s4ndm4n's blog

Geek s4ndb0x: Hatsune Miku, J-Pop Star x Hologram?

I came across this article awhile back, but never really thought about posting anything about it, 'til now.  Brace yourself this is pretty crazy.  You've seen the Gorrilaz and how they are represented by cartoons instead of live people, and while that is, in and of itself a pretty crazy idea, especially considering how popular they'd gotten (don't know about now, as I don't follow the band).  This one might throw you for a loop. 

Recently, there's been a new pop star on the rise in Japan, but also more recently, on the internet with her videos.  She's a young pop singer that appears in concerts now to huge crowds, apparently. As you probably already were guessing, she shows up as a 3D hologram on stage singing her songs. She's an anime style girl with long, teal pigtails, a mini skirt and tie, which isn't really surprising but that leads me to the most interesting part of this story of all.  She's not real.  No, I don't mean her hologram isn't real, that's obvious.  Neither is her voice.  It's all a computer generated voice based on software by a company called Crypton Future Media.  The software is called Vocaloid by Yamaha and it allows a composer to create/design/compose music, including a virtual singer, whose voice is only based on real samples but is entirely fabricated digitally.  Check it out below:  

Related Links:

• Singularity Hub
• Vocaloid
• Hastune Miku Wiki
• Crypton Future Media
• Karen T (youtube channel) 

 

 

Art s4ndb0x: Tim Lockhart's Wazo - Tubby Little Plastic Toy Canvas

I don't usually post on my Facebook much anymore, but lately, I've been home, due to the Christmas holiday and so I've got a bit more time on my hands than usual.  Well recently I came across  a cool new designer toy in-the-making that I cannot pass up the chance to post something about.  

It's about Tim Lockhart's Wazo figure.  While I know very little about the figure so far, I was instantly intrigued and very excited to see Tim's figure on my Facebook page.  You see, I never knew of Tim Lockhart's work, let alone his Wazo creation, before today.  Thanks be to all my toy-addicted friends on FB, I was introduced to Wazo via one of our mutual friends.   Anyhoo enough about that.  

I am working on getting more information from Tim himself, so hopefully my next post will be more informative but for now hope you like this image from his gallery.  Follow this link to see more.

Tech Obsessions: Thoughts on Reading with iPad, Tablets and eBook Readers

I am a regular reader of /.  (slashdot, for those unfamiliar with it, is a technology-related news site covering a variety of cutting edge tech today from software, programming, security and gadgets - the ultimate geek news site, if you will) The news, is always interesting but I might add, never nearly as fun or entertaining as the comments from the "slash-dotters", but I digress.  Today's thought-provoking article was related to a battle of sorts between magazine publishers and Apple for magazine apps to be read via the iPad.  You can read, and/or argue with the other comments on the article if you want by clicking here but that's not what I'm writing about. 

What I am interested in pondering is whether ebook readership is really the wave of the future in its current incarnation or will it need to evolve further first? What do I mean?  First let me ask, are you a current iPad, tablet or ebook reader owner?  I know that these devices are very popular, so maybe it's silly to ask this question but I'll ask anyway.  Does it truly replace traditional reading material or complement it?  The reason I ask this is because as a previous iPad owner, I found that the ebook idea was less than ideal for me.  Now this is in the area of reading material like magazines, not large texts or novels that might be different.  For me, the ability to actually flip through the pages of a magazine was entirely different than using an iPad, and much more appealing also.  Jumping through the pages of a magazine is, in and of itself, part of the ritual that we do, or at least I do, that makes it so enjoyable.  Sometimes, it's not even the articles or material as much as just scanning stuff quickly to pass the time. 

Tablets all seem to miss something, and although very useful in many ways, including for long texts and books, I'm not sure that they'll replace my magazine readership anytime in the near future. Perhaps when there is a digital device that feels like a magazine, paper thin and with tangible, changeable pages, It'll change my mind. 

Call me old skool, but I'm not giving up my magazines, in spite of my geekiness in every other way!

Current MMO Gaming Obsessions

Here are my current gaming obsessions, or at least just a few of the many that I have.  I say "current" because this is a very dynamic list and it changes often for me.  I never stop playing or enjoying any one of the games typically.  I can only think of one, that I'm pretty close to just being tired of, and that's World of Warcraft.  Simply for the fact that after more than five years on and off playing it's still pretty much the same game.  Sure, it's not bad, but it's not overwhelmingly great either.  It's fun, at times, but mostly it's just .. well here I am repeating myself, mostly the same.  Even the Cataclysm beta failed to conjure up moer than a day's worth of interest for me.  Mind you I'm not bashing the game, nor the developers.  There is no doubt in my mind they are successful for good reason.  Just stating for me, it's gotten old.  That's all.   Ok so after digressing there, here is my list of current games:

• Champions Onlline - full and f2p beta
• An undisclosed (but very amazing) Fantasy/Sci-fi based MMO (closed beta)
• Another undisclosed hero-based (closed beta)
• FFXIV 

I can't wait to see the NDAs lifted in the games listed above.  In short, one of them has me so excited, hence the reason I'm being careful not to even mention the game's name.  I promise though I'll share as soon as I can!

 

Vinyl Addiction (by s4ndm4n) Reborn!

It's been a long time since I've posted anything significant on the web via blogging.  Frankly I've missed it.  I tried to return to blogging recently and then my favorite platform for the past 4 years, Vox, was shut down.  I was not happy about that, but here I am, on Posterous.  Frankly I tried most of the other major platforms and the one suggested as a replacement to Vox - TypePad, just isn't very user-friendly like Vox (so I'll be "autoposting" via posterous).  Thankfully, although Posterous is very different from what I'm used to, it is very user friendly so far and seems to be pretty simple, with plenty of features.  Hopefully I'll like it enough to be able to update regularly. 

I'm not quite as obsessed with toys as I was at one point, although I still have a small collection and I still appreciate custom toys, like munnys from Kidrobot, and other collectible vinyl figures, I don't follow it as closely as I did at one point.  I miss the community though and I hope to at least be able to get involved a little once again via blogging. 

More than anything I just want a place to express myself and cover my thoughts, opinions, likes and dislikes of certain entertainment mediums and art, among other things.  Maybe this will evolve into something interesting for people to read, maybe it will remain the pointless ramblings of a middle-aged, mmo-obsessed, beta-testing, gamer/artist/collector.  Wow, that was a mouthful. And with that, I'll stop for now. 

Until next time..