Fatbob

Here's a lesson in how software development works.

Say you'd like to port a popular arcade game to your home video console. You can give a guy like Tod Frye four months to do a good-enough version of Pac-Man. It'll sell 7 million copies, even though it looks like this:

Or, you can wait for 30 years of refinement and improvement in understanding of Atari software development, give someone three years to develop their own version of Pac-Man and end up with a near-flawless clone of the arcade original.

It will sell zero million copies.

Google tracks a ton of information about what you've done with their products, which they use to make suggestions for products like Google Now and autocomplete . They recently updated their Account History page with the ability to view or pause or voice search history, as well as other information from your mobile devices.

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Today, at dinner, my downstair's neighbors described how they can listen to most of my movements, including the buzz of my phone when I text late at night. I think all of us knew it is not my phone that vibrates at that time. FML

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) put an amazing photo set not long ago showing us the smallest marine creatures living in our planet's seas and oceans. They look like Hubble photos of nebulas and stars.

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Wandering the halls of PAX South, a pattern begins to emerge: the 8-bit style resurgence has well and truly ended. While '80s nostalgia still rumbles throughout the booths of small developers, '90s style is what's playing on the screens. For newer pl...

After giving you a formal introduction of Children of Morta earlier this week, Austin developer Dead Mage has revealed to hack 'n' slash hopefuls the stretch goals of its project on Kickstarter.

While an initial funding goal of $65,000 has been set, if players want to see this procedurally-generated roguelike beauty on Sony platforms, then Kickstarter backers will need to cough up $80,000 for a PS4 version, and $90,000 for the Vita -- which seems like the perfect place for a title like this.

Having played my fair share of Binding of Isaac and Rogue Legacy on the Vita, I can't think of a better device for these type of games (3DS as well, I suppose). My battery life is ready.

And if you want to add some local co-op to this game, Dead Mage is going to need a healthy $105,000. After that? Who knows. Maybe we can see an N-Gage version. Y'all still rocking the N-Gage, right?

Guru Games isn't afraid of having their recently-announced game, Magnetic: Cage Closed compared to Portal. In fact, that's where it started: a school project designed as an homage to both Valve's famous, meme-producing first-person puzzler and lesser...

submitted by PM_ME_UR_NUDES_4POEM [link] [532 comments]

"Those who stepped on the Magical Warp Tiles that served as entrances would be lost to the Dark World, transformed into demons. Link, who possessed the qualities of the hero, did not become a demon, but was instead turned into an animal (in this case, a pink bunny)." -Hyrule Historia

There are nine warp points throughout Hyrule, with each one transporting Link to the Dark World. The Dark World is pretty much the same as the Light World, but "warped". Warping to the Dark World may be necessary to gain access to dungeons, find heart pieces, complete quests, or to satisfy your curiosity.

Steps

Finding the Warp Tiles

1. Walk through the gate to Hyrule Castle after you defeat Agahnim for the first time. You will instantly be transported to the Dark World.
   
2. Navigate through the tunnels of Death Mountain and climb up the super long ladder to the left of the mountain. When you reach the top, keep going right until you see a glowing blue tile; it will be in plain sight with no rocks hiding it.
   
3. Go north of Kakariko Village and go through the second forest entrance, which is second from the left. With your automatically-equipped Titan's Mitt, lift the big black rock that is blocking you. Then pick up the only stone in the enclosure to reveal the warp tile.
   
   • You could also make your way through the Lost Woods, go south, and hammer in the stakes with the Magic Hammer.
4. Head to the southeast of the Eastern Palace. Off to the right, surrounded by stakes, will be a rock-covered tile. Hammer in the stakes with the Magic Hammer and lift the rock.
   
5. Get to the northwestern corner of the Great Swamp. The tile will be in an area surrounded half by rock and half by water. There will also be creepy green statues and stakes blocking it off. An overly enthusiastic Octorok will be there to spit rocks at you. Smash the stakes in with your Magic Hammer and lift the rock. Lo and behold, it's the fifth tile.
   
6. Swim to the largest island in the center of Lake Hylia. Lift the rock covering the tile. Stepping on it is the only way to gain access to the Ice Palace dungeon.
   
7. Play the Ocarina to fly to the desert location. Lifting the black rock and stepping on the tile is the only way to get to the Misery Mire dungeon in the Swamp of Evil.
   
8. Fly to the Death Mountain location. Go up the ladder and to the right. Use the Hookshot to get across the bridge, and then keep towards the southern wall. It won't be long before you see a small black rock behind a bolder. Lift the rock. Tile number eight!
   
9. Fly to the Death Mountain location. Climb until you get to the second warp tile. Warp to the Dark World and stand on the area that will allow you to get to the top of Spectacle Rock. Jump off the northern side and go east across the bridge. Pound the stakes in and keep going east until you see a giant rock. When you climb onto Turtle Rock, hammer the stakes in order: right, top, and left. The tile will then appear.
   

Map

Tips

• Get all the required items before searching for warp tiles.

According to multiple tipsters and just about everybody on Twitter, Best Buy has started canceling pre-orders for the elusive Majora's Mask-themed New 3DS XL, offering $50 in BestBuy.com credit as a make-good. There have even been reports of customers not getting the $50 coupon, according to former Destructoid CEO Hamza Aziz.

In an email sent out to customers, the electronics retailer claimed the number of pre-orders "exceeded the quantities made available to Best Buy." Should you have paid for the system in full with a debit or credit card, you will be refunded for the full amount. The email also claims that Best Buy will be "unable to fulfill all of the pre-orders received," implying that some pre-orders will be upheld.

A cursory search on Twitter for 'best buy majora's mask' brings back a series of complaints, which is unsurprising. The vast majority of tweets are customers lamenting the cancellation, mixed in with news stories and the odd success story, like this tweet from @echrisdunn posted close to press time.

My Majora's Mask New 3DS XL order from Best Buy is still pending... but I am very nervous...

— Chris Dunn™ (@echrisdunn) January 24, 2015

We've reached out to both Nintendo and Best Buy for comment, but considering it's late on a PAX Friday, we may not hear anything until Monday at the earliest.

[Thanks to AyooRyan and DJ Schway for the tip!]

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After drilling down through almost half a mile in solid ice on a glacial shelf in Antarctica, scientists found something surprising. There was something alive swimming in the just over 30 feet of water: this strange, clear fish.

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Lexington native Drew Curtis, who runs the website Fark.com, has thrown his hat into the ring for the 2015 gubernatorial race in Kentucky. The race is wide open, as Governor Steve Beshear is ineligible to run for a third term. Curtis will run as an independent.

In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with Business Lexington, Curtis cast himself as a “citizen candidate” and talked about his plans and goals in joining the fray. He cited influence-peddling, party gridlock and “this sinking feeling that nobody is doing their damn jobs at the political level” as major factors influencing his decision.

Curtis said he filed his campaign papers Friday and planned to make a formal announcement Monday on his website. His wife, Heather, will serve as his running mate.

“I have no idea what I’m in for,” said Curtis. “But that’s kind of the thing about being an entrepreneur, is you jump off a cliff and you build the plane on the way down.”

Curtis has set up a website for his campaign. He serves at the University of Kentucky’s Innovation Network for Entrepreneurial Thinking board and on Lexington’s Economic Development Investment Board. He also brews craft beer with Will Wheaton. -via Metafilter

Happiness is possible on this earth because these haggis pops are actually real! It's more portable than the world's largest haggis and surely just as tasty. Instructables member PenfoldPlant, the inventor of the Möbius bacon strip, made them for a Burns Supper, an annual celebration of the life and work of Scottish poet Robert Burns that takes place on January 25.

PenfoldPlant, a true traditionalist, made them from fresh sheep guts. He even cleaned and prepated the stomach itself, which serves as the coating of these delicious wonders. This step required careful work. He placed a ping pong ball in part of the stomach, then tied off and cut that part off the rest of the stomach.

-via Foodiggity

Today, during a family game of basketball, my 15 year old son shoved me hard to get the ball. I fell and cut my arm badly on the ground. I yelled at him for being an idiot. He replied "Oh jeez, a bleeding woman being a bitch, what a fucking shocker." My husband doubled over laughing. FML

The head of Conan O'Brien's IT department, Chris Hayes, is a Taco Bell superfan who eats at the Mexican-inspired fast food restaurant multiple times a week. So, Conan decided to make Chris' dreams come true by taking him to visit Taco Bell's headquarters in Irvine, California.

Previously: Conan O'Brien Takes Jordan Schlansky Coffee Tasting

[sent by teamcoco]

Kim Dotcom & Co. has launched a new audio and video chat service, which it hopes will provide stiff competition for Skype. It certainly has one major selling point up its sleeve: it offers end-to-end encryption for all communications.

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More information regarding Google's plans to become a wireless carrier is leaking out from the reliable tech news spigot The Information. Google is reportedly prepared to enter the wireless carrier business by striking deals with Sprint and T-Mobile for access to mobile voice and data networks.

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In this recently captured mobile video from Santiago, Chile, a fed-up city bus driver opens up a huge can of road rage during an argument over a fender-bender accident with a group of college students after one of them smashes a window.

Today, I found out my boyfriend dresses in my underwear and tights, takes suggestive shots of his ass and legs, and uses them to trick people into thinking he's a girl so they buy him stuff in his online games. FML

Hundreds of ancient papyrus scrolls that were buried nearly 2,000 years ago after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius could finally be read, thanks to a new technique.

The X-ray-based method can be used to decipher the charred, damaged texts that were found in the ancient town of Herculaneum without having to unroll them, which could damage them beyond repair, scientists say.

One problem with previous attempts to use X-rays to read the scrolls was that the ancient writers used a carbon-based material from smoke in their ink, said study co-author Vito Mocella, a physicist at the National Research Council in Naples, Italy. Read more...

More about Us World, Archaeology, and History

Goodnight Moot.

Christopher Poole, founder of the controversial anonymous online community 4chan, announced Wednesday that he is stepping down from his role as the website's sole administrator

"I founded 4chan eleven and a half years ago at the age of 15, and after more than a decade of service, I've decided it's time for me to move on," Poole, who goes by the user name Moot, wrote in a post announcing his decision. "I'm retiring as 4chan's administrator."

Eleven and a half years of @4chan, in numbers: pic.twitter.com/YhzUy0XbvQ

— 4chan (@4chan) January 21, 2015 Read more...

More about 4chan, Moot, and Business

For some Black Metal is the sound of happiness, but most hear dark and dismal band names, guttural singing and appropriately metal guitar sounds howling and screaming in their ears.

That Black Metal sound is made from sinister sounding scales, such as the harmonic minor, and as YouTuber Steve Terreberry proves if you simply change the scales Black Metal can have a happy sound.

(YouTube Link)

At first glance Stevie T might not look like he knows anything about Black Metal, but Stevie T does know that the sound relies on (as he puts it) those evil sounding scales, and his minor change to major scales infuses happy sounds into that bleak sounding nightmare.

So whaddya think musicians? Is Stevie T on to something, or is he oversimplifying the essence of the Black Metal sound?

-Via Metal Injection