You know the environment is bad when

So - it is so bad that the UK is considering GMOs - yes ladies and gentlemen, the environment is changed and now we must too - http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/07/gmcrops.food

and then there is this no need for animal cruelty or vegetarian worries any more ;) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17104501

a few quick tools

Running like crazy as I am supervising a student-run environmental conference - but - as a hold over until time once more is mine.... I've been using a few tools of late for some ARG fun and other cool projects and just wanted to give them a quick shout out

1. http://zxing.org/w/decode.jspx - a very handy tool for online qr code reading when a smartphone or similar device is not handy.

2. QR code tag extension for Chrome - now I can quickly make any site into a QR code and blast it to the basic social media outlets - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/bcfddoencoiedfjgepnlhcpfikgaogdg

3. http://camerasummary.com/ - Camera Summary allows for quick decoding of image exif data -http://www.exif.org/

4. http://regex.info/exif.cgi - Jeffrey's Exif Viewer - and I also have that as a chrome extension

So - just a few QR code readers and Image metadata - hidden data readers - great for finding all sorts of hidden treasures!

A quick thought about Kickstarter, PBS and knickers

An update from one of the KickStarter projects I backed got me to thinking.

Here's the project - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/terribleminds/bait-dog-an-atlanta-burns-novel-by-chuck-wendig

Here's the update with a question about the money levels set in the project - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/terribleminds/bait-dog-an-atlanta-burns-novel-by-chuck-wendig/posts/176249

and here is my reply to that update - "you know, the question and your answer that you shared points out a very important thought/topic in regards to Kickstarter and funding projects. Since finding and getting into Kickstarter, I've viewed it more like the PBS fund drive you mention. Being a huge docwho and British show fan, I grew up on PBS and always pledged - knowing I was funding a big system and more than just my shows, but I knew that you have to keep the station running to get to see the shows you want. Rather than paying money to get a specific product, or to even "get something" (although I did try once to get the knickers signed by Molly Sugden but I was the wrong caller :) I was doing it to show support for things I liked and to keep a good system around. A lot of people though look at the other aspect of Kickstarter, which is I am buying a product only and I am spending my money simply to get some tangible product. I wonder if more see kickstarter projects as a pledge of support or as a way to "get" something????"

So - do people only use kickstarter to get something and pass on the project if they think they can get the item somewhere cheaper? Or do they back a project just simply to help the project and the project creators?

The Dark Room

Ok - so I got sucked in - it is funny, odd, weird, definitely WTF territory - and yet, I am laughing my butt off clicking happily away.

I speak of this performance, game, something called "The Dark Room" a choose your own adventure type story that uses YouTube as the platform, minimal effects and yet keep me and, at this writing, 1000s of others coming back and clicking.

It uses the old-school MMORG concept of "typing" the directions for your character to explore. However, it quickly leaves that behind as the humor of the options and the unexpected choices leave you with a deer in the headlights feeling. I did enjoy the love poem and love letter ;)

What was your favorite bits?

below the video link I am adding a couple of my favorite screen shots - the actor in this story has wonderful expressions

Here is the link - http://youtu.be/hvkjP6dqpfY

Big Think and how life rambles

so - stumbled onto this site today - http://bigthink.com/about - which I am finding very interesting. Has any ever ued this, reads it, likes it, hates it?

Almost as cool as the site is how I stumbled onto it as well as a few other points that are feeding my story and creative muse.

I was perusing Google news and caught this article - http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/which-foods-contribute-most-to-our-sodium-intake/2012/02/08/gIQAbYABzQ_gallery.html - which is very distrubing, although i do not use salt on foods or cooking, it appears that is still not good enough. But - I had not visited the washingtonpost.com news and was looking for general news and i liked how the sections were laid out, specifically there was one called energy and environment - which fall right into my work and interests. so i click that and one of the main headlined stories is "Lake Vostok, a German Nazi base? Russian news agency floats odd theory" -http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/lake-vostok-was-once-a-german-nazi-base-russian-news-agency-says/2012/02/07/gIQAKo9RwQ_blog.html?tid=pm_national_pop

so of course I have to go look ;) well the story included references to Godwins's Law (which I did not know about, but plan to use in a story -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law) and of course the fact that a Russian news agency was talking about a possible secret Nazi Antartica base.... A piece from the article includes "But while “Neuschwabenland” appears in several horror novels, the Big Think suggests that it may also have actually existed:"

So I click on the Big Think link and find this - http://bigthink.com/ideas/21137 - which provides even more fodder for the imagination as well as I must admit I have never read the H.P Lovecraft story referenced in the article - H.P. Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness - which I now intend to read. But after reading the Big Think article - I clicked around Big Think and I am becoming hooked :)

I do love the rambly way life goes sometimes :)

So - how do I work a secret nazi base, antartica, Godwin law and oh yes - these three concepts I found today into my next story? -http://gizmodo.com/5882725/the-miraculous-nasa-breakthrough-that-could-save-millions-of-lives/ and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/9066393/Ancient-seagrass-Oldest-living-thing-on-earth-discovered-in-Mediterranean-Sea.html and http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/117463-biological-computer-can-decrypt-images-stored-in-dna

Hiatus Absolved

Well, life has been a bit rough, would make sandpaper look like a baby's smooth butt ;)

However, things seem to be settling into a bit more of a routine, which means I can get back to doing what I like - including writing here. I hope to be a bit more vocal as so much is going on.

This weekend I may actually get to enjoy my World of Depleted: Day 419 DVD - complete with secret codes and other fun :)

I hope to get back to writing on my Nikki and Nora fanfiction series.

And my wikis have been so neglected (poor transmedia wiki and world of depleted wiki and my upcoming storyworld wiki)

And yes, a couple storyworld projects I've been working on are finally starting to take shape.

And of course I got caught up in a few ARGs, cool transmedia projects, awesome Kickstarter campaigns and more.

To that end - I leave you with my YouTube debut ;) I did this in support of a Kickstarter campaign for this awesome ARG app project about Snowtown - so - enjoy my geek vaudeville craziness



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9w_XPgUqOk