Not-so-quick web readings

Over on Google's blog, they reveal that they received official recognition from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for their Katrina coverage via Google Earth.

Evidently, I live under a rock. Our noble president gave a surprise "backrub" to the German Chancellor during a summit two weeks ago. CNN has a decently long story, but you probably just want to watch the four-second video.

This week's Escapist talks about reality creeping in on gaming, and how play is not as deep an escape as it once was. "You Got Your Race In My Video Game" stands out. The author draws an interesting analogy to sex in games: It's fine when it's a feature, not when it's an issue. Is there any way to make race a feature and not an issue? Like it or not, a game — regardless of media — is fundamentally a tool for teaching patterns. What patterns are we unconsciously learning?

Speaking of racism, what's the difference between a "looter" and a "finder" when seen through the eyes of the media? Be sure to read the complete article or you do yourself a disservice. Context is everything. You might even want to jot down your reactions at both the beginning and end of the story and compare after the fact.

For more socio-political commentary du jour, an article in the New York Metro talks about the fact that adults are no longer "grown-ups" and the rapidly erasing generation gap. If you're past your teens and under, oh say, sixty; if you own more sneakers than suits; give this a read. What does it mean for the future when parents no longer hate their children's music?

To touch on geekdom instead of thinking, I'm seriously thinking about hacking something like this solution to boost my miserable-to-nonexistent cell signal in the office. (Yes, there's neato pictures.)