Author: Hyper Pac

Trials HD on xbox360

trialshd

I bought Trials HD for the xbox360 on xbox live and spent 1200 MS Points for it. And I can only say – it´s great fun. Due to the HD resolution the game looks brilliant. The levels are well designed, start easy and then have a good learning curve towards some really fucking hard levels. The controls concerning the bike are limited to accerleration and braking. The more important part is the steering of the driver which is done through the left analog stick.

You can get a first impression from the following video :

Some of you might remember this kind of games from several browser games available online. But the origin of this genre might be ExciteBike published 1984 on the NES.

255px-Excitebike_cover

If you wanna know more, then check the Wikipedia artcile, otherwise if you wanna travel back to 1984 then here´s your chance to play it online :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excitebike

http://nintendo8.com/game/24/excitebike/

files larger than 4 GB on a USB stick

Normally it´s not possible to store files (or a single file) larger than 4 GB on a USB stick because of the FAT32 filesystem. Under Windows XP you can easily change this by converting the filesystem to NTFS.

Open the command line by clicking on Start -> Run and enter convert X: /FS:NTFS (for x type the drive letter of your usb stick).

After a while the process is finished and you´re able to store files larger than 4 GB on your USB stick.

more : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307881

Controller Mash-Up

4players did a big controller mash-up (the link at the bottom of the article leads to the picture gallery) and I found 2 interesting devices :

negconThis is the neGcon from Namco, originally made for Ride Racer on the PSX. I still remember the day when I first saw this controller. Schnee bought it (for a shitload of money) and I didn´t liked it in the beginning. But later I cherished its precise control in racing games and still today it´s small and innovative device. Much better than the analog sticks used for the xbox360 or the PS3.

brain_controlThis one is a brain controlled device. I saw something similar years ago at a hospital specialized in epilepsy therapy. The patients controlled a little spaceship in a left-to-right scrolling game and tried to avoid a collision with objects – only with their “thoughts”.

It should help them to recognize outbreaks of the epilepsy early and minimize the seizure.

Anyway – in this picture it shows a game controller. Until now it´s not very popular but I´m sure that this concept of controlling will become more important in the future.

(copyright of the pictures by 4players.de)

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And there is more interesting and funny stuff at 4players (only in german – sorry) :

Nur tote Fische schwimmen mit dem Strom

(only in german, sorry)

Marcus Orleander  : nur tote fische schwimmen mit dem strom – die frage is aber: schwimmst du noch, oder lebst du schon 😉

Pac : Die Frage ist eher, ob die Fische wirklich schon tot sind. Denn wäre dem so, so würden sie sicherlich nicht mehr schwimmen – denn sie sind ja tot und haben damit ihre Fähigkeit zum schwimmen eingebüßt.

Angenommen sie leben allerdings noch, ist die Frage, ob die Fische denn wirklich schwimmen oder ob sie sich einfach treiben lassen. Denn es heisst ja Strom, abgeleitet von Strömung, die sie wiederum vorantreiben würde, ohne dass der Fisch etwas dazu tut.

Schwimmen sie, kann man davon ausgehen, dass sie schneller als der Strom sind, und damit die Masse – die sich ja treiben lässt – überholen und somit das ganze anführen. Vorausgesetzt sie schwimmen in der gleichen Richtung wie der Strom fliesst.

Anderenfalls schwimmen sie ja gegen den Strom, kämpfen also dagegen an und fallen somit nicht unter die von dir angenommene Deutung dieses Spruchs.

youtube channel updated

Hey folks,

I did an update on my youtube channel and added the following :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR8ey9KkzyI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms_C2b8URrw

The beginning and the end of Carmina Burana.

Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, Domstufenfestspiele 2009 – Erfurt, Germany

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owzUrBigLYI

A crazy metronome with the eye in the pyramid. All conspiracy fans will love that. I found it in Madrid at the Reina Sofia museum. Enjoy !

Hacking SMS ticketing systems

I read this interesting post from the “Hacking At Random” conference. For everybody who has paid the parking slot for his car recently with the mobile phone, this should be interesting. And for those who live in eastern europe and use public transportation…generally seen, it describes an important vulnerability in SMS ticketing systems.

https://har2009.org/program/events/89.en.html

docs :

HAR – Public transport SMS ticket hacking

Madrid, Spain

I’m on holidays in Madrid to visit Pierre – a friend of my girlfriend Steff. And besides the 41 degrees !!!! during the day it seems like I’ve been dropped in the biggest construction site of the world. It really sucks…

But Madrid has some beautiful Street Art objects and so I decided to start a new category and here are the first objects (the first one is just a prove for the temperature) :