Author: Harold
Recommendations
Two things I highly enjoyed this last week:
1) “A Stranger” by Humbabella – I think this captures the horror of what traveling through time would really be like.
2) Mini Metro by Dinosaur Polo Club – This is a really addictive game that gives you the chance to design your own subway system. You can add extra lines, tunnel under the river, and reconstruct the entire system at a whim – as long as you keep the commuters happy. My record so far is Wednesday of the fourth week.
It’s in pre-release alpha right now so there’s still plenty of features to come but I’m already addicted. You can play in the browser, or download a standalone version for Windows, Mac, or Linux. They’re also in contention to have the game available on Steam.
Delicious Links for 2014-03-10
- Homemade Girl Scout Cookies: Gluten Free Thin Mints | Baking Bites
I made these cookies for my physical therapist after she couldn’t have the cocoa snowflakes I made for the whole office back in December. I think this kind of cookie is well suited to gluten-free versions, the crunchiness is intentional and the mint help mask any flavors left from the bean flour. If you try these start with way less butter in the chocolate, or better yet use coconut oil.
- Photos Of Nude Dancers Show A Very Different Side Of The Human Body (NSFW)
Very powerful and dynamic images. The addition of dust to the photoshoot really helps capture the movement of the dancers.
- The Blood Harvest – Alexis C. Madrigal – The Atlantic
I’d just heard about how horseshoe crabs play a vital part in ensuring the safety of medical supplies when this article came along to fill in the details.
- ThinkGeek :: This is Spinal Tape
This is an absolutely horrible pun, and you really can only use it in very limited circumstances, so why am I so tempted to buy it?
- jwz: Crystal Head Vodka Forensic Facial Reconstruction
A forensic artist took a bottle of Dan Akroyd’s Crystal Skull Vodka and reconstructed the face that went with the skull. A) I’m a bit disappointed it wasn’t actually Dan Akroyd, though I do like the jolly pirate look. B) I wonder if the large bottle and the small bottle have the same face.
- Mini Fashion Designer Creates Amazing Dresses Out of Paper and Tape – Mommy Shorts
Four year old girl starts to create her own clothes out of paper. They started out pretty basic and have since moved onto some very elaborate and inspired designs.
- Robotic Garden Lamps Can Follow Your Guests Around the Party
Really neat prototypes for programmable lanterns atop quadruped legs, designed to walk around the backyard.
- All RGB colors in one image | Joco blog
Thanks AndrewDucker! Programmer accepts challenge to write program that creates images using every single RGB color exactly once. Creates art.
- Everything that’s wrong with the suburbs, in one image | Grist
Basically: meandering streets equals wandering for miles with no access to stuff.
- Mini Metro
So much fun. This little game puts you in control of a growing city’s subway system. Start with three stops and see how far you can get. The online version runs on Unity, but there are standalone downloadable versions for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The game is also in contention for availability on Steam.
Protected: Surgery report!
Delicious Links for 2014-03-05
- German Language Compared to other Languages – YouTube
I know German has an unfair reputation about how scary it sounds, but I still laughed at this video.
- DVE Comedy Festival – Bert Kreischer – The Machine – YouTube
A great story about how this comedian became mixed up in the Russian mafia and accidentally robbed a train.
- Brian Williams Raps “Rapper’s Delight” – YouTube
Jimmy Fallon’s first week as host of ‘Late Night’ provided this excellent gem: Brian Williams “singing” Rapper’s Delight via cut and pasted footage. I suppose this also points out that celebrities, and especially broadcasters trained to speak in a consistent voice, would have an awfully difficult time making use of voice recognition locks.
- Viola organista made by Sławomir Zubrzycki – YouTube
This Polish pianist built an instrument sketched out by Leonardo da Vinci, using circular bows continuously pumped with a treddle. It has the sound of a deeper stringed instrument, plays like a piano, and can sustain a note forever.
- “Just Don’t Go” (Parody of “Let It Go” by Idina Menzel from Disney’s “Frozen”) – YouTube
Cincinnati weatherman parodies “Let It Go”, taking on the bad snow and the people who insist on driving in it.
- Things Cats Do That’d Be Creepy If You Did Them – YouTube
Similar to “Cat-friend vs Dog-friend”, it takes a video where you substitute a grown man for an animal to realize how creepy our pets are.
Halfway up the mountain
* Gill and I decided to take a ride up Mount Doom Diablo today (I still can’t believe we actually live near Mount Diablo. It’s like we’re living in a bad fantasy movie or something.) Anyways, it was fun. Once you get past the super-expensive homes at the base of the mountain, the road into the park itself barely qualifies as two lanes, and the lane up the mountain is right on the edge. There were some great views here, but only a single place to pull over and park right before the gate and the Ranger’s station. We had a great view looking south though.
As you can tell, the slight overcast we experienced on the ground had turned into full-on fog up the mountain, and it only got worse the higher we climbed. We passed several camping and picnic areas, with the fog getting worse and worse, until we finally decided to turn around even before we got to the road leading to the summit. I think we only got as high as 2200 feet before the fog became too thick to continue driving.
On our way back down we stopped at this little picnic area called the “Bridal Nook Picnic Area”. It was literally a half-dozen muddy steps up to a picnic table and grill, but the fog really made it magical.
We stopped again about halfway back to the gatehouse and did a little walking on a trail. Unfortunately, the trails are all hard-packed dirt and had turned into mud with the last several days of rain, but we managed to pick our way over to what would have been a beautiful view, if the fog wasn’t in.
All in all it was quite an adventure. I’m amazed at how green everything was, especially as I can count the number of days of rain we’ve seen since we moved here on both hands (as a sign at the park entrance said “The fire danger today is LOW”.)
* On the way back home we stopped in Danville to have a bit of a walk on the Iron Horse Trail. We also found where the Trader Joe’s, Post Office, and Z Pizza are in Danville, so that’s handy.
* Speaking of Trader Joe’s, we did a brief bit of shopping. The cookie butter is so good but so bad for us. And the freeze-dried unsweetened blueberries are fantastic!
Running entry
* Played my last adventure on Doctor Who: Worlds in Time yesterday. Took some screenshots, tried to capture the motion in one of my favorite pieces of decor, and had one last look around.
I’m a bit disappointed. And of course I helped design some of the Messaline levels, so I felt a bit of pride as well as loss. I felt that the game never managed to find it’s potential, and now it never will. I think if they’d just added an achievement system, additional rooms for decoration, and a better crafting system they could have kept the game going while they worked on some other issues.
I’ve no idea if the website link will work. At first the forums and wiki went down, then the game wouldn’t load, then the entire site fell into the vortex.
* Odd weather today. It was like September crossed with March – dark grey clouds, bright blue sky, blossoms on the trees. Gill and I drove down to the park for a walk and had a wonderful time.
* Dinner was home-baked corned beef, baked potato, and fried cabbage with apple/raisin crisp for dessert.