The walk from 8th Avenue over to the Javits Convention Center on 11th Avenue in Manhattan is one of the most depressing walks in existence. It’s straight up industrial urban wasteland, and it’s not even wasted enough to be picturesquely post-apocalyptic. I’ve done it many times, and never without experiencing some form of suicidal …
EVE; Prince of Persia
This is microculture news, but too bizarre and delicious not to click on. Band of Brothers, a massive, longstanding, malevolent alliance within EVE — a game I don’t play, but which is, for my money, the most beautiful game in existence — was abruptly hacked apart this week by a double agent from the rival alliance GoonSwarm. Its assets …
I’m Going to Comic Con. Are You?
New York Comic Con starts today. I’m not there, because I have a job. But I’ll be there tomorrow to sign galleys (that’s publishing-speak for early, cheapo, paperback versions) of my book and generally to enjoy the free access that my autographing gig gets me.
Though I’ll be missing the Futurama premiere, which is today, and the Joss …
The Pleasures of Coraline
I am an unabashed Neil Gaiman partisan, and so I bring with me a deep affection to any adaptation of his books. (Instead of rose-colored glasses, perhaps I see Neil’s work through sewn-on button eyes.) I have every expectation that Neal Jordan’s Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book will be a classic. I do so want someone to make
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The Donnie Darko Sequel
I somehow missed it when they posted a teaser-trailer for a sequel to Donnie Darko called S. Darko:
It’s not clear to me from this what connection if any Richard Kelly, who created Donnie Darko, has with this. (Though S. Darko — that’s Samantha, Donnie’s little sister — is played by the same actress as in the original.) What is …
The Singularity University: Cool or Funny?
The deal: apparently there is a new educational institution, headquartered at the NASA Ames Campus (i.e. right next door to Google), that is entirely devoted to the study of the Singularity. The Singularity being a term borrowed by Vernor Vinge from astrophysics and re-borrowed by boy genius Billy Quizboy …
A Hideous Brood of New SF Trailers Chews Its Way Out Through the Corpse of Another Super Bowl
Another year, another Super Bowl not watched. I know lots of nerds are actually into watching the Super Bowl. I could never get behind watching a game I don’t play, played by people with whom I don’t have very much in common. I suppose there are passionate regional loyalties in play, plus genuinely interesting strategic calculations. …
Two Beloved Nerd Franchises Are Not Dead Yet
1. Red Dwarf. It’s coming back, in the form of a two-part special with the original cast that will take them back to Earth. I never got into Red Dwarf — I was in college when it was on and never really watched it. But everybody says it’s good. So it must be good. Now all that’s left is to bring back Quark. Or sorry, I meant Quark. Yeah, …
A New GROW Is Here
Maybe you’re not used to seeing the word GROW in all caps. Or used as a noun. And yet, weirdly, when you see a GROW you feel like you recognize it, as if surreal Flash sculpture/games have been with you all your life — indeed have evolved to co-exist with us as a species. Like dogs. The new one is here.
For those to whom family honor …
The Great Wikipedia Debate: Pledging Allegiance to the Flag
I mean great as in, really big, as opposed to, say, absolutely terrific.
As avidly as I follow the many subtle and well-tempered arguments in Wikipedia’s Village Pump section (yes, that was cheap sarcasm), I missed the fact that a few days ago Wikipedia jefe Jim Wales proposed an experiment: requiring that changes to Wikipedia pages …
Bill Gates Writes Home
America’s first nerd has issued his first annual letter since he took up a full-time position at his eponymous foundation. He held a press Q&A this morning (afternoon here on America’s time-shifted eastern coast), and I got a print copy FedExed to me first thing this morning. It’s a classy package: brown and cream, wide margins, bound …
Now In Paper-Vision: The Future of Books. And TV.
I wrote two articles for Time this week. Two. Because that’s how I roll. I roll prolific.
Article #1: A piece about the great switchover to digital TV — the “analog sunset,” if you will — which is supposed to happen on February 17. Except now, maybe not. My advanced polling techniques suggest to me that this event will not affect …
