TV Studio behind the scenes

A look at the studio(s) and an experience of seeing double monkey

My TV showreel 2010/11

A bit more description over here :)

Taking the role too seriously ?

Taking the role too seriously ?, originally uploaded by epredator.

Some things you just have to try and I wondered what a g33k tattoo would feel like.
Ow!
All in all wearing a tshirt is easier.

The Dakar Rally - and ambitions

This time of year is always a time for some excellent footage from the world famous rally raid the Dakar. Long since moved from anywhere near Dakar it now takes place in South America. I am in complete awe of the scenery, the ability of people and their vehicles to deal with the terrain and the adventure.
There has been a lot more web coverage this year, it used to just be Eurosport on TV. Here is an example.

The distances covered and the remoteness is stunning. There are also some people doing the race totally solo, on motorbikes with no team back up, they carry what they need. Just as there are major sponsored teams with full support.
I have managed to achieve a lot of my wish list or ambitions as a kid. I really wanted to invent things and get patents, done, I wanted to get be in a newspaper or book, done, I wanted to do a TV programme like Tomorrows World, done/doing, I wanted to go to American theme parks... done, I wanted to race in the Dakar.... who knows :)

What a singing voice

W00t, originally uploaded by epredator.

As I proved on Cool Stuff Collective I have a wonderful choral singing voice (erm.... not).
However I played Rockband 3 gave the singing a go on Medium and got 100% flawless singing Imagine. Go figure !

Undenk Music graffiti

Music graffiti, originally uploaded by epredator.

On a walk down to the waterfront at Warsash, from the opposite direction to the route I normally take I noticed this music graffiti on the derelict base of the building on the point. It is remarkably sublte, if you look loosely you will see that they are individual notes in what appears to be a scrawl between old microphone and stencil tag.
It was also positioned at the base of the wall so the mic is growing out of the grass.
The flickr photo is geotagged too with the exact location, if you happen to be walking there before someone scrawls all over it.

It is carrying the Undenk tag too a sort of open source graffiti movement.

Chicken suit - Fable 3

Chicken suit, originally uploaded by epredator.

I played quite a bit of Fable 3 this weekend and it was very amusing to end up wearing a chicken suit. People in funny suits is of course a major part of working on The Cool Stuff Collective :)
Having dressed up as a Banana, Slash/Rockstar and sung in a bizarre choir voice in the record this week the chicken in Fable 3 seems almost tame :)

Cool News

Predlet 2.0 has a go at presenting The Cool Stuff Collective from the comfort of his own house


He also said whilst watching the part I do. Oh look two daddys, one here and one in there.

Cool Stuff Collective Predlet Style on 101010

Cool Stuff Collective Predlet Style, originally uploaded by epredator.

I just got back from the Virtual Worlds Confenence, Learning in Different Worlds in Lathi Finland.
Predlet 1.0 greated me with a TV programme version she had made using a large shoe box and drawing.
She was drawing the parts of the Cool Stuff Collective and telling me how proud she was of my work on TV doing future tech on The Cool Stuff Collective with Sy.
All this on 10/10/10 too :)

Cool Stuff Monkey

Cool Stuff Monkey, originally uploaded by epredator.

Predlet 2.0 was more than happy his monkey got scanned in and made it to the end gag of the Cool Stuff Collective show this week :)
More over here

Old Rubik's toys and Evel Knievel rides again

I was having a rummage around in the loft at the weekend and stumbled upon my Rubik's snake puzzle. It seemed worth getting down and giving to the predlets to see what they make of it. It was a hit.

It is a set of pyramids linked by rotators. Whilst they were playing with it I suddenly realised it must be about 30 years old. Which was quite shocking! It has survived the the of time though.
Other things that came down from the loft included my Evel Knieval stunt bike. This did not survive quite so well as the handle bars had got a little brittle. As it hurtled down the hall and into the bathroom it smacked into the wall and the little Evel would have been heard to say "It came off in my hand".

It still does go though. You can buy new version of it still on Firebox
When I had the original one back in the 70's the bike worked but all the metal in Evel's body snapped, so it was impossible to get him sat on the bike or in any stunt poses. It was before the interwebs let us reach the toy companies and ask for customer service so I wrote a letter (I was about 7) to the toy company saying how unhappy I was that Evel had broken. They sent me a new Evel. Which I thought was amazing, and still do.
The other Rubik's related item that I still find fascinating was the Rubiks' rings. This is a set of square panels bound with nylon that let the panels be folded around one another. It is very tactile puzzle solving. Logically it is really a shuffle puzzle.
You start with it in this format

Fold it over and around a bit

Until you get to this

The tactile nature of these puzzles and toys is a nice change from the purely digital world I live in. However a blend of the two, an Augmented Reality Haptic feedback Rubik's puzzle .... wooooooaaah

Check this out - Beer Pong

The main presenter of The Cool Stuff Collective that I am doing my little thread of emerging technology on, Sy Thomas leads another live when he is not in the TV studio. Check out him and and his comedy partner Simon Feilder in this Beer Pong comedy short.

More on http://www.lifeofsi.tv/

An event not to be missed - Cool Stuff Collective

Over on my biz blog at feeding edge I wrote about my day out at MTV studios in Camden filming studio pieces for a new CITV Kids TV show called The Cool Stuff Collective.
Its a gadget and games show aimed at 7-12 year olds (and the rest of us too of course who love gadgets and games!)
I get to come on the show and talk about emerging technology, things that are just there, or you may think there are science fiction but be surprised they are really real.
The Cool Stuff Collective airs on 5:00pm Monday 13th September on CITV Sky 621 Freeview 72 Virgin 734 Tiscali 307
Watch out for a cameo appearance on the show about 3d printing

Yes its the epredator potato SL print from 2006 by Fabjectory
This one has appeared on TV before, he got more air time than me on Newsnight, not he is on childrens TV.

Excited predlets on trip in car

We took a trip to Longleat and on the way things got a little heated and they got excited :)

Go green team

Go green team, originally uploaded by epredator.

Green team won predlet 1.0's sports day today. She is very happy as she was a major force in green team :)
It got rained off last week and lucky it did, today was scorching hot and I was not away in Brighton for the rescheduled one.
W00t

Wifi hack solution to iPhone signal problems

Wifi hack solution to iPhone signal problems, originally uploaded by epredator.

Just a thought but it works for drive by wifi so maybe for an iPhone signal :)

Brilliant lego action movie

Thanks to @eric_anderesen for tweeting this excellent piece of legoma (or whatever we call stop motion films made with lego).

I like the look of this :) Predators iphone movie game

Looks nice, and made with unity3d too I believe

Dear England football team - How to kick a football

How to kick a football, originally uploaded by epredator.

Predlet 2.0 may only be 3 and a bit years old, and we are not really a football family, but the lad knows how to kick a football. He does it wish passion and vigour, lots of determination and also a high degree of precision (and thats just wearing sandals)
So.... If the lads who played so bad in the World Cup need a lesson, or if they need someone fresh for the squad. He is ready.

Comedy abbreviation on TV

Comedy abbreviation, originally uploaded by epredator.

It is amusing when TV titles in fixed format displays have to get abbreviated. This is a typical example.
The UK budget, no one knows whats going on... Wait... The Shadow knows!