Gadgets, Games and Ghyslain

The word of the week is febrile.

May 31 - Same Junk, New Format

It’s the end of May, and it’s cool here in BC – quite cool compared to last year, where the temperatures were around 15-20 degrees hotter than they are now. It’s been rainy here since the weekend began, and being on a mountain there’s a lot of misty clouds rolling around in the morning and evenings. Much prettier than hazy clouds of smog or the shimmer of a heatwave from the concrete expanse of a city, I think.

Do you remember The Sharper Image stores from the 80’s, or even The Den For Men shops? I loved browsing around those places in the days when paper catalogs were still infrequently updated and the internet hadn’t been invented yet as a place to shop. A modern equivalent is GadgetUniverse.com where you can browse all sorts of cool things you didn’t know you needed... and that you will likely regret getting very soon afterwards. I mean, who needs a dashboard video recorder for your car, anyway? And they don’t carry plasma balls either , which are the true sign of a cool gadget store....

June 1st - Free Your Brain

I like online games... especially free ones. In the last few years, you can find pretty much every kind of game you love to play for free online in some form of flash-based browser format or another. Most are arcade-style, but others allow multiple players to interact – check out the World’s Largest List of Free Games!! One of the more amusingly different MMO’s  that sees hundreds of players a day log in, is Kingdom of Loathing, where you can adventure as a stick figure with a club. Filled with dark humour, make sure you try it on a sunny day.

Is the internet bad for people’s brains? Nicholas Carr, a UCLA professor, thinks it is – and the answer lies in the simple book. Have a look at the solid article over on Wired and you’ll see why... long-term memory seems to fragment if media-rich information is used, wheras the simple book is the perfect medium to transfer knowledge to the long-term spots of our meaty brains. Whoulda thunk it?

***On an extra-special note: late this evening I drove to pick up my sister, who had managed to arrange a ride way, way out here all the way from Alberta. We've been planning this secret visit for weeks to surprise my mom, who has her birthday tomorrow. When I showed up with my sister in tow at the condo, there was much excitement - my mother was thrilled speechless that we'd managed to get my sister out here in secret in time for her birthday!! They spent all of the next day together( I had to work and so did my dad )so that was a really special present for my mother, as we hadn't seen my sister for over a year. Love my family. :-)

June 2 - Anyone seen my Sword of Omens?

Aintitcool News had a gem posted today: the Thundercats are coming back as a TV series in 2011! Following the trend of rebooting 80’s culture, Lion-O and Cheetara will strut on the screen again in all their catlike glory – hopefully without Snarf. Sweet!

I spent the first half of today in a training seminar with a dozen of my co-workers from the area, which was fun for the most part – everyone I work with is creative, intelligent and generally fun to be around, which can’t be said for other places and people I’ve encountered in my various day jobs. I'm pleased to see that this company is placing more direct focus on continual training upgrades these last couple of years, as it shows a progressive aim towards solid employee skills. Which means more work for all of us, but I'd rather be learning than doing by rote - that's boring.

June 3 - Relax, it's Thursday

Today was my one day off this week; nothing to do with work, and work had nothing to do with me – not a single phone call disturbed me all day long. After relaxing with some PC games in the morning, I spent some hours playing RDR of course, but I cut out early when the sun decided to finally shine in the late afternoon. I spent a pleasant few hours on the balcony, basking in the warm western glow of the sun which bathes that side of the condo every evening – not a place to tan, but just to relax. Lovely.

Here’s a gem from io9.com: What it was like to be a writer on Firefly. It’s a solid article with a lot of great info, and though I’m not a Browncoat I still love reading about the show – all the details that were never gone into, background etc. It’s the mark of a great show gone too early that it leaves you with more questions than answers, and you want to know those answers – instead of just scratching your head and changing the channel after trying to watch Twin Peaks. Or more recently, Lost – which I still have to catch up on, again

June 4 - Puttin' it off

Over the years I’ve been getting better at getting things done, but procrastination still rears its ugly head from time to time. If you’re not sure if you procrastinate, go and take the Procrastination Test over at Psychology.com to see – don’t wait, don’t put it off... go do it!

I always like those “Whatever happened to...?” articles, though Gary Coleman’s passing of late( as well as Corey Feldman )shows that happy endings are rare enough to be treasured. Such seems to be the case with Ghyslain Raza, also known as The Star Wars Kid – 2002 was not kind to him, but today he’s doing a lot better for himself. Who knows? Someone may pop up a video of you one day and you’ll have to deal with millions of adoring fans – look at how Kristen Stewart recently handled the question of fame.

June 5 - Touring Brains

Virtual Tourism may be the thing of the future: why pack yourself onto a slow-moving cruise ship that spends too much of its time on the boring ocean when you can play tourist from your own couch? Check out EarthCam.com – you can find ideas of places to visit from your LonelyPlanet.com travel account. Having lived next to Niagara Falls all my life, I find being labelled a tourist somewhat derogatory, so I’d prefer to be called a world traveller or even a vacationist... though the last one sounds really lame.

What do you do with your free time? How has that use changed over the last century in general? These and other interesting questions are asked by Clay Shirky and Daniel Pink in their related books that are out this summer – Wired Magazine has a great summary article that delves into the hows and whys of what free time means to people in today’s fast-paced media-soaked culture. Great reading.

June 6 - Sacrifice on Sunday

Today marks the 66^th anniversary of D-Day, when thousands of Canadians joined other Allied troops in storming the beaches of Normandy and so helped to ultimately liberate Europe, ending Nazi tyranny. I remember seeing The Longest Day on TV as a child, totally captivated by the spectacle of courage under fire so portrayed – I spent the entire movie glued to the set, which was rare for me as a kid. Amazing that I can still see that film every few years and not skip parts of it, despite the epic length of the thing.

Some local news: part of a plaza( Colwood Corners )one block down the road from where I work burned to the ground today. I’ve shopped there and driven by many a time, so seeing it in ashes is rather shocking; good thing nobody was injured as it started in the early AM. I imagine they’ll sweep things up and soon enough have something new there, like another Starbuck’s or a McDonald’s... ‘tis the way of things.

Don’t forget to visit NewtAndJohn.com for the latest craziness: jets vs. paper airplanes! I’m posting early tonight so I can a’bed, as it’s shaping up to be an 11+ hour day tomorrow again...