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Storyboard: Keeping your roleplaying fresh
The big problem with marriage is the same problem you have with always going to your favorite restaurant. Sure, you like the menu, and maybe it's even extensive enough that you could eat there every day for a month without having the same thing twice. But eventually it's just not going to be fresh. You've had everything on the menu, and from here on out it's just the same burgers until the end of time. And so you wind up leaving the restaurant and eating at a fast food place, and then you wind up in divorce court. You are not married to your roleplaying characters. But you're still in a situation where you're inside of this character's head at all times, and eventually you don't even need to guess what happens next. So just like a marriage, you need to keep things fresh even when you know your character inside and out. Which is trickier than it might sound, but still eminently doable. And it might even be that as long as I'm making the marriage analogy, some of the same advice applies.
Fraunhofer Institute's fruit checker device tracks optimum ripeness so you can stop sniffing those melons
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute have developed a small device that can be used to check the freshness of fruit, telling the interested parties whether it's ripe or not. Based on previous technologies which measure -- for example -- car emissions, the device measures the volatile gases emitted by the fruit and analyzes its makeup to determine the state of freshness. The team already has a working prototype, and sees the device, which would cost somewhere in the thousands of dollars range, as having widespread application for businesses that supply food to grocery stores. So far the device has only successfully been used to test the freshness of fruit, but researchers see possible future applications in testing meat as well.
GQ auctions custom 360s for charity
GQ Taiwan and Microsoft are teaming up for a very interesting project. Ten artists from around the world have created 10 custom Xbox 360s. These 360s will be on display until Sunday, October 21st in Taiwan. After the exhibition, they will be auctioned off for charity on Yahoo Taiwan. We're not sure if residents of other countries can bid, though. More info can be found on Freshness.The design pictured at right was created by American artist, Honest -- that's his name, "Honest." While we're not ready to call it our favorite, it's certainly the most interesting. Called "SkinBox," it actually has some kind of skin applied to the surface with lots of weird protrusions. In all honesty, it's kind of gross, but it's definitely one of a kind. Follow the read link for pictures of the other designs. Which one is your favorite?[Via HypeBeast. Thanks, Ideal.]
