The Idol Boogie of Tussauds
Sometimes I think that we Americans have the impression that our fascination with celebrities is a relatively new thing. Some youngsters out there may believe that Kim Kardashian herself invented the concept of seeing celebrities as simultaneously human and botoxed demigod. But, nope, the fact is we humans have been idol-prone for a very, very […]
The App That Adds, Subtracts … and Covers Up
Have you ever heard of a Stonefish? No? Well, it’s a fish found in the coastal region of the Indo-Pacific. And it sports one of the best disguises in the whole deep blue sea. These little mottled orange-red-brown critters look like a cross between a colorful bumpy rock and a twisted-up hunk of coral. In […]
Minecraft Play and Autistic Kids
If you’re a gamer, you feel pretty horrible don’t you? I mean, those poor old games á la video have had a lot of shade thrown their way over the years. The hate usually has something to do with gaming’s addictiveness, violence, or some other tendency toward foul content. And … OK, plenty of those […]
The Robot Secret Is Out
Robots, robots, robots. I’ve got to admit that ever since I was a kid, I’ve been really interested in robots. I’ve devoured robot short stories and novels, picked up random robot comics and watched tons of the-bots-are-among-us movies and TV shows. And even really weak cinematic automaton rampages with terrible animatronics haven’t kept me from […]
One Pilgrim’s Progress
America recently voted for its favorite actors and actresses in a new Harris poll. Now, I must admit that I never got a ballot, but the resulting list seemed reasonable enough. The top slot, by the way, went to a current perennial fav—that friend of Wilson volleyballs and box of chocolates philosopher himself, Tom Hanks. […]
The Joy of CES 2016’s Gadgets and Gizmos
There was a time when the yearly Consumer Electronics Show was all about computers and TVs. You know, the big dogs that used to sit on top of the electronics heap and casually glimmer at us with brushed stainless steel or piano-black perfection. But that was yesterday. Today, the power-player pecking order seems to be […]
A Virtual Tip of the Hat
The year 2015 is just about “in the books,” as they say. I don’t know about you, but I generally hit this time of year and pause to consider the days and months gone by and, of course, smile at the Christmas celebration that’s just now fading off in the rearview mirror. The holiday is […]
Game Goods 2015: Bob Hoose’s Year-End Picks
2015 was an interesting year for video game trends. There were more and more gamemakers deciding that the digital download was a far better way to sell their wares than that old-school game-disk-in-a-box routine. Crowdfunded games were popping up like popcorn on the stovetop. Virtual reality started making some serious steps toward being something people […]
A Nice Commercial Christmas
We here at Plugged In like to bring you thoughtful or entertaining online tidbits from time to time. We’ve shared some compelling family focused commercials on occasion, too. And, well, it turns out that IKEA offers up all-of-the-above in two different Christmas commercials it produced for its various markets around the world. Now, the first […]
Finding God in Games: Thoughts from a Christian Game Designer
Part of our job here at Plugged In is to talk earnestly about the impact media consumption can have on our day-by-day lives. After all, a constant inflow of anything is going to impact you in one way or another. Hey, anyone who says he can binge-watch some gotta-see sleazy TV show all day or […]