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You have to learn to let go. The idea that books, magazines, databases or any form of information source can and should be kept for perpetuity is laughable. Items in a library need to be weeded and space is the major reason why. I know all of you want to keep your precious books, and I do to. But who’s going to pay for it, you?... — the other me

Library Protesters to Ohio State U.: Digital's OK, but Save Our Books!

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August 19, 2008

Professor Creates Video Game About the Lecture Circuit

When a major video-game company created a new Web site that lets visitors create their own simple games online, it invited Ian S. Bogost, an assistant professor of literature, communication, and culture at the Georgia Institute of Technology, to be one of the first to try it out. So Mr. Bogost, who is known for his work creating video games that address social issues, made one about lecturing.

The goal of the game, called Honorarium, is to assemble lectures by moving Tetris-like shapes onto a screen at the front of a lecture hall. Successful players win virtual invitations to travel and speak at other institutions.

“It’s subtle, and autobiographical,” wrote Mr. Bogost on his blog, “and its themes include work, colleagues, family, distraction, longing, goals, and regret.”

Mr. Bogost noted that many people creating games on the site — which is run by Electronic Arts, the same company that makes the popular game The Sims — are using it for personal expression rather than to create the next classic video game. One game posted there, for instance, is about a teenage girl sharing her crush on a celebrity. It’s called IM ,kissing JOe JOnas! —Jeffrey R. Young

Comments

1. Oops! Ironic that this was posted on the same day as the most recent Beloit College Mindset list. Joe Jonas is not a classmate of the girl mentioned in the last paragraph. He is one of Disney’s Jonas Brothers who are famous among teens and tweens. A Google search for “joe jonas” will produce 1,330,000 hits with related searches suggested for Jonas Brothers, Nick Jonas, Miley Cyrus, and Zac Efron, other names familiar to most teens in America today.

   — Rick Froman    Aug 19, 05:08 PM    #

2. Yikes. Thanks for pointing that out Rick. We corrected the item.

   — wired campus    Aug 19, 05:37 PM    #

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