Build a Tower, Build a Team

Important lessons to learn for game development (and many other walks of life).

The Intelligent Design Movement

“If you really want to know what is at risk from the anti-evolution movement, look at Kansas. And the reason of that is, when the anti-evolution movement got control of the state board of education, what did they do? They rewrote the definition of Science itself. Not just Biology. Not just Evolution. Science.”

This is a great speech by Ken Miller about the dangers of the anti-evolution movement in America, and the very real danger that they pose to our education system. In the process, he presents conclusive proof of evolution (as if we needed any more) and rips apart the reasoning behind intelligent design. It’s almost two hours of video, but half of that is taken up by the QA session. Even that part is well worth watching all the way through.

Why High Fructose Corn Syrup Is Evil

Much has been made of the food industry’s overuse of High Fructose Corn Syrup as an ingredient in… well, pretty much everything (especially in America). Is it unhealthy for you? Dangerous? Or simply a natural sugar replacement that, just like anything else, can and should be enjoyed in moderation?

For the answer, I urge you to watch Robert H Lustig’s lecture “Sugar: The Bitter Truth”. While not singling out HFCS, it makes a very compelling argument against high fructose corn syrup, and for cutting foods with HFCS (and that includes most bread you buy these days) out of your diet.

Wondering why HFCS is bad for you? And in fact worse than regular table sugar? The short answer is “because it’s ubiquitous and metabolizes like fat and a toxin”, but I suggest you watch these videos for a much more comprehensive answer. It takes 70 minutes (don’t worry, I promise you’ll get hooked), and will help you make much better food decisions in the future.

Elisabeth Gilbert on Creativity

The motto of TED is “Ideas Worth Spreading”. Who am I to resist?

Disney Resemblances

When you work in 3D animation you’ll sooner of later hear of the term “retargeting”. That’s when the artist/TD takes animation that was created for one rig (the skelton used to puppeteer a character) and applies (“retargets”) it to a different rig. That’s how animation sharing across multiple, different characters becomes possible. But if you think that this practice is a modern development, think again! The 2D equivalent of retargeting is “rotoscoping” – and it looks like Disney animators did quite a bit of it:

Quite an eye opener! Of course production realities and deadlines often encourage these kind of shortcuts, so I’m neither condoning nor condemning. The resemblance is very fun to watch, that’s for sure!

Found at ThinkingAnimation.

The Best Way To Rob A Bank Is To Own One

This PBS interview with William K Black provides a great overview of the current banking crisis. How did we get here, where were the regulators, why is nobody getting prosecuted for fraud? Because, as Blake lays out quite convincingly, banking fraud is what created this crisis. A giant Ponzi Scheme, officially sanctioned and never investigated by the government. A tiny snippet from the 30-minute interview:

BILL MOYERS: And we have to know that, in order to know what?

WILLIAM K. BLACK: To know everything. To know who committed the frauds. Whose bonuses we should recover. How much the assets are worth. How much they should be sold for. Is the bank insolvent, such that we should resolve it in this way? It’s the predicate, right? You need to know the facts to make intelligent decisions. And they’re deliberately leaving in place the people that caused the problem, because they don’t want the facts. And this is not new. The Reagan Administration’s central priority, at all times, during the Savings and Loan crisis, was covering up the losses.

BILL MOYERS: So, you’re saying that people in power, political power, and financial power, act in concert when their own behinds are in the ringer, right?

WILLIAM K. BLACK: That’s right. And it’s particularly a crisis that brings this out, because then the class of the banker says, “You’ve got to keep the information away from the public or everything will collapse. If they understand how bad it is, they’ll run for the exits.”

Darth Vader Feels Blue

The extended version of this touching moment includes scenes that you didn’t see in theaters.

World Builder

If you have a bit of extra time this weekend, I recommend that you watch Bruce Branit’s World Builder video.

“A strange man builds a world using holographic tools for the woman he loves.”

Many have hailed this video as a look into the possible future of 3D apps (I think that a comparison to level editing tools like UnrealEd would be more fitting). But to me World Builder is something much more important: it’s a testament to what a committed, talented artist can achieve on modern home computers. This short was created by a single guy over the span of two years, and the results are top notch. The tools that he used are accessible to everybody out there with a bit of industry experience. Sure, some of the acting in this film falls a bit flat, but that doesn’t detract from the overall quality of the movie – it’s “professional grade” through and through. And beneath the shiny VFX surface there’s a neat little story, as well. Highly recommended!

51st Daytona 500

The 51st running of the Daytona 500 is in the books, and it was a decidedly lackluster affair. A rain-shortened race, overly aggressive “Digger” merchandising by Fox, a terrible rendition of the national anthem by Gavin DeGraw… and the general feeling that it’s starting up all too soon. Maybe with the ailing economy, NASCAR can finally get to shortening their 36 race season to something more compact that people look forward to when it’s all coming back after the break.
Congratulations to Matt Kenseth! Unfortunately, these are the two pieces of TV that come to mind first when remembering this year’s race:

That’s not good, guys! Not good at all. Let’s see how the rest of the season unfolds, though.

Lily Allen’s New Single

Lily Allen doesn’t mince words in her latest single, “Fuck You Very Much”. Her song about small-minded people, bigots and opponents of gay rights is sure to offend some circles. I think it’s brilliant.