#but i hope i satisfied the prompt with the little bit of analysis? i wish i could've written more but oh well

[m0rguem0th]

goretober day 2 - forensics

is it still an autopsy if the guy is only half dead?

[musicprincess1990]

Sherlolly Tropes Duos I’d like to read something containing 24 (jealous Sherlock) and 39 (Reflex Affection) Nice game, I’m curious how it turns out! 😊

Taken from this prompt list.  Blimey, this was hard.  Not the jealous Sherlock part, that’s always easy (and so much fun!), but I couldn’t find a way to fit the reflex affection in until the very end.  Still, I’m pleased with the turnout.  Thanks for the prompt!

*

Molly tried to listen to the conversation, she really did, but her attention just kept creeping back to the scowling detective across the table from her.  She had stumbled upon Sherlock and John while looking for a place to have dinner with her cousin, Ivan, who was in town for the weekend.

They’d been close growing up, being close in age and neither of them having any siblings, and though he now lived in Scotland, he always made time for her, whether it was coming to London for a visit, or their weekly phone calls, or if she went to visit him in Edinburgh.  That became even more true when her father passed, leaving Ivan and his wife and children the only family she had left.

John, always friendly and polite, invited them to join him and Sherlock, who were just on their way to Angelo’s.  Sherlock was on a case, but John would be eating there, even if Sherlock did not.

Throughout the exchange, Sherlock remained silent, his eyes trained on Ivan, narrowed in scrutiny.  Molly cringed, hoping he would at least keep from blurting out any unpleasant deductions to Ivan’s face.

Now, here they sat, munching on bread and butter (except Sherlock), half the party oblivious to the other half’s unease.  John and Ivan quickly found common ground through medicine, as Ivan was also a doctor.  They were currently swapping stories of the strangest patients they’d encountered.  Molly listened and laughed along, at first, but as Sherlock continued to scowl, she couldn’t concentrate on anything but him.

Why on earth was he so upset?  And so quiet?  She couldn’t believe he hadn’t said so much as a word to Ivan, not even a passing deduction.  Normally, he would eagerly demonstrate his intelligence by rattling off details of where a person grew up, their family life, their drinking habits... but now? Nothing.

“Molly?”

She started, and by the way all eyes were on her, she guessed someone had just asked her a question.  “Oh, um... sorry, I didn’t hear...”

“That’s Molly for you,” Ivan teased with a grin.  “Always has her head in the clouds, this one!”

Molly opened her mouth to retort, having plenty of fodder to meet her cousin’s teasing and then up the ante.  But before she could say a word, Sherlock finally spoke, “Perhaps you don’t know Molly nearly as well as you think you do.”

What?

“What?” Ivan echoed her thoughts, laughing openly.

“Well, I’ve known Molly for nearly ten years, and have never once thought she ‘always has her head in the clouds.’  As a matter of fact, she is easily the most intelligent and competent pathologist at St. Bart’s, able to read minute details and extrapolate data with precision and efficiency.  She also has the cleanest Y-incision I have ever seen.  Would she be able to do all that with her head in the clouds?”

Now, all eyes were on Sherlock, stunned by this outburst.  Molly’s heart swelled at the remarkable praise he’d given her.  She’d rather expected him to agree with Ivan’s remark.  Heaven knows, she had a tendency to fantasize... especially about him.

“Well,” Ivan cleared his throat.  “I won’t worry about you making friends here anymore, Molly.  Clearly, you’ve made an impression.”

Sherlock frowned at this statement, but before he could say anything more, John cut him off.  “She certainly has.  You really are brilliant, Molly.  And I’m sure your cousin agrees,” he added, emphasizing the word with a pointed look at Sherlock.

His eyes widened, and he looked at John.  “Cousin?”

“Well, yeah, Ivan is Molly’s cousin,” he replied.

“How do you know that?”

“Because she told us, you ponce,” John rolled his eyes.  “I knew you weren’t bloody listening.”

Sherlock stared openly at Ivan, blinking a few times, and Molly almost laughed aloud.  Glancing at John, she saw him cover his mouth with his fist, eyes dancing with mirth.  “Ah,” Sherlock finally said, and she could have sworn his ears turned a bit pink.  “Right then.”

The chirp of a mobile interrupted the awkward silence, and Ivan glanced at his phone.  “Oh, that’s Emily, wants me to call her.  Excuse me for a moment.”  He stood and walked toward the door, dialing his wife’s number and pressing the phone to his ear.

“‘Spose now’s a good time to head to the loo,” John said, then pointed a finger at Sherlock like he was scolding a little boy.  “Don’t go swanning off without me this time, right?”

“I don’t go swanning off,” he grumbled, but otherwise offered no argument.

And then there were two, Molly thought.  Sherlock seemed intent on looking at anyone and anything but her.  “So,” he began, still averting his gaze.  “Cousin.”

She bit back another laugh.  “Yup,” she replied, popping the “P” as he often did.

Nodding his head, he absently replied, “Good, good...”

“Is it?” she asked playfully.

He gave a quick, one-shouldered shrug.  “I would assume so.  I can’t think of any cousins off-hand in my family, so I have no real frame of reference.”

“Well, Ivan and I are a bit closer than most cousins, so...” she trailed off, still smiling.

“Hm,” he nodded again.  “I suppose he would know you quite well then.”

“Yeah, he does.  But, thanks for saying all those lovely things,” she added.  “I had no idea you felt that way.”

Finally, his eyes met hers.  “I do,” he confirmed.  “Haven’t you wondered why I refuse to work with anyone else?”

“I figured it was because I’m the only one who doesn’t get in a tiff when you start spewing deductions,” she ribbed good-naturedly.

His lips curved up into a little smile that set loose a swarm of butterflies in her stomach.  “That too,” he allowed.

“Sorry about that,” Ivan said, announcing his return.  “Emily says hello, Molls,” he added as he took his seat.  “She’s miffed she didn’t get to come with me this time, but what can you do?  Bedrest means bedrest!”

“Too right,” Molly grinned.

A minute later, John came back as well, and it seemed the awkwardness had dissipated.  Sherlock, though visibly less tense than before, still did not join the conversation, opting to pull out his phone and scroll through his emails.  Molly almost scolded him, but decided against it.  At least he wasn’t scowling.

They were halfway into their entrees when Sherlock’s phone chimed. He jumped to his feet with a loud, “Yes!” that startled the entire restaurant into a hush.  “It’s Lestrade, the idiot’s running this way, just as I expected!  Come on, John!”

John dropped his fork and fished out a few bills to set on the table.  “Here, that should cover my portion, I’m sorry!” he said in a rush, then sprinted out the door after Sherlock.

Ivan stared at the bills for a moment, before turning wide-eyed to her.  “What the hell was that?”

*

Later that night, after explaining Sherlock’s work to Ivan and seeing him back to his hotel, Molly got a text from the detective asking him to meet her at Bart’s, “if convenient.”  Which, Molly knew, actually meant, “Immediately and without question.”  She knew better than to protest, and despite the exhaustion of the day, made her way dutifully to the hospital.

Sherlock was already in the lab when she arrived, at his favorite microscope, peering through the lens at whatever he was analyzing.  Molly sighed.  “I wish you’d stop picking the lock,” she said tiredly.

“Time is of the essence, and a woman’s alibi depends on this analysis.”

“Took me all of ten minutes to get here.”

“And that’s ten minutes less that she’ll have to wait.”

Molly rolled her eyes, but dropped the argument.  “Right, then.  What do you need?”

He stilled for a moment, so brief she thought she might have imagined it, before changing the slide and peering at the new one.  “John’s with Mary.”

“How dare he choose to be with his wife?” she deadpanned.

“Sarcasm doesn’t become you, Molly.”

“Avoiding the question doesn’t become you, Sherlock.”

He finally looked at her.  “I didn’t avoid the question.  I answered it. John’s with Mary, and was unwilling to come.”

“So?”

“So,” he huffed, “I work better with an assistant.”

Another person might have been annoyed at his use of the term assistant. That person may also have been angry about being practically dragged from their home back to work, which they’d only left a few hours ago, simply to babysit a grown man.  But that person wasn’t Molly.  Molly saw the hidden meaning of his words, and she couldn’t help smiling at the ridiculous man.

“You could just say you don’t want to be alone,” she told him.

He blinked in surprise, then frowned, turning back to his microscope.  “Rubbish,” he muttered, and for the second time that night, his ears turned pink.

Satisfied at having guessed correctly, Molly said nothing more, and went about doing some of her own work.  If he needed something from her, he would ask, but until he did, she might as well get ahead on her paperwork.

They worked in silence for close to an hour, before Molly started yawning.  She checked her watch, and groaned at the small hand pointing to the number eleven.   “How much longer have you got, Sherlock?”

“Not long,” he said.  “Just waiting for that last dirt sample—” a loud beeping from the analyzer cut him off, and he darted his gaze to the computer screen.  A wide smile broke out across his face.  “Oh, yes!”  He shot up from his stool and grabbed his coat.  “I knew it was the sister-in-law!  If you wouldn’t mind emailing me those results, Molly, I’ll need to phone Lestrade right away.”

Molly was used to this, Sherlock firing off instructions and leaving in a whirlwind.  Truth be told, it was a bit of a rush for her, as well.  However.. this time, he did something very unexpected and out of character.  As he swung his coat around and pushed his arms through the sleeves, he crossed over to her, standing only inches away.  Then, quick as lightning, his hands cupped her face, and he pressed a firm, searing kiss to her lips.

When he pulled back with a loud smack, Molly stood frozen, eyes shut, listening as he swept from the room.  Eventually, her eyes opened, staring dumbly at the spot he’d just vacated.  She lifted a trembling hand to her lips, which had been claimed by his only moments ago.

“What... the hell...?”

[lihimsidhe]

Full Review: https://youtu.be/nMBgmV3QMwY

Summary

Stories Untold is a sci fi psychological horror adventure game released in 2017 by the studio No Code Lt and published by Devolver Digital.(1) Adventure games are characterized by exploring, puzzle solving, and narrative interactions with game characters. (2) The ‘adventure’ label hails from the 1st known adventure game Colossal Cave Adventure developed during the 1970’s. (3). In Stories Untold the player will do mostly 3 things: enter text into a writing prompt and hope what they entered progresses the game forward (text adventure), click around the environment to find interactive elements and utilize these elements in a specific order (point and click), and do some very light exploration.

Stories Untold’s origins lay in Ludum Dare; an event where game developers around the world challenge themselves to make a game from scratch in just a few days aka a ‘game jam’. (4)  House Abandon was the product of such a game jam. (5)  House Abandon would prove to be so well received that it is the very spark that would grow to become Stories Untold. (6).  House Abandon became just one of the four stories featured in Stories Untold.

Each story has the player assume the role of an unidentified person using various electronic equipment ranging from locations that include an abandoned house, a laboratory, and a remote radio station in a blizzard. There is a fourth chapter but to explain its location and tasks can easily wade deep into spoiler territory.  

It’s very difficult to reveal if this game attempts to execute on a specific message or not without spoilers. So treading as carefully as I can I will say that yes there is a message to be found here. A tragic takeaway that can hit hard for some players who put in the work to leave no narrative stone unturned.

Analysis

Disclaimer: I’m not a fan of puzzle games, or puzzles in games. They too often devolve into ‘guess what the developer was thinking’. More on this in a bit.  Back to the regularly scheduled program:

The development studio behind Stories Untold, No Code Ltd, describes the game as the following:

“Four Stories. One Nightmare.

From the prototype 'The House Abandon' comes the critically acclaimed, and BAFTA winning, 'Stories Untold', the latest madness from No Code. Four short stories, tied together in a complex web of psychological-horror, intense visuals and genre-bending adventures.” How does this game execute on these selling points? Let’s address the last line first: genre-bending adventures. In my playthrough I walked in expecting a fairly basic adventure game with excellent presentation and left having experienced that same notion.  This is all to say that Stories Untold, as far as I can tell, is not bending any genres.

The text adventure portion of Stories Untold doesn’t make a noticeable departure from one of the earliest text entry experiences ELIZA; a program created in the 1970’s that simulates a psychologist by responding to a user’s text entries (7).  In fact after having played around with some ELIZA clones online (8) I’d say that Stories Untold actually underdelivers in this genre compared to ELIZA that was developed nearly fifty years ago. Point and click began with the game Enchanted Scepters in 1984 released on the Mac (9). In that game you do much the same as you do in Stories Untold: Moving your cursor to find an interactive point that hopefully drives the game forward. An activity unfavorably described as ‘pixel hunting’. 

While I do concede that Stories Untold executes well enough on its mechanics would I also concede it is genre bending?  Absolutely not.  Mechanically speaking it falls very strictly within its genre.

As for the intense visuals the game advertises it has? I’m strongly inclined to agree.  This game’s visuals are a love letter to the 80’s. It’s as if the game reached into the past and brought a portion of that era forward in time both temporally and visually. 

Stories Untold also executes on psychological-horror aspects as well. There were times I was genuinely frightened both via jump scares and/or the dense atmosphere the game draws the player into. This game evoked feelings of fear, mystery, and foreboding of what was behind the next event.

“It is up to the designer to provide the appropriate information to make the product understandable and usable. Most important is the provision of a good conceptual model that guides the user when things go wrong.” (10) -Don Norman

The promise of a text adventure sounds great on paper: enter some text and the game reacts to what one entered driving the player’s progress forward. Just the thought of that fills my mind with excitement at being able to utilize my conversational skills I’ve learned in life to interact with a game sounds incredible The thing is, and the reason I’m personally not a fan of puzzle games is that they almost always seem like playing a game of ‘guess what the developer was thinking’ instead of the player applying their common sense to solve a puzzle.

If for example in a text adventure game you are trying to walk around a house you simply typing ‘walk around the house’ may or may not work. Perhaps the developer perceived ‘walk into yard’ as walking around the house. For me this creates a schism where it stops being about me vs the game and instead becomes a battle of how my exact wording for doing something very simple differs in verbage in how the developer would write it. So instead of walking around the house and losing myself in the story I’m now trying to guess what the developer thinks are the right words to say.  What compounds this here is that the feedback is binary; either what I typed works or it doesn’t and I get the equivalent of an error message that doesn’t offer any guidance on exactly what the developer was thinking. This ‘guess what the developer was thinking’ issue wasn’t as pronounced in the point and click sections of the game. These were almost always tests on one’s observational skills and parsing over every little detail until the path forward reveals itself.  Some of the puzzles I was willing to endure and some… I just looked up a walkthrough to solve them so I could get back to enjoying the game’s incredible atmosphere. The crazy thing about Stories Untold is me as a player desperately trying to scrutinize every little detail to move forward shares a strong connection to the game’s narrative.  I really appreciate that despite my misgivings with this game’s puzzles.

As for the game’s narrative itself… I say I left the game mostly satisfied. Throughout the game the music, visuals, and gameplay really got my mind racing with the possibilities of the world that was spilling out before me. “Where could this story be leading?”, I excitedly pondered.  And sometimes I was even afraid the game would provide an answer.  Seeing how it was resolved was a bit underwhelming.  I won’t lie.  I went from a mind racing with possibilities to a flat, “Oh it’s that? Well that’s something I guess.”

If there was one thing I wish this game did differently it would have been to have focused entirely on the text entry mechanic presented in House Abandon. I said before I went and played with some ELIZA programs online and I loved that there was no failure state. The conversation just continued even if the code emulating a human would sometimes spout nonsense. I don’t expect anyone, let alone Stories Untold, to conjure up a fully realized artificial intelligence to amuse me for my 3 hour adventure game. But I can’t help but muse about a more realized text entry loop.

This game has 12 total achievements to earn. (11)  Since the game utilizes a level select system, there are no missable achievements.  Most achievements are earned by just progressing through the game.  The ones that aren’t awarded in this manner are obtained by light exploration and finding some collectibles. All in all very easy to 100% in one sitting.

Significance

Stories Untold has received several notable awards (12) including British Academy of Film and Television Arts Game of the Year in 2017 (13).

Steam Reviews has it sitting at ‘very positive’(1)  while Metacritic has it at a 7.0/10 user score. (14)

It has sold at least over 100,000 copies on Steam (15). If Steam sales remained roughly the same on the other platforms it was ported to (Nintendo Switch, Playstation, Xbox) that would imply at least a few hundred thousand people have decided to enter the world this game provides. While adventure games have drastically changed since the days of Colossal Cave Adventure with games like The Walking Dead and Until Dawn, text adventures have mostly fallen out of mainstream gaming discourse. For that reason the fact that Stories Untold managed to break through in the way it did favors it being a touchstone for many adventure and text adventure games going forward.

Recommendation

Ask yourself the following: Do you like arbitrary puzzles?  Do you mind some psychological horror in your entertainment?  Do you ever wish you could just play through chapters in your favorite book? If you answered yes to both these questions then this game was made for you.  

What if you’re like me and you can barely stand puzzles in games because they seem to evoke a ‘guess what the developer was thinking’ type of feeling? 

I would still recommend this game.  The reality of the game is that it can be completed in just a few hours.  When you get stuck, look up a guide, solve your roadblock, and get back to enjoying this game’s stellar atmosphere.  It’s really worth experiencing. Especially if you lived through and/or are a fan of the 80’s

If you’re completely puzzle adverse but still enjoy interactive narrative?  It might be worth looking up a playthrough or livestream.

Sources

1. Dev & Publisher: Stories Untold on Steam (steampowered.com)

2. Adventure Game Def: https://www.britannica.com/topic/electronic-adventure-game

3. colossal cave adventure: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Cave_Adventure

4. ludum dare: https://ldjam.com

5. game jam: http://www.nocodestudio.com/development-updates/2016/9/5/the-house-abandon

6. dev interview: https://www.pcgamer.com/crafting-the-unique-genre-defying-horror-of-stories-untold/

7. ELIZA (origins): https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00146-018-0825-9

8. ELIZA (interactable): http://psych.fullerton.edu/mbirnbaum/psych101/eliza.htm

9. 1st point click game: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2011/01/history-of-graphic-adventures/

10. Don Norman: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E257T6C/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_2BZA3S6D0KPFSKXFKHVM

11. Achievement List: Steam Community :: Stories Untold :: LihimSidhe

12. Various Awards: http://www.nocodestudio.com/nocodegames

13. BAFTA: https://www.bafta.org/media-centre/press-releases/british-academy-scotland-awards-2017-winners-announced

14. Metacritic: https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/stories-untold

15. sales: http://www.nocodestudio.com/development-updates/2017/9/21/stories-untold-news-patch-indiecade-awards

[alexsfictionaddiction]

Review: Are We Nearly There Yet? by Lucy Vine

Over the past few weeks, I’ve devoured all three side-splitting novels by Lucy Vine. Are We Nearly There Yet?, which published on 27th June from Orion, is her latest holiday adventure and you’re definitely going to want to put a copy of it in your suitcase this summer.

On Alice’s 30th birthday, her best friend Eva drops a bombshell that threatens to change both of their lives, some bad news arrives from home and she manages to send her boss a highly inappropriate text to which there is no return. Coping strategy one is to hit up ex-boyfriend Twat Dan (TD for short) to see if he’s around for some sad sympathy sex. However, a second, much more exciting and fulfilling option begins to surface. Inspired by sun-kissed travel blogger Constance Beaumont’s glossy beach photos and inspirational life-affirming captions, Alice fires up her laptop, makes a couple of bookings and jets off on a journey of a lifetime to LA, Thailand and hopefully her true self... and she’s blogging the whole way!

On the way home from her birthday party, Alice writes herself a note on her phone and it’s reading it the next morning that finally prompts her to do something for herself and get away from her London life. Despite her naivety and calamitous nature, Alice does have some moments of wisdom and clarity and it was these moments that really touched me. They seem to be few and far between at first but they become more regular as her trip and self-awareness progress. Her character development was probably my favourite aspect of the book -other than some truly laugh-out-loud mishaps- because it was so beautiful and satisfying to watch. 

As big clichéd trips across the world are wont to do, Alice does a lot of self-analysis and soul-searching while she’s away. This makes for some pretty touching and heartbreaking moments that certainly triggered some reflection of my own. The above passage really spoke to me and this was probably the point in which I identified with Alice the strongest. It often feels like I’ve spent much of my romantic life being torn between what I think I want and what’s healthy. It’s a self-esteem issue that is rarely addressed in novels as blatantly as it is here but I’m so grateful to Lucy Vine for doing it. I finally feel ‘seen’.

‘Things have to hurt and itch and scab over before they can heal.’

I also loved watching the highs and lows of Alice’s relationship with her brother Mark. It’s a pretty close sibling relationship and the frustrations and tensions between them are very realistic. Mark is a really lovely, protective older brother to the whirlwind of ridiculousness that is Alice but he also isn’t afraid to get real with her. To call her out on her self-obsession and stupidity. Much of Mark as a guy (as opposed to Mark, Alice’s brother) remained a mystery until much later on in the book but when I did finally get to know him, I couldn’t help but love him a little bit more and wish him all the best.

One thing I really love about Lucy Vine’s novels is that she imparts truly sage, important advice through the medium of characters who are utter (but often hugely relatable) messes. Vine knows who her readers are and she tells them exactly what they need to hear in order to be kinder, wiser and frankly, better people. Are We Nearly There Yet? is full of these little heartwarming moments that comforted and inspired me to be my best self in my best life.

I laughed out loud multiple times while reading it and it’s pretty rare that a book causes such a physical reaction from me. However, Alice’s attempts at blogging, a messy break-up that takes place on a rollercoaster and a vagina cult gathering produced tears from my eyes and more than a few snorts.

I’m not sure whether it’s just because I’m a 28-year-old single woman who feels like she is failing in many areas of her life that makes me immediately embrace Lucy Vine’s heroines. I genuinely laughed and cried with Alice and learnt so much about not only the places she visited but also myself. It sounds ironic and typical of the cliché traveller types that it repeatedly parodies but I finished the book bursting with hope and ambition. These are feelings that I’ve not felt in a while so I can only thank the author and Alice for reassuring me that it’s ok to not be where I thought I’d be at my age. That it’s ok to take some time for myself, figure out what’s really right for me, not try to control absolutely everything in my life and to trust that things will work out eventually.

[luv-engineering]

Fascinating Counter-thinking about the Digital Era This is one of those books I find myself recommending over and over to friends and acquaintances--heck, even to near-strangers. It's a fascinating thesis and provocative insight into what experiences human beings crave and are rewarded by. One of the sticky passages: the author's observation about how much more sensory learning a two year old gains from finger painting with actual finger paints--which of course end up dripping down her arm, in her hair, on the dog, and occasionally on the paper--than from drawing on an Ipad. That and the concept of "finishability" which explains why it's so much more satisfying to read an actual book (or, get this, an actual newspaper) than reading the same content online in a never-ending trip down the rabbit hole of the internet. Nothing like the satisfying feeling of reading a good book to its end notes. That certainly goes for this one. Go to Amazon

The value of everyday and tangible things This is the book to complement all the hype about the end of physical and the rise of analog, atom based physical items. The return of the simple, tangible, touchable -- makes enjoying reality more valued and valuable. For everyone who enjoys a walk in the mountains and a cup of tea. Reality is here to stay. Go to Amazon

Insightful and compelling read Loved it and believe in it passionately. A compelling case built on sound observation and fact. Nice to have analog back! Go to Amazon

A good start toward understanding the gentle rebellion against the digital A good start toward understanding the gentle rebellion against the digital. To much about the authors travels and people he met and things he purchased and not enough analysis of why we sometimes want very much a nondigital solution.There is a lot of research on decision making that should have been employed to explain return of analog. But a very good start on a big issue Go to Amazon

An amazing journey through our connection to analog This is an absolutely fantastic book. The greatest compliment I can give this book is that I wish I had written it. Go to Amazon

An amazing read. The majority of the book shows example ... An amazing read. The majority of the book shows example after example as to why analog works in today's world. The only place it bogs down is towards the end. Well worth reading by business folks and anyone interested in sociology. Go to Amazon

ANALOG MAKES A COMEBACK People are increasingly sick and tired of computers which are making nearly every aspect of life more stressful. Here Sax shows how they are turning to analog products such as vinyl records, paper products, film photography, mechanical watches, board games, and others to make life more bearable. Sax calls this movement post-digital. Go to Amazon

Interesting topic This was a really good idea for a book, and the phenomenon of digital fatigue pushing toward more traditional products is as well explained as it can be. The chapter on vinyl records is very interesting, as is the chapter about the Shinola company. I think the theory is stretched a bit thin when he writes about Moleskine notebooks ("the revenge of paper") and I skipped the chapter called "the revenge of summer" after about two paragraphs because it seemed a little silly. Go to Amazon

TERRIFIC BOOK! Five Stars One Star Worth Reading; But Ignores Socially Divisive Aspects Of The "New" Analog Enjoyable and Hopeful But Not Skeptical Enough Compelling thoughts Five Stars good essay, good price, prompt delivery Excellent book, well written and researched Five Stars