Flash Game - RaidenX

For Time-Wasting Tuesday... here's RaidenX. Raiden (wikipedia link) is a classic shoot-them-up game with a top-down view. This is a Flash version of the game that is surprisingly reminiscent of the coin-operated arcade console. Brought to you by googley, this is a tribute to the original.

The game is simple and typical; you fly a plane through waves of enemies and several levels with a boss at the end of the level. You have your main cannon, missles, and a clear-the-screen bomb.

This version is good for about 60 minutes; turn it up and have some fun with it!

"Kill the Pacman" Game

For Time-Wasting Tuesday... Kill the Pacman.

You control a beach ball to "pop" floating pacmen (pacmans?) with increasing difficulty. At first, you just pop a set number within a time frame, then you have to get specific colors, and the difficulty increases. Finally, you face the gian Pacman King.

Good for about 30 minutes, this will not waste too much of your time.TIP: you can bounce Mario-style from one pacman to another.

More Work for Mother?

Does technology save us time in the long run? According to this article I read, use of technology may not really save us time, depending on how we use the technology. As I said a long time ago, we can't just use technology, we must manage it, too. That's why I'm not so sure email is the answer for everybody, or a blog, or whatever...

The following is IFTF's summary of Ruth Schwartz Cowan's More Work for Mother.

The book asked a simple question: why was it that, almost a century after the introduction of labor-saving technologies in the home, women spent almost as much time doing housework as their grandmothers? The answer was that while the washing machine, vacuum cleaner, and other household appliances have made individual tasks easier-- it's certainly easier to put clothes in a washing machine than to do them by hand-- the appliances have also changes who does housework, and how often those tasks are done.

First, automating housework changed standards of cleanliness. It's less work to get a shirt clean, but we now put a shirt in the laundry after wearing it one day (even if we have jobs that require virtually no physical labor). A century ago, we would have worn a shirt for three days before washing it. Put the two trends together, and the result is, as it were, a wash.

Second, it changed who did housework. Vacuuming a carpet is less work than picking it up, taking it outside, and beating it. But who used to do that work? Fathers and sons. Wealthy and middle-class women didn't do their own laundry before the invention of the washing machine: they sent it out. Cooking is easier in an age of ready-mix cakes, but a century ago, Mom would have had a couple other sets of hands working with her. Broadly speaking, labor-saving technologies feminized housework, and turned women who previously had managed housework-- delegating, supervising, and evaluating the work of washerwomen, sons and daughters-- into manual laborers.

Truck On Fire

This is a delivery truck I saw, on fire, coming home from work on Thursday. The driver had just pulled over between the 91 & 55 exchange at 4:03 P.M. PST.

I saw following the 91 and kept smelling something funny... I made a note to check my car when I got home. Then I saw a lot of white smoke coming from this delivery truck. My thouhgts went like this:

"Boy, he's got some engine problems."
"That's a LOT of smoke..."
"Hey, is that fire? That wasn't there before..."
"Oh crud, he's gotta pull over! Everybody is getting outta the way..."
"Oh, hey... camera!"

I saw the driver jump out of the truck after I passed him. Young black kid, must of been barely 20 or so, looking scared and backing away from the truck. I called *911 and was told they had already dispatched a fire truck for the truck fire. I suppose he'll be OK, since Yahoo Maps shows no traffic problems in the area...

Truck On Fire - click to enlarge

Star Wars, Midi-Chlorin and the Force

Completely random thought about Star Wars... if midi-chlorin (MD) is indicative of propensity to manipulating the Force (as Qui-Gon Jinn explains to Anakin Skywalker in Episode I), and MD is apparently present in the blood stream, the following implications may be true, given the assumption that blood is the medium of MD.

• MD is a renewable resource, generated by the Force-user's body


• MD is contained in, though perhaps not entirely limited to, the blood stream


• It would theoretically be possible to boost Force-use by "enricing" the blood of a Jedi by exracting several pints of his blood and re-injecting it when a boost is needed


• A great loss of blood should lead to a reduction in Force-abilities

That being said, although Anakin (and therefore Vadar) had a very high MD count, Vadar's injuries and cybernetic transplants should render him less powerful a Force-user.

Like I said, random Star Wars thoughts.

Online Mapping Services

Today I cover mapping web sites. Most of these offer driving directions as well, although I think MapQuest's directions are the best, followed closely by Google and Yahoo! directions. The sites below, however, offer a close-up look of our streets and our world.

Google Local
Google Maps is the standard by which I judge all other mapping programs. Google was the first to seriously intergrate satelite imagery, and their overlay (hybrid) option came quickly on the heels of their Google Earth product. You should try out the Hybrid View of Google Local. Google Maps has detailed coverage of the U.S., the U.K. and Japan. Image coverage is available of the entire world; I can only hope Taiwan is next. If you like satellite imagery, also check out Google Earth, a Windows-only download I wrote about in previous posts. (Click)

Yahoo! Maps beta
Yahoo! Maps beta is a Flash application that is pretty slick. It supports mouse wheels for zooming (similar to Google Earth). What is very cool about Yahoo! Maps beta, though, are the Live Traffic overlay and the customizable look (check this link out). (Click)

Microsoft Virtual Earth BETA
Got Internet Explorer (and sticking with it)? Love Microsoft? Try Microsoft Virtual Earth BETA. The aerial photos are comparitively old when displayed next to Google Local, but there are some nice features, such as mouse wheel support and better International labeling of cities and borders. (Click)

Flash Earth
For the those who like satelite imagery of Earth, Flash Earth combines Google Maps and Microsoft Virtual Earth imagery in a Flash application that greatly resembles Google Earth. This is quick alternative to Google Earth, and is not Windows-only. (Click)

A9 Maps beta
Amazon's A9 Maps beta has the interesting feature of street-level images of entire blocks of city streets, called BlockView. A9 trucks with GPS equipment and digital cameras drove around and took pictures of public streets, resulting in an intersting look of the local not afforded by digital maps or satelite imagery. BlockView coverage is limited (for now?) but very interesting. (Click)

Cat In Need of A Home

Got a cat here that needs a home... This cat showed up at our office. There's an 800 number on her tag, but the pet finder service indicated that the information was incomplete. Sooo... she needs a new home. She's probably going to have to be the cat of a single-cat home. She's very lovey-dovey, and is declawed in the front.

Vito Goes Bye-Bye

This is Vito, before he was "fixed" and adopted. Oh COME ON that is SOOO cute!
I wonder what his name is now? I last saw him on 11/04/2005. He was "fixed" that afternoon and adopted the next morning. It happened so fast I didn't even get to the cat shelter adoption to see him go home. *sigh*

click to enlarge

Well, I trust he has a good home. I still see little orange shadows darting around out of the corner of my eye, but there's never a kitten there anymore.

Psychiatry Game for Troubled Toys

For Time-Wasting Tuesday... The Institue for Troubled Toys

Germon Title: Die Anstalt - Psychiatrie für misshandelte Kuscheltiere
English Title: The Institute - Psychiatry for Abused Cuddly Toys
Credit: http://www.parapluesch.de/
URL: http://www.parapluesch.de/whiskystore/test.htm

Comments: Troubled Toys are sent to the Institue for help. You are temporarily assigned to the Institute. Your goal is to help the traumatized toys discover the root of their problems and become mentally stable again. I enjoyed this immensely, probably due to my nurturing nature and psychology / pastoral background. Check it out, but be sure to block out about two hours! The game is available in several languages, including English.

Sory about the delay

Sorry about the delay in updates... I can always tell when I'm not posting enough, because people start emailing and calling to see how Cathy is feeling and how things are going.

Let's see... for those emailing about Vito the kitten, I'm sad to say that he has been adopted. We got him fixed on two Fridays ago, and the very next day he was snatched up about an hour after the shelter opened. He's a cute one, Vito (whatever his name is now).

Malachi (our tabby) has apparently picked up fleas (!), although none of the other cats have it. I think the last time we applied flea meds we messed her dose up. Poor thing...

Cathy's conition has shifted. I'd say "improved" but it has really only changed. It used tobe that she would feel real lousy Friday evening, lousy on Saturday, bad on Sunday, and start recovering on Monday. Her new routine is ok on Friday, lousy Saturday A.M. but kinda O.K. evenings, repeat for Sunday and Monday, and just really tired the rest of the week. Cathy says she prefers this, if she can address the fatigue.

I've been offline because of my sermon class, finishing the remodel on apartment one (they're moving in Tuesday), and trying to stay sane. I've got a Hebrew exam on Monday the 21st, so this week ain't looking so good, either. I'll try to sneak some time during breaks at work to keep up the posting schedule, though.

I got my sermon evaluation back. Basically, I didn't give enough verbals clues for the shift in thoughts, but on paper it looked really good. I've got another shot at getting my sermon critiqued in December, so I'm looking to pick a hard-to-preach text (any ideas?) so I can learn from any mistakes I make.

Uh... my high school graduating class found me (hi guys) so I'm being practially mail-bombed. I've had to create mail filters just to follow the conversations and keep my mailbox straight. I haven't got time to contribute on the geek side for the next week; I feel bad, but keeping up is about all I can do right now... :-)

Oy. My lovely wife is reminding me that scheduled periods of unconsciousness is beneficial to my health. Night-night.