Archives
You can have my Scrabulous when you pry it from my cold dead fingers
Hasbro has sent letters to Facebook asking it to remove Scrabulous, the popular online version of Scrabble.SOS! Save our Scrabulous!My dad always said I could be whatever I wanted to be…
...and that's especially true of the Internet, where a false persona is only a few mouse clicks away. Witness this slide show of real people and the avatars they use in online games.I don't know what it says about me, but I'm more uncomfortable being anonymous online than I am being myself. I even spent quite a bit of time during my Second Life experiments trying to get my avatar to look like me.I think it goes back to being a newspaper editor, and refusing to print any letters that arrived unsigned. You got something to say? Say it as yourself, or give me a darn good reason why you're hiding behind a false name, ..."Science is easy!"
My daughter received a Webkinz for her sixth birthday last week. Webkinz are stuffed animals which come with a code that provides access to a website where kids can play games, buy things for the online version of their animals, etc.Among the Webkinz activities are quizzes about various topics. Among the topics: science. Which, I'm pleased to note, is the topic my daughter chose over all others when we decided to do quizzes yesterday."Science is easy!" she said.That's my girl.From MUD to MOO to a whole Second Life
This week's CBC Web column...***The search for new worlds to visit isn’t confined to the crew of Star Trek’s U.S.S. Enterprise, nor does it necessarily involve outer space. These days, you can find all the strange worlds you could ever want to visit right on your computer--worlds populated with other visitors from the “real world” just like you.For instance, I recently spent an hour exploring a beautiful island with exotic architecture, strange musical instruments and lovely gardens. As I walked (or, occasionally flew, in that dream-like way of flying where you just lift off the ground whenever you want to) around the island, I crossed paths with many other tourists. But none of us ...How realistic are combat computer games?
Here's an interesting interview on that topic with Dr. Malcom Davis, a lecturer in Defence Studies with the Defence Studies Department of King's College London. Dr. Davis says current games certainly have some realistic elements, but:I think that consumer military simulations are never going to be totally realistic because ultimately people don't really die or get injured, and thus the fear element is never going to be there. I think that what is missing is the chaos of battle. Too often I see tactical engagements unfold on the screen and everything is relatively clear, wheras in real combat, the elements of chaos, unpredictability and confusion predominate. Look at sequences in movies like 'Saving Private Ryan' or 'Band ...The return of Commodore
My first computer was a Commodore 64, bought ca. 1981 for (if I remember correctly) $895 Canadian, plus $595 for the 1541 floppy disk drive. (It came with a plastic Apple core on a string to wear around your neck, the Apple II being the main competitor for the C64 when it launched.) I used it (the computer, not the plastic apple core, which I somehow never found a good reason to wear) for several years, replaced it with another, and then bought a Commodore 128 which served me until I bought my first Intel PC (a 386) when I became a full-time freelancer in 1993. My Dad continued to use my old Commodore 64 for a while after that....I haven’t been playing many computer games recently…
...but obviously I should:Video games that contain high levels of action, such as Unreal Tournament, can actually improve your vision.Researchers at the University of Rochester have shown that people who played action video games for a few hours a day over the course of a month improved by about 20 percent in their ability to identify letters presented in clutter--a visual acuity test similar to ones used in regular ophthalmology clinics.In essence, playing video game improves your bottom line on a standard eye chart.Whenever I think I might like to pop into Second Life again…
...I read something like this.There are no Utopias, online or off.Half-Life’s automated machine-gun sentries…
...become a reality, courtesy of Samsung and Korea University.Just a little scary, don't you think?(Via Gizmodo.)
Edward Willett is a Subscribe to my weekly science column for free!
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Magebane
“Spectacular” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Evil wizards, multi-level conspiracies, hidden kingdoms…Lee Arthur Chane…has done a marvelous job…Magebane is a very entertaining book and well worth the time.” – A.M. Donovan, Night Owl Reviews
I happily recommend Magebane and I’ll certainly give Chane’s next novel a try based on this one.” —Bill Capossere, Fantasy Literature
“…an original and delightful tale of epic fantasy and magic, steampunk science, adventure, tragedy, and love…” – Errant Dreams Reviews
Eight centuries ago, the world changed. A devastating war swept the lands, and the MageLords, who had long ruled by virtue of their spell powers, were driven to a distant place, separated from those they had ruled by a magical Barrier. With magic banished from the rest of the world, the MageLords became mere legend and people turned to science to improve their lives. But if one man has his way, all that is about to change….
Written as Lee Arthur Chane (the middle names of my older brothers, Jimmy Lee and Dwight Arthur, and myself, Edward Chane Willett).
Marseguro
Winner of the 2009 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English
Water world Marseguro is home to the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from human DNA. When an unmodified human seeks revenge on a Selkie by activating a distress beacon taken from the remains of the original colony ship, a strikeforce is sent from Earth to eradicate the genetic abomination. Yet Marseguro will not prove as easy to conquer as the Earth force anticipates…
Terra Insegura
Finalist for the 2010 Prix Aurora Award for Best Novel in English
Marseguro, a water world far from Earth, is home to a colony of humans and the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from modified human DNA. For seventy years the colony has lived in peace. Then Earth discovers Marseguro, and a strike force is sent to eradicate this “abomination.” But Marseguro has created a genetically tailored plague to use against Earth’s Holy Warriors. With the enemy defeated, the people of Marseguro feel they are safe. But Chris Keating, the traitor who signaled Marseguro’s location to the Holy Warriors, has fled to Earth, unknowingly carrying the deadly plague within him. The people of Marseguro feel they must send a ship to Earth with a life-saving vaccine. Only time will tell what awaits them when they reach their destination.
Lost in Translation
Kathryn was a human empath whose world and life had been destroyed when the alien S’sinn slaughtered her parents before her very eyes. Jarrikk was a young S’sinn, an unproven warrior who’d seen his flight mates slaughtered by the humans who’d sought to colonize his world.
As humans and S’sinn found themselves on the brink of war, these two Translators had to work together to find a common ground and avert catastrophe. But whether their Translators’ oath and training could overcome the enemies leagued against them was very much in doubt…
Archives
Song of the Sword
My new YA fantasy novel from Lobster Press
Before the Lady called her, Ariane’s life was a mess. Two years ago, her mother disappeared. She bounced around different foster homes until her aunt finally took her in. The meanest clique at her new high school has decided to make Ariane their prime target. And to top it all off, she is having frightening premonitions, and they are becoming more intense. The moment water touches her skin, she sees visions of a lake, a lady, and a sword. When a staircase opens up in the middle of Wascana Lake and the water begins singing to her, she has no choice but to answer the call….
Historic Walks of Regina and Moose Jaw
Ten walks to points of historic and architectural interest in the cities of Regina and Moose Jaw (eight walks for Regina, two for Moose Jaw).
Johnny Cash: The Man in Black
When country music legend Johnny Cash took the stage at Folsom State Prison in 1968, he solidified the public’s perception of him as a rebel who followed his own path. Born in Arkansas during the Great Depression, Cash endured poverty, the death of his older brother, and a difficult relationship with his father. He turned to gospel and country music to express the pain, and after many years of struggling, his songs of hardship and hope would finally reach the ears of those waiting for an artist who represented them, ordinary people fighting to survive.
Andy Warhol: Everyone Will Be Famous for 15 Minutes
“Paintings are too hard. Machines have less problems…” In the 1960s, Andy Warhol became the most famous creator of a new style of art called pop art, which transformed mass-produced items of popular culture into fine works of art. From Campbell’s Soup cans to photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Warhol’s willingness to use anything and everything from the mass media in his work expanded the range of subject matter available to artists. His avant-garde films, artistic usage of American icons, and unconventional social life made him a controversial figure, both greatly admired and deeply reviled. A trendsetter rather than a trend-follower, a dispassionate observer of both the seamy and celebrity sides of life, Warhol was a true American rebel.
Disease-Hunting Scientist
The true stories of six real disease hunters. Epidemiologists travel the world trying to keep us safe from deadly diseases—from high-tech labs in Canada to remote villages in Africa. Learn how these “disease detectives” are coming up with new ways to fight disease, and find out if you have what it takes to become an epidemiologist, too!
The Bounty Mutiny
The Bounty was a British ship visiting Tahiti in 1789 when some of the crew overthrew the captain, William Bligh, and set him adrift in a tiny boat with sailors loyal to him. The mutiny resulted in a number of trials–both of the men who mutinied and of Bligh for losing command of his ship. These fascinating events have been the source for numerous Hollywood movies, most recently The Bounty. The Bounty Mutiny: From the Court Case to the Movie explores the famous case and the movies it inspired.
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