Category: Geek Stuff

Funky ASCII art

03 Jul Geek Stuff, Nuggets No comment

ClickBooth - Make some money!

Long time pickle pal David Rader has painstakingly put together a list of ASCII codes for those hard core geeks out there looking to create some "ASCII Art".

I was a little shocked to find out that ASCII art is still out there, as I thought it'd died out following the age of the Commodore 64.

I was wrong.

Another surprise was that ASCII art is no longer just about naked ladies!

Here's an example of an iPod ASCII style:

Getting a little 1990's style retro, here's Beavis:

But here's my personal favourite, Sponge Bob:

Proving that ASCII is for everyone, here's what a swollen pickles logo might look like had I decided to go in a different direction with my theme:

Now, if that has given you the motivation to go all out art school ASCII style I don't know what will!

P.S.
If you are disappointed that there were no ASCII naked ladies then check out this link (some artworks more detailed than others. Viewer discretion advised).

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

12 Jun Geek Stuff, Movie Reviews 3 comments

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has copped its fair share of flak since its release. With that in mind, I was more than a little nervous when I took my seat in the darkened cinema. I'm happy to report, that my apprehension and nervousness was misplaced.

Contrary to what I'd read, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was not all that bad. At the risk of being declared a heretic, I'd rank it as number 3 in the list of Indiana Jones films, ahead of Temple of Doom, but behind The Last Crusade and my personal favourite Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull follows Indiana Jones in the year 1957. He's a little older, but basically still getting into the same sort of trouble since we last saw him in action. This time, rather than be pursued by the Nazi's, it is the Russian's that are on his tale, in pursuit of the mythical crystal skull that may or may not have been discovered by one of Indy's long lost buddies. The story begins in Area 51, and yes, it is more than hinted that aliens are going to be involved from the very beginning. » Read the rest of the entry..

Top 10 search terms for May 2008

02 Jun Geek Stuff 5 comments

These are interesting times. It seems that camel toe is no longer the number one search term used to find Swollen Pickles via Google!

Yes I know, it was a shock to me too. Here are the top 10 search terms for May 2008.

1. deadpool movie
2. camel toe
3. 300 script
4. cameltoe
5. celebrity camel toe
6. camel toes
7. jessica simpson camel toe
8. teachers gone wild
9. celebrity camel toes
10. avp requiem

Yeah it'd be all kinds of awesome if they made a Deadpool movie, I'm just not sure it could be done without it turning out to be a putrid mess... Ghost Rider anyone?

Darkly Dreaming Dexter

21 May Geek Stuff, Life 1 comment

So I kept my promise to myself, and two weekends ago went to the book shop and bought, Darkly Dreaming Dexter, and it's sequel, Dearly Devoted Dexter. Darkly Dreaming Dexter is the first book of the series that follows serial killer, who only kills the bad guys that deserve it, as he deals with some of his own internal conflicts as a new, flashy, serial killer wanders into his neighbourhood. Dexter is torn between admiration for this new predator, do what he does best.

I'd have to say the show is rather 'loosely' based on the book. The book was an excellent read I have to say. I finished it off in a couple of nights, which is unusual for me. Darkly Dreaming Dexter formed the basis for season one of the TV show Dexter, although after both watching series one and reading the book. If you've watched the show, but have decided to give the books a miss because you think you know what is going to happen, then think again. There are a number of differences between the book and TV series.

* WARNING: WHAT FOLLOWS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR BOTH SEASON ONE OF DEXTER AND THE BOOK DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER *

Firstly, the TV series contains a large number of sub-plots that are not dealt with at all in the book. For example, the book deals almost exclusively with Dexter's investigation of the "Tamiami Butcher", or the "Ice Truck Killer" in the TV series. Very little is made of his relationship with Rita, there are no appearances by her ex-husband, Deb does not 'date' Rudy, Angel is another lab tech, and not a Detective.

Another major change in the book is that for a large part of the novel, the reader is led to believe that Dexter himself may be committing the “Tamiami Butcher” murders. The novel makes numerous references to Dexter having a 'Dark Passenger' within him, which is not even mentioned in Season One. Dexter describes the 'Dark Passenger' as often riding in the backseat of his consciousness until the urge to kill overwhelms him and he lets the 'Dark Passenger' take the steering wheel.

There are other far less subtle differences between the novel and the TV show, but if you want to know more you'll need to read the book!

A list of 17 lists

15 May Geek Stuff 5 comments

Well here's my contribution to the world of lists. It is a list of lists! How innovative you gasp!! People seem to love lists, and I'm not exactly sure why. I think that perhaps bloggers like lists because they can create a relatively easy post when they may be snowed under due to work and study for example...

Anyway here's my list of lists, some are funny, some are useful, some are just weird. Enjoy.

  1. Top 10 physical transformations for film
  2. Top 10 Urinals - a must read list
  3. Top 25 worts album covers of 2006
  4. Top 5 signs that your plane trip is going to suck
  5. Top 40 Free Icon Resources for Web Designers
  6. The top 5 car chases of all time
  7. Guitar rigs of the stars - nine at the moment.
  8. Top 20 Craziest Wardrobe Malfunctions of All Time
  9. The 10 Worst Movie Posters of All Time
  10. Top Ten Worst Movie Endings In History - totally agree with Sunshine!
  11. Top 10 Worst Quotes or Lines From the Movies
  12. The Top 16 Worst Movie Quotes to Utter During Sex
  13. Ten Worst Games On The Wii
  14. Top 10 Most Embarrassing TV/Radio Interview Moments
  15. Top 10 YouTube videos. Ever.
  16. 10 CSS Tricks you may not know
  17. Top 5 Photoshop Tutorials

Would you pay for a directory link?

08 May Geek Stuff, Ways to make money 2 comments

If you are one of those people that had been working hard to develop up a viable web directory, with the hope of turning it into a money spinner, then the recent page rank update conducted by Google, may have thrown a spanner in the works. A lot of directories suffered at the hands of the page rank update, in many cases losing page rank altogether. This is a problem for both the directory owner, whose link prices rely heavily on the directories page rank, as well as the buyers, who buy a link in order to have give their own sites a shot of page rank juice. No page rank, no juice.

For those still looking to pick up directory links, a quality directory, is an increasingly valuable commodity. The Dirmania Web Directory is one such directory. Dirmania markets itself as a "free web directory", however I find that claim a little misleading. Why? Well, placing a link on Dirmania is not free, it'll cost you $4 for a standard listing, and $7 for an express listing (see screen capture below).

Perhaps I'm missing something, but I'm not sure how you could call something free, when you are actually charging money for it?

That aside, the days of the paid web directory may behind us, in which case finding resources such as Dirmania become an increasingly rare occurrence. What do you think? Would you pay for inclusion in a web directory to boost your search result standing? Why/Why not?

Le grande cuss-o-meter challenge

06 May Geek Stuff 1 comment

I've taken up the Blogpond cuss-o-meter challenge, and the result are in... drum roll... no really... I'm not going to reveal the results until I get my drum roll dammit!...
ok... be like that... whatever...

It seems I'm not quite an angel, but at the same time, I'm not Gordon F**KING Ramsey either.

Here's the official results... SwollenPickles.com contains a 'Medium' amount of 'cussing'.

The Blog-O-Cuss Meter - Do you cuss a lot in your blog or website?
Created by OnePlusYou

Personally, I have no problems with swearing on blogs, on TV, or in movies and songs.

More importantly, thanks to taking the cuss-o-meter challenge, I was also able to determine 'How many cannibals my body could feed'. According to this scientific test, 18 cannibals could dine out on the fine beef that is me.

How many cannibals could your body feed?
Created by OnePlusYou

Interesting, now I wonder how many cannibals Gordon F**KING Ramsey could feed?
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