Archive for the ‘Featured’ Category:
Cookie Monster Metal (DaddyTube)
For this Cookie Monster Metal video, I’ll let the description speak for itself:
C is for Cookie, M is for METAL
A pioneer in early death metal, Cookie Monster brought his pertinent message to hungry youth.
Enjoy.
And then there’s this picture. Enjoy that too.
English: 2 person balloon hat paroding the Cookie Monster using 260s, 350s, 660s, and rounds, (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Astronauts Return To Earth – Do You Think Space Travel Is Cool?
Astronauts return to Earth! That’s right, folks, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly has touched down on terra firma, along with his fellow space travelers, after spending almost a full year on the International Space Station.
The above paragraph should be read in an old-timey newsreel type of voice. That’s how I heard it when I was writing it.
Mostly, as I’ve been saying — SPACE TRAVEL! It’s awesome.
English: S99-05705 – Astronaut Scott J. Kelly, commander (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Major Tom (OK, commander Scott Kelly) is back but NASA is apparently still working on getting to Mars. (See related links below.)
Mars. So cool.
Is anyone else excited about this? I mean obviously some people are. But are any of you folks? DaddyTips readers? Friends of DaddyTips readers? People who stumbled across this site from a search engine? Do you think space travel is cool?
When you hear “astronauts return to Earth” do you feel a little flutter in your gut? Or is it just another tidbit of news that flits by your eyes like so many digital space junk?
(Heh heh. Space junk. Sorry.)
For me, I’m happy to hear about space exploration and that it’s getting news coverage. That means that at least I’m not the only one still dreaming of hopping a flight to Mars.
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly is back on Earth.
Source: Scott Kelly back on Earth after nearly a year in space – CNN.com
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Deadpool Good. Don’t Take The Kids.
You may have heard that there is a movie based on the comic book character known as Deadpool. I have seen it. It is good. It is not for children. Don’t take the kids. Leave the kids at home. Can we be more clear?
That’s not to say the Deadpool movie isn’t childish. It’s totally childish, in the best way. (See this Nerdist review for more.) I’ve often said that video games should have an “IM” rating for “Immature” instead of “M” for “Mature”, because often “Mature” means dirty jokes and boobies. The Deadpool movie has both of those, but it also does a nice job of showing the darker side of the title character, showing that it would kind of suck to be Wade Wilson.
More importantly for ‘Pool fans (of which I am one), the movie hits a lot of things from the comic books from which DP spawned (including the whole “it would suck to be Wade Wilson” part). That’s something that a lot of the reviews I’ve been reading seem to forget, or perhaps the critics simply don’t know the source material. (“Use the Source, Luke.”) Deadpool doesn’t break the fourth wall because the filmmakers thought it would be “cute” or “subversive”, he does it because that’s how the character is written. He knows he’s in a comic book, therefore he knows he’s in a movie. It’s a fairly simple concept that has huge potential, some of which was realized in this movie.
Also worth mentioning is that the Deadpool movie is not excessively long. It’s under two hours, which these days feels like a gift. We all know I loved The Avengers movie, and that was a long flick. But there’s something to be said for leaving people wanting more instead of dragging on for too long.
Something else: can we get some love for Leslie Uggams? She makes a great Blind Al, and the filmmakers manage to work her into the movie seamlessly, which was a pleasant surprise. I’m a little annoyed that she isn’t getting more attention. Here’s a classic video of her from a long time ago when she messed up the lyrics to a song but kept going anyway. I like Leslie. Always have.
The entire cast is solid, but Ryan Reynolds and T.J. Miller are getting enough press. Let’s hear it for Leslie Uggams!
Bottom line: the Deadpool movie is fun, violent, and not for young kids. You could do worse for a Valentine’s Day date film, depending upon who your date is.
If you want to pick up a good Deadpool comic, this one, the start of a fantastic run by Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn, with art by Tony Moore (at least for awhile), is a good place to start: Deadpool Vol.1: Dead Presidents, currently available for only $3.99 on Comixology/Kindle, which is a freakin’ bargain. You can read the entire run via Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, which I’ve gone on and on about and is still a great deal.
I leave you with this image. It has nothing to do with Deadpool, it is a public domain image of a comic book featuring characters that are unlikely to ever get any screen time at all. Although Magno & Davey does have a certain ring to it…
FourFavorites0801 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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Teach Your Children About Proper Passwords (Tips)
This article from ZDNet about the worst passwords of 2015 reminds me to remind you that it’s important to teach your children about proper passwords.
What is a proper password? Pretty much anything not on ZDNet’s list.
No, we’re not calling you a dummy. But computer security is important, and it’s never too early to start talking to your children about it. Well, maybe toddler age is too young. But as soon as they have any sort of online account, they need to understand that importance of strong passwords.
(Aside to parents of younger children: don’t be surprised if your kid comes home from school with an account on a website you’ve never heard of. Nothing nefarious. But a lot of educators are using online resources these days, and many of these sites require a login, and therefore… a password.)
Not sure what we mean by bad passwords? Here are a few examples.
Good stuff like 123456. Or the still popular password.
Apparently, Star Wars themed passwords became popular last year, because of that movie you probably heard a thing or two about. (Something about a force waking up? You know the one I mean.)
Anyway, bottom line, and our DaddyTip for today is to teach your children to use good passwords. For examples of bad passwords, hit the link below.
Many of the new entries are dictionary-based words, but many of the passwords from the year prior are increasing in popularity.
Source: These were the worst passwords of 2015, and they’re only getting worse | ZDNet
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There are Star Wars: The Force Awakens Contrarians
I enjoyed Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and the movie has received much critical acclaim. Great! May they make all the money.
However, I also think it’s important that there are other voices out there. People who say “this stinks” or at least “this isn’t as good as everyone says it is”. Otherwise we’re all mindless drones bowing to our corporate overlords. Not to be over-dramatic about it. But it rarely ends well when EVERYBODY agrees.
Star Wars – Sand People (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Deutsch: „Star Wars”-Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
And OK, sure. It’s just a movie. It’s just Star Wars. But it’s also more than just Star Wars. It’s entertainment, it’s escapist, it’s fun, it’s all good… as long as we can see the flaws. Or as long as we aren’t blindly devoted to the blockbuster.
DaddyTips readers (and pretty much anyone who knows me) are well aware of my love for the Avengers movie. I am willing to acknowledge that there are parts of the film that aren’t perfect. It’s a thing that makes me happy, and I think those things are important. For example, I don’t believe in “guilty pleasures” unless your guilty pleasure is something you should feel guilty about doing, such as clubbing baby seals. Watching a movie that you know isn’t great but you like it anyway? Please. (I do not, for the record, put The Avengers movie in that category. At all. I’ve seen it more than ten times. I might watch it again today.) That being said, I have no problem with someone who doesn’t like the movie, be they a friend or a professional film critic. I enjoy reading/hearing a different point of view than mine. As long as they have more to say than just this:
This article from Vox, titled “Critics are going too easy on Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, written by David Roberts (whose bio says “I write about energy and climate change” — and Star Wars, apparently, which shows how big a deal this movie is, in case you hadn’t noticed), makes some good points, and also has links to other Vox articles that are worth reading, including one that supposedly explains what the heck The First Order is. (I haven’t read it yet, hence the “supposedly explains”. Keep in mind that I did see the movie, but I still don’t really know what The First Order is. For the record, it doesn’t really matter, except that it does. Which is basically my point. If that’s confusing, ask me and I’ll explain.)
Bottom line: you can like a movie and know that it’s flawed, you can dislike a movie and acknowledge what’s good about it, you can hate a movie that everyone says is great — you should make your own decisions. I’ll even go so far as to call this a DaddyTip. In what way? The tip is that you shouldn’t let your kids get sucked into the blind devotion of a movie. I’m not suggesting you hit them over the head with criticism either, especially if they’re young. But let them know that it’s OK if they don’t 100% LOVE every single minute of this new Star Wars movie even if their friends do, or any other piece of entertainment for that matter. Be clever. Be a contrarian. Look at things with a critical eye as well as the eye of a fan. Understand that entertainment is awesome, and that it’s fun to escape from reality. Just make sure that you don’t completely forget about reality when the movie is over.
Or join the crowd and love it. That’s also an option, and probably easier.
Being derivative is not some clever pomo statement — it’s just derivative.
Source: Critics are going too easy on Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Vox
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Star Wars Stuff To 3D Print
Remember when you had to go out and actually buy Star Wars toys? (Or any toys for that matter?) No more! Now you can 3D print all sorts of Star Wars stuff at home.
Provided you have a 3D printer of course.
ZDNet has a list of 20 Star Wars trinkets you can download and 3D print now. As in NOW. Immediately. (Again, assuming you have a 3D printer. If you don’t, you can’t.)
This one is our favorite.
Luke come over to the dual side. Together we will fill the universe with two colored objects.
Heh. It’s funny cuz it’s true.
I don’t know where this stuff falls in the realm of copyright, since these are all items that I could see being sold at ThinkGeek or any number of similar retailers. But that is not for us to decide. The full list has a bunch of extremely nifty items, so if you’ve got a 3D printer, odds are good that you’ll find something there that you want. With the new Star Wars movie now in theaters, it’d be fun to surprise the kids with something special that they can’t get in stores, like the Luke/Vader switch plate pictured above.
And of course, may the force be with you. Always.
Source: Star Wars Switch Cover Plate Episode 2: Attack of the Dual Extruders by Shapespeare – Thingiverse
H/T ZDNet
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Understanding Snapchat
Do you have trouble understanding Snapchat? Yeah. Us too.
I’m trying to understand Snapchat. All the kids are into it, but it confuses me.
The latest version of Snapchat allows you to make goofy animations of your face. Here’s a video from Buzzfeed of people using… well, they’re called New Selfie Filters.
The new filters were introduced in September but I didn’t notice because I don’t use Snapchat. Mostly this is because it baffles me. That said, these animations are very easy to use and pretty funny. Think Emojis, but animated, and with your face on them. We’re all doomed, but at least we can make short video clips of ourselves puking up rainbows before the inevitable apocalypse.
Want to puke rainbows or put horns on your head? This is how to use the new Snapchat Selfie Filters.
What We’ve Figured Out So Far
First: get the latest version of the Snapchat app on your mobile device (iOS or Android).
Second: switch the camera to Selfie Mode. Usually this is a little symbol with arrows on it in the upper right corner of the screen.
Third: hold your finger over your face. Not your ACTUAL face. The image of your face on your phone or tablet. When you do this, a bunch of little images should appear at the bottom of your screen. Scroll through them until you find one that you like.
Fourth: hold down the red Record button and make your video.
Fifth: send it to someone.
Having trouble? Leave a comment and we’ll try to help. Don’t be embarrassed; it took us way longer to figure out than it should have. But that’s OK. We’re good enough, we’re smart enough, and doggone it, people like us.
