Tycho
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A star died violently and left behind this 'fluffy' ball
Stars die all the time, but the untimely passing of SN 1572, also known as Tycho's Supernova, is possibly the most famous. That's because it's relatively close to us in the Milky Way's Cassiopeia constellation, so when it exploded in the year 1572, it became the second-brightest object in the night sky for a time. It caught the eye of many astronomers of the day, but was named for Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, who made the most accurate observations.
Watch a 450-year-old supernova continue to bloom
Back in 1572, a white dwarf's explosion shone brightly on the sky. It was visible to the naked eye, and astronomers like Tycho Brahe were able to monitor the event despite not having the equipment we do today. We might have missed the chance to see what's now known as Tycho's supernova, but thanks to Chandra X-ray observatory's data, we can see its remnant continue to bloom almost 450 years later. A group of astronomers compiled Chandra's observations from the year 2000 to 2015 to create a video showing its ongoing expansion.
Google's phone service reportedly has you paying by the gigabyte
Google said it would launch the "Nexus" of phone networks in the near future, and we may now have a good idea of what that means. Android Police has unearthed Nexus 6 firmware with an app for Project Fi, which appears to be the in-progress name for Google's wireless service. The code suggests a very different approach to mobile data than you're probably used to, even compared to a pay-for-what-you-use offering like Ting. You'd pay only for the gigabytes you expect to use, and you'd get credit back if you don't use as much as planned. There are no mentions of overage fees (you'd just pay the usual per-gigabyte rate), and Google would be unusual among virtual network operators in its willingness to support multiple lines and data-only devices like tablets.
Ron Gilbert, MC Frontalot, RoosterTeeth, more confirmed for PAX AUS
Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion creator Ron Gilbert will give the keynote at the upcoming PAX Australia, Penny Arcade has announced. Gilbert most recently worked on The Cave for Double Fine, and will kick off the Penny Arcade Expo's Australian branch with a "storytime" session, presumably about his work in the glory days of adventure gaming, creating the SCUMM interpreter, and his most recent work on DeathSpank and at Double Fine.Other announced guests for the show include musicians The Protomen and MC Frontalot, and video makers RoosterTeeth are also set to appear – and we're sure founders Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik are headed down under, too. PAX Australia is set to take place at the Melbourne Showgrounds on July 19-21, 2013, and there are still tickets available for the first two days right now.
Child's Play 2011 starts annual drive, trying for $2 million in donations
Halloween has passed us by, which means the season of charity is here, and Child's Play has started up its yearly drive for donations. Child's Play, started by the fine folks at Penny Arcade, is dedicated to providing sick children in hospitals all over the world with video games and toys to play while they recover, and has raised nearly $9 million in money and donations since it was founded in 2003. This year, Child's Play is aiming for at least $2 million in donations, in part through a slew of events during the next two months, including the annual Desert Bus for Hope marathon later this month, and a Charity Dinner and Auction on December 8 up in Seattle. The group has picked up $450,000 in donations this year already, putting it well on the way towards its final goal. You'll probably have a few other opportunities to donate over the next few months, but if you would like to jump in and help the kids out now, Child's Play accepts checks, Paypal donations, or you can even text in your donation by sending "GAMERS" to 50555. So go ahead -- even if the bells haven't started ringing in your neighborhood just yet, take this chance to give a little bit to those in need.
Penny Arcade Expo planning on branching out to third city
Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik -- the pair of minds behind Penny Arcade, which is the comic behind the major gaming convention that's happening right now -- have confirmed that PAX will soon find a home in a third location somewhere on the planet. "Yeah, there's going to be a third PAX," Krahulik explained in an interview with us earlier today. "Believe it," Holkins added. We do! The duo said they have a city in mind, but didn't divulge which one it is -- a shame, because there are a lot of cities to guess from. During last year's PAX Press Q&A, they hinted that a third PAX might come together, perhaps in an overseas locale they'd like to visit. Any international readers have a hometown they'd like to see wholly and completely overrun by gamingkind?
PvP and Penny Arcade bring you to The Trenches
Webcomics are a dime a dozen, but when doodling kingpins Scott Kurtz (of PvP fame) and Mike "Gabe" Krahulik and Jerry "Tycho" Holkins (of Penny Arcade fame) team up on a new project, you can bet we're gonna take notice. Enter: The Trenches. The Trenches is new (like, new new), so there's only one strip as of right now, and seeks to catalog "the tribulations of software testing with the precision tools of 'the office comedy.'" On top of each comic, the trio will publish stories from actual testers in the trenches -- anonymously, of course. The first story involves an individual who had to test Ken Griffey, Jr's Winning Run for the SNES. Yup, it's as bad as it sounds. The Trenches will be updated on the Penny Arcade off-days, every Tuesday and Thursday.
Time readers rank Penny Arcade co-creators as more influential than President Obama
digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2010/04/04/time-readers-rank-penny-arcade-co-creators-as-more-influential-t/'; Happy final Easter everyone! Wait, what? You didn't get the memo about this being the last Easter? Yeah, apparently the recent 2010 Time 100 Poll, which ranks the most influential people on the planet, is actually a sign of the impending end of days. Yeah, that was the only explanation scholars could come up with when they saw that Lady Gaga was in the lead (with approximately 150k votes), ranking above global humanitarians and, you know, world leaders. Carving out their own little slice of notoriety are Penny Arcade co-creators Mike "Gabe" Krahulik and Jerry "Tycho" Holkins, whose 9th place position (at the time of this writing) has pinned them as more influential human beings than Barack Obama, Steve Jobs, and Oprah Winfrey. Hey, as nutty as that sounds, we've never bought a video game based solely on recommendations from the latter three. [Via Kotaku]
15 Minutes of Fame: Making Child's Play of WoW
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. Kristin Lindsay makes child's play of WoW. In fact, she makes child's play of gaming in general and even of her work. That's because Child's Play, the charitable organization that brings games, books and cash to sick kids in children's hospitals across North America, is her work. As project manager at Child's Play, Kristin helps the organization raise millions of dollars worth of toys and cash for children's hospitals and put a positive face on gamers and gaming. Child's Play was created by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins of the online comic strip Penny Arcade. This year, the group has raised $1,302,367, shooting to surpass last year's $1.5 million total. We dove into a niche in Kristin's busy season to visit with her about her WoW habit, her work with Child's Play and how we WoW players can help Child's Play achieve a record-breaking year for hospitalized kids.
Penny Arcade comments on Old Republic footage
The Old Republic's latest video footage had some people drooling over the release of the highly anticipated BioWare title, but others, like Tycho from Penny Arcade, weren't too impressed during the latest trailer.Tycho's comments, while negative, can ring truthful to those who have been following SWTOR since the great announcement back in October. It seems that we keep hearing about this great "story pillar" of the game and how most MMOs don't contain an intense storyline, but veterans of Asheron's Call's monthly updates or Wrath of the Lich King's new emphasis on story will certainly recall that some games have already put story in as their main pillar.Of course, Tycho also brings up the fact that it's odd for someone with an infinitely sharp laser beam sword to slash at the same monster multiple times, but we think you get the idea. Check out all of Tycho's comments in his Penny Arcade blog post and make your own decisions on what you think of the first gameplay footage.
Readers pick best webcomic: A penetrating look
Although they totally forgot about Quincy, the dyanmic duo at Penny Arcade managed to capture the spirit of PlayStation's Home quite aptly in just three strips. Thus it's with (we presume) bittersweet agreement that A Penetrating Look was voted best gaming comic this week.Second and third place go to newcomer Town Folks by newcomer Brawl in the Family and Ball and Stick by personal favorite Digital Unrest, respectively. This is it for me and webcomic wrapup, Griffin takes over this Saturday (just to clarify: I'm not leaving Joystiq, you're still stuck with my crappy other posts). Thanks to everyone who voted, at any point in the last 3 years, and be sure to let us know of any game-related webcomics you stumble upon this week!
PAX 2008: The Penny Arcade Interview
Note: Photo above taken at interview A few hours before PAX 2008 opened its doors to the public last Friday, we had a chance to speak with Penny Arcade creators Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik -- for simplicity's sake referred to here by their respective pseudonyms Tycho and Gabe -- about the Expo, its future expansion, the intensity of Jenga and the Duke Nukem Forever Omegathon round that never was. Audio embedded below; we've also gone ahead and transcribed highlights from the interview. (Note: To make it easier to read, we've put Gabe's name in red and Tycho's name in blue.)[MP3] Download the Interview
PAX 2008: Omegathon finale crowns Geko, Gabe as winners
Within 15 minutes, it was all over. After Tycho and Gabe revealed this year's final PAX 2008 Omegathon challenge, 1987's Vs Excite Bike, finalists Fallout (blue rider) and Geko (red rider) went at each other with all they had. Unfortunately, the close competition didn't last, as Geko won every round to become this year's best Omeganaut, winning an expenses-paid trip to Tokyo Game Show in October.Following Geko's winning victory, Tycho and Gabe picked up the Famicon controllers to challenge each other as the blue and red riders, respectively. The race was once again painted red, as Tycho kept overheating his bike and crashing after the ramps. He managed a victory in the 3rd round after knocking down Gabe twice in a row, but every other round went to Gabe and red rider, giving the Penny Arcade co-creator a two-win streak after his 5-2 Halo 3 victory last year. After the race was over, Tycho and Gabe stood up to thank the crowd, who promptly began to shuffle out and away from the now-concluded convention. Geko took the stage one final time, plush Marissa's bunny in tow, to talk to the few who stayed behind.Stay tuned, we'll have more on the pre-Omegathon "puppet troupe" later today. Gallery quick-jump: Pre-Omegathon line and various pipe cleaner art The puppet troupe Omegathon! The End %Gallery-30939%
Penny Arcade plays cards at the Darkmoon Faire
As expected, Penny Arcade did show up at the Seattle Darkmoon Faire last weekend, and also as expected, Tycho did bring a raid deck. He also, surprisingly, dressed up for the role -- apparently he worse the cape they'd depicted in the comic while running the Molten Core game (though he couldn't find a skull pin to go with it). Sounds like a lot of fun. Upper Deck has coverage of the event, though we couldn't find any mention of the Penny Arcade guys.Another thing Tycho mentions (and that makes it into the comic today, NSFW) is that even for people familiar but not fanatic about the game like them, entering these tournaments can be really tough -- there are tons of solid decks and strategies out there, and if you haven't done the research, someone who has can very easily trounce you. They even mention a "three card infinite damage combo" that players can use. Unfortunately, that's way too far over my TCG strategy head to actually tell you what it is (maybe commenters can help), but it seems like for new players especially, these formal TCG events might be a little tough to get into.Still, the Darkmoon Faire events are fun, even if you're not playing at the top of the heap. UDE has lots more news about upcoming events on their website.
Penny Arcade to appear at Upper Deck's Darkmoon Faire in Seattle
If you've never been to Upper Deck's Darkmoon Faire event before, it's a pretty good time. It's obviously a lot more fun if you're a fan of the WoW TCG (as they have open-to-close tournaments and events going on), but even online game players will find something to do -- UDE sets up an event realm provided by Blizzard, and they sometimes even have leveling and instance contests as well.Upper Deck is holding a Darkmoon Faire event in Seattle next weekend, June 13-15, and they sent along a note letting us know that the guys from Penny Arcade are going to be there in attendance. Both Gabe and Tycho, you'll know if you're an avid reader of the comic, are fans of the card game, and while Upper Deck isn't clear about what they'll be doing there (all they tell us is that the guys will "partake" of the gaming), it's not hard to expect that at least Tycho will be eventually running a Molten Core raid game.Should be fun -- if you're around Seattle and get to stop by the Seattle Center next weekend (it's free to visit the event, and various tournaments have different costs associated with them), definitely take pictures and let us know how it went.
Readers pick best webcomic: The Unhorse
By a rather large margin, Penny Arcade's "The Unhorse" took the top spot in this week's webcomic wrapup. And we're sure all those voters were rooting for the horse, right? Right?Second and third places go to Fanboys and Digital Unrest, respectively. Thanks to everyone who voted, and be sure to let us know of any game-related webcomics you stumble upon this week!
Tycho Brahe weighs in On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Penny_Arcade_s_Tycho_talks_about_the_Rain_Slick_Precipice'; The unique experiment of Penny Arcade Adventures has already begun in earnest. The long-term question in the making -- "Can game comic-makers make a videogame?" -- is moot. On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness is now available via Xbox Live and the Greenhouse website (with demos here: Windows, Mac and Linux). The question now becomes: What do the creators think of their spawn? We sat down with Jerry "Tycho" Holkins, Penny Arcade's writer-in-residence, to get some perspective on that very issue.We had the chance to discuss a number of the game's elements -- from the origins of the Startling Developments Detective Agency to the foul creation of the evil bums. Mr. Holkins also shed a dim light on future episodes in the series as we discussed the music and writing that surround the overarching story. We also clarified that for Penny Arcade, as a creative team, there is no rest. Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins are not celebrating today, they're not patting themselves on the back. Instead, they're returning to what they do best: working.Read on to find out why these guys are driven to mine the funny for your benefit.%Gallery-1545%
Penny Arcade's WoW CCG contest ends, hilariously
Early this month we discussed a contest, announced by the creators of Penny Arcade and aimed squarely at the hearts of card-and-mmo-players everywhere. It seemed so simple: craft a ten-word story about World of Warcraft and win yourself a huge pile of trading card game loot. The devil is, as is so often the case, in the details. With many hundreds of entrants the competition was quite fierce, and today's unveiling of the top five entries proves out just how fierce. Like you, a lot of bloggers from the site submitted stories, but we know when we're beaten. How can you top "Overlord Saurfang is only afraid of one thing... Mrs. Saurfang?" Or "Naked they run, level 1 banks: Clark Kents of Azeroth?" I espcially like winner #3's tale: "The gunshot echoed like a ghost with nobody to haunt." Many of the honorable mentions are great too, like "'Small trogg problem in Orgrimmar's basement.' What an understatement, Thrall", or "Tipping his sombrero in salute, he dismounted his mechanical chicken." We're curious, though: did you enter? If you'd be willing, why don't you share your submission(s) with us in the comments? This blogger volunteers to go first: "The murlocs, their scales glinting, advanced with hungry mouths wide."
Penny Arcade WoW CCG contest
The Penny Arcade guys do a lot of amazing stuff beyond their incredibly popular three-days-a-week webcomic. The one thing they haven't done -- at least in recent memory -- is a contest that anyone can enter to win a mountain of super cool swag, at least until today. This particular contest consists of three huge mountains of World of Warcraft CCG swag, each of which contains the rare X-51 Nether-Rocket card that also happens to be redeemable in-game for a sweet rocket mount that your WoW character can scoot around on. We're pretty sure that thousands of WoW players are going to be entering this contest solely for said rocket card.The actual contest itself is most awesome, asking participants only to supply Gabe and Tycho with a ten word story. We've been having fun at Massively by simply coming up with ten word stories for the hell of it -- although we're beginning to think it might be a good idea to enter some of these things. If you'd like to do that same, simply email Gabe with the subject line of "Ten Words" and as many quality ten word stories as you can come up with.
Today's most fruit-tastic video: Penny Arcade Adventures 'fruit lover' footage
Yes, we wrote "fruit lover" in the headline, but you all know its real, alliterative name. Game Videos has posted more footage from the impending Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. This time we're taken to a factory where workers produce the produce-supportive robot as the gang face off against a quartet of humans and diminutive machines.The video is embedded after the break, although you might want to skip ahead to the battles (we recommend the high resolution version if you want to read the dialog). Also, for those who might have reacted negatively to the previous footage from this week (a good number of commenters expressed dismay), Gabe wrote a post on Penny Arcade expressing his confidence in the title. Sure, there's some obvious bias, but the duo is largely known for its reputation, and we have faith they wouldn't support it if there was a sign of sub-par quality.
