June 2008
Birdmen and the Casual Fallacy →
May 2008
“It’s a human nature to misunderstand when others make hard work look easy. We...”
– Why we write about games
The kindness of strangers →
The claim that there is no such thing as race is understandable but wrong. We should recognise both the genetic reality of race and the uniquely human ability to transcend it.
“When I started, I didn’t care about the other people. Now they are the...”
– “Mogwai” @ “Rage against the machines”
Rage against the machines →
Modern video games mean big business, and big controversy. Yet most of the charges levelled against games—that they stunt minds and spark addiction—are based on an outdated understanding of what gamers do when they sit down to play
A thriller in ten chapters →
The Observer’s literary editor Robert McCrum stood down this month after more than 10 years in the job. And what a tumultuous 10 years. When he started it was a world of ‘cigarettes, coffee and strong drink’. But that has all changed - new writers, big money, the internet, lucrative prizes and literary festivals have all helped revolutionise the books world. Here he charts the...
Five things humans no longer need →
WatchThe Good, the Bad and the Weird (Kim Ji-Woon, 2008)
Lies I've told my 3-year old recently →
“Allow men the right to legally disown their unborn children. In cases where the...”
– How to save the world from idiocracy
The Strange Case of the Electronic Lover →
Virtual Paranoia →
In this latest VR study, the environment was programmed to be neutral but about a third of participants from the general population reported paranoid thoughts.
“I suppose this would all make a bit more sense if I explained to you that the...”
– Love in Game-space
The origin of :awesome: →
Corpse Found Sitting in Front of Television for 42... →
“Suppose you were a clinician and a 4-year-old black kid came into your office...”
– The battle over infants with cross-gender desires
How does moving around a scene mess up our memory? →
“I will read stories to my child until they’re embarrassed by it but I also plan...”
– Raised on the Stuff
Computer Game's High Score Could Earn The Nobel... →
“However, at the core of the drive, the spinning metal platters that actually...”
– Data from Columbia disk drives survived the shuttle accident
The He Hormone →
As testosterone becomes increasingly available, more is being learned about how men and women are not created equal. So let’s accept it and move on.
