Random Cool

Another nothing entry today, just a couple of cool links to point you to.

First, this looks pretty neat (warning: it's a pretty long video, over a half-hour, but you can get the gist pretty quickly, but if you're still on dial-up, it will probably be a pain). If you're interested in it, this month's Wired also has a two-page spread about the game and an interview with the designer. It looks like this game will be getting a lot of pre-release hype. Will it live up to the hype? eh...

And then there's this. I especially like the photos at the bottom which show a different angle, so you can see how the illusion is done. I remember reading an article long ago (in National Geographic, maybe) about Renaissance masters who would embed images like this in their paintings. For example, Holbein's "The Ambassadors." There's a light-and-dark smear at the bottom. You can sort of tell what it is, although why would he paint it all stretched out like that? View it at the proper angle, and you get this. For a fuller discussion of hte phenomenon, go here.

What I want to know is, why do this at all. Why embed a skull in the painting that can only be seen clearly when looking at an angle that obscures the rest?

I think it's a secret message, one that was missed or ignored by Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Da Vinci Code. Even "Dogma" got this one wrong. The skull means that the last scion has died, and the conspiracy is over. Everybody go home. It's so obvious.

Okay, so the entry grew a little while I was writing it. Sue me.