The last 24 hours have been warm and tingly. Congratulations to Drew Brees — who finally might get treated like the best quarterback in the league — and to the rest of the team, too. The best part of winning the Super Bowl? The victory is preserved for posterity by NFL Films. It will be shown on countless TV specials and DVDs in awe‐inspiring slow motion with orchestral accompaniment.
On one hand, it boasts a story of comparable quality and a leap forward in combat gameplay. It easily warrants more than one playthrough.
On the other hand… must they excise so much of what makes a game an RPG? I’m speaking mostly about the level system, looting, item customization, and a handful of other things that were completely retooled from the previous Mass Effect.
I was at the Saints’ first playoff victory in 2001. On the way out, walking along the concourse, we were high-fiving perfect strangers as they walked in the other direction. Last night, my parents called me as they drove home from where they’d gone to watch the game. I could hear people yelling, cars honking, and fireworks cracking.
Unless I’ve been dreaming for the last eight hours, the Saints are going to the Super Bowl. Here, Tracy Porter celebrates the interception that kept the score tied at the end of the fourth quarter.
Useful if you’re working on a website meant for mobile devices. Firefox 3.5 has geolocation, but I use this with Safari and GreaseKit. Replace with whatever latitude and longitude you prefer, naturally.
if (!('geolocation' in navigator)) {
navigator.geolocation = {
watchPosition: function(success, f, options) {
var broadcast = function() {
var position = {
coords: {
latitude: 30.2696384,
longitude: -97.74947,
accuracy: 10000,
},
timestamp: (new Date()).valueOf()
};
success(position);
};
broadcast();
window.setInterval(broadcast, 10000);
}
};
}A stream‐of‐consciousness browsing session brought me to this writeup on how the Source engine deals with lag. Also serves as a parable for web developers — don’t rely on the client to validate input, for the same reason that a game server can’t trust a participant to tell it if that bullet hit anything. See also Ninjam, a clever latency workaround for online jam sessions. And consider that even without the inherent delays of Internet traffic, the speed of light would be a constraint on distant collaboration.
You don’t need me to tell you how good this game is; the rest of the gaming world got there first. I don’t know if any one game can be a “system‐seller” — but if you already own a PS3, it’s inexcusable not to own Uncharted 2.
It’s not just good; it’s unusually, surprisingly good. It’s unusual for a game to be this much better than its prequel. It’s unusual for a game to make such large graphical leaps over its prequel on same‐generation hardware.
Stayed with friends in Houston last night. Claire, one of their cats, prefers the basket (which is meant for holding cat toys) over his cat tent.
Took this today while passing through Brenham on my way to Houston. A few minutes on Google tells me this theatre was opened in the 1950s and closed in 1980.
