Coworker just told me the Olympic opening ceremony fireworks were CGI. Dude.
Yep. Partially, anyway.
Angel: Lorne, you're— Lorne: Reliable as a cheap fortune cookie? Angel: I was gonna say a guy with good contacts…
'Shells'
Natter 60: Gone In 60 Seconds
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
tommyrot - Aug 11, 2008 8:57:24 am PDT #2507 of 10003
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
Daisy Jane - Aug 11, 2008 8:58:45 am PDT #2508 of 10003
"This bar smells like kerosene and stripper tears."
Crazy.
Gudanov - Aug 11, 2008 8:59:32 am PDT #2509 of 10003
Coding and Sleeping
Doesn't Obama have family in Hawaii?
Nothing says unamerican like visiting your grandmother.
He needs to vacation someplace with real down home values that celebrates the hardworking people who have made this country great, he needs to vacation in swing state located Branson.
tommyrot - Aug 11, 2008 8:59:39 am PDT #2510 of 10003
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
The uncanny valley just got uncannier. Or vallier. [link]
Take a trip with us down into uncanny valley, where animated human faces look almost real. Studio Pendulum's AlterEgo division pasted tiny sensors on actors’ faces and ran that data through their latest facial performance software, and this is the result. They’ve certainly come a long way since Disney-owned ImageMovers created Polar Express.
This is the closest yet to the real thing, but it’s still not exact enough to get beyond the creepy zone. Our familiarity with the human face is just too precise for animated artistry to be completely convincing thus far. Can’t wait to see what the next generation of animation will bring. Two or three more revs and on-screen human actors will be rendered obsolete.
The woman's skin looks too... plastic? She's the least realistic, IMO.
The human brain has a large chunk devoted to reading the faces of other humans, so it's no wonder that animating a realistic human face is so difficult.
Tom Scola - Aug 11, 2008 8:59:59 am PDT #2511 of 10003
Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.
At least 38 Venezuelans have died as a result of a suspected outbreak of rabies spread by bites from vampire bats.
Gudanov - Aug 11, 2008 9:02:08 am PDT #2512 of 10003
Coding and Sleeping
Huh. Coworker just told me the Olympic opening ceremony fireworks were CGI. Dude.
I hear the next Olympics are going to be completely CGI.
Jessica - Aug 11, 2008 9:05:06 am PDT #2513 of 10003
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
At least 38 Venezuelans have died as a result of a suspected outbreak of rabies spread by bites from vampire bats.
Jesus. It really is the apocalypse, isn't it?
Matt the Bruins fan - Aug 11, 2008 9:05:48 am PDT #2514 of 10003
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
What kind of President can we expect Obama to be if he puts visiting relatives over poll results of where the majority of Americans think he should go on vacation?
What's Cokie's position on the sitting President galavanting over to a foreign place like China to watch athletes compete against foreigners who don't even speak American? (Mind you, it's one of vanishingly few things Bush has done that I actually think is nice and genuinely patriotic rather than jingoistic or malevolent.)
tommyrot - Aug 11, 2008 9:06:21 am PDT #2515 of 10003
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
It really is the apocalypse, isn't it?
We just need to wait for the final sign - a dog giving birth to kittens.
Fred Pete - Aug 11, 2008 9:06:58 am PDT #2516 of 10003
Ann, that's a ferret.
More important, why does Cokie Roberts hate American families and senior citizens?