I love open source stuff, but the prevalence of closed, corp software makes the decision something of a pragmatic one. For example, I run a videogame website. I cannot go All-Linux because then I wouldn't be able to play nearly as many games. Although there are some great games available for Linux, it's just not really an option. As a developer of internet media and multimedia, I also feel like it's essential to be able to simulate the user's experience as much as possible, and that means Windows.

But I appreciate being able to modify and customize software, and I believe in open source development and the creative commons and all that good stuff. I've tried to get students to use the free Photoshop alternative, Gimp (http://www.gimp.org) but its hard to justify -- there are like no jobs looking for Gimp skills and thousands looking for Photoshop skills.

So then I found GimpShop. (http://www.plasticbugs.com/) It ain't perfect, but it's pretty dang sweet. It definitely makes it easier to go between GIMP and PS. That's for sure.

The Experimental Gameplay Project: create 50 to 100 games in 1 semester. New games every week.

The Rules:

* each game must be made in less than 7 days
* each game must be made by one person, including all art, sound, and programming
* each game must be based around a certain "toy" ie. "gravity", "vegetation", "swarm behavior", etc.

Some really cool indy games here. Check it out:

My friend Steffan is always talking about doing a game where the rules change everytime. Then I always go, "CalvinBall!" and he sighs at me. Sorry Steffan.

But I found this Game of Nomic Wiki (http://www.nomic.net/~nomicwiki/index.php/GameOfNomic) which explains the Game of Nomic, which is a game where "changing the rules is a move." The game becomes less about aquiring points and more about twisting the rules. It sounds like what all of our politicians should be doing instead of playing Nomic with all of our culture and society.

So I made this thing last weekend. It's a dynamic short story called "So Random" (http://www.shawnrider.com/soRandom). I hope you like it. (e:paul) is helping me do cool things with it. Thanks (e:paul) -- you deserve your own day, like commemorating, like, your birth or something... hehe

Wow. That's all I can say here. Not only is this some of the highest quality LARPing I've ever seen, but it's also phenomenally well-shot documentary footage. Really nicely put together to illustrate the seriouisness of this play. It's great. The juxtaposition of imagery is excellent, especially in the sample here (http://www.darkonthemovie.com/darkon_video.html) but there's another promotional video sample that is availalb here ( ) and you should definitely check those out.

And I think, (e:paul), that this documentary shows why our project is a somewhat different thng than "LARP" proper. I would like to think that we're going to alter it and mainstream it so that, in general, it is a bit more flexible to provide the user experience people deisre at a range of levels. The technology will certainly take away somewhat from the fantasy roleplay element, but for other stories I think it will be excellent. What I think is crucial is that we tap into that energy the interviewees here talk about, which is that visceral quality of doing something in a location with a group of people. Facilitating community play.

I think our system could be better for some stories, too. For example, role-playing a Shadowrun or generally Cyberpunk/SciFi LARP would be very difficult without some kind of technology integration. Our system could be ideal for that.

Some thoughts... I'm so excited...