Technologist For Hire

So I went to see the movie Quarantine, which is a scene-for-scene remake of the 2007 Spanish movie [REC], and thought it was an awesome movie.

Quarantine is a “Quarantine-and-kill” movie, just like I am Legend, 28 (Days|Weeks) Later, The Happening, and even The Simpsons Movie. The perspective of the movie is “first person viewfinder”, just like in Cloverfield.

So, the story was unoriginal, but because the perspective was more realistic, it made for an interesting and scary experience.

Now, for the point of this post. I don’t do movie reviews on my blog, so what is up with this post? Well, just like in Cloverfield, there is a hidden message on a recording in Quarantine. During the last 15 minutes of the film, when they are in the attic, Angela finds a reel-to-reel tape under some papers and presses play. In the movie theater it just sounded like Satan (or, a voice is super slow motion). I isolated that scene (about 1:17:15 in) and played it back at 3x speed. Sure enough there is an audible message on the recording. Here is what I can decipher:

[...] this better be impossible to contain.

November 7th.
Something unexpected has happened, our brothers in Houston have come under suspicion [...]

So there you have it. The rats were being infected on purpose. The news clippings on the walls about cults and biochemical attacks were about the terrorist group/cult responsible for this. The virus was an advanced form of rabies that had a gestational period of around 15 minutes and was initially spread via infected rats.

I believe there will be a sequel, since there is already plans for a sequel to [REC], but because origin of the virus is different from [REC], the sequel will probably be completely different and focus more on large scale containment or on the terrorist group/cult that created the virus.

So, a week before PHP|TEK 2008 I came up with the genius idea to take the Ruby on Rails logo, and parody it. I wanted to express my views of Ruby on Rails (though never have using RoR) through this modification.

I took the logo and simply changed the “R” to an “F” using a font that was almost identical to the original (I used WhatTheFont to find a similar font).

I took my FAILS logo and made a bunch of buttons/magnets and brought them to PHP|TEK 2008. Apparently they were a bigger hit than I had prepared for, because I ran out of buttons and still had people asking me for them (note: you can purchase a button & magnet set at my etsy shop http://spooons.etsy.com).

At one of the PHP|TEK 2008 keynotes, Terry Chay included (at the last minute) my new FAILS logo in his The Internet is an Ogre presentation. I also hear that the logo is still in his presentation, to this day! He properly credited me upon the first use, so I am happy!

Well, for ZendCon 2008, I decided to order a batch of my FAILS logos as a sticker! So I re-created the logo in a high resolution format and got them printed, die-cut (the logo has 2 rounded corners), and shipped before the conference started. They came the DAY BEFORE, and looked AMAZING.

So now I have high-quality vinyl stickers, which plenty of people are enjoying, and I will be adding them to my etsy shop shortly. They will be $1 each. You can also purchase a sticker, button, magnet set for $2.25.

UPDATE: Read the comments, including my response. The purpose of “Ruby on Fails” is Satire/Parody. It is meant to be funny, for all - PHP and Ruby developers.

I want to work on your project. What do I have to do to gain your trust and confidence?

Mmmm, mmmm! Fail Whales, better than Goldfish!

Fail Whales, Crackers

Apparently John McCain is in support of a National Panty Raid. Help stop the panty raids, and spread the word!

http://www.StopThePantyRaids.com

Yes, I am less than 3 iPhone 3G’s.

I purchased an iPhone 3G for myself and my Fiance on July 25th, 2008. After a solid week of use, I have determined that it is the single device that will change the world, end hunger, lower gas prices, and help the world agree on a single global religion. The iPhone 3G will also be responsible for curing all major diseases and removing president Bush from office. The iPhone 3G is that powerful.

The iPhone 3G is not a Blackberry. Why? The iPhone’s email functionality is visually more stunning than the Blackberry. It also turns the iPhone’s battery into dead weight.

The iPhone 3G is not a Windows Mobile device (MOTO Q, Blackjack, etc). Why? The iPhone has such a sleek, sexy feel about it. The hardware and software are simply amazing. Also, developers cannot create applications for the iPhone and simply release them to users — they have to go through a very long approval process and sign an insane NDA that says they wont reveal their secret AppDev Identity to anyone, or Apple will literally make it so they never existed (Apple has a time machine and is not afraid to break the time/space continuum by killing your parents, in the past)

That said… I am still in love with the iPhone. I love it, I love it, I love it. I love holding it, I love using it, and I love telling people I have one — and then watching them give me dirty looks because I acted like a snob and told them whatever phone they had is a piece.

I will be making a few more iPhone related posts shortly, including: iPhone Apps I Like, iPhone Web App Development, iPhone Battery Life, and iPhone Apps That Don’t Exist.

Will Twitter survive WWDC? Who knows.

So, in keeping with the theme, I now present you with the Space Invaders Ultimate Magnet Set!

Taken from actual screen shots of the original arcade version of the game, this is a set of 9 awesome Space Invaders button magnets. The buttons are all to scale, and match the game pixel for pixel. I recolored them so they would be more Ultimate.

Everything important is included in this set:
» Small Invader (open & closed) - Blue - 30 points
» Medium Invader (open & closed) - Orange - 20 points
» Large Invader (open & closed) - Purple - 10 points
» Saucer - Red - 50~300 points
» Explosion - White
» Cannon - Green

Create your own mini space invaders game on your fridge! Grab your own set over @ Etsy.

I recently started creating buttons that appeal to my geekness. My favorite creation so far is my Pac-man Button Set.

I used screen shots from the US Arcade version of the game to create these buttons. This means that they are all accurately colored & to scale (except for the “READY!” button, for size constraints).

Everything important is included in this set:

• Pac-man
• Shadow / “Blinky” / Red Ghost
• Speedy / “Pinky” / Pink Ghost
• Bashful / “Inky” / Blue (Cyan) Ghost
• Pokey / “Clyde” / Orange Ghost
• A Reverse Ghost
• Bonus Cherries
• Pac-dots w/ Power Pellet
• “Ready!”

Grab your set @ Etsy

So I pull up Google Maps today to find a Taco Bell (because the one near me was recently torn down to make way for a BIGGER Taco Bell, but it still not finished), and I am greeted with what looks like a simplified version of the site.

Upon further inspection, it is more featureful, and just visually simplified.

This new Google Maps now contains a Terrain View, can pull in Wikipedia articles for all of the locations on the map, and pulls images from a new Google service called Panoramio.

It is pretty friggin sweet.

Take a look at this screen shot of the terrain map, loaded with Wikipedia articles & photos: http://nexdot.net/gmaps_new_wikipedia_and_photos.jpg