One day, when Marco and I were playing against two computer opponents, we forced one of the AI cycles to trap itself between its own walls and the bottom game border. Sensing an impending crash, it fired a missile, just like it always did whenever it was trapped. But this time was different – instead of firing at another trail, it fired at the game border, which looked like any other light cycle trail as far as the computer was concerned. The missile impacted with the border, leaving a cycle-sized hole, and the computer promptly took the exit and left the main playing field. Puzzled, we watched as the cycle drove through the scoring display at the bottom of the screen. It easily avoided the score digits and then drove off the screen altogether.

Shortly after, the system crashed.

Our minds reeled as we tried to understand what we had just seen. The computer had found a way to get out of the game. When a cycle left the game screen, it escaped into computer memory – just like in the movie.

Daniel Wellman reminisces about the day his program went awol and life started imitating art.

This is a doozy.

Via Nat Torkington on the O'Reilly Radar I find out that Stephen Fry, that most entertaining, erudite, and gorgeous man, blogs. Not only is he blogging, but his first post is a fantastic exploration of the reasons why we love technology so much.

Based around the would-be “iPhone Killers” that the market keeps coming up with (whilst never quite getting what makes some hardware so compelling) he lays out his history not only with Apple, but every other piece of shiny that he has felt compelled to buy:

I have, over the past twenty years been passionately addicted to all manner of digital devices, Mac-friendly or not; I have gorged myself on electronic gismos, computer accessories, toys, gadgets and what-have-yous of all descriptions, but most especially what are now known as SmartPhones. PDAs, Wireless PIMs, call them what you will. My motto is:

I have never seen a SmartPhone I haven’t bought

He then expands on a knowledge of technology that leaves me shocked, awed, and frankly, loving him even more than I already did.

As Nat says:

I recommend getting a cup of tea or coffee and sitting down to enjoy the whole thing. He's not just good to read, but he hones in on the strengths and weaknesses of each device. Enjoy!

Keep posting Mr Fry.

Incredibly comprehensive list of keyboard shortcuts in OS X. Some of these I already knew, but there's a whole load I had no idea even existed. Using Option-Apple-drag to force a program to open the dragged item has already become a massive timesaver.

Useful info for keyboard jockeys everywhere.

Hat tip: Lifehacker

Apple just played their hand. An iMac with a remote control and home entertainment software. Why is no-one else talking about this? All the feeds I'm looking at right now are talking about the video iPod ... fuck the video iPod, look out for the updates to Front Row, here comes the digital hub, and it's going to be as easy to use as an Mac.

Update: Mr Gruber has his groove on, as usual.

The full-screen UI of Front Row is just begging to be hooked up to a TV. Begging. Now that there exists a "video iPod", the next new "Apple has to be working on this" mega-rumor is going to revolve around how Apple plans to bring this Front Row UI to your TV. What's interesting about this is that while Apple has a reputation for making spectacular announcements, their long-term strategy for a media entertainment platform is unfolding incrementally.

I've been putting it off for a while until the .0 bugs were ironed out, but impatience got the better of me the other night and I placed the order on the Apple store anyway. Delivery arrived this morning. Looks like that's my lazy weekend ruined.