mythical

the mythical episode that changed the history of television

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On October 29, 1995, on the brink of Halloween, Fox aired a very special episode of the already very popular ‘The Simpsons‘. It was ‘Treehouse of Horror VI’, the sixth episodic special in the series, which has become an annual tradition. It’s been exactly thirty years since that, and the result was so visionary and revolutionary as was everything ‘The Simpsons’ did in the nineties. What was happening. In ‘Homer’Homer passes through a portal that transports him from his traditional 2D animated world to a strange 3D computer-generated universe. Quite a technical challenge unprecedented for the series and a true milestone in television animation, as it was one of the first visible incursions of CGI graphics in an animated series, which is doubly surprising because we are not talking about an experimental program, but rather one of the most watched series of the moment. For many viewers it was their first encounter with an aesthetic of this type: a pioneering work by the company Pacific Data Images (PDI), who with limited resources managed to create a few minutes of sequence that today are considered a benchmark. Why it is important. The segment not only attracted attention for its impressive technical innovation, but also for its characteristic humor. In short: it never stopped being a ‘The Simpsons’ sketch. The episode aired just a month before the premiere of ‘toy story‘, helping to mark that year as essential for CGI animation. How it was born. The original idea was conceived by series executive producer Bill Oakley, inspired by the episode ‘Little Girl Lost’ of the legendary ‘The Twilight Zone’. To carry out this vision, the pioneering computer animation studio Pacific Data Images (PDI) was contacted, but the economic and technical demands were very high: the budget assigned by Fox for the segment was extremely low, barely $6,000, but the real cost to make the four minutes planned exceeded hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hair and other problems. PDI decided to take on the project almost as a strategic investment to achieve visibility and prestige in the industry, which would later allow them greater commercial opportunities (as indeed happened with their subsequent link with DreamWorks, by whom they were acquired and with whom they collaborated on ‘Antz’ and ‘Shrek‘).The animation ended up being limited to just Homer and Bart, and a few minutes of footage. The PDI team had to reinvent the characters, creating three-dimensional models that preserved the essence of the original design. Significantly, Homer’s iconic hairstyle was among the biggest challenges, as it was difficult to replicate with the digital tools of the time. The production process required the coordination of the series’ traditional animators team and PDI specialists. And with easter eggs. The backgrounds and objects in the 3D world were designed for both a sense of strangeness and an urgent minimalism, and included easter eggs like the iconic Utah Teapota test standard in computer animation. And there were also references to the video game ‘Myst’. This setting sought to emphasize the feeling of being in an artificial dimension, leaving behind the familiarity of Springfield. As a total exhibition of the possibilities of 3D animation, a scene was included where Homer appears in the real world, filmed on Ventura Boulevard. It was another nod that sought to experiment with different styles and genres within a single special. The legacy. The positive response was immediate. It was the most watched fiction program of the week on Fox, with an audience of 22.9 million viewers, a very notable figure for an animated special. In addition, ‘Homer³’ received awards such as recognition at the Ottawa International Animation Festival, highlighting its innovative and artistic value. A milestone that, thirty years later, continues to amaze due to the daring and disruption it presented in a series that, at that time, no longer needed to prove anything. In Xataka | In 1997, a construction company had the crazy idea of ​​building the Simpsons’ house and putting it up for sale. It ended so-so

The urban legend about a mythical video game that continues to circulate 35 years later

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A legendary game, ‘Wing Commander’ contained a programming bulk error at a time when correcting a video game was more complex than now, in the same way as the testing processes They were less detailed and prolonged than the current ones. An error message that the ingenuity of a programmer made a brief congratulation to the player. That is what they have been telling us so far … but it wasn’t entirely true. Problems in the galaxy. The year is 1990. ‘Wing Commander’, the legendary saga of space flight simulators starts with a Initial Delivery on PC (MS-DOS), whose success would give rise to a franchise that would reach the most powerful microororders and consoles of the time, as a friend CD32, Sega Mega-CD and SNES. In the saga, the Terrestrial Confederation faces a militarized feline breed called Killrathi in the Vega sector. However, shortly before launch in September, Origin Systems developers realized that A fateful mistake hung the game In his final bars. Capital error. What happened was that they found An error message Produced by the memory manager Emm386, which frozen the game. As they needed to send the game to production, one of the programmers, Ken Demarest, directly edited the error message to show the message “Thank you for playing Wing Commander” instead instead of the technical description of the error. A real required required just in time … and that, in reality, never happened. Urban legends. The truth is that this ingenious solution for the error was not published in the final edition: the team managed to correct the error in time, according to Demarest On the Wing Commander Commer Information Centerin its section dedicated to denying urban legends around the franchise. As they say, Demarest was also head of programming in ‘Last VII’, and this game contained a similar closing message (“Thank you for playing ultima VII”). Therefore, the anecdote could have been incorrectly confused or attributed between both titles, further feeding the myth. Functional fudge. Over the years, the false anecdote (of which even There are captures) It became popular so much that this solution was used as an example of a “functional fudge”: a quick but little orthodox solution for the problem. By extension, some critics of Chris Roberts, creator of ‘Wing Commander’ and currently in the ambitious’Star Citizen‘, they have used urban legend to argue that the technical quality of their products has always been questionable. Finally, everything was one of the many urban legends that circulate in the industry. It is counted, it is rumored. The absence of a serious and established press in the first decades of the industry made the video games of the eighties, ninety and even beyond (such as ‘Wing Cmmander’) into hotbeds of rumors and half lies. Since the time of legendary ‘Polybius‘, a mental control device through recreational machines, to the suicide melody of Lavander town in’ Pokémon Red/Blue ‘, authentic Material for nightmares Creepypastathrough the non-existence of A game that erased itself‘Kill Switch’, video games have always had urban legends commented on dark Internet forums and in the cartridge and discs exchange corrillos. The ‘Wing Commander’, as we have seen, has already been officially denied, but it is clear that no one ever kills a good story. In Xataka | The 39 best games of the time to play now and free in the browser

The mythical An-124 had been trapped for years and now it flies again

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Inheritance of the Soviet UnionUkraine has both larger aircraft in the world (If we don’t count the monstrous Stratolaunchclear). Or had. On the one hand, a beast with wings called Antonov AN-225a unique model in the world that had a large load capacity and that could carry spacecraft on its back. On the other hand, the Antonov An-124, another somewhat smaller load model. With the Start of the Ukraine Warboth were trapped. Now the AN-124 sets the skies again, and it is much more than to see this giant fly again. Soviet monsters. In the context of the Cold warone of the battles was that of “I”. The United States flew for the first time in 1968 the imposing Lockheed C-5 Galaxy For transport of troops, becoming the new largest plane in the world. The Soviet Union was not going to stay with a crossed arms and began working in its replica. Thus, two companies (Aviastar-SP at Uliánovsk, Russia, and Aviant in Kyiv, Ukraine) undertook design and RPUEBAS work in parallel. The result was the AN-124, a huge cargo plane with an imposing front that is physically similar to Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, but something bigger. It was introduced in 1986 and, just two years later, the AN-225 Mriya appeared. Aviant Fruit (current Antonov) a larger version, with six engines and with a wingspan that prevented him from landing in 65% of airports around the world. After all, although it was a cargo plane, it was focused on transporting the Soviet transforder Burán and any other element of the Soviet space program. See this live must have been impressive Antonov Airport Battle. And if I speak of Antonov AN-225 in the past it is because, with the beginning of the Ukraine War, both the AN-225 and the AN-124 with registration U-82073 were catching you in one of the Ukraine airports. Since it is logical, for security reasons, the flights were suspended and the ships were abandoned to their fate in the Hostomel airport. The AN-225 that once surprised the world, was completely shattered. At first, the plane pilot said that the ship was intact, but shortly after confirmed the destruction of it. This meant more than the destruction of an airplane because yes, the AN-225 made few missions a year (putting it in the air costs a million dollars), but it was a symbol of Ukraine. The AN-225 UR-82073. The AN-124 is not so unique because Russia has a couple of dozens, another seven and there are units owned by other countries, but the UR-82073 has become another symbol of Ukrainian resistance. In addition, it is a model Very important for the transport of goods in Europe. Also abandoned, he got what his older brother does not: survive bombings. Removing Russian ballast. The last three years, the ship was stopped and partially disassembled, but from Antonov they have been working secretly with a goal: to modernize it. These tasks began before the war with the aim of replacing the Russian key components with parts made in Ukraine and in the West. The Russian invasion He modified the plans and caught the operators with half-work, but they continued working and, just a few days ago, the AN-124-100 Ruslan, now renamed IRPIN, has re-crossed the skies. Furtive flight. Symbolic flight. With a nose that proudly shows a “Be Brave Like Irpin” -“is brave as Irpin” -,, now It has new airplane and navigation systems that meet the current standards. IRPIN is a Ukrainian city located west of Kyiv that played a relevant role At the beginning of the war and on July 11, the plane furrowed the Ukrainian sky with the transponder off until crossing Poland. He Transpose It is a piece that gives real-time information about the ship as its location and altitude, and everything indicates that Ukraine did not want Russia to know that the UR-82073 was again in the air. Your destiny? Leipzig, in Germany, where Antonov has its new operations base. Antonov itself shared the video of the feat a few days ago and it is they who They affirm that “the relocation of” Ruslan “was not only a technical decision, but a symbol of resilience, professionalism and unity of Ukrainian aeronautical builders. The modernized” Ruslan “will continue to fly and serve Ukraine in the international arena.” And the AN-225? Happy end to the AN-124, but … will Ukraine leave as if nothing the destruction of the AN-225? When I said there was only one AN-225, it was half truth. There was really a complete and operational, but they had one “in half” stored. As it is a practical plane, it was not considered necessary never It was completed. In July 2024, however, the situation turned a turn. David Lomdzharia, president of the state conglomerate of Defense of Ukraine, affirmed who want to rebuild the AN-225 Mriya from that second incomplete fuselage. It has been saved since the Soviet era, so the State is not known, but Antonov has saying They have already started work and cost about 500 million euros. In the end, if Ukraine reconstructs the AN-225, he would do it for more symbolic than practical reasons, but we must wait to see why there are no dates or anything on the table. At least, publicly. Images | Tapia379, Oleksandr Ratushniak, Dmitry A. MottlAntonov In Xataka | Something extraordinary has happened in Ukraine: for the first time an unmanned boat has knocked down Russian combat planes

Taiwan believes having found the mythical planet 9 of the Solar System. Instead of looking for his light, he has been looking for his heat

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The countless frustrated attempts to find planet 9, a hypothetical giant gas in the confines of our solar system, have aroused the ingenuity of some Taiwanese scientists. Short. For years, astronomers have swept the sky in search of the weak reflection of sunlight that should get to us from planet 9, a demonstratedly ineffective task. Now, a team of researchers has changed the rules of the game with an ingenious idea: instead of looking for it, they have tried to detect their heat. Well, they have found two very promising candidates. Context. Beyond the orbit of Neptune, in an icy and dark region known as the Kuiper belt, the orbits of several objects seem to be grouped in a way that challenges chance. The trajectories of these transneptunian objects (TNos) align as if an invisible hand were guiding them. The most accepted hypothesis to explain this behavior is the existence of an unknown massive planet, the planet 9. Of existing, this distant world would have a mass of between five and ten times that of the earth. The problem is that it would be more than 400 astronomical units, so its light would be incredibly dim. To put it in perspective, Neptune is “only” 30 UA or 4,496 million kilometers. If we can’t see it, maybe we can feel its heat. A team from the National University Tsing Hua in Taiwan believes to have the strongest track in years on the real existence of the most wanted object in our neighborhood. The results of their study are not final, but they reach two promising candidates. Every object with a temperature above absolute zero emits thermal radiation, that is, heat. But while the light decreases with the distance following a relationship of the inverse of the fourth power (1/d4), the heat only decreases with the square of the distance (1/d2). This abysmal difference is the argument used by researchers to focus their search on the heat signature of planet 9. A needle in a haystack. The team resorted to the data of the Akari Space Telescope of Japan. Throwed in 2006, Akari dedicated his useful life to sweeping the full sky in distant infrared light, the perfect range to detect the thermal brightness of the planet 9. And he did it from space, without the interference of the Earth’s atmosphere. Astronomers set out from a list of unprocessed Disssdl detections: more than 5.2 million signals with many false positives. After limiting the search zone, eliminating known objects, filtering sources contaminated by galactic dust clouds and excluding static objects, which seem to be at the same point in observations separated by months, the list was reduced to 393 candidates. Of 393 candidates for two. He touched his hands dirty. The investigators visually inspected the images of the 393 candidates. They ruled out weak detections, artifacts at the edges of the sensor and, above all, the impacts of cosmic rays that can be perceived as a specific source of heat. After this thorough process, there were only two candidates. Two heat points that appeared where planet 9 was expected, had the predicted brightness for the theory and showed the expected movement: they were detected in the same place in a period of 24 hours, but there was no trace of them in the same place six months later. All to demonstrate. The two candidates were baptized as FISSDL J0250422-15011 and FISSDL J0301112-164240. But to verify if these two heat points are really a single object moving in an orbit compatible with planet 9 will need new observations in visible light, with sufficiently powerful telescopes to detect its weak optical brightness and measure its movement with precision. If confirmed, the discovery would not only solve one of the greatest mysteries of modern astronomy, but would revolutionize our understanding about how our own system was formed and evolved. Everything is to be demonstrated, but at least we have a hot trail to continue hunting. Image | ESA, Hubble, M. Kornmesser, CC By 4.0

One of the most mythical cars in the history of cinema can be “copied” by anyone. And that has consequences for the industry

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You can have Eleanor in the garage. That is what an American court has decided for whom the most famous Ford Mustang of ‘cars thieves’ or his Ramake ’60 seconds’ is mere telzzo and not a character in itself. And this has its particular implications when selling replicas. He is not a character. Specifically, according to a United States Court, it is “ATZZO”. We read the information in Motorpasion where they echo the ratification of a sentence that has been chasing Shelby for a long time. According to his decision, the coach may continue selling Eleanor replicas. That is, if you want, Shelby can sell a preparation of the Ford Mustang as they appeared in the film since those responsible for the Court of Appeals of the Ninth US Circuit have indicated that we are facing a mere vehicle and not a character in itself so you cannot apply copyright. Where do we come from? The decision of this Court certifies the previously issued other courts of lower rank. Denice Halicki, widow of HB Halicki, director, screenwriter and producer of ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’, known in the 70s in Spain as ‘cars thieves’ had denounced Shelby for selling vehicle replicas. Then there was a judicial career that It began in 2022 and that has ended in 2025 with the ratification of the latter court. And although Shelby can continue to manufacture their replicas, there are a little smaller particular cases that have also received good news, Like this youtuber who had been tried for the feet of his particular modification. Identifying features. That is what Denice Halicki has defended all this time. According to the woman of the screenwriter, director and producer of the original film, that Eleanor reappeared with a leading role in the remake known as ’60 seconds’ gave an idea of ​​its relevance and, in his opinion, that it was one more character in the film. For the judge, however, “Eleanor has no right to the protection of the copyright of the characters because (1) had no conceptual qualities, (2) had no consistent features and (3) was not especially distinctive”, in words collected by Carscoop. In fact, they point out that “along four films and eleven appearances in those films, Eleanor lacks consistent features. For example, Eleanor’s physical appearance frequently changes throughout the various films, appearing as a yellow and black fastback Mustback, a Mustang Shelby GT-500 gray and black and an oxidized and without paint that needs repair.” Eleanor is not a batmobo. In the films that have appeared, Eleanor has always been shown as a special car. Without going any further, in ’60 seconds’ Nicolas Cage points to that of all cars that have to steal during the movie, Eleanor is special because he has always escaped him. Knowing if you will get it is, without a doubt, the great attraction of all the films in which you have appeared. But, for the judges, it is not a Batmobile. They point out that in this case we do talk about a character in itself because the Batmóvil can act for itself (without Bruce Wayne at his side) and has a specific and very identity aesthetic (which resembles a bat). Towle test. What the judges applied to know if Eleanor was or not protected by copyright is what is known as “Towle test”. That is, the car would be subject to copyright if it meets the following premises: The character must have physical and conceptual qualities. The character must be sufficiently delineated to be recognizable as the same character every time it appears. It must show consistent and identifiable features and attributes, although the character does not need to have a consistent appearance. The character must be especially different and contain some unique elements of expression. It cannot be an archetypal character. This test refers to what was applied in the same court in 2015 to decide if the Batmóvil was a character in itself, after DC Comics denounced Mark Towel, a man who had manufactured the car replicas. In this case, he failed in favor of the plaintiff and, therefore, the foundations settled to know whether or not a character was a character in himself. A break. As we say, this victory is a break for Shelby and for people who, on their own like the youtuber of B is for buildThey have wanted to work in their own replicas of the famous Mustang Shelby GT-500. These types of replicas are common among the greatest fans of certain films and vehicles that modify their cars to have their own Kitt, Herbie or the Delorean ‘return to the future’. Even Ford has sold its own ‘Bullit’ version of Ford Mustangremembering the beautiful sports that Steve McQueen was driving in the film of the same name. Photo | In Xataka | 17 iconic cinema and TV vehicles in 45 photos: This will be the exhibition of the largest science fiction cars in history

The mythical Italian brand has conversations with Leapmotor, according to Reuters

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There are various views on Chinese leadership in the electric car. There are those who believe that the country lives years away from what we drive in the West right now (Ford’s CEO, without going any further). There are those who believe they are at the same level than European brands. And there are those who estimate that They are not yet found at the level In dynamic aspects but do not deny their present and future capabilities in loading systems or batteries. They are more or less optimistic visions of Chinese role in an industry where they were missing until the arrival of the electric car. But, from time to time, news that supports the most optimistic theory comes out. Well because they present cars recharges in record timebecause they demonstrate their Autonomous driving capabilitiesbecause Volkswagen Search Solutions in China for Audi’s future… Or because Ferrari holds conversations with Leapmotor to work on a future joint platform. Looking for solutions in China The information brings it Reuters Those who claim that Leapmotor, who now works partially under Stellantis’s umbrella, is having conversations with Ferrari for the launch of a joint platform. In his information, the news agency explains that we had already had news that Benedetto Vigna, CEO of Ferrari, He had visited Leapmotor Last February but we had not had news of these conversations. In them, unveiled now, a collaboration would be studying to carry out a new platform for electrified vehicles. Leapmotor only manufactures electric and plug -in hybrids that take the form of extended range electric. That is, they are cars that have a wide completely electric autonomy and that the main mission of the combustion engine is simply feeding a few kilometers plus the autonomy of the vehicle. In this type of carsthe combustion engine acts as an electric current generator. This allows to increase autonomy but maintain the sensations that we are using an electric car despite burning gasoline. Power delivery is linear because, really, the engine that rotates the wheels is electric. This structure, for example, can be seen in the leapmotor C10 to which we could already climb during the BRAND PRESENTATION IN MADRID. That day, we only got into the passenger seat, we did not have the opportunity to take the steering wheel but the Sensations They are good. This approach to supply electric or highly electrified platforms to luxury companies is a path that in Leapmotor is very interested in traveling. In fact, in the same information, Reuters points out that the company has reached a according to FAWthe oldest Chinese automaker, to nurture Hongqi from platforms, the Chinese luxury brand that was born to displace the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party. It is something like your Rolls-Royce. The information is extremely sensitive because Ferrari is in full transition to pure electric. You need to launch a vehicle at brand. In the information Reuters He admitted that the company had refused to comment but, therefore, did not denied the information frontally. The movement is sensitive. In recent months we have seen how the electric car began to retreat among the wealthiest customers. It remains to be seen if the future, at least for the moment and in Europe, does not go through the extended range electric, a solution for which also Mazda has said that he wants to bet In the future. Even from Volkswagen have also pointed out Its importance recently despite being an almost missing option on the market. Until now, Ferrari’s electric future It is an unknown. Secretism about a future electrical model is total and no detail is known for sure. Photo | Ferrari and Leapmotor In Xataka | “Imagine Toyota by pulling millions of cars”: Ferrari is bound with his hybrids marking record figures

Google is going to kill a mythical app in all Android. The AI ​​is to blame

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He debuted almost ten years ago, and Google has made official the announcement of his death. He Google assistant He was born in 2016 with a simple purpose: to become a simple assistant for basic and automatic day -to -day basis. Put alarms, establish reminders, draw quick routes with Google Maps. Functions that are performed in a few steps in the apps, and that the assistant could solve with a single voice command. But this is not enough for Google, which wants me to Gemini be everywhere. The company’s new artificial intelligence will be the official replacement of Google Assistant, which will cease to be available on phones at the end of this year. It is not good news. Helping for almost a decade. Google Assistant has been with us since 2016already level of functionality was extremely polished. It allowed to interact with both native and compatible applications (Spotify, YouTube, etc.) to perform simple tasks in seconds. Since Gemini was launched for Android, this became the native assistant of the system, but we could always go to the settings to make Google Assistant again the native option. At the end of this year, it will cease to be possible. Gemini is natural evolution, but it has a way ahead. Gemini will be better and more complete than the Google assistant, but worries that at this point he will keep it hard to perform the simplest tasks. In Xataka We deepen how Gemini behaves in front of Assistant in simple tasks As what to do on the weekend, what can we eat today, its limitations when interacting with native system functions (panel shine, telephone sound, etc.). It is a great assistant, but it is not yet polished. Ia, we want or not. In the new Gemini era, we want or not (unless we disable the app and we stay without assistant), all the phones will have the integrated Google AI. This is great news at the level of possibilities: we can generate images, access Gemini Live advanced voice, and have an assistant that will end up being much more complete and useful than Assistant. For those who are not too comfortable with Google’s AI, comment that OpenAi already works For ChatgPPT, it can be used as a native voice assistant on Android, a great option to have the advanced voice mode in a few seconds (although it will be difficult to access other apps). The future of the industry. Google’s pass is the logical, even more so if you manage to integrate (as you are already doing) Gemini on all telephone with its operating system. Apple wants to battle with Siri’s advanced mode, But he is choking And there is no defined date for an AI that should already be present on the iPhone. What seems clear is that, if technological ones want to conquer us, they have to do so by introducing it natively in the system, not as an APP available more. Image | Xataka In Xataka | Gemini Advance functions that become free in March 2025

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