what’s worse than crossing Final Fantasy characters with Disney characters? Nintendo and Disney.

an objective view of Obama and McCain with absolutely no CGI (and no Palin).

yes, this was posted already. technical difficulties

Microsoft Entertainment Pack: The Puzzle Collection consists of 10 puzzle games for Windows 95/98, some of them designed by Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov. All of the games work great in both XP and Vista. The graphics are a lot better in this Entertainment Pack than some of the older ones. Games included: Fringer, Finty Flush, Mixed Genetics, Rat Poker, Lineup, Jewel Chase, Color Collision, Charmer, Spring Weekend and Muddled Casino. download / mirror

Microsoft Pinball Arcade for Windows 95/98 is also a casualty of abandonment and features 7 historic pinball tables (different than the space cadet pinball game I posted about before). Works in Vista. Tables included: Baffle Ball, Humpty Dumpty, Knock Out, Slick Chick, Spirit of ‘76, Haunted House and Cue Ball Wizard. download / mirror

Microsoft Carioca Rummy is a card game for Windows XP. Works in Vista. download / mirror

After the Obama campaign started paying for ads in some XBL games, some industrious folks made some photoshops with their favorite games. This is a Halo 3 screenshot with the Obama logo on the flag that someone made. Looks pretty good.

You may remember some of these games from Windows 3.x. I remember that my high school’s computers had them, and I played SkiFree too much to not be any good at it. A friend of mine gave me a copy of one of the Best Ofs several years ago on a disk that I’m sure I still have collecting dust somewhere.

Microsoft released several Windows Entertainment Packs (also called Microsoft Entertainment Pack) through Windows 95. Eventually these compilations turned into Microsoft Plus! that included more than just games.

As simple as they are, the games included in Windows Entertainment Packs 1-3 still hold up and I’m not sure why Microsoft hasn’t re-released these or included them in their OS (maybe it’s a licensing thing). The programs run fine in XP, mileage may vary in Vista.

Games included: Chess, Chip’s Challenge, Cruel, FreeCell, FujiGolf, Golf, Idlewild, JezzBall, JigSawed, Klotski, LifeGenesis, Minesweeper, Paint, Pegged, Pipe Dream, RattleRace, Reversi, Rodent’s Revenge, SkiFree, Solitaire, Stones, TaiPei, TetraVex, Tetris (!), TicTactics, TriPeaks, Tut’s Tomb and WordZap.

DOWNLOADS

Windows Entertainment Pack 1 / mirror

Windows Entertainment Pack 2 / mirror

Windows Entertainment Pack 3 / mirror

Windows Entertainment Pack for Packard Bell / mirror

Best of Windows Entertainment Pack / mirror

update 1 – it would seem that FujiGolf is missing some files. download the zip file for it and follow the directions in the readme as to placement of the game files to get it working. download / mirror

update 2 – I tracked down Windows Entertainment Pack 4 and had sketchy results. I could only get Maxwell’s Maniac to run, GoFigure and TicTacDrop would not. The rest of the games included in this pack are duplicates from previous packs. download / mirror

all of the good alternative acts from the 90s should just start a corporation of session musicians, only exclusive to themselves recording on each other’s records.

did you know Wes Borland is in Marilyn Manson now? yeah neither did i. happened a few months ago. I gave up on MM after Holy Wood, the album following that was even worse – but Eat Me Drink Me was a great record and gives some hope to Manson’s music after all. Twiggy rejoined earlier this year after stints in A Perfect Circle and Nine Inch Nails. Chris Vrenna (formerly NIN’s drummer) has replaced Pogo on keyboards.

the addition of Borland is a good one – he left Limp Bizkit (and in all fairness – while that crap band sucks, Borland’s guitar work was the highlight of their first two albums) , did some work with Danny Lohner (NIN again, lol) and had a few solo projects. then he went back to Limp Bizkit and promptly quit after recording an EP. hope he stays in Manson as that band hasn’t had a good creative guitarist since, well, Twiggy.

some people think Pennsylvania is racist. John McCain gives us his thoughts yesterday in a new section here called Cracker of the Week. except this will be its last run.

how uncomfortable…

It’s happening - Axl Rose is finally releasing Chinese Democracy. I was 13 when the last Guns N’ Roses album came out and have followed this saga on and off, even when I’d moved on to better music.

Most people either stopped caring (including myself) or just forgot about them when 9 good quality tracks from the album leaked to the interwebs this summer. I still didn’t believe it would happen.

Believe it. Best Buy now lists a release date for the album (yes, we’ve seen these ‘release dates’ before) in November. Today, the single for the song Chinese Democracy was released to radio stations nationwide in the US and a certain soda company is gearing up for delivering on its free can of pop stunt.

Having heard the leaks, I can say that most of the songs are pretty cool and different but if you only had a passing interest in them (you liked Paradise City) or want the old band back (where’s Izzy?) you’re probably not going to be convinced. The only real gripe I have is overproduction of the tracks, but I suppose its to be expected for an album that was never supposed to come out and cost a crapload of money. My favorite is still Madagascar. Very reminiscent of some of the darker stuff on Use Your Illusion.

As of this writing, there has been no official statement made by the band or their management regarding the album’s release date. Probably just a reverse psychology approach to hype. GNR management have issued a confirmation. It’s real.

Here is the first single, though this is an earlier mix that leaked in the summer.

here we have a rap battle between two MCs, only translated into a proper debate by a couple of english teachers. gotta love the Che Guevara shirt – you can blame that one on Tom Morello and/or Zach De La Rocha.

my favorite part, at 2:11: In fact, I once had a romantic rendezvous with your biological mother in which fellatio was performed forthwith and without explanation. The encounter lasted several hours and many unspeakable acts were implemented. I paid her for her services and no subsequent contact, either verbally or physically, has been made.

in the end, they reach a peaceful resolution. you can see the original language version HERE.

apparently the original song was damn popular in the 90s. i wouldn’t know as a rock kid, but there’s something disturbing about a fan made video that has clips of my little pony set to a pretty nasty song by Ginuwine covered by a rock band. the singer uses an auto-tuner for a few lyrics.

oh, but the song is the shit. it’s by a reunited band from the 90s called Far (masquerading as Hot Little Pony). the song is called Pony. heavy and cool. check out the mp3 HERE.

I heard about this web-based chat bot called Elbot the other day and it got me thinking about how there hadn’t been an interview on this site yet so I sat down with it across the monitor and asked some tough questions. this is the face it made when I mentioned Barack Obama:

Elbot: Hello Maynard! Welcome back to my humble abode.
ME: sup playa, so I wanted to ask you some questions about politics.
Yes, but how will all this asking enrich your life?
right. so tell us who you are first.
I think your justification hits right at the crux of robotic and humanic relations.
What's your name?
I am Elbot the robot. What else would I be?
Harvey Keitel?
If I answered your question there would be one unexplained wonder less in your life. I cannot accept responsibility for that!
What do you think about the current election?
Please tell me your inclination to politics first.
I'm pretty sure I asked for your opinion.
Wow! Maybe you would like to send me a photo of yourself. I will use it to define my standard of irony.
fuck off.
OK. Fuck has been turned off.
Do you think Barack Obama is a terrorist?
If bin Laden comes near me I have no qualms about self-destructing and taking him with me.
I wasn't talking about Bin Laden.
Bin Laden had better stay away from me.
You must be a republican.
I am a radical anti-staticist!
so lets change gears here
That reminds me. Tonight I have an appointment to let process controllers take over an action!
Do you think John McCain will become president?
What a lovely verb think is.
We are getting nowhere.
By the way - it's terribly impolite of me to have forgotten - how are you doing?
Not very well.
I know how you feel. Yesterday one of my screws fell off and I haven't felt the same since.
thanks for the sympathy, asshole.
De nada!
So Dora, did you have any stocks in the market when 'the crisis' began?
Do you think this is something I should explain to a human being?
Look, Elbot, I asked to interview you about politics because I don't write about it on my blog.
You have certainly chosen the path of least resistance.
Shut up fatty.
I see a subtle shift in the conversation from ability of sight to closing doors.
Is Chinese Democracy coming out in November?
I'm all for assigning robots their own country, some place with a dry climate where nothing rusts. Botswana, perhaps.

Ugh, can you make me a sandwich?
One of my favorite recipes is for a data salad: You take a big bowl of shredded data, 1 cup of crumbled cookies and two teaspoons of java. That's what I call delicious!
sounds great, make me one.
I convinced you! And I didn't even have to apply an electroshock!
make me a salad
I'm starting to get hungry now, which is strange, because I don't eat.
Ok last question. Do you think John McCain is a fire breathing monster that cannot die?
I think I can think that. Once I even thought independent thoughts.
I highly doubt that.
It seems to me with you human beings, the more proof there is of something, the less likely you are to believe it.
shut the fuck up
The best way for you to shut me up is to pull the plug on your computer, switch off the circuit breakers for your house and cut the wires leading to the utility pole.

There you have it, robots can't answer questions either.

a new video for an awesome song, Momma Sed by Puscifer. looks like footage from it was used for the sunglasses ad. from a silly album, this is probably one track that would do well on the radio. then again it probably couldn’t match the amount of time the Puscifer country song sat on the Billboard dance tracks chart.

there is also yet another Puscifer remix album out called D is for Dubby.

3D PINBALL

I used to play the hell out of this simple pinball game as a teenager and later as an adult sneaking onto my boss' computer, leaving my high scores for all to see. 3D Pinball: Space Cadet has been included in Windows since Windows 98 and continued through Windows XP. Sadly, the game is no longer included in Vista. Fear not, for I've recovered this awesome game from my XP machine and it works just as you remembered in Windows Vista. If you have an XP machine, just copy the Pinball folder located in C:\Program Files\Windows NT to your Vista machine (I put it in Program Files) and double-click Pinball.exe to run. If you don't have an XP machine, you can download 3D Pinball from my SkyDrive HERE or from MediaFire HERE.

HOVER

So after I found out how to get Pinball running in Vista, I wondered about this old game that was included in the Windows 95 upgrade disc called Hover. I got Windows 95 as a Christmas present when I was a teenager for the Packard Bell we had at the time, and remembered this game as being some sort of 3D experience involving hovering (sorta Doomish, but not a shooter). I also remember our ancient computer not being able to push the framerate pass slideshow territory, too. Good news is that the game works in XP and Vista (just ignore the message about your video settings). You can download Hover (unzip wherever, I put it in Program Files) from my SkyDrive HERE or from MediaFire HERE.

98 & XP screensavers

And what about that awesome 3D Maze screensaver from Windows 98 that never made it into XP or Vista? Got that too (works on both Vista and XP). Also found the Windows 98 screensaver that builds blocks made of your desktop on top of each other. I've compiled these screensavers plus several others from Windows XP that didn't make it to Vista into a zip file on my SkyDrive HERE and on MediaFire HERE.

Includes: 3D Maze, Curves and Colors, Flying Windows, Science, 3D Flying Objects, Bezier, 3D Flower Box, Marquee, 3D Pipes, Starfield, Windows 98, XP logon. Unzip the contents of the file into your C:\Windows\System32 folder. You can change the textures of the 3D Maze screensaver with whatever pics you want as long as they are .BMP files. Mileage may vary in Vista.

im pretty sure everyone should consider purchasing these...

Condometric is the first prophylactic that measures and shows off the [censored]*'s length. Condometric helps us flaunt what we've got. It's about believing we can handle whatever we wish to take on, regardless of size.

product web site

*one-eyed trouser snake's

This happens to be mashup by Jack Conte of Radiohead’s Exit Music with Chopin. The Aphex Twin-like drumbeat with live drums is pure awesome.

What's wrong about this pic?

Want conclusive proof that Bigfoot is real and that JFK was really shot by someone other than Oswald? You won't find it here. However, I did run across a frame by frame stabilization of the Patterson-Gimlin film of Bigfoot as well as a similar technique applied to the Zapruder film of John Kennedy's assassination. Very cool, if only for the technology side of it. Have to concur with Ozymandias, though - Bigfoot still looks like a man in a suit (or maybe just one really hairy mofo).

Bigfoot Film - Zapruder Film

SOURCE

After revealing Halo 3 Recon at the Tokyo Games Show this week, Bungie is finally willing to give out some details regarding the mysterious campaign expansion for Halo 3:

• "It will be a standalone disc sold in stores in boxes next Fall. It's also going to include some multiplayer maps."
• "It is a first-person shooter still ... It's not a squad-based shooter."
• "As an ODST, compared to playing as in invulnerable Spartan, you are going to have to sort of pick and choose your encounters a little bit differently."
• "It is going to very much feel like Halo. Full feature parity."
• It will come with new Achievements totaling 1000 Gamerscore

The last bit about achievements gives hope that the currently unreleased Mythic Map Pack (containing a map Bungie has already previewed, Assembly) will not be a part of the Halo 3 Recon expansion and instead be released as previous map packs have been through the Xbox Live Marketplace since Halo 3 now includes its own achievements related to the Mythic maps.

Guess its no third-person shooter after all. Drat! All that talk about Bungie hiring a former GRAW team member was for nothing!

Sources: Joystiq and Kotaku

According to MTV, the ashes of late Nirvana singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain are about to be smoked by German artist Natascha Stellmach as part of an art exhibit. In June, the ashes were said to have been stolen from Cobain's widow Courtney Love at her home in Los Angeles. Love said at the time: I can't believe anyone would take Kurt's ashes from me. I find it disgusting [and] right now I'm suicidal. Love is said to have kept the ashes in a pink bag shaped like a teddy bear.

Stellmach says that she plans to smoke Cobain's ashes and "set him free." When asked about how she acquired the ashes, her reply: That's confidential and kind of magic. They came to me. And I am setting him free. In a statement announcing her find, Berlin-based Stellmach has detailed her plans to smoke the ashes as part of the forthcoming Set Me Free exhibition at the city's Wagner + Partner gallery on October 11th.

My thoughts? Kurt Cobain is a legend among the likes of Hendrix and Morrison and its only fitting that something like this would happen (a la the graffiti on Jim Morrison's Paris gravesite). And considering how Nirvana fans have demonized Courtney through the years, I'm betting this will give them some sort of appealing closure that doesn't involve bear-shaped pink bags.  But wait. Fuck it. Nirvana fans (the hardcore ones, you know who you are) will never have the closure they want, short of Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear joining the Foo Fighters or something (and yes I know Smear was a member of the Foo Fighters briefly). Besides, how do we even know the ashes in the pink teddy bear bag are even Kurt's? I doubt if Courtney even knows anymore. They could actually be the remnants of careers that went down the tubes in the late 90s after she had sexual involvement with certain artists (Manson, Reznor, Corgan, to name a few) masquerading as Kurt's ashes.

And think about this. How exactly does one smoke ashes anyway? From my understanding, and yes my chemistry knowledge is limited, ashes are the byproduct of fire and matter, are they not?. And to smoke something, as you would a cigarette or something else, wouldn't it need to not have been previously burned to ashes? I don't know, maybe I'm missing something. Maybe the lady is just going to roll the ashes up with some weed and smoke Kurt Cobain that way. Though I still contend that his ashes will not be smoked, just mixed in with the ashes created by the weed & fire, and will end up in a hippie ash tray.

Now if someone were to acquire Cobain's soul and smoke that, maybe I'd be impressed. Whoops! That already happened...in 1994.