Dasani - Great Commercials

Have you seen the new Dasani water commercials?

“Yoga, sculpting, and tons of cardio.” Priceless.

Eyes

I like Tim Daly. That has almost everything to do with my expectations for Eyes--cool previews certainly help. I'm less than 10 min into the premier and very pleased. Let's see where it goes, but looks very good. “Give it a watch.” (and ping me if you get the joke)

Buzzed Bunny - Last Flash Recommendation for the Week (I promise!)

I know it's outside of my perview for this site, but I got to browsing NewGrounds (after watching Zero Wing Rhapsody) and found (IMO) another gem.

“Buzzed Bunny,” somewhat unfortunately, seems like a suitable replacement for the familiar (well, for our generation) Warner Bros character of old. Most of his dialog could be taken off any number of message boards frequented by today's yutes. Go watch it, 'cause Buzzed is Xtreme!

Zero Wing Rhapsody

Yes, “All Your Base Are Belong To Us” is now older than time, but this is a refreshing (and hilarious) take on it.

Brought to you by the fine folks at Too Much Spare Time and hosted at NewGrounds.

More Michael Flash Fun

We've poked at Mr. Jackson before, but recently ran across a new (slightly entertaining) Flash game, Go Michael Go!

In this game you play Michael in a kind of Frogger-esque game, avoiding the cops while snatching up scattered Pedophilia evidence. Enjoy.

Got Time to Kill?

Spend some of it at TIMEKILLER.com. A collection of videos, games, and more to help you wile away the hours.

The Sharper Cheaper Image

Is it just me, or has The Sharper Image been turning out more crap products over the last few years?

Sure, I love my Quadra air cleaners, but for $300 a pop they better do what they advertise!

Here's my dissappointments:

• I bought the Steam Wizard Turbo Steamer & Wet/Dry Vacuum and it quit steaming within two months. I returned it for a replacement and the second one slowly disintegrated over the next year. It's barely operational now.
• I also spent way too much on the Deluxe Spire Feel-Good Fan with Negative-Ion Feature--it's of very poor manufacturing, wouldn't power up after the first time I turned it off (semi-fixed now), and is about to vibrate itself to death.

(I'm a big believer in negative-ions--the Lasko neg-ion fan I have in my office at home runs constantly and the office is one of the most comfortable feeling rooms in the house. The Lasko fan, btw, was a third the price of the SI fan, has all the same features, and is a much better device. Lowes usually carries it over the summer months. FWIW.

So, chime in. Have you been disappointed at SI's quality lately? Should we be spending our hard earned cash on toys at Hammacher Schlemmer instead?

Boardgames of Yesteryear

Who remembers this image?

Who remembers the foreboding tower at the middle of the board, dishing out electronic hurt in the form of “Brigands,” “Dragon,” “Plague,” and “Bazaar Closed?”

Even if you don't remember, you are in for a treat. Seems Cris Glenn, a certified Macromedia instructor and flash animator from Aardvark Animation, fondly remembers Dark Tower and has recreated the game in Flash-based form. Check out the links below.

(Those hankering for a tangible taste of yesteryear can pick up a physical copy via Ebay for ~$100-200...)

Huh. I can now file for disability. I have ADT.

The ever-vigilant Dr. Edward Hallowell has, er, found a new variant of disorder like ADD (Attention Deficit, er, something) called ADT (Attention Deficit, er, something else).

Look, a bright shiny object! You will have to go read the c|Net article for more info...

On a somewhat serious side, I bet the good doc has a couple of $1000 seminars or a buncha expensive audio tapes to help me out....

Another Contender for Best PC Case Mod

Most of the folks reading this article have a custom PC case.

Most are pretty cool.

None of them resemble a life-size, Anime babe.

But Matsumura Katsuya's does.

Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real

Playing now on Animal Planet (channel), “Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real” is a magnificent piece of work showing how dragons could have existed.

It starts with a premise: What if we found a dragon corpse--what would it tell us about dragons? The show then shows technical and scientific data of other animals to back up dragon capabilities, including breathing fire.

Now-a-days CGI is all the rage (remember the first time you saw “Jurassic Park?” ), but Animal Planet makes good work of it, chronicling the life of several types of dragons and showing how they might have evolved and survived the massive extinction that did in the dinos.

Supposedly three years in the making, this one shines. (And it's narrated by Patrick Stewart!) Look out, Sci Fi, the Discovery Network is producing top-rate stuff (not “Mansquito”, ahem).

Catch it on AP or order the DVD.

Joan Cusack Rocks

Sorry for the interruption, but I'm watching “In & Out” in the background while I surf and wanted to take the chance to say the above.

(If you haven't seen “In & Out”, give it a rent sometime.)

Joan is great in so many movies, including:

• "My Blue Heaven"
• "School of Rock"
• "Working Girl"
  (and of course)
• "Grosse Pointe Blank"

Her brother is another favorite actor of mine (and probably your's too).

Now back to our regularly scheduled program...

Destroy All Humans

Sure we have all gotten to blast many an alien in our video game careers, but how often have we gotten to play the alien side, especially aliens modeled after the 50's concepts?

Well, Destroy All Humans is going to give us that chance. It looks like a blast and is brought to us by Pandemic Studios. Look for it on an XBox or PS2 near you.

Make a Game, Sell it to a Minor, Have Minor Commit Crime, Go To Jail and/or Forfeit $$$

Check out House Bill 2178. It seeks to allow “actions” against game manufacturers or retailers if a video game was a “factor” in an injury or death.

Specific language includes: “A person may maintain an action for personal injury or wrongful death against a manufacturer or retailer of violent video or computer games if the manufacturer or retailer has distributed, sold, or rented a violent video or computer game to a person under the age of seventeen and the game was a factor in creating conditions that assisted or encouraged the person to cause injury or death to another person.”

Of course this is just the latest salvo fired by our Government at the video game industry. What I want to know is when we can sue Congress for our children growing up to be ignorant, arrogant, self-righteous politicians with their heads stuck firmly up their *ss?

KillJoy vs. the Cutting Room Floor

I just saw the episode of X-Play featuring the GDC. There was no appearance by your's truly. Morgan said they could make the segment look good in editing. I had no idea it meant cutting my interview!

Ah well, it is probably for the best. And I still got to meet Morgan and Adam...

Upgrade Your Soundcard with Help From Creative

Creative Labs has settled a class action suit which may mean they will pay up to $62 toward your new soundcard.

If you have a Audigy ES, Audigy Platinum, Audigy Platinum eX, Audigy Gamer, Audigy MP3+, or the Extigy external USB sound module, and purchased it before 12/31/2004 you are eligible for a 25% discount off your next Creative product.

May the Stacy be With You

Another beaut from Atom Films, join Stacy (aka, Pink Five) as she accompanies Luke Skywalker on his famous Death Star Run. A little repetitious but kinda funny.

Are You Ready for Your HD Closeup?

With HD now mainstream, some folks are asking important questions like: “Should we really be viewing things in that high of definition?”

OnHD.tv examines that question from a celebrity point-of-view, pointing out who is and isn't ready for HD. Yeah, it's catty, but the TV generation loves catty.

(With all due respect to Mr. Buscemi, I'm a big fan of his work and he gets a bad rep for his looks--folks say that in person he is quite handsome.)

OLEDs - Next Gen Flexible Displays

It's been all the rage in sci-fi (remember Minority Report? yeah, it's a bit hazy to me too), but thin, flexible, interactive screens might be in use sooner than we expect.

An article on the Infinity-sponsored, MSN “The Edge of Innovation” site details the technology behind Flexible Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (FOLED) which can be used to create light, flexible displays with:

• More vivid images than standard LED screens
• A viewing degree of more than 160 degrees (w/o backlighting)
• Utilizing less power than today's mainstream technologies

Interesting read.

Add Liquid Generation to your Browse List

Be sure to check out the demo of Paris Hilton's cellphone and play their various games and Flash clips. (Suck My News is a favorite.)

Warning: Site is 100% Flash.

Liquid Generation

Dell Bashing

I've never been a Dell fan, for a variety of reasons. But the folks in the links below have solid reasons to stay away from the big D.

(ChipChick's site is well worth a longer read.)

FWIW, the company I work for was recently baited and switched by the big D--we applied and were accepted for 90 days SAC financing but the order was put through on our standard financing plan. All this might make you think long and hard before dealing with Dell.

Outsourcing "Calls" Gets Ridiculous

Another “What the f*ck are they thinking” article...

McDonalds' CEO says that outsourcing drive through orders could improve service.

Not in this lifetime. The order taking and order fulfillment “departments” can't communicate with each other when they are only one window away from each other--how is it going to improve when they aren't even in the same state? Nutcase.

KJ Interviewed by Morgan Webb

This trip (GDC) just got worth it.

A guy approached me at the booth today looking for someone to talk on camera about Duke Nukem Mobile. I was going to put one of my peers in the spotlight until I found out that the spot was for G4TV and the lovely (and talented) Morgan Webb was doing the interviewing.

Morgan getting ready for our closeup.

The segment will air on G4TV in about two weeks, stay tuned for updates...

Off to GDC

I've been invited to attend (okay, be a booth monkey) at this year's Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco.

It's been several years since I've attended this event, which has grown considerably. I probably won't get to see a whole lot, what with being stuck in a booth 7ish hours a day demo-ing cell phone versions of Doom, Duke Nukem, and more. Still, there are worse ways to spend my days.

If anyone has any requests, lemme know and I'll do my best to check 'em out for ya.

More Celebrity Divorce News

“Denise Richards, Charlie Sheen to divorce”

Huh. Didn't see this coming...yeah, right. “Sorry, Charlie.”

Hungry Everquest II Players Order Pizza Hut

What do hungry Everquesters do when hunger strikes in the middle of a quest? Why they type “/pizza” (in-game!), fill out a form, and have Pizza Hut deliver the goods.

Is there nothing EQ2 can't do? (KJ ain't no fan of EQ but this is kinda cool.)

Iraq Friendly Fire Porta-potty Ambush Video

Say that three times fast. Lots of great stuff at IFILM.com, start with the Iraq Porta-potty Ambush.

Who needs insurgents with friends like these?

Queen Elizabeth Knights Bill Gates

No, seriously. But don't take my word for it...

• Reuters article

(KillJoy is expecting folks from both sides of the peanut gallery to weigh in on this one...)

E=mc Hawking

I heard a snippet of “E=mc Hawking” on Sirius and had to find out more about M.C. Hawking.

Wikipedia gives quite a bit of background on the Hawkman, seems he's been a “lyrical terrorist” since early in 2000. I'm not a big fan of Hip Hop and the whole thang ain't PC, but with lyrics like these, the whole thing's a scream:

A few notes:

• Stephen Hawking has said that he's flattered by MC's antics
• All the voice work is actually done by a computer with a voice synthesizer