July 27, 2005

Violence, Sex & Video Games

The L.A. Times is running an editorial/open-letter to Hillary regarding the latest videogame probe. I recommend reading it.

I'm also quite amused that a little sex was what launched all this hoopla. I guess its okay for teenagers to simulate violence (the game features beat/rob/steal/kill/etc-ing), but for teenagers to simulate sex--that's over the line. I wonder what the arguments for/against this distinction would be...

Also, Take-Two predicted that they would need to take a write-off for all the returns & lost revenue they forsee. Anyone else think that maybe the direct opposite will happen?

July 12, 2005

Long Now

I rediscovered the Long Now website today and was really taken by the ideas that Brian Eno brings up in his Nov 02003 talk here (pdf) on the seminars page.

I'm struck by a couple thoughts so far:

1) the kind of "short now" thinking he attributes to the 1970s is alive and well in Silicon Valley. It might be a global epidemic.

2) I really should look at the book "The Evolution of Cooperation", by Robert Axelrod. The WWI example Eno relates about how generals had to rotate troops throught the frontlines to keep them from cooperating with the enemy made me think of how "big media" helps keep divisions like "the red states" and "the blue states" alive. Cooperation doesn't make for nearly as interesting TV. [See previous post.]

3) I really enjoyed his background on his ambient music. "Music for Airports" is one of Wendy & my all-time favorites.

A good lunchtime read.