Carted Off
Shopping cart graveyard at the bus stop. I've ranted about it before. But the stacking, like in the "leave your cart here" corrals in the store parking lots, is new.
If it's on the internet, I've probably seen it.
Shopping cart graveyard at the bus stop. I've ranted about it before. But the stacking, like in the "leave your cart here" corrals in the store parking lots, is new.
Posted by NuclearToast at 8:00 AM 0 comments
Raggs and I went to the Seattle Green Festival this weekend. It's a great expo that runs the environmental gamut, with lots of cool products and ideas for a greener planet.
At one point, during a lull in the action, I was watching Raggs play a zombie survival game on her iPhone. I wondered aloud, "Is killing zombies considered recycling or composting?"
She laughed and Twittered it.
What do you think?
Posted by NuclearToast at 10:00 AM 1 comments
Posted by NuclearToast at 8:00 AM 1 comments
Hauntings: The Science of Ghosts recently invited netizens to send in pictures for their "ghost" photograph project. While that project is over (save for the symposium on April 4th), you can still view and vote on submitted photos at the Science of Ghosts blog.
Posted by NuclearToast at 12:30 AM 0 comments
This week's winner is ParticleJam.
See the original image here.
Posted by NuclearToast at 10:13 AM 0 comments
Posted by NuclearToast at 11:00 AM 0 comments
Thanks go to Urn for showing me this simple puzzle platformer. The graphics are bare bones, but there are lots of levels, and lots of conundrums for you to solve.
It's called Transmover.
Posted by NuclearToast at 12:30 AM 0 comments
I recently posted a picture from the office. It turns out that the sign has started a conversation. A written conversation. Click for bigger:
Apparently, the plot thickens. I'll let you know of further developments.
Posted by NuclearToast at 8:00 AM 1 comments
If you've watched or played anything in Flash, you've probably seen some sort of "pre-loader", the little animation showing how much of the Flash has been downloaded before it can start playing.
And, this being the internet, it means someone out there is loading up these pre-loaders for posterity. Although most of them tend to be commercial or corporate ones, it doesn't hurt that some of them are really cool.
Check out Pretty Loaded.
Posted by NuclearToast at 12:30 AM 1 comments
Posted by NuclearToast at 8:30 AM 2 comments
If you've had computer gear for years, then you know that 1) most everything used to be beige plastic; and 2) over time, the beige plastic turns an icky yellow.
Some people like hanging on to their old gear, but want to make it look new again. Thankfully, a group of computer-geek-chemists were able to develop a solution (pun intended) for this problem. One which they share freely on the web at Retr0Bright.
The Gallery has a lot of before and after shots.
Posted by NuclearToast at 12:30 AM 0 comments
This week's winner is Hurley.
See the original image here.
Posted by NuclearToast at 4:33 PM 0 comments
Posted by NuclearToast at 11:30 AM 1 comments
If you know your Princess Bride, then you know, "To the pain." And that's what this version of Tetris is. Pain. One guy took over 34 hours to lose.
Do you have the staying power to get even just one line to clear? Succumb to Tetoris.
(It's a Flash file, so you can download it to your computer and play locally. Which is just what an OCD gamer like me needs.)
Posted by NuclearToast at 12:30 AM 0 comments
Posted by NuclearToast at 8:00 AM 0 comments
You've got a webcam, right? Most people do. In fact, pretty much all new laptops come with them built right in. But once you've chatted with someone in Slovenia, and after recording a YouTube vlog, what else is there to do?
Try creating an animation of yourself with Web-Cam-Stop-Motion.
Posted by NuclearToast at 12:30 AM 0 comments
I work at a pretty cool place where people not only dress up for St. Patrick's Day, but also bring their frikkin' bagpipes to work and play them in the hallway.
Side note: Bagpipes indoors are unbelievably loud. Like front row rock concert loud. Also, yes, I know they're Scottish, but what did your coworkers do?
Posted by NuclearToast at 12:00 PM 2 comments
It may be too late to get one for this year's green beer, but it never hurts to be prepared with a cell phone flask. Complete with belt clip!
Posted by NuclearToast at 10:00 AM 0 comments
Spotted at work in the supply room.
Poor guy was so confused, he couldn't even make it a question.
(For the record, you put papers you want shredded in the hinged tray at the front and, like a mailbox, they fall inside the bin. I guess the shred sign fell off.)
Posted by NuclearToast at 8:30 AM 1 comments
Happy St. Patrick's Day. Let's celebrate the death of St. Patrick by wearing green and drinking green beer. ShamROCK!
Posted by NuclearToast at 8:00 AM 0 comments
You start with a huge number of New York delis, add their large selection of sandwiches, top it off with a scanner, and you've got Scanwiches.
Posted by NuclearToast at 12:30 AM 0 comments
This week's winner is Anonymous.
See the original image here.
Posted by NuclearToast at 7:28 PM 0 comments
Posted by NuclearToast at 11:00 AM 0 comments
In most side-scrolling games, you endure level after level of consistently harder and more numerous foes, grabbing power-ups and lives on the way. All for the purpose of squaring off against the big boss. But what if you got all that level nonsense out of the way and went straight to the epic final fight right off? Then, my friends, you'd be playing Ultimate Crab Battle.
And you're riding a shark shooting missiles. Awesome.
Posted by NuclearToast at 12:30 AM 0 comments
Click to larger-ize.
Done by Timothy Lin. You should peruse his DeviantArt gallery.
Posted by NuclearToast at 3:30 PM 0 comments
I quote from the post on YouTube:
I have obtained exclusive footage from an unreleased NES game prototype! I've managed to capture five minutes of never-before-seen gameplay video!
You play as an Italian deli owner armed only with a steady supply of hoagies. You must make your way through a perilous world of danger to destroy the forces of evil.
This game may have been kept off of store shelves due to its controversial title, "Hitler's Revenge". However, unlike "Bionic Commando", Hitler isn't actually IN this game. It may just be a simple translation error which was common in the mid-80s.
I believe the most likely reason for the game's demise is its intense difficulty that makes "Ghosts 'n Goblins" look like a walk in the park. I've heard that this game is so hard, the programmers didn't even bother adding a second level. A cheat code had to be used to warp to advanced locations.
There's also a rumor that a play tester went insane and died as a result of playing the game for an extended period of time. Fearing similar occurrences with home players, the game was scrapped.
For even more information about this incredibly rare discovery, visit MazeGuy - The Challenge.
Posted by NuclearToast at 10:00 AM 0 comments
Some guy, known only as "I Heart Chaos", has put together a totally awesome periodic table of video game characters (click to embiggenfy):
I love how he found a game character to represent each element symbol. The graphic is from his site (posted here), where there's a link to order a poster of it.
Posted by NuclearToast at 9:00 AM 0 comments
This site has an easy-to-use interface that lets you quickly and easily put together an animated adventure. Here's one I did in about 45 minutes (you know, after lots of tweaking and "finalizing"). I call it Starship Bloggerprise:
You have to sign up to use the site, but I found it a fun and creative diversion. Check out Go!Animate.
Let us see what you do by linking to yours in the comments.
Posted by NuclearToast at 12:30 AM 1 comments
It's that time of year again. As a prelude to the longer days of summer, we've reset our clocks an hour in order to screw up our Circadian rhythms for a week. It also means that it stays light further into the evening hours.
Great. As if I don't have enough trouble covering up my windows to avoid letting that nasty daylight into my geekcave. Natural light reflecting off monitor screens, a.k.a. glare, is bad for your eyes. Daylight Savings Time is Gamer Suffering Time.
Posted by NuclearToast at 1:00 PM 0 comments
Raggs and I went to her second cousin's wedding this weekend in Port Townsend. It was a really nice wedding, and her family is really cool, but just let me say two words about the reception...
CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN
With all kinds of fruit (and Oreos®!) to dip in its chocolately goodness, I was in heaven.
Although I did manage, somehow, to get a huge blob of chocolate stuck on the underside of my plate.
Posted by NuclearToast at 8:00 AM 0 comments
Posted by NuclearToast at 8:30 AM 5 comments
I'm geeky about science, so I found this site to be really interesting. Also, despite my recent rants about Flash and separate windows, it is very well done and engaging. (Web designers, take note: this is what Flash is for.)
Start at the level of our everyday lives, and burrow down further and further into the nanoworld to see how things work at Nano Journeys.
After you pick your language, click the suitcase to load the "journey" window.
Posted by NuclearToast at 12:30 AM 0 comments
This week's winner is House of Mayhem.
See the original image here.
Posted by NuclearToast at 9:41 AM 0 comments
Dammit! The zombie brains plates are sold out!
Posted by NuclearToast at 12:00 PM 1 comments
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Do you know how to juggle? It's pretty hard to learn, and it's not something you think would make a very good game. But this one uses three balls, and a paddle with Breakout-like characteristics (you know, the ball hits the right-hand side of the paddle and goes right), to do what it can to simulate the juggling experience. Or, at least, make the game as difficult as possible. See how well you can do at Juggler.
Posted by NuclearToast at 12:30 AM 0 comments
Found in the kitchenette.
Apparently, the spot next to the hot chocolate and cider mixes is the scissor graveyard. I guess the office supply room was too far away. Or, the dropee thought he/she needed to prepare for a packet-opening emergency.
Posted by NuclearToast at 11:30 AM 0 comments
This morning on the bus, the lady across the aisle from me was eating. Popcorn. From one of those bags you pop in the microwave. I wonder if it was fresh or left over.
Then, after finishing the bag, she proceeded to put on her makeup. On the bus.
Must have been one wild party.
Posted by NuclearToast at 7:45 AM 2 comments
Dear web designers,
Stop using Flash for your menus. Please. Every web designer that uses Flash to have menus and other navigation selections fly out automatically and obscure the content on their site that I'm actually trying to see should be forced to work as birthday party coordinators at Chuck E. Cheese. Every weekend, and three nights a week.
Stop using Flash intros. Nobody cares but your marketing department. And if you don't put a Skip link there, you should be forced to clean bedpans at a nursing home. Every night of the week.
Stop resizing my browser window. Or the worse sin, opening a new, special-sized window with no menus or controls. Last time I checked, I was using my browser to visit your site, not be owned by it. Browser hijackers should be locked in a room and forced to visit every single page on Myspace. And GeoCities.
Don't make me take away all your black clothes. Just quit it. And get the hell off my lawn.
Yours truly,
--NT
Posted by NuclearToast at 2:45 PM 3 comments
Imagine a videogame, and then tell its story from the end to the beginning. Take, for example, Donkey Kong:
"Pauline takes her boyfriend to the top of a building. There, she dumps him for a giant ape, and the heartbroken plumber climbs down the scaffolding."
Posted by NuclearToast at 12:30 AM 0 comments
These are in a hallway near my office. Just another reminder of how cool the place I work is. Original prints, on canvas, framed, and signed in gold ink marker by Stan Lee himself.
I would love to have these.
Posted by NuclearToast at 8:30 AM 1 comments
Posted by NuclearToast at 8:30 AM 3 comments
Step 1: Find old cameras that still have film inside of them.
Step 2: Develop the old Kodachrome film into slides.
Step 3: Pick out the ones that have people in them.
Step 4: Scan 'em in and post 'em on the web.
Be prepared to spend a lot of time checking out these old pictures from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and their amazing color quality, at Mango Falls.
(I looked through them all, secretly hoping I'd see someone I knew.)
Posted by NuclearToast at 12:30 AM 0 comments
This week's winner by default is DK.
See the original image here.
Posted by NuclearToast at 4:50 PM 1 comments