EDIT: Dr. Horrible is still available to watch for free, with limited commercial interruptions. If you STILL haven't seen it, get your butt there NOW! It's hilarious!
Oh, before I forget, thanks to Penny Arcade, Juri and I found this totally hilarious short by Joss Whedon (the guy who made the Buffy series and the movie Serenity, among other things) and starring Neil Patrick Harris. It is called Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. If you don't check it out TODAY, you will miss out on watching the whole thing for free. After today, you will have to buy it on iTunes or on DVD when it is released. I just may get it on DVD anyway, because it is just that good! You owe it to yourself to watch this... RIGHT NOW!!!!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Gearing Up for ComicCon
The big day is coming up this week. Thursday, to be exact. I took special liberty just to attend! I have never been to a convention like this before. ComicCon is a gathering of comic and manga artists, movie makers, and game companies in San Diego. It happens every year in San Diego and this will be our first year attending. My wife and kids are just as excited as I am. We even have Juri's youngest brother coming down to join us. Nearly every night for this past week, after the kids have gone to bed, Juri and I discuss some of our plans for ComicCon.
One thing that we are really excited for is seeing the guys who make the web comic Penny Arcade. Being avid gamers ourselves, these guys sense of humor are very similar to ours. Juri and I recently purchased two of their latest volumes of comics and have been laughing hysterically at many of the jokes. One of our plans at ComicCon is to ask them to sign our books. I also wanted to ask them if they plan on making any toys of their characters. I’d definitely throw down some cash on a Fruit Fucker action figure!!
Another plan is to see the Rooster Teeth gang. They are the guys who make the popular internet series Red Vs. Blue. While I’m not a fan of the Halo game series at all, I do love what these guys have done with the game to make a hilarious show. We own the first three seasons of the show on DVD so I plan on getting them to sign those discs or jewel cases. If they happen to have more seasons available to buy there, I’ll definitely snag them.
We, of course, intend to swing by the booths of the various video game companies on hand. Konami, Square-Enix, and Capcom will be there, along with Pokémon USA. I doubt that any of our favorite game developers will be there, since it seems like this is more of an opportunity for publishers to showcase their latest games, but oh well. I hope that we’ll get some cool swag from them nonetheless.
I can’t wait for the big day! Thursday can’t get here soon enough! I’m totally looking forward to getting free stuff and buying unique things we can’t find anywhere else.
One thing that we are really excited for is seeing the guys who make the web comic Penny Arcade. Being avid gamers ourselves, these guys sense of humor are very similar to ours. Juri and I recently purchased two of their latest volumes of comics and have been laughing hysterically at many of the jokes. One of our plans at ComicCon is to ask them to sign our books. I also wanted to ask them if they plan on making any toys of their characters. I’d definitely throw down some cash on a Fruit Fucker action figure!!
Another plan is to see the Rooster Teeth gang. They are the guys who make the popular internet series Red Vs. Blue. While I’m not a fan of the Halo game series at all, I do love what these guys have done with the game to make a hilarious show. We own the first three seasons of the show on DVD so I plan on getting them to sign those discs or jewel cases. If they happen to have more seasons available to buy there, I’ll definitely snag them.
We, of course, intend to swing by the booths of the various video game companies on hand. Konami, Square-Enix, and Capcom will be there, along with Pokémon USA. I doubt that any of our favorite game developers will be there, since it seems like this is more of an opportunity for publishers to showcase their latest games, but oh well. I hope that we’ll get some cool swag from them nonetheless.
I can’t wait for the big day! Thursday can’t get here soon enough! I’m totally looking forward to getting free stuff and buying unique things we can’t find anywhere else.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Arcade Cabinet Status
It has been quite some time since I mentioned anything about the arcade cabinet. I did "finish" it, in that games were playable on it. For some time there was some good game playing action on it. Then, the problems began to rear their ugly heads.
The first crisis occurred when the computer's video card died. I managed to snag an old one from a friend for the cheap price of free. Unfortunately, the card wasn't good enough for playing games. =( So, the cabinet became more of a beatmania and Guitar Hero arcade game using the PS2's. After we moved to San Diego, the next issue appeared. The TV the arcade cabinet uses would flat line occasionally. What I mean is that the TV image flattens into a thin line through the center of the screen with normal sound output. I slight smack to the side or top of the TV would cause it to fix itself. However, the issue began to crop up more and more frequently. It now happens pretty much every single time I play beatmania. Finally, since I got the new laptop, I decided to put my old Alienware computer into the arcade cabinet to be the main game machine. While working on reformatting the computer with an optimized version of Windows XP using a program called nLite, the computer suddenly turned off! I suddenly smell the acrid odor of smoldering electronic components from the power supply!!
Juri always says that bad things happen in groups of threes. So since three things have happened, I hope that I can make fixes to the cabinet to get it restored to life. I plan on fixing the TV myself, since I've always wanted to open up a TV and check it out anyway. Don't worry Dad, I will make sure to avoid the TV tube!! =) I did some research on the problem and I hope that I can figure out the cause and repair it. I'm also waiting for a little bit of money to get the power supply that I need to replace the bad one in the computer. Then I can get back to preping the computer the rest of the way.
I really hope to have this all done soon though. I'm really excited to have some friends over to enjoy some gaming action on the arcade cabinet. There are still some finishing touches to work on as well. I STILL need a name for it, I need to touch up the paint, and I need to do the artwork. These aren't necessary, but they will need to be done to consider the cabinet completely finished.
The first crisis occurred when the computer's video card died. I managed to snag an old one from a friend for the cheap price of free. Unfortunately, the card wasn't good enough for playing games. =( So, the cabinet became more of a beatmania and Guitar Hero arcade game using the PS2's. After we moved to San Diego, the next issue appeared. The TV the arcade cabinet uses would flat line occasionally. What I mean is that the TV image flattens into a thin line through the center of the screen with normal sound output. I slight smack to the side or top of the TV would cause it to fix itself. However, the issue began to crop up more and more frequently. It now happens pretty much every single time I play beatmania. Finally, since I got the new laptop, I decided to put my old Alienware computer into the arcade cabinet to be the main game machine. While working on reformatting the computer with an optimized version of Windows XP using a program called nLite, the computer suddenly turned off! I suddenly smell the acrid odor of smoldering electronic components from the power supply!!
Juri always says that bad things happen in groups of threes. So since three things have happened, I hope that I can make fixes to the cabinet to get it restored to life. I plan on fixing the TV myself, since I've always wanted to open up a TV and check it out anyway. Don't worry Dad, I will make sure to avoid the TV tube!! =) I did some research on the problem and I hope that I can figure out the cause and repair it. I'm also waiting for a little bit of money to get the power supply that I need to replace the bad one in the computer. Then I can get back to preping the computer the rest of the way.
I really hope to have this all done soon though. I'm really excited to have some friends over to enjoy some gaming action on the arcade cabinet. There are still some finishing touches to work on as well. I STILL need a name for it, I need to touch up the paint, and I need to do the artwork. These aren't necessary, but they will need to be done to consider the cabinet completely finished.
Evil Bird Mutants!
As I walked into work this morning, I heard the terrifying caw of an enormous bird circling the sky above me. I looked up to see a decent sized seagull. The sound it emitted made it seem much larger than it actually was. When I heard that noise, a memory was triggered in me. I was reminded of the stories of the evil Crowzilla, a beast of a bird that resided at the naval nuclear reactor prototypes in New York State.
Many rumors surrounded the existence of Crowzilla. A giant crow unlike anything most people have ever seen, Crowzilla stories were often utilized as a way to terrorize feeble-minded students and to help pass the time on the midnight watches. People have stated that they have seen the bird but the details often change. Crowzilla has been known to reside underneath the reactors of MARF and S8G (the names of the two prototype reactors) and on top of the giant D1G sphere. It has a wing span of 10-25 feet or more! The bird has been sighted stealing the food and hats of students and staff alike while in mid-flight. Crowzilla has gigantic feet, a razor sharp beak, huge talons, a deformed head, red eyes, etc. Obviously there is no consistency in the stories of Crowzilla. This leads one to doubt its very existence!
During my time stationed in New York, both as a student and as a staff member, I have seen several very large crows flying around the site, cawing at me as I walk by. I am certain that these crows are the source of the Crowzilla stories. Is there large size caused by nuclear radiation? That is very unlikely. If Crowzilla and its hellspawn did nest under the reactor compartments of the prototypes, they would not survive. The areas underneath the prototypes are unshielded from radiation while the reactor is operating because there is no need for people to be under there at that time. Those areas are normally locked to prevent people from entering unless we shut down and verify radiation levels are very low. Now I’m sure that birds could fly into these spaces if they wanted to but in all the times that I have been down there, I have never seen any bird carcasses that would surely be present if they inhabited the area. Could a crow fly through there momentarily and still live? Most likely. Would it mutate? No! Could the bird’s offspring be mutated? It is a possibility. Crowzilla could possibly be the result of a mutation caused by the radiation from the reactors, creating a crow that is larger and stronger than its predecessors.
Now, I’m not trying to say that nuclear power is dangerous and that we should shut it down! I’d be out of a job if I was saying that. Nuclear power actually generates less radiation (when properly shielded) and creates no greenhouse gases compared to a conventional coal burning power plant. The radiation that I receive in a month on board a nuclear powered ship from the reactor is (on average) thirty times less than what I get from the earth and the sun naturally! Nuclear reactors can’t explode like an atomic weapon. Sure, there have been a couple of meltdowns (Three Mile Island and Chernobyl) but lessons on reactor design and operation have been learned and continue to be trained on from those accidents and the loss of life in Chernobyl was due to misinformed military and citizens about the affects of radiation when the Russians were trying to clean up the mess. Just like anything else in life, including coal power plants, problems with nuclear power can occur if not properly maintained and watched over. As far as I know, no mutations have been born and survived past childhood from the affects of nuclear radiation from nuclear power plants.
The giant crows of the New York prototypes may not be Crowzilla and are certainly not freaks of nature by any means. However, the mythical status of the giant bird beast will continue to live on in the minds of the wildly imaginative nuclear reactor operators who thought of it. Nuclear power is an environmentally safe means of power generation that we should all consider in our future of dwindling resources. It isn’t perfect, but then, nothing ever is. In Darwin’s eyes, Crowzilla is hardly the perfect crow.
Many rumors surrounded the existence of Crowzilla. A giant crow unlike anything most people have ever seen, Crowzilla stories were often utilized as a way to terrorize feeble-minded students and to help pass the time on the midnight watches. People have stated that they have seen the bird but the details often change. Crowzilla has been known to reside underneath the reactors of MARF and S8G (the names of the two prototype reactors) and on top of the giant D1G sphere. It has a wing span of 10-25 feet or more! The bird has been sighted stealing the food and hats of students and staff alike while in mid-flight. Crowzilla has gigantic feet, a razor sharp beak, huge talons, a deformed head, red eyes, etc. Obviously there is no consistency in the stories of Crowzilla. This leads one to doubt its very existence!
During my time stationed in New York, both as a student and as a staff member, I have seen several very large crows flying around the site, cawing at me as I walk by. I am certain that these crows are the source of the Crowzilla stories. Is there large size caused by nuclear radiation? That is very unlikely. If Crowzilla and its hellspawn did nest under the reactor compartments of the prototypes, they would not survive. The areas underneath the prototypes are unshielded from radiation while the reactor is operating because there is no need for people to be under there at that time. Those areas are normally locked to prevent people from entering unless we shut down and verify radiation levels are very low. Now I’m sure that birds could fly into these spaces if they wanted to but in all the times that I have been down there, I have never seen any bird carcasses that would surely be present if they inhabited the area. Could a crow fly through there momentarily and still live? Most likely. Would it mutate? No! Could the bird’s offspring be mutated? It is a possibility. Crowzilla could possibly be the result of a mutation caused by the radiation from the reactors, creating a crow that is larger and stronger than its predecessors.
Now, I’m not trying to say that nuclear power is dangerous and that we should shut it down! I’d be out of a job if I was saying that. Nuclear power actually generates less radiation (when properly shielded) and creates no greenhouse gases compared to a conventional coal burning power plant. The radiation that I receive in a month on board a nuclear powered ship from the reactor is (on average) thirty times less than what I get from the earth and the sun naturally! Nuclear reactors can’t explode like an atomic weapon. Sure, there have been a couple of meltdowns (Three Mile Island and Chernobyl) but lessons on reactor design and operation have been learned and continue to be trained on from those accidents and the loss of life in Chernobyl was due to misinformed military and citizens about the affects of radiation when the Russians were trying to clean up the mess. Just like anything else in life, including coal power plants, problems with nuclear power can occur if not properly maintained and watched over. As far as I know, no mutations have been born and survived past childhood from the affects of nuclear radiation from nuclear power plants.
The giant crows of the New York prototypes may not be Crowzilla and are certainly not freaks of nature by any means. However, the mythical status of the giant bird beast will continue to live on in the minds of the wildly imaginative nuclear reactor operators who thought of it. Nuclear power is an environmentally safe means of power generation that we should all consider in our future of dwindling resources. It isn’t perfect, but then, nothing ever is. In Darwin’s eyes, Crowzilla is hardly the perfect crow.
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