Friday Funday XXXV
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1012 hrs
Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet during the previous week.
Frankie Flood's Pizza Cutters [del.icio.us]
You've never seen pizza cutters like these. Frankie Flood designs... Well, designer pizza cutters. I don't usually have a lot of need for pizza cutters, but I want one of these.
The Art of Wayne White [del.icio.us]
Wayne White's New York debut is called, "I'm Not Going Around Advertising Surrealism," but of course it is. He takes crappy paintings and makes them beautiful. I love artwork like this.
Finkbuilt [del.icio.us]
Steve Lodefink's (beautifully designed) website, which features all manner of things that are, "Finkbuilt".
Huge Life Size X-Wing for Sale on eBay [del.icio.us]
If you live in the lower 48 and exercise the "Buy It Now" option ($85,000), the seller will deliver the one-tonne fighter to your door for free.
PAPST GOLF!!! [del.icio.us]
What kind of car would the Pope drive if he weren't stuck in the Pope-mobile? A VW Golf, apparently. The listing is in German, so I don't know if they'll ship internationally.
Phallic Advertising
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1540 hrs
Is it just me, or does this banner ad look rather phallic? And yes, it is work-safe.
Hover! (Part Two)
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1428 hrs
So, I took Phoenix's advice and downloaded Game Maker 6. It's a pretty cool application, though, as per usual, the official documentation leaves much to be desired.
At any rate, I've begun work on a Hover! re-make, which I have titled Hover!XP (a title to which I am far from married. If you can think of something better, leave a comment and let me know).
If you'd like to see what I have so far, click here to d/l the .zip, which contains an .exe that you can mess about with.
To be perfectly honest, there's nothing there. The GUI-thing is just a screen grab from the original Hover! game (to test the code and how to get an overlay graphic to begin with). In the room you'll notice one of the green "power up" balls from the original Hover!. Well, that's not really true, I suppose, as this one has a red "X" in it and isn't animated. In this test room, you can drive around and try to get the power up. Once you do, it jumps to a random point in the room. I have yet to figure out how to add a delay to its reappearance (the method I thought would work didn't).
Most of the basics are still posing problems. I don't know how to do a lot and I suspect that a ton of it will require that I learn extensive GML (Game Maker Language). But I said I would learn it, so I shall try.
Pretty much the only thing that I think I have finished is the speed and friction of the hover craft. If you've played Hover! before, you should know that there are little "pads" that speed you up. Hold down the shift key when you drive around to see the speed I have in mind for the speed-up pads (hold it for about a second, then let go to more-or-less simulate hitting a pad). Okay, on looking at it again, it's a bit slow. But play with it and you'll get the idea.
And that's it. The checklist of things to fix is long and the list of things to create is longer. Both are trumped by things to learn before I can implement the others. What have I gotten myself into?
Anyway, at least this is one of those projects without a deadline, so I can work on it whenever and take my time learning GML. Hopefully I'll have a few more things sorted out in the coming weeks. My next two goals are to get bouncing off of the walls programmed in as well as the rear view mirror. I also want to clean up the matte/key job on the graphics and start coming up with ideas for the graphics. I also hope to build a much larger room and figure out why in the world the delay on the power-up ball doesn't work.
If anyone is interested in helping out with this project, let me know.
Friday Funday XXXIV
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 0954 hrs
Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet during the previous week.
My Mother Is Insane [del.icio.us]
No matter how messy you think your living space is, this probably beats it. And I thought I spent a lot of money on eBay. Please note that this is not in reference to =my= mother, who throws away important things (like owners manuals) if they're left out on the coffee table too long.
Barcode Yourself [del.icio.us]
This would have been perfect back when I wanted to get a barcode tattoo (if you don't already know, feel free to ask me why getting a tattoo is probably not a good idea - especially a barcode one).
Motion Induced Blindness [del.icio.us]
This stuff is blowing my mind. I love optical illusions. I want to paint some of these on my walls and trip people out when they come over.
Amazon.com: Free Music Downloads [del.icio.us]
Did you know that Amazon had a page listing all of the free, no-DRM MP3s available for download on their site? Neither did I. Yet another reason why Amazon kicks ass.
UPDATE: Here's an RSS feed of Amazon's free d/ls.
Identity Card Concept Project [del.icio.us]
I saw an article about some of these cards several years ago and thought they were super-cool. This site not only has all the cards I saw back then, but several others that I had never seen before. I want some of these.
Burning Man
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1211 hrs
You know, sometimes I think it would be fun to attend Burning Man. I start to wonder why I don't just pack up and head out to the playa to commune with hippies and become covered, from head to toe, in gypsum.
Then I remember that tickets are $250 each.
Wikipedia: The New Pope
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1848 hrs
Can you believe there is already a Wikipedia entry on the new Pope? And there's a ton of information!
Sideways
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1302 hrs
Well, I'm convinced that I'm the only person here at KAYU that actually like the film Sideways. Everyone else here seems to have something bad to say about the movie (thought their arguments for why they didn't like the movie are easily refuted).
New Hover High Score
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 2114 hrs
Level 39, 3,201,000 points. Woot.
Casshern
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1529 hrs
I have no idea what this movie is about, but man, do I want to see it.
Friday Funday XXXIII
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 0950 hrs
Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet during the previous week.
Hasemalphaginnojinglanaporphomism [del.icio.us]
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "What is a Hasemalphaginnojinglanaporphomism?" The answer is that it's a reversed contradicting metamorph phrased as an anagram. That or it's a made up word, which has become quite the meme.
Boeing 707 As Art [del.icio.us]
This guy got a piece of a Boeing 707 and turned it into a light-emitting art piece. I want one.
Chopstick Joystick [del.icio.us]
A HOW-TO guide for building a working joystick out of chopsticks, clothespins, thumbtacks, and a few other things. Be sure to read step #7.
You Have Died of Dysentery [del.icio.us]
If you've never played Oregon Trail, you're missing out on... Well, I was going to say a great experience, but really it's more like a few hours of frustration. Anyway, here's a T-shirt for those in the know. The description aptly reads, " You bought 1350 lbs of this shirt but you can only carry 200 back to the wagon."
The Best Page In The Universe [del.icio.us]
I should point out that it's the self-proclaimed best page in the universe. Overall, Maddox is pretty funny (I was laughing my ass off at work yesterday), but he comes off too harsh sometimes, which (in my opinion) diminishes his credibility and, to a lesser extent, his humour. Still, it's funny shit. Cheers to Phoenix for putting the link on his site for me to find.
Hover!
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1129 hrs
Does anyone besides me remember that old game that came with Windows 95 called Hover!? I first played it during my freshman year of high school when my dad got a new computer.
Since then, I have searched for it online from time to time, but you try doing a Google search for "hover!".
On Saturday, I finally found it.
There are only three mazes, the graphics suck, and if your resolution isn't 256 colours, it yells at you (yes, even if you're set to use =more= than 256 colours), but damn is it still fun!
Apart from its obvious drawbacks, I find it annoying that I can't create new mazes or textures. The files in question are .maz and .tex files, but I haven't found anything that will open them so I can create my own (possibly higher-res) graphics.
What I would love is for someone to take this game and remake it with better graphics, better audio (although, the audio that's currently there isn't all that bad), more mazes and multiplayer capabilities. So, all you programmers out there, this really doesn't seem to be that complex of a task, I just don't have the necessary skills.
Anyone want to take a stab at it? I'd be willing to work on the graphics, audio, and anything else within my realm of abilities. I'd even be willing to learn how to do some of the necessary programming.
UPDATE: I was just playing Hover! and I got up to level 29 with 2,019,000 points; a new personal record.
UPDATE: Here's a mirror.
Friday Funday XXXII
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1030 hrs
Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet during the previous week.
Guia del Migrante Mexicano [del.icio.us]
A "how to" guide for Mexicans wanting to cross the border into the United States. Illegally. There was a big row over this back in Januray (after about a million copies had already been distributed), but for some reason it's still online. For now.
The Credit Card Prank [del.icio.us]
Actually, this is The Credit Card Prank Part II, I haven't read part one yet. Cheers to Kris for pointing this one out to me.
Jesus Candles [del.icio.us]
What the fuck?
Family Safe Media [del.icio.us]
Did you parents ever tell you that you couldn't watch TV or play on the computer? Did you ever find a way to do it anyway? Imagine if your parents had used crap like this to stop you from doing the things you love. Not only does the site have a device that limits when you can watch TV and when you can't, but there's even a device that limits when you can use electronic items.
Paper Airplane Flight Simulator [del.icio.us]
As if playing minesweeper wasn't enough of a mindless waste of time, the Paper Airplane Flight Simulator will... Well, it'll simulate you making a paper airplane and then throwing it. It's really not as lame as it sounds.
Official Member Of The Copyleft Party
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 0939 hrs
My Copyleft pin arrived yesterday! I won it in a contest by creating two images that use the copyleft logo (image 1 - image 2).
The is =awesome= and I'm wearing it right now. So far no one has asked about it, but I'm prepared to tell them all about it!
On a side note, it's strange to see stuff that I created on Flickr, since I don't actually have an account there.
The Laughter Of Animals
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 0932 hrs
According to Professor Jaak Panksepp, animals other than humans, laugh.
"And when rats play, they make chirps which some scientists associate with positive emotional feelings. When rats are tickled in a playful way, they become socially bonded to humans and are rapidly conditioned to seek tickles." [
SOURCE]
How the hell do you tickle a rat?
Phoenix In Japan
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 0542 hrs
I love Phoenix. He recently sent me an e-mail that contained this phrase (which made me laugh my ass off):
"Of course, I also live in the middle of NOWHERE, and there's nothing to do, unlike Tokyo. Basically, I live in Cheney, Japan. Spokane, Japan (Fukui city) is about the same distance away, and about as exciting."
Friday Funday XXXI
Posted by Thomas J. Brown at 1133 hrs
Friday Funday brings you some fun and interesting links from my travels around the internet during the previous week.
DHMO.org [del.icio.us]
Dihydrogen Monoxide website. This site is =SO= useful for when you need to convince someone that their water is poisoned.
GFY.com (Go Fuck Yourself dot com) [del.icio.us]
A nice little site that you can point people to when you want them to know they're bothering you. The simple URL doesn't give away the surprise in store for your mark. Back when the Paris Hilton shit hit the fan, one guy recorded his prank calls to a bunch of celebs. In one, he posed as an employee of T-Mobile and suggested that the famous fathead visit gfy.com for info on how to change his phone number.
April Fool's Site [del.icio.us]
A site with a number of stories about April Fool's exploits and tomfoolery. Some good ideas here, though the site is pretty poorly designed.
UPDATE: I've just learned that this site is down. They probably exceeded their xfer, so check back in a few days.
Google News April Fool's Day Search [del.icio.us]
A Google News search about April Fool's Day pranks. Now you can stay up to date with pranks pulled the world over. To see Google's own little April Fool's day joke, visit the Gmail login page If..Else Log.
UPDATE: Looks like Google has another little joke out there: Google Gulp.
Wikipedia: April Fool's Day [del.icio.us]
It's better to pull pranks if you know why you're pulling them. Wikipedia comes through with the history of April Fool's day, as well as a list of well-known pranks.
Solicitation Section
Be my boss!
If you visit my Amazon.com PayPage, you can pay me as little as $1. I could be your underpaid employee!
