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Thursday - November 29, 2001
- Cell Phones Being Given Away with Jurassic Park 3 DVDs
- South Park Goes to Afghanistan
- Sun Microsystems Powers Pixar
- News Link of the Day - Taking the Mickey Test

Cell Phones Being Given Away with Jurassic Park 3 DVDs
(by digitalmediafx.com) Universal Studios Home Video (USHV) and Hop-On have partnered to launch disposable cell phones in connection with the DVD/home video release of Jurassic Park III on December 11. The limited edition introductory phone, a specially-designed "Jurassic Park Survival Cell Phone", employs the latest hands-free, voice-activated communications technology, and will be available only as an exclusive FREE offer via inserts in thousands of Jurassic Park III DVDs and videocassettes for a limited time.

A cell phone plays an important role in the movie.

The exclusive Jurassic Park Survival Cell Phones will offer 60 minutes of prepaid calling time without the requirement of a cellular service contract or monthly fee. Compact and lightweight in design as well as fully recyclable, the cell phones require only two buttons: CALL and END. Once activated, the phones are supported by 24-hour operator assistance and last up to six months.

The limited edition Jurassic Park Survival Cell Phone will also feature a branded Jurassic Park faceplate to "enhance collectability."

"Because a cell phone played such a crucial role in Jurassic Park III, we were looking to find a unique telecommunications partner to help celebrate the film's release on DVD," said Ken Graffeo, senior vice president of marketing, Universal Studios Home Video. "Our partnership with Hop-On is ideal and we are thrilled to be bringing the next wave of cell phone technology to consumers."

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South Park Goes to Afghanistan
(by digitalmediafx.com) The irreverent and crudely animated South Park gang are headed into controversy again as the show tackles the subject of the Taliban and Afghanistan for its December 28 episode (in Canada). The show has the group of kids headed to Afghanistan to confront Osmada Bin Laden only to be captured by the Taliban. The kids use their wits to try and convince the Taliban that they are really from Canada.

South Park has long been in the center of controversy and its willingness to so freely tackle and make fun of the war against terrorism should come as no surprise to fans of the show.

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Sun Microsystems Powers Pixar
(by digitalmediafx.com) Sun Microsystems has announced that Pixar used 250 of its Sun Enterprise midrange servers to render Monsters, Inc.

According to Sun, "Rendering is the time- and computationally-intensive process in which the correct lighting, textures and shading are applied to 3D computer models to produce sharp, colorful images with photorealistic detail. It is the critical final stage before a film reaches its audience. The rendering was completed in the Pixar Renderfarm, which is powered by 250 Sun Enterprise 4500 servers, running the Solaris Operating Environment, each using 14 UltraSPARC II microprocessors, 14 gigabytes of system memory and 196 gigabytes of local disk space for a total of 3,500 processors in production with nearly four terabytes of main memory."

Pixar's Renderfarm has run on Sun technology for nearly six years through the creation of Toy Story, A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2.

"We've worked with Sun because their computers are powerful, reliable, and easy to manage," explained Ed Catmull, President of Pixar Animation Studios. "We also value Sun's binary compatibility across product generations. By maintaining the continuity of their SPARC chips and the Solaris Operating Environment, Sun makes it easy for us to take advantage of their newest, most powerful technology."

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News Link of the Day - Taking the Mickey Test

According to The Scotsman:

"Today, in Glasgow, a conference called Projector will explore the future of animation. Meanwhile, London’s Barbican is gearing up to celebrate its past. To mark the centenary of Walt Disney - born on 5 December, 1901, in Chicago - it is screening the entire canon of Disney animated features, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)..."

Click here for the full story.

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