They're all great, but you've got to see Midnight Madness:
The movie is firmly planted forever in 1979, when it was filmed during the summer. If the disco music didn't do it, then the arcade scene certainly would have. It's a perfect time capsule of that era - a pinball arcade that's gradually being invaded by video games. There's a wealth of vintage pre-80's video games and pinball machines to be found here, if you look closely. In addition to Star Fire, which is the key to unlocking one of the final clues and probably the newest game in there, you'll spot long-lost relics like Indy 800, Fonz, Speed Freak and a even a few projection-based games.
Be sure to follow the links in the review; they all go to hilariously captioned screenshots from various scenes.
And this will probably be the last journal entry from me until September, as I've finished up my tenure as technology editor for June, and I'm off for Summer vacation.
So long, and thanks for all the fish. 
How did he do it?
From Think Progress:
References to "September 11?: 5
References to "weapons of mass destruction": 0
References to "freedom": 21
References to "exit strategy": 0
References to "Saddam Hussein": 2
References to "Osama Bin Laden": 2
References to "a mistake": 1 (setting a timetable for withdrawal)
References to "mission": 11
References to "mission accomplished": 0
And this lovely little bit from ABC:
ABC's Terry Moran just reported that the only time Bush got applause was in the middle of his speech when a White House advance team member started clapping all on their own in order to cajole the soldiers into clapping, which they dutifully did.
When I play my fucking guts out in a 10 +1 MTT SNG, and get heads-up, and find AK in the big blind.
The other guy (who has played moderately well, but gotten VERY lucky a few times) raises me, so I push, and he turns up KJo. I think I'm about to win my first ever 100 bucks from a multi . . . until there's a fucking Jack on the flop.
I actually said, out loud, "that's not fair!" Just like in Stand By Me.
Well, it may not be fair, but it's poker . . . and I still got 72 bucks on my 11 dollar buy-in.
Listen up: If you're a moderately above-average player (like you understand the Gap Effect, and you know not to play drawing hands out of position) you should be playing the 10 +1 SNGs at PokerStars. I have encountered some of the fishiest fish in the UNIVERSE in the last 24 hours.
And get yourself both of Dan Harrington's books, as well as Phil Gordon's Little Green Book of Poker . . . unless you plan to play against me.
PokerStars Tournament , No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $10.00/$1.00
18 players
Total Prize Pool: $180.00
Tournament started - 2005/06/19 -
Dear [Wil]
You finished the tournament in 2nd place.
A $54.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.
Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.
With a tiny chip lead, I made a huge raise from the BB heads-up with ATh, got called, and bet about half my stack on the A-J-9 flop . . . opponent pushes, I call. He shows 8-9, and catches runners to make the straight and send me out in 2nd place.
Not complaining at all, though, because that's poker. I played smart, and the 54 bucks puts me way ahead since I bought in over a month ago.
I'm a tournament poker player. Sure, a lot of people I respect in the poker blogger world say that tourneys are -EV, but for the last month, I've doubled my bankroll just playing low-stakes (5.50 and 10+1) SNGs. I play good, solid tournament strategy, and I've learned to take advantage of people who are trying to protect their stacks, or are afraid of bubbling. In the last 30 days, I've cashed in 90% of my tourneys. So why am I way down for the same period? Fucking cash games.
I spent some time two nights ago in an micro-limit (.25 / .50) NLHE game . . . and lost my entire buy-in to guys who called huge raises on the flop and caught miracle hands on fifth street. I paid off a lot of guys with the second-best hand, too. And I mean big second best hands, like TT vs JJ with undercards rainbow flops, or AK with the board A-K-5 losing to pocket 5's.
So fuck the cash games, at least at the micro-limits, where the players just aren't smart enough to fold.
I went back and played a quick SNG this morning. Actually, I played one hand in a SNG this morning: I had AJs in the BB with the blinds at 50/100, one minute before they increased. The table was full of REALLY lousy players, who were in with any two suited cards, any ace, any paint . . . so I figured I just had to wait for a good hand and I'd get paid off.
Wrong.
There are three limpers and the SB folds, so I check the lousy AJ, which I hate and never want to play anyway, especially out of position. When I check, I wonder if I should have raised it, but I doubt my raise would have chased anyone out, anyway, so when the flop comes 3-3-9 with two spades, I'm happy to make a bet at half the pot. It's folded to the cut-off, who calls. The turn is a Jack, and I'm positive this jerk is playing a little face card (I've seen him showdown nothing but crap the so far, not a single pocket pair) so I push, since I'm pretty much pot-committed at this point, and I don't want to play a short-stack against people who won't respect raises. Fucker calls and turns over 8-3c.
It's hilarious to look at my stats, which show that I saw the flop one time, played one hand, and lost one time.
Hey, I love bad players, because they usually pay me off . . . but right now the variance is killing me, and I think I have to take a couple of days off, so I get my patience and respect for the game (even if it's full of lousy players) back.
This means that I get to cut out things like this, and sneak them into my wife's purse:
Area Man Looking For Whatever The Hell Is Beeping
DELMAR, NYCraig Mitich, 27, has spent 20 minutes searching his apartment for whatever the hell is emitting a high-pitched beep every few minutes. "Okay, it's not my cell phone... it's not my microwave... or my car-alarm remote," said Mitich, standing motionless with an ear cocked toward his entertainment center. "God, what is it? Can a power strip beep?" At press time, Mitich was on his hands and knees, unplugging his appliances one by one.
Pope Benedict XVI urged African bishops Friday to keep up their fight against
AIDS, reiterating church teaching that abstinence is the only "fail-safe" way to prevent the spread of the virus.
"It is of great concern that the fabric of African life, its very source of hope and stability, is threatened by divorce, abortion, prostitution, human trafficking and a contraceptive mentality, all of which contribute to a breakdown in sexual morality," Benedict said.
Ah, I always laugh when I hear the leader of the over one billion dollars in sexual abuse settlements church lecturing the world about morality. And I'm sure that "contraceptive mentality" is a really ineffective way to prevent the spread of AIDS and other sexualy transmitted diseases. Right. Sure. The spread of AIDS in Africa has nothing at all to do with idiots like Pope Stupid XXV and King George W. Bush refusing to fund programs which would educate people in Africa about condom use, and its effectiveness in preventing the spread of AIDS.
Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for more than 60 percent of the 40 million people infected with HIV worldwide. In March, a U.N. study predicted that more than 80 million Africans may die from AIDS by 2025 and infections could soar to 90 million or more than 10 percent of the continent's population if more is not done to expand prevention programs and offer better access to drugs that can control the virus.
South Africa has the highest number of HIV-infected people in the world, and an estimated 600-1,000 people die of AIDS there every day.
Oh, my bad. That abstinence-only education is going great, guys. Good job.
