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:Vinyl Chairs, Lace Tablecloth, and Stainless Steel Canisters for a Villain's Lair #blender…I’m working with more complex materials,…AestheticsWhat's a namber? (archived)Update, December 2024: Sadly, the “what’…CybercultureBabel (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 5) Virus Garbles Everyone's SpeechRewatching ST:DS9 Overworked O’Brien …DesignThe…

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:Remembering the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster (1986)Space Shuttle Challenger Destroyed (my …CultureLeveling up my skills in #blender3D. Using invisible…

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…

Yum executive Hearl will retire

News Digest: After a 2006 shake-up at Yum, an executive named Hearl rose to the top position. But now Hearl is out, replaced by someone named Eaton.  Yum executive Hearl will retire Eaton to be new development chief By Alex Davis alexdavis@courier-journal.com The Courier-Journal Yum! Brands announced yesterday that the company’s chief operating and development…

Wikipedia's Technological Obscurification: Three ways Wikipedia keeps 99% of the population from participating

The special coding Wikipedia has developed for its user-edited pages is powerful. Some shortcuts are simple and elegeant — you just put [[square brackets]] around words to make them into links, and clicking on the link will automatically either take you to an existing page, or let you create a new one. But as Wikipedia…

Playing to Learn

Advice from GameCareerGuide.com resembles what I tell my English literature majors about why they are expected to study and benefit from literary works that they might not choose to read for their own pleasure. (The same goes for students in my Video Game Culture and Theory course.) Before you begin down this path there is…

Tech trio seeks market for new game

Anna L. Mallory (Roanoke Times): The game, a takeoff on programs popular before the Internet and Nintendo, blends social-networking and choose-your-own adventure tools. It allows players to not only play games but also create and share their own adventures in user-submitted fictional lands. Mallory also includes some quotes from former Infocom Imp Steve Meretzky on…

After 10 Years of Blogs, the Future’s Brighter Than Ever

In Wired, Jenna Wortham focuses on what blogs typically look like to journalists. Blogs are re-shaping not just news and entertainment, but also publishing, politics and public relations. Robert Scoble, Microsoft’s most famous blogger, is widely credited with putting a human face on the giant company and facilitating an exchange between customer and corporation. Matt…

"Bad news sells best. Cause good news is no news."

Filing this MetaFilter thread on movies about journalism. Similar:Journalists Prefer "Said"Journalists prefer the neutral “said” to…EducationThe President Versus ‘Fake News,’ AgainBret Stephens of the NYTimes says by acc…CultureThe president of the US bonds with Vladimir Putin over journalists: "Get rid of them." The president of the US bonds with Vladi…CultureWriting, Coding and Education: Why They MatterBack…