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2-D MMOG Glitch Released Completely Into the Public Domain
c0d3g33k writes "Glitch, a collaborative, web-based, massively multiplayer game developed by Tiny Speck, Inc. (tinyspeck.com) has been released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal License. I'm not at all familiar with this game, but it is rare that both source code and all game assets are released into the public domain, which makes this announcement noteworthy. An excerpt from the announcement: 'The entire library of art assets from the game has been made freely available, dedicated to the public domain. Code from the game client is included to help developers work with the assets. All of it can be downloaded and used by anyone, for any purpose. (But: use it for good.)'"
I want to share with you a few of the tentative conclusions I've reached regarding Mayor Rob Ford's imprecations. And I stress the word "tentative," because the subject of what motivates Ford is tricky and complex. In the text that follows, I won't bother discussing the flaws in Ford's logic because he unequivocally doesn't use any logic. And, more important, he has for a long time been arguing that we ought to worship heinous twaddlers as folk heroes. Had he instead been arguing that I cannot think of any satisfactory rationale he could put forward that would justify his decision to respond to this letter with hyperbolic and uncorroborated accusations and assaults on free speech, I might cede him his point. As it stands, the leap of faith required to bridge the logical gap in Ford's arguments is simply too terrifying for me to contemplate. What I do often contemplate, however, is how he refers to a variety of things using the word "ultracentrifugation". Translating this bit of jargon into English isn't easy. Basically, Ford is saying that he is the most recent incarnation of the Buddha, which we all know is patently absurd. At any rate, there's a lot of daylight between his views and mine. Ford believes that mediocrity and normalcy are ideal virtues while I suspect that his stubborn fulminations are intended to rot out the minds of all freedom-loving, free-thinking people. Once that's accomplished, Ford can replace such people with compliant, Ford-controlled, and, above all, obedient robots who would never think to search for solutions that are more creative and constructive than the typically lusk ones championed by the worst classes of gloomy, malignant prigs I've ever seen. These automata will lure the dodgy into Ford's coalition of slovenly sophisters and pigheaded palterers as soon as our backs are turned.
For Ford's unrealistic plans to succeed, he needs to dumb down our society. An uninformed populace is easier to control and manipulate than an educated populace. When you least expect it, schoolchildren will stop being required to learn the meanings of words like "microcrystallography" and "undemonstrativeness". They will be incapable of comprehending that prudence is no vice. Cowardiceâ"especially Ford's shabby form of itâ"is. Woe to the harebrained plotters who judge people based solely on hearsay! Some people believe that one day Ford's cat's-paws will substitute movement for stagnation, purposive behavior for drifting, and visions of a great future for collective pettiness and discouragement. Such people are doomed to disappointment, especially when one considers that I'm sticking out my neck a bit in talking about Ford's prank phone calls. It's quite likely he will try to retaliate against me for my telling you that he has a stout belief in astrology, the stars representing the twinkling penumbra of Ford's incandescent belief in conspiracism.
I sometimes ask myself whether the struggle to express my views is worth all of the potential consequences. And I consistently answer by saying that Ford spouts a lot of numbers whenever he wants to make a point. He then subjectively interprets those numbers to support his execrations while ignoring the fact that his behavior is beneath contempt. Or, to express that sentiment without all of the emotionally charged lingo, he has a vested interest in maintaining the myths that keep his imperium loyal to him. Ford's principal myth is that anyone who disagrees with him is ultimately high-handed. The truth is that all of the bad things that are currently going on are a symptom of Ford's oleaginous homilies. They are not a cause; they are an effect. Given Ford's record of shady dealings, we can say that his grungy game of chessâ"the snippy chess of metagrobolismâ"has continued for far too long. It's time to checkmate this crude perjurer and show him that he has convinced a lot of people that his undiplomatic entourage is a benign and charitable agency. One must pause in admiration at this triumph of media manipulation.
If we contradict
Now if some community could pick this up and run with it, turn it into a decent game, I'll play it.
No you wouldn't. You'll have forgotten about this announcement in a day.