October 1,2007
Fashion forward: a look at fall fashion trends
By SHARNICE BARNETT
Columnist
SCB2I7@PSU.EDU
Fall’s back and we’re fashion
foreword. This semester, The
Capital Times will be bringing you
the hottest trends spotted around
campus.
The styles we are looking for
have to embody individuality and
confidence
We’re looking to prove that you
can be smart and look good too!
So boys and girls, dress to impress
because you could be next.
The Look
On her: Express shirt, Forever 21
leggings, Marc Jacobs purse, Fendi
sunglasses and Nine West shoes.
On him: Hot Topic (Fender guitar)
shirt, Levis jeans, Van’s Prison
Edition shoes and sunglasses stolen
from his brother.
Poll of the Day
We wanted to know your personal
style.
What’s your ideal style?
Fifty-five percent said they dress
accordingly to the situation, 10
percent said they dress with a
skateboard edge, 15 percent said
Geek Corner: a positive twist on an old hobby
By MATTHEW MAHONEY
Columnist
MLMSO32@PSU.EDU
The word hacking conjures up
many ideas of malicious intent when
people think of their home PCs and
other electronics. More often than not
people would picture some slob of a
person drinking massive quantities
of energy drinks, living in their
parents’ basement, and attempting
to steal credit card numbers or bank
information.
What people don’t picture is the
average person sitting around their
house looking for a way to do
something better with what they
already have. One of the favorite tools
to hack these days are Wii-motes, the
controllers for the N intendo Wii video
game console. These controllers have
very small accelerometers in them
that detect motion along all three axis
of movement in a three dimensional
environment.
The simplified answer is this motion
sensitive controller is pretty cool.
Keuju lafune: Mega Man creator and video game success story
By OLIVER EISLER
Columnist
OPESOOO@PSU.EDU
It is Aug. 7. The time is 20 minutes
past noon. I stare at a gathering of
over a hundred people around a
building on the comer of Broadway
and 33 ld Street in New York
City. The building is home to the
world’s second largest Game Stop,
a widespread videogame retailer.
People here come from all walks of
life, united by a sense of excitement
as they eagerly await the arrival of
one man. As minutes pass, dozens
and eventually hundreds of people
flood 33 rd Street and join those
already waiting. In a few short
hours, Keiji Inafune would arrive to
greet his fans.
Many of you are probably asking,
“Who is Keiji Inafune'?’’ But even
if you don’t know him by name,
chances are you have played one of
his games.
At age 22, Inafune joined the
Capcom corporation as a graphic
designer. His first assignment was
to create character designs for the
original Street Fighter. Those basic
designs are used for the franchise’s
main characters even today - more
than a decade after Inafune left. In
addition, Inafune is credited with
creating the basic back-story for
THE CAPITAL TIMES
they are preppy, 10 percent would
said they are GQ/GLAM and 10
percent don’t know how to define
their style.
Syree Berry said, “It depends on
how I feel that day.”
Lee Samuelson replied, “I would
describe my style as 'man pretty.’”
Do you dress for comfort or
fashion?
Fifty-three percent said they dress
for comfort, while 39 percent said
they dress for fashion.
The other eight percent went down
the middle road, saying they dress
for both comfort and fashion.
“If I’m going out, then I want
to look really good so I dress for
fashion. But when
I’m in school, 1 want
to be comfortable,
especially in the morning classes,”
said Mary Banson.
What are the top three stores you
shop in?
According to pollsters, the top
choices are Express, Gap and
various online stores.
Thanks to all participants in the
poll.
Trend Report
To help you fill some empty closet
People have been finding all sorts
of ways to hack their controllers
into other tools. The Wii-mote is
wireless and transmits data via
Bluetooth technology. Bluetooth,
found on most cell phones and PD
As is an easily hacked technology
that can yield both positive and
negative results.
On the positive side one person
used the Bluetooth technology
in his Wii-mote to interface
with his laptop and create an
accelerometer for his car. He was
able to use this information to
tweak the performance of his car
without buying expensive tools
from an auto supply chain.
Another person was able to
construct a Wii-mote robot that
could have potential in firefighting
applications. The infrared sensor on
the front of the Wii-mote detects heat
signatures. The hacker used this to
interface with a home built robot that
would track to wherever a fire was.
The potential of this could mean that
firefighting robots become the first
Street Fighter's two most iconic
characters, Ryu and Ken.
A year after his success with Street
Fighter, Inafune moved on to create
the character that would give him
his greatest fame: Rockman. When
j*,,/!
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it-'
line of defense in fighting fires until
the real fire department shows up.
Not involving the Wii-mote, but
using the vulnerability of Bluetooth
technology a group of hackers
created a tool that shows the
darker side of hardware hacking
when combined with software.
They created a Bluetooth “Sniper
Photo courtesy of google.com
the Japanese Rockman game series
made its way overseas to the United
States and Europe, it was renamed
Mega Man to avoid copyright
infringement.
Although the first Mega Man game
Photo courtesy of Gpo9le.com
This team of hackers did not create
this device for malicious use though.
They actually created it with the intent
of showing everyone from average
citizen to industry professional the
susceptibility of Bluetooth. While
on the surface this device is one of
malicious intent, the hackers that
is currently viewed as a classic
gem, Inafune commented in a 1988
Nintendo Power interview, “While it
did sell more than we had expected,
(the lirst Mega Man game) wasn’t a
huge success as far as the numbers
go.”
It was with the release of Mega
Man 2 that the franchise achieved
its first great financial success. This
allowed it to spawn four more games
for the Nintendo Entertainment
System (NES).
In the era of the Super Nintendo,
Inafune brought the Mega Man
franchise into a new era with
Mega Man X, which takes place
a century after the original. At
this point, Classic Mega Man and
X series games were produced
simultaneously. This continued
until the advent of the Play Station,
which saw the last Classic Mega
Man game ever, Mega Man 8. While
the X series continued in traditional
platform format, Inafune released
Mega Man Legends (Rockman
DASH in Japan), which takes place
at least three thousand years after
the X series. Despite the popularity
of the Legends series, only three
games were ever produced. To this
day, the X series, the Zero series
(which takes place a century after
the X series) and the ZX series
(which takes place several centuries
gun” and demonstrated its
capabilities at Defcon, an
annual meeting of some of
the greatest hackers, and
hacking defenders. This
“Sniper gun” was essentially
a large personally carried
antenna that would detect
Bluetooth signals across a
mile or more.
They also created a
program that could be used
to access information on
these devices. During their
demonstration they showed
that PDAs and cell phones
that did not have a password
or security program enabled
could be easily hacked and
information stolen.
space, here are just a few must-have
items this fall season.
Tight Security
.wording to runway shows such as
Tracy Reese and many more,
opaque tights are all the hype this
fall.
This trend is due in part to the
)vie Factory Girl and the mod
ipeal it had in terms of fashion.
>oks like we don’t have to freeze
iis season just to look good.
ly It: Wet Seal , $7
ay ‘s Anatomy
It seems gray is the new black this
season,
Hues of charcoal were offered in
luxurious fabrics on the runway for
he fall.
Many entailed intriguing detailed
ladings and crystals. Time to
-chase that little gray dress.
ly It: Any store this season will
trry a section dedicated to a
iriety of grays in many luxe fabrics
id prints.
It’s A Cinch
Waist belts are still an essential,
created it sought only to improve the
individual security of people using
this technology.
Hacking can also be more hardware
based than people realize. While
there is an essential point of writing
software scripts at some point, a
large part of it comes in the form of
“jury-rigging” something together.
(MacGuyver would be proud, a little
confused, but proud.)
A really good hack came from
the combination of motion sensor
technology and a cell phone.
Hacker Pedro Dias built a device that
would send a text message to his cell
phone whenever a motion sensor was
activated in his house.
This allows him to have his own
personal security system installed
that doesn’t have an installation fee
or monthly service charge.
He gets the message and can
instantly call 911 to have police sent
to his house.
More than just theft prevention
this can have applications for parents
that want their kids to stay out of
after the Zero series) continue to
be produced, striving to bridge the
millenniums-wide gap between the
original and Legends series.
As an alternative to the mature
themes often found throughout the
Mega Man series, two non-canon
series were developed for younger
audiences: Mega Man Battle
Network and Mega Man Star Force
(Rockman.EXE and respectively).
In addition to being the driving force
behind the Mega Man series, Keiji
Inafune was the Executive Producer
of Resident Evil 4, Onimusha Blade
Warriors, Onimusha 3: Demon
Siege, Onimusha 3: Dawn of Dr earns,
Capcom Fighting Evolution, Lost
Planet: Extreme Condition, Shadow
of Rome, Black Cat, and Legend of
Zelda: Minish Cap.
When I met Keiji Inafune, I asked
him if he could take some time to
answer a few questions for his fans
at Penn State. He kindly accepted.
Capital Times: Mr. Inafune,
despite your immense popularity,
you are known to be very private
person. Does the public attention
ever influence your games?
Inafune: I never have any difficulty
with the fans. I make games based
on what I feel they want most.
Capital Times: There has been
some controversy over the extent
of your involvement in the original
however the wide ones are so gone!
This season the skinny waist belt is
the hot accessory used to cinch the
waist and enhance what you already
have.
Buy it: Forever 21, $l2
Give ‘em the Boot
The shoe for the season is “the
bootie.”
Inspired by the Shakespearean
times, it is now the muse for
designers ranging from Louis
Vuitton to Marc Jacobs.
To buy or not to buy, that’s the
question.
Buy It: Aldo, $7O
Wide Appeal
Flashbacks from the 70s made
their way onto the runway as many
designers reinvented wide leg
pants.
They were seen many materials,
including the never dying jean.
While skinny jeans are still an
asset to every girl’s wardrobe,
the wide leg is moving back to the
forefront.
Buy It: Old Navy, $34
a certain room, pet owners, and a
myriad of other uses.
One of the more popular hacks
to surface is the unlocking of the
iPhone. Apple’s iPhone is currently
offered in the US only through AT&T,
and only with a two-year agreement.
People on other networks would
need to switch over if they wanted
an iPhone. A young hacker that isn’t
even old enough to buy a drink at a
bar discovered that by soldering a
wire “bridge” across two contacts of
one of the processor chips, the phone
could now be unlocked to any cell
phone company that uses sim cards.
Other places have surfaced on the
internet offering software downloads
that will do the same thing, but none
have actually released the code, and
is so far, unverified.
The next time you think or hear
about hackers, remember that not
all of them are evil, and that some of
the technologies you are using right
now, wouldn’t even be around if
weren’t for the hacker in his garage/
basement laboratory.
Street Fighter. What was did you
actually do?
Inafune: I made the character’s
looks and who they are. I did not
write the small story.
Capital Times: What do you see as
the future of the Mega Man series?
Are we to expect a continuation of
certain religious themes?
Inafune: Mega Man is always
about evolution. Of course, Legends
is the last of the evolution. You can
lose paradise if you don’t fight. (The
title of Mega Man X 8 was Paradise
Lost.)
Capital Times: Will there ever be
another Legends game?
Inafune: I always get asked this and
I say that it has been under much
consideration. Many fans seem to
want it. I need to go. Good luck with
the story.
Capital Times: Thank you very
much. I appreciate you taking the
time for this interview.
Inafune: You’re welcome.
There you have it! This concludes
Capital Time’s interview with
videogame legend Keiji Inafune,
who is sometimes credited as
“Inafking” due to his great influence
in the development of multiple
genres across multiple generations
of gaming. I hope you enjoyed this
article and I thank you for your
continued support!