Extreme Electric Sheep Herding Gamers !

ANATOMIE ?

25 Years Ago Today - Asteroids All Time High Score !

Wow - How did they keep the game plugged in for so long ?

1983: Fifteen-year-old Scott Safran of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, sets the world record score in the arcade game Asteroids — the longest-standing videogame high score in history.

Safran, who had been practicing nonstop at the game for the previous two years, agreed to play a marathon session of Atari's popular outer-space shooting game as part of a charity event in Pennsylvania. His mother drove him to the event and lent him a quarter, which he dropped into the machine Nov. 13.

Some three days later, having taken only brief bathroom and food breaks, Safran finished his game with 41,336,440 points, nudging out the previous world record held by famous old-school gamer and actor Leo Daniels.

What makes Safran's score so momentous, however, is that it has gone 25 years without being broken, giving it the longevity record for a videogame high score, according to the authoritative game-record keepers at Twin Galaxies.

Read the whole story at WIRED.COM

The STAR TREK Barber Shop Quartet ?

The New RUBIK'S MIRROR CUBE !

SEPTEMBER 19TH,1982 - Birth of the Emoticon !

1982: At precisely 11:44 a.m., Scott Fahlman posts the following electronic message to a computer-science department bulletin board at Carnegie Mellon University:

19-Sep-82 11:44 Scott E Fahlman :-)
From: Scott E Fahlman

I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers:

:-)

Read it sideways. Actually, it is probably more economical to mark things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use:

:-(

With that post, Fahlman became the acknowledged originator of the ASCII-based emoticon. From those two simple emoticons (a portmanteau combining the words emotion and icon) have sprung dozens of others that are the joy, or bane, of e-mail, text-message and instant-message correspondence the world over.

Fahlman was not, however, the first person to use typographical symbols to convey emotions. The practice goes back at least to the mid-19th century, when Morse code symbols were occasionally used for the same purpose. Other examples exist as well.

In 1881, the American satirical magazine Puck published what we would now call emoticons, using hand-set type. No less a wordsmith than Ambrose Bierce suggested using what he called a "snigger point" -- \__/ -- to convey jocularity or irony.

But the modern emoticon does trace its lineage directly to Fahlman, who says he came up with the idea after reading "lengthy diatribes" from people on the message board who failed to get the joke or the sarcasm in a particular post -- which is probably what "given current trends" refers to in his own, now-famous missive.

To remedy this, Fahlman suggested using :-) and :-( to distinguish between posts that should be taken humorously and those of a more serious nature.

Fahlman's original post was lost for a couple of decades and believed gone for good, until it was retrieved from an old backup tape, thus cementing his claim of priority.

THE GEEK GANG SIGN CHART ???

REALITY SUCKS !

CHINESE MAN KILLED BY THE INTERNET ???

A man in southern China collapsed and died after a three-day marathon online session at a cybercafe, state media reported on Monday.

The web-user, estimated to be 30 years old, suddenly collapsed in front of his computer terminal in Guangdong province, and emergency personnel were unable to revive him, the Beijing News reported.

"According to preliminary findings, the length of time this man spent online might have triggered heart problems," the paper quoted a local hospital emergency medic in the city of Zhongshan as saying.

The paper did not provide the man's name or the online activities he was engaged in.

Worried about growing Internet addiction, China's government has taken steps to combat the problem, including forcing online gaming sites to dock the points of gamers who stay online too long.

KEVIN SMITH - PUNKS A GEEK LIVE ! ! !

WOW FROM HIS MOMS ASS RIGHT TO THE MAN TITS, THAT COLD BRO!!!

MAN LEGALLY CHANGES NAME TO OPTIMUS PRIME !

Boyhood passion morphs into new identity
Transformers fan who took his hero's name is prime example of appeal
By Kim Hone-McMahan
Beacon Journal staff writer
Optimus Prime of Cuyahoga Falls holds a comic book artist's rendering of himself and the Transformer character of the same name.
Phil Masturzo / Akron Beacon Journal
Optimus Prime of Cuyahoga Falls holds a comic book artist's rendering of himself and the Transformer character of the same name.

* Film transforms 2007 into '80s
* Movie review

Optimus Prime is the leader of the good Autobots Transformers. He's big and strong and can metamorphose into a truck.

Optimus Prime is also from Cuyahoga Falls.

It all started in the '80s, when Scott Edward Nall was just a little tyke and loved playing with Transformers toys. Of course, Optimus Prime was among his favorites. So, for his 30th birthday, Nall decided to transform a bit of himself, legally changing his name to match the action figure.

A couple of years before he left for Iraq in 2003, with Ohio's 5694th National Guard Unit from Mansfield, he made the switch. While serving the country, he bore his new name proudly on the chest of his uniform.

``I just wanted to do something outlandish for my birthday,'' said Prime, who now works as an Army contractor with Slayer, Fire, Rescue in Baghdad.

So, do people rib him about being named after a Transformer?

``Not in a serious way,'' he said, sporting a smirk. ``People are afraid to tease others who do something like this because they figure they must be crazy to begin with... so why push it?''

The father of a 9-year-old son, Sean, is among a large faction of avid Transformers fans. Some of these guys, who used to curl up on the living-room floor and play with the engineering masterpieces when they were kids, are now recapturing their childhood with the help of the recently released Transformers movie.

Dan Hare, who owns the Toys Time Forgot in Canal Fulton, said there's been a steady stream of Transfans in his store for the past six months in anticipation of the movie. The place is packed with all kinds of toys, from newer items to the old and unusual.

Among the customers are guys who sold their Transformers years ago to buy things like college books. Now they have jobs and are interested in buying the toys back. Sometimes they bring their kids. While Dad looks for the toys of yesteryear, the youngsters are interested in starting collections of their own -- beginning with the new stuff.

Store employee Fred Collington is a Transformer expert. A few months ago, a guy came in asking whether the store would be interested in buying a Fortress Maximus, still in the box. It's considered, if complete, the Holy Grail of Transformers, worth $600-$1,500 depending on its condition.

Collington said the man mentioned having some more Transformers and that he would return with them.

``He came back with a truckload,'' Collington said.

Though it's mostly a guy thing, Transformers are appealing to some women. Truth is, sometimes they like the toys simply because they hold special memories for the men in their lives. A 20-something Transfan, for example, was longing for Scorponok and Predaking, but hesitated spending money on the toys. Realizing it was the perfect birthday gift for her husband, the man's bride bought it as a surprise.

``Where else can you buy a piece of someone's childhood?'' Hare noted.

Last week, Prime returned from Iraq so he and his son could attend BotCon 2007, a four-day convention for Transfans held in Providence, R.I. One of the highlights was an appearance by Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime -- a character who uses all of his talents to make the world a better place. Prime had a chance to speak privately with Cullen.

``He told me that I was his hero, the real Optimus Prime, and that we were bonded now.''

The guys working at the Toys Time Forgot, which Prime calls the best toy store in the world, have seen the new Transformers movie and claim it's one of the greatest shows they've seen in their lives.

As the superhero would say: ``That's just Prime.''

VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR "LIVE COVER"

THIS SONG TAKES ME BACK TO THE SUMMER OF 1982 !!!

glumbert.com - Video Killed the Radio Star

THE BIGGEST GEEK EVER PUNKS CNN REPORTER !!!

THESE ARE TWO EXAMPLE OF SCARY HUMAN WEIRDNESS. i AM NOT SURE WHICH ONE SCARES ME MORE!!!

glumbert.com - Can you spell socially inept?

GEEK SQUAD BUSTED FOR SHOWER VIDEO !!!