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.