Play Well

Lego turns 50 today, and Google commemorates the event with a doodle.


Happy birthday, Lego!

In unrelated news, BZP is once again safe for browsing.

Update XV: Hello, I'm from the Internet

Perhaps someday the future xkcd envisions will come to be, and the internet will be considered an actual, legitimate location. We've already got communities, universities, shops, restaurants, arcades, cinemas, search engines to transport us between them, laws to regulate behaviour... All we're missing are the toilets.

On the subject of xkcd, it's been changing the internet again. Try Googling "died in a blogging accident" now, and you'll get something in the region of 294,000 results. That's a sharp rise from the original 2 results when the comic was published.
See? Anyone can leave a mark on the internet. Without resorting to vandalism of Wikipedia pages.

iPod vs. The Cassette pits what is arguably the most popular mp3 player worldwide against what was once the most popular music storage device worldwide... and finds the iPod lacking. It's actually quite surprising how many advantages the cassette has, in spite of its age. Probably explains why the cassette's larger cousin, the video tape, outlasted the laser disc and is still in use today.

The scientists over at Bio-Rad decided to show their appreciation for the Polymerase Chain Reaction, the technique which revolutionised molecular biology when it was first developed in 1983, with The PCR Song. It's strangely catchy, and entirely tongue-in-cheek. My class loves the scene at the end when they bring in the thermal cycler.

It seems that this blog is the top Google return for "toothpick vampire", and scores pretty high for "Bionicle going downhill." I'm rather suprised by the first, considering I didn't actually say much on the topic. As for the second...
...I thought I made it pretty clear I don't think Bionicle is going downhill. Oh well.

Finally, I haven't done a meme in a while, and Websnark had an interesting one. The idea is to complete the sentence "In my world, superheroes..." any way you like. And so:

In my world, superheroes aren't afraid of who they are.
In my world, superheroes do normal things too.
In my world, superheroes know that the local laws of physics make absolutely no sense, and they don't care.
In my world, superheroes don't need to be young to be relevant.
In my world, superheroes choose modest outfits. (Seriously...)
In my world, superheroes don't think self-sacrifice is the best solution, but they'll do it if they have to.
In my world, superheroes don't keep getting new backstories all the time.
In my world, superheroes are nevertheless capable of undergoing character development.
In my world, superheroes never do wrong to benefit themselves.
In my world, superheroes never do right to benefit themselves either. They do right because that's what they believe in.
In my world, superheroes are never evil or cruel on purpose.
In my world, superheroes are, first and foremost, heroes.

...I hate it when newer comic-book writers make old favourites turn angsty or do terrible things. They're heroes, and while it is perfectly acceptable for them to be conflicted sometimes, they still should remain heroes at the end of the day. They're supposed to give us hope - how can we have hope in heroes who are worse than ourselves?

Anyway, that's all from me for now. Til next time.

Sir Edmund Hillary passes away, aged 88

On Friday, Sir Edmund Hillary died of heart failure. (If you don't know who he is, shaaaame on you.) He was one of the last great adventurers, and by all accounts was a genuinely caring and humble person. While his most prominent achievement was being one of the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest, he was also known for his philantropic work. When I was growing up he was one of the people I always wanted to meet, because he wasn't just some climber. He was an inspiration.

The world has lost a good person, but he will be remembered always. Rest in peace, Sir Edmund.

365 1/4

So... It's January 2nd, and the new year is safely in. Which means now is a good time to think about the three hundred and sixty-five and a quarter days marking the Earth's last complete orbit around the Sun.

One year ago, when 2007 was a very new year, I dubbed it the Year of Entertainment. There were going to be a lot of important movies coming out in 2007 - Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Carribean 3: At World's End, the fifth Harry Potter movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the long-awaited Transformers. There were going to be a lot of important game releases - Halo 3, Portal (packaged in The Orange Box) and the long, long, long, LONG awaited Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was due to arrive in that year. So it was a very interesting year in the world of fiction, and I must say I wasn't disappointed. There isn't as much to look forward to in 2008, which is a little sad, but we can't have a Year of Entertainment every year, it would look cheap.

So what is 2008 about? For me it will be the Year of Uncertainty, as I fly off to new responsibilities and begin a new stage of my life. It may also be the Year of Change, the Year of Independence or possibly the Year of Growing Up. (I'm really hoping it won't be the Year of Stupid Mistakes.) Whatever it ends up... Okay, let's face it. I have no idea what it will end up as. How's about we meet up here in another year and talk about it?

To the new year.