In December 2012, Lord of the Rings fans will finally see the release of the long-awaited The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, part one of director Peter Jackson’s epic adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy novel. Given how beloved Jackson’s adaptation of the Rings trilogy was, it doesn’t feel like an exaggeration to say this is one of the most anticipated movies of the next few years. But if you want some proof, all you have to do is visit Peter Jackson on Facebook.

There, for the last six months, Jackson (with presumably some help from the Hobbit production team) has been sporadically posting 10-minute video diaries from the set of the production — essentially, the sort of stuff that you find on the special edition DVDs, except they first started appearing 20 months before the first movie even comes out.

The first diary is relatively unfocused — a hodgepodge of Jackson attending production meetings and taking viewers on a tour of the sets in the lead-up to the first day of production — though it does include off-the-cuff riffing with Sir Ian McKellan, which is never a bad thing.

The three subsequent diaries are somewhat more focused: The second, posted July 8, covers what the crew will be doing during a break in production as well as Jackson and his team doing location scouting, while the third, posted July 20, features Jackson freaking out over shooting at the historic Pinewood Studios and the cast and crew’s favorite moments from the first few months of shooting.

The fourth, which came out just last week, is all about the 3-D camera technology behind the film. If you really like learning about camera rigs and frame rates, you’re in luck! You also learn that Jackson has named the 16 cameras being used to shoot the movie after family members, dogs and Beatles, though, which is quite charming.

As default host of the diaries, Peter Jackson is actually quite adorable. As many others have observed, he’s probably the closest you’ll ever come to seeing a real hobbit in the wild, and his fanboy joy at having the chance to make these films is palpable.

While using Facebook as a distribution platform means that embedding is impossible, multiple reposts of the videos have appeared on YouTube, racking up hundreds of thousands of views thanks to embedding by blogs like Io9.

But the videos are still obviously popular on Facebook; after less than a day online, Video no. 4 had accumulated over 11,000 “likes,” and past videos sport similar numbers. In short, it’s proving to be a brilliant way to keep buzz alive for a film that won’t be in theaters for another 13 months. Not every project would lend itself to this kind of treatment — I doubt anyone would care this much about the production of, say, Brett Ratner’s Tower Heist — but when the making of the film is almost as epic as the film itself, it’s quite deserved.

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WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE. This calls for he biggest disclaimer in disclaiming history. Firstly a note from my sponsor: TECH SAYS IF ANY OF YOU ARE MEAN TO ME SHE WILL BEAT YOU UP. Now that’s over… I didn’t like Breaking Dawn all that much – it had its good points, but it wasn’t fabulous. However, this video is an EXAGGERATION of my opinion, made more for Tech than myself. So don’t bash me too viciously – if you can’t laugh at it, go away. Now that that’s done, this vid was directly inspired by the Hitler Reacts to the HBP Movie Delay video. Hope at least someone finds this funny… *terrified* – Lolly. Honours: #2 – Most Discussed (Today) – Australia #70 – Most Discussed (Today) – Global #2 – Most Discussed (Today) – Comedy – Australia #14 – Most Discussed (Today) – Comedy – Global #19 – Most Discussed (This Week) – Australia #6 – Most Discussed (This Week) – Comedy – Australia #87 – Most Discussed (This Week) – Comedy – Global #90 – Most Discussed (This Month) – Australia #27 – Most Discussed (This Month) – Comedy – Australia #16 – Most Responded (Today) – Australia #4 – Most Responded (Today) – Comedy – Australia #28 – Most Responded (This Week) – Comedy – Australia #81 – Most Responded (This Month) – Comedy – Australia #17 – Most Viewed (Today) – Comedy – Australia #57 – Most Viewed (Today) – Comedy – Canada #94 – Most Viewed (Today) – Comedy #57 – Most Viewed (Today) – Comedy – Ireland #45 – Most Viewed (Today) – Comedy – New Zealand #59 – Most Viewed (Today …

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This is interesting. While checking up on the implications of Sony’s removal of the “Install Other OS” option, Thinq ran into a particularly troubling clause in the EULA.

Some services may be provided automatically without notice when you are online, and others may be available to you through SCE’s online network or authorized channels. Without limitation, services may include the provision of the latest update or download of new release that may include security patches, new technology or revised settings and features which may prevent access to unauthorized or pirated content, or use of unauthorized hardware or software in connection with the PS3™ system.

While I might have at first considered it boilerplate to say that they may provide matchmaking services and trophy tracking without your express consent every time, that second bit does go out of its way to say “no, this is about us keeping the PS3 in Sony-approved condition.”

I actually glanced over this EULA when I was researching that User’s Manifesto post. I ended up using Apple’s EULA as a sample, but as it turns out, the Sony one might have been even better. The language says, without exaggeration, that they may change settings and shut off access to your own software and hardware, without asking and without notification.

Do you like the sound of that? I doubt it. But you did agree to those terms. Luckily, it seems Sony hasn’t felt the need to exert this power yet, seeing as the clause above has been in the PS3 EULA since launch and we haven’t heard of anything as nauseating as the Amazon thing. Cold comfort that.

It really just amounts to something a PS3 hacker needs to account for (find the method by which automatic updates occur; block it), but it sends a chill up your spine, doesn’t it — what’s next, remote access of the Eye to check if you’re not having enough fun? Quick! Check the EULA!

[via HardOCP; image: Penny Arcade]

In the last few years, people playing free poker has increased massively. With most people tending to veer towards playing Texas Hold’em, we are asking why poker is becoming one of the most played online games available.

Every day, every hour, every minute you can find thousands of people playing online poker. And it is no exaggeration. In the largest poker rooms in the world you can find over 100,000 players at any one time. In global terms can be estimated at several million weekly players who pass through one or another poker room. If we talk about money every day this world moves many millions of dollars, which certainly in most cases not taxed because governments do not regulate the industry, but this is not the question.

But what motivates all these people to stand in front of their computer to play poker? Yes it’s mainly the expectation of making money. But if it is no more than a gamble why does this attract so many people like this?

Well, simply that at any given time any player can win a lot because at times certain poker hands can beat anyone. This means even the worst player in the world can have their moment of glory and gain (though they WILL lose more long term).

That’s because poker is not a game of pure chance. If it was then no way could it support the growing number of players who live to play poker. For if the win or lose depended on luck alone then the long-term fate would be balanced against profit.

On average only 10% of most poker players actually earn decent money on a regular basis. This proves that poker is all about technique and skill, not luck. So, what happens to the other 90% of the players who don’t win?

The 90% of players who don’t win very often are the ones who mainly play for fun. They will be lucky enough to get a good hand now and again and this will give them the boost to keep returning to the tables.

The 10% and prospective members of the elite 10% though, they spend time studying the game, play with strategy, analyze each situation and try to learn from mistakes in order to get on the right side of profitability. Never was the phrase “you make your own luck” so true as in online poker. For them it is a war.

Whatever type of poker is being played, whether its pay poker, or free poker, good players can and do lose in the short term and have at times horrible losing streaks. Bad players can sometimes win a load. But over time there is no doubt that good players triumph and make profits while the bad players will lose more than they win but keep coming back because they’re either aiming to get better or simply hoping for that one “big hit”.

If you’re new to poker but see yourself in the elite 10% of money making players then you can do no better than to start at a free poker site where you can lose with no or very low risk to real money, learn the game and start to move up the ladder slowly as you improve and become profitable and successful.