8-19-08

My new GRE class has exactly one guy in it. Everybody else is a girl. Does this mean there are more women going to grad school than men, or that women need more help than men do?

8-18-08

Morton's Fork.

8-17-08

I played A Game of Thrones today. I liked the game when I played it a year ago, but today I was sufficiently unimpressed. The diplomacy and battle elements are great, but the event cards at the start of each turn have a significant impact on the players' fates and, what's worse, usually favor some players over others. I'm terrible at wargames and probably would have lost even if the event cards hadn't screwed me over every single turn, but it was decidedly unpleasant to feel tossed about by random chance in major ways in a game that takes eight hours.

8-16-08

Simon's Cat.

8-15-08

I watched this "Dr. Horrible" thing that everyone's been raving about, and it's good. I admire Whedon's ability to evoke unique sensations out of something so cliched, yet the problem in the end is that it is, after all, cliched. The humor is excellent, but there is a definite sense that the show aspires to make a serious point, and you can't make a serious point when the plot and the characters are so banal. Two flawed men compete over a boringly perfect woman -- I'm not going to be moved by what happens.

8-14-08

8-13-08

Flibbertigibbet. It's a real word.

8-12-08

8-11-08

Eidos is making Deus Ex 3. What are they thinking?

8-10-08

There's an addon for Firefox that conveniently lets you download embedded movies from Youtube. Or elsewhere.

8-9-08

Bernie Mac died today. He had pneumonia.

8-8-08

Wondermark hits one out of the park.

8-7-08

Hugh Jackman is Australian.

8-6-08

There's been a surge of incredible Live Arcade games recently. Case in point: Braid.

8-5-08

Eschalon: Book 1 is a kick-ass RPG. It's old-school, but the graphics are still pretty good, the story is cliched but intriguing, and the character system is excellent. If you've been bummed that the last good pure RPG came out like ten years ago, be bummed no longer.

8-4-08

Auntie Anne's caramel sauce is frickin' unbelievable.

8-3-08

Every single person at the Radiohead concert was A) white, and B) high.

8-2-08

The Phoenix lander found water on Mars.

8-1-08

Desert tortoises live underground.

7-31-08

Geometry Wars 2 is amazing.

Now, the original Geometry Wars was the best Live Arcade game of all time -- really, the only good game -- so naturally you'd expect the sequel to be a huge flaming pile of ass. But no. It is unbelievable. Imagine everything you ever loved about Geometry Wars. Then imagine it all doubled. Then imagine playing it multiplayer. I mean, jesus. If you own a 360, you either need to buy this game and play it, or buy a shotgun and shoot yourself in the face.