A while ago, I was banging on about the random events in the world of Red Dead Redemption and how they helped increase the sense of immersion and my fondness for that game (at least, the first time you encounter these random events. After six or seven attempted horse-jackings, it all becomes rote bullshit).
Skyrim, on the other hand, is genuinely amazing. There's so much to do -- not just story stuff, but random, one-off things -- that you find yourself investing deeply in the characters. I found myself nodding along to John Walker's story of 'his' Lydia. It's a totally accurate description of how this game gets its claws in you and you find yourself doing things (and enjoying doing things) in the game that sound completely cracked if you try to explain them to other people.
# Tuesday Nov 22, 2011
Okay, I'll admit, I'm a little obsessed with Skyrim right now. But look at these landscapes and tell me they're not amazing. Everyone gushed over how great the facial animation system was in LA Noire. I think the cloud generation system in Skyrim is even more impressive. This one is my favourite of the lot.
# Tuesday Nov 22, 2011
In Ireland, Bagels and garlic bread set for sharp price rise as VAT rules change
The price of bagels, croissants, garlic bread and a range of other similar products is likely to increase significantly in the weeks ahead after Revenue decided they were not sufficiently bread-like to be exempt from VAT.
Meanwhile, in America, U.S. Decides Pizza Sauce Is a Vegetable
A joint Senate-House panel of American lawmakers has caved in to the frozen food lobby by voting to uphold school lunch regulations that stipulate that tomato sauce in pizza counts as a vegetable serving.
I never thought I'd say this, but maybe it's time Pat the Baker and Mister Brennan got together to form a lobby group of their own.
# Friday Nov 18, 2011
Some of these are unfathomably beautiful.
# Thursday Nov 17, 2011
from Laughing Squid Links
# Wednesday Nov 9, 2011
I do.
# Monday Nov 7, 2011
An ex-PM of Google Reader explains why the recent redesign/refactor is such a bad decision.
I'm glad to see someone with a bit of authority complaining about this a reasonable way. For the most part, the only comments I've read about the changes have either been from people saying "Eww, who uses Google Reader like that?" or from crazy people calling for an "Occupy Google Reader" protest. I was starting to feel like I was the odd one out.
# Thursday Nov 3, 2011
Seriously, this is an actual fucking headline in The Guardian.
Someone should be ashamed about all this, but I'm not sure who.
# Wednesday Nov 2, 2011
I love Bre Pettis and Kio Stark's Cult of Done Manifesto so much, I'm thinking of getting it tattooed somewhere on my body.
- There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
- Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.
- There is no editing stage.
- Pretending you know what you're doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you're doing even if you don't and do it.
- Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
- The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
- Once you're done you can throw it away.
- Laugh at perfection. It's boring and keeps you from being done.
- People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
- Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.
- Destruction is a variant of done.
- If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
- Done is the engine of more.
# Wednesday Nov 2, 2011
This is a story I've been waiting to read for a long time. Note: this is the setup in a two-part story. The actual "why" comes tomorrow.
# Tuesday Nov 1, 2011
Now this is a heck of a marathon.
This weekend was the annual Horrorthon here in Dublin which seems to have lost some of its momentum in the past few yeard. A lot of its programme had me scratching my head and thinking "Is that really a horror film?" (e.g. Play Misty for Me or Akira). As a result, I've found myself weighing up the films I'd actually be interested in seeing and the films I couldn't be bothered with and decided that -- guest appearance by Michael Biehn not withstanding -- it just wasn't worth my time.
Edgar Wright's list might be a bit obvious in places, but I'd be first in line at that marathon.
# Tuesday Nov 1, 2011
Some of these are better than others, but they all made me laugh.
Especially the bus one. Holy shit.
# Friday Oct 28, 2011
Heartbreaking.
# Friday Oct 28, 2011
Since moving home and doing all my work on an easy chair, I've started to fetishize desks. This short video is all about the importance of a desk and what it says about the person who uses it. It's not helping at all.
# Thursday Oct 27, 2011
There was some question in work about whether or not Richard Stallman is actually a plant by Microsoft -- some long-game Manchurian Candidate shit -- to discredit the free software movement. Evidence: Stallman's rider for talks, Stallman's personal FAQ, Stallman eating his own toe-jam.
# Thursday Oct 27, 2011
Ars Technica re-reviews the original iPod. Bottom line: "if you still have one of these original ones lying around, find a FireWire cable and plug it in. You might be surprised at how well it still works."
Also, the industrial design of the first-gen iPod is still amazing.
# Tuesday Oct 25, 2011
More than anything else I've read on the topic, Courtney Stanton does a great job of explaining why it's so sad that Google are nerfing Google Reader
For me, this is the destruction of the only online space I truly give a shit about. (Sorry Twitter, Facebook, etc.) I’m actually really upset about this, as it’s eliminating a social space I’ve been participating in for several years.
He also does a terrific job of explaining why 'plus' isn't a great replacement for the functionality.
I don’t care if Google wants Plus to get bigger, I care about me and my friends who seek to read and discuss the entire internet every day. Is there really no space for different kinds of people to form different kinds of social spaces in Google products? Are they really that fucking stupid about how communities work?
Or, as I suspect, is it just that Buzz and gReader aren’t nearly as effective as Plus at collecting data about my internet use?
# Friday Oct 21, 2011
Great comparison of the cameras in each of the iPhones.
# Wednesday Oct 19, 2011
Generation X is sick of your bullshit.
In fairness, Generation X could use a better spokesperson. Barack Obama is just a little too senior to count among its own, and it has debts older than Mark Zuckerberg. Generation X hasn’t had a real voice since Kurt Cobain blew his brains out, Tupac was murdered, Jeff Mangum went crazy, David Foster Wallace hung himself, Jeff Buckley drowned, River Phoenix overdosed, Elliott Smith stabbed himself (twice) in the heart, Axl got fat.
# Wednesday Oct 19, 2011
As if a movie based on the boardgame 'Monopoly' wasn't enough of a sign of creative bankruptcy in the movie industry, now Warner Brothers has bought the rights to a movie based on a Reddit comment.
Don't get me wrong, it's a really good comment, but the point still stands.
# Monday Oct 17, 2011
The Guardian design team shows the various stages of the evolution of their iPad app. This is one of the most beautifully designed newspaper applications I've ever used - a perfect marriage of interface and content. I'll definitely be subscribing.
# Sunday Oct 16, 2011
What a neat idea.
# Friday Oct 14, 2011
This is unfortunate. Trauma is a beautiful game, and one that screenshots can't do justice - you have to see the game in action to fully appreciate and understand it. I'm really sad to read about the amount of hassle the developer went through.
I appreciate Vimeo wanting to keep their site free from commercial abuse, but some of their rules honestly make me worry that pretty soon, their site will be nothing but videos of people testing their cameras.
# Friday Oct 14, 2011
aaronmahnke:
>
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This is my favorite photo of Steve Jobs. Leaning forward to connect with his wife after his keynote presentation at the 2011 WWDC. You can almost feel the relief and accomplishment radiating from him.
When I see this photo, I see a man who bent every fiber of his will toward a goal so lofty, so seemingly unattainable that no one thought it was possible, and at the end of that race, with the task completed, he closed his eyes and rested.
Thank you Steve. I’ll miss you.
For a man who guarded his personal brand so jealously, these moments -- moments where the guard drops just a little and we see the man underneath -- are really striking.
# Thursday Oct 6, 2011
Great selection of movies. And great explanations for why he chose these particular movies.
# Wednesday Sep 28, 2011
Panic rooms are so passe. What you want is a panic house. When the zombie apocalypse finally comes, I'm making a beeline for this place.
# Wednesday Sep 28, 2011
Fascinating post about the approach of the 'internet of things' - the idea that, with a little bit of hacking, you can shape the internet to do what you want it to and make it more personal and magic. (Incidentally, I think if this then that is pretty close to magic already). He gave this as a talk on the BBC's Four Thought radio series.
# Tuesday Sep 27, 2011
You could almost do an entire article about the many forgotten subplots in Lost alone. I particularly like their write-up of the Tori Scott episodes of Saved by the Bell
When NBC ordered more episodes of the show’s already-wrapped senior year, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen and Elizabeth Berkley were already committed to other projects. So, employing its signature logic, Saved By The Bell allowed the characters to disappear completely, bringing in Leanna Creel’s motorcycle-riding tomboy Tori to replace them—and thus creating the “Tori Reality,” a parallel universe centered on Zack and Tori’s awkward courtship, a place where Kelly and Jessie simply did not exist.
# Tuesday Sep 27, 2011
Pretty interesting stuff - overall, people who own e-readers read more books each year than those without. Although I'm curious about the 1% of e-reader owners who read 0 books a year. What are they using it for?!
# Monday Sep 26, 2011
A fantastic article by Ira Glass discussing all the things that make Radiolab so great.
# Saturday Sep 24, 2011
According to these boffins, Facebook hosts around 4% of all the photos that have ever been taken. And roughly 20% of all the photos taken this year will be uploaded to Facebook.
Kids -- not even kids, teenagers -- are growing up in a world where cameras are ubiquitous, they're just part of the device you carry around with you. And photography isn't some arcane, expensive hobby. It's been democratized.
I can't wait to see what this means for the next generation of photojournalists.
# Tuesday Sep 20, 2011
I know people are probably sick of me linking to
a. The AV Club, and
b. Louis CK stories
but honestly, this second season of Louie was one of the best seasons of TV I've ever seen. (And 'Duckling' was one of the best episodes of any TV show I've ever seen). Reading this background on the production of the first couple of episodes is fascinating.
Also, much as I hate to say "X is the new Y", anyone else get the feeling that Louis CK is taking the reins left over from when Woody Allen packed up for Europe? No-one else is making New York seem so gorgeous.
# Monday Sep 19, 2011
Boom is a command-line key-value store written by Zach Holman. If you don't know what this is, you probably don't need it. Still, I really love the installation instructions:
Hey, run this:
$ gem install boom
See? Now you can do this:
$ boom
Pretty easy. Like your mom.
I wish more software developers were brave enough to make 'your mom' jokes in their installation instructions.
# Monday Sep 19, 2011
Even if you do nothing else to celebrate _why's anniversary, just read some of the stuff he wrote. I swear, the guy is what I imagine would have happened if David Foster Wallace had gotten really, really hooked on programming Ruby.
# Thursday Aug 18, 2011
Daily dose of cuteness - keeping track of all the new arrivals at zoos around the world.
# Monday Jul 11, 2011
Gibsonton is an unincorporated census-designated place in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The population was 8,752 at the 2000 census.
Gibsonton was famous as a sideshow wintering town, where various carnival "freaks" would spend the off season. It was home to Percilla the Monkey girl, the Anatomical Wonder, and the Lobster Boy. Siamese twin sisters ran a fruit stand here. At one time, it was the only post office with a counter for dwarves. Aside from the agreeable winter climate, Gibsonton offered unique circus zoning laws that allowed residents to keep elephants and circus trailers on their front lawns.
# Monday Jul 11, 2011
Japanese scientist invents burger made from human shit
NASA invents a bag to turn piss into a sports drink
This is not the future I signed up for.
# Sunday Jul 10, 2011
Using Youtube as a video time machine - pick a year, back to 1860, and check out all the cultural artifacts.
Also: holy shit, The Dig came out in 1995?! Man, that makes me feel old.
# Tuesday Jul 5, 2011
Hobo Lobo of Hamelin is a thing by a dude, who’s all like, “I’M GONNA MAKE A THING.” And then he did. Or is doing. Or, you know, whatever. This dude can be found on the internet. He websites to put food on his family.
This is the future of internet storytelling.
# Monday Jul 4, 2011
via bestofwikipedia:
The Mull of Kintyre test was an unofficial guideline said to have been used by the British Board of Film Classification in the United Kingdom to decide whether an image of a man’s penis could be shown. The BBFC would not permit the general release of a film or video if it depicted a phallus erect to the point that the angle it made from the vertical (the “angle of the dangle”, as it was often known) was larger than that of the Mull of Kintyre, Argyll and Bute, on maps of Scotland. (via rajandelman)
I love any Wikipedia entry that includes the term "angle of the dangle".
# Sunday Jul 3, 2011
Do you like synth-heavy power-rock songs all about fighting for love/survival/glory? Then you'll love Blood Bros' 45-minute mix of all the best songs from 80s action movies. I went running with this just now and loved it. But at the same time, the training montage music from Rocky 4 has been on my workout playlist for years now. That's just the kind of guy I am.
Blood Bros: First Blood by maddecent
# Thursday Jun 30, 2011
While it's certainly not what scholars might consider classic cinema, I'd be willing to bet that Jackass will be shown as classic comedy for years to come. I think it showed a group of guys having the time of their lives and offering much needed release during a time in American history when it needed it the most.
Agreed, 100%.
# Wednesday Jun 29, 2011
Shit, even Donald Clarke gets it. Compare and contrast with Joe Griffin's review from last month.
Can the Irish Times get Donald Clarke to review all its games from now on?
# Wednesday Jun 29, 2011
Narcissistic? Maybe. Self-indulgent? Perhaps a little. But I mean, come on - having your own action figure would be undeniably awesome.
# Tuesday Jun 28, 2011
I've spoken to a few people about how Osama bin Laden was a handsome man. It's a difficult topic to untangle. Elizabeth Kiem does a great job of separating the image of bin Laden from the image of bin Laden.
# Saturday May 14, 2011
I would spazz right the fuck out if I had to live in just 24 square metres (shit, all my videogame stuff alone probably takes up about 20 square metres), but fair play to this guy, he seems to be totally zen and came up with a pretty good solution.
# Friday May 13, 2011
Obviously, spoilers abound for Portal 2
Game Center Lecture Series- Erik Wolpaw from NYU Game Center on Vimeo.
# Thursday May 12, 2011
via Topless Robot
# Wednesday May 11, 2011
"The Portal 2 Authoring Tools include versions of the same tools we used to make Portal 2. They'll allow you to create your own singleplayer and co-op maps, new character skins, 3D models, sound effects, and music."
PC-only right now. But still: oh wow.
# Wednesday May 11, 2011
Can we cut everything but Tracy Jordan from 30 Rock? Even without context, he's hilarious. The rest of the show? Not so much.
# Tuesday May 10, 2011