I didn't blog the wonderful Wordherder & Friends gathering last Wednesday because I was busy trying to get ready for our week-long vacation down in the Outer Banks in North Carolina. We plan to get some sun, do some fishing, do a little dissertation work, and enjoy very limited Internet access (detox!). See you in a week!
The Serious Games Summit DC 2005 is slated for October 31 through November 1st in Crystal City.
Reminder to the herd & friends - our Gathering of the Herd is tonight in Silver Spring. Want details? Email me at jcrhody AT umd DOT edu
See you tonight.
TiddlyWiki
http://www.tiddlywiki.com/
http://www.tiddlywiki.com/#TiddlyWikiAdaptations
GTD (Getting Things Done) TiddlyWiki
GTD Tiddly Wiki is a GettingThingsDone adaptation by NathanBowers of JeremyRuston's Open Source TiddlyWiki. The purpose of GTD Tiddly Wiki is to give users a single repository for their GTD lists and support materials so they can create/edit lists, and then print directly to 3x5 cards for use with the HipsterPDA.
TiddlyWikiRemote
A version that should run off the server
http://phiffer.org/tiddly/
TiddlyWiki Tutorial
http://www.blogjones.com/TiddlyWikiTutorial.html
SPACE CASE by ANTHONY LANE “Star Wars: Episode III.”
The general opinion of “Revenge of the Sith” seems to be that it marks a distinct improvement on the last two episodes, “The Phantom Menace” and “Attack of the Clones.” True, but only in the same way that dying from natural causes is preferable to crucifixion.
The final BRAC list [pdf] (Base Realignment and Closure) was released by the DOD today. I'm following this with interest, since someone close to me is involved with the process.
I notice Ft. Monroe is on the list, which is where my Dad worked for many, many years.
During my lunch break yesterday, I dashed across the Mall to see the Asian Games exhibit at the Sackler Gallery, which is sponsored in part by my employer (an article on Asian Games was featured in the July/August 2004 Humanities Magazine).
The exhibit is split into four sections (see the webpage above for some images and a Flash-driven online gallery). Chance looks at dice games, early forms of Snakes & Ladders, pachisi (what we know as Parcheesi), including some absolutely beautiful pachisi pieces. The Snakes & Ladders game boards were wonderful examples of teaching ethics and culture through games, as each board emphasized a culturally-appropriate morality in climbing ladders - and vice in the snakes. The exhibit includes a board (on paper) specific to Islam, where the images were removed (in an aversion to iconography) and only words describing virtues and vices led to a heavenly temple of some sort at the top of the board.
The Strategy section displayed games like chess, weiqi (go), and backgammon. Many of the chess sets are elaborately beautiful, ranging from the Elephants and Viziers from India (where chess originated in the 6th century) to the Kings and Queens later used in England. By this time, I was rushing to get back, but managed to sprint through the remaining two sections. Matching and Memory included cards, dominos, mahjong, and other matching games, such as a Japanese shell game that had the first lines of a poem on one shell, and the last lines on another. This assumes, of course, that you know the hundred or so poems in the collection. The final section, Power and Dexterity, looked at sports like polo and kickball (not the playground type). In all sections, displays of actual games are coupled with images of actual game play, emphasizing how common and influential games were in the various Asian cultures.
The exhibit closes May 15, so you only have a few days left. For those of you who are interested, but can't make the trip to DC, you should consider purchasing the 325-page Asian Games Exhibit Catalogue, which is a huge, gorgeous book that is on sale for $9.99 (normally $45). You can't beat that.