My brother (the world’s biggest Star Wars fan) just let me know that in August of this year George Lucas will be releasing a new Star Wars film.

Seriously.

No joke.

Wanna see the trailer?

It is all computer animated and follows a similar style to the animated series “mini movies” they had on Cartoon Network. It looks really, really, really cool. What is even better is, as far as I can tell…no Jar Jar. Sign me up.

The only thing I don’t get is that in the movie (and the television show that follows it) Anakin has a padawan. That seems a bit weird. At the end of Episode 2 Anakin is 18 and in the beginning of Episode 3 he is 21. That means Lucas has about 3 years to play with before “little annie” becomes “crazy big man in a helmet”. Not really enough time to go from Padawan to Jedi Knight to Jedi Knight with a Padawan himself.

I dunno…but really, do I care? Nah. Maybe he took the advanced course at ITT or something…its got lightsabers, so I am good.

I love ask a ninja. It is seriously one of the funniest things on the net. My favorite are the “omnibuses” that they have from time to time.

If you are a fan, then you might be interested to know that .net Magazine has an interview with the creators of the show. Its short and sweet, but it does answer some of the questions I had been wondering (like if they are making some serious cash off of the program).

It is nice to see “regular people” making it big on the net and getting to do what they love. Very cool stuff.

Anyone played Bioshock yet?

I picked up a copy for my Xbox360 last night and MAN is that game cool. Gorgeous, cool, and creepy…those are the words I would use to describe it.

Seeing a Big Daddy walking around for the first time is really intense. Screenshots just don’t do it justice.

One of the cool things is that it isn’t scary in the traditional since (i.e. things jumping at you…even though things do jump at you), but rather the game elicits an emotional response. For instance there is a scene where one of the “splicers” is crying over the baby she will no longer be able to hold. It doesn’t have to do with anything, but I just sat there and got a bit choked up (yes, I know…I am a wuss). Can’t say that many games have been able to do that…

I was talking to a couple of friends today and we decided that the one thing that this game will be remembered for in the long run will have to be its art style. The buildings and interiors use an “art deco” look that is from the 40s and such. The Empire State Building is probably the best example. It is just a look that has never been used before (at least to this scale) and it really adds to the atmosphere.

My only gripe is the very beginning. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything (this part is actually in the demo). You start out as a dude whose plane has crashed. Instead of drowning you decide to go into this big elevator thingie and end up in the city of Rapture. About 2 minutes later you run into this HUGE syringe, and without asking questions like “what is this?” or “where do you stick THAT?” you grab it and plunge it into your arm. No explanations about the syringe are given till AFTER you stab yourself. I don’t know about you, but I don’t go around and grab pointy objects and stick myself just to see what happens. Seems a bit silly. Course, 10 seconds later you forget about the whole thing because you can now shoot lightning!

Finally, if you are holding off buying the game because of the “widescreen controversy”…don’t. If you played the game before you heard about the “issue” then it would have never crossed your mind that you were missing something. It really is a non-issue, because you don’t miss anything. Just feel sorry for the people with a regular tv who can’t see this amazing game in glorious HD. If you haven’t heard of this controversy and are going to buy the game, then I suggest you don’t even bother learning about it. Just get the game and enjoy it. Its truly a one of a kind experience.

In case you missed this posting on Digg, PC Magazine has an article entitled Five Ideas that will Reinvent Modern Computing.

It is a really great read, but here is a synopsis in case you are in a hurry.

1. Linkable Projectors - Basically this is a new technology that will allow multiple projectors to be linked together to make a super image (think IMAX). This one definitely has my attention….now if only I had a theatre room.
2. Mouse without a mousepad - I am not sure about this one, but basically it turns your mouse into a Wiimote…kinda. I can see this working for presentations and such, but to do day to day work…my arm would get tired.
3. Quantum Computing - Now here is an idea that will change the world. Problem is…its still 10 - 20 years away (at least). Ho-hum
4. Data Centric Networking - Now we are talkin’. This little piece of tech is basically Napster (the old one) on steroids. It is basically a network that knows where the data is rather than where the servers are. Good stuff.
5. Computer Brain - Some dudes in California are making a mouse brain with super computers. The eventual goal is to make a computer that works and behaves exactly like the human brain. Not only is this a LONG ways away, but I don’t know if I want a computer that gets moody…

It really is a cool article, and if you have 10 minutes, I recommend taking a look.

The Wall-Street Journal “All Things Digital” conference is going on, and as part of it the great Steve Jobs and Bill Gates sat down for an unscripted interview.

The dev/design world is so polarized right now between Apple and Microsoft fanboys that it is interesting when the kings of both worlds come together and you learn that they have tremendous respect for each other. Now, if the “Pirates of Silicon Valley” has it right, there is a lot of water under that bridge, but they hide it well. Each of them have contributed in so many ways that it is just impossible not to have respect for both of them for very different reasons.

It is very apparent from these videos that Steve is the charismatic one, and Bill is the nerd…but as I learned in high school…it takes all kinds.

The videos are pretty long, but they are really interesting, so if you have some time, take a look.

Watch the Steve and Bill Interview

Ok, so not everything I do and read has to do with user-interfaces. Surprising…but true.

From time to time I run across things that I find interesting for one reason or another, but are not associated with the main purpose of the site. I call these “tangents”.

So the first official tangent is “The Last Question”, which is a short story by Isaac Asimov. Now I have never read any of his work; I have meant to, but I haven’t worked it in as of yet. Today I ran into and read “The Last Question” for the second time, and even after rereading it I still find it fascinating. It makes me think and wonder, which is the point of all good sci-fi is it not?

So if you have about 10 - 15 minutes to kill, take a gander. You can find it all over the net, but here is a quick link for you. Enjoy.

The Last Question