This little droid does everything but holograms

Rolling out from Nikko Home Electronics is the R2-D2 DVD Projector.

It projects DVDs up to an 80 inch width onto walls or ceilings with apparently really good image quality. "Artoo" also boasts an iPod port so you can play music through him, as well as playing standard music CDs. He also moves around with motorized wheels in his legs, and you control it all with a remote control shaped like the Millennium Falcon. He may not be able to project real holograms and he probably doesn't have any stolen plans for the Death Star inside him (or maybe he does, who knows?) but this still seems like a pretty snazzy toy for any Star Wars fan willing to pay $2000 for it. Thanks to "Weird" Ed for this great find and sending it this way!

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2160p HDTV gets unveiled at CES

Westinghouse this week at the Consumer Electronics Show revealed their new HDTV technology: a 52" screen showing pictures at 2160p!

I don't know if the last two Star Wars prequels were even shot at resolution that high. It might even be something that rivals an IMAX image. Westinghouse is saying this new HDTV technology is meant for "high-end" uses like industry and medicine... so it'll probably be a while, if ever, that we see something like this in our living rooms.

Incidentally, the new set we bought a month and a half ago is a 37" set with 1080i HD resolution. A lot of people have told me that unless you are watching on a set bigger than 50", no one is able to tell the difference between a 1080p image and one at 1080i. I've been watching ours for any tell-tale flicker and so far I haven't seen any. So I'm expecting this set to last us several more years to come before we buy either a 1080p set... or one at 2160p :-)

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HD-DVD versus Blu-ray: Let the pornographers decide!

The format war for what kind of high-definition DVD player you might be buying may have been won already by HD-DVD. Blu-ray, the high-def disc being pushed by Sony, is shying away from being used by creators of pornographic movies... which is leading them to adopt HD-DVD as their standard.

This is almost beat-for-beat what happened in the early 1980s between VHS and Betamax. Back then the porn industry chose to go with VHS, partly because of Sony's policies (Sony also made the stupid decision to only let their consumer units record about an hour of stuff, thinking that "nobody would want to record anything longer than an hour"). The result was that a lot more VHS players were bought as opposed to those who bought Betamax. A quarter century later and Sony is doing almost the same thing. You wouldn't think that something like porno would encourage that widespread an adoption of technology... but I guess enough people wanted VHS instead of Betamax just because of that.

I'm sort of hoping that HD-DVD will bear out in the long run, but not because of this. It has to do with the name: "HD-DVD" just sounds like the natural progression of DVD, where a lot of people will be told about Blu-ray and wonder "what's that?"

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Fish 'n Flush toilet and aquarium

This is the second post in a row that has to do with toilets somehow: weird trend, that. The Fish 'n Flush has a standard toilet tank core surrounded by a transparent aquarium. Among such uses for this novelty, "Some people think we're nuts but other just love it and parents are using it to help their children with potty training." For $300 you too can have a school of fish swimming around the family throne.

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Crapshoot #1: Responding to the Iraq speech tonight

Yes this is what it's come to ladies and gentlemen: sitting on a toilet while laying down some smack about what needs to be said...In this first (last?) edition of what I'm calling "Crapshoot with Christopher Knight" I'm responding to President Bush's speech tonight about the Iraq war. Among things getting discussed are why American involvement in Iraq was doomed from the start, why Iraq is currently incapable of sustaining "democracy", and the hypocrisy of Bush wanting to protect Iraq's borders while doing nothing about our own.

This is a much better video than my first video blog post that I did yesterday. Think I've gotten into a good groove now when it comes to speaking into a camera for an audience of... what, four or five? :-) Some friends provided great feedback on that first video, that I'm trying my best to take to heart. Anyway, here's a new one. Enjoy!

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George W. Bush has become John Kerry!

I'm following my usual custom with political speeches like this: listening to the TV, without actually watching it. That way I can home in on what the message really is, without being distracted by visual imagery.

So I'm laughing at Bush right now because the man has very obviously become John Kerry...

John Kerry in 2004: "I have a plan."

George W. Bush in 2007: "This plan can work!"

How did America get to the point where someone this shallow and disattached from reality could become President?

EDIT 9:32 PM EST: Bush said that "...our policy should focus on protecting Iraq’s borders..."

When is he going to get around to protecting OUR borders? You know: the borders of the country that he swore an oath to uphold and defend?

Good lord, we really do have a deranged man in the White House, don't we?

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Finally beat MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE

This was by far one of the most satisfying videogame experiences I've ever had. I've been hooked on this game and the other two that I got for Christmas. The Godfather: The Game is an incredibly deep and immersive work of art that I've gotten a bit into but wanted to give myself a lot more time to explore and really "get involved" with it. Call of Duty: Finest Hour is kicking my butt: I still can't get past that first Stalingrad mission.

So I've been playing the heck out of Marvel Ultimate Alliance and a short while ago finished it, with just less than 30 hours put into the effort. I used every character at least once except Daredevil, who I couldn't unlock until late in the game. For the final battle I used Spider-Man (wearing the Stark Armor), Wolverine (in Classic costume), Deadpool (in Assassin gear) and Thor (wearing Asgardian Armor). It's a very tough battle involving not just Doctor Doom - who now has god-like powers - but multiple evil duplicates of the Fantastic Four. By the end of the fight only Deadpool and Thor were still standing and fittingly enough I was able to use Thor to deliver the finishing blow.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance delivered what may be the most awe-inspiring moment I've ever beheld playing a videogame. Last night I got to the missions on the Skrull planet. As soon as I saw Galactus walking in the background I was like "Daaaaaaaammmmmm..." The guy is positively huge! We're talking as big as a mountain. And then he finally takes notice of you and when he starts coming after you... well, let's say that I'm keeping the saved game from just before that point, just to show anyone who comes over so I can see their eyeballs get all bugged-out. When you finally engage Galactus, you are in for one of the coolest videogame sequences in the history of anything as the Silver Surfer zips all around the world devourer's head. Just simply amazing. This was from the original Xbox version: if/when I get an Xbox 360 I can't wait to see what this scene looks like on that.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance is one of the most epic games I've ever played, and the ending sets itself wide-open for a follow-up that might be just as staggering. Yeah it has a number of bugs (that I hope will get ironed-out in the sequel) but those are easily overlooked for how fun it is to play. Definitely recommended no matter what platform you happen to own.

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