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Tom Baker as Doctor Who

Why Who?

Decided to relax last night and watch a few episodes of classic Doctor Who. (Yes, yes, the new Doctor Who is great. Thank you.) Why should I watch classic Doctor Who? It’s cheesy, over-acted, and low-budget. Watching classic Doctor Who is like reading second-tier science fiction. It may not blow your mind, but it’ll have a few memorable moments, a nice monologue, and an interesting premise […]

Pics and Punchlines

Just stumbled across a stunningly different photo blog — the photographer works in Japan, taking photos of everyday people and situations on the street.  The color’s always unexpected, and the subjects atypical. Warning: Some of these photos show naked dolls, so if you don’t want to see doll breasts and butts, don’t click below: Pics and Punchlines A sample:

Wet Toes

In a fit of curiosity and a desire to seriously research a new field of programming, tonight I downloaded the iPad SDK and built a trivial iPad app. As expected, Apple made development relatively easy. The free development tools are comprehensive and easy to use. Also as expected, I’m still confused by all the files that go into an app. There are nibs, and Resources, and all sorts of things that simply don’t have obvious functions. I decided to read […]

Meeting the Robinsons

Meeting the Robinsons

Growing up, I wanted to be an inventor. I think it started with my Mom giving me a copy of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, saying, “I think you’ll like this.”  Did I ever.  I devoured Verne and H.G. Wells, then moved on to more modern SF literature. I was attracted to the role of the inventor, always coming up with new inventions.  I knew it wouldn’t be as simple as it was in the cartoons I watched […]

15 Thoughts on the iPad (updated)

A dry description of the iPad’s actual features and usability will not sell anyone who doesn’t want one. Nevertheless, here’s a list of my impressions: It’s slick. This is what Apple can do: make something we’ve all seen demos of feel not only practical, but sexy. Every basic part of the device works well, and the hardware feels more solid than the iPhone’s. The accelerometer feels more sensitive and the screen […]

Gaming the Social

I’ve become interested recently in the topic of role-playing social interactions. In a tabletop RPG, characters often have to talk with enemies as well as short-term antagonists — the arms dealer who’s willing to cut them a deal, the mayor from whom they need permission for an investigation, a boy who doesn’t want to talk. A good example has just come up in my Star Wars Google Wave game; while investigating the disappearance of several Adascorp […]

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