Author Archives: Nick Matthews

Tron: Legacy

Posted on July 8, 2011 by Nick Matthews

Unless it’s a Disney animated flick like Tangled, I generally don’t get to see movies in the theatre. Tron: Legacy, didn’t quite make the cut, but I’ve finally had a chance to watch it on DVD. How does this match … Continue reading →

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My Little Pony: Why Friendship Really Is Magic

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Nick Matthews

With a three-year-old, I’ve had some exposure to what passes for children’s programming these days. Many shows from my childhood in the 80s were barely veiled marketing attempts to introduce kids to the latest character, carefully cross-marketed as a toy … Continue reading →

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Physical Computing

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Nick Matthews

Back in the 1990s, cyberpunk literature envisioned a virtual world, where people could leave their physical bodies and merge in a posthuman reality. Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash and William Gibson’s Neuromancer led the wave of the future: a plane of … Continue reading →

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Aurora Award Finalists

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Nick Matthews

The finalists for the Prix Aurora Awards has now been announced. While I’ve only read two of the nominated works for Best English Novel so far, (Under Heaven, by Guy Gavriel Kay, and Watch, by Robert J. Sawyer), I’ve read … Continue reading →

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Shifting Bits With Arduino

Posted on May 13, 2011 by Nick Matthews

I’ve recently started back into electronics. I took an electronics course back in high school, but I’ve dealt mostly with software since then. I’ve had a Freeduino-SB sitting around since last year, until I finally soldered on the through hole … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Nick Matthews

Guy Gavriel Kay’s novel Tigana was first published back in 1990, although I first read it in 1999. It has remained one of my favourite novels. I have a signed first edition hardcover, in addition to my paperback reading edition. … Continue reading →

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Writing Resumed

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Nick Matthews

I haven’t been posting for the last few weeks. Originally, I was taking a break so I could focus on writing essays due on consecutive days. That excuse only covers a brief interval of time. Like writing of any kind, … Continue reading →

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Lazy Sunday, Lazy Monday, Lazy Muncie

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Nick Matthews

As I’m busy writing an essay this evening, I’ll leave you with some videos from the past. Here’s the SNL skit Lazy Sunday. It’s loaded from the NBC site, so it takes awhile to load. Here’s the response video Lazy … Continue reading →

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Contempt of Parliament

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Nick Matthews

I’ve got two major essays that I’m trying to write, so I’ll try and keep this somewhat brief. Today, the Canadian Government (or should that be the Harper Government?) fell, after a non-confidence vote in the House of Commons about … Continue reading →

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Convergence Culture and Fan Fiction

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Nick Matthews

So I’ve been reading Henry Jenkins’ book Convergence Culture, which talks a great deal about new forms of interaction with media. One chapter, Why Heather Can Write: Media Literacy and the Harry Potter Wars caused me a bit of trouble. … Continue reading →

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