January 3, 2014
Objective Game Reviews
Objectivegamereviews.com is a website. Visitors to the site can read objective reviews of video games.
Each review is an objective assessment of a video game. The top of the review contains an image from the game. The review lists the genre, developer, and platform the game is available for. Reviews describe how the game is played. Reviews contain descriptions of the story, graphics, and sound. At the end of the review the game is objectively scored on a scale of 1 to 10. (description via SecretAsianMan)
Each review is an objective assessment of a video game. The top of the review contains an image from the game. The review lists the genre, developer, and platform the game is available for. Reviews describe how the game is played. Reviews contain descriptions of the story, graphics, and sound. At the end of the review the game is objectively scored on a scale of 1 to 10. (description via SecretAsianMan)
So long, Phil, and thanks for the music
Phil Everly, one half of the iconic and deeply influential vocal duo the Everly Brothers, has died at age 74. Marked by their sweet, tight harmonies and chopping acoustic guitars, tunes like All I Have To Do Is Dream, Bye Bye Love, Wake Up Little Susie, Cathy's Clown and When Will I Be Loved made an indelible mark on the musical consciousness of America.
The Campaign For Real Poverty
Moffat listens to fans?
Beware of fans influencing the TV they love. And casual fans are being alienated by shows with devoted fans (spoilers for Sherlock).
Who are you again?
Fired? Speak no evil.
Fired? Speak no evil. "[A] termination agreement pinged into my inbox. Much of it set forth standard-issue language resolving such matters as date of termination, the vesting of options, the release of all claims against the company, and the return of company property. I think I get to keep last year’s Christmas gift of an iPad, and the previous year’s bottle of wine has long been drunk, but I must send back any company files in my possession. So far, so good. What brings me up short is clause No. 12: No Disparagement. 'You agree,' it reads, 'that you will never make any negative or disparaging statements (orally or in writing) about the Company or its stockholders, directors, officers, employees, products, services or business practices, except as required by law.' If I don’t agree to this nondisparagement clause, I will not receive my severance — in this case, the equivalent of two weeks of pay."
Music's got me feeling so free
Of all the occupations in the world, why did he trade in our ancestors!
NYTimes: "The paleontologist Richard Leakey has called their removal a “sacrilege.” Kenyan villagers have said their theft led to crop failure and ailing livestock. It is little wonder, then, that the long, slender wooden East African memorial totems known as vigango are creating a spiritual crisis of sorts for American museums." [more inside]
name that smell
Smells can be very hard to identify and name, unless you are given some prompting - or you speak Jahai, the language of an indigenous group in the Malay peninsula.
"She was trash: trash cheats. Trash wants reward without working."
The Method Man
"700 years ago, a monk needed parchment for a new prayer book. He pulled the copy of Archimedes' book off the shelf, cut the pages in half, rotated them 90 degrees, and scraped the surface to remove the ink, creating a palimpsest—fresh writing material made by clearing away older text. Then he wrote his prayers on the nearly-clean pages." - A Prayer for Archimedes
Hitting does not solve everything
First, we must dispose of any obstacles
Rory and Paris: The Real Gilmore Girls
I am going to make you want something that you may or may not have already known that you wanted. I am going to make you realize that the real love story at the heart of Gilmore Girls took place between two tightly-wound, highly-strung, overachieving rivals-turned-roommates who wore matching ties and skirts and engaged in sexually charged fencing sessions. The mutual respect, admiration, and trust that sprang up between Rory Gilmore and Paris Gellar was hard-fought and slowly earned; theirs was a friendship forged and refined slowly over the years. They grew into the shape of one another. Put aside your dreams of Jess, that human sneeze; let Logan sail away on his yacht of indifference into the sunset: Rory/Paris are endgame.Femslash Friday is a series on The Toast ... [more inside]
I suppose my voice will always fall short
Yukkedoluce is a producer for vocaloid, a singing voice synthesizer program (previously on mefi). Some examples of his works are below.
- The Transient Apple Salesgirl - An apple one day keeps immortality away.
- Persona Robot - The touching tale of a girl and her robot.
- Dream Eater - Dream in this disenchanted world.
- DOGS - Wake up, sheeple!
SADfilter
The town of Rjukan, Norway (Google Maps) lies in a valley that does not receive direct sunlight for almost half the year. The municipality has recently attacked this problem by using computer-controlled mirrors that reflect sunlight into town. Despite some initial opposition, some quite vehement, most of the town's inhabitants seem won over by their newfound access to sunshine. [more inside]
There is a waiting list
Welcome to ISIS!
In this series of ISIS orientation films, Dr. Krieger will be answering frequently asked questions from new team members. Season five of Archer premieres Monday, January 13th on FX. [more inside]
These YouTube Stars You've Never Heard of Have Millions of Teen Fans
These are just ordinary teenagers, here and there in ordinary towns, with (at least at first) no particular training, no sophisticated equipment, no teams of writers, no management, no professional editors, and, somehow, literally millions of fans—fans rabid enough to form fandoms and rivalries and elaborate webs of platonic shipping. Fans who have never heard of Brad Pitt. It's an entire economy based on almost nothing but the thrill of saying/seeing whatever you want where your parents can't catch you—where you can be flamboyantly gay or ask embarrassing questions or carve out a social space for yourself or even be cruel to other kids because it makes you feel safe for a minute. Lindy West on the modern YouTube celebrity.
Searching the Internet for evidence of time travelers.
Time travel has captured the public imagination for much of the past century, but little has been done to actually search for time travelers. Here, three implementations of Internet searches for time travelers are described, all seeking a prescient mention of information not previously available. (SLarXiv; PDF)
NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA BATDOG!
All hail The Great Potato
Though never particularly scared to be cynical about "issue episodes" even though it was considered a child friendly family show on a Disney owned network, an episode of the animatronic ABC sitcom Dinosaurs from its fourth season asked viewers to question authority and faith in "The Greatest Story Ever Sold" (full episode yt) Even introducing an intentionally ridiculous, starch-based diety over a decade before the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Limited Edition Bonus Track: Answering the question with heresy on "Answer The Question" is ill advised.
The Elmore Leonard Paradox
If the sheer number of Leonard adaptations is remarkable, what is more remarkable still is how few of them are any good. No one was more aware of, or blunt about, this disappointing onscreen record than Leonard himself. His first crime novel, The Big Bounce, was twice adapted for film, in 1969 and 2004. Leonard memorably described the earlier effort as the “second-worst movie ever made”; it was not until he saw the 2004 version, he later said, that he knew what movie was the worst.
One year during the sixth extinction
Hello, Goodbye Raggedy Man
"When Your Doctor is No Longer the Doctor: How to Survive Regeneration" Doctor Who expects and experiences change like no other story, and sometimes it's good to remember that it's all OK. [more inside]
Finance as a novelistic plot engine
An unpublished interview with novelist Sol Yurick by BLDGBLOG's Geoff Manaugh. "[S]uppose we think of The Iliad as one big trade war. Troy, as you know, sat on the route into the Black Sea, which means it commanded the whole hinterland where people like the Greeks and the Trojans did trading. The Trojan War was a trade war." (previously on the 2013 passing of the writer of The Warriors) [more inside]
We don't have cameras
This past October, just before the leaves changed, I went on a six-day hike through the mountains of Wakayama, in central Japan, tracing the path of an ancient imperial pilgrimage called the Kumano Kodo. I took along a powerful camera, believing, as I always have, that it would be an indispensable creative tool. But I returned with the unshakeable feeling that I’m done with cameras, and that most of us are, if we weren’t already.
Author and designer Craig Mod asks if we're seeing the end of the non-networked, standalone camera.
Author and designer Craig Mod asks if we're seeing the end of the non-networked, standalone camera.
Mad Science Museum: you'll be living on a diet of exclamation points
Alex Boese is interested in hoaxes, as you can tell from his Museum of Hoaxes website (lots previously), but he also enjoys tracking down weird science stories like Evan O'Neill Kane's self-appendectomy and Allan Walker Blair's black widow bite experiment on himself, as collected at the Mad Science Museum online.
Ghost Stations of the Tube
The allure of abandoned Tube stations. The eerie empty platforms and booking offices have enthralled photographers.
The worlds oldest undeground metro sytem has more than its fair share of abandoned and unopens stations all over the network (abandoned stations, Brompton Road and Kingsway previously).
- A Trip Down Aldwych
- Inside St Mary's disused underground station
- Down Street Tour (Part 1 and Part 2)
- Taking a Special Look at the disused Jubilee Line platforms at Charing Cross
Can we go back to the beginning?
ConferenceCall.biz: a slice of ambient corporate hell.
Why I Feel OK About Falling Off The Wagon After Years Of Sobriety
i. Scarf jerks and sweater jerks are different jerks
How well does this test of regional slang reveal where you’re from? Answer the questions below to find out.
Party (and schedule appointments) like you're Stan Lee and it's 1975
If you haven't hung your calendars for 2014 yet, why not take advantage of repeating dates and use the 1975 Mighty Marvel Calendar -- featuring important milestones like Sal Buscema's birthday, the exact moment fans started protesting Dr. Strange's first costume change, and all the Doctor Doom appearances a mortal mind can handle?
Cabinet papers reveal 'secret coal pits closure plan'
Newly released cabinet papers from 1984 reveal mineworkers' union leader Arthur Scargill may have been right to claim there was a "secret hit-list" of more than 70 pits marked for closure.
The government and National Coal Board said at the time they wanted to close 20. But the documents reveal a plan to shut 75 mines over three years.
A key adviser to then-PM Margaret Thatcher denies any cover-up claims.
The miners' strike began in March 1984 and did not end until the next year. [more inside]
The man who hates liberal Britain
“He articulates the dreams, fears and hopes of socially insecure members of the suburban middle class,” .... “It’s a daily performance of genius.” Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail
Knuckleball. Hit me.
Here is a gif of a knuckleball in flight. Thrown by RA Dickey the baseball is colorized to help follow the flight path and is moving at about 75 mph. You have 0.55 seconds from when the ball is released to predict the flight path and try and intercept the ball with your bat.
Mobile friendly version. (via). [more inside]
Broforce is a co-operative patriotism simulation.
You play as 80's and 90's action heroes waging war against terror in almost entirely destructible nostalgic settings. [more inside]
« Previous day | Next day »