Auditorium

Saw this over on Penny Arcade, who got the link from Dubious Quality, who got it from somewhere else.

Anyway, you have to check out Auditorium. Go play it.

BBC thinks I'm a girl

The website has a scary name, but BBC's Sex I.D. test attempts to tell you if you are more male or female in terms of you thinking. They think I'm a girl (primarily because, I think, I did well on the "where are the keys" test).

Cathy playing Guitar Hero

My friend Joe has been trying to get me to play a game called Guitar Hero for a long time now. Finally, he just loaned me his Playstation 2 and the game. Last night I hooked it up and gave it a try.

This game is really fun! I don't know most of the songs (I only recognized "Message in a Bottle") but I had a great deal of fun trying to "strum" the cords. It is difficult, though! That makes me think more highly of the musicians who play weekly during our worship services!

Here's Cathy playing bass guitar... if you skip to about 0:50 you can hear her finish it off.

Christmas Favorites

Got an email from Yvonne asking about Christmas favorites, one of those that you forward to everybody? Here's my list...

Wrapping paper or gift bags?	Wrapping Paper
Tree--Real or Artificial?	Artificial – more economical
When do you put Christmas tree up?	First week of December
When do you take the tree down?	Before New Years
Like eggnog?	Nah
Do you have a nativity scene?	Sorta
Favorite gift received as a child?	Bicycle
Hardest person to buy for?	Cathy (duh)
Easiest person to buy for?	In-laws (See’s chocolate!)
Worst Christmas gift?	Tube socks (come on!)
Mail or email a Christmas Card?	Snail mail is better, email when desperate
Favorite Christmas movie?	It's a Wonderful Life (feels good, even if it is theologically dubious)
When do you start shopping for Christmas?	September
Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?	Yes (!)
Favorite food to eat on Christmas?	Turkey?
Clear or colored tree lights?	Colors… the pretty colors!
Favorite Christmas Song?	O Come O Come Immanuel
Travel during Christmas or Stay home?	Travel to meet family
Can you name Santa's reindeer?	Donner, Vixen, Blitzen, Comet, Rudolph… that’s it.
Angel or Star on Tree top?	Star
Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning?	Christmas morning!
Most annoying thing about this time of year?	Shopping malls

Portal: the Flash Version

If you like puzzle games and have about 90 minutes, check out Portal: the Flash Version.

See if you can read this without laughing

I read this article (http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=bizarre&id=5607170) out loud to Cathy. We were laughing out loud on this one.

My favorite line:

I'm glad it's going to a museum and not a private collection.

Disabling Vista UAC Prompts

Vista's new User Account Control (UAC) is a new security component in Windows. If you've used Vista at all, you know that it feels like Windows Vista nags you about launching every single program. Here's a simple explanation: Microsoft wants to protect your from evil software, so it makes you think twice when you do something Microsoft doesn't recognize; it does so by asking "are you sure?" when you do something like install software or launch a program that is not registered with Microsoft (e.g. Firefox). For a detailed explanation, see this Microsoft Technet article.

Anyway, these prompts can get annoying, almost like nagging. I didn't like them in the beta, I don't like them now. I ran Vista with the UAC prompts for a week, and I disabled them today with the secpol.msc tool (see this URL to disable UAC it yourself).

That's why I found this new Apple "get a Mac" ad so funny... (click to watch)

Free Museum Day 09/30/2006

On September 30, 2006, for one day only, museums across the country will join the Smithsonian Institution in its long-standing tradition of offering free admission to visitors.

That's tomorrow, of course. You can print a pass for one time use on September 30, 2006.

To get a list of partcipating museums near you, see this link. If I can make it after class, I think I'd like to see The Bunny Museum.

Free "Splash" Arcade Game

You can download GameHouse's "Splash" free after watching a 30-second commercial for the Honda Element.

Blogging Comments?

Saw this Pearls Before Swine comic today and thought it worth sharing.

I blog for several reasons, one of which is to give friends and family a way to keep up with us Joneses. I also do it as a brain dump and a pseudo-diary. Sorry I haven't been posting much... I'll catch all y'all up later on today... there's a lot to tell, but not much time to tell it!

Try an Anagram

Did you know that "Joy! Enhanced stale." is an anagram for "Lee and Cathy Jones"? Or, "Joy! Cleanest he." for "Lee & Cathy Jones".

Neither did I... "Lee and Cathy" produced the less-appetizing "Deathly acne."

"laugh out loud" produced "Ugh! A loud lout."

Anyway, have a few minutes to kill? Try Sternest Meanings, a front-end for Anagram Genius. Sternest Meanings is also available as an AIM chatbot, which should give you a clue what "Sternest Meanings" may be an anagram for...

Game - BlockDude

If you are the puzzle game type, check out BlockDude. The idea is pretty simple: pick up blocks and rearrange them to get to an exit.

Via: JayIsGames

Solutions for the first 11 levels can be found here.

Chris Bliss Juggling Finale

I came across this amazing juggling act on Google Video after seeing a clip of it elsewhere. Chris Bliss opened for Michael Jackson on the "Victory Tour" and links to this video from his own web site, which I have embedded below. I am impressed!

Comic: Cat Heaven

Timewaster: Mythbuster Quizes

Myth Busters, featured on the Discovery Channel, is hosted by the guys at M5 Industries. They have a plethora of quizes, which certainly busted a lot of my wrongly-held myths. (click for quizes)

Comic: Have A Nice Day

The comic says it all...

Comic: Don't Know Much About...

I don't know why, but this comic is just hilarious to me.

Sam Cooke: Wonderful World (mp3 audio)

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.

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.