] "It's not taking the place of studying; nor is it taking
] away from other activities," says researcher Steve Jones,
] chairman of communications department at the University
] of Illinois at Chicago. "What they seem to have done is
] incorporated gaming into a very multitask-oriented
] lifestyle."
]
]
] In addition to the survey data, Jones drew his conclusion
] from observations he and fellow researchers made while
] watching students in college computer labs -- many of
] them writing papers, then taking short breaks to play
] computer games and send online messages to friends.
]
]
] Often, he says, groups of students stop to watch the
] game.
]
]
] "What we found is that it's a very social activity,"
] Jones says.

Not everyone who has a glass of wine is not an alcoholic, not everyone who plays with a keyboard and screen is a hermit, not everyone who goes to church on Sunday is a zealot.

Moderation in all things seems more the norm than we are lead to believe.

I strongly recommend clicking through to the Pew Internet Research Project site and reading the actual report. It has lots more to it, and there is an unintentionally funny footnote on page 8.

Gaming Can Be Part of This Nutritious Breakfast

"Six hundred and six takes it took, and if they had been forced to do a 607th it is probable, if not downright certain, that one of the film crew would have snapped and gone mad...

At one point three tyres, amazingly, roll uphill. They do so because inside they have been weighted with bolts and screws which have been positioned with fingertip care so that the slightest kiss of kinetic energy pushes them over, onward and, yes, upward. During the pre-shoot set-ups, film assistants had to tiptoe round the set so as not to disturb the feather-sensitive superstructure of the arranged metalwork. The slightest tremor of an ill-judged hand could have undone hours of work."

This is an amazing commercial that has to be seen to be believed. The company took a Honda to pieces and made a huge contraption out of it. This is done in one shot, after 606 takes. No effects, no tricks.

The crabwalking windshield wipers are creepy!

Postscript - Of course I should have known that this would have been memestreamed months ago! What a great bunch.

Presenting Honda's New Accord 'Rube Goldberg' Edition

Hot off the presses, from the majority opinion that overturned Texas' ban on homosexual sex:

"It must be acknowledged, of course, that the Court in
Bowers was making the broader point that for centuries
there have been powerful voices to condemn homosexual
conduct as immoral. The condemnation has been shaped
by religious beliefs, conceptions of right and acceptable
behavior, and respect for the traditional family. For many
persons these are not trivial concerns but profound and
deep convictions accepted as ethical and moral principles
to which they aspire and which thus determine the course
of their lives. These considerations do not answer the
question before us, however. The issue is whether the
majority may use the power of the State to enforce these
views on the whole society through operation of the crimi-
nal law.
“Our obligation is to define the liberty of all, not to
mandate our own moral code.” Planned Parenthood of
Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 505 U. S. 833, 850 (1992)

"Liberty of all", damn that feels good.

The Supreme Court Backs Out of the Bedroom With Its Hands Up!

It was a long time before anyone spoke. Out of the corner of his eye Phouchg could see the sea of tense expectant faces down in the square outside.

"We're going to get lynched aren't we?" he whispered.

"It was a tough assignment," said Deep Thought mildly.

Today is my birthday and when I bemoaned the number of rings around my trunk, a dear friend reminded me what an important number it is.

Today is my Bday and I am The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything

If you love W. and Tony Blair like I do, you will find then singing about a gay bar about as comprehensible as most other things we heard them say.

Absolutely nothing against gaybars, some of my best evenings have been spent courtesy of ...

If You Love George and Tony B. Like I Do

This is a clip from the MTV Award for Best Virtual Performance.

Tell me you don't laugh out loud.

I would love to have seen Peter Jackson's face watching this!

Gollum Graciously Thanks The Academy

Job description: Summer Internship Opportunity
…for upcoming museum exhibition: “Sex Machines”

] The Museum of Sex currently seeks candidates proficient
] with 3D computer modeling and/or animation, to model
] and/or animate items for its upcoming blockbuster
] exhibition. Candidate(s) will create 3D models and/or
] animate objects (19th

Gee, I wonder if they will get any applicants....

Unpaid 3D Sex Graphics Internship Available

The ones you cry because you are watching a frail but spirited Ray Bradbury sing the praises of his longtime friend Ray Harryhausen as the latter gets a star placed on Hollywood Blvd.

The crowd was small, but packed with people from every creative part of the film industry. Forrest J. Ackerman, Rick Baker, James Cameron and animation guys of every stripe cheered as Ray's movies were listed.

The most fun was telling people wandering by what was going on...although few people knew him by name, almost everyone of every age remembered Sinbad's skeletons.

Frank Darabont (director of Shawshank Redemption and Green Mile) told a story about asking Tom Hanks why he had wanted to become an actor. Tom replied that as a boy, when he saw Jason fighting those skeletons he knew that was exactly what he wanted to grow up and do.

Ray H. looks strong ang robust and it was a great event.

What Are Real Geek Tears?

Art Center College of Design and CalTech (both here in Pasadena, CA) teamed up and created "NEURO", a small but amazing exhibit I visited this weekend.

In "Body Electric" you enter a small, darkened room and you see a rough body image of yourself in two large screens. It looks something like a heat sensor pattern, but the colors change occasionally. There are strange sounds that are attached to your movements and at some point a floating diamond begin to both follow and react to your motions. By positioning yourself correctly in relation to the diamond in 3 dimensions, you are able to destroy it with a shattering sound. It is less gamelike and more immersive, dancelike than it sounds.

The exhibit "Cheese" uses several screens of actresses who are told to smile convincingly into a camera for upwards of an hour and a half. A computer is monitering their facial dynamics and a light bar beside each screen indicates how sincere the computer believes each face is. It is absolutely fascinating to watch and see what the machine is using to judge. There are time when the frozen boredom in the smile is completely obvious to a human, only to have the machine give it a high score. As the women take breaks and stretch, you see the machine diminish their credibility.

Another exhibit was something inexplicable involving a tank of real fish, a compter generated tank of fish on a wall and tracking software.

Well worth seeing if you are near Pasadena in June.

Mix Together Artists and Scientists...

Elonka wrote:
] Mindraker2 wrote:
] ] Elonka wrote:
] ] ] "When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir
] ] ] cevinpl."
] ]
] ] "When cryptography is outlawed only outlaws will have
] cryptography"
]
] Oooh, *so* close, but no cigar. Try again! It's a real
] cipher that can be translated.

Privacy.

First decode ever. :)

BridgetAG

Ooops, late but hadn't looked at thread.

/roots around for a silver star.

RE: When Crypto Is Outlawed...