Author Archives: geoffreylong

Geoffrey Long is a media analyst, scholar, and storyteller exploring transmedia experiences, emerging entertainment platforms and the future of entertainment as the Lead Narrative Producer for the Narrative Design Team at Microsoft Studios. He is an alum of the MIT Comparative Media Studies program, a FoE Fellow with the Futures of Entertainment community, and a co-editor of the Playful Thinking book series from the MIT Press. His personal site can be found at geoffreylong.com.

Belkin Concealed Surge Protector: Don’t Buy.

I wanted to like this product. I really did. Back in August I made a quick lust-post about the Belkin Concealed Surge Protectors, and today I found them on price markdown at Target, from $49.99 to $39.99. One of my bad habits is cleaning like crazy as a distraction when I’m stressed over a deadline […]

Redesigning TIME.

I have to say, Pentagram’s redesign of TIME Magazine is doubleplusgood. And that’s coming from a guy who’s been largely nonplussed by the design scene in recent months. Kudos!

Links list: 03-15-07.

Lightsaber cop sticks. The Force Unleashed just might rock. BRP Can-Am Spyder Roadster. Like a jet-powered trike in reverse. Ron Perlman on Hellboy. I’ve loved Perlman since City of Lost Children. The Daily Cross Hatch on Jeff Smith. My hero.

Thirty-odd slides later…

The crazy thing isn’t that I’m presenting on “Transmedia Storytelling, Niche Media, and the Jim Henson Company” at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference on Sunday. The crazy thing is that I have so bloody much to say about it. Negative capability is often a key tactic when it comes to transmedia storytelling, […]

Braaaaaaains.

Yesterday Warren Ellis made a cool blog post consisting of an image by Dennis Culver: a zombie astronaut, stranded on an asteroid in space, its helmet shattered and its air cord severed, with a bewildered look on its decaying face and uttering a plaintive “Brains?” It’s a great story-image for all kinds of reasons. Zombies […]

Links list: 03-06-07.

Wikipedia: The New Weird. Maybe my writing is this… Wikipedia: Slipstream. …Or maybe it’s this. Who knows? Michael Cisco on the New Weird. Definitely my bag, baby. Endicott Redux: Un Lun Dun. Can’t wait to read this. Salon: Un Lun Dun. More on the new Mieville. DarkEcho on Mieville. Such a cool guy. NYT: Authors […]

Links list: 03-05-07. (All-video edition!)

YouTube: Professor Bryant Simon on Starbucks. “It’s a form of self-gifting.” Hell yeah. YouTube: Web 2.0… The Machine is Us/ing Us. Beautiful. TED Talks: Carl Honore on “In Praise of Slowness.” I wish I could afford to slow down. Kevin Smith makes a wish come true. Holy cow, KS has a bald spot! A tour […]

Links list: 03-04-07.

NYT: Visions that Flaunt Cartoon Pedigrees. “Sometimes perky but inoffensive and ultimately dispiriting”? Ouch. NYT: Social Networking’s Next Phase. Can the world really support hundreds of social networking sites? Please, God, no. Download Squad: Zooppa Launches; User-Generated Advertising Goes Social. Nnnngh. ColorJack Sphere. Pretty. Flash Video on 3D. Very pretty. Making Light: Maps and More […]

Yayhooray!

So much is going on around these parts that it’s going to take a couple of posts to catch up. Some highlights: Visiting the world HQ of toy company Hasbro Designing the CMS Research Fair Pushing the redesign of PhillyENT live Writing a 10-page comic that shows real professional promise Various and sundry other mini-events […]

The hate speech of Ann Coulter.

“I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word ‘faggot,’ so I — so kind of an impasse, can’t really talk about Edwards.” – Ann Coulter Can we please all recognize Ms. Coulter […]