Are We Really Reading More?

By Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

readingA new report from the National Endowment for the Arts says that reading is on the rise in the U.S. This is apparently the first rise after a quarter-century of decline. The literary reading rates among adults in the U.S. dropped gradually from 56% in 1982 to 46% in 2002, only to jump to 50% this past year. This increase has been across all age groups, ethnic, and demographic categories–but the biggest increase is among those 18 to 24 years old, a group that has previously shown the biggest declines.

Well, this can only be good news. After all, more reading is “more better,” if only because it will keep us from becoming too saturated in chat-speak and the concise, artless prose of text messaging. But does this survey really mean anything? Don’t break out the champagne to toast the country’s literacy just yet; there seem to be some problems with interpreting this report too optimistically:

(1) An education professor at University of Michigan pointed out to the N.Y. Times that the rise is probably just a blip; trend data shows regular increases and decreases in literacy.

(2) The survey also showed that the proportion of adults who said that they’ve read a book that was not required for school or work has actually decreased. So, for example, if more people are going to college, then maybe the increase represents more 18-year-olds admitting to reading The Great Gatsby for English 101 even if they don’t crack open another book all year.

(3) The survey doesn’t distinguish between those who take the year to read the complete works of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, and those who read a single poem. Moreover, the 2008 survey included Internet reading, so someone is also included if they’ve read a single piece of Harry Potter fan fiction. (Though unfortunately, I don’t think that reading this blog counts as “literary.” Though there may be an argument for the quest descriptions in World of Warcraft…)

Still, there is something to be said for the effect of Harry Potter and Twilight on the 18-to-24 crowd. You might think that reading about sparkly vampires is useless, but hey, at least it’s reading.

Of course, despite all this trend data–rise or fall or whatever–it still floors me to think that only half of American adults read anything fitting into the categories of “novel, short story, poem, or play” over the course of an entire year.

Do these numbers surprise anyone else? How much do you read?

[Image Source: Flickr]



Let Historical Tweets Take You Back in Time!

By Jimmy Rogers
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

Don’t worry, this isn’t some archival service that will tell you what some user said two years ago.  Historical Tweets is a blog that displays one historically important (and ficticious) tweet every day!  According to the site: 

“Books have been ruining history. So many unnecessary words.  Now, with Historical Tweets, history’s most amazing men and women can be fully understood, a mere 140 characters at a time.”

Here’s a real gem from the other day:

historicaltweet-urkel

These tweets are usually quite funny.  Be sure to read the little bits, like the date, user, and client identifier.  If Steve Urkel isn’t your style, they have some saints….

historicaltweet-ghandi1

…and some sinners…

obl-tweet

If you like, you can even make your own with their handy photoshop template!  They take submissions, so go on out there and get creative!

Warning: Video Games May Be Hazardous to Your Health

By Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

If U.S. Congressman Joe Baca (D-CA) has anything to say about it, you might be seeing a warning label on video games that looks awfully similar to the one on packages of cigarettes. I’m confused. Maybe there’s a study I haven’t heard about that proves that video games cause cancer? Does it have something to do with sitting too close to the TV?

Actually, according to the bill that he introduced a few days ago–the Video Game Health Labeling Act of 2009–the label (on ALL video games rated “T” or higher) would read: “WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior.” Explaining his reasoning, Baca says:

“The video game industry has a responsibility to parents, families, and to consumers – to inform them of the potentially damaging content that is often found in their products. They have repeatedly failed to live up to this responsibility. Meanwhile research continues to show a proven link between playing violent games and increased aggression in young people. American families deserve to know the truth about these potentially dangerous products.”

Three things strike me immediately about this:

(1) All games with a “T” rating or higher. Apparently it doesn’t matter if they actually contain violence or not. You know what’s rated “T for Teen?” Sims 2. I wonder if this game has inspired a bunch of kids to go around taking the ladders out of swimming pools so that the people inside swim around until they tire out and die? I suppose that would count as aggressive behavior.

(2) Isn’t this the exact same argument made years ago when the rating system was implemented? What do parents think that the “M” means? “T for Teens” and “M for Magical Funtime for Toddlers?” I am completely lost on the logic wherein someone who didn’t care about the rating on a game will suddenly see the light when faced with yet another warning.

(3) Health? Really? The link between video games and aggression is already tenuous (I seem to remember learning about correlation and causation in Psych 101), for one thing, and for another, citing the potential for increased aggression as a health concern in the same way that we note that smoking may cause lung cancer?

This whole thing just strikes me as really… strange. And that isn’t even taking into account how many really serious problems we’re facing at the moment–as in, shouldn’t Congress be dealing with the economy instead of taking the time to consider bills like this?

What are your thoughts on the subject? Does anyone think that this kind of warning would do something good?

Fish on a Volvo – A look at the Sashimi Tabernacle Choir

By Brian Boyko
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

In the first of what will hopefully be a series great videos on crazy inventions and crazy inventors, we take a look at the “Sashimi Tabernacle Choir.”

Remember the “Big Mouth Billy Bass?” You’d press a button (or trigger a proximity sensor for a surprise) and the fish would start singing either Al Green’s “Take Me To The River,” or Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Jeff Foxworthy once quipped that if you had more than three singing fish, “you might be a redneck.”

Texan Richard Carter took a Volvo, 5 miles of wire, five 6-volt golf cart batteries, a screw drive mechanism using 12v DC reversible motor, a lifting frame he made from scratch, a Linux server and approximately two hundred synchronized singing fish, and created what can only be described as an awesomely effective assault on good taste.

In our awesomely effective assault on good taste, we present the Choir – in High Definition.

If you’d like to see the video in full HD resolution, just hit this link, which will take you to the video’s high-def page on YouTube.

If you’d like to get more information on the choir, you can head to the Sashimi Tabernacle Choir Web site.

Other installments of Crazy Inventions and Crazy Inventors:

Attack of the Killer Asteroid

In the following video, astrophysicist Neal deGrasse Tyson predicts that Apophis, a near-Earth asteroid named after an evil demon in Egyptian mythology, may collide with Earth in April 2029, plunging into the Pacific, and creating a tsunami that would “ablates the entire coastline, wiping it clean of all traces of civilization.” Now, that’s a cheerful way to start a Monday morning, isn’t it?

Has Tower Defense Evolved?

By Jimmy Rogers
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

If you’ve ever explored the world of Flash games for any period of time, you’ve probably run across Tower Defense, or “TD” as it’s commonly called.  The premise of the game is to kill all the “creeps” (or monsters) before they get through your maze.  You have towers that shoot in different ways to defend your turf.

Tower Defense

The newest version, Flash Element TD 2, seems to be an awesome upgrade to the original. There have been many permutations over the years, but this is by far the most fun version I have played.

td-jewelsWhat makes this one different from all the rest?  Well, for one thing, the objective is a bit different.  You are given little “elements” that you must protect from the creeps.  If they get through your defenses, they pick them up one at a time and try to take them back the way they came.  If you don’t have any elements left at the end of a round, you lose!  This makes the course shorter and changes your general strategy.  

There are also tokens in this game that are separate from the money you earn (these are like the bonuses you get in the original game).  You can pay to bring your elements back to their resting places, to buy new elements, to increase your percent interest, and even take on extra hard challenges that make you a lot more points if you succeed.  By the way, the more elements you have, the more and better towers you can create.

td-creepThere are new creeps too.  They are similar to the old “land, flyer, fast, boss” paradigm, but there are more of them and they keep the game interesting through each level.  Also, the bosses vary a lot and sometimes do surprising things.  If you like, you can click on an individual creep and watch its health and progress in a special window.  It’s a neat little feature when you’re just learning the game.

Overall, this new TD is a LOT of fun.  The first level is actually winnable while still being entertaining, and the upper levels will give you quite a bit of challenge.

What’s your favorite TD variant?  Let us know and link to it in the comments!