"Mommy, what's a joy stick?"
We have no idea how much revenue retro candy brings in for Atari, but none of their current games seem to need this bizarre artifact from another era.
Atari – (still) In a Candy Store Near You
Posted in things i like with tags Atari, Video Games, Frogger, Candy, Gen X on September 1, 2010 by absurddelightHacking Nike Shoes
Posted in art and design, games etc, neato with tags Nike, Nike Air Max, Nike78, Wii, Nick Marsh, London Design Festival on August 31, 2010 by absurddelightSo the London Design Festival is coming up later this month. One project, Nike78, asks designers to “challenge the function of Nike shoes.”
"Air Masx" Riita Ikonen and Ian Wright
Not all of the projects are so bizarre as making punny photographs with Nike’s top end running shoes. Nick Marsh hacked his Air Maxs and turned them into Wii controllers.
Nike Wii
Its a nice commentary on exercise in the age of computing and cubicles. His video is kinda what you’d expect, though sadly, you can do better while sitting it seems.
(Via Ecouterre)
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What Newsweek and Nintendo Have in Common
Posted in neato, news and media, things i like with tags Contra, Konami Code, Magazines, media, NES, New Media, Newsweek, Newsweek Zombies, nintendo on June 14, 2010 by absurddelightQuick, try it before journalistic values get in the way of fun.
Step 1. Go to the Newsweek Magazine main web page.
Step 2. Type in the Konami Code. That’s the code to get 30 lives in Contra. Boys who grew up in the era of Nintendo Entertainment System probably still know all eleven steps of it by heart.
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, Start
Since you don’t have a NES controller, do it this way: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left Right, Left, Right, B, A … and in this case, enter.
Step 3. Let Newsweek know if you find it funny, or a waste of journalistic resources. And post below if you get it to work in browsers besides Safari and Firefox – we hear it works in Chrome, but not all the time.
HINT: It has to do with zombies! (If it doesn’t work for you, just click here for a summary)
Now, if you are wondering why a prestigious news weekly would devote web resources to such mid-1990s tomfoolery. Well it might be what happens when a magazine goes up for sale. For one, this is demonstrating the digital team over there has the chops to get creative and drive traffic. Or they aren’t afraid of getting fired. Truthfully, I think they could have done more with the idea, but we won’t comment more on that, lest we give away the fun for you all.
NYMag caught up with Newsweek about the stunt.
A Newsweek spokeswoman just told us: “It’s true that our programmers had a bit of fun and hid the Konami Easter egg in the site. It does not affect the rest of the site’s functionality. Now that we’ve all had a laugh, we will be removing it.”
BONUS: Snorg has made a T-Shirt about the Konami Code.
Stop Motion Sticky Note Mario Brothers
Posted in art and design, neato, videos with tags animation, nintendo, NIS, stop motion, super mario brothers on June 10, 2010 by absurddelightAnd another chapter in the annals of impressive DIY stop motion. This one takes over a school using office supplies.
Watch carefully and you can see ghosts of people in the background and through windows.
(via Boing Boing)
Gentrification – The Game
Posted in games etc, stunts, things to do with tags atmosphere industries, come out and play, comeoutandplay, games, gentrification, performance art, play, public art on June 1, 2010 by absurddelightAs part of the fantastical Come Out and Play festival in NYC this weekend, there are a ton of games-meet-performance art activities you can join, all for free. Without having played them, here’s one that seemed especially intriguing, and, frankly, mildly offensive.
Details here. In short, if you like Monopoly, role play and running around your neighborhood, this is perfect. Bonus that it’s all about a culturally sensitive topic, which, after all, is the natural domain for art!
In this strategic game, small teams of players compete to collect properties and transform the neighbourhood. As developers, they’ll develop swanky lofts, erect coffee shops, and raise property values. As locals, they’ll form BIAs, build community centres, and try to thwart the developers. Along the way there will be art, vicious debates, and possibly an Apple Store.
You can find details about how to sign up here. Send pics if ya play.
Links: Come Out and Play festival
NBA Mascot Eats Cheerleader(s)
Posted in WTF, funny, videos with tags Basketball, Cheerleader, funny videos, mackeral jordan, Mascot, NBA, Raptors, Toronto Raptors on March 1, 2010 by absurddelight
It only takes 26 seconds people. Just click and watch as that quasi-inflatable bubble faced dinosaur swallows the perky cheerleader whole.
But where exactly does she go? And what happens next?
OK, this is actually common. More vids after the jump. Read more »
Ambient Mouse Art App (not the rodent)
Posted in accidental art, art and design, neato with tags Anatoly Zenkov, apps, art, Data Visualization, design, Flowing Data on February 9, 2010 by absurddelight
That’s a map of mouse activity. Using a new data mining app (for Mac or PC) you can see all the movements you’ve made with your mouse.
via Flowing Data (they have links to the the artistically inclined programmer and to get the apps) (also a nice mouse tracking image over photoshop).
For more follow: @absurddelight
Remixing pain and the Terminator
Posted in art and design, neato, things i like, videos with tags DJs, music, pogo, remix, Terminator, terminator tribute, ze frank, zefrank on February 8, 2010 by absurddelightTwo very talented media makers have new(ish) audio collage projects out. Both amazed us in concept and execution. And both reminded us of the potential within a sonic sliver of time.
First, here’s “Skynet Symphonic” by Pogo.
It’s way more than just a movie mash-up. All the sounds are slices of the soundtrack from the film.
“Each section is composed entirely of sounds from a major scene in the film. For example, the Terminator pounding on the fire escape door is used as a kick drum. Bones breaking play the role of a snare. Electrical disturbance acts as a crash cymbal.” – Pogo’s You Tube channel.
Makes you want to train your ears a little more precisely right?
Well another project inadvertently reveals how this kind of remixing works. Ze Frank’s Pain Pack is a disarmingly ingenious idea. Ze Frank asked people to leave a voice mail message describing their emotional pain. Then he sent those voice mails to DJs who broke the cathartic voices into beats and sounds to re-mix.
One DJ wrote:
“I didn’t expect it to be as emotionally exhausting as it was. I felt a responsibility to do each person’s pain justice by making something crazy cool out of it…”
Listen to some of the messages, see the full process (which is half the fun of Ze Frank’s collaborative projects) and best of all, in light of the Terminator symphony up top, hear the 138 sounds/samples the DJs made and the 15 songs from those samples. Worth a click so here’s the link again.
LINKS:
For more on Pogo, tone poems, and collage audio, read a blog post about him here. Or better yet, just go to his You Tube channel.
For Ze Frank’s other project’s have a gander at his website.
Follow @absurddelight on twitter for other updates and links.
Things we like: Selleck Waterfall Sandwich
Posted in art and design, funny, neato, things i like with tags Bagpipes, food, funny pics, Ian Mcshane, photography, photoshop, Tom Selleck, Waterfalls on February 1, 2010 by absurddelightWe like this.
No idea on the origin of the site, but I presume there is some bored genius under-utlized in or under-employed behind this gift to the minions toiling in cubicle tedium.
And, lest you think that’s a one off, there are many more sandwich/Selleck varieties. Some even have animation. And a theme song.
LINK. (via Deanna)
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UPDATE: Some site in the UK we’ve never heard of before has started their own rival site: Ian Mcshane bagpipes in space
