People in Order

One hundred different people hitting a drum, from age 1 to 100. A short film by Lenka Clayton and James Price. Similar:Another day, another 10 square centimeters of #steampunk control panel. #blender3d #blende…AestheticsOkay yes, this affirmation does matter to me and it will go into my annual review for next…Marked 832 AP English essays in…

Not a New Year's Resolution

It’s always hard for the kids to make the transition to “Daddy is working” when, from their perspective, it looks like I’m just tapping away at my computer, as I often do in my spare time. When my wife interrupted me to ask me to get something down from a high shelf, I had just…

Cursor*10 (nekogames)

I don’t remember where I was when I saw a link to Cursor*10. I thought “Cooperate by oneself” was a good example of “All your base are belong to us” English, but it actually makes sense. It’s like time travel. Very cool.   Similar:In April, 2001 I was blogging about interactive fiction, Roget's Thesaurus, John…

Stock photo image of a woman lying in bed, distressed.

Psychology Today: Dreams: Night School

Jay Dixit, in Psychology Today, surveys research that considers dreams to be the brain’s training grounds for real-world emergencies. The idea that dreams are a dojo for perfecting waking activities fits well with what is already known about practice. Mental rehearsal through visualization improves skills, enhances learning, and changes the brain, polishing performance in almost…

Water Horse Scream

I’m putting the final touches on materials for my Video Game Culture and Theory course, which starts tomorrow. But earlier today I took a break so that the family could say goodbye to my Christmas break by catching a movie. We saw The Water Horse, which is a great family film (in that the kids…

”You Don’t Understand Our Audience”: What I learned about network television at Dateline NBC

John Hockenberry, a former NBC journalist who now works at MIT, reflects on what he says is the increasing irrelevance of TV journalism. Some of my most promising “New Media Journalism” students are interested in a broadcast journalism career, taking on internships and entering graduate school, and they all know why I prefer to get…

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

  Similar:Debunking the newspapers are dying ideaDon’t count on viral social media posts …CultureEnjoying a soul food dinner in honor of #blackhistorymonthPersonalYeah natural born creative genius is a cool myth, but have you tried grinding through hour…PersonalThe crying Honduran girl on the cover of Time was not separated from her mother, father sa…The original was…

Blade Runner's Influence on Videogames from 1UP.com

1up: Ten years ago, Westwood released its point-and-click adventure game adaptation of Blade Runner. Blade Runner was, if nothing else, a towering achievement in terms of evoking the original film’s memorable aesthetic. The game’s mo-cap sprites moved against dim, smoky noir backdrops; every exterior shot felt exhilaratingly accurate, while interior locations were ominous and claustrophobic.…

Maze War (1973), Spacewar! (1962) and Tennis for Two (1958)

Video games didn’t start with Pac-Man (1980), Space Invaders (1978), or Pong (1972).   Similar:Touch Me Now: York Plays 2025A cast of hundreds participated in a pub…Academia7 Tips for Budding Mobile Journalists“Mobile journalism is … not something yo…CybercultureTrouble importing UMA clothes from Blender 3.6In Blender3D, I created a jumpsuit, rigg…CybercultureAnother delightful section of #steampunk control…

SPACEWAR – by Stewart Brand – Fanatic Life and Symbolic Death Among the Computer Bums.

Great 1972 Rolling Stone article about a foundational computer game. Reliably, at any nighttime moment (i.e. non-business hours) in North America hundreds of computer technicians are effectively out of their bodies, locked in life-or-Death space combat computer-projected onto cathode ray tube display screens, for hours at a time, ruining their eyes, numbing their fingers in…

Reindeer in the Snow II — Blender3D

The new clip improves on last night’s version, I’ve added blinking eyes, improved the nose glowing effect, and moved one of the legs a bit. Update: Here’s the file if you’d like to use it. Reindeer.blend Similar:Rare Philadelphia win – for a Whig! For the first time in 159 years, Phi…Culture‘It’s mindblowing’: US meteorologists face…

Reindeer in the Snow — Blender3D

I’ve been using Blender3D for about two years now. Here’s a little Christmas animation I whipped up. That’s supposed to be sparkly glowy things coming from his shiny nose, but it looks more like a puff of breath. I’m pleased with the head motions. I’ve got the eyes rigged up so they can blink and…

Baby Jesus statue gets GPS for Christmas

AP: A baby Jesus statue here is getting a Global Positioning System for Christmas. The statue, part of a nativity scene, will be equipped with the device after the previous statue went missing, even though it had been bolted down. “I don’t anticipate this will ever happen again,” said Dina Cellini, who oversees the display,…

SR.com: Front-page photos help capture thief

Spokesman Review: “Our editors (Wednesday) night noticed the similarities in the two photos,” said Paul Emerson, Tribune managing editor. “We are not crime-stoppers here. It is just a weird coincidence. If it did solve a crime, I’m glad it happened. I have seen nothing like this in my 26 years as Tribune managing editor.” A…