Tron Legacy

Tron, the original visionary movie that brought us the future of moviemaking is finally receiving a sequel.

The big idea is one again center stage. In the first Tron it introduced the audience to the then novel concept of virtual worlds and digital animation. This was something that left most of the audience nonplussed but made it an instant classic with a part of Generation X.

This time around the big idea is much more subtle. The virtual world is evolving toward naturalism away from digital simplicity with its own weather patterns and complexity of architecture.

Jeff Bridges plays two versions of himself and the one version has been digitally ‘youthened’.

A computer re-modeled younger Jeff Bridges

The real Jeff Bridges

In Avatar the computer generated imagery was used to create aliens, albeit very realistic and recognizable ones – but as much as you can see Sigourney Weaver it is still a blue skinned, broad nosed, 10 foot alien non the less.

In Tron we have an established actor being in effect ‘animated’; motion captured and then digitally re-modeled.

What does this mean?

After the first movie some people laboured under the misconceived idea that the computer ‘did’ the effects instead of it just being a tool.

In this film a existing tool is used in a different way. In the future, effectively now, you will still have actors, this method can only happen when someone has acted and has been motion captured. However in post-production the actors can then be digitally re-modeled to be younger or even look like someone else.

It is about the acting and not how someone looks. Think of it as digital make-up.

The big implication though is that they can be made to look like someone else.

Ever wanted to see Marilyn Monroe and Steve McQueen headlining again? In effect nothing is stopping that from happening any more.

Go watch the trailer to see all the more realistic pieces than the quick snapshot I got here.

Ubuntu is the Linux distro run by Mark Shuttleworth the South African entrepreneur under the ubuntu philsopy.

My server was in bad need of updating; I’ve been running Fedora 8 for al long time and the current Fedora release is already version 13. The upgrade path, version for version and doing it piecemeal was just to much.

I re-imaged the server to run on the latest version of Ubuntu Linux. The whole process was really quick thanks to the way my hosting company www.bytemark.co.uk has set up their server farm.

A quick admin login, choosing a new OS, re-image, copy of the /var/www and some permission jiggery pokery and we where away.

A few years ago this would have been a major pain to do now it was done in minutes. this is some times a benchmark not really looked at, how common tasks get sped up by the progression of technology as opposed to the cutting edge and new product launches which garner most of the press’s time.

http://media.roets.co.uk/southafrica/chemist.mp3 Falling Mirror: Johny calls the Chemist.

The team have in anticipation launched a micro site, http://www.ripedesign.com/formula1 and there is a news story on our website http://www.ripedesign.com.

We had many sleepless hours, loads of weekends worked and sterling effort by all in the team but particularly Michael Backhouse.

I had the opportunity to visit the hotel as it was being built – not so many months ago… and there was just sand and structure – the building rate and overall creation was phenomenal and the scale and ambition of the project is huge.

Now this coming Sunday I will watch the Grand Prix as it race THROUGH this building.

Apple iPod Touch

I’m one of those people that didn’t really have or needed a mobile till I was thirty and then I discovered that well … I didn’t really need one.

Generation Y people will not understand it, but the phone, that supposedly makes life easier and solves organisational problems, has created more demands on me than I had BEFORE they where available.

I’m not a complete Luddite and I do own one, however very much on my terms. I want a communication device – not a leash.

I have many reasons and mainly there is the intrusion. I once had someone call me about a work idea, at the moment of having that idea – 11pm on a Sunday night. When I asked why they didn’t call on my landline the answer was “didn’t want to intrude”.

When you call a mobile you call a person – a landline you call a household.

Then there is the noise. With that I do not only mean the random ringing but also the enforced sharing of conversations. More accurately, seeing as we only hear one part of the conversation, a monologue with bits cut out. In the nineties if you spoke loudly to yourself like that in public you’d have a quick trip to a padded room! Its self absorbed and just plain rude.

When I’m traveling I have my phone with me and charged up . If I want, or need, to call someone it is there. It does not however ring, that what silent mode is for and I never share an inane conversation with half the train coach.

The problem though is that these days mobile phones come with cool stuff.

One such device is the iPhone. As you all know I’m really biased toward Apple. My liking does not however stretch so far as to pay a huge monthly contract cost to a single vendor for the privilege of the device. Specifically when, as discussed, I don’t really use the phone for any thing other than can be described as emergencies.

Enter the iPod Touch (iTouch seems to be common misnomer)

I get all the iPhone Apps etc. and with wi-fi I’m on the go wherever I find myself (I also have a App that finds me free wi-fi) and with the new OS release the vertical keyboard means I’m a speedy flying typing whizz.

My email is there when I want to read etc. Oh and it is a hell of a handheld gaming platform as well, just in case you tire from watching movies on it.

All in all a very underrated device in my opinion.

Suggested programs are Adobe Photoshop or Fireworks or any other major graphics package.

1. Create a PNG. Square preferably use following: 32 X 32, 64 X 64, 256 X 256 or 512 X 512 pixels

2. Choose your folder or file and Right Click on it.

3. Choose “Get Info”.

4. Now click on the folder icon and wait till it glows.

5. While the folder icons is ‘lit’ drag and drop your png into it.

May I retort with my own position that Rammstein is remix heaven!

To wit I present offically sanctioned remixes:

Mein Teil – Pet Shop Boys, ‘You are what you eat’ remix

http://media.roets.co.uk/rammstein/mein_teil.mp3

Ich will – Paul van Dyk remix

http://media.roets.co.uk/rammstein/ich_will.mp3

Rosenrot – Northern Light remix

http://media.roets.co.uk/rammstein/rosenrot.mp3