Nobody Puts Baby in a Video Game -- Media Mixtape

Well I’m still reeling a bit from the outpouring of “help” from the Mac community in response to my last post… I wasn’t really prepared to have so many Mac folks invading my personal blog and cheerfully telling me that I wasn’t worthy of owning one anyway (yes I’m paraphrasing here). Regardless, I don’t really have much more to say about the situation except that I was frustrated and didn’t feel like going the extra mile to stick with a Mac. I don’t think I need to justify it. It’s all good though, I am actually seriously looking at getting a Dell now — the Dimension 9200 to be exact. This looks like a pretty sweet machine and I am stoked… the memory of the iMac is already starting to fade!

Has anyone else been checking out the new applications that have launched on the “Facebook Platform” last week? Everyone thought the owners were crazy for turning down a $750 million offer a while back, but obviously they had bigger plans. This opens the network up to be used in an unlimited number of fun and novel ways, and the timing is perfect because I was honestly starting to grow a little bored of Facebook (shhh… don’t tell). These applications are sort of like Firefox extensions, and from what I understand anyone can develop them. So far I’ve installed the Delicious, Flixster, Xbox Live, and iLike applications, but the number of apps already out there is staggering. I’m starting to understand what this whole Web 2.0 thing is all about… everything’s connected! Flixster is a way to post quick reviews of movies you’ve seen, while iLike is useful for sharing upcoming concert info and music recommendations with friends. (Unfortunately it seems that iLike doesn’t list Canadian concerts as of yet.) The Bunny Picture app is also perhaps the most innovative of all.

On the topic of Facebook, I also found this nifty Facebook toolbar for Firefox.

There is an interesting conference at Brock University next week that I will be attending through my work called Interacting with Immersive Worlds. I realize “interesting” is a somewhat relative word… I’m sure many would find it to be an absolute snoozefest, but I’m looking forward to it. One of the main speakers is Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who wrote a book called Flow that explores the idea that we all subconsciously seek out activities in life that engage us with just the right level of challenge… not too hard, not too easy. Like video games. Other topics range from instant messaging, Second Life and Wii-motes to video game music and cyber-bullying. I really enjoy geeking out over material like this; in fact, if I hadn’t gone into computer science I probably would have majored in communications or cultural studies or something like that at university. Sometimes when I start talking about heady topics with people I feel like the entire world is absolutely knowable if one only had enough time and energy to sit down and puzzle it out. Of course, I’m also aware of how pretentious and self-important some of this research can be too, which is why I’m content to be a mere “armchair academic” if you will, casually mulling over some of the ideas in my spare time. For those who may be inclined, the conference is open to anyone, although it’s $75 for students and $150 for non-students which might be a bit much to pay for your average nerd.

Yahoo! had an interesting article through the Associated Press this week about the consistently craptacular results from video games that are based on movies. It’s a point worth making, I think, because everyone talks about how terrible video game movies are (ie. Resident Evil, Alone In The Dark, Doom, Super Mario Bros) but they tend to forget that the opposite case is also an equally bad idea. The problem is, both continue to make money (can you believe that the Cars video game was the second highest-selling game of 2006?). Fortunately, there is one upcoming game that is clearly going to reverse the trend and restore credibility to video games based on movies: Dirty Dancing: The Video Game. You think I’m joking but I’m not.

Microsoft made waves this week with the unveiling of their new touch-sensitive user interface technology, Microsoft Surface. When I was at Wired NextFest last summer there were a couple of different companies showing off similar gadgets, and I think it really is the next logical step. The popularity of the Wii is inspiring all kinds of alternative input devices everywhere you look. Of course, what I’m more interested in is what’s going to come after this… an interactive 3d hologram? Direct brain wave control?

Well just when you thought reality TV couldn’t sink any lower than it already has, along comes Dutch show The Donor. The basic idea is that three contestants are competing for a new kidney, courtesy of a terminally-ill woman who has agreed to donate it to the winner. I have to admit, I’ve defended reality TV in the past as I think it does have redeeming value, but I can’t say I support such a ridiculous thing. Just to play devil’s advocate though, is competing for a body part really that much different than competing for a million dollars? Both are life-changing propositions. There was also controversy on the latest Australian version of Big Brother where the show’s producers refused to tell one of the contestants that her father passed away until after she had left the show. That’s pretty sleazy too, and besides… why wouldn’t they welcome the added drama anyway?

Lastly, The Strokes recently released a new video for the song “You Only Live Once” and it’s freaking fantastic. I had no idea they were such big sci-fi nerds. It does seem a bit weird that they’re still making videos for an album that’s a year and a half old now, but I’m not complaining.