Friday the Ninth of May, 2008

The Naked Game
"What you are seeing is a primitive version of 'Pong', being played by two artificial intelligences, with the entire code governing the mechanics of the game exposed below it. [You] can remove lines of code and see the effects in real time." (filed under: art mutation programming) (via: grandtextauto)
Glanced at: Gold Farmers • The GITS Blog >> Translating maru batsu into English • John Resig - Processing.js • Play Chronotron, a free online game on Kongregate • Graffletopia • 793.5 - Rob Fulop >> Actionauts FAQ • 793.5 - Rob Fulop >> Blog Archive >> Killing Ones Children - lessons from Fathom • Microtrends: Hyperediting - Times Online • Nazi Air Marker Hoax • BBC NEWS | Magazine | Bust-up with the boss? • GreenPIX: Home • Chris Harrison - Web Trigrams Visualization
Recently listened to:
King Of Hi-Vis Half Man Half Biscuit
Totnes Bickering Fair Half Man Half Biscuit
Blue badge abuser Half Man Half Biscuit
Ode To Joyce Half Man Half Biscuit
Took Problem Chimp To Ideal Home Show Half Man Half Biscuit
Bad Losers on Yahoo Chess Half Man Half Biscuit
I Am A Cider Drinker British Sea Power
Song of Our Despair Circulus
Dragon's Dance Circulus
Proof I Am Kloot

Thursday the Eighth

SkeptoBot: Time-lapse Vid of Dissolving an Oyster Card in acetone (aka nail varnish)
"So tomorrow morning I'll attempt to use this naked oyster card to journey to work. If I'm successful (and not arrested for terrorism) I'll have to decide what my new oyster card will be." (filed under: hacking london science technology transport) (via: lmg)
The Independent Gaming Source : Procedural Generation
"The focus of this competition is to develop a 4-week game that uses PCG to create compelling, new content every time the player starts a game." (filed under: design games todo) (via: zarba)
Psychology of Intelligence Analysis — Central Intelligence Agency
"Intelligence analysts should be self-conscious about their reasoning processes. They should think about how they make judgments and reach conclusions, not just about the judgments and conclusions themselves." (filed under: books psychology surveillance) (via: mindhacks)
Stage 162008-04-27 Peckham (Old Kent Road), mural 2Glanced at: Rockstar wants to know: what's wrong with America? - Joystiq • CCB / Archive / Charlie vs Casualty • Controlling Traffic Lights (Comments) • A ritual crossing • ITV fined record 5.675m over phone-ins | Media | guardian.co.uk • Jewish Currents: Resisting Authority: A Personal Account of the Milgram Obedience Experiments • YouTube - Charting the Uncanny Valley: Introduction. Part 1 of 7 • A Softer World: 302 • Flex.org - Rich Internet Applications, Rapid Web Application Development, Open Source Flex, Open Source Flash, Adobe Flex, Flex 2, Flex 3 • GameSpot Forums - Grand Theft Auto IV - Help on "Snow Storm" • Meatwater | High Efficiency Survival Beverage • Skills for Men - Things Men Should Be Able to Do - Esquire • Random Etc. - Visualizing Urban Data: A Journey Through Oakland Crimespotting • Trulia Hindsight >> Maps of Properties Through Time • Dymaxion map - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wednesday the Seventh

Use My Photo? Not Without Permission - New York Times
"Her image is accompanied by a mocking slogan - according to the ad, Alison is the kind of loser 'pen friend' whom subscribers will finally be able to 'dump' when they get a cellphone." The perils of commercial-with-attribution creative commons. (filed under: advertising photos)
TerritoryGlanced at: Crawl of the Dead - UK Zombies needed for a new Channel 4 programme! • Better World Books • BBC iPlayer - Radio • Flu Camp | Welcome • Suspicious Package Industry Falls On Hard Times | The Onion - America's Finest News Source • GTAIV Budget Tops Gaming Records | Game | Life from Wired.com • Gamasutra - Persuasive Games: Texture • Speechification: Robbie Williams And Jon Ronson Journey To The Other Side

Friday the Second

Ballardian: the World of J.G. Ballard >> Indexed out of existence...
"Whether in fact this man was a returning astronaut suffering from amnesia, the figment of an ill-organized advertising campaign, or, as some have suggested, the second coming of Christ, is anyone's guess." (filed under: advertising ballard books illusions)
Space InvaderGlanced at: GTA IV to allow real-world music downloads with Amazon - Joystiq • Shattered Suns - Sci Fi Real-Time Strategy (RTS) Game Set in Space with True 3D Battles, Space Ships, Space Stations, and Orbiting Planets and Moons • Tabula Rasa: Tabula Rasa Offers Free Re-Enlistment Week • Main Page - TextAdventure • No bones about it, these skulls are different | Art & Architecture | guardian.co.uk Arts • Brainstock -> Singing at Blackmore • Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, NZ - Colossal Squid • ScreenLogger • Cleaning fluid link to gas suicides | World news | The Guardian • Free Comic Book Day May 3rd 2008

Thursday the First

Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360)Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360)
Strikingly good narrative - a lot of well-written dialogue, with different in-car conversations on the same theme when replaying a mission. Sympathetic and social characters, good physics, nice weather, fun multiplayer, and a lot of attention to detail. ***** (a video game, filed under: cities crime transport)
SubversiveCellar Children Act Like AnimalsHutGlanced at: Festo - AirJelly • Why alcohol makes us do stupid things - Telegraph • BBC NEWS | dot.life | A blog about technology from BBC News | Can a charity make file-sharing taboo? • BBC NEWS | dot.life | A blog about technology from BBC News | GTA - the outrage fades • Bad Science >> Pixie Dust helps man grow new finger • Wound healing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia • R Justin Stewart • vp_xp • Ned Batchelder: CSS Homer, animated

Monday the Twenty-Eighth of April

Richard Bartle: Gamers have won the battle against the censors | Technology | guardian.co.uk
"15 years from now, the prime minister of the day will have grown up playing computer games, just as 15 years ago we had the first prime minister to have grown up watching television, and 30 years ago to have grown up listening to the radio." (filed under: future games society)
Timeshift (Xbox 360)Timeshift (Xbox 360)
Nice time-slowing puzzles and breezily broken laws of physics, but it's largely just another evil-corporation shooter, and there's a shocking amount of die-and-reload for a game with a time-rewind mechanic. Were they afraid Prince of Persia would sue? *** (a video game, filed under: time)
SprigganGlanced at: Mezmer's Dictionary of Bad Psychology • glycon: Outbreak of Violets • Falindrome.com • Gamasutra - Ken Levine on BioShock's Narrative Drive

Sunday the Twenty-Seventh

Gin, Television, and Social Surplus - Here Comes Everybody
"'Where do people find the time?' That was her question. And I just kind of snapped. And I said, 'No one who works in TV gets to ask that question. You know where the time comes from. It comes from the cognitive surplus you've been masking for 50 years.'" (filed under: future society television time)
Chewing Gum ArtluggagesGlanced at: Pole-sitting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia • Speechification: Humphrey Lyttelton: The Pope of Radio 4 • Grumpy Gamer Kracken • The Independent | Will Self • scans_daily: Invisible Girls and Phantom Ladies: How far have we come?

Thursday the Twenty-Fourth

walkit.com - walking directions and maps
Generates walking routes within a few UK cities, optimising for low noise and air pollution. (filed under: cities london maps pollution travel walking) (via: diamond)
Pictures 4904 006Chewing Gum ArtGlanced at: Why PETA's $1 million prize for artificial meat won't do anything. - By Daniel Engber - Slate Magazine • Neil Gaiman - Neil Gaiman's Journal: Remembering Douglas #1 • http://www.bestiario.org/research/citydistances/ • YouTube - Black Balloons Energy Saving Campaign • Sky One is to remake Blake's 7 | Media | guardian.co.uk • Recorded crime falls by 12% | UK news | guardian.co.uk • YouTube - David Byrne Interview • ECNH - Dignity of creation • Kathryn Hughes: Today's rapid technological changes are strictly personal | Comment is free | The Guardian • OGC unveils new logo to red faces - Telegraph • How I reviewed 300 bad movies and earned $900 • Ben's chewing gum art, and one sculpture - a set on Flickr • Near Future Laboratory >> Blog Archive >> Pixel Pour • Chew by Numbers - Gum Art Kits • The Bowery Boys | New York City History: The history of New York City in video games • Blame It On The Voices: Chewing Gum Sculptures • TypeRacer

Wednesday the Twenty-Third

Open the Future: The Earth Will Be Just Fine, Thank You
"The grand myth of environmentalism is that it's all about saving the Earth. It's not. The Earth will be just fine. Environmentalism is all about saving ourselves." (filed under: future politics world) (via: jones)
Pixel Spoutradio for back upButterflyContainer CityGlanced at: BBC NEWS | Wales | North West Wales | Drunk Darth Vader's Jedi assault • INVDR • Masai return to their hunting grounds as tourism collapses - Africa, World - The Independent • Brazilian priest missing after balloon lift-off | World news | The Guardian • Scrambled Text | MetaFilter • CR Blog >> Blog Archive >> The Strange Art of Misery Lit • BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Al-Qaeda accuses Iran of 9/11 lie • BBC - Radio 4 - The Fall and Rise of the Bicycle - Africa, the Power of Two Wheels

Sunday the Twentieth

Whispers of War - The British World War II rumour campaign by Lee Richards
"The rumour he submitted to the UPC was sent for clearance to the Inter-Services Security Board (ISSB) who were responsible for clearing rumours and had power of veto over any of a military nature which might inadvertently be a real security risk." (filed under: history illusions lies memetics psychology war)
Sound-levels sign, Old Street, ShoreditchAlcove, Shunt VaultsGlanced at: YouTube - James Randi exposes Uri Geller and Peter Popoff • YouTube - Authors@Google: James Randi • holler lu lu on Vimeo

Friday the Eighteenth

Milliways: Infocom's Unreleased Sequel to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Waxy.org
"From an anonymous source close to the company, I've found myself in possession of the 'Infocom Drive' - a complete backup of Infocom's shared network drive from 1989." Including a playable snippet of a Guide sequel written, badly, by Michael Bywater. (filed under: business games history if)
Boris Poll Lead HalvedWishing TreeDon't messSculptureGlanced at: Conceptual Trends and Current Topics • The Blog of the American Chesterton Society: Looking for a Game of Gype? Head to London! • G.K.Chesterton Picture Archive • Iceland first to feel the blast of global cooling | Business | The Guardian • Water Cooler Games - Chris Crawford's Nine Breakthroughs • Pre-planted London window boxes and displays - Home • Cryptic Sea: Bob Loblaw Blob Blog • Coil • Gallery: BBC news in focus | Media | guardian.co.uk • BBC NEWS | UK | 'Youngest inventor' patents broom • Fun Forever - Luxury fun is affordable for everyone! >> Dont try this at home! • Camembert wars get dirty in fight for France's soul | World news | guardian.co.uk

Saturday the Twelfth

Numbers Station Bingo
A clear, steady voice reading out a stream of numbers and repeating them each time - it's obvious, in retrospect. This is a quick online version of a game that I'll be running at this week's Sandpit. (filed under: creations games mysteries radio secrets)
Crumpled rustParadise LostHairy Bob's CaveGlanced at: London Profiler • LT route numbering • Funny graffiti • Celebrity Heights - How tall are Celebrities • SoundManager 2: Javascript Sound for the Web • How To Make Noise Blocking Headphones (Technology: Gadgets) • Uncanny valley - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia • Raph's Website >> Measuring MMOs • Ballardian: the World of J.G. Ballard >> The Ballardian Primer: Surveillance Cameras

Thursday the Tenth

Lifemanship - Stephen PotterLifemanship - Stephen Potter
The targets are all straw men, when Potter's handing out the ammunition of intricately unrespondable-to put-downs, but it's a good document of dated class constraints and 1950s social mores. Some good social metagaming strategies. (a book, filed under: cheating games language psychology)
London House Price WarningGlanced at: 00064tr9 (JPEG Image, 600x450 pixels) • LA Observed: Expect more tpyos at Daily Journal * • Foul! - a set on Flickr • BlogNomic: Ascension Address • Kristine Lowe: Journalists take to blogging like ducks to tarmac • Zombie bread,come to eat the dead. | Funny and Extreme pictures • APOD: 2008 April 10 - Stickney Crater

Tuesday the Eighth

Intelligent paint turns roads pink in icy conditions - New Scientist Tech
"A new temperature-sensitive varnish developed by researchers at French company Eurovia can be applied to road surfaces to warn drivers about dangerous conditions." (filed under: ice paint technology travel) (via: infosthetics)
CarrionGlanced at: Beware the New New Thing - New York Times • 'Hoodies' were the scourge of Medieval London - Telegraph • Build the Village • Hide and Seek Sandpit >> Blog Archive >> Sandpit #3: Spying and Lying • GameSetWatch - GameSetFocusOn: How We Made GamePro Look A Bit Silly • UNHCR - Special Events • Literally unbelievable | Comment is free • Xbox 360: How to connect an Xbox 360 console to a Windows XP-based computer

Monday the Seventh

Ten Thousand Cents
"'Ten Thousand Cents' is a digital artwork that creates a representation of a $100 bill. Using a custom drawing tool, thousands of individuals working in isolation from one another painted a tiny part of the bill without knowledge of the overall task." (filed under: art money) (via: waxy)
Dead Rising (Xbox 360)Dead Rising (Xbox 360)
Trying to get back into this, as there's a lot to play with and a great atmosphere to do it in, but the utterly unforgiving save system is wearing me back down, with one false move or AI glitch wiping out half an hour of progress. *** (a video game, filed under: shopping zombies)
Hull20080319_1stEmp4Glanced at: all manner of distractions >> Blog Archive >> Solar, with lyrics • Queensway on Flickr - Photo Sharing! • Libraries \ Processing 1.0 (BETA) \ Processing 1.0 (BETA) • YouTube - Behind the Scenes with Bub • start [processinghacks.com] • Facebook PHP Api Performance by Elliott C. Back • Teatro Vivo • 5 Facebook Application Gotchas | 20bits • How To Set Up A Facebook RSS Feed Reader Application For Your Blog - Page 5 | HowtoForge - Linux Howtos and Tutorials • Kidnapping of Nicole Riche • ImageShack Starts Free BitTorrent Download Service | TorrentFreak • The Nation Abides < BravoNation • Op-Chart: Making Money Hand Over Fist - The New York Times • Play This Thing! | Game Reviews | Free Games | Independent Games | Game Culture

Wednesday the Second

Good News, Everyone! - rec.arts.int-fiction | Google Groups
An April 1st launch for a genuine MUD/Inform hybrid, with source code editable through a web interface. Adventures seem to run as separate "realms", into which you can throw any old Inform code, even a cut-and-pasted standalone adventure. Nicely done. (filed under: if todo) (via: grim)
Royal Mint Currency Redesign - The Designer
"I found the idea that members of the public could interact with the coins the most exciting aspect of this concept. It's easy to imagine the coins pushed around a school classroom table or fumbled around with on a bar." (filed under: design metal money) (via: tim)
Land of Green GingerOld Vending MachinesTowelsGlanced at: Speechification: Windy • Light My Fire - We sell fire • Office workers give away passwords for a cheap pen | The Register • Free Audio London Walks • YouTube - Battlefield Heroes Trailer • Gamasutra - EA Goes Free-To-Play: Battlefield Heroes' Producer Speaks • Games Inc. Will The Real Master Chief Please Stand Up - BusinessWeek • First of the New - FAQ's • Gamasutra - Fixing Online Gaming Idiocy: A Psychological Approach • Harmony 64 • Music Thing: Why do ice cream vans sound the way they do? • Audio Adventures: Ice Cream Van Music • SCR | KAZE TO DESKTOP • Welcome to Game Neverending • GNE Museum

Monday the Thirty-First of March

Cities for sale | Society | The Guardian
"[The Paradise Project] requires the first privatisation of a city centre anywhere in England. Liverpool city council has sanctioned the corporate enclosure of the 42-acre city-centre site, which encompasses 34 streets and a public park." (filed under: business cities future london shopping)
Al Jaffee - Mad magazine - Comics - Art - New York Times
"I have this idea, I think it’s a funny idea, but I know you’re not going to buy it. But I’m going to show it to you anyway. And you’re not going to buy it because it mutilates the magazine." (filed under: art comics history interviews) (via: waxy)
Park TunnelGlanced at: STATEMENT | Issue No.4, 2007 • YouTube - British Sea Power on Countryfile • LEGO Mario Pixel Art - Instructables - DIY, How To, craft, games • Whirled • Oceanic Airlines - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia • StrangeHarvest.com::Light Vessel Automata • Welcome to Mosaic Communications Corporation! • Fold-Ins, Past and Present - The New York Times

Sunday the Thirtieth

Take a walk in the park with Joseph Paxton
"But just imagine if Joseph Paxton was magically transported back from the past, and you could walk through [Crystal Palace] park with him. Wouldn't it be interesting to talk to him about his park? What would he think?" (filed under: architecture history)
AFP: Paris' latest star is no damp squid
"France's National Museum of Natural History on Tuesday unveiled the world's first 'plastinated' squid -- a 6.5-metre-long (21.25-feet) deep-sea beast donated by New Zealand and named in honour of a creature featuring in Maori legend." (filed under: paris plastic squid)
Don't Throw BottlesGlanced at: BrokenFunction.com • 28 Acts in 28 Minutes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia • GamePolitics.com >> Bar Trial Series • Brandon Bird: "Bad Day on the High Sea" • Griffin Technology: PowerMate • Arduino - HomePage • Daisy Chain Your Diggs

Saturday the Twenty-Ninth

The Great Tantra Challenge
Science versus black magic, live on television. "After nearly two hours, the anchor declared the tantrik’s failure. The tantrik, unwilling to admit defeat, tried the excuse that a very strong god whom Sanal might be worshipping obviously protected him." (filed under: india magic science television) (via: holly)
Shoreditch High Street bridgeGlanced at: 52 easy ways optimize your blog while on your coffee breakatJennifer Slegg - Search Engine Marketing Consultant • Zaratustra Productions - Alphabox • BBC - London - Travel - GB's largest crane helps build East London Line • Next steps | Transport for London • http://malinky.org/wikka.php?wakkaTannoyHijacking

Wednesday the Twenty-Sixth

UbuWeb Sound - Komar and Melamid & Dave Soldier - The People's Choice Music
"It can be shown that if there is no covariance - someone who dislikes bagpipes is as likely to hate elevator music as someone who despises the organ, for example - fewer than 200 individuals of the world's total population would enjoy this piece." (filed under: mp3s music science)
ShibbolethCrabNormanton ChurchGlanced at: ASCII by Jason Scott: The Tyranny of the Ratio • A11vsFootball.gif (GIF Image, 2363x1771 pixels) • Fibre - Case Study - Motorola 75th Anniversary Poster • Barcode-Sticker-O-Matic | Make QR Code Stickers • Barcode-Sticker-O-Matic | Make QR Code Stickers • Web Scout Online Entertainment and Culture - Los Angeles Times • Hide and Seek Sandpit >> Blog Archive >> They Tell Stories • Google Maps: A Drug Deal Caught From Every Angle • Badges for Yahoo! Pipes (Yahoo! Developer Network blog) • Medicine's Cutting Edge: Re-Growing Organs, The Future Is Here: Regenerative Powder, Ink Jet Heart Cells And Custom-Made Body Parts - CBS News • Mind Hacks: Little known, and even less forgiven

Monday the Twenty-Fourth

Is Online Marketing Making Kids Obese?
"Kentucky Fried Chicken used a high-pitched Mosquito tone, [audible] only to those with extremely undamaged hearing such as children, in its television ad." During the line they wanted kids to pay attention to, which they then pitched as a 'competition'. (filed under: advertising camrad ears food sound)
SlagWhitstable, KentDay 43Day 43Day 46Bad Sci-Fi Scrabbledsc_2356Glanced at: YouTube - KFC Mosquito Tone Commercial • Does a Moleskine notebook tell the truth? - International Herald Tribune • BBC NEWS | World | Europe | 'Hypnotist' thief hunted in Italy • Yellow Drum Machine | Let's Make Robots! • How to build your first robot | Let's Make Robots! • Agora Nomic • Rock Band meets iTunes, opens built-in music store • AlphaBounce - The infinite space and more with affinity

Saturday the Twenty-Second

Gilbert K. Chesterton - Orthodoxy
"If men loved Pimlico as mothers love children arbitrarily, because it is theirs, Pimlico in a year or two might be fairer than Florence. Some readers will say that this is a mere fantasy. I answer that this is the actual history of mankind." (filed under: cities future london writing)
Let's do itWaiting For The Train At Abbey RoadBlackheath swansGlanced at: Richard Feynman • The Internet? Bah! | Newsweek.com • Frequency of Occurrences of the Date of Easter over one Complete Gregorian Easter Cycle • News, TOUT-FAIT: The Marcel Duchamp Studies Online Journal • Google Static Maps API - Google Code • DVD Rewinder [dvdrew01] - $16.49 : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce • AME - Reflective Living

Thursday the Twentieth

Civic Heraldry of England and Wales - Greater London
"The ancient ship with its dragon's head prow points to some notable expedition by sea which is credited with having sailed up the Thames as far as Putney." (filed under: design history london)
Glanced at: Posterchild's Blade Diary - February 27th 2008 • Flickr: Photos tagged with anaglyph • McGeddon's Xbox 360 can blog • STARMEN.NET - MOTHER 2 / EarthBound Anti-Piracy Measures • The Boris Johnson Generator • Under London Bridge // Current TV UK • The Nine Billion Names of God • Paleo-Future: Australia Telecom's Broadband (Part 3, 1992) • FOXNews.com - Australian Man Gunned Down in Driveway by Killer Robot - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News • Bad Science >> Radio 4 History of Food Gurus • YouTube - The Crystal Cube 1/4 • Rath v Guardian News and Media Ltd & Anor [2008] EWHC 398 (QB) (05 March 2008) • Game Plan Energy Literacy • Fake. You Are Not Dead, A Guide To Modern Living.

Wednesday the Nineteenth

Hide and Seek Sandpit >> Blog Archive >> Sandpit #2 tonight
A quick plug for tonight's pervasive-game Sandpit, which has a theme of 'Listening'. Call-and-response animal noises, mind-reading pickpockets, synchronised MP3 dancing and feudal kazoo-playing. (filed under: events games london sound)
Glanced at: Sentient Developments: Seven ways to control the Galaxy with self-replicating probes -
This is an automatically reformatted view of my del.icio.us bookmarks, with tiny contrails of pages I've glanced at, my Flickr photos, and my Last FM recent tracks. There's a combined RSS feed of the delicious and Flickr at FeedDigest, if anyone wants it.