A Tetris-Themed Glass Window (and Other Nerd Furniture)

Take a look at this sweet nerd furniture!

Update (8/11/17): Initially I described the Tetris window as a "stained-glass window". As Aaron Clements pointed out on my Facebook post, a correct description is actually "colored glass blocks with mortar".

(Tip of the cap to Rachel Simmons Carter.)

Classic Article: "Pac-Man Bites the Dust!"

Here is a classic article from 1982 called "Pac-Man Bites the Dust!". I still probably have a hard copy of it somewhere in my parents' home. Thankfully, I was able to google it successfully.

I hadn't noticed the author's infamous "name" until today. Also, Ms. Pac-Man seems to alternate during the article between being Pac-Man's girlfriend and being his wife. I didn't remember that part either.

The Making of Ms. Pac-Man

This is a really cool article about the making of Ms. Pac-Man.

"Macrae: The fourth monster in Ms. Pac-Man is named Sue, which is my sister. I always get to joke about that with her a little bit. I worked really hard to make sure I could name a monster after my sister. It was a great way to take an inside poke at her."

I was always wondering how the orange ghost went from Clyde in Pac-Man to Sue in Ms. Pac-Man.

Amazingly, it's now been just over twice as long between the Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga dual arcade cabinet and now than between the debut of Ms. Pac-Man and that commemorative release.

And as some of you have witnessed, I had mad skillz at that game.

RIP Masaya Nakamura (1925–2017)

Masaya Nakamura, the founder of gaming company Namco and the "father" of Pac-Man, has died.

(Tip of the cap to Greg Hosack.)

A Hungry Random Walker

And now we have a hungry random walker model for chemotaxis, with some motivation from the game Pac-Man. Recall that I recently posted an entry about microorganism Pac-Man.

Microorganism Pac-Man

Microorganism Pac-Man looks very cool!

(Tip of the cap to Jennifer Ouellette.)

Pac-Man Suit

If you truly want to show that you have Pac-Man fever, then try this suit and tie on for size.

This is clearly a must-wear for formal hall in Somerville. (Possibly along with my belt inspired by Legend of Zelda, which I have previously worn to formal hall.)

(Tip of the cap to Mike Gettle.)

Pac-Man in the 1850s

Oh, Hell, yes!

"Shovel more coal, Boy! I am pursued by spectres!"

Pixels (Long) and Pixels (Short)

I just saw the big-screen movie Pixels (which I previously blogged about). It was fun and nostalgic, though of course very cheesy (no surprise), and it was not the disaster I was worried that it might be. I also just re-watched the short 2010 "film" Pixels (which clocks in at 2 minutes and 34 seconds), which is just as awesome now as it was five years ago. (I also previously blogged about this short film.)

The big-screen Pixels had some very nice bits of nostalgia (and good homages), though its use of a time-capsule of 1982 arcade action has an anachronism with Tetris. It also has some picky points that it got wrong --- for example, a power pellet in Pac-Man lasting way too long for how high a level was being shown. (It is also very conveniently ignored the fact that Donkey Kong has patterns by simply pretending that it doesn't.) The character Q*Bert amused me on a couple of points, such as being there to dodge barrels amidst a level of Donkey Kong. And also the litter at the end.

For some movies that are both awesome and bring out major nostalgia for 1980s video games, I highly recommend The King of Kong and (obviously) Wreck-It Ralph. I previously blogged about The King of Kong, but I couldn't find a blog entry about Wreck-It Ralph, so I assume I didn't do it. (I blog much less often about movies than I used to --- even when they're awesome. Wreck-It Ralph even included a theme song written by Buckner & Garcia! Now that made me feel really nostalgic!)

Play Pac-Man on Google Maps

Yes, really: You can now use maps in Google Maps to play Pac-Man. I approve!

In case you're interested, you can try a map near Somerville College in Oxford (and also necessarily near the Mathematical Institute). Or perhaps catching Pokémon is more aligned with your tastes?

Or, if you prefer, you can play a live-action version with smartphones.

(Tip of the cap to Jimmy Lin.)

Update: Here is the post from Google's product manager about the new feature. (Tip of the cap to Mary Radcliffe for this link. Apparently, her husband is the person at Google who created this particular gem.) Ah, I love it when April 1st comes along. :)

Update (4/01/15): the article on CNN.com shows several example mazes from different parts of the world.

Update (4/08/15): Wired.com now has an article about this, which is affectionately called "Pac-Maps". Also, here are the "top" places (which are isolated to just a few cities) to play Pac-Maps. Harvard Square is insane.

Upcoming Movie: "Pixels"

I just saw a trailer for the movie Pixels, in which "real life" video game characters attack the Earth.

The movie looks cheesy and probably deserves its own drinking game (and I could easily see this being horrible), but am I am so going to geek out and watch this! Bring it on!

The movie has a chance to be awesome, but if nothing else it will at least be "awesome".

PacMap Fever

PacMap, a live-action, smartphone implementation of Pac-Man, sounds so cool (simply because it appeals to my inner geek)!

Hopefully they have the 'exits' (what would that correspond to in real life?), and they damned well better have preserved the trick of being able to go through the ghosts without dying when they ever-so-briefly turn their eyes away from you. (Not that I am a snob when it comes to features of the Pac-Man games...)

(Tip of the cap to The Physics Arxiv Blog.)

Update: I just noticed that the article in Technology Review and the arXiv paper both spell "Pac-Man" incorrectly.

Spectral Graph Theory: Cover Art

Here is my new cover art for the field of spectral graph theory. (I couldn't wait until Halloween to make this picture.)

Baseball Cup Art

Yup, the Baseball cup-art war has just been taken to a brand new level. First it was the Rockies spelling "Rox", then it was the Cubs spelling "Cubs", and now a minor league pitcher has given us a seen from Pac-Man. I approve!

Eye Orientation of Ghosts in Pac-Man Games

Another of those things that perhaps says a lot about me: I saw a guy wearing a t-shirt with the ghost Shadow/Blinky from the Pac-Man series. And besides thinking that the shirt is awesome, do you know what else I noticed? That the ghost's eyes were oriented in the way that allows you to go through it without dying (which, by the way, is a skill ones needs to get really good at these games).

One of these years, I hope that I will get to the kill screen in Ms. Pac-Man...

Pac-Man turns the big 3-0 (technically, that happens tomorrow)

Tomorrow marks the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man (it was first released in Japan on May 22, 2010), and Google celebrated it in proper fashion by putting a mini Pac-Man game on its home page. I approve! (This, by the way, is Google's first interactive 'doodle'.)

And while Pac-Man might not turn 30 until tomorrow, be advised (especially if you're a frosh) that Tomorrow is TODAY! (I'll blog about this a bit later. In the meantime, you can celebrate by watching this.)

(Tip of the cap to Lemming for the Pac-Man stuff and GFreak for the video. I first heard about Ditch Day from Andy Sudol's Facebook post.)

Update (5/22/10): That it truly is Pac-Man's 30th birthday, here is the story behind Google's Pac-Man doodle. (Tip of the hat to Jimmy Lin.)