Book Review of Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost (2009). Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System. Cambridge; London: The MIT Press. – Digital Culture & Education

In Montfort and Bogost’s case study platform studies also suggest a useful approach to media histories. Their work on the Atari VCS focuses on the role of creative individuals in the process of game development for the platform, and the book earmarks several important moments in videogame history. These moments are traced back to the…

The Lord Justice Hath Ruled – Pringles Are Potato Chips

To protect itself from millions of dollars worth of taxes, Proctor & Gamble UK tried to defend a lower court’s ruling that a Pringle is not a potato chip. At some point, a potato-chip-like item is so different from a potato chip that it can no longer be called one — but when?– Adam Cohen,…

History of Editorial Games, Part One

A good overview of a genre I’ve been following from the beginning. I sometimes wonder why references to political cartoons aren’t more common in discussions of games about current events. At any rate, the article begins by mentioning the importance of Flash, the 9/11 attacks, and Gonzalo Frasca’s thought-provoking response, September 12th. Water Cooler Games,…

Security Fix – Microsoft Update Quietly Installs Firefox Extension

This sort of thing makes me very unhappy… without my permission, Microsoft pushes out an add-on for a competitor’s product. The service pack for the .NET Framework, like other updates, was pushed out to users through the Windows Update Web site. A number of readers had never heard of this platform before Windows Update started…

Millvina Dean, last remaining survivor of the Titanic, dies aged 97

Nearly a century after she was rescued from the decks of the sinking Titanic, the last remaining survivor of the disaster has died, aged 97. Elizabeth Gladys Dean, known as Millvina, died today at the nursing home near Southampton where her care had been subsidised by Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet — stars of…

Five Reasons to Be Terrified of Google Wave

I’ve used Google Docs for some time; most of my recent conference proposals have been drafted there. Because there is an excellent open-source (free) alternatives to Microsoft Office (OpenOffice.org), I’m not all that convinced that cloud computing is the answer. I’m not comfortable with the idea that, if my internet connection hiccups, or Google goes…

Medical Ethics and Doctor’s Office Pamphlets

One of my first dates with my wife was interrupted when I got a piece of beef stuck in my throat. I could breathe, but not swallow. When the paramedics arrived, I asked them to wait in the lobby while I walked out to my date, handed her my keys, and explained that I was…

Results from Game Design Challenge: Change Mario's Career!

Soon after, Mario entered into the Mushroom Kingdom and proceeded to steal from their banks and museums with his brother Luigi in Super Mario Thieves. Throughout the game he is chased by Bowser, chief of police at the M.K.P.D. (Mushroom Kingdom Police department) and the Goomba’s and Koopa Troppers in blue. […] Bowser’s chase of…

Tenure in a Digital Era

Even as the use of electronic media has become common across fields for research and teaching, what is taken for granted among young scholars is still foreign to many of those who sit on tenure and promotion committees. In an effort to confront this problem, the MLA and a consortium called the Humanities, Arts, Science…

100 Days Group Projects

The current summer 100 Days project gathers a group of story writers, poets, visual artists, musicians, and programmers for one hundred days of creative effort. Each artist’s work will be unique yet build on the work of others in the collective. Here we make, remake, shape and reshape. Steve Ersinghaus :: Story Carianne Garside ::…

Photopia dispenses with interactive gameplay

Photopia unceremoniously dumped the idea of a ‘puzzle-based’ narrative in favour of what it called a ‘story-based’ narrative, a linear progression (linear in terms of interactivity, not time) from beginning to end that throws seemingly random fragments of a story at the player, which slowly start to weave into one another and create a cohesive…

L.A. police union wants San Diego newspaper writers fired

I teach journalism at a very small school, where staff members are also likely to be involved in the student activities on which the paper is supposed to report. I’m keeping my eye out for real-world conflicts of interest, so that my student-journalists can be informed when they make their own ethical decisions. The union…

In Defense of Distraction

If you’re a fan of lifehacking, you’ll already be familiar with some of these issues. I’m blogging this because it’s a good example of doing justice to an opposing view, giving a good presentation of the strongest objections to multitasking. If the pundits clogging my RSS reader can be trusted (the ones I check up…

Science News Cycle

Similar:Just reminding myself that these moments do and will exist. I’ve evaluated every student s…AcademiaCreate Engaging Infographics for your ClassroomSeveral of my journalism students have g…AestheticsLanguage Log » 25 Questions for Teaching with "Word Crimes"A little perspective is good. So is genr…AcademiaText Games in a New Era of StoriesClever NYT writer cleverly notices a…

Old Growth Media And The Future Of News

This article does a good job reminding us how the world of media has changed in the past few decades. The metaphors we use to think about changes in media have a lot to tell us about the particular moment we’re in. McLuhan talked about media as an extension of our central nervous system, and…

apophenia: answers to questions from Twitter on teen practices

New media researcher and capital-letter-avoider dana boyd recently answered questions about teens and their use of social media. These folks will be in college soon, so it makes sense for us to learn about their media habits. @mirroredpool: What borders to teens place of social networking sites and education? How would they react to using…

Study Ball

Shackle yourself to your work, and set the timer.Thanks for the link, Josh. Similar:Carnegie Science Center's Guitar ExhibitThis summer, I’m a “CSC Insider” — mean…AestheticsMy more or less daily 10cm section of a #steampunk control panel. #blender3d #blender3dart…AestheticsLearn from this typesetter's mistakeWisdom to keep in mind as I plan for thi…LiteracyCitations: Efficient In-text QuotationsWhen writing…

Days with My Father

A touching tribute in images and words. Phillip Toledano Similar:The Zombie Argument that Refuses to DieThe idea that generations of Shakespeare…AcademiaSharing a root beer float with your dad doesn't fix everything that's wrong in the world, …AestheticsMedia Bias Chart 8.0 (Left vs. Right; Fact vs. Propaganda; Complex vs. Clickbait; Idle Cha…From AdFontes Media. If you…

Google Outage Lesson: Don't Get Stuck in a Cloud

I recently submitted a conference proposal on cloud computing. Google said in a blog post the outage came down to a simple traffic jam at an Asian data center. The search giant described the situation by using the analogy of a large number of airplanes being rerouted through one airport that was not equipped for…

Adventure Themed Play in The Brick Theater's Antidepressant Festival

Clever piece on a games-themed theater performance in Brooklyn next month. One of the more unusual plays in this year’s Antidepressant Festival is Adventure Quest, which mimics old-school computer adventure games, combining live action with vintage graphics and 8-bit music. For those too young to remember these strange, puzzle-intensive artifacts of the Reagan era, the…