I’ve been looking at the stats for the IndieGameDev blog (a Tucows blog for
independent game developers) and I’ve noticed that the
article Writing
Interactive Fiction (a.k.a. “Text Adventure Games”) with the Inform
Programming Language
has consistently been the most-read one ever since it was published.
Would you like more articles on Interactive Fiction
development?
serves as a location for movie shoots so often that we actually have
fleets of New York City vehicles such as NYPD cars, U.S. Postal Service
trucks and Yellow Cabs. They’re typically stored in lots just off King
Street East (there’s one under the bridge at King and Sumach), but a couple of weeks ago, almost a dozen cabs were parked not far from my house on Phoebe Street.
I’ve always wondered how current the cab fare markings on the doors to
these movie cabs are. Any New Yorkers out there: are the prices shown
below current?
Update: My friend Alicia (a.k.a. “Leesh”) emailed me to let me know that the
prices on these movie cabs are the current prices on the streets of
Manhattan! She writes:
weirdly,
the cab fares are up to date. they went up pretty recently (within the
last six months), so some art director’s mum should be proud!
I suspect that for the purposes of movie-making, these cabs don’t play
the recordings of celebrities that remind you to buckle up when you
board and to check for belongings when you debark. This is also
accurate; according to the NYC Taxicab Fact Book,
the voice recordings were phased out in 2002 since they had no effect
on whether passengers buckled up and simply annoyed cabbies and
passengers. I miss them — it doesn’t feel like the Big Apple without Jackie Mason giving you friendly reminders!
Over at the IndieGameDev blog, I pointed readers to Hapland, a “Rube
Goldberg Machine” game in which you have to figure out how to make the
machine work in order to accomplish its task: light two torches. It sounds simple enough, but trust me: the game will drive you bonkers.
Hapland, when you first start playing the game. Click the picture to play.
I have not yet given in and looked at the walkthrough, but I may soon…
If Hapland isn’t enough of a challenge for you, you might want to try Hapland 2, which is even more complex.
While taking AKMA and Margaret on a tour of College West, AKMA was telling me about his surprise at how much I like AC/DC’s Back in Black (presumably based on his reading this article). I was about to answer when we passed by a sidewalk patio where my friend Erik Mohr,
his wife Tanja and some friends of theirs were enjoying a late dinner
and some drinks. Erik called me over to their table, introduced me to
his friends and asked if I could play a number for them.
“Any number in particular you’d like to hear?” I asked.
Erik turned to his friends. “He doesn’t do polka, but rock. He can play anything,” he said, which isn’t true.
“Okay, then…how about some AC/DC?” his friend asked, apparently believing that he’d thrown down a gauntlet.
“Sure,” I said. I could see AKMA rolling his eyes.
I started into You Shook Me All Night Long
which always gets laughs from new listeners and got the rest of the
patio either singing or clappong along. During all this, AKMA captured
a moment, pictured below:
Click the picture above to see the photo from AKMA’s Flickr collection.
As for AKMA’s musical tastes, you can get a feel for them by checking out this blog entry of his.
(AKMA, dude, you’re probably an AC/DC fan who doesn’t even know it.
I mean, you throw the horns…even in church! If that’s not an AC/DC
fan, I don’t know what is!)…
Documented proof that AKMA throws the horns. “Hells’ Bells…Satan’s comin’ for you…” Click the picture to see the original photo from AKMA’s Flickr set.
Baking soda does not absorb refrigerator smells! Searing meat does not
seal in its juices! Lobsters don’t scream in pain when boiled
(apparently, they don’t feel it)!
I’ve posted something to The Farm that links to an article describing the sorts of client with whom you should break off the relationship.
Although the article is written by a programmer and aimed at software
consultants, I think that it’s relevant for anyone in a business that
takes on client contracts — graphic designers, home improvement
contractors, wedding planners, lawyers and so on — which is why I
thought it bore repeating here.
Late Night with Conan O’Brien sent out Triumph the Insult Comic Dog to deliver some well-earned abuse to a group way more disconnected from reality than the Star Wars fans: the Michael Jackson fans who held their vigil outside the courthouse. Hilarity ensued.