Mind of Maniac (and Wife) – Should You Wear Vision Pro To a Wedding May 8, 2024

We have a special treat for you all today! In today’s video, Maniac is joined by his wife, Princess Angel, to provide two very important thoughts about a recent public event. Since Apple released Vision Pro earlier this year, the world has not made adjustments in polite society for how people should use a wearable computer in public! Recently, a groom was photographed wearing his Vision Pro during his wedding, and the event immediately became an overnight sensation.

However, the people attacking the groom for wearing a Vision Pro during his wedding clearly had no experience with the Vision Pro or how it functioned. Because of that, their attacks on his character were (at best) surface level on his appearance. That’s not a problem for this website, as we actually have a Vision Pro, and can provide a unique insight into the event based upon the public photos that were posted. Due to some very minor naughty words, we’ve restricted this video to 18+.

Ed. Note – All opinions and conclusions shared in the video are protected under the First Amendment.

Memories of Maniac – Tom Clancy’s Netforce March 18, 2024

Welcome back to a new Memories of Maniac and today we’re going to be talking about something from twenty years ago. In the late 90s, techno-thriller author Tom Clancy lent his name to an entire generation of Ubisoft games, such as Splinter Cell and Rainbow Six. What you may not remember is Clancy is also credited with the concept of multiple book series, which, over twenty years after its initial publishing, may be closer to reality then we expected.

Today, we’re going to be talking about Netforce, a Tom Clancy book-series which was adapted into a made-for-tv movie. It followed a branch of the government focused on the internet in a future where it was entirely accessed through VR. Today, we’re going to talk about both the books and the movie. Twenty years later, let’s talk about the books and see what they successfully predicted.

Memories of Maniac – School Computer Labs December 21, 2023

Maniac has made it no secret on this website that most of the useful education he received did not come from school, it came from playing video games while he was growing up. That being said, occasionally he would get to interact with a computer while at school, and these experiences were so infrequent as he considers each one to be a groundbreaking event in his life.

So what were early school computer labs like? What computers did he use and what software could he run on them? Watch and find out!

How I Would Bring Insomniac’s Spider-Man to Theme Parks November 28, 2023

Spider-Man 2 is out now for PS5 and it has once again established itself as the DEFINITIVE Spider-Man for a generation. So, why can’t we put this character, which already has an established voice cast and 3D models, in a theme park? Well, Spider-Man has two very different theme park rides in the US, maybe one of the rides could be adapted…

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR SPIDER-MAN 2!

Spider-Man 2 is out now for PS5.

Mind of Maniac – The Time Dungeons and Dragons Was Attacked September 26, 2023

Sit back, Maniac is going to get very controversial on this episode. Back in the early 80s, life was good so for many. Crime was down, fear of war was receding, and technology was making a lot of people’s lives easier.

You’d think this was a time for people to be happy, and they were. However, it was an awful time for people who relied on making money by spreading words of fear on television and radio. So, completely out of touch with their times, instead of shutting the organizations down as failures they decided amongst themselves to dig into one of their oldest tricks, and attack the things young people enjoyed. In the 40s, it was comic books. In the 60s it was rock and roll. In the 80s…it was Dungeons and Dragons.

Never forget: Young people can’t vote, and have no advocates to defend themselves against relentless disinformation attacks. Here’s Maniac’s take on what happened and his thoughts on what will come of it in the future.

Memories of Maniac – The Time I Watched Paul Simon Sing at Yale’s Tricentennial September 11, 2023

No gaming-related content today, so settle down children, Maniac is going to share with you another of his memories. Yale University is VERY old, in fact it is likely pushing past three-hundred and twenty years of age. Its legacy lives on as more than just a university, it also has one of the best medical facilities in the country that his mother happened to work for.

When Yale celebrated its Tricentennial, it did so in a very big way. However, it was Fall 2001, and people’s minds were on other things at the time. However, Yale was determined to host an amazing show at the Yale Bowl, and it was open to not just students, but Yale staff (as well as their families). The show featured tons of famous alumni, including the famous musician Paul Simon.

During the show, Simon performed a song that drove the crowd at the Bowl absolutely crazy. Maniac didn’t recognize it at the time, because it wasn’t a song that Paul typically sang. There was a reason for that. Twenty years later, Maniac finally realized why, and realized he witnessed something very special.

Mind of Maniac – Japan’s Incredible Tech August 28, 2023

A heavy inspiration for this website was the classic cyberpunk aesthetic from the late 80s-to-early-90s. The ideas, art style, and themes of the genre have been adapted through the years in various films, television shows and games. Even at a minor glance, we can deduce Japan has been a major cultural influence on the genre.

Over the last decade, Maniac has been obsessed with Japan’s culture, food and technology. The country has been ahead of the curve for technological innovations over the past thirty years. In this unscripted video, we get to hear some of his reasons why.

Memories of Maniac – Nintendo Zone July 22, 2023

Back when Nintendo was actively promoting the Nintendo 3DS platform, they offered a free WiFi infrastructure across the US to promote the platform’s internet capabilities, which provided exclusive content and features that players could not get anywhere else. It was called the Nintendo Zone, and in its heyday could be accessed by popular venues including McDonald’s, Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, Home Depot, and AT&T stores.

How well did it work? What exclusives were offered? Watch below and find out!

Mind of Maniac – Tips for Creating a VR Film June 27, 2023

With Meta Quest headsets easily accessible to most consumers, and Apple’s Vision Pro on the way, within a matter of months there will be heavy demand for a specific type of media made for it, 360 3D VR content.

As a person who dabbles in filmmaking, as well as consumed plenty of VR content, I can assure you that making content for Virtual Reality is a very different experience than production for static 2D screens. Headroom is meaningless, lights must be covertly hidden, all four walls of a set must be constructed, and that’s all needed before the camera can even be turned on.

So, if you’ve got your hands on a 360 or 360 3D camera, and you are planing to do something with it. Here are my tips for creating content for VR. Enjoy.

Mind of Maniac – IMAX Films June 17, 2023

This weekend, The Flash will be released in theaters and IMAX screens across the country. But what is IMAX and why does going to an IMAX movie cost more? IMAX is a filmmaking standard for a special 70mm film projector. The cameras used in this standard work a LOT different then the more common 35mm film or digital cameras, and have very different rules for how they need to be used.

If you’re like I was, you would have noticed over the past two decades, many major theatrical blockbusters have been adapted to play on the same screens previously used for science documentaries. But, why do they look so different in the year 2023 than they did in the 1990s? Today, we’re going to discuss all of that and by the end of it you’re going to ask yourself if you had ever gone to a movie and just seen half of it!