Patrick Smith tackles the myth that commercial planes can or will be able to fly themselves any time soon, and then takes on the bigger task of calling out misinformation in the media.
I really wish there was no need for someone like Smith. That may sound cold, but I say it with a kind thought, because although I genuinely enjoy reading his articles that are full of invaluable knowledge, I've dealt with misinformation and bias enough that I don't wish those headaches on anyone (okay, mostly anyone). And those that do will surely agree that it isn't done for any sort of pleasure but the sheer, obsessive compulsive will to salvage the truth from the retching oesophagus of lies, laziness, and idiocy. (How's that for picturesque imagery!)
Hopefully, one day he, and everyone else, can escape both the eroding table and frontal lobe damage.
***
Ars Technica's guide to ruining your PC in five easy steps contains some brutal criticisms that are both funny and entirely warranted. The funniest of the lot:
Diablo 3 will also require a persistent Internet connection, and Blizzard's Rob Pardo agrees that it's kind of a pain in the butt. "I want to play Diablo 3 on my laptop in a plane, but, well, there are other games to play for times like that," he told 1up.
Just so we're clear, when you're bored on a plane, and you have your laptop, and you want to play the game you bought in order to fight boredom, Blizzard's official recommendation is that you play someone else's game. That's pride, right there.Indeed.
***
Staying with Ars and gaming, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford derided a report by Eurogamer as "shoddy journalism", even though the report was correct. Again, Ars hits the nail on the head when they provide their own account of publishing something about Rock Band 3 that Harmonix wasn't too pleased to read, and then dealing with the repercussions, and leaving us with the thought that, "If you threaten [the publisher/developer-magazine relationship] with honest-to-goodness reporting, apparently you're nothing but a shoddy journalist."
***
Ignore the crude URL and mistaken definition of "viral" and watch Maurice Johnston talk about how he came to be a homeless person, despite having multiple degrees and a sterling résumé. It's startling and depressing. This guy deserves a job (and a lot more).
***
Sometimes, doing something good goes beyond partisan lines. In defending Muslim lawyer Sohail Mohammed, Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey, shows us just that.
No comments:
Post a Comment