The site has none of the functionality needed to support the game. That drives a lot of game activity off-site, to twitter and personal blogs and wikis and whatnot, but I think that's why our survival age has stayed at 02046 since day 3 of the game. Now people are actively spending their intellectual resources on trying to fix the game, rather than solving the survival problem. Good lord, what chance does the species have in 02019 if the Institute for the Future can't create a website with the functionality we've come to take for granted in 02008?
I still think it's an interesting idea, and have learned something from participating, but I'm done trying to work with the tools they've provided for us. I hope they try it again sometime.
Showing posts with label superstruct. Show all posts
Showing posts with label superstruct. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Tweets and stuff
If anyone wants to tweet with me, I'm @rvillon. I should have created a separate twitter ID for superstruct, but I'm just mixing it up because I can multi-task like that.
I'm a little discouraged with superstruct. The site is glitchy, which makes it hard to follow up on discussions, and then suddenly today we went from 02060 all the way back down to 02044 for no reason that I could see. One of the things I've been thinking about a lot today (but can't really communicate to other players) is that I feel like art is a pretty low priority, in a Maslow's-hierarchy-of-needs kind of way. How can my work as an animation producer speak to the needs of people who are hungry, and cold, and sick? Particularly if there is a technological barrier to them even seeing the work I produce? In the face of human suffering, entertainment media seems pretty trivial.
So I've been looking instead to the 3D design/CAD engineering aspect of the work, particularly as it pertains to rapid prototyping. If we assume that that technology decreases in price and increases in functionality over the next ten years (which is a reasonable assumption, given the rate of change in technology), then we can envision a future in which designs can be transmitted to various machines globally, and devices can be "printed" locally, on demand, saving the energy consumption of moving consumer goods around the planet. So what kinds of things can be made from resins and plastics, that have a minimum of moving parts, that people really need, that can improve the human condition?
Finally, I just found out today that the Evil League of Evil is accepting applicants, but the deadline is Saturday. I would LOVE to do this, but don't have enough time. So for the record, I am the villainous Kat Nipp*, controller of cats! I've placed my minions in millions of homes. Even now they are asleep on your comfy chairs, consuming your treats, and yet ignoring everything you say, waiting for my command to leap into action, honing their skills on small prey. Soon my henchmen will be incorporated into key households, with full access to world governments and economic systems, and then the world will come to know the full evil of Kat NIPP! What I need: crazy costume (check!), video facilities (check!), and a whole lot of borrowed cats (?). Also, I'd like an effects shot of me walking down the street being followed by hundreds of cats.
*Kat Nipp character copyright Rebekah Villon, 2008.
I'm a little discouraged with superstruct. The site is glitchy, which makes it hard to follow up on discussions, and then suddenly today we went from 02060 all the way back down to 02044 for no reason that I could see. One of the things I've been thinking about a lot today (but can't really communicate to other players) is that I feel like art is a pretty low priority, in a Maslow's-hierarchy-of-needs kind of way. How can my work as an animation producer speak to the needs of people who are hungry, and cold, and sick? Particularly if there is a technological barrier to them even seeing the work I produce? In the face of human suffering, entertainment media seems pretty trivial.
So I've been looking instead to the 3D design/CAD engineering aspect of the work, particularly as it pertains to rapid prototyping. If we assume that that technology decreases in price and increases in functionality over the next ten years (which is a reasonable assumption, given the rate of change in technology), then we can envision a future in which designs can be transmitted to various machines globally, and devices can be "printed" locally, on demand, saving the energy consumption of moving consumer goods around the planet. So what kinds of things can be made from resins and plastics, that have a minimum of moving parts, that people really need, that can improve the human condition?
Finally, I just found out today that the Evil League of Evil is accepting applicants, but the deadline is Saturday. I would LOVE to do this, but don't have enough time. So for the record, I am the villainous Kat Nipp*, controller of cats! I've placed my minions in millions of homes. Even now they are asleep on your comfy chairs, consuming your treats, and yet ignoring everything you say, waiting for my command to leap into action, honing their skills on small prey. Soon my henchmen will be incorporated into key households, with full access to world governments and economic systems, and then the world will come to know the full evil of Kat NIPP! What I need: crazy costume (check!), video facilities (check!), and a whole lot of borrowed cats (?). Also, I'd like an effects shot of me walking down the street being followed by hundreds of cats.
*Kat Nipp character copyright Rebekah Villon, 2008.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Superstruct!
Superstruct! Come think with us! Seriously, it's pretty cool- the game has posed a bunch of problems, and so people are brainstorming various solutions and discussing the options. Ultimately the game will score individual players and the species as a whole with a survivability rating. So, you know, come save the planet and stuff.
Seriously.
Plus there are some cool awards from famous people at the end.
Seriously.
Plus there are some cool awards from famous people at the end.
Monday, October 6, 2008
How did I miss this?
Just watched Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog yesterday. I remember hearing something about it, but blah blah lost in the shuffle. It's delightful! I bought it on iTunes, not only because I believe in paying for content I like, but also so that I can watch it again and again.
The Long Now blog has a great post about conversing with a person vs a machine, and how you can tell the difference. It's a funny conversation- see if you can tell which is which. Also, tell me what a dubject is.
The Superstruct game was supposed to launch today, but they tell me it will be running in the morning. The game is based on some studies done by the Institute for the Future (click around that link, you'll find them) that predict the extinction of the human race by 02042 or so, due to a lethal combination of factors (disease, food shortages, competition for energy, etc). So they have started this MMO to see if people can't solve those problems. Essentially, the game will be running various scenarios to see if the actions the players take will positively impact the survivability of the species. I'm really interested in it, although more as a spectator than as a participant. It's the opposite of the Long Now.
I've been thinking about how I intended this blog to be about connection, about responding to and interacting with a larger community, but, like so many of my undertakings, it has become mostly about my private thoughts. I don't want it to become a journal, though, so my hope is that over time the comments will become a source of interaction and response, to open up the conversation. I have to admit, for that reason, I'm more interested in promoting this blog than I would be otherwise. So welcome and hail, my two subscribers! Kisses!
Finally, let's close with another poem:
Lucille Clifton- i am not done yet
as possible as yeast
as imminent as bread
a collection of safe habits
a collection of cares
less certain than i seem
more certain than i was
a changed changer
i continue to continue
where i have been
most of my lives is
where i'm going
The Long Now blog has a great post about conversing with a person vs a machine, and how you can tell the difference. It's a funny conversation- see if you can tell which is which. Also, tell me what a dubject is.
The Superstruct game was supposed to launch today, but they tell me it will be running in the morning. The game is based on some studies done by the Institute for the Future (click around that link, you'll find them) that predict the extinction of the human race by 02042 or so, due to a lethal combination of factors (disease, food shortages, competition for energy, etc). So they have started this MMO to see if people can't solve those problems. Essentially, the game will be running various scenarios to see if the actions the players take will positively impact the survivability of the species. I'm really interested in it, although more as a spectator than as a participant. It's the opposite of the Long Now.
I've been thinking about how I intended this blog to be about connection, about responding to and interacting with a larger community, but, like so many of my undertakings, it has become mostly about my private thoughts. I don't want it to become a journal, though, so my hope is that over time the comments will become a source of interaction and response, to open up the conversation. I have to admit, for that reason, I'm more interested in promoting this blog than I would be otherwise. So welcome and hail, my two subscribers! Kisses!
Finally, let's close with another poem:
Lucille Clifton- i am not done yet
as possible as yeast
as imminent as bread
a collection of safe habits
a collection of cares
less certain than i seem
more certain than i was
a changed changer
i continue to continue
where i have been
most of my lives is
where i'm going
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