Google and Radiohead's House of Cards

Radiohead and Google have released a clip of "House of Cards" that uses no cameras or lights. The clip consists entirely of 3D data created using Geometric Informatics and Velodyne LIDAR. "Geometric Informatics scanning systems produce structured light to capture 3D images at close proximity, while a Velodyne Lidar system that uses multiple lasers is used to capture large environments such as landscapes. In this video, 64 lasers rotating and shooting in a 360degree radius 900 times per minute produced all the exterior scenes." They have also released an interactive version of the clip that uses the Flash player to allows you to pan and zoom the clips data. The technology was managed by Aaron Koblin. It's worth a visit to his site to see art works he created using the flight patterns of birds.

Surrender (to Guitar Hero)

My question today is how off topic can a post be and still be on topic. I ask this because my son brought home Guitar Hero (for the Playstation ) yesterday and despite being very bad at it I'm totally addicted. It's terrible to discover that much cherished favorites like Cheap Trick's Surrender are a walk in the park. While a deceptively casual sounding Nirvana track is almost impossible to master (for me at least). What I really love about Guitar Hero (and no doubt a reason for it's success) is that it is so far removed from all the battle/adventure games that have been dominating the market. Gaming was sadly in need of some diversity and Guitar Hero is evidence that new ideas can succeed. So now for all the air guitar wannabees out there ; all together 1..2..3...