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Outrageous.

Day of Defeat: Source has been one of the games i’ve played the longest and with most consistency. A small group of local friends have been playing under the tag “[CSU]” for, i guess, years now. Only recently have we come together to try and bring about a cohesive gaming clan. That involves a website (of course) and thanks to Frez’s designing skills we now have one. So if you’re into Day of Defeat: Source or Age of Chivalry, consider challenging us or even signing up yourself.

Visit the official [CSU] Website.

Just because I haven’t messed around in Photoshop for ages…

In the background I’ve been working away on a podcast series for Computing Assistance Support & Education. I’m happy to report that the first episode is now ready for download. In episode I Darrell Burkey, president of CASE, talks about the history of the organisation. We look at the ideas behind providing shared IT services to the community development sector. Real world examples of CASE’s work are cited as proof that CASE’s model has made a difference to many lives Australia wide. Head over to the CASE podcast page to listen in!

Where would the Navy be without tradition? Captain Jack Aubrey often asks. And where would us groms be without the tradition of The Farm? At home playing computer games, that’s where. But we took a break from all that and headed once again to scenic Glennvista Coombs. Solon, Gibbo, James, Ben, Robbie, Lisa briefly, Tim briefly and a goanna experienced the lowest water levels in the river ever, but were still thankful for what was there in the 37c heat. I wanted to get get a pictorial this year but hangovers prevented all that. My first field test of the Meade telescope was only partially successful – I forgot the manual and really needed it. Still, the moon was fat and fast moving, and by chance I watched a satellite zoom by. There’s rumor of a second trip this year (most irregular..!) so i’ll be better prepared next time…

Brief history means very brief. Still, a good little video! Show it to your parents, maybe.

The Sub-continental adventure continues over at James’s blog:

As I trudged out of the Chandigarh train station into another foggy North Indian night, I was struck by an array of bizarre sculptures erected outside. Long, stick-like limbs and understated faces, they were obviously the creation of Nek Chand, the man responsible for Chandigarh’s most famous attraction, the Rock Garden. Clutching an address, I started doing the rounds of the autorickshaws, trying to find one who seemed to offer a reasonable chance of getting me where I wanted to be.

Images of Nirvana

The One Laptop per Child project, due to the financial crisis, has had to reduce its operating costs like so many other companies. From the official Wiki:

“Like many other nonprofits that are facing tough economic times, One Laptop per Child must downsize in order to keep costs in line with fewer financial resources. Today we are reducing our team by approximately 50% and there will be salary reductions for the remaining 32 people. While we are saddened by this development, we remain firmly committed to our mission of getting laptops to children in developing countries. We thank team members who are departing for their contributions to this important mission.” (Source)

While this is sad news I think the hard yards of this project have been done, in many regards. The XO-1 units are fully operational, have a half-a-million user base and a strong support community. The emerging netbook market, spawned by OLPC’s demonstration that you don’t need to pay thousands for a laptop, is going to give birth to technical developments that future XO models will take advantage of. But since the development that I’m interested in (read: content) was not the primary directive of OLPC Inc staff I don’t see this affecting the day-to-day lives of people currently using the tech.  A weak global financial economy is showing us how vulnerable we have made ourselves – OLPC’s rich social economy will demonstrate the true value of the project in the coming years.

While manning the EOL booth at eGames 2008 I was approached by the Internode content team, expensive video camera and all, to do a short interview about the One Laptop per Child  program. Mostly it’s a rundown of the XO unit itself, but we talk about the ideas behind the project and what it might mean for Australia, too.

You can watch the whole video here!