[kiyote23]
 dorky.radiofreepirate.org

life on the dork farm

Thursday, January 31, 2008 :::
 

Last night we squeezed in some quality time playing Super Mario Bros.
3 on the virtual console. SMB3 has one of the neatest two player
modes I've seen in a platformer. You cooperatively work your way
through the game. If you clear a level, your turn ends and the other
player gets to play, starting from where you left off. It's an
excellent way for two players of differing skill levels to play
together, as it equalizes the play time.

SMB3 on it's own is so far my favorite of the 8 bit platformers.



::: Super Mario Bros. 3 2 player mode posted by kiyote23
::: at 1/31/2008 06:48:00 PM
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Saturday, January 26, 2008 :::
 

 

via The Dust Forms Words by Greg Tannahill on 1/25/08

Good cinematics can conceal any number of gameplay faults. Look, for instance, at Dragon’s Lair. I dare you to walk near an arcade stand of that machine and not put in whatever ridiculous fee it wants to charge you for a game. Decades on, and people are still being suckered into experiencing its almost complete lack of interactivity.

Cinematics can be so important, indeed, that if you get a well known director to film 90 to 180 minutes of cinematic with well known actors, you can screen it in a theatre and not a single person will complain that it didn’t have an online component and the multiplayer was weak.


::: posted by kiyote23
::: at 1/26/2008 12:40:00 PM
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Monday, January 14, 2008 :::
 


Design Observer: writings about design & culture: "In the late 1950s, Bettler was asked to design a series of posters to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Swiss pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfäfferli+Huber. Aware of reports that P+H had been involved in testing prisoners in German concentration camps less than 15 years before, he hesitated, and then decided to accept the commission. 'I had the feeling I could do some real damage,' he said later.

And indeed he did. He created four posters featuring dramatic, angular black and white portraits juxtaposed with sans serif typography. Alone, each poster was an elegant example of international style design. Together, however, a different message emerged, for it turned out the abstract compositions in the posters contained hidden letters. (The one above, for example, displays the letter A.) Hung side by side on the streets, they spelled out N-A-Z-I. A public outcry followed, and within six weeks the company was ruined.

So if you're looking for evidence that graphic design has the potential to change the world, you need look no further than the story of Ernst Bettler. But if you look a little further, you'll discover something disturbing: Ernst Bettler never existed. The designer, the posters, the company are all entirely made up."


::: posted by kiyote23
::: at 1/14/2008 04:25:00 PM
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Welcome to GoIowaCity!:"Marcus Theatres today announced that it will not carry the new motion picture “Cloverfield” at any of its 49 locations, including the Coral Ridge 10 and Sycamore 12 theaters.

The film, a highly anticipated new version of the conventional mega monster movie from “Lost” producer J.J. Abrams, premieres nationally on Friday.

“Our negotiations with this film distributor have again reached an impasse,” said Marcus President Bruce J. Olson in a news release. “Marcus Theatres did not show ‘Sweeney Todd’ on its first-run availability date because acceptable terms could not be negotiated and now we will not be exhibiting ‘Cloverfield’ at any of our locations for similar reasons.”"

I don't go to the movies that often, because there's rarely a movie I want to see. And then there are two movies in a row that I do want to see, but the local theatres, which are all owned by the same company won't carry them.

But that's alright. If they don't want my business, I don't need to pay for an overpriced ticket, soda or pop corn, anyway. I can just wait until I get it on Netflix.


::: Welcome to GoIowaCity! posted by kiyote23
::: at 1/14/2008 04:05:00 PM
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Friday, January 11, 2008 :::
 

A first! Snow falls in Baghdad - Yahoo! News:"An Iraqi who works for The Associated Press said he woke his wife and children shortly after 7 a.m. to "have a look at this strange thing." He then called his brother and sister and found them awake, also watching the "cotton-like snow drops covering the trees."

For a couple of hours anyway, a city where mortar shells routinely zoom across to the Green Zone became united as one big White Zone. As of late afternoon, there were no reports of violence. The snow showed no favoritism as it fell faintly on neighborhoods Shiite and Sunni alike, and (with apologies to James Joyce) upon all the living and the dead."


::: A first! Snow falls in Baghdad - Yahoo! News posted by kiyote23
::: at 1/11/2008 11:18:00 AM
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Friday, January 04, 2008 :::
 

Dorkcast 1.2 -- The Pirates and New Yars 2008.


::: posted by kiyote23
::: at 1/04/2008 07:11:00 PM
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Thursday, January 03, 2008 :::
 


You Can Caucus if You Want To
Originally uploaded by Kiyote23.
So we went and did that thing that our friends who live in other states *cough illinois cough* feel gives us Iowans too much power and responsibility; we caucused. And while there is a lot of power and responsibility for having the first in the nation Presidential contest, the thing that all the naysayers have to remember is that it isn't a primary. You don't vote in a caucus. You get counted. Voting in a primary takes about 15 minutes, if you have to wait in line. We caucused for two hours.

We lobbied for Bill Richardson. I was leaning towards Obama, but then the Richardson chair made a speech, and I decided to join them. The Obama camp wasn't hurting for supporters. We came really close to being viable, falling short by about four people. The Obama, Clinton, and Edwards camps all made plays for us, but we stood firm, refusing to budge until we were finally declared inviable. A person in our group continued to argue the point with the chairperson after the rest of us dispersed to find a new camp, arguing to the point where we suddenly heard the chairperson declaim angrily, "That's it! I'm calling the Sheriff!"

You might hear that yelled at the Illinois Primary, but more than likely it will be to arrest a wrong-doer as opposed to ending an exceedingly vocal argument on parliamentary procedure.


::: posted by kiyote23
::: at 1/03/2008 07:16:00 PM
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Via MetaFilter.



::: The Original Human TETRIS Performance by Guillaume Reymond posted by kiyote23
::: at 1/03/2008 12:29:00 PM
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Iowa City through the fisheye
Originally uploaded by SuperMarina.
I think maybe my fisheye exaggerates the smallness of this town?
I like how it makes it seem like Iowa City is a world unto itself.


::: Iowa City through the fisheye posted by kiyote23
::: at 1/03/2008 09:49:00 AM
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The New Yar's Meal
Originally uploaded by Kiyote23.
We had to bring the table over from the other cabin, but we managed to cram everyone around one long table. One the neatest points of New Yar's was everyone telling the group what had happened to the them in the past year.


::: The New Yar's Meal posted by kiyote23
::: at 1/03/2008 09:12:00 AM
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Taking Pictures
Originally uploaded by Kiyote23.
It was like dueling gadgetry, because Scott and Kate were taking pictures of someone else taking pictures, but I don't remember whom.


::: Taking Pictures posted by kiyote23
::: at 1/03/2008 09:11:00 AM
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Quite a few, my friend. Quite nearly all.


::: How Many Pirates can You Fit in a Cabin? posted by kiyote23
::: at 1/03/2008 09:11:00 AM
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