the fallout: on the other side


Starting Small?
April 11, 2006, 9:36 am
Filed under: technology, you've got to be joking

JVC has announced a new line of MP3 players. Their big news draw is the built in ability to convert analog to digital – legalities aside, that’s sweet. But sweet tricks won’t cover the fact that these shiny metal things come in 512MB and 1G sizes.

1G? Honestly. Maybe they’re just starting small… but they’ve got a long way to go to catch up with the ever popular cult brand that comes in 30 and 60 gigs. That’s 15,000 songs versus 120 at 512MB. My grandparents own more CDs than that.

Sorry JVC, but you haven’t wowed us yet. I still don’t own an ipod, though, so if you’re starting small, get moving!



On Nakedness
April 7, 2006, 9:02 am
Filed under: gaming, you've got to be joking

It's not the first time this topic has drawn eyes…

The newest rave in the gaming community, Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion, is already known for its excellent story line, beautiful graphics, intense game play, and the mod option for having your female characters run around topless.

We all know from watching movies that the less clothes a woman is wearing, the more likely she is to survive catastrophe – be it car chases, shoot outs, or hijacking – but now you can actually create your own more powerful less dressed warrior woman to run the streets of your computer screen beating on mobs with a spoon.

The fact that there is no spoon doesn't even matter.



and the jokes roll in…
April 1, 2006, 9:44 am
Filed under: you've got to be joking

Looks like Think Geek will hang on to my vote for the best 4/1 webpage hoax… while I'm not ready to "pin all my romantic hopes on Goggle," last year's Google Gulp still makes me laugh.

Tech site Slashdot joins in the fun by going valley girl on us, complete with links to just about every other tech site's April Fool's jokes; the best of which is this press release from Open Office:

For an undisclosed sum reputed to be in the billions, Microsoft's Bill Gates has personally bought the leading open-source desktop project. Saying he "was sick and tired of open-source eating away at his profits," the world's richest man decided to put an end to the nuisance and simply buy OpenOffice.org. It will form part of a growing list of Microsoft acquisitions, including several erstwhile competitors, a considerable number of prominent politicians, and a few small governments.

The online gaming community's best chance at attention comes from World of Warcraft's annoucement of the introduction of a new race known as the wisps. Though the announcement won't gather laughs from anyone not familier to the game, that leaves about 7 million to enjoy comments like this one about the wisp racial skills:

  • Treeform: Turns the wisp into a tree for 30 seconds. During this time, spirit is increased by 300. However, the wisp's chance to dodge or parry axes is reduced by 50%.
  • Elsewhere in the great world of the internet, Woot goes overkill on an attempted worst-woot-ever sale, Yahoo doesn't even try, and National Geographic gives us a two page report on this:

    As the U.S. government debates major immigration reform, environmentalists warn that the proposed laws would also prevent animal migrants from crossing the country's southern border.

    Only, seems they missed the memo. They're not joking.