Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Video: What Happens After You Save the Princess?
Awesome 16 bit retro video about what happens after you save the princess...
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Thursday Diversion: Spelunky
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Fast Food Mascots Have a Night on the Town in this Music Video
It's a song called 'Rad Anthem' from a band called Rad Omen and it is all kinds of creepy crazy cool.
RAD OMEN - "Rad Anthem" from Nicholaus Goossen on Vimeo.
RAD OMEN - "Rad Anthem" from Nicholaus Goossen on Vimeo.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
This Week in Writing
Pitched some projects for Recon Recycling.
Finished my first couple NPCs for Telegraph RPG: Servants of God, working on learning quest formatting
Writing CHEMO: Cyborgs and revising CHEMO: Tumor
Started a novel(?) based on the world from 'Ignoring the Overlay' the Rainbow's End style augmented reality contacts is incredibly captivating to me...
And that's this week in writing. I'm actually a little disappointed in the output, especially since I took a little break from blogging. But there's always next week...
Finished my first couple NPCs for Telegraph RPG: Servants of God, working on learning quest formatting
Writing CHEMO: Cyborgs and revising CHEMO: Tumor
Started a novel(?) based on the world from 'Ignoring the Overlay' the Rainbow's End style augmented reality contacts is incredibly captivating to me...
And that's this week in writing. I'm actually a little disappointed in the output, especially since I took a little break from blogging. But there's always next week...
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Thursday Diversion: Captain Forever
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Pixels: A Short Film
Old School video game sprites attack!
PIXELS by PATRICK JEAN.
Uploaded by onemoreprod. - Arts and animation videos.
PIXELS by PATRICK JEAN.
Uploaded by onemoreprod. - Arts and animation videos.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Windows 7 Speech to Tect
(Photo attribution Link)
Lauren I'm talking to you but as I am talking to you words are appearing on the screen.
I don't know why you find this so creepy all we ought to do is help you join us line join us join us.
I just totally made a new document with the power of my voice are you terrified now? But up at the fifth at eight but those two by the Bentley up at a load the book to get handle writing paper laughing very well I know.
Don't you want talk to your computer to Lauren.
Ambidextrous, almost it says and the dexterous okay I don't know how to spell and the dexterous of the computer doesn't know how to type. It solely was allowed slowly was allowed back to back up if I had a look but but but but at him, he'd said if I had a look but but but at him a computer does not know how to interpret my laughter.
I know how to enunciate it is just that talking like this is rather unnatural and seems to force me into strange shapes. Tough Titty. Fuck I cannot believe you did not have the word fuck in your little language dictionaries. Down computer all aid sat down computer all I said you down computer fuck you beg you get that big you get that now that's not what I said king in a king in a she.
I swear I'm going to make this into a blood post said how did indeed said Adam that computer and this is nothing like what I'm saying.
---
What you have just been subjected to is me playing around with my Windows 7 speech to text capabilities (the computer originally typed 'in abilities' and I had to correct it... oh irony). I'm still writing with this system now, just going slower and correcting myself as I talk. It takes a long time to do this. Above the break, even I don't know what I was trying to say half the time.
At first, this seemed to creep out my wife as she imagined a skynet - 2001 sort of future. 'I'm sorry, I can't do that John' would come the melodious voice after I told my computer to stop listening. However, watching me flail about the voice interface for a few minutes provided a wondrous relief concerning the way technology is developing (or not). To be fair, I think some of the weirdness above can be attributed to my wife laughing and mocking me as I struggled in vain against the algorithms of Microsoft.
The most interesting thing to me is how the computer handles my laughter (besides the fact that talking instead of typing noticeably changes my style). Here's me laughing and swearing into the microphone.
But but but but but but but but but at the back up up up up up up up up up up up the ass computer up up up up up up up up up it'll never stopped being fun and made his jacket up up up up up up up at an but but but but but but but but but a good bet that the above and this will not be fired anyone else but it cracks me up.
Something about my laughter was interpreted as 'a good bet' which amuses me to no end. Your mileage may vary.
I think if I can get a handle on this and learn to truly enunciate text to speech might be a good option... if I were to lose: my fingers, toes, lips, earlobes and tongue. Most disappointing is the fact that I have had to individually add each and every swear word. Dennis. (Which was supposed to be dammit, Dammit!)
Monday, April 5, 2010
This Week in Writing
Got me a Godzilla Haiku posted!
Working with Craig Stern on Telepath RPG: Servants of God (he's teaching me how to format/program the npcs and quests I'm writing for flash)
Finished a draft of a short horror story called 'Adjoining Room'
Next Up: CHEMO cyborg chapter and potentially writing articles for SAT preperation.
My Account: I was about 17 miles away from a 7.2 Earthquake today.
Mexicali and Calexico are inversions of each other... sort of. The two towns, Mexican and American respectively, sit and stare at one other across the border a couple hours east of San Diego. The closer you get to the dividing line the more they blur into one entity. We were here on a day trip to visit Luis's home town and skip across the border for Carne Asada tacos and real shaved ice. We had a narrow window for spring visitation as this is true desert and would fry our beach soft hides in any season that wasn't spring.
We were walking down main street when it happened.
It took me a while to figure out what was going on and get under an arch. It took me longer to follow BB's lead and get out into the street and away from the large store windows that were scheduled to explode outward towards the spot I'd been standing. I hesitated to move because I was worried about cars.
When the ground stopped shaking, Luis ran into the store to help a man look for his little girl.
We'd been lucky. We'd crossed back to American soil about twenty minutes before it hit. We'd considered walking into the local outlet but decided against it about thirty seconds before the ground started moving, putting out of shard range. Our car was unmarred in spite of the hundred pounds of fallen masonry crumbled from the wall above it.
It felt like every alarm in the city was screaming to tell us everything wasn't ok.
I did my part to jam the overfull phone lines trying to reach family. We had yet to be soothed by calm, collected seismologists; so all I could do was pray that the epicenter was nearby and not in LA. If the pitches and prostrations of earth we felt was a mere emanation of distant San Andreas... then it really would have been the long prophesied statebreaker: the 'big one'. I remember trying to play it cool, lowballing a '4.0.' We surfed concrete as my wife put it and main street was looter heaven if anyone had been inclined so I think I knew it wasn't anything below a 6.
Every couple of minutes the ground would move again and we would hear the telltale jingle groan.
Texts were sent and texts got back. It became apparent this wasn't a big deal for anyone else and hence not the 'big one.' We skittered about Luis's home town visiting his family and friends checking up and being introduced in the process. I took off my shoes at one point and put my bare feet in cool grass. Every street light was off and water from broken lines dribbled into the gutters. A Pomeranian lay dead in the street. I made stupid jokes because I've never liked the yapping things and I don't like it when I'm scared. During our rounds I took an offered cigarette which I've only ever done before when under the influence. It seemed appropriate as I'd certainly been staggered recently. We promised to pick up some supplies. We ranged across town and its neighbor, El Centro, prowling for water, flashlights and a large hoagie. No power, no shopping. Elders had warned us about this but had been too young to listen.
I was reluctant to drink Calexico water, thinking they might need it later.
When we were finally ready to go home power was back and every gas station was bursting with eager, skittish motorists. Smoke rose over Mexicali as we drove. It was lighter then it had been, less ominous, so they must have been getting it under control. The only reminder on the highway were five cones to slow us for the dip in the bridge that hadn't been there before.
Every other rest area on the way back had been closed down.
These are my messages from the time.
These are my friend's blogs. They all pledged to put an entry up within the day. They have pictures and videos that you should see.
BB
http://bamboobubbles.blogspot.com/
Luis
www.luciferbob.blogspot.com
My Wife Lauren
www.stopgophotography.com
We were walking down main street when it happened.
It took me a while to figure out what was going on and get under an arch. It took me longer to follow BB's lead and get out into the street and away from the large store windows that were scheduled to explode outward towards the spot I'd been standing. I hesitated to move because I was worried about cars.
When the ground stopped shaking, Luis ran into the store to help a man look for his little girl.
We'd been lucky. We'd crossed back to American soil about twenty minutes before it hit. We'd considered walking into the local outlet but decided against it about thirty seconds before the ground started moving, putting out of shard range. Our car was unmarred in spite of the hundred pounds of fallen masonry crumbled from the wall above it.
It felt like every alarm in the city was screaming to tell us everything wasn't ok.
I did my part to jam the overfull phone lines trying to reach family. We had yet to be soothed by calm, collected seismologists; so all I could do was pray that the epicenter was nearby and not in LA. If the pitches and prostrations of earth we felt was a mere emanation of distant San Andreas... then it really would have been the long prophesied statebreaker: the 'big one'. I remember trying to play it cool, lowballing a '4.0.' We surfed concrete as my wife put it and main street was looter heaven if anyone had been inclined so I think I knew it wasn't anything below a 6.
Every couple of minutes the ground would move again and we would hear the telltale jingle groan.
Texts were sent and texts got back. It became apparent this wasn't a big deal for anyone else and hence not the 'big one.' We skittered about Luis's home town visiting his family and friends checking up and being introduced in the process. I took off my shoes at one point and put my bare feet in cool grass. Every street light was off and water from broken lines dribbled into the gutters. A Pomeranian lay dead in the street. I made stupid jokes because I've never liked the yapping things and I don't like it when I'm scared. During our rounds I took an offered cigarette which I've only ever done before when under the influence. It seemed appropriate as I'd certainly been staggered recently. We promised to pick up some supplies. We ranged across town and its neighbor, El Centro, prowling for water, flashlights and a large hoagie. No power, no shopping. Elders had warned us about this but had been too young to listen.
I was reluctant to drink Calexico water, thinking they might need it later.
When we were finally ready to go home power was back and every gas station was bursting with eager, skittish motorists. Smoke rose over Mexicali as we drove. It was lighter then it had been, less ominous, so they must have been getting it under control. The only reminder on the highway were five cones to slow us for the dip in the bridge that hadn't been there before.
Every other rest area on the way back had been closed down.
These are my messages from the time.
These are my friend's blogs. They all pledged to put an entry up within the day. They have pictures and videos that you should see.
BB
http://bamboobubbles.blogspot.com/
Luis
www.luciferbob.blogspot.com
My Wife Lauren
www.stopgophotography.com
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
Book Club Notes: Brave New World
These are my notes going into Book Club last night. I share them with you in the hopes that I will get some google juice and help some desperate high schooler write his essay on Brave New World...
BRAVE NEW WORLD
---
Huxley's Background
Well todo, educated english family. Earlier generations had been defenders of Darwin.
---
The World of 1932
There had not been WW2 but there was a great depression. Because of the time frame, several technologies were not considered or introduced in the novel namely atmoic weaponry or atomic fuel and the recent development of genetic modification. At least the latter seems to be well suited for implementation in the Brave New World.
---
Choosing Worlds
If we would choose our world over the Brave New World, how could we morally defend our decision to victums of genocide, victums of famine, victums of terrible disease? We claim the right to be unhappy, the right to starve but more or less we don't have to deal with the worst possibilities afforded therein whereas many, many others on the planet do. William Gibson, in response to his work being described as Dystopian, brought this up. That a distopia for fat, middle class american would be a whole lot better then the living conditions of much of the world and most of history.
---
Huxley - The Final Revolution
The Final Revolution is an essay/talk given by Huxley where he describes his philosophical ideas regarding the underpinnings of something like the Brave New World. Basically, Huxley believed that when psychology and pharmacology got far enough along, ultimate control would simply be a matter of course. It wouldn't resemble the tyrannies of the past, as there would be no need to savagely beat and torture dissidents when you can merely flip their minds about with your advanced scientific advances.
---
Psychology
MkUltra. Compulsory Education. Compulsory Preschool. Truth Serum, sodium penathol. MRIs. Brain Magnet > Sense of Morality. Anti Psychiatry Movements
---
what features did the bridge between our and the Brave New World posess? Who foisted the Brave New World on the Globe? What were the enemies of the Brave New World? Is 1984 halfway between 1932 and AF 432?
---
The brilliance of coming up with a new dating scheme.
---
Compare and Contrast Dystopias: Plato's Republic(?) - Brave New World - 1984 - Fareighnheight 451 - Clockwork Orange - Escape from New York - The Giver - Unwind - Gattica
---
Age, Class and Professional Segregation
Is it getting worse in our world? How does it play into Brave New World?
---
Fear of Americanization
Doesn't come off somewhat due to all the americanization that has occurred, but it was a big deal to Huxley and to greater Europe at the time.
---
The first Dystopian Novel?
Orwell thought he had been influenced by an earlier work, Huxley said he wanted to make a negative/scary utopia in response to something HG Wells wrote.
---
Our own world and dystopia: Soft (BNW) vs Hard (1984) Tyranny
I posit that the response to 9/11 move us closer towards Hard Tyranny then Soft.
Dealing with riots, we err more towards the side of 1984 then Brave New World. Dousing the air with liquid THC, liquid ectasy to supress rioting. Wholesale supression of research and design of chemicals to make us feel good.
---
Ultimate Critique of Brave New World is that it is too recognizable to be 400 years in the future. Compare life today to life of 1610, wholly and completely different.
---
Psychadelics vs Antidepressents
Is it the type of drug that Huxley favors over another or the use of the drug?
---
Unexplored idea:
People gain resistance to drugs (soma) and -I believe- propoganda/selling. There is no evidence of this in Brave New World. Does this occur?
---
Where did all the agression go? Maybe that's why 1984 is a more revered book, all the agression went somewhere.
BRAVE NEW WORLD
---
Huxley's Background
Well todo, educated english family. Earlier generations had been defenders of Darwin.
---
The World of 1932
There had not been WW2 but there was a great depression. Because of the time frame, several technologies were not considered or introduced in the novel namely atmoic weaponry or atomic fuel and the recent development of genetic modification. At least the latter seems to be well suited for implementation in the Brave New World.
---
Choosing Worlds
If we would choose our world over the Brave New World, how could we morally defend our decision to victums of genocide, victums of famine, victums of terrible disease? We claim the right to be unhappy, the right to starve but more or less we don't have to deal with the worst possibilities afforded therein whereas many, many others on the planet do. William Gibson, in response to his work being described as Dystopian, brought this up. That a distopia for fat, middle class american would be a whole lot better then the living conditions of much of the world and most of history.
---
Huxley - The Final Revolution
The Final Revolution is an essay/talk given by Huxley where he describes his philosophical ideas regarding the underpinnings of something like the Brave New World. Basically, Huxley believed that when psychology and pharmacology got far enough along, ultimate control would simply be a matter of course. It wouldn't resemble the tyrannies of the past, as there would be no need to savagely beat and torture dissidents when you can merely flip their minds about with your advanced scientific advances.
---
Psychology
MkUltra. Compulsory Education. Compulsory Preschool. Truth Serum, sodium penathol. MRIs. Brain Magnet > Sense of Morality. Anti Psychiatry Movements
---
what features did the bridge between our and the Brave New World posess? Who foisted the Brave New World on the Globe? What were the enemies of the Brave New World? Is 1984 halfway between 1932 and AF 432?
---
The brilliance of coming up with a new dating scheme.
---
Compare and Contrast Dystopias: Plato's Republic(?) - Brave New World - 1984 - Fareighnheight 451 - Clockwork Orange - Escape from New York - The Giver - Unwind - Gattica
---
Age, Class and Professional Segregation
Is it getting worse in our world? How does it play into Brave New World?
---
Fear of Americanization
Doesn't come off somewhat due to all the americanization that has occurred, but it was a big deal to Huxley and to greater Europe at the time.
---
The first Dystopian Novel?
Orwell thought he had been influenced by an earlier work, Huxley said he wanted to make a negative/scary utopia in response to something HG Wells wrote.
---
Our own world and dystopia: Soft (BNW) vs Hard (1984) Tyranny
I posit that the response to 9/11 move us closer towards Hard Tyranny then Soft.
Dealing with riots, we err more towards the side of 1984 then Brave New World. Dousing the air with liquid THC, liquid ectasy to supress rioting. Wholesale supression of research and design of chemicals to make us feel good.
---
Ultimate Critique of Brave New World is that it is too recognizable to be 400 years in the future. Compare life today to life of 1610, wholly and completely different.
---
Psychadelics vs Antidepressents
Is it the type of drug that Huxley favors over another or the use of the drug?
---
Unexplored idea:
People gain resistance to drugs (soma) and -I believe- propoganda/selling. There is no evidence of this in Brave New World. Does this occur?
---
Where did all the agression go? Maybe that's why 1984 is a more revered book, all the agression went somewhere.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Thursday Diversion: Ten Second War
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