...but I've finally starting working a little bit on Corrosion again. I guess I overdid it a bit when I started working on it pretty much non-stop, taking occasional breaks to wash and feed myself and take trips to work in order to get paid. I took a little break over the summer and gave myself some time, waiting for the logos that are being developed. It's a sub-project that my brother is taking care of, so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised that it's been taking as long as it has. ;)
Anyway, I built something that had been necessary for a long while; a daily refresh mechanism. It turned out not to be quite so difficult after all. Now the finished quests get refreshed after a day has gone by since the last daily refresh. I'm not sure whether it's a smart idea on my part to make the daily refresh character dependent (each character having their own daily refresh time, but whatever, we'll see where it ends, otherwise I'll move it to midnight, server time.)
We'll see how fast development goes from now on. I'm not putting any pressure on myself or my brother. He's been keen on getting his own development environment set up so that he can start working on designing the next mission; The Arena. :)
I just found that searching around in my journal gives me a lot of insight into who I was and what was occupying me years ago. I've neglected this place in favour of Facebook and to a certain extent Twitter. The latter doesn't seem to be working for me on a conceptual level, so it's like a really low-threshold type of e-mail right now, and a way to listen in on the most inane thoughts of some of my friends. Facebook is probably a keeper, but I think I'll try and scale down my involvement there and try to provide more substance to this place. As always, I'll be catering mostly to myself and the handful of other people that sporadically check in, but I feel a lot better about it. And yeah, somebody needs to keep the Google spiders company.
Newspapers are dying, they say, their sales dwindling due to the popularity of east access, online copy that gets updated multiple times an hour, not once a day before printing. Newspapers need to change their business model, they say, to compensate for falling revenue they'll need to tap into new markets or adept old ones in order to make them economically viable. I suppose all of this is true; they're a business and businesses need to make money otherwise they go under. If they are a publicly traded or owned by a publicly traded company they are required by law to do everything in their power to increase shareholder value, anything less would be negligent.
Many newspaper have very cleverly started to increase interest in their product by offering many of their pieces online. These are usually wires or shorter pieces of existing copy that are meant to entice people into reading the whole story in their newspaper. This has sparked a switch from being a newspaper to a news organization, where not all of the exposure comes from paper copy but from digital copy, too. Unfortunately, this quickly lead to a over-saturation of online news due to the many sources of news online; setting up and maintaining a simple news service is not hard and with enough visitors subscribing to wires and news content became economically viable by selling advertising space.
Effectively, news organizations were feeding the growth of the online news business while simultaneously seeing their own amount of visitors decline. More sites were vying for the same readers while the news was generated by a select few parties. Again, news organizations were in trouble, the success of their new business model leading to a further decline in interest for their paper copies and stiff competition from parties who only needed to worry about design and presentation of content and not about generating content themselves. Usually these parties were making quite a bit of money off of advertising and quickly news generating organizations needed to find a way to make money off of their websites.
They obvious choices were to scale down the print copies, to scale up digital copies and allowing users to pay for content or to start selling advertising space in order to cover the costs. One didn't seem to work due to a decline in interest in in-depth pieces and the other meant eroding a news organization's independence.
Our ADD-addled culture makes it nearly impossible for a lot of people to take the time to read the in-depth information on a lot of the current items, even if the readers are genuinely interested in the subject. Most people can only deal with so much information, or simply don't have the time to sit down and read articles all the way through, especially when you consider that globalization and online news consumption has made the world a small place. Where first you'd only concern yourself with the things most immediate to you, now everything seems immediate. Also, the supply of news is now a 'round the clock affair and the demand for news is so high that news organizations have become very good at not only spreading out a story, but also hyping up stories with little news value. Where first they would collate, edit and print a news story, now you get micro-updates as new details are made available. You could turn following the news into a demand, full time affair, and some people do, compiling the news and creating executive summaries for those without the time to keep up with the latest news. And so, the news trickles down, waters down, losing much of the critical content. All of it means we have less tolerance for detail and more demand for talking points, highlights and headlines.
When newspapers generate revenue through advertisement they automatically become an organization to be distrusted. It means they can no longer speak freely on critical and decisive subjects in fear of losing advertisers. There has always been a field of tension between journalists and editors -- a journalist writes an unpopular piece that borders on effusive and the news organization might lose subscribers, who are individuals making their choice of media consumption. The tension increases when the needs of the advertisers are catered to, their need being a largest possible group of consumers liking their brand, product or service. It means that it is in the interest of the advertiser to publish their ads in a publication that appeals to the biggest common denominator, also known as the dumbest common denominator. There are many different advertisers who don't look at it that way, but they are generally at the fringe. So, when a journalist steps away from the party line, advertisers pull their ads, news organizations lose money and are required to withdraw the piece, publish a rectification or fire the journalist in order to please the wounded advertiser. That's self-induced censorship and unhealthy to the journalistic landscape.
No, newspaper need to remain independent. If an individual cancels their subscription it's a choice, if an advertiser sends that same message, it's censorship and the choice is made for the subscribers without their knowledge. Thus the only safe way for news organizations to generate revenue is for people to realize that this is actually important and that good journalism coats money. Once we are prepared to pay for our news content we'll have more certainty of an unbiased opinion.
...as if I don't have much to say during the summer months, that's not entirely true. I have lots to say, just no desire to put in the work. I have about half a dozen unfinished journal posts waiting for me. Anyway, right now, a little more work, and then I'm off to enjoy this beautiful day.
A little micro-update: website is back online, weather is pretty good, work is pretty good, went skydiving (footage and photos come later) and it seems relationships are turbulent all around me.
Ik heb het al eerder gezegd; mensen die op de PVV stemmen zijn dat niet gaan doen voor al die andere rhetoriek waar ze hun partijprogramma mee hebben opgevuld om als geloofwaardige partij over te komen. Het zijn de mensen die, eigenlijk net als jij, het gevoel hebben dat ze niet meer in het Nederland wonen waar ze ooit geboren zijn.
En dat is ook zo.
De wereld wordt steeds kleiner. Waar het aanvankelijk bijna niet te bevatten hoe groot de wereld was, en hoe ver weg alles leek, en hoe ver wij verwijderd waren van oorlog, hongersnood, religieuze conflicten, en zo voorts, komen er nu steeds meer anderen naar Nederland toe. Buitenlanders brengen verandering met zich mee, zeker als ze in grote groepen komen of met sterke idealen en geloofsovertuiging.
Ik heb het al eerder gezegd; dit is een ontwikkeling die niet te stoppen is, zeker niet hier, waar welvaart en klimaat hand in hand gaan, waar we heel blij mogen zijn dat we er geboren zijn, en waar wij barmhartig zullen moeten delen met al die mensen die hier graag een leven zouden willen opbouwen. Het is niet te stoppen, er zijn geen muren of hekken die we kunnen bouwen die de verandering in de maatschappij zal tegen houden. Verandering is een universele, onomkeerbare macht en als je daar geen vrede mee kunt maken, dan ben je of verward of koppig, maar hoe dan ook heb je geen binding met de realiteit.
Verschil en afwisseling maakt ons sterker, veelzijdiger en flexibeler. Als je daar mee opgegroeid bent heb je de flexibiliteit van geest om je met gemak aan te passen, dat multi-culturalisme verder gaat dan een avondje Chinees eten in de week, en dan kom je een stuk verder in het leven dan je te blijven argeren tegen iets wat niet te stoppen valt. Als is het niet de Islam dan is het wel de technosis waar je bang voor zou kunnen zijn. Het is altijd wat met die mensen. Het is het vermeende gevaar, niet de werkelijkheid waar ze zich tegen afzetten.
When Alistair Overeem recently defeated Brett Rogers at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery and successfully defended his Strikeforce heavyweight belt I admit that I had no idea that he'd be that dominant in the fight. I was pretty confident that he would win, considering his high, K1 level striking and his mature ground game, especially compared to Rogers' strong but sloppy striking and underdeveloped ground game. During the lead up to the fight I started watching his documentary, The Reem, which is an ongoing documentary, beautifully produced by Alistair's people and very insightful and open. I highly recommend watching it if you're into K1 or MMA.
I think that after three years I've managed to galvanize the pain, sadness and longing to sit across from him and just talk, into a bittersweet happiness of having known him and be raised by him. I still miss him, though.
Elections are right around the corner in the Netherlands and it's once again time to figure out who to vote for. It's always been rather easy to figure out who NOT to vote for, since a few parties, like the PVV and the TON, are seriously just too absurd to even consider. Sadly, these absurdist parties are also the most populistic parties, screaming at the top of their lungs what the stupidest common denominator in our country wants to hear. ("All Moroccans back to Turkey!") Because of that they gain a lot of traction, which is made all the more worrying when plenty of people are generally dissatisfied with the status quo and oftentimes voice their opinion by protest voting for those parties. As a result, I've decided that voting is important this year. I have, on occasion decided not to vote - never in national elections, just in the regional and local ones - because, well...I just don't give a damn about the meso- and micro-governance of this country. (To be honest, I sincerely doubt there's even need for the meso-administration since the country is so damned small.) In order to educate myself, I stumble upon the Digital Freedom Compass (de Digitale Vrijheidswijzer) by way of Karin Spaink's website. It seems I'll be voting D66 this year.
(As an aside; Karin Spaink's website is by and large a fascinating and informative read into privacy, digital privacy and information awareness. Don't let the fact that she has a new kitten fool you, her posts are usually on topic!)
Today, I started reading The Gone-Away World, a novel by Nick Harkaway, which was a gift to me by Jim and Tex, quite a while ago. It was put on the big To Read pile and finally I got to it, after I struggled with Full Metal Apache for a long time and placated my low intellectual self-esteem (especially after that book) with some pulpy 40K stories. It's weird and hilarious and I think that out of all my friends Sam would probably dig it the most. Here are two sections that I found hilarious from the first twenty pages.
"The Gone-Away World, p. 16" wrote:
Without genetic engineering, without intervention or expense, Jorgmund Company has remade him, barracked him in some halfway ville dortoir and stripped him of his connection with the world in a crash course of management schools and loyalty card deals, surrounded him with psuedo-spaces, malls and water features, so that he is allergic to pollen and pollution and dust and animal fibre and salt, gluten, bee stings, red wine, spermicidal lubricant, peanuts, sunshine, unpurified water and chocolate, and really to everything except the vaccum-packed, air-conditioned in-between where he spends his life.
"The Gone-Away World, p. 16-17" wrote:
Dick Washburn, known for evermore as Dickwash, is a type D pencilneck: a sassy wannabe paymaster with vestigial humanity. This makes him vastly less evil than a type B pencilneck (heartless bureaucratic machine, pro-class tennis) and somewhat less evil than a type C pencilneck (chortling lackey of the dehumanising system, ambient golf), but unquestionably more evil than pencilneck types M through E (real human screaming to escape a soul-devouring professional persona, varying degrees of desperation). No one I know has ever met a type A pencilneck, in much the same way that no one ever reports their own fatal accident.
I stumbled across this wonderful photo spread where someone mixed in old photos of Amsterdam together with current photos of the same location. It gave a really surreal and interesting juxtaposition of then and now.
These Retrographs are the work of Jo Teeuwisse, a Historical Consultant in Amsterdam – and a master Retronaut. Over to Jo:
“Years ago I found some negatives in a fleamarket. I scanned them and put them online. I then found some of the spots in the photos and took pictures there.
In the picture above, you can see a group of young factory workers posing probably outside the factory during the war. I cheated a little bit by removing some pots of flowers which are on the steps today…!
The picture above is of the Liberation Parade on Friday June 29th, 1945 in the Vijzelstraat, Amsterdam.
This picture is from the same parade and shows the Underground Press, wearing face masks. The banner carried is from “De Waarheid”, the Communist underground paper.
The Reguliersgracht in Amsterdam. These people worked in a factory and the office part was perhaps in one of these buildings.
The Reguliersgracht in Amsterdam. These people worked in a factory and the office part was perhaps in one of these buildings.
This picture shows the SS Recruiting Office in Dam Square during the Occupation, across from the “Big” Club. Some great film footage exists of someone climbing onto the lower roof and smashing the SS windows with great force - and great pleasure.
The final two pictures are of Dam Square on Monday May 7th 1945, two days after the German surrender. Thousands of Dutch people were waiting for the liberators to arrive in the square. They had lived through five years of war and months of fear and hunger. In the “Big” Club, members of the Kriegsmarine watched as the crowd below their balcony grew and grew, people danced and cheered.
Then, for some reason, the Germans placed a machine-gun on the balcony and started shooting into the crowds. It has always remained uncertain why it happened but the tragic outcome was that, at the brink of peace, 120 people were badly injured and 22 people died.
The shooting finally came to an end after a member of the Resistance climbed into the tower of the Royal palace and started shooting onto the balcony and into the Club. Then a German officer together with a Resistance commander found their way into the Club and convinced the men to surrender.
The first picture shows Peek & Cloppenburg, a large shop that was already there in 1945. Today Madame Tussauds is in the same building as well. We can see three members of the Scouting movement, which had been outlawed by the Nazis. As soon as the War came to an end, they put on their old uniforms and started helping the resistance and the Allies. Three brave young people are crossing the square. The Club is in the right side of the photo, and we can also see the Royal palace tower.
Crowds filled the square very quickly when the Germans stopped shooting so its quite likely that these people were risking their lives. Note the shoes and hats dropped by the crowds as they fled for their lives.
In the final picture, we can see a wounded man being taken away from the square. There are no other people in the square at this point so the situation is still quite dangerous. The man on the left is a medic - he may be a doctor, a Red Cross volunteer or a member of the air-raid emergency groups. Luckily there were many present there on this day.
The building on the left in the Royal palace from which the Resistance started shooting back. On the right you see the “Nieuwe Kerk” (new church). Note the shoes and hats dropped by the crowds as they fled for their lives. The sidewalk is covered in blood and there is also a pram without a child in it.
Six billion people on one planet. Eight planets around one star. 200 billion stars in one galaxy. 100 billion galaxies in one universe. (God knows how many universes in the multiverse.)
I swear, this thing might kill me. I'm still plugging away at Corrosion and the combat mechanisms in particular. The pathfinding is done, it works, but it's anything but fast. Limiting the searches to about 200 tiles or so seems to help with the speed and makes the game slightly more playable, but it creates strange situations where pursuing enemies break off the pursuit through a corridor when they find their path blocked by their friends. I think I'm going to have to find a reliable way where they ignore their friends in terms of finding a path, but respect them in terms of getting in line. That way they'll continue pursuit but never overtake their friends until a space in the corridor opens up.
Why is it going to kill me? Well, these musings keep my preoccupied throughout the day. Whenever I have a free moment, there's only so many topics that my mind wanders towards, and Corrosion is on that list. (Together with finding a possible place for a friend when she arrives back in Amsterdam soon, my soon-to-be-unemployed sister and her financial situation, my work, my Shadowrun game, Jiu Jitsu, etc.) So today, while I was walking to work, I nearly got myself run over by a bus because I had been preoccupied with figuring out this pathfinding problem. The adrenaline dump of a near-death experience quickly brought my mind back to reality, but simultaneously drained me of a lot of my energy. Funny how that happens.
I'm tired and grumpy today. I didn't sleep so well as something has been bugging me since last night. I had a lovely dinner with two of my friends. At one point the conversation turned serious as we debated on whether you could, or should judge someone based on their tastes - tastes in art, clothes, furniture, music, or whatever. In that conversation I was mocked and laughed at for my beliefs and how serious I was about them. This isn't the first time it has happened and it always makes me feel miserable. These are people that are supposed to care for me, and if not that then at least care about my opinion on matters, irrespective of whether they agree or not. Being mocked is bad enough, but being laughed at really goes one step too far. And like I said, this isn't the first time that has happened. It seriously makes me reconsider my friendships and it makes me deeply unhappy.
I'm going to watch Merton the Chat Roulette Piano Guy to cheer me up.
