Fucking crazy, right?

Emily--the woman in the above animation--was produced using a new modeling technology that enables the most minute details of a facial expression to be captured and recreated.

She is considered to be one of the first animations to have overleapt a long-standing barrier known as [the] "uncanny valley"--which refers to the perception that animation looks less realistic as it approaches human likeness.

So in other words, CG is about to get a whole lot more real, with the dead-eyed CG puppets of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and Beowulf having just gotten their asses kicked to the curb.

Man that video's creepy--but not for the usual reasons CG people are creepy. It isn't until they break down the layers of that chick (thing?) that it starts to get really weird, right? And just to be on the safe side, I should probably say something here about how it's now perfectly obvious that computers are going to rise up and kill us all, I'd say most likely in the next six months or so. It's been nice knowing you guys, and I happily bow in servitude to our new robot rulers.

From the London Times, by way of io9.

As of late, it seems like everyone I know is in love with Cha Cha, the magical text-and-answer site previously referred to on this blog as the "greatest invention of the texting age." Send any inquiry to 242-242 and you will get a reply within minutes from a (human, not computer) texting specialist. It's great for solving bar bets, random curiosities, and going over your pre-assigned limit of text messages on your cell service plan.

Furthering my curiosity for Cha Cha I joined numerous friends who have signed up to work (and get paid) by answering the slew of endless, most likely intoxicated, questions they receive. Just go to their site, sign up, take a very easy test, and that's it. That's what I did!

Except, well, I failed the fucking test.

Evidently I am not capable of answering a text message from a random drunken stranger. And, to be honest, it hurts. It hurts so bad. Not the rejection (I'm quite used to that by now), but the fact that deep down I know I'm amazing when it comes to texting drunk people. It's what I was put on this earth to do. But after this searing rejection from some faceless internet company, I just don't know what to believe anymore.

August 18-22, the Portland Water Bureau and the Oregon Trail Chapter of the American Red Cross are having a BLOG OFF to see which is the best!

See, the Water Blog gets all kinds of attention for being an innovative way to communicate with customers about something that's usually pretty damn boring (it's a utility, for cryin' out loud). I mean, they post things like photos of the now-infamous Mt Tabor skinny dippers, and trivia on topics like "how often are Portland's iconic Benson Bubblers cleaned?" (answer: every two weeks). The Oregonian has called it "the city's most interesting blog..." and we've called it "pretty rad..." in the past.

All that attention, it seems, has made the folks at the Red Cross blog incredibly jealous. (See: "Oh, Water Blog. You are our biggest competition.") They blog fun stuff too, like intra-office pranks, safety tips, and info on the Breaking Dawn book release party blood drive.

So! The Red Cross Blog challenged the Water Blog crew to a blog off. And you, my friends, get to pose some of the challenges.

From Team Water Blog, Sarah Bott writes:

We'd like to let the readers of Willamette Week and The Mercury blogs decide, and to define the judging categories. For example, on Monday, August 18 both should blog about x topic, and on the 19th both should blog about y topic, etc.

What should the criteria and the topics be? We'd like to let the people tell us in a pre-contest poll.

Not to be outdone, Lise Harwin of Team Red Cross Blog adds:

Just wanted to throw out some daily blog assignments that we thought of for inspiration:

* Create a Top 10 list
* Write a post that must contain five words of the moderators' choice

Feel free to be creative and tough -- I know that Robin and I will be up for the challenge, though I'm not so sure about the Water Blog folks...

- Lise

Oh, it is ON. (And dear lord, I'm a geek.)

So, readers, let it rip! Post your challenge suggestions in the comments (and then, apparently, Corey Pein at WW--who has already stipulated "no haikus"--and I will cooperate in an unprecedented way to come up with the week's line-up).

AND! To crank up the competition another notch, vote for your favorite pre-challenge blog. Let's find out who the underdog really is... (poll closes Friday afternoon at 3 pm).

Which Blog is Better?

Cuil searches more pages on the Web than anyone else -- three times as many as Google and ten times as many as Microsoft.

Rather than rely on superficial popularity metrics, Cuil searches for and ranks pages based on their content and relevance. When we find a page with your keywords, we stay on that page and analyze the rest of its content, its concepts, their inter-relationships and the page’s coherency.

OH YEAH? Well, we'll just see about that! As a test, I'm going to do my top five searches I do every day on Google and see how Cuil stacks up:

1) WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY = No results found. BOOOOOO!!

2) URKEL = 145,062 results (Nice! Plus the top of the page breaks the Urkel subject into tabs to get even more specific, such as "Steve Urkel," "Urkel Doll," and "Myrtle Urkel." Another nice feature? The page is broken up into three columns with accompanying artwork and a longish paragraph for each search item.)

3) ALISON HALLETT JAGER BOMB = No results found. (Our arts editor Alison has enlisted my help to ensure that she never has any pictures of her doing Jager Bombs on the internet. So far, so good.)

4) JONAS BROTHERS = Wait... "No results found," and then when I hit search again, 200,000 results were found! Apparently, Cuil -- much like Portland -- has yet to appreciate that these lovable musical moppets are extremely popular and wildly talented!

5) FOXY STEPDADS = 1,560 results... but only one shows up! (Something about "tarring a stepdad with a brush"? Huh??) Then when I turn the "safe search" off, it only yielded 1,416 results -- again with just the "tar the stepdad with a brush" item! WTF?!

As you can see, Cuil acted a little buggy for me -- but admittedly, my searches are a bit off the beaten path. Plug in your searches and see how it works! And read more about Cuil here!

This has the potential to be a great blog, especially if the OLCC starts posting the nitty gritty allegations at troubled clubs (like the agency's notes on Greek Cusina).

For now, though, it's a little wonky, delving into OLCC policies like the prohibition on self-serve alcohol.

The perspectives on self-serve are derived from years of study into public safety and the positive effects of human interaction during alcohol purchases. Recently, a new product, the Enomatic Wine Preservation System has appeared in the Northwest. The machine provides a longer shelf-life and a measured pour, reducing waste and saving money. An extra feature is the Enomatic Wine Card, which allows a patron to purchase a pre-paid card then self-serve their wine at the machine.

Every Oregon business that serves alcohol is required by Oregon statute to have a person with a valid service permit sell, mix and dispense alcoholic beverages. As long as a valid service permit holder dispenses the wine, the Enomatic Wine Preservation System is legally compliant. Several machines are currently being used in Oregon, but they are behind the bar and are operated legally by servers with valid permits.

Might I suggest a weekly blog-column, OLCC? I want to know what the commissioners' favorite drinks are.

So now are you knuckle dragging holdouts going to get one?

The iPhone: A Gift from the Gods.

Except that the download is fucking up everyone's shit. Like a lot.

That's the 8 gigabyte model, with the 16 gigabyte version going for $299. The new iPhone also comes with faster internet, an (even) sleeker look, and GPS. Unfortunately, AT&T will remain the exclusive carrier, and they plan to jack up the price for their cheapest plan by ten bucks.

Here's Job's speech with plenty of pictures!

So that means I can sell my first generation to one of you guys for $400, and then buy two of the 3Gs… right?