Blaine Allen Brown

I made a puppet.

Cards Against Humanity I hate Cards Against Humanity. They were playing it in anime club (I also hate everyone in anime club). It all started when one of the openly gay members of anime club ran into a room saying, "Who wants to go to hell? We're all going to be racist and sexist!" I mention his sexuality only because 1.) he did and 2.) the irony of his insensitivity. He cleared off a table and they all began to play. I don't have any friends in anime club (or anywhere else, really), so I sat nearby and watched. Eight white kids and one black kid circled around and started passing our cards. "It's okay to send the racist cards to him," the leader, who also claims to be a stand up comedian, said. "He's the only black guy here so it's not racist." To this I said, "Wait, doesn't that make it more racist?" "That's what makes it funny!" the black guy exclaimed. I laughed uneasily. What was I going to...

When I saw xkcd 1110 I thought it was pretty cool, but I found it tedious to constantly drag. I inspected the html source, and then some javascript code to try and find the pattern for naming the images. I enlisted the help of my friend Nick, a programmer at Action Button Entertainment. He edited some of the js and made a php file that shows all of them. I then used HTTrack to download that file and all the files referenced. I packaged the directory into a zip which you can take. Please someone put this in a google maps format or something. Note: You'll notice a lot of the images are 404 html files. That's because Randall Munroe wisely reused the white and black tiles. Therefore these files are either white or black. Download the zip file here .

Working on pixel art today. Man, I could use some tacos after all this.

Apparently [on Tumblr] you can't reblog yourself. WHY ARE ALL THESE LIMITATIONS ON WEB SERVICES?! Someday I'll make my own social network. It will be a service you can install on your own website and your friends can join. But! it's a protocol that can talk to other sites that host that service. Think like email. Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, and even Schools and Organizations all have their own version of email, but they can all talk to each other! how great would that be? So like in my idea, people can use tumblr if they want to host their social media. Or they could use missing e. Or they could host it on their own website (like I would use halloweenbagsearly.com). Anyway, this is how things should work. The only reason services don't do this is because they want to be able to sell you ads and have control over your information. Boo.

This is what I've been working on today. Sprite animation is hard, but it seems like I can do it!

So here is a collection of heads that I've modeled. I made bodies too but they're not super interesting. I've been following tutorials here and here (which is why you can see my first face is similar to ward7299's . The latest ones are my best stab ad a female face. I gave the lady lips where the men have none and I feel a little bad about this. When I write I try to follow the rule of "write a person, not a gender stereotype" but none of my faces looked like I wanted until I did it this way. The two tan heads are me trying to get toon shading to look right (I could not get it to work). Anyway, I'm taking a break from that and moving on to hardcore writing so that I can have something to test animate! So.. expect that soon.

Everyone knows that using capslock goes against internet etiquette. Since you are no longer writing screaming emails, you can use that key for something more productive. Using a program called KeyTweak you can remap any of the functions on your keyboard. KeyTweak can remap the functionality of any key. I suggest remapping Capslock to Return (Enter). Doing so will allow you to enter many words using only your left hand.

Important Notes Whether you're planning a heist or a shopping trip, a clean surface to jot down your thoughts is always useful. White boards are perfect for temporary notes and large boards can be used to present to an audience. The problem is large white boards can be expensive, sometimes running up to $150. However, using hardware store paneling, it is possible to attach a good size white board to a wall for under $15. Paneling Section Acquire Materials Find the wood paneling section in your local hardware store and locate a nice flat whiteboard surface. The Lowes in my town stocks "Mark-R-Board" for just under $11. Mirror Holders or Mirror Clips Now ask a store employee to help you find "Mirror Holders" or "Mirror Clips". These will secure the white board to the wall. I found that four clips were enough for me, but depending on the size of the board you purchase, more may be needed. Measure, level, and attach the board to the wa...

The predecessor to YouTube, "Google Video" had links underneath each video to download. Unfortunately this practice has been left behind as YouTube became top dog for online video and we are all at the mercy of Google to catalog and archive videos for the future. However, if you want to download a video from YouTube, it's pretty simple with the help of a website called File2HD. File2HD looks at any website and pulls links for all attached content including images, applications, and videos. Just paste the YouTube link into the text box (the full link, not the "youtu.be" shortlink), select the "Movies" radio button and click "Get Files". File2HD will populate a set of links for the videos. Right click the link that ends in ".mp4? and select "Save target as..." The file should download in just a moment.

While smartphones are becoming Swiss Army Knives of productivity, many of us still have separate devices for specific tasks. Usually these devices sit on our desks taking up space and collecting dust. With the help of a shadow box from your local crafts store you can display these devices in style, while keeping them within arms reach. Find the framing section of your local crafts store and look for a hinged shadow box. The hinge is important, since many display cases are closed with clips on the back like a picture frame. You will also need a piece of black foam to line the bottom of the case. Make sure it is big enough to cover the entire bottom. If your box came with a piece of paper inside, keep that to measure the size of the foam. Cut the foam to fit and place it inside. The box pictured is unfinished wood. I plan to paint it black on the next dry day. If you paint your box, remember to cover the glass with painters tape. However, you can avoid painting altogethe...

For a long time my 32" flatscreen sat upon an old dresser which barely had enough room for my components (Xbox 360, PS2, Wii, etc.). My computer, to which my TV connected via HDMI, sat on a folding TV Tray Table positioned next to the dresser. This setup lasted for years because I could never find an adequate entertainment center in stores. Retail entertainment centers were either too small, had too few compartments, or were way out of my price range. That's when I decided I needed to build my own. Requirements There's no point in building your own furniture unless you customize it precisely to your needs. Here are the requirements I had: Deep enough to contain a standard size PC Shelves should be at least DVD case height Enough room for all components Sturdy construction Easily accessible backside for routing wires. Planning I am not a master carpenter, so I came up with a plan to have my local hardware store do some of the work. At Lowes, you can get o...