On Game Design
Guardian has a fun interview with MUD creator Richard Bartle.
My stance on MMORPGs: The fun is in the fluctuation from the baseline, but in my experience the more you play the closer you approach that line and the fun disappears into the baseline meta-MMORPG.
That said, you can draw out the life of the fluctuation with the social aspect for something approaching infinity. I am probably different from 95% of players out there, but I would just rather move into a new game at that point.
(I am my own avatar, if the big thinking -fluctuation/fun- part of the game is over, I move on instead of concentrating on incremental dominance for an e-avatar.)
Review: Islands In The Net
Good book with some minor stumbles (this is 1988 Bruce Sterling). He managed to piece together a worldview that makes a lot of sense 20 years later. The private sector bypassing the public was fun. Especially liked the focus on micropowers and their muddled role in a globalized world.
Oh, and Colonel Jonathan Gresham and his seminal book The Lawrence Doctrine and Postindustrial Insurgency is close to all of our hearts, whether we know it or not.
I’ve been trying to go back and and catch up on cyberpunk.Working through Stephenson’s Snow Crash and Sterling’s Distraction tomorrow. Suggestions are always welcome.
TSA + Ipod Charger
Damon has a funny story regarding an Ipod charger he hacked together and a plane.
A handful of people with no knowledge of physics, engineering, or pyrotechnics are responsible for determining what is and what is not safe to bring on a plane. They’re paid minimum wage and told to panic if they see something they don’t recognize.
So the TSA finally let me onto my flight with the two devices they told me they weren’t going to let me take on my flight. They told me the device looked like an I.E.D., then let me on the plane with it.
Review: Transformers
Agree with Phil on this one: Fun well done action flick with lots of laughs and eye candy.
Geography Of Cybercrime
Forbes – In order, based on a 19,000 sample study based on source language:
- US – 35%
- China-30%
- Brazil – 14.2%
- Russia – 4.1%
- Sweden – 3.8%
- Ukraine – 3.4%
- UK + India – 1.3%
- Germany – 1%