Harry Potter and the PSA

Just a quick HP funny before I head home this evening. Thanks richenza!

Future of Magical Gaming

So on the train platform this morning I was daydreaming about new ways to enhance gaming after being prompted through jducouer's discovery of a Chainsaw Peripheral. Naturally, having been reading the Dresden Files, watching Doctor Who with his Sonic Screwdriver, and always with a bit of Potter on the brain, on my mind was magic.

I was trying to think of how to enhance the actual experience of casting ala Harry Potter. Often when I think of the cross betwen magic and tech, the "TechnoMages" of Babylon 5 fame come to mind.

Duh - what about somatic spells? In Harry Potter, it takes years of practice to get good at non-verbal magic. The Wii does to a little bit with gesture recognition but with eClothing, one could include a function of the woven nanosensors to detect internal movement of the arms and body as well as calculations of external visual movement.

But what about voice recognition? This would be immeasurably more powerful with a subvocal recognition interface but we're still years beyond that. The wand would have to have a powerful conical mic to catch whatever one is saying.

Of course what would stop the user from just shouting into the Wii-Wand? Well, magic has to be the successful combination of gesture AND vocal recognition. In fact, the game would use some of the behavioral recognition to try and determine confidence levels and calculate that into the "Success / Fail roll" so to speak.

Fun, cool stuff.

Salem: Witches, Animal Sacrifice and Petty Dealings

Only in Salem.

I must admit I'm incredibly impressed by how well the article is written. While the content is certainly sensationalistic, (I can just SEE Hollywood's collective brain revving), and it will mean a busy Halloween once this story hits the wires and FARK, (and it will...), the author seemed to stop short of trying to make any statement about Wicca herself which was great.

There are several what I'd call BNF in the Salem pagan community and egos often fly. I stopped being involved in it before Will was born and I miss quire a few friends I made. But the energies are all wonky all over the place and I didn't have the energy or the skill to properly deal with it.

Hurricane Dean - yikes

Like a bat out of hell on a motorcycle of incredible energy, Hurricane Dean roared off the Sahara desert and into the Carribbean. While many of us were getting home for the week and slept last night, this powerful monster went from Cat 3 to Cat 4 and is set to become a Cat 5 hurricane sometime today or tonight.

As of 8am this morning, it was clocked with winds of 150 miles per hour - 155 being the max for a Cat 4 - and the sun has just started rising at this point. All computer models have it completely raking straight over Jamaica and into the Yucatan. If it's powerful enough, it can just continue straight over the Yucatan and into the rest of Mexico but there's a chance a hit to land could redirect it. I'd say going over Jamaica could do the same but they're currently predicting it will stay a Cat 5 until it hits Yucatan. The 5-day forecast has the Yucatan slowing it down to a Cat 3 and then the Gulf building it back up to a Cat 4 as it hits land just south of Texas in Tamaulipas.

Mother Nature is fickle and Hurricanes sometimes wildly unpredictable. Even the smallest landfall can suck the energy out of one and redirect it. We'll have to wait and see what happens when it hits Jamaica. But if it hits Jamaica as a Cat 5 - I shutter to think. Hopefully evacuations are well underway and folks are getting off the island or at least to much safe locations.

Musings of a Content Father

I've got a few fleeting moments of quietude as I allow my dear wife some quiet.....reading time before I troll up to bed stompedly and demand cessation of all lighted objects.

Continue reading "Musings of a Content Father"

Stirrings of Fall

I woke up and headed out to walk the dog this morning and was pleasantly surprised by how cool and crisp it was. The sun angles and shadows are hinting of the coming Autumn and there was something in the air I couldn't quite place - a scent that was telling my brain "Yeah dude - Fall's coming." I really wish I was spending the day outdoors in a state park somewhere but, alas, my office cubicle calls.

After coming back to Vegas to horrible humidity and heat, it is a welcome respite - Spring and Autumn are my favorite seasons with Winter a close third. I just don't do well in the Summer heat unless I'm spending the day in an inland lake - literally, all day. I'm a bit of a fish and once in a pool or other body of water, it's tough to get me out. That would have nothing to do with making me seem to drop ~50 lbs. No - not at all.

Vegas was wonderful - I got to meet a lot of folk I have only been corresponding with for years, stay up late chatting with people in bars and hanging out - even found part of myself in the the process that I thought was lost.

I'm finally starting to recover from jet lag and get back into the swing of things. More on the Vegas trip later including some friends-only insights on LiveJournal.