Ross Becker's
photographs of Christchurch. The central business district reopens this weekend for the first time since the earthquake (Previously:
1,
2,
3) on February 22, 2011.
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posted by doublehappy
on Oct 26, 2011 -
3 comments
On September 30, 2011 at 11:08am, Derek Deville's Qu8k (pronounced "Quake")
launched from the Black Rock Desert in Nevada to an altitude of 121,000' before returning safely to earth. Above 99% of the atmosphere the sky turns black in the middle of the day and the curvature of the earth is clearly visible. Direct video links inside.
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posted by lazaruslong
on Oct 10, 2011 -
25 comments
A week ago, Markus "Notch" Persson (creator of
Minecraft) received a letter from Bethesda (makers of the Elder Scrolls games) warning him that
Scrolls (
prev) was infringing on their trademark. Today, in a new twist on an
old idea, Notch has challenged Bethesda to settle matters without lawyers:
Quake 3 Team Deathmatch.
posted by kmz
on Aug 17, 2011 -
70 comments
Nevertheless, many of the gamers I encounter report the same experience of feeling as if they have engaged in some kind of transgression. There’s often a sense of guilt that comes with tales of gaming exploits, as if games were a vice or a character flaw, a symptom of one kind or another. [...]
So my cards are on the table: I’m going to offer some alternative, positive descriptions. This analysis will show how video games have inspired artists, transformed rags into riches, given purpose to empty lives, and entertained bored people on a Sunday afternoon. We’ll see how games turned young people into heroes and how gaming has enabled the realization of previously unimaginable ambitions. We’ll see how games can make us better people, how they dissolve the horrors of boredom—and how they can function as propaganda for a wide range of worthy and unworthy causes.
This Gaming Life by Jim Rossignol (of
Rock, Paper, Shotgun) is a book about gaming, gamers, and how they affect each other - available in full and for free under a Creative Commons licence.
posted by Electric Dragon
on Jul 6, 2010 -
121 comments
"The
Quake-Catching Network is a collaborative initiative for developing the world's largest, low-cost strong-motion seismic network by utilizing sensors in and attached to internet-connected computers." The Economist's writeup
notes that, since network communications are (sometimes) faster than the speed of sound in the earth's crust, a distributed network's observations of a temblor might reach a warning network before the quake itself reaches a traditional seismometer.
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posted by fantabulous timewaster
on Sep 30, 2008 -
8 comments
Psycho Men Slayers The female Quake playing community demonstrates a playful use of names to demarcate a specifically oppositional female identity within the online community. This is true both of the naming of individuals and the naming of clans or communities such as Chiq, Hellchick, Supergirl, Geekgirl, Clan PMS (Psycho Men Slayers), Da Valkyries: The Women of Quake, Clan Crack Whore, Nimble Little Minxes, The Coven, Hell’s Warehouse. (direct .pdf link via
Spitting-Image)
posted by Sully
on Aug 16, 2005 -
31 comments
Minor Washington state quake. It's been a while since I've experienced and earthquake, so when tonight's little one hit my hometown (a mere 3.2) I was a little shocked (and a little excited). I was also really impressed with the seemingly instantaneous response by the USGS and the University of Washington's GeoPhysics Dept. on their websites classifying it.
In the
olden-days (eg- pre-Internet) I'd have to wait for the early morning news to find out any information about it, but through the miracle of HTTP I have all the info I want mere seconds after the event. In fact, less than 15 minutes after the quake the USGS site had over 260 responses on their website about the quake from people who felt it and left comments on their site.
I wonder if there are other sites that help classify and/or disseminate information about other naturally occurring phenomenon (hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.)... anyone, anyone?
posted by crankydoodle
on Jan 16, 2004 -
9 comments
Make-a-Quake is discovery.com's simple, fascinating and creepy Flash interactive in which you choose the ground quality and construction prevention method for your multi-story building, then select a quake magnitude before you "Begin Quake" to find out how your property fared. Make-a-Quake is a feature of the "
San Francisco Earthquake of 1906" (also featuring a video gallery and audio slide show), a part of Discovery's "Unsolved History" series. Past Unsolved History features
here.
posted by taz
on Sep 5, 2003 -
19 comments
''Tim,'' said Spitzer with a laugh, ''just slaughtered them.'' What's so special about one geek slaughtering other geeks in a game of Quake?
Tim is blind and a company named
ZForm is developing videogames to help blind people compete fairly with sighted people. Way cool.
posted by WolfDaddy
on Jul 8, 2002 -
13 comments
If you've ever wanted your first-person shooter to feel a little
less real,
NPRQuake may be just what you need. The
blueprint and
brushstroke versions are nice, but for my money you can't beat
sketchy Quake. Unfortunately, the NPR in the name stands for Non-Photorealistic Rendering, not
that other NPR, so don't expect Robert Siegel or Linda Wertheimer skins any time soon. (via
haddock.org)
posted by jjg
on May 17, 2001 -
4 comments
Hey gamers! Do you still harbor a fondness for the '80s cult classic
Discs of Tron, but you're unwilling to give up your favorite first-person shooter? Welcome to
Discs of Quake.
posted by jjg
on Dec 7, 2000 -
3 comments
