The D&D Gateway Diagram
Link: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/03/09/opinion/09opart.large.gif
Nifty flowchart on the NYT's site about how D&D is the gateway to nerd-dom!
(Via BoingBoing)
My girlfriend, assassin
Link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/i-fell-in-love-with-a-female-assassin-791978.html
There comes a point in every new relationship when your girlfriend wants to share a secret.
So begin the retelling of an account where a photojournalist's girlfriend turned out to have a slightly chequered past.
(Via Kottke)
Simon's Cat Wants In
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rb8aOzy9t4
Cool little animation about a cat wanting in. An earlier one about trying to wake up the owner is also pretty darn amazing.
Extraterritoriality, the internet and the US
Interesting article from the NYT: if a US government department takes a scunner to you, and you have your domain registered with a US-based registrar, they can and will shut it down. The purpose of the site, the readership, the server location all make no difference.
(Via Daring Fireball)
The most complex webcomic annotation ever?
Link: http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/1845.html
As regular readers know, I love my "Irregular Webcomic" which is probably the smartest use of Lego out there, including building large Millennium Falcons.
In the linked-to episode above, he explains Godel's incompleteness theorem. You need to read this one.
The most whacked-out chocolate advert yet?
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWuYa5NiYqk
I can't really see Cadbury airing these adverts so I assume it's some marketing company flexing its creative muscles.
Summary: suicidal creme eggs.
(Via Nodwick)
Laptop catches fire at airport
Link: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1aa_1203466755
It's another in the sequence of the Sony-battery-goes-critical videos. No idea as to when it was taken so it may be quite old.
(Via Gizmodo)
RIP Gary Gygax
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/03/farewell_gary_gygax_the_dungeo.html
Gary Gygax, the co-creator of "Dungeons And Dragons", has died.
An estimated 20 million people worldwide have played D&D, with more than $1bn spent on game equipment and books.
"I thought we would sell about 50,000 copies," Gary Gygax told me back in 2004.
Also worth reading: Woot's Jokes Not To Make About This. The two best are also probably the most obscure:
7. “With his last breath, he cursed the name of Marlon Wayans.”
...
11. “Lorraine Williams is behind this somehow, I just know it.”
Ross Rubin on the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray wars
Link: http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/25/switched-on-blu-ray-had-friends-in-high-def-places/
Interesting article on why although Blu-Ray may have outlasted HD-DVD, it hasn't necessarily succeeded.
Self-destructing wind turbine
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nSB1SdVHqQ
Impressive video of what happens when the wind over powers a wind turbine tower.
(Via BoingBoing)
Top "greenest" cars in North America
Link: http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/02/and-the-greenes.html
Wired has a small article on what are the twelve cleanest-running production cars in North America, as well as the twelve worst. What's nice is that there are a number of the cleaner cars I'd be happy to drive when my current (not-so-envirofriendly) vehicle finally implodes.
NewsFire RSS Reader is free
Link: http://www.newsfirex.com/blog/?p=201
David Watanabe, author of my favourite OSX-based news/RSS reader, "NewsFire", has made it freeware today. I highly recommend it so give it a whirl.
Palm emulator for the iPhone
Link: http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/02/palm-os-emulati.html
Wired asks:
The question is, Why?
The answer is: there are a lot of good PalmOS applications that simply don't exist on the iPhone.
Indoors composter
Link: http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/02/nature-mill-com.html
It's probably an expensive way to dispose of vegetative material, but given Calgary's climate, I like the idea of a composter that you don't need to go outside into the severe cold to feed.
