Update 2/13/07: After reading this post, check out and bookmark this page for a list of all videos to date!

Today, someone sent me a video of what is undoubtedly one of the coolest things I have ever seen.  If you are a regular reader, I'm sure you recall my Animated Christmas Lights article at Coding4Fun and accompanying video.  Today, I received a video of someone using my software and Phidget boards to animate something other than lights.  If you've ever been to a Chuck E. Cheese, you may recall one of the animated characters known as "The King" (photo from http://sp-com.tripod.com/):

I have been told that The King shown in the video below was broken and left for dead.  After being salvaged from a dumpster, he was carefully repaired and restored, and once again animated and set to music using my Light Sequencer application normally used for Christmas lights!  I distinctly remember The King at my local …

My latest article has been posted on Coding4Fun.  This time around, learn how to control a remote controlled car via an Xbox 360 controller, and add an IP camera to the car for remote operation, all using the newly-released Microsoft Robotics Studio.  As with the others, I have created a forum for discussion and to answer any questions or comments you may have after reading.  Enjoy!

I will be a panelist at NYSIA's monthly meeting this January 22nd.  The meeting is a panel discussion of the current state and future of robotics.  If you're in or near New York City, drop by and heckle me.

Well, the mystery is on its way to being revealed.  Head back over to www.vanishingpointgame.com to see the details.  As previously alluded to, the game is a series of puzzles that will earn you points toward a variety of prizes.  The grand prize now makes sense based on one of the previous clues:  something that less than 1000 people have ever seen, that being a trip to space!

So head over and register.  If you do, please enter my email address as your referring address which will earn me a few bonus points.  My address is <my first name>@brianpeek.com .  Thanks, and good luck!

I went to the mailbox today to find a mysterious silver/gray envelope with the return address of:

LOKI
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052

Inside was a letter telling me I am now a decoder and to visit www.vanishingpointgame.com along with a USB flash drive.  Interesting.

After looking at the image, text file and video on the disc and then some googling, it's apparently some sort of viral campaign from Microsoft regarding.... ?  The Vista launch, perhaps?

The cipher key on my USB drive looks like this:

It's a map of the letters/numbers to ROT13 from an image found on various Microsoft sites, such as the Windows Vista blog:

That works out to imm0rtaliz3m3, which, if typed into the box on the main Vanishing Point site listed above takes you to a downloadable MP3 file.  Analyzing that in a spectrum analyzer shows that the "pattern" spells the word FILE.  Take that to www.vanishingpoint.com/FILE and you get yet another message telling you to wait for the …