Attack of the Show Episode 3
9Original Air Date: 03/30/2005
If Only Hugh Grant Had Had One of These: Cities in the UK have been installing the Q Star FlashCam-530 “shouting lamppost,” which automatically tells potential loiterers and prostitutes to move along.
Baby Doll Art: Behold the wonder of Toddlerpedes!
Feel The Forces: AtomFilms.com has selected its Star Wars fan films finalists.
EXTREME CASE MODDING
In the world of case modding, Paul Capello is a master. Since the summer of 2000 Paul has been fusing his passion for art, technology and industrial design into his unique creations. His more than 23 years of experience as master model builder, carpenter, and special effects artist is reflected in works such as Metropolis, Alien Case Mod, The Matrix: Rebirth 8.0 and his most recent Doom 3: Project Mars City.
paul capello case modAt his website, TheBestCaseScenario.com, you’ll find online modding forums on this website that serve as his launch pad for new ideas. There, he can often be found sharing his works in progress, lending a helping hand, and learning from the many creative people that make up the case modding community.
You can learn about Paul’s techniques in his book, Extreme PC Mods. He swears that anyone can create modded cases like his with basic hand tools: files, a jigsaw, a handsaw, and X-Acto knives. Good luck!
SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST WEB AWARDS
Brendan concluded his visit to Austin’s South By Southwest to attend the festival’s Web Awards. Here are the sites he featured in his report:
TheMeatrix.com
StyleWars.com
BillyHarveyMusic.com
MadeInMTL.com
You can see the full list of finalists at the official SxSW Web Awards page.
KEVIN R.’S DARK TIP: DEEP-SIX SPAM
Kevin R. provided some tips on how not to get spammed:
If you have a Gmail account, try inserting “+spam” in your email address if you’re filling out a webform (name+spam@gmail.com ). Gmail will sort incoming spam using that address into a particular folder for you.
Dodgeit.com allows you to make up an anonymous email address, name@dodgeit.com.
Hushmail.com is a free encrypted email service, but if you forget your password, they’re so hardcore they won’t send it to you.
Fake Email Mailer, which Kevin recommend last year, is now loaded up with some spyware and adware, so you might want to avoid it.
THE FEED
Mystically Punk’d! Sony spends $100,000 to remove a kabbala bracelet from Ashton Kutcher’s wrist in Guess Who.
Blockbuster Gets a Big Fee: Apparently, that “No Late Fees!” marketing campaign forgot to mention the fact that consumers would now have to actually buy late DVDs.
Emulation Wars: PearPC is suing CherryOS for allegedly using its code for the PC Mac OSX emulator.
Beware of Fake ATM Machines: That’s right—scammers have created fake ATMs that steal your account and PIN numbers.
HALF-LIFE 2 THE MAX
One of biggest gaming stories of 2004 was the long-awaited release of Half-Life 2, which not only achieved “instant classic” status but also brandished bleeding-edge graphics and gameplay. And now, Attack of the Show unveiled a whole new level for Half-Life 2 that’ll give gamers a glimpse into the future of PC graphics.
Valve’s Doug Lombardi gave an exclusive demonstration of the previously unseen “The Lost Coast,” an upcoming expansion that utilizes a brand-new technology that Valve is implementing into the Source engine. Called “high-dynamic range lighting,” this new technology enables a leap in lighting realism from even the current high benchmark set by Half-Life 2 and the existing Source engine.
Will this technology demand huge system requirements?
“Absolutely, no bones about it,” Doug said. “This is for early adopters of the latest and greatest hardware.”
The Lost Coast will be available free to Half-Life 2 owners via Steam very soon.
We’ll have a web-exclusive interview with Doug tomorrow with more info.
WEB CLASSICS
Today’s web classic of the inadvertently fire-breathing boozer was located at www.crapville.com.
USER CREATED FLASH CHALLENGE
Although Kevin P. and Sarah didn’t seem too excited over last week’s Flash movie submissions, don’t be afraid to take a stab at our newest challenge. Break out the ol' Photoshop and make us some Attack of the Show movie posters! Imagine Attack of the Show as a giant Hollywood blockbuster -- or heck, even a Chris Gore indie film.
Grab a Photoshop kit of images at the User Created page.
LIVE CALL
Azziz wants to visit websites dedicated to modding so he can get instructions and inspiration. Where can he go?
Paul recommended www.Twistedmods.com, where he got his start with one of his first mods. Then there’s the very well established www.Hardocp.com , the friendly www.gruntville.com, and www.thetechlounge.com, which has lots of reviews. Finally, of course, there’s Paul’s own forums located at www.thebestcasescenario.com.