Garoo

Hi! Do you remember blogs? Well, this used to be one. Now it just serves as an archive for my multiple Twitter accounts.

1 August 2014

Out with the photoshop layer styles, in with the almost-flat minimalism. (Also, all hail the Retina screen.)

# 2014/08/01 - 18:21 — published on @garoo

Nom nom nom

# 2014/08/01 - 21:15 — published on Flickr

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a rather decent film, rather inexpertly directed. Still, probably my favorite of the Avengerses.

# 2014/08/01 - 23:58 — published on @garoo

2 August

Birdly the full-body VR flying experience

This is ridiculous and I totally want to try it someday.

# 2014/08/02 - 02:40 — published on @garooshepard

En sortant j’ai bien vérifié que j’avais rangé mon parapluie pour ne pas le trimbaler pour rien dans mon sac.

# 2014/08/02 - 18:01 — published on @garoo

18:09

# 2014/08/02 - 18:09 — published on Flickr

“Y’a trop de monde dans le métro, il pleut pas tant que ça, je vais marcher vite”

# 2014/08/02 - 18:16 — published on Flickr

“Vous reprendrez bien un peu de bronchite ? Vous avez presque fini vos glaires.”

# 2014/08/02 - 18:37 — published on @garoo

Le mec qui épluche son relevé de compte devant le distributeur pour décider s’il peut retirer de l’argent. Ah, the memories.

# 2014/08/02 - 18:57 — published on @garoo

3 August

S’asseoir tout à l’avant dans la 14 et, à chaque passage d’une rame en sens inverse, être surpris et épaté qu’il n’y ait pas de conducteur.

# 2014/08/03 - 01:53 — published on @garoo

I didn’t understand the need for a season 4 of The Killing, because I thought it would just be another case. I’m impressed they’d go there.

# 2014/08/03 - 19:18 — published on @garoo

4 August

Character development in The Killing’s season 4 was great; it’s a shame the plot was more contrived than ever.

And then, that awful finale.

# 2014/08/04 - 00:18 — published on @garoo

“I Spent 4 Seasons Waiting for The Killing to Be Great. It Didn’t Happen.”

# 2014/08/04 - 00:19 — published on @garoo

@stevenf:

How do you assign genres to things in iTunes without imagining a tiny music critic standing just behind you rolling his eyes

# 2014/08/04 - 00:39 — original tweet by @stevenf

@PocketGamer:

Groundbreaking FPS BioShock is coming to iOS this year. See the first screens and video inside [pocketgamer.co.uk]

# 2014/08/04 - 14:00 — original tweet by @PocketGamer

5 August

Snakes, why did it have to be snakes

# 2014/08/05 - 00:37 — published on Flickr

@simgust:

Thank you, Apple, for providing much needed ‘context’: [pic.twitter.com]

# 2014/08/05 - 12:52 — original tweet by @simgust

@neville_park:

MOTHER OF GOD. Hairless guinea pigs: basically house hippos. (cc @pangmeli, every other Canadian) [pic.twitter.com]

# 2014/08/05 - 14:47 — original tweet by @neville_park

Le paquet ouvert de Special K est tombé par terre sans se renverser. J’ai dépensé mon quota de chance pour la semaine sur… ça ?!

# 2014/08/05 - 17:08 — published on @garoo

Ce coup de stress à chaque fois que j’ouvre les comptes de la société dans Excel et que le contenu reste vide pendant trente secondes.

# 2014/08/05 - 17:29 — published on @garoo

Il va me falloir un meuble dédié

# 2014/08/05 - 21:42 — published on Flickr

I ❤️ Nora Durst.

# 2014/08/05 - 23:44 — published on @garoo

6 August

I’m watching Transcendence and at what point did Johnny Depp decide that the alpha and omega of Acting was making up a silly accent?

# 2014/08/06 - 01:06 — published on @garoo

I couldn’t bear for you to assume from the previous tweet that I’ve watched Transcendence all the way through.

# 2014/08/06 - 01:37 — published on @garoo

Noah (2014) ☆☆☆☆☆

I did not plan to say anything remotely positive about this film (except for how pretty it is) but, contrary to most of the reviews I remember reading, I found it to become much more entertaining the instant Noah turned into a sociopathic asshole. This may even be the one role Russell Crowe was born for. (As opposed to every single other character he played in his career.)

And, did I mention, the movie is very pretty. Plus, there’s Jennifer Connelly. Emma Watson’s a proper actress now. And Logan Lerman is scruffy. Ish. Well, he’s growing a couple hairs scattered around his facial area and it’s totally cute.

# 2014/08/06 - 03:57 — published on Sens Critique

17:32

# 2014/08/06 - 17:32 — published on Flickr

I’ve been using my 15MBPr without a second monitor since I came back from “vacation” and the results are in: Retina is so worth it.

# 2014/08/06 - 17:37 — published on @cedricbozzi

Navdy in-car head-up display

Wow.

# 2014/08/06 - 17:44 — published on @cedricbozzi

I think I hate pretty much everything about Road Not Taken. Except the cute design, of course.

# 2014/08/06 - 20:16 — published on @garooshepard

7 August

Disappointment. Besson’s The Lady is not bad enough to be entertaining.

# 2014/08/07 - 02:23 — published on @garoo

21:16

# 2014/08/07 - 21:16 — published on Flickr

21:43

# 2014/08/07 - 21:43 — published on Flickr

“Casey Hudson leaves BioWare”

How far along was Mass Effect 4’s story before he left? Asking for a friend.

# 2014/08/07 - 23:09 — published on @garooshepard

Godus looks very pretty on an iPad Air. It also looks pointless and the compulsory sign-in appears to be completely broken so screw that.

# 2014/08/07 - 23:56 — published on @garooshepard

8 August

Touch Racing 2 for iPad is hardly the game of the year, but has the cleverest control scheme for controlling RC vehicles. And good physics.

# 2014/08/08 - 02:22 — published on @garooshepard

“2048 : J’avoue, je triche un peu”

# 2014/08/08 - 14:19 — published on @garoo

I’m looking up squatters’ rights in France

# 2014/08/08 - 21:26 — published on Flickr

Though a bit fiddly, Godus makes such obvious sense on iPad that it’s clear releasing it on the PC at all was basically a Kickstarter con.

# 2014/08/08 - 22:45 — published on @garooshepard

9 August

I don’t know why I’m still playing Godus on iPad but I do know this: Sir Peter Molyneux has 100% turned to the dark side of the Force.

# 2014/08/09 - 04:18 — published on @garooshepard

A weird alternating mix of zen calm and irrepressible panic

And that’s another hour of my life I’ll never get back.

# 2014/08/09 - 18:52 — published on @garoo

But… that’s my seat

# 2014/08/09 - 20:43 — published on Flickr

10 August

Massively multiplayer minesweeper for iPad

I will never have time to work — or sleep — again.

# 2014/08/10 - 05:43 — published on @commandergaroo

An actual Populous successor made with that tech would have been awesome, and a commercial success, and… it would surely have earned much less money than Godus will end up making.

# 2014/08/10 - 19:44 — published on @commandergaroo

11 August

Ah, donc dans Paris intra-muros les Monoprix ferment à 21h mais tous les autres supermarchés sont restés sur 22h. That makes sense.

# 2014/08/11 - 20:44 — published on @garoo

12 August

I am rather horrified by how quickly my brain relearned all the Minesweeper patterns — even though I hadn’t played in a decade.

# 2014/08/12 - 02:30 — published on @garoo

Oh. Damn.

# 2014/08/12 - 03:12 — published on @garoo

“Youpi, mon iPhone a chargé un nouveau podcast pour me changer les idées avant de dormir—oh, il est enregistré avec les pieds, inécoutable.”

# 2014/08/12 - 03:48 — published on @garoo

I don’t get it. For Tomb Raider to be excusive to the Xbox One, Microsoft must have paid roughly as much as the game would have earned on PS4 and PC, right? (In part directly to Square Enix’s bank account, in part as a marketing commitment.) I can’t imagine the game will ever be enough of a system seller to justify the investment — especially when half the fan base will profoundly resent everyone involved.

This reeks of a panic move. “We need exclusives! Our IPs are waning and we don’t have any new ones coming! SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING!”

# 2014/08/12 - 15:57 — published on Tumblr

A thought for the head of Crystal Dynamics, would had no say in the decision and will receive most of the hate

# 2014/08/12 - 16:01 — published on @commandergaroo

“Typefaces and the handwriting of the designers behind them”

# 2014/08/12 - 16:35 — published on @garoo

“Paul McCartney Scores ‘Destiny’ Video Game”

What do you do when Activision’s money is burning a hole in your pocket?

# 2014/08/12 - 17:44 — published on @commandergaroo

I have no idea what’s going on, but yes please #wild

# 2014/08/12 - 21:17 — published on @commandergaroo

Far Cry 4’s “Keys to Kyrat” is limited to 10 times 2 hours

Far less impressive than the initial announcement implied.

# 2014/08/12 - 21:23 — published on @commandergaroo

There may be benefits after all to storing the food, and eating, in a separate room from where you spend your day.

# 2014/08/12 - 21:31 — published on @garoo

13 August

I don’t play scary games, but that “P. T.” thing is really well done, and has lovely visuals (as simple as the setting may be). You shouldn’t expect me to buy the game it’s teasing, though.

Also, I feel like I got stuck on a bug after I died, blocking any further progression, but… it would be hard to tell, wouldn’t it. No matter — the idea that a bug forced me to quit suits me just fine, thanks.

# 2014/08/13 - 02:36 — published on Tumblr

Ca fait une éternité que je n’ai pas vu un film d’épouvante. Je crois que je suis tombé petit dans la marmite et je ne vois plus l’intérêt.

# 2014/08/13 - 02:59 — published on @garoo

Ca fait un mois que je ne suis pas sorti danser et les Instagram du Circuit Festival me donnent des poussées d’agoraphobie. My life is over.

# 2014/08/13 - 05:27 — published on @garoo

Even when “clarifying” whether Rise of the Tomb Raider is a timed exclusivity, Phil Spencer still muddies the waters — note how he liberally mixes usages of “the game” vs. “the franchise” so that you can’t quite tell if a version of Rise is gonna come out on PlayStation, or just ulterior games in the franchise.

I guess he wouldn’t need to be purposefully obscure if Microsoft did have perpetual exclusivity on Rise of the Tomb Raider itself, but… damn, fuck PR speak, and fuck Microsoft for making me parse announcements like a lawyer.

# 2014/08/13 - 19:34 — published on Tumblr

It looks so quaint to us when we see, in an American show or movie, the chief of police working for, and answering to, the town’s mayor. It’s like a sheriff in the Wild West! Except Ferguson is the other side of that coin, and then it’s not so quaint anymore.

# 2014/08/13 - 19:55 — published on Tumblr

Cat be all, hey, you got two hands, why you petting me with just one?

# 2014/08/13 - 21:40 — published on @garoo

14 August

Le tiroir à poubelles de la cuisine est motorisé, alors je groupe mes déchets pour ne pas trop le déranger #animisme #pareidolie

# 2014/08/14 - 18:51 — published on @garoo

“Third Person Driving with a Drone”

# 2014/08/14 - 20:02 — published on @commandergaroo

Assassin’s Creed Unity: Notre-Dame gameplay

I had sworn off this franchise, but I really can’t wait now.

# 2014/08/14 - 22:35 — published on @commandergaroo

15 August

A new gameplay video for Far Cry 4 shows you “fighting alongside a mythical white tiger in the spiritual world of Shangri-La” so… I think the meme would say “your argument is invalid.”

It’s still not going to be a preorder for me, though, because I’m terribly worried about the writing, what with the narrative director shitting on the previous game’s story only to introduce an effete-but-totally-heterosexual sociopathic villain ripped right out of 1970s cinema. But I’ll have my Amazon order ready as soon as the reviews come out.

By the way, Far Cry 3’s writer, Jeffrey Yohalem, is interviewed in this month’s Gay Times (to promote Child of Light). There isn’t much of note in the article; I’m just always happy to verify that my gaydar is properly calibrated. Also, I found out he’s responsible for the… uh, affective tension? between Ezio and Da Vinci, which makes me like him even more.

# 2014/08/15 - 01:19 — published on Tumblr

An appreciation of The Leftovers: “It reminds me in a way of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis”

# 2014/08/15 - 01:30 — published on @garoo

How cool would it be if the 12-inch MacBook Air was also an iPad Pro? Not dual-booting: both OSes running at all times, sharing the battery.

# 2014/08/15 - 04:18 — published on @cedricbozzi

20:56

# 2014/08/15 - 20:56 — published on Flickr

21:33

# 2014/08/15 - 21:33 — published on Flickr

16 August

I just realized while reading an article about dog training that dogs are actually the first programmable robots we created.

# 2014/08/16 - 07:30 — published on @garoo

Instantanément je regrette d’avoir descendu les escaliers vers Paris Plage.

# 2014/08/16 - 18:39 — published on @garoo

18:51

# 2014/08/16 - 18:51 — published on Flickr

Je voudrais bien un immeuble comme ça pour mes bureaux

# 2014/08/16 - 19:18 — published on Flickr

Realized after the fact that Godus had turned me into an unwitting genocidal monster. I would have loved if an actual game had done that.

# 2014/08/16 - 21:09 — published on @commandergaroo

17 August

17:19

# 2014/08/17 - 17:19 — published on Flickr

@edyong209:

If you buy the Gilmore Girls box set, you get a book that’s a glossary of all their references. It’s amazing.

# 2014/08/17 - 18:31 — original tweet by @edyong209

18 August

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) ☆☆☆☆☆

That was a tough movie to evaluate, because for once I had completely fallen for the online buzz. There were some perfectly credible people out there comparing this movie to the original Star Warses and… well, if it’s not exactly false, that’s more of a frustrating commentary of how modern cinema has lost its sense of fun and wonder than it is an accurate description of Guardians.

So the movie’s clever and pretty and overall more than enjoyable, but when trying to decide on a rating I ended up with the realization: it’s not memorable at all, is it. The characters certainly are, but memorable characters make for a good TV show, not a blockbuster movie. The action is utterly forgettable — especially the final set piece, which ~~could be done in any other Marvel movie~~ has been done in every other Marvel movie. Locations are varied and mostly well designed, but poorly exploited. (Inspired by the Star Wars comparisons, I kept wishing the action were shown in wider shots.) And, most of all, I felt that the movie suffered from how cartoonish all its antagonists were. It looked like the script had always dreamed of being a space fantasy epic when it grew up, but the movie reluctantly ended up stuck with its comic-book roots. Bottom line, Lee Pace and Benicio del Toro did not belong in the same movie as the protagonists. Even though two of them were a raccoon and a tree.

Speaking of Lee Pace, that was a body double for his first scene, riiiight?

# 2014/08/18 - 00:02 — published on Sens Critique

It just occurred to me that the parts of Guardians of the Galaxy I didn’t like remind me of The Fifth Element. It makes sense then that most of the audience would enjoy the movie better than I did.

# 2014/08/18 - 00:34 — published on @garoo

Un plan cul ? Oh, tu es mignon, mais je ne peux pas, là, je ne peux pas lâcher le démineur sur mon iPad.

# 2014/08/18 - 02:51 — published on @garoo

“Twitter’s Latest Experiment Puts Favorites in the Timeline”

Can a social service ever resist its fear of stagnation? It’s like the entire industry learned the wrong lesson from the death of MySpace.

# 2014/08/18 - 03:50 — published on @cedricbozzi

@FliDiFlouFliFla:

Quand quelqu’un me plaît en boîte, à 3h du mat’ après 5 vodkas j’y vais, j’y vais pas, surtout: rester naturel! [pic.twitter.com]

# 2014/08/18 - 11:50 — original tweet by @FliDiFlouFliFla

@anildash:

Lifehack: Turn a 5-minute task into a months-long ordeal by stressing out over it & avoiding thinking about it except right before bedtime.

# 2014/08/18 - 19:03 — original tweet by @anildash

More info about Far Cry 4’s Shangri-La missions

# 2014/08/18 - 21:11 — published on @commandergaroo

20 August

Paul Rudd… is a superhero now?! I know there will eventually exist more Marvel franchises than recognizable actors, but still.

# 2014/08/20 - 00:55 — published on @garoo

Matthew Weiner is on this week’s Nerdist. He’s really smart and really funny and I shouldn’t be surprised at all, but I always assume the worst about people.

# 2014/08/20 - 05:39 — published on Tumblr

I have a vague recollection that my main gripe with Mailbox was its lack of a desktop counterpart, making it useless since I do almost none of my email handling on iOS.

It’s ironic that the Mac version is coming out now that I’ve switched my main e-mail away from Gmail. Damnit.

# 2014/08/20 - 17:04 — published on Tumblr

“Brazilian judge tells Apple and Google to pull Secret from people’s devices Oops, I don’t think anyone envisioned that when they both announced that their App Stores had remote kill-switches.

# 2014/08/20 - 17:14 — published on Tumblr

Google Photo Sphere is really impressive. I’m not gonna post a picture of my bedroom on Google Maps, so why don’t you try it for yourself instead.

# 2014/08/20 - 17:19 — published on @cedricbozzi

@monkbent:

All of my wife’s friends switched from iPhone to Android for the bigger screens. Every single one intends on buying the iPhone 6.

# 2014/08/20 - 17:52 — original tweet by @monkbent

J’ai dû manger presque équilibré ces temps-ci, les m&m’s crispy sont complètement écoeurants. Alors je me force à finir pour me réhabituer.

# 2014/08/20 - 23:07 — published on @garoo

21 August

You’re Jon Snow in TV’s Game of Thrones. Hollywood is yours for the taking. You choose… a fucking gladiator movie by Paul W.S. Anderson.

# 2014/08/21 - 00:20 — published on @garoo

I’m not sure anymore whether The Leftovers is about cults or werewolves. But, hey, it’s fun. (Well, not “fun” fun, clearly.)

# 2014/08/21 - 02:23 — published on @garoo

@Jaimes:

Finally, see through solar panels. Now windows can be energy sources. [sciencedaily.com] … [pic.twitter.com]

# 2014/08/21 - 14:22 — original tweet by @Jaimes

Michael Bay’s “Up”

# 2014/08/21 - 16:38 — published on @garoo

22 August

Didn’t think the Walking Dead comic could still pull of an “oh shit” moment at this stage. Wonder where it is going from here.

# 2014/08/22 - 03:23 — published on @garoo

“Watch Dogs update finally lets you hack your friends”

Je suppose que plus aucun de mes contacts n’y joue ?

# 2014/08/22 - 15:20 — published on @commandergaroo

The makers of Glitché have created a free iPhone app specifically for messing up selfies

# 2014/08/22 - 20:41 — published on @garoo

23 August

I feel like at this time last year I had grown much more accepting of iOS 7’s design than I have today of Yosemite’s. Am I misremembering?

# 2014/08/23 - 01:17 — published on @cedricbozzi

Radiolab at its best this week: Scientists communicating with dolphins

# 2014/08/23 - 02:30 — published on @garoo

@Izual_:

Sinon, Dishonored à 3,74€ sur Steam et gratos ce week-end, si vous ne l’essayez pas je vous tabasse. Bien cordialement.

# 2014/08/23 - 12:12 — original tweet by @Izual_

I wasn’t thrilled with this season of Korra, but that was a great finale. (I’ve tweeted the same thing every year, haven’t I?)
A discussion on Twitter clarified why: I enjoyed spending time with The Last Airbender’s major characters, even when there was no action, whereas the entirety of Korra’s cast is annoying, so the show is only fun when big story moments happen. Jinora is pretty much the only exception, but she is more of a plot device than a developed character.

# 2014/08/23 - 21:11 — published on @garoo

24 August

Je rentre chez moi avec mon écharpe et ma bronchite, devinez où j’ai passé mes vacances d’août. Hint : je n’ai pas fait de ski.

# 2014/08/24 - 00:43 — published on @garoo

D’un côté, le nouveau “jardin” des Halles est complètement déprimant. De l’autre, on peut le traverser à une heure du matin. Choices.

# 2014/08/24 - 00:47 — published on @garoo

Pour une fois que j’avais une idée de jeu iOS dont je pouvais faire les règles, les graphismes, et l’app… je ne sais pas faire le serveur.

# 2014/08/24 - 18:23 — published on @garoo

25 August

I’m not saying it will be missed when it’s inevitably cancelled, but Extant is not nearly as bad as you’d assume from the clichéd premise.

# 2014/08/25 - 02:06 — published on @garoo

Does HBO donate to suicide hotlines in order to offset The Leftovers’ depression footprint?

# 2014/08/25 - 22:37 — published on @garoo

Sidenote: I was annoyed last week by the way The Leftovers turned *** into a cackling villain, but this episode actually managed to justify it pretty well.

# 2014/08/25 - 22:57 — published on @garoo

26 August

I can’t quite decide whether I had already watched the assembly cut of Alien 3. Either way, I still love that movie, dodgy CG and all.

# 2014/08/26 - 04:44 — published on @garoo

27 August

@foresmac:

Wow—all those sweet photos in the IKEA catalog are just rendered 3D scenes. [cgsociety.org]

# 2014/08/27 - 15:43 — original tweet by @foresmac

“The Taser Photoshoot: Portraits of People’s Faces When Hit With A Stun Gun”

Watch both videos (via @jarodinou)

# 2014/08/27 - 16:24 — published on @garoo

Ahh, apparently Twitter Analytics doesn’t count impressions in third-party clients. Fine for brands, not so much for geeky users. (Also not great for end users: Analytics doesn’t give a fuck about the stuff you retweet.)

# 2014/08/27 - 21:58 — published on @garoo