There are probably hundreds of thousands of Nintendo tattoos out there. We scoured the web to find our 5 favorite Nintendo character tattoos.

#5. Hey. Hey Listen!

Why Navi? Of all things, why Navi?! Because you said that as soon as you saw this tattoo. She’s embedded into your brain, the constant screaming of “Hey, hey hey listen!” and this brave man has made sure everyone will remember it. The tattoo is really well done, but we all hate him just a little bit.

Original

#4. Stars and Ghosts, oh my!

This tattoo comes complete with invincible stars and a Boo. It’s quite obvious this girl loves her Nintendo. We love her half-sleeve and her stars. The original photo by Kotaku stated this woman’s husband was the tattoo artist. We love both of them just a little.

#3. 8 Bit Mario

Memories of throwing your controller when Mario died, moving the controller with Mario to make him jump and wanting to kill Toad when your Princess was in another castle come to mind when looking at this tattoo. The original tattoo is credited to artist Jon Poulson on Flickr.

Number 2 and number 1 are after the break

#2. Mega Man 8 Bit

8 bit art is win. Well done 8 bit art of Mega Man on your arm? A lot of win. Orginal source unknown (if someone knows it, please catch us on Twitter so we can credit it!)

#1. Samus Aran

Samus Aran will kick your butt.

Nothing else needs to be said about that. Unreality showed off this piece along with some other great Metroid themed ink.

Today, Facebook revealed a new safety center on their website. This center provides resources for parents, educators, teenagers and members of law enforcement. The content Facebook previously had in the safety center has been quadrupled and a cleaner navigation added to the portal. The new safety center offers a resource area specifically for parents to help keep their children safe on Facebook.

I’ve read Facebook’s new safety center for parents . Yes, it’s good and it gives parents good information on how to keep their kids safe online. If you are not too familiar with social networks, the information given here is a “must read”.

Most people in their early 30s and younger understand the in’s and out’s of the internet. We grew up with computers and we were the first to use MySpace, Friendster and Tribe (remember those?). We’ve learned back in the days of AOL 1.0 and Prodigy who not to talk to on the internet and how to be safe. However, many people who have children using Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have no idea what their kids are doing.

Today’s news is full of kids and adults falling victim to crime that originated on social websites. In a case like this, it’s a strange twist of circumstance. It’s up to a younger generation to alert the parents to safety concerns and guides available online.

Sites like Facebook’s safety center, Wired Safety and Facecrooks offer safety guides, information and news for parents, children, teenagers and adults who use social networks.

THE IOWA HAWKEYES HAVE WON THE ORANGE BOWL!

I had to yell it somewhere, that is all. Go back to your regular lives.

Everyone loves a nice pretty website. The design pops on the screen and it invites you to settle in and enjoy the experience.  Often designers and/or their clients take two approaches to catch the viewers eye:  some choose sleek minimal ideas and others go hog wild with bright colors, animations and a deluge of information.  Many times the result ends up being too extreme in either direction and the poor web surfer is given a case of eye poisoning, but that is not the only issue to contend with.  There are articles that address similar things strewn about the net, but apparently their are not enough.  So, here are a few reasons why some people think your site is evil.

1.    Videos that autoplay

Contrary to popular belief, the entirety of the internet community is not on a connection bulky enough to accommodate the downloading of high definition video.   That aside, folks hate when you have some advertisement laden video that wants to skip and buffer kick up when they go to your website.  I NEVER return to sites that do this. I had to once to pay a bill and went to the mobile version instead.  I will hold onto those grudges forever.

2. Advertisement overkill

Let’s say someone really, really wants to read your article, but they can’t find the damn thing.  You get upset because after that first surge in advertisement revenue it dwindles down to nothing because your audience became fed up with playing hide and seek with your content.  Guess what, there are plenty of other places to find similar content that aren’t covered in crap.  Some ads are understandable, but don’t make your place into an advertisement minefield.

3. Your code sucks

Yes, your website is very, very pretty . . . 3 days later when it finally loads because your code is jacked up.  This problem may have been one of the reasons that RSS is where it is today.  I read tons of webcomics, many only by feed reader because it takes 5-10 minutes for the comic to even load on the website.  This is mostly separate from the problem with connection speeds because crap code slows your load time no matter what.  There are some websites I will never see the full page for because I just gave up while it was thinking. There are tons of free validators out and plenty of people willing to help you clean the mess up (myself included). With all that gunk, how would you even notice if there was malware thrown in there?

4. It has an ugly, non-matching, gross, pastel/neon/tacky color scheme

People can’t buy what you are selling if they cannot see.

5. You pester the reader to do something

It is cool and all that you want the reader to come back. Nagging is not cool. You cannot make someone subscribe to your content by bullying.  I am not going to join anything if you tell me to eight times on the main page.  Things like little unobnoxious  share buttons on posts are fine.  Don’t beat the reader over the head with the fact that you have an e-book every paragraph.

6. Something on the page is blinking

Just last week I saw a site that had some blinking marquee. I wanted the webmaster (because I know that is what that person calls themselves. I am sure they still wear Izod and have a big collection of cassette tapes lying next to their original Walkman. )

7. Navigation to nowhere

Honestly if you are still working on your site that is fine. But if you are trying to provide someone a service and they have to click through enough links to fill a novel, someone else will be much happier to help them out. No one should need a GPS to find your contact information

8. Extreme minimalism

There needs to be more than just your domain, a jpg, and a copyright. At least one link or sentence should be there to give the readers something to go buy.

9. You try and trick the visitor with a bait and switch

If I can’t just read your article, why am I here? Why do I have to sign up to pay for something to get one little tidbit of information that you could provide free without damaging your drive for revenue? At least throw out an excerpt or summary.  3 links ago there was no obligation to pay, there could at least be a disclaimer somewhere else on your site.

10. Useless back button

I cannot directly vouch for anyone else’s level of annoyance at a website that just reloads when you try to navigate back to the one you were on before it, but it irritates me immensely.  It insults me when a page decides I am not allowed to go back the way I came in.  Subconsciously you have associated your site with a little kid holding a glass door closed from the other side. Good job.

11. Resizing windows

Hire somebody who knows how to design a website that is standard size.  It is not that hard.

12. Music that autoplays

Resource-wise, it is not as bad as the videos.  We still hate it. The mute/stop buttons are usually not very responsive and frankly nobody asked you to be their DJ for the evening.

13. Tons of flash/flood of ajax

Netbooks are quite popular. Netbooks do not play nice with a pile of flash. Not unlike many people that will stop by your site, my old notebook wheezes in pain anytime I get to a site with this.  Even with browsers that are better equipped to handle the onslaught some computers just freeze at the thought of loading these pages.

14. You still have the same webpage from 1990

People will not be sure your company/product is still relevant if it looks like it predates their teenage children.

…

There is a way to avoid all of these pitfalls and give your user base a great experience. It shocks me that there are enough of these sites still around that have all of these problems when there are loads of talented designers and programmers out there who would not stand for this nonsense. Be considerate to your customers and realize that your site is supposed to help them, not drive them away.

Listen to Episode 92 – Time Management

Be sure to check out our TalkShoe page for Aftershow Recordings!  Also, please visit Our Forum for additional discussion!

On SATURDAY, October 3rd, starting at 10am Eastern USA, we’ll be broadcasting our 24 Hour Comics Day, 24 Hour Broadcast! (see schedule)

Listen to Episode 91 – “Webseries-es!”

Be sure to check out our TalkShoe page for Aftershow Recordings! Also, please visit Our Forum for additional discussion!

ALSO!

24 Hour Comics Day News:
? 24 Hour Comics Day is on the 3rd of October. Will you be participating? The Webcomic Beacon will be! We’ll be doing a 24 hour LIVE broacast! (See here for more details!)
? Tell us your favorite episodes of The Webcomic Beacon AND The Gigcast in our forum! We plan to rebroadcast some classics!

For more information on the Webcomic Reader or to find out how you can use the reader for your own webcomic, contact the creator (work for hire) at:  blankitreader@gmail.com

Listen to The Webcomic Beacon -  Episode #90

We broadcast our episodes LIVE on TalkShoe!:
On Sunday, September 20th, @ 3pm Eastern, We’ll be discussing:
The Online Internet Webcomic Show!

Convention Links: Penguicon, Fallcon, Thing!, Nekocon, Otakon, Dragoncon, PAX, Midwest Furfest, Anime Conventions

Listen to Webcomic Beacon Episode #89 -
Conventions! (Again!)

Don’t forget we broadcast our episodes LIVE on TalkShoe! Come back on Sunday, September 13th @3pm Eastern for out next episode!

Listen to Webcomic Beacon Episode #88 – Impressions & Call-ins!

Don’t forget we broadcast our episodes LIVE on TalkShoe! Come back on Sunday, September 6th @3pm Eastern for out next episode!

Listen to The Webcomic Beacon Episode 87:
“Femme Fatales”.

This week’s episode is sponsored by Divis Morte.

Don’t forget we broadcast our episodes LIVE on TalkShoe! On Sunday, August 23rd, @ 3pm Eastern, We’ll be GONE!  … but come back on the FOLLOWING Sunday, August 30th!

Title: Ponyo
Release Date: August 14, 2009 (US), July 19, 2008 (Japan)
Rating: “G” for General Audiences.
Length: 1 hour, 41 minutes. (101 minutes)
Pros: Gorgeous visuals. For the most part, the voice acting is fantastic. Great pacing for the story. A nice mix of active and passive scenes. The music and soundtrack is absolutely wonderful.
Cons: Noah Cyrus’ voice (Ponyo) can occasionally be grating and/or annoying.
Overall Score: 9/10

Handdrawn, 2D animation is an endangered art form. Most films are now made with computers and companies have a habit of releasing everything in 3D. Thankfully, Studio Ghibli is still doing things the old fashioned way. The company’s latest film, Ponyo, is among its most beautiful, and is a new adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid.

A new take on The Little Mermaid.

Brunhilde is a little goldfish who lives under the sea with her father and sisters. All her life, she’s been stuck in and Fujimoto’s submarine, but she wants more out of life. She one day sets out to see what there is outside of the ocean she knows. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go too well and she ends up trapped in a bottle.

She’s then rescued by a young boy named Sosuke. He breaks the bottle trapping her and sets her free. She then licks clean a cut he got saving her, healing it with her magic. He renames her Ponyo and decides to keep her with him and protect her. Ponyo loves her new name and him. However, her father Fujimoto comes to claim her, dragging her home, and the Ponyo and Sosuke are separated.

Ponyo is then determined to not only find a way back to Sosuke, but also find a way to become a human. However, doing so could disrupt the world’s balance.

Ponyo is a reminder of how beautiful 2D animation can be.

Ponyo is the kind of movie you’d have to see twice. The first time, you’d see and appreciate the actual story presented on the screen. The second time, you’re able to focus on the detailed artwork on the screen. In fact, Ponyo sets a new record for Studio Ghibli films – there are 170,000 individual, handdrawn images in the movie.

It also features a wonderful sense of storytelling and pacing. The beginning of the movie is very relaxed, almost leisurely. The audience is able to take this time to get to know and identify with the characters, specifically Ponyo and Sosuke. It then gradually builds in intensity and action, and features a satisfying ending. It never feels rushed, and while there are some fairly intense and dark moments, even those don’t feel threatening. It’s just a trial that must be faced and overcome.

Disney did do a wonderful job when casting the English version, with one exception. Personally, I found Noah Cyrus (Ponyo) to be a tad annoying at times, as opposed to endearing, and I preferred Yuria Nara’s take on Ponyo. Frankie Jonas, on the other hand, does a decent job as Sosuke. Of course, Tina Fey (Lisa), Liam Neeson (Fujimoto) and Cate Blanchett (Gran Mamare) all provide wonderful performances, and so do Matt Damon, Betty White, Lily Tomlin and Cloris Leachman in their cameo appearances. Overall, it’s very well-acted.

A tale all ages and cultures can appreciate.

If you enjoyed previous Studio Ghibli movies, like Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle and Spirited Away, you’ll fall in love with Ponyo. It’s an endearing adventure. The English language version is well cast, and it’s a joy to watch. I have a feeling that it will also become the most popular of the Studio Ghibli movies released in America, due to the familiar story and breathtaking visuals.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Important Importables looks at Japan’s Pokemon Centers.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Important Importables reviewed Nanashi no Game for the DS.

Site [Play-Asia] Site [YesAsia] Site [NCSX] Site [Himeya Shop] Site [Strapya World]

Full Story ? | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article ?

We broadcast our episodes LIVE on TalkShoe!: On Sunday, August 16th, @ 3pm Eastern, We’ll be discussing: “Femme Fatals” with Sean of Spying with Lana.

This week’s PlayStation Store update features the game TV Show King for $9.99 for the PlayStation 3, in the style of the more popular television game shows like wheel of fortune, weakest link and others this game will challenge you, your friends and family with questions ranging from history to geography, literature to science and sports to entertainment. Check it out:

Also available for download is Crystal Defenders for $9.99. A defensive strategy game in which players deploy popular job classes used in Final Fantasy Tactics A2 like soldiers, monks, black mages and archers to strategically place them on the map to defend your crystals from a stream of enemy creatures that fly or crawl past your army.

Here’s a list of everything else that’s new:

Qore

• Qore Annual Subscription: August 2009 (PS3/$24.99)
• Qore Episode 15: August 2009 (PS3/$2.99)

Downloadable Games:

• Dynasty Warriors (PSP/$14.99)

Game Demos:

• Rag Doll Kung Fu Demo Demo (PS3/Free)
• Batman: Arkham Asylum Demo (PS3/Free)
• Crystal Defenders Demo (PS3/Free)
• Worms Demo (PS3/Free)

Bonus Game Contents:

• Cross Edge Trial Edition Pack (PS3/Free)
• Cross Edge Additional Dungeon 4 (PS3/Free)
• Cross Edge Enigma Synth Pack (PS3/Free)
• Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires Additional Music Set 3 (PS3/Free)
• Hannah Montana: Rock Out The Show Musicians Wardrobe Add-On (PS3/Free)
• Hannah Montana: Rock Out The Show Moment Maker Special Effects Add-On (PS3/Free)
• Hannah Montana: Rock Out The Show Stage Prop Add-On (PS3/Free)
• Hannah Montana: Rock Out The Show Fashions Add-On (PS3/Free)
• Cross Edge Latest Technology Pack (PS3/$1.99)
• Cross Edge Pretty Little Pack (PS3/$1.99)
• LittleBigPlanet: inFamous Costumes Pack (PS3/$1.99)
• GTI Club Plus (PS3/$1.99)
• Savage Moon Waldgeist Add-On (PS3/$4.99)
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2010 Cog Hill Golf & CC (PS3/$4.99)
• Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 3 (PS3/$9.99)
• Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood Old West Map Pack (PS3/$9.99)

Guitar Hero World Tour Individual Songs:

• “Camel’s Night Out” by Eric Johnson (PS3/$1.99)

Rock Band Music Packs:

• Spinal Tap’s TAP TEN (PS3/$17.99)

Individual Songs:

• “America” by Spinal Tap (PS3/$1.99)
• “Big Bottom” by Spinal Tap (PS3/$1.99)
• “Cups and Cakes” by Spinal Tap (PS3/$1.99)
• “(Funky) Sex Farm” by Spinal Tap (PS3/$1.99)
• “Gimme Some Money” by Spinal Tap (PS3/$1.99)
• “Heavy Duty” by Spinal Tap (PS3/$1.99)
• “Hell Hole” by Spinal Tap (PS3/$1.99)
• “(Listen to the) Flower People (Reggae Stylee)” by Spinal Tap (PS3/$1.99)
• “Rock ‘n’ Roll Creation” by Spinal Tap (PS3/$1.99)
• “Stonehenge” by Spinal Tap (PS3/$1.99)
• “Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight” by Spinal Tap (PS3/$1.99)

Rock Band Unplugged bonus content:

• “Had a Dad” by Jane’s Addiction (PSP/$1.99)
• “Renegade” by Styx (PSP/$1.99)

Free Game Videos:

• TV Show King Trailer (English, French and Spanish versions) (PS3/Free)
• Unbound Saga Between the Panels Issue 2 (PS3/PSP/Free
• Watchmen The End Is Nigh Part 2 Launch Trailer (PS3/Free)
• Watchmen The End Is Nigh Part 2 The Complete Experience Launch Trailer (PS3/Free)
• G Force The Video Game Trailer (PS3/Free)
• Mini Ninjas Futo Gameplay Trailer (PS3/Free)
• Mini Ninjas Futo Vignette (PS3/Free)
• Mini Ninjas Shun Vignette (PS3/Free)

New Movies to Rent or Own:

• Obsessed. Rated PG-13 (Own/SD Format/$14.99)
• Miss March. Rated R (Rent/SD Format/$3.99)
• Miss March. Rated R (Rent/HD Format/$5.99)
• Miss March. Rated R (Own/SD Format/$14.99)
• Dragonball: Evolution. Rated PG (Rent/SD Format/$3.99)
• Dragonball: Evolution. Rated PG (Rent/HD Format/$5.99)
• Dragonball: Evolution. Rated PG (Own/SD Format/$14.99)
• The T.O. Show Season 1. Rated TV Y-7 (Own/SD Format/$1.99)
• Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs. Rated G (Own/SD Format/$1.99)

Wallpapers and Themes:

• College Football Theme: Arkansas (PS3/$1.99)
• College Football Theme: Clemson (PS3/$1.99)
• College Football Theme: Colorado (PS3/$1.99)
• College Football Theme: Illinois (PS3/$1.99)
• College Football Theme: Missouri (PS3/$1.99)

Read [PlayStation Store Blog] Site [PlayStation]

Full Story ? | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article ?

Full Story ? | Written by NEWS for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article ?

We broadcast our episodes LIVE on TalkShoe!: On Sunday, August 9th, @ 3pm Eastern, We’ll be discussing: “SIMS Comics and Homelessness” with Robin of Alice and Kev.

Playstation was hands-on at Comic Con this year and Sony brought out a few of its best games for the PS3 and PSP to show off. I attended a media party at the Hard Rock Hotel (across the street from Comic Con) and was able to try out a few of the awesome titles coming out. Here are three I was able to extensively play.

Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time

They showed us two different parts of the game, one with Ratchet and one with Clank. Clank’s was a but hard, basically you had to step on these platforms and by doing so it created a clone of him that would mimic everything he did until you stopped the recording. You would use this to your advantage to open a door that required you to stand on two platforms. You press Go and your clone runs over and stands on the platform like you did, while you stand on the other to open the door and run through. This got harder as the puzzles got more difficult since you had to make multiple clones doing different things. It was actually a bit frustrating.

Ratchet’s was basically him running around in this big open field and trying all his gadgets while killing huge machines. You got to try out his hover boots (which allow you to float quickly across the land and over water) and various weapons to destroy all the huge machines that were walking around. Much simpler, but I still didn’t quite know what I was doing. Either way it gave us a sneak peek about what the game would be like. It’s coming out Fall 2009

Heavy Rain

I was excited to try this out since I read about it a while back. The game starts with you being a detective with futuristic gear that allows you to analyze DNA and other evidence simply by touching it. You walk into a junk yard and talk to a rather tough looking guy operating the forklift. You ask him about a specific car and he basically tells you to go stick it. So you are on your own to look for clues. By hitting your controls you activate your special glasses that allow you to see all the evidence stick out at you. By clicking on specific things like a DNA or tire tracks, you can determine if it belongs to the person or car your looking for.

It took a while to figure all this out. I did a lot of walking around, button mashing, and consulting with people around me to get to this point. After you search around for awhile, the big tough guy gets angry and confronts you, eventually grabbing you and dragging you along with a gun to your head. If you hit certain buttons when the icons pop up, you can knock things in his way, or trip him up long enough to get away or grab the gun. This part requires perfect timing and you may need to start over.

Another feature of the game is to know what is on the characters mind and what he thinks about different things. By clicking a button, you bring up several options including mood, sadness, weather, etc. When you click on these, you get a better sense of how he feels about himself and what’s around him. I think once you get the control schemes down, this could be a very fun game. It reminded me a bit of Indigo Prophecy for the PS2. Available sometime in 2010.

Fat Princess

This was an awesome, fun little title. It is a “Defend the Castle” type game that can be played online. I was playing as a character from the red team, defending my castle from the blue team. You can pick from five classes including mage, archer and gunner. You can change these classes at will and each class has different weapons you can switch from by hitting a button. All you do to switch classes to to pick up the different hats. The hats are found at your base (produced by machines) or by finding them on the field. You can even get a rivals hat.

Not only do you have to defend you castle but you have you have to infiltrate the rivals castle and save your princess who is in the rival castle. This is not easy because people will be shooting at you from all over. The best option is teamwork, which was hard for me since I was playing with people I couldn’t communicate with. In order to stop the rivals from saving their princess, you can feed her cake that you find laying around the field. When you feed them the cake, the princesses get fatter and fatter, and it will take several people to work together to save her, making her harder to rescue.

This was a fast paced, quick moving game that had a lot of fun with. If you get killed, you just start back at your base and try again. And you can play with your friends online to team up against the rivals, or be on separate teams for more competition! This title is available at the end of the month at the Playstation store.

Site [Playstation] Read [IGN] Read [Gamertell]

Full Story ? | Written by Jessica Moen for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article ?

Philip Brown (Yosh!) joins Fes, Tanya, and Mark to discuss his comic, catgirls, magic, parallel realities in comics, and tangents. Philip also drew the cover for this week. See the full sized version, as well as other arts, in our covers and fanarts section!

We broadcast our episodes LIVE on TalkShoe!: On Sunday, August 2nd, @ 3pm Eastern, We’ll be discussing: “Editorial Comics” with Elissa of Girl vs Robot (previously postponed, this is the reschedule).

This tutorial was done by Mark Valenzuela of New Ice Media.

Listen to Webcomic Beacon #82 – Multilingualizing Your Webcomic

We broadcast our episodes LIVE on TalkShoe!: On Sunday, July 12th, @ 3pm Eastern, We’ll be discussing: “Editorial Comics” with Elissa of Girl vs Robot.

Font resources discussed, include: Your Fonts custom font creator tool, Ninja Lettering, High-Logic FontCreator, ComicCraft, Blambot, 1001 Free Fonts, Darwinatrix, and identifont.

We broadcast our episodes LIVE on TalkShoe!: On Sunday, July 5th, @ 3pm Eastern, We’ll be discussing “Multi-lingual Webcomics and Webcomicking”.

While we still dig the idea of what Disqus does, it is about time for us to reevaluate the necessity of it.  To be honest, it was installed in an attempt to gain conversation.  When conversation did not happen, it didn’t bother me that no one was talking, but it felt like we put this big honking new engine in a car that nobody wanted to drive too fast.

This was the case until Disqus added a new feature, social media reactions. I saw it as a chance to ditch the plugin we were using to import Friendfeed comments and the like, but the update has not quite made it to our humble little home.  On another blog which I felt needed a different approach, Backtype Connect is installed.  Since that does function correctly, it is possible we will be using it in the future.

Also, lately I have been on a kick to seriously clean the code up on every WordPress blog I can get my mitts on. In each instance Disqus is installed,  validation is more difficult. This might not be an issue if I knew Javascript, but I don’t yet so there is another compelling reason to let the platform go. Maybe it is time to pare down a bit.

TARDIS

Random Time Lords podcast.

Me and Steven Perez discuss things that are going on.

Check it out.

Also don’t forget about the comic.

For more from the Anime Olympics, check out their official website OR The New Geek Order.

Here is a little taste, and remember, watch out for the Spoiler Snake (and Philosopher Stones are made from peeps, er, people).

Click here to view the embedded video.

Google Wave
It looks awesome, but a bunch of the features already exist with a combination of services (mostly Friendfeed).

Bing
Microsoft’s “new” search engine. The name will probably work better than the Live branding.

Facebook Usernames
In a move that makes it look like the last horse in the Preakness, Facebook will offer custom URLs.

Verified Accounts
Twitter just launched verified accounts. So now you know if that is really the celebrity you are drooling over for no apparent reason. I wonder how long it takes the bad guys to fake it.

DTV Transition
Also on the agenda, the belated DTV changeover. I will just be happy to not see the messages scroll on the local stations anymore.

Project Natal
Could be full of win. No controller required gaming.

WordPress 2.8 is Out

There is a gif of NPH dancing with Elmo

New Element!

For some reason Web 2.0 is the millionth word. It is two words, but I guess that does not matter.

Back to whatever you were doing.

Sure there are plenty of posts out there on the internet covering this same topic.  For some reason there are still not enough sources.  So here is one more.

Favicon = is a small graphic that is associated with a page or Web site. (short for favorite icon, sometimes understood as favorites icon), also known as a website icon, shortcut icon, url icon, or bookmark icon).

1. Get an image

To get that happy little 16 x 16 square associated with your site, you first need an image (16 pixels by 16 pixels of course).  Bear with me and pretend it is a picture of a cake.  So get your cake picture ready in your favorite image editor and save it as a .ico file.   If you cannot do that it is not so bad, you can just save it as a gif, png, or jpg but there may be a few browsers out there that don’t like those options.  There are plenty of favicon generators available so dive into the pool if you need to.  In the example it will just be called cakefavicon, but you can name it whatever you want.

2. Put it somewhere

The second thing you need is somewhere to put the icon. If you host your own site this is not likely to be a problem, but some free hosts might be a wee bit upset about letting you upload a .ico file. This is why the standard was relaxed to include the other formats. So if you run into trouble when you upload the image, then try the next image format on the list.  Make sure wherever you decide to put the image, that you save the full link. You will need this for the last bit.

3. Tell the site what to do with it

This is the fun part.  You need to find the header of the site and add 1 line of information. The hardest part of this step can sometimes be the header since some sites use a CMS and some do not. In both cases this line of information needs to be placed somewhere after

and somewhere before

.

This is the line of information that tells the site what to do with the image:

www.example.com/cakefavicon.ico” />

After you place that in the header (substituting the words in bold for the real address of the image) save and enjoy the favicon. In some cases you may need to clear your cache to see the image appear.

Bonus:

For WordPress users there is a plugin called MaxBlogPress Favicon which appears to just have a bunch of icons and just lets you pick one without having to get your hands dirty with image editing and code.

I’d like to thank you all for reading and keeping up with the blog. Recently, a new decision was made to change things around. Frequency-E Music will now be a part of The Geek Media. I’ve been a part of TGM since it’s inception, and I am one of the people who help keep things going there and at The New Geek Order. 

Frequency-E Music will now be posted on The Geek Media’s website from this point on. Keep looking for awesome independent music, song reviews, album reviews and interviews.

]]> http://www.thegeekmedia.com/uncategorized/stay-tuned/feed 0 http://www.thegeekmedia.com/culture/mtd-iuengliss http://www.thegeekmedia.com/culture/mtd-iuengliss#comments Sat, 16 May 2009 12:00:03 +0000 Candace http://www.thegeekmedia.com/news/mtd-iuengliss

Iuengliss (pronounced “i-wen-gliss”) is the moniker of Denver, CO artist and musician Tom Metz. It is a mixture of intricate experimental dance beats, heart healthy melodies and ethereal vocals. Influenced by Aphex Twin, Coldplay, Autechre, Sigur Ros and many others, Iuengliss strives to fill the body and soul with warmth, passion, and complex explosionary vibrations.

 
Iuengliss
“Sunrise” (mp3)
from “Motion In Mind”
(Bocumast LTD.)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
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]]> http://www.thegeekmedia.com/culture/mtd-iuengliss/feed 0 http://www.thegeekmedia.com/culture/artist-review-maduro http://www.thegeekmedia.com/culture/artist-review-maduro#comments Thu, 14 May 2009 07:00:17 +0000 Candace http://www.thegeekmedia.com/news/artist-review-maduro a href=”http://www.octofoil-records.com”> Octofoil Records recording artist Maduro takes care of both in one. Maduro’s songs are able to transport you to a different time in your head. Songs like “Glass Eaters” take you back in time with visions of harems, sultans, and popular myths about the middle east. “Bitten” invokes a post apocalyptic setting that pulls you right into a Cyber Punk game. Maduro’s fusion of electronic music, world beats, and middle eastern influence creates a dark and earthy sound that you will not find anywhere else. ]]>

It’s time to once again combine two of my loves – tribal fusion belly dancing, and music. >a href=”http://www.octofoil-records.com”>Octofoil Records recording artist Maduro takes care of both in one.

Maduro’s songs are able to transport you to a different time in your head. Songs like “Glass Eaters” take you back in time with visions of harems, sultans, and popular myths about the middle east. “Bitten” invokes a post apocalyptic setting that pulls you right into a Cyber Punk game.

Maduro’s fusion of electronic music, world beats, and middle eastern influence creates a dark and earthy sound that you will not find anywhere else.

]]> http://www.thegeekmedia.com/culture/artist-review-maduro/feed 0 http://www.thegeekmedia.com/entertainment/bless-this-mess http://www.thegeekmedia.com/entertainment/bless-this-mess#comments Wed, 13 May 2009 16:06:39 +0000 Candace http://www.thegeekmedia.com/news/bless-this-mess

You will have to excuse the initial mess. Frequency-E used to be part of another website, and it has taken on a mind of it’s own. Pulling together the previous archives will take some time. In the meantime, enjoy these artists brought to you by UK’s Aardvark Records.

EricM
“Amazeng” (mp3)
from “Everytime This Song Plays”
(Aardvark Records)

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More On This Album

Jason Sean
“Someday We’ll Meet Again” (mp3)
from “Different Worlds”
(Aardvark Records)

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Buy at Rhapsody
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More On This Album

Jeff Alford
“Artificial Intelligence” (mp3)
from “Heart Of Trance”
(Aardvark Records)

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Buy at Rhapsody
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More On This Album

Zetan Spore
“Burn Up” (mp3)
from “Burn Up”
(Aardvark Records)

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More On This Album

Division
“Sunlight” (mp3)
from “Sunlight”
(Aardvark Records)

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More On This Album

]]> http://www.thegeekmedia.com/entertainment/bless-this-mess/feed 0 http://www.thegeekmedia.com/news/15-webcomics-you-should-check-out http://www.thegeekmedia.com/news/15-webcomics-you-should-check-out#comments Thu, 30 Apr 2009 04:04:07 +0000 sasderwn http://www.thegeekmedia.com/news/15-webcomics-you-should-check-out Free comic day is almost upon us (May 2). Until then it would be great to check out some webcomics that are always free. Here is a list of a few of my favorites.

Tech related:

Backward Compatible

Slice of Life:

One-Liners (Not for the kids)

Girls With Slingshots

The Outer Circle

Shortpacked!

Action:

Looking For Group

Girlyyy

Random:

Least I Could Do

Diesel Sweeties

Little Gamers

Bad Gods

Qwantz – Dinosaur Comics

Toothpaste for Dinner

Alternate Conversations

Minimalism Sucks

This is one attempt in a long series of attempts since Thompson’s disbarment last year, and he’s still not giving up. He was quoted as saying…

I have four more options, all better than this one. This was the longest of shots. All four of the others are much, much shorter shots.

With hope still in his sights, and much hilarity in everyone elses, we all wish him the best of luck, as to give us more prime material to post about here on this website.

No related posts.

In this brave new world of instant gratification, it is understandable that some want to take advantage of immediate updates. In an instant message/chat situation where it is just you and a few other people, instant is great. When there is a larger number of people involved it just turns into scrolling colors after a while.

Don’t get me wrong, I personally love a good river of information. But more often than not that same river freaks out the average Joe. The most current example of this was the recent Friendfeed redesign. While the new look is only on the beta site, I showed a few friends of mine the look and they all but ran away screaming.

One of the reasons many people have cited for not joining FF in the first place has been the flood of information. Unfortunately for the regular guy, the new interface helps the flood rise. Now while the obvious solution to most current users is just to pause the feed, quite a few folks who already use the service still have a problem with the initial tsunami of information.

Sure average person off the street will not immediately be following hundreds or thousands of people, but it is doubtful that they would jump on a service that they have to immediately turn down to use.  Most users want the interface to be easy and something they can grasp quickly, hence the popularity of Twitter.

While I can completely understand the reasons why certain changes have been implemented, expanding the user base might become a bit more tricky with the new model.

But it is a beta so who knows?

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Unfortunately, the one thing the platform does lack is a very large stash of themes. This fact could hinder many from using it considering most of the themes that are available favor minimalist designs. While this is not an issue for the current adopters, I can see why others are reluctant. In an effort to add to the development of the project, I decided to take a shot at adapting some themes and came across these 7 sources of wisdom.

1. Habari Fun

Andrew Rickmann has thrown together a great guide to convert Wordpress themes over to Habari, based on his port of the Dilectio theme.

2.WP Fun – Theming Habari vs WordPress

There is also a tutorial available for theming at Andrew’s other site. He has created a few themes for Habari and he gives a good headstart to the folks that need one.

3. Habari Project Theme Functions

This page on the Habari Wiki lists common theme functions and how to use them.

4. Habari Available Themes

Not only just a list of themes created for the platform, but also a portal to a list of developers that have already gone through the process of creating a theme.

5 & 6 Mark Mail & Google Groups for Habari Themes

Message boards used by the Habari community. Still looks active and there are some code examples in the posts.

7. Habari Room in Friendfeed

Pulls in resources from blogs and microblogging sites Twitter and Identica. Most of the good stuff flows through this room and the admins are open to adding new sources they come across.

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A little while back the folks at Mashable teamed up the Disqus guys and UberVU to amp up the Disqus commenting system. The goal of Disqus and UberVU was for the blogger to get the discussion back at the blogs and not just spread out over the social media sites. It was a lovely idea and Mashable was a great place to test out the new system.

Called Social Media Reactions, anyone using Disqus can now soak some of the conversation back up into their arena. I already have it running here, but Mashable gets wayyyyyy more traffic and you might want to check it out there.

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In 1995, there was a lovely little system called the Sega Genesis. As kids we huddled around it and our television screens to delve into the fantasy worlds of Sonic the Hedgehog and Mortal Kombat. One of the stand out games turned out to be a too often forgotten Comix Zone.

Sure the gameplay is ridiculously dated by our standards. Sure the game came out after most of the consoles user base was angry enough to move onto something else. But the game was built on the double whammy of geek, it was a video game about a comic artist stuck in a comic book which functioned kind of like Kung Fu.

The game was sort of short, but you only got one life to make it through the panels. The concept was more interesting than the gameplay itself, but if you are a fan of single button linear games it is not too bad. Personally, I just like to get to the one villain who says “Your kung fu is good.” The story centered around comic artist Sketch Turner who was sucked into his own creation during a lightning storm. Unfortunately for Sketch, the villian in his book was granted partial access to the real world by the incident.

Video of  gameplay:

In case you missed it, the game is available on the Wii via the Virtual Console.

No related posts.

I first heard about this over on Kotaku, and followed the internet paper-trail through the internet tubes around in hopes of finding something of substance. I didn’t, of course, as most rumors don’t have much of a basis.

People, please, please I know you’re intelligent (you read this website on some basis), so stop the rumor mongering here. If anyone asks about a possible 5th IP from Blizzard, tell them that there isn’t any concrete information at all on this. It’s not worth the time talking about. When Blizzard Entertainment DOES release any information regarding their next IP, you’ll bet you can find it right here, but it’s not here yet.

Now back to your regularly scheduled blog posts and podcasts.

-Dan “Leto” Hahn, your neighborly CEO

It seems like an odd move to ban dating on a social site, but it is a good move to try and avoid lawsuits. The big gaping whole in the plan comes from the fact that the ban techncally only applies to opposite sex dating.  Same sex relationships (likely no matter the age of the participants) have a loophole.

Normally this would be funny but slightly discriminatory at the same time,  instead it is just stupid.  With the low birth rates of the user base, it would be a great idea to encourage dating. But going through the social service and deleting any dating groups is not helping the situation.  It is great that they do not want to end up like Myspace, but this is probably not the right way to go about it.

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via Geeks are Sexy

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1. Comparison of Tech

Fast forward two weeks after Quake Live became an open beta, I figured it was safe to hop in and get a little bit of fragging done. Being more of a console gamer, I still have a PS2 Quake III Arena around somewhere. It is just a shame that I lack skills no matter whether I play it or its free QLB counterpart. Thanks to the aforementioned skill matching system, this has not been an issue since I started playing.

After completing the standard fill out this form and confirmation number setup process, the user is invited to download a small bit of software and reload the browser (IE7,8 or Firefox 2,3 Windows XP or Vista only right now). Once this is done, the player can select an avatar from the list of familiar Quake characters and change some settings like the crosshair and railgun color schemes.

The aspect of setup which I find most appealing is your first match is with an AI dubbed Crash who is designed to assess your skill level in a match you play while the bulk of the game is downloaded. Crash appeared to have done a good job of finding my skill level since the couple of matches I have played have not been completely one-sided. When you login to QLB after that inital match, you have an option to practice or to just jump into matches currently happening. The matches are setup to load the ones best suited to you first, with green checkmarks notifying you that its right up your alley and arrows up or down

The one downside I have experienced playing the game was that there was occasional lag, but since I am using somewhat dated equipment it may be just me. It looked a bit better than the Q3A I played on my PS2 and there are lots of people waiting to play Team Deathmatch 24/7.

Here is a user made video of the training mode with Crash:

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It’s a long letter, probably two or three standard pages worth, so be ready to sit down for ten or fifteen minutes and digest this instead of just skimming over, just click the read more tab to see the letter in it’s entirety. Credit to Kotaku.com and their network for posting this.

An Open Letter to Utah’s Parents and Leaders
March 6, 2009

As you read this, Utah legislators are preparing to pass legislation that risks, perhaps unintentionally, putting an end to hugely successful efforts to prevent children’s access to video games intended for older audiences. I write today in the hopes of averting this grave mistake, and to propose a more responsible course of action instead.

Legislation expanding Utah’s existing Truth in Advertising law (H.B. 353) would require that if a video game retailer promotes its adherence to a policy restricting the sale of video games rated M for Mature – which, like the R rating for movies, indicates it is recommended for those ages 17 and older – and then sells an M-rated game to anyone under the recommended age, they could be subject to a lawsuit, fines and/or the payment of additional costs and legal fees. In fact, all major retailers of video games currently have such policies, which they have put in place voluntarily and with which they are in compliance the vast majority of the time. According to a recent audit, Utah video game retailers enforce their store policies regarding the sale of M-rated games an impressive 94% of the time – without any laws or requirements that they do so. That level of compliance took many years to achieve, and speaks to the strong commitment of video game retailers to do the right thing.

So why is this bill likely to put an end to those very efforts it seeks to support? On its face such an amendment makes good sense; after all, if a retailer says they’re going to do something, they should do it, right? While the intent of this legislation would be to hold retailers accountable for compliance with their stated policies – presumably in that negligible 6% of instances where they fail to comply – the unfortunate reality is that it would introduce a liability that will likely force many retailers to seriously consider abandoning their voluntary policies and ratings education programs, undoing years of progress made on behalf of parents and their children.

It’s worth noting that when the Federal Trade Commission first began measuring retailer compliance with video game sales policies nationwide in 2000, a scant 15% of underage customers were turned away. However, the most recent such study reported in May 2008 found that national retailers refused to sell M-rated games to customers under 17 a remarkable 80% of the time, far surpassing the comparable rates of compliance for movies, DVDs, or music CDs rated for a mature audience. The unraveling of this substantial progress would be a tragic consequence, depriving parents of the assurance and control they currently have with respect to deciding which games their children can purchase and play.

Utah State Representative Michael Morley, the chief sponsor of this new amendment, was recently quoted in the Deseret News stating that, “if they’re one of those places that thinks, ‘Well, as long as they have a heartbeat and some money we’ll sell to them,’ then this won’t have any impact on them.” That statement reveals exactly why this law would
be so destructive. It would effectively penalize responsible retailers that have policies, and provide safe harbor for retailers that refuse to adopt a responsible policy in the first place. That is downright senseless. If the goal is to make sure our children are playing age-appropriate games, there is a better way.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), of which I am president, is a non-profit organization created in 1994 to help parents determine which computer and video games are appropriate for their children. Most retailers only carry games that have been rated by the ESRB, and game consoles and handheld devices include settings that parents can activate to block games by ESRB rating. Elected officials across the country, including Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, and groups like PTA have joined ESRB in helping educate the public about the rating system to great effect. The FTC recently reported that 73% of parents regularly use ESRB ratings when buying games for their children; 59% “never” allow their child to play an M-rated game, and 34% only do so “sometimes.”

The bottom line is that parents are more than capable of utilizing tools like the ratings to make the right choices for their families. And there is broad support of ESRB ratings from major retailers and the game industry alike. The proposed legislation is looking to fix a system that is not broken. Instead, we should all be focused on figuring out ways to encourage parents to use the excellent tools already available to them to make informed choices about the media their children consume. Punishing retailers for promoting responsible sales policies is irrational and counter-productive. I write in the sincere hope that Utah chooses to empower its parents with information rather than undo the substantial progress made by retailers to date to serve the best interests of Utah’s children.

With warm regards,
Patricia E. Vance
President

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Tons of people wanted cool spy gadgets to carry around thanks to James Bond. You coveted all the seemingly normal household items that did extraordinary things. Now is the perfect opportunity to invest in a Spy Pen/Cam. You can covertly get the dirt on whoever in a time of concern, if you want to.

We do not want to condone illegal behavior, but there are plenty of legal reasons to carry a DVR in your pocket. Fortunately, this pen is really easy on the eyes. With 4GB of storage, this pen also comes with a slew of good points.

Dimension:150mm*15mm*15mm

Real time recording in AVI video format

Color video with voice lets you clearly see who’s there & hear what they say.

Place it up high or conceal it down low. With built-in rechargeable battery so there’s no long cord for you to hide.

Internal memory: 4GB

Playback video on PC

The website which offers it includes a handy video on how to reset it:

via

No related posts.

Not only do you need help, you also need to get in touch with the creators of these robot overlords in training…

via

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1. It Starts With the Children
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