Friday, February 15, 2008

Friday Links!

Stop working and start reading already. And have a great weekend, too.

Up front, here are a few gaming links before we get to everything else.

First off, a link to an article written by Tateru Nino titled Why Mainstream Media Hates the Internet, Games, MMOS, and You/, and it's an excellent and provocative read.

Steven Kreuch sent me a link to Readers Should Get Game-Literate, a remarkably forward-thinking article for The Guardian. Author Alistair Harper's basic contention is that every new form of media is dimissed as being "non-art"--often for decades. Yet every new media eventually reaches the point that some of it is, indeed, art.

From CVG, a link to The Many Deaths of Lord British. Remarkably, he could be killed in every game in which he appeared, and this article will tell you how.

From Edwin Garcia, a link to Second Skin, a documentary about how gamer's lives have been affected by MMO's. The trailer is excellent.

As it turns out, Napoleon wasn't poisoned, and it's a fascinating read to find out why.

From Geoff Engelstein, a link to an astounding story about holographs, and here's an excerpt:
University of Arizona optical scientists have broken a technological barrier by making three-dimensional holographic displays that can be erased and rewritten in a matter of minutes.

That's right--rewritable holographs.

From Ken Rahmoeller, a link to a story about nano-fiber clothing. In combination with physical movement, the clothing can generate enough electrical current to power portable electronic devices.

From Brad Galloway, a link to a story about Monty Reed, who has created an exoskeleton power suit . He didn't do this at a high-powered research laboratory with millions of dollars of funding--he did it in his basement.

Jessie Leimkuehler let me know that there's a lunar eclipse on February 20, and I found a very nice description of what causes a lunar eclipse (with animations to illustrate) for Eli 6.6 here.

From Milos Miljkovic, a link to what surely must be one of the best story headlines ever--Police: Crack Found in Man's Buttocks.

Here's an offbeat link from Edwin Garcia. Photographs taken with large amounts of people standing in patterns were popular in 1915-1920, and you can see some of them here. Number two from Edwin, and it's a stunner--Room With a View: Houses in Isolation. The photographs are amazing. Then there's The Man Who Unboiled An Egg, a fascinating look at Hervé This, France's most famous chemist and his research into the science of cooking.

From DQ Fitness advisor Dough Walsh, a link to a story about Bob Sapp, who went from a brief NFL career as an offensive lineman to becoming a superstar in Japan as a K-1 fighter.

From John Catania, a link to the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Quotes, a list of the top quotes in American film history.

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