The Ministry of Shadows

Last Five Entries

Gone, But Not Forgotten?
Friday, Jan. 20, 2012

What The Internet Will Look Like Under SOPA
Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012

Fearsgiving Week
Monday, Nov. 21, 2011

Jesus Approves of Waterboarding
Monday, Nov. 14, 2011

Beware of Asteroids
Wednesday, Nov. 09, 2011

Resources

FirstGov Portal

Legislative Database


Recommended Reading

Bindyree

Bruce Schneier

James Hudnall

Glenn Greenwald

D-Day

You Are Dumb


All links are current as of the date of publication. All content created by the author is copyrighted 2005-2010, except where held by the owners/publishers of parent works and/or subject materials. Any infringement of another's work is wholly unintentional. If you see something here that is yours, a polite request for removal or credit will be honored.



Potomac Twelve-Step?

Thursday, Mar. 05, 2009 7:20 AM

Michael Steele, the figurehead running the RNC (Steele had criticized talking head Rush Limbaugh and wound up apologizing to Ayatollah Limbaugh in short order), says he's going to put the GOP on a 12-step program to recovery.

Recovery from what, exactly, isn't clear. Usually, 12-step programs are designed to address addictions - alcohol, drugs, food, etc.

The 1st Step is admitting that one is powerless against said addiction and that one's life has become unmanageable. So what's the GOP's addiction? Tax cuts? Overspending? Racism? Evangelical fervor?

And I can't wait until the GOP hits the step where they have to make a searching and fearless moral inventory of their character defects. Or the step where they have to make amends.

Here's a hint, Steele: key to any 12-step program is the principle of rigorous honesty. You failed that test the moment you showed up on weekend news programs to proclaim that there was nothing wrong with the GOP's message, and that, in fact, the country needed more of it. (Because, I guess, the last eight years of running this country into the toilet was enough.)


We now move to baseball, of the videogame flavor, Sony's 2009 installment of MLB: The Show in particular.

The core game is still a solid baseball sim, with improved lighting/shaders and a few changes - most notably a new baserunning system that puts you more firmly in your player's shoes - that add to the game's appeal.

But the program nonetheless made it out the door with some puzzling graphic glitches:

- The Guess Pitch/Scoreboard displays vanish intermittently.

- The Baserunning HUD appeared when there was no one on base, and so the shot of a man-on-base at its center was nothing but a blank square.

- A cutaway to watch a foul ball to left field has some tearing.

- One model for the Giants' AA team batting coach starts out at 5'10", but becomes a towering 6'7" behemoth in a subsequent cutscene. (This is not true of the same cutscene for the Colorado AAA team.)

- Models of infielders/runners still intersect with each other.

Don't get me wrong - I still like the game, especially in contrast to other baseball sim offerings on the market. But the graphic glitches take it from an A+ to more of a B, and I wonder how some of this stuff made it through playtesting.



The Ministry has received 0 comment(s) on this topic.