Time waster alert: Chronotron (via) is not only the best Flash game I’ve ever played, but one of the best games period that I’ve ever played. Of course, I’m partial to time travel. Past you’s help future you solve puzzles. Yes, it works just like that.
My Favorite Posts /
Genius Meet Disaster Meet Despair
Um, yea, so, I did it. I washed my ipod shuffle. And the headphones. The headphones still work great. Sadly, I’m not having much luck with the ipod. It’s just so damn small that it fits in your pocket without you even knowing. And it was a Christmas present from my mom no less. Sorry, mom. 
Getting in Shape using the Software Development Life Cycle
Most of the time, my degree in computer science only gets used as resume stuffing. Recently, all that nonsense has crept into the most mundane of my activities. My workout process is following the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), and I think just about anyone could benefit from a little SDLC too.
My Newest Posts /
I’ve been looking for an image gallery solution … The Wordpress Codex suggests the YAPB plugin to turn Wordpress into a photoblog. I want to give this a try eventually. Of course, the Wordpress Codex also makes some other suggestions.
Reading Books
Lately, I’ve been on a reading kick. Pretty much devouring books (I usually read pretty slowly.) In the last three weeks, I’ve read roughly 1200 pages:
- Midnight Sins by Cynthia Eden
- Heroes: Saving Charlie by Aury Wallington
- Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
- 1984 by George Orwell
I’d recommend any of those except 1984 … It was truly disappointing. I just picked up two more titles:
- Burn Notice: The Fix by Tod Goldberg
- Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
Best part about reading? A few minutes before bed, and I sleep SO well.
I still contend that the only point of the Internet is free stuff. So, here’s to the Internet: 30 sites to download free royalty-free stock photos.
I launched a new design for my work site, dannylipford.com. Even though there were plenty of compromises (rotating flash panel on homepage,) it’s the happiest I’ve ever been with my professional work. Particularly, I like the sparse design (especially on these pages,) related posts feature on each article (used Yet Another Related Post plugin), and the most popular posts (used Popularity Contest plugin) on the homepage and on each category page. Let me know your thoughts, and feel free to be brutally honest.
Seth Godin writes about the myth of launch PR pointing out many great successes that didn’t get much PR on launch (including Google, Microsoft and Harry Potter). He’s got a great point. Google’s new Chrome browser has gotten a lot of press, but it doesn’t make much of a difference. The kind of press it gets in a year or two will really determine whether or not it’s a success.
What should an author do when his/her latest release gets slammed by pretty much every major publication? Why make a video about it and use it to promote the book, of course. Now, that’s turning bad press around.
Reminds me of the time PETA brought a giant fish mascot to protest outside my dad’s seafood restaurant. He went outside, put his arm around it and posed for a picture with the local paper.
I’m watching the Chrome presser right now … Yes, it’s going to be big. Super fast (their demo of static pages was 70ms compared with IE’s 200ms), “application mode” (you have to see the demo but REAL cool), incredible UI (there’s some great smart features). I just feel sorry for the IE8 dev team. No one’s going to care much about anything they have to say. Update: It’s available (Download Google Chrome), I’ve downloaded it and am installing.
Suprise, Suprise
For once, all the Google Browser rumors have died down, and lo and behold, Google’s gone and announced a browser. It’ll either be huge or nothing. I can’t wait to try it out.
Mary Poppins is the Exorcist with songs. Looking at movies differently.
Quick Tip: If you’re reading articles on a website on how to be manly … you’re not manly. The website won’t help you either.
The entire original black and white 1994 Bottle Rocket short is on YouTube … The video quality sucks (think security camera), but it’s highly entertaining.
Quick Review: Charlie Bartlett
Early web chatter described Charlie Bartlett as the new Ferris Bueller. Big shoes to fill, but not a completely accurate description. Charlie Bartlett is more Ferris Bueller meets Rushmore. Actually, it stands pretty well on its own. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and wish I hadn’t been so skeptical that I missed it in the theater. Now, I just need an excuse to watch it again.
Wes Anderson and Jason Schwartzman recommend CD’s and DVD’s at Borders. Via. I’m not really sure what to make of this video, but once I got over the initial annoyance of it, it was a little entertaining. (Be forewarned: it’s not that entertaining.) Too bad, Darjeeling Limited was horrible, horrible. Should have drawn more from Thomas the Tank Engine on that one, how can you screw up a movie about trains?
Here’s another funny video, but not as good as the last one. This man claims to be able to jump on eggs without breaking them.