Tech Brief
On Tech Brief today: Talking stuff, getting wood and the killer inside.
• If you could tell people about the stuff you own, what would you say? Using barcode technology developed by the project, you can .
"Once the barcode is attached the object, a free iPhone or Android application is able to scan the barcode and retrieve the story. The ability to add comments and further stories to artefacts as they are adopted by new owners offers a network of memory in which things are connected by subject and not time."
• We all know what a woodchuck would do if it could chuck wood, but what about a games journalist? on 's Woodcutter Sim and finds the experience lacking:
"ActaLogic's forests are bleak, deserted places where motionless trees cast motionless shadows upon grassless, needleless earth. Where are the delicate ferns, the buzzing insects, the disgruntled squirrels? Where's the dungeon-like gloom of an unthinned hemlock plantation, the airy brightness of a mature larch stand?"
• The appeal of space trading game can be hard to grasp for those whose heart does not beat faster at the mention of double-entry book-keeping. Help understanding why people play it might be at hand in the form of :
"EVE online has many critics with very valid points, but never in my life have I had a PvP experience like in EVE. I've been gaming for over 20 years and never before EVE had I had a genuine fight-or-flight adrenaline rush. The terror of combat and the thrill of victory are unmatched outside actual combat. I've since quit the game, but I always look forward to watching the 10 man tournaments."
• Following that games theme is a thoughtful piece wondering about the connections, if any, between video game avatars and how soldiers become killers. :
"Deindividuation theory suggests that playing as someone who looks like you would lead you to pay more attention to your internal moral compass (whatever that may be) in the same way that losing your identity behind a costume would make you more likely to adopt the morals of those around you or the ones implied by your environment or even the costume itself."
• Continuing the occasional theme of children and Apple products, . TV execs should find a shoulder to cry on:
"I suspect that my son and other children of his generation will demand a seismic shift in programming - from static, passive video to immersive, interactive and intertwined content available on-demand and on any device. Seamlessly shifting between entertainment, information, competition and e-commerce mindsets, Carson will see limited value to anything meant to wash over him - least of all, TV spots."
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