Black Mesa Source
Permalink | Tweet This! | | November 30, 2008 by John in Video Games
This looks insanely great. Fan-made Black Mesa Source trailer reinvents original Half-Life (Joystiq):
It’s been over ten years since Valve’s Half-Life released on PC and changed FPS gaming forever. In 2009, the fan-made Black Mesa Source will do more than just revisit the classic Valve game. From the looks of this newly released trailer, Black Mesa Source will reimagine the game with modern tech and modern production values.
There is a Half-Life 1 “Source” game available through Steam, Valve Software’s online store, which uses the newer Half-Life 2 Source Engine. The lighting and other effects seem to be the only things updated. I’ve played it, but it uses the same (dated, low-polygon) 3D models and low-resolution textures so the improvement is minimal. But this is a complete overhaul and looks nearly as amazing as Half-Life 2:
Disappearing Rabbit Trick
Permalink | Tweet This! | | November 27, 2008 by John in Humor
Hmmm, what could have happened…
Fast, but not Fried
Permalink | Tweet This! | | November 26, 2008 by John in Cooking
I wish I had known about this in ‘99, the last time I tried to cook a turkey for Thanksgiving (I have that story somewhere on an old blog archive - it was a disaster). 45-Minute Roast Turkey (emphasis mine):
- Heat oven to 450 degrees. Put turkey on a stable cutting board breast side down and cut out backbone. Turn turkey over, and press on it to flatten. Put it, breast side up, in a roasting pan. Wings should partly cover breasts, and legs should protrude a bit.
Desktop BG
Permalink | Tweet This! | | by John in Computer-Internet, Photography
I just can’t get enough of this image, which I’m using as a desktop background at home. It’s so striking. Click to embiggen.
Link Love for Carolla
Permalink | Tweet This! | | November 24, 2008 by John in Adam Carolla
I’ve corrected an oversight and added a banner for The Adam Carolla Radio Show to my sidebar (Disclaimer: I don’t get paid for those banners). I’ve only been listening to it for a few years now.
I derived it from the show logo:
Bonus link: The Unofficial Adam Carolla Message Board
California Wildfires
Permalink | Tweet This! | | November 21, 2008 by John in Family, In the News
These photos on Boston.com are insanely great, even though this one is less than 20 miles from at least five of my family member’s homes:
I Love Despair (Inc.)
Permalink | Tweet This! | | by John in Consumer, Humor
After a few years hiatus I’ve ordered a calendar for next year from Despair, Inc.. I love that they let you pick the Demotivators for each month now. I also love their attitude:
Again, thanks for your recent order from Despair, Inc.
If you have received this email, it means that your credit card information proved valid and that your order has been sent. You might assume now that we have your money that you’re in for better treatment. You might also assume that if you try really hard, you will succeed. But your assumptions would, in both cases, be completely wrong. And that is why you REALLY need our products.
Too busy laughing to hurl
Permalink | Tweet This! | | by John in Graphic Design, Television
I suppose it was only a matter of time. CMYK - America’s Top Graphic Designer (via Creattica):
“Look around you. Everything you see visually was created by a graphic designer. There have been many successful reality shows, but none have featured the graphic design geniuses behind major marketing campaigns for print, television, Internet, and mobile devices. CMYK will do just that,” stated Cheryle R. Reynolds, creator and producer of the reality show.
Print designers (and increasingly web designers) tend to be insanely pretentious and elitist. Cue the kvetching and gnashing of teeth by the nation’s graphic designers. I’m not going to watch the show, but I love that it will piss off certain people.
Creative Location Titles
Permalink | Tweet This! | | November 20, 2008 by John in Graphic Design, Movies, Television
I love seeing creative solutions to one of the most overlooked aspects of movies and television, the location title text. The first thing that really stood out to me about the new series Fringe was the 3D type composited into the backgrounds at the beginning of each new scene. Here is an example, probably from a commercial, with promotional text rather than location text (I’ll try to find a better example):
One of the nice touches in Quantum of Solace that was not lost on me was the different typefaces used to announce each location, designed by Tomato (via goldenfiddle).
Now if only they would have explained the title of the movie…
(more…)
This is News?
Permalink | Tweet This! | | November 19, 2008 by John in Religion
I don’t know what bothers me more, that there’s people like this in the world (and they are legion) or that Newsweek is reporting this as “news.” There’s no sarcasm, there’s no dismissal of the insanity. ‘Is Obama the Antichrist?’ by Lisa Miller, Newsweek (via RichardDawkins.net):
On Nov. 5, Todd Strandberg was at his desk, fielding E-mails from around the world. As the editor and founder of RaptureReady.com, his job is to track current events and link them to biblical prophecy in hopes of maintaining his status as “the eBay of prophecy,” the best source online for predictions and calculations concerning the end of the world. Already Barack Obama had drawn the attention of apocalypse watchers after an anonymous e-mail circulated among conservative Christians in October implying that he was the Antichrist. Former “Saturday Night Live” ingénue Victoria Jackson fueled the fire when, according to news reports, she wrote on her Web site that Obama “bears traits that resemble the anti-Christ.” Now Strandberg was receiving up-to-the-minute news from his constituents in Illinois. One of the winning lottery numbers in the president-elect’s home state was 666— which, as everyone knows, is the sign of the Beast (also known as the Antichrist). “It is very eerie, and I take it for a sign as to who he really is,” wrote one of Strandberg’s correspondents.