Author Archive

Educational web series entertains, challenges status quo

- February 22nd, 2013

Was the Renaissance a thing? Apparently, not so much. And while we’re challenging wildly held beliefs about history, was the American Revolution really that revolutionary? And what’s so great about Alexander the Great, anyway?

These issues and more are explored in Crash Course, a fast and fun web show born out of  YouTube’s $100 million dollar original channel initiative.

Created by adorable brothers Hank and John Green, Crash Course  uses a combination of fast talk, witty banter, gorgeous graphics and pop-culture references to make subjects like world history, literature, biology and ecology  palatable to a modern audience.

In the world history segments especially, Crash Course packs impressive amount of information into each episode, and on top of that, show us what’s important, fascinating, overlooked and controversial about history. And it does it without any of the euro-centrist, great-man-worshiping, white-washing that you tend to get find in high school text books. Crash Course shows reverence to nothing and no one. Except maybe the Mongols.

Also, in this episode, there’s a dalek.

 

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Childhood TV addicts more likely to commit crime: Study

- February 19th, 2013
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AFP PHOTO / Torsten BLACKWOOD

It appears I may be doomed to a life of crime.

While I’ve been a mostly law-abiding citizen for most of my life, it’s only a matter of time before I turn into a hardened criminal, thanks to a childhood spent in the care of a loving mother, a dedicated father, Fred Penner, Count Duckula and the cast of Saved By The Bell.

This, according to a new study out of the University of Otago.

The research, published in the US journal “Pediatrics” this week, found a strong correlation between childhood exposure to television and anti-social behaviour in young adults.

“The risk of having a criminal conviction by early adulthood increased by about 30 percent with every hour that children spent watching television on an average weeknight,” co-author Bob Hancox said.

The study also found excessive TV viewing was linked to aggressive personality traits and an increased tendency to experience negative emotions.

That’s true whether you’re dumb, smart, rich or poor.

And it doesn’t matter if you spend your childhood with the non-violence espousing Care Bears or the karate-chopping Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

“It is plausible that excessive television viewing contributes to anti-social behaviour in ways unrelated to violent content,” it said.

“These mechanisms could include reduced social interaction with peers and parents, poorer educational achievement, and increased risk of unemployment.”

The study recommends limiting kids to to two hours of TV a day.

But it’s too late for me. I’m already doomed. I just hope I get to do cool crime, like sexy, elaborate bank heists, or maybe some high-level hacking.

 

 

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Stop-motion animated Doctor Who puppet saves Christmas

- December 24th, 2012

If you’re beside yourself waiting for tomorrow’s Doctor Who Christmas Special, this fan-made Christmas minisode should satisfy your blue-box cravings for now.

“How The Doctor Puppet Saved Christmas” is written, directed,and animated by New York City artist Alisa Stern, who runs a painfully adorable Tumblr documenting the adventures of her beloved creation, Doctor Puppet.

Via Tor.com

 

 

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Categories: Television | 1 comment

The Buffy effect: Sex and violence is OK if women are powerful

- August 30th, 2012
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Feeling empowered, ladies? I guess I just have that “effect” on people.

It’s not the combination of sexy times and ass-kicking on TV that reinforces negative ideas about women.  It’s the way female characters are portrayed, according to a new study.

From the news story I wrote today:

New research suggests sex and violence on TV make women feel anxious and men act sexist — but only when the female characters are portrayed as weak.

Christopher Ferguson, the Texas A&M University professor who led the research, dubbed it “the Buffy effect.”

…

He had 150 students watch three sets of TV shows, then fill out questionnaires about their state of mind and attitudes about women.

For the neutral shows, they watched non-sexual, non-violent episodes of 7th Heaven and Gilmore Girls. For negative shows, they watched episodes of The Tudors and Masters of Horror that depicted sex and violence and women as victims. For positive shows, they watched episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Law & Order: SVU with depictions of sexualized violence and strong, capable women.

Women scored the highest levels of anxiety after watching the sexually violent shows with victimized women. Men who watched the same shows showed the most negative attitudes about women.

What’s more, men felt the most anxious when watching powerful women kick some silver-screen butt, possibly due the stress of having their preconceptions challenged.

Watching the positive and negative portrayals didn’t do much to change women’s perceptions of other women. But, weirdly enough, women showed the most negative attitudes when subjected to the wholesome goodness of 7th Haven and the witty dialogue of Gilmore Girls.

To learn a bit more about why this might be, check out the full transcription of my Q&A with Ferguson below.

Read more…

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Change the Channel

- August 29th, 2012

What the Internet is saying about TV

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New Joss Whedon show! New Joss Whedon show! ABC has green-lighted a pilot for S.H.I.E.L.D, about Marvel comic-book super spies, set in the Avengers universe. Whedon will direct and co-write along with his brother Jed Whedon and sister-in-law Maurissa Tancharoen (The trio that brought us Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long-Blog).

If it’s picked up, Whedon will remain at the helm with Jed and Tancharoen running the show on a day-to-day basis. While it will be required nerd viewing for anyone excited about Whedon’s next Avengers movie, he told Variety the show is not an Avengers spin-off and will stand on its own.

Read more…

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