Whatever one thinks of the game’s content, the game went through an extensive judging process and was deemed a finalist by a jury of game experts. To have the game pulled based on either pressure from backers or a fear of liability is to say that independent games do not deserve the same respect and…
You know something is seriously changing in a genre when a masked serial killer invites you to check out his “blog”. Such a gesture is obviously a solicitation of interactive engagement — a marketing scheme intended to solicit an investment of attention and to mollify a fan base, with the promise of giving a web-savvy…
To “pluto” is “to demote or devalue someone or something,” much like what happened to the former planet last year when the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union decided Pluto didn’t meet its definition of a planet. —‘Plutoed’ chosen as ’06 Word of the Year (Yahoo | AP (will expire))
The influence of newspaper and magazine critics is on the wane. People don’t care to be lectured by professionals on what they should read or listen to or see. They’re increasingly likely to pay attention to amateur online reviewers, bloggers and Amazon critics like Klausner. Online critics have a kind of just-plain-folks authenticity that the…
In an optical or physical sense, the capabilities of modern day computers have really put “reality” immersion within reach. Yet, this aspect of immersion–the “wow it looks so real” factor–has become a crutch and the only pillar of the immersion experience for which most games aim. Maybe it’s easier to sell or produce en masse.…
There are no lithe leaps, perfect pirouettes or pointed toes here. Most girls cannot walk or stand, much less make a shallow curtsy. Their crutches and walkers lie nearby and their customized ballet slippers are stretched over leg braces. —Corey KilGannon —Given a Chance to Be Little Ballerinas, and Smiling Right Down to Their Toes (NY…
Born with a rare syndrome that left him profoundly autistic, seven-year-old Luke was trapped in his own body. But then his dad took him surfing. —Paul Solotaroff —About a boy (Guardian) I’m sick with a virus, and I can’t do much but read. Oh, and try to find out why my division chair can’t log into…
I never understood why the dead were painted and made to look alive, but now I see that‘snot really the purpose. Watching Joe at work, I see that he restores bodies to a restful state, rather than an unnatural one. They don’t look like they?re going to sit up in the casket and say howdy,…
The vast majority of teens who use social networking sites say they use the sites to maintain their current friendships, while half report using the sites to make new friends. Teens say they use social networking sites to stay in touch with friends they see a lot (91% of social networking teens report this), but…
Until literature departments take into account that humans are not just cultural or textual phenomena but something more complex, English and related disciplines will continue to be the laughingstock of the academic world that they have been for years because of their obscurantist dogmatism and their coddled and preening pseudo-radicalism. Until they listen to searching…
Humans communicate with each other through voice inflection, timing, and gesture. “Those capabilities are hard-wired into humans,” Pausch explains. “You wouldn’t put up with a person who makes you learn how to type commands to him; why should you have to talk to computers that way? Ultimately, we’d like to be able to read facial…
I love you very much. You’re so cute. I like the way you talk. You’re very very nice to me sometimes. And sometimes you don’t talk to me at all. You’re my best guy in the whole world. You are loving all the time, and you are so sweet. I think you are in the…
It’s one school frog, writing on his blog,Two school bees, writing on their blog,Three purple snakes, writing on their blog,Four bunnies that are green, writing on their blog,Five pink monkeys, writing on their blog. —Carolyn Jerz, age 4 One School Frog Writing on His Blog (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog)
Here, Bullet If a body is what you want, then here is bone and gristle and flesh. Here is the clavicle-snapped wish, the aorta’s opened valves, the leap thought makes at the synaptic gap. […] —The horror, the horror of Iraq, in poetry (SF Gate.com) Fascinating reading.
Slamdance finalist Super Columbine Massacre RPG has been officially kicked from the festival due to mounting pressure from protesters and the loss of sponsorship, the game’s creator told Kotaku Thursday night. This is the first time in the Slamdance Festival’s 13-year history that a game or film has been removed from the festival due to…
In Galway, I went out busking on the streets, singing the filthiest, most debauched lyrics I could think of to see if anyone would understand. No one did – old women smiled, tapping their feet merrily, as I serenaded them with filth. In Killarney, I stood outside a bank promising passers-by huge sums of money…
The reality is that readers have never enjoyed a bigger market for books. Shoppers can buy everything from hot-off-the-press titles in mint condition to out-of-print rarities from secondhand dealers. They can even download audiobooks to their MP3 players and listen to them while jogging or driving to work. Companies such as Google and Microsoft are…
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—Vintage Mobile Phones I’d love to see one with a rotary dial… how cool would that be?
Hammer Dream (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) This morning, I heard my daughter stirring in the next room, and I fell back asleep, knowing I only had a few minutes before I had to start getting her ready for preschool. In those few minutes, I had a dream. I was showing my daughter a hammer. It had a…