manipulation
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AI can transfer human facial movements from one video to another
Researchers have taken another step towards realistic, synthesized video. The team, made up of scientists in Germany, France, the UK and the US, used AI to transfer the head poses, facial expressions, eye motions and blinks of a person in one video onto another entirely different person in a separate video. The researchers say it's the first time a method has transferred these types of movements between videos and the result is a series of clips that look incredibly realistic.
OKCupid treats your love life like a lab rat
Facebook is perhaps the most prominent example, but the internet, whether we want to accept it or not, is a gigantic data-mining operation where every thing about us is monitored, measured and experimented with -- even our love life, should we choose. The folks over at online-dating service OKCupid (OKC) have recently detailed, among other things, how they futzed with the site's match-percentage system to see if it'd affect users' messaging habits. To start, OKC wanted to see just how much bearing system had on the likelihood of sending one message. When the service took two people who were actually 30 percent compatible and fudged the numbers by, say, 60 points, the amount of first messages sent naturally increased. As the OKTrends blog notes, that's exactly what was expected because that's how the site's users have more or less been trained; a higher number means a potentially better match. But, as anyone who's used the site can probably attest, one message doesn't mean a whole lot.
Storyboard: Manipulative tricks
Playing a manipulative character is kind of a minefield because you wind up falling into one of two traps. The first possibility is that you wind up not being very good at it because you aren't very manipulative. This isn't a mark against you, as none of the hallmarks of manipulation is thought of as a positive trait, but it does make your portrayal somewhat suspect. On the other hand, maybe you're great at manipulating the people around you, which starts to blur the lines between players and characters and raises some uncomfortable questions all around. So that's not fun either. Not that any of this tends to dissuade people; we love watching manipulative people, and the idea of playing one is appealing. It's a chance to make everyone dance to your tune, after all, even if it's just for a little while. So let's take a look at how you can play a manipulative character to the fullest without hurt feelings or informed traits.
Poll: Vote for your favorite Frankengadget!
We had a great time combing through your Frankengadget mash-ups, and while there were many worthy submissions, we sadly had to narrow it down to just five. Our submission deadline has since passed, but now the real fun begins -- it's time to vote! Scroll through the gallery at the bottom of this post, then make your pick in the poll below, selecting just one winner (you can use the thumbs above as your guide). Your top selection's creator will get to take home their very own copy of Adobe Creative Suite 5.5. Voting closes at 12PM ET on Friday, and the winner will be announced on the Engadget Show later that evening, so stay tuned!%Poll-70022%%Gallery-136983%
HTML5 prettifies fan-made Tron trailer... in real time! (video)
What can HTML5 do for you? Quite a lot, as it happens. A chap by the name of Franz Enzenhofer has put together a real-time effects mixer for a fan-made Tron trailer, which combines HTML5 with a dash of JavaScript and a sprinkling of CSS to demonstrate the awesome potency of open web standards. You can recolor, reposition, rotate, stretch, or skew the video, all while it plays. We've got the unaltered trailer, made earlier this year as a sort of homage to the 1982 picture, for you after the break, but you'll want to hit the source link to start post-processing it with the finest browser-based video editor yet.
Verizon sucks at Photoshop: confuses the Droid X for an iPhone
Man, Motorola's not going to be pleased about this! The Droid X is justifiably one of Verizon's marquee devices for this holiday season and takes pride of place on the carrier's Cyber Monday offers page, but wait... why does its screen display the iPhone version of Google Maps? Oops! [Thanks, Chris]
Apple files patent for multitouch manipulation of 3D objects
A blogger at the Baltimore Sun found an Apple patent filed last month that describes a multitouch interface for manipulating "three-dimensional virtual objects." The patent seems pretty vague in terms of implementation, but essentially Apple is citing a way to control 3D objects, whether they be icons, game objects, or characters, with a two-dimensional multitouch screen. Sounds like what you're already doing with a game like Zen Bound. Given that "the tablet" is the hot thing to speculate about lately, there are rumors bubbling up that this type of navigation and manipulation could be found in Apple's new device. But that doesn't seem very likely -- most of what we've heard about the tablet is that it'll offer a higher resolution version of the iPhone's interface, and Apple has no reason yet to step away from that. It's possible that this patent could be covering a new app set to release on the tablet, but of course as with everything here, we'll have to wait and see what Jobs shows us on stage later this month. [Via Engadget]
Molinker is no more on the App Store -- ratings scam results in expulsion
Well, here's the happy side to the police state known as Apple's App Store. One of the more prolific app makers out there, Molinker, has been recently unceremoniously expelled from the Apple orchard due to its manipulation of app ratings and reviews. As it turns out, Molinker has been massaging the truth by pumping out false five star reviews for its wares, and now Phil Schiller himself has stepped in and pulled the company's whole catalog -- consisting of more than 1,000 apps -- seemingly permanently: Yes, this developer's apps have been removed from the App Store and their ratings no longer appear either. So the App Store is now a bunch of travel guides lighter and Mr. Schiller gets a "good boy" badge from the blog brigade. Good news all around then.
EVE Evolved: Trading: Tips and tricks, part 2
If you spot a market manipulation in progress and have some of the item yourself, take advantage of it by repeatedly listing the items on the market in small amounts. When small and medium rigs came out, the first producers made an absolute killing on them too.
EVE Evolved: Trading: Tips and tricks
So far in this guide to trading in EVE Online, I've covered the jobs best suited to new players and some of the more advanced trading techniques like margin trading, market speculation and price manipulation. This is by no means the entirety of what can happen in EVE's marketplaces, but serves as a good foundation for those trying to break into the trading game. In the hyper-capitalistic world of New Eden, the markets are hugely competitive and any edge you can get will help. With that in mind, this final part of the guide will cover a few of the tips and tricks I've learned over the years that have given me an edge in the marketplace. Some are common sense rules that most traders will learn eventually and will be invaluable to newer players. Others are more closely-guarded secrets that I've gleaned from years of gameplay. What is a cyclic product and what do you do when you spot a price manipulation? In this final part of the trading guide, I dish out some of my personal top tips for budding marketeers.
EVE Evolved: Trading: Advanced trading
In the first part of this guide I covered the basics of trading in EVE Online and some of the jobs best suited to newer players. There's a lot more to trading than buying low and selling high and in this week's installment, I'll cover some of the more advanced trading and marketeering tactics that have proven themselves effective in EVE. From margin trading on the market to making a living off the contracts page, anyone with enough dedication can learn to rake in hundreds of millions of ISK per day without even leaving the station. For the gamblers and risk-takers among you, market speculation and price manipulation can produce incredible short-term profit but with significant risks attached. In this second part of my concise guide on trading, I look at margin trading on the market, playing the contract pages, market speculation around patches and the dirty art of market manipulation.
EVE Evolved: Trading: Advanced trading, part 2
A good example of market speculation is the recent issue of moon minerals and the Dominion expansion. It was predicted that the expansion would contain a revamp of the moon mineral distribution system. For those who felt the risk was worth the potential rewards, it was a no-brainer to buy up rare moon minerals now and wait for the expansion.
Drama Mamas: Is it time to leave?
Dodge the drama and become that player everyone wants in their group with the Drama Mamas. Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are real-life mamas and experienced WoW players -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your server. We're taking your questions at DramaMamas (at) WoW (dot) com.When an elephant walks into the room, it may be time to leave. OK, I admit the above picture is a stretch for the topic at hand, but I just couldn't resist the elephant butt. The picture for the Officer with No Respect letter may also be an obscure choice, but I just felt that the Dead Bunny Police Officer depicted in that photo didn't look like he got the respect he wanted. And I could probably hold my own in a layman's debate as to whether or not Mary, Queen of Scots was a Manipulating Queen, though I doubt that I would do well against a real historian. But enough of my excuses for this week's choices from The Commons, let's get to the letters.
WoW as a channel for news from Iran?
Normally, this wouldn't rate too high for us -- lots of people have ideas about how to use World of Warcraft, and many of them never actually come about. But then again, this is in the Wall Street Journal of all places, so we'll give it a look. If you're on Twitter, you've probably heard about what's going on in Iran right now -- there was an election, the "official" results given were judged as rigged by many involved, and the government seems to be cracking down on both news media and citizen journalism, as well as protesting citizens, to very sad results. How does World of Warcraft fit in to all of this? Andrew Lavallee of the WSJ's Digits blog points to this report by Craig Labovitz, which talks about how Internet traffic has been filtered out of the country around the election. At the very end of his analysis, Labovitz points out that channels for videogames, including both Xbox Live and World of Warcraft, have shown very little government manipulation. That suggests that if the government in Iran does continue to shut down certain channels, citizens there might be forced to spread the news through any virtual route they can, including possibly Azeroth.This is obviously all just analysis and speculation so far -- while there clearly (from those charts) has been interference in the media, no one (as far as we know) has yet had to resort to chatting in World of Warcraft to get their message out, and though what's happening in Iran is made up of some very serious (and seriously unfortunate) situations, the fervor online about using brand new channels like Twitter to share real-time news is often overstated. Personally, I believe that even if Twitter didn't exist, this information would find another way to get out. Still, the interesting thing to take away here is that even our "silly" video games today are actually media on a global level.Thanks, Cedars!
EVE Evolved: EVE's economic underworld
EVE Online's in-game economy has been the subject of intense study over the years. The markets of EVE react very effectively to accomplish goals with the same economic laws that apply to many real-life marketplaces. The game's developers CCP even hired a professional economist to analyse the in-game economy, advise them on problem issues and deliver interesting quarterly reports. The driving force behind EVE's markets is often assumed to be basic supply and demand but this isn't always the most potent component. In the hyper-capitalistic universe of New Eden, all bets are off and the only rules are those players enforce themselves with an iron fist. Cartels, market manipulation and theft run rife in EVE, with far-reaching consequences. In this succinct article, I examine the hidden forces pushing and pulling EVE's markets and show that EVE's economic sandbox comes complete with quicksand and land mines.
Zen Bound arrives on the iPhone
This one's impressive -- Zen Bound originally started out as Zen Bondage, a physics game/sandbox where the goal was to wrap a rope around a 3D shape or object. The game has just recently been ported to the iPhone, and in the process has actually been improved -- the graphics look sharper and the iPhone's multitouch controls really add to the tactile experience. As a "game," it might be questionable -- it looks like there's a lot of fudging in terms of whether or not the rope has "covered" the object, and the scoring system itself is more or less tossed in as just a reason to get you to interact with the objects. But as an app, and a demonstration of the kinds of interactivity that can be exclusive to a device like the iPhone, it comes highly recommended. Zen Bound is available on the App Store now for $4.99.
Mac Automation: image tweaking plug-in for Finder
Here's a task that most computer users run into on a daily basis: cropping and dealing with small image tweaks. This could be a daunting task if it were not for the Mac and Automator. In this how-to, I will show you how to make a small Finder plug-in that will allow you to manipulate images quickly. Please note, some of the actions required for this how-to are dependent upon Pixelmator being installed. For this automation, you will need the following Automator actions (in the same order): Get Selected Finder Items Transform Images (this action is only available when you install Pixelmator)
DS Daily: The best Nintendo-inspired photo manips
Nintendo's iconic characters and systems make excellent fodder for the funniest of the funny that this series of tubes can offer. O rly, you ask? Ya rly, we reply, let us show you them. From the head of Dr. Kawashima to the DS and its inherent money-printing abilities, Nintendo is a big part of the image macro canon. Even the execs don't escape unscathed. In this world, Iwata is a pimp, Reggie will beat you down, and Miyamoto? Well, he's just the man. Did you get your ass kicked and your name taken when a bom zal droppen? Not our problem.And then there are the Pokemans -- the personal power animals (after cats) of all Photoshop users, leading them all on a spiritual journey into lolz. Your favorites: show us them.
Creating alarmist press release for marketing purposes
GamePolitics was on the ball when they noticed this attention grabing headline about video games screaming, "First Violence, Then Sex, and Now Drugs in Video Games." The funny thing is that the headline, and accompanying text, is actually a marketing maneuver being implemented by sexually-themed MMO Red Light Center to get press. So, in essence, it's a sensational press release, by a fringe company, to gain attention from the mainstream press. According to GamePolitics, TV news sites in North Carolina and Canada have already picked up the story.The best part of the release is this quote by Psychologist David Walsh, spokesman for the National Institute on Family and the Media, "Games are interactive and psychologically powerful. Now we have a game that glorifies drug use. Where do we draw the line?" As GamePolitics points out this statement was actually made in 2005 about NARC, not Red Light Center like the release implies.It was only a matter of time before we saw this level of manipulation. Using the anti-games advocates that get a lot of press to hype games is a brilliant move and Red Light Center's marketing team deserves serious golf claps for the maneuver. In a situation like this, all we can do is try to show those that will be manipulated by this information that they are being used, and hopefully they'll find it out before they go off the handle and give press to something that doesn't deserve it. Time to wait and see if this goes mainstream -- after all, it is a slow newsday in the states.
Quicksilver developer update with new triggers, preference UI, more
A pre-release, developer version of Quicksilver is available with a seriously revamped preference pane. Also included in this not-ready-for-prime-time release: a new Triggers system that allows for groups, a revamped plug-in pane with categories and "droplets," which you can read more on here. I'm sure there's more hidden under the hood of this release, but finals are trumping the amount of time I have to tinker with this stuff.Since I just know some of you are going to ask, here's how to get your hands on this developer preview edition, but please do not bug us if things get wonky; it's an unstable dev edition. You have been warned: Go to the Application tab in Quicksilver's preferences and change which version it checks for updates; I believe it's actually called 'developer preview.' Then tell it to check for an update and you should be able to snag the new version. Enjoy.[via Hawk Wings]
