Saints, Sinners, Suckers

In this episode of ‘The Concession Stand’ podcast,...

Wed, 08 May 2013 13:06:25 -0400

In this episode of ‘The Concession Stand’ podcast, Kevin talks about unfair portrayals of Bigfoot in cinema and ‘The Legend of Boggy Creek.’

wineofwizardry: Alberto Martini

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:14:26 -0400

wineofwizardry:

Alberto Martini

An episode of the Concession Stand podcast about the 2001...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 18:39:00 -0400

An episode of the Concession Stand podcast about the 2001 thriller ‘The Mothman Prophecies. Sorry for the poor audio during the opening five minute sketch. It does clear up for some smooth sailing after that.

In yet another episode of The Concession Stand podcast, Mike and...

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:55:00 -0400

In yet another episode of The Concession Stand podcast, Mike and Kevin and two guests (woah!) talk about the 1986 Michael Mann film ‘Manhunter.’ It’s the first appearance of Hannibal Lecter y’all!

This junk food and lack of sleep I’ve been living on for the past year is really starting to...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:08:56 -0400

This junk food and lack of sleep I’ve been living on for the past year is really starting to take its toll on me.

What is a nerd anyway?

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 19:18:30 -0400

Somebody whose interests are different than yours?

A guy in my C++ class showed us a program he wrote that made theoretical cookies cost an infinite amount of money. He laughed heartily and was enthusiastic about showing us. We also laughed at this invisible concept of cookies costing an infinite amount of money.

That was going to be funny to nobody else. Not in a” you had to be there” kind of way, but in a “you know what, I’m a total nerd, and you guys are nerds and with you I can be self confident enough to think that the others around me would enjoy this silly concept as well.

My idea for a sitcom would be to take five characters and every week place them in a new setting. One week, they all work in a bakery, one week they’re all in prison, the next they are work in a biology lab, and on and on. A shifting situational comedy.

This would be an exploration (hopefully a hilarious one) of whether our interests (and maybe our personalities, but science and sociology can battle that out) come from nature or our surroundings. The story would be roughly the same but the jokes would be indigenous to the surroundings.

For instance, that joke about cookies costing an infinite amount of money is funny when your surrounded by th/e cold logic of code for so long, but would it work in an environment as random and irrational as a prison?

Last week’s episode was late so this one is early! On...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 23:48:00 -0400

Last week’s episode was late so this one is early! On this episode Mike and Kevin talk about the 2008 action flick ‘Wanted’

Innovation

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:32:56 -0400

All of my creative innovations just involve taking something that already exists and putting the word GIANT in front of it. Today I thought about what I would need to do to build a GIANT tic-tac toe board.

I thought that the novelty of the giant-ness would wear off rather quickly so we would need rule variations and more concentrated interactivity. At the end of it all i’d done is reinvent Hollywood Squares.

So now I’m thinking about a variation called GIANT Hollywood Squares.

Here is an episode of my very unpopular and unnecessary podcast...

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 22:50:00 -0400

Here is an episode of my very unpopular and unnecessary podcast “The Concession Stand”. This one is about Twilight and Twilight: New Moon.

We also talk about The Golden Girls.

On this 13 minute episode of ‘The Concession Stand’...

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 15:30:22 -0400

On this 13 minute episode of ‘The Concession Stand’ (yet another podcast about movies), Mike talks to himself and you!

The reason people were disappointed in Big K.R.I.T’s...

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 01:21:00 -0400

The reason people were disappointed in Big K.R.I.T’s “Live from the Underground” is that the mix tape that preceded it was so, so good. I listen to “4eva and a day” all the time. I think I need to give “Live from the Underground another chance.

C++ Class

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 23:14:00 -0400

Started C++ class. It’s so refreshing to take a class in which every single student is attentive and wants to be there.

This is also intimidating as they all seem to be geniuses. We had to post our hobbies on a class forum. One kid is still in high school and his hobby is “robots.” Another student was the main programmer on his high schools robotics team. Most of them are Game Design majors.

It’s a good feeling to be among the best and the brightest, right? (gulp)

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I’m really starting to enjoy Tumblr as a wish fulfillment machine. Any term I type in the search box brings up some result. All tools inherit their value from the user.

I am starting my C++ class today. I am excited but I’ve been teaching it to myself for the...

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 11:39:58 -0400

I am starting my C++ class today. I am excited but I’ve been teaching it to myself for the past couple of months. I could follow in this direction but the autodidact is not given any respect until he can turn it into profit. Learning for the sake of learning is perceived the same way one perceives a jobless pothead.

“Hey, can you do the dishes?” , “Hey can you go to the grocery store?”

No, I’m learning!

Perhaps I just feel this way about myself and I’m unfairly ascribing it to the outside world. If I were to give C++ intense focus and learn it inside out the only person who would benefit would be me. If I add school to it, it legitimizes the pursuit.

Money changes everything.

Or I could write a successful app or game, and make a lot of money and then, bingo, auto-didactic tendencies validated. In the film “The Master’ a self help group has a handful or followers, by the end they have an entire school. If a small group believes your nonsense, it’s a cult, if a large group believes, it’s a religion.

However, money changing everything works the other way too. Say a creative young guy has a blog where he posts wacky, comedic gadgets he’s thought of. Say, a toaster hat. His website becomes very popular and everybody praises his ingenuity. He gets a show in Vegas where he’s gets to make money doing this, and suddenly, he’s Carrot Top and he’s a pariah.

I have wondered if some of the eccentric geniuses choose to live in isolation because they don’t fit in socially or if they just don’t want to listen to us bitch.

“Screams from the haters, gotta nice ring to it, I guess every superhero needs his theme music.” -Kanye West

This is an episode of a friend and I’s new podcast about...

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 11:14:38 -0400

This is an episode of a friend and I’s new podcast about movies. This one is about Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master. We’ve just started podcasting, so it’s a little rough around the edges as well as being a bit too long.

andlor: I see the punishment: Pointlessly explicitly declaring...

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 16:47:33 -0500

andlor:

I see the punishment: Pointlessly explicitly declaring count.

“I cover up my dick so I don’t catch the monster!” Sometimes the hardest part of...

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 16:28:31 -0500

“I cover up my dick so I don’t catch the monster!”

Sometimes the hardest part of caring for a child is not yelling out the Action Bronson lyrics stuck in your head.

Kid: can I have some chocolate milk?

Me: I cover up my dick so I don’t catch the monster!!! I mean, no.

The first question I ask myself when something doesn’t seem to be beautiful is why do I think...

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 15:30:51 -0400

The first question I ask myself when something doesn’t seem to be beautiful is why do I think it’s not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason.
John Cage

fakecriterions: Ernest Goes to Jail [1990]

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 01:56:41 -0400

fakecriterions:

Ernest Goes to Jail [1990]

I’ve heard that recent Public Enemy isn’t worth...

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 12:25:00 -0400

I’ve heard that recent Public Enemy isn’t worth checking out. Out of curiosity I listened to “How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul” and I think it’s one of PE’s best.

This track is a take-down of the violent fantasies of gangster rap. It functions as a critique of modern rap in another way as well; all three rappers stay on point with each other and seemed to have listened to each other’s verse.

The beat isn’t as beautifully constructed as classic Public Enemy but rap based entirely on samples is most likely too expensive a feat for them to undertake at this point.

I think the beat sounds a little like Insane Clown Posse. This does work as satire as most of ICP’s song are dopey violent fantasies but the way the beat sounds most likely comes from the lack of finances both groups are working within.

Great tune, great album.

Flavor Flav is even relevant on this.

Notes from a Hacker Society talk

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:18:50 -0500

Notes from a Hacker Society talk:

If you really want to be good, here are some things you should do.

Work with one or two good people on significant projects on a regular basis. Find your complement at any cost.

Always have a project to work on. Always. ALWAYS. Even if you’re not working on it Right Now.

Study things that matter. Actually spend time in a quiet room reading, thinking, and working through examples. Study more than the instructor tells you to.

Overachieve on every course project you ever do.

Don’t stay immersed in one monoculture. Experience as much of humanity as you can. You’re going to be the one saving these people, and you won’t know how to save them if you don’t know what they need and how they feel. It will make you a better person.

Ask for things. People like to give them to you and in fact often feel bad when they can’t give you what you want. This goes for jobs, keys, grades, swag, and dates.

Have some confidence. Lack of self confidence is an epidemic among smart programmers, and humanity in general. If you doubt your skills, work on a harder project. When you finish it you’ll be better and you’ll know you can learn. The people you are competing with probably aren’t as good as you’re afraid they are.

Don’t agonize over what “kind” of hacker you are. Figure out who *you* are, and be that.