Via Bullymike at 40kology comes Jerac's Lego Site, a place where one man melds 40k with small plastic bricks..
Fantastic. Utter genius.
30.8.07
Warhammer 40,000: Apocalypse
Games Workshop have a new expansion for the venerable 40k game on the way. It's called Warhammer 40,000: Apocalypse and it deals with truly large scale games.
And it has miniatures to boot.
Seeing as I'm an IG player, here are the new IG releases in order of how much I would cut off of my body in order to get them:
Baneblade - Any three body parts (with the exception of head and genitalia) and any two facial features.*
Emperor's Talons - Any three limbs and any one facial feature.
Leman Russ Squadron - Both legs and left arm.
Basilisk Battery - Any two limbs, provided both arms are not taken.
Emperor's Fist Tank Company - Left arm and left leg.
Armoured Fist Squad - Any one limb.
Emperor's Wrath Artillery Company - Left hand or either foot.
New Commissars - Left thumb and forefinger for the one with the powerfist and book, left middle finger for the one with the bolt pistol, or left hand for all three.
The observant will notice that the Ogryns are missing from the above list. The reason for this is simple. They suck. In fact, if you've got a moment, they suck so hard that small children may need some sort of safety harness when near them, lest they be sucked right in to the suckyness. The Bone'ead is not too bad, but even he sucks mightily.
I might accept the Ogryns, were someone to give them to me free with, say, a pint of caramel ice cream and a twelve pack of Boddingtons.
*These are not serious offers. Please do not send pictures of yourself holding one of these items and an invitation to "start cutting". Take it for what it is, a joke about just how droolworthy those new items are. The fact that I feel the need to add this speaks volumes about the Internet.
And it has miniatures to boot.
Seeing as I'm an IG player, here are the new IG releases in order of how much I would cut off of my body in order to get them:
Baneblade - Any three body parts (with the exception of head and genitalia) and any two facial features.*
Emperor's Talons - Any three limbs and any one facial feature.
Leman Russ Squadron - Both legs and left arm.
Basilisk Battery - Any two limbs, provided both arms are not taken.
Emperor's Fist Tank Company - Left arm and left leg.
Armoured Fist Squad - Any one limb.
Emperor's Wrath Artillery Company - Left hand or either foot.
New Commissars - Left thumb and forefinger for the one with the powerfist and book, left middle finger for the one with the bolt pistol, or left hand for all three.
The observant will notice that the Ogryns are missing from the above list. The reason for this is simple. They suck. In fact, if you've got a moment, they suck so hard that small children may need some sort of safety harness when near them, lest they be sucked right in to the suckyness. The Bone'ead is not too bad, but even he sucks mightily.
I might accept the Ogryns, were someone to give them to me free with, say, a pint of caramel ice cream and a twelve pack of Boddingtons.
*These are not serious offers. Please do not send pictures of yourself holding one of these items and an invitation to "start cutting". Take it for what it is, a joke about just how droolworthy those new items are. The fact that I feel the need to add this speaks volumes about the Internet.
25.8.07
Friday Cat Blogging
Loki, playing with his favourite toy - the yellow-fluffy-ball-that-boings - shows his not-so-cute side with those claws.
Friday Rodent Blogging
Selene, worried by the news that there is a c-word in the house, checks on her security precautions.
Fans need not worry, she is safe.
24.8.07
22.8.07
We've Been Adpoted!
This is Loki, relaxing as only a cat can:
Loki befriended Mrs Doombreed the other day and we took him in. He's housebroken and friendly, but he's almost depressingly thin so it seems obvious that someone has kicked him out.
Here he is awake, but still more relaxed than I could manage:
Here he is using Mrs Doombreed as an impromptu cat bed:
And finally, an obscure Kentucky State Law, passed in the late nineteenth century, requires that anyone posting pictures of a cat on a blog must, on pain of "being paddled with a wet haddock" post at least one picture of said cat with a ball of wool:
So, Friday Cat Blogging will join Friday Rodent Blogging as your source for all things cute.
Loki befriended Mrs Doombreed the other day and we took him in. He's housebroken and friendly, but he's almost depressingly thin so it seems obvious that someone has kicked him out.
Here he is awake, but still more relaxed than I could manage:
Here he is using Mrs Doombreed as an impromptu cat bed:
And finally, an obscure Kentucky State Law, passed in the late nineteenth century, requires that anyone posting pictures of a cat on a blog must, on pain of "being paddled with a wet haddock" post at least one picture of said cat with a ball of wool:
So, Friday Cat Blogging will join Friday Rodent Blogging as your source for all things cute.
18.8.07
An Atheist Symbol
Even the less observant readers will have noticed that prominent red letter "A" decorating the sidebar beneath the picture of the devilishly handsome rogue who is sleeping with my wife.
It's okay, though. I'm sleeping with the devilishly handsome rogue's wife, too. And she's hot.
Anyway. The "A".
It's the symbol of Richard Dawkins' OUT campaign, which seeks to encourage atheists to get loud and proud.
I first heard about it over at Pharyngula, where the usual argument ensued.
It is, indeed, true that getting atheists to do anything together is like herding cats. It stands to reason, if we were inclined to run with the crowd, we'd be religious.
Anyway, the usual problems with any symbol designed to represent atheism were raised.
First, that it's an "A". Whilst the word for atheist begins with an "A" in most languages, there are some in which it does not, and, of course, there are those languages which do not use the Latin alphabet, so "A" doesn't represent the word atheism everywhere.
Second, the "A" doesn't really represent atheism. It's just the first letter of the word, it doesn't really represent us or what we are.
Then there's the fact that it's a scarlet letter. Yeah, we get the whole "ironic twist" thing, but some aren't comfortable with it.
The atom symbol favoured by American Atheists is often rejected by non-Americans for that same reason, that it represents American atheists.
Some propose using the "no" sign (red circle with a slash through it), usually over a crucifix or collection of religious symbols. Most reject this, as do I, because it makes a statement about what we are not, rather than what we are.
Others favour the null set symbol "{}", but to me, that seems in need of too much explanation.
Still, mindful of the "put up or shut up" philosophy of life, I decided to see about designing an atheist symbol that addresses these issues.
I decided to work to the following requirements:
1) It must represent what atheism is, not what it is not.
2) It must either be understandable in any language, or translatable into any language without spoiling the integrity of the symbol.
3) It must be reasonably easy to understand with, if necessary, only the minimum amount of explanation.
Here's what I came up with:
One of the things I remember from school biology class is that there's this cool machine that makes squigly patterns when you connect it to peoples' heads.
Don't mind me, I'm just playing dumb.
It's called an EEG, and there is a visible difference between the pattern generated by a sleeping subject and that generated by an awake subject.
There is also a marked difference between a person who is relaxed, and a person who is thinking cognitively (which means thinking about stuff as opposed to thinking about an object they can see).
The latter are called Gamma waves and, thanks to the nice people at the Wikimedia commons, here is an example:
So, this is what it looks like when you think about stuff. What more perfect symbol could there be? This, in fact, is your brain on atheism. It's a little big, though. So I snipped an interesting looking bit out of the middle and, just because my blog has a black background, made it yellow-on-black:
Nice. It's like.. thought.. pictured..
Ahem.
Anyway, it's a little obscure, but no more so than a Crucifix or a Star of David would be if you didn't already know what they were.
Okay, if you want, I'll add the word "Atheist" underneath:
Or, in French:
Swedish:
Finnish:
Greek:
Arabic:
Japanese:
You get the point. It's nice on its own, or you can put atheist in any language on there. You could put "freethinker" or "bright", if you favour those terms. You can put "my mind, my choice" if you're feeling subtly humourous, or "don't pray in my school and I won't think in your church" if you're feeling a little more in-your-face.
So, I extend the challenge:
Put up or shut up.
If you're an atheist and you don't like the symbols being used, come up with one of your own. See if you can convince anyone to use it.
It's okay, though. I'm sleeping with the devilishly handsome rogue's wife, too. And she's hot.
Anyway. The "A".
It's the symbol of Richard Dawkins' OUT campaign, which seeks to encourage atheists to get loud and proud.
I first heard about it over at Pharyngula, where the usual argument ensued.
It is, indeed, true that getting atheists to do anything together is like herding cats. It stands to reason, if we were inclined to run with the crowd, we'd be religious.
Anyway, the usual problems with any symbol designed to represent atheism were raised.
First, that it's an "A". Whilst the word for atheist begins with an "A" in most languages, there are some in which it does not, and, of course, there are those languages which do not use the Latin alphabet, so "A" doesn't represent the word atheism everywhere.
Second, the "A" doesn't really represent atheism. It's just the first letter of the word, it doesn't really represent us or what we are.
Then there's the fact that it's a scarlet letter. Yeah, we get the whole "ironic twist" thing, but some aren't comfortable with it.
The atom symbol favoured by American Atheists is often rejected by non-Americans for that same reason, that it represents American atheists.
Some propose using the "no" sign (red circle with a slash through it), usually over a crucifix or collection of religious symbols. Most reject this, as do I, because it makes a statement about what we are not, rather than what we are.
Others favour the null set symbol "{}", but to me, that seems in need of too much explanation.
Still, mindful of the "put up or shut up" philosophy of life, I decided to see about designing an atheist symbol that addresses these issues.
I decided to work to the following requirements:
1) It must represent what atheism is, not what it is not.
2) It must either be understandable in any language, or translatable into any language without spoiling the integrity of the symbol.
3) It must be reasonably easy to understand with, if necessary, only the minimum amount of explanation.
Here's what I came up with:
One of the things I remember from school biology class is that there's this cool machine that makes squigly patterns when you connect it to peoples' heads.
Don't mind me, I'm just playing dumb.
It's called an EEG, and there is a visible difference between the pattern generated by a sleeping subject and that generated by an awake subject.
There is also a marked difference between a person who is relaxed, and a person who is thinking cognitively (which means thinking about stuff as opposed to thinking about an object they can see).
The latter are called Gamma waves and, thanks to the nice people at the Wikimedia commons, here is an example:
So, this is what it looks like when you think about stuff. What more perfect symbol could there be? This, in fact, is your brain on atheism. It's a little big, though. So I snipped an interesting looking bit out of the middle and, just because my blog has a black background, made it yellow-on-black:
Nice. It's like.. thought.. pictured..Ahem.
Anyway, it's a little obscure, but no more so than a Crucifix or a Star of David would be if you didn't already know what they were.
Okay, if you want, I'll add the word "Atheist" underneath:
Or, in French:
Swedish:
Finnish:
Greek:
Arabic:
Japanese:
You get the point. It's nice on its own, or you can put atheist in any language on there. You could put "freethinker" or "bright", if you favour those terms. You can put "my mind, my choice" if you're feeling subtly humourous, or "don't pray in my school and I won't think in your church" if you're feeling a little more in-your-face.
So, I extend the challenge:
Put up or shut up.
If you're an atheist and you don't like the symbols being used, come up with one of your own. See if you can convince anyone to use it.
Friday Rodent Blogging
Selene, once again, out and about, touring her kingdom in The Rolling Ball Of Death™
16.8.07
Carnival Of The Godless
I haven't posted in a few days, what with both Mrs Doombreed and I working so bloody hard. Still, I thought I'd better pop my hear around the door and say hi.
Atheist Revolution has the latest Carnival Of The Godless. So I have some reading to do.
Atheist Revolution has the latest Carnival Of The Godless. So I have some reading to do.
11.8.07
10.8.07
Storm Troopers!
Here are some nice, close-up pics of my Storm Trooper squad, taken for painting competition entry over at 40K Online.
Sergeant, Flamer, Grenade Launcher, and Random Guy Who Just Happens To Be Carrying The Spare Ammo For The Grenade Launcher.
The Three Shooters. Guys taking aim. Clearly they were never taught the rule about all models in a unit shooting at the same target. Either that or they're surrounded by one really big enemy unit.
And the Three Guys Who Aren't Aiming At Anything Much, though the guy in the back does seem to have taken an interest in the guy who is standing in front of him. He, in fact, seems to be giving his behind a nice, long look.
Hey, don't ask, don't tell.
Sergeant, Flamer, Grenade Launcher, and Random Guy Who Just Happens To Be Carrying The Spare Ammo For The Grenade Launcher.
The Three Shooters. Guys taking aim. Clearly they were never taught the rule about all models in a unit shooting at the same target. Either that or they're surrounded by one really big enemy unit.
And the Three Guys Who Aren't Aiming At Anything Much, though the guy in the back does seem to have taken an interest in the guy who is standing in front of him. He, in fact, seems to be giving his behind a nice, long look.Hey, don't ask, don't tell.
7.8.07
Sharpshooters!
The first of my Praetorian Royal Marine Sharpshooter teams is done:
Front:
Spotter:
Sniper:
The other two teams will be individually based, but I thought that putting these two on a large base was appropriate. More on this unit as it develops.
Front:
Spotter:
Sniper:
The other two teams will be individually based, but I thought that putting these two on a large base was appropriate. More on this unit as it develops.
5.8.07
The Simpsons Movie
The ever delectable Mrs Doombreed and I went to see The Simpsons Movie today, and it was good.
I'll start with the standard disclaimer:
If you've seen The Simpsons on telly and didn't like it, don't go to see this movie.
It is the same as an episode of the series, only more so. Homer is Homer, Marge is Marge, Bart is Bart, Lisa is Lisa, and Maggie is Maggie. Get the picture?
The Simpsons Movie is hilarious, from the opening 20th Century Fox fanfare (performed by Ralph Wiggum) to the various jokes peppered through the closing credits. There may never be a funnier Spider-Man reference than Spider-Pig. Tom Hanks may never get to do anything else that's even 1% as funny as his cameo in this movie. You may never look at the EPA the same way again. Almost every side-character in the series pops up here somewhere, doing something, usually something very funny.
Marge says a bad word. It's a word that will be more shocking to American audiences than to, say, English audiences, but it's a bad word nonetheless.
We loved it.
Doombreed Rating: * * * * * 1/2
I'll start with the standard disclaimer:
If you've seen The Simpsons on telly and didn't like it, don't go to see this movie.
It is the same as an episode of the series, only more so. Homer is Homer, Marge is Marge, Bart is Bart, Lisa is Lisa, and Maggie is Maggie. Get the picture?
The Simpsons Movie is hilarious, from the opening 20th Century Fox fanfare (performed by Ralph Wiggum) to the various jokes peppered through the closing credits. There may never be a funnier Spider-Man reference than Spider-Pig. Tom Hanks may never get to do anything else that's even 1% as funny as his cameo in this movie. You may never look at the EPA the same way again. Almost every side-character in the series pops up here somewhere, doing something, usually something very funny.
Marge says a bad word. It's a word that will be more shocking to American audiences than to, say, English audiences, but it's a bad word nonetheless.
We loved it.
Doombreed Rating: * * * * * 1/2
4.8.07
Doombreed's Collection Of Pointy Bits Of Metal
Mrs Doombreed has made many comments about my collection of knives sitting around and doing nothing, so I mounted some of them on the bedroom wall, where they look rather spiffing, if I do say so myself.
2.8.07
10 Proofs Against God
The Stubborn Curmudgeon takes a long, serious look at the scientific evidence for belief in a deity.
Check it out.
Check it out.
1.8.07
A Great Family Day Out
Those nice people over at BlueGrassRoots went for a quick squint at that ridiculous Creation Museum (yes it is, no it's not) and came back with a very entertaining story and some hilarious pics.
Take a squint yourself.
Take a squint yourself.
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