Siteseeing: Bits and Pieces

There are a few tech-related stories I’ve been wanting to share but have put on the back-burner lately.

Links

• Japanator has shared the live-action Akira synopsis found on the site Acting Auditions. It supposedly reads as follows:

Kaneda is a bar owner in Neo-Manhatten who is stunned when his brother, Tetsuo, is abducted by government agents led by The Colonel. Desperate to get his brother back, Kaneda agrees to join with Ky Reed and her underground movement who are intent on revealing to the world what truly happened to New York City thirty years ago when it was destroyed. Kaneda believes their theories to be ludicrous but after finding his brother again, is shocked when he displays telekinetic powers. Ky believes Tetsuo is headed to release a young boy, Akira, who has taken control of Tetsuo’s mind. Kaneda clashes with The Colonel’s troops on his way to stop Tetsuo from releasing Akira but arrives too late. Akira soon emerges from his prison courtesy of Tetsuo as Kaneda races in to save his brother before Akira once again destroys Manhattan island, as he did thirty years ago.

I’ve tried to be optimistic about this movie, but that doesn’t sound remotely like anything that should be titled Akira. It’s as if they took a completely different script and just slapped the name on there for marketing purposes. It wouldn’t be the first time a script as been repurposed, and it won’t be the last. Time will tell how accurate this is, but I’m starting to think the studio is at the point where they’re just going to shove out something as quickly as possible because they have to make something with the license while they still have it. Yes, it’s Dragonball: Evolution all over again.

• io9 shared a great video in which Terry Gilliam explains the difference between Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick. Yes, he made the obvious joke about the lifestyles they could afford, but then he goes into something deeper. Spielberg offers films with ultimately satisfying if entirely simplistic endings while Kubrick offers annoyingly obtuse if thought-provoking conversation pieces. You know what kind of film I prefer. Which do you like and why?

• Lastly, I joined the Muppets’ Never-Ending Mahna Mahna Phenomena. There’s no harm in doing the same. It takes only a couple minutes of your time, and it’s amazing to see how long-lasting a little song from a forgotten Italian film can be.

Siteseeing – week of 10/29

Interesting things I read this week:

Siteseeing

Does anyone actually type WWW anymore?

I’ve been behind on my RSS feed and sharing the interesting things I’ve found. Fortunately, my pal Corey suggested that I put up lists of things I’m reading, and I think it’s a brilliant idea. I think at the end of every week I’ll share some of my interesting internet finds. Here are some finds from the past month:

• Apparently someone coined a real-life situation called game transfer phenomenon. This is when you connect real-life experiences to games you just played, or rather extend your game experience to the real world in some way. This has some positives, like better organizational skills after playing lots of Tetris (I’m guilty); but it also has some potential negatives in the realm of violent games. This is where some people sensationalize the story, fearing that players make take their Call of Duty and Mortal Kombat experiences to the streets. That’s clearly going too far with it. But my takeaway is that if there is a short term transference, then there must be a way to utilize it for educational purposes. I’m thinking of behavioral methods, but the right games can probably be used for other things if someone thinks hard enough about them.

• In continuing to discuss games, I have to point to this article about games being pointed to in divorce. All I have to say is that it’s stupid. Excessive gaming is more often than not a result of problems in the home. If you really want to fix a marriage, don’t get rid of the games. Try communicating – and communicate something other than, “Get off the fucking game when I’m talking to you!” That never goes over well.

• And a further continuance of that thread is this article in which a researcher suggests that individuals may house the problems, not the games. I find this level of logic astounding. The sad thing is that this may be the first and last time Patrick Markey is published prominently. You can’t write sensationalist stories about the fact that people are likely the root of their own problems. You can’t sell news stories telling parents that their kids may have problems for other reasons, such as genetics or parenting.

• This article discusses, indirectly, the power of branding and how it affects us all. When people perform better or are more highly rated for branded items, then there’s clearly some unconscious recognition at work. I hope that I’m speaking to the right audience that doesn’t need me to beat them over the head with why that’s disappointing.
• By the way, even in his 70′s, Shatner knows how to be extra weird. I don’t think I have a positive opinion of this video. I think I consider it nightmare fuel: