Now if only the creators, students at Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), can come out with a polished final product. I’m pretty sure Wizards of the Coast (WOTC), owners of Dungeons & Dragons, would love this. At the very least, WOTC can turn Surface Scapes into an expensive new toy designed to make die-hard fans spend even more.

Totally immersive and addictive? Check! Let’s hope that future players remember Microsoft Surface isn’t exactly made of hardwood, and is less accommodating of passionate/angry tabletop slamming.

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Consider this: back in the early 80s, according to a random commenter on Reddit, this totally awesome 10MB hard drive from XCOMP went for a shade under $3400. Check out the ad below and be awed!

The details? The 4MB version was priced at $2898, and the ad copy made sure to highlight the benefits of this hard disk line compared to… 5 1/4″ and 8″ floppies. And as this was before everyone started using DOS, compatibility with the CP/M OS was advertised as a plus. Witty marketese follows.

XCOMP introduces a complete micro-size disk subsystem with more…
- more storage
- more speed
- more value
- more support

8100 users… The XCOMP subsystem is now available with 10 megabytes of storage, 4 megabytes also available at $ 2898. Compare the price and features of any other 51/4-inch – or even 8-inch system, and you´ll agree that XCOMP value is unbeatable.

OUTPERFORMS OTHER HARD DISKS
Floppy disk and and larger, more expensive hard disks are no match for this powerful little system. More data is available on every seek: 64k on 10MB and 32K on 5MB. Faster seek time too – an average of 70MS, it provides solid performance anywhere with only 20 watts of power. Data is protected in the sealed enclosure, and the landing zone for heads provides another margin of safety. The optional power board plugs directly into the S100 bus and provides power for the drive.

FAST CONTROLLER
The XCOMP controller is the key to this system´s high efficiency operation. Speed-up features include interleave without table lookup, block-deblock with controller buffer, and read lookahead. OEMs wolrd-wide have already proven the outstanding performance of the XCOMP controller.

MORE SOFTWARE
Included with the system is software for testing, formatting, I?O drivers for CP/M, plus an automatic CP/M driver attach program. Support software and drivers for MP/M and Oasis are also available. The sophisticated formatting program assigns alternate sectors for any weak sectors detected during formatting, assuring the lowest possible error rate – at least ten times better than floppies.

WARRANTY
The system has a full one-year warranty on parts and workmanship.

ALSO AVAILABLE FROM XCOMP
- General Purpose controllers (8 bit interface), with easy interface to microprocessor-based systems.
- GP controller adapter that plugs directly into most Z80 computers.
- ST/R GP controller for the 5MB and 10MB drive above, with ST506 type interface
- SG/R GP controller for SA1000 interface
- SM/R GP controller for storage module drives
- ST/S SG/S and SM/S, same as above, for the S100 bus.

Quantity discounts available. Distributor, dealer and OEM inquiries invited

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Yes, Forever squarely falls under R&B (or is that hip-hop?). Nevertheless, such an offbeat way to kick off a wedding just seems so geeky.

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Courtesy Wikicommons

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, which featured Neil Armstrong becoming for the first man on the moon. One of the few times in science fiction when reality matched the imagination (for late 60s geeks at least).

So why did Armstrong end up enjoying the first of firsts? (indeed, currently the only first not based on Earth) It all had to do with the way the lunar module—the vehicle mission commander Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin used to land on the lunar surface—was designed:

The real decision had already been made, by some anonymous design engineer. The Lunar Module’s moonwalk hatch… hinged inward, with the hinges not at the top or the bottom, but at one side – the pilot’s side. It swung open away from the commander and toward the pilot. So when the hatch was open, Armstrong had a clear path to manoeuvre out through the opening, while Aldrin was penned in behind the hatch.

…The only way that Aldrin could go out first was for the two men to swap places before opening the hatch. This wasn’t quite impossible, but it was very difficult; when Armstrong and Aldrin tried it in an LM mockup, they damaged some of the cabin equipment! The commander simply had to go first.

Aldrin, who made sure everyone knew he wanted to be first, decided that being first was not worth crippling delicate equipment, potentially preventing a return flight.

Courtesy Wikipedia

At least being first was never an issue for Michael Collins, who remained in lunar orbit while Armstrong and Aldrin were busy making history.

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Fenton, who specializes in spatial memory in mice and rats, devised a way to imprint animals with memories for where things are located. He taught them to move around a small chamber to avoid a mild electric shock to their feet. Once rats learn, they do not forget. Placed back in the chamber, they remembered how to avoid the shock.

But when injected with ZIP (a Zeta inhibitory peptide) directly into their brains, they had to start over again and learn how to avoid the electric shock. “When we first saw this happen, I had grad students throwing their hands up in the air, yelling,” Dr. Fenton said. “Well, we needed a lot more than that one study.”

H+ Magazine then discusses the potential dangers of developing ZIP into a therapeutic memory-deletion tool. Personally, I’m more interested in seeing scientists develop methods to transplant memories. It would be really useful for other mice if they could get a copy of the same set of memories that allowed their compatriot to avoid electrical shocks.

And yes, it would be great if we could purchase memories from humans who’ve gone through the trouble of attaining them. Not those special life moments which are rightfully unique to our individual personalities, but more functional memories—knowledge—that would help us do more in less time.

Remember The Matrix? Trinity needed to operate a helicopter within a virtual reality. So she had one of her team download the memories needed to do so directly into her brain, allowing her to do her part to save the day. What’s wrong with buying memories for the practical stuff, like cooking a good Ratatouille?

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Heck, I’m sure savvy fans have even figured out the dissolution of the Klingon-Fed alliance, given the messy inter-galactic politics started towards the end of Deep Space Nine and continued during Picard’s final days on-screen. But it’s always good for geeks to see the niggling details their favorite mythos fleshed out by a professional graphic designer, and the timeline’s definitely whetting my appetite for the upcoming online game. Definitely a Q’apla!

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Constructing an 18 meter (59 foot) tall Gundam is quite the geeky feat. And it’s funny how a mere head turn made the onlooking Japanese exclaim in delight. Imagine the crowd’s reaction if some engineer from the future secretly converted the statue into a fully-functional Gundam! Oh yes, I know you want that to happen as much as I do!

Anyone planning a trip to Tokyo’s waterfront district? Comment with links to your own pics or videos please.

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Courtesy of Mainichi

The lower half of Gundam’s body, which measures about 11 meters high, has already been constructed. After other parts of the character’s body are finished, including the head, arms and torso, they will all be assembled.

The completed Gundam statue is expected to weigh nearly 35 tons, move its head and emit light or mist from 50 points of its body.

If only the Gundam statue could fire its weapons, like the long-beloved Real Mazinger Z exhibition.

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[censored],

Y’all be careful about what you publish on Facebook during business hours.? [censored] and [censored] are always watching, and I know of one person that has been fired for improper internet use.

Love ya.

[censored] ARM, CAM
[censored]
First Management Services

Oh wow, I originally considered not censoring the names in the email (and the position of the addressee in the salutation. But I’m not someone who relishes sabotaging someone the career of someone else—even if they be a stranger.

But I do wonder: what kind of Facebook activity would lead to someone losing their job? Be careful of what you share online folks!

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