Great Nintendo Wii Fan Art
July 31, 2006 | 2 Comments
This really cool image highlighting all kinds of classic gaming characters was rumored today to be a leaked promotional piece direct from Nintendo for the Virtual Console on the upcoming Wii. Turns out that isn’t true, but the image is really cool no matter how you look at it. I can’t even begin in wonder how many game references are packed into this amazing work of art.
If anyone finds out who the artist is, let me know so I can give proper credit.
Tags: art, classic gaming, fan art, game, games, Nintendo, nintendo wii, video games, virtual console, wii
Day of the Long Tail
July 31, 2006 | Leave a Comment
From Chris Anderson’s post “The Audience is Up to Something”:
“For the past year or so, I’ve been ending many of my speeches with this brilliant video by Peter Hirshberg of Technorati, and Michel Markman. They showed it first at at the D conference last year and a few times since then, such as the EG conference earlier this year. Now Michel’s uploaded it to YouTube for everyone to enjoy. Some of the lines, such as “There are a lot more of them than there are of us” and title of this post, are now perminently lodged in my brain. Thanks Peter and Michel!”
This video is great, must watch stuff.
World’s Largest Railroad Viaduct
July 31, 2006 | 9 Comments
I was recently contacted by Mary Everett of Greene County, Indiana who wondered about the Greene County Railroad Viaduct. She informed me of area claims which state that the 700m (2,295ft) long, 48m (157ft) high railroad viaduct is the “third largest such structure in the world”. She asked if I was aware of any evidence to support or refute that claim.
To define largest is always somewhat complicated. We could assume this means longest, but that ignores the height. Which of those should we give greater precedence to? To be larger does it need to defeat both or just one? It’s my opinion that beating both makes an obvious winner, but substantially beating in either still makes it “larger”. Additional complexity comes in deciding whether or not to consider width or spans. Finally, what is meant exactly by “such structure.” I assume we are only talking about viaducts used to carry rail. However, what is the difference between a bridge and a viaduct? As far as I can tell, a viaduct is a type of bridge that is multi-span and has to carry vehicles.
With those decision criteria established, I decided to use Wikipedia’s List of Bridges By Length as a starting point. Here is what I found…
The Binhai Mass Transit, Bridge No. 1 in China is 25,800m (84,645ft) long. They do not state how high this bridge is, yet it is without a doubt the longest bridge in the world that carries rail. Finally, the bridge carries two-way commuter rail.
China also has the second longest bridge. The Kam Sheung Road-Tuen Mun viaduct which is part of KCR West Rail in Hong Kong is 13,400m (43,963ft) long. Again, the height of this bridge was not stated. This bridge also carries two-way commuter rail.
To find the third longest rail bridge you need to travel to either Denmark or Sweden as the Oresund Bridge connects these two countries with a length of 7,845m (25,732ft). The only height measurement of the Oresund Bridge given is to say the highest pillar is 204m (669ft). This measurement is not extraordinarily useful in making a judgement since standard traffic runs on an upper level while trains run on a lower deck.
Finally we reach the largest rail bridge in the United States with the Huey P. Long Bridge in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana measuring in at 7,003m (22,996ft) and 41m (135ft) high. This is also a bridge that combines rail and standard traffic. The rail viaduct is much longer and extends elevated into the city of New Orleans.
The list continues on Wikipedia, but at this point it seems clear that the Greene County Railroad Viaduct is stretching to claim third largest such structure. In fact, I’m left wondering which three they specifically are claiming rank above them…
One other bridge you may find from a simple Google search for world’s largest railroad viaduct”. The Tunkhannock Creek Viaduct or Nicholson Bridge is 724m (2,375 ft) in length and 73m (240ft) high. This bridge makes claim to be the World’s Largest Concrete Railroad Bridge. I wasn’t prepared to disprove this as it seems pretty specific.
The Greene County Railroad Viaduct is still a very unique and amazing structure. I was sorry to have to disprove it’s status as the people in the region seem very proud of it. Thanks again to Mary for piquing my curiosities and for sending me along some great pictures of the viaduct.
Tags: Binhai Mass Transit, bridge, bridges, china, denmark, google, greene county, hong kong, Huey P. Long Bridge, indiana, Jefferson Parish, Kam Sheung Road-Tuen Mun viaduct, KCR West Rail, largest rail bridge, largest railroad viaduct, longest railroad bridge, longest railroad viaduct, Louisiana, mary everett, New Orleans, oresund, Oresund Bridge, rail,Greene County Railroad Viaduct, railroad, railroad bridge, railroad viaduct, sweden, Tunkhannock Creek Viaduct, Tunkhannock Viaduct, viaduct, viaducts, wikipedia, World's Largest Concrete Railroad Bridge
Marvel Ultimate Alliance
July 30, 2006 | 11 Comments
Marvel Ultimate Alliance comes out this fall for all major consoles from Activision. The game will feature 140 characters from the Marvel Universe. Most important to me, this game will be available on the Nintendo Wii.
Here is a great trailer from San Diego Comic Con:
This is an older trailer that’s been around for awhile:
This trailer outlines the basic plot lines and shows quite a few non-playable characters:
This game is a four player RPG from the makers of X-Men Legends 1 & 2. Arguably, those games aren’t fantastic, but they can be fun when played in a group. Being the major comic geek, specifically as relates to the Marvel Universe, I am really excited for this game. Combine that with the fact that I’ll be purchasing a Wii on launch day, this will certainly be one of my first games for the new console.
Currently announced characters include: Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, Thor, Blade, Elektra, Invisible Woman, Captain America, Human Torch, Iceman, The Thing, Dr. Strange, Nightcrawler, Nick Fury, Silver Surfer, Uatu, Lilandra, Dr. Doom, Black Bolt, Black Widow, Namor, Karnak, Corsair, Death Bird, Galactus, Heimdall, Professor Xavier, Scorpion, and more to come!
Tags: "dr. strange", Black Bolt, black widow, blade, captain america, console, Corsair, Death Bird, Dr. Doom, elektra, Galactus, game, ghost rider, Heimdall, human torch, Iceman, Invisible Woman, Karnak, Lilandra, marvel, marvel ultimate alliance, Namor, nick fury, Nightcrawler, Nintendo, nintendo wii, Professor Xavier, rpg, Scorpion, Silver Surfer, spider-man, The Thing, thor, trailer, Uatu, ultimate alliance, video game, wii, Wolverine
Iron Man Movie, First Poster
July 30, 2006 | 3 Comments
The first Iron Man movie poster was released last week. I was a bit disappointed that it is an illustration and not an actual image of what Iron Man looks like in the film.
According to IMDB, the basic plot of this film will be: “When troubled billionaire Tony Stark creates a life support suit to assist him after a life threatening accident, he ultimately decides to use its technology to fight evil and crime.” Nothing too surprising there for Iron Man fans.
Adding to my concern about the film is the decision to put Jon Favreau at the helm of one of Marvel’s biggest character properties. Favreau is far better known for his small acting roles in movies such as Wimbledon, Daredevil, and Dogtown, and appearances on TV shows such as Monk, My Name is Earl, The King of Queens, Friends, Seinfeld, and more. His directorial experience is limited to Elf, Made, and Zathura. Not exactly a list to be excited about when it comes time to create a blockbuster.
The villain they have chosen for the film is Mandarin. This is a classic Iron Man character, but not someone I’m particularly excited about. Here’s hoping it all turns out OK…
Tags: comics, iron man, jon favreau, mandarin, marvel, movie, tony stark
Spider-Man 3: Comic Con Footage
July 29, 2006 | 4 Comments
Here it is, the Spider-Man 3 footage from this years San DIego Comic Con footage! OK, so this looks like complete trash, most likely filmed with a fanboy cellphone, but the voice over from Aunt May is entertaining and hearing the crowd go absolutely bonkers is cool. The trailer ends with what appears to be a first video look at Venom.
Sony, please just release this footage to the internet in HD! Everyone is clamoring for it. Invest your time putting this out, even unfinished, not in shutting down excited fans. Hell, even the crappy footage is free advertising, except it is costing you a ton shutting it down. Idiots.
Tags: comic con, eddie brock, footage, marvel, movie, peter parker, sony, spider-man, spiderman, Topher Grace, trailer, venom, venom video
Thomas Herbrich’s Interesting Photography
July 29, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Thomas Herbrich creates some absolutely intriguing photos. On his site you can browse dozens of pictures that all make you think for at least a moment. Unfortunately there isn’t an ability to deep link to the photos I like the most, so I’ll just mention a couple. One of my absolute favorites is a guy who has climbed up on his desk, a sea of papers surrounds him, he looks frightened as a wave of papers approaches.
There are also two great animal related images I like. In one there is a silhouette of a giraffe being lead by a person across a bridge. Another similar one has a line of elephants crossing a high bride.
There is an entire gallery devoted to imagery of smoke. These high contrast images are all stunning.
My only complaint would be that the interface on the site is a bit annoying, but the photos are all so great, go look, if you like the one I’ve included here, you’re sure to find something that appeals to you.
Tags: elephant, giraffe, herbrich, photo, photograph, photos, sea of papers, smoke, thomas herbrich