Escape Tangent writes "The full theatrical trailer for The Matrix: Revolutions was posted just moments ago at thematrix.com. Choose your poison, then oogle at the eyecandy. Here are links to the high, medium, and low resolutions. Sorry folks, Quicktime 6 only." This trailer is much longer than the earlier TV spots, but they're still available.

An anonymous reader writes "The entries to GBADev.org's yearly Gameboy Advance development competition have been released - it's always nice to see what the amateur GBA developers can churn out. Over $1100 in cash and about the same amount in other prizes are up for grabs!" There's some pictures from the 24 games and 5 demos available (scroll down), and highlights include hex-based puzzle game, Matrix Advance, the 2D top-down racer, Critical Velocity, and 9Wires' great-looking isometric 3D adventure, Space Twins.

Aidtopia writes "Computer Graphics pioneer Andrew Glassner has a cool page on virtual cinema. The Matrix Reloaded introduced us to virtual cinema--re-rendering live action to show it in a way that would be difficult or impossible in real life. Glassner takes this much further by using unusual (and physically impossible) camera distortions, morphing multiple points of view simultaneously in single continuous image. Could this be the next big revolution in film? How long until we see a movie done like this?"

Malfourmed writes "The Sydney Morning Herald is running a story on web based comics and how the new medium can change the traditional "left-to-right in a rectangular frame" paradigm. Concentrating on the work of Scott McLoud it also mentions geek favourites Dilbert and The Matrix, among others. Micropayments are discussed, with the article claiming that after you pay your 25 cents "most of which goes straight to McCloud, cutting out the middlemen that make it difficult for comic artists to make a living from their work, and in the process doing justice to their talents." One of the more interesting sites discussed is the Oz Comics 24 Hour Gallery, the result of a competition in which artists had 24 hours to create an original, 24-page comic. So popular was the contest that the server suffered from a veritable slashdot effect."

aerojad writes "The new Matrix Revolutions trailer is now available for download (direct link) on the official site. If you have plugin/bandwidth issues, there are also BitTorrent links available. For those wondering, there is more to it than you saw at the end of Reloaded." In related news, an anonymous reader points to the BBC News report that: "The makers of the Matrix films are considering only promoting the third film, Matrix Revolutions, for next year's Oscars. Warners, which produced the films, had considered pushing for both of them to be nominated as a single entry because they were shot on the same 240-day shoot, but the academy refused."

Thanks to Smartmoney.com for their report into GameStop's second-quarter financial results, which revealed "a 31% surge in videogame software sales", although a drop from last year's hardware-discounted highs, and "better-than-expected performance in stores." According to the report, "...the company said videogame-software sales were 'very strong' for the quarter, with leading titles such as 'Enter The Matrix' from Atari Inc., 'NBA Street: Volume 2' and 'NCAA Football 2004' from Electronic Arts Inc. and 'Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic' from LucasArts." Most interestingly, GameStop indicated they're expecting "...further hardware price reductions 'or similar promotional activities' during the third quarter", a move that may include the rumored $99 GameCube price drop which IGN Cube are confidently predicting for the end of September.

wehe writes "The Linux on Laptops Manufacturer Report Card was updated. The changes are based on some of the criticisms the first announcement at SlashDot has got. A matrix of Original Equipment Manufacturers - OEM relations was added together with tips and tricks how to identify the original laptop manufacturer. Also a list of Linux laptop and PDA resellers was added. Unfortunately even in our times of Linux success, support by laptop manufacturers is seldom, or if provided not much helpful. Though the marketing departments of some major manufacturers have announced Linux support for their laptops sometimes, it was not developed or silently dropped. Because of the rapid development (every manufacturer creates new models almost every three months) and the specific hardware of mobile computer devices and accessories (see Linux Mobile Guide for details), it is important to have current and reliable information about their Linux compatibility. A current example is Intel`s new Centrino(TM) technology. Though there are many Linux laptop installation reports available already, Intel still does not provide full Linux support yet. Note: the URL of the original "Linux on Laptops Manufacturer Report Card" has changed from MobiliX to TuxMobil, because of severe trademark trouble with Asterix and Obelix, as reported on SlashDot."

Thanks to GameSpy for posting a column discussing the increasing prevalence of serious bugs and glitches in console titles, especially in relation to several of this summer's 'blockbusters'. Singled out are Enter The Matrix: "Even if you enjoy the game.. you can't ignore the fact that all three console makers let Atari have a 'get out of final approval free card' when it came to testing...", as well as the new Tomb Raider title: "AOD froze up on me at least half a dozen times... Lara fell through invisible gaps in the street, walked through invisible gaps in walls, and refused to walk up stairs that she was supposed to be able to climb." What's to be done when, as the author says, "judging from the sales of these... titles, enough of you guys just aren't punishing the companies for releasing sub-par products to make a difference"?

cEnTiBeE writes that this is "not about the Matrix," but rather about Near Earth Object tracking. "It's accomplished by a staff of 2.5 people watching to see when any 'vermin of the sky' plan to pay earth a visit. This piece titled Keeper of the Objects is in the August '03 issue of Scientific American."

Anonymous Howard writes "Sony has a hot new subnote on it's hand: the Vaio PCG-TR1A. This subnote is packed full of features: integrated camera (still and video), 10.6 inch bright wide-format screen, 900MHz Centrino, CD-RW/DVD Combo drive, 30GB drive, 802.11b, two usb ports, firewire, 3.11 pounds and a magnesium alloy case. The thing looks really cool. For me, it's the first subnote that actually gives me a viable option for purchase instead of a the Apple Powerbook 12". Read a article about it over at Designtechnica. Check out this forum thread that has good pics, other then the stock pics, next to a VPR Matrix 200A5."

An anonymous reader writes "NASA's long planning horizon today details a history of science facts and their sci-fi roots. The study is based on a collaborative European Space Agency project, 'Innovative Technologies from Science Fiction for Space Applications.' More than 200 technical dossiers are described--from holodecks to terraforming comets--but one of the fundamental questions posed is: what is the best communication device to scale-up expert opinion itself? Other than some future, expert version of the internet itself, is that a a collaborative Matrix? Other such interesting collections are from: MIT Media Lab's ThinkCycle, Da Vinci Institute, and the unpretentious HalfBakery of ideas."

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to game designer Mark Barrett's page, where he has an opinion piece discussing the gameplay limitations of videogame licenses. He references earlier discussions on the subject from the likes of Warren Spector and Greg Costikyan, and says his Enter The Matrix play sessions revealed "..most of what I was doing and seeing had been forced not by design decisions, but rather by the promise of the license itself... [which was] encumbered by filmic conventions and film-related audience expectations, some of which were unrelated (or even antithetical) to a meaningful interactive experience." Do developers just have to rely on luck when it comes to how game-translatable a license is, or can they beat the odds by being smart?

SycloneFX noted that the Matrix Reloaded will be available on DVD on Oct 14, just 3 weeks before the release of Revolutions. This is noteworthy because normally there are large time spans between releases of DVDs and Sequels (although LotR had a special edition released only a few weeks before TTT).

hexidec writes "Haven't seen this here yet, though I may have missed it. Anyway... A group of Australian techies have put together an analysis matrix of the likelyhood of each SCO Unix claim being true, and what outcome would most likely result if so. Puts a lot of the various recent suppositions in one handy place."

pajor writes "BBC News is reporting that that The Matrix Reloaded has been banned in Egypt. The country's censorship board cited violence which might 'harm social peace', but also said the 'religious themes' of the film's storyline, about the search for the creator and control of the human race, may cause 'crises'. A statement said: 'Despite the high technology and fabulous effects of the movie, it explicitly handles the issue of existence and creation, which are related to the three divine religions, which we all respect and believe in.'"

I just noticed over at GameSpot that Planet Moon Studios has completed their set of MDK developers. They've got them all together to work on a new game called Armed & Dangerous, a third person shooter to be released by LucasArts. We covered Armed & Dangerous a while back, but now it looks like the last member of the team is back in the fold, fresh from working on Enter the Matrix.

Thanks to an anonymous reader pointing to this Reuters/Yahoo story with more details on the newly announced Metallica-licensed videogame. Apparently, the 2005-due title, which other sources mention is a vehicular combat game, "has the ideas and the inspiration and the identity of the band behind it", and will, oddly, also feature art input from Geof Darrow of The Matrix/Hard Boiled/Big Guy And Rusty fame. Let's hope the title can improve on band-licensed games from Aerosmith , Journey, or even Iron Maiden?

Makarand writes "Patients who have implants containing any kind of metal cannot be MRI scanned as the powerful electromagnetic radio waves can induce currents large enough to heat the metal in implants to over 70 C and damage surrounding tissue. Now, Biophan, a biomedical devices company, has developed a nano-coating material that can protect implants by preventing most of the radio waves from reaching the internal components of the implant by reflecting them. It's high electrical resistance also prevents currents from flowing around the implant's surface and heating any nearby body tissue. Biophan's coating is a mixture of poorly conducting nanoparticles held in an insulating matrix. The coating is a mere three micrometres thick and can cut the energy induced in an implant by 89 per cent."

An anonymous reader writes "As linked to in this post, Matrix: Online has been announced. The official site for the game describes it as a MMORPG of epic proportions as people will get to feel what it's like to be a part of the matrix realm. Although the details list lots of interesting information, the most important piece I found was in the FAQ section... where they state that the game takes place after Matrix Revolutions... Are they trying to hint at something?"

goombah99 writes "Nick Bostrom discusses the computational requirements needed to simulate human existence. He offers a proof based on the anthropic principle, that you are almost certainly a computer simulation and not "real". The idea is that given that humans don't go extinct in geologically short time then eventually computer capability will allow complete simulation of the human cortex. Consequently, there must be far more simulations running in future millennia than seconds since you were born. Thus its astronomically more likely you are a simulation than real ... if humans don't go extinct shortly. Recalling the 13th floor, Robin Hanson discusses how one should try to live in a simulation. David Wolpert also weighs in on the physical limits of Turing machines for simulation of the universe. This also may explain why time travel seems impossible: we dont meet visitors from the future since only the present is being simulated."