This one’s a bit off topic but nonetheless important and interesting for all us internet addicts enthusiasts. Ever wondered how you’d connect to the internet in the case of disaster? Zombie apocalypse? Capitalist meltdown? You’re most likely not going to be saving lives, fighting thugs or hunting for food. Face it, you’ll be the local geek so you might as well help out.

The latest issue of Make magazine has details on putting together a Network Relief Kit to provide internet connectivity in the most extreme of situations. The total setup costs around $3,500 USD and bandwidth costs are pretty expensive at $3 to $6 per Megabyte of data transferred. You’re most likely not going to be buying this any time soon but doesn’t the fact that you now know how to visit Dark Diamond from inside your zombie quarantine zone make you feel a lot better?

[MAKE / Via Boing Boing]

Often personal projects get classified under, “if I had enough time to do”. For a while now I’ve been feeling creative, but without a proper outlet. Last December the opportunity revealed itself. I was finally able to strike-through a line on my long to do list: make an animated music video. Partnering with Alien-Eye and AMVJ Sessions, Boom Boom Satellites held a contest to remix footage from anime Xam’d to “Shut Up and Explode”. Sadly I didn’t win 1st place, but I did get 2nd. I walked away with an autographed CD from Boom Boom Satellites.

Ever consider making an AMV, but don’t know where to begin? I wanted to share my experience with the DDN community, hopefully it may inspire or give you the nudge you’ve been needing. I’ve included below the stock footage and MP3 received from Alien-Eye along with a basic walkthrough on editing, the top 3 contestants, and some lasting thoughts on the entire process.

[Footage Files]
[AMVJ Sessions]
[Alien-Eye]

Read more!