Thinkcage

I finally got around to watching my DVR’d copy of The Video Game Revolution, a documentary of the history of video games on PBS. The piece is a a fun two-hour walk through the history of video games with commentary on their impact on culture. The show revealed a few tidbits I didn’t know, such as the fact that Apple Computer founders Steve Jobs, and Steve Wozniak first collaborated at Atari on the game, Breakout. Also interesting was the mention of the pre-pong patent that Magnavox owned over putting gaming images on a Television screen. Apparently they were granted this patent and spent several years suing the pants off of the competition to their failed game console. Unfortunately, the documentary failed to discuss how this patent was logically overturned and when.

My only other criticism of this entertaining show was the annoying practice of showing too many clips of games unrelated to the narration. For example, showing footage of the latest, and arguably poorest, title in the Tomb Raider series as the narrative discusses how ground-breaking the original was. The various installments of Doom and Quake were used equally interchangeably. For a documentary on history, the looseness of these clips seems sloppy. Check out the mini site for the series for some good complimentary articles. Much like their recent music special, The Way the Music Died, PBS has done a fantastic job of building a strong online resource to accompany the piece. I wish that other television shows and movies were equally supported.

A recent BBC News article, Body and brain of gamers probed, takes a look at the work of a University of Oklahoma researcher that is studying the physical effects of video games. No, not effects of repetitive stress or bleary eyes, but the chemical and physical results of gaming. The research, though early, shows that the mental state of a gamer is not unlike that of an athlete involved in competition. The hope is that the game industry can use the research to more consistently create compelling games.

According to a recent CNET article, a new-from-the-box Windows computer connected to the Internet will be infected by malware in an average of 20 minutes. Scary thought. Even more frightening when you consider this result is predicted for a PC that is simply connected to the Internet and not even subjected to the danger of users visiting malicious websites or receiving infected email. It would seem that the average dial-up modem surfer would have little chance of adequately protecting his computer.

Personally, I was taken by surprise at this finding. Partly because I work behind a solidly maintained LAN at work and hide behind a router at home; partly because I do much of my work on an Apple Mac. But with broadband still not the prevailing standard for the average user, it seems that mom and dad on AOL are the biggest culprits and victims in the war on malware.

The Global Rich list is a clever way to market a charitable cause. While it is clearly simplistic, the message is very clear.

I cannot decide if my memory is clouded or if I really am significantly more interested in this year’s presidential election than an other in my lifetime. There is an urgency to this particular cycle for me; it just feels so important.

Today I read a conversation in New York Metro between Norman Mailer and his son as they discuss the upcoming Republican National Convention and George W. Bush. In so many ways this piece speaks to me and succeeds in verbalizing the feelings I have felt about our nation’s leader. Particularly the following passage by the senior Mailer in reference to Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11:

On the other hand, the stuff on Iraq was powerful. There, he didn’t need cheap shots. The real story was in the faces. All those faces on the Bush team. What you saw was the spiritual emptiness of those people. Bush has one of the emptiest faces in America. He looks to have no more depth than spit on a rock. It could be that the most incisive personal crime committed by George Bush is that he probably never said to himself, “I don’t deserve to be president.” You just can’t trust a man who’s never been embarrassed by himself. The vanity of George W. stands out with every smirk. He literally cannot control that vanity. It seeps out of every movement of his lips, it squeezes through every tight-lipped grimace. Every grin is a study in smugsmanship.

That is my biggest issue with the president. The ugly display of pride and arrogance that guide every decision, every conversation with the people of America and the world. This is most evident in our arrogance in foreign policy which has transformed us from the benign superpower to a belligerent bully.

Another passage speaks about the devisions in the U.S. where voter apathy and entrenched ideologies make for close elections:

He is a collection of disasters for America. What he does to the English language is a species of catastrophe all by itself. Bush learned a long time ago that certain key words, “evil, patriotism, stand-firm, flag, our-fight-against-terrorism,” will get half the people in America stirred up. That’s all he works with

This is dead-on. It seems that the days of a superior candidate winning the hearts and minds of the nation’s people are gone when a candidate can count on lethargy by the opposition and pandering to the a scant virtual majority as a viable means of being elected.

There is more in the full article including Mailer’s thoughts on protesting the convention and the 9/11 commission report.

More election fun brought to you by Will Farrell and ACT.