News You Can Bruise for 2001 March 2

You'd need a really big cup of coffee with this donut. Also, it's not a donut.

I did not implement any crazy idea last night. Instead, I slept. But here is a crazy idea which I've had for years but which I probably will never implement since it's pretty obvious it won't work.

The idea is to implement Tetris but to change the way it gets harder over time. Instead of the blocks dropping faster, the shapes of the blocks get more complex. You'd start with regular Tetris and then move to 5-block Tetris, 6-block Tetris, etc. Probably at around 7-block Tetris you would get very angry at the person who wrote the game.

Segfault: Banner Ads Now Themselves Have Banner Ads

I don't know why the kids today need their "Napster" and their "Britney Spears" when they could just sit and listen to Last Transmission From Starbase XY003 all day. That link is to a rock opera, half the work of Pete Peterson, which rocks the rock opera world like an opera of some sort. Or a cookie or something. Did I pull a quote from the web page? No? Then I will:

Were they trying to send us a message, encoded in tune? Were the absurd lyrics encrypted messages sent to warn Star Command? Were they just delirious? Were they just a couple of down-home boys who couldn't resist a good tune and a microphone?

The combination of 70s pop culture and science fiction is so seamless that you almost forget that the science fiction is just more 70s pop culture. In fact, that's probably why it works so well.

Mike points out that it is "a banner day for banner ad bashing". Unrelatedly, he also says:

it dawned on me that instead of fighting against the stupid things i hate about the internet, i should embrace and profit from them.

Be afraid.

Last Transmission From Starbase XY003 inspired me to such an extent that I actually got off my butt and finished The Age of Reason. I did use the "train from Tehachapi" line, even though my mother informed me that I actually misquoted it. I sent her some hush money. The rest of you, enjoy this cautionary tale. Time travel is not a toy!