found a book you were so engrossed in that you just couln't bear to set it down for even a minute? One that you even read while walking down the street? And then, because you were completely lost in this other world, you ended up walking into a street sign, the collision flinging you rudely back into this bit of reality?
I have.
That's sort of what finding today's webtip was like.
You see, Sudoku appears to be quite popular. It has apparently taken the world by storm in a very short period of time. All sorts of newspapers now have them, and the little number puzzle has become a tool to sell quite a number of papers.
And I had never, ever, heard of it.
Sudo is basically a number puzzle. It's a nine by nine grid of numbers. Part of the grid already contains numbers. You have to fill in the rest. To quote from today's site:
" The rules of Sudoku are simple. Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, as must every 3x3 square."
Our charming Robin Lee convinced me to give it a try. At 3:00 in the morning. Four hours later I found myself the proud owner of some seriously scrambled braincells.
That's when I started looking for more information about the game and realized it was a phenomena. One I had tottaly missed out on. It was like walking into that signpost all over again. I also found out that my insistance at doing them all in my head was silly, and that there was actually quite a bit of technique invovled.
So, on the odd chance that you too have managed to be completely oblivious to the world around you, here's a link to a large collection of the little number puzzles:
Is a big purple dinosaur who dances around and hugs kids a lot. For every child in the world who loves his huggy goodness, there is at least one adult who would like to see him, well, slightly less alive.
Really, this is one kids show that can melt brain cells at 20 meters. You don't even want to be able to HEAR this show if you value your grey matter. And that is just what makes today's webtip so amazing.
It's a mashup video type thingy featuring his purple hugginess performing some gangster rap. With a title like Barney Vs. 2pac I am sure you can at least imagine what kind of verbal assault you might be able to expect. What you couldn't possibly imagine is just how mind-bending it is to watch him threaten to physically assault anyone questioning his original g-ness.
if today's webtip were a chat participant, that would be about the only thing I could say to them. Not a bad WTF, a good WTF, but a wtf none the less.
Vectorpark is just a couple of flash animations. I don't know who made them, I don't know why they made them, and I don't know what the point is supposed to be. But then again, I really don't care.
It's enough just to click around and explore the little worlds on this page.
You can take a stroll through a park, boss around some eggy type things, and do some other stuff I can't really describe. And then you can keep on doing it, for hours on end.
Well, you could if you're as easily distracted as I am.
aren't usually that exciting. Sticking a silly thimble like thing on the end of your finger and wiggling it around rapidy taxes even the most naive minds ability to temporarily suspend disbelief.
Which is why I was so impressed with Lejo. It really IS a finger puppet. Well, a fingers puppet. Just a couple of fingers and some wooden eyeballs. BUt it works very well. Lejo's mastermind (and the ret of his body I suspect) has posted some videos of this truly digital entertainer that really are entertaining in the tradition of some of the best clowns.
Yet more proof that you realy don't need anything more than a good idea and some talent to make things worth watching.
of Battlestar Galactica. That really surprises me considering how much I disliked the original series. It also sort of sucks, since there is no way to watch the series for free in this part of the world.
Being impatient can be a real bitch sometimes.
The people behind the show have made it even worse. The homepage for the show is chock full of interesting bits and pieces for true fans. Which means loads of spoilers. One of things they offer that is evil spoilerwise, but fantastic fanwise is the podcast. Executive producer Ron Moore makes a commentary podcast that is meant to be watched along with the show. He even includes a signal to hit pause when the commercial breaks come up. In the cast he talks about some of the back ground information, how the story relates to the old series, gives you some information about character development and just generally fills you in on the stuff a true fan would want to know.
The site also offers up some blogs, videos and the usual media type stuff you would expect from a modern television production.
and fans of racing sims, have it pretty good these days. When I look back at the early days of computer racing games, I frequently shudder. What were we thinking? Were they really any fun? Do a series of white dashes along the side of the screen REALLY suffice for a "road"?
Did we REALLY spend so many quarters on the tic tac toe because of the awesome gaming experience, or were we just secretly longing for that giant plastic race track that we never got for Christmas?
Okay, these days the graphics are great, the physics convincing, and you can basically drive any car you could ever imagine. But something is still missing. Maybe it's the smell of oil. Or maybe it's the smell of ozone. You know, that lovely scent that accompanies those electric racing tracks. I know it's not just my son who's been eyeing em in the toy stores lately. I'm sooo close to caving in...
And apparently I an not alone. Simon Jansen of Asciimation (you, know the ones who did that ascii art star wars movie) went out and bought a set. He then went and modded it. Putting a camera in one of the cars, and, in good geek manner, documenting the whole process. So if you want to see some of the fun modern technology has added to that ancient analog goodness, check out the video and the how-to.
Wien | 26.11.2005 | 10:25 
