Inside The Matrix

Look closely.
That's Ted right there in the suit, looking like the 4th member of the bumbling nihilist kidnappers in Big Lebowski.

Here's the article. (En francais.)

Smack Those Bitches Up

First, fake blond is fake blond, and if the fashion police doesn't stop all you black-haired wannabes for that, they need to reassess their priorities.

In a hundred years from now, will Iran have benefited from an image-obsessed, materialistic, "individualistic" Western fashion culture? Not so sure.

I don't, by any means, champion the restriction of self-expression in any way, but I can understand the goals of the spiritual and social leaders in Iran. Let's just say, though I don't support the method, I think they have a point.

NO ONE needs to spend as much money as we do on our appearance. In fact, in this obsession with our bodies as the sign-post for all that we are, we have subverted many real attempts to express that which is truly unique and worthwhile in each of us.

There are plenty of feminists who decry the image-obsession of Western culture. But they do have other ways to draw attention to their individuality and ideas.

I would still interpret this as evidence of an anachronistic mentality running scared. Keep running.

Gaming Game Economics

There's a lot of talk around the SWI cooler about incentivizing gaming fun through the economic system. Great idea!

(It'd be awesome if RL economists were thinking like that, btw.)

There are a lot of unforseen problems, because it's almost impossible to project some factor for the desirability of a particular in-game tool/toy.

That, and they rarely do the math.

Damion Schubert has an excellent and straightforward example of what NOT to do to your players. (In language for all us non-economists.)

Choice Is Not An Illusion

But the illusion of choice is the best tool of control ever used by man.

In honor of The (Noble) Lie (not this one, this one) I've decided to found the Don't Vote campaign.

As a side note: I just checked the availability of the URL "dontvote.com" - see the redirection for yourself; and as a perfect complement, check the price of the closest alternatives.

This one goes out to all you Sunday afternoon conspiracy theorists, and others who believe that what They tell you isn't necessarily True (and by "true" I mean...)




It's just a game.

Games For Good

More proof that gaming is good for the world!

The World Food Program of the UN launched a vocabulary game in October that buys grains of rice for the people who need it.

It's called Free Rice.They've generated enough to feed 50,000 people for a day, or 1bn grains of rice. (In the amount of time I played - like, 30 seconds - I donated 150 grains of rice!)

This is just the beginning of what game interfaces/strategies can do for the world.

I'm still waiting for:
Love World - the game that teaches you how to fall in love
Peace World - the game that teaches world leaders how to use diplomacy and growth-oriented economics to resolve disputes in a multilateral political universe
Kid World - the game that teaches over-35s to relate to people under the age of 18, especially tools for exercising authority without manipulation, respecting the tastes and ideas of the youth; includes a Mentoring expansion pack
Poverty World - the game that teaches you how to live on less than $1 a day
Tolerance World - the game that teaches you how to cooperate with people who fiercely oppose all of your most deeply-held values
No(Wo)Mans World - the game where gender and sexual preferences are obsolete and roles are irrelevant

Against All Odds

Proof that the future of media is gaming. Even the UN is getting into it!I always wanted to be a refugee!