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Guitar Zeros rock out with Guitar Hero axes
Making music with today's newfangled controllers is nothing new, but the Guitar Zeros are taking things a step further by actually forming a band that uses non-modified Guitar Hero controllers and a good bit of programming to please crowds. The San Francisco-based four-piece utilizes a standard drum kit and set of pipes, but opts for a much more digital approach to the guitar and bass. Both guitarists use Guitar Hero axes that are hooked up wirelessly to a Windows XP laptop, and thanks to some serious coding efforts within MAX/MSP, the controllers are able to emulate acoustic sounds, electric wailing, and mind-blowing lead lines without being plugged into a game console. Of course, the end result is purely a matter of taste, but the science behind the strumming is what's really impressive. So if you're interested in seeing a music video, just click right on through, and be sure to hit up CNET for a more technical look of how the magic happens.[Via CNET]
Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta event - San Francisco
Located in San Francisco's Mission District, where the trendy mingle with the low-income (or at least cross paths), the swank Foreign Cinema is playing host to the West Coast's Halo 3 event tonight. Much like our friends out East, we've got a few open bars, lots of random milling around with other game writers, and tiny, fancy hors d'eouvres. (You know the only thing better than mini-hamburgers? Regular-sized hamburgers!) People who got to the event early or rushed the multiplayer area after check-in landed a spot with a 360 controller and a giant HDTV. And they're still going strong, hours into the Halo 3 multiplayer beta. The rest of us (read: losers) are getting to know how many drinks it takes our neighbors before they start leaking... secrets. San Francisco has played host to several individual game events in this anniversary of E3, and the assembled crowd is a who's who of gaming dorks journalists. %Gallery-3089%
Slingbox and EV-DO: the low cost way to deliver broadcast news
While some news channels are busy busting out HD feeds of the six 'o clock rundown, San Francisco's CBS 5 is cutting costs in a huge way. By placing some 20 low-end cameras in various locales throughout the city, the station is utilizing Slingbox Pros and wireless EV-DO cards to beam live footage back to the station. According to a video interview with the news operations director, the traditional method of wheeling a fully-stocked van to the scene, begging for the FCC's blessing, and clogging up even more California roadways runs them "around $8 per minute." Their Sling-enabled system rings up at a measly $59 per month for each data card, and it also relieves them from having to purchase the $25,000 van-loaded rigs that many channels currently use. Of course, they admit that their money saving tactics aren't likely to remain exclusive for long, but be sure to hit the read link to see the interview and catch a few shots from the Slingbox on duty.[Via CNET]
Nintendo stays in Redmond; sales, ad, and marketing moving to SF or NYC
Partially confirming last week's rumor, the Seattle Times is reporting that the sales, advertising and marketing divisions for Nintendo of America, totaling about 80 people, will be moved to either New York City or San Francisco. Meanwhile, the rest of NoA headquarters will remain in Redmond.The decision is being seen as a replacement for earlier plans to expand its Redmond, WA offices an additional 550,000 square feet. According to Jim Roberts, deputy planning director for the city of Redmond speaking to the Seattle Times, though NoA had the proposal ready to go before the city council for approval, executives said that they needed final approval from the company's Japanese headquarters. "For one reason or another, it's been well over a year that we've been waiting for them to proceed," he said.Nintendo is reportedly looking to sell the aforementioned 550,000 square feet of property; one real estate broker suggested that adjacent company Microsoft might consider purchasing the land. Now wouldn't that make for an interesting change of hands?
San Francisco man stabbed over PS3 altercation
The demand over next-gen systems seems to have ushered in yet another report of violence. 1Pstart posted a news bit from an earlier article that ran in the San Francisco Chronicle. It appears a San Francisco man was attempting to purchase a PLAYSTATION 3 from two women, when things became heated. Hani Attia, a witness to the altercation, stepped in to help settle the situation and ended up being stabbed. Later, he was pronounced dead at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital.The murder occurred this past Monday, and the suspect has not yet been apprehended. If anyone living in the San Francisco area has any additional details to provide, the San Francisco police department would be a great place to share it.[Via digg]
Today's queueiest game video: Miyamoto keynote line
It took a good four minutes to traverse roughly half the line that circled a whole city block around the Moscone center's South Hall. We know your time is important, though, so we sped the above up to double speed.
Pirates Online event recap: Sword-fighting
I played Pirates of the Caribbean Online at a media gathering last week; this post describes the event put on to keep us journalists entertained. While Capcom has thrown its share of parties -- publishers often dangle shiny objects to draw us journalists in -- Disney Online tied its in-game sword-fighting to a real-life fencing event.Any event like this has food. (The tasty plantains paid dual tribute to the Caribbean of said online pirates and the largely Latino location of San Francisco's Mission District.) Beyond our stomachs, Disney Online tried to impress us with various props used in the movies, hidden behind glass cases, safely away from our greasy fingers. But the real spectacle was that they thought it'd be a good idea to give us all swords and let us spastically fight each other.Okay, it was a little more controlled than that because the event was held at the Golden Gate Fencing Center. Olympic coach, Mike Pederson literally said that he didn't want any of our eyes on the ends of our swords. (I assume they're hard to clean off.) We all worked to live up to that goal, but our legal waiver aimed much lower.
MINI USA rolls out RFID-activated billboards
If there was ever a slick way to get folks to willingly carry around an RFID tag, MINI USA has it all wrapped up. Catering to every person's egotistical side, MINI has begun a pilot advertising campaign in Chicago, New York, Miami, and San Francisco, which gives select Cooper owners the chance to get an RFID keyfob in the mail, and moreover, a reason to consistently drive under MINI billboards. Users can select a custom message to be encoded on their RFID chip, and when they cruise near an overhanging MINI billboard, their particular message lights up for the world (or at least nearby motorists) to see. Of course, we're sure messages will be edited before delivery, and you still need to be down with toting a homing signal around with you each time you cruise, but let's face it, the mastermind behind this ad campaign probably got the raise we all wanted, but didn't come close to. So if you're a MINI owner in one of the four lucky cities, keep a keen eye on that inbox, and word on the street is that MINI USA is planning on hitting up more cities if (read: when) this proves to be a smash hit.[Via Slashdot]
MacBowl charity event raises $24,000 (Macworld Expo)
Aspyr Media and Macworld magazine hosted their seventh annual MacBowl contest Thursday night. The Macworld Expo tradition pits Mac companies against each other while raising money through team fees for the San Francisco Unified School District.This year's competition raised $24,000, while the total -- including previous years -- reached $146,000 donated to local schools. Mac gaming companies have historically been big team sponsors, although this year's limited gaming presence left just Freeverse and Aspyr with event teams, while Microsoft, Elgato, and many others fielded competitors.
Macworld brings parking problems, needed revenue to San Francisco
While we Mac geeks are having a grand old time here at Macworld, it would seem that some San Francisco natives aren't that thrilled. This article in the San Francisco Gate bemoans the fact that parking will be tougher, the city will be more crowded, and congestion will be up. It does go on to mention that Macworld isn't the largest convention, and since no streets are being closed for it traffic shouldn't be too bad. Plus, as the article points out, Macworld brings in lots of cash, and who can argue with that?
It's official: San Francisco to get free WiFi blanket courtesy of Google / EarthLink
Ah Google, where would we be without you? Instead of answering that, we'll just say that the search giant (and future world dominator?) has landed yet another smile-eliciting deal, and this time it's the San Franciscans getting the spoils. While the deal between the city of San Francisco and Google / EarthLink has been brewing for quite some time, city officials have (finally) "finalized a contract that will enable EarthLink to build a citywide wireless network and allow Google to provide free internet access." With an estimated one million or so folks to benefit from the implementation, things are looking good if you've been itching for everywhere-WiFi and happen to live in SF, and while EarthLink still plans on offering a "fee-based premium service," Google is looking out for the little guy by dishing out the free stuff. Apparently, no hard pricing figures nor rollout dates have been set just yet, but things should start moving along relatively soon if Google has anything to do with it, as a statement released by the company stated its intent to "to see the service go live as soon as possible" -- now that's what we're talking about. [Warning: PDF Link][Via CNET]
Mindjet maps best San Francisco to-dos
OK, I'll confess: I really wish I could go to Macworld Expo next week. Since I'm in the unfortunate 40% of TUAW bloggers who aren't making the western swing, the most important question for me is "How can I live vicariously through my colleagues, and help them make the best choices about where to eat, things to see and places to go?"The folks at Mindjet (makers of mind mapping application MindManager Mac 6) feel my pain. The Mindjet blog, celebrating the company's first appearance at the Expo, is featuring a mindmap San Francisco-style covered with suggested dining, tourist activities and local intelligence. You can send in your suggestions as well and possibly win a copy of the MindManager application.Here's my dining suggestion: if the weather holds up, take the F streetcar down to the Ferry Terminal Market for lunch. Back in August (at WWDC) it was the best place to take in the view and some excellent sushi; might be too chilly in January to sit outside, but you never know.[via Macworld]
Scientists use earth-embedded GPS antennae to improve quake understanding
While GPS can do pretty much everything from provide basic map locations to help us engage in fun activities like geocaching, it had never occurred to us that it could also be used in seismology. Fortunately for folks living in quake country, geophysicists have figured out how to do just that. According to a paper that was just presented at the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, a joint team from Stanford University and from the University of Indiana have figured out a way to use GPS antennae lodged deep in bedrock that can provide a new model for assessing risk of future earthquakes. Armed with these tools, scientists can now determine how quickly various points on the earth are moving, which allows for a better understanding of how tectonic faults shift. But if anyone's knowledge of earthquakes can be improved, it's certainly ours -- we had no idea they get shaken up occasionally over in Indiana.
City officials remove new cookie-scented ads from San Francisco bus shelters
We love the smell of freshly baked cookies as much as the next guy, but smelling cookies at a bus stop is probably unlikely to get us to buy more milk (especially those of us who dig the soy variety). Still, that didn't stop Arcade Marketing, (employed by the California Milk Processor Board), to take the "Got Milk?" ads to a new level with an automated whiff of cookies inside bus shelters in San Francisco. However, the ads, which debuted Monday in SF's Union Square, Financial District, and Nob Hill neighborhoods, were ordered to be taken down by city officials on Tuesday. The city's Municipal Transportation Agency, which presides over the bus shelters, cited public complaints with regard to asthma and respiratory diseases by local activists (namely, the Environmental Health Network of California). That's it EHNC, we're not sending you any holiday cookies this year.[Via Strange New Products]
Attend the Game Developers Conference for free!
Not enough bling in your pocket and want to attend the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco for free? Now you can. If you sign up to be a conference associate, you'll get a full Giga pass with privileges when you're not working (an $1850 value).You'll be taking part in helping the conference run, and working extremely non-demanding jobs like: Guarding doors Monitoring conference sessions Checking badges at meals and special events Stuffing conference bags Data entry ...And much more! Leaving your brain free to figure out what you want to see and deciding which lectures you want to sit in on. The GDC is a great opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at the game industry, and to witness first-hand all of the work that goes into building a game from scratch. Tim Brengle and Ian MacKenzie who run the CA program are top-notch guys, so you'll be in good hands. You'll make friends, attend parties, and get all the benefits of the Giga pass (including free breakfast and lunch on workdays, toastyyyyy!). Several Joystiq readers went the volunteer route last year and were able to enjoy the program gratis, so what are you waiting for?The GDC is in San Francisco from March 5th through the 9th in 2007. We hope to see you there.
IDG unveiles Macworld 07 event highlights including Kevin Smith, David Pogue
Get your frequent flier miles ready boys and girls, cuz IDG has just announced the event highlights for the Macworld 07 (of course, if you're a lucky SF resident, you can probably hang onto those miles). Key speakers include Kevin Smith (yea, the), as well as the New York Times' own David Pogue. Of course, Mr. J's keynote has been confirmed again, and let's not forget it should shape up to be quite the event considering IDG added a second hall.Personally, I'm with reader boom bam boom bam bam's comment: I think we should turn Steve's 'Boom!' into a drinking game.
LicketyShip's four hour gadget delivery service goes live
We've all had those moments where we needed (read: wanted) something, and we needed it fast. For those who just can't get enough instant gratification in their lives, there's a new gadget delivery service aimed squarely at you. After two years of running through hoops in order to get everything sufficiently established, LicketyShip is hitting the streets (literally) and burning down the highways to get you whatever gizmo your heart desires (so long as it's stocked) within four hours of ordering. Due to nifty inventory-monitoring software and sweet hookups with local carriers, the company can probably get your kit to you before you'd make it down the 101 yourself. For now, however, the service is restricted to the San Francisco Bay Area, and there's no night owl routes running just yet either -- but if business goes as planned, and enough Bay Area folks shell out the $19.99 (and way up, we presume) required for such zippy services, the four-hour rule will reportedly go into effect from coast to coast.
Intel Developers Forum roundup: four cores now, 80 cores later
While we've been busy covering lots of other news today, Intel has also been clamoring for the spotlight -- Otellini and Co. had a number of announcements about the future of processors at today's Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco. Firstly, the quad-core Core 2 Extreme and Core 2 Quad chips have been officially unveiled and slated for production, with the former running in servers this fall, and the latter appearing in desktops by 2007. Of course, these chips are the same ones we've been hearing about for the last seven months, and it appears that DigiTimes' previous prediction that these procs would debut in November was correct. Secondly, Intel's CEO (pictured at right) told the audience that the chipmaker has already built a prototype with 80 processing cores on a single chip that can perform a trillion floating-point operations per second -- that's a teraflop to the layman -- and is aiming to ready commercial versions within five years. Otellini also teased everyone with announcements of the new 45nm-based architecture, code-named "Nehalem", which will ship in 2008, and the new "Gesher" 32nm chips by 2010, which would allow for a 310 percent increase in Intel processors' performance-per-Watt by that time -- hey, better late than never. Finally, in a move that will surely be met with angry glares from Cupertino, Intel is putting up a $1 million bounty for a Viiv-based Mac mini killer, something that will turn a traditional living room PC into something that is "sexy, stylish and small" (you mean the mini's not?) as determined by a panel that includes judges from PC Magazine, GQ and of course, Otellini himself. Be sure to check the couple extra pics on the next page.Read - Quad-core chips coming in NovemberRead - First quad-core servers, desktops comingRead - 80-core chips coming by 2011Read - Higher performance-per-watt Read - $1 million bounty[Photos: Ricardo]
Real-life Katamari in Travelers Insurance ad
A current Travelers Insurance TV commercial liberally borrows from Katamari Damacy, showing a ball of, well, stuff bouncing down San Francisco's hills. You could say Fallon, the ad agency behind the spot, ripped off Katamari, but we like the commercial enough to let that slide. We'll call it an homage, imitation being flattery and all.The commercial opens with a guy -- let's call him Everyman -- walking down the sidewalk. He's on a hill in the overcast outskirts of the city, maybe in the Avenues or closer to Twin Peaks. For no apparent reason, other than eventually trying to sell insurance, he trips, and begins rolling down the street. Like Katamari, he runs into some people and boxes, picking up size until the ball eventually gets big enough to gather cars and trees. The ball bounces through the city -- always downhill except once on even ground -- through Pacific Heights and the Fillmore, gathering motorcycles in Nob Hill, picking up a heterosexual marriage -- we have those sometimes -- in Delores Park or a similar green space, flying down California Street or an equally car-chase-laden road, and eventually crashing into a columned downtown building with a name we can't quite remember. We wish we could ride a katamari across the city; it's a record commute time.Is it a rip-off of Katamari, and do you care if your hobby becomes a commercial? Or did Fallon just have Katamari-of-the-mind? Immersive games have changed our way of looking at the world, like if we notice a drainpipe on the outside of a building and think of climbing it, Splinter Cell-style. Carmageddon also rewired our minds for a few weeks, urging us to crash the family truckster into a van. (We restrained). And Katamari has changed the way we think about space; we often imagine rolling up our surroundings. What, you don't?The full commercial is embedded after the break.See also: Roddick takes on Pong in ad[Thanks, Daniel Premo]
QSST, new supersonic jet, will travel coast-to-coast in two hours
Many of us here at Engadget are, or at least wish we were, the jetsetting type. The type to constantly bounce around to Boston, San Francisco, Hong Kong and other exotic locales. We'd definitely appreciate being able to traverse the continent in two hours, and while our overloads, erm, friendly bosses might appreciate that, our accounting department probably wouldn't. And surely this new generation of supersonic flights, which will reach top speeds of Mach 1.8, aren't going to come cheap. According to Wired News, this new supersonic private jet, called QSST ("quiet supersonic travel") is in production by Lockheed Martin. The new jet sports a "patented inverted V-tail", which will reduce the sound of its sonic boom to less than a hundredth of the original Concorde, one of the reasons why it was met with limited success in the US. The QSST's current price tag of $80 million is still cheap by comparison to the first generation of Concorde jets, which cost $46 million in 1977 (nearly $150 million in 2005 dollars when adjusted for inflation). So save your pennies, kids, we'll be saving ours.
