Glest 3.0 Released

http://www.glest.org/

After some time and quite some expectation, a new version has been released that includes the single most awaited feature in the history of the game: Multiplayer!

At this point the multiplayer feature is reduced to the bare bones, but it works. We are hoping on the community to help us test it 🙂

In the spotlight: Heather Dale


Also published in Spanish by Articmist

Heather Dale is a fantastic canadian singer and producer, able to take us to places long ago forgotten while she tells us stories with her wonderful voice.

J:Thanks for your time, Heather… Give us a global vision of your musical trajectory.

I am always looking for new stories to tell… I enjoy studying legends and stories from around the world. I think that every story, no matter how old it is, or how strange it seems, can tell us something about ourselves — it can help us Continue reading In the spotlight: Heather Dale

Dumber&Dumber Vs…

“What do the cruellest criminals do when they are all together?” This looks like the beginning of a joke, but still isn´t… Perhaps if I say “Simon West’s Con Air”, you will guess what the joke is. Wow! What a horrible film (in my opinion)! More than a blockbuster it seems a “blockbastard”! -Sorry for the pun.

Ok. Let’s start again. I am not going to talk about the ridiculous script, the non-existent sense of measure, the extremely confuse action scenes, or the inappropriate performances. I think that something better could Continue reading Dumber&Dumber Vs…

To be or not to be: that is the version

Yesterday I heard the umpteenth version of the Righteous Brothers’ song “You’ve lost that lovin feeling”, a huge hit from the middle 60’s. They say it’s the most versioned song ever (even more than Beatles’ “Yesterday”).

Many song versions are made by not very popular singers or groups, but sometimes there are well-known artists that decide to make their contribution. Oops! But what a contribution sometimes! It’s like a photocopy.

I think that versions must add something to the original piece. It’s not a matter of respect to the original, but a question of being creative. I remember when, for example, Nirvana was going to version the great David Bowie’s “The man who sold the world”; I expected a new powerful song, but Continue reading To be or not to be: that is the version

Hitting the city

A gang of highly professional thieves is committing a series of robberies… An assassin performs his very own nightly tour de force… Two anti-vice detectives pursue the typical delinquent. While looking forward to seeing on screen Miami Vice´s cinematographic version, both “Heat” and “Collateral” offer us a characteristic mark of Michael Mann´s work as a director, which is not in the detective stories but in his way of portraying the city. In fact, these two movies Continue reading Hitting the city

Cars: Afterthoughts

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/cars/

Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself (…) in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs.

For the sake of honesty, I´ll say that I went to see Cars almost forced by a friend. Though I usually love animation films, the way the cars are portrayed looked somehow too bland, too gentle, so to say, and I feared that the whole would share that same spirit.

In fact, while perhaps mild, Cars is nevertheless a good movie. Continue reading Cars: Afterthoughts

The Vostok Suitcase Synth

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~concuss/concussor/vostok.htm

a powerful amount of modular synthesiser power into one small suitcase.

The Vostok is a sort of modular analog synthesizer with a cover that doubles as a suitcase: add a handful of solar cells and you’ll have the companion of choice to make noises on the field for synthesizer lovers and nans alike. The synthesizer is certainly appealing and promises endless hours of modular patching or EMS pinning, plus tons of weird cool sounds. Drawbacks? maybe the price, ÂŁ1499 -modular synthesizers tend to be expensive. Also, an article in the sound-on-sound magazine pointed out some other issues, especially the behaviour of the digital oscillator, but the last version has replaced it with an analog one. This said, the Vostok looks superb as a portable semi-modular synth and I would take it everywhere, except airports: it wouldn’t be easy to convince the person behind the scanner that that thing actually is a music instrument (let me show you -I just have to switch it on, connect this pin, and it’ll make awesome sounds! the bass is so powerful, it can blow… the speakers I mean…).

ps. I have just found another modular-in-a-box (second thumbnail from the left). It’s not as sexy, but the case looks much more reliable.

Animal Farm

I like Pink Floyd very much. They have handed down to Rock music history not only a fistful of memorable albums (the indisputable “Dark Side Of The Moon“, “Wish You Were Here”, the visionary “Ummagumma”, a less known gem titled “Meddle”, etc), but also a worldwide influential style due to their music, lyrics, performances… Very few times has a band been so unanimously acclaimed by public and critics.

But that symbolism which Waters and Gilmour liked so much (I think) has three great exponents: “The wall” album, the song “Wish you were here” and my favourite album, “Animals”. All of them full of that nonconformity (sometimes naïve nonconformity, but never unnecessary). Continue reading Animal Farm

Reading between the lines

Subliminal messages allow us to communicate something without being direct, and are usually quite effective in reaching the target. Let’s practise!

Imagine you want to leave your girlfriend/boyfriend because you have discovered something you don’t agree with. Now imagine you have to take her/him home in your car. How can you tell her/him your feelings without saying anything, but only playing five songs? Continue reading Reading between the lines

Game developers spotted!

http://www.gamedevmap.com/index.php

Publishers, development studios with a staff of five or more, studios with previously published games, and studios under contract with a publisher are listed.


Gamedevmap is a growing database of video game companies. For the sake of general curiosity, you can spot at a glance the most prominent areas for video game developing -this is a little tricky though, since the spots don’t give visual information on the number of companies on each one of them-. However, I believe that this link will be most valuable for those interested in entering the business, since it saves countless headaches searching for the companies’ locations and sites. Beware that not every company is covered: the webmasters rely on the readers’ help to complete the list, so this could be your opportunity to add a spot! 🙂