My Latest Game

"Only Happy When It Rains" sang Garbage. But I'm not. Only happy when it rains that is. Not garbage.

I seem to play my tech games obsessively. And then get bored and move on.

My latest is Munzee. A '21st Century Scavenger Hunt' as they say. Basically it's Geocaching without the scrabbling through thorny bushes. If you believe the forums it's also the bad-boy young upstart that is little better than formalised vandalism. Cool. What's not to like?

Munzee works around QR codes - you go to the location shown on the map - and there's the Munzee. You scan it. You get points. You move on to the next one. If you haven't yet fired up the app and need more convincing then read on...

It has these benefits:

1. Points. Any psychologist will tell you that males need points based games so they can see if they have won or not (and by won or not I obviously mean crushed the puny feeble opposition). Points are good. You can measure yourself against others. More points is better. You get the idea.
2. Easy play. Fire up the app, locate a Munzee, scan, get points (see 1 above).
3. Gluing and Sticking. Now you might not expect this to be a factor but when you can generate your own Munzee codes, print them, laminate them, attach magnets to them to deploy in sneaky locations (such as under gate hinges) there is a whole new 'Blue Peter' aspect to the game that is genuinely fun (if you like that sort of thing). I went through about 5 generations of Munzees from feeble low-tech attempts on blotting paper that disintegrated in the first rain (who would have thought?) to my latest generation "colour-printed-on-waterproof-paper-laminated-in-250-micron-laminate" that will definitely withstand a direct thermo-nuclear attack. These babies will still be around wen I am dust.
4. Clan wars... oh these need their own article... trust me.
5. Deploying. "Grow the Map" is the term. When you're a premium member (having paid $30 for the year) you can deploy your own Munzee, get points for the original deployment (see 1) and then get more points whenever someone else captures it. (See 1).

When I first started Munzee there were precisely 3 Munzee in my home town... If you would care to view the local are now it's here: Horsham Munzee. What used to be 3 little green flags has now grown (and is growing still). Pretty much all my own work - although I have to give a big shout out to my Munzee buddy Leveler who lives in he next town but is frequently in Horsham has done a fantastic job of adding new and interesting Munzee here. 

So far I've deployed over 500 Munzee and am still going strong. You can keep up with my stats here: Pardlerum.

See you in the field.

What's in the Mix?

• Panel discussions to Interactive Mash Ups
• Designers and developers hand-in-hand to
• All day VJs to conceptual walls
• Open Source project, CodePlex
• Backnetwork to Moo cards
• Photosynth master classes to Microsoft Surface
• Our international act to geek bars
• Swag giveaways to inflatable lounges
• Designing for compatibility and for the wild
• Visualising books to sneak previews
• The latest developments in IM, VE and IE8
• Latest developments in RIAs and SSDs
• WPF and Silverlight applications at work

No doubt having read that you will be dying to know how you can join in. For the two or three people in the universe to whom any of that makes any sense...you're probably on the speakers list.

This was supposed to encourage me to sign-up and pay £239 to attend Microsoft's Remix08. I don't think I will bother.

(and yes I know...it has been a while since my last post. I popped out for a pint of milk)

It's Gonna Happen Whether You Like it or not.

It's coming. Now we are firmly in the back-end of November (and if you have been real observant you would have noticed faint rustlings around the start of October) that favored time of Chrimbo is rapidly approaching. To help you get in the spirit and miss the rush here's an advent calendar designed especially for blokes...

I Know Jack

It's not often that an Radio station seems to get it right but Jack-FM has done a pretty good job. No DJs, an extensive play-list of (predominantly) 80s hits and an iPod like shuffle mix that will offer Trio 'Da Da Da' (you gotta remember that one!) followed by The Girl from Ipanema and then Everclear 'Father of Mine'...

Listen over the net from here.

..So if you want to know what I'm listening to - it's probably on Jack...


29-Jul-06 - What's happened to Jack? Last time I listened it had changed to Rhythm & Gold - which as they say "Move your boogie body and get the funk out yo' face! This is One Nation Under A Groove! The best of Motown, Memphis, Philly, Blue-Eyed Soul and Classic Dance will have you shakin' your Groove Thing 'til you just can't boogie no more!" - Jack it ain't and I'm miffed.

It's Been a While...

Everybody gets that 'just ain't got time to blog' feeling once in a while...and it isn't helped by workmen taking out your phone connection and cutting you off from the Internet for two weeks [it's OK - you don't need to send emergency services - we're back on-line at last - and yes it was hell].

But now I'm back on line I can share the joy of 'Where the Hell is Matt?' See Matt dance his way around the world. If it doesn't bring a smile to you face and an ache to your travelling boots then nothing will.



You can read Matts blog here and follow his current 6 month trip (now sponsored by a chewing gum manufacturer of course).

I Once Had That Paul Baran In The Back Of My Cab Mate...

From our 'You Had to Be There at The Time' Dept we learn that a 'mystery man' was mistaken for an Internet Expert (whatever one of those is) on News 24. See Reuters for full details.

The man who was supposed to be there spoils the fun by claiming he wasn't a taxi driver. They do look very similar though...

You can see the video here.

Come Over To The Dark Side.

It's not often you can say 'Good Old Microsoft' and have warm fuzzy feelings about their plans for world domination, but this month's Computer Shopper (July 2006 Issue 221) cover CD includes the entire Visual Studio Express editions. Including SQL Server 2005 and Web Developer 2005. Now there is no excuse for not putting together that killer ASP website.