Ghostwriter

Today my husband was at work, demonstrating how to use Log Me In (a remote login application). He logged into the computer I was using at home and started remotely controlling the mouse. Luckily, I wasn't doing anything embarrassing like becoming a brony. I opened notepad to talk to him, and it made me think of this:

In case the concept is a little confusing, "He's a ghost that writes to us! Ghostwriter."

Tangential Learning

I felt as though there was not as much game philosophy on this site as a I would like. In the effort to jump-start the topic in my mind, I've been watching Extra Credits and became a member of Escapist (the Escapist? Escapist magazine? Not sure how to reference that). I'm watching from the most current backwards, and about 14 weeks ago they did one on Tangential Learning in games.

I thought they might have mentioned Assassin's Creed 2 and/or Brotherhood since the story is set in a rather accurate renaissance Italy. However, I may know why they didn't.

Girl Gaming

Earlier I mentioned a post about girls in gaming. It was chosen for the Speak up post of the day on Kotaku. Jason Taylor (whose Kotaku page is gone) added this is the comments. In my opinion, it is a very concise account not just of women in gaming, but the discussion of women in gaming too. Genetics vs. society is often confused, and I can't remember many pregnant game characters....

On a related note, I had a conversation between myself and another commenter on Kotaku. The other commenter said biology was the reason that more women don't play games, not that women were not included in games. I thought that the biology of women did not exclude them from an interest in gaming, and that if anything, their biology gives them certain advantages in gaming. Hit the jump for the entire conversation, but be warned it is very long.

Microsoft Farts in your General Direction

 "Microsoft spent the better part of the last decade in a legal battle against the continent of Europe. At the same time they were mired in that international legal dispute, they were fighting a case brought against them by the United States of America. Basically, western civilization itself was battling against Microsoft in the courts for the better part of a decade and Bill Gates is still toweling himself off each night with the silky hides of endangered baby seals. Threatening Microsoft with legal action as a single human being is like trying to attack a hive of Africanized murder bees with a piece of gum you found in a urinal. That's not to say one person couldn't conceivably rout Microsoft in a legal dispute; after all it was a single, well-placed torpedo that brought down the entire Death Star. But the difference is the Death Star was fiction and Luke wasn't demonstrably guilty of severe violations of XBL's terms of service."  -- Seth, "The Village of the Banned", 1up.com

This article talked about the Xbox Live banned forum, which is essentially to Xbox Live as the cornfield is to Kotaku, except people don't end up there on a whim.   

"Aww" Gaming Moment of the Year

This is just precious.

The Art of Capitalism?

Alright, I think it's great that they bought everything to help out a nice old man, but they are just reselling it for a ton of money... and it's just a $2 pack of gum in a plastic box, for $65? Seriously? Clip art style images as prints for $200? This is the business I need to be in, because some of this stuff has actually sold.

If they had bought out the store, then threw a nice big party, that would be nice. But they bought it so they could resell it through their own pretentious "art"... it's capitalism at its finest, I suppose.

But good for Hercules. I guess it's not unlike extreme home makeover, where they build the house for some destitute family, but really just to advertise different products and the home receivers often leave the home due to property taxes, bills, etc. When you build a gigantic house in an otherwise normal neighborhood, it can cause some issues, which you can see here, here, and here

No, it is unlike that because advertisers who pay for the home are at least selling a product at a mostly reasonable price, whereas these kids are reselling it for hundreds. And that looked like so little money in the suitcase too... I hope they gave some of the resale profits back to the shop owner.

What is the internet?

In 1994, it was hard to say what the "inter-net" was. I don't think I really remember using the internet until 1996 or so. It was then that the internet was introduced to me as "what you write papers with at the last minute." In '96 there were about 2 articles on most truly important things. Like wars and such. But in 1994? There probably wasn't much there. This conversation still happens today, albeit less frequently. Nice to see newspeople still a little unsure.

Violence at NBC? It sounds misleading.
And some people even had wi-fi then! How nice.

As seen on Gizmodo.

Shows

I do other things with my free time besides gaming. Things like watching tons of television. I watch 30 Rock, The Office, Big Bang Theory, and most disappointing, Outsourced. Even the movie wasn't that great. I really thought the movie would be good. I know some people who legitimately like it, but it just feels too forced to me. "Oh, I am from America, and this is not America, how weird!" seems to be the plot of every episode. I wish they would focus more on developing the characters than this endless list of ways India is different than America. Though, I guess its a brand new ethnicity to NBC and that's a good thing to support. I like DIY network and aside from that, I just watch old stuff on Netflix that I should have watched when it was on.

Arrested Development is probably the best show I watched too late. Unfortunately, it is hard to explain to people. (Like trying to explain the game "Sneak King" to someone. "You're the burger king mascot, and you are sneaking around in the dark, and you deliver burgers. Burger King made the game... It's not a good game to buy... You're like a guy dressed up like a king, with a big creepy mask... you know, there was this commercial.... just, it's not good. it's bad.")

Lately I've been getting YouTube links for quotes from my favorite shows, just for kicks and general web posting, such as:

or these from the office, which seem very useful:

 and this

I like watching seasons in their entirety, including miscellaneous reality shows, so I've seen season one of hoarders and undercover boss thanks to Netflix. "Hoarders" I watched while I went though junk in my walk-in storage. It was great motivation to throw things away.

Undercover Boss was kinda fun, it was just feel good TV. Hard working people getting recognized and promoted is nice to see, even if its just for entertainment. I hope that the general public continues to be entertained by stories of life improvement, so that Extreme Home Makeover can keep giving away houses, HGTV can keep remodeling rooms in peoples homes for free. etc. I think it's one of the more responsible things that can be done with advertising dollars.

Kinect

I have seen this original commercial and heard the dramatic drumming and optimistic "aaaaaahhhhh"s before. It plays at work both on the 360 interactive and on our TV.... I think 100 times would be a fair estimate. I've always felt that there was something a little odd about it, something a bit over the top and unbelievable. Especially at the end when we see all the smiling faces, in slow motion, with that "dawn of creation" type music. and this parody absolutely nails it for me. I'm heading to sarcasticgamer to see if we share views on more than just Kinect.