Nerd Attention Deficiency Disorder. Yep, I have it in spades. Not sure if you suffer from it too? Read all about it and draw your own conclusions. My favorite quote “You enjoy the content fire hose.’ Yep, that’s me, and proud of it 😉
The title of world’s greatest free game…
…goes to a a rogue-like of course (lately I’m most partial to T.O.M.E. but you can pick from among dozens – ADOM, Angband and Zangband are all particularly good). But that’s not what I want to mention with this post. I stumbled across a very cool 3d action game called Neverball. If you’ve played Super Monkey Ball on one of the various platforms that support it you’ll be immediately familiar with the gameplay (or if you knew someone who had one of those old Labyrinth table games) – you must tilt the playing surface such that a ball that rests on it makes its way to the exit, picking up bonus objects and avoiding various hazards as you do so. This is amazingly polished for a free game. Don’t be put off by the spartan webpage design, the game is great fun and well worth the small download. The early version of a minigolf game based on the same engine is worth grabbing too. These are available for Mac, PC and Linux so pick your version and get rolling.
The friday chuckle – cpu as wedding cake
This week’s silly friday post comes courtesy of an old friend who happened across my site and sent along this happy story of a lovelorn geek and his quest to marry the girl of his dreams. Geek that he is, of course he looked to technology for the solution. Me? I think I would have just bent the knee and offered the ring, seems like a lot less trouble, and definitely less support issues to contend with 😉
What price silence?
It’s likely that you have at least one CD in your collection that has a track on it that consists of nothing but silence. Sometimes artists use silent tracks as ‘spacers’ to hide a track at the very end of the CD. Anyway in today’s world of instantly downloadable tunes and digital rights management, you can actually find yourself in the surreal position of having paid 99 cents for a downloaded track that has nothing in it. Amused by this, the folks at appleturns.com have compiled a list of the silent tracks one can download from the itunes music store. They also point out a side benefit – you can play these at maximum volume without fear of blowing your speakers or annoying your neighbors 😉
So long, thanks for all the free mods
Trauma Studios, developers of Desert Combat, one of the best FPS mods of the past several years, signed a contract with Digital Illusions (developers of the Battlefield 1942 games) to produce a commercial mod for ‘an upcoming product.’ Since as far as anyone is aware DICE has only one product upcoming, Battlefield Vietnam, it seems likely that’s what the mod will be for. On the one hand this is great news, the developers of Desert Combat deserve to be rewarded for their excellent work – their mod is arguably more fun than the original Battlefield game, and they’ve been regularly updating and adding content to their mod for over a year. On the other hand, I’ll be bummed (but not surprised) if the superb and free Desert Combat falls by the wayside.
My new job title
If you had asked me when I graduated from college 14 or so years ago, I definitely would not have said ‘Oh, I’ll be a Systems Analyst when I grow up. In fact, I didn’t really have a firm sense of what one was until the new CIO suggested that I become one. So. Here I am. I’ve grabbed a handy definition of what a systems analyst actually is, or at least one interpretation that seems to fit, off of monster.com:
“Defines Clients’ problems and translates then into program specifications (problem and objectives) and design solutions. These specifications and solutions are then usually passed to the Computer Programmer. Alternative titles: Business Analyst, Application Analyst, Project Leader, Project Manager, Senior Analyst and Systems Designer.”
The truth is, the shoe sort of fits, I mean, a large part of what I do is meeting with faculty and staff at Bowdoin and try to imagine how to engineer software solutions to solve their issues. Still, it all feels rather strange.
Microsoft finally gets on the ball…
…and releases a patch for IE to address the glaring security issues I’ve been ranting about for a several weeks. You can read about it here, and use Windows update to install it. Anyone using windows should run windows update poste haste.
Despite the fix, I still think no one in their right mind should use Internet Explorer. The Mozilla engine was partially susceptible to the same security issue and they had an update out within 24 hours. It took Microsoft weeks to address it, while they hid behind ridiculous excuses and surreal workarounds. Plus, as mentioned repeatedly, the IE css support is markedly inferior to Mozilla’s. In non geek speak, that means web pages will look better 😉
I’m on a p2p kick today
This is beautiful. A few months ago I posted on the tech report about how I thought ultimately the RIAA’s tactics would be overcome with better software from the p2p software community – ie that their tactics, rather than reducing piracy, would simply encourage another round of innovation in the software that would make for enhanced security. That day has come. Or at least MUTE is the first example of a software package that solves this problem. Want to share your huge pop music mp3 archive? You can again do so with a relatively high degree of security and anonymity. Check out the link for details, there are actually some good diagrams and a lengthy explanation of the hows and whys. I can’t wait for this sort of technology to make its way out into the other p2p apps, particularly bit torrent and DC++.
Oh, and, um, hello, RIAA? Once again, you reap the harvest you sow.
P2P – it’s what’s for dinner
I’m happy to report on another example of a P2P app being used for something besides pirating music and porn. Check out snackster, a P2P recipe sharing app. Got a craving for a new taste sensation, or feel like it’s finally time to reveal dear old Granny’s secret cookie recipe to the world? Get right on it!
Superbowl pick
When I don’t have a strong affinity for either team in the Superbowl I tend to root for the underdog, so I’m hoping the Panthers pull off an upset. The fact that their coach is the former Giants defensive coordinator (whose departure was a big piece of the Giants decline) is also a big point in their favor. But do I think they can actually beat the patriots? Well….no. Belicheck is also a former Giants defensive coordinator (whose earlier departure was also a factor in an earlier Giants decline….) and he’s just a fantastic coach. Plus I don’t think the Panther’s strong running game will be able to overcome the stronger Pats defense, and while everyone is falling in love with the Panthers QB, if they decide to air it out a lot I think the Pats will be taking the ball away. On offense the Pats will be able to plod down field with the short passing game. It’s not going to be a high scoring affair, and I expect it to be a competitive and entertaining game, which is more than you can say for most superbowls. In the end, Pats by a touchdown.
Come back on Monday to make fun of me as you see fit, but that’s my call. I was 50% in my playoff picks which doesn’t speak well of my powers of prognostication, but I figure I picked against the Pats twice so now I’ll switch and pick them, I have to be right 😉 (I still think in a best of 5 the Titans would have won 3, but kudos to the Pats for taking that game).
