text:
Cambridge University computer lab spin-out raises $9m
A spin-out from the University of Cambridge's computer laboratory has raised £5.1m ($9m) in second round funding to expand its workforce and expand the capabilities of its flagship product.
Azuro, which was originally called Paradigm, was founded by post-doctoral researchers Paul Cunningham, now CEO, and Steve Wilcox, chief architect, in March 2002.
Azuro has developed electronic design automation (EDA) software that drastically reduces the power consumption of digital chips.
Power has become increasingly important to electronics companies as consumers demand ever more talk time, play time, and functionality in their next-generation mobile phones and wireless devices.
The latest investment was led by Miramar Venture Partners, with existing investors Benchmark Capital and TTP Ventures also participating in the round. Azuro has now raised a total of £7.6m
Business Weekly was the first newspaper to feature the company, covering it in February 2002, before it had even closed its seed funding round. Among the seed investors in the company were Robert Sansom and Stan Boland.
The company is currently building out its management team and hiring engineers and sales people as it ramps up the commercialisation of its flagship product, PowerCentric.
Azuro is now headquartered in Silicon Valley, in Mountain View, California and maintains a development office at St John's Innovation Centre.
Heiner Sussner, managing partner at Miramar said: "Power has become a critical issue for digital chip design teams, and we see a compelling need for advanced EDA tools that enable these teams to build lower power chips. Azuro's product is architected from the ground up to tackle the complex power saving strategies necessary for next generation chip design, and the demand for their solution is impressive."
The technology can yield up to 20 per cent power savings, according to the company. Among its customers are Broadcom.
"Azuro has undertaken the development of an ambitious technology and proven that they can deliver a significant power saving advantage to their customers," said Mark Evans, general partner at Benchmark Capital.
Arm CTO Muller pays £1m so Cambridge Computing Centre can buy HQ
Light Blue Fibre sees university and council boost digital Cambridge
Ion mighty: Controllis launches powerful new comms technology
Frontier ships over 50 million radio chips
20 per cent premium to house prices in Cambridge tech cluster


text:
Q: Is there a simple formula for $\binom{2n}{n} \pmod{n^3}$? Is there a simple formula for the following? $$f(n) = \binom{2n}{n} \pmod{n^3}$$
I know $f(n) = 2$ iff $n$ is prime and greater than $3$, but I don't know anything about composite numbers.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


NEW YORK; July 7, 2015 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has been ranked as the number one life science information technology (IT) services vendor in a global survey conducted by IDC Health Insights. This is the fifth consecutive year Accenture has received the top ranking.
IDC Health Insights surveyed industry leaders on which life science vendors they planned to use in 2015, and more respondents expect to contract with Accenture during the next 12 months for IT services than any other vendor. This ranking was cited in the report: "Perspective: IDC Health Insights' Top Preferred Life Science Technology Vendors for 2015," which documents results from "IDC Health Insights' Leading Indicators in Life Science IT Spending Survey." Click here for a link to the report.
The IDC Health Insights report is a bi-annual IT budget-tracking survey, which polled 112 industry leaders on planned IT budgetary spending, technology priorities and vendor preference. Participants were asked to identify which vendors servicing the life science market they expect to spend money with on software, hardware and IT services over the next 12 months.
 IDC Health Insights: "Perspective: IDC Health Insights' Top Preferred Life Science Technology Vendors for 2015," Document #HI255788, May 2015, Eric Newmark.


text:
Bernhard Hans Henry Scharoun (Bremen, Alemanha, 20 de setembro de 1893 — Berlim, 25 de novembro de 1972) foi um arquiteto conhecido por desenhar a sala de concertos da Filarmônica de Berlim e a casa Schminke em Löbau. Foi um dos maiores expoentes da arquitetura orgânica.

Biografia
De pequeno e na sua etapa escolar em Bremerhaven, já mostrara interesse pela arquitetura. Realizou os seus primeiros designs com a idade de 16 anos, e aos 18 apresentou-se a um concurso para a modernização de uma igreja.

Em 1912 iniciou os estudos de arquitetura na Universidade Técnica de Berlim (então Königliche Technische Hochschule). Contudo, não chegou a terminar os seus estudos, pois alistou-se como voluntário para servir durante a Primeira Guerra Mundial. Trabalhou com o seu mentor Paul Kruchen num programa de reconstrução da Prússia Oriental.

Ao teminar a guerra estabeleceu-se como arquiteto na cidade de Breslau. Ali desenvolveu os seus primeiros projetos e organizou várias exposições, entre elas, a primeira exposição do grupo expressionista Die Brücke.

Scharoun constitui um caso absolutamente singular. Entre 1933 e 1945 devotou-se, quase  obsessivamente, à realização de uma série de casas unifamiliares, desenhando um total de vinte e seis projetos. A habitação unifamiliar constituía uma tipologia que apenas interessou a Hans Scharoun nessa época.

A dificuldade de aceder a outras encomendas explica-se pelo próprio interessado — obviando de fato, a existência de numerosas  encomendas mais "obscuras", como as numerosas residências militares que construiu em Berlim e Bremerhaven no citado período. Frente a estes últimos, a habitação representa um campo de relativa liberdade, que possibilitou o estabelecimento de uma linha de pesquisa pessoal.

Obra
 Oficina de Correio
 perto da estação, Bremen, Alemanha(1922).
 Casa de madeira portátil, Legnica, Polônia (1926—1927).
 Casa na urbanização Weißenhof, Stuttgart, Alemanha (1926—1927).
 Projeto Casa Weite (1928).
 Residência , Wroclaw, Polônia (1928—1929).
 Casa de Apartamentos em Kaiserdamm, Berlim, Alemanha (1929).
 Casa de apartamentos, Berlim, Alemanha (1929—1930).
 Urbanização Siemensstadt, Berlim, Alemanha (1929—1931).
 Casa Schminke, Löbau, Alemanha (1930—1933).
 Casa Mattern, Potsdam, Alemanha (1932—1934).
 Casa Baensch, Berlim, Alemanha (1934—1935).
 Projetos visionários (1939—1945).
 Projeto Centro de ensino primário, Darmstadt, Alemanha(1951).
 Projeto Teatro Nacional de Kassel, Kassel, Alemanha (1952—1954).
 Residencial "Romeu e Julieta", Stuttgart, Alemanha (1954—1959).
 Urbanização Charlottenburg-Nord, Berlim, Alemanha (1954—1959).
 Colégio "Geschwister-Scholl", Lünen, Alemanha (1955—1962).
 Berliner Philharmonie, Berlim, Alemanha (1956—1963).
 Centro de ensino (projeto de Scharoun), Marl, Alemanha (1960—1971).
 Embaixada alemã, Brasília, Brasil (1964—1971).
 Biblioteca Nacional de Berlim (Potsdamer Strasse 33), Berlim, Alemanha (1964—1978).
 Teatro Municipal de Wolfsburgo, Wolfsburgo, Alemanha (1965—1973).
 Museu Marítimo Alemão, Bremerhaven, Alemanha (1969—1975).

Prêmios e galardões
1954 - Doutor honoris causa pela Universidade Técnica de Berlim
1954 - Prêmio Fritz Schumacher
1955 - Prêmio das Artes de Berlim
1958 - Medalha de bronze da Academia Livre das Artes de Hamburgo
1959 - Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz (Grande Ordem do Mérito Federal)
1962 - Senador honorífico da Universidade Técnica de Berlim
1964 - Großer BDA-Preis
1965 - Doutor honoris causa pela Universidade de Roma
1965 - Prêmio Auguste Perret
1969 - Cidadão honorífico de Berlim
1970 - Prêmio Erasmus

De 1955 a 1968 foi presidente da Academia das Artes de Berlim ocidental. Posteriormente seria presidente honorário. Hans Scharoun foi membro fundador da sociedade berlinesa Paul Hindemith.

Ligações externas

 Hans Scharoun em Soloarquitetura
 Haus Schminke de Hans Scharoun

Arquitetos da Alemanha
Nascidos em 1893
Mortos em 1972
Prêmio Erasmus
Arquitetos expressionistas

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


You may register yourself or your child at anytime during the year. Our classes have been created in a way that you can start any class whenever you are ready.
You may call us during our office hours and set up a time to pass by the academy to register.
Or you can fill out our online form in our Contact page and submit it to us with the request to register. We will then get back to you as soon as possible and instruct you as to what the following steps are.
Or you can visit our academy during our office hours and register then.
You may call us during office hours and let us know what class you are interested in.
Or you can fill out our online form in our Contact page and submit it to us with the request.
We will then take your contact information and add you to the waiting list of the class. Once the class at the specific time slot has enough students we will open the class and let you know.
the student still attend a class?
Unfortunately no, all payments must be made on time.


Soft credits are used as a recognition tool for donations. For example, if a constituent makes a donation but you want to indicate that another account in your database (such as their spouse or coworker) was also responsible for the contribution, you can use a soft credit.
Note: When you assign a soft credit, Neon displays that contribution on both accounts, but only counts the amount of the transaction once and sends one system email/letter to the donor (soft credit distributor).
After adding your donation as normal, click Add Soft Credit at the top of the donation summary page.
Use the magnifying glass icon to search your database for the Soft Credit Recipient - this is the account you wish to credit.
Enter the Soft Credit Amount or Rate - this is the portion of the total amount you wish to credit. You can give credit for the entirety of a donation, a certain amount, or a percentage.
Note: When applying a soft credit to an In-Kind donation, the soft credit amount will be calculated and displayed based on the Fair Market Value rather than the donation amount.
Click Submit to create the soft credit record.
The soft credit now appears on both the donor and the credited constituent's accounts.
On the soft credit recipient's account, it is visible under the Soft Credit Received section.
On the donor's account, it is visible under the Soft Credit Distributed section.
The soft credit will also display at the bottom of the donation record. You can edit or delete the soft credit from here.
Soft Credits can be distributed automatically in NeonCRM by creating Soft Credit Distribution Rules on accounts. These rules will distribute a soft credit to another account every time the constituent in question makes a donation or registers for a membership or an event.
To create a distribution rule, navigate to the account of the constituent who will be making the contribution. Under the Soft Credit Distribution Rule section, click on New Soft Credit Item.
Select the type of transaction that you want to be automatically soft credited. There are three Soft Credit Types: Donation, Event Registration, and Membership Registration.
Click on the magnifying glass to search your database for the constituent that you want to receive the soft credits, and then add the financial details. You can elect for the soft credit to either be a defined amount or a set percentage of a transaction.
Note: Applying the soft credit rule will NOT retroactively update existing donation records.
After clicking Submit, the soft credit distribution rule will be active and it will apply to any future transactions that meet the criteria.
You can also see the distribution rule under the donor's Neon account, as shown in the example below.
The Soft Credit Report is found by navigating to Reports tab > New Report > Donation.
Soft credit information can also be captured in transaction-based reports, including donation reports, membership reports, and event reports. These types of reports have a Soft Credit search category to filter your results based on soft credit fields, as shown in the example below. The Soft Credit Report will pull ALL soft credit types (i.e., donations, memberships and event registrations), whereas the Donation Detail Report, for example, will only have donations.
Click Edit Columns to add Soft Credit and Distributor fields to your report results as Output Columns. The available columns for the Soft Credit Report are slightly different from the soft credit fields available in the other transaction-based reports. The Distributor fields refer to the account that distributed the Soft Credit to the recipient.
The Soft Credit report is transaction-based, which means each row will be a different transaction record. The Soft Credit Type column tells you the kind of transaction. This field is only available as a column in the Soft Credit Report.


DEWI is India's first technology driven safety solution provider. Take a step towards safety of your loved ones and become a part of DEWI revolution.
DEWI provides a web and app based platform for society management, RWAs, Residents, tenants, estate managers and society security for a better management of society.
DEWI provides various solutions to enhance safety at schools. DEWI system keeps track of all the people entering school premises, drivers, maids, housekeepers and all the staffs.
DEWI provides a robust solution for manpower and compliance management for security agencies, cab providers, facility management companies, transport companies and logistics partners.
DEWI enhances workplace safety and simplifies employee verification process for compliance management. It also enables better management of vendors and outsources workforce.
Get a digital presence with latest technologies to would ease your work and save cost.
Safety modules of organisations to improve safety within the premises, as well as on the move.
Everything gets to your smartphone. Stay updated on the go, so that you never miss anything.
Get background of your employees or tenant checked in a few easy steps.
Say NO to all those excel sheets and get your salary preparation automated.
Be smart and data driven. Insights provided by analytics will help you to take better decisions.
MYSORE: A Mysore-based cab driver who took a short cut to make money was caught by Vidyaranyapuram police on Thursday.
HC to Maharashtra: Don't pay lip service, what have you done to protect women in public places?
Gurgaon Police Commissioner S S Deswal launched a digital and online tenants, servants and drivers verification scheme from Sector 23 on Saturday.
Malad police arrested two people for allegedly drugging a couple and stealing cash and valuables worth Rs 10 lakh in May.
Very few people take Patna police's advisory on police verification of domestic help, caretakers, drivers and security guards seriously. Expectedly, the results are disastrous.
Dear Gurgaon paying guest, is your accommodation legal?
The west Delhi Police have busted a gang of crooks who duped people on the pretext of supplying domestic help through their placement agency.


text:
Which airline has the worst crash record?
Japan Airlines Flight 123
How many hours can a A320 fly?
This is the longest commercial flight for this type of aircraft with a scheduled flight time between 6 hours and 35 minutes and 7 hours and 35 minutes. The distance the plane covers is 2,748 nautical miles.
Where is the most comfortable place to sit on a plane?
Exit rows, aisle or window seats, and seats close to the front are typically considered the best seats on a plane. On a short business trip, you might want an aisle seat near the front of the plane so you can debark as quickly as possible on arrival.
At what size do you need two airline seats?
American requires passengers to purchase a second seat if they need a seatbelt extension and their body "extends more than 1 inch beyond the outermost edge of the armrest." The airline recommends that you buy both seats during your original booking (at the same rate).
How safe is A320 Airbus?
Through 2015, the Airbus A320 family has experienced 0.12 fatal hull-loss accidents for every million takeoffs, and 0.26 total hull-loss accidents for every million takeoffs; one of the lowest fatality rates of any airliner. …
How many A300 are still flying?
Today, a third of Airbus' customers operate A300/A310 Family aircraft as part of a wider Airbus fleet and more than 200 of the 650 aircraft currently flying with some 80 operators will still be in service in 2025.
Has any Airbus A380 crash?
On 4 November 2010, the aircraft operating the route, an Airbus A380, suffered an uncontained failure in one of its four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines. The failure occurred over Batam Island, Indonesia, four minutes after takeoff from Singapore Changi Airport….Qantas Flight 32.
Fatalities 0
Injuries 0
Survivors 469
What is the most dangerous airline?
None of the airlines below attained any more than two out of seven stars.
Tara Air. Tara Air managed to accumulate just one out of seven stars.
Nepal Airlines. Nepal has seen nine fatal accidents over the last eight years.
Ariana Afghan Airlines.
Bluewing Airlines.
Kam Air.
Trigana Air Service.
SCAT Airlines.
How is it to work for Airbus?
There are five steps to the hiring process: application, online tests, application screening, assessment center and then the job offer. Online tests in numerical, logical and verbal reasoning need to be completed within seven days of candidates submitting their initial application.
Why do Airbus planes start with 3?
So, the next time someone asks the question of why Airbus aircraft start with a 3, the answer is simple – it's because its first aircraft, the A300, could potentially fit 300 passengers. In order to keep the strength of the brand, every aircraft after the A300 also used the A3XX format.
Is there an Airbus A390?
Today the French Airplane Manufacturer Airbus revealed their latest project, the A390. The Airbus 390 will come in two variants, one is A390-800 and the other -900.
Which airline has bigger seats?
Is Airbus A380 bigger than Boeing 777?
The Airbus A380 can fly for 14,800 kilometers. The smaller of the 777Xs, the 777-8, can fly 16,090 kilometers, and the larger 777-9 can fly 13,940 kilometers. The A380 has four engines, and the 777X only has two.
Which airline has comfortable seats?
Up and Away: Most Legroom – 33-32 Inches
JetBlue. JetBlue touts itself as having the most legroom of any US airline with a pitch of 32-33 inches.
Southwest.
Alaska.
American.
United.
Delta.
Hawaiian.
Allegiant Air.
What is the newest Airbus plane?
The A350-900 is the cornerstone member of Airbus' all-new A350 Family, which is shaping the future air travel….Shaping the future of air travel.
Fuselage width 5.96 m
Max cabin width 5.61 m
Wing span (geometric) 64.75 m
Height 17.05 m
What is the most comfortable airline?
Is Airbus owned by government?
No. Airbus Group SE, formerly (until 2014) EADS and founded as a conglomerate has been created by mergers of various Europen air and space companies. For the current structure Airbus is not state owned, but there are significant minority stakes of theree countries, including France and Germany.
This entry was posted in Admission Help. Bookmark the permalink.
← How do I pay a contractor abroad?
Will I be taxed if I receive money from overseas? →

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
From MUN to Clarenville with love, new music program meets rural need
Ann Lundrigan has been a music teacher at Clarenville High School for years, but lately she's noticed a disconnect between the number of students looking for lessons and the number of teachers giving them.
"It's kind of left us in a lurch because we are a musically rich area and we have students crying out for lessons in all areas, instrumental, voice piano," says Lundrigan.
The longtime music teacher said with one private music studio and a couple of other full-time music teachers in the school system already working at capacity, there's a gap.
"We need help, and I think the Giocoso program will be a great kickstart for us to try and get some kids back into the flow of teaching," she said.
Students sharing passions
Giocoso is a new music education program offered by Memorial University's school of music to bring lessons to rural areas of the province, and it's starting as a pilot project in the Clarenville area.
In music, "giocoso" means to play in a happy or merry manner, and Lundrigan said students will certainly be happy.
"The idea is that the teachers go out once per month to teach a lesson to the students, and in the weeks in between they reach out using videoconferencing software" like Skype, said James Paluk, Giocoso's program manager and a graduate student at the school of music.
"To give distance lessons to the students, so that these students are now getting weekly music education," he explained to CBC Radio One's Weekend AM.
James Paluk and Ann Lundrigan, in centre of photo, celebrate the launch of the new music education program Oct. 7 at Clarenville High School. (Ann Lundrigan/Twitter)
Paluk said the teachers are all students at the school of music in St. John's, and they'll use Clarenville High School for in-person lessons when they travel the roughly 200 kilometres or two-hour drive.
By Saturday, he said, 10 students were officially registered and the program is accepting applications until Wednesday.
They'll be able to enrich the lives of these children.- James Paluk
He and Lundrigan are clear this initiative is not meant to take away business from local teachers, and classes will be paid for by the students just like other private lessons.
They have identified a need for flute, clarinet, piano, voice, violin, viola, saxophone, trumpet and high brass lessons so far.
'Come, come, come'
Paluk said the program is an opportunity for young musicians to stay in the province to teach.
"The St. John's area itself is pretty saturated with teachers and there's a lot going on, that the students who are getting their degrees don't have anything to do with them, so they're either moving away or changing paths or something like that," he said.
Lundrigan said she's hoping Giocoso will inspire teachers to realize they can "really make a difference for some of these children," and set up shop in rural areas. She's confident interest in the program will grow as people learn about it.
And she has a pitch to attract young music teachers to go rural.
"Come, come, come — we have so much to offer. For example, Clarenville, you're not only looking at the Clarenville area, we have a whole catchment area that is loaded in music history and our students are crying out. While it's scary to come, there's lots of people here who would support you if you were coming, and I don't think you'll be disappointed."
"In reaching out to Clarenville and further areas they'll have that opportunity to teach — to use their expertise, their knowledge — and they'll be able to enrich the lives of these children who are missing out on this component that was so near and dear to us," Paluk added.
Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
NEFFEX Readies New EP Q203, Paves New Road Toward Music Industry Success
New a capella music group hits the right note


I slowed down and waited for exact moments before taking a picture, like with the young Mallard above. On any other day I would have taken 40-50 pictures of these guys but having the restriction, it limited me to 6 images, of which 5 turned out good! The one thing I'll take out of this day is to ask myself "why am I taking this picture?"


text:
How Digital Technology "Broke" Narrative and What it Means for Our Students
Photo credit: mirka23 via flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Present Shock author Douglas Rushkoff presenting at South by Southwest in 2010.
I must confess that I don't read nearly as many books as I used to BC (Before Computers) and BK (Before Kids), but I have been stealing precious moments to savor the ideas and perspectives in Present Shock, the new book by Douglas Rushkoff.
Rushkoff is a media theorist who writes about society and our ongoing relationship with technology. (He has also guest blogged for Edutopia). In Present Shock – a play on Alvin Toffler's Future Shock -- he turns his lens to the human experience in a world that's always on, always connected, always in the now, now, now.
The result is contemplative guidebook for making sense of and responding more intelligently to the new world where digital technology and big data are overwhelming us, breaking down our cultural narratives, changing our relationship to time, and tricking our internal biological mechanisms into thinking that unreal things are real.
The book soars through time and space -- ancient history, pop culture, classical archetypes, arcane philosophy and mediated spaces -- with grace and intensity. As a writer, educator and a student of human agency, I am particularly drawn to the sections on the effects of the collapse of our cultural narratives. Indeed, here is an area in which teachers are uniquely qualified to do something!
When I received his long answers to my questions, my first instinct was to shorten them. This is 2013 -- nobody has time for long-form text! But by definition, the concepts in this book are about making time. Taking time back. Time isn't holding us, time is an act of us.
Edutopia: What do you mean by "narrative"?
Rushkoff: A narrative is really just the story we use to understand something. It's a pathway through time: this happened, then this happened, and then . . . It's a great way to convey meaning and values.
The narratives I'm most interested in are the ones used in TV shows and movies and, most insidiously, commercials. Narrative is a terrific tool of influence. Since Aristotle's day, we have understood how narrative can be used to make people feel certain ways and believe certain things. Create a character the audience can relate to, put that character in danger, and then -- when the audience can't take anymore -- give the character a way out. If the audience has followed the character up the inclined plane of tension, they will generally accept whatever solution the screenwriter or adman gives them to get out. If it's a Clint Eastwood movie, it might be a gun, or a "true" friend who fights with him. If it's an acne cream commercial, it will be a particular brand of benzoyl peroxide that rescues the girl from embarrassment at the prom.
We also use narrative to understand our place in history, our relationship to God and the cosmos. America is a narrative about making the world free -- or more American. Judaism (at least since Medieval times) has been a narrative about the coming of the messiah. Capitalism is a narrative about the infinite expansion of the economy.
Narratives work when you have time for them to play out.
How did digital technology "break" this narrative?
Well, initially, it was the remote control. Instead of having to sit through the acne cream commercial and accept the vicarious anxiety of the poor, zit-afflicted teenager, we can now scoot away to another channel without having to get up, turn a dial and adjust the rabbit ears. DVRs liberate us even more profoundly from the narrative trance. We can pause, go back and forward. The storyteller no longer calls all the shots.
On a deeper level, digital technology doesn't live in the same sort of timescale as analog reality. Think of the digital clock: it doesn't have a sweep second hand. It just flips a new number into place. The entirety of 3:23 PM is the same, until it suddenly flips into 3:24 PM. Time becomes a series of pulses, separate moments. It's a more disjointed way of living, with a different decision point seeming to come at every second. Do I answer this email, or respond to that Tweet?
What does this mean for how students understand information and make meaning?
The great part is access and authority. They are no longer required to submit to the official story in order to get the information they want. Data has been liberated, in that sense, from the stories that used to contain it. They are free to learn things out of context, which -- looked at positively -- means free of the values and judgments that a particular field of study's "keepers" may believe are necessary.
Of course, the awful part of this is the very same thing: they learn out of context. Factoids don't always add up to knowledge. There's a just-in-time bias to people educating in this way. Kids get what they want on a "need to know" basis, and have trouble understanding why they should bother to learn something now that they could always find out about later, when they feel they need it.
The other main difference is that kids who no longer appreciate narrative try to get the "gist" of things by looking at them rather than immersing in them. They will "take a look" at Hamlet on Sparknotes (an online summary service) and then attempt to get the gist of it by reading a couple of paragraphs or quotes. In some cases, I am almost embarrassed to say, they do seem to "get it." I spoke with a boy who seemed to have gotten the gist of Hamlet this way, and was able to explain how, amongst other things, "To be or not to be" encapsulated the essence of Hamlet -- a man who wasn't sure whether or not to take action. So this generation is actually really good at looking at things, getting a sense of them without ever moving through them in a sequential, narrative way. But the challenge then becomes interesting them in actually delving into something. Helping them see the value in immersion, and to realize that not all immersive experiences are to be avoided.
You've written that video games are the successors to books. How does that work out exactly?
Video games are more consonant with the digital experience. Instead of being conveyed through a story by a narrator (as in a book), the player directs his or her own experience through a world. In a massively networked game, like World of Warcraft, there's no beginning, middle or end. Players don't play to "win" -- there's no such thing. They play for the pure fun of it. The object of the game is to keep the game going.
This is also more consonant with the kinds of challenges we are currently facing as a society. The 20th century and the Industrial Age may have been about winning: wars, campaigns, economies and so on. We had a narrative to fulfill, and could do so by meeting clear goals such as sticking an American flag on the surface of the moon.
Today's challenges are not so very goal-oriented. Climate change is a steady state challenge. It's something we learn to deal with, live with, and influence slowly through our behavior. We don't set up a campaign and go win it. Or obesity, social injustice, human slavery, gun violence . . . These are not wars we "win," in the traditional narrative sense. We have to develop the patience to keep playing them.
Finally, video games are interesting to me for the way they invite deeper and deeper levels of interaction and authorship. Kids may begin playing the game normally. Then, when they get stuck, they go online and find the "cheat" codes so they can play outside the original rules. After they've finished the whole thing, they might go back online and get the construction kit for the game so they can create their own levels. They put their versions of the game online, and other kids download them. And the most successful of these game "authors" go on to become programmers of their own games.
Even books have taken on this quality of game culture, where fans of a certain series go to websites where they write their own "fan fiction" and add on to the universe of the original books. This, too, is more like a video game or a "fantasy role playing" game than it is like traditional narrative fiction. The original narrative may get broken, but everyone participates in a new kind of story.