With thanks to BoingBoing, wanted to share a stabilized version of the infamous Bigfoot film.
Although I'd love to believe these sorts of creatures exist, I'm afraid this one looks far too much like a guy in a monkey suit for me to buy in. Ah well... there's always Nessie!
Found a link in my mail to Edge Online's "Oh. My. God!!!" article where they go through 50 of their favorite moments in gaming. This is obviously a subjective exercise, but I really enjoyed the article as it reminded me of some of my favorite moments. Those include:
Fair warning - the article has what some might consider minor spoilers if you've never played the respective games. It's a tricky line to follow - at some point a storyline becomes well enough known that there really shouldn't be any hesitation about talking about spoiler points... everyone who watched Titanic pretty much knew the boat sunk at the end, right? Still, I tweaked my favorites above to not be as specific as the article.
I wish they'd caught a few of the really old school moments from games like Zork or King's Quest. "Count Leaves" or "Plugh" or learning to spell "Rumpelstiltskin" leap to mind... ah well.
Don't know about you, but my home theater rack and PC desk are a rat's nest of cabling that include joysticks, keyboards, mice, speakers, Ethernet, phone cords, USB, Firewire, and a variety of power strips, with a plethora of power cables (many of which have their own transformers and different plug sizes) all tangled with one another.
I've always dreamed of a wireless world where you simply put the device where you want it and it just works. There have been some good steps in that direction with the advent of wireless peripherals, and I'm looking forward to high-bandwidth wireless technologies that will allow the equivalent of wireless video/audio connections such as HDMI. But until recently, it didn't appear there was a viable solution for wireless electricity to power those devices.
The New York Times recently reported that Intel engineers have demonstrated a prototype wireless power solution that may eventually deliver on the dream. To quote:
On Thursday, the chip maker plans to demonstrate the use of a magnetic field to broadcast up to 60 watts of power two to three feet. It says it can do that losing only 25 percent of the power in transmission.
“Something like this technology could be embedded in tables and work surfaces,” said Justin Rattner, Intel’s chief technology officer, “so as soon as you put down an appropriately equipped device it would immediately begin drawing power.”
60 watts may not seem like a lot, especially to power-hungry desktop PC users, but it's plenty to recharge the battery in a laptop, mobile phone, game controller, keyboard, mouse, speaker, etc. Imagine a world where your device is always fully-charged simply by virtue of your having been sitting and working at a continual power tap! I suspect this could even work with more power-hungry devices (such as a desktop PC or home theater equipment such as an amp) with attached battery storage. Not as elegant, but who knows? Perhaps they'll be able to advance the technology so it can support these heavy-load devices?
Just to be clear, this was a tech demo at Intel's IDF (Intel Development Forum) event, and is certainly nowhere near a shipping product yet. However, Intel never shows off anything without reason, and I certainly wish them well in trying to deliver a cost-effective, safe solution for the home and office.
Sure most of you have seen, but some of the big news for Microsoft at GDC this year was around allowing XNA Game Studio games to be shared via the community on Xbox Live. You can find the official release here, and should also make a point of reading through Letskilldave's posts as well.
A few folks have asked me how this is different/better/worse/etc than Nintendo's Wiiware announcement. Well, simply put, in my opinion Creators Club is infinitely more open and accessible:
I've also had a few folks asking how these XNA games might compare to "professional" Live Arcade games. Simply put, XNA Game Studio games can be quite performant. No, you're not going to create Gears of War in C#, but you can do almost any of the existing LIVE Arcade games out there. You can download the XNA Launcher for free until the 24th and see some of these games for yourself. Check them out if you're curious - but remember, get the launcher now if you want to see them!
Just came across a map of the Star Trek universe that's worth sharing. It's a bit frightening in that someone actually spent the time to document this, but it's awesome nonetheless. Every time I see a territorial boundary map like this I long for a virtual game version. Am hoping Sins of a Solar Empire satiates that desire somewhat - hearing good things about it so far.
Hoping to post more often going forward - things have been a bit crazy with some projects, and GDC being a month early didn't help anything either. Will be at the show next week, though... looking forward to spending some time in the City by the Bay!
Just noticed that BAPenguin of Evil Avatar Fame has launched a new website focused on co-op gaming called Co-Optiumus. From the press release:
With virtually no other websites dedicated to co-op games, gamers are having a hard time finding the information they need for their co-op experience. Co-Optimus.com fills this void by providing an extensive database of games that feature a co-op mode across nine platforms including the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii. The site also features user reviews, ratings, and matchmaking as well as discussion forums to help find a buddy for all your co-op needs.
I think it's a great idea, and encourage you all to visit! My hope is the site evolves over time and allows you to drill down into a library of co-op games by the way you like to play them. For example, sometimes I like partnering up with a friend and blazing through a rich, scripted, full-story single-player experience with full co-op support (Halo, Gears of War, and Eternal Sonata are good examples). Other times I might like to play something with less plot but still a fun co-op experience (a side-scrolling arcade shooter perhaps). And other times I might be looking for a "co-op light" or "date night" (to coin a few phrases) sort of game, where there's a primary player, and others can interact in a light-weight way (Zack and Wiki's secondary pointer support is one example, or even just playing a story-based MMO like Final Fantasy where your partner is enjoying the plot/visuals, making suggestions, but not having to pick up the controller herself).
One other thought might be to track the level co-op support is built into a game, and whether obvious integration opportunities are skipped/cut (and hence potentially frustrating to a gamer). Eternal Sonata jumps to mind here again - the game allows players to control other characters in combat (while a single player acts as primary driver through the overland). Unfortunately, that co-op support doesn't extend to online.
Been watching this with a great deal of interest, and wanted to pass along a good article in case you weren't aware of the ramifications of this auction. Simply put, one of the last wide-ranging/penetrating wireless spectrum chunks is coming up for auction. The plans of the eventual winner will have a huge impact on how (and whether) we can expect to see a useful nationwide broadband network anytime soon here in the US.
Why are all these companies so excited? Because the 60 MHz of spectrum that’s about to be auctioned is the last prime real estate for mobile communications that will be available in the U.S. for decades to come. And it lies in the 700-MHz band substantially below the 800- to 850-MHz and 1900-MHz frequencies already used for U.S. mobile phones. In this case lower is better since 700-MHz signals propagate better, spreading farther and penetrating buildings more easily than higher frequencies. This greater range means that each 700-MHz cellular antenna can service a larger footprint, which means fewer cells (those interlocking service areas that a “cellular” network is made up of) will be required overall. That should, theoretically, make it cheaper—$5 billion cheaper according to some estimates—to build a national wireless network.
A friend just forwarded me a rather cool use of Halo 3's Forge editing environment - a self-portrait! Keep looking at it if you don't see it at first - it sometimes helps if click on the image and look at it in a larger form.
Some comments from the author's post:
I wanted to approach this with a completely different technique. I was thinking that an image could be created if objects were placed in the foreground, middle ground and background and then viewed from a specific area that would converge the objects to make the image. If done correctly, the image would appear vertical and 3D as opposed to lying on the ground.
I decided to try this by doing a self portrait. The face would be made using facial shadows. The forge objects (vehicles, boxes, weapons, etc) would create those shadows. The sand environment would be the negative space between (the flesh of the face). It ended up working out pretty well. The tough thing was positioning the objects so that the face maintained the correct proportions. For example, the mouth is about 100 yards away from the eyes, but it looks proportionately correct. Once I had all the objects placed (which took a while) and had my viewing location marked, the objects converged together and made the image. The cool thing is that the image begins to break apart once the player starts moving in any direction. Also, the foreground, middle and background perspective technique makes it to where I could distort the image itself based on how I move. For fun, I viewed the face from a gravity lift and watched the face scrutch up and stretch out.
This is just one of the coolest things I've seen in a while - some clever folks ported the ScummVM over to the iPhone, taking advantage of multi-touch support to deliver a perfect playable experience of classic LucasArts adventure games!
ScummVM fully supports multi-touch to simulate the behaviour of the mouse using gestures. With a single tap you left click, but for a right click you hold one finger and tap with another. To toggle click and drag, which is necessary in some games like Monkey Island 3, you "hold one finger on screen, swipe another up from bottom to top." Then you can drag something, lift your finger to drop it and it will automatically switch back to normal. Quite ingenious and easy.
Fully supported games
Day of the Tentacle (a must)
The Dig
Flight of the Amazon Queen
Full Throttle
Gobliiins
Gobliins 2
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (a must too)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (this one too)
King's Quest 3
Loom
Maniac Mansion
Monkey Island 1: The Secret of Monkey Island (best game ever)
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (ok, maybe this is the best game ever)
Sam & Max Hit the Road (another must-have)
Simon the Sorcerer 1
Simon the Sorcerer 2
Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders
Obviously this is likely not sanctioned by LucasArts, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the site disappear in a while. But it's my personal hope that it might help show interest in some of these classics... wouldn't it rock to get these as downloadable games on Arcade, for example? With Achievements? One can hope! (And no, this isn't any sort of hinting - I'd just love to see them!)
Just thought the article and picture was cool - love these sorts of things. In a likely-futile attempt to make this post game-related, I'll say it reminds me a bit of the German U-Boat you find early in Uncharted: Drake's Odyssey (which I'm enjoying quite a lot!)
Just wanted to point anyone who might be interested to a Seattle-area Halo 3 charity launch event. It's being pulled together by a good friend and coworker of mine Scott Henson (Gamertag: Bear), and is a great way to get that Halo 3 loving feeling going all over again! :)
Major Nelson has all the details, and I'll snip some details and post below. Thanks for reading!
You don't have to wait in line to get your copy of Halo 3 at midnight. Through our partnership with the local Circuit City, we will be able to make copies available at midnight at the party. Play for hours at the party, pick up your copy there and keep playing all night long!
Scott says he will have some of the coolest raffle prizes (and everyone who registers gets 2 entries into the raffle (worth $20). In there you will see 3 legendary editions of Halo 3, 3 Halo 3 wireless headsets, 3 signed copies of signed copies of Ghost of Onyx by the author, one of a kind hoodies that only celebrities like have received, concept art for the packaging, and more.
Saw this article on Slashdot that highlights some research showing that Liberal and Conservative brains process information differently. Admittedly, it's a "duh" finding (similar to the study last week that found that men found attractive women more appealing - surprise!) But it's interesting to see the testing and the results. Quick quote from the Slashdot summary:
This new study finds that the differences are apparent even when the brain processes common information, not just political topics. From the study, liberals were more likely to be accurate and showed more brain activity in the region associated with analyzing conflicts. A researcher not affiliated with the study stated, liberals 'could be expected to more readily accept new social, scientific or religious ideas.' Moreover, 'the results could explain why President Bush demonstrated a single-minded commitment to the Iraq war and why some people perceived Sen. John F. Kerry... as a flip-flopper.'
Please read the article for all the details - not trying to make any sort of political statement here, just using the Slashdot summary as it boiled down the main findings.
Full props to Jerry at Penny Arcade for pointing it out, but you must go watch this new Escapist feature called Zero Punctuation. It's a commentary on the recently released Heavenly Sword demo for PS3, and is quite sincerely the funniest thing I've seen in years. I kid you not, I spit coffee on my monitor this morning laughing! Check it out!
[Edit: Found that the creator had done several other videos before being picked up by the Escapist. You can find them here.]
Was just sent this article from PC World highlighting some of the strangest things people have found in Google Earth's satellite images. The huge rabbit is cute, but the elephant and camel shots are amazing in their detail. My favorite, though, probably is the landscape formation that appears to show an Indian listening to an iPod. 
Anyone know if there are similar images or articles from other satellite imagery sites such as Microsoft's? Just curious if the different database sets = different finds.
Had a couple of folks who were curious how I found that Inversed Earth image; it's not the sort of thing you generally come across surfing the web. Simply put, I'd been pointed to a great blog called thought bucket, run by a gentleman named Jack Turner. I don't know him, but I've enjoyed the random, eclectic collection of things he's posted. Check it out!
Deep thought for the day: In the future you already finished reading this sentence.
Just thought this was pretty darn cool. It's a vision of a reversed Earth (with land being water, and vice-versa) from a design group called VladStudio. Hit the link if you want different-sized wallpapers of it (though some of the higher-res ones require payment).
Had a few good parodies sent my way recently - both from Sarcastic Gamer, interestingly enough.
First is a great take on the Microsoft Surface announcement:
[YouTube:CZrr7AZ9nCY]
And another takes on the Wii Fit board:
[YouTube:_iYBmAVuBns]
Enjoy!
I like Halo. That's probably not a shock to anyone - in fact, you probably expect a love of Halo to be a part of the Microsoft indoctrination process. That said, I really do like Halo, even without the brainwashing. I'm not a big fan of the multiplayer (I know, I know - heresy!), but I love the story and Halo mythology. There's just something epic about the Forerunners and the hints you glean about them as you play the game that's completely hooked me, and I'm looking forward to finishing the story arc with Halo 3.
The game isn't perfect. In fact, I'll expose myself to the Microsoft snipers and say that in many ways Halo is over-rated. The weapons are good, but nothing mind-blowing. Gameplay is a lot of fun (and extremely well-balanced), but man... can it be repetitive! I just finished replaying Halo 2 (on Windows) and was reminded of this when I went through the umpteenth cloned hallway and walked through nigh-infinite series of ambushes. <sigh> And for the sake of not breaking my keyboard against the wall, I won't even mention Halo 2's non-ending.
All that said, probably the most frustrating aspect of Halo for me is the wonky audio mixing. As I said, I just played the single player game of Halo 2 through to remind myself of the story and try and catch aspects I'd missed before. Unfortunately, even the second time through there are many places where Cortana tries to speak but you can't hear her clearly, or one of the sentinels (Penitent Tangent in Halo 2) hints at backstory but you just can't catch it. It's incredibly frustrating, but luckily someone pointed out a great Halo Universe "bible" that you can read to get a great summary - including integrated details from the novels.
Take a read if you've never "gotten" the Halo mythology. And do check out the games if you haven't... they're a ton of fun, especially co-op. Frankly, the most fun I've ever had on a console was playing through Halo 1 and Halo 2 on the Xbox with a friend on the couch. Good times!
I wrote earlier about Ubisoft's remake of the classic Prince of Persia by Jordan Mechner. Downloaded it last night, and it's fantastic, especially if you remember playing the original for many misspent hours of your youth. I just came across a great video on Gametrailers.com which shows off differences between the PC, Genesis, and Xbox Live Arcade versions - good for a trip down memory lane.
Also of interest is the rumor (which I can't find right now) that Jordan is working on another side-scroller for next year. Karateka, anyone?
[Edit: Just read through the whole Wikipedia article on Karateka and came across this gem:
The Apple II version came on one apparently single-sided disk. As an easter egg, a second version of the game was placed on the flip side of the disk. If one put the disk into the drive upside-down, the game played identically to the first side, except that the game was displayed vertically flipped. According to Mechner, this was done as a joke, causing naive users to call tech support and ask why the game was upside-down. Invariably, they would receive the reply, "take the disk out, insert it right-side up, and reboot".
Mr. Mechner has just leapt to the top of my personal game god pantheon.]
Just came across a great post from Wired highlighting some of the lost arcade games of the USSR. I'm an old arcade guy. Back in the day I had a paper route solely for the ability to go collect on bills and get just enough to go and play at the arcade all weekend. Some of these games would have never passed muster, but they're fascinating to see!
I also apologize for the lack of meaty posts recently. There's been a lot of stuff happening both inside and outside of work, and frankly, by the time I get back home and take the dogs out I'm pretty much done for the day. Hopefully things will get to a more even keel soon.
My favorite game has to be the first one shows - OBGON. To quote:
Driving games make up a large proportion of Soviet-made video games. The title of this one, Obgon, means to "pass" or "overtake." There is a single pedal on the floor to accelerate. Soviet driving games did not offer gearshifts or brake pedals.
Came across this great spoof of the old Interactive Fiction games (aka Text Adventures). In this case the writer sends up Zork (and the IF genre in general) beautifully. Check it out if you have any memories of that golden era and want to relive your glory days. I did. 
Microsoft just announced some cool new technology - basically a table-sized, multi-touch input display with intuitive UI. The videos are great - I love how the table reacts when drinks are placed on it. And I'm already imagining the interesting social/trivia games you could create in a bar - imagine SceneIt! with a team at every table.
No idea how much it costs, but I'd guess this it likely targeted at "professional" applications like bar surfaces or hotel guides... at least for now. But five or ten years from now? I may be looking at my new coffee table (and music/media interface!)
[YouTube:IqVNAnuQQyg]
It's interesting to see how many folks ask me if my choice of "Ozymandias" as my gamertag or domain name refers to the Watchmen character. In actuality, I'm a reformed ex-English major and I was originally drawn to the poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley - it appears that poem, in turn, inspired the creators of Watchmen (and for good reason).
I registered the domain in 1997 - almost the pre-history of the internet, really. I'm actually quite glad I did as it's amazing to see how many other people use Ozymandias as a nom de plume today - there are something like 10 "Ozymandias" variants for Gamertags alone on LIVE, and what appear to be hundreds of other similar screen names across the net.
Anyway, today I realized I had never posted or linked to the original poem. Hope you take a moment to read and enjoy it!
Ozymandias
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
David Becker of Wired posted some of the lamest technology mascots of all time. To quote:
Creatures such as Tux the penguin have become bizarrely treasured icons, while others, such as recent roadside-autopsy subject Jeeves, are better off in the hereafter. And some, such as the freakishly terrifying jester touting Adobe's new Creative Suite 3, are an indication that vector-based illustration software should probably come with consumer warning labels, just like those found on drugs, circular saws and guns. From the charmingly pixelated to the hideously misguided, join us on a tour of the good, the bad and the ridiculously lame of technology mascots.
Clippy is a natural, but I have to say my favorite is Apple's Clarus the Dogcow:
Apple introduced this comically bitmapped mammal in 1983 as a way to show paper orientation before printing. The unholy hybrid has since inspired a loyal cult following with numerous web shrines, movies and signature cries of "Moof!"
Go Dogcow!
Wanted to point you to some interesting new Microsoft technology - a high-capacity color barcode that can hold up to 3,500 characters of information. The BBC has a good summary, but I'll give you a quick quote here:
The code is made up of up to eight-different coloured triangles which are aligned left to right with each shape placed from point to base or vice versa.
That combination of colours and orientation of the triangles creates distinct patterns which can be read by piece of software which deciphers the data.
ISAN, the voluntary numbering system for the identification of audiovisual works, is the first organisation to license the technology.
By the end of the year the colour barcodes will appear on DVD disks and on Xbox 360 videogames.
Up to 3,500 characters of information can be held in the code.
Because the barcode can be read by mobile phone cameras it can be used to connect the packaging to the online world.
What's interesting about this is it's a way to tie physical objects to your online world. Nintendo has done similar things before with the Game Boy Advance e-Reader that allowed you to scan barcodes (which in turn unlocked game content). What's different about this new barcode is that we can store a lot more information (almost 3.5 Kb of data), and you won't necessarily need special hardware to read the code. A simple cell phone picture uploaded to the LIVE cloud might be all it takes to enable all sorts of new game scenarios.
You can imagine rare objects or limited edition content that comes with your game (with one-time use codes). Or games that allow you to trade physical objects but be able to take advantage of them in game scenarios. I love that the sample art is of Viva Pinata - imagine getting rare pinatas and trading them across LIVE.
I know there have been variants of this concept before, but I'm hoping a combination of the amount of data that can be stored and the ubiquity of connected devices like cell phones means this actually takes off and enables some new game scenarios. Oh, and don't mistake the data size as being too small - you're not going to be storing huge textures in that, but developers are very familiar with tokenizing their data and you'd be surprised how much you can do in ~3.5 Kb.
Just had to share, especially as a co-worker forward it along with the following embedded image:
My favorite quote?
Each Achievement earns you a little icon and a number of points to add to your Gamerscore, which is visible to everyone on Xbox Live.
So, in essence, a Gamerscore is a numeric indicator of how you've squandered your life. When you're on your deathbed, instead of having to agonize over each poor choice and missed opportunity in your life, you can just check your Gamerscore. "199,970 points," you'll scream, gripping the bed frame with the last of your strength. "I lived a hollow pastiche of an existence!"
Of course, at the same time you'll be wishing you'd fixed 50 zippers in Sewing Cop 4023, because then you'd have an even 200 grand. Such is the honeyed agony of Gamerscore.
Sony is threatening to go one further with the game awards on the PlayStation 3. The awards will take the form of virtual trophies you can put on your shelves in your online 3-D gamer home.
So, follow along here: There's going to be an imaginary world in which I have an imaginary house where I will put the imaginary awards I won performing imaginary tasks as an imaginary person in a completely different imaginary world. So if you're wondering what separates a hobby from psychosis, the answer is "about 600 bucks."
Just saw a quick article over on Kotaku about a guy (apparently named The Amazing Rolo) who modded a Wii remote to allow him to playback, control, and manipulate music in real-time. Completely useless to the vast majority of people, but it's super cool to see the innovation that's coming out of that little white controller. Well worth watching the whole clip!
[YouTube:4tmtshJ72R0]
First, a hand drawn Myst map. Spent way too much time in this world - probably one of the last, great, classic adventure games.
And then a map I've never seen before - an incredible map/poster of Zork II. I'd kill to have a copy to frame and hang on the wall, but it looks like I'm about 20 years too late. Anyone have any leads on finding this? I'll be forever grateful!
Just came across this NeoGAF forum thread and had to point you to it to see some cool adventure game maps. You probably won't care unless you're an oldschool gamer who remembers trying to map out that #!$!% maze in Zork 1 by hand, but these brought a smile to my face. The Zelda map is amazing, and of course, I have to print the Zork map below as it's the sole reason I learned to type.
Yes, said tongue in cheek, of course! But I had to share a picture sent to me by InformationHigh:
According to this thread, some guy's window is warped in such a way that at a certain time of day it reflects the light to create the above image. Not going to pretend there's any meaning beyond that, but it's pretty cool. Check out the thread if you want to see images of the window itself.
In the tradition of ongoing random posts upon almost any subject, today I bring you a funny commentary on email management. As you might imagine Microsoft is a very heavily email-driven company - I easily average 400-500 new messages a day (although some are from various distribution lists I'm on). And I'm certainly not the only one. Anyway, every now and then we see tips and tricks on managing your inbox. I just had to share this latest sendup on a proposed 12-step Email Addiction program - beautiful, funny, and so true!
For what it's worth, I'll share the only two tips that ever actually helped me personally:
Article begins:
Hi, my name is Paul and I am an e-mail addict.
Reuters this afternoon brings us news that an executive coach named Marsha Egan has devised a 12-step program to treat e-mail addiction.
Let's just say I am unimpressed.
1. Admit that e-mail is managing you. Let go of your need to check e-mail every ten minutes.
Where are those Guinness guys from the TV commercials when you need them? Brilliant! I'll just "let go" of my need to check e-mail every 10 minutes (if only I could wait 10 minutes) and there will be no need at all for the next 11 steps. Brilliant!
2. Commit to keeping your inbox empty.
What am I missing? I'm already committed to keeping my inbox empty. I'm so committed to keeping my inbox empty that I'm checking my e-mail more often than hibernating animals breathe. I don't need more commitment. I need to be committed.
3. Create files where you can put inbox material that needs to be acted on.
Oh, that old chestnut. Files, files, files. The only file that might do me any good is the deleted file ... and even then it would have to be set to be automatically emptied every 10 minutes.
4. Make broad headings for your filing system so that you have to spend less time looking for filed material.
Seriously, someone pour me a drink or I'll never get through these 12 steps. The only file that's a problem is my inbox. Does anyone advise an alcoholic to do a better job of filing their booze?
5. Deal immediately with any e-mail that can be handled in two minutes or less but create a file for mails that will take longer.
Again with the files. And two minutes or less? Practically all of my e-mail can be dealt with in two minutes or less. The problem is that I'm checking it every two minutes or less.
6. Set a target date to empty your inbox. Don't spend more than an hour at a time doing it.
Didn't we already empty the inbox in step No. 2? Maybe I just wasn't cut out for this 12-step business.
7. Turn off automatic send/receive.
So you mean I'll have to click an extra button to check my e-mail? Not exactly a straight-jacket, now is it. I'm an addict, I'll click the bloody button. ... Next?
8. Establish regular times to review your e-mail.
I already have regular times, they're just a bit more regular than I would be considered sane. ... C'mon, c'mon, I've e-mail to check.
9. Involve others in conquering your addiction.
Any volunteers? Want to manage my inbox for me? ... No, I was just kidding; hands off.
10. Reduce the amount of e-mail you receive.
OK, I'll try. ... Would everybody please send me less e-mail? ... (Now I have to go see if that worked.)
11. Save time by using only one subject per e-mail; delete extra comments from forwarded e-mail, and make the subject line detailed.
Personally, I don't even understand the first part of that. And the second and third would seem to require more not less of my time.
12. Celebrate taking a new approach to e-mail.
Can I go check it now?
With full credit to Kim Pallister's blog for pointing it out, I wanted to share a great video that summarizes the evolution of the web and explains quite succinctly what all this "Web 2.0" stuff is about. Web 2.0 is a pretty over-burdened phrase these days, to the point where it's almost assumed to be a buzzword. Spend a minute and watch... I think you'll see there's some substance here.
[YouTube:6gmP4nk0EOE]
The big change is just as the video says: we're moving to a world where data is no longer tied to form and structure, and can be used in ways never before intended. You've all seen Google Maps mashups, right? That's just the tip of the iceberg. Think about what starts happening when "Web 2.0" concepts become a part of your gaming world. Imagine a world where tips to the section of the game you're playing are a button-press away, thanks to the game exposing metadata about where you are. What if you as users were creating that content? Or imagine being able to find interesting "content" (purposely using a very general word here) based upon ratings and rankings of your peers? And what happens when you add in the ability to rank and rate the feedback of those peers, and hence get a better sense of the value of the contributors opinion?
There will be some rough spots (as Penny Arcade so aptly captures below), but on the whole I'm super-excited about the next five years as we look ahead at bringing gaming and gaming features to the online community. Live Anywhere is just the tip of the iceberg....
All games have bugs - that's pretty much the reality of things. But sometimes people take those bugs and create something that's pretty darned funny. A guy named Cabel posted a mashup he did of some Saints Row bugs he experienced and a musical that he wrote and performed. You have to see this even if you're not a gaming fan - really funny stuff! (And be sure to listen to the lyrics!)
[YouTube:9l_YN-yRCVY]
Here's hoping we see more quality spoofs like this!
Just wanted to share a cool little web script with you called Andromeda, by Turnstyle Software. This script allows you to set up a personal web server to stream your music library to any web-connected device. I use it to access my music from whatever internet-connected PC I happen to be working on.
What's really slick about Andromeda is that it parses your music directory structure and displays a simple menu to let you navigate your library, play albums or tracks, or even create playlists. I used to use this back in California with compressed music files (due to my limited upstream bandwidth). Thanks to a higher upstream, I'm now able to stream my lossless music. Very cool - check it out if you have a chance!
Oh, and you may also find Turnstyle's Bitty Browser interesting if you end up using Andromeda. It's described as picture-in-picture for the web. I think of it as a great Live.com gadget that allows me to access my music from my home page. (Just wish Live.com worked with Safari on the Mac, but that's a whole other story.)
[Edit: Resized image to fit the page better.]
Found an interesting article over on Wired about a gentlemen who is seeking to expose fraudulent psychics. Quick quote:
A skeptic since his teen years, Randi launched his challenge in 1964, after growing outraged with fake mediums and fortunetellers using simple conjurers' tricks to prey on the public. A challenge was an efficient alternative to trying to prove a negative: Instead of traveling the world investigating and debunking miracle workers one-by-one, an unclaimed cash prize stands as a fact on the ground -- an immovable obstacle around which anyone purporting supernatural powers must eventually navigate.
What I love about this is that he's got a million dollars on the line, and is approaching this both scientifically and fairly. What that's done is drive the more famous "TV psychics" running, as it appears they would not be able to prove their claimed abilities. Great angle, and I found it a fun read. Check it out if you've got nothing better to do!
... or at least my PC does. Just a quick post to point you toward the Electric Sheep screensaver. What's sort of cool about this is that you can vote on popular screensavers and have the "genes" of that saver influence future versions. To quote:
Electric Sheep is a free, open source screen saver run by thousands of people all over the world. It can be installed on any ordinary PC or Mac. When these computers "sleep", the screen saver comes on and the computers communicate with each other by the internet to share the work of creating morphing abstract animations known as "sheep". The result is a collective "android dream", an homage to Philip K. ***'s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
I came across this when looking for good, multi-screen screensavers for Windows. Found some great OS X screensavers while I was at it, but didn't have any luck on the Windows side (specifically, multi-screen). Anyone have any you particularly like?
As suspected, Apple announced their iPhone. More can be found at Engadget (including sexy picture) and other sources on the web. You guys know I'm also an Apple and OS X fan, and I have to say this is a pretty slick looking device. Lots of questions in my mind - the fact that it runs OS X makes it potentially interesting as a game platform though the hardware specs will help determine a lot there. I'd buy this tomorrow if it syncs email to an Exchange server as the Microsoft Smartphones do. Not clear whether it does or not - anyone know?
[Edit: My phone lust just got dampened by the price: $499 for the 4 GB, $599 for the 8 GB model. When will people learn that $600 is not the new $300? (Thinking consoles here, of course.) Lots of potential to the device, but is it worth as much as a PS3? (And I'm specifically talking about the PS3's hardware and future potential, of course - not the PS3 as it stands today.) I bet we'll see a $100 price drop by holiday.]
Lots of links, here's one from the local Seattle Times.
Ten million units sold wasn't a surprise, the holiday bump does wonders. It'll be interesting to see what sort of momentum that gives the system into next holiday. Holiday 2007 is where the great "war" will really be decided. That's when all the systems will be easy to find at retail, and the second to third generation of games (depending on system) will be showing off what they're capable of. It may come down to system exclusives, and those are getting rarer and rarer to find this generation.
I'm really looking forward to more details on the IPTV functionality being announced so we can have a real conversation about it. For now, just the potential of set top boxes being replaced by 360s that can both play games and act as a PVR has me salivating. I'm a tech geek, yes, but I'm not thrilled by the preponderence of boxes in my A/V stack. Would love to have a single box to tune digital TV, watch DVD/HD-DVD, and of course, play games. It's also interesting to think about what affect having a set top box that plays 360 games might have on traditional non-gamers. One can hope the box might act as a gateway - perhaps through Arcade - and allow people to try games who might not have otherwise.
And five million Live subscribers? What's to say? Over half of 360s are connected and online, compared to around 10% for the original Xbox. Whether or not you're a fan of online gaming, the ability to stay connected to the community and friends is huge in my book. And as you learn more about Live Anywhere, all of those connected people will become all the more valuable to you. It's going to be a fun year!
Just came across a great French Xbox 360 video - somehow missed this one earlier. Apologies if it's not new to you, but I thought it was worth sharing. Love that French quirkiness!
[YouTube:AYnFr_iU3ew]
