea, but I throw it in here at the end of the list as a bonus.

If this is not enough, there is a load of different documentaries on Google Video. Try this search! But be aware, many documentaries are either anti/pro-religion, anti/pro-bush or just wacky conspiracy “documentaries”. I guess the lesson is: don’t believe everything you see on Google Video. Happy iPodding!

UPDATE: To accommodate for incoming readers from Kotaku, I changed this article to something more readable 😉 Thanks for reading!

Playstation 3 is coming. If you haven’t kept yourself updated – this gaming console/multimedia computer is incredibly sought-after and caused enormous lines in Japan were it was released on the 11th. The PS3 units are now being sold for more than double the price online by “entrepreneurs”. Well – that is just Japan. PS3 will be released in Hong Kong on the 17th of November, the same day as in US. However, Hong Kong is before US in time and therefore will be the second place in the world, after Japan, to get PS3. Rumor has it only a small amount of units have been confirmed for Hong Kong delivery. My plan is simple – I will queue for it, among other fanatics (yeah, I have suddenly become one). If everything goes as planned, I will queue from the evening of the 16th to the morning of the 17th to get my PS3. I will certainly keep you posted if I become the first (?) Swedish citizen to lay my hands on PS3.

UPDATE: And I got back from queuing a few hours last night. I was too far down on the waiting list to gamble a night’s sleep. But I took a lot of photos and some video, as well as getting some info. Kotaku.com, the gaming blog, published my experiences. So take a look there for a more detailed account. Now with a good night’s sleep I might add that my account of the event is based on what I saw and what my girlfriend could translate for me – there might be misunderstandings and errors. I hope the ones that chose to wait the whole night actually got their PS3 and that they can have some real fun with them. I just got a mail from Sony about the next batch of PS3s, so soon we can all be happy 😉

NEW UPDATE: Ok, so I got an email from Sony at 3:37 PM. A second batch of PS3 for sale on the 24th of November. I clicked on the registration link somewhere around 3:45-3:50 PM. The whole batch were sold out. Ok. Great. How many did they release this time? 10? But I must say I am very much impressed with the speed of my fellow Hong Kongers! I have much to learn yet, in order to control the force of quick web registration.

And now, for some non PS3-related stuff:

Otherwise, there is a lot happening here now. Not specifically in Hong Kong, but specifically for me. Tomorrow I am leaving for China on a shopping trip with Shirley’s family. Not just any kind of shopping trip – I will go to a trade fair with Chinese electronics, toys and other stuff. I have not mentioned it yet, but I am evaluating the possibility to start an import business of Chinese goods to Sweden. I will certainly know more about it’s feasibility when I get back on Wednesday – maybe with a couple of boxes of gadgets 😉

Finally- I have started the process of looking for jobs. I will graduate in February, if everything goes as planned. Soon, I will start working – an amazing thought. I am first and foremost looking for work in UK as Shirley will study for her MBA there, but I am also looking in Sweden. I do not want to have too high expectations, but I can say that I already have had one phone interview for a London IT-consulting firm, as well as an invitation to an interview with a Swedish computer game producer. It will be interesting, to say the least, to see what the future has in hold for me.

A few weeks ago I decided that I should try and track the sources of the spam I receive. My current GMail account hosts four active e-mail addresses, so there is a fair share of spam (which Google almost always finds). So I was reading the spam emails more careful and realized something: spam is a wonderful source for inspiration! Yes, you can go ahead and read that statement again. Spam is fascinating me, and let me guide you through it’s wonders in a series of posts.

We can begin with the easy part. The names of the spam senders. These are most certainly result of simple computer randomization from some name list. But hey, that makes wonderful material for my next novel or short story! Just take a look at some samples:

Tamikae Butts,
Deirdre Luna,
Rubi Jodi,
Trotter Gail,
Romeo Ellis,
Horacio Mack,
Jacinda Destiny,
Czcibor Gillum,
Vengeance,
Elvin Strong,
Lakesha Catarina,
Eymen Enouk,
Gerardo Hester,
Tiffani Natasha,
Mr Crenshaw,
Coleman Cross,
Mr Agbandu Godslove

If that is not wonderful character names, I’d eat my hat. They are unique, stand out, have deeper meanings and are even fun (my personal favourite is by now Tamikae Butts… she must be one special girl!). Take a look at your spam box and hopefully you will find the same plethora of cool names. As mentioned, you can use it for names in your writing, character names in role-playing or maybe for your own, secret alter-ego. What about the evil antagonist Mr Crenshaw, the jovial Horacio Mack, the mystical Eymen Enouk or voodo-priest Mr Agbandu Godslove? Even the more standard (?) spam names, such as
Geoff Cannon, Burt Cantrell or Kip Andrews are useful for those not-so-important characters if you have a hard time coming up with names.

Next time: Spam poetry.