Virtual Environments Search Results

News: Opening game in 3D. First impressions.

I've been curious to watch one of these famed '3D' games for a while now. Last April at NAB, I attended several 3D panels and folks from ESPN suggested that one of the strongest experiences that would bring 3D into the home would be live sports. I've missed opportunities to watch the PGA Masters broacasts, and NCAA games, but being a hardcore Soccer (Futbol) fan, I've been most excited about this possibility. It did not disappoint, but not without some concessions. I will be as detailed as po...

News: Alan Wake Episode 3 Gameplay & Musings

There are no spoilers in this writing, read without worry. Finished Episode 3 of Alan Wake yesterday, impressed by different reasons. I originally bought the game for the possibility of great story, dialogue, and voice acting. That part of the game has been disappointing. What has stood out from playing episodes 1 to 3  is the level design and game play.

How to Act Like a Food Snob: Molecular Gastronomy Edition

I first heard the term molecular gastronomy while watching an episode of Bravo's Top Chef a few seasons back. Intrigued by the concept, I sought to find out more about this modern, deconstructed type of cookery. If you happen to be around foodies and the topic of molecular gastronomy comes up (which very likely will at some point) you'll want to have a few points to contribute and maybe even give them a run for their money.

Books: Digital vs. Analog

Since the invention of the printing press, books have been a dominant and iconic paradigm in our culture and throughout the world. During my years in elementary and high school, the digital world was on the rise sparking the conversation: Are Books Obsolete. Over the last year (or 2 at the most) that the term "Book" has started to make the shift from a physical object to the concept of a written work.

How To: Scan for Viruses in Windows Using a Linux Live CD/USB

Many windows users, if not all, run into a virus infection once in a while. This is unavoidable when using Microsoft's operating system. Without digressing too much, the fact that Windows is such a popular OS with no controlled software sources makes it easy for viruses and malware to spread. And while there's a plethora of antivirus tools for Windows, sometimes infections (such as certain scareware) can disable the install and/or use of antivirus systems and render your OS unusable until cle...

Lockdown: The InfoSecurity Guide to Securing Your Computer, Part I

This is a two-part series to locking down the computer to provide maximum protection. Even though this guide will sound intrusive, we are talking about reality here. Extreme measures must be taken to protect our computers, especially when we have confidential documentation or do internet banking, which many people do. We all have to use electronic devices at some stage, whether it be for business or personal use.

How To: Create an Epic Build in Minecraft

Minecraft is not just a game. It is a creative tool. Over the past year and a half countless epic builds, servers, and community projects have been undertaken. I'm sure some of you have seen the one-to-one scale recreation of the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek or the epic server Godcraft. Countless projects such as these are being worked on as we speak, and they serve to inspire us all.

News: The Other Side of Fashion

The United States is a hierarchical country where the weak ones are at the bottom and the powerful ones are at the top. Garment workers are at the bottom of the list although they are the most important. Without them there would be no fashion industry. They sew and cut the garments that people buy, the raiment that models wear on the runways. After the garments are sewn, factory owners send the garments to contractors to get make the clothing. Contractors make sure the garment workers sew the...

News: Alan Wake First Look

A first hands look at the first chapter of the game. "When the wife of best-selling writer Alan Wake disappears on their vacation, his serach turns up pages from a thriller he doesn't remember writing. A dark presence stalks the small town of Bright Falls-" 

How To: Setup an Asterisk Server

Over the years, I have enjoyed playing with Asterisk. I have found Asterisk to be extremely powerful and fun to play with. There are several books and many scattered how to articles out there, but most are outdated and the information required to build Asterisk from beginning to end can be a bit daunting. I wanted to combine all the steps into a single article and share my experience with everyone. If I have left out any steps please let me know.

How To: Carve Polyhedral Pumpkins

Halloween is coming up, so many of you may have a need or desire to carve a pumpkin and turn it into a Jack O' Lantern. This week we are going to explore carving our pumpkins into interesting geometric shapes. In this post, we will carve the pumpkins into spherical versions of polyhedra, and in Thursday's post we will carve 2 dimensional stars and some simple fractal designs into the pumpkins.

Mastering Security, Part 1: How to Manage and Create Strong Passwords

I've seen numerous tutorials on how to create a "strong" password. This makes me laugh. These titles imply "one" password, which is wrong in and of itself. A person should have many passwords, all different, and all extremely long. People may ask how they're supposed to remember lengthy passwords and why their current password isn't good enough. Well, I'm going to show you.

News: The Basics of Facebook Privacy Settings

Just how private is your Facebook profile? To some extent, that's up to you. Many Facebook users share and poke their days away, never knowing about the plethora of custom privacy settings that lie just a click away. Facebook's privacy menus can look a little complicated to the newcomer, so today I'm going to give you a basic look at what lies under the hood.

How To: Share Local Drives and Folders using Oracle VM VirtualBox with a Guest Windows OS

There are several virtual machine managers present in the market. However, the main functionality of all VMs are the same. Most people like to get free VM managers, so that they can install as many operating systems as they like over the host operating systems. One of these free VM managers is Oracle's VM VirtualBox, which can be downloaded from Oracle's website for all popular operating systems, such as Linux, Windows and Mac.

How To: Make a Self-Watering Greenhouse (In-Depth Tutorial)

I know it seems a little redundant to post this when I've already posted a video, but it is kind of hard to get more than a vague idea from the video alone. I hope this sheds a little more light on the subject. I'm sure it also seems like I'm beating this idea to death, but this one concept opens doors to further innovation. After I finish this article, I'm going to put another one up that shows a hinged, raised bed house and talk about some amazing things you can do from there.

How To: Avoid Computer Fatigue (As Best As You Can)

I don't know what I'd do without my computer. I can't do my job without the internet. I communicate with employers, friends, and family through emails, video chat and Twitter. I schedule meetings and plan deadlines. I bank. I shop. I read the news. I play games. I watch my favorite shows. Yes, I'd be rather lost without this little plastic box of circuits.

News: Gardening's Here!

Finally! Gardening! Many have been waiting for ages for this invention to come true, and now it has! Come experience it for yourselves in the Test Realm (instructions on getting there will be added)! When you enter, go the Moolinda Wu and she will teach you how to start gardening. Easy as that! You can plant many things, and monsters drop seeds, too. You can plant indoors or outdoors. Garden now on the Test Realm!Here's the complete article Professor Moolinda Wu wrote:

News: How-To-Maintain your PC

INTRODUCTION The everyday PC user doesn't think much about its PC and problems that can cause critical damage to their data or other stuffs stored on Hard drive and other electronic parts until the problem actually occurs. Once a failure happens, the repairs can be costly and very time-consuming and one also have to sacrifice their data stored on hard drives if the damage is more severe!

Kick Ass Review Part 2: Gameplay and Design

Kick Ass Review Part 2: Gameplay and Design In the game, you can play as Kick Ass, Hit Girl, or Big Daddy. Each charater has a light and heavy attack that can be strung together into small combos. Each character also has three special attacks assigned to the Square, Triangle, and Circle buttons requiring different amounts of MP. For bosses, each character has two finishing moves.Kick Ass

How To: Build & Hide a Campfire from Your Enemies — The Dakota Fire Pit

Fire.  It’s everywhere— always has been.  From the Ordovician Period where the first fossil record of fire appears to the present day everyday uses of the Holocene.  Today, we abundantly create flames (intentionally or unintentionally) in power plants, extractive metallurgy, incendiary bombs, combustion engines, controlled burns, wildfires, fireplaces, campfires, grills, candles, gas stoves and ovens, matches, cigarettes, and the list goes on... Yet with our societies' prodigal use of fire, t...

How To: Assemble a Survival Kit

I am writing this quick post in response to the recent earthquakes and tsunamis that are affecting Japan. As soon as the news broke, and we began to hear of tsunami warning for our area, I immediately realized how under prepared I was for a natural disaster. The thing that drove this point home even deeper was the number of people asking me for advice on what they could do to prepare for the possibility that we are hit by one of the resultant tsunamis. Many thoughts raced through my mind, and...