The Blog of Tom

Great article by Joe Queenan on Woody Allen’s Manhattan.
http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,1960366,00.html

OK, so my crappy example doesn’t exactly show it in the best light but BlockCAD is a great Freeware Lego modelling tool that has loads of different blocks for you to arrange however you see fit and then render out pictures. Everyone loves Lego and I can see this becoming my latest waste of time. (This is very true - I’m supposed to be working on something less frivolous even as I type this). The best part is that you’re spared the pain that occurs whenever you step on a Lego block in bare feet. Nice.

BlockCAD is Windows only, but Mac users can try Bricksmith, which is apparantly very similar.

via Lifehacker.

I reviewed the new Tenacious D film for Film Exposed and interviewed Jack Black and Kyle Gass.

Direct links:
Review: http://www.filmexposed.com/?file=review&id=410
Interview: http://www.filmexposed.com/?file=feature&id=71

I was never really one for computer programming - too many rules to remember and I don’t think my mind has that real logic that seems to be required for the task. I remember attempting to program games on my Amstrad CPC and failing miserably. Even copying program listings from computer magazines failed, as I would usually change the names of variables to things I found more appealing (why use T$ when you can have TIT$?) and as such I never became the hacker I always wanted to be.

For anyone who did successfully get stuff running on their 8-bit machines, you might want to check out QuiteBASIC, which is an online programming language that lets you write “Hello World” messages and simple pong games. It runs within your browser and doesn’t require any plug ins or anything like that. Fun, if you like that sort of thing.

This story via vunet reminded me of the stupid things I wanted to do when I was a kid. Needless to say, my ambition far outstripped my ability, but this little spod seems destined for worryingly great things.

Link: Teenager builds nuclear fusion reactor in basement.

Robert Altman is dead.
That is all.

I’ve changed my mind. This is the best headline ever.

Extra anus kills four-legged chick, via stuff.co.nz

My latest waste of time is the massively multiplayer online game Urban Dead. It’s a primitive, browser-based game which pitches humans against zombies in the fictional town of Malton. While the gameplay is pretty primitive, what’s interested me about Urban Dead is the devotion of the players. The website features fully-featured Wiki documentation and various clans have formed, all of which are chronicled in extensive detail on various websites.

In a weird example of synchronicity, I discovered an article on the London Review of Books website by Thomas Jones that features Urban Dead quite extensively. Given that I used to work at the LRB and know Jones quite well, it’s almost enough to make you believe that there’s some sort of guiding force behind it all.

Or not.

Anyway, if anyone gets into Urban Dead and finds themselves bitten by a zombie called macguffin, it’s me. Mrrgh…