I’ve been using Windows Live Mail – which was recently updated and offered for free to all Windows 7 users – for a couple of weeks, and so far it seems stable and very fun to use. The fact that it combines all your mail, news feeds, contacts, calendar in one package – and be good at doing it – is quite great. This program is part of Windows Live Essentials that includes Messenger, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, and Writer (that I used to write this post).

I sound like a Microsoft fanboy, huh? But this is really one hell of a package.

Black and White in their home; a broken car in a backstreet in Treasure Town.

I watched this animated film today, and all I can say is that it was astounding, in every way. The attention to the details is extraordinary; each frame is full of wonderful detail, it can be used as a standalone piece of art. The animation is slick, the music is great, and the colors really stand out.

Land of the Sacred Spirits is a short manga by Jiro Matsumoto (松本次郎). It was published in his collection Keep On Vibrating (ゆれつづける).

Jiro Matsumoto is known for violent (and often pornographic) depictions in his works, although his works are usually very thoughtful and philosophical. And this short manga is no different.

Robolert v1.0 is finally the complete version of this high-tech intrusion-detecting line of robots. The robot is relatively tiny at 35 cm in height, and only 2.5 kg in weight. Being that portable, it has become very popular with shifting guards. They bring it with them to the location, switch it on, and then let it wander around. It makes their job so much easier.

Technically speaking, the robot carries two very sensitive optical cameras located in its eyes. It detects the slightest changes in the environment. Its feet are also padded with very sensitive devices that detect sound waves transmitted through the ground. When a verified intrusion is detected, the robot produces ear-blowing alerting sounds from 6 loud speakers set on its antennas (2), ears (2) and legs (2). Moreover, 2 extra speakers that work wirelessly are projected from both of its arms into different directions of space to extend the range of its alerts as far as possible.

It comes with a remote control that controls the unit, and also shows where the unit is situated.

Robolert v1.0 was designed by TripleH Labs with portability and effectiveness in mind.

More pixel art is on my DeviantART page.

• Having recently talked about Studio Pixel’s Cave Story, I thought: why not talk about pixel art?

• From Wikipedia ,

Pixel art is a form of digital art, created through the use of raster graphics software, where images are edited on the pixel level. Graphics in most old (or relatively limited) computer and video games, graphing calculator games, and many mobile phone games are mostly pixel art. Pixel art is distinguished from other forms of digital art by an insistence upon manual, pixel-level editing of an image (without the application of image filters, automatic anti-aliasing or special rendering modes), often at close magnification. In this form, it is commonly said that “each pixel was placed carefully” to achieve a desired result.

• Pixel art, while not aware of it at the time, constituted a major part of the art I perceived as a child. Evident in retro video games, graphics drawn in such way was to me instantly related to high technology. It looked unique and inspired. The precision put behind each tiny image is more than that of a large modern image, which is amazing. Today, as an adult, pixel art is still interesting to me. Video games with retro-style, in which pixel art is heavily utilized, still bring a warm nostalgia to time passed. I think only those who have witnessed pixel art as children grow up to appreciate it.

Read on for examples of this type of art and how to create it yourself.