Gaming on the edge: Mobile labour and global talent in Atlantic Canada's video game industry

Diminishing returns and advances in telecommunications have prompted large video game firms to seek new locations, outsource production, and develop niche studios, including on Canada's East Coast. In this paper, we examine emerging occupational cultures and trace the origins and evolution of video game production in Canada's Atlantic provinces—a critical yet peripheral space economy in the gaming sector. Our findings are drawn from 30 interviews with gameworkers, studio managers, government officials, and other industry experts. We find this industry to be driven by the confluence of three major factors: (i) provincial governments have supported video game development as a strategic industry via financial incentives; (ii) firms are benefiting from a return migration effect and are repatriating Atlantic Canadian talent from media hubs by selling “home,” work‐life balance, and an alternative to the punishing gamework culture associated with Silicon Valley; and (iii) post‐secondary institutions in the region have improved their talent pipelines through computer science, digital media, and video game development programs.     

Midden or Molehill: The Role of Coastal Adaptations in Human Evolution and Dispersal

Coastal adaptations have become an important topic in discussions about the evolution and dispersal of Homo sapiens. However, the actual distribution and potential relevance of coastal adaptations (broadly, the use of coastal resources and settlement along shorelines) in these processes remains debated, as is the claim that Neanderthals exhibited similar behaviors. To assess both questions, we performed a systematic review comparing coastal adaptations of H. sapiens during the African Middle Stone Age (MSA) with those of contemporaneous Neanderthals during the European Middle Paleolithic. In both species, systematic use of marine resources and coastal landscapes constitutes a consistent behavioral signature over?~?100,000 years (MIS 6–3) in several regions of Africa and Europe. We found more similarities than differences between Neanderthals and modern humans, with remaining disparities all in degree rather than kind. H. sapiens exploited a wider range of marine resources—particularly shellfish—more intensively. MSA shellfish-bearing sites are also more often associated with intense occupations on coastal landscapes, and more evidence of complex material culture such as shell beads. In terms of broader ramifications, Pleistocene coastal adaptations are best conceived of as an ‘add-on’ to previous adaptive strategies, complementing more frequently exploited inland resources and landscapes. Still, Neanderthals and modern humans increased their dietary breadth and quality, and added options for occupation and range expansion along coastlines. Potential evolutionary implications of these multi-generational behaviors include higher intakes of brain-selective nutrients as a basis for neurobiological changes connected to increased cognitive capacities, but also greater reproductive success, dispersal abilities and behavioral flexibility. Whether gradual differences between modern humans and Neanderthals stimulated different evolutionary trajectories is a question for future research.

     

The singular vision of William Charles Wells (1757-1817)

William Charles Wells retained an interest in vision throughout his life. His first book was on single vision with two eyes; he integrated vision and eye movements to determine principles of visual direction. On the basis of experiments and observations he formulated three principles of visual direction, which can readily be demonstrated. In the course of these studies, he also examined visual acuity, accommodation and convergence, visual persistence, and visual vertigo. Insights into visual processing were mainly derived from observations of afterimages that were used to provide an index of how the eyes moved. His experiments enabled him to distinguish between the consequences of active and passive eye movements (later called outflow and inflow) as well as describing nystagmus following body rotation. After providing a brief account of Wells's life, his neglected research on vision is described and assessed.     

Dietary adaptation during the Longshan period in China: stable isotope analyses at Liangchengzhen (southeastern Shandong)

Rice and millet were staple crops at Liangchengzhen, a late Neolithic Longshan site in Shandong, China, but the degree of dietary variation is not known. This study uses stable isotope analysis of human and faunal skeletal remains to quantitatively address the importance of these crops as well as terrestrial domesticates and aquatic resources in the diet at Liangchengzhen. Although no collagen could be extracted from the poorly preserved human bones, the δ¹³C stable isotope results for 2 apatite sample and 16 tooth enamel samples averaged −9.8‰ suggesting that diet was based on foods averaging from −24‰ to −18‰, with millet and millet-fed animals comprising at most approximately 25–30% of the diet. Pig faunal δ¹³C isotope values suggested that during the earlier Longshan period pigs were fed mainly millet with more C₃ foods such as rice included by the later Longshan period. Solid ceramic residues from two guan jar sherds produced δ¹³C values averaging −18‰ and δ¹⁵N values averaging +16‰, suggesting both vessels contained fish. The results of the study indicate that by the Longshan period, people in southeastern Shandong no longer relied as heavily on millet and that the agricultural crop of rice had increased in importance at Liangchengzhen. Unfortunately, without human collagen samples to provide nitrogen isotope results, we cannot estimate the relative contribution of aquatic and terrestrial protein to the diet of people at Liangchengzhen. In general, however, the pattern of a diverse agricultural system on the basis of the macrobotanical remains from Liangchengzhen is supported by the isotopic results.     

Geological importance of luminescence dates in Oman and the Emirates: An overview

In the Wahiba Sands of eastern Oman, luminescence dating of sands enables us to relate wind activity to climatic variations and the monsoon cycle. These changes resulted from Polar glacial/interglacial cyclicity and changes in global sea levels and wind strengths. Luminescence dates show that development of the Sands began over 230 ka ago when the sand-driving winds were the locally arid, northward-blowing SW Monsoon.     

Water availability and landuse during the Upper and Epipaleolithic in southwestern Syria

Paleolithic research often assumes that environmental conditions played a major role in shaping human evolution. To study this relationship we present a spatially explicit approach based on the assumption that the distribution of water within the landscape is an essential component of local environmental conditions. Here, we analyze the relation of wetness and human landuse patterns from the Upper Paleolithic (UP) and Epipaleolithic (EP) of Western Syria. In particular the spatially explicit character of the approach enables the detection of a significant change in landuse patterns during the UP and EP accompanied by a significant shift in the wetness characteristics of the preferentially used areas. These results are discussed against the background of published data on climatic conditions in order to identify both a possible time frame and triggers for this change in landuse. While we conclude an increased influence of natural conditions on the spatial behavior for the UP, we suggest an additional influence of cultural circumstances in shaping EP spatial behavior. For the region studied we argue that the bounded pattern observed during the UP changes to a spatially flexible pattern during the Late Natufian.     

Evaluating morphological variability in lithic assemblages using 3D models of stone artifacts

Technological and morphological variability in lithic artifacts is commonly used to identify taxonomic entities in Paleolithic research contexts. Assemblages are mainly studied using either linear distance measurements or qualitative assessments of morphologies. Here, we present a method to quantify morphological variability in lithic artifacts using 3D models of stone artifacts. Our study on the sequence of the Upper Paleolithic layers V–I from the site Yabroud II in western Syria, demonstrates that utilizing 3D models provides a new insight into the variability of lithic technologies. We use quantitative data on convexities, twist and scar patterns on cores and blades, attributes previously not readily quantifiable, to trace technological change through the archaeological sequence. We are able to identify differences and translate these findings into a grouping of the layers. While layers VI–II are characterized by technological continuity and were grouped together, layers V and I can be separated from this group and represent technologically different groups chronologically before and after. Our results demonstrate the potential of 3D models for studying morphological variability in lithic assemblages.     

“Making Us Uneasy”: Clarke, Wobst, and Their Critique of Archaeology Put into Practice

Both David Clarke and Martin Wobst have had a significant impact on archaeological theory and practice through their critical insights into the nature of archaeological inquiry and their respective challenges to assumptions about what we know and how we know it. This paper examines the development and historical context of some of their ideas, and highlights how their notions of responsibility, self-awareness, and relevance influence or intersect with contemporary archaeological practice.     

Is it really bridging the gap? Fiber internet's impact on housing values and homebuyer demographics

Fiber internet expansion represents a path to improved economic vitality for Americans, but it is unclear who benefits from it and by how much. We examine the effects of subsidized fiber internet expansion on home prices and homebuyer demographics using data from Wisconsin and an IV approach to correct for fiber network endogeneity. We find fiber internet increases urban and rural housing values by 1.83% ($3,462) and decreases the likelihood a homebuyer is white by 2.88%, but in urban areas only. Fiber internet therefore does not appear to drive minority homebuyers away but may contribute to the urban-rural racial divide.