Lyrics:

A list of things that should be said
Now weighs a forest on your tongue
And all your virtues safely kept
In vaseline have slipped by gone

Put it on the vast choir sings
Let the Broncos run wild again
Wipe it off that purgatory grin
Cause it’s all too convincing

Show me that it’s easy
Say that you are in need of me
Don’t talk of the costs
With a mouthful of wasps
Time is up, so let them all fly
Up in the sky.

Yes, I was taught among your kind
By drilling tunnels towards the core
In through the multi-detailed mind
where rich and simple is at war

Put it on the vast choir sings
Let the Broncos run wild again
wipe it off that diabolic grin
Cause it’s so contrived
And it frightens me

Show me that you’re easy
Say that you believe in me
Don’t act out your frost
with a mouthful of wasps
Time is up so them all fly

Behind those weary eyes
some broken story hides
I need to know and you have to show
Before it strikes its roots
And strangles everything

The Secret of Monkey Island is an adventure game developed by Lucasfilm Games. The game spawned a number of sequels, collectively known as the Monkey Island series. Released in 1990, The Secret of Monkey Island is the fifth game to use the SCUMM engine. The witty game was primarily designed by Ron Gilbert, with Tim Schafer and Dave Grossman. The trio led the development of the sequel Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge. -wikipedia

For some time I have waited in excitement for the release of The Secret of Monkey Island. I knew that they would be releasing it for the PC and maybe, if we’re lucky, for the Mac. So you will understand my excitement when I found out yesterday that the game had been released for the iPhone. I have actually never played the original Monkey Island, only the third game in the series called The Curse of Monkey Island.Since the original game was released in 1990 the graphics of the game were, by todays standards, quite poor. So Lucas Arts decided that for the re-release they would complete re-draw every scene but keep true to the orginal graphics (shows below). You can actually switch between the new and old graphics by swiping two fingers across the display.

The new version of Monkey Island

The old version of Monkey Island

The sound has also been recorded (not re-recorded since there was none in the original). Lukas Arts has been able to get a lot of the old cast back for this installment (including Guybrush) which is REALLY nice, since nothing throws one off than different voice actors (Listen to me FOX!).

To learn more about the game watch this Behind-the-scenes video from Lucas Arts.

Afterwards go download the game from the App Store.

Sometimes when I’m writing a block of text I tend to miss words, this is often because while I’m writing, I’m also thinking about what to write further ahead. Nothing is more annoying to me when other people forget to check their posts for missed words and other grammatical atrocities. This is why I have begun using the Text-to-Speech engine on my computer to listen to my posts after I’m done writing.

When I read my own blog post, right after it has been published, my memory of the contents of the post is still very fresh. Because of this, my mind tends to fill in the blanks, causing me to not notice the errors I have made, but if I listen to the post instead, all the small mistakes are much easier to catch.

Pro-tip: If you are the lucky owner of a Mac you can assign a hotkey to make your computer read the selected text for you.

Sometimes I find myself in a situation where I don’t want to listen to music, but rather use a couple of brain cells trying to understand a topic, or just be entertained in a different way than music can provide. This is why I have, for a long, long time, been a fan of podcasts.

A podcast is a series of audio or video digital-media files which is distributed over the Internet by syndicated download, through Web feeds, to portable media players and personal computers. Though the same content may also be made available by direct download or streaming, a podcast is distinguished from other digital-media formats by its ability to be syndicated, subscribed to, and downloaded automatically when new content is added. – wikipedia

The great thing about podcasts is that there really is something for everyone. Just launch iTunes, go to the music store, click on podcasts and go nuts. I’m going to share with you a couple of my favorite podcasts.

• This Week In Tech
• You Look Nice Today
• No Agenda
• Macbreak Weekly
• Security Now
• Freelance Radio
• FLOSS Weekly

I know a LOT of people already know how to use podcasts, so I don’t see any reason to teach you the inner workings of the concept. My only recommendation is to just experiment. Find something that you like, experience the community around the podcast and try to immerse yourself in the world of New Media.