LONDON - The opaque visor of one of Britain's most famous helmets has been lifted.
The identity of The Stig, the always-anonymous test driver on the popular television show "Top Gear," has long been a closely guarded secret. On Wednesday, lawyers said the BBC had been refused an injunction blocking publication of a book revealing the identity of the character.
Shortly after, publishers HarperCollins said in a statement that a 33-year-old racing driver named Ben Collins "has a great story to tell about his seven years as The Stig, which will appeal to a wide audience beyond just motoring enthusiasts."
Calling it a "victory for freedom of speech," HarperCollins said the book will be published in Britain on Sept. 16.
The white-suited Stig is the second in the role; the first Stig, who wore a black suit and helmet, was Perry McCarthy. He left the show in 2003 after his identity was revealed.
The show has a long-standing policy of not commenting on The Stig's identity. A "Top Gear" spokeswoman said no decision has been made on whether the character will be back when the show returns.
"Top Gear" is one of the BBC's most successful programs, and is seen in more than 100 countries around the world. Alongside the show's three garrulous hosts, The Stig is an always-silent presence, fearlessly navigating the show's test track in glamorous cars.
Speculation over his identity is a favourite pastime for fans of the show, and the "Top Gear" website sells T-shirts proclaiming "I am The Stig," ''I am not The Stig," and "I am The Stig's fat cousin," among others.
"The whole point of The Stig is the mystique — the bizarre characteristics he has, the wonderment created about what he might think, feel, do or look like," producer Andy Wilman said in a post on the show's website. "Kids adore the conceit, and I believe adults, although they know it's a man in a suit (or is it?) gladly buy into the whole conceit because they find it entertaining."
The Stig's Facebook page — which more than 2.5 million people "like" — says he was recently attacked by a goose, that his ears "are not where you would expect them to be," and that he thinks the movie "Star Wars" is a documentary.
The BBC said it sought the injunction — the hearing was held in private — because viewers like the mystery surrounding the driver's identity and it's "vital to protect the character of The Stig."
The broadcaster said that the judgment does not prevent them from taking the issue further in the courts.
'The BBC will not be deterred from protecting such information from attack no matter when or by whom it should arise," the broadcaster said in a statement.
Collins' website says he has raced on the Formula Three and NASCAR circuits, and drove James Bond's Aston Martin in the 2008 film "Quantum of Solace."
Today, i figured out my steering box is leaking fluid and not my pump. This upset me a bit, so i figured id go research my options.
Too lazy to plug in my laptop. I pick up my ipod for a decent surprise.
I first go onto Summit Racing. A site that used to be a lil buggy and glitchy. Whether it was iOS4 or the site. It worked perfectly. I selected my car, found the part that i wanted and noticed the site offers a PDF of the instruction manual. So out of curiosity i click it (errr tap it) and boom iBooks pops up and displays my PDF in a great and pleasant style. Little did i know it had a PDF reader.
Turns out this Handheld PDF reader is way better looking, stable and faster than any version of acrobat ive ever used. I included some screenshots (uploaded straight from ipod) Just to give you a glimpse because i was impressed and definitely will be using iBooks from now on because of this feature.
I now end with a statement. I havent used my computer all day... Ive got almost no need to.
Posted by Cheese in Articles
Wed, Jun 16th, 2010 - 12:45 am
Review of the Pandora Game Console
The Pandora is a different kind of game console, created by a small but very dedicated group of people, it is not a mainstream device. Created mostly to function as an emulation device and mini computer, it is a niche device that not everybody will understand. As such, they have limited the number they are making (for the first run) to just 4000, and you must have pre-ordered in advance. I was one of the 4000 who took the risk and decided to order, and so today I bring you a review of this device.
Posted by Tetchro in Articles
Sun, Jun 13th, 2010 - 02:45 pm
Lagview Score: 5/10
You'll Like This Game If:
-You like words. And bookworms.
-You like some pretty awesome music.
-You like platform games.
-You're still 3 years old.
You'll Hate This Game If:
-You're mature.
-You can't figure out how to run a dos emulator.
-You hate words.
Don't be Fooled by: The lagview score. I'm pretending that this is the early 90s. lol
Write-Up:
I used to play this game all the time back in the day. Along with Wofenstein 3D, which I'm not sure my mother approved. Basically, you can be either a boy or a girl and your objective is to match words to their picturesso that Benny the bookworm can magically put them into a book to save them from the Gruzzles - the bad guys who don't want any one to be able to read. It's a platform game - you jump into a "?" block, which paints a word on the screen. You then search the area for a picture corresponding to that word, and repeat until you have found them all. When you do, your buddy Benny will suddenly appear, take your pictures/words from you, and leave you with a key. This key is used to open a door in the map (unfortunately, you actually have to find the door yourself. Benny is too mean to help out even though you're doing him a big favour. :( What an ungrateful scoundrel.)
Anyways, you need to watch out for piles of goo and waterfalls on your journey. This is easily done by pressing the up arrow to jump. If you do land in a waterfall, Benny will save you and bring you back down to safety with an umbrella. Now, what happens if you get the word "ant" and you jump up into a picture of an arm? Well, a gruzzle will appear! Holy shit! When this happens, you press the spacebar. This will toggle Benny to dump slime on the gruzzle, rendering them immobile. However, you only have a limited amount of slime per level. And if the gruzzle DOES come in contact with you, he takes your words away! Oh no! :(
You can also collect books, which are easily identified because they are all purple rectangles that say "book" on them. These are worth 5 points each. There are also letters around the maps, which can be collected to form the word at the bottom of your screen. I don't know how many points you're rewarded for doing this, and quite frankly I don't think it's worth the effort to run dosbox and type a bunch of console commands in to find out. Sorry :(
Unfortunately, between doing the same thing over and over again and the annoying noises the game makes when you jump, it gets quite tiring after a while. But I'm sure it's pretty awesome if you're still 5. :D
Pros:
-Long game, but not long enough that you start to hate it after a while.
-Lots to do and explore, but perhaps not as much freedom as some people would like.
-Lots of different weapons and armour to choose from.
-Guild-Wars/WoW like fighting system.
-Interesting characters for party members.
-Lots of humour can be found throughout the game.
-Interesting story line that seemed very well thought out.
-Fucking awesome.
Cons:
-Not a lot of side-questing opportunities (fine by me!)
-VERY cinematic and talking intensive. Socks would make love to this game if he could. But at least it's interesting, and you can skip it if you want!
-Travelling system (from town to town, for instance) is a bit lame.
-A few minor bugs, but nothing too serious.
You Won't Like This Game if:
-You hated the combat system in GW and WoW
-You hate story.
Posted by Cheese in Articles
Fri, May 28th, 2010 - 02:33 am
Lagview Score: 7.5/10
Pros
Compelling story
Frighting atmosphere
Interesting Puzzles that encourage you to think
Cons
Combat system sucks
Lacks the ability to save whenever you want
A few minor bugs
Don't be fooled by: The developers. It may be a very small company that made the game, but they did a really good job.
I got this game as a part of the Humble Indie Bundle and I wasn't really sure what I was getting into. The games starts out with the main character, you, on board a ship heading towards northern Greenland. You are embarking on a mission to find out about your dad, who left you before you were born. When you arrive, you find yourself in the middle of a blizzard, and you hurry to find shelter, finding it in the form of a strange hatch leading underground. You descend down into the underground and as the ladder breaks, you end up falling into an old abandoned mine. You realize you have no choice but to venture alone into the old mine and try to figure out exactly what it is.
