Month: April 2005

connected to star wars?

The flash map Wired has produced on the links into and around Star Wars movies is illuminating, especially as you start thinking about all the connections (e.g. games) they have not included in it. Seems we are all connected to SW, and is that just reflection on the overall ‘condition of connectedness’ we all live in? Story: How Star Wars Changed the World.

hi-quality mobile photography?

The future of mobile blogging is dependent on the quality of keyboard (do I want to type anything with this?), the quality of visual technology (do I want to photograph anything with this?), as well as on the speed and reliability of networks and overall ease-of-use of the service. There are many things current generations of gadgets and services can do, but none can yet do all necessary things right at the same time. My inspiration? Reading and looking at the direction Nokia is going with their latest N90 model. Story: New Nokia boasts Carl Zeiss lens: Digital Photography Review.

virtual property, the next phase?

While I am debating with my calendar about the time games and virtual worlds can take, on top of all professional time spent thinking about concepts like ‘game contract’ or ‘immersion’, I notice that some actually find time to debate them, too. The Terra Nova bunch recently went berserk with the announcement of Sony Station Exchange, sort of “Sony eBay” for player-created content. Just look.

elegy to consoles of the past

gamegrrl advance had this link to funny and touching video, lovingly designed to pay homage to the consoles of the past, fighting against the rising dominion of PSP-type ‘convergence device’. Oh dear… Someone can really love these old pieces of plastic. (Choose: New Game in the start.)

no sleep until vancouver

I feel slightly drunk. The consequence of chronic lack of sleep in this case, rather than merry life, it nevertheless has some uplifting potentials. Last days and nights have been marked by the proximity of DiGRA 2005 full paper deadline, which was finally passed last night. Despite all advance planning, there is always rush and hurry at the final hours. In this case there was also the coincidence with the reviews of ACE 2005 coming within the same hours, people puzzling over where to submit and where to withdraw. Seven people from our lab will fly over the Atlantic for several days, which is a sizable investment of course, but I trust it will be worth it. Not everything will be on everyone’s key interests, but I am looking forward to several sessions, already.

There has been something wrong with Bloglines today. I can see in my Notifier over hundred new posts, but I cannot access them. The service won’t accept my password, and while I tried ‘recover password’ function I get two messages, the first one saying that I had entered incorrect email address, and the second one claiming that the password has been emailed to my email address. Huh??

animal crossing and spring potatoes

This weekend has proved finally to me too the addictive powers of Animal Crossing by Nintendo. Discussing with cute (or irritating, depending on your view) little animals in a colourful little town that you learn to know and which learns to know you, decidedly carries much charm. In terms of addiction creating qualities, AC:

  • is easily accessible, yet immediately rewarding
  • provides a form of personalised content and characters which you form personal relationships with
  • is endless in offering new upgrades or extensions into your house, clothing, fashion designs, insect & fossil collections and so on.

This last part got me thinking about the similarities of this game with so-called real life. You all have seen how people spend their free times acquiring, fixing and maintaining their houses, cars, clothes and other belongings, while their working days are providing money to get more of those things. AC is one of those games that nicely captures the endless and addictive character of our lives as consumers: running around in our little errands, trying to get the new parasol with the design of this summer’s fashion. There is something deeply rewarding and even instinctual in all this; maybe some kind of echo from our hunter-gatherer days?

Btw – Nikon has been promising a late April release of an upgrade for D70, as well as an entry level digital SLR (D50?) So, I might wait until May to see the situation before getting my new system.

Tried to shoot some extra-close details shots of earth, sand etc. today, but Ixus and its optics just cannot handle so close macro work. Particularly the auto-focus did not work at that range. Well, here are some Easter-time pictures instead: the first spring potatoes and the first spring beers in a (freezing!) terrace by our merry hyperlab group.