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"If you're smart, if you work hard, if you love what you do, and if you don't give up, you're going to make a lot of money." -- Donald Trump


Points of Interest – 9/1/09

  1. In video games, some villains have pretty clear defined goals. Dr. Wily wants to rule the world, Ganondorf wants to… rule the world, and Count Dracula? He wants to make humanity suffer and then rule the world, so at least it’s not completely redundant.

    But even for their examples of clearly-defined goals, there are others who are much more… dubious in what they hope to accomplish by sending the protagonist to an early grave. And with that, Topless Robot has assembled for us the Top 8 Video Game Bosses with Extremely Dubious Motivations.

    I will say I’ve seen some interesting theories put forth about #4. The Yellow Dart has a reasonable approximation in the comments, though. And Manwards gives a good account of #3.

  2. Ever heard of a “secret menu?” It’s something that a lot of restaurants apparently have, but few people actually know about, because– obviously– it’s not on the regular menu.

    Take my time working for Burger King for a short spell in my youth. I don’t know if they will still do it any more, but we had an option on the register for a hot ham and cheese sandwich. It was basically the same bread and toppings as a regular chicken sandwich, plus cheese, ham from the morning Croissanwiches, and I think tomato. For a “secret item,” it was fairly popular.

    Now, mental_floss has assembled a list of ten places with secret menus, ranging from In-N-Out Burger to Wendy’s, and Starbucks to Subway. So the next time you’re tired of the same choices on the menu you’re faced with day after day at lunch hour, look into whether or not there’s something they aren’t telling you.

  3. Once upon a time, dialogue in a video game was a rare thing. But over time, more and more characters began to talk, though often, the protagonists would remain silent. And to this day, in this age of ultra hi-fi surround sound and disc media capable of holding hours upon hours of dialogue, some of them still don’t say very much.

    It is these heroes which blog Top of the Limit has chosen to honor in their list of The Top 10 Silent Protagonists. Unfortunately, the list starts to fall apart around #6, as some of these characters have begun making more noise in their current outings. #3 is my favorite though, particularly in how specific the instance is.

  4. I once read a book which pretty much redefined pizzas for me, by essentially saying “anything can go on a pizza.” In short, the rules of what a “pizza” must contain are very loose, and I made sure to exploit this as a child when I would partake in certain types of question-answering games with my parents, aunt, and uncle.

    It is also by the same looseness of these rules which many different pizza chains and outlets are free to experiment. Just the other night, I was able to get a barbecue chicken pizza with steak and mushrooms on it (and yes, it was quite good). Many other places have gotten creative as well, with even seafood and sushi places offering their own take on the famous Italian dish.

    Of course, not every pizza concoction is necessarily going to be a good one, though your mileage may vary. To help the pepperoni and extra cheese or supreme pizza people come out of their shells and try some new things, Yahoo! Health has formulated a list of The Best and Worst Pizzas in America.

    On the other hand, even their “worst” choices have a certain allure. At least this way, you’ll know what you’re getting into before dining out– or have a good reason to pick a certain place to visit.

    I do have one small objection, though, that being the inclusion of Chuck E. Cheese’s individual cheese slice as one of the best. I’ve no problem with Sir Charles’ pizza, though the price was a bit of a killer the last time I visited.

  5. Finally, we’ve all likely heard plenty of the past day or so about the Marvel/Disney deal, and it’s unlikely to let up too much before the week’s end. And over at Kotaku, it is no exception, as they have taken the effort to conjure up The Disney Marvel Team-Ups they Would Like to See.

    Come for the ideas, stay for the pictures. They’re super freaky.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

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