sign of the apocalypse #4462

camouflage bibles

death by serenade

on wednesday of last week, i ran an alternate reality game (ARG) for the Summer Institute at Wallenberg Hall's workshop on Using Videogames in Education. i based it loosely on Cruel2BKind and tailored it to my needs; i broke the 17 participants into teams, sent them out in the main quad, and then texted them with a secret weapon (serenade, compliment, wild laughter, poem) and an immunity. to add to the confusion, i brought in 6 more guests and briefed them separately. this made the whole experience much more fun because it meant that anyone in the quad might be part of the game.

after that, it was up to them to go out and attack and absorb other teams. i played puppet master by sending a few changes in weapon and immunity about halfway into it, and i gave two teams the option to choose a new weapon. several strategies were used; a few teams boldly attacked, some snuck around, and the ultimate winners laid low until they spotted the massive army of 17 attackers that was the result of all previous battles. i got some satisfaction from seeing the team that cheated (by sneaking into the control room when i wasn't looking and spying on the status board) go down in flames.

everyone had a good time and the ensuing discussion centered around how to use elements of ARG for learning. i definitely plan to do this again next year, if not sooner!

hold your breath

transfer of power

man overboard

we need to solve our problems abroad before we tackle our problems at home.

conservatives ahoy

sign of the apocalypse #3325

civet coffee

aassholes

when i find a service or a vendor or a product that i like, i vote with my dollar.

american airlines sent me a lovely email today changing the agreement we have with each other for their customer loyalty program, aadvantage. now earned miles will expire if i do not accrue or spend any miles during an 18-month period. i don't fly often, but until now, i've usually chosen american airline when possible.

someone should explain to the good people at american airlines that customer retention is much cheaper than customer acquisition.

silly twits

twitter is dumb. for the same reason that myspace is stupid and amateur blogging to the entire universe is overrated (whoops, i do that last one). we are conditioning ourselves to put our lives on public display, while at the same time lowering our standards for privacy. on the surface, these effects merely put personal and professional reputations at risk, but prolonged behavior of this kind also puts civil liberties at risk. in a world in which at&t jumps when the nsa snaps its fingers, deliberately posting your every move constitutes tacit approval.

luckily, technology pushes boundaries and creates culture, but culture has a funny way of regulating technology. there are already signs that millenials are wising up to the perils of putting their lives on display, and social networking services are responding by implementing more ways to create circles of trust and levels of privacy. conveniently, they are also one of the best avenues for spreading information, such as the importance of privacy.

thanks to sharona for this article which scratches the surface more eloquently than i can.