Whaddaya got there, numbers?
Fantastic Contraption is a really fun little web game. Simple goal, just get the red block inside the goal area using a small array of tools. As with most physics games though, the fun is in creating wacky things. Add the ability to share your contraptions with others via a link, and we’re all set.
Here are some of my others:
Two Way, Caterpillar, Jumper, Crawler, and my favorite, Lift.
Also, Joel is great at creating walkers.
Give it a try.
A friend at work introduced me to Gaelic Storm since I like Flogging Molly. They don’t have the punk undercurrent that Flogging Molly has, but so far I really like them.
My favorite so far:
True story. He punched Russell Crowe.
Seriously, watch this right now. It gets pulled down Sunday evening.
Go see Hellboy 2, it is much better than the first one. I did like the first one, but mostly because I like Hellboy’s character. Hellboy 2 is sitting at an 88% right now on Rottentomatoes.
Here’s some fireworks for you:
Fourth of July 08 from Paul Brobst on Vimeo.
Wall-E is highly recommended. The story is simpler than the Incredibles, but I’d say I enjoyed the movie just as much. It is amazing how much character they can put into something that barely speaks. As usual the CG was a step up. I look forward to Pixar’s next.
Wanted was odd. I think I can only sum it up as well executed, but ridiculous. It’s getting hard to like action movies these days. -Spoiler- During the final rampage the main character shoots someone in the eye with a magnum, stabs the gun into his head, and then carries the body as a shield while still shooting through it. I just don’t feel like the target audience anymore. Am I supposed to watch that and go “Oh OHHH. THAT WAS SO BADASS I WISH I COULD DO THAT.”? -End Spoiler-
Killer Shrimp was very tasty. It is a shame that the Marina Del Rey location is closing. There are others though and if one is near you I’d recommend giving it a try.
And lastly, big band in Chinatown:
Big Band June 28, 2008 from Paul Brobst on Vimeo.
This smooth electronic remix of clips from Alice in Wonderland is really awesome. You can get the free mp3 here.
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So one great thing about Netflix, of course, is that it recommends stuff for you based on how you have rated things. Last night I wasn’t doing much so I took a look at the recommended on demand movies, and saw Bullitt. Why hasn’t anyone recommended this movie to me before?!?I love action movies and I’ve never heard of it. |
It is known for the car chase, as it was apparently one of the first to have such a large chase in it. Even now it still seems well done. I loved the slow build up to it. The pace of the entire movie is somewhat slow and deliberate but I don’t think it suffers for it.
These days the ‘cop who breaks the rules’ always seems to be a bit crazy, or a guy with ‘nothing to lose’. Example: Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon. But this character is far from it. He’s calm and contemplative. He does what needs to be done, but he’s not flashy.
Like Bullitt’s response when Chalmers threatens to crucify him politically when the case takes a wrong turn:
You work your side of the street, and I’ll work mine.
Are there any other classic movies that have slipped by me? Leave a comment.
So I just got a good deal on a new monitor. Let me say, the size of a 24″ widescreen feels extravagant and luxurious. The blacks get a little smashed on it, but that can be adjusted and the colors in general are great. My last monitor was a TN panel so this is a real step up.
Sadly, it only took me a week to run into DRM stupidity with it on Vista.
First, a little background and terms definition. I honestly don’t have the patience to dig endlessly into this, so you get summed up wikipedia entries.
Second, the play by play. The Westinghouse monitor does not have DVI, for some reason. It has HDMI, VGA, and Component inputs. Best Buy charges $60 for a DVI-to-HDMI cable, so I opted to save $50 and order a cable from monoprice. This means that for the first few days I was on a VGA connection (which looked just fine, honestly).
I recently signed up with Netflix for the first time, mostly because of their new WatchNow feature which is pretty slick. I have been watching through Dexter at Iver’s recommendation. I’ve enjoyed it a lot, and I highly recommend it.
After switching to the HDMI cable on my monitor Netflix suddenly refused to let me use WatchNow, claiming that my DRM software needed to be reset. As linked earlier, my experience mimics this person. Resetting means that you are generating a new hardware signature that is used to identify you and your setup. Netflix has a nice big warning saying that resetting your DRM will invalidate all current licenses, not just Netflix’s. This is a HUGE DEAL, and means that if you have content that uses this DRM system you would then need to go to each provider (Amazon, ect) individually where they will hopefully let you redownload the stuff you purchased, now with your new hardware signature.
Luckily I don’t have any DRM’d content from other locations, so I figured eh, lets try their reset. Lo-and-behold it crashes a couple times, reports failure, and then success. Even after futzing with it for 45 minutes and sitting on hold with customer-support the whole time, if it worked now I would be happy.
It didn’t. Well it kind of does, and that is the bizarre part.
I have two monitors. The new one connected via HDMI, and a second one connected via DVI. I watch shows on the second one while I play games or code or whatever on my main screen. It turns out that this is what the DRM has an issue with. It will let me watch Netflix shows on my HDMI screen, but not on my DVI screen. I could watch on either monitor before the switch.
Let me repeat that, with some emphasis.
It boggles my mind. Why? WHY?
Now, the wrap up. From a consumer perspective HDMI offers no advantages beyond it being a single thing to plug in that also carries an audio signal. HDMI is being pushed because it allows the “protected path”, not because it provides any tangible consumer benefit. It might be fine on your TV, where all you hook up is a game console and a dvd/blu-ray player, but I cannot recommend using HDMI to connect your PC to anything. If you don’t run into this problem you will run into another one. This is a consumer minefield, and will only hurt adoption of the technology. Can you imagine your parents trying to sort through DRM issues? HD is already too complicated with its resomolutions and whatsits and doodads. People just want to plug something in and have it work.
I feel the need to clarify my stance a bit. I am not anti-DRM. I am anti-DRMthatcausesissuesforpayingcustomers. Trying to curtail piracy isn’t morally wrong, and I believe content creators deserve a return for their effort. From a practical standpoint though, DRM that gets in the way of paying customers will only hurt in the long run. If you can’t make DRM that curtails piracy and doesn’t impact the regular user, then I don’t think you should make it at all. Put it back in the oven and work on the problem until you can come up with a tractable solution. And don’t hide behind your lawyers to defend our outdated business practices. I’m looking at you RIAA.
I’m sure their suggestion would be for me to buy a second HDMI monitor, then I can have nothing but “protected paths”. Thanks, but I’ll switch back to VGA for now and have it just work.
I have been questing for awesome burger joints since I came to LA. Everyone would recommend the usual like In and Out or Fatburger. Those are both very good, but still fall under the realm of fast food.
Finally, after many years here, someone recommended a place that serves a burger that I would classify in the realm of Awesome. “How could it take so long? Surely LA has good burger joints somewhere!”, I have cried out many times.
Enter, The Counter. Not only do they use high grade tasty tasty beef, but they also let you build the burger yourself using only a pencil and clipboard. On their menu I count 10 kinds of cheese, 27 different toppings, and 17 sauces. Some combinations will be superior to others.
Maybe I could design a fitness function for burger tastiness. Then a simple genetic algorithm could find the top contenders for best burger out of their claimed 312,120 burger combinations. Of course this would also mean the computer would need to be able to somehow eat the burger.
I think instead I will just go eat there a lot and decide for myself.
Two other burger places have come to my attention. Fathers Office and 25 Degrees. I plan to try those out soon too.
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