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If I were a TV station…
27There is a TV station/media company (I think) in The Netherlands called Veronica. As a result, I get a lot of tweets directed at me in regards to their programming. The FriendFeeders had a little fun with the concept, and made some suggestions as to my potential network shows. Here are my favorites:
Crazy Cat Lady Hour
WoW for Fun and Profit
Find the Right Cable!
I’m on a Larp!
CSI: Hartford (Nothing ever happens)
America’s Next Top Shaman
Man vs Wild vs Belmont
Chuck’d (Each week a dumpster dive reveals what gadgets V threw out to make room for her new ones)
Deadliest Glitch
The Cat Whisperer
Bacon Today
Homemade Hipster Ham… and Friends
Devo’s Bird Watching Hour
The Awkward Situation Room
Mr Littlejeans Goes to Washington But is Tricked into a Bath
Connecticut Shore
The Great “Mr. Fancy Pants” Duel
72 years ago
Doesn’t this totally remind you of the rap battle from 8 Mile? No?
The amazing beatboxer Kid Beyond (who I first heard at w00tstock back in the fall) did a damn good job going up against Jonathan Coulton and his ZenDrum, but in the end I’ve gotta give it to JoCo. I’m a sucker for Beyoncé.
The rest of the show, by the way, was also great. Although, Paul and Storm let me down a little, with only a 12 minute long version of The Captain’s Wife’s Lament. DEJECTED ARRR!!!
Women in the world of gaming
282 years ago
My friend Rob sent me this video, which I had somehow missed when it came out this summer. I agree with the points that Daniel Floyd and Leigh Alexander make, especially how browser-based and casual titles can lead to regular console gaming (I’ve long called The Sims a “gateway drug game”). What I really liked was how some game companies, like Ubisoft, are creating games that “appeal to a younger generation of girls,” in effect planting the seeds for them to grow up with a love for games.
Working for Qore, I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of great women working in the gaming industry, such as Amy Hennig (who couldn’t be more brilliant), Tracy Espeleta, and Kellee Santiago. Coincidentially, I read today on Chris Pirillo’s Twitter feed that Sony Online Entertainment is actually offering a scholarship and internship to a girl looking to work in game design and production:
Applications are now being accepted for the 2010 G.I.R.L. Scholarship to help educate and recruit more women into the field of video game production and design. Sponsored by Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) a global leader in online gaming, and administered by Scholarship America®, a leading non-profit educational support program, applications are available at https://www.scholarshipamerica.org/gamersinreallife and more details, including official rules for entry are also available online at http://www.station.sony.com/girl/.
If you know a girl who may be interested, please pass thing along! It seems like a really great opportunity to encourage more women to become involved in this industry.
Dream hacking
44
I was watching the Nova episode called What Are Dreams the other day, and I was particularly interested in one bit of information from the show: if you practice enough, you can tell your brain what to dream about. There are some caveats, in that it only works about 50% of the time, and that you’re still not in total control of what happens.
I tend to remember a lot of my dreams, so I thought I’d give it a go. For the past three nights, as I close my eyes, I’ve thought this:
“I’m going to help Sherlock Holmes* solve a mystery. I’m going to help Sherlock Holmes solve a mystery!”
Two nights, and nothing (that I could remember, anyway). But then last night, something seemed to happen! Ryan came to bed after working late, and I woke up enough to say “Shh! I’m dreaming about Holmes!” before I passed back out again. This morning, I actually could recall several dream sequences in which I was in a Holmes mystery-solving situation of some kind. My problem is that I fall asleep almost the moment I hit the pillow, so I don’t usually get enough time to try and convince my brain to dream the way I want it to. It’s more like “I’m going to…” and then I’m out cold.
But hey, it was pretty cool! Dreams are important for helping our brain work through issues and problems from our waking life (and I’m not just talking murder mysteries), but if you can program it to work like your own personal holodeck, how entertaining would that be?
Anyway, give it a shot sometime. This isn’t some kind of weird self-help thing (Learn to ski with your dreams! Come up with your million-dollar idea in your sleep!), it’s just an interesting way to explore what your mind can do.
*I’m going through a Sherlock Holmes phase. It started with reading The Beekeepers Apprentice, then the complete Arthur Conan Doyle collection, and will culminate with the viewing of the movie this Christmas. So, a little obsessed.