doombot » Miscellania

The Year in Numbers

Dan — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 03:55:35 +0000

Or, a random assortment of things that I can quantify, though perhaps not 100% accurately.

12 Number of flights taken
411 Number of bylined Macworld articles I wrote
32 Number of books I read
3 Number of books I read that were graphic novels
45 Number of movies I watched
37 Number of new movies I watched
2 Number of Dungeons & Dragons adventures completed as DM
5 Number of Xbox 360 games purchased
4 Number of above games completed (for reasonable definitions of completed)
50,574 Number of words written for NaNoWriMo
84,508 Number of words written in non-NaNoWriMo novel
1,089 Number of photos taken (not including iPhone)
1 Number of spoof movies produced
10 Number of Doomcast episodes released
2:55:17 Length of total Doomcast episodes

Slinging My Hopes Around

Jason — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:32:18 +0000

Topless Robot directs our attention to a trailer for Slingers, a sci-fi/heist TV show that does not exist.

SLINGERS from Mike Sizemore on Vimeo.

They’re hoping to make a pilot soon.

I think the commenters at Topless Robot sum up the show’s options pretty aptly:

“Fox will buy it, It will be great, it will get cancelled.”
“This show belongs on Sy Fy, at least they’d give it three seasons or so before canceling it at the top of its ratings for being too expensive to make.”
“Just leave Hollywood out of it, I say. Let the Brits make it and we’ll get it a few months later via BBC America.”
“But to be realistic; here’s why it will fail; it looks to be a smart, well-written sci-fi show with cult-like appeal while hitting the right main-stream demographics. And we all know, in a world of injustice (Jon & Kate plus 8, Wife Swap, and every Law & Order spin off) that does not bode well for smart-TV (Arrested Development, Firefly, Futurama).”

This reminds me of the campaign to save Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse before the show even aired. Maybe someone should start a two-pronged campaign to get this made into a show and then not cancel it.

Lawrence Lessig: Getting Our Values Around Copyright

Tony — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:21:38 +0000

I had the pleasure of being in the third row for this talk Lessig gave on copyright and culture last week. If you’ve read his books you’ll enjoy this, if you haven’t read any of his books yet you probably owe him the 60 minutes:

Someday when I’m free of certain professional entanglements I’ll write my book about my lifelong career in media piracy and how it provided me with key job skills I have today.

Short Game Review: The Chronicles of Riddick

Jason — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 12:57:34 +0000

This disc has two games in one (a remake and a new game), both featuring everyone’s favorite convict with a heart of gold. Escape from Butcher Bay is okay, but not as good as some of you remember it being. Assault on Dark Athena is pretty much the same as Butcher Bay, but it’s in space instead of a prison, so the view through the windows is nicer. Fine games, but not a very good “Riddick simulator”: The melee combat is decent, but most scenes require shooting. If I’m playing as Vin Diesel in space, I think I should be able to wander into any room along the ceiling and kill everyone inside, one by one, with my bare hands, after creepily sniffing at them from the shadows. Is that too much to ask? Hopefully there are more opportunities for creepy sniffing in the multiplayer mode.

Spam of the Day: Poetry edition

Dan — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:17:27 +0000

From: Alec Justice Subject: the peace with thy grim castanet! on the bared rocks around me lie,–

the peace with thy grim castanet! all the time sprung from corruption. & the air was full of them, & seemd

[For what it's worth, the first line seems to be from a poem about rattlesnakes by an American named Bret Harte. But I still thing there's something wonderfully lyrical about the whole construction.]

Tony tells you things of questionable accuracy in Arizona

Tony — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:03:44 +0000

A while back I made this video about my trip to Philadelphia. Folks seemed to enjoy it so I figured I would make another at some point. During the spring I ventured to Phoenix Arizona and shot an assortment of video on my Flip camera. Last night I finally had the chance to piece some of it together, resulting in this video. I hope you enjoy it.

Super Mario: Now With More Creepy

Jason — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:27:45 +0000

Jordan sent me a neat link of artwork inspired by Super Mario Bros. A lot of it is kind of odd and creepy, which I very much appreciate. Also worth a look are the “nightmarish” Warrior Plumbers t-shirt, a “weird and highly disturbing” Mario Bros. comic, and, just for good measure, a charming and not creepy Super Mario Manga that was actually published. This should take care of my desktop backgrounds for a while.

Short Review: A& W Root beer float (in a bottle)

Tony — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:10:42 +0000

A “friend” suggested I try this, because, unbeknownst to me, he had previously sampled it and found it revolting. Though I did not find it spectacularly disgusting (to my friend’s disappointment), it is certainly pretty lame compared to how awesome root beer floats actually are. The flavor is off and leaves an unfortunate aftertaste, but the major failure is in the lack of texture you would associate with a root beer float. Effectively the A&W rootbeer float in a bottle is to root beer floats what astronaut ice cream is to real ice cream.

Favorite Lies Promoted by Tony

Jason — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:19:05 +0000

Vin Diesel is a stage name for actor Vincent Dieselli.

Vin Diesel is actually named Mark Vincent. Rumors that he enjoys Dungeons & Dragons, meanwhile, are actually completely true.

Tony once injured his ankle by attempting to perform a 540° indy nosebone on a skateboard he borrowed from some kids at the Fine Arts Center after he’d been playing too much Tony Hawk.

He actually injured his ankle playing frisbee. When one of our friends belatedly found out the truth, he compared this disappointing revelation to finding out about Santa. Another friend reportedly has not spoken to Tony since discovering the truth of this event.

Octopi are mammals.

A group of jolly computer nerds once created a fake online encyclopedia page to trick a friend who shall remain nameless (unless she decides to identify herself in comments here). This group changed references of “slimy” to “furry” on this faked page, among other adjustments. I’m not even sure what role Tony played in this—perhaps simply chronicler—but in telling others this story, the legend lives on.

Philadelphia was settled in the 1930s by vikings.

Philadelphia was founded in the 17th century and built around a design by William Penn—a Quaker, not a viking. Some of Tony’s other claims about Philadelphia are slightly exaggerated, though perhaps not as patently untrue as this one, such as the claim that Philadelphia is entirely steam-powered (whereas expert estimates place this at approximately 88%).

(This post has been fact-checked by Tony for accuracy in recalling lies.)

And I Feel Fine

Jason — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:29:22 +0000

Years ago, while watching MTV on a family vacation, one of my younger cousins asked me in a fearful voice: “Could that really happen, Jason?” We’d just seen the video for Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun,” and, as the resident nerd of my entire clan, they turned to me for reassurance.

I told them that the sun wasn’t massive enough to collapse into a black hole, but that it would eventually die, long after we (perhaps even “we” as a species) were gone from the earth. They were about 12 years old, and I about 14, so they mostly just stared at me puzzled and asked again, “So it could happen?”

I didn’t quite know what to say then, but now I could at least point them to Discover Magazine‘s piece on “Ten Ways the World Will End.” I’ve seen run-downs like this in science magazines and websites before, but this one has a handy table (and some reassuring words about meteorite impacts), so I’ve decided to share it here. Please enjoy responsibly.