Recommended Reading: sexist video games and origins of forensic science
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read.
Is 'Assassin's Creed' Sexist? Is Link a Girl? And More Fun Questions From This Year's E3
by Emily Yoshida, Grantland
The sad truth is, if Samus (the heavily armored hero in Metroid) made her debut today, her big reveal would probably be just as shocking today as it was in 1986. While attitudes towards women -- even in the decidedly male-dominated world of gaming -- have matured, putting a female protagonist in a video game is still something of a rarity. (And, if you believe representatives of Ubisoft, something of a technical challenge... but that feels disingenuous.) Emily Yoshida shares what it's like to be a woman at E3, perhaps the most testosterone-drenched tech convention of the year.
Murder in Miniature Forensic science is a field that is centuries old. But it wasn't until the 1800s that it began to truly mature as a form of criminal investigation. And, if you ask some, it wasn't until Frances Glessner Lee came along in the mid 20th century that our modern concept of it really took hold. The daughter of wealthy, but extremely conservative parents, Lee eventually earned the nickname "the mother of forensic investigation" after she used the family fortune to spread the gospel of "legal medicine." Oh, and she built terrifyingly accurate recreations of crime scenes as training tools. | Partial Recall Remember that movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? Well, what if we told you it could become very real one day? Researchers like Daniela Schiller have begun to crack the complex molecular code that make up memories. But Schiller, like many in her field don't want to simply blast away painful memories. Instead they want to break the chemical bonds between traumatic experiences and the emotional pain that surfaces when recalling them. In essence to rewrite, rather than erase, our memories. |
The Nightmare on Connected Home Street Ten years down the road there's a good chance almost everything in your home will be connected to the internet. Your alarm clock, your locks even your coffee machine. Of course, the connected home offers plenty of convenience, but there's also terrible risk. Mat Honan lets his imagination run wild and explores a worst case scenario where entire neighborhoods get computer viruses that put poltergeists to shame. | The 25 year journey of Wasteland 2 Before there was Fallout, there was Wasteland, the original post-apocalyptic RPG. Despite being both a critical darling and a commercial success when it was released in 1988, attempts at a sequel failed to come to fruition. Roughly 25 years later the creator of the landmark title, Brian Fargo turned to Kickstarter to give his magnum opus the proper follow up it deserved. |
