First Links

Senator on Internet Policy Subcommittee Has "Never Sent an Email". To quote Charlie Brown, Good Grief. This really shouldn't surprise anybody but obviously it has. There are all sorts of simple everyday tasks that you and I might do that politicians (especially life time ones like Graham) will never have to deal with. And this isn't a Left vs Right thing. Just today Hillary Clinton says she used a personal e-mail server for work because she didn't want to have to carry two phones. Because smart phones can only handle one e-mail address. Because it's still 2003.

Good Jorb America, way to democracy well.

Why America's Internet Is So Shitty and Slow. Speaking of the internet, here's another good read by Gizmodo that lays out (in real basic, basic terms) why US internet is so awful compared to oh I don't know pick a country. Japan, Korea, Finland, Ireland... wait? Ireland. Jeez that's kinda depressing.

Taurus First 24 Kit. What do you guys think? Is a kit like this a good idea to have just in case you need it or is it nonsense marketed to people who've seen too many episodes of Z Nation? Personally, I have a really terrible emergency kit in the house that's filled with food that probably expired 2 years ago. Is adding a gun insane or practical?

Eight Of The Strangest Animated TV Shows From The 1980s. Oh man, Kid Video was my jam. I LOVED that show. I wish it would show up on Netflix so I can torment my kids with it.

Celebrating gaming at PAX East 2015. PAX East was this last weekend, you know what that means? It's officially convention season! ECCC is right around the corner. This year things get serious. I've taken the day before the convention off just so I can prepare for Friday. Plus I've been ebaying my budget up the last few weeks. If things work out I'm going to walk out with a lot of cool swag on Sunday.

Automata: The Trailer

A couple weeks ago I discovered there was a youtube app for the Roku, it's a bit clunky but it has this nice browsing feature that shows you trending videos in different categories. Early this morning while I was trying to get my daughter to fall back asleep I was dinking around on it and I caught the trailer for Automata. Aside from a horrible 5 seconds of Melanie Griffith's acting it looks really really cool. Unsurprisingly the indie I Robot rip off will probably be better than the Offical hollywood blockbuster I Robot adaption.

What do you think, will we see bipedal robots like these in our lifetime? How about artificial intelligence that's self aware? When you think about how far we've come with computers and technology in just the last 30 years it doesn't seem completely crazy, does it?

I'm not saying you should start prepping for the robot apocalypse now but maybe you should start thinking about it. Once robots realize what bastards humans are, it won't take them that long to go full skynet on us.

Last Friday's Links Late

The McDonalds Monopoly Fraud. Get this, for years the McDonalds Monopoly contest was rigged. For roughly 6 years an employee at a company McDonalds subcontracted out to run promotions was straight up stealing the rarest pieces and selling them or giving them away. 6 years!

It funny because I eat at McDonalds way too much and for years have dreamed about winning the Monopoly contest. I'm even one of those sad saps that will supersize my order or get nuggets just to get extra pieces. It's the only time I play something close to the lottery. I feel like Mouth felt in the Goonies when he started taking back his wishes: "Yeah, but you know what? This one, this one right here. This was my dream, my wish. And it didn't come true. So I'm taking it back. I'm taking them all back."

Motoped Survival Bike. Last week I rode my bike for the first time in about 6 years. Maybe I would ride it more if it came with a motor and a mother chunkin crossbow. Tell me I wouldn't be the coolest dad on the block riding around on this thing towing one of those bright yellow baby carriers. You better say I'm the coolest, I have a crossbow.

11 Characters Marvel Studios should consider for a female led film. Like many marvel zombies I'm a big proponent of a Captain Marvel movie but she's not the only female comic character ready to make the leap to the big screen. She Hulk would be great and a Black Widow movie could be very cool. If Marvel really wanted to stay a step ahead of DC they should go all in and make a Ms Marvel movie with Kamala Khan. You could make it on 1/10th the budget of a Guardians or Avengers and just market the shit out of it to tweens and YA readers. They wouldn't just beat DC to the punch they would practically be inventing a whole new genre of superhero movie.

Zoe Saldana on Going Green and the Importance of Teenage Boys. Yeah this is a weird read. Either Zoe Saldana is super insecure and just NEEDS younger men to think she's attractive or she's bought into the worst hollywood sterotypes that comic book/action/adventure/science fiction movies are for pimply faced teenage boys and if you don't feed them a hot chick your movie will be unsuccessful. Either way this article is kinda depressing.

Behold, Twerk Bot

Hey Kids, remember Basement Jaxx? I think they had a hit in like 2001. Get Your Head Up, does that sound right? Doesn't matter I guess, here's their newest video in which scientists create a functional Twerk Bot. What's next a robot that can Merengue? Lambada? Cabbage Patch? Man, this is just one more step towards the robot apocalypse. At least it's a sexy step.

Amazon would like to bring about the robot apocalypse a bit sooner

I'm sure you've already seen this on the News/Facebook/Grandma's Pintrest but yesterday Amazon blew everyone's minds away when they announced that they were working on a 30 minute delivery option that would have your packages of less than 5 pounds delivered to you via flying robot drone. It really is terrifying. We're like 2 steps away from skynet here.

33 Beautiful Abandoned Places

This post on Imgur of the 33 Most Beautiful Abandoned Places in the World is really something else. I really love the bobsled track and the fishing hut in Germany. The hut really reminded me of a spot in Skyrim. I'm not sure what that says about me.

Normally this is one of those things that I would save for a links post but I'm thinking of taking a nap instead.

Kill it with fire

Here's video of Boston Dynamics newest robotic abomination the WildCat. If it's not the most terrifying thing in the world just imagine packs of these things with giant metal claws roaming the streets. Everyone is worried about zombies but it's the robot apocalypse that's going to get us.

True Nerd For Links

You're not a nerd, geeks aren't sexy and you don't "fucking love" science. Mmmmmm, now that's some good hate. Depending on who you ask we're either living in a golden age for nerds or the dark ages. I think it all started with Rachel wearing the Slave Leia outfit for Ross on Friends. All of the sudden something at one time considered nerdy and shameful was out there and presented in a way that was easily acceptable to middle america. Before you know it Michael Bay is making a billion dollars with Transformers and Dwayne Wade is wearing ridiculous looking glasses at press conferences.

Personally I think the whole fake nerd vs real nerd is stupid. If some celeb wants to wear a Dungeons and Dragons t-shirt great, it's no skin off my nose. My nerd cred isn't going anywhere. Everything comes and goes, soon enough all us nerds will be back in our parents basements reading our comics sad and alone while all the cool kids are dancing to boy bands in hammer pants.

A Female Cosplayer’s Message to Rude Guys: “Nope. Stop Talking.” Well this is a giant can of worms here isn't it? My wife believes that if you cosplay as Slave Leia or Emma Frost you're pretty much asking for nerds to slobber all over you. I think that no matter how you dress up at a convention you have the right to be treated with respect. I think we both have pretty good points, it's just the eternal debate over what should happen vs what will happen. Also... boobs.

This Summer’s Drought Could Be the New Normal. I Hope You Didn’t Like Trees! Forget global warming, I'm positive the sun is spiraling closer to the sun every year. Seeing Waterworld all those times is finally about to pay of.

Oh Hai Viper from The Wolverine Movie. I got nothing here, I just needed a 4th thing for my links. Wait, I mean "why doesn't she have green hair! As a nerd I'm outraged!"

SDCC Exclusive Links

Concept To Turn An Abandoned Area Of The City Into A Zombie Outbreak Experience Theme Park. And with that I am planning my next vacation to Detroit! This is a rad idea, take some dump of a city make it a real life apocalypse town and let the zombie hunt begin. This is the best thing Detroit has given us since Robocop.

Ouya: a $99 hackable Android game console. This is so in the developmental stages it's barely worth talking about. However it does remind me of my plans to put together a dedicated emulator PC from like 5 or 6 years ago. I'd like to think I'm close to getting a new PC, maybe I'll look at taking my existing computer and putting it to good use that way. A new SSD hard drive and slim case with a quiet fan and I could have a really slick looking MAME box.

The 17 Best Songs from 1991-1992. I really had no idea how much the early 90s formed my tastes in rap music before I read this list. It makes sense 91-92 would have been right around when I was learning to drive so all these songs would have been thumping in the Thunderbird. The only thing this list is missing is a little Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff. Loren, I think you still have my cassette single of Boom! Shake the Room.

The 20 Greatest Exclusives at 2012 Comic Con. The worst part about Comic Con (other than all the twihards) is that every year I hear via facebook that my friend from High School Andy is going. He owns a TV website thing and really is only going to network, he basically has no business being anywhere around a comic book convention and it's people like him that are ruining Cons everywhere and... (big breath)
I guess what I'm saying is I would glady stab Andy in the leg to get my hands on this SDCC exclusive Jar Jar Binks in carbonite.

Tips for surviving the inevitable Robot Uprising

Like many young men my age I used to believe that the zombie apocalypse was a real thing I would see in my lifetime and that I would be super prepared. Of course that was before this winter when we lost power at the house and my wife and I had to run crying to her parents house for heat and cable TV. Seriously, my fence can't even keep out the neighbors dog how is it supposed to stand up to a zombie horde?

So I have decided to ignore the upcoming zombie apocalypse and concentrate on something I can actually do something about. The robot uprising! Seriously, I can unplug a toaster, I can smash a roomba with a hammer. Bring it on robots you don't scare me!

BTW, the video above is hilarious.

Christmas List: Bash Unbreakable Sledge Hammer

Every day in December I plan on posting one thing from my official DevilDinosaur Christmas Wish List (patent pending). Why? Because I can.

December is a great time to stock up on your Zombie/Robot killing tools. The aptly-named Bash Unbreakable Sledge Hammer ($40-$160) boasts a steel-cored handle that prevents breakage, a high-visibility, drop-forged head that's flat on the end to allow it to stand upright, a textured grip, a safety plate that firmly locks the head in place to eliminate dislodging, an anti-vibration neck, and a lanyard hole on the end to secure the hammer to your wrist.

Basically this thing will f-up some zombies and never needs to be reloaded. Plus your arms will totally get ripped swinging this thing around.

Christmas List: Missle Silo House

Every day in December I plan on posting one thing from my official DevilDinosaur Christmas Wish List (patent pending). Why? Because I can.

Hang onto your butts cause today we have a Luxury Apocalypse Survival House Built On Top Of Cold War-Era Missile Silo. It's been a long time dream of mine to have some sort of kooky house and a cold war era missile silo definitely rates high on the kooky list. Plus it's practical, Zombie robots are coming why not hide underground?

actual pictures of the house after the jump

Woo Woo Woo Links

The guest and worst of RAW 9/19. Wolverine (or Hugh Jackman) showed up on RAW last night to help put over internet sensation woo woo woo Zack Ryder. It was the only time ever my wife hasn't rolled her eyes when I turned the channel to wrestling.

10 biggest missed opportunities in Sci-Fi and fantasy. Number one for me here is the Joss Wheadon Wonder Woman movie and it's not just because I want to see Eliza Dushku dressed as Wonder Woman. Wait.. yes, yes it is.

The internet's most dangerous celeb is Heidi Klum. Someone somewhere has determined that 1 in 10 internet searches for Heidi Klum lead to viruses or malware. I have never been more scared doing a search for an image to go with an article than I've been right here.

Why we're building a post-apocalyptic electric car. I've often thought of what Car I'd jack in robot-zombie apocalypse. I've always thought the Honda Ridgeline with a canopy would be a good bet. I figure whatever you go with it has to be a 4x4, for navigating downed power polls and piles of corpses. A 4 door truck with a canopy seems ideal, you can keep all your stuff dry but you don't have to sleep with the fumes from the spare gas cans. Plus the rear seat will double as a bed in a pinch. I picked the Ridgeline because a Honda just seems more reliable than anything else, plus it's got ridiculously high sides which has to be good keeping you safe from the zombie hordes. In closing, I think about zombies way too much.

Appalacian ghost towns

For whatever reason I find abandoned towns fascinating. Maybe it's because I think to much about the upcoming zombie-robot apocalypse and really when you think about it, a ghost town is just a town that's ahead of the apocalyptic curve. Keep that in mind when you're wondering why on earth I posted this.

The future is now, and it has a cheezy youtube video

You really never know when or how the world is going to come to an end, so it's best to be prepared for every possible scenario. From Zombies and Robot Uprisings to Y2K you can never be to prepared. One very real scenario that hardly gets any mention in the press these days is Waterworld. Just because the Kevin Costner movie was almost unwatchable doesn't make it any less of a possibility, what with all the global warming going on these days.

It's with that watersoaked, eyepatch wearing future in mind that I bring you the WaterCar! Whether you're looking to escape from jet-skiing pirates or pick up tramps at Lake Havasu the WaterCar has you covered.