So they really blew it with Just A Geek, and I won’t work with them again . . . but O’Reilly still publishes some incredibly cool stuff, like MAKE magazine, which has a supermegaawesome blog that I read in Bloglines.
A lot of the stuff that MAKE talks about is over my head (making my own crystal radio from scratch is cool in theory, but I’ll take that time and play Destroy All Humans, thank you very much) but occasionally something comes up that I absolutely love and can’t wait to do on my own . . . like the errupting volcano cake!
MAKE is fun to read, even if you’re never going to make (har.) any of the stuff they demonstrate, because on the same day that they link to the volcano cake, they show us how to use old 5″ floppy discs as ultra-cool CD covers, and build a Lego computer.
Check it out, and if you like the blog, pick up the print version — it’s a nice companion to 2600.

I was 0-3 in SNGs until just a few minutes ago . . .

PokerStars Tournament #11907419, No Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $20.00/$2.00
9 players
Total Prize Pool: $180.00
Tournament started – 2005/08/29 – 19:09:29 (ET)
Dear Wil Wheaton,
You finished the tournament in 1st place.
A $90.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

Congratulations!
Thank you for participating.

I saw that a few WWdN readers dropped in on the game, and gave me some mojo, which included mojo of the Guinness-fueled variety. Thanks for watching, and thanks for the mojo! It was another one of those SNGs where I somehow manage to back into the money, back into heads-up, and turn my 2200 into victory. (That, by the way, is my favorite type! 😉
Some readers have asked me if I could put together a charity tournament to benefit people who have been hit by Katrina. I think it’s a great idea, and I’m working on it.
In the meantime, I’m sure the Red Cross is going to need blood and money, so anyone who can spare one or both should head out and give whatever they can . . . and beware of scam artists who claim to be running fundraisers, and promise to send the money to the Red Cross. Remember what happened post-9/11 and post-tsunami, when evil scammers took advantage of kind-hearted people. You’re much better off contributing to an established organization that you can trust.

This is so so so so so so cool! Wizards of the Coast will sponsor after-school D&D programs in public libaries.

The Afternoon Adventure with DUNGEONS & DRAGONS program will include everything librarians need to start regular gaming programs in their library with the original pen-and-paper roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D for short). Players assume the persona of fantasy characters and pursue magical adventures, confronting and solving problems using strategic thinking and teamwork. For three decades, D&D has appealed to an ever-increasing population of fans for its use of imagination and storytelling over competition. This free program will include a Dungeons & Dragons Basic Game (a $24.99 value), instructions for starting a D&D group in the library, a guide to using D&D as an introduction to library use, recommended reading lists, and other practical resources.

I sure hope the fundies don’t screw this up. D&D is a great way to encourage kids to be creative, use lateral thinking, excel in math . . . and if I had to pick between my stepkids hanging out (unsupervised) at the mall (where they learn to be good consumers) or at some kid’s house (unsupervised, where they learn how to sigh and roll their eyes more effectively), or playing D&D in the public library (where they will learn to research things and appreciate great literature), it’s a complete no-brainer.
Libraries are almost as unappreciated as librarians, and taken for granted almost as much as a great teacher, which is a real shame. WotC gets 5d12 cool points for doing this, and if this program ends up encouraging kids to read more, and spend more time in libraries, I’ll make it 10d12+100.
Come to think of it . . . maybe I’ll call the old library I went to in elementary school and see if they’ll let me come in and run a one-shot later this year. That’d be cool.
(link via boingboing)

I know there are some WWdN readers in New Orleans, Biloxi, Mobile, and other areas that are in Katrina’s path . . . FWIW, I’m thinking about all of you guys, in that I-don’t-personally-know-you-but-even-though-I’m-safely-in-Los-Angeles-I-empathize-with-you sort of way.
Stay safe.

What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form, in moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not me; no, nor woman neither, though, by your smiling, you seem to say so. &mdash Hamlet, II.ii

Dr. Pauly and I sat beneath a cloud of smoke that had drifted from the craps table, over the velvet rope, and into the “smoke free” poker area. We drank scotch and talked about cool poker nicknames.
“I don’t have one,” I said, “really.” I folded a hand I call “Michael Jackson,” which is any Queen with a little kicker.
“They should call you ‘Hamlet,'” Pauly said. He flashed me The Hammer and raised.
“Why?” I said.
“Because your kings always get killed.”
It was folded around to him, and he folded face up.
“HAMMER!” He shouted. The locals were not amused.
We laughed and laughed, clinked our glasses, and laughed some more. Life was good, we were young, in Vegas, and kicking the shit out of the locals in the 4-8 Hold ‘Em game at the Plaza . . .
I just had my unbeaten streak of PokerStars SNGs snapped . . . when I had kings.
It went like this: Kings in middle position, with two limpers. So I raised it up to 5x the BB, and four players stayed to see the flop. I wasn’t very happy about playing my kings in a multi-way pot, until the flop came Q-6-2 rainbow. I figured one of these guys paired his queen, but figured I would have been re-raised pre-flop if any of them held QQ, so I was pretty sure I was in the lead.
An early position player made a very small bet, it was folded to me, and I popped him back about 3x. It was folded to the BB, who immediately went all-in. I figured that he didn’t have a set, and put him on AQ, or QJ. (It was very unlikely that he had KQ since I already had the other two kings, but even if he did, I was still ahead.) He had me covered, so I called for the rest of my chips . . . and I was moderately happy when he turned up QJ. “Hooray for my great read,” I thought. “Now here comes the Jack.”
Sure enough, he caught a jack on the turn.

Gordinio: shows [Qd Js] (two pair, Queens and Jacks)
Wil Wheaton: shows [Kh Ks] (a pair of Kings)
Wil Wheaton said, “doh”
Gordinio collected 2700 from pot
Wil Wheaton said, “nh”

I had a great run there for a little while, including a few times when I was way behind on the flop, and made runner-runner to suck out when I really should have lost. Meh. That’s poker.
So the bad news is that I had to put a little -22 in my log book . . . but I think the nickname is official now, and Hamlet is just about the coolest nickname I think a guy could ask for (since, you know, Jesus is taken, and all.)