Many apologies for this late announcement of our winners, but here it is:
First Place: Alec Lalani
Prize: $100 Brew Nerds GC, $25 Gamestop GC
Second Place: Colton Cortese
Prize: $50 Brew Nerds GC, $25 Ssalefish Comic GC
Third Place: We can’t find your info! Please contact us so we can give you your 15 milliseconds of fame…
here’s a link describing what makes them addictive.
(from the brainiacs at wired.com)
regretfully, an inexcusable amount of time has passed since my last post. an array of reasons has contributed to my absence from the world wide web. below, you can find an enumerated list of the most important factors, which can be categorized as either a) an important update or b) a poor excuse for not blogging.
1. the new store opening
brew nerds 2.0 opened, offering phenomenally stunning coffee to patrons residing in the downtown winston-salem vicinity, as well as to those willing to travel to the new mecca of caffeinated beverages. there were some glitches and delays, but things are running along smoothly now and we are one step closer to global domination.
2. preparing for defcon
i have been busy honing my capture the flag and hacking skills (white hat, of course) in preparation for defcon 16 which will take place this weekend in las vegas.
3. viewing the dark night
several days ago, i made the decision to trek to the local theatre to view the latest installment of the batman movies. in an effort to fully engage in my movie experience, i spent many hours preparing for the event by taking in the previous batman movies, reading up on my collection of batman graphic novels (or comic books, to the lay person), and searching the internet for obscure batman facts. in homage to the batman, i spent some time dusting off my collectible action figures of him and his various foes. i even went so far as to assemble several lego batman play sets. once i achieved the proper mindset, i was off to the theatre and i was not disappointed. i urge and implore all of my loyal readers to see it.
4. mario kart for the wii
this can most certainly be filed away in the category of b) excuse. something has come over me, and in every single moment of free time that i have (which is negligible in the first place), i am consumed with the need, the obsession, to play mario kart for the wii. i have unlocked almost all of the characters, cars and races, and with each one, the hunger for the next is increased. mario kart is my drug.
these will compliment the ascii curtains very well.
actually, since they appeal to two opposing interests of nerdiness (computers and video games), it would not be ideal to put these in the same room as the curtains.
last weekend, a new addition was welcomed into my home. i am now the proud owner of mario kart for my nintendo wii.
i have attempted, unsuccessfully, to evenly distribute my playing time in such a manner as to allow for my necessary daily tasks to go without suffering. however, each time i pass by my high definition, dynamic picture broadcasting device, in my peripheral vision, the glowing blue light on the wii console seems to be calling out for me. the force is strong with this one. my nerd instincts take over, and before i know what has happened, i find myself reclined in the video rocker, revolutionary wii wheel firmly in my grasp, racing furiously against internet participants across continent.
past experience indicates that once the novelty wears off, i can resume my daily routine as i once knew it, but for now, you can find me virtually located in the wii network, most likely in the form of yoshi.
it appears this blog has fallen victim to slight neglect and has suffered from a long interval between posts. to my faithful readers, i send my deepest apologies.
the fact is, there hasn’t been much to blog about in the life of leonard the coffee nerd.
last weekend, there was a halo 3 tournament at the local mall. not wanting to spend the rest of my existence in a state of “what might have been”, i headed over to put my skills to the test. unfortunately, i suffered an early demise, at the hands of some energetic teenagers. however, in my defense, video game prowess is widely considered (by the intellectual community) to be the pursuit of a geek, rather than that of a nerd. i am quite a sore loser and decided that there were more important endeavors to participate in, so i didn’t wait around to see who would be crowned the halo 3 mall champion.
the store is operating very smoothly. my employees have been eagerly gaining a wealth of knowledge concerning the best practices of making great coffee. they have also showed unwavering dedication and have completely embraced the brew nerds way. it increases the levels of serotonin in my brain when i see them engaged in the task of providing the masses with great coffee.
in my personal time, i’ve been investigating the subject of complex variables. it’s a topic of mathematics that has given me a lot of grief at times, but that i find most intriguing. mere mortals cannot wrap their brains around the concept of imaginary numbers, much less performing high level mathematical operations on them. i suppose that’s what seperates the brew nerds from the rest of the pack…
during my frequent excursions to brew nerds, i often overhear patrons of the establishment engaging in discourse about the differences of original pacman and ms. pacman. although i feel that my mental database of pacman information is sufficient, in an effort to obtain a comprehensive list for my fellow gaming aficionados, i did some research. my findings are below:
1. pacman has only one maze. ms. pacman has six different mazes (four styles, with 5 colors). the maze changes after each intermission.
2. pacman’s mazes have hollow walls. ms. pacman’s walls are solid.
3. pacman has one warp tunnel, connecting the left and right sides of the maze. ms. pacman has two warp tunnels (except for the third maze design which contains only one tunnel).
4. the programming in pacman used pre-set ghost movement patterns, which gamers were able to memorize and defeat each level. ms. pacman uses pseudo-random movement, making it much more difficult to predict the paths of the ghosts.
5. fruits appear in the center of the maze in pacman, whereas in ms. pacman, fruits enter the maze through one of the warp tunnels, bounce around the maze, and through another tunnel if not eaten.
6. the orange ghost is named clyde in pacman. in ms. pacman, her name is sue.
7. in pacman the intermissions were humorous animations starring pacman and the ghosts. in ms. pacman the three intermissions follow the relationship between pacman and ms. pacman.
8. ms. pacman rules.*
*note: this fact was not in my research. it is an axiom of the video game world.
a fellow coffee aficionado and pac-man fanatic has recorded a new high score at the brew nerds pacman table. i am certain that if i were to increase the amount of time spent refining my retro-gaming skills, that the high score would be mine expeditiously. however, i currently find myself consumed with other critical endeavors, and must humbly extend a congratulations to the bearer of the increased maximum score.
last friday, an integral element of the brew nerds atmosphere finally arrived in the form of a ms. pacman table. although there are other games available in this console, ms. pacman strikes a chord with myself and countless other nerds the world around, and is widely considered the best video game from -∞ to ∞.
i’m slightly humbled to report that the following high score came at the hands of a fellow (and rival) nerd.
whoever you are, know that i will soon overtake you and the high score will be all mine!
behold, all signs point to a splendid saturday on the horizon…
to begin my day in ultimate nerd fashion, i will stop into the store and enjoy a gratifying selection from the specialty coffee beverages. i will pair this with a princess leah cinnamon roll to create a perfect breakfast marriage. incidentally, at this time, i aspire to converse socially with a recently hired employee, whose aesthetically pleasing qualities and nerd attributes have caught my optical nerves.
my afternoon plans consist of several hours of WoW, a bag of cool ranch doritos and a six pack of mountain dew. a minimal, indefinite number of my closest cyber acquaintances will be convening with me online in warcraft universe for this activity.
as twilight approaches, some local fellow nerds will be joining me at my place for an informal social gathering. we will share in consuming approximately 2 to 3 pizzas and at least 2 twelve packs of various caffeinated, carbonated beverages. although definite plans have yet to be confirmed, there is a high probability (> 0.85) that we will spend the night competing in various wii games and sharing in a number of conversations pertaining to topics of higher thinking.
nerd utopia.