SilverJacket

Books for Poors

Recently a friend asked me what I thought the tanking economy was going to do to the book industry. I said those Chicken Soup for the Soul books would probably get a sales boost, but everyone else is fucked. Well, except for me, because I'm publishing a new line of books modeled on the X for Dummies series. It's called X for Poors. Here's my first one: Wine for Poors.

Now taking suggestions. (Feng Shui for Poors? Like, which way should the entrance of your carboard box face?)

A series of tubes, such as.

 

[Photo morph courtesy John Gartner.]
The Internets: I read all of them.

Another Alumni Vanity Mag

 Inspirations:
02138
Hamilton Nolan

Be All That You Can Be, And Then Some

 I first took Ritalin in first grade. I went off it soon after but tried it again in high school and have been reliant upon it and other psychoactive medications for the last 14 years--nearly half my life. Do i feel artificial? Do I feel like I'm cheating? Do I feel like I'm not being the real me? Those aren't even questions I ask myself anymore. After much experimentation with various molecules and dosages and life situations, I've made peace with my drug dependence, and now when pondering a prescription refill or an individual pill in my hand, instead of asking which me is the real me--chemically modified or au natural--I ask which me I prefer.

Despite the popularity of caffeine and alcohol, not everyone feels the same, and new research (that I covered in the August issue of Psychology Today) maps out our fears regarding artificial cognitive enhancement.

Continue reading this post at Brainstorm.

Welcome Home to Burning Man

[Above: most of Kamp Kaos*, as photographed by Beaker.]

When you arrive at Burning Man, the greeters welcome you with big hugs and the salutation "Welcome home." They say it even if it's your first visit.

Last year, my virgin burn, I found the phrase both cheesy (I'm more East-Coast than West) and touching. When I mentioned the tradition to a non-burner friend, she placed it somewhere between cheesy and revolting. For me, this year, the cheese factor was even lower than before. Even if you don't know what's going to happen or whom you're going to meet within the gates, if you're in the right state of mind, the discoveries and experiences should all seem somehow fitting. You are in the right place for being you. You are home.

Why Do Women Have Erotic Rape Fantasies?

A recent analysis of 20 studies over the last 30 years indicates that between 31% and 57% of women have rape fantasies, and these fantasies are frequent or preferred in 9% to 17% of women. Considering that many people are ashamed to report rape fantasies, these stats are most likely lowball figures.

Read the full post at Brainstorm.

Iran has the purse missile!

You heard it here first. Iran has the dreaded purse missile.

Sources: 1, 2

Dodgeball 101

I recently spotted a paper (pdf) in the July 2008 issue of the influential journal Psychological Science with the following title: "Objects on a Collision Path With the Observer Demand Attention."

Hey, you think I should pay attention to that thing headed for my face? Leave it to scientists to require grant funding to figure out what they were supposed to pick up in gym class by like first grade.

Seriously, those guys would not stand at chance at Mentalball.

(Super-seriously, there are some new findings in the paper. Don't let the cool kids tell you science is not cool.)

Mentalball

In my interview with games designer Jane McGonigal for the June issue of Psychology Today, I asked her if she and her twin sister made up a lot of games together as kids. She said, in part, "We went through a phase of making up playground games, versions of hide and seek but incredibly convoluted versions that you would have to explain like a hundred times to people." That reminded me of piece of hypertext fiction I wrote in college that was set in a particle accelerator/psychiatric hospital. Inmates played a game called Mentalball. I remember my teacher Robert Coover really liking the passage:

Come Out & Play!

Typically I would not choose to do go outside and sprint around the city in 95 degree heat as I did both days last weekend, but I had an excuse: A swarm of wonky and wonder-eyed game designers from around the world coalesced with their crazy-ass inventions to bring the Come Out & Play Festival back to New York. Here's a roundup of what I played: