September 24, 2010
Games, postmortem, live forever
Games industry news site Gamasutra regularly posts "postmortems," features by game developers talking about what went right and what went wrong during the development of a game. They are remarkably candid and offer a close look at how the games were made, and often focus on awesome obscure and/or independent games. Some of the best: Dejobaan Games' AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! -- A Reckless Disregard for Gravity, Erik Svedäng's Blueberry Garden, ACE Team's Zeno Clash, Square Enix's The World Ends With You, Quantic Dream's Indigo Prophecy, and Defense of the Ancients. The one for Deadly Premonition (previously) is unfortunately not available for free online, but there are highlights and an interview. Also great: Where Realtime Worlds went wrong, a series of blog posts about the problems surrounding the currently-flopping MMO APB. [more inside]
Google News meets Yelp
Frustrated by the number of untrustworthy news sources? NewsTrust is a news feed which allows users to rate the journalistic quality of an article, video, or audio report. You can also look at the overall ratings for the source (ie. Fox News or PBS).
Here's a video describing how it works. Or if you're very patient, watch the Google TechTalk.
Here's a video describing how it works. Or if you're very patient, watch the Google TechTalk.
"The Last Dragon" turns 25
Yeah that's right. The Last Dragon is the Greatest of All-Time. Why? For me there are so many reasons.
I believe in miracles
Miracles is the newest mashup by Norwegian Recycling, one of the few artists specializing in putting large numbers of samples into a single song. Others include the fantastic DJ Earworm (previously) and, of course, Girl Talk.
Did you miss the 1960 World Series? Here's your chance!
Thanks, Bing! It was a long haul for the Pirates, they hadn't won since 1925, and, until recently, we didn't have a film record of the win.
They don't make em like they used to.
Beautiful banknote vignettes which were used in the 19th century by the United States to combat counterfeiters. Brought to you by MeFi's peacay.
Death To Toxie!
Toxie, the adorable little toxic asset purchased by NPR's Planet Money, has died. Her story is told through adorable animation, a radio segment, a text story, and there's even a song at the bottom of the page.
national punctuation day
Paging The Crime Doctor
Just the snark is worth the read
One week. Two development summits. Hundreds of heads of state, development luminaries, CEOs, and social entrepreneurs. Celebrity star power (pdf). No poor people. Aid Watch spent three days trying to make sense of the greatest show on earth to help the world’s lowest.
Whatever happened to Donald?
Property Taxes on Median Home by State
Property Value on Median Home by State Nothing but data here, depicted visually:
Property Taxes by State, Median Home Value, Taxes as a Percent of Home Value, Median Income for Homeowners, and Taxes as a Percent of Income.
You Know That's Saag Paneer, Dude
In the wake of increasingly prominent appearances by South Asians in American television (Mindy Kaling, Aziz Ansari, Danny Pudi), NBC has launched Outsourced (preview) (full pilot on Hulu), a comedy about an American who moves to Mumbai to manage a call center. Featuring a mostly South Asian cast, the show is a potential high-water mark for Indians in popular American media. But is the show's portrayal of Indians progressive, or does it get bogged down in stereotypes and clichéd jokes about spicy food and funny names? Himanshu Suri of art rap trio Das Racist weighs in. [more inside]
Betting on Hunger
From the Guardian PovertyMatters Blog : Will the meeting in Rome result in action against food speculation?.
At an emergency meeting in Rome The UN has warned of major new food crisis; environmental disasters and speculative investors are to blame for volatile food commodities markets.
The EU is to wage war against speculation in these markets.
Early in 2008 Eric Touissant, (President of CADTM) explained How the Food and Financial Crises Are Interconnected.
This July Harpers published The food bubble: How Wall Street starved millions and got away with it by Frederick Kaufman. (previously).
At an emergency meeting in Rome The UN has warned of major new food crisis; environmental disasters and speculative investors are to blame for volatile food commodities markets.
The EU is to wage war against speculation in these markets.
Early in 2008 Eric Touissant, (President of CADTM) explained How the Food and Financial Crises Are Interconnected.
This July Harpers published The food bubble: How Wall Street starved millions and got away with it by Frederick Kaufman. (previously).
Is 3D just a niche?
Hey ladies, want to get with a geek but don't know how? Let Leslie Sobon, AMD's VP of Product Marketing, show you the way. (You can rinse your brain out with this when you're done.)
“The gaudy leonine sunflower Hangs black and barren on its stalk, And down the windy garden walk The dead leaves scatter,- hour by hour”
Rare fossilised flower found, related to sunflowers. "A 45 million-year-old fossil flower found in northern Argentina has uncovered the evolutionary roots of Earth’s most populous plant family. Image can be viewed here.
Called Asteraceae, the family includes dozens of domesticated species — from sunflowers, daisies and chrysanthemums to lettuce, artichoke and tarragon — and some 23,000 undomesticated plants. But despite its ubiquity, Asteraceae’s fossil legacy is sparse, containing little more than pollen grains. A few larger, detailed fossils exist, but they’re relatively young."
A half-marathon officially designed "for a princess earning her glass running slippers or a woman who runs her kingdom already."
The existence of male runners in women's races have some worried: Interlopers Run Amok: Guys Crash Road Races for Women. They Come in First, Are Dissed at Finish; For Meeting Fit Females, 'It's Hard to Beat.' But for others, it's the races themselves that are the problem: Marathon organizers are also doing their part to 'discourage male interest' ... 'We're making this race so girly that men won't want any part of it' — and, of course, plenty of women won't either. It seems rather ironic for a woman who has proven her physical strength and endurance to be rewarded by being treated like a dainty little princess.
Deep in the heart of Islam
Warning of a "creeping Middle Eastern influence" in our nation's school textbooks, the Texas State Board of Education will vote today on a resolution [.pdf] that would prohibit the State of Texas from purchasing textbooks which exhibit a "pro-Islamic/anti-Christian bias”. Reaction in Texas is mixed. [more inside]
Eddie Fisher RIP
Princess Leia's dad died l Carrie's tweet l Eddie Fisher RIP l [He] became one of the last great young crooners of the pre-rock and roll period, with 35 of his recordings reaching the Top 40 through the end of the decade l His career as a pop singer was overshadowed by his marriages to Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor l When Eddie Fisher was with Debbie Reynolds. [more inside]
Writing the end of the longest story he's written
"The truth of what's going on here is that I'm dying." Harlan Ellison is not dead, but he's anticipating it, saying that Madcon this weekend in Madison, Wisconsin will be his final public appearance and that his next book will be his last. [more inside]
The latest controversy concerning HRT
Ever since the Women's Health Initiative published data showing increased risk and little benefit with post-menopausal hormone replacement therapy it has become more controversial and the FDA now recommends using the lowest dose possible for the shortest time, if using it at all. Why was HRT so popular in the first place? It now appears one reason was that what appeared to be legitimate articles in peer reviewed journals were actually ghostwritten by drug companies. [more inside]
What the Fluff?!
In honor of the fifth annual Fluff festival (tomorrow afternoon in Union Square, Somerville, MA), I bear gifts:
• Fluff Rum Sauce (and other recipes via the Online Yummy Book)
• A Flufferettes jingle (.mp3, via that old dusty web-tome, History of Marshmallow Fluff, unfortunately not subtitled "The sticky path from Somerville to Lynn")
• And a Fluffernutter. (complete with "radically extreme" 90's TV ad) [more inside]
"I don't want a tomato picked by a Mexican," Colbert testified. "I want it picked by an American, sliced by a Guatemalan . . . and served in a spa where a Chilean gives me a Brazilian."
This morning comedian Stephen Colbert testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security, where he appeared as a witness on the issue of migrant farm work. He did so in character: "a fake blowhard before a panel of real pontificators. "It's unclear upon how many members of the committee the joke was lost." [Video | 05:19]. [more inside]
Why stair move?
Dog confused by Tube escalator (SLYT, kinda)
(pause) I don't get it.
A Dialogue With Sarah, Aged 3: In which it is shown that if your dad is a chemistry professor, asking "why" can be dangerous
Blockbusted
The Rise and Fall of Blockbuster. After filing for bankruptcy yesterday, many wonder what the future holds for the fallen video rental chain.
Oh Canada!
Original 9 Female Tennis Stars Earned $1
Women's Pro Tennis Turns 40. Women's professional tennis was launched by World Tennis magazine publisher Gladys Heldman 40 years ago on September 23, 1970, with a tournament that had nine entrants and $7,500 in prizes. The original nine were Billy Jean King and Rosemary Casals along with the lesser known Peaches Bartkowicz, Judy Dalton, Julie Heldman, Kerry Melville, Kristy Pigeon, Nancy Richey and Valerie Ziegenfuss. A year later, King became the first female athlete to earn six figures in her sport. In the '80s, Martina Navratilova became the first to earn $1 million. Today the WTA Tour is an $85 million-a-year sport. "We wanted to make sure that any young girl, if she was good enough and if she wanted to, would have the opportunity to make a living playing tennis," King said.
a rare glimpse of drum set artistry
If you were to ask me "What is the most artistic drum solo you've ever heard?", I'd say "You mean the one with the most exquisite sense of dynamics? One that doesn't bludgeon you over the head, but instead pulls you in with its subtlety and restraint? Where masterful technique is purely at the service of musicality? That best conveys a musical vision and a deep understanding of the interrelationships of percussive timbre and tone that make up that remarkable instrument we call the drum set?" You'd say "Yeah." I'd say this. [more inside]
Reputations at stake
Beleaguered B&Bs on the blunt end of TripAdvisor reviews are threatening legal action. [more inside]
Dead languages
The English language, which arose from humble Anglo-Saxon roots to become the lingua franca of 600 million people worldwide and the dominant lexicon of international discourse, is dead. It succumbed last month at the age of 1,617 after a long illness. It is survived by an ignominiously diminished form of itself.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Is this just another version of the minstrel show? The Pendleton Round-up is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Part of its attraction is the performance of a "American Indian" dance pageant, whose participants are compensated traditionally. "A century later, the mill still provides blankets, and families are still paid to appear, $5 per person each day at the arena. Beef and vegetables are provided, as are tokens for other food. The winner of the “Best Dressed Indian Award” at the parade gets 50 silver dollars. The winner of the “Oldest Indian Couple Award” gets 100 silver dollars in a pouch."
Julianne Moore Loves to Cry
Julianne Moore Loves to Cry (SLYT)
Price Fixing in Silicon Valley?
Adolf Finds Out Bin 38 AngelGate. Originally used as a term to describe wealthy individuals who funded theater productions in great Britain, angel investors have become the go-to people when your start-up needs seed money, but not enough warrant a full fledged venture capitalist firm. Acquiring an angel investor can involve everything from full on formal proposals to an individual visiting your dorm room and writing a check... [more inside]
Royal Proclamation-a-vitch: Call Again-ski!
Fizzboomski the Anarchist tries to blow upsk the Prime Minister-a-vitch.
The Citizens United Shall Never Be Divided
The latest attempt to mitigate the impact of the Citizens United decision has failed, with an attempt to pass transparency rules for corporations funding political advertising failing to reach cloture. Obama comments on this vote in his most recent weekly address.
Citizens United v Federal Election Commission (2010) held that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited under the First Amendment. [more inside]
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