A new study reports that more adult women play video games than young boys. The average age of gamers has also risen to 29. “Video gaming traditionally has been seen as the province of teen boys locked in dark rooms, twitching away at game consoles. In recent years, however, the industry has worked to publish games catering to kids, women and older gamers.”
Month: August 2003
Machines That Can Think?
“A new type of thinking machine that could completely change how people interact with computers is being developed at the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories.The idea is to figure out ways to make humans smarter by improving human-hardware interactions…”
What’s Next For Humans?
Human evolution has been rapid and sophisticated. But “where do we go from here? Have we attained perfection and ceased to evolve? Many geneticists think that is very unlikely, though few find it easy to say where we are headed or how fast. Until the agricultural revolution 10,000 years ago, people used to live in small populations with little gene flow between them. That is the best situation for rapid evolution, said Sewall Wright, one of the founders of population genetics. But Sir Ronald A. Fisher, another founder of the discipline, argued that large populations with random mating — just what globalization and air travel are helping to bring about — were the best fodder for rapid evolution. Which of them is right? No one really knows.”
Has Multicultural SBS TV Outlived Itself?
When Australia’s SBS TV was established, it was “an indulgence by the Fraser government and, some say, a sop to the growing electoral power of Australia’s ethnic communities. But SBS was a world-first idea that, for relatively few taxpayer dollars, managed to deliver reasonable value for money. It was never expected to be a ratings leader, but after 25 years it seems to be treading water. With 3.5 per cent of the night-time audience in Melbourne in the week before last – the most recent week for which complete audience statistics are available – it is not doing well.”
Why Would Anyone Review Books?
“It stands to reason that book reviewers enjoy reading. After all, as was noted in the first two installments of this series, they must choose (often with the help of assigning editors), from the immense heap of books that accumulates each year, the titles to read and write about—in fewer and fewer words, under deadline, and for not much pay. It wouldn’t be a stretch to call book reviewing a labor of love, except for the fact that it is so often a vilified profession. Reviewers are accused of having agendas and of cronyism, are called show-offs and career-killers. It’s a lot of heat to take for some free books, a few bucks, and a byline. So what’s the draw?”
iTunes – Not Such A Good Deal After All
People are raving about Apple’s iTunes. But it’s not a good deal for consumers, or for artists. “Apple takes a 35% cut from every song and every album sold, a huge amount considering how little they have to do. Record labels receive the other 65% of each sale. Of this, major label artists will end up with only 8 to 14 cents per song, depending on their contract. Many of them will never even see this paltry share because they have to pay for producers and recording costs, both of which can be enormous. Until the musician ‘recoups’ these costs, when you buy an iTunes song, the label gives them nothing.”
We Live In An 850-Year-Old House…
The oldest continually-inhabited house in Britain has been identified. It was completed between 1148 and 1150 and is in Somerset. The news “stunned the owners of the house, James and Anna Wynn, who sold a small terrace house and left London five years ago to find somewhere with more room for their growing family and a bit of history.”
Finalists For The New Picture Prize
Finalists have been chosen for the first Schweppes portrait prize, an international competition with £15,000 awarded to the winner. “The prize is the successor to the John Kobal photographic portrait award, which until it ended last year was recognised as one of the most distinguished photography competitions. The new prize attracted more than 3,000 images from 1,212 professional and amateur photographers of which 60 have been selected for the exhibition’s opening at the National Portrait Gallery in London in November.”
Austin Lyric Opera Gets Some New Leadership
“The Austin Lyric Opera’s 16-year history is melodramatic enough to be an opera itself.” The company almost folded in its first year of existence, and has struggled periodically since, with financial hardship usually accompanied by Texas-sized power struggles at the top. Just last year, the board fired artistic director, Joseph McClain, claiming that his artistic desires were simply not financially achievable in Austin. Now, the Lyric has hired a new artistic director, Richard Buckley, whom they hope will bring a firm but even hand to their often-roiling ship.
Astrup Painting To Hit The Block
When a painting by Nikolai Astrup goes up for auction later this fall, it will be the first time in almost a decade that a work by the Norwegian master will have been made available for public sale. “What is more remarkable about this work, which can fetch around [US$200,000], is that it was acquired for a three-cent lottery ticket in 1926, newspaper Bergensavisen reports.”