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Games

'Losing For The Win' In Games 159

Posted by Zonk from the ftw-as-it-were dept.
simoniker writes "Designer Ben Schneider (Empire Earth, EyeToy: AntiGrav, Titan Quest) has written a new article exploring the possibility of enticing your players through the power of defeat. From the piece: 'Some of the most memorable moments in games depend heavily on reversals to kick their dramatic arcs forward, from Planetfall to Fable to Beyond Good & Evil to Deus Ex. And yet, as an industry, we clearly have a lot to learn — and a lot to invent. So, then, how do you draw a clear line between player failure and dramatic reversal? It is a question well worth pondering.' In other words, if the game forces the player to get his ass kicked, can the player ever forgive it, or is it the key to some really interesting moments when used in a positive way?"
Google

Submission + - Getting Google's Attention is the American Dream

Submitted by KeepingOnEye
KeepingOnEye writes: It's the American Dream, and I had share it. Kid does something that takes some guts, and Google pays attention. From his blog CanGoogleHearMe.com: "On February 11th, 2007 I'm getting on a plane to fly to Mountain View, California, headquarters of Google, Inc. Once there, I'm going to try to pitch an idea; catch is, I don't have an appointment, they don't know I'm coming, and I'm literally going to be showing up at their door and hoping they give me a meeting.

And if they don't give me one? Then I'm going to sit in their lobby like a spoiled child in hopes that they'll change their mind. :) Every once in a while you have to give an idea a shot, or you spend your entire life passing up ideas that seem just beyond your reach."

Best part? After three days, they talked to him! Gave him a meeting — he's down in Cali. right putting together stuff for a second presentation. Makes you wonder how it'll turn out, but more power to him, in my opinion. Makes reality TV look inconsequential.
Links

Submission + - Free Linux Course for Beginners

Submitted by
Stefan Waidele
Stefan Waidele writes: "Free Linux Course for Beginners
===============================
Feb, 22nd, 2007

LinuxBasics.org, The community that helps people to run Linux, offers
their third free Linux class, An Introduction to Linux Basics.

This course is designed to give a foundation of understanding of Linux
to a beginner who wants to know a little more about the system. More
advanced Linux users will find an opportunity to dig deeper into some
areas they always wanted to know more about or discover gaps in their
knowledge that they didn't know existed.

The study guide used will be LBook, an edited version of Introduction to
Linux: A Hands on Guide by Machtelt Garrels which is distributed under
the GNU FDL. You will need to join the LBo-course mailing list in order
to participate in the course
(http://linuxbasics.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/l bo-course/).

The class is set to begin on Febuary 22nd. You can also join after that
starting date.

For more information, visit http://www.linuxbasics.org/course/start.

About LinuxBasics.org
=====================
Feb, 15th 2007

LinuxBasic.org (short: LBo) is a community project with the goal to help
people to install and run the Linux^(TM) operating system. It was founded in
May 2004 and is growing ever since.

LBo offers a free Linux Course for beginners, which runs about 6 months
as well as tutorials and links to sites that offer information needed to
install and use Linux. They also run a friendly mailing-list for
Questions that arise when people start using Linux. An IRC-channel
completes the list of things you can find at LinuxBasics.org.

As a community, LBo offers the possibility to get involved. There are
many ways to contribute: You can answer questions on the mailing-list,
you can write a complete tutorial or just a step-by-step documentation
on how you completed a specific task using linux."
Portables

1 Million OLPCs Already On Order 158

Posted by Zonk from the lots-of-happy-kids dept.
alphadogg writes "Quanta Computer has confirmed orders for 1 million notebook PCs for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project. The article goes into some background on the project, and lays out the enthusiastic adoption that the project is seeing overseas. The company estimates they'll ship somewhere between 5 and 10 Million units this year, with 7 countries already signed up to receive units. The machines currently cost $130, but with that kind of volume the original goal of $100 a machine may be viable. Even with the low cost, Quanta expects to make a small profit on each machine, making charity work that much easier."
Privacy

MySpace Not Guilty in Child Assault Case 228

Posted by Zonk from the sanity-in-the-courtroom dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The Washington Post reports that a Texas judge dismissed a $30 million case against MySpace for their role in a child assault case. 19-year old Peter Solis lied about his age on MySpace to gain the confidence of a 13-year old girl. The judge ruled, 'To impose a duty under these circumstances for MySpace to confirm or determine the age of each applicant, with liability resulting from negligence in performing or not performing duty, would of course stop MySpace's business in its tracks and close this avenue of communication.'" What do you think? Good call?

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