Out With a Whisper - The Pirate Bay

The Pirate Bay has been a mainstay in the news for almost the entire duration of its existence.  Constant skirmishes over copyright violation meant frequent downtime and drops in service as this pirate torrent site, which only served to showcase its resilience.  It's like The Pirate Bay could not die, as the authorities played an almost comical game of whack-a-mole attempting to shut them down in countries around the world.

For many casual users who visit torrent sites to share media this was expected.  There seems to be this  causal understanding that the content being shared is obviously not being shared with means that are fully above board, but that it is our God given right to have access because we found it on the internet.  The internet is open to all, I just found the content here.  If anything, we're just users.  Nobody weeps for the guy delivering the content, they just get angry when it inconveniences them.  So I think for most people, when TPB goes through a raid or scare like the one earlier this week (that seems to have shuttered the service for good), we shrug and move on with our lives, maybe cursing under our breath in mild annoyance.

I guess we shouldn't be surprised then that nobody seems to be saying much about the possibility of no more of The Pirate Bay.  It's like everyone was expecting it to happen, as they cling loosely to the remains of the service that was always there to count on.  It just all seems very relaxed, and I'm wondering why I haven't seen more outrage from the community.  The perspective that scares me, and the reason I was always relieved to see The Pirate Bay revive itself each time, is that it always seemed to be the tentpole for the whole community of torrent users and sites.  Without The Pirate Bay, who will be the scapegoat in this witch hunt for infringement?  Will this be the end of torrent sites as we know them?  Will another site rise from the ashes of The Pirate Bay?  Time will tell.

I'm not sad to see The Pirate Bay go, but I am interested to see how this ecosystem reacts in the wake of its departure.

ASUS ZenWatch Review

Here's Engadget's review of the ASUS ZenWatch, one of the most stylish Android Wear devices released to date:

ASUS ZenWatch Review - Engadget

I'm kind of on the sidelines of the wearables discussion because I've chosen not to buy into them yet.  To me each outing of new hardware never dares to be anything more, and the limitations of the software and hardware of this form factor are very apparent and limiting.  Even the glitzy announcement of the Apple Watch wasn't all that impressive when you looked at what we're getting.

But, if you're dying to be an early adopter, the ZenWatch surely is one of your best bets right now.  Only the Moto 360 took a real approach to style otherwise, and still suffered due to what was capable.  I would not mind wearing this on my wrist every day.

Just as a side note - I think part of the issue here too is that $300 for a watch is a decent price if you're buying quality because it lasts forever.  Not true with a smartwatch, which I predict won't be desirable to keep much longer than your typical smartphone refresh cycle.  I'm sure that's what the companies making these watches intend, and at some point that might be worth the investment, but with the current state of affairs in the smartphone business I'm far from convinced.

Grand Theft Auto 5, Australian culture, and how the American press misses the point

Read this opinion piece by Claire Hosking on Polygon about the issues with Grand Theft Auto and the controversy it has been causing in Australia.

Polygon - Grand Theft Auto 5, Australian culture, and how the American press misses the point

I think this might be my favorite part of the article.  It's interesting to see how education promotes open channels of communication and understanding in a way much unlike the way we were brought up to think:

" THIS IS, IN PART, AN EDUCATION ISSUE

Australia has a less polarized view toward speech and art than America and many internet commentators. We're more likely to participate in public debates about it, more likely to feel heard and have more faith in judging it.

Part of that is the way media literacy is taught in schools. In my state, for our university exams, we were taught a unit on how TV, books, poems, ads and films use techniques to reinforce implicit meanings, and one on how different viewpoints read texts differently.

We had to be able to compare and contrast our own interpretations of a text with how other ideologies might interpret it, such as feminist, Marxist, capitalist or classical works. We were required to form our own personal judgments about the values of the text and how well they were expressed. You could have any interpretation you wanted as long as you could cite the bit of the text that led you to those conclusions and lucidly explain why.

We bake cultural awareness and critical thinking into our education. This helps Australians feel empowered to judge media, but also to tolerate when other citizens or companies act on their judgments and reject some media. As such, I think Australia usually strikes a good balance between ensuring citizens can speak truth to power, and giving them the skills to do so, and ensuring that certain kinds of speech don't harm the less powerful."

Tim Schafer is remastering his classic LucasArts adventure games

Polygon reports that Tim Schafer, creator of many classic Lucas Arts adventure games, plans to re-visit Day of the Tentacle, a classic 1993 point and click cult classic.

Polygon - Tim Schafer's plans for Day of the Tentacle Remastered, revisiting more LucasArts classics

Double Fine, Schafer's studio and creator of Kickstarter-funded Broken Age - a new point and click adventure game which is in the progress of completing its second part and finale - just recently announced the January 27th release of Grim Fandango Remastered which was the first of these revisited Lucas Arts productions.

I'm very excited, as someone new to the genre and these titles, to get a chance to play the old Lucas Arts adventures in this updated format.  I bought and played part 1 of Broken Age and really loved it, and am looking forward to buying both Grim Fandango and Day of the Tentacle when they are released on PC.

If you haven't yet, check out Broken Age here.

PlayStation Intro

Certain sounds just launch you back in time with a blast of warm nostalgia.  This is one of them.

Enjoy your trip back in time!

No Man's Sky - Portal

I just wanted to share this trailer, entitled Portal, for Hello Games' upcoming game No Man's Sky, a game you've undoubtedly heard a lot about if you pay attention to gaming news.  If you haven't, check it out at their website.  To summarize, No Man's Sky is a space exploration game with a nearly infinite universe to explore, all generated procedurally in real time.

I'm very excited about this game, the potential to explore is awesome.  I'm curious to see people's reactions when they get some time to explore.  I enjoy the aesthetics of the game in theory, but all of these bright dramatic colors seem a bit much from the trailer.  I can imagine after hours of gameplay how this could be a bit overwhelming.

I'm also curious if there is any semblance of scripting or story involved.  The idea of a procedurally generated universe is interesting, but I'm wondering how it will be exploring at will with no real purpose.  Also I'm concerned that I haven't seen any NPC humans in these trailers.  Makes it feel kind of empty.  I don't like being all alone in a game.  I suppose we'll have to see!

Movie List - Birdman

Now, full disclosure, I saw Birdman on a quiet Monday night at my local indie movie theater.  It was the first time ever being there, and it was awesome.  Calm, quaint, and well curated with some of the best films getting small releases.  It was literally perfect for me.  The reason I mention it, is that this warm fuzzy feeling of nostalgia for a place I was seeing for the first time may have influenced my opinion of Birdman.  That said, let me tell you about it.

The film opens, and you're immediately hit with the weird altered reality that this film exists in.  A one in which you hear the inside of Michael Keaton as Riggan Thompson's head as he floats about three feet above the ground in his tighty-whitey's.  From this relative serenity you're launched headfirst into the film, which moves at an astounding pace and never really lets up.

There are a few major aspects of Birdman that set it apart and that I'm still thinking about now.  The first is just the technical mastery that went into making this film work in the way that Alejandro González Iñárritu chose to shoot it.  The film essentially bolts you into this omnipotent steadicam that floats and flies and bounces through the movie's only locale - the St. James Theater in NYC.  The resulting effect is this feeling that every scene is happening real time, even though it is not, and time passes exponentially in between scenes throughout the film.  Because the film is formatted like one single cut, you get the feeling that you are actually watching a live production.  You can feel the buzz and energy of a play both during scenes on the boards of the St. James and behind the scenes in the dressing rooms and out on the streets of Manhattan.  I loved it, and it makes the movie an important one to watch.

The nature of Riggan's supernatural abilities is something that is constantly questioned throughout the film.  Scenes that showcase his 'powers' are always concurrent with the audience hearing the inside of his head.  The reality of the scene is broken, and you're left wondering when to believe.  I loved questioning this, and if you're like me, you probably will through the end.

Finally I just want to mention that the performances in this movie are wonderful.  Keaton reminded me just how much I love him.  Edward Norton absolutely killed it.  Naomi Watts was brilliant.  Emma Stone, who isn't necessarily my favorite for a more serious role like this one, was wonderful. Zach
Galifianakis was, well he was himself, but he was hilarious and I loved it.  Honestly the screen was filled with talent the entire film.

Overall, Birdman is one of my favorites so far of the year.  It has flaws, and it's not going to make you walk out feeling drastically different, but it's an excellent dark comedy executed brilliantly.  Put it on your list.