Friday Smorgasboard - Games and Self-Improvement

My sister-in-law is visiting this weekend. She runs her own business and has a trade show to attend this weekend. I would plug her company, however since I get a little 'crazy' once in a while, I'd rather not taint her site with a link from me. That would be like the CIA offering free, public, private e-mail services. Well, not as bad. At any rate, I got up early this morning. Like before 6am. I was at work by 6:30am. Since I tend to work through my lunch hour (since I just screw around all the time anyway) I'll be outta here by 2:30 today. Score! Sucks to be a hard-working American!

I scratched up my car again. Ok, I put a huge freakin' dent in the front driver's side and scrapped the paint off of it. I hate my garage setup. I think I'm just gonna wash it, cover over any exposed spots with a paint-pen I have that matches the car's collor and let it be. It's not worth fixing at this point.

And now, for a very full Friday Smorgasboard:

I can't say this guys name enough - Jack Thompson is still giving me a nice steady stream of news to comment on. I should send him a Christmas present or something. He has been the source for much blogging this week and last. Recently Mr. Thompson, the attourny from Florida who has been (and read the following with an open mind) fighting to protect the children from violence in video game media is being investigated. Remember when Jack called the Seattle Police on Penny Arcade earlier this week? The Penny Arcade faithful have compiled a list of questionable actions taken by Jack Thompson and have submitted them through the propper channels. This is being taken a little more serious than you would think, since Jack has been there before.

In addition to this, Jack Thompson has contacted the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) and the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA) asking to settle things without goverment involvement. Jack appears to be willing to regulate the game industry without the Federal Government's involvement, although I doubt that Mr. Thompson would be willing to compromise much (a key ingreediant in such situations). In the same call for peace, Thompson ridicules the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), namely their president Doug Lowenstein, claiming that his way of conducting business makes him appear to be a clown. Not to say you don't know, but the ESA currently lables all video games with the current raiting system (E for everyone, T for teen, M for mature, AO for adult only). Duel wielding an olive brance and a sword it seems.

Enough about games. Lets talk about... games!

More specifically, a new hand-held multimedia 'toy' is being released at the end of November called GP2X Game System. While not a catchy title, it claims to have support for NES, SNES, NeoGeo, and about 8 other old-school console units, TV-out to playback MPEG4 and other video formats and support for e-book and a dictionary. Claimed to be easy to program for the GP2X Game System will have a price tag of about $180.

I've found it before and couldn't figure it out until someone dugg it, but here is a little game called Gravity. There are several red balls on the screen that attract a particle that you place by clicking on the play field. When the particle collides with the red balls the round is over. The point is to get as many points as possible (but you need to get so many points to go to the next level). On my first try I got 1,088 points by the start of level 4 - try to beat it! You'll be glad you did.

Researchers at MIT have decided that habbits can never be forgotten. While they observe brain patters of labratory rats in a maze they conclude that if you see something that reminds of you of your old habbit it is possible that your brain will run on 'autopilot' - carrying out the action you use to do. While I don't see how studying a creature based on instinct will help us to study ourselves, at least it gives us a point in the right direction, since it seems that people do loose their will power when they come in contact with the familiar. (I don't do this piece justice - just read the article yourself, you lazy piece of crap).

The Simpsons are visiting Arab television, but with a few changes. The show is now about Omar Shamshoon, who still works at a nuclear power plant and drings Duff ... soda at a friend's house, Moe. 'Badr' still causes teachers grief and pulls pranks, however, and Omar is just as lazy and messed-up as before, so not all is lost.

I died on level 4, and again on level 5, but going into level 6 I have 2052 points.

For those of you haven't heard, the popular MMO World of Warcraft was accused of having built-in spyware(1, 2) that would read the title of every open application on your desktop. The presumed use of this is to determine the programs that people use to cheat or otherwise break the terms of the End-User Licence Agreement (EULA). This disturbed some people who have created a program called Governor, which will 'sniff out' the behavior of the World of Warcraft 'spyware' program called warden and will report the findings to the user. The source code is also given away as a way to prove that the watched doesn't need watched, so to speak.

Loved Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo? If you play around with emulation you can try out this neat SMW Level Editor.

Scientists have developed a car that is 4 nanometers across.
*tumbleweed*
Your hair is 80,000 nanometers across.
*tumbleweed*
I know, it's sorta dumb - it doesn't even drive (it rolls), but they wanna make little trucks at the molecular level so they can move protiens and medicine and very, very small things around. If you where cooler you'd understand!
*tumbleweed*

Ok, ok, I'm getting to the end, just shut up and take it.

Death. Final score: 2153. I'll try again later.

Bill Gates spoke at Washington DC's Howard University as part of a 'collage tour' he is doing. This time he spoke about the Blue-Ray vs. HD-DVD. Although Microsoft is officially backing HD-DVD as the format of choice for games and movies in the future, Gates stated that both are doomed to be useless soon enough to ignore both formats. Instead, all multimedia content - movies, games, music, everyting - will be downloaded using digital rights management software. Although he admits this won't happen tomorrow, Bill says that he doesn't see a point to pushing either format anymore and that focus should be given to digital rights management.


Look who I am! I took a sci-fi/fantasy character quiz and I'm Yoda! Repect! Darlene is Princess Leia.

I also went to ColorQuiz.com. Here is what they have to say:
Sensitive and understanding but under some strain; needs to unwind in the company of someone close to him.
Suppresses his innate enthusiasm and imaginative nature, for fear that he might be carried away by it only to find himself pursuing some will-o'-the-wisp. Feels he has been misled and abused and has withdrawn to hold himself cautiously aloof from others. Keeps a careful and critical watch to see whether motives towards him are sincere--a watchfulness which easily develops into suspicion and distrust.
Seeks the determination and elasticity of will necessary to establish himself and to make himself independent despite the difficulties of his situation. Wants to overcome opposition and achieve recognition.
Disappointment and the fear that there is no point in formulating fresh goals have led to anxiety. Desires recognition and position, but is worried about his prospects. Reacts to this by protecting at any criticism and resisting any attempt to influence him. Tries to assert himself by meticulous control of detail in an effort to strengthen his position.

I gave you a lot to chew on - enjoy!