ahr's Profile - Tested

Fun with Avatar Builders

I love character creation screens. I attain a deep satisfaction from forging my likeness out of a set of preassigned visual cues. If I get give myself a makeover in the style of an iconic character, even better. That's why I love it when commercial properties promote themselves with Avatar Builders - instant fun. While creating the AHRndroid via the new Androidify app, I remembered a few other avatars I really liked. Here's my mini gallery, in chronological order.

The wierd thing is I think all of these REALLY look like me, but the three avatars actually have very little in common. It doesn't help that I had slightly different hairstyles when I made each of these : /

If you have any avatars that you think really capture the inner-you, I want to see 'em! No South Parks please, those never look like anyone (translation: mine never look like me).

PHOTO CALL: Your Favorite Device & Friends

Norm has recently clued me into the mini-phenomenon of photographing lego figurines interacting with your favorite tech device, thereby creating a fantasy tableau in which your phone is gigantic and surrounded by tiny peoples. Tested frequently utilizes this neat trick of scale with Norm's collection of Android Figurines:

I decided to try one out with my growing collection of phone charms and my trusty rusty iPhone 3G:

Bitey Bat, Tiny Android, and Bearbrick decided on One Flew Over The Cuokoo's Nest for their Weekly Movie Night.

Tested @ CES Intro Bumper: SECRETS REVEALED

if you've been watching much of Tested's video coverage of CES, you've probably gotten acquainted with the intro graphic I put together before the show. Whether you love it or hate it, I just wanted to show off the importance of visual conceptualization before starting a project by giving you all a look at what my original "drawing board" for the project looked like!

As you can see, almost all of the elements are there - the Twitter birds, flapping head Steve Balmer with the Windows logo, the Jaws shark with Will and Norm reacting, and even the the way the CES blocks "pop" up into frame. The central spotlight idea was drawn by Whiskey Media designer extraordinaire, Dave Snider, who I asked for feedback after I did my first pass at the graphic. "Goes To" was replaced with an "@" sign at the suggestion of Norm, and it ended up balancing out the shape of Testicles perfectly.

The only thing I didn't include was the idea of a Twitter bird pecking the bite out of the apple logo - that's gold, Jerry, gold! Stick it in the vault.

And here's the final video, for your reference:

Ana's Top Ten Technologies of 2010

It's been fantastic working at Tested this past year; I've gotten a chance to get up close and personal with gear I would have otherwise only seen through store windows. This video is my look back at the ten coolest things I saw here at the site in 2010 - hope it stirs up warm, fuzzy, Tested memories in you too!

Whiskey Box Office Battle: Tron over at SCREENED!

You may remember the previous Whiskey Box Office Battle: Harry Potter was won by Lemon, aka Internet Steve, aka Our Fallen Intern. Luckily that wild card is no longer around to steal his victory with internet black magic, so the result of this contest will prove who truly reigns supreme in box office predictive intelligence.

Featuring Tested.com's own Norman Chan talking big and doomed to suffer a humiliating defeat, here's the link to my blog post on the battle over at Whiskey Media's site for all things film and TV, Screened.com!

http://www.screened.com/profile/ahr/whiskey-media-box-office-battle-tron/118-3469/

Project Doctored Pepper

UPDATE: FAAAIL.

After four days, I ended up with flat doctor pepper. What happa?

1) For the first two days, I forgot to put water in the carboid (the stopper that's supposed to keep air from getting in). Expert brewer Joey says this shouldn't really effect the chemical brewing process, since the point of keeping air out is to keep out foreign substances that could mess with the yeast, and since the stopper was on (even without water inside) I don't think we were in too much danger of contamination.

2. This was a half batch. I could only get 4 bottles (32 oz) of cane sugar doctor pepper, so I tried to measure out about half the yeast to mix in. Maybe the extra air in the bottle caused trouble?

3. I didn't move the bottle at all this time, and a bunch of yeast particles stayed floating on top, the others sunk to about an inch from the bottom. I thought this would indicate a better brewing process, but apparently not.

This is a fail because zero re-carbonation occurred, there was no activity in the carboid, even after I filled it with water, and with the alcokehol, a bubbly crust formed after a few days. This time, nothing. I'm sorry yeast, I killed you for nothing!

I am tempted to try this again using a full batch and not screwing with the carboid this time. But right now I need time to mourn.

Will A Tested Rep Win The Whiskey Box Office Battle?

Me and Norm are obsessed with box office prediction numbers. We've disrupted several Tested shoots to argue about how much a movie will make and why. I predicted Social Network's box office within a million dollars, Norm did the same with Megamind.

Folks from other sites have now caught the box office prediction fever, and we've pretty much taken over an entire whiteboard devoted solely to the betting pool.

I wrote a blog post over on Screened that details this ridiculous contest, since you know, they are the movie site! But I thought some of you Tested peoples might enjoy checking it out too. Box Office prediction is a sort of science, after all, especially when Norm does it. Enjoy!

http://www.screened.com/profile/ahr/box-office-battle-harry-potter-vii/118-3273/

BRODYQUEST LIVE

Here is my costume.

If you don't know what it is, you are a bad person. Google Brodyquest.

Testacles and Other Tech Geek Pumpkins

Halloween approaches, so it's time to do your best Makerbot impression and create something awesome!

That's right, it's time to grab an ugly old pumpkin and carve that sucker up like he insulted your mom. This year I decided to emblazon my squash canvas with the ghostly spirit of Tested.com, our very own mascot extraordinaire, Testacles (that's pronounced TEST-TA-CLEEZE, folks).

Of course no serious pumpkin artist would start without a stencil, so I threw this template together in Photoshop. If you want to print one out yourself and take a stab at the design, I sure wouldn't stop you!

Here's what the stencil looked like plastered to my pumpkin once I put some outlines for myself, but had yet to do any serious carving. I used a nail to make shallow dotted-lines that I'd eventually cut through with a knife.

How did it turn out? Judge for yourself!

All told, this took me about two and half hours clean out and carve. Two hours of work for a masterpiece that will last forever...in our hearts.

If you have a great Jack-o-Lantern photo that's relevant to Tested's interests, post it in the comment or send it!! I'll be expanding the gallery right up to Halloween day.

Tested User Photo Credits:

TriForce Pumpkin by Kirillorlov

Flickr Photo Credits:

HTML Pumpkin by Milesprice

Wifi Pumpkin by Mike Carlucci

CSS Pumpkin by mauricesvay

TF2 Red and Blu by Flovvie

Sleep Mode Pumpkin by oskay

Zerg Pumpkin by dvdofok

TF2 Pow! Taught by Cole Brickman

Apple Pumpkin by Dracylla

Angry Birds and Pigs by Jeffrey Friend

FUUUUuuuumpkin by Playful Eye

LOL Awesome Smiley Pumpkin by MadBuster75

F*ck You Guy Pumpkin by Kathryn Ray Hall

Keyboard Cat by DarbCU

Adobe Pumpkin bu Coco09

Pedobear by Cold Storage

Creeper by CGP Grey

Angry Bird Pumpkin by tjlewis

Pumpkin Pi by Richard-o

Plants vs Zombies Zombie by OhOlek

Android-o-Lantern by rnicholson Cthulhu pumpkin by ToxicButterfly02

Pacman by Dafaba

Unicorn Double Rainbow by zzilch

Heart by Beadmobile

Angry Bird Pumpkins by KellMelFell Space Invader and Creeper by Nivardus

Project Alcokehol: A Rope of Sand

Everyone has seen that fantastically popular Tested.com video, " Makin' Hooch Outta Grape Juice". It was a worldwide sensation and I hear a movie version is forthcoming.

However, that epic masterpiece of internet filmmaking closed with one massive loose end. Having succeeded in turning grape juice into delcious liquor, one Ana Hurka-Robles was heard to remark,

"I really want to try it with uh, flat Mexican Coke? Cause that has real sugar in it, and it would carbonate again, so it might just be like an automatic rum and Coke."

This mindblowing prospect was left unresolved. UNTIL NOW.

October 25, 2010:
Emptied four 12oz bottles of Mexican Coke into a pitcher. Mexican Coke differs from American Coke by using real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, and will therefore be better suited to fermentation by the brewing agent, yeast.

I'm leaving the unbottled coke out over night to reduce carbonation - it's my hope this will keep the concoction from exploding when the fermentation process produces it's own carbonation. Observer Will Smith remarked that this may also reduce acidity, which could potentially damage the active yeast. The piece of paper on top of the pitcher is to keep out dust, dander, and spores.

Notes:
Tested.com content editors Will Smith and Norman Chan have expressed extreme doubt as to the drinkability of the finished product. Whiskey Media video editors Drew Scanlines and Joey Famelli (a professional home brewer) are considerably more enthusiastic, and have both committed to trying the result.

October 26, 2010

Setback number one. I thought we had one more Spike Your Juice packet in the office. I was mistaken. Last night I took to the internets and ordered a new Kit for 9.99 (plus $2 shipping). There appears to be no way of tracking my order (shady!), so it seems Project Alcokehol has hit it's first roadblock.

However, I did export the mixture to a new more official looking bottle. I'll need to buy one more 12oz bottle of coke to get close to the 64oz size reccomended by Spike Your Juice. So there is a bit more work to be done before the spiking can take place. Onwards and upwards.

October 28, 2010

Got a message in the mail yesterday from "Team Spike":

I'm going to assume "%s" means it's going to come extra fast! Thanks, Team Spike! (I always liked them better than Team Angel anyway)

October 30, 2010

Look what came in the maaaaail....

Monday morning, project Alcokehol kicks into high gear.

November 1, 2010

It's a new month. A new start. And Project Alcokehol has just taken it's first step into a larger universe. I've been shaking this 60oz container of coke for days now whenever I had a spare moment, though when I shake it violently and open it, a faint fizz can still be heard. But there is no room for second guessing. The time is now.

The brave yeast brewing agents have been released. Godspeed, tiny microbrewers. Godspeed.

Notes:

When I first poured the yeast packet in, the yeast bits (they look like bits of cornmeal) all floated on the top. But once I moved the bottle, they quickly sunk to the bottom. As you can see from the above picture, they have slowly begun to migrate towards the surface. I hope they don't drown and die in the coke. Please keep them in your hearts.

Now we wait.

November 2, 2010

Things are happening.

You waited for a long time to see the results. Here they are.

I ended up drinking the whole thing over the course of a few weeks, except for the sluge at the bottom which had a WHOLE lot of yeast corpses and I didn't want to F with that. I still contend: A) It tasted fine. Like a rum and Coke. B) It was mildly alcoholic. Everyone who denies this is a hater! I would like to try again, and be more careful not to move the bottle once I put the yeast in. I think moving the bottle around sunk the yeast and messed up the fermentation process. I know I can do better. Thus endth the saga of Alcokhol Version 1.0.

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