4.29.2008

coffee facts

-Over 500 billion cups of coffee are consumed yearly.

-Nearly 1/3 of the world's coffee is produced in Brazil.

-Americans consumed 22.1 gallons per capita in 2000.

-Coffee is the top agricultural export for 12 countries (Burundi, Central African Republic, Columbia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Uganda).

-Coffee can be traced back to the 9th century, when it was discovered in the highlands of Ethiopia

4.22.2008

quote of the day

"It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java the thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion."

-unknown

4.19.2008

8.0 awesome things

1. partial differential equations
2. brew nerds coffee, duh.
3. www.wired.com.
4. open source anything.
5. all manner of robots.
6. rubik's cube (and each of it's 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 permutations).
7. iStuff. iPods, iPhones, iPhotos, iMacs, and so on...
8. nerds.

4.16.2008

pocket protection mania

after an unfortunate incident involving the destruction of my current pocket protector, i turned my attention to the world wide web, where i was certain i could find a suitable replacement.

i happened upon this site, and knew that it must be shared with fellow nerds everywhere.

it should come as no surprise, that i will be opting for the "full monty", shown in all it's glory below:


true nerds don't try to hide their pocket protectors.

4.14.2008

ms. pacman > pacman

during my frequent excursions to brew nerds, i often overhear patrons of the establishment engaging in discourse about the differences of original pacman and ms. pacman. although i feel that my mental database of pacman information is sufficient, in an effort to obtain a comprehensive list for my fellow gaming aficionados, i did some research. my findings are below:

1. pacman has only one maze. ms. pacman has six different mazes (four styles, with 5 colors). the maze changes after each intermission.

2. pacman's mazes have hollow walls. ms. pacman's walls are solid.

3. pacman has one warp tunnel, connecting the left and right sides of the maze. ms. pacman has two warp tunnels (except for the third maze design which contains only one tunnel).

4. the programming in pacman used pre-set ghost movement patterns, which gamers were able to memorize and defeat each level. ms. pacman uses pseudo-random movement, making it much more difficult to predict the paths of the ghosts.

5. fruits appear in the center of the maze in pacman, whereas in ms. pacman, fruits enter the maze through one of the warp tunnels, bounce around the maze, and through another tunnel if not eaten.

6. the orange ghost is named clyde in pacman. in ms. pacman, her name is sue.

7. in pacman the intermissions were humorous animations starring pacman and the ghosts. in ms. pacman the three intermissions follow the relationship between pacman and ms. pacman.

8. ms. pacman rules.*

*note: this fact was not in my research. it is an axiom of the video game world.

4.08.2008

quote of the day

A Mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems.

-Paul Erdos

4.06.2008

395K

a fellow coffee aficionado and pac-man fanatic has recorded a new high score at the brew nerds pacman table. i am certain that if i were to increase the amount of time spent refining my retro-gaming skills, that the high score would be mine expeditiously. however, i currently find myself consumed with other critical endeavors, and must humbly extend a congratulations to the bearer of the increased maximum score.

4.05.2008

mocha++;

in my endless pursuit of fantastic coffee based beverage options, a twist on an old favorite has been discovered.

borrowing from the milkshake industry, the maltese falcon combines the already perfected brew nerds mocha with a generous portion of malt, both mixed in and sprinkled randomly on top.

when you consume this excellent specimen of coffee greatness, your taste buds will put you on their friends list.