ORIGINALLY AIRED: 2/24/2005
3 Doors Down, Fatal1ty, LAN Party
Episode #5032
| Paper Waste or Post-It Art? Enterprising students create a giant Super Mario window mural using thousands of Post-Its. Janitors despise them even more.
When Gamers Turn Deadly: A Japanese university student was arrested after threatening to kill his friend after arguing over which version of Dragon Quest is the best. |
| Kevin R. decided to see how far he could overclock ABIT’s Fatal1ty AA8XE motherboard ($250). He cranked up a 3.4 GHz processor to the far side of 3.7 GHz, and it locked up. As it turned out, he had installed some faulty RAM; a quick change to some new RAM had it humming at 3.9 GHz.
Interesting features on the ABIT AA8XE include the ability to adjust the system bus speed and voltage settings for pushing up the processor clock speeds and memory frequencies. The board is equipped with an integrated system for cooling the power supply module, and it allows you to adjust the rotational speeds of the five fans to maximize cooling and noise reduction. One of the coolest features of this motherboard is that it unlocks locked Intel P4 CPU clock speed. Head over to Fatal1ty’s official site for more info on the AA8XE. |
| Now’s your chance to engage in virtual battle with famous people. Xbox Live’s “Game With Fame” program lets you play your favorite games against your favorite stars, online and in person. This week, members of rock band 3 Doors Down hunted down two lucky gamers in a bout of Halo 2.
If you’re interested in swapping paint with NASCAR driver Kyle Busch on Wednesday, March 2, click on over to the registration form at the official Game With Fame page at the Xbox.com. He’ll be getting behind the wheel of NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup, and putting the pedal to the metal. |
| In tech topics…
Always Read the Fine Print: A man is awarded $1,000 for actually bothering to reading a program’s “EULA.” Bacteria On Ice: Some frozen 32,000-year-old organisms are brought back to life by NASA scientists. Yes? No? Maybe? Okay, Probably Not: Apple Computer is reportedly taking a good, long look at ingenious yet financially troubled Tivo. A Sad Commentary on Journalism Today: MSNBC sent out “breaking news” emails that were actually ads. Sign us up! |
| Bret Nelson, new media producer at Jim Henson's Creature Shop, showed off the company’s startlingly cool invention that lets puppeteers create computer-animated characters in real time (rather than frame by frame). With custom software running on off-the-shelf Linux PCs and elaborate exo-skeleton rigs, the animators can manipulate the characters’ facial expressions and body movements. What’s more, the action can be viewed by a one-of-a-kind camera system that has a full range of motion and can be moved by hand like a regular camera on a crane.
Right now, the Henson crew is employing the system in several TV shows in production. The system’s work can also be seen on the big screen in the current movie Are We There Yet? and in the video game Call of Duty: Finest Hour. The system is also in constant development. “We’re trying to get the real-time view as close to the finished product as possible,” said Nelson. Learn more about what the Jim Henson Company is up to at www.henson.com. |
| Take a gander at internet history with archived examples of old websites, TV history with old commercials, music history with live recordings, and much, much more at www.archive.org. |
| Our LAN Party (powered by NVIDIA) engaged in a battle of Unreal Tournament 2004, with pro gamer Fatal1ty as our guest. You can read the high scores in our Hall of Glory. Next week's game will be the Desert Combat mod of Battlefield 1942. |
FEATURES
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Ten Minutes with Fatal1ty
Professional video game player Johnathan Wendel has made fragging a way of life. |
RELATED LINKS
> Pro gamer Fatal1ty's official site
> The Jim Henson Company official site
> Sarah's Damn Good Website: Archive.org
> Sign up for Xbox Live's "Game With Fame" program