Tech Culture

Curt Schilling's video game company cuts entire staff

Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's 38 Studios gaming company is crumbling around him.

As news spread over the past week that the company was hurting for cash, spending $49 million of a $75 million state loan, the Boston Globe reports that the young video game publishing house laid off all of its nearly 400 employees as of today.

"I'm stunned, and I'm heartbroken," Leominster fantasy author and consultant to 38 Studios R.A. Salvatore, told the Boston Globe. "This is one of the best teams I've ever seen assembled. They were doing amazing work."

The more

Science-y love blooms into 250-tulip proposal

John Gottula is a patient man. His proposal to girlfriend Kelly Voll took more than six months. No, this wasn't the slowest knee-lowering in history. It was a carefully hatched horticultural plot.

When it comes to geek love, we've come across proposals involving Super Mario, iPhone apps, "Back to the Future," and Twitter. Gottula, a graduate research assistant in plant pathology and plant-microbe biology at Cornell University, turned to his science background in horticulture for inspiration.

"I've heard of men proposing by hiring a pilot and popping the question with a banner. That's expensive; plus I don't have a flair for aeronautics," Gottula tells Crave. "Planting flowers to spell out a proposal seemed more like a horticultural way of doing it."

Meet the tireless entrepreneur who squatted at AOL

It was 6 a.m. when Eric Simons was jolted awake by the yelling.

After working until 4 a.m, the 19-year-old entrepreneur had finally passed out. A few hours of sleep would help with the day ahead.

But unlike most people working at AOL's Palo Alto, Calif., campus who were surely still hours from showing up at the sprawling complex, Simons was already there. He'd been living there for two months, hiding out at night on couches, eating the company's food, and exercising and showering in its gym. And now, with an angry security guard bellowing more

Commodore 64 bass guitar: Revenge of the keytar!

Keytars used to be cool. Then they were lame. Now they're cool again, thanks to Jeri Ellsworth and her Commodore 64 bass guitar.

The unique instrument debuted at the Bay Area Maker Faire over the weekend. It's essentially a bass guitar grafted onto a Commodore 64, creating an unholy alliance between the thudding bottom end of a rock song and the raw retro power of an iconic computer.

Unabomber offers a joke in Harvard alumni report

"So what did you end up doing with your life?"

Such, I am sure, will be the question asked at the 50th reunion for Harvard's class of 1962. One absentee, though, still wants everyone to know what he's been up to, just in case anyone missed it.

According to The Boston Globe, Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber, is listed in the 1962 Harvard Alumni Report.

What might you imagine that the mathematician who went to Harvard when he was 16 -- before killing 3 and injuring 23 with mail bombs -- would have to say about himself?

Well, he more

How Curt Schilling's video game dreams turned toxic

For retired Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, the Legend of the Bloody Sock is taking a back seat to the tale of bloody dumb loan his videogaming company received from the Rhode Island state government two years ago.

I say this as a diehard Red Sox fan (as you can see from my bio below this post). I say this as someone who popped champagne when the Red Sox won a World Series in 2004. I say this as someone who appreciated the guts Schilling brought to that post-season when he continued pitching through the pain of an open wound more

Oxford making scientific search for Yeti, Nessie

There are those who believe that Yetis exist, most especially Georgians.

All too often when these claims are investigated, though, they turn up a gorilla costume and a couple of rogues.

However, someone is finally bringing scientific credibility to the search not only for Yetis, but also the Loch Ness Monster and, for all I know, unicorns.

Oxford University's Wolfson College has decided to invite every human being in the world to send in samples of animals that appear to be something of a mystery.

Lego for girls, this time hardware-hacker style

For Limor Fried, a hardware hacker and leader in the booming maker and do-it-yourself movements, there was never a question of waiting for someone else to jump in and do a better job of inspiring girls than Lego has done with its widely-panned Lego Friends set.

The product was featured on the cover of Bloomberg Business Week last year and drew worldwide attention as the global toy company's first major attempt at showcasing girls in a new set. Still, many Lego fans were upset that the company had focused on well-worn stereotypes and had ignored the modern reality that girls can do pretty much anything they want, whether or not there's pink or purple involved.

For Fried, who runs open-source hardware developer Adafruit Industries, it sounded like it was time for a little culture hacking.

How Zuck is boosting an executive hoodie maker

When thinking about the world of fashion, most invoke the likes of Versace, Gucci, or Calvin Klein. You certainly wouldn't expect your sense of style to be influenced by the world of tech, but that's just what has happened thanks to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

It's his style that's helped San Francisco-based BetaBrand.com explode onto the tech executive couture stage. Based on Zuckerberg's,

Spend money in the real world, get cash in the Zynga world

Zynga and American Express have come up with a plan to combine physical and virtual commerce.

The companies today announced a program called Zynga Serve Rewards. The program allows FarmVille players to earn rewards after making purchases with a prepaid card from American Express.

In order to take advantage of the offer, users will need to jump through some hoops. To kick things off, FarmVille players will need to plant a Serve Money Tree on their farms. After doing so, they will need to register for Zynga Serve Rewards to receive the prepaid card in the mail. After adding money more

Tech Culture

Curt Schilling's video game company cuts entire staff

Science-y love blooms into 250-tulip proposal

Meet the tireless entrepreneur who squatted at AOL

Commodore 64 bass guitar: Revenge of the keytar!

Unabomber offers a joke in Harvard alumni report

How Curt Schilling's video game dreams turned toxic

Oxford making scientific search for Yeti, Nessie

Lego for girls, this time hardware-hacker style

How Zuck is boosting an executive hoodie maker

Spend money in the real world, get cash in the Zynga world

Featured Posts

Most Popular

About Tech Culture

RSS

my Yahoo

Google

MSN

CNET Mobile Apps

Related stories