Happy 2008 to you all.  Hope you have a grand ole time.  We just chilled and watched some Seasick Steve and others and took in all the fireworks both on the tv as well as around the city.

Midnight sledding anyone?

I recently played the game (old folks might say “video game”) Portal, which is a singular experience in computer gaming (old folks might say “wasting time”). If you followed that link to the official page, there’s a trailer which gives you some sense of what the game is about and also introduces you to GLaDOS, the omnipresent computer voice who guides you through the tests. If you didn’t watch the movie, the basic concept is that you play as a test subject who must navigate various puzzles using your portal gun. A portal gun creates two portals (duh!) so you can move to different points in the rooms. For example, to get across a room which has a deep chasm in the center, you can create a portal in the wall behind you and then create the second in the far wall. Stepping through the near portal, exits you from the far one. Or, you could create a portal in the ceiling at the far side, then create a portal directly under your feet, so you drop down out of the ceiling at the far side. The puzzles quickly become more complex, many of them relying on conservation of momentum through the portals. If you need to cross a long horizontal distance, you can jump down into a portal in order to exit one facing your desired trajectory– Exiting it at the full velocity you gained by jumping down in the first place, thus flinging yourself across a room. Does that make sense? Now you see why I suggested you see the movie. Here’s a YouTube link to make it easy (old folks might say you’re lazy). You can also put portals above and below you so that you fall endlessly from one to the next. Wheee!

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From Wikipedia:

“Filming was also completed in 2006 for an unofficial mini-series, Star Trek: Of Gods and Men, which contains many cast members from the TV series and movies and is Directed by Tim Russ (Tuvok from Star Trek: Voyager); it will be released free of charge on the internet in stages, starting on December 22, 2007.^“

http://startrekofgodsandmen.com/main/index.php

“That’s How People Grow Up” single details

Single That’s How People Grow Up CD Single backed with “The Last Of The Famous International Playboys” (Recorded Live At The Orpheum Theater, Omaha, Nebraska, 11th May, 2007)

7″ single number 1 backed with “The Boy With The Thorn In His Side” (Recorded Live At Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, 27th October, 2007) [This will have authentic Dave, Mary & Kerry screams in the background]

7″ single number 2 backed with “Why Don’t You Find Out For Yourself” (Recorded Live At Thanksgiving Point, Salt Lake City, UT 15th October, 2007)

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At work I’ve been changing my desktop wallpaper every month or so, with the help of these Star Trek inspirational posters.  This one is my current wallpaper.  I’ve had various other images from that site over the year, starting with Captain James T. Kirk and including Expendibility, Logic, and Technofear.  Many of these are very appropriate to an office environment.

Awesomesauce.

Religious ‘Innovations’ for Christmas | Dec 11, 2007 22:39

For raw comedy fire-power, there’s not much that surpasses the Innovations catalogue. Every few months this astonishing publication appears in my letterbox and provides me with hours of hilarity.

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