According to Kira, Asheron's Call 2 is going the way of all digital flesh. Now comes the culling, post WoW.
AC2 and Turbine did a great job -- the monthly content updates, where the world genuinely changed from month to month, has never been matched in any of the big game designs. The game was constantly fresh, each month a fevered hunt for clues to the unfurling stoy arc of the year. Websites were set up to track incoming new bits of lore and assemble them. They just couldn't beat the weight of the established franchises.
AC2's first version, Asheron's Call (which is apparently still up and running) was the home to one of my favorite in-game episodes. For the culmination of a multi-month plotline, all the world servers had a massive "Destroy the Crystal for Booty" cave system created. As to be expected, the players assaulted the cavern, destroyed the crystal for their reward -- and released the Big Bad for the rest of the arc.
However, on one server, a group of players revolted. They spontaneously organized to defend the object against the depradations of the other players on the server. They scheduled, worked in shifts. For days, while the story progressed on the other worlds, they kept the crystal intact and the Big Bad entombed.
They hijacked the narrative.
This, to me, was fantastic. These players moved from story-consumers to story-actors. It wasn't somebody else's story anymore. In theory is the reason people play on-line games is to own the story, but in reality they're like old passion plays, never varying as you hunt from well-documented quest to well-documented quest in order top chase the same objects everyone else is. The fun is in maximizing your character, tweaking the stats -- computer on-line games are much more in the spirit of collectible card games, when you think about it. Probably the same root of their monetary riches are in that soil of addictive pursuit of perfection ...
Eventually, in order to keep the servers synched, these rebels were given a special in-game honorific and then the Big Bad was sprung. But I'll always be inspired by that little moment when a bunch of strangers all sitting in different dark little rooms all over the world decided "You know what? NO. We're going to tell our version of the story."
(NOTE: Edited to correct the timeline)
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Virtually on Film
Staying in a gaming vibe for ... well, whenever the hell I get bored with it, Alice at Wonderland: leads us to this: mapping famous scenes and sets from movies using Unreal Tournament build engine.
Two notes off this -- from a film-making standpoint, there are several software packages that allow one to storyboard your shots. You actually build your set/location in the software, and then you can literally move your camera around, see where you'll wind up smacking into walls, etc. The problem unfortunately is that graphically they're all pretty much crap. They give you, as far as I can tell, very little advantage over pencil storyboards and a good DP. (if someone's used these and loved them, I'd love to hear the story) If some bright young fella licensed the Unreal Engine and smacked it together with the camera gizmos in such software -- essentially took the rough edges of machinima/in game moviemaking and ported it back out to rl movie-making, they may be able to make a nice little splash.
(Now that I'm in theory taking some time off, I want to try to crack the filmmaking in Sims 2. That seems like a good half-step. Although Molyneux's The Movies looks fascinating)
Second, a quick build of rl locations for instructional purposes becomes even more viable. The military's already using commercially available games for training. If a new student at a particularly maze-like campus, like say MIT (which I believe has one building with the third longest series of continuous corridors in the world, right behind the Kremlin and the Pentagon) had that campus available as a 3-D game map, how helpful would that be for incoming freshmen?
... Although the majority of the readers here aren't gamers like I am, but a few of you will know what I mean: if you were to somehow transport me physically to WoW and drop me in Khaz Modan or Ogrimmar, I could run to the bank, pick up my dry cleaning and be bac k at the inn before you could finish grunting "Stop touching meeee!"
Two notes off this -- from a film-making standpoint, there are several software packages that allow one to storyboard your shots. You actually build your set/location in the software, and then you can literally move your camera around, see where you'll wind up smacking into walls, etc. The problem unfortunately is that graphically they're all pretty much crap. They give you, as far as I can tell, very little advantage over pencil storyboards and a good DP. (if someone's used these and loved them, I'd love to hear the story) If some bright young fella licensed the Unreal Engine and smacked it together with the camera gizmos in such software -- essentially took the rough edges of machinima/in game moviemaking and ported it back out to rl movie-making, they may be able to make a nice little splash.
(Now that I'm in theory taking some time off, I want to try to crack the filmmaking in Sims 2. That seems like a good half-step. Although Molyneux's The Movies looks fascinating)
Second, a quick build of rl locations for instructional purposes becomes even more viable. The military's already using commercially available games for training. If a new student at a particularly maze-like campus, like say MIT (which I believe has one building with the third longest series of continuous corridors in the world, right behind the Kremlin and the Pentagon) had that campus available as a 3-D game map, how helpful would that be for incoming freshmen?
... Although the majority of the readers here aren't gamers like I am, but a few of you will know what I mean: if you were to somehow transport me physically to WoW and drop me in Khaz Modan or Ogrimmar, I could run to the bank, pick up my dry cleaning and be bac k at the inn before you could finish grunting "Stop touching meeee!"
Friday, August 26, 2005
Rubicon
I've already sung the praises of Tom Holland's informative and surprisingly entertaining book about the fall of the Roman Republic, Rubicon. In a nice coincidence, Holland spends 3/4 of the book giving you deep and masterfully vivid background on Roman history, politics and personalities leading up to the return of Julius Caesar from Gaul -- which is the starting point of HBO's new show Rome.
Much in the same way a knowledge of Western history only makes Deadwood exponentially more entertaining, reading Holland's book will really open up Rome for you. Most won't have time to finish it before Sunday, but it is a fast read and I think you'll find it an excellent companion piece. HBO show aside, I can honestly say this is one of my Top Ten books for the year. And, in case you hadn't noticed, I do tend to plow through the texts.
Much in the same way a knowledge of Western history only makes Deadwood exponentially more entertaining, reading Holland's book will really open up Rome for you. Most won't have time to finish it before Sunday, but it is a fast read and I think you'll find it an excellent companion piece. HBO show aside, I can honestly say this is one of my Top Ten books for the year. And, in case you hadn't noticed, I do tend to plow through the texts.
A Little Thing We Call Realism
At the risk of seeming like a nonstop pimp for the General, this Op-Ed is fantastic. Some of you may wish to shop my (admittedly dubious) liberal cred after this, but I'm not generically anti-war. I'm actually a rather fervent interventionist. Sometimes you need to give peace a chance, and sadly sometimes you actually do need to beat the plowshares back into Bradley Fighting Plows. I fully supported Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan -- my main bitch with the last being that we needed to stay there and do it right, not bugger off and leave it unfinished. I think we should be in Darfur. With the right alliance and leadership in place, one could sweet talk me into invading North Korea. (Yep, that's the sound of my friends' jaws dropping)
My main problem with the IraqWar2 always was that it was obviously going to be a brutal reconstruction, and nobody seemed to be talking about that. I'm not against armed intervention; I'm against armed intervention by people who I suspect will fuck it up. Badly.
In this, Wes Clark points out how grown-ups pursue multi-pronged plans of attack on their enemies, details how the Administration failed to do so, and how those compounding failures have led us to the point where we may have no alternative to pulling out, not from loss of nerve but because, strategically, there's not much more we can do with the manpower available, and that manpower's in a bad spot.
You can always ask the American public to show resolve in support of a detailed strategy. You cannot ask the American public to make that resolve take the place of a nonexistent strategy.
There are a million ways to paraphrase this, but I can only urge you to read the article. (Kos has a pretty good summary if you haven't the time.) I don't much like to write about specific policy here, keeping my commentary on satires/rants on larger societal issues, but I feel this is worth at least a pointer.
Wes Clark needs to be President. At the very least he should be Vice-President to a more domestically oriented nominee (although he does have a degree in economics, he can handle that stuff). I can only urge some of my disaffected Republican friends to examine his website and look around. This is the internationally savvy yet centered, pragmatic type of man who you thought you'd have as a candidate when you became GOP. My liberal friends -- there's no waffling here, his policies are the progressive policies of personal rights and privacy, and he's able to distill his opinions down into common sense with insight and, thank Christ, humor.
I've pre-ordered my bumper stickers.
My main problem with the IraqWar2 always was that it was obviously going to be a brutal reconstruction, and nobody seemed to be talking about that. I'm not against armed intervention; I'm against armed intervention by people who I suspect will fuck it up. Badly.
In this, Wes Clark points out how grown-ups pursue multi-pronged plans of attack on their enemies, details how the Administration failed to do so, and how those compounding failures have led us to the point where we may have no alternative to pulling out, not from loss of nerve but because, strategically, there's not much more we can do with the manpower available, and that manpower's in a bad spot.
You can always ask the American public to show resolve in support of a detailed strategy. You cannot ask the American public to make that resolve take the place of a nonexistent strategy.
There are a million ways to paraphrase this, but I can only urge you to read the article. (Kos has a pretty good summary if you haven't the time.) I don't much like to write about specific policy here, keeping my commentary on satires/rants on larger societal issues, but I feel this is worth at least a pointer.
Wes Clark needs to be President. At the very least he should be Vice-President to a more domestically oriented nominee (although he does have a degree in economics, he can handle that stuff). I can only urge some of my disaffected Republican friends to examine his website and look around. This is the internationally savvy yet centered, pragmatic type of man who you thought you'd have as a candidate when you became GOP. My liberal friends -- there's no waffling here, his policies are the progressive policies of personal rights and privacy, and he's able to distill his opinions down into common sense with insight and, thank Christ, humor.
I've pre-ordered my bumper stickers.
We've Converted
I know, I'd heard rumors, but never really read all the core beliefs of the Flying Spaghetti Monster religion. But BoingBoing points out that they have a Wikipedia entry now. As I perused it and learned more of this wondrous religion -- and became convinced that its core beliefs should also be taught in schools along with Intelligent Design -- I was completely surprised when the lovely wife walked from the other room and announced "I have been touched by his noodly appendage."
One cannot ignore such a sign from the Heaven -- his Heaven, where there are strippers and a beer volcano. We are now devout Pastafarians.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
For the last time ...
... "Unobtanium" was a JOKE, people. An intentional JOKE (albeit based on an actual term used by engineers and space-folk at JPL). Stop with the snarky e-mails. I don't know why I just got a pop of them, but if you don't get that tongue was firmly in cheek for a chunk of the movie, then you need to maybe stop thinking you're on the topside of the argument on this.
And yes, it should have been magnetic pole shift. That's what it was originally. I can only take small solace in the pleasure that everyone who "noted" that movie into the ground is now not just unemployed, but spectacularly so. Gahhh.
On the other hand, it developed a nice little fan base once it was on DVD, so I'll take the win.
And yes, it should have been magnetic pole shift. That's what it was originally. I can only take small solace in the pleasure that everyone who "noted" that movie into the ground is now not just unemployed, but spectacularly so. Gahhh.
On the other hand, it developed a nice little fan base once it was on DVD, so I'll take the win.
Global Frequency
I'm an idiot, should have put this up before the show. Go HERE for the latest update/link collection for this site -- there's a separate GF section midway down.
But my Grav Rad controller's about to ding!!
This through BoingBoing -- the Chinese government is apparently applying a three hour time limit to online games, with five hour rest breaks minimum between. Play too long, your attributes in-game start dropping. All the majors, including WoW, seem to be complying.
Although the question has already been raised about players hopping from game to game instead of actually, say, not playing my question is -- how will this affect gold farming? We all joke about the Chinese gold farmer, this could have a measurable effect on the viability of farming in the MMO works and subsequently the in-game economies of those worlds.
(P.S. why am I getting all these hits from the Dr. Who forums? Am I up for, like, the Golden Scarf Award or something?)
Although the question has already been raised about players hopping from game to game instead of actually, say, not playing my question is -- how will this affect gold farming? We all joke about the Chinese gold farmer, this could have a measurable effect on the viability of farming in the MMO works and subsequently the in-game economies of those worlds.
(P.S. why am I getting all these hits from the Dr. Who forums? Am I up for, like, the Golden Scarf Award or something?)
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Attack of the Show
Tomorrow, live, 4pm PST on the much-hipper-than-I gaming television network G4, I will be on Attack of the Show talking about BitTorrent, GF, new media distribution related to gaming models, and various and sundry other Fourth Generation Media 4GM ideas. Tune in and think "Wow, I thought he'd be taller/skinnier/have a less weak-ass beard!"
Hate me! HATE ME with your WALLETS!
Oooh, the comments are nothing. You should see the e-mails. Although I appreciate most people obeying the "e-mail the hate mail" rule here.
I would remind you, if you find me arrogant, a poor writer, short-sighted, generally offensive, etc., there is one sure-fire way to punish me -- contribute to the Army Emergency Relief Fund with the Paypal button to the right. I'm funneling funds through here because, at the end of the month, I'm matching the funds you donate.
So write the big check and bankrupt me! Strip me of my ill-gotten gains! If I am a "spoiled little pansy-ass brat", make me pay!
I would remind you, if you find me arrogant, a poor writer, short-sighted, generally offensive, etc., there is one sure-fire way to punish me -- contribute to the Army Emergency Relief Fund with the Paypal button to the right. I'm funneling funds through here because, at the end of the month, I'm matching the funds you donate.
So write the big check and bankrupt me! Strip me of my ill-gotten gains! If I am a "spoiled little pansy-ass brat", make me pay!
Booming Babies Still Want Bidey
WARNING: Crank factor at %110. So rarely do I write something I KNOW will engender hate mail. Have at it!
Chris Bowers over at MyDD has an open plea to older activists -- stop the Vietnam comparisons. His discussion is based on several pragmatic message-oriented ideas.
But this actually touches on something that's been annoying me. The Baby Boomers are killing this country.
Mmmmm. Give me a moment. Let me savor the coming flame war from that statement.
Ahhhh. Back to it then.
As I've posted before, I could not BELIEVE that during the last election, when we had an actual war going on right now, we were watching the Baby Boomers politicians -- AND VOTERS -- settle their Vietnam shit. No, fuck you, Pfc. Jenkins on your second tour through Fallujah, Daddy's gonna vote based on who pissed him off back in '73. I still see, in the occasional angry e-mail or comment on my site, the world "hippie" or "commie" thrown around. When I see interviews of average American folk, thsoe ideas resonate even more.
Jesus. H. Christ. Even the COMMIES don't use communism anymore. The Soviet Union's a goddam museum, Fidel rules over an empire the size of my backyard, North Korea went from "communist" to "crazy-ocracy" decades ago, and China -- China is our biggest foreign asset holder. Are they a threat? Shit yeah. Are they the exact sam ethreat in the exact same way they were twenty/thirty years ago? Hell no. The only people resembling "hippies" left are other Baby Boomers unwilling to let go of their glory days.
You understand, this isn't a liberal or conservative thing. This is just weird. By definition of the "boom" a single generation -- and hence the ossified political beliefs of that generation, for good or ill -- have enormous demographic weight. And thanks to advances in medical technology, unlike other aging voting blocs they won't ... goddam ... die. And they'll keep on voting.
So we'll keep having to put up with policy discussion framed in the terms of their youth, often in terms of enemies and issues that don't even exist anymore. We have, by the numbers, the shittiest health care system in the world, but we can't change it because that'd be "socialism." We can't have honest discussions about the best way to prosecute the war, because any disagreement of that brings back echoes of "those filthy protesters" (wrongly, of course, but it ain't helping) and appeasement. (Yeah, the Brits really appeased the shit out of the IRA. Glad they never stopped to try different approaches to the problem). Statistics show that for a younger generation, gay rights is essentially a non-issue, but older freaked-out-by-t3h-gAy voters turn out in droves to retard our evolution as a culture. We're fighting a stateless world-wide shadow organization of loosely affiliated terror networks by using the same nation-state containtment warfare model of the past. We've gone backward on our approaches to energy policy since the first massive crotch-kick of the oil embargoes. The "War" on drugs which consistently targets the identifying drug of the Boomer counterculture -- marijuana -- when redstate counties in America are screaming for help with meth. Anyone want to count the number of ex-Nixon guys currently in charge of the government? I'll wait here.
This is as they say half in jest and all in earnest ... actually, think about it. What was the last geniunely new idea we heard in politics? I'd say the role of Evengelical Christianity in establishing a Dominionist government is the most singular new player on the market, but that's a.) been coming for twenty years and was funded by angry culture warriors of the 70's and 80's and b.) is really just a very, very old idea dressed up in Power Point presentation.
At the very least, with the change in life expectancies, we will see the cycle of idea renewal in public discourse slow down radically. The Boomer's demographic weight only creates a more readily visible example of that. We're not even seeing the usual gap (and probably healthy conflict), ideals of the kids vs. their parents. It's now kids vs. grandparents. In a world rapidly filled with other more aggressive nations and an almost exponential increase in the pace of technological innovation -- it's not a happy combination of factors.
The following is not addressed, of course, to the people who actually went out and risked their lives back in the day ... but instead, to the other 99%. Quick note:
Conservative boomers: you did not stop communism. The fundamental untenability of communism as an economic model in the real world and human nature's corruption, combined with the evolution of information technologies -- and Pope John Paul 2 -- stopped communism.
Liberal boomers: you did not bring about civil rights. Black people who had the stones to get firehosed and killed did. Black people. It's their damn win. Lyndon Johnson's willingness to enforce the federal government's will at the point of a gun didn't hurt. Jesus, if every white person over fifty I know who said they marched with the civil rights protestors really did, they wouldn't have had time for Woodstock.
People. You got stoned and laid and got to riot in the 60's. You got stoned and laid and learned to dance in the 70's. You got coked up and laid in the 80's. You made money during the long economic boom of the 90's. As is traditional, in your 50's and 60's you're running the joint. That's a good run. A good, loooooong run. Why so goddam hard done by? It's not all about you anymore. Please. PLEASE.
Chris Bowers over at MyDD has an open plea to older activists -- stop the Vietnam comparisons. His discussion is based on several pragmatic message-oriented ideas.
But this actually touches on something that's been annoying me. The Baby Boomers are killing this country.
Mmmmm. Give me a moment. Let me savor the coming flame war from that statement.
Ahhhh. Back to it then.
As I've posted before, I could not BELIEVE that during the last election, when we had an actual war going on right now, we were watching the Baby Boomers politicians -- AND VOTERS -- settle their Vietnam shit. No, fuck you, Pfc. Jenkins on your second tour through Fallujah, Daddy's gonna vote based on who pissed him off back in '73. I still see, in the occasional angry e-mail or comment on my site, the world "hippie" or "commie" thrown around. When I see interviews of average American folk, thsoe ideas resonate even more.
Jesus. H. Christ. Even the COMMIES don't use communism anymore. The Soviet Union's a goddam museum, Fidel rules over an empire the size of my backyard, North Korea went from "communist" to "crazy-ocracy" decades ago, and China -- China is our biggest foreign asset holder. Are they a threat? Shit yeah. Are they the exact sam ethreat in the exact same way they were twenty/thirty years ago? Hell no. The only people resembling "hippies" left are other Baby Boomers unwilling to let go of their glory days.
You understand, this isn't a liberal or conservative thing. This is just weird. By definition of the "boom" a single generation -- and hence the ossified political beliefs of that generation, for good or ill -- have enormous demographic weight. And thanks to advances in medical technology, unlike other aging voting blocs they won't ... goddam ... die. And they'll keep on voting.
So we'll keep having to put up with policy discussion framed in the terms of their youth, often in terms of enemies and issues that don't even exist anymore. We have, by the numbers, the shittiest health care system in the world, but we can't change it because that'd be "socialism." We can't have honest discussions about the best way to prosecute the war, because any disagreement of that brings back echoes of "those filthy protesters" (wrongly, of course, but it ain't helping) and appeasement. (Yeah, the Brits really appeased the shit out of the IRA. Glad they never stopped to try different approaches to the problem). Statistics show that for a younger generation, gay rights is essentially a non-issue, but older freaked-out-by-t3h-gAy voters turn out in droves to retard our evolution as a culture. We're fighting a stateless world-wide shadow organization of loosely affiliated terror networks by using the same nation-state containtment warfare model of the past. We've gone backward on our approaches to energy policy since the first massive crotch-kick of the oil embargoes. The "War" on drugs which consistently targets the identifying drug of the Boomer counterculture -- marijuana -- when redstate counties in America are screaming for help with meth. Anyone want to count the number of ex-Nixon guys currently in charge of the government? I'll wait here.
This is as they say half in jest and all in earnest ... actually, think about it. What was the last geniunely new idea we heard in politics? I'd say the role of Evengelical Christianity in establishing a Dominionist government is the most singular new player on the market, but that's a.) been coming for twenty years and was funded by angry culture warriors of the 70's and 80's and b.) is really just a very, very old idea dressed up in Power Point presentation.
At the very least, with the change in life expectancies, we will see the cycle of idea renewal in public discourse slow down radically. The Boomer's demographic weight only creates a more readily visible example of that. We're not even seeing the usual gap (and probably healthy conflict), ideals of the kids vs. their parents. It's now kids vs. grandparents. In a world rapidly filled with other more aggressive nations and an almost exponential increase in the pace of technological innovation -- it's not a happy combination of factors.
The following is not addressed, of course, to the people who actually went out and risked their lives back in the day ... but instead, to the other 99%. Quick note:
Conservative boomers: you did not stop communism. The fundamental untenability of communism as an economic model in the real world and human nature's corruption, combined with the evolution of information technologies -- and Pope John Paul 2 -- stopped communism.
Liberal boomers: you did not bring about civil rights. Black people who had the stones to get firehosed and killed did. Black people. It's their damn win. Lyndon Johnson's willingness to enforce the federal government's will at the point of a gun didn't hurt. Jesus, if every white person over fifty I know who said they marched with the civil rights protestors really did, they wouldn't have had time for Woodstock.
People. You got stoned and laid and got to riot in the 60's. You got stoned and laid and learned to dance in the 70's. You got coked up and laid in the 80's. You made money during the long economic boom of the 90's. As is traditional, in your 50's and 60's you're running the joint. That's a good run. A good, loooooong run. Why so goddam hard done by? It's not all about you anymore. Please. PLEASE.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Giff-tastic
Available tomorrow -- Kieth Giffen makes with the "Bwa-hah-ha!" as he MST3K's classic Wally Wood war comics. From the increasingly eclectic BOOM! Studios comes What Were They Thinking?This, by the way, is the sole reason I pursued a career in Hollywood -- to become professionally well-known enough to call people I admire for legitimate business reasons. The fact that I can now call Giffen on the flimsy excuse of doing something for BOOM! together makes me chuckle with undisguised fanboy glee. His Legion of Superheroes run was one of the first comics I ever read -- primarily because it was more science-fiction-y.
I came to comics late, and entered through that particular door. My brother Jon actually got me started back in high school with GI JOE, Warlord and Jon Sable, Freelance. Don't think I actually read a capes-and-tights book until my late twenties -- heresy for some of my friends. Looking at you, BeaucoupKevin and Ross. Ross was so stunned that I had no idea who Dr. Light was, that I hadn't read Crisis on Infinite Earth, he went and lay down in a dark room with a cold Kamandi compress on his forehead for five minutes.
WIRED
... magazine, which is not often worth the pick-up much anymore, is definitely browsable this month. First, because the section on Yahoo video-on-demand is more than the usual puff piece and the P2P for Dummies stuff is worth filing for th the 4GM fans.
Second, because Jon Stewart's on the cover. Back when were doing stand-up together at synagogue shows (I was, for the years, the default goy at Montreal shows), rarely did I consider that he would go on to become the only honest newsman in America. I have no problem admitting my massive man-crush on Stewart; the idea that an entire generation is growing up with The Daily Show's brutal truth-telling as the model for how to interact with their government actually gives me some tiny amount of hope for the future.
In a tech-mood, I direct you to the sidebar (not just there to hold up the profile). Spend two days on Lifehacker and it will glom itself onto your morning read forever. More focused than Metafilter, I've learned how to organize my time, fold fitted sheets, program my Tivo to catch newer movies, and it does a pretty much weekly round-up of Firefox extensions.
MAKE Magazine is for hands-on tinkering in a closed-case world. Just for the article about the boy who built his own roller coaster in his backyard in Germany, worth the read.
All of this having a theme, I suppose -- in a world which grows ever more confusing and overwhelming, there are people and websites which remind you, constantly, to seize control back. It's your world -- crack it open and see how it runs, in every sense of the idea. Do not shut up and consume. Even if it's a futile gesture, it's an active futile gesture.
Second, because Jon Stewart's on the cover. Back when were doing stand-up together at synagogue shows (I was, for the years, the default goy at Montreal shows), rarely did I consider that he would go on to become the only honest newsman in America. I have no problem admitting my massive man-crush on Stewart; the idea that an entire generation is growing up with The Daily Show's brutal truth-telling as the model for how to interact with their government actually gives me some tiny amount of hope for the future.
In a tech-mood, I direct you to the sidebar (not just there to hold up the profile). Spend two days on Lifehacker and it will glom itself onto your morning read forever. More focused than Metafilter, I've learned how to organize my time, fold fitted sheets, program my Tivo to catch newer movies, and it does a pretty much weekly round-up of Firefox extensions.
MAKE Magazine is for hands-on tinkering in a closed-case world. Just for the article about the boy who built his own roller coaster in his backyard in Germany, worth the read.
All of this having a theme, I suppose -- in a world which grows ever more confusing and overwhelming, there are people and websites which remind you, constantly, to seize control back. It's your world -- crack it open and see how it runs, in every sense of the idea. Do not shut up and consume. Even if it's a futile gesture, it's an active futile gesture.
Monday, August 22, 2005
Iraq and Roll
The fact that someone, a fairly famous someone, has written a song using that phrase, makes it very, very hard for some of us to try to ease back on the irony.
Just sayin'.
In the constant struggle to stay informed here so our kung fu remains strong, a quick info-post.
You know there's an Iraq Constitution being hammered out -- what's the frikkin' problem? What are the points of contention? Ezra Klein has a link to a summary from the Carnegie Endowment based on Iraq's own internal press. My favorite wrinkle -- looks like it'll be based on Sharia law.
Yes, that's right America, your kids got sent overseas in inadequate body armor with no real allies, doing more tours of duty than in Vietnam, to establish an Islamic government which most likely will be best buddies with Iran. How's THAT taste, Kansas?
Juan Cole from Informed Comment is that incredibly impressive but intellectually terrifying professor you had at college. He's been studying the mideast for decades, and unlike most Western experts actually speaks the languages and can translate press and documents on his own. The good one-two daily punch for me for a long time was Intel Dump for Phil doing the "Pentagon bullshit-to-English" translations, and then Prof. Cole explaining just how we seem to have killed our fifth "man who was number three in al Queda" and the intricate balances between Shia, Kurd and Sunni (not to mention a healthy dose of Iran).
I will warn you, some of you may be pissed off on his constant criticism of how Israel handled the Palestinian issue, but seeing as even Sharon's backing a pullout now, he looks frikkin' prescient. (By the way, this is how adults reason. I can disagree with Prof. Cole on some issues, but at the same time value his expertise and assimilate his obviously superior knowledge into my own opinion.)
Where was -- oh, yes. The good doctor, who probably understands the fragile political system in Iraq better than, well, pretty much every human in Crawford right now, suggests at least a trial framework for easing out of Iraq without letting the joint collapse into civil war. Probably un-doable, but this is how the grown-ups talk. Even if you think we oughtta stay there for another five years, we need to be having these discussions. No fireman would go into a building without knowing the way out, no cop would go blind into a room ...
I can think of no better summary of this situation than that of my favorite political thinker -- Representative Tom DeLay:
Or, the current President, George W. Bush:
Of course, they were talking about Bosnia (where my man Wes kicked all kinds of ass). But these are men of honor, not hypocrites, and I'm sure the same reasoning applies.
Just sayin'.
In the constant struggle to stay informed here so our kung fu remains strong, a quick info-post.
You know there's an Iraq Constitution being hammered out -- what's the frikkin' problem? What are the points of contention? Ezra Klein has a link to a summary from the Carnegie Endowment based on Iraq's own internal press. My favorite wrinkle -- looks like it'll be based on Sharia law.
Yes, that's right America, your kids got sent overseas in inadequate body armor with no real allies, doing more tours of duty than in Vietnam, to establish an Islamic government which most likely will be best buddies with Iran. How's THAT taste, Kansas?
Juan Cole from Informed Comment is that incredibly impressive but intellectually terrifying professor you had at college. He's been studying the mideast for decades, and unlike most Western experts actually speaks the languages and can translate press and documents on his own. The good one-two daily punch for me for a long time was Intel Dump for Phil doing the "Pentagon bullshit-to-English" translations, and then Prof. Cole explaining just how we seem to have killed our fifth "man who was number three in al Queda" and the intricate balances between Shia, Kurd and Sunni (not to mention a healthy dose of Iran).
I will warn you, some of you may be pissed off on his constant criticism of how Israel handled the Palestinian issue, but seeing as even Sharon's backing a pullout now, he looks frikkin' prescient. (By the way, this is how adults reason. I can disagree with Prof. Cole on some issues, but at the same time value his expertise and assimilate his obviously superior knowledge into my own opinion.)
Where was -- oh, yes. The good doctor, who probably understands the fragile political system in Iraq better than, well, pretty much every human in Crawford right now, suggests at least a trial framework for easing out of Iraq without letting the joint collapse into civil war. Probably un-doable, but this is how the grown-ups talk. Even if you think we oughtta stay there for another five years, we need to be having these discussions. No fireman would go into a building without knowing the way out, no cop would go blind into a room ...
I can think of no better summary of this situation than that of my favorite political thinker -- Representative Tom DeLay:
"I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now. The President began this mission with very vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later, these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our over-extended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan today."
Or, the current President, George W. Bush:
"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is."
Of course, they were talking about Bosnia (where my man Wes kicked all kinds of ass). But these are men of honor, not hypocrites, and I'm sure the same reasoning applies.
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