The Week in Review: Portal, Propaganda, and Thor

Third Sony Attack Could Be on the Way

Sony has not had a good few weeks: First PSN gets attacked, and then its SOE servers, and now there are rumblings that a third attack may be on the way. Apparently, the attack will come over the weekend, and there’s even the suggestion that the hackers responsible will publicize all the personal details they found on the PSN servers. (Link)

Politician’s Mother Scolds Him for Being Mean to Neil Gaiman

After being forced to apologize by his mother, Minnesotan Republican Matt Dean probably rued the day that he called sci-fi author Neil Gaiman a “pencil-necked weasel.” Dean also called Gaiman a thief for accepting a five-figure fee for speaking at a Minnesotan last year, even though he later donated the money to charity. (Link)

Black Thor Actor Reacts to Racist Fans

Idris Elba, the black actor chosen to play Heimdall in the new Thor movie, has briefly spoken about the backlash over Marvel casting a person of color as a Norse god. Elba indicated that while some fans had been upset because it was a deviation from the comics, others had taken exception to his casting purely for racial reasons. Elba’s reaction was simple, saying that if fans didn’t like his casting, they should just stay home. (Link)

Mario Becomes the Villain in Koopa Propaganda

Everyone knows that Mario is heroic and brave, everyone except the goombas, koopa troopers, and other creatures that make up the armies of King Bowser, of course. To them, Mario is like a one-man army, crushing them under his tyrannical boots. It seems that that’s an image that Bowser is quite happy to exploit, if a range of Soviet-style propaganda posters created by Fro Design is anything to go by. Hit the link for a gallery. (Link)

Portal 2 Player Thinks Without Portals

It’s one thing to solve puzzles and overcome obstacles in Portal 2 when you’ve got a gun that makes holes for you to walk through, but could you do it without that gun? Well, for at least one of the puzzles, the answer is yes. Using nothing but ingenuity, Aperture brand weighted pivot cubes, and a glitch or two, the player was able to complete the test without a single portal. Hit the link for a video. (Link)