Sunday, November 26, 2006

Free Online File Conversion

Zamzar is a very user-friendly site that provides a file conversion service for files up to 100Mb in size. It's very easy to use: browse to the file or files (multiple files have to be the same type), choose the filetype you want to convert to, provide your e-mail address, and blammo! The files get e-mailed directly to you! And with even stupid Hotmail -- I mean Windows Live Mail -- offering 2Gb of space right now, this shouldn't cause anyone any hardships.

Link

Saturday, November 25, 2006

The Hug Shirt

One of the coolest uses of modern technology I've heard about, and one that I hope will pave the way for cooler and even better stuff.

The hug shirt is designed to transmit a hug from one wearer to another. There are sensors under the red parts of the shirt that record things like body temperature, pressure, duration, and heartrate. The data is then transmitted by Bluetooth to your cell phone, which is then sent to your friend's phone, and by Bluetooth to his shirt.

Wild enough for you? This is definitely one of the better arguments in favour of me owning a cell phone.

Link

Monday, November 06, 2006

The Art of Willard Wigan

I was fortunate enough to see a micro-miniature show at the Dunlop Art Gallery in 1997. I'd actually seen some of the works on the internet before I saw them on display. It was bizarre to think that sculptures that small could ever be created.

Then I found Willard Wigans. The work he does is baffling, and rich with ten times the detail of anything I'd seen either in person or on the internet. Pictured at right is King Henry VIII and his six wives, all in the eye of a needle. For something so amazingly finite, it's almost as though you could look at it for hours and continuously find something new.

Willard has photographic prints of his work for sale, but for me it's enough to look at the pictures on his website and let my eyes bug out in wonder. (NB - not that I need any help in letting my eyes bug out.)

Link

Friday, November 03, 2006

Two Winter Time Wasters

This first game, Snowcraft, has been around since 1998. I remember spending my lunchtime playing it while I worked at SEDA. I eventually completed the game, but it was very frustrating. In fact, this game is as frustrating as it is fun.


The object is to defeat the green team by hitting them with snowballs. It takes three hits to remove a player, and they do pause to wipe snow off themselves when they're hit. To move your players, just drag them around the screen. Release the mouse button to throw a snowball: the longer the button's held down, the further you can throw.

In Snowball, you use the arrow keys to control a snowball rolling down a very long hill. It gets larger and harder to control as it rolls, and you can absorb dogs, people, and other objects as you grow. Hitting a tree with reduce your size, and hitting a house will stop the game. You can see my best score in the picture.

Two simple, addictive games for your continued amusement. If I don't hear from you I'll forward your mail.

Link to Snowcraft
Link to Snowball