Friday Links!
We're loaded up this week. so let's get going.First off, a link to one of the most gripping, riveting articles I've ever read. It's about the crisis of faith--but incredibly, it's the crisis of faith of Mother Teresa. The article is so startling that I'm not even going to tell you any more, but it's remarkable, and you can read it here.
A few gaming links now, and they're all excellent. First, there's a long profile over at Wired about how Bungie creates games and how they gather play data from testers. It's fascinating, and it's here.
Next is a Gamasutra story on the testing process for the huge city environment in Crackdown. The process was very complex and very slick, and you can read about it here.
Francis Cermak sends in a link (since BioShock has been HUGE this week) to a retrospective over at Evil Avatar on System Shock 2, which you can read here.
There's a new documentary out titled "The King of Kong," which has gotten uniformly excellent reviews. It's about the long-running battle between Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe to hold the world record score in Donkey Kong. That may sound silly, but the story itself has all the elements of a fine tragedy, and you can read about it here.
From Andrew Borelli comes a link to an article about game cover art. You'll see game covers you haven't seen in twenty years, and it's here.
Here's a link to a very fun flash game called Boomshine (thanks Eric from Groovalicious Games), which is certain to finally eliminate any chance you had of getting something done today. Play it here.
From Jesse Leimkuehler, a link to an article that reveals the mysterious annual visitor to the grave of Edgar Allen Poe. Find out the answer to the mystery here.
Grifin Cheng sent me a link to an article about the "shooting bullet star," a star with a wake that stretches thirteen light-years. Read about it here.
From Sirius, a link to an article about the New York Times that's mind-blowing. Here's the opening:
Until I talked to Nick Bostrom, a philosopher at Oxford University, it never occurred to me that our universe might be somebody else’s hobby. I hadn’t imagined that the omniscient, omnipotent creator of the heavens and earth could be an advanced version of a guy who spends his weekends building model railroads or overseeing video-game worlds like the Sims.
But now it seems quite possible. In fact, if you accept a pretty reasonable assumption of Dr. Bostrom’s, it is almost a mathematical certainty that we are living in someone else’s computer simulation.
It's a thought-provoking article, and it's here.
Here's a second link from Sirius, this one to an article about one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world--which happens to be over two miles beneath the Earth's surface. It's a terrific article, and it's here.
From Joe Craig, a link to a video of a subway ad in Kiev. The ad consists of hundreds of pictures along the tunnel walls, which create an animation when the train is moving at speed. See it here.
My friend Mike sent me a link to a video called "Butter Floor," otherwise described as roommate's revenge. It's hilarious, and you can watch it here. Please note a few obscenities in the video, but you'll enjoy seeing why.
Chris Meyer sent in a link to a bizarre article about--the Nazi's mascot. It's an incredibly strange and chilling story about a five-year old boy who was adopted by the SS, and you can read it here.
Here's a second link from Chris Meyer, to a story about a German U-Boat (sunk in 1918) that's now threatening shipping in the English Channel. Read about it here.
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