Hot Shit Of The Week - Eggnog Glug Glug 2009 Edition

In between weekend parties I've been scouring the internets hard to find some really good stuff for this week. It takes a lot of deliberation to find just the right hot shit, and I'm still trying to find the right tone and voice for the feature. For the most part Hot Shit Of the Week stays on the up and up. It is here to show the best, not snipe the worse. Old School Hot Shit will be an occasional separate single post, probably mid-week. It is naturally snarky feature so Hot Shit Of the Week will be more positive from now on.

First Up: Google Reader

I am convinced that one day Google is going to turn evil, and while it is entirely possible that day has already come you can't fault a company for having good products, especially when those good products are buck naked free.

When it comes to technology, some people will say there are enthusiasts and luddites. I tend to think it isn't that simple. The choice of when to adopt any new technology isn't a yes-or-no-one-size-fits-all question. You can be way ahead of the curve, but a lot of the time that means you'll spend far too much time dealing with the early adopter's growing pains. RSS is one of those technologies where I was certain it was going to take root eventually, but didn't adopt until it had already gone main stream. I've used a number of RSS solutions, but Google Reader is the best compromise of features and simplicity I have found. It makes a great solution alone, or in combination with a good desktop application.

One of the things that was always a pain in desktop RSS applicaitons was keeping a collection of subscriptions in sync cross multiple computers. The better clients had export/import features, but with Google Reader that isn't neccesary. You can manage your subscriptions centrally and there is only one feed to configure on each client no matter where you go. The sharing and starring is also a really nice feature. Combined with some other hot tools I'll be talking about in future weeks, Google Reader is what makes Hot Shit possible. I can star something I find and then when I'm ready to complie a list of Hot Shit it's right there.

Next Up: Cute Overload

Who doesn't love good clean humor? Now maybe I'm just getting old, but I can't help but wince a little with the moden movement in humor. Sure rude, irreverant, and even sacrelegious gags are funny now and again but some where around 1997 things got a little out of hand and over a decade later they are just getting worse.

One breath of fresh air amidst all these fart and Jesus jokes is Cute Overload. It's like Breaking Bad News With Baby Animals, without the bad news. Every day cute images come flooding in, some of which are also quite humorous. I can't say that they have ever made me ROTFL, but often a chuckle or smile. I'll take a guilt free chuckle over a cheap Lolercopter any day.

Moving Along: Bento!

Why should the Japanese have all the fun? If I did New Years resolutions, mine would be to make my lunch more often. I don't (do resolutions), but really do hope that in the future I do (make my lunch).

Not that I'd have time to be this creative with my lunch, pretty much ever, but the bento artist at Anna The Red's Bento Factory is a truely genious source of inspriation. You always have to wonder how edible some of the creations are. Some are totaly convincing.. others you just have to wonder what some of the detials are made of.

I'd also feel bad while eating it...really bad...as I ate the whole thing. I think the phrase, "Nom Nom Nom." is fitting.

Finally: Web Designer Depot

Now normally I don't go for sites like this and it is definately special interest, but I found this site through a friend on Google Reader and it is a good mix of web design showcase, web industry tips, and just generally interesting links.

The down side to Web Designer Depot is they tend to post very LONG articles. Sometimes they break things with their ginormity.

The semi-eclectic feel of this blog is great. It has a focus, but switches things up a bit each week. There is something to be said from following a formula, but I think we can all learn from a good directed sense of aventure in writing.

Hot Shit of The Week - Cold, Wet, Dreary November 2009 Edition

With the holiday season fast approaching, it warrants note that for the most part HSOTW does not focus on commercialistic products. Sure, we will plug a really good deal from time to time, but "cheap/free" is one of our main criteria for hot shit.


Also, there won't (likely) be a HSOTW next weekend. I'll be at MACE, and you can bet at least one of the entries for the following week will be a board/card/non-electronic game of some kind.


A final note, we're going to drop one item from the weekly regiment. Five hot shits every week is just a little much considering all the disappointments out there. Some weeks will have an "Old School Shit" and others will have a "Moving Along" segment.

First Up: Library Thing

If you don't love books, there is something wrong with you. Sure, Kindles are fine. Ebooks... OK, but when it comes to books there is a clear distinction between the physical item and the electronic. Video media in its many forms illustrates this distinction quite well. It makes significantly less difference to many if they own the DVD, or get it through Netflix. If the content is available ownership often seems secondary. While it is sometimes the case that people will signify with their video collection, it is still quite a bit more common to see books performing this role.


Out of all of the options for online management of books, Library Thing has a number of features that put it a cut above the rest. It is highly portable and inter-operable, has tons of community features, and is the place-to-be for book lovers. The main reason one might pick a different locale to catalog their collections is the limitation on the free account. 200 titles is a bit of a show-stopper, but fortunately the site offers lifetime memberships and at really reasonable rates. 

Next Up: Picture Is Unrelated

Of all the blogs that I frequent, few pick-up or ruin my day quite as much as Picture Is Unrelated. This site regularly features irregular images ranging from mildly perturbing to majorly disturbing. There does seem to be a little less emphasis at this site on "genuine" images, meaning those that are un-photoshopped, but the vast majority are either sincere or well done enough that they allow for at least a few seconds of mental breakdown.


For the most part these are singular rips in space a time, but some can be tracked via other sources to actual real world phenomena, such as the "telephone sheep" of this past week. Quick, easy, and usually painless: it is sites like Picture Is Unrelated that truly embody the New Internet.


Moving Along: Rather Good Stuff

On the subject of WTF, there are a number of rather good YouTube videos out there by Rather Good Stuff. When I say "out there", I mean it literally. These are the folks you may remember from a few years back with the oddly irritating Quiznos Commercials. Really, many of their videos are hit or miss and the content appropriateness is also all over the radar. Still, there are a number of videos they have released that are cute and broadly age appropriate. There are also a number of very un-funny duds.


If you need a few random videos to round out a party playlist (as I did) then you might just find what you're looking for here.


Finally: EyeMaze

It should be no secret I like indie games. EyeMaze however takes this love to a whole new level, and in part because the designer was doing it way before it was "cool". The Grow series of games at this site has been a shining example of simple game design. Always a welcome distraction, it is a happy day when a new game is released at EyeMaze. Fun knows no barriers here, not even language. Perhaps game publishers could learn a thing or two and stop trying to artificially divide players into locked regions.

Hot Shit of The Week - Unseasonably Hot October 2009 Edition

It's been a great month and the hot shit just keeps on coming. To start out this week's post I thought it might be good to explain the process used to determine what constitutes hot shit. There are three simple rules:

1. No hype. To be hot shit worthy, something has to be substantially available.
2. Cool, Useful, Hilarious, Cheap/Free, or Entertaining: pick two.
3. It's only geeky if you're ashamed of it. It's only a fad if you stop caring about it.

Now with that little bit of administrivia out of the way I'm very excited to get started with this week's Hot Shit.

First Up: Hey Ash Whacha Playin'?

Love'em or hate'em, Destructiod has some pretty good content. If it wasn't such a chaotic site, Destructiod might even be a good alternative to the game-site-I-hate-to-use-but-pretty-much-have-to, IGN. Excessive poop humor and findability aside, Hey Ash Whacha Playin'? is a great video series starring an oppositionally defiant female gamer and her brother. If I thought my parents would buy me something from online, this would definitely be on my Christmas list.

As with most web series the episodes are short and of variable length. Comedy is spotty, but they do a great job of building on the gags. Poop humor gradually becomes actually funny. There is an occasional dud, but my harshest criticism is over use of foul language which doesn't really do much to add to the comedic effect. Hey Ash is a charming and clearly an indie production unlike a number of other semi-/para-/quasi-professional web series out there.

The biggest challenge in being a fan of Hey Ash Whatcha Playin' is finding episodes and figuring out what order they are best watched in. Eighteen dollars seems highly reasonable for their DVD release, but not having purchased it yet I can't say that with any certainty.

Next Up: Fat Princess

While you might never see an Xbox exclusive game make it onto the Hot Shit list, that is not because there are no such titles that deserve it. It is because I don't own an Xbox, I'll never own one (unless someone is feeling generous), and I very rarely have the opportunity to play on someone else's. Techno-political issues and politically correct game concepts aside it is great to see developers that work really hard to provide a good online multi-player experience like the kids at Titan Studios.

Earlier this week details for the 1.03 patch were announced. This update comes almost three months after the US release and includes a number of attempts to fix social and technical issues with the online multi-player.  Designing games with online competitive ranking is hard. There are always going to be rude-ocd-wankers out there that will use every cheap-ass bug in the game and play the system to boost their score while sucking the fun out of it for the rest of us. It is the kind of thing that impossible to eliminate, but Titian is doing a really good job of addressing it and some of their solutions are down right creative.

To boot the official word is that the 1.03 update will include, for free, the New Pork map which has set the Fat Princess community a buzz. There is still no word on when for-pay content will be added to Fat Princess, but this is a case where free is infinitely more fun than paid.

Fat Princess is currently one of the more expensive PSN download only titles at $14.99 US. It is however worth it. The solo play is very fun and disappointingly short, but provided you have a good Internet connection the online play can make it well worth it.

Moving Along: Passive Aggressive Notes

First oppositional defiance and now passive aggressiveness? This week's hot shit sure is chocked full of social disorders. Passive Aggressive Notes is another in a long line of recommended blogs you'll see here in Hot Shit of The Week. Some of the material there is weak, but it is a lot harder to prove a fake passive aggressive note (PAN) than a photo shopped image. The humor also often requires some shared social experience.

Passive aggressive behavior is much more funny if it relates to something one has dealt with personally. Most of the notes follow common situations: retail stores, roommates, dating. The real gems are the ones that make you wonder just how pathological people can be before they are labeled insane.

And Before I Forget: Old School Shit - Timing

It is critical in comedy, in business, in life: It's Timing. Don't be too early or you're wasting time and likely resources, but don't be too late because that is just a missed opportunity. Timing is also about appropriateness. If you start a slow clap at the wrong time, you're going to look like an idiot. You can't bring back old fads too early either.

Here are some things everyone can brush up on to improve their timing skills:

The running head start - People that try to go from zero to sixty instantly often wind up flat on their face. If you want to look like a pro, practice. The clever thing to do is find ways to practice in a value added way, without looking like a fool.

Know your windows - With timing there is a window of opportunity. Sometimes it is like Rock Band: the closer to optimum the better. Other times it is like Blackjack and you either hedge our bets or play it safe with good enough. More often than not however it is just better to make it somewhere in the window while balancing other commitments. Avoid sweating the details whenever possible.

Under commit, over deliver  - It can be hard to sell a course of action that looks padded, but a good start is to hold your cards close. Don't give away all of the aces. Who ever it is you're trying to impress, they will be more pleased with a pleasant surprise than slipping deadlines. Without slack, there is no control over timing.

Finally: More Indies, Indies, Indies, Indies

There are commercial games, indies, and then Real Indies. Don't get me wrong. I am very exicted that full-scale indie-feeling games are being released commercially. It is like bread and butter: commercial games are the bread and indie games are the butter. When the two come together it is SOOOOO GOOD.

On the other hand, sometimes you just want butter. Free games are not indie games. Some of them are just commercial games that lacked that certain something or were made for the sole purpose of pushing paid advertising and drawing potential convertible customers. Real indies are a whole-nother innovative breed. Today I Die, and the other games at Daniel Benmergui's Ludomancy are a great example of really-really indie.

To add to this, it really feels like we are on the creative cusp where more people will be empowered to go from entertainment consumers to entertainment producers. It is a really exciting place to be.

Hot Shit Of The Week - We Survived Half of October, Where It My Candy? 2009 Edition

Halloween is getting pretty close, not to mention the end of the year. It is kind of exciting to think about how things will go in 2010 what with people getting Google Wave invites and all. Few things are more exciting than watching people type to you in real time! You could be using that time to multi-task: either getting real work done or plowing your fields in Farmville. But hey, we all know how overrated multi-tasking it over rated. I think once I do get into Google Wave I'll probably type all my responses to people in a different window and cut paste, really blow their minds.

First Up: Making Anything "Micro"

So we've covered "micro-Blogging" with Twitter, but there are so many more things in life that need to be shrunk down because we just can't handle it: like the plight of people less fortunate than us. No more sending money to Sally Struthers for me! Now there is Kiva. This is a great way to help other people, and you get to keep giving because Kiva is a communal loan. The people you help get what they need and pay back the loan so it can go to help others.

And even better, you pick where it all goes. This is a convenient, online, non-socialist, and to help out people all other the world. And it real helping, not Farmville friend helping. Thanks Micro-Fairy, that is more more thing that can productively be integrated into my busy lifestyle.

Next Up: Raindropmemory

Here at SWML we are very proud of our month long tradition of pointing out some of the great creative talents on the internet. This week's Hot Shit includes a very talented graphic artist from Deviant Art: Raindropmemory. This guy is a great illustrator, but he's done some icon sets that are truly outstanding, including a fantasy/rpg themed icon set, Legendora, that quite frankly rocked my socks.

There is a lot of versatility in RDM's style. It is soft, warm, and friendly with a heaping spoonful of playfulness with texture. I'm definitely keeping my eye on this deviant artist. Hopefully there will be more great art and icon sets to come.

Moving Along: Hack A Day

There are lots of RSS feeds that people need to know about. Some of them are funny, some are informative, and some just have occasional jems that are just too neat. Hack A Day is one of the later. From old school to new wave, these guys are all over the technology map. The hacks range from emulation, to basic generation of electricity, and even things with no electronic parts what so ever. To top this off this blog posts multiple types a day typically so there is a constant stream of neat information.

It is not uncommon that they go on particular tangents from time to time, like RFID, or micro-bots, but most geeks can at least appreciate these even if they are a little less awe inspiring. Some of the things are practically do it yourself. Many are probably beyond the casual hacker's ability, and some are clearly "do not try this at home". All in all, Hack A Day is the coolest geeky how-to source.

And Before I Forget: Old School Hot Shit - Being On Top Of Shit

One of the great things about the Internet is people will practically read your mind and do what you want about 25% of the time. This saves a lot of time and effort, so long as you know how to use Google, or troll the right forums, just happen to subscribe to the right RSS feeds.... *wink*

You can imagine my delight when someone shared this gem: Dozens and Dozens of decent-to-good freeware games and links to many many more. We've all seen them, and most of us are lucky enough to have friends that share cool things like this with us. So if you want to be in the know, here is our SWML Twelve Step Process to never being bored again:

1. U need teh Internets. No internets? How the hell are you reading this blog?
2. Find a forum of like minded gamers. It is recommended that you avoid Digimon Cults.
3. Subscribe to some RSS feeds.
4. If you have real life friends, find out what online communities they go to and team troll with them.
5. Try to keep up. Most online forums have tools to help you track conversations and _search_.
6. Get smarter, learn the tools of your RSS aggregator. What? It is called Google Reader.
7. Google, also good for _search_.
8. Make sure you keep those connections with real life friends. What good is staying on top of trends if you can't show off at parties or other social gatherings?
9. Occasionally sluff off dead weight: sites/feeds/friends/interests that are just not cutting it any more. No matter how good you get you're never going to be able to stay on top of things if you get stretched too thin.
10. Sit back, relax, and enjoy getting almost everything online for free. This does not include downloading stuff illegally.
    
11. Pay bills, because if you don't there won't be any Internet. You don't want to be that homeless person that practically lives at the library because it is the only window into the ether.
    
12. Devalue anything/anyone that doesn't have a URL. Everything MUST have a URL, even if it is one you created.
    

Working your way up through these twelve steps you'll find life in the ether is much better than real life... that is until a power/network outage.

Finally: Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

Ok, I admit this one is a bit weak. It IS funny in parts and it is a great find. Hulu is a great source for all kinds of things like this. Is has a good sense of meta-theatrics, it is cute, and it has Neil Patrick Harris so it has to be pretty good.... it's DR. HORRIBLE'S SING ALONG BLOG. There is a 90% chance this is well worth 45 minutes of your life.

And is if just me or is Doogie Howser getting OLD? I mean he's only 6 years older than I am so I hope I age a little better. Is he trying to catch up to House? The mind boggles.

So until next time, try to keep up! Hope everyone gets their Google Wave invites!

Hot Shit of The Week - Crap I Procrastinated Again October 2009 Edition

This is supposed to be a weekend thing, but it is technically now Monday. Oh well. Life gets busy and shit happens. Even Hot Shit. A lot of our first posts are not very timely things. I'm hoping to make things more recent-only shits soon, but for now there are so many great things to catch up on, so here we go TRY TO KEEP UP!


First Up: Topless Robot

There are a lot of more well know blogs I follow, and at some point I will be posting about all of them, but I wanted to share a less well known but really entertaining blog first. Topless Robot is a daily dose of really geeky news, and they almost always post something really interesting at least once a day.

From cartoons and comics to sci-fi and fantasy, this is a throughly geek entertainment focused blog. It isn't too negative or angsty (unlike here) and it isn't too fan-boy. Nice, well rounded, all around nerdy.



Next Up: FUCKING TWITTER

I don't normally advocate a specific technology, and if there was anything as awesome in competition this would not just be about Twitter.

Now it isn't the 140 character, bullshit that I love. Sometimes I want 145 characters! or 148! What I love is the API and SMS integration. Twitter updates my facebook. I can track multiple twitter accounts with things like Gwibber and Brizzly (the jury is still out on Brizzly). I can follow the people I really care about on my cellphone, and even update my Twitter AND Facebook from my totally cheapass featureless cellphone.

Twitter has a ways to go to be really mass market friendly. It isn't quite an IM solution, and it isn't Facebook (thankfully). I don't buy into the micro-blogging notion. It is really more of a status-update-semi-public-chat system. I don't quite know what Twitter is, but I've been using it for over a year now and I LOVE IT.

Moving Along: Internet TV, esp. Fullmetal Alchemist

I told my mom (no I don't live with her, I visit monthly) when Funimation first started airing Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood episodes, online, subtitled, the same week they air on Japanese TV, that it was about the best thing that could happen to me. She thought I was either being silly or exagerating. I am full on serious. It is great that we are getting this pretty well done version of one of my top 5 favorite stories (and the number one on going story) so close to real time. It is an affront to so many things that I really don't like.

Granted, I am NOT A FAN of Funimation personaly. It is more of a love-hate thing. Funimation does things that are really dumb and piss me off, but it is clear they are trying to make fans happy in the process of taking their money hand over fist. So few companies even try. I am not, however a fan of modern fan-sub culture. I am also not a fan of the commercial ignorance that has lead to the wide spread success and dare-I-say neccessity of fan-subbing. Region controlled media is on its death bed. LET IT DIE. It is backwards. I lothe people that embrace the illusion of control. Demon be gone!

...and Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is pretty cool too. I am really hoping that we are not headed for a grind-filler fest. The pace is slowing. I can FEEL it. I have charted the time line between the anime and manga in my head. I dread it.

And Before I Forget: Old School Hot Shit - Check Your Shit

Let me just say that I am fully glad to live in these complicated times. Sure it is a bloody violent world out there, and people all over the worlds are total douche bags, but there is one thing that makes me very happy: AUTO-SAVE and ONLINE BACKUPS. If you are a programmer, or involved with any kind of "product" you need to CHECK THE FUCKING SHIT YOU ARE SELLING/PUSHING and make sure it is Y2009 compliant. If you won't have auto-save, you are an ass wipe.

Now my friends at Blogger and Google, THEY GET THIS SHIT. They have auto-save, and they do a pretty damned good job of letting me know when it IS and IS NOT working. I have sadly been using some other programs for things like E-mail and Blogging because either my job doesn't give me much choice, or I'm trying to be a good boy and play ball with other people.

I've also been having a hell of a time trying to keep my shit in order. I love using Tomboy, but the syncronization feature is just plain gimped and lame. A friend of mine('s husband) suggested Dropbox and OMG, it is spot on. It is Lots of Copies Keeps Things Safe (LOCKS) done right! I fully expect that I will be getting the paid version with more quota one day, but the free version has made me a very happy person.


Finally: Hot Topic

Yeah it is a bit cliche, but these guys have the best tee shirts and occasionally other novelty wear. I will buy cool things online when I don't have a choice, but I guess I am one of the few people guys that dislikes shopping online, but they have a pretty kick-ass online store too.

Hot Topic Link. OMG PLEASE TOTALY IGNORE THAT NEW MOON CRAP ON THE FRONT PAGE> SRY! Also please ignore the stupid Java technology they use to run their store front. Yikes, someone needs to learn how to properly configure Tomcat.

Virtual shopping hang ups aside, a few months ago they had really awsome gothy kilts for guys. There is a constant supply of video game and cartoon related merchandise as well. This week the big find was Battle Toads! Sadly they have a better more awesome selection for the girls than for guys, but stalking their clearance rack is my second favorite shopping activity next to Target's clothes and electronics clearnance.

Until next week, keep it hawt!