Soldat - Return of 2D Gaming...Shooter Style

Soldat looks like a really cool game. Essentially it brings the high-paced shooter-genre back into the 2D scrolling game universe.

(click the screen for a larger image)

What's really impressive is the feature-set rivaling 3D shooters:

• Environment based on real physics rules
• Over 18 weapons
• 32-player multiplayer network game (Internet or LAN)
• Intelligent bots
• 6 game modes:
• 35 different maps
• Map Maker and Interface Maker

Personally, I can't wait to try it out!

Need Cheap Online Storage? (Streamload has you covered.)

If you need reliable, accessible-from-anywhere, mass online storage, check out Streamload. Streamload bills their online storage as “Freedom for Your Digital Lifestyle.” Drop your music, pictures, or other digital content on their servers and access it from any Internet-enabled location.

Streamload offers several plans for online storage needs:

Capacity	Cost	Bandwidth Limit(s)
10GB	Free	100Mb/Mon
Unlim.	$4.95/Mon	1Gb/Mon
Unlim.	$9.95/Mon	10Gb/Mon
Unlim.	$19.95/Mon	25Gb/Mon
Unlim.	$39.95/Mon	60Gb/Mon

Note the bandwidth limits, therein lies the catch. However, 10Gb of free online storage might come in handy. (Another cool feature is the ability to upload files into other users' space.)

Romance Novel Covers -- Revisited

BoingBoing had a link to The Wonderful World of Longmire's romance novel covers redone.

Busted Tees

We've covered cool Tee's before, but I just stumbled onto Busted Tees and had a good laugh over most of their designs.

 
 
 

PowerSkip - A great way to break bones

The PowerSkip boots look like a blast, but I'm sure I'd end up breaking quite a few bones using them.

 

"Tiger Shot in Southern California"

When I first saw the headline on MSN (also headline of this post) I thought: “Somebody should have told Mr. Woods not to golf with Mr. Simpson!”

However, it was a real, 600lb, jungle-cat variety tiger prowling the suburbs that was the victim. Unfortunately the MSN video clip repeatedly showed the big cat's corpse being hauled away--not the most pleasant image for a cat lover to watch.

(Kinda funny at the world coverage and/or lack of US coverage today.)

Woot!

An interesting twist for an online store.

woot.com is an online arm of “a 10 year old consumer electronics distributor that focuses on close-outs and generally buying stuff cheap.”

Here's the deal: Every M-F night at midnite woot.com posts a new deal. The deal lasts until the item is sold out or midnite of the next deal night. That's one deal per day (Friday's deal will last all weekend if not sold out), but amazing stuff. Here's a sampling of the last few days:

• HP Deskjet 5850 Wireless Printer - $99.99
• HP PhotoSmart 735XI 3.2MP Digital Camera with Dock - $99.99
• Cuisinart Brushed Stainless Power Blender ? CBT500 - $39.99
• Liquid Video 6.2" Portable DVD System - $134.99
• Rockford Fosgate WiFi Car/Home Audio Bundle - $199.99 (<<-- Incredible deal on a kickass system)

  The best way to keep on top of woot deals is to add their RSS feed to your favorite news aggregator (try Newsgator) and survey the deal every morning.

  Relevant Links:

  • woot!
  • woot! RSS feed
  • Newsgator home page
  Posted by KillJoy at 01:23 PM | [Link] | Comments (0)
  
  

ASCII Art -- Okay, it's Porn

We've discussed ASCII art before at KJR and were sure to point out that the original use for ASCII art was pin-up based.

Well someone remembers AA's history realy well, well enough to create an archive of ASCII pr0n. (see link below)

Looking for a new prank? Try cutting and pasting samples into a SMS messenger and sending them to someone who is in an important meeting or at dinner with their SO's parents...

Untied.com

Hate a company? Start a parody web site!

Untied.com is a haven for anyone who has a beef with a certain airline and entertainment for those that don't. (Be sure to read the legal disclaimers.)

Hotels - Not so Safe?

I stumbled across an interesting article on MSNBC (detailing an investigation by Dateline NBC. The article deals with hotel security, or more accurately the lack thereof.

It made me realize that I routinely do think of a hotel as a bastion of safety, seldom concerned for my well-being. Now, I'm a middle-aged male who travels infrequently. So I'm probably not in the highest percentile risk-wise. However, the article is good information for anyone who ever stays in a hotel.

Kaleidescape Has Developed Damn Cool Technology

Engadget has interviewed the CEO of Kaleidescape, the company behind the development of a DVD movie jukebox that lets you save perfect copies of DVDs for streaming to your home theater.

The Kaleidescape System uses a home network to deliver digital entertainment to players all over the house. There is a lot more information on the Kaleidescape web site and in the Engadget interview.

Note that one of Kaleidescape hurdles continues to be the licensing of content. Since the MPAA is involved, I wonder how much headway they will make...

Two (related) Reasons to Watch "Medium"

Sure Patricia Arquette is easy on the eyes, but she's also a pleasure to watch act.

If you get a chance watch an episode or two of Medium (10pm, Monday nite, NBC) and see for yourself.

 

GPS Interface to Google Maps

Via Engadget comes news about GPS connectivity to Google Maps.

Glen Murphy has created a plugin for IE that interfaces a PC-based GPS receiver to Google's new map service.

Sure, this means that you need to carry a connected laptop with you, but it is a step in the right direction!

Out with the Old Science Fiction, in with the New

Roughly a week after the disappointing news about Star Trek: Enterprise (hey, I'm still a big fan) comes great news for sci-fi fans:

Battlestar Galactica has been renewed for another season.

Details are still pending (cast, # of episodes, etc), but 3.2 million viewers can't be wrong!

Britney - Too Hot for UK TV

Seems ol' Britney's new Curious commercial can only air after 7:30pm in the UK. In the UK!

The commercial shows Britney being attracted to a guy going into a neighboring hotel room and fantasizing about what they would do together, were they in the same room.

I don't get it--the Apprentices are challenged to create something racy but get chastised for a cucumber-laden, gay message, commercial, but Britney and the like continue to churn out soft porn for the airwaves. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. :) (Actually the commercial isn't too racy--guys don't get your hopes up.)

Hey Britney, maybe you should have named your perfume “Bi-Curious”--could you imagine the visuals in a commercial for that?

Evangeline! Why you do me like that, Evangeline?

So I'm laying on the couch watching late night TV dating crap (Elimidate) as I surf and become befuddled by the 800 chat line ads. Do people (in the age of the Internet) still dial a toll number or pay for chatting on the phone?

One particular ad (Livelinks) had a web address in their ad so I decided to surf over and see what all the hoopla might be about. I was in for a surprise...

It seems that Evangeline Lilly, Kate on LOST, is the spokesmodel for Livelinks. Holy cow. In fact, the commercials I had been watching showcased Evangeline.

Thankfully she was discovered by Livelinks before ABC, so I'll cut her some slack.

The Birth of the Federation

Perhaps inspired by last week's Star Trek: Enterprise episode (where the seeds of The Federation of Planets were sown), two pioneers in private space flight have formed their own federation.

The folks behind SpaceShipOne (winner of the X Prize), John Carmack's Armadillo Aerospace, Alex Tai of Virgin Galactic and many others have joined forces to form “Personal Spaceflight Federation.”

The goals of the Federation are simple, work together to advance the future of private space flight.

This is very cool.

Breast Enhancing Ringtone(s)

While we are on the subject of ringtones, I stumbled across a mention of the following on PsychicGoldfish.com. Little did I know that it had been covered a while back on one of my favorite gadget sites, namely EnGadget.

Okay, here's the deal. Hideto Tomabechi, a somewhat well-known brainwashing expert in Japan, created a clip o'noise that claims that it can make women's breasts grow if they listen to it. He supplies the sound to the public, of course, via a ringtone. If breast-enhancement isn't your thing, you can use other tones to improve your memory, cure your baldness (hey!), stop smoking, and more.

Everyone with me now...“Okaaaaay.”

See the links below if you want to read more, or listen to the tone.

This does bring up a point I was discussing with Btichzilla the other day:

• I've been seeing a lot of young women driving around with strings of beads on their rear-view mirrors. (If I can correctly put 2 and 2 together, they are displaying trophies won by exposing their breasts at Mardi Gras or some other such function)
• There are as many breast-enhancing drugs, bras, creams, and more on the market
• The most popular form of plastic surgery is breast enhancement
• Many women's fashion trends are designed to highlight, well, curves

Why then do men get in trouble when we notice women's breasts? I don't have many women readers, but those that do read might want to help me out here (use the comments or the contact link).

Turn Your Favorite Song Into Your Favorite Ringtone

There are several applications availble to change your favorite song(s) into ringtones, but this is the first full-featured site I've run across that can convert and send the converted sound file to your phone.

Get your favorite MP3 or MIDI file ready and visit ::smashTheTones to convert and send it to your phone. They take your phone number, MP3 file, service provider, a little text to label the tone, and some optional parameters if necessary (length and start point of the conversion). They send the converted sound byte to your phone.

Test Your Godzilla Knowledge

Another goodie from Topher, this one is a reference for all things Godzilla.

Who is Katy Kangaroo Anyway?

We all recognize the fella on the right (don't we?), but what breakfast cereal showcased ”Katy Kangaroo“? How about “Magnolia Bulkhead,” or “Powered Toast Man?”

Well, wonder no more, gentle reader. “Topher's Breakfast Cereal Character Guide” is here to set you straight on your cereal mascots. Lots of trivia buried within, surf on over and see how much you know about your favorites.

"Think Geek" When Shopping for Toys, Gadgets, and Gizmos

Thanks to G-Force for pointing out that the Room Blaster can be bought through Think Geek.

The TG store is a wonderland of gadgets and gizmos, browse and try to resist ordering one or two!

“The Cubes” (above) are also available at Think Geek. (Click on the pic for a larger image and spend some time looking at the details in/around each cube and “employee.”)

Steve Hilbert can Kiss My *ss

WTHR had a segment on tonight showing the inside of the Hilbert mansion. It reminded me of a Indianapolis Business Journal article from back in November where ol' Stevo asked for a stay of a judge's decision for him to pay back $70 million to Conseco and vacate the mansion property.

From the article: “There comes a time in everyone's life where downsizing is something you have to take a look at,” Hilbert said. He said his “financial position has been mortally wounded,” as a result of Conseco's 2002 bankruptcy filing.

What about all the employees who lost their meager jobs at Conseco during the same period, you cretin!? You ran the company into the ground after leeching over $160 million dollars to pay for your lavish lifestyle, all the while dooming many employees to unemployment. I'm betting that you will live comfortably for the rest of your life, asswipe. Too bad it won't be at the 33-acre property featuring a 23,000-square-foot main house, a pool house, and a sports barn with a replica of Indiana University's Assembly Hall basketball court.

Okay, I'm done. Now back to our regular programming.

Coming Soon in Gaming

Here's the blips that have shown up on the radar lately:

Coming Soon:
• SWAT 4 is a followup to the popular strategic shooter from Sierra. The game looks fantastic, hopefully its game play will echo the sterling game play of Raven Shield and Ghost Recon. The game is currently in open beta, I'm hoping I can interest my cadre in participating.
  
• Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich is another followup game. Although turn-based games are far and few between, Freedom Force epitomized what is great about the genre. The first FF carried the spirit of the comics of the early 50s and its gameplay was stellar. For those interested, FF is currently in the bargain bin just about everywhere and is well worth the $10.
• Nexus: The Jupiter Incident, also from Sierra, is “it is a real-time mission-based tactical space game featuring spectacular real time battles and breathtaking motion picture quality.”
  I'm a sucker for space games (Freelancer = suck, Earth and Beyond = suck and defunct, Homeworld 2 = awesome) and this one not only looks good but early reviews are very complimentary. This one ships later this month (2/22/05)--I plan on picking it up on day 1.
• Age of Empires III, the upcoming sequel to the best-selling RTS series looks freaking fantastic, but that still doesn't mean I'll like and/or play it...
• Star Wars Republic Commando is the latest in the explosion of SW universe games. This one's a squad-based shooter and if LucasArts lives up to their usual standards it will rock!
• Pariah is another game I'm tracking. It's very UT-like, but sports a ton of customization in-game and a great level editor.

Now if I could just find the time to play any games.

Browse with a Buddy

jybe.com has an interesting technology they call “CoSurfing”

Using a IM-like chat construct, user A can create a session (like creating a chat room) and user B can join it. Thereafter, any browsing that user A does will be reflected in user B's browser at the same time.

This isn't remote control software--both users remain in control of their own systems and their only real contact is via the jybe IM interface. Their browsers remain linked.

Perhaps not too awfully useful, but interesting nonetheless.

Best Xbox Mod

Caught a mention of this Ebay auction on The Screen Savers. Some guy in the UK took a 1979 Millennium Falcon model and put the guts of an Xbox inside it.

(Click on the pics for larger views.)

I wish I had 70% of the modeling skills this guy has, and just 10% of his free time. :) ~$1500 current bid at time of this writing, auction ends “Ends Feb-07-05 11:00:00 PST.” (Note for anyone wanting to blow $1500--the console is PAL, not NTSC.)

You Just Can't Make This Stuff Up

A picture of a “captured US soldier” on Islamist Web site turns out to be an action figure, not an actual person.

Rumor has it that G.I. Joe and the team are suiting up to perform a rescue...