Wii as Media Extender

Turn your Wii into a media extender with Red Kawa's Wii Media Center X.

List of features straight from Red Kawa:

"Features

Videos - Wii Media Center X lets you stream and watch videos in the Flash video format (FLV) on your Wii. You can download flash videos from many places on the internet or create your own using Wii Video 9.

Music - Wii Media Center X lets you playback MP3s on your Wii without the need of an SD card.

Pictures - Red Kawa Media Center lets you view pictures on your Wii without the need of an SD card.

Files - Wii Media Center X lets you browse your files located on your server."

[via Codename Revolution]

Kevin Smith Talks Video Games and Silent Bob Sprites

There is no Jay and Silent Bob video game in the works. Sorry, hate to break up with you before the first date and all, but, yeah, no game is planned – I’m just a tease. But Kev (we call each other that late night on the phone) is open to suggestions…

It’s no secret that K Smith loves comic books (he’s written a new renaissance with his rework of Daredevil), but the man also loves himself some games with the videos too. His favorite type? “Scrolling games.”

Wait… Is that even a subgenre? Is there a Scrolling section at my local electronics store that I’ve been missing? I don’t want to beat the man down ( he *has* done some amazing work), but, really, Scrolling? I just think it’s interesting that he keys in on the viewpoint, or the perspective, of the game rather than a particular subject matter usually associated with FPS to RTS video game aisles. Maybe it’s because he’s a director (he focuses in on angles) or it’s because he’s a writer (avoiding the obvious remark – haiku-ing it too, for that matter), but, regardless, this man is cool. Watch Mallrats and tell me that I’m wrong. Yeah, that’s right. I went for Mallrats.

Read the article here.

[via Kotaku]

I actually have a new post...

So, I do actually have a new post today, but because I drafted it a couple of days ago (just the first link though) Blogger treated it as a post from the day that I started the draft. So, well, that's a cheap way of just blogging every day. Isn't it? Just start a new draft each day with one character in it (for funsies) and then let it sit for a month or however long and then go back and post "every day" just in time for a job interview or something else nefarious.

I wouldn't abuse the system like that though. Smacks of dishonesty. Nasty bit, Dishonesty.

So, read the NEW POST HERE.

Thanks!

Random Link Attack!

The links, boss! They are attacking! Run - save yourself!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...

links
-Hunter S. Thompson video clips from YouTube sorted by popularity. If you just search for “hunter thompson” you get a clip of an “Imaginary Motorcycle”. Blech. In Hunter’s world that bike would have real *and* induced *and* ridden by a Hell’s Angel. BHAM!

-Muscle and bone from an inkjet printer? What can you get from the dot-matrix version? Lego bones? Sweet.

-Geographic location of family names from the 1920, 1880 and 1840 censuses. I only found three families with my last name in 1920: one in Wisconsin, one in Michigan and one in New Jersey. Found the alternate, possibly older spelling in Minnesota in 1880, but nothing in 1840. This link also has average life expectancy for your last name, Civil War veterans (included which side they fought on), last name meanings and just tons of cool stuff about your last name.
[via Digg]

-Public Shaming of Prostitutes Misfires in China

-Cover an eastern European country in a tent so that they can pretend it’s summer… Yeah, I used to do something similar with my couch cushion fort, and it worked too, so why can’t it work for Kazakhstan?

Why Can't the Links Stop?!

Links

Do you feel like your Ford Expedition's ability to destroy the environment is being cheapened, wuss-ified even, by the plethora of crossovers diluting the SUV gene pool? Well, there's a company that wants to help. MATTRACKS (yes, of course they spell their name in all caps) wants to enhance your muscle, not with drugs or two guys named Guido and Nunzio, but with treads. Tank treads. On your existing SUV. Stop lights, turn signals, hell, even ROADS are optional now. Your militia will be proud of you.

[via Gizmodo]


Evel Knevel is suing Kayne West over Kayne’s use of his likeness in his video for “Touch the Sky”.

[via The Smoking Gun]


Vanity License Plates Gone Naughty, Word
“STFU-PLS” license plates issued in Virginia until State realizes that they made a bit of a SNAFU by letting one of the most popular web acronyms slip through their fingers and onto the public roadways. The proudly defiant owner of the plates makes an interesting case for keeping the plate that is so elaborate it sounds like something I would have made up in seventh grade. It's just too elaborate to be true. Go read it for yourself and tell me what you think.

[via The Smoking Gun]

Wii Component Cables - Update 1

I got my Nintendo brand Wii component cables yesterday and they pissed me off for a bit. They pissed me off because I'd let a horizontal positioning/size error run amok on my TV since it birthed its way through my door. I rectified the situation with prejudice and service code-fu. The situation is fixed and working properly (I think), but the changes are... interesting.

First thing I noticed is how jaggie some stuff is now. I don't know what's going on with that, but I definitely see more jaggies. I think they were maybe there before, but my TV was glossing them over with the composite Vaseline lens. I took some pictures of the two sets, and I'll post them later for you all to look at.

I played some Wii Sports with the new cables and enjoyed the extra definition and color pallet, but wasn't as impressed as I'd told myself I would be. Wii Sports looked more color rich, but less next-gen.

Then I put Zelda: Twilight Princess in and everything changed. The trees! My god, man, the trees! Look at them! They're amazing! At that second I realized that my lifelong goal was to be an arborist. No, it was to be a writer of some kind. Focus. I'm allergic to trees, which, in a fashion, is maybe why I like to write: printing my stuff out on paper helps KILL trees. Or... uhmm... The Internet prints out my blog and keeps the hardcopy in a vault somewhere, right? Yeah? I thought so. Thanks, man.

G'nite!

[Update 1: My service code-fu is weak. I have shamed my ancestors by attempting to fix my tv by myself, so I called for my four-year-service-plan posse to back me up. We don't talk turkey until Monday though, so I'm stuck with the jaggies 'til then. After first I thought I'd fixed the problem (even though the jaggies remained), but straight vertical lines are no longer straight (though the *other* issues have been corrected). I tried messing with some other stuff, and I think I made it better, but it's just about impossible for me to get it correct. Argh. I hope this Service Company that Best Buy is pawning me off on doesn't suck. *fingers crossed*.]

Link Party

Come on, Links! Jump in the pool - it's filled with Jell-o!

Links
-Homemade rollercoaster with 360 loop! Video after the jump.

-2006-2007 Ipod Buyer’s Guide (by ilounge.com)

-Add a 20 foot jet of flame to your car’s exhaust for $130.

-Add a killer robot with a BFG to your militia style compound – Priceless.

-Playlist generator for iTunes. Soundflavor. Nice name, eh? Yeah, I *might* download it, but I'm probably not going to. Add-ons aren't cool because they just take up more memory for the main computer beat. Number one rule? Do not slow the beat down. If you slow down, the BFGD (Big Fat Guy with a Drum) will get you.

-The English shouting match that they call “Questions to The Prime Minister” (which take place every Wednesday) is the political equivalent of competing in a championship heavyweight boxing match while trying to get the referee, in front of his parents, to admit that he’s been having biblical dalliances with plastic garden gnomes for the past nine years. It is hilarious. Oh, and name calling is positively encouraged – bonus points if you make your opponent cry. Absolutely hilarious. If you’ve never watched government in action, this is *the* ticket to paradise. Shown LIVE Wednesday mornings at 7am ET on C-SPAN2 then re-shown Sunday nights at 9pm ET on C-SPAN. CHECK IT OUT.

Wii Components Cables Shipped

My cables have shipped from Nintendo. They went out with a batch that left Seattle at 7:44pm on Saturday. My buddy Kris ordered cables the same night as I did and he had the time that they left memorized. He doesn't even have HD! I'm dying over here!

They're gonna come Tuesday at the outside. Monday if I don't accidentally run over any furry woodland creatures while I'm riding in my giant robotic rolling pin... Yeah, I know. Giant robotic rolling pin. I get teased enough about it. It was the last giant robot they had, I didn't even realize it was a rolling pin until I'd had it for like six weeks and by then the dealership that I'd bought it from had left town and, on top of all that, I like to see how many monster trucks I can roll over in one day. My record is six. They're becoming a rare breed, those tasty little morsels. We need to make a big, open field and pen all of the monster trucks in (garishly painted and otherwise) so they can live out the rest of their short lives being crushed by my giant rolling pin in an open field. I'll sell you guys special promotional videos at cost.

Congratulations, you just got in on the ground floor.

Wii Component Cables Shipped - Seriously?

It happened. Seriously.

Hello NEIL,

Thank you for shopping with Nintendo! We wanted to let you know that your order is in the final stages of processing.

PLEASE NOTE: Your tracking information will be available when the carrier (UPS, FedEx, Purolator, etc.) has received and scanned the package into their system. Due to a high demand, this may take up to 24 hours.

To track the status of your order, please visit your My Nintendo account (http://www.nintendo.com/cpp/login/login.do).

To view Nintendo's Return Policy or get answers to other order and shipping questions, please visit http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/orders.jsp.

Thanks again for your order!

Sincerely,

Nintendo of America Inc.
Consumer Service Department

Really, I was all desperation and angst. I was shuffling between $150 eBay cables, paperclips and I even ONCE contemplated the unthinkable. The abyss stared back.

Shudder.

Now I just have to wait patiently for my 2-3 delivery. The tracking number isn't working right now, but that's probably because I just got the notification in my email of the shipment about four hours ago. I - WAIT A SECOND!

Is this all my fault? Did I do this? Not through force of infrequent blogging, but did I believe hard enough in The Fat Guy with a Drum that he came to life and beat the poor fanboys that sleep under the floorboards of Nintendo factories worldwide into getting me my cables a couple weeks early? Oh my god... what have I done? What have I DONE?!

Okay, now I feel guilty. I wasn't serious about The Fat Guy with a Drum! Oh man... The Ninty employees are gonna gang up on me now and hire Mario "The Hitman" to rub me out just like another goomba. Ouch. 100 points for my head doesn't sound like a fair price. I just hope he doesn't use the plunger - especially not in the face.