2004.01.19
And today we pause to remember Martin Luth--aw, forget it. GO PATS!
But seriously. A Russian co-worker didn't know much about MLK jr. He said he actually thought less of him when we told him he was a fighter for the rights of black people, not some universal human rights guy. I tried to explain a bit about the particular issues of race relations in this country, but it was an uphill battle.
What's funny about MLK jr. is how you're "not allowed" to mention certain issues that make him seem less than perfect, like that he might've been an adulterer. Our country is so simple minded when it comes to our heroes; they can't be flawed humans.
Aw well...onto today's links...a pretty decent set, especially Joe's Brain and Worldbuilder.
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When I was a kid, my first computer was an Atari 800XL...pretty decent computer with lots of stuff to do in BASIC and Logo. One great magazine for it was Antic magazine, one great type-in game it had one month was Warrior
3000, a character-graphics based Archon-inspired duel. For some reason, the art used for it, shown here, really stuck in my memory...something about the arms, or the visor. The keepers of that big Antic archive were kind enough to go back and scan it in for me...
- I Am John's Brain, a tribute to those old Reader's Digest articles that talks about some cool issues of mind vs brain and consciousness.
- I missed the 50th birthday of the pixel?
- Some people are big fans of Michelle Wie, the 14yr old who golfs better than some professional guys.
- The 1994 journal of jwz, one of the most famous Netscape coders. He also has a rant about "Megapixels". I also tend to think in X by Y terms, but it sounds like most casual users are more comfortable with megapizels.
- Another cool Lego/GameLab game: WorldBuilder. Neat puzzle elements.
- Man, the danger of not posting things sooner: (Well, not that it was that interesting even when it was semi-relevant, which is probably why it wasn't posted then, ah well.) Around June, Wired reported that Columbia House Jumps in Game Biz. "Columbia House, the venerable if stodgy powerhouse of direct-market retailing, quietly entered the video game-selling business last week, another sign that the gaming industry is maturing." The weird thing is, my first video game system was a "Columbia Home Arcade", circa 1984...a rebranded Coleco Gemini, which in turn was a clone of the Atari 2600. It had a monthly mailing that had a poster on one side and games to order on the other. Just kind of funny that this is being treated as something new.
- Got any Star Wars questions? Ask the Jedi Council. Lots of behind-the-scenes info if you dig that kind of stuff.
- Over Three Hundred Proofs of God's Existence... like the Monkees didn't sing, "then I saw this page...now I'm a believer."
- Random comic: the Cartoon Hospital Opthamology Wing.
