drewmckinney.net

My favorite browser Flock has a new release, Beta 1 (v0.7), and I’m liking what they’ve done. One of the cooler features that I noticed was the ability to toggle between small thumbnails and larger photos when using the photos tool. Too cool! The Scrapbook thing is pretty cool as well, giving you the option of capturing web pages (including embedded files like jpg’s, mpg’s, etc.) and even saving them as pdf’s or docs. Very freaking cool. This browser just keeps on giving!

Work has been going swimmingly. Everyone is very busy and it’s super-cool to see all the fun games that are coming out of our little office. A few new titles are Big Kahuna Reef 2: Chain Reaction, Mystery Case Files: Huntsville, and Mystery Case Files: Prime Suspects. They’ve also added Flo’s Kitchen, a fun resource for fans of Diner Dash that contains recipes, tips & tricks, and even an interview with Darla, the owner of Darla’s and the inspiration for Flo and Diner Dash.

Did you read that Stephen Hawking thinks we should move to outer space?

It’s old news now but Robert Scoble is leaving Microsoft to work for a startup, podtech.net. That really sucks for Microsoft!

I’m sure there’s more going on but at this point my eyes are being propped open with a couple of toothpicks and some glue so I’m heading to bed.

technorati tags:dinerdash, flock

“But Drew,why doesn’t your company have any Mac games?” I’ve heard this before but hopefully those inquiries will end now. Behold, new Mac games on the PlayFirst site! We have Plantasia, Subway Scramble, TriJinx: a Kristine Kross Mystery, and of course Diner Dash. Now go forth ye Mac-heads and feed your addiction, the casual games are calling you and now you no longer need to watch your PC-buddies have all the fun.

If you’ve ever wondered just how in the heck heroin is made from poppies then all you need to do is check out the CIA’s own website. From cultivation to harvest, they have all the answers. Thanks CIA!

I’ve been reading Scoble’s blog for awhile now. He’s always got something interesting to say (especially about things like blogging and Microsoft) and today when I read this post I wish I’d been wearing a hat so that I could take it off for him. He suggests that Microsoft should partner with Google, Yahoo!, eBay, and other tech-giants so that as an industry they would have consistent answers to government requests. Way to go Scoble! Pleeease make this happen. Organize some meetings, pump people full of bagels and coffee and figure out exactly what the government is entitled to and then all agree to dig in your heels and refuse unreasonable and illegal requests. We as ordinary citizens don’t have the clout to protect our rights from invasive governments but the army of lawyers that is available to the likes of Microsoft and Google could possibly have an impact. A move in the right direction could even be great PR for the so-called “evil empire” of Microsoft if it could actually show its customers that selling them out for a profit isn’t the highest priority. While the current White House administration is arrogant and abusive of individual rights there’s nothing stopping future administrations from being even worse (hard as that may seem to be possible right now…) and any steps that can be taken to preserve these rights now will, hopefully, live on for many years to come.

The title is in reference to the Melvins song that I’m listening to as I post and it’s off the “Singles” set that was eventually released on CD, a set of 24 songs that they released once a month on 45s for their record label. If you’re a Melvins fan then you should pick it up, rawkin’ good time.
Last night the Lady took me to see Craig Ferguson, the funny Scottish man that has relocated to Los Angeles and hosts “The Late Late Show.” This was the first stand-up comedy show that I’ve ever been to and I feel lucky that it was with such a funny guy. The venue serves dinner and is “general admission” but we got there pretty early and lucked out with killer seats at the front, stage right, and we didn’t have to share our table with anybody.
Have you ever wanted to see Mario live on the stage? Now you can. via [BMA]
What else…I just went over to Shockwave and saw that Diner Dash 2 is Number One for “Top Downloads” and Cake Mania has the Number Two position. The original Diner Dash is holding strong at Number Five. These are both games from PlayFirst, the company that I proudly work for, and it’s very cool for me to see that people are playing and enjoying our games. Check out a couple of our other games, Tino’s Fruit Stand is a new addition to our catalog and his cheeky little monkey friend is hilarious. You can also help set Daphne free by playing Mystic Inn.