Link roundup

1. Comment and win a Kindle.

2. How to "Move From Blogger to WordPress Without Losing Google Rank."

3. "Houston Press apologizes for 'hottest sex offenders' list."

Link roundup

1. How to sue telemarketers. (Apparently, they have to give you a written copy of their do not call policy if you ask.)

2. Reddit agrees - - the move women love is the Vulcan neck kiss.

3. "DARPA seeks help for interstellar starship."

*Buy NASA patches at eBay.

Link roundup

1. Funny Portal 2 animated gif. And speaking of, it would be cool if Valve made a POTaTOS kit that attached to a typical Mr. Potato Head.

2. How to set up a green screen photo studio for $100. Via.

3. Gallery of beer league hockey jerseys.

*Buy vintage cameras at eBay.

Link roundup

1. TomTom sold user data to the police, who then used it to expertly place speed traps. Via.

2. RPS takes a long look at The Old Republic:

And this level of story exceeds anything I’ve seen in an MMO. There’s currently nothing else that comes close, with perhaps only The Secret World as a rival for such a narrative-focused approach. Simply the fact that my character pretended to be someone else – Blade, she went by – for such a protracted period, was novel to the point of gripping me. And within that, as I lied and tricked the various residents of this Hutta enclave, I was able to betray at my leisure. I could come out of that situation – a good day’s worth of play – having decided whose side I was really on.

The other thing to note here is that I was playing alone. And there was little impetus to team up with anyone. The story, in fact, encouraged me to be soloing this. This happens to be exactly how I want to play MMOs, so I was delighted. But those who are all about guilds and the like will have to get through some significant sections before they’ll get their way. That’s not to say that you can’t team up, because you absolutely can. Certain areas will be blocked off to someone who’s not the same class as you, and some quests are specific to you, but it’s more the lack of narrative sense that put me off wanting a buddy.

In fact, at the point where you really do need someone else to help you battle through, the game gives you an NPC companion.

3. Lifehacker's guide to setting up an online store.

*Buy Darth Revan toys at eBay.

Link roundup

1. St. John's new prize basketball recruit is named God's Gift Achiuwa.

2. A detailed, lengthy analysis of the wisdom of building a Death Star and actually using it to destroy a planet. For example:

So, the Emperor and Tarkin focus on making one really huge, high-impact investment: The Death Star. They throw in Alderaan as part of that investment. This doomsday weapon will supposedly free up their resources to spend less on administration, personnel and infrastructure, and continue to function without a Senate. It seems like a big investment until you realize how much they save by not actually having a functioning government.

This is an attractive option even today, as politicians look to pay for tax cuts and handouts to core constituencies by laying off or cutting salaries and benefits for bureaucrats and government workers, as well as by skimping on infrastructure.

The problem, of course, is that it doesn’t work. The underpaid, undermotivated, poorly managed stormtroopers can’t even track down the Empire’s most wanted fugitive androids in an extremely sparsely populated area where they have undisputed control. If Tatooine still had meaningful senatorial representation and local government, Luke never would have gotten off the planet. Whole systems just break away and form not just a resistance, but a giant frickin’ fleet of spaceships that destroy not one, but two death stars. The failure of leadership is so total and complete that Tarkin is killed in his own fortress and the Emperor is murdered in his own office by his own right-hand man.

3. Guide to utilizing Chrome, including various useful extensions.

Link roundup

1. One particular person was caught posing as various people in Reddit's Ask Me Anything feature (including a blind guy, a deaf girl, a pickpocket, and a mean high school cheerleader).

2. Move over grade inflation, here's course name inflation:

the content of these courses is not as high-achieving as their names — the course-title equivalent of grade inflation. Algebra II is sometimes just Algebra I. And College Preparatory Biology can be just Biology.

3. "4 Great Ways to Convert Partial RSS Feed To Full RSS Feed."

Link roundup

1. Hilarious photo of kids learning about the wonders of the human reproduction.

2. A Baltimore Sun photographer accepted a buyout, started a blog, and then more or less destroyed the industry for professional photographers:

By teaching a horde of novices the skills necessary to shoot photographs of a quality that was until very recently only within the grasp of an elite few, Hobby has played a significant role in the transformation of the profession. In the last few years, the market rate for many types of professional photographs has dropped by as much as 99 percent.

3. "A special mask that produces sights and smells fooled study participants into thinking they were eating a cookie they weren't."

*Buy vintage cameras at eBay.

Link roundup

1. "Turn a Webcam into a Security Camera with Email Notifications."

2. Pro Football Talk says that Tiki Barber's agent is claiming that he knew almost immediately that Tiki's broadcasting career was going to fail, and tried to convince him to promptly rejoin the NFL.

3. Interesting comic book legend this week - - "DC forced Siegel and Shuster to 'prettify' Lois Lane in the early 1940s." Part of the memo instructed the artist, "She looks pregnant. Murray [presumably Murray Boltinoff, longtime DC staffer - BC] suggests that you arrange for her to have an abortion or the baby and get it over with so that her figure can return to something a little more like the tasty dish she is supposed to be."

Link roundup

1. Sounds like Reddit's screenwriting forum is a great place to learn and get critiqued.

2. Frank Frazetta was apparently a cover model for books in The Man From S.T.U.D. series, which you can find at eBay. (Specific titles include, "Rape is a No-No," and "The Solid Gold Screw.") Via.

3. An interesting dilemma -- what's more important: Does Obama honor his pre-election pledge and acknowledge the Armenian genocide? Or does he renege so that he can avoid infuriating Turkey and rely on Turkey's help in preventing current killings?

Link roundup

1. Lifehacker recommends Super Google Reader for converting partial RSS feeds into full feeds.

2. Long interview with toy designers/customizers The Beast Brothers. They used to customize their M.A.S.K and TMNT toys as kids.

3. "Meatcraft: A Real World Minecraft Art Gallery." Via.

How to make YouTube videos fill up the browser (also, my last Portal-centric post) (I think)

1. I've been trying to figure out how to do this for an embarrassingly long time - - to make a Youtube video fill up your browser window (but NOT go fullscreen), modify the URL to include the modified url "watch_popup". So, instead of this typical url:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43CL70JT4bY&p=74F4EBC14E0CABEA

Type in this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=43CL70JT4bY&p=74F4EBC14E0CABEA

Read no further if you're suffering Portal fatigue and/or want to avoid Portal spoilers.

2. I used this newfound tool to make a few widescreen wallpaper-sized screengrabs of GLaDOS, Wheatley, and the turrets:







3. Speaking of Portal, go here to download a simple companion cube paper toy.

4. And if you think the puzzles are just too tough, you can watch a full playthrough of the single and multiplayer campaigns in HD here.

5. Finally, here's a wiki devoted to Portal 2 easter eggs.

Link roundup

1. M. S. Corley needs ideas for something to draw, and will send the art to whoever comes up with the best idea.

2. Joke contest at Reddit. (Strong language, offensive, etc.) There was also a thread about kid friendly jokes last month.

3. Comment and win an art print.

Link roundup

1. Comment and win a miniature.

2. That was fast, someone claiming to be a former Olive Garden employee responded on Reddit:

I was a manager at Olive Garden and was sent to their culinary institute in Tuscany back in 2007. It was more like a hotel, during the off-season, with restaurant on site. They would let the Olive Garden come and stay in all the rooms (small place-maybe 20 rooms) and they would use the restaurant (closed to the public-again off season) as a classroom for maybe an hour here or there and talk about spices or fresh produce for a minute before going site seeing all day. The only time we saw the "chef" was when she made a bolognese sauce while taking pictures with each of us to send to our local newspapers. Basically, yes, they send people to Italy every year. As a manager I still got paid my salary and didn't have to use vacation time, it counted as "work." They paid for everything from meals, sightseeing, flight, everything except souvenirs. But in return, they sent pre-written articles to out local newspaper with fake quotes from me and a group photo. Also every year when they would run the promotion, I was supposed to wear a special "chef" coat and make conversation with guests who ordered the promotional meals.

3. Gizmodo: Rip, Watch and Organize Everything: The Ultimate Media Guide.

*Buy flash drives at Amazon.