Link roundup

1. Two great articles about baseball (I like reading about baseball infinitely much more than actually watching it) - - what its like to be a Milwaukee Brewers fan; the sad state of the Baltimore Orioles.

2. I think I posted about this guy before - - he forges famous paintings, poses as a Jesuit priest, and then donates them to various art galleries. Well, the Financial Times tracked him down and interviewed him. Via.

3. An assertion that Olympus lost a huge amount of money and tried to hide the losses with help of the Yakuza.

Link roundup

(I'm not entirely clear on whether the upcoming changes to Google Reader are going to wipe out my starred items, so I'll be clearing them out over the next few days.)


The Hans Solderer. Via.



Dramatic noirish photo shoot (might be a little too racy for work).



Underwater treadmills and other tools used for physical therapy for pets.



"House in Horinouchi" by Mizuishi Architect Atelier in Suginami, Tokyo, Japan. Via.



Gallery of stained glass featuring x-rays. Via these sites.

New law in Japan criminalizes paying blackmail to the Yakuza

A new law criminalizes paying blackmail to the Yakuza. You can read all about it here (and it's explained in the comic above).

The real Japan

A wallpaper posted at Reddit:



And the retort:

PS3 Price drops to $249!

The PS3 price has dropped. It's now $249, €249 and ¥24,980.

The 360 has dropped significantly since its release a few years ago; the PS3 hasn't dropped quite as far, but it's getting there. Unfortunately, the PS3 isn't in as much of demand as the 360. Xbox 360 has many more games, including indie games and mainstream games that are released and going to be released for it. The PS3 has very few exclusives and not as much to offer, other than a free network unlike the 360.

Source: http://gamescom.gamespot.com/story/6329108/ps3-price-drops-to-249

Final Fantasy XIII-2, RELEASE DATE!

And the release date is JANUARY 2012! For the US, anyway; the Japanese one is even earlier - in DECEMBER! I can't wait to play it :D - Unfortunately, I don't know of the European, Australian or any other release dates than the ones I've revealed... :( - all well, I'm sure they'll all be around that time :D

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6323875/final-fantasy-xiii-2-lighting-up-january-2012

Blizzard, donated $800,000 to Make-A-Wish

This is the Cenarion Hatchling - $10
100% goes to Red Cross to help Japan

Blizzard is the company that made Warcraft, Warcraft II, Warcraft III, World of Warcraft, Starcraft I, Starcraft II, Diablo, Diablo II and are currently working on Diablo III, Starcraft II's first expansion, World of Warcraft's next expansion AND an unnamed MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) game codenamed Titan.

They have announced that Blizzard has been donating most of the money from their in game pet sales to different things and now you can help out in donating to Japan by buying the $10 Cenarion Hatchling - 100% of this money will be donated to the Red Cross to help in Japan!

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6312415/blizzard-donates-800000-to-make-a-wish

Final Fantasy XIII-2 - TRAILER - PREVIEW

Final Fantasy XIII is getting a sequel! This is simply called Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Thirteen-Two) and it looks pretty cool! I didn't like FFXIII as much as I liked any other Final Fantasy... except Final Fantasy, which was terrible - so I like FFXIII more than the first FF game ever, but that's it...

Nonetheless, this sequel looks to be a pretty cool game and I know I'm going to get it and play it! :D

   

NGP - Sony's next portable system that's comparable to a PS3 - Not affected by quake?!

Sony originally thought that the NGP - the PSP2, if you will - would be affected by the earthquake in Japan, but it seems as if they may have been wrong. They think it will make it out on time, after all, I guess. This is probably going to be the first portable system I'll buy since the Gameboy Advance... LOL!

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6307283.html?tag=latestheadlines%3Btitle%3B2

  

Tokyo Game Show - Unaffected by Earthquake in Japan! :D

The Earthquake caused a lot of problems for Japan - including tsunamis, nuclear reactor problems, tons of damage and many problems with Japanese companies and their affiliates - however, it won't be a problem for the Tokyo Game Show!

This is a good thing - the Japanese game industry has suffered slightly from the quake, but now this will help bring it back up! I think, anyway..

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6307359.html?tag=latestheadlines%3Btitle%3B3