John Calhoun, developer of Glider Pro, has decided to make
Glider Pro available for
free! Both 9 and X versions are available. Thanks John!
Glider was one of the games that was distributed by the now- (and
saddly) defunct Casady & Greene. Glider is a fantastic Sim-ish game in
which you simply navigate a paper airplane through a house from one
end to the other. It's a hell of a lot more fun, and harder, than it
sounds.
Trotskist sf author Mieville interviewed04/01/2005 12:24 PM Cory Doctorow:
Sf editor Lou Anders (whose Live Without a Net was one of the best sf anthologies of 2003
-- a collection of futuristic stories set in world without the
Internet) has interviewed the Trotskyist sf/f author China
Mi´ville (his King Rat is an enchanting love poem to London). It's a great,
wide-ranging interview, concerned with politics, literature and
rousing nerd pride -- fascinating.
The whole good-versus-bad morality thing, you have to be very careful
or else you end up sounding incredibly trite. People have criticized
me for being too morally simplistic and for depicting the government
as wholly evil and my goodies as wholly good. I don’t think it’s
fair to say that my goodies are wholly good. As for the government
being wholly evil, I can see that there’s maybe a sort of pantomime
element to some of the government in, say, Perdido Street Station. I
don’t think it’s the case with The Scar or Iron Council.
Particularly with the figure of Weather Wrightby, but also with the
figure of the Lovers in The Scar, there’s an attempt to say this is
not about this person being a bastard, this is about this person being
a representation of social forces that for the purposes of this book
represent the enemy of the protagonist. What I don’t necessarily do
is spend a long time getting into their psychology, and that’s
partly because the book is from the protagonists’ opposing point of
view. It is a book about the depiction of revolutionary fervor, and
therefore the book relates to Weather Wrightby and the Mayor as
enemies because so do the protagonists. It doesn’t mean that they
are snarling, Dickensian pantomime villains. But it’s also the case,
as you say, that they don’t necessarily get punished any more than
the good get rewarded. Nor necessarily do they get rewarded. The
abstract schema of morality fits very imperfectly over what I think of
as a kind of concrete morality of political and social circumstances.
The BoingBoing gang is very proud to welcome our next guest, legendary
author John
Shirley.
His most
recent novels are Demons and Crawlers, both from Del
Rey books. He wrote the cyberpunk novels City Come A-Walkin'
and the Eclipse trilogy (now out from Babbage Press). His first
non-fiction book is Gurdjieff: An Introduction to his Life and
Ideas from Tarcher/Penguin. He was also co-screenwriter of THE
CROW. He won the Bram Stoker award for his story collection BLACK
BUTTERFLIES (Leisure Books). The authorized fan-created website is here. His blog is at johnshirley.net. John, it's an
honor to welcome you to the BoingBoing guestbar!
John Kador - Freelance Author, Speech Writer, Business Communications
Got Game Author & Researcher John C. Beck to Keynote G.A.M.E.S. Synergy Summit January 27th 2005 in Orlando
Got Game Author & Researcher John C. Beck to Keynote G.A.M.E.S. Synergy Summit January 27th 2005 in Orlando01/07/2005 04:14 AM John C. Beck, President of North Star Leadership Group, Senior
Research Fellow at University of Southern Californias Annenberg
Center for the Digital Future, and a Senior Advisor at the Monitor
Group, will keynote the international G.A.M.E.S. Synergy Summit to be
held Wednesday-Friday, January 26th-28th, 2005 in Orlando. Dr. Beck
researched and co-authored Got Game: How the Gamer Generation is
Reshaping Business Forever (Harvard Business School Press, Fall
2004). He will share insights about the strengths, abilities,
attitudes and learning styles of the under-34 gamer generation,
distinctly different from the baby boomers, and how enterprises across
all disciplines can adapt to encourage their best performance. An
acronym for Government, Academic, Military, Entertainment and
Simulation, the G.A.M.E.S. Synergy Summit brings together leaders
from each of these convergent sectors to discover new ways that
interactive game-based technologies can address a broad range of
beneficial, non-entertainment applications. [PRWEB Jan 7, 2005]
Source: Calhoun Elected to Basketball Hall (AP)
Source: Calhoun Elected to Basketball Hall (AP)04/01/2005 08:17 PM AP - Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun has been elected to the Basketball
Hall of Fame, The Associated Press learned Friday. Calhoun was told
Thursday that he was elected, according to a source close to the coach
who spoke on condition of anonymity. Calhoun was one of 16 finalists
for this year's class, which will be formally announced Monday at the
Final Four in St. Louis.
Ewok Glider Pics
Ewok Glider Pics01/22/2004 02:09 PM Our friends over at POTF2.com have
scored a few images of a Ewok with a Glider, rumored to be part of a
Saga Ultra set later this year. Click on the thumbnail above for more
images.
Pilot killed in glider accident08/07/2004 04:55 PM A man dies in Gloucestershire after his aircraft crashes into trees
shortly after take-off.
Two people killed in glider crash
Two people killed in glider crash05/26/2004 10:47 AM A man and woman are killed when their glider crashes in a field near
Mablethorpe, in Lincolnshire.
Commerical Pilot Glider Test: I passed!
Commerical Pilot Glider Test: I passed!04/08/2005 12:35 AM After meeting the required training and experience for a Commercial
Pilot License, there are three tests one must pass. The first is a 100
question multiple choice written test. The second is an oral
examination administered by a FAA Designated Examiner (DE). The final
test is a flight test with the Examiner which typically consists of
two flights. The Written Test The FAA publishes the majority of the
questions in the pool for the written test on their web site....
johnkerry.com/about/military_records.html track this
site | 8 links
Radio Interview with John Brady Kiesling and John H. Brown
Radio Interview with John Brady Kiesling and John H. Brown03/15/2003 06:05 AM KALW in San Francisco did an hour
long radio interview with John Brady Kiesling and John H. Brown,
the American Foreign Service officers who resigned over Bush's Iraq
policy. Both are impressive speakers, and Kiesling is as articulate
and as convincing as his letter:
If we can't convince
our historical allies that this is a good thing to do, there is no way
we are going to be able to convince the Arab world.
People have to take a stand. War may be inevitable, but we need to do
what we can to keep our consciences clean.
There is a policy to make America safer, but this is not it.
"America is still the safest country in the world. The
administration is trying to scare people with this talk about terror
and duct tape. We should use our safety and prosperity and our
strength to do good and we can do good."
Brown said his resignation was "in part a result of Andrew Card's
comment, 'Never launch a product in August.' War is not a
product."
I learned a lot from listening to it. Recommended. Requires
Real Player.
johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2004_0527.html track this
site | 8 links
"One Of The Authors Of A New Anti-John Kerry Book Frequently Posted Comments On A Conservative Web Site Describing Muslims And Catholics As Pedophiles And Pope John Paul Ii As Senile (If You Can't Refute The Charges, Attack The People Making Them)"
I'mn being interviewed at The Well03/15/2003 09:43 AM I'm the subject of an open interview at The Inkwell.vue. We're mainly
talking about Small Pieces and I'm braying like a puffed-up, vacuous
ass. Come join the fun!...
Roland
Piquepaille sat down with the CEO and CTO of Novinit, the French firm
behind the Jackito "Tactile Digital Assistant" (the one you use with
just your thumbs). Although the company appears to have realized many
of the errors they initially made in the product announcement, there's
still enough tomfoolery to dispell any confidence that I might have
that the Jackito's designers are in touch with the rest of the PDA
world (or that they even want to be).
What I still don't get is why I should have to pay upwards for $700
for a crappy PDA when its major claim to fame is something that could
just as easily be done in software on an established platform, like
Palm or Windows Mobile. It's not like you can't turn a Palm on its
side and use your thumbs on it. Read
- Exclusive Interview With Jackito's Makers [TechnologyTrends]
'Hostage-taker' interviewed on TV09/05/2004 08:30 PM Russian state TV airs an interview with an alleged hostage-taker, as
two days of national mourning begin.
The SleepTracker watch has been a total success from what I
can divine. We actually called to get one in for review because so
many people were asking about it and the company said they didn't have
a single review unit to spare (I probably should have turned off
Unskinny Bop while calling). Gear Live has an interview with Lee
Loree, the inventor of the watch that helps you wake up at the optimal
time.
The next night I allowed our dog back into our room.
3 times she woke me to where I sat up in bed and was visibly disturbed
(I video tape the nights I run tests).
Jaime Hernandez interviewed11/18/2003 02:03 PM Here's an interview at suicidegirls.com with Jaime Hernandez,
co-creator of the 25-year-old(!!) comic book Love and Rockets.
DRE: In doing my research I found hundreds and maybe thousands of
articles written about the comic, you and your brother. Do you ever
wonder why it doesn't translate into sales?
JH: Well when you're thinking about money it can get frustrating.
Ok so yeah people have written about us for years, why isn't anyone
following? That's one thing I have never been able to figure out, how
to make them buy it. That's for someone else to figure out.
DRE: What's Gary Groth [co-owner of Fantagraphics books] say about
that?
JH: They're just banging their heads against the wall. They tell us
we were in Time magazine but no one's coming from it. It is nice that
people appreciate it though. It's enough for me to continue. I've seen
so many people stop doing their comics because they couldn't make a
living.
As
reported at BoingBoing (thanks John), Trent Reznor of NIN has
released a GarageBand wrap of a forthcoming song. The 70 meg download
opens directly into GarageBand. The terms of the license (which you've
got to accept to play) aren't too bad. Not the share-cropper culture
that some icons have imposed (the star owns the remixes) (Mr. Bowie,
e.g.) -- NIN permits sharing of the remixes, though not for commercial
purposes. Would be very cool, however, were the expressions of freedom
expressible in a machine-readable
form, and in a license that others could combine other content
with, say, in a friendster-like
application made for music.
Blade Runner Brilliance09/13/2004 08:28 PM Essay on the meanings and
significance of Blade Runner.
Interesting insights on particular scenes and quotes and how they are
more relevant today than ever.
Since
all it takes for an American with insurance to get a CT scan is a
slight fever or a missing Q-tip, it's probably important they have the
fastest, most accurate technology available. Philips' new Brilliance
64-Slice CT Scanner, recently installed at the University of Chicago
Hospitals, has four times the resolution of a typical CT scan,
providing higher quality imaging of the human body. Even better, it's
fast—it can scan your heart or brain in about five seconds and
do a full-body sweep in about 30. That's fast enough that it can be
timed to take snapshots of the human heart between pumps, allowing for
some of the first widely-available high-resolution scans of that organ
without motion blurring.
Israeli Troops Search House-To-House in Gaza Camp (Reuters)
Israeli Troops Search House-To-House in Gaza Camp (Reuters)05/19/2004 02:43 AM Reuters - Israeli troops carried out
house-to-house searches for militants and weapons smuggling
tunnels in the Rafah refugee camp on Wednesday as Israel's
heaviest raid into the Gaza Strip in years entered a second
day.
"Rep. Porter Goss said Thursday that the uproar over allegations that White House officials purposely identified a covert CIA agent appears largely political and doesn't yet merit an investigation by the House Select Committee on Intelligence, which he..."
To Liberate From the White House the White House Press
To Liberate From the White House the White House Press03/14/2005 04:35 PM Dan Weintraub, who covers politics at the Sacramento Bee, wants "an
aggressive, curious and analytical press corps, based anywhere
(including cyberspace), fact-checking the snot out of the White House
and writing critically about the president's statements, proposals and
actions."
HOUSE OF WAX
HOUSE OF WAX04/08/2005 05:05 AM leapfrogs ahead of the curve .. The Paris Hilton Podcast .. House of
Wax
houseofwaxmovie.warnerbros.com/podcast.html track this
site | 5 links
I got the house!
I got the house!01/28/2004 11:20 AM [This is part of a series of posts on the home buying process I'm
going thru. To see the full set, visit the house category archives.] I
haven't posted on this topic for a few days, 'cause I've been very
busy. So here's the slightly shorter version... Sunday This past
Sunday, my realtor and I met to go look at places. The first place we
saw was in Campbell. The townhouse was listed at about $465k which I
quickly realized...
The
Idea: Go watch House
MD now. Way too good to last.
The last time I recommended a
television series (Karen
Sisco,
and the recommendation was due to early-episode writing by creator
Elmore Leonard), it was the kiss of death. I seem to have had this
effect on the handful of good television series over the past decade:
The Big Easy, Dave's World, Reasonable Doubts, Max Bickford and the best of them
all, Aaron Sorkin's Sports
Night. What distinguished all of these series was excellent
writing: You didn't even have to watch -- you could enjoy just listening to the smart, quirky
dialogue, and the rich, carefully woven story-lines.
So I'm almost afraid to go to bat for the latest well-written drama
(on the Faux network yet -- sheesh), House MD.
The show features British theatrical actor (accent undetectable) Hugh
Laurie as the eponymous Dr. Gregory House MD, brilliant but bitter
medical specialist, whose team must solve the medical mysteries lesser
minds have given up on. Some of the medical cases are intriguing,
usually with wry twists, but the real magic in the program is the
dialogue, which sparkles and hasn't an ounce of fat on it. The writing
is mostly done (I think -- writing credits are hard to catch in
Hollywood productions) by Sara Cooper and Lawrence Kaplow, who were
last seen as the writers of Hack,
the short-lived and claustrophobic (but also cleverly-scripted) drama
that featured David Caruso as a disgraced cop working as a cabbie.
I've seen quite a few well-written shows destroyed by studio and
network hacks insisting on more 'human interest' (i.e. improbable
'cute' romances that are dragged out like soap opera story lines),
more
'action' (i.e. simpler shorter dialogue and more implausible disasters
with ample shouting and shooting), or more 'conflict' (i.e. black-hat
stereotypes that conspire and do inconceivably mean things to
impossibly good guys, also a soap opera staple). The Pretender
actually took a soap opera actor and, thanks to good writing, made him
engaging and heroic -- but the hacks dumbed down the show and
refocused
it on the conspiracy of 'the center' and the absurd Snidely
Whiplash-level nastiness of the antagonists. The (anti-)hero was
reduced to a comic book caricature and the program became unwatchable.
Same thing happened to Max
Bickford,
which started brilliantly but was soon forced by the studio to
introduce more romance and bigger roles for the young actors on the
show (i.e. shed the older-demographic skew because advertisers know
older viewers buy less, and less impulsively). Richard Dreyfuss could
have been excused if he had murdered the producers, who reduced a show
of great promise to pathetic drivel and may have wrecked Dreyfuss'
career in the process. Maybe it's a good thing that some of the best
shows never lasted long enough to be polluted and dragged down by the
pathetic media-oligopoly moneygrubbers who run the studios and
networks
and care only for ratings points among their most unsophisticated
viewers. The consequence is the flood of cheap 'reality' dreck that
has
filled the schedules and made shows like House stand out so remarkably.
The attempt by the hacks to damage House
is clearly evident (the hospital administrators are predictably
corrupt
and ludicrously manipulative and out to 'get' our hero -- they force
him in the latest episode to choose between firing one of his
brilliant
interns or shilling for a new overpriced drug; and the way-too-pretty
young people on the staff are being given more close-ups and featured
in vapid, simple subplots) but what is remarkable is that the show
seems to have found a way to accommodate this interference without
losing its edge. A particularly fine episode, Fidelity,
has a convoluted, stunning plot and a merciless, horrifyingly human
ending. It would make a wonderful stage play. And House's spare and
savage come-backs and asides are still original, lovingly crafted and
totally believable. House is tailor-made to be the stereotypical rude
and short-tempered medical specialist, yet Laurie and the writers
refuse to allow him to be caricaturized -- with each episode he grows
deeper and more engaging and complex.
Catch it while you can. House
is way too smart for its own good, especially on that network. As a
real-life doctor said in his review of the show on imdb: "Somewhere
there is a team of writers who actually know their craft, and an
acting
ensemble that knows how to pull it off. Now I can watch my TV one hour
a week." I'm with you, doctor.
How to Buy a House
How to Buy a House04/13/2005 09:20 AM Don't make common, but costly, mistakes.
Len Is In The House
Len Is In The House08/03/2004 12:59 PM Drop whatever you’re doing and go check out Life Among The Mammals by
the one and only Len Bullard, who has been quoted in this space a few
times. The amount of material is still small enough that you can read
the whole thing to get caught up, and you’ll probably enjoy doing
that. (As I write the top two posts are political, if that’s not
your flavor skip ’em to get to the other good stuff.)
Bringing down the House03/31/2005 05:36 PM Two PACs are running ads attacking Tom DeLay for his actions in the
Terri Schiavo case and alleged ethics violations.
John Calhoun, Glider Author, Interviewed
The following phrases have been identified by the grok system as matching this entry: brilliance "glider pro" house
The
Idea: Go watch House
MD now. Way too good to last.
Many thanks to our outgoing guestblogger, filmmaker Christopher
Coppola, for a fantastic job -- complete with audblog posts from the
road. 
The SleepTracker watch has been a total success from what I
can divine. We actually called to get one in for review because so
many people were asking about it and the company said they didn't have
a single review unit to spare (I probably should have turned off
Unskinny Bop while calling). Gear Live has an interview with Lee
Loree, the inventor of the watch that helps you wake up at the optimal
time.
Since
all it takes for an American with insurance to get a CT scan is a
slight fever or a missing Q-tip, it's probably important they have the
fastest, most accurate technology available. Philips' new Brilliance
64-Slice CT Scanner, recently installed at the University of Chicago
Hospitals, has four times the resolution of a typical CT scan,
providing higher quality imaging of the human body. Even better, it's
fast—it can scan your heart or brain in about five seconds and
do a full-body sweep in about 30. That's fast enough that it can be
timed to take snapshots of the human heart between pumps, allowing for
some of the first widely-available high-resolution scans of that organ
without motion blurring.