Ranma 1/2 Manga Gets Live-Action Special with Yui Aragaki

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

Anime News Network is reporting that there will be a live-action television adaptation of Ranma 1/2.

Ranma ½ (らんま1/2 Ranma Nibun-no-Ichi?, pronounced Ranma One-Half) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi with an anime adaptation. The story revolves around a 16-year old boy named Ranma Saotome who was trained from early childhood in martial arts. As a result of an accident during a training journey, he is cursed to become a girl when splashed with cold water, but hot water will change him back into a boy.
In Japan, the manga was serialized in Shogakukan\’s Shōnen Sunday where it ran from 1987–1996. Takahashi has stated in interviews that she wanted to produce a story that would be popular with children.[1] Ranma is part of the shōnen demography.
Ranma ½ had a comedic formula and a sex changing main character, who often wilfully changes into a girl to advance his goals. Ranma ½ also contains many other characters, whose intricate relationships with each other, unusual characteristics and eccentric personalities drive most of the stories. Although the characters and their relationships are complicated, they rarely change once the characters are firmly introduced and settled into the series.

Natsuna is playing female Ranma.
\'\'
Kento Kaku is playing Male Ranma

\'\'

Yui Aragaki will be playing Akane Tendo…

\'\'

Smooth Cheesecake, in a 3d brawler? Senran Kagura Gameplay…

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

Destroid has 7 minutes of footage from a Senran Kagura…
I  have only watched the first 4 minutes or so…  (Here\’s a hint, the first 35 seconds or so is the opening)…
But the game play seems smooth, and there seemed to be plenty of T&A, Cheesecake, fan service, etc…  After all, there were three or four clothing changes in the fight, etc…
So take a look…For real, here\’s eight minutes of Senran Kagura gameplay -Destructoid.  And if you know something about the series, leave some information in the comments…

Detect Train and Close Window with Arduino and Webcam

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

[youtube http://www.youtube.com?v=aBhF_qfG4Qc]
Here\’s a great example of how to solve problems through automation….
The problem, living next to a set of train tracks, and the noise that they make…  The solution, automatically close the windows, when a train is passing through…

Using a webcam, open-source motion detection software, and an arduino, I\’ve created an automatic window closer for my bedroom windows. This is a demonstration of how it works.

It\’s a nice rig, custom built, and very functional.  I can see some possible improvements, including sound triggering, or leveraging the web cam to detect the trains from further away…
But, it\’s a great solution.

Netflix break up?

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

From the what are they smoking department….

Many members love our DVD service, as I do, because nearly every movie ever made is published on DVD, plus lots of TV series. We want to advertise the breadth of our incredible DVD offering so that as many people as possible know it still exists, and it is a great option for those who want the huge and comprehensive selection on DVD. DVD by mail may not last forever, but we want it to last as long as possible.
I also love our streaming service because it is integrated into my TV, and I can watch anytime I want. The benefits of our streaming service are really quite different from the benefits of DVD by mail. We feel we need to focus on rapid improvement as streaming technology and the market evolve, without having to maintain compatibility with our DVD by mail service.
So we realized that streaming and DVD by mail are becoming two quite different businesses, with very different cost structures, different benefits that need to be marketed differently, and we need to let each grow and operate independently. It’s hard for me to write this after over 10 years of mailing DVDs with pride, but we think it is necessary and best: In a few weeks, we will rename our DVD by mail service to “Qwikster”.

I am not sure how Netflix can justify splitting the DVD by mail segment into another company, and expect it to survive….
The only justification, that I can think of is as follows:

  • They believe that they will be able to license the DVD & streaming content licenses for less, since they will be negotiating separately.
  • They believe that the DVD by mail portion is dying and doomed to death, and do not wish to doom both portions of the company.
But more importantly, I do not see any way for this to be beneficial for the customer.
  • The cost is the same for the customer, unless you reduce your qwikster queue size..
  • Yes, they do plan to support Video Game rentals, but how long before they have a really viable selection?
  • Separate queues, which you can not access from the other platform…
Yes, they are attempting to justify they previous announcements, and this gives us some more information, but I

making of the abyss-part 1

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments


Behind the Scenes of one of the most difficult movie shoots in the history of cinema…
The Abyss is a 1989 science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn. The original musical score was composed by Alan Silvestri. It was released on August 9, 1989 in North America.
Underwater scenes were filmed in the containment building of Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant, an unfinished nuclear power plant on Owensby Road, near Shelby, North Carolina, in the United States. It took seven million gallons (27 million liters) of water to fill the tank to a depth of 40 feet (12 m), making it the largest underwater filming set ever constructed. The depth and length of time spent underwater meant that the cast and crew sometimes had to go through decompression. Filming was also done at the largest underground lake in the world — a mine in Bonne Terre, Missouri, which was the background for several underwater shots.