Much like the film industry, an overemphasis on blockbusters is one of the industry’s biggest weaknesses as far as encouraging innovation and creativity, say observers. “Future titles need to offer more than wild shootouts, violent explosions, and the wholesale cheapening of life,” says game designer Howard Sherman. “We’ve been moving in the wrong direction,” says…
If you saw her in Santa Monica, even in her Mex red apron, you would assume she was an actress. She could easily fill in for a bad blonde in a Mexican telenovela. Yet she shows little animation in her work, and falls short even in the conventional friendliness that I?ve received from checkers at…
While the debate on the moral virtues of any particular form of grade distribution fascinates as cultural artifact, the variability of grading standards has a more practical consequence. As grades increasingly reflect an idiosyncratic and locally defined performance levels, their value for outside consumers of university products declines. Who knows what an ?A? in American…
“Since the war has ended, all is good.” “Are the people happy?” I asked. Mr. Shukry paused for a moment, as if it were the simplest question he’d been asked in months, “Of course they are happy,” he said. “Are you Muslim?” I asked. “Yes,” he said. —Michael Yon —A Fork in the Road (Michael Yon:…
If you are skidding out of control at 95mph in your broken down Winnebago on an ice covered interstate, when a semi-truck filled with both poorly packaged fireworks and loosely bundled spark plugs slams on its brakes, it‘snot the right time to discuss with your passengers where y?all would like to stop for dinner. But…
The world is full of devices associated with the word ergonomic. A scholar trying to learn the word by studying the way it’s used in today’s culture is likely conclude that it means “curvy” or possibly “funny-looking.” Nearly all mice, trackballs, and other devices are now described as ergonomic; this doesn’t mean they’re all good…
What I am willing to predict, however, even at this early stage, is that the real loser in all of this will be PC gaming. Let’s start with Quake 4, which uses the “old” Doom 3 engine but still came across as one of the more impressive PC titles I saw at the show. Id,…
“(They’re) nuts if they think they deserve residuals for a half-day of voice-over work,” said Long. “A development team (might) slave away for two years to produce a title.” —Xeni Jardin —Coders Want Fatter Paychecks, Too (Wired) Similar:How journalists can prep for a possible violent eventJournalists face a unique threat when co…CultureIn September 1999 I…
Over the last three decades, building materials have changed dramatically. Plumbing, flooring, siding, roofing – most are now made from synthetics. The same goes for the stuff inside the building, like foam rubber seat cushions, plastic computer cases, and nylon carpet fibers. As a result, today’s blazes produce two to three times as much energy…
Ross, a professional actor who had spent years working with theater groups across Canada, knew how to mimic all the voices in “Star Wars” – as well as the fluorescent hum of a lightsaber – when he set about adapting the trilogy for stage. Ross and director T.J. Dawe then devised ways to physically represent…
Yay for the students who… …hand in their assignment a week early and still manage to go above and beyond what is asked of them. …write far more than the required minimum by the time you ask for a rough draft. …progress from a C on the first exam to an A on the third…
Question 1: What do you consider the most important qualities and pleasures we *don’t* yet find in today‘sinteractive entertainment? And why are they needed? Question 2: Why haven’t these qualities been achieved? What are the obstacles, how daunting? Are they so technically difficult that incremental progress is not possible? Are players happy enough with what…
So let’s say you popped up your news aggregator of choice and have subscribed to each of those blogs. How much would you read? How much information would you get? Our little analysis shows you would have read a bit under 22,000 words. That would amount, in terms of printed pages, to 44 single spaced…
Make a list of the things you want to do before you die. Be as open to your heart as you possibly can. Now, throw that ridiculous piece of trash away and get your ass to work. The ball is over, Cinderella. Contrary to what you may have heard about business, you should not think…
The firststuffs have their being as motes called unclefts. These are mighty small: one seedweight of waterstuff holds a tale of them like unto two followed by twenty-two naughts. Most unclefts link together to make what are called bulkbits. Thus, the waterstuff bulkbit bestands of two waterstuff unclefts, the sourstuff bulkbit of two sourstuff unclefts,…
Most composition courses that American students take today emphasize content rather than form, on the theory that if you chew over big ideas long enough, the ability to write about them will (mysteriously) follow. The theory is wrong. Content is a lure and a delusion, and it should be banished from the classroom. Form is…
Often, when studying history, the details are lost in an attempt to fully understand the bigger picture. We do not look at what the individuals faced, the decisions they had to make. This project will not only examine the Holocaust as a whole event, but delve deeper into the history to see what choices people…
MANY train journeys on Britain’s busiest routes are much slower than they were under British Rail and some even take longer than in the age of steam. The high-speed inter-city routes are slower now than in the 1980s, according to an analysis of train timetables. —Ben Webster —In the age of steam, express trains averaged…
The traditional, dominant method for getting academic work, research and ideas reviewed and accepted by peers is for work to be published via a recognised source. Publication in a acknowledged journal demonstrates the work meets a required standard for acceptance into the academic community. When an academic is working on an idea at a very…
Between 1990 and 2000, the over-all mean G.P.A. of high-school students increased from 2.68 to 2.94, which is attributable in part to grade inflation and in part to the fact that students are working harder. Last year, more than a million students took at least one A.P. course. During the nineteen-nineties, the percentage of students…