game over

while they have no doubt been around as long as war or games
war games are still a disturbing trend
(which is not to say i don't occasionally enjoy a bit of virtual violence)

here are two relatively recent multiplayer contributions to the genre

nation states seems a text and web based forum for community interaction
this review suggests its superficially fun
but not much of a keeper in gaming terms
which is a bit of a shame
because it appears to have some potential



more disturbing is america's army
a cutting edge combat computer game
designed by the u.s army for recruitment purposes
apparently at great taxpayer expense

it's designed not only to instill
a code of honour and fighting spirit
but presumably also to generate
an interest in actually enlisting in the army

it is apparently available free
not only from the website
but also on cd-rom from recruitment 'centers'

"and while you're here,
why don't we have a little chat about your career options?"

the download instructions
are in spanish as well as english

.

"and i was like ... nhn??"

in the c.net top 10 internet fads
the 2002 apple switch ad starring ellen feiss
came in at number 7

american internerds will groan
but if you're not one or other of them
you might have missed an ad for apple computers
starring a clearly adorably stoned
high school chick named ellen feiss

as the cnet page attests
in the intervening time
the ad gained internet cult status
and spawned numerous parodies

the original ad is here in mov format

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zork

i remember
back in the day
i would go down to the local library
give them my card
and receive in exchange a 5.25 inch floppy disk
or even two
which i would take to their commodore64
and play 'zork'
a classic of the text adventure genre

now you can join me
in your very stroll down my memory lane

because the original zork is online

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last night's party

photos from last night's party
most of which i assumed were taken in new york for some reason

[which also reminds me of
overheard in new york
which is also laugh out loud funny
but not for quite the same reasons]

oh how i yearn for summer
it will be messy

maybe not quite that messy
but messy all the same..

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