- logging coolness from 127.0.0.1, daily.
First, a very good thing. The results of the Copyright Office's DMCA rulings are in, and the Internet Archive's application about archiving classic software, which I was involved in, was one of the few classes approved by the Copyright Office - this means we have the next 3 years to really get organized and archive classic software. The specific access circumvention exception is for:
Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and which require the original media or hardware as a condition of access.
A few people online seem to think that gives abandonware carte blanche, which isn't the case - copy controls and EULA rules still apply if you're not an archival institution, and if things are copyrighted, you can't make them available for public download anyhow - but this is an important step to allowing archiving for posterity. I'm going to be chairing a roundtable about classic game archiving at Game Developer's Conference 2004, so I'm hoping that, in concert with Stanford and other organizations, we will have got some way into analyzing the mammoth problem by then.
It's been cool to see a number of developers stopping in and commenting at Slashdot Games recently - even if they sometimes feed the trolls, heh. Notable among them are Denis Dyack of Eternal Darkness/Metal Gear Solid:Twin Snakes developer Silicon Knights, who commented on his hardware standardization views, a Neversoft designer deflecting criticisms about lack of Xbox Live support for Tony Hawk's Underground, and even the designer of the Lord Of The Rings pinball machine explaining how he makes the rules, but doesn't design the pretty playfield pictures.
I got hold of Puzzle & Action 'Sasi-Su!!' for my arcade machine today (it's an ST-V cartridge, basically the arcade version of the Sega Saturn), and it's a blast - a two player mini-game fest with cartoony 3D graphics, featuring fun vignettes like balloon popping, robber beating, and bomb shoving. Not sure if it came out on the Saturn, but it's neato.
Random quote of the day, taken from MTV as they covered the theft of Nelly's hideously over-the-top jewelry - 'If you see any unusual bling out there, please tell the authorities.' That's right, kids, keep an eye out for that 'unusual bling' - maybe it's stashed in a magpie's nest or something?
Yikes, this really is turning into a seldom thing, this updating, isn't it? But better late than never, I s'pose. Me and Holly were dachshund-sitting all week at her parents' house, so that explains some of the downtime - it actually gave me a chance to check out all the mp3 submissions to Monotonik since, uhm, May, though. And leech off not one, but _two_ unprotected WiFi networks within range of the dachshund lair, which is in a normal San Jose suburban street - it has to be said that wireless routers defaulting to no password protection is probably bad for the non computer-savvy, yikes.
I did want to make an abstract point, after reading weblogs of those who articulate it better - in the wild, woolly world of the Web, there are people who create the means to spread content, and those who actually select, collate and stimulate the content. And I think, right now, the creators of the method are getting over-emphasized compared to the people who curate content. For example - Napster, sure, great technology, or certainly, great logo, but look at what it got put to use doing - Eagles and 50 Cent recordings up the wazoo. In other words, it's not enough to dump the method out there and say 'Look, a wonderful organic community will grow up around it!' It won't, or at least, if it doesn't get the right nurturing, it won't. So please, people, explain and cherish and disseminate those legal, free, wonderful creative endeavors - I'm trying to make it work, and so should you.
Also got a chance to watch through Series 3 of Father Ted, a birthday present from back in July I hadn't screened in its entirity. Turns out there were quite a few episodes I hadn't seen, and I was reminded of what an excellent, surreal comedy it really is, as well as its (self-proclaimed) indebtedness to Fawlty Towers. There's several nods to John Cleese's genius at episode conclusions - the 3rd series has Ted trying to explain away a ridiculous situation and concluding 'I can't', in a very Fawlty-esque style, and then an obviously stuffed rodent makes an appearance, in a kinda 'Siberian hamster' style. Marvellous.
Finally, been flashing through some videogames to get up to date - Futurama has a _great_ script, but the gameplay just isn't as addictive as Slurm. Freaky Flyers is actually pretty decent in a Diddy Kong Flying way, though the new Midway CEO said it was "outside Midway's core competency", or words to that effect, which I found highly amusing, but probably true - stick to NBA Jam Gauntlet Kombat already, Midway! Oh, and Buffy: Chaos Bleeds is accomplished, but just not that.. something - the Xbox-exclusive Buffy just seems more stylish, somehow.
Had a chance to look round the Computer History Museum yesterday, as part of a workshop of preserving archaic software I went to. The Museum is still in 'alpha phase' right now, so there's only limited guided tours at certain times, but their collection is phenomenal, from an original German Enigma machine, through the NORAD mainframe for Cold War US missile defence, through amazing-looking Cray supercomputers, and even the original prototype Atari 2600. Wow.
In related news, I'm going to be changing my role a little at the Internet Archive, still working on tech stuff for the International Children's Digital Library somewhat, but I'll also be working on building online collections for the nascent Software Archive. So, look for much good free (gaming and non-gaming) software, mainly archaic but also more recent, and maybe some specially rights-cleared titles too - but we're still early in the planning stages, of course.
As for what media I've been consuming: popcorn-totin' film visits for Kill Bill Vol.1 (impeccably stylish, but made me squeamish), cable-TV Sundance Channel watchin' for Comic Book Villains (half-assed Blood Simple with more Wonder Woman references?) and Hype! (wonderfully wry documentary on grunge), glasses-wearin' book readin' for Sebastian Junger's 'Fire' (the final sections, on an anti-Taliban Afghan general's assassination, are vital), and webgame playin', courtesy the ever-reliable PopCap's Typer Shark (mm, Sharking Of The Dead!)
Hmm, the San Jose weather seems to be veering into the 'slightly hot' again. It's October, people, can't you get the precipitation deities in order already? *clap*
So, driving home from San Francisco on Tuesday after dark, I had a very unfortunate encounter with a deer on Interstate 280. The poor animal was standing in the middle lane looking confused, and while I managed to swerve to avoid it, it saw me at the last minute and ran into the side of my car, no mean feat when I was going about 60mph at the time :( So I fear the deer is no more, and there's some extra dents in my paintwork to remind me of my heinous act, doh.
Onto slightly happier, albeit more lunatic things, and I forgot to highlight this crazed law suit from a few days back - some people are suing Fox over the Alan Moore-based League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie (which is doing well overseas, btw), claiming "Fox commissioned Mr Moore to create the comic book as a "smokescreen" for poaching the idea." Hilarious. Neil Gaiman, via his journal, illuminates:
"I do love the idea of putting Alan on the witness stand, though, looming and huge like a yeti in a suit, to explain his creative processes. It's true that they started working on the film before The League was finished, but that was because Don Murphy snapped up League, based on (if I remember correctly) the first issue and the outline for the rest."
In other highly depressing news, Slashdot has a story this morning that Emusic.com has been bought out, and they're discontinuing the 'unlimited MP3s for 10 bucks a month' deal as a result - it's all the way down to '40 downloads' per month, actually. Well, I was once semi-obsessive about Emusic (see my old Emusic info-site for proof), but they stopped adding material quite as aggressively a while back, with a few notable exceptions, so I'm not even subscribing at this time. Still, a major shame, although I understand why they (Universal) might have been losing money on it, what with the kind of rabid downloaders 'all you can eat' attracts.
Finally, I got a working version of Metal Slug 2 for my arcade machine, at last, and despite more slowdown than I realised (emulators speed things up, huh?), it's an amazing romp through 2D heaven. The last level, complete with (*spoiler alert*) pseudo-Nazi alien experiments, is particularly choice, especially for the conspiracy theorists amongst us.
Oddly, as the year continues, my free time seems to diminish exponentially. Soon it'll be in an overflow situation. But at least the little pixies in my head are getting fit with all that running around.
There was a story posted on Slashdot yesterday, related to games, that I felt very uneasy about seeing up there. Especially since we have moderated but uncensored comments, allowing the subject of the story to spread, possibly more freely. I didn't make the call to run it, and I can see both sides of the picture, but.. it's just a shame when bad things happen. Nobody wins.
I've been working hard on this synopsis for UnknownProject(TM), so that it can be done and we can go out on Sunday with my old UK schoolfriend Mike, who's in San Francisco with his girlfriend, for purposes of relaxation and extended movie-watching. But I've been pausing every now and again to ratchet through some of the Sundance Channel movies I mentioned I should be watching, to get my money's worth. Good stuff so far - Wave Twisters (when I saw excerpts, I didn't get it, but it _works_, darn it!), Bartleby (Crispin Glover is supremely good at being uneasy), and I Was Made To Love Her (a _great_ documentary about, of all things, Double Dutch jumprope.)
Oh, and the ending paragraph good stuff.... Internet Archive now with 500 megabit connection, and more net.labels up there... the ever-genius Vim! has a CDR out, go check the samples and wonder at his errant sonic ways... beware of the hoop-jumpin' Sonic Hedgehog brain chemical, best protein name _evah_... oh, and the Aleksi Virta CDR is tippety-top too, go get it sold out so we can release the mp3s on Monotonik... :)