SoundtrackNet is holding a contest for the movie “300″. The grand prize winner will win a “300″ PSP game, an “Art of the Film” book, a leather bag with the “300″ logo, the “300″ special edition soundtrack CD, and a “300″ hat and t-shirt! There are runner up prizes as well, which include the hat, t-shirt, and the soundtrack. The contest ends on March 12th, 2007. Enter the contest.
In Lord of the Rings Online (beta), I’ve made my way up to level 13 now, and I thought I’d post the screenshots I’ve been taking. There are 50 screenshots, and they are a mix of scenery, quests, and user interface. The graphics are quite good, and I couldn’t help taking screenshots of some of the more picturesque locations.
View the Lord of the Rings Online screenshots or read my beta impressions.
After reading this thread on digg, I felt compelled to share some tips for managing your cash flow by using and abusing those nice credit card companies which send you junk mail every week.
Credit cards are a scam in many, many ways. First and foremost they’re a tax on people who pay cash at vendors who accept credit cards. If things were fair, people who paid cash would be given a 3-5% discount at the register.
A gag reel from season 3 of Battlestar Galactica has been posted on Google video. Be warned, there are spoilers if you haven’t seen season 3, but it is pretty funny. Battlestar Galactica gag reel.
Well, their homes exist anyway. WTFsrsly reports that a family in Wales has built their house out of natural materials, and it closely resembles a home for hobbits! The house was built to keep the visual impact on the land minimal, so it is built into a hill. Check out the article and photos.
Starting today and running through Monday, February 25th, Turbine will be holding a free open stress test for Lord of the Rings Online. What does this mean? It means that this test is open to anyone who wants to play. A stress test is meant to stress the servers in order to find weak spots. You can expect long wait times, crashes, and other issues, but it is a great chance to try out the beta early before open beta begins in April. The population must be much higher than usual in order to properly stress the servers, so go try it out!
Turbine is also running a contest for stress test participants. Anyone who plays at least two hours each day (including time spent waiting in the server queue) will be entered into a drawing to win one of three NVIDIA GeForce 8800’s. Read more about the stress test and the contest on the Lord of the Rings Online stress test page.
Check out my Beta First Impressions article to read about my experiences in Lord of the Rings Online.
Andrew Lipson has created a number of models of M. C. Escher’s illustrations using Legos. My favorite is “Relativity”, but he has also done “Balcony”, “Belvedere”, “Ascending and Descending”, and “Waterfall”. Many of these are physically impossible, strictly speaking, so the use of perspective is required to “trick” the viewer into seeing the impossible as possible. Not only does Andrew show photos of the finished models, but he also shows progress photos and explains how he constructed each one. They are quite amazing!
Microsoft has recently made Virtual PC 2007 available to download for free. This version supports Vista, so if you have a Vista license, you can run it on Virtual PC without installing over your current OS. However, it looks like it will only run on XP Pro, XP Tablet PC, and Vista OSes.
IGN has posted 9 video clips from the movie 300. Each video is an actual scene from the movie, unlike trailers where it is a mix of different scenes. I especially like the use of primary colors in the cinematography. Hopefully this movie will be what Troy could have been.
View the videos on IGN.
My last experience with an MMORPG beta (Vanguard) was less enjoyable than I expected. The game wasn’t very fun and did not seem ready for release. Now I’m playing in the Lord of the Rings Online beta. Since the NDA (non disclosure agreement) has been lifted, I’m free to discuss my experiences. So here are a few of my first impressions.