DPreview's new "Lens Widget"is initially baffling but actually really cool. It tells you a great deal about a lens in a compact space and uses interactivity to good effect. It makes me happy. Now they just need to review some lenses that are actually interesting.

It's funny... I think I've built up a sort of barrier in front of my geeky impulses so I can get more done and not spend days conquering Azeroth, or whatever it is you crazy kids do these days. This was ultimately not super healthy.

But it was working pretty well until this weekend. Karen and Matt came over and we all played Munchkin, which is this silly Steve Jackson game I got for Christmas (thanks Susie!). It's basically a card game that simulates a really bad D&D session. It has that great mechanic of cooperation AND competition, and it's a lot of fun. If anyone can suggest other fast-paced games that have this kind of mechanic, I will certainly suck them into my stuff hole.

Then I went downstairs and finished off Portal, the first computer game I've played in over a year (that wasn't made by Digital Illusions). Portal is a very brief game, but it managed to completely wipe out my cynicism at the state of PC games. It has perfect atmosphere and a really fun storyline, but more importantly it manages to finally bring the feeling of playing a really good adventure game into the world of 3D. It only took a decade or so.

And the ending... I have no words.