PopCult: May 2007 Archive Page

The film's extreme stylization -- dark backgrounds, glowing neon colors, polygonal landscapes, geometric vehicles, and an absence of external lighting -- was an aesthetic decision that embraced the limitations of computer-generated imagery. "The actual process of making something out of polygons, then shading it, became a design influence," explains Taylor. "Not only was the film made with computers, but it was about cyberspace."

[...]

Tron's story of humans interacting with sentient computer programs in an electronic world placed the narrative ahead of its time as well. In 1982, the term "cyberspace" had just been coined by science fiction author William Gibson. In another two years, Gibson's seminal work Neuromancer would launch the cyberpunk genre. --Mike Winder --You Down with MCP? Twenty-five years later, 'Tron' and other 'geek' classics are more compelling than ever (LA City Beat)

Star Wars. It's the backbone of geek DNA, even more essential than an intricate knowledge of Linux or the inability to get a date. And now, 30 years after an independent filmmaker blew us away with the exploits of a Cinnabon-coifed princess, a wide-eyed farm boy, a scruffy-looking nerf herder and the baddest throat-crushing villain this side of Mos Eisley, we still can't get enough. --Daniel Dumas --Star Wars Rewired: Interviews, Galleries and More (Wired)

A great set of features.

--Shakespeare hates your emo poems (Threadless)

Interesting cultural phenomenon... sell a T-shirt, then create a website that lets customers upload photos of themselves wearing the T-shirt.

The result turns the rebellious and snarky T-shirt designs into the uniforms of conformist consumer zombies.

--A Fair(y) Use Tale (YouTube)

Amazing demonstration of creative repurposing of Disney's copyrighted material.

Really, though, Xbox Live is just an online simulacrum of a middle-school cafeteria. The crudeness is coming from the kids, not being inflicted on them. If anything, the over-25s we met were an excellent influence. They tended to be polite and mellow and demonstrated good sportsmanship?like saying "good game" after they'd eviscerated me with various weapons.

[...]

I'm right at the fulcrum point of gaming popularity. Almost everyone five years older than me doesn't really "get" video games and has little interest in playing them. Almost everyone five years younger than me can't imagine life without an Xbox (or PS2 or whatever). -- Seth Stevenson and Chris Suellentrop --The Gaming Graybeards: Can two thirtysomethings survive on Xbox Live? (Slate)

I'm pushing 40 (and this very moment is the first time I have ever thought of myself in precisely that term) -- and the guy who wrote this is 30, so I found this statement very apt.

I would probably enjoy online multiplayer games if I had the time to play them... but quite frankly, if I did have more time, I'd probably spend it modding rather than playing. (I never did finish Half-Life 2.)

We are no longer talking about shovelfuls of dirt on the coffin of computer-enforced copying restrictions; that sound you hear is the beep-beep-beep of the dump truck backing up to the grave site. --Rob Pegoraro --The Sound of Copy Restrictions Crashing (Washintgon Post)

When I think about all the expensive engineering that Microsoft embedded into Vista, and how that cost is going to be passed on to consumers who didn't want it and don't need it... and when I think about what amazing things a fraction of that R & D money could have accomplished if it had been given to the open source community, it makes me want to... I dunno... go sharpen a pencil and draft my next syllabus on paper.

After I finish blogging for the evening.

Imagine Gilligan's Island without the Howells and their paper dollars. Without money, commodities exchange directly: coconuts for fish, fish for bamboo, etc. But even with barter, some commodities are more "marketable" than others. Perhaps one of the castaways might eventually buy one of the Professor's books, but they will more often purchase Mary Ann's coconut cream pies -- or the coconuts themselves. Coconuts are more marketable than books.

Over time, the commodity that is most marketable becomes popular for indirect exchange: the Skipper trades his fish for Ginger's decorative shells, not because he wants shells, but because he knows he can trade them for Gilligan's coconuts. The price of a commodity is its exchange ratio for the most marketable good, e.g., 12 shells per coconut. The value of the shell money is based on the goods it traded for yesterday -- since we can't know what prices will be today. Right now, the Skipper is willing to trade one of his fish for two coconuts, and he knows that Gilligan was recently willing to trade his coconuts for a dozen shells each, therefore the Skipper wants to price his fish at two-dozen shells each: enough to buy two coconuts. Prices can change from day to day, but today's new prices will be based on the prices of other things yesterday. --B. K. Marcus --The Monetary Economics of Thurston Howell III  (Ludwig von Mises Institute)

--Stephen Granade
--LOL Trek (Live Granades)

I was vaguely aware of the lolcats phenomenon, which involves remediating the famous "Hang in there, baby" cat poster as if the cats themselves were writing the captions.

Never did I expect it to be unleashed on the beloved Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" (which has earned it a spot on my blog.)

"We believe the victim was assaulted after hours Friday by an unknown individual or individuals," a Columbia County sheriff's departmaent spokesman said. "Though autopsy results are still pending, we believe the victim suffered fatal head trauma after his face was immobilized against the glass of a photocopier and repeatedly struck with the machine's cover." --White-On-White Violence Claims Life Of Accounts Receivable Supervisor (The Onion (Satire))

I never thought the Kornfeld character was funny enough to deserve his own recurring column, but it looks like his untimely death might spark an enjoyable, long, drawn-out story.