Jeff Goldblum will be missed

*sniff* *sniff* I'll miss him too.

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Jeff Goldblum Will Be Missed
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(link to embedded video via Colbert Nation)

Oh, Twitter. Is there anything you can't do?

By the by - when did mainstream media stop checking the credibility of their sources? Actually, when did the internet become a source? What happened to responsible and accurate reporting? Did we ever have it? Or did people who don't understand this nebulous fictitious full of 95% porn thing called the "internet" completely obliterate good reporting?

We don't need more news bloggers and RSS feeds and twitter posts full of information. We need correct information.

This revelation has made me sad that we are losing newspapers. How long before they too are swept away to their webpages and blogs and start reporting every little tidbit that people with names like HAWTMaMa43 posts on their twitter? I'm not saying newspapers were always perfect and accurate, but at least they have a day to make sure their information is fact-checked.

I too fell for the Jeff Goldblum RIP twitter updates...for a few minutes until I, along with some other twitter friends, scrolled to the bottom of everyone's "source" and saw the "fake a wish" disclaimer. That means that these news sources that reported the story didn't even take the time to check the webpage they were using as a source. On the internet. They took it completely at face value.

The main appeal of Twitter seems to be that you can get information on what is going on in the world as it happens, real time. But what happens when that information becomes mixed in with jokes and pranks and what your friend ate for breakfast? You can't say you're getting real time information when the information isn't real.

I don't know. After this whole mess I think I've just come to find that I prefer fact checking to speed.

new street signs?

Is it just me, or did those use to be green? Any reason the signs for NE Ravenna Blvd are brown now? All the other signs in the area are green...it's just Ravenna that's brown. I'm pretty sure it wasn't always like that unless I'm more unobservant than I thought (a strong possibility).

My imagination is starting to run away with me. Are they marking our neighborhood as a safe zone for the zombie apocalypse? Ravenna is a long road - perhaps it's an escape route.

Or maybe they're preparing to quarantine us. The brown signs are like Mr. Yuk stickers.

Perhaps they just ran out of green paint and had to improvise.

I'm sure the actual reason is something quite boring, however, I will continue speculate. It's something interesting to do with my extra brain power on a Monday.

nerd music - Kirby Krackle

Speaking of podcasts, I was listening to Seattle-Geekly today and they premiered a new song from a really cool local nerd band!





(link to embedded music player for Kirby Krackle via ReverbNation)

I've been listening to their music, and I really love it! Apparently they were at Wonder-con and are super adorable.

According to a recent Twitter post, Kirby Krackle will be at the Showbox soon so I might just have to grab a ticket and check 'em out!

To be honest, I am way too far behind on my nerd-core. Luckily there's always Hipster, Please! to set me straight. This weekend I might have to go through the sidebar there and update my itunes library to fully embrace the nerdy music scene.

podcast me up, scotty!

First, let me preface this post with the awesome graphic I get to see when I log into the system I just learned how to use in order to help out our Long Distance team during their busy time:



I love it so much! Sometimes I log in and out just so I can see this image pop up.

Now, if you can guess from this very fancy and elaborate image, the system doesn't involve a lot of complicated coding or entry. It's actually pretty straight forward once you get the keyboard shortcuts down (which is actually no easy task!). While I do have to concentrate, once I get into my flow I am able to listen to podcasts as I tackle the data entry.

We've reached the point of this post! Podcasts!

I enjoy them greatly; they keep me company in my cubicle and fill my day with sporadic laughter that often earns me a few strange looks around the office.

I don't listen to very many. I've only recently (relative to how long they've been around) started listening to them. At first I found that I preferred to only listen to podcasts produced by people I know. Note: My definition of "know" includes people I traded a button with once at the Penny-Arcade Expo and then continued our close relationship via the internet. No matter how I happen to know them, these people are made of awesome:

Epic Default Productions Podcast
Random Access Podcast
Leetbix Podcast

Even more recently, I have decided to branch out to people that I don't know in some way shape or form:

Seattle Geekly Podcast

I discovered Seattle Geekly after they did a post about the poor Resident Evil cosplayer who was temporarily arrested during a Zombie Walk on the Hill for Crypticon. I'm actually a little sad that I didn't know about them sooner! Their podcasts are fun and you can tell they just love being geeks in my favorite city (like me!).

Ones that I know about but still need to listen to would be:

Penny-Arcade DLC Podcast
Rooster Teeth Podcast

(note: both those links are for the RSS, as I don't think they have their own dedicated pages)

I am now officially on the hunt for more fun podcasts I can listen to. As evidenced from the list above, I am looking for geek-centric podcasts that probably deal mainly in the video game world.

Any suggestions? Favorites?

twitter on paper! woo!

I got my Twitter on Paper from @sampotts today! How exciting!



I will have to contemplate what I want to send him in return.

oh, he'll be back

Michael Jackson is dead....OR IS HE?!


(link to video via youtube)

Just sayin. Prepare yourselves. We're good to go in Seattle, how's LA doing?

And hey guys, I know we'll all be busy preparing for his rise from the grave, but don't forget about the Angel. Perhaps she'll protect us.

art advertising on the Ave

Does this technically count as vandalism? ;)

There are pink ones on every corner of 45th and University Way on the Ave. I snapped a shot but the picture of one found in Wallingford below is a better shot. Also, I lost my USB cord for my digital camera.

(image source: @driftcafe via @wallyhood)

I like it! Very effective advertising and the art is fun. I haven't been to the SAM in quite a long time, so I may very well have to show up for this one!

John Hodgman proves Obama is a nerd!

Oh man...John Hodgman is my hero forever. I caught this via Geek Dad on Wired and I literally have tears in my eyes from laughter. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.



(Link to the video via youtube)

RIP Ed McMahon

(note: if you are seeing this in facebook, you can view the video here.)

They are together again.

zero punctuation says all you need to know about E3 this year

I fear I fell behind on the hilariousness that is Zero Punctuation (thanks for the link David!) so I just had to share this one on the ol' blog, because it's that dang funny. And TRUE.



(note: if you are reading this in facebook, you can view the video here)

i schooled a co-worker on 1337 today

Oh Fridays....

Also, I just realized I spelled "article" wrong...I am a nerd failure.

the new Google Books is made of win

I LOVE what they've done with Google Books.

There is a library feature, which I don't think is new but that I had not noticed before, that makes me squee in joy. I have used other online bookshelf type sites in the past in an effort to catalog my many books, but I am incredibly happy to see that I can do this through Google. Plus, in true Google fashion, the interface is simple, easy to use, and nice to look at. Even better - you can add notes and labels like in Google Notebook. You can import books via ISBN number (amazing!), export your library, and grab an RSS feed - which you will see newly added on my blog sidebar.

One of the new features is the ability to embed a book preview on your blog, thusly:


(note: not sure you'll be able to see the embedded book if you are viewing this as a note in Facebook.)

Sadly, not all books are available for a preview like above, including my favorite one. However, this feature is still an awesome one.

I will likely be spending the weekend plugging in ISBN numbers and updating my fantastic new Google Library.

UPDATE: Did I mention, that since it's Google you can search your own library with fantastic accuracy? I LOVE YOU GOOGLE.

Up (No spoilers)

Before I went into the theater to see this movie, I went into the bathroom and filled my purse up with tissue paper. Not joking. In fact, it's mostly still in there.

My purse is currently stuffed due to the reviews I had gotten from friends. I was a little late to the game on seeing this movie, and a good portion of my friends had already been. The majority of the comments I heard involved (1) This movie will make you cry and (2) The humor is more of an undertone to a serious flick.

Number one is 100% true. You will cry at the beginning of the movie, and you will remain teary eyed until the very end. Does this make the movie a sad movie? Not even a little bit. The teary eyed parts are more about pulling at your heart strings. Even when they make you tear up, you more want to hug someone than cry.

Number two is not true in the least. This movie is not serious. In fact, someone even told me that it couldn't be considered a comedy. That is just ridiculous. When you are not teary eyed at the sweet but sad parts you are laughing your head off. The comedy in this movie is brilliant, and I can't believe people think that it takes second place to the sadder events. This movie is first and foremost a comedy and a kid's movie.

That's probably what I liked best about it - you have the funny and goofy and genuinely hilarious bits but they are very well strewn in with the sadder bits that I think resonated more with the adults than the children. The overall effect is one of those rare movies you can wholeheartedly enjoy no matter what your age.

I did enjoy this flick. That being said, do NOT go see this movie in the theaters. The animation is fantastic, but I found the landscape scenery a little dull, even when they had a tropical paradise world to work with. I would have been happy watching it on the small screen in my living room.

In addition to that, I had an insightful conversation with a little girl in the bathroom while we were both washing our hands. She had mentioned how disappointed she was with the 3D. I completely agreed with her. The 3D just pops the picture out a little. It did not add to the movie experience at all, and you could hardly even call it 3D. This seems to be a growing trend with 3D movies recently. What happened to the days when you actually had to have all sorts of things flying in and out of the screen? When did a slight overlay of backgrounds become accepted?

Overall, this movie was good. It wasn't amazing, but it was a good, solid movie with some really great comedy and a heart wrenching but wonderful story. I would recommend it.

i am the only goddamn batman

I haven't blogged in a little while, and I am super duper way behind (heh, ^behind) on Rad Things. So this is a little interlude before I open up paint.NET and get to scribbling.

MY BATMAN BOXERS HAVE A FAIL. It's actually more amusing than anything else. My favorite explanation was from @luneowl who said, "Maybe he's just very cold: "I'mm the goddammmed Batmman!" /shiver".

romance novels...le sigh

This is probably not the greatest thing for a proclaimed geek to blog about, but hell with it. Geeks come in all shapes, sizes, and interests. This happens to be one of my geeky interests!

I have a confession to make. I am obsessed with Historical Romance novels based in roughly 15th - 18th century England. It's the time period, the costume, the setting, the struggle to find love in a world ruled by tradition and decorum that make love a secondary concern...I CAN'T HELP IT. It's just such a fascinating time period coupled with stories that you always know will have a happy ending. I describe them to my friends as an avid reader's eye-candy.

So, what's the point? The preface of a novel I read recently was so fantastic I just had to share it somewhere.

I'm aloud to be girly on occasion, right guys? Right?

Excerpt from The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn:

"Dear Reader -

Let's face it. We read romance novels to fall in love. Specifically, with the hero. It's not that we don't care about the heroines--in fact, for me, if she isn't someone I'd want as a best friend, the book is hitting the wall.

But the heroes are something else. I am going on the record here to say that I adore my husband utterly and completely (despite the time he "fixed" my computer), but I'm sorry, give me Pride and Prejudice, and I will fall in love with Mr. Darcy every time.

Which was why, when I sat down to write The Viscount Who Loved Me, I was practically giddy. I was going to get to spend the next six months with Anthony Bridgerton, a character I already knew and loved from The Duke and I. He was gorgeous, intelligent, used to getting what he wanted--in other words, perfect romantic hero material.

Except that I don't like my characters to be perfect. Perfect characters lead perfectly boring lives, and don't, in my opinion, make great romance novels. So I made a decision. Anthony was still going to be gorgeous and intelligent, but he wasn't going to be perfect. And this time he definitely wasn't going to get everything he wanted.

I hope you enjoy The Viscount Who Loved Me. Oh, and don't forget to fall in love..."

Even if you can't appreciate the fact that this little blurb is from a romance novel, you at least have to respect the work that an author has to put into a romance novel's characters. We all know how the story is going to end, we know that the two main characters will fall in love, we almost know exactly what's going to happen. So why read them? For the characters. We read them to fall in love with characters that we almost hope could exist in real life. Characters we'd want to meet and know and love.

While other novels can get away with a storyline or twist or innuendo or horrible outcome that makes them popular, romance authors have to put their souls into a handful of people living on the page, hoping that we accept what they've offered.

I don't expect most people to understand. But the next time you see me in the romance section at a bookstore and make a wisecrack about Fabio, I'd like to see you put pen to paper and write an engaging story with beautiful characters. Best of luck with that!

My only regret is that I will forever be comparing my paramours to the likes of Anthony Bridgerton. But shhh...don't tell THEM that.

Happy Birthday Tetris

"In June 1984, Pajitnov, a Russian-born mathematician wrote the program for TETRIS in his spare time. His love of puzzles inspired him to create a game where players arranged distinctive puzzle pieces in real time along the bottom of the rectangular playing field or “matrix” in order to clear lines. “For a short time, I was the best TETRIS player in the world,” he said." -via tetris.com

At just a year and a half older than me, Tetris was by far one of my favorite games and star of some of my fondest childhood memories.

In college I would hold Tetris and Upside Down Tetris (laying back on my bed and looking at the TV upside down) tournaments on my Super Nintendo. I still have the high score list that I kept on my wall.

The SNES version and first gameboy version continue to be on my list of favorite games of all time. I'll play them both until they fail completely - and then I'll be on a man hunt for other existing copies.

Happy Birthday Tetris. You continue to bring me happiness with every falling block.

left 4 dead 2 trailer

I effing love this trailer. I can not wait to chainsaw the heck out of some zombies.

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Video Games | Left 4 Dead 2 | E3 09: Debut Teaser

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

(If you are viewing this in Facebook look here for the trailer or in my posted items)

color me intrigued

OK. I might have to put my foot in my mouth when it comes to the whole leaving the walls up between casual and core gamers. Leave it to Nintendo to make me eat my words, haha.

After reading more on Kotaku about this "Kind Code" game system, I am very interested to see it in action.

via Kotaku:

The solution would turn a game into a full-length cut scene of sorts, allowing players to jump into and out of the action whenever they wanted. But when played this way, gamers would not be able to save their progress, maintaining the challenge of completing a game without skipping or cheating. It would also allow players to bring up in-game hint videos and skip directly to particular scenes in games.

Put this way, it almost sounds like an in-game walkthrough. I tend to try and play games through their entirety before I turn to the internet for all the little nuances, but admittedly, I have looked up answers to puzzles or next steps mid-game for help.

This system sounds like it would allow you to watch the game play itself through a really difficult area, and then you could go back and play it out yourself. I rather like the idea. If it's the same as I'm picturing in my head, it would be no different than looking up a youtube video or a text walkthrough of a game when you're stuck.

We'll see how it turns out.

E3 thoughts: The Big Three plus my usual rantiness

I'm not actually at E3, sadly. I am but a lowly run of the mill gamer who is not invited. However! That does not stop me from following liveblogs and streams of the event. Here are the things that stuck with me:

--
Microsoft -

I was a little put off by the parade of celebrities, but Microsoft is definitely the winner of the Big Three presenters at E3. They had the most substance and were never boring.

Out of all the announcements, my two favorites were by far Left4Dead 2 and updating your Netflix queue in XBL (finally!).

Another cool feature is the ability to take screen shots and post them to Facebook...admittedly I even think it's a bit cool that you can see a person's Facebook profile info next to their gamertags. With so many different usernames that people use, I get confused a LOT. Plus you can see which of your Facebook friends have gamertags that you may not have added to your Xbox. Overall, I'm impressed at what looks like a seemless and useful integration.

Natal (motion and sound censored non-controller) was OK. I just can't get over how creepy that kid was! I do not want my video games talking back to me, or handing me things, or me getting to "touch" them. I think the fact that I found it so incredibly creepy took away from the power of the announcement and technology that it implied. I'll be curious to find out what kinds of games and little tricks they develop for it. Sadly, I don't have high hopes. Nintendo had the stylus and the Wiimotes - and neither was really put to go use by developers. I would even venture to say that I have yet to find a game that utilized the DS stylus well. I'm hoping that developers have learned to make these kinds of breakthroughs work for them, and design games that really feel natural. Also...games that don't cause you to accidentally punch your television. You know that's going to happen with full body motion censor!

Twitter integration was just stupid. I didn't get it or how it was enhanced by being ported to XBL. At least with Facebook you can see the value.

Metal Gear...eh. The only thing that was amazing/shocking about that announcement to me was that it is yet another exclusive jacked from Sony. While I am indeed a Sony fangirl, I can't say I'm mad about this. I think it's great to give people the choice, as long as they don't dumb down games to fit lower specs.

--
Nintendo -

NEW SUPER MARIO BROTHERS WII!

...boring...boring...disappointment that some games will require motion+ which should be a CHEAP addon...boring...yet another game that is almost offensively aimed at female gamers and I really wish they would stop doing that and perpetuating the misconceptions about us...boring...Vitality?! What the hell is this Vitality bullshi--

SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 AND NEW METROID GAME!

Bravo Nintendo. You learned your lesson this year. You sandwiched your really terrible announcements with really awesome ones at the start and end. I know we are hard on you, but it's because we love you! Really! Don't look so serious and frightened on stage!

My biggest disappointment by far is the lack of Shiggy magic. He wasn't on stage for the Nintendo presser and during his mini-presser he just elaborated on a few of the on-stage announcements without any solid ones of his own. No new Zelda Wii. No Pikmin.

Has Miyamoto lost a bit of his heyday glory? Did he finally give up on providing for the core gamers who worship him? God I hope not.

--
Sony -

I really don't have much to say about Sony's presser. I actually was so underwhelmed that I stopped eagerly watching the scrolling live blog somewhere in the middle and just caught the highlights later.

Obviously a big part of that is their major leaks before the conference. The PSP Go should have been a huge announcement, but we had already seen the pictures and been through the buzz. They didn't really announce any games that I was particularly excited about either, as I had already been keeping up with Final Fantasy X3 and God of War 3 screen shots and info. Final Fantasy X4 was a surprise, but they didn't elaborate on it enough. Since it's online via Final Fantasy X1 style, I really hope it's 100x better.

I was really happy to see them focus on the PSP more. I am excited for Fat Princess on the PSP as well as Final Fantasy 7. I wish they would port more PS2 games over. It's such a great little system, it deserves way more love. I have officially made a vow to charge my PSP-lite's battery pack and get to playing. My DS love will just have to learn to share my attention.

--
I think the most notable thing about the Big Three for me was that they each had their own take on motion controlled games. Microsoft blew Sony and Nintendo out of the water by far, but Sony is still in development and Nintendo...well their systems already print money.

The funny thing is, I don't remember mentioning to them that I wanted to get rid of my controller. Obviously they are building off Nintendo's success with the Wii, hoping to hone in on the audience that was captivated by the waggle controls. However, I am very disappointed to see them making such serious advances in that direction.

I like controllers. I like the feel of controllers in my hands, I like to button mash the hell out of a difficult area, I like to throw my controller at the carpet when I'm angry with the game I'm playing. Console controllers are a huge part of the video gaming experience; why are we so eager to throw them out? Motion controls don't make playing games easier, they force developers to create easier games. I will take pulling the right trigger on a controller over pulling an imaginary trigger in the air any day.

--
Overall, I'm happy with E3. It's pretty obvious that 2010 is going to be a phenomenal year to be a gamer. Let's just hope that trend continues and that we are spared the brunt of the casual gamer plague.

Clarification: Casual gamers are cool by me. My mom is a casual gamer and I support her habits. However, there is a problem when casual gamers become cash cows to video game companies, and they begin to no longer care about the core gamers that love them. Why can't they support both camps? In my opinion, it's a mistake to try and break the wall down between casual and core. Let us keep our separate camps and develop for both of us. You don't need to choose. Just love us equally.

google fail during e3?

My co-workers and I were joking that we know what caused it, and who paid for it to happen.

It's a pretty big coincidence that there would be a Google fail during E3. Just sayin. That sounds like some haxzors.

My E3 thoughts are going up tonight or tomorrow, once I have collected them from all the pressers. I think next year I might pull together some twitter kids and IM kids and do a fun collective Coveritlive of those of us who aren't there but are incredibly opinionated gamers. Could be fun. :)

Sony is still going, but despite a new Metroid and Super Mario Galaxy 2, I'm going with Microsoft as the winner so far. We'll see if Sony can break out some awesome near the end.