Beautiful video game campaign site

I came across a new flash video game site for an upcoming game called Dragon Hunters. It coincides with the release of a new movie by the same name. Although I'm pretty sure the movie is the precursor.
*correction: The movie came out March 2008, I assume the game was around the same timeframe*

It caught my eye with one of the most beautiful loading screens I have ever seen. It's a scene of free fall with about a dozen objects that move from the bottom of the screen to the top to give the illusion of motion. These objects are pieces of stone and clouds. The objects repeat in random order and distance from the front of the screen to make it seem like it's a long and continuous movie. Thankfully with a slow internet connection, I was able to catch the repeats as it took FOREVER to load the site.

IA review:
Once in the site, it's a very simple navigation. 4 items in the primary nav and 2 links off the site. The primary nav stays hidden until you roll over the top menu cabinet. Each of the items in the top nav require mouseover and click. Some of them are hidden from view and you have to move your mouse to the left or right to scroll the screen to get to them.

IxD review:
The site uses full screen to frame the display and allow the gorgeous graphics to be enjoyed. The scene tracks your mouse and moves with it letting you rotate the world to get to the different characters that represent movies, screenshots, wallpaper, or about. One of the neat ideas is the menu cabinet that hides the nav until you mouse over. The really cute part about it is that the dragon hunters sign tips left and right to add that additional sense of movement as you're exploring the world. The motion really helps put you into a 3d environment that shows off the great artwork that will be in this animated movie.

My guess is that they used Papervision3D to power the flash objects in a 3d environment. It's a brilliant technology that I first saw in the video game Mass Effect, who's site was designed by Freestyle Interactive.

The movie site is also quite cute although not as immersive as the video game site. One of the cute touches was a dragon's foot that comes crashing down through the screen and it shakes the browser window.

It's really a great example of how an elegant creative execution with attention to the tiny details can create an engaging, emotional experience online.

Clean bart train

I don't suppose that the picture can accurately show how clean this bart train is, but I just got on and the first thing to hit me was the smell of detergent. On public transit!

Must be my lucky day!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Clean bart train

I don't suppose that the picture can accurately show how clean this bart train is, but I just got on and the first thing to hit me was the smell of detergent. On public transit!

Must be my lucky day!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Financial crisis hurting the silicon valley

Came across an article on TechCrunch today the reported on the startups that will be affected by Lehman Brothers' bankrupcy.
I would assume that the popular sites, like my beloved Kayak will still stick around (someone will pick them up). But who knows what impacts it may have to other startups as their investment money dries up or not even arrives after it was won.