Just Tripping Along The Freakazoid

Well, the google Niantic Project is going strong and seems to have more coming.  A lot has happened just in this last month of full on launch.  There was a massive shift in the ARG about half way into the month when Google released Ingress - www.ingress.com  it made a huge split and created a new wave of "players" many of these however were not interested in the ARG or backstory (some in chat have said that very thing) but just the Ingress video game app - it was fascinating to watch the IRC channel change from the puzzle solving and chatting to the new audience of gamers - there was such a difference... it was, odd and a definite people watching moment to see the shifts and changes. It looks like this project has no signs of stopping, a second month timeline at www.nianticproject.com looks to be starting tomorrow. Plus in this article -  http://allthingsd.com/20121115/google-launches-ingress-a-worldwide-mobile-alternate-reality-game/  J. Hanke, the head ...

As mentioned, have been following this ARG or more that somehow is Google related and who knows what else.  One item that has come up is how all these different people and communities have sprung up working to solve the codes and puzzles and brainstorm.  Making for a fierce collective.  Some of the in game characters have even been referencing some of the collections and IRC chats and so on). In fact, something the one character said got me to thinking.  There are so many communities that have been springing up.  Some more active and "fast" than others.  It is neat watching the different communities and how they are structured, their pace and so on. That said, it also made me think how if we all tried to stream to the one IRC chat or the one wiki - would that be a case of putting all our eggs in one basket? What is someone hacks the main wiki or something goes wrong with the IRC?  Is all our data and knowledge and solutions lost?  Backups, mirro...

I am soooooo behind in my blogs and posting and projects (thank you real life and Sandy megastorm and Nor'Easter and...) But just caught wind of this Niantic Project and you might wanna check it - looks cool - and yes, I am bias as I like Google -  http://www.argn.com/2012/11/google_niantic_project_smartphone_portals/ - great article by Michael Anderson Will explore and report back this weekend - this is a good wiki and resource to track what is going on -  http://niantic.schlarp.com/ Other places to check reddit - http://www.reddit.com/r/NIANTIC/  and  http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/12u9ih/google_this_is_getting_pretty_weird_the_niantic/  unforum discussion -  http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36434 map with some of the locations marked -  https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=203685585566952099382.0004cd94033b5f5265661 http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1222933 ...

So trying out the new "freemium" version of the complete PB Works content management/project management program.  Have been using the wiki part off and on for years (I remember PB wiki - do you?) and also had been using Basecamp as the manager system for another project.  So, seeing if the PB Works will work as well as starting the conversion process of World of Depleted Wikia to PB Works. A lot of wiki work is very tedious and repetitive and yet in some ways can be soothing, a very odd mix. I am also using mediawiki with the semantic wiki addon - I have only begun to scratch the surface.  And yet - I feel wikis and similar archiving systems and projects are crucial as this article ( http://gigaom.com/2012/09/19/the-disappearing-web-information-decay-is-eating-away-our-history/ )  points out (thanks to Lance Weiler via twitter for the link) That is scary, to be a culture with no history....  those that have no history are doomed to repeat it...

If you follow along with my tinkering in fanfic, you may have noticed I tend to write a bit of Nikki and Nora fanfic as well as Cowgirl Up.  Both series were created and written by Nancylee Myatt.  IN addition to those great series, she's done a lot more (3Way, South of Nowhere, Night Court, Living Single, 5 Mrs Buchanans and even more). If you follow her on twitter (@ishakeitup) or other social media venues, you may have noticed mentions of the passing of her mother and her sister.  Times these days are hard, losing family members makes it all that much harder.  Allaine (Femslash4Fans) had mentioned in one of our discussions how he wished there was something we, Nancylee's fans, could do.  In reaching out to Ms. Myatt, Allaine found out that her family had set up a fund.  Below is the information.  I've had experiences with hospice myself (my mother and others), and I know how important it is to make the time you have with your family and loved one...

So more twitter talk about a maybe Nikki and NOra webseries led me to see how easily Storify works to update a story - well it was very easy and I just added the new tweets and such down at the end - I know I should be experimenting more and trying to make it look pretty and readable... but at least I am doing a little.  Also, I could break it into separate stories, but not sure on that yet, so, keeping it as one long record. As to the content of the Storify story, YEEEHAWWW even if it is just a tease, it is a nice one ;) and it helps fuel the fire for N&N stories, which I just posted up the last chapter for my current N&N story over at the Nikki and Nora BB  Also working on two other N&N stories, one with 1shinyboat and 1 with pbwr - plus I have the next N&N in my series I am outlining now....  so, all this N&N talk just makes it fun ;)  and ohhh Cowgirl up 2 coming soon too - wheeeee  thank you TelloFilms and thank you Ms....

Ok - trying out Storify - and more on the N & N webseries chatter on twitter via @storify I collected tweets @ishakeitup @tellofilms @lizvassey @reallychristina & others made about Nikki and Nora http://storify.com/geologylady/nikki-and-nora-web-series [ View the story "Nikki and Nora web series" on Storify ]

So I am a huge Nikki & Nora fan (one of the many reasons I write N&N fanfic) – but some interesting tweets have been flying today.  Here are a few https://twitter.com/LizVassey/status/231191871102283776 https://twitter.com/MccyC/status/231231249165996032 https://twitter.com/ishakeitup/status/231415852044521472 https://twitter.com/ishakeitup/status/231416630087929857 https://twitter.com/LizVassey/status/231437747246739456 https://twitter.com/ishakeitup/status/231440436718342144 https://twitter.com/ishakeitup/status/231441767122231296 If you are on twitter, I recommend jumping in and responding to Ms. Myatt’s tweet and anyone else as well and let them know a N&N webseries would be awesome and there are a lot of fans out there who would love to see more N&N.  Please spread the word!!!!! PS - I am posting up a new chapter of my current N&N story over at the Nikki and Nora B&B -  http://nikkiandnora.createmybb3.com  an...

OK, I am still here, just took vacation, participated in a few projects and just got busy with everything. So much is going on and I have so much to share.  This includes work on the shared story world "Copper Rock" (www.darkgamergirls.com).  Work on the TofR shared storyworld, work on the World of Depleted shared story world.  Work on my www.transmediaresources.com website. Playing in the Miracle Mile Paradox ARG and soooooo much more. I am trying to get into the depths of wiki construction as well as a few other projects.  And, so much more too.... I'll work on starting to post more and start jabbering again.... honest ;)

I want to hear this read up on a stage, I just love it http://www.sabotagetimes.com/tv-film/werner-herzogs-note-to-his-cleaning-lady/

UPDATE 4/5 - Mr. Toasty on Unforum added a bunch of twitter, facebook and linkedin accounts connected to Agent Intellect Corp - I am making a twitter list to try and follow these people (I'm @geologylady and the list is miracle mile paradox) - if you check it and I am missing people, let me know - ----------- OK, I wrote up an entry for unforum and decided might as well flush this out more here I have come across and ARG - Miracle Mile Paradox, that is using a Kickstarter campaign ( http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/susanbellfilm/the-miracle-mile-paradox-arg ) for funding and I suspect to build a base (many of the trailhead pieces have already been circulating, as I wrote at Unforum. I like steampunk and love old gadgets, so the pics the main character, Rex Higgs has been posting via his twitter accoutn @RexHiggs are kinda cool Examples are at end of blog. He seems to be talking to a couple people so far, mainly, on Twitter (although he has replied to one of my tweets so he is ...

seems IP and copyright again cause issues - I updated my earlier blog post ( http://docwho2100.blogspot.com/2012/03/willy-wonka-remix.html ) with the newer info

So, stumbled across this film - http://bestfriendsforeverfilm.com/ Well, film in production. They are running a kickstarter project - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/breagrant/best-friends-forever-an-apocalyptic-feature-film It is a buddy flick, a horror flick, an apocalyptic flick and a woman flick (many would say chick flick, but I am trying to be classy ;) From their kckstr page - " BEST FRIENDS FOREVER is a dark comedy and sci-fi horror film, combining equal parts buddy film, road trip and nuclear apocalypse story, but with girls. Harriet, the perpetual but unsuccessful optimist, has finally figured out how to take her passion for comics and turn it into a responsible life. But when she and Reba, her seemingly devil-may-care best friend, hit the road to Austin, TX, an impending nuclear apocalypse endangers the best-laid plans and even the best of friendships." The intro video for their campaign is one of the funniest I have seen (along with the videos from the King...

Wow - this is a great post apocalyptic short - I hope more of this story will be done!! go give it a look see RUIN from OddBall Animation on Vimeo .

Well, I have been swamped with this and that, but, finally getting back to things I love to do and play with, including World of Depleted. There are three things I am playing with 1. My next two stories. One is the next installment in my Business series - I will post it here in a couple days in a rough draft form, anyone willing to read it and give me opinions and help with editing it :) pleassssseeeee :o) 2. Strange email from Gavin Got an email from Gavin a little bit ago (from the account which I am still trying to figure out what the name means - any ideas)? but I digress - the subject line read: Rift..*&&@ !!@89o8#!# #...mail.. . There was one word Meta. and there was only a QR code attached. When I scanned it - the following popped out Book of Enoch. Beta Israel. Read Metadata. ok - so, I finally figured out how to read metadata of image files (yeah, ok you seasoned ARG players, I know that is a skill you do in your sleep, still, I am giddy I managed to do this, and...

UPDATE - so I go to listen to this and the link says video removed - I am like nooooo the willy wonka people took it down - then I search and find this - http://srslysirius.com/blog/my-dispute-with-quadjacks/#more-192 interesting article and read - and good thoughts on the stress copyright and IP causes - but if you wanna hear the cool willy wonka - go to his site Ok this is so oddly bad and catchy - hehe - it's my new ringtone and no, I will not admit how many times I have now listened to it thanks to http://io9.com/5892278/gene-wilder-picks-up-the-beat-in-this-surprisingly-awesome-willy-wonka-remix?

So, two new narratives, events, games, interesting way to tell a story can across my Twitter scanner this evening and both look fun, although one is better lending to my time than the other. Also, something very, very interesting is the diminished turnaround time between the story being introduced and fans taking over and setting up shop (aka discussions on unfiction, working the wiki and more) to take advantage of a story - are readers/story users finally starting to really groove to alternate story delivery and beginning to make connections to make the story better and to keep it flowing? I hope the answer is yes... also, I have to admit, I am not a crack puzzle solver, so middle level puzzles/interaction projects are more accessible to me, and it seems like more of these types of projects are starting to come out (part because mainstream has caught this form finally, part because people are better at making this type of story and part because it has finally really moved into the ...

this looks really interesting, but alas $60 is not something right now I can part with. I wonder how well this will do. The idea of having the puzzles delivered is cool and I wonder if there will be connections between players or if all players are essentially going through the same puzzle? I wish, to, there was a transmedia/puzzle site kinda like trip advisor that could be used to rate people and organizations that run these events, especially as more and more are popping up - kinda part catalog for what is out there and part user comments about whether the person/group is valid, delivers good product, etc. Hmm - is there a transmedia/ARG/stuff like this ratings site out there? I started to rate things with my transmedia maps - maybe I should go back to that. Anyhoos, here is the game - let me know peoples if you play and if you know of a ratings site. http://www.blacklettergame.com/faq.html

So - a project that has come across my scope is looking for people to build an ARG - take a look - jump in, have fun - http://passion-perfect.livejournal.com/4291973.html

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

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!

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 somethi...

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

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.washington...

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 htt...