The Last of Us

May 7th is still very, very far away.

As excited as I am by this trailer - and I am very excited - my enthusiasm has been tempered somewhat by the mention, on the PlayStation blog, of multiplayer. I should have known, of course, that you can't release a big-budget retail game these days without some kind of online component, but given how badly the multiplayer aspect of Uncharted 3 affected the single-player level design, I'm worried.

Hopefully this time through, +Naughty Dog will have more separation between the multiplayer and campaign design teams so The Last of Us won't suffer from Uncharted 3's single-player-levels-that-look-feel-and-play-like-multiplayer-maps issue.

But this trailer does a lot to assuage my fears. The story and cast look promising at this stage, Naughty Dog still do the best cinematics in the business, and there seems to be a much wider variety of locations than I'd expected based on material released before.

I'm wondering, though, how much my experiences with The Walking Dead, and its (superficially, at least) similar plot will affect how I approach situations in The Last of Us. I can't imagine dialogue is going to be much of an option in this one, though.

The Intelligence Squared Debate: Stephen Fry

The Intelligence² Debate - Stephen Fry (Unedited)
by Xrunner17

This speech is utterly astounding.

It makes me want to hug him.

This is important

I was pretty close to using "I'm gay for Keith Olbermann" as the title for this post, but it seemed a little too flippant for the seriousness of this issue.

Little Big Calculator

[S]imply from an engineering standpoint, I think this is by far and away the best [LBP level] yet. A user created a real-time working calculator that accurately adds and subtracts numbers. The level is said to use 610 magnetic swtiches, 500 wires, and 430 pistons. I didn't see what the big deal was until the camera panned up. That's when my mouth hit the floor.

Via Kotaku.

Li'l O'Reilly

Jon Stewart reacts to the $700bn bill failure

I don't know if his outburst at the end of this (~6.45 in) is scripted or ad-libbed, but he certainly seems genuinely angry.

I <3 John Oliver

Is there anything this man won't do or say to get a laugh? I think he's even ballsier than Colbert.

Sarah Silverman promotes The Great Schlep

It's a little bit long, but it's hilarious in a lot of places.

For those who haven't heard about it before, The Great Schlep is a campaign to get young, democrat Jewish voters to visit their grandparents in Florida (one of the big swing states) and dispel all the lies and rumours about Barack Obama.



More information about The Great Schlep.

Obama lawn sign draws internet crowd

This has to be the most potent harbinger of the internet's lack of purpose that I have ever seen.

Live video chat by Ustream

An Oregon woman who wanted to let her neighbors know that she's endorsing Senator Barack Obama for president has had two Obama-Biden 08 yard signs stolen from her front lawn. So she made a third herself, and had her teenage son set up a live feed on Ustream.tv in the hopes of protecting the sign and possibly catching any thieves.

Source

At the time of writing, there are approximately 200 people watching the streaming video. There are 130 in the attached chatroom, a lot of whom are freaking out because a gnome in the garden was smashed. Several of them have changed their nicknames as a mark of respect.

Via Make The Logo Bigger.

Shake It

This is a pretty interesting way of using YouTube to advertise your game.

Xbox Avatars

I'm actually quite looking forward to the new "Xbox Experience" update, the more I see of it. I still can't figure out why this video focuses on the creation of a hobo, though.



Now I'm off to listen to @hodgman's list of hobo names for the next hour.

Bill O'Reilly on Sarah Palin email hacking

Because I know we all treasure his opinion so much...



I don't know whether his complete failure to grasp the situation is funny or infuriating. Is he really that dumb, or is it all doublethink?

John Oliver: Political Wingman

According to the latest installment of The Bugle, John Oliver actually met Tony Blair after the show; apparently it was a bit frosty.

Star Simpson interview

On Global Warming

This is the argument I've never been able to make effectively.

3D Projector

Banjo Hero

My jaw is on the floor. It starts off pretty slow, but if he's really playing all that stuff (on a modded version of GH2, obviously) then my God he's awesome.

And, if other YouTube Guitar Hero videos are anything to go by, he's probably about eight.

This is a bit old...

...but John Oliver Olivier's Political Theatre review, of the recent Senate all-night debate over the Iraq War withdrawal, is still hilarious.

Forget the iPhone

I want one of these.

More on Scooter Libby

Countdown's Keith Olbermann says it better than I ever could.

In that moment, Mr. Bush, you broke that fundamental compact between yourself and the majority of this nation’s citizens — the ones who did not cast votes for you.

In that moment, Mr. Bush, you ceased to be the President of the United States.

In that moment, Mr. Bush, you became merely the President… of a rabid and irresponsible corner of the Republican Party.

I can't tell, yet, how this decision is resonating with the American public. I'm sure Fox News Faux Noise will manage to gloss over the facts and try to sweep the significance of this act under the carpet, but I hope to God that this will wake people up.