Category: Blinding Me With Science

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That Thing I Say About Talented People? Still True

I should probably explain that Westworld is one of my all time favorite sci-fi movies, at least from the Seventies. It inspired The Terminator (and most likely Halloween) and was the first film to reference computer viruses, if I’m not mistaken.

Behold, Westworld’s Gunslinger … as portrayed by the great Yul Brynner. At Monsterpalooza, we chat with sculptor Nick Marra about his amazing portrait of the character. This silicone sculpture not only captures Brynner’s likeness, but is mechanized to reveal his true robot face in spectacular fashion. Draw!

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This One’s For Me

But of course, you’re more than welcome to take a look. It’s a new documentary about my all-time favorite PC game(s).

What happens when one of the most revolutionary series in video games suddenly goes dark? To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Noclip hits the road to investigate the legacy of Half-Life and the incredible community working to keep the dream alive.

Featuring Geoff Keighley (The Game Awards), Cory Barlog (God of War), Vince Zampella (Titanfall / Call of Duty), Randy Pitchford (Borderlands), Laura Michet, Scott Smith, Robert Yang and more.

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Help Bring Satan To Springfield

The Chicago branch of The Satanic Temple gifted the above sculpture (Eve holding the Apple of Knowledge) to the Illinois State Capitol rotunda this year. As the state cannot censor the content of speech or displays, the sculpture takes its holiday place  near Christmas and Hannukah symbols.

The principles of the Satanic Temple:

  • One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason.
  • The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.
  • One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.
  • The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo one’s own.
  • Beliefs should conform to one’s best scientific understanding of the world. One should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit one’s beliefs.
  • People are fallible. If one makes a mistake, one should do one’s best to rectify it and resolve any harm that might have been caused.
  • Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word.

The rotunda boasts a fine tradition of holiday free-for-all, including a Festivus Pole a few years back.

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WordPress 5.0

WordPress 5.0 was released yesterday, and with it comes the new Gutenberg editor. Fortunately, we can run the Classic Editor plugin for a little while longer, but eventually, we’ll have to use Gutenberg. Here’s a video to get you up to speed. It seems fairly intuitive once you get your head around block design, so maybe we can make the move soon.

There’s also a page on the WordPress site where we can practice with Gutenberg before flipping the switch. See what you think.