Peleliu landing

Okay, I didn't see that one coming: episodes 3 and 4 of The Pacific were pretty subdued, and I was wondering if the series would get lost in the love life of the protagonists. But no, of course, the fierce battle of the Peleliu landing came on rather unexpectedly. Prepare for you breath to be taken away by the incredibly well-filmed assault on the island with the amphibious tanks, it's pretty intense.

YouTube - The Pacific - Part 5 "Peleliu Landing" Promo [HQ]

Fake windows

Yes, why not: advanced motion-sensor technology makes these "fake" windows possible, in reality it's just two HD screens. Pretty cool when you can finally project the shark tank or alien cityscapes on your wall!

The High Definite » The Winscape

NYC in 3D

So Google Earth is going 3D now-- so can we get a 3D environment of the Earth's cities to play real-life GTA in it already?

EPICponyz: NYC 3D in Google Earth

Ruins of Detroit

The Ruins of Detroit is a book by photographers Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre that will be released on May 31st, 2010. Glimpse a sample of the great pictures they made in abandoned buildings in Detroit-- these look almost too surreal to be for real! Really awesome.

Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre Photography - The Ruins of Detroit

The truth in old masters

Well this is surprisingly cheeky: Samsung presents some new 3D television or something with a look a some "old masters" paintings, revealing some interesting larger story behind these pictures. This spot really calls on a lot of nerdy topics (like the giant shark vs. helicopter meme or The Matrix), and if you turn of the commentary it's even better.

The Daily What: This Is Hilarious, You Should Watch It of the Day

After the credits

Yeah, this is what the video games never show you: after you save the princess, there will be no happy ever after-- instead, she will suck your money away and run off with a rich old guy. Oh well!

The Daily What: Animated Short of the Day

Giza pyramids

The Brookyln Museum has an amazing collection of lantern slide images from the Giza pyramids. Really beautiful coloring and great composition in those shots.

Brooklyn Museum: Libraries and Archives: Lantern Slide Collection

Bad movies' greatest scenes

This is a good collection of bad movies' greatest scenes; i. e. when a really bad movie has one really good scene in it.

When A Bad Movie Has One Incredibly Great Scene - Movies - io9

Vivos underground shelter

Is this the Vault-tec of 2010? io9 posted a couple of videos from a company called Vivos that builds an underground shelter network in various cities in the States. For 40000$ you can secure your place for the worst case - but only if you bring the right set of skills. No, I don't think "internet writer" is very high on that priority list, too.

Ride Out 2012 In Style With Vivos Apocalypse Shelters - Architecture - io9

Ikea prison

Need a quick solution for your imprisonment needs? Artist Bill Burns can help with his handy Ikea cells and prison tower blueprints. His series "IKEA Playlist Kit for Primates" also comes with a useful selection of music that guards used to torture inmates at Guantanamo.

An Alternate Universe Where IKEA Helps You Build Prisons - Art - io9

Periodic table of imaginary elements

I'm not such a big fan of the ubiquitous periodic tables of anything that are swarming the Internet, but this one actually makes sense: the periodic table of imaginary elements, taken from books, movies and video games. Pretty cool. Available as a poster print from Russell Walks.

Russell Walks Illustration

Old vs. new zombies

Interesting read on Kotaku: this article deals with the evolution from the old-school "slow" zombies (a la Night of the Living Dead) to the new "fast" zombies as seen in 28 Days Later and Left 4 Dead, for instance. In fact, the 1996 game Resident Evil deserves the credit for probably being the first to introduce these "fast" zombies that have become so prevalent in the new millennium.

Infection Vs. Resurrection: The New Science of the Zombie - Zombie - Kotaku

Crysis 2

I never played Farcry and Crysis much, but honestly this new footage from Crysis 2 looks a bit awesome.

EPICponyz: Crysis 2 - CryEngine 3 Demo

Gun cam video missing footage

Remember that helicopter gun cam video from Iraq that has been causing so much controversy? It appears that 20 to 30 minutes were cut from the middle of the video, footage that might have shed a different light on the actions of the helicopter crews:

What happened during that missing half-hour? The Jawa Report cites the sworn statements of the pilots involved in the attack. One pilot said in his statement that between the attack on the journalists and the second attack, two events occurred which may have softened the picture of the pilots provided by the video: 1) The pilots went to assist soldiers under attack, but saw a child and other "noncombatants" and held their fire. 2) The pilots saw a red SUV that may have contained insurgents, but held their fire because they couldn't get a positive identification. Here is the relevant part of the statement.

The 'Full Version' of The Wikileaks Video Is Missing 30 Minutes of Footage - wikileaks - Gawker

After the firefight

Magnificent Ruin

On the set of The Shining

Working with perfectionist director Stanley Kubrick wasn't always easy, as can be seen in this behind-the-scenes video from the set of The Shining. I just love love love Jack Nicholson in this role, he looks so creepy even when he's out of role, just talking about the movie.

Stanley Kubrick Acting Psycho On The Set Of "The Shining" - stanley kubrick - io9

Denon dedicated link cable

Funny Amazon product reviews are funny: this time for the 500$ Denon premium audio cable.

This connection isn't sound. If my calculations are correct, it should be sometime around 2007 for whomever is reading this. DO NOT USE THESE CABLES. Something... happens with them. Something came through, something from somewhere else. We were overrun in days, not many of us are left. WE LIVE UNDERGROUND! ONLY YOU CAN STOP IT NOW. SAVE US. DO NOT USE THESE CABLES.

Amazon.com: Denon AKDL1 Dedicated Link Cable: Electronics

Metal Gear Solid vs. Monster Hunter

I agree with Topless Robot that this is rather insane: in the latest installment of Metal Gear Solid, Peace Walker, there appears to be a mode in which you can take it up against some of the monsters from Capcom's Monster Fighter. Looks like good old fun.

Topless Robot - So Solid Snake Apparently Fights Dinosaurs Now

Gknova6

Mystery video game viral campaign: Unmarked USB sticks were sent out to various game magazines and web sites, bearing no return address an no other identification. When deciphered, the code on it leads to a web site called GKNOVA6 and furthermore contains the note "April week two".

Due to the Maryland stamps on the envelope, and the retro-ish appearance of the secret web site, it was first suspected that this is a viral campaign for the new Fallout video game. Developer Bethesda has since denied this, and current leads point to an Activision-developed game-- Singularity and the new Call of Duty are prime suspects.

What's On This Mystery USB Drive? [Update] - PlayStation 3 News at IGN

Riots in Krygyzstan

The Big Picture has some pictures from the recent riots in Krygyzstan. Future protesters take note: when on a riot, first thing you do is try to grab the RPG from the riot police, like this guy.

Crisis in Kyrgyzstan - The Big Picture - Boston.com