buttonmashing

Mashing buttons since 1984

Asides

Pic Lens

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This has pretty much nothing to do with gaming, but it is way too cool not to pass along. My bud and fellow buttonmasher, the Monkey, sent me a link to Pic Lens, a browser plug-in (it will auto-detect your browser) that is pretty much the Bee Knees. If you use Flickr, Google Image Search, Picasa, anything like that, it’s a must-see.

So why is it a must-see (and for that matter, a must-install)? Because it takes image browsing to the next level. Kicking it up a notch, as it were, if your Flickr stream were some shrimps and Pic Lens was Emeril. What it does, in a nutshell, is take an image stream and “Apple-ify it”. Think a little Cover Flow in iTunes (originally from this guy) but better. Pic Lens tiles the images in a manageable arrangement. You can then view the images in “3D”, scrolling through them much quicker than you would be able to if you were simply viewing the Flickr page, for example. You can click an individual image to enlarge in and then use your mouse scroll wheel to zoom in and out. It is very slick.

It’s also a very smart program. If you’re looking at a Flickr group (Explore, for example) that spans mulitple pages, Pic Lens is smart enough to retrieve everything in that stream. It is very slick.

After installing the plugin, when you mouse over an image, you’ll see a little “Play” button. Clicking on the play button brings up Pic Lens and grabs all the images it can associate with the image you clicked on (a Flickr stream, a Google Image Search). Then it’s surf’s up!

The only thing I don’t like is the inability to get any image information (source, tags, comments) but that is an enhancement that could always be added. It hardly detracts from the coolness that is Pic Lens.

So yeah, nothing here about gaming (although the Halo 3 Flickr Feed was fun to surf) but something I find extremely cool and thought you would, too.

Pic Lens

Actually, come to think of it, didn’t the Flickr guys try their hands at an MMO (The Game Neverending or something) and then they envisioned Flickr as a game? See, it’s all related!

Monday Madness?

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As I get ready to start my self-imposed internet ban for the week, I figured I’d link up this week’s madness. I’ve got a gamer responsibility post coming later this week (it’s pre-dated) so I should still be around virtually.

I’m amazed at what lengths the idiots in the media will go to for a story. Engadget reports a guy who decides to demo the Air Force’s pain gun. Does the gun work? Do you think he gets paid enough? Wonderful video. Engage!

Bill Harris at Dubious Quality does this great, in depth comparison of game scores to their publishers. A couple of publishers score high with each game released. One is Blizzard. The others are surprising.

Engadget also shows us an Etch A Sketch clock video.

Lastly, our most loyal reader Brock sent me a link to a great image a week or two ago. Think 300 meets Patapon. Pata pata pata pon.

Monday Madness?

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I have this horrible online habit of bookmarking everything I come across and throwing it in a folder called “toread.” The idea behind it is that on Friday afternoon as a reward for a good week’s work I’ll take the last hour and follow up on them. They’re usually gaming related, but some craziness creeps in there every now and then. I figured I’d (Ed. – Tony, feel free to add to it) try something new here and share with you on Mondays the links that I’ve found to be interesting, my goal being to distract you from your job.

First I’d like to share with you a little bio I found about John Freeman, Gordan Freeman’s brother, called Half life: Full Life Consequences. It’s insane enough that it’s warranted a sequel. It’s a quick and dirty use of Garry’s Mod with quirky writing to go along with it.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun gave us a first look at Battlefield: Heroes a while back. I was not sold on it at all because it’s a complete knock off of Team Fortress 2. However, this writeup convinced me to give it a try. After all, it is FREE (from EA? yes!) and has a great sense of humor. It’s also has one of the best commercials/trailers I’ve ever seen for a video game.

I am a sucker for shooters. I find them to be nerve racking and relaxing. Indie Games has a list of what they consider to be the best FREEware shooters of 2007. I’ve not checked them all out yet, but I’m hoping there’s a gem or two in there.

My favorite toy is LEGO. Naturally, I want to see what people can do with it. This guy has made micro Star Wars scenes and put them under glass domes, and this guy does some great mini-mecha stuff. The little yellow utility mech is great.Lastly, just one more LEGO tidbit.

It looks like LEGO is dropping their train line. According to Brothers Brick, they’ve started discounting sets. You can get the Hobby Train set at half price ($50). It’s probably the best LEGO sales deal I’ve ever seen from (what I consider to be) a heavily overpriced toy. I bought one at Christmas and just bought another. Oh, the Imperial Star Destroyer is disappearing too.

More trebuchet fun

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A while ago, I linked to a fun and educational flash game involving trebuchets, physics and math. My brother-in-law has pointed me to another one, a little light on the learning side of things but high on the “wing furniture at an old Asian woman” side of things:

flash-game.jpg

Birthday Recap [Nat]

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Carrot Cake?I don’t normally post personal stuff, but one can only hope that Tony is having a better birthday than I am. (Our birthdays fall in succession.) Let’s run a tally. Here’s what I wanted to do today:

  • Clean the house
  • Play games such as Sins of a Solar Empire, Burnout Paradise, Fairway Solitaire, and some DS love.
  • Read a new book such as Armor or Inside Delta Force
  • Fix my favorite meal: chili
  • Post two writeups on buttonmashing
  • start on a watercolor

Here’s what I’ve done:

  • Cough
  • Lose my voice
  • Clean up our youngster’s puke (All four of us are sick with random things.)
  • Go to the store and get nighttime cough medicine when I needed daytime
  • Watch my oldest and his grandma play Wii and Burnout Paradise
  • Cough
  • Clean crap out of my youngster’s eyes
  • Played about five minutes of Fairway Solitaire
  • Fixed my own birthday supper: chili with chocolate and cinnamon (trying something new). It was actually very delicious. A highlight of the day.
  • Passed on my birthday cake. (Not much of a cake eater, but I love carrot cake. My wife tried a new recipe and it came out like a carrot fruit cake. We all laughed.)

I may play some PC games tonight in a delirium. I might actually do well.

Consoles I have known (cont’d)

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I linked to the first article in this series a little while ago. Here’s the second part. (I loved the mention of The Amazon from the NES game Pro Wrestling. I hated getting my face eaten by that guy!)

Continuing his saga through the gaming systems that formed him, TODD LEVIN recounts the lessons found in his first Nintendo, particularly as taught by the highs and lows of Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out.

Link. Another funny read.

Down, and pretty much out.

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My family and I have apparently been stricken by a military-grade, full-spectrum flu super-bug, because whatever I have has completely thrown me for a loop since Sunday night. I haven’t been myself since. My desire to game had dropped to nil and my desire to blog had dropped even lower. It’s been a painful four days, but I think I’ve made it through the worst of it and I’ve somehow made it out alive. I wouldn’t wish the cold shakes I had on my worst enemy. Pure torture.

So blogging should resume its normal, sporadic pace shortly. I’ve got real work to do before I get to play, so in the meantime, here’s a video to keep you mesmerized (I can’t stop watching it):

Check out this video of a thousand cars driving at once, too. Equally mesmerizing. Must be my feverish brain.

(Explanation for the Mario video can be found here)