Every year since it started, I’ve lamented my lack of ability to scrounge up the funds necessary to attend either of the PAX conventions. After the news from PAX East, I’m really sad. It seems that the official Juliet Starling, Jessica Nigri, brought too much hotness to PAX with her fairly revealing costumes and was asked to change – twice. The outfit in question was the pink one that shows plenty of skin, enough to get complaints.
The problem came in when Jessica changed back into the original Juliet costume she wore a day prior. That too was out of bounds for the show goers, even though it was good enough just one short day earlier. Instead she was  told to tone it down even more or leave and finally changed into a outfit that covered a considerable amount more skin. unsecured loans

Granted, PAX instituted a no booth babes policy to further distinguish itself from other cons but they do allow cosplayers to attend, as long as they are sticking to the source material. Characters like Jessica’s are also allowed as they represent the game itself but they aren’t allowed partial nudity. Not really sure how the first official costume violates that one, that’s the typical amount of flesh one sees on a daily basis bad creidt loans and less than what gets displayed on a sunny day.

PAX is right to want to keep the conventions family friendly but let’s be honest here for a moment: they’re showcasing some very mature and gory games there. Games like Lollipop Chainsaw, Assassin’s Creed III, Max Payne 3 and plenty more “M” rated games were on display among the “family friendly setting”. Jessica’s day one costume is the one the titular character wears in game, which plenty of folks got their hands on. Double standard maybe?
What do you geeks think? Sound off in the comments, especially if you attended PAX East.

Kinect sensor nerf gun mod

In light of the gorgeous (is it tasteless to call guns gorgeous?) Gravity and Portal Gun replicas by Australian artist Harrison Krix, and in spirt of Team Dis-Kinect who hacked a Kinect to make a motion-controlled puppet for this year’s New York event, we bring you a How-To that combines the popularity of shooter games with the creative brains of a hacker.

In order to modify your Nerf gun to play rail shooter games on your computer you will need a Nerf Finder EX-10 foam dart gun (you’ll need the battery pack to power the wireless trigger), a five-button wireless mouse (to dismantle for parts) and a PC enabled Kinect sensor.

First you need to connect the Kinect sensor to your PC and install a collection of tools that will enable you to control the Windows mouse pointer by moving your hand in front of the sensor. Find instructions on how to install Windows Kinect drivers, middleware and the FAAST mouse control toolkit.

Configure the tracking software by using the FAAST bindings found in Step 2. This will allow the Nerf gun to move the mouse pointer. Do note that the settings are designed for the Nerf gun to be tracked at shoulder height about 5-6 feet away from the Kinect. FAAST will activate the tracking when you press Connect, Start Emulation and wave the Nerf gun in front of the Kinect until a white focus dot appears on the tracking image.

Now that your Nerf gun is able to control the mouse, add a mechanism to enable your gun to shoot in the game. Unscrew the Nerf gun case and remove the spring loaded bolt. Then take the circuit board from your dismantled mouse and fit it into the cavity in the Nerf gun that use to hold the spring bolt. Then wire the circuit to the Nerf’s battery pack and wire the side button’s jumper wires to the Nerf’s trigger operated switch. After that, black out the mouse laser and side vents with insulation tape, since we are only using the circuit for the trigger button. Make sure your PC USB mouse and the Nerf’s USB wireless receiver are connected to the same external USB hub.

Map the Nerf gun trigger to the left mouse button using X-Mouse software, and set mouse button 4 and 5 to activate. unsecured loans

With FAAST and X-Mouse running in the background, download a demo of House Of The Dead 3 and start it in windowed mode (FAAST won’t operate if the game’s running in full-screen mode. Now you’re all ready to make your gameplay that more real. bad credit loans

susan calman radio script

Poor Susan Calman. Her worst night in Edinburgh seems to have gone on for about a month.
She gave up a lucrative career in corporate law to become a comedian – which has eventually paid off, with regular Radio 4 New Quiz/Unbelievable Truth appearances and her own Radio Scotland chat show Funny Friends, not to mention a new show Constantly Seeking Susan. But the scars from that first Fringe remain.

My first Edinburgh is also my worst Edinburgh. I know that a lot of people say that, but in my case it truly was a month of absolute hell. Part of me is glad I got it out of the way early because I know that nothing can ever be as bad ever again, but I also know I am scarred for life.

In 2006, I had been doing open spots for about six months, juggling the excitement of gigging with an office job as a solicitor. Because I was young and foolish I decided, after the very short time, to give up my well-paid, reliable and respectable job to become a stand-up comic. One of the main reasons I made the decision was that a couple of comedian friends had secured a venue at the Edinburgh Festival and asked me to MC a late night comedy show at the Cafe Royal. The festival, a late-night comedy show, what could possibly go wrong I thought?! Answer: everything.

Some of the problems were admittedly my own fault. I had never been to the festival before and had no idea how it worked. My ignorance meant that I didn’t know that late-night comedy was already pretty much covered with Spank, Late and Live, Maxwell's Fullmooners and the Late Show at the Stand to name but a few. Trying to do a new late-night show at the Fringe was like trying to go through the festival without having a drink. Impossible and stupid.

I knew before I started that it was a risk to do the show. It cost me thousands of pounds and some people were sneering about taking on such a foolish endeavour. Fellow lawyers said the venture was bound to fail, and that I would some come crawling back to law, begging for my job back. That kind of talk was like a red rag to a bull and I was determined to prove my doubters wrong. It must be possible to be a success at the festival without an agent, PR or any reputation whatsoever! By the end of August I would be a household name with a sitcom, radio show and film in the works. bad credit loans

I know. I was a fool.
It became apparent early on that the numbers were bad. For bad, read almost non existent. We did one show to a front row of two irish men who spent the hour punching each other in the crotch. That front row was, in truth, the only row. We needed an audience. Desperately.

But how do you get an audience when there are 3 million other shows on? We tried everything that it was possible to do when you have a show with no money, no PR, no famous names and no track record. I blogged, Facebooked and begged journalists to cover us with absolutely no success. In the end it became clear that we would have to do it the old-fashioned way. By flyering. And this is where the festival of 2006, despite how bad it been before, became a living hell.

There is one indisputable fact during the Festival, and that is that the public don’t like people who flyer. And I know why. You try and walk anywhere in Edinburgh during August and a desperate looking person will shove a piece of paper into your face begging you to come and see a play about the life cycle of potatoes. But for most of the shows it is the only way to try and get people in. So I started flyering. And because it was a midnight show, I started at 9pm and carried on until 11.45pm when I would run to the venue.
I stood on the Royal Mile in the rain, hail and freezing cold for 20 nights. I even ended up making my own sandwich board out of a cardboard box I found at the back of a shop, and put all the details of the show on it so I didn’t need to speak to anyone. After a week of being sworn at, ignored and, once, punched by a child, I couldn’t take it any more.


But I had to keep going. And that is the one part of the experience that was positive. After the first week of that first festival I wanted to pack up and go home; call my former colleagues and tell them that they were right, that I was a failure and that I needed my job back. But my stubbornness wouldn’t let them win. So I carried on. I did the shows every night to the few people that did show up. I stood on the Royal Mile every night whilst drunks shouted at me. I accepted the pitying comments from my fellow comics who knew how badly it was going. But I carried on. unsecured loans

The show that year didn’t get any awards, good reviews or plaudits. But I survived. And to be honest that is what the festival is often about. Survival. I know that no festival since or in the future could ever be as bad. And I always take flyers from people on the Royal Mile. And so should you. You might rescue a young comic's dignity.

Metacafe videos to DVD

Metacafe is a community based video sharing web site, that specializes in short-form original entertainment, where users upload, view and share video clips. The site features short-form videos in a variety of categories, including Animation, Comedy, Entertainment, How To, News and Events, People and Stories, Sports, Video Games and others. Original content is uploaded to the site by independent video creators, small to mid-sized production groups, and major media companies. In you prefer enljoy Metacafe Videos on TV system to online-watching, you can burn Metacafe videos to DVD or Blu-ray disc. But how to burn the funning Metacafe videos to DVD or blu-ray disc? Here our programs can help you burn your desired Metacafe videos to DVD.

Any Video Converter and Any DVD Converter Professional feature a new characteristic: both of them can burn Metacafe video to DVD with DVD Menu.
Here the following is a brief guide on how to burn Metacafe video to DVD/Blu-ray disc.

Step 1 : Add/Download Metacafe video to the program.

If you have downloaded the Metacafe Videos from the website and saved in your computer disc, you just need click Add Video button or go to menu File > Add Video Files to select your desired video clips from your hard drive. But if you do not download the Metacafe Videos, with Any Video/DVD Converter, you can download videos from Internet and then burn it to Blu-ray disc. unsecured loans
Firstly, you need to visit Metacafe.com and right-click on the desired video to choose Copy Link Location (this is for Firefox users) or open the video and then copy the URL from the navigation bar (this is for IE users).
Secondly, you can click online video download button to begin download Metacafe directly.

Or you can choose File> Import Video to from Internet to begin downloading videos.

Thirdly, paste the link in the program

After you have downloaded the Metacafe Videos, all of them will be displayed on the middle panel with their detailed information, including duration, format and size, etc.

Step 2 : Choose Burning to DVD output profile.

Please unfold Output Profile, choose Burning to DVD from the list, and then choose DVD video NTSC Movie or DVD video PAL Movie according to your TV system.

Step 3 : Click Convert button to start encoding Metacafe Videos.

Once everything is ready, you can click on Convert to start the exporting process. If you would like to cancel encoding, please just click the Stop button and click Yes in the pop-up window then the encoding will be stopped.

Step 4 : Choose DVD Menu.

You will be prompted to choose DVD Menu when the program finishes Metacafe video conversion process.

--In DVD Menu Tile, you can name your DVD and input it into the box directly.
--In Background Music, you can browse music file from your local computer for your DVD.
--In Background Image, you can change your DVD's background image by click Browse Image File to select your desired image from your computer. bad credit loans
--In Menu Navigator, you can choose the playback mode for your DVD.
After you have made sure the settings, please click Next>> to follow the next step.

Step 5 : Insert DVD and start burning Metacafe video to DVD

In DVD Configuration, you can see the following pop-up window;

The program supports burning video to CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-RAM, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+R Dual Layer, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-R Dual Layer, random access writes, Blu-ray media, Blu-ray Rewritable media.
Insert a DVD media to the DVD burner, select recorder from the drop-down list, enter your desired Disc Lable, and then click Burn button, then the program will begin to burn video to DVD.
Note: If the inserted disc is not empty, you will be prompted to erase the disc. Click Yes, all data on the disc will be overwritten!

You can see the progress of burning Metacafe video to disc:

After the program finish to burn Metacafe video to DVD, it will pop up a DVD Burning Engine to congratulate you that your disc has been successfully burned.
Click OK button, the drive automatically ejects the disc.

Now your Metacafe video have been burned successfully to DVD/Blu-ray disc, just have fun!

piranha 3dd

I don't like Alexandre Aja. I think HAUTE TENSION was pretty terrible, and his subsequent efforts have been worse. However, I adore PIRANHA 3-D, if only because it's nothing more than non-stop ridiculous violence and gratuitous nudity. Despite my penchant for psychological thrillers, I have a soft spot in my heart for tongue bad credit loans-in-cheek gore flicks. Maybe that's why I'm so excited for the sequel to PIRANHA 3-D, which has finally been given an official release date.

As Shock Till You Drop reports, the cleverly titled PIRANHA 3-DD will kick off summer with a June 1 release, nestling it next to SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN starring Kristin "What's Emotion" Stewart." The following week it will have the Ridley Scott-directed PROMETHEUS to contend with.
The flick, directed by John Gulager, is penned by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, who made a name for themselves after penning several SAW installments and unsecured loans THE COLLECTOR, a pseudo-SAW flick that actually wasn't that bad.

Real Life Barbie girl

Valeria Lukyanova is a Barbie girl, living in a Barbie world - but does she really exist?

A satirical animated video making the rounds this week purports to show how the 21-year-old Ukranian model went from a striking blond to full-fledged Barbie through a series of transformative plastic surgeries.
The video, posted on Jezebel.com on Sunday, says Lukyanova claims to be the "most famous woman on the Russian language internet,” and is also interested in making music and "astroplaning.”
Valeria Lukyanova/via Facebook Lukyanova seems to have achieved her doll-like look through a combination of heavy make-up, plastic surgery, and Photoshop.

Animated by Taiwanese production company Next Media Animation, the company behind viral spoofs of many other news events, the video is set to Aqua's famous "Barbie Girl" song and shows a cartoon version of Lukyanova lying on an operating table and undergoing dramatic surgery, complete with sound effects including sawing noises.


 The video intercuts the animation with photos of Lukyanova, asking viewers whether they find her too “artificial” to be attractive.
Despite some critics’ doubts over her authenticity, many Facebook profiles exist in Lukyanova's name, dating back almost a year.

Valeria Lukyanova/via Facebook Lukyanova has posted countless pictures of herself online to show off her Barbie-esque body.
A Tumblr page in her name also features pages of pictures of the Ukranian waif, as does a website she seems to use professionally.

While many of Lukyanova's pictures do appear to be photographs of a real person, her body and facial features are so surreal in other shots that it seems her appearance could not have been achieved without surgical enhancement - or a heavy dose of Photoshop. unsecured loans

Lukyanova's big blue eyes are cartoonishly childlike, her eyebrows are pencil-thin and unnaturally high, her skin has a flawless plastic sheen, and she boasts long, silky blond Barbie hair.
Her body also mimics the proportions of the children’s doll, from her huge chest to her tiny waist, bright make-up and vacant stare. bad credit loans
The real-life Barbie hasn’t addressed the video, but if her online persona is to be believed, she is seemingly busy living by the words of her theme song: “Life in plastic, it’s fantastic.”
Valeria Lukyanova/via Facebook Valeria Lukyanova, a 21-year-old Ukranian model, is being dubbed the Human Barbie for her doll-like looks.

5 Situations When Manual Focus is Better than Auto Focus

 Digital Cameras present photographers with an ever increasing array of Automatic and Semi Automatic shooting modes. Most of these center around different ways of exposing your shots – however many cameras also give options for different focusing modes (auto, continuous focusing for moving subjects and manual).
It’s no wonder then that many photographers never make use of their camera and lens’ ability to focus manually. In fact this week I spoke with one DSLR owner recently who hadn’t even noticed the manual/auto focus switch on the side of his lens.

When is Manual Focus Better than Auto Focus?

Let me start by saying there is no right or wrong time to use either manual or auto focusing – both can produce great results in almost all circumstances – however there are a few times when you might find it easier to switch to manual focusing:

1. Macro Work

When doing macro photography I almost exclusively switch to manual focusing.
The narrow depth of field in these shots mean that you need to be incredibly precise with focusing and being just a smidgeon out or having your camera choose to focus on the wrong part of your subject can completely ruin a shot.
To use it you’ll also probably want to use a tripod to eliminate any movement of the camera which can make focusing either in manual or auto mode frustrating.
Manual focusing puts the control completely in your hands when shooting in this very precise setting.

2. Low Light

Shooting in dimly lit environments can be difficult for some cameras and lenses when it comes to focusing.
You’ll know when your camera is struggling in Auto mode when every time you go to take a shot the lens will whirl from one end of it’s focusing options to the other and back again before deciding on where to focus. unsecured loans
This can really lengthen your shooting process and make taking quick candid shots quite frustrating.
Switch to manual mode and you can quickly find your focusing point and get the shot you’re after.

3. Portraits

When shooting portraits focus needs to be precise.
The majority of your shots of people will need to have their eyes in perfect focus (although in the example to the left it’s the lips) and so switching to manual focus will give you complete control to enable this to save you from having to line up the focusing points on your camera on the eyes, press halfway down and then frame your shot.
Manual focusing in portrait work helps to ensure the viewer of the image is drawn to the part of the face that you want them to notice.

4. Shooting Through Glass/Wire Fences

If you’ve ever shot through anything like a window or a mess/wire fence you’ll know how cameras will often get confused on where to focus your shot.
Whether it’s shooting out of a plane window, taking a shot of an image at a museum or photographing animals through fences at the zoo – you might find your camera is confused.
Manual focusing will avoid this completely and allow you to get things just right – focusing upon the subject behind that glass or fence. If you do this in conjunction with a large aperture (which decreases depth of field) and get in close to the fence or glass you might well eliminate it completely from being noticeable in your shot.

5. Action Photography

Shooting fast moving subjects (like racing cars, planes, bikes, running animals etc) can be a frustrating experience when shooting with auto focus.
Even the continuous focusing modes can get left behind or confusing if you’re not panning with your subject smoothly. bad credit loans
One way to overcome this is to switch to manual focusing and pre focus on a point that the subject will move through – and shooting at that point. You need to get your timing just right – but you’ll find that it’ll often give better results than relying upon auto focus modes (particularly if you shoot in continuous shooting/burst mode).