Like most people this time of year, I’ll be taking a bit of a break from my normal routine to do some other, holiday-related stuff. Of course I expect that there will be continued attempts to deface this site so I’ll apologize in advance for any script-kiddie breaches from the l33t haxors who miraculously [/sarcasm] manage to bring down a site using old, outdated code. Anyway, expect things to be back to normal in early January.

Til then, best wishes to everyone out there.

Just a quick pointer over to an entry on the Simulation weblog where there’s a post discussing machine consciousness. I’ll need to hit the links in the entry over the holiday break as it’s always a fascinating subject and one I’ve not recently given much thought. Here’s the Link.

This is also probably a good time to make note of a new addition to the links list on the left. Last week I added a new site: AI Buzz (Link). I think it’s a new site (I caught the announcement over on GameDev). Might be one worth peeking in on from time to time to see what’s going on in that world.

I’ve been wanting to watch this CG animation ever since I first saw screenshots a couple years ago. Platige’s “Cathedral” has that Eastern European aesthestic sensibility I’ve long admired and is one of the reasons I’ve previously suggested that one of the future hotbeds of design would be Eastern Europe.

It’s a short piece full of the heavy texture I’ve always liked in some of the work I’ve seen from this region. And – for those of you at the office twiddling your thumbs, surfing the net and waiting for the Christmas party to start – it’s completely safe for work. No naughty bits in sight. So give it a look – Link.

And if you like that, take a look at some of Platige’s commercial work as well, available on their website (Link).

via CGTalk

{Image Copyright © 2003-2005 Platige Image}

I have to wonder how many Barbie dolls are currently in the dark confines of a neatly-wrapped gift box, trembling beneath a dying tree in anticipation of the horrors to come. Lost? Read this from an AP feed over on Yahoo (Link):

“The girls we spoke to see Barbie torture as a legitimate play activity, and see the torture as a ‘cool’ activity,” said Agnes Nairn, one of the University of Bath researchers. “The types of mutilation are varied and creative, and range from removing the hair to decapitation, burning, breaking and even microwaving.”

Later in the article, the manufacturer has this to say:

Mattel U.K. said that despite the findings of “this very small group of children, we know that there are millions of girls in the U.K. and across the world that love and enjoy playing with Barbie and will continue to do so in the future.”

Maybe the confusion comes from a definition of the word “play”? Certainly Mattel is reaching by saying any child actually feels “love” for these pieces of plastic. Aren’t they?

This papercraft thing seems to be really catching on. I’ve seen both an increasing number of these projects online and increasing complexity in subject matter. And of course there are companies beginning to use this hobbyfad as a means of self-promotion. Such is the case with Yamaha’s motorcycle papercraft shown above (Link). Only when I see these things I can’t help but think they could/should be doing the same thing with 3D game models available to modders. After all, it’s not that big a step from paper folds to triangular meshes.

via MIT Adlab

{Image Copyright © 2004 Yamaha Motor Company LTD}