Minecraft: Stercus Accidit

Well non-existent readers of Cole's blog, I have moved on from Teres Victus, as it had been semi-griefed by someone looking for my secret stash (WHICH THEY DIDN'T FIND, HAH!) and had some of my non-hidden things stolen.  To the person who commited this: You suck.  I hate you.  Oh, and your shitty cobblestone and dirt cover-up was pathetic when I built 90% of my place using stone.

I got my friend Joe (mcmSnow) to play Minecraft now, so he helped me move my things in exchange for helping him get started on the server.  We moved far away, and I'm not going to post the coordinates on here, because this asshole may be a reader of mine (hah, not likely), but it is AWESOME.

I never got to take pictures of my old place... Oh well.  I'll put some up of this one sometime when it's near finished.  :D

The new place I dubbed Stercus Accidit, which means "Shit happens" in Latin.  Makes sense, eh?

Minecraft: Teres Victus

I've moved myself far from the Sacred Labyrinth [sacredlabyrinth.net:25565] spawn point so I won't be bothered by griefers.  I found a sweet valley that even has a waterfall, as well as large amounts of trees, cows, and pigs.  Then I hollowed out a nook, hidden by a sheltered dirt doorway, and dug out my tunnel home.

I made a room for smelting and crafting with a bunch of furnaces.  I placed a furnace, workshop, and chest near the door for quick use.  The chest there is for stuff I don't want anymore and people can take from.  I narrated the hallway with signs as well.

There's another room with my water supply, and then I have an obsidian farm too.  From there is my mineshaft, which goes down to the bottom of the map.  I've got a supply of lava down there, as well as spots where I've found redstone, diamonds, and gold.

This place was made to be a semi-permanent residence.  Eventually I'll move on, but for now it's my home base.  That way if I die I can just walk the super long way back and still have stuff!  I'll put some pictures up at another time.

Teres Victus (as far as I know) means "Fine Living" in Latin.
Coordinates:
X: 1101
Y: 73
Z: 822

Minecraft: More Like Minecrack

I have recently been absorbed into Minecraft. It's incredibly addicting. If you haven't heard about Minecraft yet then you either aren't a gamer or you haven't been paying any attention to anything news-worthy in the game entertainment industry. This one game created by a single Swedish guy has garnered over 2 million plays and sold hundreds of thousands of digital copies... And it's still in Beta. Seriously, go check it out at Minecraft.net.  My username, if you ever run into me, is Sinjustice.

I joined a server called Sacred Labyrinth and have been spending my time there as a Member. The people are pretty cool, so it's been fun so far. I even made some Minecraft related forum-wear for it:

My signature

My avatar

Horror Movie Poster

Here's the poster I created for my final project, under the photoshop option.

Wired: Metrodome's Weakness is Snow

After the recent snow storms the Midwest has been facing, the Viking's Home Statdium, the Metrodome (officially known as the Mall of America Field), deflated under pressure and collapsed, spilling tons of snow onto the field. The Vikings and Giants game was postponed and moved to Detroit's Ford Field, to be played with free admission.

The Metrodome opened only 28 years ago at a cost of less than %70 million, and this is the fourth deflation on record. No one was hurt, however. I feel it's pretty sad that a stadium in one of the most snow-ridden parts of the country wouldn't be able to withstand a snow storm. This whole event has sparked more discussion about the Vikings moving to Los Angeles. As a Packer fan I can only say, "Good riddance."

Wired: R2-D2 Nerdtacular Headphones

Yes, now you an get R2-D2-themed headphones. They'll cost you $50 and are comparable to most other $50 headphones you can find... But these ones are Star Wars styled! They have an inline remote with a mic, so you can control and talk on your phone.

They're not the only Star Wars-themed headphones out there, but they are most well-done. These are the most well-conceived ones you'll find, and definitely the most nerd-worthy.

Wired asks, "What could possibly top this perfectly formed design? What about a pair of Princess Leia ‘phones? Surely it can’t be hard to take a mold from a pair of Danish pastries, or even to twirl real fake hair over the ear pieces?"

I agree. Where are the Leia headphones?!

Know Your Meme: 'Dat Ass

The 'Dat Ass image macro series is based on a still photo of rapper Rich Boy that was taken during his visit to MTV's TRL show in March 2007. He was biting his lip while trying to listen to someone speak in the audience. The picture and response of "Dat Ass" have been used as a popular post in rump threads.

The picture is believed to be created by an Anonymous user of 4chan in a rump thread.

Know Your Meme intelligently describes its usage as, "'Dat Ass' images are typically used when a user would like a thread relating to a human posterior or “ass”. Notably a “bubble butt” thread. It can also be used to compliment another person’s well shaped buttocks. Also, Dat Ass images can be sometimes represented in the form of emoticon, which reads: :E, 8E, XE."

The meme has been used in Saturday Night Live on a January 16th skit when Sigourney Weaver was referenced on the internet by an anonymous user.

Know Your Meme: U Jelly?

"U Jelly is an emerging catchphrase used as a shorthand for “you jealous?”, an inflammatory remark typically interpreted as a form of trolling in discussions and comments. Similar in vein to "U MAD, the phrase is typically said in a boastful manner to cause annoyance. On imageboards, the expression is often accompanied by a cartoon character wearing a smirk."

So basically, it's like this. You're playing Halo. You're running like hell for the Rocket Launcher spawn. After traversing the entire map it's in your sights. You sprint for it, only to have a teammate spawn in front of you, bolt for the Rocket Launcher, and take it. Enraged, you throw your controller across the room. Your teammate turns around and wields his new weapons and says two words..

"U jelly?"

Know Your Meme says the origin may be from a Bodybuilding forum thread back in May 2010. The first UrbanDictionary entry for "U Jelly?" was entered on August 17th, 2010.

Kotaku: Pre-Historic Gamers

Apparently Gamers have been around for thousands of years.  National Geographic reports that some research has dug up prehistoric dice boards in Mesoamerica (which is the area from Mexico to Costa Rica) that dates back to 5.000 years ago.

Hole punctures in c-shapes on clay floors were discovered at the Tiacuachero archaeological site in Mexico.  The markings are similar to native gaming boards left by the Aztec and the Tarahumara.

Archaeologists believe the game had something to do with rolling a die and then moving your piece, and the first one to the other side won.  Perhaps there was some sort of sacrificing of the losing players?  Who knows.


"There's no absolute proof that my interpretation of these strange features [is right], but it's a very strong analogy, and that's about as good as it gets for archaeology," Professor Voorhies told National Geographic

deviantART Usability Test

Usability test done on roommate using deviantART.com

1.    Search for a computer desktop wallpaper involving Polar Bears.

He searched for “polar bears” and then clicked on the “photography” category on the sidebar.  Seeing no wallpapers, he clicked “all categories” and then clicked the “customization” category and then clicked the “wallpaper” subcategory.

2.    Attempt to submit an image as art on the site.

He scanned the website for a moment and then clicked the “Submit” button on the top bar and then filled out all the information.

3.    Leave a comment on a user’s art profile. (using my account)

He searched for “polar bears” again and clicked on the first photo, then clicked on the author’s username (Lordwuermchen) and scrolled around until he found the comment box.

4.    Subscribe to a user’s art feed. (using my account)

Staying on Lordwuermchen’s page he scrolled around for a minute and then hovered his cursor over the “add to deviantWATCH” button, then clicked it.

5.    Add two similar pieces of art to your favorites, and then put them in a folder together. (using my account)

He clicked on Lordwuermchen’s gallery and picked two photos, individually clicking the “add to favorites” button for both, and then went to my profile.  After a bit of scrolling, he found my favorites tab and created a new folder on the sidebar.  Then he dragged the new favorite’s into the folder.

Project: Lolcat Designs

For my Intro to MAGD class we were required to create several Lolcat designs to introduce us to Photoshop, as well as popular internet memes.  These are what I came up with...

My personal favorite.

Wired: Reading With Touchscreens On A Plane

Virgin America is going to be updating their on-flight touchscreens with book material soon, according to Wired.  Their touchscreens already carry food ordering services, as well as media like music videos and such.  Adding books would be a great addition, especially since reading is a popular occurence on airlines.

Maybe you would purchase stories or magazines directly via credit card?  Or maybe you'd subscribe to a service?  It may even be included in your airline fee.  Whichever plan they choose to go with, Virgin America could serve to make boatloads (or planeloads) of cash.

Favorite Videos: Brütal Legend (Story Trailer)

One of my favorite trailers of all time is for a game I greatly enjoyed, Brütal Legend.  There are several trailers for this game, but the story trailer is my favorite.  It features the narrator voice of Don LaFontaine, famous for his "In a world..." movie trailers, and covers the general storyline while displaying cut scenes (which are rendered with the in-game engine), actual gameplay footage, and the voice talent of Jack Black.



It begins by introducing the main character, a roadie named Eddie Riggs and explaining how he enters the world of Brütal Legend.  It's met with several cut scenes from the game which show off the humor and several features in game (like electric guitar solo attacks!) and then proceeds to show gameplay footage, followed by some other cutscenes.  The entired arrangement is composed in a style similar to your average movie trailer, which is perfect for explaining the story, but not exposing any spoilers.

All in all, this trailer gives a great overview of Brütal Legend's core strengths: humor, heavy metal satire, and varied gameplay.  This is a game for metal heads and comedy junkies alike.

Kotaku: Reach's First Day Sales Hits $200 Million

According to Microsoft, Bungie's new game, Halo: Reach for the Xbox 360 generated $200 million in sales in the United States and Europe within the first 24 hours, Kotaku reported. It's core predecessor, Halo 3, made $170 million in the United States along during the first 24 hours.

Microsoft is including Europe in its sales figured for the first 24 hours, which most likely means Halo 3 outsold Halo: Reach in the first 24 hours, but most likely not by much. Halo 3 set a record for highest gross of any entertainment product within 24 hours of its release, so it would've been a large feat for Halo: Reach to surpass that number. Surely if they did, Microsoft would be bragging their asses off.

Halo: Reach's single-player campaign puts
you in the place of Noble 6, who is a new
addition to Noble Team on the planet Reach.

"Halo: Reach is the biggest game Microsoft has ever released, and its launch has already surpassed every game, movie and entertainment launch this year," announced Phil Spencer, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. "Every major installment has grown in scope and popularity, firmly cementing the Halo franchise as one of the most popular entertainment properties in the world over the past decade." This is impressive on its own, but what will be more impressive will be Halo: Reach's numbers in the coming months. I also contributed to those numbers two days ago when I bought Halo: Reach at Whitewater's local game store, Level Up Games. I will personally attest to it's entertainment value. The game kicks ass. Tonight I will be finishing the last mission co-op on Legendary with a friend, so I won't be sleeping much tonight!

Know Your Meme: Antoine Dodson And The Bed Intruder Song

According to Know Your Meme, on July 28th, 2010 a news report in Huntsville, Georgia was conducted on a girl named Kelly Dodson who reported that her home was broken into and that the intruder had tried to rape her.  WAFF 48 News covered the story and interviewd her and her brother, Antoine Dodson.

Antoine proved to be very flamboyant and intense in his deposition of the event.  He urged the local population to hide their kids, wives, and husbands, because "they rapin' everybody out here". He threated the offender, insulting him for his stupidity in leaving behind evidence and warning him that they were going to find him. When the news footage was posted online it quickly gained millions of views for Antoine's hilarious personality.

Soon after, on July 31st, The Gregory Brothers, creators of the popular webseries Auto-Tune the News, rehashed the news report into a song, as well as releasing the lyrics and chords for the song.  Splitting the proceeds of the song with Dodson, The Gregory Brothers released the full version of the song on iTunes, where it debuted at 89 on Billboard.com's Hot 100 chart.  The last I checked it was iTune's 3rd most downloaded song this month.

Due to his success, Antoine Dodson has even created his own website to help grow his internet fame.  He's even attracted comedian Dane Cook to submit a cover of his song.

You can watch the original video for the song below, where The Gregory Brothers urge viewers to upload their own covers of the song.

Tubefilter News: Ask A Ninja Hires Brett Register

Personally, Ask A Ninja is very important to me, for it's the very first thing I watched on YouTube.  Long ago when I was about thirteen or so, I used to surf a kiddie forum site called GaiaOnline (which has grown considerably since then) and I stumbled across an Ask A Ninja video on someone's profile, which lead me to YouTube.  Thousands of video views later I'm an avid YouTube browser and Ask A Ninja fan.  I even bought Ask A Ninja's Ninja Handbook.

Well, one month before its fifth year anniversary Ask A Ninja is bringing in some fresh ideas with a man named Brett Register (The Crew, A Good Knight’s Quest) set to be their new producer-director for day-to-day content.
"Brett is one of the most prolific and consistent people working in the web video space.  This is like when your favorite musician brings in a new producer, or a comic book brings in a new artist. Same core, just slightly different execution." - Kent Nichols, co-creator of Ask A Ninja, in his blog post on Sept. 2nd, 2010.

The Ask A Ninja logo

A lot of the direct outcome of having a new mind on the team means more videos, which will be released on certain days corresponding to Ask A Ninja's own schedule.  A lot of these will be skits and sketches, or maybe small mini-shows, with most, if not all, featuring the Ninja himself.  Tubefilter spoke with Nichols in an interview in which he stated,
"The idea behind the sketch day is to be a total palate cleanser for all of us creatively, as well as, be an incubator for new internally generated shows and concepts."

All of this is good news for fans like myself, as it can only mean more Ask A Ninja videos to watch.  This also shows that their popularity is still increasing, as well as their budget.