In recent months, the guys and I have taken a shining to a popular tactical/FPS computer game called Battlefield 2142. It’s a theatre of war set over a hundred years in the future, featuring two mega-powers facing off against each other in a struggle for resources and territory. The actual gameplay takes place on the battlefield, with up to sixty-four players taking the roles of soldiers and facing off against each other online. It’s a great game for fostering teamplay and cooperation, because the best team is usually the one that’s doing the best job of working together. We’ve had an awful lot of fun playing with each other, and even gunning each other down on rare occasions, but like any computer game BF2142 has its quirks.

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I intended to post these months ago, but it slipped my mind.

The first is a YouTube video called “Tony vs. Paul”, a stop-motion style video that is exceedingly well done. The premise is of two friends-turned-enemies, who then fight each other using abilities reminiscient of The Matrix. No special effects, just lots of stop-motion, and the result is quite polished.
The second is a project called MusOpen, which aims to be a repository of free/open-source/public-domain music. Most of the music is performed by college-level performers who then record and upload their public-domain performance, where it can be downloaded by the world. The concept is solid, although obviously the quality of the music depends entirely on the popularity of the project. I just finished listening to a half-decent version of the “1812 Overture” without noticing too many wrong notes. But the soul of the music was there, even if the technical prowess wasn’t. The idea that this resource exists and is accessible to all regardless of finances is a happy one.

My last post was on November 30th? Can’t be. Not possible. I don’t believe it.

Of course, a lot has happened in the intervening two and a half months. So much, in fact, that I don’t think it could be contained in one little bitty post.

At last, a browser that’s easy to use for everyone! Many thanks to Microsoft for their ingenuity and creativity in coming up with yet another easy-to-love bit of software.

*cough*

An alternate title might have been, “When in Doubt, post some links”. For the records, both of them were discovered via MonkeyFilter.

I know people who have been to Africa for extended periods of time, and from the sound of it I won’t be going any time soon, simply because of the large volume of insects that invariably make their way into food during the cooking process. You can always spot the newbies to the continent, so the story goes, as the ones who are still picking the bugs out of their stew. The old hands just dig in, and count it as extra nourishment. So it was with some excitement that I came upon this live audio/video feed of an honest-to-goodness watering hole in Africa somewhere. It was well after sunset when I first tuned in, as the crickets were out in full force (actually, full force and then some; I’ve never heard such a loud night-time video when there was nothing actually on the screen), but every now and again I could hear something roaring in the distance. All the excitement of camping in the African bush, without the danger of being eaten by lions. Win-win, I say.
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