AltWeeklies Wire
Game Changer: A Company Stimulates Gamers’ Sense of Touchnew

Haptic technology is to our sense of touch what graphics are to our sense of sight, explains Tom Anderson, CEO of Albuquerque company Novint. “Our technology gives you a sense of touch in computing,” he says.
Weekly Alibi |
Marisa Demarco |
03-16-2010 |
Tech
'Sweetgrass' is a Raw, Open-Eyed Elegy for the American Cowboynew

Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Ilisa Barbash, the husband-and-wife filmmaking team behind Sweetgrass, apparently prefer the term “recordist” over the term “director.” Once you see the documentary, you might be inclined to agree.
Weekly Alibi |
Devin D. O'Leary |
03-16-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Sweetgrass
Get the Buzz: Why Bees are a Sweet Addition to City Lifenew
When I was a kid, my mother used to make a big jar of honey and fresh-squeezed lemon juice every winter. The thick, bittersweet concoction was our cough medicine, and we would gladly line up for a spoon of that rather than cod liver oil or castor oil — both of which were also freely passed out among us.
Metro Times |
Larry Gabriel |
03-16-2010 |
Environment
Fortunately, Peter Hedges Decided Against Writing A 'Serious' Booknew

Peter Hedges’ novel The Heights is crying to be filmed. I assume it will be and I recommend everyone read it before you’re forced to buy a copy with a stupid movie tie-in cover.
New Haven Advocate |
Eva Geertz |
03-16-2010 |
Fiction
Tags: The Heights, Peter Hedges
Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell Waddles Toward Lame-Duck-Itudenew

No matter what Gov. M. Jodi Rell tries to say or do these days, the message many people are hearing is “quack, quack, quack.” Connecticut doesn’t get any money out of a pool of federal transportation funding. “Quack.”
New Haven Advocate |
Gregory B. Hladky |
03-16-2010 |
Politics
Maybe it's Time for Philadelphia to Consider Banning Pit Bullsnew

On the weekend of Feb. 19, there were three serious pit bull attacks across Philadelphia. A 52-year-old woman nearly lost her left hand to one of the dogs. Ten-year-old Philip Sheriff was found facedown on a ballfield, his right arm almost severed.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Jacob Lambert |
03-15-2010 |
Animal Issues
More Local News Folks Leave the Field Behind Before it Leaves Themnew
Carl Agnelly devised a backup plan, applying for work at Epic Systems, the Verona-based medical software giant. He got word he was hired last Nov. 9, his 29th birthday, and immediately told WKOW 27 he would be leaving when his contract expired at year's end.
'Creative Nonfiction' Begins Life Anew as a Quarterly Magazinenew
At the recent relaunch party for Pittsburgh-based literary journal Creative Nonfiction as a quarterly magazine, editor Lee Gutkind showed he hasn't forgotten old insults to the genre he's strived to popularize.
Pittsburgh City Paper |
Bill O'Driscoll |
03-15-2010 |
Books
The Brother of One of Pittsburgh's Most Famous Authors Speaks Out From Behind Barsnew
Robert Wideman's story is better known than most. His brother, John Edgar Wideman, is a nationally renowned author. The elder brother wrote a book about Robert's struggles, Brothers and Keepers, which won a National Book Critics Circle Award in 1984.
Pittsburgh City Paper |
Matt Stroud |
03-15-2010 |
Books
Mayor Daley Isn't Going Down Without a Fight, but He Rarely Ever Gets Onenew

These are the moments a City Hall reporter lives for: My girlfriend and I were having dinner at a downtown restaurant recently, and we couldn't help but overhear the couples in the next booth kvetching about Chicago's parking meter lease deal.
Chicago Reader |
Mick Dumke |
03-15-2010 |
Politics
Charting a Course: César Chávez School Starts Down the Road of Reinventionnew
Just before Thanksgiving, the chronically underperforming and hugely popular César Chávez School was fighting for a charter renewal from the Santa Barbara School District despite, at least in the opinion of Superintendent Brian Sarvis, not legally qualifying to do so.
Santa Barbara Independent |
Ethan Stewart |
03-15-2010 |
Education
Hello Daddy, Hello Mom: Girl Rock Band Comes Alive, Again

Based on Cherrie Currie's poorly written memoir "Neon Angel: The Cherrie Currie Story," about her crash-and-burn experiences with producer Kim Fowley's manufactured all-girl rock band, "The Runaways" is a textbook guilty pleasure.
City Pulse |
Hello Daddy, Hello Mom: Girl Rock Band Comes Alive, Again |
03-15-2010 |
Reviews
Tags: The Runaways, Floria Sigismondi
When it Comes to Risky Business, Driving Has Nothing on Parking in Pasadenanew

Where does it all end? No one knows. But we do know where misery begins for people victimized by money-hungry state and local officials imposing bankbook-busting fines for such “crimes” as improper parking, rolling through stop signs and running red lights.
Pasadena Weekly |
Kevin Uhrich |
03-15-2010 |
Transportation
Vancouver Opera's 'Nixon in China' an Artful Triumphnew

The Vancouver Opera’s ambitious Canadian premiere of Nixon in China is a surprisingly artful, nothing-less-than-stunning reimagination of an event that, on paper, sounds like something you’d see on PBS’s American Experience.
The Georgia Straight |
Janet Smith |
03-15-2010 |
Theater
An Equine Abuse Case Shocked Tennessee and Legislation is Meeting Resistancenew

The colt could barely stand, was too weak to walk and likely hadn’t eaten since birth. His malnourished mother had no milk to feed him. The starving colt was among 84 horses rescued from a farm in Cannon County last November.
Nashville Scene |
Christine Kreyling |
03-12-2010 |
Animal Issues