firehose

Back in May, we noted the oddity of the charges in Bradley Manning's trial, in which he was accused of aiding three different "enemies," with the last one being classified. Specifically, he was accused of aiding Al-Qaida, Al-Qaida of the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP, which is different than AQ itself) and... mystery enemy. Back at the beginning of July, the government quietly dropped the charge against the classified enemy, so that's no longer in play in that case. That said, apparently this concept of classifying who we're at war with wasn't just limited to the Manning trial. ProPublica has the ridiculous and frightening tale of finding out that the answer to the simple question of who the US is at war with, is apparently classified as well.

At a hearing in May, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., asked the Defense Department to provide him with a current list of Al Qaeda affiliates.

The Pentagon responded – but Levin’s office told ProPublica they aren’t allowed to share it. Kathleen Long, a spokeswoman for Levin, would say only that the department’s “answer included the information requested.”

The Pentagon also went on to tell ProPublica that revealing who we're actually at war with would do "serious damage to national security." The main reason? They think those groups would use the info as good publicity and allow them to recruit more. But that's ridiculous, since those groups are already being targeted by the US:

Jack Goldsmith, a professor at Harvard Law who served as a legal counsel during the Bush administration and has written [6] on this question [7] at length, told ProPublica that the Pentagon’s reasoning for keeping the affiliates secret seems weak. “If the organizations are ‘inflated’ enough to be targeted with military force, why cannot they be mentioned publicly?” Goldsmith said. He added that there is “a countervailing very important interest in the public knowing who the government is fighting against in its name."

It really goes beyond that when you think about it. This lack of transparency out of some silly fear that these groups would use it to build up their own reputation is just wacky. It leaves open such massive loopholes for abuse by the government.

It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that the song of the summer this year is Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.” The retro song by the French duo has crossed far beyond the EDM world, becoming a top 40 hit and appealing to fans of alt, disco and indie rock. And metal too, apparently. Peruvian guitarist Charlie Parra del Riego, who plays guitar for Kobra and the Lotus, teamed up with Norwegian singer Pellek to cover the song. It actually works pretty well as a power metal cover, but a good song is a good song, and it’s over before it starts to wear out its welcome.

You know, I really expected Wolverine to kill more ninjas.

That’s not being unrealistic, is it? I mean, when you hear that there’s going to be a Wolverine movie based, however loosely, on the 1982 Wolverine miniseries by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, you go into the theater expecting a few things to happen. I wasn’t really looking for a specific number or anything, but if you’d asked me going in, I would’ve told you that my most important expectation for this movie was that Wolverine was going to kill a number of ninjas that was greater than zero. when the ninjas actually do show up about 20 minutes before the end, I figured it was finally time to pay off, but nope. Never happened. In that respect, I’m sorry to tell you that The Wolverine did not meet my expectations. [Spoilers ahead]

In a lot of ways, I really wish that they’d just done a straight up adaptation of that miniseries, right down to setting it in a moody, neon-lit, crime-riddled Frank Miller version of the ’80s. I realize that’s a pretty weird thing to want to see out of a summer blockbuster, but it actually seems pretty logical when you think about the success of Marvel’s other period pieces like Captain America: The First Avenger, X-Men: First Class, and even X-Men Origins: Wolverine‘s nebulous setting of “the past.” If it had been, I think a lot of the movie’s rougher bits might’ve been smoothed out in the name of creating a genre pastiche, particularly the hour where it’s basically a generic action movie where the hero just happens to have a pair of goofy mutton chops. But instead, they went pretty loose with the “adaptation,” and the result is a movie that’s about as uneven as Hugh Jackman’s haircut.

The major problem of The Wolverine — and one of the biggest surprises for me going in — is that it’s a direct sequel to X-Men 3: The Last Stand. When First Class came out a few years ago, I was pretty sure that we were all just going to go ahead and forget X-Men 3 ever happened, but instead, this movie doubles down and picks up right where that one left off. There’s a part of me that really respects that James Mangold chose to do it that way, trying to build something good by salvaging a failure rather than just ignoring it in favor of starting over. That is, after all, what comics have to do all the time, and while modern action movies are pretty new to the kind of shared-universe continuity that Wolverine has his roots in, it’s nice to see them trying to use it, even if it doesn’t quite work. On the other hand, it’s impossible not to admit that in doing so, Mangold ground this movie to a halt with every attempt. As much as I liked seeing Famke Janssen return as Jean Grey, getting her as a weird little death wish hallucination that Wolverine could mope around about every every fifteen minutes tied an anchor to the whole thing.

Structurally speaking, that‘s The Wolverine‘s biggest problem: It’s so slow. For a movie that doesn’t have to waste any time explaining who its main character is because it’s the sixth movie in a franchise, and the fifth that’s pretty much entirely about this one dude, it takes forever to actually get to anything exciting. It essentially opens with Wolverine as a hobo — you know, long beard, lives in a cave, listens to terrestrial radio — forsaking violence because he had to kill Phoenix. There’s a glimmer of action pretty early with some hunters that, aside from Hugh Jackman’s kind-of-hilarious Alan Moore cosplay, could’ve come straight out of the comics, but after that, it feels like an hour of grinding exposition and plot setup before we start getting anywhere.

And even when the action does start, it’s still pretty painfully boring. Our first big set piece is a fight between Wolverine and some generic Yakuza bros on the roof of a bullet train, and while that sounds like it should be exciting, it really isn’t. It’s a complete snooze, partly because it looks so fake, and partly because even after all the plodding that it does to get there, there’s no real reason to actually care about any of it. It’s just a generic fight scene in a generic action movie where the American (well, Canadian) tough guy goes to Japan and has to deal with family intrigue and strange ideas about dishonoring one’s family and generic mobs of unnamed bad guys. I’ve seen the first hour of The Wolverine a hundred times on VHS, and it doesn’t really work a lot better if you staple a set of claws onto the hero.

It’s tempting to pin the blame for the achingly slow first act on the idea of Wolverine losing his healing factor, but while Jackman definitely has to spend a whole lot of time looking confused at bloodstains and dealing with the repressed memories of being in a Brett Ratner movie, that’s not really the problem. In fact, the idea behind it is actually something that I like, if only because it’s something we haven’t already seen in the other four movies.

And that leads to the movie’s greatest strength: The Wolverine, for all its faults, does try to show us things we haven’t seen before, and it succeeds. There are surprises and shocks and a pretty cool climax, it just takes about an hour and a half to actually get there.

When it does, though, when The Wolverine stops being a generic action movie and remembers that it’s about a dude with knives on his fist that spends most of his time trying to stab a floating Holocaust survivor, it really picks up. There are bits and pieces of fun scattered in the first act, but at the end, when Viper and Yukio are battling to the death and Wolverine is literally having a sword fight with a guy who is exactly the samurai version of Jeff Bridges from Iron Man and realizes that he can only set his magic adamantium sword on fire if he holds it in two hands and believes in himself or whatever? It’s a friggin’ hoot.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. I can definitely meet you halfway on this stuff, and if you tell me that Wolverine’s healing factor lives in his bone marrow and that it will immediately make you young and immortal upon exposure to it, and that this can be done by using drills that Japanese Obadiah Stane kept in the gauntlets of his robot armor for just such an occasion, I am more than willing to accept that. It’s that the bad guys seem to have three completely different plots going on that they never really cleared with each other, which leads to the gang that wants Wolverine (and his magic bone marrow) alive taking away his healing factor (which they want him to have so they can take it away later), thus making him vulnerable to the people that are trying to kill him.

In the end, it’s kind of a mess — albeit a mess that turns pretty fun at the end, complete with a “here we go again” post-credits sequence. It’s on par with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, only more boring. And really, that’s a shame. The character’s better than the movies, and the cast — particularly Jackman, who’s 14 years into this whole Wolverine business and plays him with the same effortless charm we’ve come to expect — deserves a whole lot better.

By Adam Smith on July 29th, 2013 at 3:05 pm.

Redshirt is the upcoming sci-fi, social network satire, in which the only way to avoid a bitter end is to earn promotion, either through talent or tact. I’ve spent a few days attempting to survive in the world of friend requests, status ‘likes’ and careful time management. I’ve made friends, I’ve romanced lovers and I’ve met my maker. Several times.

After a few days, desperation consumed me. It begins with the promise of adventure, a dream harboured since childhood – epic occurrences of galactic scale require the attention of a Federation of cultures and you, YES YOU, are preparing to start a new job on board a super-advanced space station. Thrilling adventures surely await? Well, yes, sort of. Mostly you’ll be glued to your Spacebook account, attempting to win friends and promotions, so as to AVOID thrilling adventures. For a redshirt, the lowest of the low, fodder for flesh-eating beast, thrilling adventures are almost certain to end in the gut of a monster, or swirling between the stars, a handful of space-dust.

Socialise to survive. The game’s interface is the Spacebook interface – as with Uplink, the player and character have the same fundamental means of interacting with their world. At first, I was overwhelmed. Turns out I can deal with managing a nation’s destiny or the fate of multiple world, but I buckle as soon as I’m required to juggle my workload and social time while handling conflicting relationships. If I go to the bar with my good chum Merlin Esperon, Shrilenth Th’Dila, on whom I have romantic designs, may be miffed that I didn’t spend the evening in a Jane Austen simulation with her.

On that note, let us hope that future-people do not base their hologram interpretation of Mr Darcy on this unfortunate creation. Adventures in Austen would be more frightening than the astonishing success of Pride and Prejudice With Zombies.

I used the phrase ‘romantic designs’ in regards to Shrilenth. It’s always sounded a bit creepy to me. ‘Designs’ suggests some sort of plot, bringing forth images of a man in a basement, long-lens photographs tacked to the wall, connected by string to menus from optimal date venues, like a police investigation into a murder in reverse. It’s the right word to describe interactions in Redshirt though. It’s a game full of pleasant, light-hearted and amusing text, from ship names to status updates, but the core of the experience is a finely poised and unexpectedly intense resource management experience.

The resources are time and money. Credits are earned by working and are used to buy various items that enhance interests/skills/happiness. The also pay for food. That’s right – you’re stuck in space, tasked with cleaning up the remnants of crewmates whenever there’s a transporter accident, and the powers that be expect you to buy your own meals. On the lowest wage, that grisly starting job, there’s barely enough in the pay packet to purchase a healthy diet, let alone life’s luxuries. Money is tight and time, it transpires, is similarly rationed.

Activities are severely restricted due to a law that only allows a certain number of social network interactions per day. The law was passed to prevent procrastination. Good call, Confederate Starlords, but procrastination is a minnow compared to the thrashing great tuna that is anonymous unpleasantries – fry that sucker first. As a game mechanic, the restriction divides each day into discrete actions. Larger social activities consume several action points, while liking somebody’s status or sending a friend request will only cost one.

Time constraints create pressure. It’s hard to enjoy even the finest Geldar gateau when the chronometer is ticking like a Doomsday Clock. “I’ve got to get to my next appointment”, I found myself thinking more often than not. “I have designs on my own survival. A romantic attachment to my own continued existence.” The panic begins when a friend in a higher place snubs an invite to the burger bar – the social structure of the station is a complex web of friendships, flings and interest groups, but it’s possible to simplify the whole mess into a ladder. Suck up to the right people and promotions will follow, allowing even the most cack-handed of gut-moppers to rise through the ranks and avoid a potentially fatal reassignment.

Redshirt’s take on science fiction clichés is amusing, telling short stories in the form of status updates and messages, but the activity of playing the game is rather intense, even though it’s a turn-based life management sim. As if accidentally snubbing friends and causing heartbreak wasn’t enough, a short while into your misadventure, a disturbing message arrives. A calamity is coming. The station is doomed. People will die.

The pressure rises. Schmooze or lose (your life). A countdown clock appears on the display and cryptic messages occasionally interrupt day-to-day activities, threatening calamity and a grim end. Redshirt increasingly comes across as a cunning and cruel metaphor, about manipulation and the management of people as well as time. I found myself browsing my friend list, checking on mutual acquaintances and strangers, working out optimal groups for each activity that I enjoyed. It’s cold, like a Sim who talks to a life partner to top up a ‘social’ bar after work, but goes to bed as soon as the need is fulfilled. Social interaction as masturbation. An itch to scratch.

There’s an interesting dilemma beating beneath Redshirt’s shirt, at the heart of the matter. The tactical management aspect, which has short- and long-term effects on the survival of the player character, is complex and involving. This does mean that the inhabitants of the ship can start to feel like tools for us rather than distinct personalities, even though the different races and their quirks are well-presented.

Redshirt does feel like Kudos, Positech’s contemporary life management game, although the developer is new and only the publisher is shared. Its great advantage is that the science fiction theme and threat of impending doom add an urgency to proceedings. The setting justifies, at least to an extent, the intellectual, devious approach to relationship and time management. It’s a game to be approached tactically rather than as a player of roles, although that’s not to say I didn’t become attached to heroic Terrence Chin.

I spent the first half hour meandering around the interface but it makes sense to me now. I do wish there were browser-like back and forward buttons, making exploring friends of friends less of a dead-end, but otherwise interaction is impressively slick. And I fell in love with a gelatinous cube. In fact, I might head back to the ship now and try to smooth things over.

 ★ 

Microsoft might be rolling out fixes and updates to Windows Phone 8 over the course of the year, with a bigger , but Nokia appears to be frustrated by the company's slow progress. In an interview with International Business Times, Nokia VP of App development, Byran Biniak, says the Finnish smartphone maker is "trying to evolve the cultural thinking [at Microsoft] to say 'time is of the essence.'"

Nokia has been releasing devices consistently since Windows Phone 8 shipped in November, but the lack of apps and software updates has always been the weak point. "We are releasing new devices frequently and for every new device, if there is an app that somebody cares about that's not there that's a missed opportunity of a sale," says Biniak. Describing Microsoft's focus on its budget and end of year targets, Biniak says "waiting until the end of your fiscal year when you need to close your targets, doesn't do us any good when I have phones to sell today."

Biniak didn't call out Microsoft fully, but it's clear his frustrations are related to the slow progress of the software powering Nokia's Lumia devices. "It's not just about the hardware, it's about the tools that are on the hardware. You can't sell a phone without the apps, you just can't." Expanding on the lack of apps, Biniak acknowledges that smartphone users won't switch unless relevant apps are available. He calls on Microsoft and Nokia to do more to give people a reason to switch to Windows Phone. "To give you a reason to switch, I need to make sure the apps that you care about on your device are not only on our phones, but are better. I also need to provide you unique experiences that you can't get on your other devices."

"As a company we don't want to rely on somebody else and sit and wait for them to get it right."

Despite the frustrations, Biniak thinks the situation is improving. "People will be hard-pressed to say '[Windows Phone] doesn't have this app," by the end of 2013 claims Biniak. It's clear Nokia isn't waiting around for Microsoft to improve things. "As a company we don't want to rely on somebody else and sit and wait for them to get it right." Nokia has been pushing for improvements to Windows Phone, including an upcoming update that will support Bluetooth 4.0 on compatible devices. Meanwhile, Microsoft has been largely focused on additions to Windows Phone to support new chipsets and hardware, with the big changes due in early 2014 with Windows Phone "Blue."

A 21-year-old Manchester man has been arrested in conjunction with rape threats and other harrassment following the Bank of England’s decision to put novelist Jane Austen on the £10 note. Journalist and activist Caroline Criado-Perez led the successful initiative to get more women on British currency, only to face a stream of abuse and threats on Twitter — up to 50 in a single hour. A spokesman from Scotland Yard said that "the arrest is in connection with an allegation of malicious communications received by officers in Camden on Thursday, July 25," reports Sky News.

Following the wave of harrassment, many have called on Twitter to make similar incidents easier to report, with an online petition for the service to add a "report abuse" button garnering over 50,000 signatures since its creation. Criado-Perez is also calling on Twitter and law enforcement to treat the threats with the importance they deserve. "It’s just not acceptable, and more than that it’s actually a crime and Twitter needs to take it seriously and the police need to take it seriously," she said.

By Nathan Grayson on July 29th, 2013 at 9:00 am.

Crazy Taxi was quite a thing, huh? Screaming down the streets, aimed like an unstoppable whaling harpoon at a Taco Bell that just had to be on the other side of town. Ahh, the memories. Collateral looks nothing like that. If anything, I’d say it probably has more in common with Bruce Willis at the beginning of The Fifth Element. Flying cybercars, crazy hover police chases, the constant, erupting feeling that you are Bruce Willis nothing can stop you  – the whole shebang. OK, maybe not that last one, but it’s what I plan to think while playing. It’s an open-world cyberpunk taxi sim with a faction system, customization, and a vibrantly disgusting art style. What’s not to like?

Oh right, the main character is named Zack Edgewater. Welp, they can’t all be winners. Still though, there’s a lot to get your mouth (or mechanically chattering lip enhancements) watering and your gums (or vita-gel-infused oral cavity socket protectors) flapping here. For instance:

“Navigate your way through the sprawling, cyberpunk dystopia of ‘New Bedlam’, a bustling neon city populated by hoodlums, riffraff and genetically modified mutants. This chaotic, futuristic urban landscape makes Collateral a visually loaded, eye-gasmic experience. New Bedlam is a large, open world environment consisting of several sectors, each with a distinct aesthetic and unique landmarks. Explore areas such as China Town, the Industrial Zone and the Redlight district.”

AND

“Collateral features a standing system, allowing you to form allegiances and rivalries with the factions and corporations of New Bedlam. Each faction has inherent advantages, such as access to special weapons unique to that faction, as well as cumulative rewards, like unlocking new city districts when enough favour has been gained. Complete missions to earn the respect of your favourite factions, and blow enemy factions out of the sky.”

So you explore, race, and battle your way through the neon bulb labyrinth of a city’s un-streets, and all the while you make choices both large and small that have lasting consequences – for instance, entire portions of the city being destroyed. Also interesting: your hover car isn’t stuck on a single plane. It’s a vertical world, so chases can go up, down, and all around. I could see that becoming joyously chaotic in a heartbeat.

Certainly, Collateral looks a little janky at the moment, but it’s far from finished. As of now, it’s halfway through a Kickstarter campaign – both in terms of time and funds pledged. With a goal of just $15,000, it’s definitely got a chance to go the distance. Toss a few pennies (or holographic, natural-language-enabled mini-portraits of your favorite leaders) into its tip jar, perhaps?