Bunny Blog

While I’ve tried to stay in recession denial as long as possible, it’s bound to set in at some point. My clothes just aren’t so special anymore and I’d love to buy new ones. But I have to be smart so I’ve gone back to thrift store shopping and bargain hunting. On top of that I got motivated and suggested doing a clothing swap with a friend. We each “shopped” through the clothing and shoes of the other and came out with a bag full of new-to-me items to borrow! Today I’m rockin’ a black and white plaid shirt that I would have never picked out myself because of my aversion to plaid (I feel like it will make me look like a farm girl). Now I’m excited to try out more plaid because I look classy. Tomorrow I have several exciting options that will put my shopping urge to rest and keep my dollars accumulating.

He was there for just a second and then he was gone.

The image above is from a recent playtest of the paper prototype resulting from my latest collaboration with Tracy Fullerton and the USC Game Innovation Lab. The game is part of an initiative sponsored by the Rossier School of Education’s Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis (CHEPA), and the purpose of the game is pretty neat.

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I was playing Halo 2 the other night before bed, and I awoke the next morning having had the most peculiar (but justified) dream.

In it, I was in what I can best describe as a souped up laser-tag-esque arena, only the other people were playing were “astronaut miners” who supposedly lived on the “station” we were in.  Sigourney Weaver was there as Ripley, but she died a couple of times and came back.  I was the only one with a gun, but the rounds I was firing were live.

Aliens (the ones from Alien, not Halo 2) were running around, as were several miniature Predators (from Predator…in case there was any confusion).  The Predators were running toward me at one point for (unexpectedly) help - which was good, because my gun was jammed when I was trying to fire on them.  They sounded like kids, were short, and had what looked like rubber masks on.

The dream never resolved itself, but it got me thinking.  Why was I dreaming about running around shooting Aliens?  Well, the Aliens were probably because I watching Alien the week prior, and the arena/shooting aspect was probably because I played Halo 2 just before bed.  I have absolutely no idea where the kid-Predators were from, especially since I haven’t seen either of the AVP movies.  

Occasionally a book I’m reading before bed will creep into my dreams, but this was a really vivid dream that had me running around worried and stressed (in the dream, not in my apartment).  

Maybe Mom was right.  Maybe I shouldn’t play video games before bed.  Maybe you shouldn’t either.

Here is a shirt that my girlfriend Tina designed.  It is posted here and you can register and vote for the t shirt to actually be printed and sold.  Any votes would be greatly appreciated.

PEACE

Fair warning right now: If you aren’t into comics, or, more accurately, aren’t looking to get a crash course in the DC Universe, then this post is probably not for you.

Still here?  Cool.  About a year ago, as Final Crisis was hitting stands, my friend Pat asked me to give him a crash course in the DC Universe so he could get caught up.  Whoops!  Final Crisis requires a pretty deep knowledge of DC history (even I got confused, and I’ve got be one your better educated folks on the subject).  However, I took this as an opportunity to take Pat on a whirlwind tour of the DC Universe, all the best (and most important) storylines therein, and spit him out the other side prepared for Final Crisis.  Admittedly this was fairly subjective - it’s made up of books I consider good enough to own, but excises a lot of material that is great but not necessary to the central story.  What I didn’t quite expect is that from this vantage, with collected trades and a guided tour, Pat was able to experience the DCU as I (reading in realtime) never got to… as one magnificent interweaving story.

Since then a few friends have asked for this guide, and having already done the heavy lifting, I’m happy to provide it.  It’s also worth noting that this a fine primer for this year’s big (hopefully more sensical than Final Crisis) event, Blackest Night. So head below the jump, dear reader, for your DCU Crash Course.

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Briefly, the main thing I learned from E3 last week was that Comic Con needs help. I definitely don’t want Comic Con to be “industry only,” but it definitely needs to have an “industry only” section, where you can wander and look at what other creators and publishers (and movie studios) are doing. Maybe they need to make Preview Night into Industry Night. Or make Wednesday during the day Industry Day. At any rate, it was nice to be able to have a conversation during E3 and not have to dodge Storm Troopers.

I’m sure some other people thought of this too, but a while back I realized that I was typing the same blocks of text in a lot of different emails that I was sending. For example, directions to our office, or where to park near our office, or our FTP information. God, what was the password again?

Then I realized that email programs already had something built for memorizing blocks of text. EMAIL SIGNATURES.

This picture totally explains what I'm talking about here.

_

So yeah, pop in this stuff and use it whenever. Who knows how much time you could save! Billions and billions of seconds will no longer slip through your fingertips!

hurrah.

These protesters (credit for the photo to LA Times) were the first thing I ran into on my way into E3’s truimphant return to the LA Convention center this year. They were as all small groups of crackpots are, i.e. poorly-organized, ineffective in their yammering , and mostly a big nuisance on the way to wherever it was people were going.

This is blowing up all over the wires, but yeah, it was totally a fake protest.

My general lethargy towards anyone mischaracterizing games aside, what a terrible waste of money on EA’s part. Taking ten minutes out of my day, here’s why, and because we’re not just dudes who criticize, following that is a list of viral campaigns that would have used the same resources in a far more effective fashion: (more…)

Just received this Instant Classic Instant Message from a lawyer friend:

“Omg, comic sans is not appropriate for court filings!”