Nostalgia alert: there's a Nintendo Power Glove documentary coming

If you're reading this web site you probably know what a Power Glove is, but just in case, here's a quick primer: the Power Glove was a controller for the original Nintendo Entertainment System that came out in 1989. The idea was that it could use hand gestures to control gameplay. It was a cool(ish) idea that never really took off, but in recent years has garnered a certain panache amongst old-school gaming fans and, interestingly, modders looking to use it for music and art.

 And now, it's getting a documentary. The Power of Glove documents not only the Glove's development and release -- Mattel sold it in the US -- but also the legacy of the peripheral as it has become a pop culture phenomenon. (We're not saying this all started with petulant videogame asshat Lucas Barton saying, "I love the Power Glove.  It's so bad." in the movie The Wizard, but it probably started there.)

Initially the filmmakers behind the documentary were drawn to the subject for the same reasons most gamers are: the Power Glove's oddly alluring spot in the world of gaming. But, co-director Andrew Austin said, "when doing research for the film, it became apparent that nobody had done any sort of serious documentation on the story behind the Power Glove." So he and co-directors Adam Ward and Paula Kosowski decided to make some of their own.

 "As a culture, we have a tendency to look back at toy products of our youth and think that they just magically appeared out of nowhere, when in reality, bringing a technologically sophisticated toy like the Power Glove to market in 1989 involved the effort of dozens of really dedicated and talented people," Ward said in an email to Wired.com. "When speaking with the creators, we noticed a good deal of 'what if' type thinking, as if to say that Wii-like technology might have come 20 years sooner had the Power Glove been given a fairer chance."

 He's right. Even though using motion to control Wii and Xbox Kinect games is the norm now, it wasn't in the late 1980s, and after much hype around its release, the Power Glove pretty much flamed out. But now in the DIY/hacker age, it has found new life with musicians like Side Brain who use it as an instrument and Nintendo mega-fan Isaiah "TriForce" Johnson, who appears in the film to show off his sizeable collection of Gloves and proclaim "the Power Glove has been such an inspiration to me." There's also a quick bit about an artist who made a bedazzled Michael Jackson Power Glove. (No, it doesn't get better than that.)


"It wasn't until browsing through a bunch of Power Glove YouTube videos, though, that we realized how many fans not only remember the Power Glove, but still actively talk about it and create new things with it," Austin said.
So when will we see this most magic of documentaries? Soon, but not soon enough. The filmmakers said they still want to do a few more interviews, but they hope to have their documentary ready to take to film festivals next year. C'mon The Power of Glove! That's so sad.

Cara Membuat Google Custom Search Engine

Cara membuat Google Custom Search Engine (Pencarian Kustom Google) ini hasil praktek sebagai mana saya posting di Fasilitas Pencarian dengan Google Custom Search Engine.

Untuk membuat Google Custom Search Engine (atau diterjemahkan juga sebagai Google Penelusuran Ubahsuaian), ikuti langkah-langkah berikut:

1. Login dengan menggunakan Google Account. Jika belum mempunyai Google Account, lakukan registrasi lebih dahulu.
2. Masuk ke Google Custom Search Engine dengan alamat di www.google.co.id/cse.
3. klik tombol Buat Custom Search Engine atau Buat Mesin Penelusuran Ubahsuaian yang ada di pojok kanan atas.
4. Akan terbuka halaman baru (1. Konfigurasikan mesin telusur Anda).
5. Lakukan konfigurasi mesin pencari yang akan dibuat dengan mengisi kolom-kolom yang tersedia. Mulai nama (di sini saya tulis: Pencarian Artikel Alamendah Via Google), deskripsi (saya tulis: Lingkungan Hidup, Flora (Tumbuhan), Fauna (Hewan), Isu Lingkungan, Indonesia), bahasa (saya pilih Indonesia), situs yang akan ditelusuri (bisa satu situs atau beberapa situs sekaligus. Di sini saya hanya mengisikan satu url blog yakni alamendah.wordpress.com), pilih edisi (gratis atau yang berbayar), dan jangan lupa beri contreng pada persetujuan layanan.
6. Setelah terisi semua klik tombol “lanjut” di bagian bawah.
7. Akan terbuka halaman baru (2. Coba saja).
8. Sobat dapat memilih gaya dan tampilan, terdapat 6 gaya. Klik yang sobat sukai dan akan ditampilkan preview di bawahnya.
9. Sobat dapat juga mencoba menggunakannya dengan mengetikkan keyword kemudian mengklik tombol seach.
10. Klik “lanjut” di bagian bawah
11. Terbuka halaman baru (3. Dapatkan kode). Di sini disediakan kode javascript untuk meletakkan kolom Google Custom Search Engine yang bisa diletakkan di side bar blog.

Sampai di sini mesin pencarian kita telah jadi. Untuk blog yang mendukung javascript dapat langsung menyalin kodenya dan memasangnya di sidebar.

Sayangnya untuk blog WordPress gratisan (WordPress.com) tidak bisa menggunakan kode javascript. Karena itu untuk memasang Google Custom Search Engine pada wordpress.com dibutuhkan sedikit improvisasi.

1. Masuk ke halaman “Panel Kontrol”. Caranya, dari halaman “3. Dapatkan kode” klik salah satu tulisan “Tampilan dan nuansa”, “dasar-dasar”, atau “tampilan dan nuansa” (berwarna biru) hingga terbuka halaman control panel, kemudian klik tulisan “Mesin telusur saya” yang ada di sudut kiri atas. Atau bisa dengan langsung mengetikkan alamat “www.google.co.id/cse/manage/all”
2. Cari tulisan sesuai dengan nama mesin yang kita isikan sewaktu melakukan konfigurasi (sebagaimana saya jelaskan di langkah ke-5). Di situ saya memberikan nama” Pencarian Artikel Alamendah Via Google”
3. Copy url pada tulisan tersebut dengan cara klik kanan maouse, kemudian “copy link location”.

Sekarang cara memasang di side bar Blog WordPress.

• Login dan masuklah ke dashbor blog. Pilih halaman “Widget”.
• Seret widget “teks” ke lokasi sidebar.
• Isikan kode berikut dalam widget teks tersebut:

<div style=”border:1px dotted #000000;background-color:#F5F5F5;width:200px;padding:5px;”>
<div style=”text-align:center;”>
Pencarian Artikel Alamendah’s Blog via Google </div>
<div style=”text-align:right;”> <strong>Klik <a href=”http://www.google.co.id/cse/home?cx=007433225687596300141:8ajiges0fnu” target=”_blank”><span style=”color:#0000ff;”>DI SINI</span></a></strong></div>
</div>

• Ganti tulisan yang berwarna hijau sesuai keinginan.
• Ganti tulisan yang berwarna merah dengan url yang telah sobat copy sebagaimana langkah ke-3 di atas.
• Atur besar kotak / kolom sesuai dengan lebar sidebar dengan mengubah angka pada tulisan “width:200px;padding:5px”
• Klik tombol “Simpan” di bawah kotak teks.

Selesai, Custom Search Engine atau Mesin Penelusuran Ubahsuaian telah jadi dan siap digunakan.

Itu saja, semoga berguna.