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Drone knocks woman unconscious at Seattle pride parade
A bungling pilot has just reminded us (again) why drones need at least some kind of regulation. During Seattle's gay pride parade, a 25-year-old woman was knocked unconscious after she was struck by a UAV, according to the SPD Blotter. The genius operator reportedly crashed the DJI-sized craft into a building, causing it to fall on her head. She was treated by firefighters at the scene, while one of her friends handed the drone and photographs of the alleged pilot to police.
Disney's drone research eyes better parades and floating screens
We've seen drones used for all sorts of things from film production to package delivery. Now, it seems Disney may be looking to leverage the aerial vehicles for its theme parks. The company has applied for three patents that employ the remote-controlled gadgets for floating projection displays and airborne marionettes. That latter option is meant to boost hovering parade characters that have been limited to gas-filled balloons with little mobility, while the former uses UAVs to float a screen over park visitors. The third scenario is one where the individual drones each carry a lighting rig to achieve the desired effect. Something like fireflies after dark, we'd surmise. All three projects would be commanded from a "ground control station" to coordinate flight paths. Of course, with this being an application, there's no guarantee that you'll encounter the compact flying vehicles at Disneyland anytime soon, but the outfit's R&D department has a knack for coming up with awesome ideas.
This Rose Parade Kinect float won't respond to voice commands
College football enthusiasts first laid eyes on Microsoft's Kinect float prior to kickoff at this year's Rose Bowl game today, but how else can those without an affinity for football sneak a glimpse? Microsoft's Facebook page, apparently. The above video was posted today, a time lapse of the massive structure being built over the course of a week. A second video embedded past the break shows the finished float going through a few maneuverability tests -- sorry, we can confirm there's no Deathmobile hiding underneath.
Microsoft brings Kinect float to Rose Bowl Parade: a making-of video
Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade? Pish posh. As any red-blooded American will likely confess, it's the parade preceding the annual Rose Bowl that really gets one's attention, and this year's edition featured a float from none other than Microsoft itself. As Russell Wilson and co. were gearing up to take the field in Pasadena, a smattering of folks were strapping on their winter gear and heading atop an admittedly eye-catching Kinect float. No, there's no way to actually dictate the rest of bowl season through your motion-sensing peripheral, but there is a making-of video just after the break for the handicraft sect.
Microsoft celebrates Windows Phone 7 RTM with funeral parade for BlackBerry and iPhone (update: Thriller video!)
The iPhone's dead, long live the Windows Phone. That must be the genius proclamation that incited Microsoft to celebrate Windows Phone 7 reaching RTM status with the incomprehensible procession you see above. An elaborate parade, replete with hearses and black capes, was organized last week to denote the passing of the BlackBerry and iPhone into the land of unwanted gadgets. We'd say this is done in poor taste, but we don't enjoy stating the obvious. We will, however, enjoy the fallout from this poorly judged stunt. See our favorite image after the break and lots more at the source. Update: Apparently the team also engaged in a Thriller dance. Words are failing us, so just hop on past the break and mash play.
Parade previews Natal, manic flailing ensues
A.J. Jacobs of Parade -- along with his children -- recently got a chance to try out Project Natal. Here's the thing though, it's kind of hard to remember anything in the article once you've seen the accompanying video -- especially with Jacobs admitting he accidentally "smacked" one of his children during one of the mini-games. Still, Jacobs has some nice things to say about Natal, noting that it isn't "the invention of flight" that the Wii was, but rather "the invention of the jet engine." After watching the video -- see it yourself after the break -- we hope he's right, because it certainly doesn't look like a jet engine. If anything, it looks like the people playing are standing behind a jet engine. We've had a few hands-on (or is it body-on?) experiences with Natal so far, and look forward to seeing how it's evolved in the past year once we step in front of its sensor at E3. In related news, one of the games in the video appears to be River Rush, which was rumored back in April. The game has players riding in a raft and avoiding obstacles. Jacobs points out, however, that the demos he played may not actually be released as games.
17 Spartans bust a move at the Philly Mummers Parade
[Image: Kotaku] Flash mobs are all the rage now, but the above image actually comes from the Philadelphia Mummers Parade this year. Kotaku reader Justin managed to snag video of the choreographed event which, if it were real cyborg human heroes and not a bunch of faux-Spartans, would probably end up costing taxpayers about $814 gajillion -- and that's in today's dollars, not even accounting for 500 years of inflation. To check out video of the dance routine, head on over to Kotaku.
Hydrogen-powered Honda FCX Clarity, giant ASIMO to lead Rose Parade
For the first time ever (yes, ever!), this year's Rose Parade in Pasadena, California will be headed up by a hydrogen-powered vehicle. Honda's fuel cell-equipped FCX Clarity will lead the 120th parade, and the pace car will be followed by the Super Cub motorcycle -- the first model sold in the United States. As fancy as these two are, it's the ASIMO that'll undoubtedly steal the show, and yes, we're talking about the 49-foot iteration we spotted a few days back. Catch Honda's trio riding high on January 1 at 8:00AM PST; after that, it's time to place your bets between USC and Penn State.
Fiesta celebrates Independence Day with themed items
Outspark's Fiesta will celebrate the spirit of independence by holding a special parade for each game server, originating at Elderine and continuing on to OX Field, starting July 3rd. Additionally, there are a number of themed items that not only look festive, but grant bonuses to play as well. For example, the Liberty Hat grants a 7% additional probability for Critical hits, and the Uncle Sam pet boosts stats by +7. Get it? Seven?If you're wearing or using any of these items during the parade, GMs will give you treats in the form of treasure chests. These items will become available on the 1st of July. Check out the site for more information. Celebrate with Fiesta -- After all, the fun's baked right into their name!%Gallery-26337%[Thanks, Travis!]
Celebrating Easter in Second Life
While many of you may have spent yesterday coloring eggs or biting the ears off chocolate bunnies, many people celebrated the holiday virtually in Second Life. For those of you too busy in real life to enjoy virtual life, we've captured some of Second Life's Easter celebration in pictures. Visit giant bunnies, hunt for eggs, join in an Easter parade, and color eggs of our very own all without leaving the safe confines of your browser! So what are you waiting for? Let's get started!%Gallery-19041%
Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade going HD
Shortly after hearing that Disney Cinemagic was launching in France, we're now seeing that the 24th annual Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade will be broadcast in HD for the first time this year. Set to air on December 25th at 10:00AM EST (9:00AM Central, Mountain and Pacific), the "star-studded" parade will be shot from Main Street USA at the Magic Kingdom park in Florida and Disneyland park in California. Among the celebs slated to appear in high-definition are Jessica Simpson, Miley Cyrus, Patti LaBelle, Josh Groban, the cast from "High School Musical 2," and a whole host of Disney characters. Be sure and hit the read link for the rundown of performances, and tune in (or set your DVR) to ABC HD on Christmas day to check out the festivities.[Image courtesy of TVGuide]
Today's most inspiring game video: the 1000 Mii March
More Miis than you can shake a stick at in this virtual onslaught of avatars. Would it be annoying or funny if we actually made sounds like that in real life if we walked ... nay, paraded around town? We can only imagine that it would get extremely boring after awhile. Plop, plop, plop.No one knows what these Miis are marching for, but let us all hope that it's for a good cause. If these Miis turn evil, there will be no stopping them. Miis rampaging in the streets, wrist straps torn off left and right and being used to garrote people, mass hysteria.And Joystiq, for one, welcome our new Mii overlords. We'd like to remind them as a trusted gaming website, we can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their plastic, shiny utopias.
Mii gets its parade on
The Mii channel has received a lot of coverage lately, mostly due to the fact that it's awesome. Some questions still surround the service, however. This is where the feature "Iwata Asks" comes in, where Iwata and several key players in the development of the Wii discuss the console. The latest installment focused on the Mii channel and feature one of the key developers of the tool, Mr. Nogami, former director of Animal Crossing DS."In fact, as long as the software developers make the games compatible with the Mii system, these characters will also be able to appear in the games they produce. One more interesting thing is that the Mii characters do not always feature as the main characters in the games," said Nogami. "You can also find them popping up as faces in the crowd. For instance, in Wii Sports, a Mii you made a while ago and had forgotten about might turn up one day in the spectators' seats. Also, since you can store Mii on your Wii Remote, you can bring your Mii to use on your friend's Wii!"Nogami also goes on to discuss Mii Parade:"To put it simply, Mii Parade is a system that uses the network to allow Mii characters created by many people to mix and mingle," said Mr. Nogami. "You can line up Mii characters in the 'Mii Plaza', but at the start the only Mii characters you will find are those you have created yourself. Over time, however, using the WiiConnect24 system, other users' Mii characters can come and visit. In the same way, your Mii can make an appearance on someone else's Wii, although this won't happen unless the user has authorized it. The user can choose whether or not to allow their Mii to come and go on the network, so the only Mii characters that will appear on someone else's Wii are those where the user has permitted it."[Thanks Donny and Probot!]
