The Great Geek Manual » Rantings

Geek Rant

PipedreamerGrey — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 20:00:53 +0000

I went to see Tangled this weekend with my family. I was really impressed when I didn’t see the twist-ending coming. The parents survive. First time ever for a Disney movie.

Geek Rant

PipedreamerGrey — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 01:30:14 +0000

I was eating dinner tonight with my parents at our weekly family dinner when, out of the blue, my father turns and tells me that a friend told him that he needs to sign up for something called Facebook. Before I could wrap my mind around this, my mother chimed in that a friend had told her she needs to get “a Facebook,” too.

R.I.P. Facebook
You’ve passed the way of Usenet and E-mail Forward
But you’ll be missed

Geek Rant

PipedreamerGrey — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 22:00:13 +0000

I was clicking through a gallery of cosplay photos from Dragon Con 2010 for my new blog, CosGeek, the other day. Have you ever noticed that whenever you see a photo gallery or video of “Con Highlights,” “highlights” is inevitably a euphemism for “cleavage”?

Great isn’t it?

Geek Rant

PipedreamerGrey — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:00:31 +0000

This morning, I was researching my daily history entry when I came across this Wikipedia entry for Wards Island.

criminally insane

wastewater treatment plant

stunning views

Is this some Wikipedia user being sarcastic or the worst P.R. job ever? I mean, a park where you can both see an asylum for the criminally insane and smell a waste processing plant? Why not just drive over to Jersey?

Geek Rant

PipedreamerGrey — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 22:00:08 +0000

I rented Avatar last night. The entire time I was watching it, all I could think was how awesome a video game it would make. Like Halo, except I’d be killing blue guys.

Geek Rant

PipedreamerGrey — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 23:00:44 +0000

My mother was trying to push some Taco Bell brand taco shells on me last night at dinner. When I picked the flour tortilla instead and she asked me why, I explained that Taco Bell was one of the first companies ever to be forced to recall a product because it had been created with genetically engineered corn not approved for human consumption (back in 2000).

Of course, the recall is just another of the obscure bits of trivia I’ve learned over the years from blogging about history and has absolutely no bearing on anything. When my brother pointed this out, though, I asked if he’d ever read Sleepless by Charlie Huston.

You know, reading as much speculative fiction as I do may not be entirely good for my mental well being. Might be time to scale back

Geek Rant: Head Crabs

PipedreamerGrey — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 22:00:13 +0000

Anyone else think that the guy from this McDonald’s commercial looks a lot like Gordon Freeman from Half-Life?

Geek Rant

PipedreamerGrey — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 16:00:20 +0000

I picked up a copy of the Kalamazoo Gazette Thursday advertising an article entitled “269 Cool Things to Do in Kalamazoo.” Dubious, I flipped to the article. Number two: “Kalamazoo Radisson Hotel. Have you seen the fish tank in the basement?”

Yeah, that’s the kind of town I’m living in. May as well be living in Siberia.

Geek Rant

PipedreamerGrey — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:00:41 +0000

Am I the only one who thinks that General Petraeus sounds like a character straight out of the Star Wars prequels? Like, maybe the successor of General Grievous?

Maybe it’s just the juxtaposition of having a Star Wars marathon running on FX the same weekend that he’s been in the headlines, but suddenly, I have an ominous feeling about the war in Afghanistan.

Geek Rant

PipedreamerGrey — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 13:00:04 +0000

After watching my parents watch The Weather Channel for over three hours last night, I came to the conclusion that The Weather Channel is like a baby mobile for old people. My parents were not amused by the observation. They were still sound asleep a few minutes later.

Geek Rant

PipedreamerGrey — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:00:31 +0000

Am I the only person who is induced to buy more at the bookstore by the smell? Because that binding glue is harder on my wallet than fresh pastries at the bakery.

As much as I enjoy it, I’m sure it must be bad for me. (Isn’t that always the way it goes?) Still, I can’t walk past a bookstore without poking my head in for a smell. Is that weird?

Geek Rant

PipedreamerGrey — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:00:33 +0000

This is the shortest weekend of the year, thanks to daylight saving time. It’s kind of a bummer.

There’s only one way to stretch this weekend back out! That’s right, I’m gonna go watch me some Phantom Menace!

I just knew there was a reason I bought that movie.

Geek Rant

PipedreamerGrey — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:00:31 +0000

Happy Pi Day, everyone! Anyone out there doing anything interesting to mark the date?

My plans for the night are pretty simple. I’m spending the night in, eating Pizza and watching… what else, Pi! Of course, the pizza is Little Caesars, so my Pie are squared!

Mob (A Near-Future Science Fiction Story)

PipedreamerGrey — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:00:45 +0000

Mob (a near-future science fiction story) by Tom Scott from hurryonhome on Vimeo.

Hear that? That’s the sound of my mind blowing. I don’t even know what category to stick this into. It’s too chilling for the humor section. It’s too possible for the fiction section.

You know what the most frightening part of this is, though? Watching it for the second time, I realized that neither of my parents would have understood even half of this video, even if someone tried to explain it to them. It makes me wonder what lethal insanity the world will be in the grip of thirty years from now when I don’t understand the latest tech culture. It’s creepy the way technology changes the world in blink.

Source: Ignite London

Geek Rant

PipedreamerGrey — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:00:58 +0000

Ever noticed that whenever you come across a gallery or video of “Con Highlights,” “highlights” is almost always a euphemism for cleavage?