maxelman.com

The whole package is called the Orange Box and it’s Valve’s latest 5-pack with all sorts of Half Life 2 and Team Fortress 2 goodness. The game that is getting all the attention though? Portal. A short, two or so hour game, the premise is simple - you’re an unwilling test participant in some sort of techno-future lab. Your one and only chance of escape is held with the object that you’re testing - a handheld portal creating device. Shoot once to make an orange entrance, another shot yields a blue exit. Walk through the orange to pop out the blue. Sounds simple enough, until you’re having to use portal physics to stay alive.

Besides the amazing use of the simple portal device and its associated physics, the game also shines through its environment. The creepy, futuristic lab/asylum voiced by a crazy, cake-promising artificial intelligence shows the exact image of what I don’t want the future to be. All works out in the end though, to an extent. What does work at the end however, is the credits. Basically, they’re amazing. Go rent the game just for the credits. After two hours of thinking in a whole new way, the end of the game makes for a very happy conclusion.

So yes. 10 heart-covered cubes out of 10. Go play it.

So, in something that probably should not ever happen, the two worlds of Star Wars and Transformers have been brought together. No, this doesn’t mean Megatron with a lightsaber, it means a transforming Darth Vader. Into the freaking Death Star. That’s right. The completed Death Star, on top of that. Apparently this isn’t the only one - there’s a Chewbacca/Millennium Falcon hybrid as well. Hooray!

And on top of that - I just finished Bioshock. It’s amazing. Crazy, and morally horrible, but amazing. Go play it. But don’t buy it, because it’s a short game.. Rent it, have a few genetic-alteration-full days, and you’ll be happy.

Oh, and for anyone who has played/seen the game, you’ll find this comic very amusing.

Yeah! Alexa ranks maxelman.com at 9,246,050! That’s only 9,246,047 spots behind google!

Alright, so it’s absurd, but it’s a start, right?

Edit (28 August 2007): 7,082,312, take that! up by two million!

Edit (30 August, 2007): 2,425,454, ha! another five million!

Edit (2 September 2007): 1,888,110!

Edit (11 September 2007): 1,731,098

Edit (1 October 2007): 1,151,112

Edit (22 October 2007):  824,939

Inspired by lifehacker and this post, I put together a picture and listing of the contents of my everyday bag. Took a lot longer than I thought, but here it is:

Here’s what goes most everywhere with me around college and town, much of that by bike.

1. Chrome Mini Metro w/ cell phone strap-pouch: Just about the right size for all this, and sometimes my mac. Works fantastically as a biking bag - I suppose that’s fitting from a company of once-was San Francisco bike messengers.
2. Sigg 1L sport bottle: holds lots of water, fits nicely on my bike
3. House of Leaves: my current book - good to have around for those off-times
4. Sunglasses: I’m either wearing these or it’s cloudy.. or night, I suppose
5. Moleskin: A place to jot down important things and non-important things alike
6. Gum: The most amazing flavor ever - Trident ‘tropical twist’
7. 2GB Sandisk USB flash drive: basically indestructible and ever so useful
8. 80GB 5G iPod: Full of music
9. Olympus Stylus 720SW: Also indestructible - waterproof as well
10. Holux GPSlim 240: Pairs with my phone to tell me where I am
11. Micro SD card reader: Get to my phone files whenever
12. HTC TYTN: My phone, gmail checker, etc
13. Highlighter
14. LAMY fountain pen
15. Twin-tip Sharpie
16. Black Felt-tip Pen
17. Purple Pen
18. Black Pen
19. Soma bike multi-tool: Good for all those strange things needing to be fixed on my bike
20. Cateye Bike Light: Have to take this off so it won’t get stolen
21. Crank Bros air pump: This would also get stolen on a bike
22. Shure E3c headphones: The only problem with these is their complete blocking of outside sound that tends to make one oblivious to their surroundings
23. Keys: car, house, bike
24. Timbuk2 Wallet: Great design with elastic closure
25. Chapstick
26. Taped up roll of quarters
27. Prescription eyedrops for allergies
28. Moo business cards in a Etsy-found case
29. Wagner swiss army knife in a case
30. Titanium Zippo
31. Post-it notes

Overall, I think I’d be better off than some if I ever crashed onto a deserted island inhabited by people trying to kill me. Of course, I wouldn’t do as well as the guy traveling with a suitcase chuck full of knives. Or those question-inducing people that just happen to carry around pistols with laser sights…

Edit (August 30, 2007): Up on this Lifehacker post, here

Remember Sim City 2000? your “board of advisors”? Who all were really just CRAZY? Well, maybe not entirely crazy, but I came across this page today that shows exactly what would happen if they were as crazy as I remember. Check it out, it’s hilarious.

And speaking of Sim City, who is one of the new characters in the upcoming Super Smash Bros? Dr Wright - that’s right, he makes you the mayor. And in Super Smash Bros, can erect skyscrapers out of nowhere. It’s going to be amazing. Look!