Should we try to save the world? I think most people would think this question to be a little bit silly. Interestingly, however, the reasons for which they so think would perhaps split respondents down the middle. One group would say: what? Of course we should try to save the world. Are you mad? Why wouldn’t you want to save the world? Are you some kind of misanthrope? The other group would say something like: What? Of course you shouldn’t try to save the world. It’s the people who are trying to save the world that are ruining it. Saving the world displays a kind of arrogance - that you know best. You end up forcing a square peg into a round hole and making everything the worse for it. But perhaps there is an argument for the former that avoids this charge of arrogance. Perhaps we can remain optimistic without being dogmatic. But how?
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As our police commissioner warned us after the APEC meeting in sydney: this is how we do business in Sydney now. And so it goes. SMH is reporting that our elected representatives have once again invoked ‘emergency powers’ in order to protect the pope when he visits Sydney next July. Ter-fucking-riffic…
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Dorris Lessing is the latest of a growing list of notable people who have spoken out against the internet, claiming in short that it makes us stupid. Another prominent example is the author Andrew Keen who argues first that user generated content (along with copyright infringement and the like) is undermining the business models that enable the production of quality content - content that is vetted by professionals. On the other side you have people like Lawrence Lessig who argues in defence of the cult of the amateur and the democratisation of content production. It’s interesting that the internet has produced such divergent interpretations of its contribution. Either it will liberate us from the elite culture makers, or it will doom us to a swill of endless mediocrity where we can’t tell fact from fiction. Either it will be the birth of a new democratic consciousness, or the end of consciousness itself. I’m not going to take a side in this particular debate. It is an old debate as I will point out in greater detail below. However, there is a manner in which the internet may provide for a genuine raising of consciousness, one which is continually overlooked by the pundits. It’s nature is not what you’d expect - and it certainly doesn’t rely on a wholesome belief in the goodness of the average human being.
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I was on a bus on Broadway in downtown sydney when I saw this billboard. I must admit, those spammers are getting really good.
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Gaming will probably become the dominant form of entertainment within the next decade. With games now beginning to hit the mainstream, expectations continue to grow with respect to the entertainment experience provided. It’s no longer enough to throw a couple of monsters in the way of the player’s crosshairs to shoot - a rich visual and narrative experience is expected as well. This creates choices for the game designer that are not decided with ease. In particular, a tension is created between the desire for a rich narrative experience, as opposed to player freedom to determine their own experience. This post will be an exploration of that tension as it plays out in the Half Life series of games. I’ll look at how narrative is constructed in the half life games. My argument will be that while games are capable of providing a rich narrative - this is generally at the expense of gameplay; and secondly, that if this decision is taken then a very strong and rich narrative is required to ensure an enduring an memorable experience for the gamer. The half life series serves as an example of this sort of game - where gameplay aspects are sacrificied for the sake of the narrative. While Half Life 2 had perhaps the best narrative of a game I’ve ever seen, it’s sequels have lost the depth that made Half Life 2 so great. With Valve continuing to limit player freedom (irrespective of their claims for the latest episode), along with the shorter episodic content - this combines to give a fairly shallow gameplay experience - limiting replayability. In what follows I will attempt to demonstrate why I think this to be the case.
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I’m currently working on a piece about narrative structure in computer games, focusing in particular on the Half Life 2 series and its latest installment Episode 2. While doing the research, I came across this amusing easter egg (so to speak) that seems to have been included by Valve to shackle those trying to break past its linear structure (which is particularly ironic since I was researching just how Valve manages to develop a linear game narrative while providing the illusion of player choice). The easter egg is quite amusing so I’ll post it now as a prelude to my more detailed post to come in the next couple of days.
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One of my interests is in emerging art forms. Various kinds of new media have the potential to be the greatest vehicles of artistic expression we have yet seen. I consider gaming to be one such platform - and have explored the art of gaming narrative previously on this blog (and will do so again shortly). Another emerging art form is the demo - which garners considerably less attention because it lacks a mass appeal. While the demo scene has been around for a considerable amount of time (it grew up around c64 gaming scene where those providing cracks and trainers would preface the game with a short loading screen which would attribute to themselves the credit for the crack), it is yet to fully mature as an art form. Nevertheless, I believe its potential can be seen in recent work by some of the top demo crews on the scene today. This post is a review of three examples of such work. While many will refuse the label of ‘art’ for such work, I will nevertheless consider them as such and provide my review on such a basis.
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For those of us who wonder how it is that religion continues to dominate the imaginations of the vast majority of the people on this earth - there is really only one answer. Better marketing. Those of us who really believe in science as a better explanation of our place in this universe are generally too busy doing science to spend time trying to get across the concept to those who let themselves be deluded by religious ideas. We hope the example provided is itself enough to gain conversions. But it’s just not working out that way. Meanwhile, religion retains and extends its mass appeal. But what is it about its marketing process that is so superior? And what does this process demonstrate about those who are so entranced by it? The following video is an excellent example:
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Ron Paul - for the few on the internet that don’t already know - is a 2nd tier candidate currently contesting the Republican nomination for the American presidency. He’s gained a considerable grass roots following that praise him with astonishing fervour. His message is simple - yet it cuts deep against the American oligarchic elites that currently control the country. For this reason alone would I like to see him president (as an Australian I get no say of course, but I feel justified in commenting given that the choice of American president affects the whole world). But if I did have the option of voting for him I wouldn’t - why? Well, consider the one thing he has most in common with the current president George W. Bush. It’s a vision thing - a word that is uttered ad nauseum: freedom. And I’m sorry, but this is a snake oil I just can’t stomach any more - no matter how medicinal its properties this time around.
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Just a quick post today. I took this photo during my recent travels to the greater west of Sydney. Adventure golf didn’t really live up to the name (it was a pretty lame mini-golf set) - but this sign sure was amusing.
What I want to know is - what if I have a seeing eye dinosaur. What then?
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