WARNING!!

Taking a by-memory based map of your school, and turning it into a Count-Strike level is, apperently, a very bad idea.

A highschool senior has been suspended from Clements High School in Fort Bend, Texas, after it was found out by a fellow classmate that he had created a level on his PC-version of Counter-Strike that was based around his school’s design and layout. After word got out amongst students, and more imporantly their parents, school officials took action, and removed the teen to be placed in an “alternate education campus”. Stating that the level was considered a ‘terroristic threat”, local police also became involved and searched the boy’s home, though found no evidence of criminal activity.

Duh.

This comes not long after the Virginia Tech shootings, therefore awareness for implications of school violence is back on the high. What doesn’t add up is, why hasn’t this happened before? How do you think such great maps for games such as Counter-Strike are made? People visualize a place they can create from simply memory, and use it to map out a level that’s unique and provides a challenge. Why is this any different than a person making a level out their workplaces from memory? With Columbine, it was obvious that the individuals were disturbed to begin with, but this kid seems to be a normal teen who simply likes video games, as implicated by a fellow student.

“I think he just did it for fun,” said student Maaria Faoqi. “I mean, he goes here. He probably didn’t mean anything.”

The ABC News article can be read HERE.

I give it a week tops before the anti-gaming advocates raise in arms to shout out at this.

Rockstar Games history is the kind of tale you’d expect to hear about an up and coming band, complete with pitfalls and successes on the way to making it big. The name really does fit them.

WIRED‘s Dave Kushner takes a deeper look into the rise and fall of Rockstar this month. It might seem ludicrous to claim the company is sliding now unless you consider the last 3 games they’ve release have sold poorly, and they’re in such financial trouble even a million selling Manhunt 2 on Wii may not save them. Hot Coffee can still be enjoyed, but backdated stock options could close the doors for good.

Whatever the case, its a good read about a group of developers who got more than they bargained for when they wanted to turn games into controversial social commentary. Read on…

“Bomb.Repeat.Bomb.”

Ted Leo may well be the best singer/songwriter working today.

A lofty claim, but not one that can’t be backed up quickly. Few who would listen to 2003’s Hearts Of Oak would be able to overlook the dramatic lyrics and hyper energized performance, evident in songs like “Where Have All The Rudeboys Gone?”. The album that followed, Shake The Sheets took Leo into even more charged political songs, releasing the album shortly before the 2004 US Presidential race.

3 years and an election behind, Ted Leo is no closer to satisfied, charging forward with renewed excitement and anger. [Read the rest of this entry…]

Today is the 12th Anual Kris Kross Day and to celebrate I would like share this music video I made of myself performing “Jump” by the legendary Kris Kross.

It is my hope that this video inspires nations across the globe to dress backwards and come together in peace on this memorable day.

For more information about this special holiday please visit the official website.

This coming Saturday, March 24th 2007, is the 12th Anual International Kris Kross Day. On this day I urge all the free people on this Earth to cast off their forward facing shackles and embrace the backwards dressing freedom that majestically encompases the wonder that was 1992.

Year Zero, the new album from Nine Inch Nails has a teaser trailer.

Yeah, that spooked me too.

The viral marketing campaign to get the word out on this has gone above and beyond youtube videos or strategicly placed lite brites. Following tour dates in Portugal and Spain, NIN concertgoers have been finding USB flash drives left in bathroom stalls containing new songs from the album. Some of these drives contain files of static that when analyzed through a spectrogram reveal images or phone numbers leading to clips of more songs or bizarre 911 calls. Its a good thing NIN fans are so willing to dissect every bit of info they get because I doubt other artists would live up to this scrutiny.

Year Zero has been described by NIN Mastermind Trent Reznor as a concept album and a “soundtrack to a film that doesn’t exist” about anything from the future, politics, to the end of the world. Naturally, Reznor mentions Public Enemy’s Bomb Squad production as an influence. Those less educated with Public Enemy’s work might think Nine Inch Nails is making a rap record, but he’s actually referring to the mechanical and static nature of loops and samples. The first single, “Survivalism” is already being played on many radio stations and will be added to many more today. Dial up your local rock station and request it.

Newsarama has a note up saying that Jim Samples, the head executive officer at Cartoon Network resigned on Friday due to fall out from the guerilla marketing campaign gone wrong in Boston for the upcoming Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie. In an internal memo to the company, Samples stated that he hoped his resignation would allow this event to be put in the past and allow the company to move forward. The article goes on to say that he had been with the company for 13 years.

You can read the rest of the internal memo in the article here.

Speaking as a Bostonian, this is another footnote in an embarassing chapter of history for the city of Boston.

It was the biggest security scare in the United States since September 11, 2001. Officials stopped traffic on a major highway, and cordoned off areas after “suspicious devices” were found under a steel beam and in other areas around Boston.

Boston law enforcement leapt into action after “suspicious devices” were reported bearing magnetic lights. In the shape of a Mooninite. Waving a middle finger. Boston bomb squad detonated 8 of them before someone from Turner called up and explained it was an ad for Aqua Teen Hunger Force, not some elaborate terror plot. A terror plot from the Moon.

Heroic Boston police have captured Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens, employees for the marketing company Interference Inc., under a law declaring it a crime to place a hoax device that causes a panic. Turner has also issued an apology. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino calls the situation “outrageous” and has not ruled out a lawsuit to Turner to pay for the millions in stupidly wasted man-hours.

Why was there a panic? New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia all had these same exact signs and no one lost their crap in those cities. I mean, just look at the sign! Aside from Ignignokt flipping the bird, theres nothing remotely threatening. Its a sign, posted to a beam. It lights up.

I’m surprised Turner and the marketing company are catching hell for this. Boston police should be ashamed for being so damn jumpy and sicking the bomb squad on a bunch of LED signs bearing the visage of a cartoon character.

Video of the signs being posted after the break

Full CNN report
CBS 4 Boston TV report
[Read the rest of this entry…]