Lamprey Systems 

Blasphemous Mac Games of Robert Carr

I remember Private Idaho BBS from my pre-internet daze. I couldn't find them on the early WWW but the other day I ran across Lamprey Systems website and was reminded why I once wished I had a Mac. On their No-Frills Leech-O-Rama page you can freely download "Yesterday's Software...Today...At Tomorrow's Prices".

There's Mormonoids From The Deep: Armed only with a Colt .45, a suitcase nuke, one sixpack, and a car that's out of gas. You must destroy the evil YogSogSmith and rescue Unwholesome Olson without being killed, converted, or sobering up. The townsfolk include the Angel Moroni, the Holy Ghost, little Molly Mormon, and Kinky Marie (Marie Osmond's psychotic twin sister).

And there's MacSpudd!: You drive your Armored Potato Transport Vehicle across a post-apocalyptic Idaho populated by mutant jackalopes, Aryan Yuppies, Free-fire Zone Hunters, and cattle mutilating space aliens. Remain cheerful, lest a bad attitude cause your IntraCranial Detonator to implode.

There's more, with titles like: Gerald-O-Matic, MacWanker, Pretty Good Pornography 3.0, Rupture The Rapture, Shock Da Monkey, Straight To Hell (with the Cursor of Torture!), and maybe the most despised Macintosh program ever written MacJesus ProGold, Your Personal Savior on a Floppy Disk. In the words of Robert Carr, "This software wasn't released - it ESCAPED!"

Unfortunately he's back-burnered Sim Despot. As president for life you construct red-light districts and drug routes while funneling money overseas. You must keep your Sims strong enough to produce money but weak enough that they can't revolt.

I wish I had a Mac...

Lamprey Systems

Wild 2
 

UC Berkeley's Stardust@Home intersellar dirt project

NASA's Stardust spacecraft landed in Utah this week. Stardust's main mission was to chase the comet Wild 2 and capture material the cloud of dust and gas that surrounds it. But during it's seven year journey Stardust also trapped a sprinkling of dust from the interstellar stream that flows through the Solar System. Scientists expect to find about 45 grains in the craft's gel collectors and need volunteers to help screen 1.6 million scanned pictures with a web-based "virtual microscope". Through Stardust@Home volunteers will have to go through a web-based training session but will have the chance to name any dust grains they find. Possible virtual contamination by zombie mutagens are a bonus. Looking for something passive, try screening radio telescope data for exterrestrial intelligence with SETI@home, help cure diseases caused by protein misfolding with Folding@Home, or search for other "distributed computing" projects.

Stardust@Home

NASA - Stardust

SETI@home

Folding@Home

Jonathon "The Impaler" Sharkey 

Governor of Minnesota in 2006?

Another former wrestler and a former member of former Governor Jesse Ventura's Reform Party. Jonathon Sharkey who announced his candidacy on Friday the 13th is a self described "Satanic Dark Priest, Sanguinarian Vampyre and Hecate Witch." The candidate of the "Vampyres, Witches and Pagans Party" has run for office elsewhere under his former semi-pro wrestling name of Rocky "Hurricane" Flash. He promises that if he's elected, he will impale terrorists on pikes. Jonathon also plans to run for President of the U.S. in 2008.

Jonathon "The Impaler" Sharkey for Governor of Minnesota - 2006

Classic 3179 Dilatant Compound
 

Puttying Around

A polydimethylsiloxane polymer and a non-Newtonian viscoelastic liquid; rheologically speaking not technically a dilatant fluid, but who cares, it's Silly Putty. Bounce it, break it, let it melt, or stretch the funny pages. The crew of Apollo 8 even used it to secure tools in zero-gravity. In addition to classic Silly Putty (Dow Corning 3179 Dilatant Compound), there's variants like Funny Putty, Thinking Putty, and even Potty Putty in the UK. Originally coral colored, the putties are available in various colors, including glow-in-the-dark, metallic, and color changing. Archetypal $1.99 Silly Putty 0.47 ounce eggs work out to $4.23 an ounce. In small quantities, Thinking Putty 3.2 ounce tins (at $2.17 an ounce) are arguably a better deal. However, bulk (1-5 pound lots) of Silly, Funny, or Thinking Putty can be had for about $1.00 an ounce. These prices are for plain putty, exotic colors cost up to twice as much. Not in a buying mood? Check out the pictures and video of the drop of a 50 pound beach ball-sized Silly Putty sphere from a parking garage by the Sunbelt Software...

The CrayolaStore.com - Silly Putty

Silly Putty University Campus Map

Funny Putty

Thinking Putty

Silly Putty - Wikipedia

Sunbelt Software Silly Putty Task Force