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Star Wars 2008

Max Elman — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 21:22:06 +0000

Election season is upon us, and that means one thing: parody elections designs galore. Kristan and I had some free time this morning, and we were inspired. The results follow, mine first, and then a link to hers. Who will you vote for?

and Kristan’s:

Star Wars 2008 is a post from: maxelman.com

mini game review – portal

Max Elman — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 05:28:30 +0000

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.

mini game review – portal is a post from: maxelman.com

Star Wars + Transformers = ?

Max Elman — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 06:18:26 +0000

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.

Star Wars + Transformers = ? is a post from: maxelman.com

9,246,050!

Max Elman — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 18:51:07 +0000

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

9,246,050! is a post from: maxelman.com

lifehacked bag

Max Elman — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 00:23:43 +0000

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.

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.
Sigg 1L sport bottle: holds lots of water, fits nicely on my bike
House of Leaves: my current book – good to have around for those off-times
Sunglasses: I’m either wearing these or it’s cloudy.. or night, I suppose
Moleskin: A place to jot down important things and non-important things alike
Gum: The most amazing flavor ever – Trident ‘tropical twist’
2GB Sandisk USB flash drive: basically indestructible and ever so useful
80GB 5G iPod: Full of music
Olympus Stylus 720SW: Also indestructible – waterproof as well
Holux GPSlim 240: Pairs with my phone to tell me where I am
Micro SD card reader: Get to my phone files whenever
HTC TYTN: My phone, gmail checker, etc
Highlighter
LAMY fountain pen
Twin-tip Sharpie
Black Felt-tip Pen
Purple Pen
Black Pen
Soma bike multi-tool: Good for all those strange things needing to be fixed on my bike
Cateye Bike Light: Have to take this off so it won’t get stolen
Crank Bros air pump: This would also get stolen on a bike
Shure E3c headphones: The only problem with these is their complete blocking of outside sound that tends to make one oblivious to their surroundings
Keys: car, house, bike
Timbuk2 Wallet: Great design with elastic closure
Chapstick
Taped up roll of quarters
Prescription eyedrops for allergies
Moo business cards in a Etsy-found case
Wagner swiss army knife in a case
Titanium Zippo
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

lifehacked bag is a post from: maxelman.com

quit hitting the tornado button!

Max Elman — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 18:42:40 +0000

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!

quit hitting the tornado button! is a post from: maxelman.com

still geeky

Max Elman — Fri, 04 May 2007 19:02:53 +0000

so, i suppose i play wow now, and that over there is my kick-ass gnome warlock engineer. his name is tamm. he’s happy to meet you. (on the azuremyst server, that is)

on a more productive note, go listen to the klaxons. the new cd ‘myths of the near future’ is nearly amazing. so do that. now.

now it’s time for a lazy weekend. rock.

still geeky is a post from: maxelman.com

i’m a geek

Max Elman — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 23:06:46 +0000

after messing about with twitter, and possibly getting addicted, I added a small box on the right to display the last ‘tweet’. it’s so weird – but fun in a strange sense – to update that regularly. but hey! I got friended by Darth Vader, so now I get status updates for him. that’s always good.

on an even more geeky note, I filled out this widget of sorts, which puts together possibly too much of my online life. creepy.

i’m a geek is a post from: maxelman.com

choose your own blog post

Max Elman — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 22:06:30 +0000

this is great – a flash based choose your own adventure game with so many endings and so many deaths it’s hard to keep track. try to get eaten by a zombie, have hitler steal your time-travel machine, kill shakespeare, or just have some fish sticks. so yes – go here.

choose your own blog post is a post from: maxelman.com