a cool talk

Adam Savage on obsession

class articles 2

Some more stuff for my classes:

• "A Poor Photographer Blames His Tools"
  
• "Spiritual Atheism"
  
• "Identifying Yourself as a Lesbian Gets You Banned on X-Box Live"
  
• "Do Video Games Cost Too Much?"
  
• "Review: Halo Wars Swaps Shooting for Strategy"
  
  

class articles

I'm using some online articles for my classes. Here are some of them:

Science links

• Future Watch: A.I. comes of age
  
• Creationism defeated in Texas
  
• International Space Station Tour (Part I)
  
• The Open Universe
  
• The Age of Mass Intelligence
  

video game links

• Video Game Regulation: Where We Are Now
  
• Study: violence in games not that compelling for most gamers
  

extreme drunk

The New Yorker has a nice piece about extreme beer brewing. No, they don't use Mountain Dew.

are you sure that Obama doesn't signal post-racial?

Again...what do you think? Apparently, hate crimes have spiked since Obama won the election. This is not a Coke commercial, people. We do not live in harmony yet.

civil rights and universality

This is a nice approach to protesting California's awful Proposition 8. I just hope it works.

does Obama = post-racial?

Um, what do you think?

the American myth of success

The Guardian has an interesting article asking the question: what really leads to success...pure genius or hard work? The answer might surprise you.

ObamaMania!

The New Yorker just published a very intriguing article on Obama and Race. It's kind of long, but it is a fascinating read.

Likewise, Newsweek had reporters embedded in the Hillary, Obama, and McCain camps. Their reports from inside the election are fascinating in their insight and scope.

Southern man?

As someone who grew up in the South, I had to deal with misconceptions about the South on almost a daily basis. Once I moved up to the Midwest, I thought I was through with them...but I was not. The state of confusion over Southern identity is pretty much messed up across the board.

This is one of the things that academics need to do: clear up not the confusion but the roots of that confusion. Notice this interview with David Williams covering his book Bitterly Divided: The South's Inner Civil War, which argues that most Southerners did not support the Confederacy.

Lies and misconceptions must always be exposed.

coolest use of spare time

I loved Lego as a kid, but I never did anything extraordinary with it. If only I would've realized the artistic possibilities! Here's the Beijing Olympics rendered in Lego.

grabbing the golden coins

I love reading competing histories. For instance, Gamasutra published an interview covering the evolution of Sega, makers of several video game systems and a damn hedgehog game. That article prompted a heated and funny debate on Slashdot. There's nothing funnier than riled-up nerds.

some infant is going to be seriously cool

According to Slate, scientologists believe in some form of reincarnation. That means the soul (they call it a "thetian") of the recently departed Issac Hayes will inhabit some new person...who will become the coolest person in its whole maternity ward immediately upon birth. Lucky bastard.

literal deconstructing

I know I addressed the Bangladesh supertanker graveyard in one of my earlier posts to this blog but it's cool enough to get another entry. Besides, this very awesome photo-essay focuses on the workers.

making a world without race

Those lucky bastards at Gizmodo got to do a tour of the Lego factory and have posted video. It's awesome, yet puzzling, as none of the machines are made with 2x9 blocks.

where'd everybody go?

Ghost towns are not just for the wild west. Here's a list (with rockin' photos) of ten international ghost towns. The photos are cool, but they'd be perfect if someone photoshopped in zombies.

a good kind of murder

The Federation of American Scientist has come up with yet another use for video games. They have recently released "Immune Attack," which "introduces basic concepts of human immunology to high school and entry-level college students." Yes, video games can be homework! What a world!

It's a shame I never came up with a justification for my love of "Yar's Revenge.

eye in the sky

While it's certainly done its part to make my desktop wallpaper cooler, it's really made me appreciate science and NASA. Am I talking about Bill Nye? No, I'm talking about the Hubble Space Telescope. Harvard Magazine has an appreciation of its many accomplishments.

evil from the top

Why do many people refuse to acknowledge global warming or believe it's a man-made process? Sadly, the truth is that they're being lied to from the top levels. As it turns out, Vice President Dick Cheney's office is guilty of hiding the science. Hey, at least he didn't try to shoot the author of the article in the face.

digging covert actions

Do you liken covert political movements? How about Los Angeles guerrilla gardeners?

methods of our gub'ment

Christopher Hitchens, that brave man, got waterboarded for Vanity Fair. Would it give away too much to tell you the title of the article is Believe Me, It's Torture.

obama and race 3

Lest someone think I was digging on West Virginia earlier, here's an article about racist attacks on Obama campaign headquarters in Indiana and Pennsylvania. Remember, racism has no regional boundaries.

obama and race 2

Did you know that 20% of West Virginia Democrats won't vote for Obama because of his race? And I'm sure this isn't limited to just West Virginia.

thoughtful funny

Here's the last George Carlin interview, and it's a doozy. Carlin really was more than just a funny guy, as this clearly shows.

appropriate honors

A group of wonderful smart-asses in San Francisco are starting a movement to rename the SF sewer plant after George W. Bush, which I find totally appropriate. My fave quote? "Most politicians tend to be narcissistic and egomaniacs," said Brian McConnell, an organizer who regularly suits up as Uncle Sam to solicit signatures. "So it is important for satirists to help define their history rather than letting them define their own history."