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Don't touch that dial: Test Pattern tunes into television, movie, music and pop culture links, as well as gossip and idle chat from around the Web.

Every week, msnbc.com entertainment producers Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, Denise Hazlick, Paige Newman, Kurt Schlosser and Anna Chan weigh in on topics ranging from TV commercials to movie hype to the latest celebrity blunder. We're not ashamed to admit our love for bad TV or reveal what's on our iPods, and invite you to join the conversation via your comments.



Multi-link Monday

Posted: Monday, February 19, 2007 6:00 AM by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
Filed Under: ,

It's Presidents' Day, one of those oddball holidays. Most of us don't even get the day off, we have to work all day and go home with not even any new mail delivery to possibly cheer us up (if bills and junk mail can cheer a person up, which...not usually). At least the traffic is usually a bit better. So here's a Multi-link Monday to help you get through working a non-holiday holiday.

• Save Boston from the evil Mooninites! This online game is kinda like Whack-A-Mole, and I'm equally terrible at both versions. Mooninites pop up on in Beantown and it's your job to shoot them down. (Via Metafilter.) Also, reader Matt sends this link, which includes a YouTube mashup of Jack Bauer from "24" helping Boston through its Mooninite crisis.

• So you won't have time to see all the Oscar-nominated movies before the big show, but you want to talk intelligently about them? Or maybe you just want to be able to spoil their endings for the unsuspecting? Moviepooper, a fun movie spoiler site, offers spoilers for all the Best Picture nominations. (Psst...In "The Queen," Princess Diana DIES! No, really! Also, in "Letters from Iwo Jima," we win the war. I know!)

• How did I miss these? Valentines from "The Office" characters were apparently available at Target this holiday. Perfect for the Dwights, Michaels, Jims, Pams, and Creeds in your life. (One commenter notes that "Grey's Anatomy" valentines were also available..."Be My McDreamy!")

• I could swear I've linked to this addictive online game before, but I didn't include it in my roundup of favorite links. Can you eat this entire pie in just 15 bites? I've never been good at these space-allocation games, so of course I fail. It takes me around 20 bites. The nice part is that even if you don't succeed, you can try, try again, with no calories acquired.

• Reader-submitted link: Jolita sends this fun video that was shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, in which some of the real actors from "Lost" present a parody of what their final episode might look like, with the requisite CES nods. Scroll down to the YouTube link to watch the video; if you're too impatient to watch it, there's even a transcript provided.

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Comments

Ok, the pie game is buggin me! If someone gets it in 15 bites...let me know HOW. So I can stop banging my head on my computer desk. =) Thanks!

Headache , Lincoln NE (Sent Monday, February 19, 2007 10:41 AM)

I got 98% in 15 bites, but that's the best I could do. It's totally addictive, though! You just keep thinking "I can do better!"

LA, Columbia, MO (Sent Monday, February 19, 2007 3:34 PM)

I got it! I got it! Wooot! I am the champion and I have entirely too much free time at work today!

Natalie, AZ (Sent Monday, February 19, 2007 3:36 PM)

I got it in 16, and the message said "VERY GOOD! You finished the pie in 16 bites. You tied with the previous champion. Can you beat the record?" So it hasn't been done in 15. I did it by going vertically from top to bottom in 4 strips across the pie.

Anonymous, Seattle, WA (Sent Monday, February 19, 2007 3:36 PM)

Hmm... haven't been able to get below 17 in that pie eating game. Maybe try a different strategy...

Rose, Columbus, Ohio (Sent Monday, February 19, 2007 3:39 PM)

The best I can do is 16 bites!

Sam, Greenville, SC (Sent Monday, February 19, 2007 3:46 PM)

Me too! I can get it in 16 bites, but can't seem to beat it...

AJ, Ohio (Sent Monday, February 19, 2007 4:07 PM)

The best I can do on the pie game is 16. Im stuck there!

Chris, Alabama (Sent Monday, February 19, 2007 4:35 PM)

I went and tried the pie eating. Got it in 15 bites on my first try!!! Go me. :) Anyway, if you want to try and repeat it, the first hint is that a little tiny speck of pie don't actually matter. The 100% is kind of relative.. I had little specks left, but it didn't care. Second, eat around the outside first... but remember, to do the smallest number of bites possible. This means don't put the circle all the way onto the pie because then you have to eat two more bites very close to that first one to get rid of the little left over parts....

Neesha, Canada (Sent Monday, February 19, 2007 6:19 PM)

That pie game is crazy!! Just do semi-circles around the edge and then fill in the center...finally did it right after getting 99.8% 3 times in a row!

Piemaster, Bristol, PA (Sent Monday, February 19, 2007 6:28 PM)

I got it in 16, but that was the best I could do. The best stragety I could come up with was to start around the edges (but don't use the full circle--use about half to 2/3), then work your way around the edges (again, using about 2/3 of the circle), and then finish the inside.

Kristen, St. Louis, MO (Sent Monday, February 19, 2007 7:46 PM)

i don't understand it takes sometimes more than fifteen bites to go all the way around the pie..the lowest i was was 18

Evie Dayton, OH (Sent Monday, February 19, 2007 11:49 PM)

I got 99.9% in 15 bites, DANG IT!! This game is addicting.

Crystal, Lincoln NE (Sent Tuesday, February 20, 2007 11:10 AM)

"CONGRATULATIONS! You finished the pie in 15 bites. You are the new pie eating champion!" !!!!!!!!I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!! And I honestly can't tell you how either...I was playing and playing and playing...and I played for 30 mins straight. (yeah I know a lil too much time on my hands @ work) But my hard efforts paid off. At first I was all working really hard, carefully placing it, then after a while I was just clicking- didn't care. So relax, dont stress too much on it, and it will come. Have fun! *It feels SOOO good after you get it!!

**Crystal** Lincoln, Ne (Sent Tuesday, February 20, 2007 11:54 AM)

Here's the basic solution I used to the pie eating contest. I ate four bites out of the middle of the pie, forming a rough square (do not leave any in the middle of the pie). Then I took 11 remaining bites at the outside. If you being by taking bites on the outside, you will have more difficulty. Concentrate on eating four out of the middle leaving nothing in the center and not overlapping too much in that center so you are eating as much toward the outside as possible. From there, it's pretty simple. Laura

Laura, Chicago, IL (Sent Wednesday, February 21, 2007 12:24 PM)

make a 4-leaf clover in the middle and then eat around the circle

colleen, cincinnati (Sent Wednesday, February 21, 2007 1:46 PM)

I got 16 as well...I did notice, though, that it does allow tiny pixel clusters to remain and count the whole pie as "eaten," so don't be too strict about getting every last pixel! Someone will get it in 15...

LV (Sent Wednesday, February 21, 2007 4:21 PM)

98%. That is the new MOON record.

Err, The, Moon (Sent Thursday, March 08, 2007 7:50 AM)

this game is freaking hard. i seriously think its impossible.

sagg (Sent Wednesday, May 23, 2007 9:33 AM)

We encourage you to invest some more time looking up traffic websites.

more website traffic (Sent Sunday, October 14, 2007 12:32 PM)



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