Avatars, Microformats and OpenID

so, duncan pointed me to their work on items and another wiki with information on non-human profiles. good stuff, all of it. the non-human profile stuff seems to be following my general schema — inherit things from hcard and add stats/gear/etc.

tho, there seems to be a push to port openid to fictional characters. i’m not so sure i buy into that.

we’re really talking about 2 kinds of avatars: a made up one that represents you (your icon in a forum post, for example) and the character in a game/virtual world you play (your wow character).

you don’t need an openid for the first one, as it’s you. that’s the whole “agent” relationship thing — and we already have openid for people.

and, in the second one — the reason openid exists is because there’s no consistent, authoritative source for information about people. there is, however, a source for games and virtual worlds. (or books or movies or anything else) it’s the game itself. the very nature of a game avatar is that it’s tied to that game.

however, i absolutely do agree that we need a “portable identity” for game avatars, but, we do not need a primary authority. and, as portable identity basically IS what microformats are for, well… there you go.

m3mnoch.

Google Maps and Microformats

well. i guess ask, and you shall receive. i was railing on about microformats and how cool they were and then google goes ahead and implements hcard for google maps.

hmmm… i wonder if there’s a “player” microformat. my friend duncan working over on the pmog project has created an item microformat. we need an avatar based one too, methinks.

how about this:

<div class="avatar">
	<span class="fn">m3mnoch</span>,
	<span class="profession">Wiz</span>
	<div class="vcard" rel="user">
	 <a class="url fn" href="http://www.addictingentertainment.com/">Christopher D. Chapman</a>
	</div>
	<a href="http://www.hypefighter.com" class="org">Hypefighter</a>
	<dl class="attributes">
		<dt rel="ability">Strength</dt>
		<dd>15</dd>
		<dt rel="skill">Melee Combat</dt>
		<dd>22</dd>
		<dt rel="property">Height</dt>
		<dd>6' 2"</dd>
	</dl>
	<ul class="gear">
		<li class="equipment">Pickaxe</li>
	</ul>
</div>

that should start us off, eh?

m3mnoch.

Facebook, Pownce, MySpace, Twitter, Technorati, LastFM, WordPress…

two words: digital schizophrenia.

for god’s sake, people!  can we please consolidate some of this crap?

okay.  maybe that’s a little harsh.  but, it’s not just me.

it’s not like i’m asking for some kind of social network rpc solution.  (tho, that would be really cool!)  really, all i want is a mix of microformats and openid and a people search engine.

there are some profile aggregators and reputation management things out there, but, really, they’re just solving part of the problem.  i need something that follows along behind and cleans up after me. 

it’s not like it’s THAT hard.  it’s not like you have to be google and crawl 16 billion websites or something.  all you need are the top few thousand.  or even just the top few hundred social sites.

c’mon, mark, how hard is that?

i’ll even make is easy.  here’s the simple, 3-step pathway to world domination (i’d do it myself, but, dammit, i’m already taking over the world with other projects):

STEP 1: Data Collection

like i said, all you have to do is crawl the top 100 social/web 2.0 sites — to get the bulk of your information.  when people sign up, just ask them for their “handle,” name and email.  then crawl away.  (make sure you go grab all of their contacts too — very important in the next step.)  between blog search, facebook, orkut, friendster, bebo, linkedin and myspace, you should be able to build a pretty complete profile.

besides, you can always let them go back in and add their own profile links.

STEP 2: Relationships

now that you have their data, wrap this around their identity with openid.  now, you’ve got all of their links and contacts, you can start drawing the core relationship lines of a social network.  both bob and joe link to pages about sarah therefore, she’s a shared contact.

now, you have bob’s openid and sarah’s openid related to each other.  the power!

STEP 3: Reinforcement

there’s this cool philosophy/methodology/standard called microformats.  publish your data in every conceivable format (html, web services, gadgets and widgets, rss feeds, everything) and build it with microformats in mind.

become the information standard.  reward sites that use microformats with better search rankings.  build the larger network through cross-linked quantity (sheer bulk of profile data a site has) as well as quality (how detailed their microformat information is).

YOU’RE DONE!

sell it all to yahoo or google or microsoft.  sit by the beach.  have a cocktail.  maybe even buy me one.

the key takeaway here is to crawl the web (and some highly targeted sites) with people in mind rather than content.

that’s really the difference in a content search engine and a people search engine.  you probably don’t care about edge cases or brochureware or anonymity.  you go to where the people are.  you care more about large forum sites than something content-rich like wikipedia.

to be honest, there are some sites on the cusp of figuring this all out.  technorati is really my personal favorite.  it just has two downfalls.  it’s terribly slow and all they care about is blogs and not other web content.

sigh…  there’s a lot more data out there other than some blog trackback, guys.

m3mnoch.

Wii and PS3 pipelines

so, i started to write this up as a comment, but seeing as i’m pretty much neglecting my blog until we announce our product (see raph?  no leaks here!), i figured i’d re-purpose it here.

from a representative of the “wii-haters club.”

I hope for the millions of Wii owners that there situation turns around.  The Wii is a “revolution” in the gaming industry but with little support backing it what do future generations hold?

i guess he’s just hoping for some backlash.  dunno.

however, i do know the games out for the wii right now are games that were in the pipe before it launched.  now that it’s the “hot” thing, expect the bandwagon to roll in and everyone to pile on.  that would be why every game company on the planet has reiterated their support for the wii and are announcing slews of games for it.  it starts with the ports as they already have a codebase, then, moves into exclusives.

of course, the opposite is true for the ps3.  the ps3 games working their way to market right now are games that were in development when the ps3 was hot.  now that it evidently has little public appeal, new projects for the ps3 are far and few between.  anyone seen a new third party exclusive announced for the ps3 lately?

m3mnoch.

Social Ripping

so, i’ve said it before — i hate the riaa.

i’m firmly in the camp of “they are dinosaurs in their death throes.” and, when i read something like this:

The “social” ripping and burning of CDs among friends — which takes place offline and almost entirely out of reach of industry policing efforts — accounted for 37 percent of all music consumption, more than file-sharing, NPD said.

it just makes me fume! of course that’s the way it works! people are looking for new music. who do they go to? people they trust! people who like the same types of music.

here’s an equation for the riaa: lastfm + allofmp3 + affiliate programs - drm = phat lewt.

it’s so. goddamn. easy. help people discover new friends who have the same tastes in music and add an easy-to-use payment system. $0.15 per song. a nickel for the artist. a eight cents for the riaa and the site expenses. three cents for the friend that you downloaded from.

incentivize the legal transaction between friends — both old and newly discovered.

money will rain down from the heavens.

m3mnoch.

UPDATE: er.  math ftw.  two cents for your buddy — not three.  been doing too much trig lately.  it’s affecting my basic math….

Solid Snake on the 360

the sony defense force am cry.

m3mnoch.

UPDATE: evidently, the internet is melting.  so, i just thought i’d archive d’toid’s post here.

——

I have been waiting for many months to finally say this, and today is the day. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots will not be a PS3 exclusive after all. It has been confirmed that it will make its way to the Xbox 360 in 2008.

There is no true date set for the release at this point, but November of 2008 has been mentioned. This is not set in stone as Konami is working with Microsoft to bring the date forward as much as possible. MGS4 for the 360 will also come with exclusive content and gameplay that will not be in the PS3 version of the game. Some of this content is VR missions, as well as “Snake Tales” or “Snake in the Valley” (depending on where you live), which will let you go on objective based missions, some of which are very lengthy. These are the first two bonuses to emerge so far, but be ready to expect even more.

Konami is also in talks with Nintendo to bring a Metal Gear Solid game to the Wii. MGS4 would obviously have to be slimmed down if the chose to port the title to Nintendo’s console. We already know that Snake will be a playable character in Super Smash Bros., so this (along with the 360 news) doesn’t come as much of a surprise.

On a personal note. HAHAHAHA! Hey Sony fanboys: At least you all have a Blu-ray player for the next year or two until that fails as well.

[Editor's note: The opinions expressed about Sony and the PS3 belong to Ron Workman and Ron Workman only. He's a loose cannon and a PR nightmare.]
Dear internet matlocks,

You cracked the case, good work. I understand that going to every gaming industry event, [----edited----], speaking to someone at Konami, and knowing this has been in the works for months, could not possibly make me as qualified as the forum post you made from your

A. Dorm room

B. Mom’s basement

C. Cell block

We all know that Sony would never give up an exclusive. I mean what’s next? Unreal Tourney? Final Fantasy? Nooo waaay! They would never loose an exclusive. Every MGS game was a Sony exclusive at one point. I can’t imagine them coming out with MGS on another console. I mean… they have never done that have they?

Next time I am with Peter Moore, Myamoto, or Phil Harrison in person, I will be sure to remind them to approve things through you, internet Matlocks, before they make any decisions.

Dungeon Runners Now Public

woot. anyone can now join in on the dungeon runners fun. so, to catch those of you up who weren’t in the beta, a quick run-down on why i love this game.

first, what it’s not:

1. a full-fledged mmo with crazy crafting skills, dancing and an economy.
2. a game where you spend 40 hours grinding so you can get to the “end game” content.
3. a pvp powerhouse.

now, what it is:

1. it’s super accessible. jump in, jump out.
2. it’s fast paced. you wade into various fast and furious combat really quickly. (compared to something like wow or vanguard. think diablo.)
3. it makes playing with your friends REALLY easy. the right-click go-to feature is AWESOME. the pre-divided loot is AWESOME. sharing portals is AWESOME.
4. it’s FREE! (tho, i actually am a subscriber — it’s only $5 a month.)

i’m a big fan of the convenience of dungeon pounding instances coupled with the convenience of playing in a (mostly) persistent world with your friends. i look at it more like a highly interactive irc channel.

m3mnoch.

p.s. OOH! i almost forgot! it’s FUNNY! from a brand new dungeon — still with that new dungeon smell — to an ungodly badass weapon that’s a — wait for it — pizza slicer. it’s light and good for some quick fun.

I’m an Action Hero!

 look at me, ma!  i’m in the movies!

mad props to my friend andrew for giving me my big break in show biz. i’m ready for my close-up now.

m3mnoch.

Marillion? Who?

this just in!  phil harrison makes an ass out of himself at a marillion concert.

for god’s sake!

i know, right?

what the hell?!?!

we’re both thinking exactly the same thing — who the hell is marillion? because nobody’s really surprised when a sony rep starts acting like an asshat.

m3mnoch.

Henry Miller

so.  i found my new favorite quote machine — henry miller.  how can you go wrong with things like “The real leader has no need to lead - he is content to point the way” or “Life is 440 horsepower in a 2-cylinder engine” or “Chaos is the score upon which reality is written“?

of course, for some perspective, my former favorite was napoleon.

/shrug

m3mnoch.