Here’s a site that shows the evolution of the Mario sprite in detail. A little too much detail, but it’s cool none the less.

I only wish the page would be updated to include the last couple of generations including Mario 64, Mario Sunshine, Mario sports games, and Paper Mario 2.

It’s time for another Mobile, Alabama Blogger post.

If you’re like me, you want to get your local Mobile, Alabama news from Google News. Well, now that they added custom news, you can get your local news there too.

Here’s how:

1. Go to news.google.com
2. Click on the Customize this page link in the upper right hand corner
3. Click Add A Custom Section
4. Type Mobile, Alabama in the keyword box
5. If you want, click advanced and enter Local in the label box
6. Now, click Add Section and you have a local Mobile, Alabama section on your Google News page

Remember Chris Pirillo from Tech TV’s glory days? Well, I don’t really remember which one he is either, but the name definitely rings a bell. Anyway, he’s got a pretty good blog. He’s also a huge fan of AdSense.

Now, I wonder if Leo Laporte has a blog… Yep, he does, Leoville.com Blog.

I admit it; I’m obsessed with driving traffic to my blog. I want to be #1 for the keyword Nicholas , and I’m dying for my host’s servers to crash under the strain of my traffic.

In pursiut of these goals, I have been reading every article on “Promoting Your Blog” that I can find, and it always comes back to one thing, the niche market. It seems like everyone is saying, “Target a small market and stick with them.” or “Don’t stray from your core market.”

I don’t want to be niche. I want to blog about whatever I feel like. I stated my blog for several reasons:

• I couldn’t get any of my friends to start one for me to read
• I was inspired by posting a comment on another blog
• I wanted an online record of the sites and stuff I found (presumably so that I could find it again in the future)

So, why is it that almost every suggestion to drive traffic to my site requires me to do something I don’t want to do.

Anybody have any suggestions for promoting a blog besides targeting a niche market? More importantly how do you promote your blog? I would love to hear from some other bloggers on this.

I hate phones. I hate it when they ring, I hate answering them, I hate leaving mesages on them, and I hate calling people on them. I can’t wait for the damn things to become obsolete.

The feature set on them is so limited; it’s a joke. You can’t pick up a phone and search for the person you’re trying to call. If you dial the wrong number, you don’t get suggestions as to what you might have wanted. I’m sorry this is the wrong number, perhaps you were trying to reach John Smith at 555-555-5556, since he called you at 4:55pm yesterday. No one can remember telephone numbers. Why are we still using a number phone system based on different toned beeps? Can’t we come up with something better than this. And why do I have to have a number? I want to be Nicholas@Home. Call me there. I don’t even know my parents home phone number without looking it up.

I hate ordering pizza over the phone. In the next 10 years, pizza places are going to have to offer internet ordering just to stay competitive. Everytime I order pizza, the first thing they do when I call is put me on hold. WTF! Let me just go to a website, LOOK at pics and the menu, and order at my own speed.

Uh, phones suck. Okay, that’s the end of my rant for today.

I picked up four new games—er, used games that is. All of them cost only about $14.

1. Strider (NES)
2. Metal Gear (NES)
3. StarTropics (NES)
4. Jeopardy Deluxe Edition (SNES)

I remember renting Strider and having a lot of fun with it. Metal Gear, of course, is a classic, and StarTropics sounded familiar. If memory serves correct, it is a sort of prequel ot Earth Bound. I could be mistaken though.

Note: Those screenshots on the Jeopardy link are NOT from that game.

Another really good episode, this episode, Tommy the trainer took the winning team to purchase suits. A great reward is something that you can always use and appreciate but would never buy on your own. This reward fit that to the letter. Most of these guys had never owned a suit; they all greatly appreciated the opportunity to get one now. Now, everytime they go to a formal funciton they will be reminded of their time as the contender. I think most reality shows leave the contestants bitter, but I doubt any of these guys will feel bitter about their time on Contender.

Ishme had a heart-to-heart with his wife then his teammates. He apologized for not taking on Akhmed and said if they won he would choose to fight him.

The challenge was a game of Dodgeball. I couldn’t think of a better challange for this show. East team once again started out strong quickly getting ahead, but West team’s Joey caught on to the game and pretty much single-handedly took everyone else out. At one point, Joey tells Ishme to stay back and save his energy for the fight. Akhmed was the last one left on East team. The three left from West teamed up on him, and he did a good job of lasting. He did go down in the end, and West coast got to choose the fighting order.

The West team didn’t have to deliberate for long because they had previously decided that Ishme would fight. They all return to the training center and tell Sly that Ishme would fight. Team East arrives, and Ishme surprises everyone by not asking Akhmed to step up to the line. Ishme whispers to the guy he asked to step up that he just wanted him to pray for him (I’m not sure the guy’s name, but I think Ishme and him were friends). He then tells him to go back and says he will be fighting Akhmed.

They go through the regular pre-fight motions, but the producers elected not to show the press conference/weight-in. They get in the ring; there’s a lot of energy before the start of this fight. Round One starts. -ZAP- My power goes out, and I begin to freak out. My power never goes out (except during Hurricane Ivan). I wait furiously. The power returned and they were at the end of Round Three. Round Four looked extremely close. One thing though, during one of the moments when the referee was pulling them apart, Akhmed took a cheap shot at Ishme. Akhmed’s general sportmanship seemed to be lacking. In Round Five, Ishme goes at it and really pounds on Akhmed. I don’t think Akhmed could last a full 12 rounds. Before the decision is announced, I have no idea who won this one. I missed half of the fight. The decision is unanimous, Ishme wins.

In the post-fight wrap up, Stallone reveals that he favored Akhmed. He says he wants an underdog and Ishme was ranked 6th in the world. Next episode, someone unexpectedly has to leave, and one of the contenders eliminated gets a second chance.

I’ve created a photo history of myself using pictures from old ID’s (and one current one). I hate my driver license picture just as much as the next guy, but at least I got to touch them up a little.

I no longer have the massive beard and hair; it wasn’t compatible with my current job. I expect it to make a comeback once I move on though.

Hey, Blog Hub, one of numerous blog directories, let’s you rate my site. I gave myself a 5. Id’ appreciated you rating me with a 5 as well. I’m obsessed with positive ratings.

Since, I’ve declared myself the Mobile, Alabama Blogger, I thought it would be appropriate to tell more about the city for non-resident readers.

Here’s Google’s map of Mobile, Alabama. Notice we’re nestled on the water.

I couldn’t find a description of Mobile on the city’s site, but the convention and visitors bureau site had this description of the Mobile Bay area.

Located on the sparkling shores of the magnificent Gulf Coast is exciting Mobile Bay, the South’s Easy Vacation Port. Come enjoy a splash of Southern charm when you visit this historic and distinctive coastal city.

Mobile Bay is recognized worldwide for having many unique attractions. The legendary Bellingrath Gardens and Home and the USS ALABAMA Battleship, winner of nine World War II battle stars, are just waiting to be explored. Mobile Bay is also the birthplace of the nation’s Mardi Gras, widely known as America’s Family Mardi Gras.

Nestled along the banks of Mobile Bay’s magnificent waterfront is America’s newest cruise terminal. Book your voyage from Mobile Bay to the western Caribbean on a Carnival Cruise Line Fun Ship. Make it a true BAYcation® and combine your cruise with one of our exciting and affordable Pre and Post Cruise Packages.

Unique attractions, exciting outdoor adventures, fresh delicious seafood, Delta excursions, fascinating museums, twenty-one world-class golf courses, white sandy beaches, beautiful historic homes, the possibilities are endless. Plan the perfect Mobile BAYcation® and discover why Mobile Bay is the South’s Easy Vacation Port.

By the way, if you’re like me, you probably can never figure out the city’s garbage pick-up schedule. No need to fret, they have the schedule posted on their site:

Garbage collection (PDF) | Trash Collection

The problems with commenting that I posted about have been fixed. So, start leaving some more comments!

They posted this explanation on their Status Blog. Come to think of it, the idea of a support blog is pretty innovative. More tech companies should look into starting one.

Here’s the trailer for Star Wars Episode III. I suggest you stop what you’re doing and watch it immediately. It’s powerful. It definitely makes the top ten list for all time best trailers.
via Kottke

Update: The above site is getting hammered, and you might not be able to get through. I got through on my second try though. You can either keep trying or try the BitTorrent version.

Update: Update: Here’s a great picture by picture recap of the trailer.

Congratulations to my man Ed Ford (Insane Robot) over at Virtual High Five. He got his first computer A+ certification. I always wanted to get some of these, but I never have gotten a chance.

When asked how he feels about his new status, Insane Robot says (in his best robot voice):

No, I will not fix your computer.

The comments don’t seem to be working. More specifically, you can’t leave any new ones, but you can still view them by clicking on the NR signature graphic below each post. I’ve contacted Blogger (my blogging software provider). Hopefully, it will be fixed soon.

I know I’m not the only one with this problem either. Insane Robot at Virtual High Five is having the same issue.

Update: Problem Fixed

Findory is a cool little search engine with some neat features. In particular, it will remember your search history, and it has some interesting blog aggregation items.

One feature I like is the Findory neighborhood, it visually represents blogs it thinks are “related” to yours. Here’s my site’s Findory neighborhood. Acording to Findory, Boing Boing is the most related to me.