Fantasist's Scroll

Get a degree in game design.

Well, a minor, anyway…. According to this story on Wired News, USC is now offering a minor in game design. They picture it as an “add-on” to a more serious degree, like, say art. (Actually, they interviewed an engineering student who was looking at taking the minor next year, too.) Anyway, I guess it just goes to show how enormous the gaming industry has become! So, think of all those video games you buy college-age people at Christmas not as “entertainment” so much as “research”.

It’s here!

Good or bad, biometrics has hit the retail markets. I’m not talking about those keyboards that have a thumbprint reader to unlock your PC either. I mean that there are retail establishments that are testing pay-by-thumbprint, right now! There’s an entry on Slashdot that has links to both the good, and the bad, side to this technology. Frankly, it’s the dark side that I find the most interesting.
Ever seen Minority Report? If not, you need to see it for just this. Picture being tracked through a shopping mall via biometrics, with advertising targeted to you and calling you by name. To borrow an overused marketing phrase, it’ll take spamming to a “whole new level”. Ubiquitous computing? Forget that. Ubiquitous advertsing. That’s a more likely scenario by far. I shudder at what this will do to our world. And, I can already see a steep rise in amputation related crimes. You thought identity theft was bad in our time? Wait until people are stealling thumbs!

(And, yes, I posted this on my other blog first.)

No, really, there’s a scientific study!

Right here on MSN Health they say that dark beer is good for you. Or, at least, better for you than the lighter beers. Something about the “flavonoids” that make it dark help prevent blood clots, which help prevent blood-vessel related problems. (This is also how that whole red wine thing works, too, by the way.) So, what the heck, it’s Friday, go have a nice, dark beer. For your health!

No, not a computer virus.

That’s right a real, live virus that was created in a lab. According to this article on USA Today, such a thing now exists. Once confined to the slum of science-fiction, completely artificial virii now exist. Thursday, November 13, a team lead by Craig Venter announced that they had created an artificial virus based on a real one in just two weeks’ time.
Now, at this point all they did was make a virus that infected bacteria, but how long before they’re moving on? Where will it end? With a “flu” like Stephen King imagined in The Stand? Or will it be more subtle than that? Or less?
Will we eventually feel that it’s okay to “manufacture” animals through the same process? Will we make unicorns and minotaurs? Where do you draw the line?
I sure don’t know, but it’s a little more confusing now that the line has been redrawn for us. The only good thing about all this is that it gives science-fiction writers a whole lot more to write about!

Starting yesterday you can keep your cell number when you change plans.

At least, in some metropolitan areas. The rest follow on May 24th. Unfortunately, the article on Wired News doesn’t say which areas start getting this option today. Still, it’s nice to know. I know that I have hesitated to change plans because of the hassle of getting my new number to everyone. I mean, I have a lot of people who contact me via my cell phone. Not least of which is my wife and recruiters!
I wonder how long it will take before we’re assigned phone numbers at birth, like Social Security numbers…

(Oh, and yeah, I posted this at my other blog yesterday.)

Asian History for Sale!

According to this article on Time.com, local villagers are raiding tombs and selling their ill-gotten gains to the highest bidder! They seem to feel that it’s okay to trade their heritage for a few Western conveniences and toys. How sad, really. But, that’s their culture, so who am I to judge?
In any case, it was an interesting article. It sparked some ideas for stories about modern tomb raiders and grave robbers. Possibly even some modern horror stories or ghost stories, or even just an adventure story or two. Might make some cool movies! I hear Thailand is pretty this time of year…

No, it’s not aliens watching you.

In this case, it’s a security company with satellites watching trucks with hazardous materials. According to this article on Space Daily, Satellite Security Systems has developed a system for tracking trucks hauling hazardous-waste or petrochemical products and, if they become targets of terrorists, shutting them down. In fact, this system is so new that they just tested it this month! And, the test was successful, so I’m sure we can see this technology becoming a standard in those industries. Anyone care to speculate on the implecations of that?

Well, I suppose it could explain it…

This article on Wired News tells of hidden pockets of methane deep beneath the ocean that are capable of swamping a ship. Apparently, if the conditions are just right, theoretically, a huge bubble of sub-oceanic methane can be released from the sea floor that is capable of causing such a surface disturbance that it can sink even large ships. The article doesn’t come right out and say it, but it could be an explanation of the Bermuda Triangle and other such phenomena. Of course, it doesn’t explain the planes….