Games and thought
captured social networks are simple, practical games. the more fun they are, the better people attach to them. they haven’t yet been recognized as such — few take on artists, noone takes on music or scenario or level designers, few develop lasting items or npc’s, noone has bridged the gaps between Sims and Facebook and Second Life to identify a real space rather than pools of light.
the ability to track progress over time is a joy, and one readily shared. the pity of many communities is how hard it is to know where one stands within them, to have any handle on contribution quantity, quality, sustainability, or lasting power.
the lightness of touch
I walked through the Yard early this morning, with a bag in one hand (filled with breakfast remains) and a phone in the other (filled with digital desid.), holding onto each only by fingertips. There was a light breeze from the west. For three breaths I was filled with a primal joy in friction. Holding things felt particularly freeing.
It passed; in another minute I was trundling east at forty miles an hour; I jumped into conversation with Tariq Krim and a night’s century of mail and the rest of the world.
machine-guns vs. college students
Peter Gelzinis of the Boston Herald opines that Star Simpson was looking for attention when she was threatened and arrested yesterday at Logan for her homemade outfit. Nothing unusual; he and Michele McPhee are competing to see who can be most offensive about the affair.
But he provides a quote from one of the policemen who considered killing her that makes my blood run cold.
“A couple of things struck me,” the state cop said, “I thought about what a burst of machine gun fire might do to other people in the area. And then, of course, if it had been a real device, what those bullets would have done to everyone after the explosion.”[1]
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wikis and watering holes
why do some wikis develop with community portals, and some without? Ditto ‘reference desks’ and FAQ centers.
Laptops for lovers
xkcd may claim to be about romance, but there’s nothing more romantic than
an xoxo
divided against its own attraction
separated by continents
yet entangled and spun
from a coherent embrace
which is to say, you can share your love for green reflective creative kits with someone you’ve never met far, far away, this xo-giving season.
This would all seem a lot less cheesy if that weren’t the actual name of the site.