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July 23, 2006

New article up

Serious Games Source has finally published my article on the Games For Change conference last month. The meat of the article is on the recommendations that were made for seeking grant funding for social change games, and also on Raph Koster's rather scathing comments at the final keynote.

I've also been notified that the New York Times has run an article on games for change I had no idea this was a story they'd be into; I guess next time I should aim higher.

Posted by me at 12:45 PM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2006

Speaking at the Hacker Conference Friday

I just got word that I've been added as a speaker on a panel entitled Hackers and Academia this Friday at the sixth Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) conference, after having peppered every email address I could find for organizers begging to be let on it. I plan to speak briefly on what I've learned in school about the ways hackers and geeks are absolutely correct in their criticism of schools in forums like Slashdot. Research on human cognition and social learning suggests that in fact sitting and listening to a lecture from someone who doesn't respect the things you've been teaching yourself outside of class is generally not the ideal way to learn.

So my panel is Friday at 11:00 a.m., which will be a bit of a graveyard shift but I hope some people who haven't heard about this stuff already will show. I highly recommend this conference to anyone interested in technology. It's cheap, the people are tons of fun, it's right here in New York City, and one of the guys who's involved in the open-source ripoff version of DDR usually brings his setup. Also they will teach you how to pick locks.

I have to say just being always gives me a pleasant sense of historical completion in my own life. The conference is held at the Pennsylvania Hotel, one of the first landmarks of my own New York history; we stayed there when my youth orchestra played at Carnegie Hall when I was thirteen. And thirteen must have been about how old I was when I read an article in the L.A. Times about Emmanuel Goldstein and just thought he was the coolest thing.

Posted by me at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2006

Vote Amazing Screw-On Head!

Jacob made me aware that the Sci Fi Channel has developed a pilot animated show of the comic book The Amazing Screw-On Head. A definite must for all fans of Edward Gorey, this is the visually dark yet whimsical story of a steampunk 007 (errrr, 007's screw-on head?!) who is in the service of Abraham Lincoln, fighting evil spinsters and gentleman zombies during the Civil War. (Watch for the "animation" of Lincoln. Holy flipbook flatpanels, Batman!) Makes for some great period jingoism (back when people actually said "jingo"). If enough people indicate they like the pilot, Sci Fi will apparently run it. So Vote Screw-On Head!

A few more notes: the artist responsible is Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy. Paul Giamatti voices Head, I think, and the bad dude is of course voiced by David Hyde Pierce from Frasier.

Posted by me at 2:14 PM | Comments (0)

July 11, 2006

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa!

Am I really sitting here watching John Dean -- RICHARD NIXON'S John Dean -- on the Daily Show essentially saying THEODOR ADORNO WAS RIGHT?!?! He's talking about his new book, Conservatives Without Conscience, and he keeps saying there's this whoooole series of studies which the public has not been told about in which we learn about how fascism arises, and he has said "the authoritarian personality" about half a dozen times!

OK, so he's also referring to Stanley Milgram's unethical and largely frowned-upon electric shock experiments, but he really does seem to be referring to The Authoritarian Personality. I am going to have to read this book. Also, I'll have to watch out for ice catching on fire and cats having puppies. And I am so going to have to stop myself from screaming I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU THE MARXISTS WERE RIGHT AND WE SHOULD BE TEACHING SOCIAL SCIENCE IN SCHOOLS! all day long.

Posted by me at 11:22 PM | Comments (0)

I can't sleep

I don't really count sheep, but I do need to get my mind off things, so I try to think up alternative game interfaces. And it occurs to me that what with this trend for pole-dancing among suburban housewives...

what we really need is a pole that doubles as a theremin.

Or maybe not. Maybe the whole phenomenon of pole dancing is dorky enough as it is without eerie musical accompaniment. I was half waiting for the announcer in that clip to say "Ohhh jeez" or "you betcha," a la Fargo.

Posted by me at 2:19 AM | Comments (0)

July 1, 2006

My baby graduated!

OMG Fab totally graduated!!!!!!!! I am so proud of her!

I'm sorry I don't have larger pix, these are the ones she sent. Sadly I couldn't make it myself! It was one of those ticketed affairs, and I told her she had to take her dad AND her bosses who have looked out for her a lot more than I have.

For those who have been inquiring, she will be attending University of Rochester in the fall. It is a pleasantly Hampshirey place in terms of its flexible requirements, though it is larger and has more structure. I think in the end Northeastern didn't have the programs she wanted (Arabic languages, among others).

Congratulations Fab! If anyone wants to help support her, or pass on words of wisdom, let me know.

Posted by me at 2:44 PM | Comments (1)

Distributed Investigative Research

Is everybody familiar with ePluribus Media? Being in grad school I've been a bit out of the news and haven't been keeping good track, but these are the folks who broke the exposee of Jeff Gannon (that's a Daily Show clip, so you can have some fun). They maintain databases to support timelines of important stories including Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Plamegate leak, and post-traumatic stress disorder incidences among soldiers returning from the war. These databases are available to any reporter who wants access. The neatest feature of these databases? You make 'em, their volunteers fact-check them. They have a number of librarians and other info-minded folks helping out behind the scenes with research, on a volunteer basis. Reminds me a little of the gargoyle reporters in Snow Crash.

Posted by me at 11:09 AM | Comments (0)