DAN
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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity gains DAN apparatus, new lust for water
"You can think of DAN as a reconnaissance instrument." That's a quote from Igor Mitrofanov of the Space Research Institute, Russia, who is being deemed the "principal investigator" of the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons. Shortened to DAN for obvious reasons, this guy will soon be affixed to NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, with one primary purpose: to "check for any water that might be bound into shallow underground minerals along the rover's path." In total, ten instruments on Curiosity will be dedicated to investigating whether the area selected for the mission has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for life and favorable for preserving evidence about life. We're told that while in active mode, it's sensitive enough to detect water content as low as one-tenth of one percent in the ground beneath the rover, but there's still no indication of when it'll actually prove that Mars truly is the next major relocation hotspot. Something tells us Richard Branson will be ready, regardless.
Dan and Anna knocked out of Street Fighter X Tekken's final roster
According to series producer Yoshinori Ono, Street Fighter X Tekken's character roster has been finalized, and it looks like last year's trailer was too much for Dan Hibiki to handle. Speaking with Siliconera, Ono stated that Street Fighter's pinkest protagonist "won't be in Street Fighter X Tekken" due to the fact that "he was killed by a Tekken character at Comic-Con last year." Ono also remarked that Tekken veteran Anna Williams will be staying on the sidelines as well, albeit for less lethal reasons. "As much as I personally wanted to have a cool Nina and Anna tag battle," he said, "the director was against putting Anna because we already had Nina in." While we sincerely doubt that Dan is actually, for-reals dead, we can't help but be saddened by the news. A Yoshimitsu Super-Taunt doesn't seem like it would have the same flair, you know?
Original iPad retrofitted to play nice with Smart Cover, magnets largely to thank (video)
Although we don't exactly know how they work, magnets are one of Earth's many fascinations and are used in many gadgets today -- perhaps most notably in Apple's new Smart Covers. As you might have already known, the iPad 2's first party screen concealer uses a bunch of magnets to make the magic happen; it snaps on and fits almost too well. By taking a few rare earth magnets and gluing them to the original slate's hip, blogger Dan Provost is able to use a Smart Cover with the iPad uno. He positioned them according to how they stuck to the hinge of the cover, which explains the lack of spacing between the four magnets. As you'll see in the video, Apple's screen protector works well with the tablet, but it lacks the auto-unlock mechanism found in the iPad 2. Care to give your original iPad a taste of modernity? Hit the more coverage link to find the main ingredient for this DIY project.
WoW Moviewatch: Ravenholdt Labyrinth (Interactive WoW Adventure)
A small crew of machinima creators and artists have stepped up their gamed and delivered something truly new to the World of Warcraft fan video scene. Check out the Ravenholdt Labyrinth (Interactive WoW Adventure). This isn't a single video. Instead, using the interactive linking annotation feature in YouTube, the creators have made a sort of "Choose your own adventure" adventure using WoW machinima. Depending on your choices, you can navigate Gigi further into Ravenholdt to discover the mystery . . . or get her killed. You make the choices as you proceed. This is the first machinima of this kind that I've seen, and my hat's off to Gigi, RedEye, Dan, WoPairs, and Abandonation for opening the doors to a new style of machinima. It would be awesome to see them do more like this, since I think it really broadens the scope of experience offered by machinima. The overall style of this video is suited to Halloween. It's moody and spooky. The creep factor gets higher as you take Gigi further into the labyrinth. This is a really great job by everyone involved. My hat is off to the creators. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an e-mail at machinima AT wow DOT com.
Fei Long, Dan join Street Fighter IV home roster
Following this morning's news that the recently announced home versions of Street Fighter IV would come packing the extra punch of online play and an expanded cast, a new report confirms two familiar fighters who will be added to the game's hurricane kick beyond the arcade. According to IGN, Japanese publication Famitsu Xbox released concept art illustrating Bruce Lee-inspired Fei Long and Alpha vet Dan Hibiki, adding that both fighters will be home version exclusives. While Fei Long certainly makes sense, the laughably weak Dan has always served more as comic relief, though we look forward to the hilariously drawn out Dan vs. Dan online throw downs to come when the game is eventually released.
Puzzle Fighter HD gets balancing changes
Game designer, book author and all-around know-it-all David Sirlin has posted some details about the gameplay changes he's making to the upcoming XBLA/PSN version of Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo. Sirlin said he was tired of high-level matches in the original always coming down to two characters -- Ken and Donovan -- so he gently tweaked the drop patterns for some other characters' attacks to give them a fighting chance. Don't worry purists, Dan still sucks just as much as ever.Sirlin also said that the HD version will add quick drops (using the up button) and fix a glitch that significantly overpowered the color-clearing diamonds. That's all well and good, but it ignores the only question we really care about -- how will a super-deformed Chun Li's helicopter kick look in high definition?
