MetaFilter posts tagged with reality

transcendental numbers rumble in the technium

kliuless — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 08:00:48 -0800

Extropy
How did life arise? What is information? In his recent dispatches from The Technium, Kevin Kelly would say extropy (cf. negentropy & Prigogine). [previously 1|2]

I'm addicted... to HOARDERS!

basilwhite — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:31:15 -0800

"Hoarders is a fascinating look inside the lives of two hoarders per episode. Tivoids set your season pass here, or watch complete episodes online. Kind of a mix between the documentary "Possessed" (previously) and A&E's Intervention. Discussion board includes some drama between the hoarders on the show and the production staff.

With that keyboard, I wonder what Ctrl-Alt-Del would do ...

WCityMike — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 20:14:11 -0800

Ctrl is an NBC webseries starring Tony Hale (Arrested Development's Buster, Chuck's Emmett Milbarge) as an office drone who suddenly finds that, thus far, CTRL-Z lets him undo recent events in his own life, and CTRL-B emboldens him to stand up to his boss and confess his love to the source of his crush. It was based on a short film, Ctrl-Z, starring Hale's Chuck co-star Zachary Levi as the boss. Not exactly a new concept, but nonetheless well-executed by a fairly good comic team ... Also, as an added plus, it features a really beautiful end-credits song. Also, it's obviously receiving no money whatsoever from NESTEA^TM POMEGRANATE PASSIONFRUIT RED TEA, NOW EVIDENTLY AVAILABLE IN 1-LITER BOTTLES!, despite the bottle actually magically rotating its label towards the camera in the opening scene of episode one ... subtle it ain't. Mmm, look at that CGI splashing goodness!

Mambo #5

Smedleyman — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:02:59 -0800

Ok, stop me if you’ve heard this one: an ex-cop accused of killing his fourth wife gets engaged a fifth time and tries to get a job in a brothel on a reality t.v. show (video), but before he can, he's arrested today for killing his third wife. Of course, his fifth engagement was just a stunt. Or was it? Whatever. The world's greatest dad has plenty of ladies lining up to take his wife's place(s).

Wait... No Pirate Vs. Ninja?!

Bageena — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:09:13 -0800

Haven't you always secretly wondered what would happen if a ninja accidentally stumbled into, say, Bill and Ted's time traveling Phone Booth and ended up somewhere around 7th century BC, only to come face-to-face with a feisty Spartan? Have you not pondered what would happen if you locked up an Apache with a Gladiator inside some sort of 21st century battle dome? Are you frustrated because you feel like there's nobody doing proper scientific studies to see what would happen when you pit two historically violent warriors that could have never actually met in real life? Worry no more people - I present to you Spike TV's newest offering - Deadliest Warrior! The show basically goes like this; you take two crazy fighters who, previous to the show, have only been pitted against one another in heated debates between young men in line for the midnight showing of the newest X-Men movie (or really awesome drunk people). The show's 'Host, Simulation Consultant, and Blogger', Max Geiger brings in experts representing each warrior. The experts bring in weapons that are historically accurate which are then tested on a variety of dummies that are stuffed with SCIENCE! The data from said SCIENCE! all goes into a computer simulation based on an unreleased commercial game engine by these guys. Not just the SCIENCE!, which is actually pretty cool (ballistics gel, pig carcasses, high speed photography), but also, as Max aptly put it: "The simulation's inputs include real world scientific data gathered by one of my co-hosts, Geoff Desmoulin, who is getting his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering. Our number crunching is balanced out by Dr. Armand Dorian, an ER doctor who keeps our work firmly grounded in the actual trauma our tests cause." The reviews are in! Variety seems to feel it might be possibly the stupidest show ever, appealing only to the lowest common denominator! Newsarama was a little nicer, pointing out that there are some people on the show trying to make it as scientific as it can possibly be, while also having a great time. Either way, do you care? Don't you want to watch a Viking fight a Samurai? Or a Pirate against a Knight? You can apparently only watch the latest episode on the website, here. Also, looking forward on the Wikipedia, it does look like the show might slip-slide from whatever tenuous grasp they have on ideas for fights as they start doing shows about William Wallace versus Shaka Zulu or finally, the IRA versus the Taliban. I have only one thought. How could they have NOT had a Pirate versus Ninja episode? FAIL!

Everything you know about Alternate Reality Games is wrong

nthdegx — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 16:13:14 -0800

Everything you know about Alternate Reality Games is wrong

StreetWars News Segment

rageagainsttherobots — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 07:10:23 -0800

A news segment on StreetWars: the 24/7 watergun assassination game.

Consider my opinion changed.

fantabulous timewaster — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:58:48 -0800

Overcoming Bias [via]

Life Is Sketch Comedy and God and the Bible

boost ventilator — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:29:23 -0800

Mr. Show skits that became reality . (Warning: mature language)

I Want To Blow YOU Up!

gman — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 07:30:35 -0800

A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila. MTV made a show out of her because, amongst other reasons, she has over 2.5 million friends on myspace and she claims not to discriminate. The cast bios are ~~interesting~~ fucking ridiculous. The latest has her and some dude named Bobby breaking up. Fan sites are abuzz.

Who Wants to Marry a U.S. Citizen?

gman — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 05:02:03 -0800

Still no takers? But it's a proven success.

Atom

empath — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 12:41:22 -0800

Atom. -- The Clash of the Titans -- The Key to the Cosmos -- The Illusion of Reality

DIY AR

signal — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 07:40:17 -0800

Artag: Augmented reality on your desktop. via Digital Urban, with a HowTo.

Gamers and their avatars

CunningLinguist — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 09:52:22 -0800

Gamers and their avatars

Are We Really Real?

amyms — Mon, 21 May 2007 15:53:09 -0800

Are You Living In A Computer Simulation? The Simulation Argument is a regularly-updated site, organized by Nick Bostrom, examining the hypothesis that we are currently living in an "ancestor simulation" run by a future "post-human" society.

Reality Sandwich

homunculus — Fri, 11 May 2007 00:01:22 -0800

Reality Sandwich is a new web magazine whose subjects "run the gamut from sustainability to shamanism, alternate realities to alternative energy, remixing media to re-imagining community, holistic healing techniques to the promise and perils of new technologies." Daniel Pinchbeck, the author of Breaking Open the Head, is the editorial director of the site. [Via Disinformation.]

Chasing the Virtual Carrot

fenriq — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 15:12:57 -0800

The Hamster Ball for Gamers
The VirtuSphere is a fully immersive virtual reality sphere that enables free movement in any direction for military and first-responder training (gaming), tourism (gaming), education (gaming), real estate walk-throughs (gaming), the possibilities are only limited by your imagination (gaming). You can run, jump, walk or otherwise locomote (i.e. roll a wheelchair) through an endless virtual world. And look like a total dork doing it but who cares? The videos make it look totally badass and fun and great exercise too! Though I do wonder what happens if/when you trip and biff.

An inconvenient dangered species

PreteFunkEra — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 00:06:23 -0800

Global warming is to blame for the disapearing act of Polar Bears in the arctic. After years of so called "Scientific proof" the Bush administration finally admits they were wrong.

Being and Seeming: the Technology of Representation

MetaMonkey — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 10:20:53 -0800

Being and Seeming: the Technology of Representation an essay by novelist Richard Powers

...another less attractive but probably more realistic version of modern warfare in Iraq today ...

amberglow — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 16:31:40 -0800

Pentagon to Soldiers: Don't Post those Trophy Videos Online ... another said it made him feel good to bring the gruesome reality of a soldier's life in Iraq to those living safely behind their "clean, white picket fences at home". ...the taking and posting of trophy video served as some kind of relief from the psychological stresses of serving as a soldier in such a violent and acutely dangerous place. ... and from PBS' Mediashift: Your Guide to Soldier Videos From Iraq

Is this real or memorex?

Unregistered User — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 07:24:51 -0800

[NSFW] Heavy Rain From Quantic Dream Sets a new standard for realism in interactive cinema... I found this to be really creepy. I have a hard time looking into their eyes. Something about it is just...well, see for yourself. Anyway the flash technology is getting better and better. Along with what has become know as augmented reality. Pretty amazing stuff.

This is fiction

0bvious — Wed, 10 May 2006 18:27:00 -0800

Writing has been around for a long time, but that doesn't mean we've mastered it yet. Want to make fiction? Perhaps it makes itself, perhaps it makes you... Self reference breeding infinite hyperrealities. Which world will you choose?

Switching off self-awareness

0bvious — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 19:16:23 -0800

Researchers have found that prolonged concentration on a difficult task actually switches off a person's self awareness. Fancy experiencing this sensation for yourself? That would be an oxymoron in existence. Just lay back and let the orgasm take hold.

The Simulacrisation of Technology into Life

0bvious — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 20:09:26 -0800

As the Pentagon ousts plans to turn insects into cyber war machines you'd be forgiven for asking the question: Where does the real digital end and the faked life begin? Are we simulating life synthetically? or just speeding up an entirely natural process? Technologically engineered life is here to stay. Its not far fetched to speculate that simulacra may become all there is.

Who wants to be a superhero?

jdroth — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 17:35:03 -0800

Who wants to be a superhero? Forget Survivor. Forget Beauty and the Geek. This is the ultimate reality show. Who wouldn't want to see a middle-aged comic-book geeks decked out to fight crime? Apply now! Our safety depends upon it! (Maybe Peter Pan would be interested?)