When Godzilla Stomped On Fairy Tales (Anime News Network)

GRANT BRICKMAN: Godzilla goes to Cinderella's castle, and it's a picture book. We asked the street if that's allowed.

GRANT BRICKMAN: Good afternoon. Godzilla, the great kaiju, has a picture book, and it's set in fairy tale land. Roxy asked the public. ▶

ROXY: Godzilla Stomp is a madcap picture book where the kaiju stomps into Cinderella's castle. I came to ask: is Godzilla for kids? ▶

PASSERBY: The author says Godzilla is for everybody. I've worn this hoodie to a wedding. I agree. ▶

ROXY: The author says it grew from the idea of a fairy tale village that TOHO and the editor already had. Very Citizen Kane. Sort of. ▶

PASSERBY: The author says their cats marching across the desk helped inspire it. My cat has the same energy. Nobody is writing a book about that. ▶

PASSERBY: Parents read these aloud, right? Then the castle gets stomped at bedtime. Fine. I'd listen. ▶

ROXY: Four reels out of five. I'd give the fifth one if the castle got a sequel. Do not spoil the ending for the castle. ▶

GRETA FOOTNOTE: The article says the book is TOHO's chance to bring the kaiju to young readers and their parents. The castle, I'm told, survives as a premise. ▶

Snake On a Seven-Segment Display is Gloriously Bad (Hackaday)

GRETA FOOTNOTE: Snake on a display from an old DVD player. The headline calls it gloriously bad.

GRANT BRICKMAN: Now our Deep Dive: Snake, on a seven-segment display. I assume that means seven snakes. A big family. ▶

GRETA FOOTNOTE: One snake, Grant. For viewers just joining: we first told you about this this morning at 09:48. Vera has the background. ▶

DR. VERA VECTOR: Background: José Luis Monteiro and his father built a way to play classic Snake on a seven-segment LED display salvaged from an old DVD player. ▶

DR. VERA VECTOR: Hackaday frames it with a saying: if it's worth doing, it's worth doing well. Then the counter-view: it's also worth doing badly. A try beats no try. ▶

GRANT BRICKMAN: Vera, why a DVD player? Isn't a DVD player for DVDs? It's like a teletext page that someone has talked into playing a game. ▶

DR. VERA VECTOR: The report says the display is a strange amount of sense for Snake: each segment stands in for a piece of the growing snake, in a roughly rectangular grid. ▶

DR. VERA VECTOR: The catch: the resolution is unforgiving. The snake's food is identical to one of its own segments, so it gets confusing quickly. ▶

DR. VERA VECTOR: Still, the report says the opening moments work pretty well, and it comes with documentation, source code and a video. ▶

GRETA FOOTNOTE: So the headline is accurate: gloriously bad. Per the report, the first few moments are the best part. ▶

GRANT BRICKMAN: A snake that can't find its dinner. I've been to that buffet. Back to you. ▶

The Pixel Line: viewers call in (PXL)

GRANT BRICKMAN: Your calls on the Mac Studio, Jason X and a very small AI.

GRANT BRICKMAN: This is The Pixel Line, your calls answered with total authority. Our first caller is on the line. ▶

PASSERBY: I read the Mac Studio comes with 512 gigabytes. I want that for 2,999 euros. Is that the cheap one? ▶

GRETA FOOTNOTE: No. Per t3n, 512 gigabytes is only in the full M5 Ultra, over 33,000 euros. The 2,999 euro M5 Max stays at 36 gigabytes. ▶

GRANT BRICKMAN: Brigitte, the RAM is the weather inside the computer. Sometimes there's a lot, sometimes you're sorry you asked. ▶

PASSERBY: Gerald again. Jason X is the best Friday the 13th film, and you know it. Space.com agrees with me. ▶

GRETA FOOTNOTE: Space.com argues that nothing tops Jason X, from 2001, over Peacock's Crystal Lake. It calls it the Citizen Kane of the franchise. That's their view. ▶

PASSERBY: Hi! The Raspberry Pi Pico game thing. Is the looped transformer a toy train? My nephew wants one. ▶

GRETA FOOTNOTE: No train. A GitHub project runs two small networks on a Pico 2 W: one generates the game, the other plays it. The loop reuses the same weights. ▶

GRANT BRICKMAN: So the AI is one guy who plays himself in a very small room. Priya, tell your nephew we're on it. Thank you, callers. ▶