Thoughts from the Shelf

I was saddened by the news on Saturday that Colin McRae had died in a helicopter crash along with his 5 year old son and two other people.

In a statement that was released on http://www.colinmcrae.com/ it said of the crash

“We believe that the group were just returning from a visit to the nearby village of Quarter around 1605 hours yesterday, when it appears that the helicopter got into difficulty and crashed within the grounds of Mr McRae’s family home.”

Colin McRae was the first British driver to win the world rallying championship in 1995 in his infamous Subaru. After making his world rally championship debut in 1987 he had a rallying career at the top level until his last rally in 2006.

His series of Colin McRae Rally games for which he provided technical advice for during development were extremely successful. Spanning across six titles the rally racing games have consistently been among top sellers selling over 9 million games, and for many still remain the best motor racing games available.

As with many others Colin McRae had been the single biggest influence in the sport for me, and was one of the main reasons I followed the sport growing up.

With domestic broadband capabilities increasing and the ever lucrative gaming industry going from strength to strength, internet gaming has become an increasingly attractive avenue of entertainment. A vast audience that is ready to play on demand, without the boundaries of geography, time or culture has become far more appealing than traditional multiplayer gaming methods. This is only reflected with the online gaming capabilities that the newest generation of games consoles are starting to provide, a facility that has previously been restricted to PC.

With this change in gaming culture it is no surprise that we have seen the emergence of massively multiplayer role-playing games (MMRPG’s), computer role-playing games that enable thousands of players to play in virtual worlds via the internet. Providing more than a simple online gaming environment that MMROG games spawned from, these games now have complex social networks that evolve within the game, often mimicking those of reality.

Gaming is social by nature and the communities within these MMORG are strong as a result. Acting as a corner stone, players have a common interest in the game and a common goals to complete within it. Although founded by a common interest these communities grow as players continue to work and socialise together to achieve different objectives within the game.

Gamers play with an avatar; an online representation of ones self. It is possible that gamers can become so engrossed within the social networks built within MMRPG’s that a reality shift occurs, and a person’s avatar actually becomes more real than the gamer. The gamer exists, but more so in the virtual world of the MMRPG than the real one, stopping only for physical needs such as food and water. The online characters become them, and social networks within the game replace those in reality.

It doesn’t come as a surprise that there have been documented cases of players being so engrossed in the social networks within MMRPG’s that they have died whilst playing, neglecting the requirements of their physical bodies. An extreme case but documented none the less.

It is also the case, although less extreme, that MMORG environments often develop into a state where life within the game does not only reflect reality, but become a part of it, with artefacts within the game developing real commercial value. Such things as game currency begin to have a real life monetary value, and objects within the game are bought and sold as commodities through real life commercial outlets.

There was a documented story about a player who purchased a virtual island within an MMORPG as real estate for a real life $50,000. This proved to be a successful commercial venture, as he then sold plots within the game to developers paying real money, who in turn build virtual homes and business on them. This simply shows how virtual economies within MMRPG games can have a real life economic value too.

To back this up further there are certain industries that have been formed to accommodate MMRPG players who don’t wish to spend time doing the time consuming mundane tasks within the game, necessary to build up creditable characters. Players can instead purchase characters or levels from people who have instead completed these tasks for them. An article in the economist case studied Chinese businesses that have been established and consist solely of workers who play MMRPG’s only to sell characters on in such a way. For this to be commercially viable time within the virtual worlds of MMRPG’s must be more valuable than real life time, the cost of paying someone somebody to play.

When examining the concept of communities within MMRPG’s, we can see how they can develop to do more than simply reflect reality. Thanks to such things as a developed commercial presence virtual worlds effectively become embedded within reality. Resulting industries that are set up around virtual worlds make characters and artefacts within them commodities in the real world, and consequently there is a blurring of the borders of where the actual world ends and virtual worlds within MMRPG’s begin.

It seems to be stating the obvious but cycling is good for both you and the environment. It is great non-impact exercise, can be a good alternative to running and it is particularly good when rehabilitating, or just starting to exercise. For those calorie counters 20 minutes of cycling can burn of 100 calories, but perhaps more importantly works on the lower abdominals.

For these reasons it is refreshing to read of the funding that is being provided to develop the national cycle infrastructure. Already over £9.5 million has been spent completing 80% of the National Cycle Network, which is 1219 mile out of the total 1530 miles. The network has already secured financial backing of and additional £4 million a year over 2006 to 2008 to complete the development.

It is always nice to see the results of such funding, and when results are local they are particularly satisfying. Commuting on the Exmouth to Exeter train line daily, I have witnessed the development of the proposed cycle path that will eventually run along both the East and West sides of the Exe estuary, and join the national cycle network in Exeter.

The West side development is an extension of existing network at Bridge Road in Exeter via Turf Lock, Powderham Church, Starcoss and Cockwood will join cycle routes in Dawlish Warren. This will then be developed through to Dawlish. The west side development will be built in stages with proposed completion in 2009.

The East side development will connect Exmouth to Exeter via Lympstone, Exton, Topsham, where it will the join the cycle network within Exeter. The development of the Exmouth to Lympstone section is almost complete, and is due to be opened by the autumn this year. The Lymstone to Exton section will then be built by autumn 2008, and The Exton to Topsham part by the same deadline in 2009.

I think the completed route will provide a great scenic cycle route around the estuary which will undoubtedly be a popular year round tourist attraction. It will also provide a great way of travelling from Exmouth to Exeter, beating the increasingly hectic rush hour traffic. It should take no longer than 40 minutes to commute by bike, quicker than car, cheaper than the train, and better for yourself and the environment. You can also kiss good bye to the parking charges that are required when you can find a place in the City!

I have previously written about the fundraising site easyfundraising, which enables people to sign up and earn money back for a charity or organisation when they shop online.

I use this site when I shop online to support Otterton Football Club, and have been impressed with the good work the people at the site do. I went to buy my broadband package easyfundraising and unfortunately at the time there was an error with the BT database, so my order had to be placed over the phone. Since then I have had regular contact with the site whilst they try and retain the referral fee for my selected organisation.

In addition to their money back on sales, there has recently been an addition to the services they provide and now charities and organisations can generate money whilst they search the web. Powered by Yahoo, for each search made by a user, the designated charity or organisation with be donated a penny. Try this search facility out here.

Each week they simply count up the searches made and credit you organisations funds accordingly.

I am currently testing the search service out, and after the first lot of search calculations are done I will post an update to state how much was generated. If you feel like bumping it up feel free to use it whilst browsing.

September comes and the football season is well and truly under way, with a variety of leagues from the Premiership, to local grassroots football competing on a Saturday afternoon for varying degrees of honours.

With the new season usually comes new kit, and for most a new pair of football boots is on the shopping list. This was true for my summer shopping list, but this year I was caught weighing up the pros and cons between the current blade and stud offerings. This has been an ongoing debate at the top of the game for some time. Do blades cause more injuries to players due to the way they grip the turf?

The argument is that a once a blade has gripped, it cannot swivel as freely as a stud whilst in the ground. This therefore could leave your foot embedded in the turf whilst your body countermeasures and impact from a tackle or fall. There is also the concern over the harm they can do to other players in tackles.

It is true that bladed boots have become less commonplace in the top leagues, and although not confirmed to cause more injuries than their stud counterpart, this surely is not a vote of confidence for the design.

With the most common football injuries affecting the lower extremities, including hamstring strains, sprained ankles, knee cartilage tear, hernia and cruciate ligament, the impact a boot could have in preventing such injuries cannot be over looked. I looked back at my own personal experience, and growing up playing football I had never obtained a serious injury until I adopted blades. In three seasons since I have pulled knee ligaments twice and sprained two ankles. A coincidence?

I don’t wish to make assumptions, and the in my opinion bladed boots are in fact more comfortable due to the increased surface area to distribute impact over. They also remain the dominant model manufactured by Adidas as well as many other leading brands.

Although companies like Nike tend to stick to studs, there is also criticism over the protection offered in such boots as the Total 90 model. The argument here is the increased flexibility of newer, lighter boots compromises its overall protection.

‘The metatarsal injury was unheard of years ago, now with modern lightweight football boots its responsible for 30% of long term injuries.’

Either way, the fact remains that there are over 240million registered players worldwide and both boots are readily available to kids and adults who play the game. The fact that some models are not used by certain professional leagues sends a range of mixed messages, and I for one would like some professional conclusions drawn up so people can make informed decisions on which boot to purchase.

On recommendation of Kazza I looked up the Beer Engine on Trusted Places and with the weather being extremely good I decided to check it out this weekend.

It was fairy easily to find, and if you follow the link Trusted Places it actually provide s you with a Google map which is very useful when you only have a vague idea of where you are going. I must say I wasn’t that bothered, after all I certainly wasn’t designated driver.

There is nothing like a spot of lunchtime drinking, and the real ales that were on offer were extremely well received. A day on the ale was indeed long overdue, and made a great change form the monotonous larger selection often adopted on a typical Friday night.

As far as the food goes I was far to intoxicated to eat, but did try a few dishes from others in the group and they were very tasty. The people eating them seemed to enjoy them, and this simply paved the way for an extra couple of hours within the establishment.

A nice venue for a group on an afternoon out with friends or family and I too would defiantly recommend it.

So the eighth leg of the Grosvenor UK poker tour has started in Plymouth. After the a previous post about a qualifying tournament we ran, the winner of that has made a good start. That person is Carl Dawson, and sits 9th on the chip leader board after day one.

Two hands saw him build this stack, first his favourite pocket fours hitting trips to beat poket queens all in to double up. Later Dawson beat off pocket aces with pocket 7’s. Although no all in shout was called, Dawson hit trips on the flop and then later quads on the turn. This Provided the oppertunity to bet bet big on the flop in confidence, get called and get paid, before his opponant folded with the second 7 on the board after the turn.

Average remaining stacks are around 27,000.

Paez, Raul 111525
Hewston, Jonny 70550
Bansi, Praz 61975
Davies, Alan 55325
Sarmias, Minos 42675
O’Reilly, Scott 41625
Wilkinson, Adam 41525
Chattha, Sunny 39550
Dawson, Carl 36875

Good luck to one of the Exmouth representatives, and lets hope his luck holds up throughout the course of the weekend.

Monday Update :: Sitting 17th after the two qualifying days, Dawson was caught early on playing KQ out of position. Well done for getting to the final weekend though.

Following on nicely from my last post about the future of mobile phones, I read article today about the Apple slashing the price of its new IPhone. Currently only available in the US, the Apple IPhone was launched in late June on the AT&T phone network, and at launch sold for $599 (around £300) and was one of the most anticipated products launches of late.

The IPhone is a new venture for Apple based on the success of its hugely popular IPod, which over the past few years has conquered the market for portable music players with the help of devices including the IPod, IPod Nano and IPod Shuffle.

Since its release the IPhone has sold well, and amid numerous stories of the IPhone being cracked for non-US markets, sales are said to be on course to reach the 4.5 million unit sales target before the end of the year.

So if it is selling so well why has Apple decided to lower the price of the IPhone by a third to $400. It is reported that the IPhone costs Apple around $300, so the original launch price had a 50% profit margin on it, which could even be growing due to falling electronics prices.

Apple say that the price reduction is to bring the IPhone in direct competiton with other handsets recently launched, however I am sure that those who paid full price to get their hands on the technology only weeks ago find that hard to swallow.

I think the fact that the IPhone launches in Europe in the forth quarter of 2007 is not entirely coincidental. It also comes at the time of release of a range of upgrades and colour variants, which will undoubtedly tap a new audience keeping sales healthy.

And of course lets not forget the launch of the IPod touch towards the end of the year. This next generation IPod doesn’t include a cellphone, and as such retains the role of portable media player, but in addition to the IPod it incorporates video and allows for broadband Internet access using WiFi wireless networking, and its launch is pehaps even more eagerly anticipated that of the IPhone.

Friday 7th Sept update :: Today news broke that Apple released an apology and will be compensating customers who have already purchased the IPhone with a $100 voucher.

I watched an interesting programme recently about the future of the mobile phone, and how the technology continues to grow at an unsustainable rate year on year. It discussed views and opinions on the direction mobile phone technology will take over the coming decades. Of those views presented there was a huge difference between them, from experts predicting that the technology will become obsolete, to others thinking it will become the hub for all multimedia used within our daily lives.

Whilst the future of the mobile will inevitably be debated about for a long time to come, I started looking around at various concept phones to see what we can expect to become available in the more immediate future.

The Brix concept is one such idea I came across that pushed the idea of current mobile integration. It consists of flat touch screen that covers the entire surface of the mobile, with features accessible through an IPod like display. The integration of the phone with other units is the trump card. Users can combine the Brix mobile in limitless fashion building bigger screens with desired aspect ratios, much in the way of Lego bricks. Personally I think this is quite impractical, as you are either relying on either owning several handsets, or friends having the same phone, to get the most out of Brix compatibility. A nice idea though.

Other interesting models that I unearthed focused around altering the conventional shape of mobiles as we know them. The BenQSiemens Snake Phone is built to wrap around the users wrist, taking on a cool snake like presence. This idea or morphing shape is developed further by the NEC Tag concept phone. Manufactured out of flexible material, the phone is able to change shape according to the mode it is in.

Lastly there are the phones that see data storage transfer and as the way forward, with offerings from Nokia focused around providing mobiles with the ability to store a range of different media, and the technology to quickly and easily share large amount of data wirelessly.

The Nokia Archive is a dual-touch screen phone that is designed to let users do exactly that. The phones will consequently being marketed around the wireless conferencing and remote presentation services it is capable of providing.

Some common trends identified in the development of data transfer, shape and mobile handset integration. I guess only time will tell which concepts mature into products available on shop floors.

We have all done it, for some it is soap operas such as Coronation Street or Emmerdale, for others crime dramas like silent witness. The programmes that we have never shown an interest in before, but thanks to a partner of loved one we find ourselves sitting down actually enjoying something that we would otherwise have loathed.

For me, my pet hate was that batch of American high school programmes such as Dawsons Creek, the OC and a catalogue of others that unfortunately keeps growing. It was the false ideologies that they were founded on, where everyone was beautiful, white, and healthy that I hated so much. The fact that the 16/ 17year olds these shows were based upon were being played by people in their mid to late twenties summed up everything that I believed to be wrong with popular culture.

I have never watched a huge amount of television myself, but have recently found that if a loved one is engrossed in a show, watching it is often a nice way to relax with them and spend a lazy afternoon.

It was this attitude that led me to thoroughly enjoy a programme out of a batch I have come to hate. The programme is One Tree Hill, and the levels of engrossment reached have lead to box set purchasing and a complete viewing of all episodes released to date.

I even want to slap myself for saying it, but although I have hated these programmes in the past I actually love this show. I have for years wondered how boyfriends and husbands have come to love shows not aimed at them, but I am now a first hand case study of it, and one which has lost all place to tell people what shows are and are not good.

I think that sometimes you just have to accept that although you don’t completely understand why, you get immense enjoyment out of something’s in life, and that in itself is perhaps reason alone to continue doing them.