Is the “Extinct” Thylacine Still Alive?

It’s not supposed to exist these days but people claim to spot it so often that the thylacine has been called the world’s “most common extinct animal”. The thylacine was always something of a contrary beast. Also known as the Tasmanian wolf because of its generally wolf-like appearance, and the Tasmanian tiger because of the brown stripes in its fur,...

An Interview with Ben Folds on Retrospectives, Reunions, and TV Stardom

Ben Folds has been a major force on the musical landscape since 1995 when, with bassist Robert Sledge and drummer Darren Jesse, he formed Ben Folds Five. This October, after almost two decades of making albums solo and with Ben Folds Five, Folds will release a comprehensive collection of his work entitled The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective. When...

Interview: Supergiant Games’ Greg Kasavin on Bastion, Part 2

For part two of our interview, Greg dissects the business side of things, including dealing with Microsoft, Valve’s Steam service, and pricing structures. Switching over to the business/marketing side, one of the comments over at Major Nelson when the game went live was, “This game looks like a masterpiece, but I’ll wait for a price drop.” Respond to that. What...

Is Big Brother 13 Rigged?

We’ve known for years that the phrase “reality television” is an oxymoron, but is it actually possible that Big Brother 13, which is doing well for CBS in the ratings, is actually rigged? Okay, rigged might be too strong a word (does “strategically pre-planned” sound better?), but the summer reality TV staple is once again under the microscope by fans...

Two A.I. ChatBots Attempt a Conversation

While artificial intelligence cleverbots usually learn from “conversations,” with real people, the Creative Machines Lab at Cornell wanted to see what would happen if two ChatBots had a conversation with each other. This video is proof of two things: The researchers at Cornell are quite good at building autonomous systems that can design and create other machines, and, even as...

Ghostbusters And Ghost Hunters

In 1984 they came to save the world, and with a new comic book series from IDW Publishing due to hit the shops the Ghostbusters are back. The moment I saw them in the cinema more than a quarter of a century ago, I was captivated. Barely into my teens, I was already hugely interested in ghosts and the research into...

Let Them Talk: Hugh Laurie’s September Song

Actors moonlighting as musicians often get a bad rap. While it’s true that some like Bruce Willis and Steven Seagal should think twice before stepping into a recording studio again, there are those who can actually make music and do it with skill and artfulness.   When Hugh Laurie was approached to make an album of blues songs, he was...