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The morning after the first Obama-Romney presidential debate, with the commentators having had a chance to sleep on it, we awoke to a flood of psychologizing. The president had looked tense and acted dismissive, they noted. This hopeful man who had once campaigned on the prospects of the bright future seemed worn down by the minute-to-minute demands of two wars, an economic collapse not of his own making, and a recalcitrant legislative branch. The challenger, an organizational man who seems […]

Continue Reading about What Big Bird Means to the Presidential Debate Published on:
October 5, 2012

For more than 100 years, parents have criticized the talking, walking, crying, eating, and drinking dolls that appeared on the market. They have complained that mechanical dolls leave little to children’s imaginations. These complaints sound familiar today, what with the scores of dolls such as Baby Alive, Baby Check-Up, Baby Annabell, Baby Wet and Wiggles, and Little Mommy Hide and Peek. In fact, toy makers and doll makers have offered so many crawling, creeping, speaking, walking, drinking, and eating dolls […]

Continue Reading about Martha Jenks Chase’s Simple Dolls for Simple Doll Play Published on:
October 2, 2012

The news that the Buffalo Bills recently released their longest-tenured player, punter Brian Moorman, came as a bit of a shock but not a surprise. With an injury rate of 100 percent, the average NFL career stretches only about three-and-a-half years; Moorman, though, has played in every game since he put on a Bills uniform in 2001. Over the course of his dozen seasons, the two-time Pro Bowler performed some amazing feats. He kicked an astonishing 84-yard punt against Green […]

Continue Reading about New Rule: No Punting Published on:
September 28, 2012

When I hear the word “vacation” I feel happy and relaxed, but the word “travel” often evokes just the opposite. Earlier this month, I took a trip to New Orleans, Louisiana. In order to keep myself occupied during travel, I packed a carry-on bag full of fun diversions, including music, books, and video games.
Despite the compact size of portable video games, I still had to choose carefully among my favorites. I settled on games for the differing circumstances in which […]

Continue Reading about Games on a Plane Published on:
September 27, 2012

Do you believe in magic? Yes, that’s the title of The Lovin’ Spoonful’s 1965 hit song, but I’m actually referring to magic tricks and illusions. The word “magic” evokes different images for different people. Some may think of stage magic, where a magician twirls a wand and a white bunny appears out of a black top hat. Some may picture grand illusionists who can make buildings disappear right before your eyes. Others may consider magic to be “otherworldly” or even […]

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September 25, 2012

As a young child, I loved to climb the stairs of my aunt and uncle’s house to my cousin’s room filled with model airplanes he had assembled. Spitfires, Zeros, Messerchmitts, and B-17 Fighting Fortresses lined the shelves, parked on bureaus, and hung suspended from the ceiling. I still remember how I felt as I gazed in wonder at the formations of planes flying overhead.
Ever since the Wright Brothers first flight, the romance of aviation has entered our play. In the […]

Continue Reading about Video Games Take Flight Published on:
September 21, 2012

On August 6, 2012, along with 3.2 million others, I breathlessly watched the Curiosity space rover touch down on Mars. Launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, and traveling a distance of more than 350 million miles, Curiosity landed in the Gale Crater less than two miles from its target. Within 14 minutes, NASA received the first signals of its survival. Designed to explore the planet for at least one Martian year (687 Earth days), Curiosity’s primary mission is to […]

Continue Reading about To Mars and the Moon Published on:
September 19, 2012

As a kid, I enjoyed racing my virtual dirt bike up 8-bit hill after 8-bit hill in designer Shigeru Miyamoto’s Excitebike (1984) for the Nintendo Entertainment System. What kept me riding was a design mode to create my own tracks. Designing a track on screen changed the way I saw video games. Suddenly, I wasn’t just playing; I was creating part of what I played. And a few well-placed speed bumps and mud puddles could trip up my computer opponent […]

Continue Reading about Bill Budge, Pinball Construction Set, and the Popularization of User-Customized Video Games Published on:
September 18, 2012

Back-to-school shopping lists can include all sorts of practical gear—pencils, crayons, binders, and paper—as well as the backpack to tote them in. But none of those purchases bears the weight of conveying a school kid’s identity the way that a lunch box can.
Lunch boxes didn’t start out to be billboards for your personality. They were just practical ways to carry a midday meal. Looking back at the second half of the 1800s, adults used functional metal lunch boxes at the […]

Continue Reading about Time for Lunch Boxes Published on:
September 11, 2012