As most gamers are (hopefully) aware, the video game review industry – which some people call “video game journalism” – is bullshit all around. So it’s with great admiration and amusement that I observed the “release” of Minecraft today. After reading the Escapist article, I realized: in addition to the other benefits of Notch-style game [...]
Complex problems, virtual worlds and one theory to rule them all.
Political happenings from Taegan Goddard- GOP Debate Reaction February 23, 2012Tonight's Republican debate was easily one of the worst of the presidential campaign.Mitt Romney was armed with opposition research on Rick Santorum but didn't come close to a knock out. The audience -- which was definitely slanted towards Romney -- helped cover for many clumsy mistakes. His attempts to throw red meat to conservatives exacerbated h […]
- The Last Debate? February 23, 2012The Fix: "First, this might be the final debate of the GOP presidential race -- or at least, the last debate for a while. There are no other debates scheduled before the real Super Tuesday on March 6, and Romney's campaign has not committed to a planned March 19 debate in Oregon. Indeed, Romney's campaign looks as though be done with debates a […]
- Bonus Quote of the Day February 23, 2012"It is not accurate to say that a hotly contested convention is necessarily bad. I am not saying it is necessarily good, but I don't think it is accurate to say it is necessarily bad. Let's just see."-- Haley Barbour, in an interview with ABC News. […]
- Poll Shows Santorum Ahead in Michigan February 22, 2012A new WXYZ/Detroit Free Press poll in Michigan finds Rick Santorum leading Mitt Romney in the GOP presidential primary by three points, 37% to 34%, followed by Ron Paul at 10% and Newt Gingrich at 7%. Another 12% are either undecided or refused to answer. Said pollster Bernie Porn: "Among GOP voters, Santorum leads Romney by 41%. Among Independent voter […]
- Is Arizona a Swing State? February 22, 2012President Obama's re-election campaign says they will compete hard in Arizona and a new Public Policy Polling survey suggests they should. Obama is now tied with Mitt Romney in Arizona at 47%, a dramatic improvement from November when he trailed by 7 points. He leads Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich each by 4 points, 46% to 42% and 48% to 44% respectively. Th […]
- GOP Debate Reaction February 23, 2012
- What I’m Reading
- Leveraged Populists February 22, 2012Frederick Sheehan is the co-author of Greenspan’s Bubbles: The Age of Ignorance at the Federal Reserve. His new book, Panderer for Power: The True Story of How Alan Greenspan Enriched Wall Street and Left a Legacy of Recession, was published by McGraw-Hill in November 2009. He was Director of Asset Allocation Services at John Hancock Financial Services in Bo […]Frederick Sheehan
- Newt Gingrich's Fantasy Campaign—and the Fictions That Gave Rise to It February 22, 2012His ideas may seem merely grandiose, but they reveal the deep affinity between American conservatism and one branch of science fiction. Stagnating in distant third place in the national polls, is there any way Newt Gingrich could still win the Republican presidential nomination? Hell no, would be the response of most pundits and pollsters. But here's th […]Jeet Heer
- Dear Ezra: Wall Street Was No Match for a Liberal Arts Degree February 21, 2012Last week, Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein posed a theory: Graduates of elite schools default to Wall Street jobs because of the familiar recruiting process and useful on-the-job training, which he claims better prepares recent graduates for the real world than their degrees. It is this, and not the high salaries, that attracts our nation's brigh […]Tess Amodeo-Vickery
- The Art of Being a Hero February 21, 2012My friend Marcel would never consider himself a hero. But wages a daily war against daunting foes: ignorance, apathy, intellectual and cultural atrophy, and an increasingly dimmed recollection of the wisdom of a bygone age. […]Paul Leroux
- Pinterest for Business: 9 Tips From Superuser PediaStaff [CASE STUDY] February 21, 2012This post originally appeared on the Realtime Report. Author Tonia Ries kindly agreed to let me repost it here, ’cause it’s just that good. PediaStaff is not an association, however its target audience – pediatric therapists – are a classic example of the kind of target audience an association might have. PediaStaff is a staffing firm that specializes in r […]Maddie Grant
- 22 Ways to Create Compelling Content When You Don’t Have a Clue [Infographic] February 21, 2012Yep, we’re introducing the first-ever Copyblogger infographic. It’s about our favorite topic — creating great content. And, as has been our style since the beginning, we’re practicing what we preach. This infographic demonstrates how to repurpose existing content in a different media format, get more bang from your archives, and reach new and different audie […]Brian Clark
- Nihilistic Entertainment System: Retro City Rampage February 21, 2012Currently getting owners of the PS Vitalite’s expensive knickers in a right old twist, parody open-world carnage game Retro City Rampage will also be careening wildly towards PC with a bloodythirsty look in its pseudo-8-bit eye. Essentially it’s GTA 1, if GTA 1 had happened five years earlier and was a mash-up of locales and abilities from assorted touchston […]Alec Meer
- Leveraged Populists February 22, 2012