Cinematic

Is cinematicity a virtue in film? Is lack of cinematicity a defect? Berys Gaut thinks so. He claims that cinematicity is a pro tanto virtue in film. I disagree. I argue that the term “cinematic” principally refers to some cluster of characteristics found in films featuring the following: expansive scenery, extreme depth of field, high camera positioning, and elaborate tracking shots. We often use the word as a term of praise. And we are likely right to do so. We are right if we mean that the film does well what movies often do well. We are wrong if we mean that the film is good for doing what is merely distinctive of film. This issue has important implications for understanding the role of the medium in artistic evaluation. I argue that we should reject Gaut’s claim because it entails an implausibly strong medium specificity thesi

Is it Better to Love Better Things?

It seems better to love virtue than vice, pleasure than pain, good than evil. Perhaps it's also better to love virtuous people than vicious people. But at the same time, it's repugnant to suggest that a mother should love her smarter, more athletic, better looking son than his dim, clumsy, ordinary brother. My task is to help sort out the conflicting intuitions about what we should love. In particular, I want to address a problem for the no-reasons view, the theory that love cannot be rationally justified. Since it seems better to love good people rather than evil villains, it appears that there are indeed reasons for (or, at least, against) love. Is it coherent to talk this way and deny that love can be justified? I think so and will explain how

Multiple Inheritance and Film Identity: A Reply to Dilworth

I argue that Dilworth has not shown the type / token theory of film identity to be non-viable, since there is no reason to think that a single object cannot be a token of two types. Even if we assume a single inheritance view of types, Dilworth\u27s argument runs into other problems. Dilworth does not provide any convincing argument for why intentions are necessary for identifying film and why production history alone will not suffice for identifying hardly conceivable forgeries. Intention is not necessary for distinguishing between fakes and the real thing, nor is it necessary to differentiate between two artworks with the same token. Moreover, taking the notion of intentions into consideration leads to a splintering problem. I propose that production history, presentation, and non-numerical template identity suffice to identify a film on a multiple inheritance type / token theory

Are Video Games Art?

In this paper I argue that by any major definition of art many modern video games should be considered art. Rather than defining art and defending video games based on a single contentious definition, I offer reasons for thinking that video games can be art according to historical, aesthetic, institutional, representational and expressive theories of art. Overall, I argue that while many video games probably should not be considered art, there are good reasons to think that some video games should be classified as art, and that the debates concerning the artistic status of chess and sports offer some insights into the status of video games

Cinematic

Is cinematicity a virtue in film? Is lack of cinematicity a defect? Berys Gaut thinks so. He claims that cinematicity is a pro tanto virtue in film. I disagree. I argue that the term “cinematic” principally refers to some cluster of characteristics found in films featuring the following: expansive scenery, extreme depth of field, high camera positioning, and elaborate tracking shots. We often use the word as a term of praise. And we are likely right to do so. We are right if we mean that the film does well what movies often do well. We are wrong if we mean that the film is good for doing what is merely distinctive of film. This issue has important implications for understanding the role of the medium in artistic evaluation. I argue that we should reject Gaut’s claim because it entails an implausibly strong medium specificity thesis

Reproduction in the zebra stallion (Equus burchelli Antiquorum) from the Kruger National Park

Reproductive characteristics of free-ranging zebra stallions are described using data collected from 270 cropped specimens and field observations of live animals. Socially zebra populations comprise coherent family groups dominated by a single stallion and consist of 2-11 individuals including foals. Excess stallions remain solitary or form stallion groups of two to seven individuals. The youngest stallion leading a family group was four years old. On average stallions attain psychological maturity at four and a half years of age, the pubertal interval ranging from age two to four and a half years. The youngest specimen with epididymal spermatozoa was two years old but generally this occurs at three and a half years but behavioural mechanisms prevent mature sub-adult stallions from mating with oestrous mares. Variationin testicle mass and seminiferous tubule diameter indicates that adult stallions have a reproductive peak during the summer (wet season) which coincides with the cycle of the mare. Genital abnormalities included two instances of unilateral testicular hypoplasia and one of bilateral cryptorchidism. Only the latter caused sterility

Some reproductive abnormalities of the zebra stallion (Equus burchelli Antiquorum)

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Paying for high speed network services

The real-time services offered by modern high speed networks are complex enough to prompt a new look at how these services should be paid for. In this article, it is motivated that paying for the use of guaranteed services can ensure fairness in the availability of limited data communication resources. The limitations of conventional accounting frameworks for communication services are discussed. A new framework for accounting in high speed networks is proposed and the advantages thereof pointed out. A quotation and the payment are included as part of the basic protocol to establish a channel. This saves the cost of recording usage information for every user, sending out invoices and collecting payments. It furthermore makes it possible for users to use and pay for services provided by distant service providers with whom they do not have an account. It is proposed that users pay a flat rate connection fee for unguaranteed services, but pay more if the services are guaranteed. Finally, the importance of a service reservation protocol, and of the guarantees offered by these protocols are pointed out

Is local plant extinction a product of mutualism breakdown? A case study of the Namaqualand spring flora

A mutualism-centred risk assessment model, proposed by Bond (1993), was used to predict which plant species are vulnerable to extinction in the absence of insect pollinators. The predictions of this model were then compared with actual plant species compositions between adjacent disturbed and undisturbed sites in a Namaqualand flowering community. It was found that autogamous annuals were at the lowest risk of extinction and were consequently abundant in disturbed lands. Geophytes were completely eliminated by ploughing, however, the cause of their local extinction is not necessarily due to mutualism breakdown and may be explained by a lack of seed banks. The model was shown to be useful for predicting distribution patterns for annuals. However, further studies of seed banks, germination cues and colonisation success are necessary to make predictions for the geophytic species. The study illuminated the fact that both plant and associated insect species diversity decline rapidly in disturbed areas and that the elimination of insects, by ploughing, may lead to extensive loss of plant species