Re: Geek Week - Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

...continued from...

And for my final post celebrating Geek Week, how about this delight from PBS in the early 90's? I'm betting that you're already humming the theme just from reading the title of this post!


There's been rumblings that it'd return, and while it's not new episodes, I'll happily take a rebroadcast. This show had such a profound affect on me as a child, making me the trivia buff I am today. After all, you never know when a small piece of information about South America will be all that stands between you and the capture of a master thief!

I'll leave you with this. Sadly, while Lynne Thigpen as passed away, I'll always fondly remember her as The Chief.

And yes, this is from one of the video games, but she's The Chief no matter what medium!

All Things Geek on YouTube

A few months ago YouTube tested the waters with Comedy Week, featuring the comedy talents of notable YouTube channels. Needless to say, it was a hilarious romp that kept the laughs coming (one of my favorites: What kind of Asian are you?). How do you follow this up? With a week dedicated to geeks, of course! It began yesterday and isn't exactly a secret (as those who found the easter egg would know), but I'm slow to post as always.



And YouTube's pulled out all the stops it seems. They have each day set aside for different geeky celebrations. For instance, yesterday was "Blockbuster Sunday", today is "Global Geekery Monday", followed up all week long with the likes of "Braniac Tuesday", "Super Wednesday", "Gaming Thursday", and "Fan Friday". Meanwhile, this leaves Saturday to be a full day of the best of the best.

Highlights so far:

• Blockbusters hosted by Red Dwarf's Kryten:

• The latest Doctor Who news:

• Top animations from around the world:

There are other treats too such as being able to test your geekery, and it's been reported that many other easter eggs are on their way. After all the hectic geeking out at San Diego Comic Con a few weeks ago, it's nice to slide right back into full geekitude with this. While I don't fully know where the week will take us, I look forward to sitting back and enjoying the ride.

You can stay up to date with all week long at YouTube's own channel.

Meanwhile I've decided to post a couple extra small, nostalgiac, geekish posts this week (with videos!), so stay tuned. And if you have any geekery you'd like to share with me, please do! I'm always on the lookout for something new.

Grump grump grump

[caption id="attachment_1182" align="alignright" width="321"] Separated at Birth?[/caption]

I've been called many things in my life, but the most enduring is likely the adjective "surly". So obviously when Grumpy Cat came to the internet's doorstep (reddit.com) last year, I knew that the comparisons to myself would begin soon enough. For instance, the picture comparing my young, handsome self to Tardar Sauce was taken around 7 years ago, and quickly labeled "Grump grump grump".

Things haven't changed much since though. I've recently been told that Grumpy Cat is my spirit animal. I think I can live with that... somehow. I almost feel like this is a paradox in the making though, as if I admit I like being compared to Grumpy Cat, then I'm also admitting that I'm in no way grumpy enough to be worthy of that comparison! Oh how my mind boggles...

Maybe I'll just have to go full Grumpy Cat for Comic Con this year. Hrmmmmmm?

Full disclosure: Grumpy Cat is one of my favorite memes today. Surely this is due in no small part how well the meme relates to me. But as such, I guess I can't complain for once.

Also, for those of you with a PS3, Wii U, internet-connected set top-box or television, check out YouTube on it today. You might find something apropos...
You can also see it at www.youtube.com/tv.

EDIT: Welp, nevermind. Looks like we're not doing that... so yeah, that's less cool >_>

HUGE SUCCESS

For those who have been living under a rock, four years ago Valve released a game called Portal. This game was groundbreaking: a mind-bending First Person Puzzler, all centered around the idea of creating portals connecting two points in space.

But Valve didn't stop there. The game was already new and fresh, but they decided to sprinkle in an interesting story, one which fits our mute hero well. It's very difficult to create a story which requires next-to-zero interaction from the protagonist rather than just moving forward, but they managed it. The whole time in the "testing environment", a disembodied voice gives hints, help, and provides comic relief. Only to pull the twist once you reach the end: the cake is a lie.

That disembodied voice isn't so disembodied as you thought, and it turns out she's a passive-aggressive machine bent on testing subjects for her own amusement (when she's not releasing deadly neurotoxin).

All in all, the puzzles stay fresh, and then applying them outside of the standard environment makes the final areas memorable. I recently re-played the game and still enjoyed it thoroughly.

Of course, the real reason for this post: now there's a Portal 2! So much science to do, so little time.

A Really Long Satuday

For the past seven years I've taken part in an (unaffiliated) Georgia Tech Band tradition: Get A Clue.

What is Get A Clue (or GAC, as we in the know call it)? Well, it's a day filled with reckless driving, possible trespassing, and some intellectual pursuits thrown in for the hell of it. I believe the proper term is that it's a "Treasure Hunt" game: Get Clue, Solve, Find Location, Lather, Rinse, Repeat. The trick is that the locations can be anywhere within a 40 mile radius of Georgia Tech campus. Also, it starts at about 9 AM on a Saturday, and you'll be lucky to be done by midnight (this year, we didn't finish till 3 AM).

What do you win? First place gets...

*drumroll please*

To run the game next year!

Second place is "The Real Winners"; they're team smart enough to beat everyone else and also ensure they don't have to run next year's game! It's a coveted position, the running for which causes the accidental first place (no one wants to come in last, even if it is for nothing).

Why do it? It's just great fun. Spend a day with friends driving around the city solving clues. Sure, those friends rarely do it a second year in a row (and those who do forget how long of a Saturday it really is). But once you get going, you wonder why you don't do this everyday? And then once you pass around 11 PM, you remember just how tired you get when you've been solving clues all day and have who-knows-how-many left to go.

The other part of the fun are the yearly themes. I've played it with themes ranging from "Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse" to "Where in Atlanta is Carmen Sandiego?" to even "Corporate Espionage". I stole the image at the top of this post from this year's theme: "CSI: Atlanta", complete with tracking down the notorious "cereal killer". Yes, that's right, all victims were dressed up as cereal mascots, including the hooker ("When they're dead, they're just hookers") in Las Vegas dressed up as a bunny while turning tricks (get it?).

Was returning to Atlanta for a weekend to do this worth my time? Probably not, given how busy I was. Did I enjoy it anyways? Hell yes. And made sure I got to see all my friends and family while there as well. Good trip, will have to do it again next year.

P.S. Talk about Scheduler keeping me on my toes, it keeps reposting this even though I never wrote it...

WünderbarCon

I've finally passed fully into nerdom: I have attended a comic book convention.

Last week, a coworker pointed out that WonderCon was that weekend and that we should all go. I could come up with all sorts of excuses to try and save face, such as "he had a gun to my head" or "he threatened to punt a puppy" or "he would make a baby cry", but those would all be lies. I went along out of sheer curiosity.

For those not in the know (also, myself before I went), WonderCon is run by the same group as ComicCon, and it's basically the same. It's just smaller and not quite as many people dress up. I of course went in my standard button down shirt and shorts (a Vasili classic). I now think I should've worn my "Vasili Says No" shirt, but I haven't even tested that on my coworkers yet. (btw, since I know you're reading this, we need to update it)

So, it was a fun day filled with amazement at all the awesome costumes (and some not so awesome), the hilarious booths, searching for good book deals, and stumbling across interesting art. I found some really interesting cheap stuff, like cells from Pink Panther which'd make a good wall decoration. Other not so cheap knock-offs, and some authentic items which were out of my price range.

Of course, the best part of the day: getting my picture with Richard Kiel. The other actors don't matter, Richard Kiel was the only one worth it. The only person who would've been better would be, unquestionably, Bruce Campbell.

Did I have fun? Yes. Was it a great day? Yes. Did I spend way too much money? Yes. Would I do it again? Yes. Have I embraced my inner nerd? Definitely.

Vintage

The same folks who brought you front-page RickRolls and TEXTp have a new trick up their sleeve. Going with the idea of "Our 100 Year Anniversary", the folks at YouTube bring you a new way of watching online videos: party like it's 1911!

Most films can be given this treatment: including sepia-ed out colors, film-scratches, uneven lighting, and even caption cards. Oh, and don't forget that piano player working his heart out to bring you the sound you deserve. I wonder who's playing? Keyboard Cat?

Check out the little extras too: the top viral videos of 1911, a new (or old) way to upload your video, or the Retro ads you might find.

It's great fun, all around. Enjoy it today, because unfortunately these things rarely last.

Awesome Site of the Day: Things 90s Kids Realize

I'm almost depressed that I just now found out about this site, but I guess it's only been around a couple of months. Things 90s Kids Realize speaks to my soul.  Some of the things are a little past my time, but most is on the money.

For anyone who grew up in the early 90s, you'll find so much stuff which never clicked but now makes so much sense.  I now know why I love "Community" so much, why Friday nights really are somewhat depressing now, and how much I miss shows like "Doug", "GUTS", and "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"

My only issues, so far they've left out "Beakman's World":


And don't forget "Square One TV":


(though admittedly the site creator would've only been 4 when it ended)

We truly did live through the Golden Age of Children's Television.

(Last note: #23, so much sadness)

Most influential indeed.

I know it's kind of old news, but it's also hilarious. moot wins.

I read a fun article about how it was pulled off, which was highly entertaining. Who knew web-based applications could be so susceptible to such simple attacks? *cough*

Who is moot? The most influential person in the world, obviously.

Julia Child + Fat Bastard = Susan Boyle