See also my resources on interactive fiction (text adventure games), programming in Inform 7, making games in Scratch, and coding hypertext stories in Twine.
Since its invention in 1985, the best-selling computer game has robbed numerous addicts of sleep as they race to fit falling blocks together. Now reformed player Erik Demaine and his colleagues at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston have proven how thorny the puzzle really is. —Maths Prove Tetris is HardNature)
“The Media Lab’s main goal, obviously, is to create a working environment that early-’90s corporate guru Tom Peters called ‘WOW!’ Both the lab’s aesthetics (rooms full of Legos!) and its guiding principle (have fun!) reminded me of a fantastic dot-com during the boom years, albeit without the free food and soda.” Annalee Newitz —Techsploitation: The…
“Often, sites present what appears to be objective information, but they actually have a commercial motive. Researchers cited the example of a life insurance site that purports to offer objective rate comparisons, but instead only functions as a referral site for agents of the company that operates it.” —Study: Net Credulity Gap GapesWired) See the…
Publish as fact only that which you believe to be true. If material exists online, link to it when you reference it. Publicly correct any misinformation. Write each entry as if it could not be changed; add to, but do not rewrite or delete, any entry. Disclose any conflict of interest. Note questionable and biased…
“When the novel comes to an end, I feel a certain letdown, a loss of contact. It is natural to want to recapture that feeling by reading other works by the same author, or by corresponding with him/her directly. All of this seems perfectly reasonable—I should know, since I have had these feelings myself! But…
A small Swedish company posted its quarterly earnings on its website, without any password protection, but without publicizing the URL. A Reuters reporter guessed the URL and found the report before it was supposed to be released. Now the reporter is being sued for Hacking a URL, which is a fundamental navigation technique that many…
“Techniques for managing information are the new critical ‘meta-skills’ needed to stay current (and hopefully sane). Gurus urging ‘simplicity’ and ‘turn off technology’ (while very sage advice) miss an important point: nothing is slowing down. What we need is simplicity in how we manage information, not simplicity by ignoring or turning off information.” gsiemens —The…
“If you persist, you are about to read a theoretically-inflected critique of what some people call ‘codework.’ Potentially codework is a term for literature which uses, addresses, and incorporates code: as underlying language-animating or language-generating programming, as a special type of language in itself, or as an intrinsic part of the new surface language or…
“The Web site Arts & Letters Daily returns today, following its purchase by The Chronicle of Higher Education.” —Arts & Letters Daily to Resume Publication After Purchase by The Chronicle (Chronicle) O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!
“Google Inc has been sued by a search engine optimization company, which claims Google deliberately altered its ranking when it realized the SEO company was competing with it.” —Google Sued by Search Optimism CompanyThe Register) Note the reference to “optimism” in the title… Optimism leads me to hope that The Resister will one day optimize…
“You are a games theorist. Your object is to defend games (and yourself) from the imperialism of a thousand theories. Navigate the four levels of narratology, psychology, film theory, and pathology. Control the spaceship with your mouse.” —Game LiberationJesper Juul)
“When cell phones started ringing during Peter Telep’s classes at the University of Central Florida, the English instructor came up with an unusual solution: He gets to answer the call…. ‘This is the English teacher, and we’re busy right now.’” Amy L. Edwards —Cell Phones are no Class Act, Teachers SayOrlando Sentinel)
“Those pieces are short, rarely more than 200 words, and offer links to other Web sites or news reports. The discussions then can go on for hundreds and even thousands of postings by readers, offering comment, argument and further research. Those who want to post without using their names are allowed to, but the system…
“Any data that’s public, and that Google can see, is hardly worth storing and organizing. We simply search for what we need, when we need it: just-in-time information management. But since we don’t admit Google to our private data stores — Intranets [1] and mailboxes, for example — we’re still like the shoemaker’s barefoot children.…
A wire story consists of one voice pitched low and calm and full of institutional gravitas, blissfully unaware of its own biases or the gaping lacunae in its knowledge. Whereas blogs have a different format: Clever teaser headline that has little to do with the actual story, but sets the tone for this blog post.…
“40 percent of the most frequent PC game players are 35 or older, according to the Interactive Digital Software Association, a game industry group…. Computer games have been around for about 25 years, and many younger baby boomers encountered them during their teen years.” —Older Gamers Now the NormMostly AP)
Somebody posts, on a website for freelance writers, an offer to pay $40 for someone to write a very specific essay that looks very much like an academic assignment. The student leaves his name, UWEC e-mail address, snail mail address, and telephone number. One of the freelancers who reads that message board decides to let…
“America’s Army and Delta Force: Black Hawk Down are the ‘Why We Fight‘ for the digital generation. Though not explicitly doctrinaire in an ideological sense, by showing the very young how we fight, applying the moral application of lethal force on behalf of liberal values, these games create the wartime culture that is so desperately…
“But despite the universality of URLs, we often forget that they’re not just a handy way to address network resources. They’re also valuable communication tools. They help orient users in your architecture, and can suggest whether other options are available.” Jesse James Garrett —User-Centered URL DesignAdaptivePath.com) Ironic… the URL of this article is needlessly long:…
“In a move that has millions across the Internet community frowning, Despair, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) had awarded them a registered trademark for the ‘frowny’ emoticon which serves as their logo. ” —Despair, Inc. Secures Official Trademark Registration for “:-(“Despair, Inc.) A good joke from 2001. They’re apparently…