My buddy at CuteMonster is having a contest for the super-cool KRE-O Strek Trek USS Enterprise Construction Set. Since many of you are Star Trek nerds and you should all be LEGO nerds, this is something you should enter. (And yes, I know this is a KRE-O toy and not a LEGO toy, but I’m using LEGO the same way many people use Coke as a general term for soda.) This Star Trek toy is totally cool! I’d love to win one for the price of free. I wonder if you can buy extra packs of red-shirted Starfleet officers to use as fodder….
Watch the Evil Game Design Challenge
Here’s a long, but terribly fascinating, video featuring three veteran game developers participating in the “The Evil Game Design Challenge.” The panel is hosted by Scott Foe, known for his work on the Sega Dreamcast, the Nokia N-Gage, and, most recently, Douche Defender. The participants have been in the gaming business for a long time, but have recently been focused on free-to-play games. You’ll watch Greg Costikyan, Dan Rubenfield, and Ethan Levy — dressed as evil villains — compete to come up with the best monetization, retention, and virality plans for Super Mario Bros. 3. Yes, imposing modern monetization, retention, and virality methods on an all-time classic is evil.
Check out the clip below and let me know what you think of “The Evil Game Design Challenge” (I usually say please, but since the subject matter is evil, I’m leaving it out). Lastly, help me get over my hangup that “virality” is becoming a word.
Call of Duty: Ghosts Multiplayer Reveal Trailer
Activision has posted a multiplayer trailer for Call of Duty: Ghosts. I’m looking forward to the game, but honestly, I’m more into the Skylanders franchise these days. However, I know that several of you RPadholics are into the franchise, so kindly check out the video below and let me know what you think.
On a side note, I noticed that this game will be getting two special editions — “Hardened” and “Prestige.” Are any of you planning to get hard or prestigious with Call of Duty: Ghosts? Continue reading “Call of Duty: Ghosts Multiplayer Reveal Trailer”
Charles Dance to Star in Witcher 3
CD Projekt RED has announced that Charles Dance will voice the Emperor of Nilfgaard in Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. This is completely awesome. Why is this completely awesome? Because Charles Dance is completely awesome! That’s why. In recent years, fantasy nerds have marveled at Dance’s portrayal of Tywin Lannister in HBO’s Game of Thrones. While he has been brilliant as that character, Dance’s brilliance to the nerd community goes back a long ways. Many of you RPadholics know and love Dance from The Golden Child, in which he played Sardo Numspa (Brother Numsie!). Lastly, Dance completely owned in Last Acton Hero as Benedict, one of the coolest bad guys to grace the silver screen.
I was already looking forward to Witcher 3, but now that Sardo Numspa/Benedict/Tywin Lannister has been revealed as one of the game’s voice actor, I want the game even more. To celebrate this awesome news, let’s take a look back at some of Charles Dance’s best scenes.
Vaping Diaries #89: Ahlusion Review VI
Ahlusion’s aromatic e-liquids are some of the best tobacco juices you can buy. Made with naturally-extracted tobacco, these e-liquids are fantastic for vapers looking for authentic and complex tobacco flavors. In the past, I’ve covered Ahlusion’s Blue Grass Burley, Devil Dog!, Vurley, and Honey Cured aromatics. This time around I vaped Cocoa Blend, Maple Burley, and Sweet Georgia Peach.
These flavored aromatics behaved similarly. The striking tobacco hits your first and is complemented wonderfully by the secondary flavor. These juices are heavy and not recommended for carto/tanks (the coils will gunk up fast). Dripping gives you more of the tobacco flavor (my personal preference), while vaping in a Kanger T3 clearomizer brought out the sweetness of the complementary flavor. Keep in mind that when using a clearomizer, you’ll have to rinse and dry-burn the coils more frequently. Unlike many made-to-order e-liquids, the aromatic line doesn’t require steeping and is ready to go right from the mailbox.
As with my previous Ahlusion orders, these juices were immaculately packed. As far as protection goes, the company does the best packing job I’ve seen. As for the e-liquids themselves — they’re fantastic! The tobacco flavor is superb and the complementary flavor blends in marvelously. Here are the flavor breakdowns and steeping notes.
Cocoa Blend: This juice took me by surprise, due to my own ignorance. I’ve had a lot of bad chocolate e-liquids, but this one uses cocoa, not chocolate. My friend Andrew let me try some of his Cocoa Blend and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The cocoa has a nice bittersweet flavor that works brilliantly with the Virginia and burley tobaccos used in this juice. The outstanding tobacco blend’s earthy tones are highlighted by the bittersweet cocoa. The flavors mix together perfectly for a deep and authentic tobacco vape with a lovely bittersweet touch.
Maple Burley: I was expecting something different from this e-liquid. I thought it would be more like Vurley, which has a deep burley tobacco taste and a brightly sweet vanilla flavor. With Maple Burley, the tobacco is the dominant flavor, while a natural maple sugar flavor is in the background. I’m a big fan of Ahlusion’s maple sugar flavor; it’s sweet, but not in that artificial maple-syrup way. Although the mix wasn’t what I expected, this ended being my favorite of the three. Burley is one of my favorite tobaccos (for e-liquids) and the maple sugar flavor is delicious.
Sweet Georgia Peach: A few of my vaping friends are totally high on this juice and it’s easy to understand why. As expected from an Ahlusion aromatic, the tobacco flavor is phenomenal. What’s really interesting is the peach flavor. Most peach e-liquids use a flavor that’s similar to a Peach Gummi candy or a natural, fresh peach. Ahlusion’s peach is distinct; it’s natural, but more like a dried peach than a fresh peach. It works incredibly well with the tobacco flavor. This juice is an amazing approximation of peach pipe tobacco. It’s wonderfully executed, with a perfect blend of striking tobacco and a unique (and yummy) peach flavor.
Steeping Notes
On the advice of Wlad from Ahlusion, I’ve been trying a new steeping method starting December 27, 2012. When the e-liquids arrive, I leave them uncapped for five minutes. Previously, I left them uncapped for about two days. After the liquids are given a few minutes to oxidize, the caps are put back on. The bottles are shaken every day for at least two weeks before vaping.
Cocoa Blend
70/30 PG/VG ratio, 6mg nicotine
Uncapped: May 31, 2013 6:32PM
Vaped: June 24-July 16, 2013
Maple Burley
70/30 PG/VG ratio, 6mg nicotine
Uncapped: May 31, 2013 6:32PM
Vaped: June 25-July 16, 2013
Sweet Georgia Peach
70/30 PG/VG ratio, 6mg nicotine
Uncapped: May 31, 2013 6:32PM
Vaped: June 23-July 16, 2013
Review Process (Updated February 17, 2013)
RPad.TV e-liquid reviews focus on the flavor of the e-liquids, since throat hit and vapor production can be altered by the PG/VG ratio and nicotine level selected. Each juice is vaped over a period of days in an atomizer, a cartomizer/tank setup, and a clearomizer. The exception is naturally-extracted tobacco (NET) juice; since those are known to clog up cartomizers quickly, those are vaped in atomizers and clearomizers.
Lady Gaga’s “Applause” vs. Katy Perry’s “Roar”
Two major pop stars have new singles out. In the red corner, Lady Gaga tries to get your adoration with “Applause.” In the blue corner, Katy Perry gets fierce with “Roar.” Which song do you like better? Kindly give them a listen (videos for both songs embedded below) and vote in today’s poll! Continue reading “Lady Gaga’s “Applause” vs. Katy Perry’s “Roar””
The Pirate Bay Launches PirateBrowser
The Pirate Bay has launched PirateBrowser, a barebones web browser that helps users reach the popular torrent-file service when using Internet service providers (ISPs) that block it. PirateBrowser is a mix of Firefox, FoxyProxy, and Tor. Here’s the description from the company’s blog:
Do you know any people who can’t access TPB or other torrents-sites because they are blocked? Recommend PirateBrowser to them. It’s a simple one-click browser that circumvents censorship and blockades and makes the site instantly available and accessible. No bundled ad-ware, toolbars or other crap, just a Pre-configured Firefox browser.
While PirateBrowser should unblock The Pirate Bay for many users, it’s important not to mistake it for a product that offers truly anonymous browsing. It’s a potentially useful tool for people that like to…uhm share files, but a good virtual private network (VPN) is the way to go if you want your Internet activity masked from your ISP, the government, nosy martians, etc. Don’t get me wrong. I love that this free product is being offered, but I fear that some people will overestimate its capabilities.
Any of you thinking of giving PirateBrowser a whirl?
Taco Bell to Sell Waffle Taco (Why?!?)
Not content with selling you unhealthy foods for lunch and dinner, Taco Bell plans to annihilate breakfast with the Waffle Taco. The product was tested at five Taco Bell restaurants in California and apparently customers loved it. The Waffle Taco is now available at 100 Taco Bell locations, as of August 8, 2013. Here’s the description via Time:
The fast-food chain says the waffle taco, which includes scrambled eggs, sausage and a side of syrup.
While this sounds like typical fast-food breakfast dreck, at least it’s not as ridiculous as the KFC Double Down.
Are any of you intrigued by the Taco Bell Waffle Taco? Do you see it becoming a regular part of your diet?
[Thanks to my pal Mike for the link!]
Elon Musk Posts 57 Pages of Hyperloop Magic (PDF)
Tesla Motors chairman, CEO, and product architect Elon Musk has posted a 57-page PDF detailing the company’s Hyperloop project. Touted as a groundbreaking form of public transportation, Hyperloop will (theoretically) be able to complete trips between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 30 minutes. It (allegedly) offers safe and comfortable travel at speeds higher than 700 miles per hour, using a system that’s described as a combination of a rail gun and an air-hockey table.
Other bonuses touted on the Tesla Motors site include Continue reading “Elon Musk Posts 57 Pages of Hyperloop Magic (PDF)”
151 Original Pokemon Drawn By 151 Artists Via Twitter
In one of the coolest Pokemon projects ever conceived, Justin Chan put together a collage of the 151 original Pokemon drawn by 151 different artists. The really cool part is that it was all organized over Twitter. In an amazing show of Pokemon love, all 151 Pokemon had assigned artists less than 24 hours after the project hit the Twitterverse. In less than 48 hours, 80 percent of the artwork was complete. In the immortal words of Brian Fellow, “That’s crazy!!!”
Check out a clip of the collage above and download the giant 27MB 8,800 x 6,800 file here. After perusing the image, kindly leave a comment and let me know which Pokemon drawings you like best.
Chan’s Pokemon collage project is an amazing testament to the power of Pokemon and the power of Twitter. I can’t wait for the Johto and Sinnoh versions!