It’s been awhile since I’ve posted here on CounterAgent, but I’ve been busy working on this web project called the SuperLame! Comic Balloon Engine. We’ve just launched it in a public Beta. So, let me take a few moments to explain what it is that’s taken up most of my time as of late.

What is SuperLame? Well, I’m glad you asked. You may have heard the saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. So, if a picture alone is worth that much, how much more can you say with a picture that actually has words too? I’m betting at least a few more than a thousand.

You may have noticed a number of word balloon pictures on this site, amoung others. Before the SuperLame word balloon image creator web app this was a time consuming process. Enter SuperLame and the Comic Balloon Engine. Basically, it’s a simple web tool that gives users the power to easily and quickly add word balloons, speech bubbles, thought bubbles, whatever you want to call them, to your pictures.

Best of all, the entire tool is free for anyone to use. However, if you would like to donate to the SuperLame cause, we wouldn’t turn you down, of course, and hey, it’s a tax right off, right?

The above picture is an example of what you can do at SuperLame. But, don’t take my word for it, check out the SuperLame Word Balloon Web Tool for yourself. Enjoy.

Boom!

Michael Scott said it best; Wikipedia has the best possible information. Do some beg to differ? Will there be a banning of Wikipedia at school? I can understand why. The information on the editable online encyclopedia is unverified and may times be inaccurate. Teachers are encouraging students to steer clear of Wikipedia. But it’s so easy to use. I just can’t help myself. It’s my Vice. Wikipedia turns nice girls naughty. But it has EVERYTHING!

Okay, so Denise Gonzalez-Walker, wrote on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s education blog, “It’s a shame that the teachers and librarians quoted in the article didn’t take advantage of the situation—finding inaccurate information on Wikipedia—by having their students revise the Wikipedia site with their own research, or engage in broader discussions about how authority and truth will be staked out in new media.”

Personally, I’ve never edited anything on Wikipedia. What would I add? That’s where I get my facts. Moral of the story? Only Wikipedia knows.

“I think it’s just up to the fans. They should just let me know.” That’s what Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson said to a journalist when deciding whether to play the superhero Shazam, or the on again, off again, heroish, villainish, Black Adam. While the studio originally offered him the lead heroic role of Captain Marvel, they also mentioned the anti-hero Black Adam. Right now it looks like he’s leaning toward Black Adam. Only time will tell. We’ll just have to wait and see if Dwayne is Captain Marvel or Black Adam, Good or Evil, Black or White. If he were Eddie Murphy he could just play both parts.

More on this over at Cinema Fusion

Mixed!

The writer’s strike is going on two months now and there’s no end in sight. Thanks a lot Writer’s Strike of America, you’re ruining television. So what can you do to pass the time? SuperLame has the answer with some great online alternatives to tv’s upcoming reality onslaught.

Joost - 19,000+ TV shows, 390+ Channels. They’ve got shows you’ve probably heard of, like MTV’s Punk’d, Ren & Stimpy, and CBS’s hit drama CSI. Then there’s a slew of older, lesser known, and obscure shows you may not be familiar with. All of it comes in a nifty little program you download and run all for free. They do have ads, but it’s not that bad, usually one short ad before a show.

YouTube - Now here’s a little site you may not have heard of. Okay, so we all know about YouTube. It has everything on it. From original content, to commercial stuff people upload, there’s something for everyone. The best thing is, they have so many users the content is constantly being updated.

Chime.tv - This isn’t a video content site so to speak, it’s more of a aggregate for video content. They pull video from all the biggies on the net. Places like YouTube, Veoh, MySpace Video, and more. They also put it in a very pretty and easy to use Web 2.0 package. It’s one of my favorites. And somehow the videos seem like they actually load faster than on the site they originate from.

Channel 101 - You may have seen the short lived sketch comedy show Acceptable.tv on VH1 last year. Well, the show was canceled and the guys behind that have returned to their original project Channel 101. It’s great for off the wall sketch comedy and crazy web shorts.

Podcasts - Okay, so “podcasts” is not a site, but it is a great new format where you can find a ton of news, entertainment, and anything you can think of. Apple’s iTunes is a great place to start if you aren’t very familiar with podcasts. iTunes gives you a simple, great way to find podcasts in whatever category you’re looking for. There’s also a lot of online podcast directories, like Odeo, Podcast Alley, and Blubrry, just to name a few.

You know what, Mashable wrote a great article on 33 Ways to Watch Free TV Online. Don’t just take our word for it, check it out for yourself

Strike!

So, here’s a brief description of the movie: “A genetic anomaly allows a young man to teleport himself anywhere. He discovers this gift has existed for centuries and finds himself in a war that has been raging for thousands of years between “Jumpers” and those who have sworn to kill them.” -IMDB.com

The new trailer, not just a teaser anymore, shows off what might actually be a decent film, even though the lead is none other than the dreadful Darth Vader himself, Hayden Christensen. In the new trailer for “Jumper” we get a longer look at Hayden’s character David. I’m still not sure exactly who the hero is and who the villain is from this. It seems like one of those gray area type situations. Samuel L. Jackson’s character, Cox, is one of the non-jumper’s that apparently isn’t too fond of jumpers, as he and others are trying to kill all the jumpers. It all looks like a pretty sweet new Sci-Fi film. At least it’s an original idea if nothing else. It’s based on the Steven Gould novel of the same name.

How Hayden Christensen continues to get work on the other hand is a mystery to me. Look for it in theater’s on February 14th 2008. And Check it out at JumperTheMovie.com

Later!

I just have to say, that’s pretty awesome. While Ford may be getting old in his old age, uh? Anyway, he still makes a great adventurer/explorer. This poster alone has got to be better than the entire Tomb Raider movie franchise. If you want an even bigger, hi resolution poster, check out the Indiana Jones official site here.

The art is from longtime Lucas poster artist Drew Struzan. You can check out some of his other amazing poster work at his website here. Oh, and if you didn’t read it on the poster, the movie is coming out on May 22nd 2008. I can’t wait. Well, I can, I just don’t want to.

Later!

Hey I stumbled upon a website with free flash games. They had a ton but the one I continued to play was Fancy Pants Adventure. Watch out for the angry penguin! (He thinks he’s a bull) It’s pretty easy to play and I like how you can slide down hills and run fast up curved walls like Sonic the Hedgehog or Mario. Except you can’t slide down and knock over the enemy. What’s up with dat? It’s still fun and a great way to pass time and I’m really good at that.

Check it out and other flash games @ Armorgames.com

Veda

VoiceThread …. Love this….I should marry it! With Voice Thread you can comment using your microphone and webcam while controlling the playback of the video. No, that’s not all…you can doodle on the video too! Just like on football games gals!

Veda!

Have you ever wanted to make your own MySpace or FaceBook? Yes, really? Well, now you can thanks to the brilliant folks over at Ning.com. This site is really an amazing piece of web 2.0. Ning let’s you, for free, create your very own social network.

Do you love dancing with cats, eating food underwater, elevator music, whatever, and think there’s a huge untapped audience that shares your passion. Well, now you can see how great your idea is without any programing knowledge whatsoever. That’s right, Ning allows you to create a social network site like MySpace without a bit of coding. Best of all, it’s yours, you get to customize it and make it about whatever your heart desires.

They’ve also got an expanding list of user created social networks that you can add to. If you’ve ever used something like MySpace and said, “I could do this better”, than you might just want to check out Ning.com. What’ve you got to lose, it’s free.

Boom!

Art by: Adi Granov, he’s got to be one of my favorite comic book cover artists, check out his site here.

Yesterday Marvel Comics revealed their full back catalog of comic books would be available on their site for your viewing pleasure. Well, that sounds nice and all, but if you actually try to access the site you’re in for a long wait. I have been trying and trying to load the site and it keeps stalling and timing out. Looks like the whole online comics things is a more popular idea than people thought.

So, if you are lucky enough to be able to view the site than here’s the details. At this moment and until the “Limited Time” expires, Marvel has 250 free samples of online comics for you to check out. All you have to do is sign up on their site (which is free). If you want access to all of the comics they’re offering than it’s gonna cost you, $5/month if you pay for the whole year up front, or $10/month if you aren’t sure how long this whole comic book trend is going to last.

Some of the comics in the collection include the original run of Uncanny X-Men from 1963 to the present, the first 100 issues of the Amazing Spider-man, Iron Man, Fantastic Four, and a bunch of other great comics.

If you’re interested in ordering comics online check out MailOrderComics.com and save up to 75% off new comics!

Boom!