Archive for August, 2006

Thursday, August 31st, 2006

The lost art of film editing

by Warren

More film stuff, this time in the Boston Globe, with an article bemoaning the fast-cuts-at-all-costs school of editing that seems to have permeated Hollywood, to the cost of story and character development. Interesting.

Wednesday, August 30th, 2006

When CGI goes bad

by Warren

Computer generated effects, which burst onto the scene about 20 years ago, have gone from taking our breath away in films like the Abyss, Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park to exhausting our eyeballs and generally getting on our nerves in today’s current crop of would-be blockbusters. Twitchguru has a breakdown of some of the worst CGI offenders of the past few years. My take is that effects are in a film to service the story, and used properly, can make a good film better (witness the Lord of the Rings and…well….the Lord of the Rings.) But a lot of directors, George Lucas included, can’t keep their hands out of the candy jar and pile on the effects like there’s no tomorrow, simply because they can. When a die-hard geek and effects junkie like myself is getting sick of the excess, Hollywood is in big trouble.

Wednesday, August 30th, 2006

Wednesday morning game musings

by Warren

A mixed bag of gaming scribbles; first a retrospective on the glory that is Pac Man, which recently got re-released on Xbox LIve and which holds up after two decades. Next, a look into the wild world of drug-soaked LAN parties(!), and finally, a long Wired article about how Sony has bet the farm on the Playstation 3.

Monday, August 28th, 2006

Where your gas comes from

by Warren

Chicago Tribune reporter Paul Salopek, currently in the clink in Sudan for doing his job, recently put together a series tracing back where a tank of gas in your car comes from. I’t aint pretty.

Saturday, August 26th, 2006

Iraq deserters give their side of the story

by Warren

The Guardian profiles U.S. soldiers who have decided that the war in Iraq isn’t worth fighting for anymore.

Friday, August 25th, 2006

Sadr’s militia is calling the shots in Iraq

by Warren

Moqtada Al Sadr’s brigades are wielding more power in Iraq than ever before, with their hand in four different government ministries and an ever-growing private army. Meanwhile, the violence in Baghdad continues. The Washington Post elucidates in a long piece that’s well worth reading.

Friday, August 25th, 2006

Newspapers and the Internet

by Warren

The newspaper industry is slowly catching on to the new reality of the Internet, but according to the Economist, they’ve got a ways to go.

Thursday, August 24th, 2006

Harper’s interviews Michael Scheuer

by Warren

Scheuer, the author of “Imperial Hubris“, explains why we’re not much safer than we were before 9/11, speculates on Al Queda’s current strength, and slams the war in Iraq.

Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006

Radio Free Skaro episode 2 is up!

by Warren

Yes, we managed to put up another episode of the podcast. Get it off the feed, or listen to it on the webpage.

Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006

Smoking droids!

by Warren

Words fail me.

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