A friend of mine sent this article to me the other day, but I honestly forgot to post it. Gamespy did a great piece on 5 of the most dangerous gaming peripherals out there. What's bittersweet about this article is that I bet all of the ideas seemed like good ones at the time. "The time" of course, likely being happy hour and under the influence of enough tequila to give alcohol poisoning to an elephant.
They even have the PediSedate on this list!
http://www.gamespy.com/articles/974/974711p1.html
Apr 30, 2009
Dangerous gaming peripherals are dangerous
Apr 29, 2009
Awesome Alternative Business Models
Do you like BBQ? How about foot massages? Are you tired of having to go to two separate places to get your BBQ and foot massages? Why am I asking all these questions? THIS:
I want this to be real so very very badly, but given the video and the general quality of their site, I'm guessing "Jones' Good Ass BBQ and Foot Massasge" isn't a legit business venture.
Capitalism, you've let me down for the last time...
Apr 28, 2009
Humanity's Foibles
I love witnessing the human condition in it's raw, pure form. Like when all the airs we put on and the social norms we're conditioned to build come crashing down upon us. While we all try to be gentlemen or gentleladies, we sometimes go against this grain either accidentally or intentionally, naievely or maliciously. It is these moments that expose our flaws and vulnerabilities - an intrinsically human act. And honestly, that's just part of mankind's charm.
It's not everyday you get to witness these kinds of things first hand, but two sites that I've come across sure give you innumerable tiny glimpses:
- FmyLife - A constantly updated database of anecdotes in which people are trying to display exactly how F'd their lives are. I can't tell you how many times I was crying laughing, and how many times my jaw was dropped reading some of these stories. Seriously, there should be an internet rule 34(b) - if you can think it, someone probably did it (or at least wrote a story about it on this site).
- Texts from Last Night - A site where people send in random texts or short correspondance they've received/had. While FmyLife has the advantage of being coherent stories, this site captures messages originally intended for a more intimate audience - a friend, family member, or significant other. The content here is simply more raw and random, but intruiging nonetheless.
If I could ever be bothered to sit down and do it, I'd add these and a few other sites to that frakking recommended list on the right.
Click here to continue reading "Humanity's Foibles"Apr 27, 2009
The US housing market crisis: A summary
About a week ago, while perusing the oft-interesting and irrefutably-titled This is a Blog, a challenge was laid to take a current event and put it into humorous picture squares. Or comics. Whichever term you prefer.
The point is I did one. And since I've been brought up to believe that sharing is good, here's my take on one of the many underlying reasons why the US housing market has tanked (what started this whole horrible economic mess we're in today):
Apr 24, 2009
There's a zombie on your lawn
Sometimes, I really hate my friends.
Case in point: a few of them turned me onto an upcoming PopCap game, Plants vs. Zombies. Or to be more specific, they turned me onto a music video for Plants vs. Zombies. From what I can tell in this video it's a "defend your castle" type game which I can only assume will be executed to near-perfection, given PopCap's reputation.
But I can't get the f'ing song from the music video out of my head. It's brilliant in that it's catchy enough for me to repeat it ad nauseum, yet ridiculous and funny enough for me to not go insane for having it stuck in my head.
You win this round, PopCap. Actually you've won every round so far, but still...
There's a zombie on your lawn... Click here to continue reading "There's a zombie on your lawn"
Apr 23, 2009
Ubunchu
I grew up in a town that had a church who was heavy into spreading the word of God. I'm all for religion (being Catholic myself) and spreading the message of one's religion, but their activities bordered on the cultish, particularly targeting teenagers. As such, they organized student events targeted at teenagers, hold regular fairs at their church - prominently displayed on a main road - and even once stood outside my middle school with clown suits and picket signs. They'd be handing out pamphlets and, no lie, comics to help get their message across to teenagers.
How is this anecdote relevant, rhetorical literary device I'm using to segue into my main point? Because there is a manga out that is trying to extol the benefits of Ubuntu, called Ubunchu. My keen cult senses and defenses I'd developed over the years aren't just tingling, they're going all Paul Revere "The British Are Coming!" in my system.
The sad thing is that I actually support Linux and Ubuntu in principle. True, they've yet to sway me from my familiar Windows operating systems, but they've come a long way and I likely will at least try it out with my next computer purchase. Just... don't do this again, ok Ubuntu community?
I'm honestly not sure if this manga is helping or hurting its cause. Either way it's an assault on your sanity. Go read it!
You can either visit the site, or jump right into the manga (like all mangas, the panels read right to left).
Apr 22, 2009
Alphabet soup and sandwich
Do you like words? How about sandwiches? How about games that combine both words and sandwiches? If so, the aptly-titled "Word Sandwich" game is just for you!
http://www.wordsandwich.com/
It's a really addictive time-waster, in which you furiously mash the keyboard in frustration try to deduce 5 separate 5-letter words, one at a time, as quickly as possible. On each word, you take a guess and are told immediately if your guess was alphabetically higher or lower than the hidden word.
Each guess nets you less and less points until you run out of guesses (you have something to the tune of 25 guesses per word). However, if you take too much time between guesses, you lose your word multiplier.
Ironically, it's much easier to see in execution than it is to explain using words (or sandwiches). Check it out, but don't be surprised if you lose more time to it than anticipated.
Apr 21, 2009
Hypothetical Drinks
At a random bar, a few friends and I decided to try to come up with hypothetical drinks that may or may not be good, but are hilarious. The below list are a mixture of a few that were tossed around and some I came up with.
For the record, everything on this list that won't outright kill me or contain illegal narcotics are drinks I want to try at some point.
- Wily Wacker - Hypnotiq, Bombay Sapphire, Blue Raspberry Teeni. A variation of the Blue Bomber.
- The Daft Punk - Vodka, Peach Schnapps, Orange Juice, Cranberry Juice and WD-40. It's basically a Sex On the Beach while adding the WD-40 robot cred. Something both men and women alike can enjoy.
- The Terry Tate - Jagermeister, Jack Daniels, 151 rum. Mix anything with a .357 magnum (JD an 151) and the pain train's comin'.
- Twilight - Sangria and Teen Angst. Best consumed in a Hot Topic.
- Mario Brothers' Star - Limoncello and Cocaine. If this doesn't make you temporarily invincible, I don't know what will.
- Taco Bell - Beefeater and Ex-Lax. Enough said.
Apr 20, 2009
Death Race Double Dash
A while back, I put together the condensed version of the script of Death Race. Well, if you'd like it condensed even further, this 2 minute Youtube video does the job nicely. Only with less gruesome deaths and more appropriate (read: Mario Kart) sound effects.
This video comes courtesy of "Danger" Dan Robinson, who gives me yet another excuse to plug the Fair Use Law podcast (go listen to it!).
Apr 17, 2009
Have a seat...
Ok, class. Who knows what's wrong with the following?
This is the PediSedate, a tool designed to distract and sedate children (with Nitrous or something similar) while they're distracted playing a gameboy. It's intended to be used for... I dunno, dentistry, maybe? Even then, why are you trying to engage the child's mind by having it focus on the game if you're trying to sedate them seems a little counter intuitive
I'm sure it won't be used inappropriately at all.
Via Gizmodo. Click here to continue reading "Have a seat..."
Apr 16, 2009
PACHINKOOOOO!!!
Oh, I love it when celebrities do advertisements for other countries. Nicholas Cage is a celebrity who tried to cash in on his mediocre celebrity status over in Japan and did some Sankyo pachinko advertisements. As with all things Japanese, something is lost in the translation.
I'd be curious to know if at any point Mr. Cage wondered if he was actually having a really bad acid trip.
Apr 15, 2009
Nerf Now
In searching for good reading materials on the internet earlier today, specifically of the webcomic variety, I discovered Nerf Now. It's a video game webcomic that focuses primarily on Team Fortress 2, though does cross-over into other games such as StarCraft and Mega Man. But oh how I love me some TF2.
While it would be easy to dismiss it as yet another video game webcomic, I like this comic because it challenges itself. The dialogue is almost non-existent, or at least distilled to a Sims-like level, so the stories and ideas conveyed need to be that much more thought-out and executed upon. And, being largely TF2-based humor, I'm impressed how little of it is obvious "OMG it was a spy" jokes. Yes, I know the game lends itself to a lot of this kind of situational irony, but it's just that seems to be the punchline in most every other TF2 joke.
I also really like the art style of the comic. It's detailed, but not overly complex which I think is very much in line with the way TF2 plays out as a game. If I were ever to stop dabbling in drawing and start taking it more seriously, I'd like to think this style would be ideal for me to emulate.
Apr 14, 2009
Rooting for the under (scurvy) dog
So there's been a lot of piracy in the news these days. No, not the kind that the RIAA and the MPAA give a damn about - those oh-so-crazy Somalian pirates recently came into the spotlight when they held a US Navy captain hostage recently. While I don't condone the actions of these pirates, I do sympathize with them.
Yes, you heard me correctly, I sympathize with them. Also, I fiercely love my country and was very happy when Cpt. Richard Philips was returned safely (though regrettably only by means of lethal force). I don't think these two ideas are mutually exclusive.
Today's pirates, despite what culture has raised us to believe, aren't eye patch-wearing swashbucklers. They aren't Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom types roaming the high-seas for adventure and lost treasure. They are people who do bad things like take hostages, hold ransoms, steal, and murder. And for the record, these are despicable acts that, again, I don't condone.
But, you see, I believe people are generally good. I sincerely believe that no one takes up the profession of "pirate" in times of peace and prosperity. They do it because they are forced to, or at least feel that there are no other alternatives.
So why are Somalians taking to piracy? Well, turns out the developed world's taking advantage of them. According to wikipedia, the tsunami of 2005 had kicked up a quite a bit of nuclear waste that was being dumped in Somalian waters, causing a lot of Somalians to get sick. Oh, and fishing ships are have been hauling off a lot fish that are causing other Somalians to starve. So they're being both poisoned and having food taken off their plates. It's not difficult to understand why they'd be a little hostile to foreign ships.
I can't help but wonder if the anger and frustrations Somalians today feel is the same kind the British colonial settlers, my country's forefathers, felt when they got all uppity about that "taxation without representation" thing. They fought back. They waged war chock full of guerrilla tactics, not unlike the Somalian pirates' methods, to eventually get the British off their backs and establish The United States of America.
Why does history generally write us a free pass on this while we currently take a hard stance against Somalian piracy? Because our tactics were land-based? Because we were successful?
From what I can tell, these pirates are defending themselves and their country. And nothing more. How is that a bad thing?
I don't entirely know why I feel compelled to write about this. I guess I have a soft spot for the underdog.
Apr 13, 2009
A man, a plan, a plant: Cilantro
I'm a big fan of pointless endeavours. And I really admire people who can get passionate about them - there's something genuine and honest in listening to a fanboy prattle on about their chosen interest.
Why do I bring this up? Well, I found a site by a guy who loves him some cilantro (coriander, to most of the rest of the world). I mean, really loves cilantro. He takes a militant stance against those who don't take a militant stance in support cilantro. He's the closest thing you'll ever get to an extremist in the culinary world.
http://fuckyeahcilantro.tumblr.com/
Apr 10, 2009
Snatch Wars
I've been a little bit of a Star Wars kick lately. So when I came across this video, I nearly died laughing. Who would have thought combining Brick Top's lines with Darth Vader would produce such sublime comedy?
Enjoy some Good Friday goodness, and have a Happy Easter, everyone! You know, if that's your thing...
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