Blogbook
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, world-famous actor from iconic films such as Inception and 500 Days of Summer, geeks out about Magic: The Gathering in this video. Never heard of Magic: the Gathering? Via the Guardian:
The game originated in the early 1990s in the mind of Richard Garfield, at the time a graduate student working towards a PhD in combinatorial mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania. A life-long tabletop gamer, he had approached a publisher to pitch an idea for a game about programming robots, only to be told that the company needed something more portable and cheaper to produce.
Magic was Garfield’s response, and it involved one major innovation that set it apart from any game previously released.
Where other card games were sold as a single packaged product, Magic cards would come in randomised packs, a model similar to collectible baseball cards. Particularly powerful cards would be rarer than others, making collecting and trading them as much a part of the experience as actually playing matches. Players would assemble their own decks, with a near-limitless ability to personalise their game and develop their own tactics.
The formula proved to be a lucrative hit for the game’s publisher, Seattle-based Wizards of the Coast. From its release in 1993, Magic grew by word of mouth. Players obsessed over the process of building decks, endlessly hunting for the most effective card combinations and devising a huge range of winning strategies.
Captive State is a space alien invasion film where the aliens win, taking place after the invasion and with a great cast, directed by Rupert Wyatt. Via Collider:
Ten years ago, they took our planet. Today, we take it back. From the director of RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, watch the new teaser trailer for CAPTIVE STATE. In theaters March 2019.
Set in a Chicago neighborhood nearly a decade after an occupation by an extra-terrestrial force, “Captive State” explores the lives on both sides of the conflict – the collaborators and dissidents.
You don’t really need the extraterrestrial threat of alien invasion to amp up the existential threat of living under authoritarian rule these days, but Captive State has opted to go there anyway. A new trailer for the upcoming film, which hails from the filmmaker behind Rise of the Planet of the Apes, plays up the propaganda machines on both sides of a divide: One who’s collaborating with the alien occupiers and overlords, and another who’s resisting alien rule and rejecting any message that comes from them. It’ll be interesting to see how this film is received in the real world since fictional rebellions against authoritarian rulers seem to play better when audiences are not actually living through them.
Director Rupert Wyatt‘s Captive State, written by Wyatt and Erica Beeney (The Battle of Shaker Heights), stars John Goodman, Ashton Sanders, Jonathan Majors, Colson Baker, and Vera Farmiga. Wyatt also produces along with David Crockett. Look for Captive State in theaters March 29, 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vaNl5d4rjk
Generation Voice is a campaign for New Zealand telecom company Spark, involving children adorably fact-checking their parents. Via Campaign Brief:
Spark and Colenso BBDO have launched a new campaign, continuing its Little Can Be Huge platform. This time it’s to celebrate the power and opportunity the next generation will have, thanks to voice technology.
The campaign shows the adorable revolution that ensues once a nation of curious kids begin fact-checking information that, to previous generations, would have been challenging to answer. In the 60 second launch film, we see kids quizzing voice assistants for answers to some of the biggest questions – like will vegetables really make me taller? And can a stork really carry a baby?
Says Sarah Williams, brand COE lead, Spark: “Today’s kids are going to grow up with voice assistants as a normal part of their lives, just like 90s kids did with mobile phones, and 80s kids with the internet. Voice is another leap forward in the opportunities this generation is going to have, and that’s incredibly exciting to us.”
Says Mike Davison, creative director, Colenso BBDO: “We love seeing empowered, curious kids. There’s this magic age range between about 4 and 7 years old, when kids are still learning to read, but are weirdly more tech-savvy than many grown-ups. This is where the power of voice comes alive.”
The launch film will be followed by out of home, a social campaign and a series of 15″ films focussing on each of the children.
Hacking a furby in the name of music: Circuit bending consists of dismantling toys, household objects and synths in order to rebuild them as new instruments. Via the Verge:
For the third episode of The Future of Music, I’m in Margate, England, standing in front of 44 Furbies that have been hacked and wired together to create a giant, playable organ.
You might have seen this absurd instrument when it went viral on YouTube earlier this year. It’s the creation of Sam Battle, aka Look Mum No Computer, a mad scientist of sorts who’s made a name for himself by modifying toys like these rows of slack-mouthed Furbies via a process called circuit bending. And, as he shows me around his studio pointing out other far-out circuit bent creations with a laissez-faire attitude — like his flamethrower synth — it quickly becomes clear he’s not driven by anything except sheer curiosity. It’s just how his brain is wired (pun intended).
“When you get the first thing to work, it’s amazing,” Battle says about circuit bending as his face lights up. “It’s magical!”
Circuit bending is the creative (and often experimental) process of taking apart old, battery-powered toys and synthesizers and fiddling around with the inner components to have them make unintended and new sounds. It was pioneered as a method of making music by musician and technologist Reed Ghazala in the 1960s. Ghazala himself was not the first to practice it, but he did conceive the term circuit bending later on, in 1992. It’s not as popular as it once was, and Battle is one of the few people currently circuit bending things on a scale as grand as the Furby organ.
Blizzcon 2018 is over, which means new, beautiful cinematics. Here’s one of them, titled Reunion, featuring McCree from their hit game Overwatch. Via the Verge:
Blizzard’s beautiful cinematics have long caught people’s attention when they debut at BlizzCon, the publisher’s annual convention, and this year’s shorts stole the show once again.
World of Warcraft, Heroes of the Storm, and Overwatch all received their own cinematic shorts, teasing new players, worlds, and experiences for fans of the franchises. Overwatch’s latest short focused on McCree, the game’s popular, roughneck cowboy character. (It’s an appropriate choice considering Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption 2, arguably the biggest game of 2018, came out last week.) Blizzard also debuted the trailer and cinematic short for its first full-fledged mobile Diablo game called Diablo: Immortal.
Overwatch’s short was by far Blizzard’s most interesting, introducing a new playable hero named Ashe. But don’t discount the others just yet: World of Warcraft’s short set up the next chapter in the Alliance and Horde’s continuing battle, while Heroes of the Storm’s short introduced a new playable hero named Orphea. Ashe, the leader of the Deadlock gang, also received her own standalone trailer as Overwatch’s new hero, showing off her unique skills in action.
The Air NZ Safety Video 2018 from the always hilarious Air New Zealand advertising team takes on safety in retro epic fashion this year. Via CNN:
There are six hundred cast members in Air New Zealand’s new safety video, “It’s Kiwi Safety.” The video, which launched Monday, isn’t Air New Zealand’s first creative safety video — in fact, it’s the airline’s 18th — but it is the first to be styled like a music video. Filmed at a variety of locations in the country, including Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin, it is the largest-scale safety video ever produced by the Auckland-based airline. Starring rapper Randa (Mainard Larkin), a transgender hip-hop performer known for expressive music, and New Zealand actor Julian Dennison, whose films include “Deadpool 2” and “Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” the video is entertaining, informative and a testament to the country’s incredible diversity.
“It’s Kiwi Safety” is a catchy tune inspired by Run DMC’s “It’s Tricky” and Sisters Underground’s “In the Neighborhood.”
While the safety video includes all the greatest safety hits — no smoking (or vaping), listen to the crew, fasten your seatbelt when the sign is on, put on your own oxygen mask first — it also introduces a new element when Randa raps: “Emergencies are unlikely, but if one did arise, just be calm, keep it cool, do your thing and please be kind.”
NZ Police are back with a new, hilarious recruitment video with a diverse cast that proves that no question posed is too trivial. Via Stuff:
She walked into the Hamilton police station malnourished and abused.
At the age of 18, she’d endured daily beatings from her boyfriend for four or five years.
The constant physical and mental persecution had taken a toll and she decided to seek help.
Constable Sameera Nugegoda was there to take her statement. He sat her down on one of the grey couches in a small interview room tucked down the corridor of the Bridge St station where the tale of abuse began to unravel.
“She just broke down and told me the whole story,” the 29-year-old frontline officer says.
“I couldn’t believe it. She was a young girl of 18 who had her whole life ahead of her. This was not a typical job.”
Nugegoda helped her seek refuge and built a file of abuse that later saw the perpetrator jailed.
In his 19 months on the force, it’s the most “heinous” yet rewarding job he’s done. “In the end she called me later to thank me for helping her.”
On Wednesday police released a new recruitment video “Breaking News” answering questions of potential recruits including whether you can have tattoos, a full driver’s licence and be able to swim.
Those recruits will help fill the 1800 officers the Government has committed to funding in the next three years.
“We hope this video will dispel some of the myths and show people that we want to recruit New Zealanders with a variety of backgrounds,” Police deputy chief executive of people and capability Kaye Ryan said.
Quest for the Perfect Apple — SweeTango, Zestar, Rave, Cosmic Crisp, EverCrisp, Arctic, Kissabel, Envy, these are all designer apples hoping to tempt people off Red Delicious to new varieties. Via ABC News:
While classic apples, such as Pink Lady, Royal Gala and Granny Smith are still a staple in the local fruit and vegetable aisle, some new names like Kanzi, Redlove, Bravo and Envy are stocking the shelves, promising a premium price and sustainability for apple growers.
They are called “club” varieties because they come with a trademark, and grower groups pay royalties and licensing fees in order to grow them.
Each variety has unique selling points, whether it be a nice colour or a better taste.
For example, the Kanzi apple is a hybrid of Braeburn and Gala varieties, and is promoted on its tangy taste and crisp bite.
Club varieties now account for 10 per cent of Australia’s total production, according to Apple and Pear Australia Ltd (APAL) technical manager Angus Crawford, with the most popular being Kanzi and Jazz apples.
He expects that figure will continue to grow, as older varieties like Sundowner and Fuji fall out of favour with consumers.
But are the new varieties a lifesaver for a struggling industry, or just an added risk?
Ever wanted to create your own D&D monster? Check out this new contest by Wizards of the Coast and Adobe to Photoshop one for a campaign. Via Gizmodo:
Ever wanted to create your own fantastical, horrifying creature by literally slapping various body parts together? Well, without some kind of access to some level of dark magicks, that’s not gonna happen. But this new contest being held by Adobe and Wizards of the Coast might be the next best thing.
To celebrate the upcoming release of Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Wizards is partnering with Adobe to task wannabe photoshoppers with creating the terrifying visage of a creature known only as the Terror of the Undermountain, a callback to the classic, The Ruins of the Undermountain adventure released for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons in the ‘90s. Using a set of pre-made bodyparts offered just for the contest, fans can incorporate their own artistic elements (like, say, a suitably creepy background for your Terror to skulk about in) and ‘shop together their own creation with a chance for it to become the official face of the Terror itself. Lucky winners judged by a panel of Adobe and D&D designers will get a chance to see their design turned into an official miniature, meet the D&D creative team, and earn $5,000 for their monstrous troubles, to boot.
Samsung Brazil’s Audio Acordes uses a voice system to help blind or visually impaired people learn how to play the guitar. Via Samsung:
Last month, Samsung Electronics Brazil announced the launch of Samsung Audio Acordes (Chords), a free application that teaches people with visual impairments to play the guitar in a practical and intuitive way. The initiative is part of Samsung Social, a project from Samsung Electronics Brazil that uses technology to unlock human potential and invites people to Do What You Can’t.
Using a voice system, Samsung Audio Acordes acts as a facilitator for blind or visually impaired people to learn to play the guitar. The app offers beginners an audio dictionary that teaches them how to play chords and can also tell users when to play which chord as a song progresses. It is especially helpful because the app eliminates some of the barriers such as the need to know how to read braille, which is only understood by 10% of visually impaired people in Brazil, or having to stop playing every now and then to read the music with the same hands they play the instrument. “Samsung believes in the human potential and in the transformative power of music and technology which has resulted in Samsung Audio Chords,” said Andrea Mello, Director of Corporate Marketing, Samsung Electronics Brazil. “The application is part of the company’s effort to offer people with visual impairments the opportunity to pursue their dreams of learning to play the guitar. It was designed in such a way as to offer total support and accessibility, even for those who are only learning their first chords.”