Despite/because/completely independently of me writing a long and reasonably thought-out blog post about how Six Days in Fallujah might have the chance to address some of the long-running issues with war games making killing fun, its publisher has dropped it. Too controversial, it seems: ‘”We had intended to convey the reality of the battles toContinue reading “Konami has dropped Six Days in Fallujah”
Author Archives: Alex
Virtual reality, then and now
In the 1980s and 1990s, the term ‘virtual reality’ was understood to mean the creation of reality inside the computer – and thus we would need to experience it using complex imaging and interaction systems (3D googles, cursors mapped to the movement of a glove etc.) The implication behind this was the reality itself wouldContinue reading “Virtual reality, then and now”
In war games, killing is fun
[I wrote this for the blog I contribute to for work, over on bit-tech. I don’t generally cross-post stuff I write for work here, but the idea for it grew out of writing the Peleliu post, so I think there’s a good case to be made that it belongs here, too.] Konami’s recently announced SixContinue reading “In war games, killing is fun”
No, I don’t want my photo taken
Another excellent set of photos on The Big Picture today, focussing this time on animals in the zoo. As always with The Big Picture, there’s a real (if subtle) sense of a narrative running through the post, thanks to the ordering of the shots. I couldn’t help but be grabbed by this one of aContinue reading “No, I don’t want my photo taken”
Too much Photoshop
When is too much in Photoshop? This article (translated from Danish) tells the story of a photographer who entered a competition, and was then asked to send unedited samples of his images. The article reproduces the pictures – before and after – so you can judge for yourself if there’s too much editing going on.Continue reading “Too much Photoshop”
Input from everybody – Peleliu links
I ended up on Peleliu more by accident than design; I have family living on Palau, so my partner and I went to visit, and Peleliu seemed like an interesting day trip. I took the photos, wrote up the guide’s stories and did some Googling when I got back. One of the nice things aboutContinue reading “Input from everybody – Peleliu links”
Thousand Yard Stares: Ruins and Ghosts of the Battle of Peleliu, 1944, 2008
Peleliu is a small island that forms part of the nation of Palau in the Pacific. It’s about five hours flying time south of Japan and three hours east of the Philippines. It’s now, like the rest of Palau, beautiful, peaceful and home to more shades of blue in the sea and sky than youContinue reading “Thousand Yard Stares: Ruins and Ghosts of the Battle of Peleliu, 1944, 2008”
What’s next for The Beatles catalogue
I’ve written before about why it’s important for The Beatles to sort out making their music available digitally, but it seems like what’s next is a videogame from the the makers of Rock Band and… some new CDs. The original albums, plus a new version of Past Masters will be remastered and released on theContinue reading “What’s next for The Beatles catalogue”
On Steve Gillmor, FriendFeed 2 and inhaling the hype
Steve Gillmor’s Techcrunch post on the revamped FriendFeed was so incredible that I felt it needed a little commentary. A Cliff’s Notes, if you will. I wrote it up for the bit-tech blog.
Where to get good coffee in London
Like most journalists, I am largely fueled by coffee – to the point that I do actually have my own cafetiere in my desk drawer at work – but getting a well made coffee in a cafe. is one of life’s great pleasures. Via the blog of Lantana, a lovely new cafe near our offices,Continue reading “Where to get good coffee in London”
The Wired Jester 