GeekDump #14: 19 April 2011

It's been a short while since I last posted, and longer since the Geek Dumped. If you haven't been watching the news, the area I live in was slammed by tornadoes. Luckily, there was no damage, fatalities, or injuries to my neighborhood (though my ex-wife had a close call).
The post after the fold will have several images, so slow connections beware.

Even though I spent my high school years working at a truck stop kitchen, I don't really consider myself much of a cook, and even less of a baker. Thus, cake decorating is an art lost on me (though I enjoy seeing the results and eating them). I've seen some of the horror stories about decorators who screwed up, or customers who weren't clear enough (bakers, like plaque makers, gravestone engravers, and Ron Burgundy are very literal and will follow the provided text exactly, typos and all), such as a blog post where a lady gives the baker a thumb drive with a digital image she wants put on the cake, and the cake provided depicts the thumb drive itself. Here are some of the best of the geeky cakes on Dorkly:

Let's start it off old-school: Pong and the NES.

 

More consoles, rawking out, and the results of premature matrimony.

I know now why you cry, one pastry to rule them all, and a birthday surprise your kid will never forget.

 

Is this a wedding cake? Both of the figurines are of female characters.

If your wife agrees to marry you with this, hold onto her and never let her go. She's every geek's dream wife.

A Bob-omb and a simple pan design.

Wow, wedding extravaganza! And to finish it off, a pastry craze:

 Speaking of cakes, did you know that you can get PushPops in cupcake form?

Buzzfeed has a list of 45 McDonald's foods that should be available in the US. They seem weighted towards Japan, though I don't know if that's because Japan varies from the American menu more, or if they just do it more successfully. The Mega Tomago makes me think the latter (and they call Americans fat... huh!). Personally, I'd love to try the Chocolate and Orange Pie, Prosperity Burger, McRice Burger, Seaweed Shaker Fries, McKebab, Bacon Roll, and McBeer. The only one that struck me as really odd was the Gazpacho... who gets soup at a fast food joint?

If only retro games had achievements... (it makes me feel old that MGS3 and GTA3 got included as "retro".)

The GeekDump doesn't often touch on film, though that's as much a staple of nerdom as vidja gamez. The nice thing about geek movies that they cross genres (though are heavily weighted toward animation and sci-fi). If you've ever considered writing a script or producing one, check out these flowcharts on the cinematic process.

I'm a guy who likes simplicity, modesty, and pragmatism. Sometimes, less really is more. That's the idea behind Minitroid, a Metroid fan game made in tiny. I haven't counted the pixels, but it's not a lot. See the trailer below, or try downloading the tech demo.

This is a crazy headline I wish I had when I did the post on them last week: Man catches fire while watching porn at San Francisco sex shop; vic ran out 'engulfed in flames'

I always used to see Cracked as the retarded younger brother of MAD, but it seems they have some good stuff going on at their website. One that caught my eye was a look at 5 retro commercials that cracked me up. Ahh... the fifties.

And to wrap things up, Aperture Science indulges our love of sharp thingies with a series of "investment opportunity" videos to advertise the imminent launch of Portal 2.