Music in games

Yesterday, I did a quest south of Menethil Harbour, in the Wetlands region, in WoW. The waters were new to me and so was the music played there. It was oriental, something I'd listen to while doing my yoga. In fact, it was quite irritating and it disturbed the game play. But apart from this particular area, I love the music in the game as it's extremely subtle, it reinforces the gaming experience depending on whether you're flower hunting or fighting troggs and it sticks to my mind like rabbits to hay. I sometimes find myself humming the tune played in Inns and in Stormwind. So, last night, I thought I should do something out of my passion for classical music and playing the piano. I'm not much into playing pop music but rather classical and instrumental and I figure that computer games must be a market for that. The sort of pieces I play at home are exactly what I want to hear (or not hear but on a subconscious level) in games. Perhaps I should start my own company for it. Then, I'd only have to find myself a symphony orchestra to accompany me :)

Think for yourself

It is often said that most users don't want to think when they're online. Whenever it's possible, they should be aided in appropriate ways, like when Google suggests phrases in your search. Naturally, I'm the exception. Among the first things I did when I got a new phone was to switch off the function where a dictionary suggests words based on the first syllables when I'm composing an sms. Neither am I a fan of my car's rain sensor nor the auto correction feature of Word. But at times, it's quite fun to have the program think for you, like I did today when spell checking an activity report I'm writing. Instead of EuroITV, Word suggests Erotic and Neurotic. Hmm, maybe not.

PhD comics

I can't believe I haven't stumbled upon this comic site on the hardship of being a PhD student before. Well, all the more joy to catch up with now then. (I adore comics, hope Santa Claus reads my blog...) Regarding the strip, I sure hope I never find myself in the same situation!

telephone of the future

I'm in a vintage phase again, as looking at things out of a time perspective sort of puts them in perspective. That goes for a lot of things, not only societal phenomena. I found this old ad in the comic magazine Kapten Stofil (4;2006), I especially like the byline claiming that this is how the telephone of the future will look like.

Three step model in London

I'm off to London in a week, exactly 2 years since I last visited this marvelous city. It'll be a brew of "very old", "old enough to be vintage" and "brand new" which I'm looking forward to. The "very old" and "vintage" part is covered by the Leonardo da Vinci and Sixties Fashion exhibitions at the V&A Museum. I'll be very short of time but I just have to make it to these two events, otherwise I'll be very disappointed. The Digital Hollywood event we'll attend - iDTV Lab is participating in a session called "Research, development and investment in internet, entertainment technologies and media studies innovation." - takes care of the innovations bit. Many of the sessions during this three day long media conference will focus on the future, what's hot right now and what's the industry focusing on right now. I wonder what the verdict on UGC will be, is it a hit or not?, and whether there will be any consumer research results presented. In a week, I'll be wiser.

News flash

A usability report I just finished is being news flashed, apparently :)

World Usability Day today

It's the World Usability Day (hear, hear!) today, make sure to check out the web casted events all around the globe here.

PhD-student's haiku poem

En höstlig doktorandkurs i Danmark
fick en aningen försenad avspark.
Men väl framme på ort
och kråset blivit smort
krossades illusionen om en lekpark.

Ett intensivt program tog fart
med syftet att göra mig smart.
Men lägesrapporten i halvtid
indikerar en övergödd humanoid
vars hjärna till pølse smalt.

In short: one week of intense academic work, sometimes for 13 h/day, in Denmark has been fun, inspiring but somewhat exhausting.

Update: Photos from the PhD week here.

Pervasive games

I wonder if there has been any pervasive games, like Uncle Roy all around you, in Finland and/or Ostrobothnia? It would be so cool to devote Christmas break to such a play. I need to refine that idea, no time right now though. I'm off to the PhD course in Denmark early in the morning and I haven't hunted down my suit case yet, no to mention packed... :)