রবিবার, ৮ সেপ্টেম্বর, ২০১৩

That Dragon Cancer: PAX Prime 2013: Brilliant Game or Punch in the Face?

 that dragon cancer, pax prime, 2013, seattle, josh larson, joel larson, terminal, ouya, cancer, ryan green,

I?m not exactly sure what to say about That Dragon Cancer.?The pipe-smoking, tweed-jacket-wearing games journalist brigade will likely stumble all over themselves to tell the world that this game is a brilliant masterpiece and game-of-the-year material.?I was told breathlessly by a colleague that if I did nothing else on the showroom floor at PAX Prime, I should go play the bizarre indie title hidden away at the back of the Indie booth.

?Well, what?s it about?? I asked.

?Oh, you play a father and your son has cancer.?

?Well, that sounds like a treat.?

We had a good laugh before she came around again, ?No, seriously, you need to play this game, but you?ll be in tears when you do.?

So with that kind of recommendation, I worked my way over to the booth. I was under the impression That Dragon Cancer would be some kind of touching story of a six-year old running around with a cardboard sword fighting some kind of mythical dragon in a game. Nope, not that at all. You play as coping father Ryan Green, sitting in an intensive care unit with your infant son, Joel, dying of cancer. Sound fun? It gets better. Not only are you playing as Ryan Green, but Ryan Green was literally standing directly behind me doing an interview as I was playing.

You see, the game That Dragon Cancer, is the true and ongoing story of Ryan and his infant son Joel, who has terminal cancer. You?re moving about a hospital intensive care unit from a first person perspective point-and-click ?adventure?, with your child screaming in your ears, and the objective of the demo is to try to put him back to sleep. You see, Joel is in a tremendous amount of pain and appears spends most of the entire ten minute demo shrieking in your ears. Couple that with the overwrought monologue of lead character Ryan when you click on any items in the room on top of a heart-crushing piano tinkling away and I found myself fighting back tears within minutes. I?m not sure if it was the suggestion from my friend telling me that I would be in tears and then me spending the better part of the day getting myself ready to NOT cry that caused me to really have to fight back the water works, but there I was, trying not to cry.

That Dragon Cancer 01

When I stood up to leave, I felt?bad. Ryan?s very brief story laid out in the demo (to be released late 2014) amidst the joyous swag giveaways and cosplaying around me seemed off-putting. It was only a few days later that I started to get a little miffed as to That Dragon Cancer.?It?s a real story about an infant with cancer: no analogy with dragons flying around or Braid-style story where you have to dig deep and really look into the backstory as to what?s going on. What you see is what you get. So, more of an experience than a game, do I really want to sit through 3-4 hours of living through the hells of being a father with a terminally ill child without any shiny colors or leaderboards to distract me? Just orange vinyl chairs in an infirmary and kids throwing up on me from chemotherapy?

And despite That Dragon Cancer being a true story where I could take a break from trying not to cry at the demo to see a professionally-done picture of Ryan and his family to continue to hammer the point home that this is a game but this is by no means a game,?what is the objective here? Sure, cancer awareness. But there?s also a part of me that feels like this is one of those ?Oscar bait? pictures that Hollywood will crank out every now and again; a movie so mired in dramatic performances set around horrific real world events created for the sole purpose of winning awards at film festivals. I can?t imagine Ryan Green woke up one morning and said to himself, ?You know what would take the gaming world by storm?? and immediately started a design document for That Dragon, Cancer. But where do I draw the line on my ?gaming? experiences? Do I want to play a game about a guy going through heroin withdrawal? Maybe a fun point and click adventure about being a rape survivor?

Of course I?ll be playing through That Dragon Cancer with a box of Kleenex next to me, and of course, it will have the added effect of getting me to talk further about the ?game? and in turn talking about cancer?but I?m not sure I?m excited at the prospect.

Source: http://fronttowardsgamer.com/2013/09/07/that-dragon-cancer-pax-prime-2013-brilliant-game-or-deliberate-punch-in-the-face/

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Verizon's Galaxy Note and Gear "Bundle" Saves You Zero Dollars

Verizon's Galaxy Note and Gear "Bundle" Saves You Zero Dollars

The Samsung Galaxy Gear is finally on the market, and gosh darn is it 'spensive. Verizon just started offering a bundle with the Gear and the Note 3 that is $600 on contract. But the bundle isn't about saving money; it's about saving suckers from buying a toy they can't play with.

Read more...

Source: http://gizmodo.com/verizons-galaxy-note-and-gear-bundle-saves-you-zero-1264748914

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শুক্রবার, ৬ সেপ্টেম্বর, ২০১৩

Next generation iPad, iPad mini casings caught on video

Way back in January iMore mocked up the iPad 5 for you, which essentially looked like the same 9.7-inch screen in a much, much svelter iPad mini-like body. We've seen various parts leak out since then, lending credence to what we'd heard, and here's another video showing off what's alleged to be just that again, alongside the next generation iPad mini, which they claim or assume will be Retina. Unbox Therapy on YouTube:

In this video we get a closer look at what might become the iPad Mini Retina edition. We also compare the dimensions of the new iPad Mini against the dimensions of the next gen "iPad 5" that was leaked in yesterday's video.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record - er... corrupted MP3? - last year Apple had to choose between lightness, battery life, and Retina and they could only have 2 of the 3. iPad 3 and iPad 4 got Retina and battery life, iPad mini got lightness and battery life. This year it looks like Apple has put the technology together to nail all three.

Should be an exciting October. My question remains this: If the iPad mini is Retina, and the iPad 4 is light, which one will you get?

Source: YouTube via 9to5Mac


    






Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/Shl6Ke_YH1E/story01.htm

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Dropout Salinger creates mystique at Pa. college

In this Sept. 3, 2013, photo, Annie Rus, a college freshman from Parkton, Md., poses for a portrait in her dorm room that was once occupied by J.D. Salinger at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa. Salinger spent only one semester at the college outside Philadelphia, but he left a big impression. A scholarship in his honor allows promising creative writers to live in his dorm room. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

In this Sept. 3, 2013, photo, Annie Rus, a college freshman from Parkton, Md., poses for a portrait in her dorm room that was once occupied by J.D. Salinger at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa. Salinger spent only one semester at the college outside Philadelphia, but he left a big impression. A scholarship in his honor allows promising creative writers to live in his dorm room. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

In this Sept. 3, 2013, photo, people walk past a dormitory that J.D. Salinger once lived in on the campus at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa. Salinger spent only one semester at the college outside Philadelphia, but he left a big impression. A scholarship in his honor allows promising creative writers to live in his dorm room. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

In this Sept. 3, 2013, photo, people walk onto the campus at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa. J.D. Salinger spent only one semester at the college outside Philadelphia, but he left a big impression. A scholarship in his honor allows promising creative writers to live in his dorm room. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

In this Sept. 3, 2013, photo, Annie Rus, a college freshman from Parkton, Md., poses for a portrait in her dorm room that was once occupied by J.D. Salinger at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa. Salinger spent only one semester at the college outside Philadelphia, but he left a big impression. A scholarship in his honor allows promising creative writers to live in his dorm room. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

In this Sept. 3, 2013, photo, Annie Rus, a college freshman from Parkton, Md., poses for a portrait in her dorm room that was once occupied by J.D. Salinger at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa. Salinger spent only one semester at the college outside Philadelphia, but he left a big impression. A scholarship in his honor allows promising creative writers to live in his dorm room. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

(AP) ? Aspiring novelist Quinn Gilman-Forlini, an ardent admirer of "The Catcher in the Rye," wouldn't mind following in its author's footsteps.

In fact, the Ursinus College junior already has: She lived in J.D. Salinger's cramped old dorm room.

"A lot of people say it's really small, but I just thought it was so charming ... (with) the slanted ceiling and this old radiator," she said. "People come and knock on your door as a freshman wanting to meet you because you live there."

Jerome David Salinger attended Ursinus for only a single semester in 1938. But his mystique has endured, a legacy now further fueled by Friday's release of "Salinger," a film that attempts to shed light on the life of the intensely private man, who died in 2010.

A school directory indicates Salinger transferred from New York University to the small liberal arts campus in Collegeville, not far from Philadelphia. As a teen, he had spent time at the nearby Valley Forge Military Academy.

At Ursinus, Salinger wrote a feature called "J.D.S.'s The Skipped Diploma" for the student newspaper; most of the columns contained brief, unrelated items from cheeky observations to movie reviews. He also served as a drama critic, using the byline "Jerome Salinger" ? and he was tough.

"Though undoubtedly guilty of too few rehearsals, the players nevertheless made a courageous attempt at salvaging most of the somewhat feeble (playwright's) humor," Salinger wrote of one production.

He later dropped out, and never earned any degree. Still, the Ursinus admissions office proudly displays a 1963 letter from Salinger that professes he looks back "with a great deal of pleasure" on his time at the school ? and then asks the registrar to send a course catalog to his babysitter.

Despite that fondness, Salinger denied the use of his name in the scholarship that allows students like Gilman-Forlini to live in his room. After being contacted by the author's lawyers, the school renamed it the Creative Writing Award.

The prize, first given in 2007, goes to writers who display a "quirky brilliance," unusual perspective or a strong voice? perhaps like that of Holden Caulfield, the rebellious teen narrator of "Catcher." Winners get $30,000 per year toward the school's tuition of $44,350.

"There's plenty of scholarships for the brightest and most high-achieving students out there. We're looking for something a little different," said English professor Jon Volkmer, who directs the creative writing program and helps choose the winner.

The recipient also gets to spend his or her first year in Curtis Hall's Room 300, a space just big enough for a single bed, desk and narrow dresser. (A plaque outside the doorway mistakenly says Salinger lived there in 1939; officials plan to replace it.)

Though there is only one winner each year, Volkmer said the award has helped create a thriving community of writers on the leafy campus, which serves about 1,700 students. But not all of the recipients are necessarily Salinger fans, or even end up pursuing the craft.

Current occupant Annie Rus, an 18-year-old from Parkton, Md., conceded she never finished "Catcher" but is currently enjoying "Franny and Zooey." She is considering a major in history.

Maeve Sutherland, who graduated in 2012, said living in the room encouraged her to write more than she would have. While she said the skill has led to big accomplishments, including an international academic fellowship, "I guess I wouldn't really call myself a creative writer anymore."

Her dorm experience also coincided with Salinger's death at his New Hampshire home.

"We had a little memorial seance for him," said Sutherland. "I felt like I was living with a ghost sometimes."

Gilman-Forlini, 19, of Putnam Valley, N.Y., said she misses the third-story room and its view of tree-lined walkways below ? the same landscape that she imagines Salinger looked down on 75 years ago.

She's among many die-hard fans eager to see the new documentary. Director Shane Salerno's decade-long project ? which includes a 700-page companion biography ? contends that unpublished Salinger material will be released starting in 2015.

And though Gilman-Forlini isn't sure about her future career, she has already diverged from the path taken by her favorite author just by starting her third year at Ursinus.

"I always say that I made it farther than J.D. Salinger did in college," she said with a laugh. "So if I dropped out, it'd be OK."

___

Follow Kathy Matheson at www.twitter.com/kmatheson

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-09-06-Salinger-College%20Days/id-3953323816914330b7831e3637f8172d

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বৃহস্পতিবার, ৫ সেপ্টেম্বর, ২০১৩

Sony's New Music Video Recorder Is Way Cooler Than It Sounds

Sony's New Music Video Recorder Is Way Cooler Than It Sounds

Sony's Music Video Recorder sounds like some horribly out-of-touch YouTube generation nonsense, but the goofy gimmick is actually a slick little package that pairs high-quality audio powers with video. We're intrigued.

Read more...

Source: http://gizmodo.com/sonys-new-music-video-recorder-is-way-cooler-than-it-s-1246542360

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Why parenting can never have a rule book: Children's genetics significantly affect how they are parented

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Any parent will tell you that there is no simple recipe for raising a child. Being a parent means getting hefty doses of advice -- often unsolicited -- from others. But such advice often fails to consider a critical factor: The child. A new review of dozens of studies involving more than 14,600 pairs of twins shows that children's genetics significantly affect how they are parented.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/OK9N7vxLTm4/130903194153.htm

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Targeted military strike against Syria likely to get support from Miami?s Ros-Lehtinen

The Miami Herald

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen talks to the editorial board about Syria.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen talks to the Miami Herald editorial board about supporting U.S. military action in Syria.

C.W.Griffin/Miami Herald Staff

South Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said Tuesday she will likely vote to take military action against Syria if the resolution lawmakers are set to debate this week clearly outlined President Obama?s pledge not to send troops to the troubled nation.

?I?m not there yet, but I?m leaning toward approving targeted limited airstrikes,? Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, told the Miami Herald Editorial Board, two days after she and other members of Congress where shown evidence of chemical warfare used by Syrian President Bashar Assad on his people.

But she said the strike will not lead to regime change in Syria or end further killing.

?What the vote to strike is saying to Assad is: ?You can continue to kill your people, but buddy, use bullets don?t use gas?,? she said. ?What in essence we?re saying is: ?we?re going to be there a few days, we?re going to bomb a few targets and we?re going back and you, rebels, you sort it out.??

And knowing the agenda of the rebel forces is also tricky.

?There are so many rebel groups. A lot of them have understood how to play the United States? they?re good scholars of our system. And I think that they?ve been playing us. We don?t have much trust in those rebel groups. I don?t. But I trust our U.S. military,? she said.

Even as many agree that the American public is ?war-weary,? Ros-Lehtinen, the former head of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said it?s important to take strong action against the use of nuclear weapons.

?The president said this is a red line, this is unacceptable. Now if the president says that ? ?it?s unacceptable, it?s a red line, we?ll have to look at our options??and does nothing, what I worry about is then, when we say to Iran ?all options are on the table,? Iran will shrug their shoulders and say ?we?re going to have nuclear capabilities because the United States stands for nothing. They say one thing but they do another.??

Ros-Lehtinen said Obama had no choice but to seek approval for military action.

?He needs Congress now because he wants someone to be with him. He?s standing there alone. We are standing there alone. He has ignored Congress for all of these years, has built no relations really to speak of with anyone in Congress in a strong way. And now he turns to us to give him authorization.?

She said the plan is a ?tough sell?? and the administration needs to be more forthcoming with the American people at the congressional hearings.

?The administration has got to make more evidence public.They come into us always classified and classified and classified. And it drives us crazy. The president has a few short days left to convince the American people, to build an international coalition. A lot depends on those hearings. It?s a tough sell.??

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/03/3603533/targeted-military-strike-against.html

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মঙ্গলবার, ৩ সেপ্টেম্বর, ২০১৩

Oil down as Obama eyes Syria

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Singapore - Oil prices fell in Asian trade on Monday after United States President Barack Obama's announcement that he would seek approval from lawmakers for military action against Syria eased prospects of an imminent strike, analysts said.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in October, was down $1.47 to $106.18 a barrel in mid-morning trade, while Brent North Sea crude for October fell $1.15 to $112.86.

US markets will be closed on Monday for the Labour Day federal holiday.

?Investors are sitting back for now after President Obama's decision to take the decision on a Syrian intervention to US lawmakers,? Desmond Chua, market analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore, told AFP.

After the announcement on Saturday, Obama launched an intense lobbying effort to sway sceptical lawmakers as they weigh whether to support military action against Syria for its alleged chemical weapon use, an official said Sunday.

Although Syria is not a major oil producer, traders are nervous about a broader conflict in the crude-rich Middle East region, including neighbouring Iraq, which is becoming a major exporter.

Obama's surprise decision to hand the issue to the Congress effectively pushes military action back until at least September 9, when US lawmakers return from their summer recess.

It remains to be seen if a war-weary Congress will endorse Obama's push for action.

Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday that Washington has proof the Syrian regime used sarin gas in a deadly August 21 strike on a Damascus suburb.

Hair and blood samples given to the US by emergency workers who rushed to the scene of the attack showed signs of the powerful sarin nerve gas, he said.

Chua said all eyes will be on President Obama at a G20 summit in Russia later this week, where Syria is likely to top the agenda.

?There will be keen attention among investors on discussions about Syria at the G20 summit as well as the outcome of any direct meeting between President Obama and Russian President Putin,? he said. - Sapa-AFP

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/oil-down-as-obama-eyes-syria-1.1571470

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