I might be crazy. I am currently Posting this post from my nintendo wii. As such, please forgive any errors. The beta for the browser was released not more than twenty minutes ago, and so I have only played around with the most basic features. Youtube appears to work, though the playback is a tad choppy; expected from a beta I suppose. I an excited about using it to get game tips from guides, however. I will keep you guys posted as I discover and learn more.
This ferris wheel at Disney's California Adventure park has certain cars on elliptical tracks. Once the angle of your track becomes a negative slope towards the center of the machine, your car S-L-I-D=E-S down, and swings up the curve on the other side, and then oscillates a little bit. When the thing swings up the curve, you become almost (well, it feels like it) parallel to the ground. There are no safety restraints, save for the fact that you're in a sealed cage.
Nick and mom find it completely terrifying.
I think it's the best thing at that whole damn theme park.
This, in itself, might not be that neat of a thing. Sure, laser etching is cool, and the prices are VERY reasonable, I think ($100 for a laptop, around $30 for smaller things). But, the really cool thing is that this is, as far as I know, the only open source business. Phil and his partner, Limor Fried, will be publishing every single detail about how you can open your own laser etching business, including how to operate the machinery. Apparently, they will actively help others to make their own similar business.
I think that this is a FANTASTIC idea. Open Source Software works so well because people all work together to find things that can be improved, and then do so. Businesses run in the same way would become the best that they could possibly be.
I can also see this being a great way to do things in developing countries. Have open source business plans, distribute them around the developing countries, and have them help each other to develop.
I'd really like to get some things etched, like my DS, some Segway parts, and, whenever I get a new laptop (probably in the next couple of years, not any time soon, though), get that etched too.
Here's the story: Verizon quotes a guy .002 cents per kilobyte on his mobile internet usage. Verizon charges him .002 dollars. Guy, George, disputes the charges. Verizon's idiot customer service droids won't recognize that they charged him 100 times what he was quoted. In point, they fail at simple math.
$00.002 is different from $00.00002 by 100 times!
I'm reminded of this Penny Arcade comic: Just change "ATT" to "Verizon".
So, I made this on Eyespot. Eyespot is like youtube, but you actually edit your videos in the thing. You can also use the videos that other people post in your videos.
I think it turned out okay, but they have some audio sync problems. It was still pretty funny, so I put it up here.
It took longer to do than I thought it would; I was going to try to make this into a daily little thing I do, like a video diary, but I don't think so. I might wind up doing singular videos on Youtube, if I do do anything like this.
I'm going to take you guys on a walkthrough of the whole Wii experience.
Obviously, the above picture is the first stop on our tour. The gray things sticking out the top are Wavebird receivers; the wireless GameCube controller receivers. The Wii is not only a Wii, but is also a GameCube. Much like the PS2 and the PS1 games, it is completely backwards compatible.
This is the Wii Sensor bar. A lot of people were nervous about this being hard to set up, but those fears were ultimately unfounded. The sensor bar can either rest on top of your TV or sit underneath it, depending on your situation. We used velcro to mount it below the screen, because of height of the chairs around the TV.
Nintendo made a big deal about how small their next console would be, so here's the final product in comparison to three DVD cases. It is a little thinner than the cases, but slightly larger in all other dimensions, though not by much. This is a TINY machine.
Here the Wii is sticking it's tongue out. The disc loading is VERY nice. The GameCube discs, which are mini-CD sized, go into the same slot, with no hassle. You just stick either type of disc in a little bit and the Wii eats it right up.
Here are the games we have, except for Wii Sports, which comes with the console.
Here is the famous Wii Remote. As you can see, it is the perfect size to fit your hand. I thought it was going to be about the size of a Tivo remote (big honkin' thing), but it turned out quite nice.
This here is the Nunchuk. The Nunchuk is, quite possibly, the most comfortable piece of plastic you will ever hold in your hand. It just feels so good!
The connector at the end of the Nunchuk cable has a small plastic hook that you slide the Wii Remote wrist strap cord through. I'm pretty sure that this is so that, should you accidentally throw the remote or something like that, you don't utterly destroy the connector.
The connector makes the most satisfying click that I have ever felt when plugging anything in. It slides smoothly and clicks so solidly. Little things like that don't seem important, but add to the general feel of quality that the whole machine has.
Foxtrot, my favorite daily comic strip of all time, will cease daily strips at the end of this year.
Consistently funny, and often delving into the realms of geeky humor, Foxtrot stood out on the comics page as a beacon of intellect and hardcore nerditude.
Though the daily strips will end, Sundays will still have new colored Foxtrot content.
Good work, Bill Amend! Have fun in this next stage of your career!
