Simpson Maker

Make your own Simpsons character!

Flash Game: Double Wires

Use the laws of physics to your advantage as you swing your tiny man around an expansive maze. Shoot out wires to attach to the environment, and navigate your way through the level. See how long you can survive!

Rumor: Google Adsense... For Audio

With Google dipping their spindly talons into every piece of media out there, it seems obvious that the machine would eventually hit the next wave of audio; Podcasts. It is rumored that Google, alongside their planned restructuring, is plotting to provide contextual ads alongside streaming audio, and perhaps other media... Some say even as far as radio and television. The service was apparently slated for release in 3Q 2006, but was delayed.

I think giving Podcasters the opportunity to turn profit from their content gives more incentive for them to create the material. Eventually, it could transform the media into a true hub for professional quality media, further solidifying it as the best source of entertainment in the 21st century. Given Google's current penetration of the advertising market, it's pretty much a guaranteed success already; and why shouldn't it be?

There is some talk that Google might be working on a search and player supporting component, but this is purely analyst speculation.

Gootube $$$$

The life force of the Internet, and practically all media, is advertising. Cash is what motivates the content creators; the "professionals" utilize the products, and the willingness to sell those products, of other companies to generate revenue. The companies are banking on the off chance that at least a few out of every hundred people who see an advertisement on a webpage will be curious enough to click it, resulting in a potential sale. Its an endless cycle; companies whore out their money to anyone who will slap it on their web page. The theory is sheer volume; if enough monkeys are bashing a typewriter, at least one of those monkeys is going to produce genius. That's an abstract metaphor that represents consumers (who are the monkeys) and the web content (which is the typewriters) and eventually, a sale (which is the genius!). So far, it seems that this is a successful formula. But when the costs of maintenance are so phenomenal, is it possible that even ads cant save an uber-popular website? What I'm alluding to here is Gootube. A.K.A., Google buying Youtube. The mega-purchase has perforated a sizable chunk into the Google accounts no doubt, although they can certainly afford it. 1.5 billion simolians is a lot of money, and it could be a potential risk. Sure, YouTube is one of the most popular websites on the Internet. But the nature of the video medium is that, it chews up a whole lot of bandwith. Apparently the bills over at Youtube are crazy big. This wouldn't be so bad if they could squeeze a few ads on every page. However, I would have to say a large proportion of YouTube traffic (and subsequently, used bandwidth) is from other sites embedding their videos. When thousands of other sites are embedding the videos, the only ads their are the ones for YouTube itself (not that it needed ads anyway). I think if Google wants to earn megabucks out of Youtube, they should look at a way of unobtrusively interlacing advertisements on every video.

Raiden X

Check out this awesome flash scrolling shooter. Highly polished, extremely addictive fun.

Guild Wars Party

Recently, at 6AM GMT 14/10/06, TAG's ally Federation Empires held an event at their Guild Hall, to which all [TAG] members were invited. It was intended, at first, to be a simple gathering for some PVP, although that motivation was clouded by the rest of the fun that we had.

While waiting for the rest of the attendee's to arrive, the guests participated in some brief foot races around the FE Guild Hall. Once a running track had been agreed on, and a finishing man put in place, several participants sprinted from the front gate of the hall to the ship. This was repeated several times, with Amaya Shadowhunter being the eventual winner (as called by Lord Morianna, however video evidence disproves this).

We also played a quick game of tag, and sat down for some introductions. After that, most of the attendees cleared out, of which, in all, there were about 8. Then, it was down to me and three others, and we participated in about 5 minutes of PVP.

It had the potential of a great event, however, lack of attendance caused a bit of a let down. Never the less, some fun was had, and I just hope we can have more events like this in the future.

Flash Game: Spider Bugs

Spider Bugs is a simple concept; connect various bugs of the same color by clicking on them and dragging to change the direction. I wouldn't call it a puzzle game, since theres no real thinking required. Its more about managing your health, which depletes over time, and making sure you predict the path of the moving bugs so your little tether can hit them correctly. The graphics are very nicely done, if a little simple. As for fun, I would say this gets a bit repetitive after a few levels.

A Few Blogging Tips

Although, right now, only recently having established this blog I have nothing to prove that any of these methods actually work, after reading a few blogging articles I have compiled here a list of a few tips you can use to promote your blog, and improve its quality:

Tip #1: Aesthetic Style
It is imperative to the success of your blog that it has an appealing visual style. People respond more to clean, simple layouts, not cluttered jumbles of links and buttons that simply confuse the reader. Its like how organizing yourself can help you in other areas; treat your blog as a workspace, so keep it neat and tidy. Also, be careful of colors; I personally hate reading white font on dark backgrounds. If colors are too dull, or too bright, it can become a chore to read the content.

Tip #2: Niche
Right now, I'm pretty much doing the opposite of what I'm preaching; I'm posting all manner of leeched videos and games, and am yet to find a particular thing that this blog is about. My strategy right now is to write a variety, get enough readers, and then pick a topic. However, what you really should be doing is picking one topic and sticking to it. People who are interested in that topic will appreciate the focus, while if you scatter fire, you're more likely to hit and miss numerous times. Also, if you target a particular demographic, you'll probably build a stronger readership if you provide a blog that's out of the ordinary.

Tip #3: Options
Give your readers options to stay connceted to your blog. The best way to do this is to add a few subscription chicklets in your sidebar; however, don't make it too cluttered. It can be offputting. Some websites, like Feedburner and Feedpass are great for providing simple RSS solutions.

Tip #4: Frequency
The frequency of your posts is an essential element to a successful formula. If you post too infrequently, readers can lose interest and move on. If you post too frequently, your posts can lose their quality. I believe that the right amount is a tricky question to answer; it should be a compromise between quantity and quality.

Tip #5: Rich Content
Diversifying the type of media you have on your blog is the key to keeping it fresh and taking the pressure off you to write lengthy, text-heavy posts; games, videos, music and other articles can create a more rounded, fuller blog that feels a lot more interesting than slabs of text. However, reposting other peoples material becomes addictive, and you often end up depending on it to sustain your blog.

Tip #6: Submit & Promote
Don't be afraid to spam the Internet with selfish plugs; its often the only way to reach new readers. Submit to various indexes, post on forums, tell your buddies. Make sure you have your blog pinging several services, such as Weblogs.com. Submit articles to various repositories.

Tip #7: Invite Comments
Comments are often the only way you'll know anyone is actually reading your blog. It really makes readers feel like a part of your blog. Ask questions in your posts, ask readers their opinions. And most of all, make it easy for people to comment. Don't add word verifications, unless you get too much spam; don't make people log in. It should be easy to comment.

Tip #8: Make Your Writing Accessible
If the content you write is difficult to comprehend, then most people will be turned off by it. Speak in simple terms, don't collude your message with unnecessary synonyms. If people feel like you're speaking casually, it feels a lot more personal.

Space Invaders

Flash Game: Stranded

Stranded is a generic top-down flash shooter. You control the character with the WASD keys, whilst aiming and firing using the mouse. At first, the game seems promising, with the "Story" mode featuring voice acting and cutscenes... Or at least at the beginning. For the most part, all you do is remain in a single, bland square of sand and fend off hordes of small, colored, boring enemies. Whilst if the game were to be shorter, it could be called exciting, the fact of teh matter is, it takes too long for anything to happen. For the first 5 levels, which seem to stretch on and on, all you're facing is little green things, which are un-identifiable, whose only attack is to walk at you. The graphics are simple, but nice; however, I would have liked to see more of them. The sound effects were good, and the music was too, if a little soft. A nice feature was recoil from the weapons, which I thought was a neat addition. The weapons themselves were good, to a degree; the shotgun sounded great, and the screen shook slightly when I fired it. The addition of an Arcade and Rail mode (the same thing, except with a rail gun) adds a degree of replayability to this game.

Wii Hand Drawn Ad

Check out this awesome hand drawn Wii fan-created ad. It must have taken a good deal of talent and dedication, so I commend the artist.

Finger Skilz

Soccer!! Futebol

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Evolution of a Dove

After watching this video, I can see why women have false expectations of what they should aspire to. How can you realize what is not real? Its chasing an unachievable dream; a wraith, a ghost, what is not real. The media has perpetuated the digital image of what a woman "should look like" and the masses ate it up. We've absorbed the image into our culture.

PC Gaming Is Not Dead!

I'm making a proclamation; PC gaming is alive and well. I'm sick of the doomsayers, the console fanboys who don't understand why one would use such a brilliant machine for playing games... Every other day, I trawl forums, and find at least one thread foretelling a fiery demise of the PC gaming art. Today was the straw that broke the camels back; the absolute manifestation of PC gamer negativity, amalgamated into a single sentence: "Lets face it folks, PC gaming has become pointless..." What would drive an individual to the cusp of insanity? PC gaming has been there since the beginning, providing entertainment unmeasurable on a platform with so much potential. All the genres that we love so dear, they were all created on the PC. And PC gaming is still striving to outdo itself, still thriving in a world of sequels, prequels and remakes. I think what the nay-sayers have ignored is, although PC gaming as a singularity isn't too remarkable, but combined with the multitude of options available to a PC gamer through his PC, it is... A gateway. A gateway to unlimited entertainment.
That's why I'm here to provide a few pathways to entertainment one can enjoy on their PC. Although they might not all have to do with gaming, they prove the worth of a PC. I'll begin with an obvious one: Classic gaming.

PC PATHWAY TO JOY # 1: CLASSIC GAMING
I weep for XBox 360 owners. Their precious white box can barely play Xbox games. However, the PC has a back catalogue of thousands of classic titles which all, although some with a little help, can be played under the current windows environment. Looking back through PC history, there are so many titles which are revered for their brilliance; the Diablo series, Fallout, Sam & Max... The pool of genius is literally endless. Revisiting an old, unfinished game from your library is one of the greatest joys of being a PC gamer.

PC PATHWAY TO JOY # 2: ABANDONWARE & FREEWARE
PC is the only platform where you can find games for free. As simple as that. Sure, homebrew is a similar, but theres only small quantities of it and its a hassle to install. We're talking a wide range of polished, enjoyable games just a download away. As time has worn on, the freeware scene has been bolstered by some real gems. Enemy Territory, Savage, FEAR Combat, AA, their all great games, and their all available for free. Just google 'Freeware' and you'll be bombarded by sites with plethoras of greatness just screaming to be downloaded. And lets not forget free MMO's... These Korean wonders have provided hours of entertainment for raging geeks who enjoy the grind (me included).

PC PATHWAY TO JOY #3: FLASH
Flash is a revolution in content creation. It allows anyone with only a smidgen of talent to create an animated movie or game, and share it with the world. Sites like Newgrounds have stockpiled the greatest of this medium, and shared them with the world. Great series' like Thing Thing have set the bar for Flash, and the power of Flash continues to surprise me to this day. I love seeing the latest games being uploaded every day, some good, some not so good. They could be simple games, or complex creations with wonderful art and sound.

PC PATHWAY TO JOY #4: EMULATORS
Ooh, I'm naughty. I can't talk about ROMs... Their illegal! For the purpose of this section, I own every game in history, and delete all ROMs 24 hours after downloading them. OK, thats better. How great are ROMs!? I know its a bit hypocritical to be praising a function of PCs that relies on consoles, but seriously... Classic gaming from every era? Japanese RPGs fanslated into English? Its a virtual unlimited library of fun.

PC PATHWAY TO JOY #5: MODS, MAPS & MORE
Part of what makes PC gaming great, is the community. The fans of a game are what sustain it, and if given the right tools, they can create virtually unlimited replayability in a game. It adds enormous value on a game to include an SDK or other mod tools, which allow players of the game to change, customize and re-make the game to their liking. Games like Oblivion, Half-Life and Half-Life2, and UT 2004 have shown that if you support the mod community, it can reap rewards. A lot of really popular games have a ton of extra content available to you, if you look for it. Mods have even become commercially successful in the past; Counter Strike, Day of Defeat, Red Orchestra are all examples.

PC PATHWAY TO JOY #6: PATCHES & EXPANSIONS
While fanmade content is great, what truly is spectacular is the extra content the developer provides to refresh and renew a favourite game. Often, patches aren't just there to fix bugs (although this is good too); sometimes developers will reward players by releasing new maps and game modes. Not only this, but expansion packs allow players to get an extra dose of their favourite game, without waiting for a sequel.

Website feature: Sloganizer.net

I've created the image above using a service called Sloganizer, which you can find at Sloganizer.net. It's a useful little tool that automatically generates customizable signatures from phrases you choose, by implementing random slogans from their database. Type in Mike, and you'll get, "Never leave home with Mike!" It's a nifty little toy that could be used to make logos, but is most effective to generate graphic signatures for forums and messageboards. There is a good deal of different styles to choose from.

Flash Game: Neon 2

Neon 2 is another in a wave of stylized flash aracde shooters, courtesy of Crazy Monkey Games and Var Studios. The artwork bears a tinge of retro, not unlike "Pixel Blaster," although Neon 2 does manage to capture a more arcade feel. Its a game, similar to other similar titles, where you must fend off enemies who come at you in different forms and clusters. There is a great deal of variation in the foes, weapons and powerups. The graphics are nice, and feel like a game of asteroids. The sound is good; the music is a bit repetitive, however. Because the ship follows the movements of your mouse, it can often become a difficult control scheme, in that you'll often find yourself tailed by an opponent, and you'll need to whip the mouse around quickly to dispatch of them without pain. The game is difficult, so you're supplied with plenty of lives, and there is good replayability, thanks to difficulty options.

Attack of the Smilies

Pixel Blaster

Pixel Blaster is a stylistic and intuitive flash shooter created by ThorGaming. The controls are simple; you use the WASD or arrow keys to move your small, white, triangular craft while firing rods of laser at various shapes (A.K.A. opponents). You can also engage a shield, and use jet brakes. While at first glance this is another wave-based simple flash game, you soon learn as the levels progress that different enemies will require different tactics to overcome. Early on, when the enemies are sparse and simple, the easiest way to dispatch them is to rotate around the perimeter of the room, firing inwards. However, this plan will soon be dissolved, as enemies begin bouncing hap-hazardly of the boundaries, ending in painful contact. The waves and enemies are varied enough to remain interesting, and the balance of energy and health is done well enough to maintain a challenge. The art style is simple and effective, adopting the retro feel that many flash games have recently utilized to their advantage. The music is simple techy loop. Theres even bosses at the end of each round (a round is a cluster of waves) that require a bit of lateral thinking (alhtough not too much).

Trojan Horse

Average Homeboy Compilation

powered by ODEO

Oh yeah... The interview with the average homeboy. The whiteboy rapper who has taken the Internet by storm. If you've been living under an Internet rock, heres the video for your enjoyment:



Heres a second vid:



Heres the doogtoons video:

Weird Al - The Early Years

Weird Al Yankovic talks about his childhood.

Rappelz Review: Free MMO

This is a review I wrote for MMOsite.com. Please visit them.

Game Title: Rappelz
Genre: MMORPG
Status: Open Beta
Developer: Gpotato
Official Website: http://rappelz.gpotato.com/
Client size: 1.024 GB
Client Download: http://www.download.com/Rappelz/3000-7541_4-10588393.html?tag=lst-0-1

System Requirements
CPU: Pentium Pentium-III 800MHz
RAM: 512 MB RAM
Video Card: Nvidia 128 MB 3D accelerator VGA card

Rappelz is another in a spate of Korean MMO betas, all which follow similar trends, and apply simple, predictable formulas with little innovation. It seems that these games are an epidemic that is never ceasing, with dozens of nearly identical games with different graphics saturating the market. Is it possible for a free MMO to set itself apart from the pa crowd, when there players options are practically unlimited in this genre?

Graphics: 9/10

One department that Rappelz executes flawlessly, and delivers extremely well is the visuals. The game takes a unique art direction, and combines it with some great looking character design and superb enemy models to give the world of Rappelz a consistent, sleek aesthetic style. The GUI is clean and easy to navigate, as well. However, in vast areas with a lot of foliage and grass, I did experience some frame rate issues, but these instances were sparse. Also, some of the environment textures aren’t as high-quality as the textures on the characters.

Sound: 7/10

Although there was actually some enjoyable music in the soundtrack (a first for me in an MMORPG) it was a limited set of songs, so I found myself hearing the same beats several times as I quested. It got quite repetitive, so as I often do, I switched on my own MP3 software. The sound effects as are to be expected from the genre.

Gameplay: 8/10

I found the combat system to be one of my favorite features of the game. It wasn’t the combat alone that enthralled me, actually; it was more the character progression system that drives the mechanics of conflict in Rappelz. First, the skill system was open-ended, customizable and best of all, simple. You simply concurrently earn skill experience as you fight. You can spend this to purchase passive and active abilities, as well as increase your job level to unlock more options on the skill tree. The great range of skills adds a decisive edge to the warfare. Also, there are special items called Boost Chips; these are battle items which can be essential to victory. You can purchase Boost Chips by trading in Laks, which are special points earned through battle. These can weaken monsters to the point that defeating them becomes a matter of only a few bludgeons with your mace. You can also have you’re creatures use abilities to support you during battles.

The quests are, as to be expected, simple “kill x monster” quests for the most part. Unfortunately, the free MMO genre is plagued by tired mission design, which basically boils down to bashing monsters. Rappelz does little to rectify this situation, or curb this worrying trend. Not only this, the early quests are long and tedious; while they may serve to better acquaint new players with the game system, it can be a long time before you earn that first Lak point.

The range of weapons, items and armor is diverse enough to maintain interest throughout the game, and the character customization options leaves plenty of room for individuality in your character.

Community 6/10

What I experienced of the community is a mostly unfriendly, unwilling bunch. Initial impressions were excellent, when a player volunteered to give me a tour of the local camp, but when I really needed players I was starved for company. As is often the problem, if there are too few players at the same point in the game as you’re character, no ones really willing to help you complete a quest.

Unique Features

Boost chips, creatures; Skill trees, non-traditional character classes; unique setting.

Here is a video of Rappelz I found on Youtube.

Cardboard Box Race

People are bored enough to do this?

So it seems another in the Battlefield franchise has failed yet to dramatically change the formula. It seems that DICE is comfortable to re-hash the same game, even built on the same engine, with a few tweaks, some different graphics here and there, oh yeh, and the super useful feature of making your computer vulnerable.

Have we come to that point in all media, not just games, that everything is recycled? Nowadays, all the movies are either remakes, sequels, or based on a book, or a real life event. Where is the intellect? The ingenuity? It seems that everyone is a leech (me included) off each others works. It seems that the Internet philosophy of free information is being taken too literally in the world. When everything is expensive, a risk, a gamble, and a profit less than millions of dollars is considered a loss, nobody wants to buy into the new guy with the bright ideas. Its always taking the safe bet, whatever the machine thinks will generate instant cash. Wasn't there a time in history when bad movies couldn't float on hype alone? And good movies were actually profitable?

Thing-Thing Arena 2

Thing-Thing Arena 2 is another installment in the popular flash shooter Thing-Thing series. This title, in particular, is a highly polished survival shooter, in which your character (who is a customizable and nameable avatar, by the way) is confined to a small area and must fend off waves of attackers. Like other flash survival games, you have a choice of different game modes, which change the enemies you're facing, as well as the arena you're battling them in. Different enemies attack in different patterns and at different speeds, so its up to you to devise the best tactic to down each one. After that, its pretty much you're standard stay alive scenario; conserve you're health as long as possible, scrummage for ammo among you're foes, that kind of thing. However, the Thing-Thing art style (which I have liked in the previous titles) brings a nice touch to the game, and the enemy graphics and animations are superb. The frame rate mostly remained smooth, however, it did slow down when there were a few too many enemies on screen, or too much blood. The enemies are diverse, however the levels are not; it seemed that that the Thing-Thing universe is entirely urban. There are zombies, flying robots, crazy creatures called stinky beans, and humans to face. I also enjoyed the various power ups (although they are few, they are good, such as the "stop time" power up) and the awesome arsenal at you're disposal. The guns are a pleasure to behold and to fire; massive machine guns and rail guns that dwarf you're character.
9/10

An Amazing Boy - Blind, and yet can see...

Ring of Ryzom Review

This is a review I wrote for MMOsite.com. Please visit them.

Game Title: The Saga of Ryzom (Ryzom Ring)
Genre: MMORPG Scenario Generator
Status: Final
Developer: Nevrax
Official Website: http://www.ryzom.com/
Client size: 1.66 GB
Client Download: http://download.mmosite.com/download.php?id=1342

System Requirements
CPU: Pentium III 1Ghz or equivalent
RAM: 512 MB RAM
Video Card: Nvidia Geforce 2 or equivalent video card with 64 MB RAM
Free Hard Disk Space: 8.0 GB
Speed: 4X CD Rom

Ryzom Ring is a free mini-expansion for The Saga of Ryzom, a P2P MMORPG developed by French team Nevrax. Ring of Ryzom adds astounding value to an already enjoyable game, and introduces perhaps the best concept ever to be implemented into an MMORPG; a scenario creator.

Past online RPG’s where limited in scope and content to creations the developer had put together, and this became an issue when they had lost financial interest in the game, leaving fans out to dry. It seems a logical decision that a game that relies on a dynamic, ever-changing persistent world, would give the power of content creation to those who keep them in business. This could be a result of the popular trend of the Web 2.0 landscape; websites like Digg and Youtube give similar influence to their users, and another popular MMORPG Second Life hands extraordinary control to its players to craft whatever they like within the game world.

Graphics: 8/10

While the environments you craft won’t look as stunning as the vast, beautiful creations of Nevrax, and the game engine isn’t brilliant in a technical sense, the art style tailored by the developers lends your produced levels a slick, defined art style, thanks to a great level of customization available in the landscapes and the NPC’s. The graphics you’re supplied with aren’t you’re traditional Korean anime-inspired MMO environments and characters; there are influences of Sci-Fi, and some unique creatures that set Ryzom apart.

Sound: 6/10

While there’s some fairly good generated music to support the action, the ambience is largely forgettable. However, the sound effects for spells and creatures are above average, and the game includes an MP3 Player among its many options for enchancing your experience.

Gameplay: 8/10

When hundreds of players are creating scenarios, to critique the gameplay is a quest in vain; the possibilities, considering the vast amount of options available to the content creator, are practically endless. Ryzom Ring supplies a good deal of varied environments to base your acts upon, and the system is relatively simple. Ryzom Ring supplies enough components, entities and other elements to create a fairly wide and complex level. Like The Saga of Ryzom, the system may be a tad daunting at first glance, however the website provides a manual, and tooltips popup during use of the system to explain certain facets of Ryzom Ring which you might not understand. Overall, the scenario generator is a triumph.

Community: 7/10 A dedicated forum on the website provides a wealth of information for the newbie in distress, and the ability to chat in the Universal channel, that is, to anyone playing the game, opens up an instant pool of assistance. Also, there are Nevrax staff within the game who can provide help.

Value: 9/10: Considering this is a free expansion for Saga of Ryzom, its difficult to say whether its bad value. However, considering the original Saga of Ryzom is quite an investment, Ring of Ryzom adds a substantial amount of value to further solidify the game as a true alternative to WoW and other top-quality P2P MMO’s.

Ten Thousand Coin Dominoes

Insane video of an elaborate dominoes set up that uses gold coins. 10,000 of them!

Car Falls Eighteen Stories Into Chicago River

The Neverending Construct

Isn't it great what Garry's Mod has brought us? Surely mankind will benefit from this somehow.

Colbert Addresses The White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

Part 1


Part 2

Game Feature: Commando (Battle of Britain)

Commando Defend the Allies from the scourge of Europe.

Play this free game now!!

Commando is an excellent flash Metal Slug clone that will have you ducking, dodging and shooting your way through hordes of German soldiers in this interesting twist on a winning formula. For a flash game, the production quality is great, rivalling the original series itself in graphics, animation and audio. Theres a range of weapons and items to utilize, and the control scheme is simple and easy. Its simply an excellent take on the Metal Slug franchise. Games like Commando are testament to the power of flash to make great games.

Game Feature: Year of the Snake

Year of the Snake is a simple, but beatiful, flash arcade beat-'em-up thats fun and addictive. Although there is only a single sword technique your character can employ to defeat his enemies, you'll find yourself enthralled as you slice down waves of creatures as they advance menacingly upon you. The game features brilliant graphic design and animation, with the smooth frame rate inducing awe as your sword cuts swathes of colored light through the air. Although the background music and attack sounds may be a bit weak, it doesn't distract from the addictive fun factor of this game. I would have enjoyed more challenge, and a scoring system.

MTV Romania Ad

Liquid MTV - video powered by Metacafe

Mac vs PC

Wrong Goal

Rejectedjokes.com - October '06, Week 3

Dropping 5,000 Tennis Balls (LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN)

Memoirs of 70's Scottish Porn

Colbert Debates the Existence of God