Turning to sports and two nations separated by a common language.

by Aaron Williams on June 19, 2013 at 11:57 PM
Posted In: It Came from the Internet, Mystery Clip Theater

From our cultured friends across the pond, we have British commentary on an American baseball game:

The above was likely retaliation for comedian Reginald D. Hunter’s attempt to explain Cricket (warning, one f-bomb is dropped):

I have to say Reg’s commentary was especially enlightening, as all I knew about the sport before today was thanks to the vintage flash game, Just Not Cricket.

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Microsoft shows that its Xbox One can be thrown into reverse.

by Aaron Williams on June 19, 2013 at 10:47 PM
Posted In: It Came from the Internet, Video Gaming

joystick Many gamers rejoiced as Microsoft announced that it’s un-doing some of the consumer-unfriendly policies it wanted to roll out for its next gaming console, which means (among other things):

• An always-on internet connection won’t be needed.
• Downloaded games will work without said connection.
• Used games can be bought and sold.
• Games won’t be region-locked.

I’m assuming this means the Kinect won’t be staring at you 24/7 and sending feedback to the mothership as well, though it could still store data for uploading whenever it gets the chance. I was listening to a podcast earlier that suggested decoupling the Kinect from the core system would not only lower the price and get rid of a lot of “big brother,” it wouldn’t alienate players (like me, probably) who don’t get into “wave at the console’s eye” games all that much.

As someone who recalls the tactics of MS’s main competitor in this console race, this result is kind of ironic. It took a company that spent years putting out things in proprietary formats (memory sticks instead of SD cards, Blu Ray*), as well as taking several consumer-angering actions (installing rootkits on our computers, suing the guy who hacked the PS3 and posted the encryption codes) to make Microsoft change their iron-fisted policies. I’m sure individual game companies will still come up with ways to make DRM irritating, but at least MS can honestly say that’s no longer their problem. It also highlights the fact that this hardware is no longer as set in stone as the old cartridge-based systems of old (and even those aren’t all bulletproof). If a company puts out what’s basically a computer that uses your TV as a display, anything handled by the operating system can be changed, but only if the manufacturer wants to do so (officially).

Now I have to go comfort a friend or two that’ll probably have to budget extra cash for buying both systems this holiday season, thanks to exclusive games they’re fans of. :)

* Maybe “winning” against HD-DVD is leaving Sony with a long-term afterglow of generosity?

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The “it’s been a day” linkdump.

by Aaron Williams on June 19, 2013 at 7:18 AM
Posted In: Cineplexia, It's got Robots and Lasers, Science ahoy!, Video Gaming, You call that noise "music?"

randombutton Deadlines, swim lessons (not for me), and grilling all conspired to keep me off of the interwebs ’till a little while ago, where I gathered these:

• Ford has decided to replace test drivers with test robots. I would so love it if someone had programmed a Jeremy Clarkson voice pack for the robots so they could deliver their data in a condescending manner.

• Amazon has pulled its referral revenue-sharing program for Minnesota because the state wants them to pay sales taxes. Given the company’s creative ways of claiming they aren’t based anywhere taxable, in spite of having huge warehouses in places called “states,” I can see why they might be upset. Calling it “unconstitutional” is a bit much, though.

• If you’re concerned about the durability of your guinea pig, why not buy it some heavy armor? It needs the required skills and experience level before it can effectively use it. Also, if I remember the ones I’ve interacted with, the suit had better be rust proof.

• Reviewers of video games apparently declare something to be “the Citizen Kane of video games quite a bit, so they’re now collected in one handy place.

• And you thought your phone’s SMS service was slow: A message in a bottle was found almost a century after being thrown in the drink. A collector of bottles blames the glass vessel’s buoyancy on it immediately sinking, but the paper has the White Star Line letterhead…

• Let’s close with a video made of pure adrenaline. It’s a four-plus-minute long montage of action scenes from various movies set to a song by Motley Crüe. It’s all money shot, minus the plot. :)

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Even if you’re not a Green Day fan, check this out…

by Aaron Williams on June 17, 2013 at 4:01 PM
Posted In: It Came from the Internet, Mystery Clip Theater

A new animation technique that anyone can master has been revealed. No longer will you be subject to the whims of expensive software and knowing things like “math” or “3D modeling.” See for yourself:

Amazing, no?

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Doing my bit to rebrand the 80′s as a more sinister age…

by Aaron Williams on June 17, 2013 at 3:34 AM
Posted In: From the Mouth of Madness, Mystery Clip Theater, You call that noise "music?"

I’m in a bit of a dark mood, and my kid has recently decided that “Animusic” videos are quite the happening thing for his age demographic to watch. For those unfamiliar with this genre, it’s kind of the stuff you’d see on monitors and TVs in Radio Shack and other proto-computer stores back when the first Terminator movie wasn’t yet thought to have ridiculous hairstyles among its charms. The most famous is probably this number called “Pipe Dream,” but the one my son has been repeatedly watching is called “Starship Groove.” Take it in, and then see if my brain’s attempt to cope with repeated watching meshes with anyone else who sometimes gets a thrill from a bleak future:

Dark thought: These metal musicians are apparently condemned to play for an audience of zero in the depths of space, behaving as if someone is listening to and enjoying their performance.

Darker thought: There used to be vast, orbiting cities where fans would take in the concert, but they no longer exist.

Still darker? Okay: The planets the cities orbited are gone, too.

A notch darker: So is the one where this ship came from.

And the last: These guys are cyborgs who have, in their isolation-induced dementia, created fictional audiences to perform “one last encore” for before retiring from music… over and over and over…

This is what happens when I have to stay up late and I take breaks reading the “tales” section of the SCP Foundation.

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From the lighter side of Westeros…

by Aaron Williams on June 15, 2013 at 6:47 PM
Posted In: It Came from the Internet, Mystery Clip Theater, Stuff with magic and swords, The Idiot Box

If you really like Hodor and want a Game of Thrones video that doesn’t mention the Red Wedding, here’s the theme song as prepared for (according to the uploador– er, uploder) the Hodor Box Office movie channel:

In conclusion, Hodor.

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No Post Title

by Aaron Williams on June 15, 2013 at 12:27 AM
Posted In: Articus Pharticus, Mystery Clip Theater, Science ahoy!, Sequential Artistry

randomposts It’s been a Friday full of errands for yours truly, so now the fridge actually has food a non-bachelor-student would eat in it, among other things. I’ll have more this weekend, but in the meantime:

• Here’s a bunch of dogs made from rubber boots. How long until one could buy a costume for one’s dog that resembles this art installation?

• And now for something completely different: Parakeets running in slow-motion. It’s like they’re pretending to be little T-Rexes, isn’t it?

• I like this decision: Supreme Court rules that human genes cannot be patented. Not that this won’t stop a lot of other shenanigans, but it’s a good step.

• With Man of Steel causing controversy in the nerdosphere, here’s a couple of Superman links of a more historical nature: The story of a mysterious painting of Superman and what became of it, and Superman’s S-Shield through the ages.

• Now try your brain out on this flash game, Black Side. Like the board game Othello, your goal is to flip all of the white tiles by starting out at a green tile, holding down your mouse button, and dragging your path through the playfield. It gets more complicated as things progress, naturally.

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Wait for it… wait for it…

by Aaron Williams on June 14, 2013 at 7:18 AM
Posted In: Mystery Clip Theater

No, really. There’s a twist ending:

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There needs to be a nerdling trope-tree.

by Aaron Williams on June 13, 2013 at 2:49 PM
Posted In: Cineplexia, It Came from the Internet, Mystery Clip Theater

pixar Players of the game Civilization will recall the charts that show how to get from one technology to the next in a nice, logical progression. Given how many concepts the average fan of science fiction “knows” that aren’t real, it’s kind of hard to figure out where the starting point is. I recall being three or four years old and watching Star Trek on an old black-and-white TV. My own kid is three right now, and I found myself having to explain (unsuccessfully) to him the following ideas:

• Transdimensional portals
• Prestidigitation
• Electrocution
• Alien abduction
• Anti-gravity
• Flying saucers
• Wizard hats
• Incompetent use of technology

All of the above (and more) were thanks to showing my son the Pixar shorts “Presto” and “Lifted.”

And now I’m annoyed because I’m trying to remember just when I became aware of the idea of UFOs and people being taken for joyrides around the galaxy after being airlifted from their homes, not to mention the last time I saw someone produce a rabbit from a hat.

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Wednesday night post-dumpin’.

by Aaron Williams on June 13, 2013 at 2:09 AM
Posted In: It Came from the Internet, It's got Robots and Lasers, The Idiot Box, You call that noise "music?"

darkandstormynight • In Wisconsin, a storm called a “derecho” dumped lots of rain in some southern locales. The ensuing comments hit an amusing note for fans of what’s been dubbed “the literary posterchild for bad story starters,” namely, “It was a dark and stormy night.” The results were quite typically Midwestern, so I had to preserve a screencap for posterity (click the image to the left to enlarge).

• THE U.S. NAVY HAS NOW MADE IT POSSIBLE TO SEND OFFICIAL MESSAGES IN SOMETHING OTHER THAN ALL CAPS. I just did that for nostalgia’s sake, really.

• So the bad guy from Star Trek Into Darkness wasn’t exactly the same guy he was in the original timeline, unless there was some kind of transporter accident. Well, if you’ve seen the movie or don’t mind spoilers, this fanfic-ish explanation is kind of interesting, as well as funny.

• How sad is this? It takes the celebration of a national holiday to get channels like MTV to actually play music videos again. If they truly wanted to delight some old-school music video watchers, they’d bring back a real hero of the era to host for a few years months okay, fine, days hours.

• In case you missed the shortened revival of the stage musical, It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman!, here’s a quick review of some 1967 theatrical camp. If you have Spotify (or are willing to sign up), you can hear the soundtrack via the playlist at the bottom of the page.

• Lastly, we’ve got Ninja Miner, which allows those who enjoy the thrill of extracting minerals but wish there was some “whoosh-whoosh” noises as they leap through the shafts.

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