p style="text-align: center;"a href="http://img.qj.net/uploads/articles_module/126928/patapon-plush-1_qjgenth.png?274270" rel="lightbox[article126928]" title="Patapon 20- 20Image 201 20 26nbsp 3B 20 20 26nbsp 3B 20 3Ca 20href 3D 22http 3A//img.qj.net/uploads/articles_module/126928/patapon-plush-1.png 3F274270 22 20target 3D 22_blank 22 3E 3Cimg 20src 3D 22/img/newwindow.png 22 20title 3D 22Open 20in 20new 20window 22 20border 3D 220 22 3E 3C/a 3E"img alt="Patapon - Image 1" title="Patapon - Image 1" src="http://img.qj.net/uploads/articles_module/126928/patapon-plush-1_qjgenth.png?274270" align=""/anbsp;a href="http://img.qj.net/uploads/articles_module/126928/patapon-plush-2_qjgenth.png?314949" rel="lightbox[article126928]" title="Patapon 20- 20Image 202 20 26nbsp 3B 20 20 26nbsp 3B 20 3Ca 20href 3D 22http 3A//img.qj.net/uploads/articles_module/126928/patapon-plush-2.png 3F314949 22 20target 3D 22_blank 22 3E 3Cimg 20src 3D 22/img/newwindow.png 22 20title 3D 22Open 20in 20new 20window 22 20border 3D 220 22 3E 3C/a 3E"img alt="Patapon - Image 2" title="Patapon - Image 2" src="http://img.qj.net/uploads/articles_module/126928/patapon-plush-2_qjgenth.png?314949" align=""/anbsp;a href="http://img.qj.net/uploads/articles_module/126928/patapon-plush-3_qjgenth.png?293019" rel="lightbox[article126928]" title="Patapon 20- 20Image 203 20 26nbsp 3B 20 20 26nbsp 3B 20 3Ca 20href 3D 22http 3A//img.qj.net/uploads/articles_module/126928/patapon-plush-3.png 3F293019 22 20target 3D 22_blank 22 3E 3Cimg 20src 3D 22/img/newwindow.png 22 20title 3D 22Open 20in 20new 20window 22 20border 3D 220 22 3E 3C/a 3E"img alt="Patapon - Image 3" title="Patapon - Image 3" src="http://img.qj.net/uploads/articles_module/126928/patapon-plush-3_qjgenth.png?293019" align=""/abrbr/pNeed gift ideas to give to your friends for the holidays? If they're a fan of one-eyed tribesmen, check out MedicomToy's catalogs. They're going to roll out their span style="font-style: italic;"Patapon/span line some time this month: a span style="font-style: italic;"Patapon/span plush doll and a handful of span style="font-style: italic;"Patapon/span straps.brbrI wouldn't mind getting one myself. wink wink brbrThe unfortunate thing is, the plush dolls cost an arm and a leg (and an eye too, I suppose). The plush toys cost JP 3,990 a pop (around US 40). Heck, you can get the game itself cheaper - whether you want to get the a title="PSP - Patapon" href="http://pspupdates.qj.net/Patapon/cid/4219"first game/a, or import a title="PSP - Patapon 2" href="http://pspupdates.qj.net/Patapon-2/cid/5196"the second/a.brbrNow, if you're not willing to part with that sort of money, there's the cheaper (and smaller) alternative: the span style="font-style: italic;"Patapon/span straps which cost JP 683 each (around US 8). Still a bit pricey for something you could keep dangling on your phone, but hey - it's a novelty item, what can you expect?brbrOh and one last thing. If you do decide to pick one of these items up, MedicomToy only ships around a href="http://pspupdates.qj.net/tags/japan/109" id="tag" title="island country in East Asia; capital city Tokyo"Japan/a. You'd have to find other means to transport the goods across the seas. (Don't you just wish the span style="font-style: italic;"Patapon/span plushies could just magically create their own Pata-tribe boat, eh? We all know a title="Patapon 2: story, multiplayer modes, new game plus, eggs, heroes, and Pata-screens galore" href="http://pspupdates.qj.net/Patapon-2-story-multiplayer-modes-new-game-plus-eggs-heroes-and-Pata-screens-galore/pg/49/aid/124632"what happened to their boat/a though.)brbrhr style="width: 100 ; height: 2px;"brspan style="font-weight: bold;"Related articles:/spanbrulli style="font-style: italic;"a title="Patapon craze: the Patapon BE@RBRICK" href="http://pspupdates.qj.net/Patapon-craze-the-Patapon-BE-RBRICK/pg/49/aid/114407"Patapon craze: the Patapon BE@RBRICK/a/lilia style="font-style: italic;" title="LittleBigPlanet sackboy plushies up for grabs on Play-Asia" href="http://www.qj.net/LittleBigPlanet-sackboy-plushies-up-for-grabs-on-Play-Asia/pg/49/aid/126922"LittleBigPlanet sackboy plushies up for grabs on Play-Asia/abr/li/ulbrbrdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/QJ/PSP?a=1wrbYuCK"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/QJ/PSP?d=41" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/QJ/PSP?a=l7dLgIMJ"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/QJ/PSP?d=50" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/QJ/PSP?a=uWLUyG0I"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/QJ/PSP?d=43" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/QJ/PSP/~4/osBD35vufw4" height="1" width="1"/

pimg alt="imgSandyWanted.jpg" src="http://www.readwriteweb.com/imgSandyWanted.jpg" width="120" height="72" /Last week, a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/twitter_scoops_up_shuts_down_d.php"ReadWriteWeb/a and a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/jobwire/2008/11/rael-dornfest-and-his-firm-val.php"RWW Jobwire/a both reported on Twitter acquiring Rael Dornfest's company, Values of n. The acquisition brought Rael to Twitter, along with products Sandy and Stikkit. The unfortunate part of the news for Sandy users was that - like a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/sixapart_hires_pownce_founders.php"Six Apart's acquisition of Pownce/a - Twitter has decided to shutter the Values of n services, leaving a number of faithful users without a virtual digital assistance./p pBut all hope may not be lost. a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/pwRQM77mPVc/sandys-demise-inspires-open+source-replacement"Lifehacker reports/a that a group of developers are a href="http://sandysback.blogspot.com/"scrambling to develop an open-source version of Sandy/a./p p align="right"emSponsor/embr /a href='http://d.openx.org/ck.php?n=12779amp;cb=12779' target='_blank'img src='http://d.openx.org/avw.php?zoneid=861amp;cb=12779amp;n=12779' border='0' alt='' align="right" //a/p pFor those who never got the chance to meet Sandy, she served as an anthropomorphic digital assistant who helped users remember to-dos and appointments. And she was intelligent enough to interact via email, IM, and Twitter. (Clearly, she took on so many human qualities that many of us continue to refer to her as "her" instead of "it.")/p pThe open-source project proposes to recreate Sandy from the ground up, ensuring that users still have access to the functionality that the original Sandy possessed. They're beginning to consider plans for monetization, as well./p pFor now, the developers are a href="http://sandysback.blogspot.com/2008/11/progress-being-made.html"seeking guidance on initial features and functionality/a:/p blockquote"If you are a fan of Sandy, let us know here or at mysandy on twitter what features are most important to you, highest priority for us to focus on implementing first. Note that we won't be able to recreate all of Sandy's full feature-set for a first release. So it's helpful to know from you what your priorities are. Please keep in mind we'll need to provide features based on what's available to us open source and free, for now, so that will be a constraint on what features are in the first release."/blockquote pLike many open-source projects, this project stems from user frustration over the lack of control they have in the situation. It will be interesting to see where the community decides to take the project now that they have more control over Sandy's features. Whatever the case, they're off to a running start. The team says they currently have a proof of concept prototype up and running. /p pIt's also interesting to note, that there are already mentions of working with a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/indentica_federated_twitter.php"identi.ca/a, the open-source microblogging tool that sprung onto the scene during a similarly difficult time with Twitter./p pWe'll continue to keep tabs on the open-source Sandy, even without the original Sandy around to remind us to do so./p stronga href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/i_want_sandy_open_source.php#comments-open"Discuss/a/strong pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/16lJ5aXwjdoMmOXvnSsLXggs-mo/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/16lJ5aXwjdoMmOXvnSsLXggs-mo/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?a=11of3gTf"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?d=1035" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?a=6ZX7zjLt"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?d=41" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?a=i2b8tLGq"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?i=i2b8tLGq" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?a=X42m9a7o"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?i=X42m9a7o" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?a=3cU30l38"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?i=3cU30l38" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?a=ElGxT4cK"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?d=52" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?a=NnOsOywU"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?d=1034" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/readwriteweb/~4/6-WNECtDgbY" height="1" width="1"/

We've been meaning to interview the developer of Mighty Jill Off and Calamity Annie for a while now, but alas Eegra and Lesbian Gamers got to her first. Still, better late than never as the old saying goes. What follows is a chat transcript of our discussion about fanart, art games, indie games, IGF, IFs, and more. (interview archives)

Hi Anna, how about we start off with a short introduction of who you are and what it is exactly that you do.
i'm anna anthropy. my nom de game is "auntie pixelante." i make games.

When did you start making games? And how many games have you made since then?
i started making games when i was little, with whatever tools i could get my hands on: zzt, stuff like that. i still use whatever i can find to tell stories. i like games that allow for creativity as much as destruction, so i spend a lot of time with games that have level editors. my own games i usually put together in game maker, which isn't ideal but is easy and cheap, which is why it's brought a lot of people into game design who wouldn't otherwise be.

Which of your creations are you most proud of?
mighty jill off seems to be the game i'm most associated with, though i'm just as proud of other projects. calamity annie is important to me, as it came out of a time of trial for me -- i'd just gotten kicked out of game school for using the word "art" to refer to something other than photoshop and i felt a drive to prove myself. i made a game this past weekend, a one-switch version of mighty jill off called "jill off with one hand," and maybe i'm still in the afterglow but i'm very proud of that right now.

Games


Were you pleased/thrilled with the number of turnouts for the Mighty Jill Off fanart contest? Which entries were the most arousing to you?
my only disappointments with the competition were the entries that didn't get finished! josh rylander pencilled a wonderful drawing of jill creeping over a pit of spikes that seemed to have claimed the life of an earlier jill, and mariel cartwright sketched a perspective drawing of the queen stamping her boot on jill's face, which is the sort of thing i am all about.

How long do you see yourself still sticking with making freeware (or donationware) Game Maker games?
donationware is a good model for me: what's most important to me is for people to be able to play my games. if those players feel there's value in what i do and want me to continue to do it, that's dandy. "donationware" allows players to decide how much my games are worth.

Which of your game has done the best in terms of donationware, and why you think that is the case?
calamity annie was the first game i asked for donations for: players who donate any sum receive a password that unlocks hidden characters in the game, a totally superficial extra. i like to think that both as a measure of the game's quality and as a show of support from my players during that rough time, annie made more than enough money in donations to pay for both annie's and mighty jill off's admittance to the upcoming independant games festival.

Is there actually any secret easter eggs that fans of your games don't know about?
calamity annie is pretty much all easter eggs. but here's one i like: get the "happy ending," then play three games without losing before you reach the bar. you'll see a special message i wrote to my slut.

Do you harbor plans on milking Calamity Annie and Mighty Jill Off for all they're worth by releasing sequels in the near future (besides Jill Off Harder)?
i think our medium is too obsessed with sequels: sequels to videogames tend to offer new content but not new ideas. i say this, of course, after having spent a weekend working on a one-switch spin off to mighty jill off. i'm not interested in retreading ground i've already explored, though it seems i'm building a cast of characters.

Are you currently working on anything new then?
always. at the moment, not to give too much away, my projects include a reimagining of the data east game nail 'n scale, a rom hack of megaman 2, and an rpg of the "pen and paper" variety, though it most likely won't involve either pens or paper. and i'm dangerously prone to getting sudden ideas and spending the next few days putting them together, so i can't make any guarantees.

Let's just say you have a choice of collaborating with any indie game developer out there, would you do it? Who would you choose, and why? And what sweet games would you make?
i ought to collaborate with messhof. we keep being in the same room and nearly meeting. i can't say exactly what we'd create, but it would have lots of flashing colors. if anyone reading this is messhof, feel free to collaborate with me.



Playing Favorites


Which game genres are your favorites?
i think that discussing games in terms of genre is dangerous and paralyzing. part of the reason we see so many games that are the exact same experience is because our critical vocabulary only allows for us to discuss games, and what games might be, in terms of these very limiting, established models. though i have to confess, i'm typically drawn to shooters (of the "space invaders" variety) because what they represent is the most basic, abstract form of videogame interaction: one actor sends a signal, another actor receives it, and reacts.

Any favorite indie games then?
among freeware games, those that have impressed me recently are knytt stories, barkley, shut up and jam: gaiden, karoshi 2.0 and psychosomnium. nifflas, jesse venbrux and cactus are among the designers i most admire, them and emily short. and linley's dungeon crawl is probably the game i will have spent the most time with, in total, when all is said and done.

Your favorite IF writers? And favorite IF games?
i admire emily short immensely: she's interested in the discussion of design, which is something we need far more of. i very much like zarf's work, particularly "hunter, in darkness" and "so far." i like some of adam cadre's more formal experiments, like 9:05 and shrapnel. and i consider victor gijsbers's the baron to be pretty important, since i keep citing it as an example of how games by hobbyist game developers are allowing the medium to shift away from men with guns and toward the exploration of more relevant and human topics.

Recent indie games which you've been playing?
lately i've been spending time with an early nineties mac game called glider, now freeware. it's neat in that it's played with just two buttons, to move your paper plane left and right, and the y axis is accounted for by gravity and gusts of wind. what's particularly charming about it is the sheer breadth of things that have been implemented simply for the sake of implementation, like a guitar that plays a chord as your plane glides across its strings.

Any unreleased indie games you can't wait to get your hands on?
i'm excited about games that haven't yet been made, because there are so many of them, and lots of them explore our medium in ways we haven't seen so far. i am looking forward to the day when these games are made.

Being Indie


What do you think is wrong with the indie games scene? Any suggestions on how to improve the situation?
a problem i think the "indie" games scene unfortunately shares with the larger community surrounding videogames is that of exclusion. that's why i don't like the "indie" label - there's a sense of this is us and these are our values and these are our private jokes that only serves to keep people out, when what should be the real strength of independant game development - the thing that above all the industry is incapable of - is diversity. independant game development should be an avenue for anyone to tell her stories, not another tiny, self-congratulatory circle.

What are your thoughts on the subject of art games?
i think the discussion of whether games are art, or whether some games are art, or which games are art and which aren't is a diversion and a waste of time. what's true is that games are an expressive and communicative medium and that, at the moment, they aren't communicating very much. we need to be telling more interesting stories, mapping out the potential of our medium, and saying a lot more than we are now.

This is sort of related to the Eegra interview you did back in September (2008). Do you prefer the word gamer or player?
i don't like the term "gamer," as it implies that one defines one's identity around videogames. which, apart from being shallow, ties into this poisonous idea we have in our medium that playing a game should be considered an end in and of itself. we need to escape this complacency: videogames are not worthwhile unless we are doing something worthwhile with them. i find "player" a more useful term in that describes an act -- it describes someone who is in the process of playing a game -- not an identity.

The Festivities


What are your modest expectations on how the two games you've submitted to IGF will do?
i'm not holding my breath. there are categories for innovation in graphics and innovation in audio, which are neat parlor tricks, but there are no awards honoring holistic game design or storytelling. i think that's another trend that it's unfortunate to see the independent game community share with the mainstream: partitioning games rather than considering the work as a whole. there's supposedly a new category this year to address this issue: i'm interested in seeing what it produces.

So what changes would you like to see made to the competition?
i've sort of already answered this question: i want to see the awards recognize progress in storytelling rather than technology. the latter we have plenty of, but it's the former that is going to allow our medium to come into its own. i would like to see more celebration of bedroom coders, of hobbyist game designers, of people that are outside the mainstream and who really are outside the industry and whose lives would actually be changed by getting the thousand dollar prize for their creations.

Played any competition entries in this year's IGF yet? Anything that impressed you?
i'm sharing the entry list with a lot of games i admire: barkley, shut up and jam: gaiden, which i've mentioned before, dino run, i wish i were the moon, dangerous high school girls in trouble. quite soulless is competing, and i hope it and i both make finalist so i can meet vasily zotov. i'm a little disappointed that none of my former classmates seem to be competing in the student competition.

Who would you like to see win the grand prize?
i want barkley, shut up and jam: gaiden to win, and i want the developers to be handed their award by none other than charles barkley himself. then, right there on stage, they break for an impromptu game of b-ball as everyone in the audience whistles "sweet georgia brown" in unison. i can't help it. i think it's an important game. though i don't know if, legally, they can. tim, talk to simon. do whatever you have to do to make this happen.

I'll consider that a prediction then. In closing, any favorite haunts? Any shoutouts?
i'll give a shout out to my comrades at glorioustrainwrecks.com, a site that champions the value of spirit in game creation above technical ability. we have an amazing two-hour game jam the third saturday of every month - traditionally using free copies of klik & play - and all are invited to join in.


More...

Stray Blog has written about his visit to North Korea's Kaesong City.  His was one of the last tours before North Korea put a stop to cross-border travel.   Stray Blog writes that the North Korean are disadvantaging themselves by this action.

My visit to Kaesong City, North Korea last weekend was timely. This week, relations between North and South Korea took a turn for the worse, and the North responded by canceling any cross-border movement. The unfortunate aspect of this decision is that the overpriced tours made a great deal of revenue for the people of the North. Canceling them is really just a further punishment on North Koreans themselves, who are already struggling to combat a debilitating food shortage. I was fortunate to be able to take one of the last tours of the North for potentially a long time.

Visitors to the country are struck by the lack of advertisement banners and colour as Stray blog observes.

- absence of colour: all of the buildings are very drab, and the people were clothed in primarily dull brown and black jackets. Only some of the children were dressed brightly - usually bright red jackets

Flickr user Kernbeisser has posted images of his earlier journey along the Pyongyang-Hyangsan motorway.

This motorway was planned to connect the capital with the city of Huichon in Jagang Province but the last section was never completed. The completed part which was opened to traffic in 1995 ends rather abruptly in Hyangsan at the entrance to the Myohyang Mountains. So the original “Pyongyang-Huichon Motorway” ended up as “Pyongyang-Hyangsan Tourist Motorway”.

North Korea Economy Watch announces the launch of the website of the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (website link). On the website the founder Dr. james Chin-Kyung Kim writes about the motivation behind the institution.

PUST is an experiment to determine if it is possible to train generations of North Korean students-who have been shielded from many international influences-in the technical skills and knowledge required to make positive contributions to a global community undergoing rapid and constant change. PUST will also encourage the students to become aware of the cultural influences that create the differences in international thinking.

In North Korea, you will find people wearning pins (badges) featuring Kim jong Il and Kim Il Sung. These pins are coveted by foreign tourists and hard to get if you are not a North Korean citizen. the bloggers Lianlian Films managed to get one while in North Korea.  They describe how they hold the pin in reverence even when they are abroad.

At the Pyongyang Restaurant in Kathmandu, a North Korean waitresses squealed when shown The Pin - they don't normally wear one in Nepal. The young lady picked it up very carefully, whipped out a piece of tissue and polished the little disc to a shine. Then she took out another piece of tissue and wrapped it up before giving it back. All throughout, she barely spoke a word but the message was clear - The Pin is sacred. Treat with care.

Talking about the North Korean restaurants, there are several of these across East Asia and are official North Korean investments.  In addition to the food, a big attraction of these restaurants are the singing and dancing North Korean staff. 

Here is a clip from one such restaurant in the Cambodian capital city of Phnom Penh.

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/82522?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+Everton+look+to+rekindle+short-term+Larsson+dealch=Footballc3=The+Guardianc4=Everton+%28Football%29%2CPremier+League+%28Football%29%2CFootball%2CSportc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CPremier+Leaguec6=Andy+Hunterc7=2008_12_01c8=1127251c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=Evertonc13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2FEverton" width="1" height="1" //divpDavid Moyes, the Everton manager, will reconsider a move for the veteran Sweden captain Henrik Larsson in January as he searches the loan market for reinforcements for his stricken strike force./ppInjuries have reduced Everton's established four-man attack to one in the past week, the 20-year-old Victor Anichebe, and Moyes, with little money to spend, may have to revive his interest in the 37-year-old Larsson. The Everton manager resisted a chance to sign the former Celtic striker from Helsingborg at the end of last season, when he still had Andrew Johnson on the books, but warmed to the idea after Johnson was sold to Fulham and the August transfer deadline was approaching./ppBy that stage, however, Larsson was reluctant to quit Helsingborg midway through a Swedish league season in which he ultimately scored 14 goals in 27 games and Moyes turned his attentions to Louis Saha. Everton may offer Larsson a short-term deal similar to the one he accepted from Manchester United in 2007, when he played from January until March during Sweden's close season, although whether the veteran remains receptive to the idea is uncertain./ppLarsson will not be the only option considered as Moyes tries to ease an injury crisis that has claimed Yakubu Ayegbeni, James Vaughan and Saha inside the past week. The pound;11.25m Yakubu is out for the season having ruptured an achilles tendon during the win at Tottenham while Vaughan will undergo knee surgery this week at the Colorado clinic of Dr Richard Steadman and Saha suffered a muscle spasm in his hamstring at White Hart Lane. Vaughan will be sidelined for up to three months following surgery and Saha will be reassessed later in the week, though he is not as serious as was first anticipated. Yakubu will have an operation today./pp"It is a huge blow to lose Yak and we are all so sorry for him," said Steven Pienaar, Everton's scorer at Spurs. "He was really down. His presence alone in the team gives the players a boost, so it is really unfortunate for him when we are not even halfway through the season."/ppThe CSKA Moscow forward Vagner Love would be Moyes' ideal target. The manager watched the Brazilian score twice in a recent Uefa Cup tie at Feyenoord, although his pound;12m valuation is beyond the Scot and the injury to Yakubu removes any prospect of the Nigerian being sold to raise funds. The Everton manager had previously said Yakubu was not for sale. Alan Smith was another target in the summer, although the Newcastle forward has not played all season due to a stress fracture in his foot, while Kleber, a Brazilian currently on loan at Palmeiras from Dynamo Kiev, has also interested Premier League scouts./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/everton"Everton/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/premierleague"Premier League/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/q7dQ-HQkk4VpTZZcpOhLydCLa90/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/q7dQ-HQkk4VpTZZcpOhLydCLa90/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

pIn an unfortunate turn of events for PC gamers, Rockstar has announced that emGrand Theft Auto IV/em will ship with SecuROM 7. /ppa href="http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2008/12/01/all-versions-of-gta-iv-pc-to-tote-securom"Read More.../a/p

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Li-xiang is a patient, but also more than a patient. He filmed in 2004 a documentary called “our life” about how AIDS patients live, and founded an AID-care NGO named Red-wood, which reaches out to comfort AIDS patients and train health-care volunteers. Outside his sickroom, he is more a social worker than a patient in need of care. As he said

对我æ¥è¯´ï¼Œæ¯å¤©çš„工作就是åšèƒ½å¤Ÿå¸®åŠ©è‰¾æ»‹ç—…毒感染者的工作，以åŠå‡å°‘大众对艾滋病的误解和歧视的工作，大部分时间都是在围ç€è‰¾æ»‹ç—…打转转，åƒä»»ä½•ä¸€ä¸ªç¤¾ä¼š 工作者那样。

To me, my daily work to help AIDS patients, and lift public’s misunderstanding and discrimination against AIDS. I spent most of my time working on HIV issue, as any social worker does.

Now about 30, he contracted AIDS in a blood donation when he was only a high school student. He started blogging in 2005, writing about his life, ideas, and occasionally HIV treatment. He faces the disease with an open mind and never grudges talking about it, and his optimism cheers up many of his fellow patients.

He writes about AIDS treatment and discusses with netizens, many of them fellow patients, the prospect of overcoming the fatal disease; for example, he has entries called “Li-xiang: my point on AIDS medicine”, and “Li-xiang: relationship between anti-virus cure and CD4.” Also, he scolds the quake that swindles fake medicine to anxious patients. Moreover, he deliberated on a trade-off between people’s privacy and a preventive measure against AIDS that have to make any lurking disease open.

以æ供救治为首è¦æ ¸å¿ƒçš„战略，是å¦è¦è½¬ç§»åˆ°ä»¥é¢„防为核心的战略？还是努力救治，也努力预防？过去以救治为首è¦æ ¸å¿ƒçš„战略和实施是å¦ä¹Ÿåªæ˜¯æ¯æ°´è½¦è–ªï¼Ÿå…¨ä¸–ç•Œ6000万艾滋病相关的工作者，是å¦çœŸçš„有效救治了4000万艾滋病感染者和病人？在艾滋病é¢å‰ï¼Œæˆ‘们是å¦éœ€è¦ç‰ºç‰²äººæƒæ¥è¿›è¡Œæ™®é的强制 检测，æ‰èƒ½æ›´æœ‰æ•ˆçš„控制艾滋病的æµè¡Œï¼Ÿè¿™æ ·æ˜¯å¦å€¼å¾—？——æŽæƒ³

Should we shift from a strategy that centers on treatment to another strategy centers on preventive measures? Or should we do them equally hard? Is the measure we are taking now, namely, treatment going first, only takes as little effect as a water drop has to the entire sea? Are the 60 million AIDS workers around the world able to save effectively the 40 million patients? Should we, facing AIDS, sacrifice human rights to impose a forced examination on people to better control the AIDS infection? Is that worth it?

He has been a celebrity. His deeds were widely reported. Southern Weekend, an influential periodical, dedicated one page to him after his documentary was finished. He was said to be so busy that even on bed he has to pick up phone calls to tell his ideas about where the NGO Red-woods should be going for next step. And pictures show that he was planting trees with the Belgium Princess Mathilde in an AIDS-related activity.

(From Li-xiang's blog)

But in all these reports and pictures, one thing remains, that Li-xiang has never shown his face to the camera. The reason he does that, is because he also wants a life of dignity, and tries not to let his parents and friends worry too much about him.

Self

Li-xiang, though with the aura as an extraordinary man, is in nature a common person, who just happened to run into a misfortune. He likes to talk about himself in most daily-life details.

我喜欢打游æˆï¼Œé™¤äº†ç©ºå½“接龙还喜欢打CS，ä¸è¿‡æ‰“的很差。æ¯å¤©ä¸è¶…过30分钟的游æˆæœ‰åŠ©äºŽè°ƒèŠ‚你的生活和心情。

I love playing games, not only freecell (a poker game), but also Counter-strike (a computer game). Playing games for less than 30 minutes a day will help adjust your life and mind.

He talks about what he dislikes:

我最讨厌自己的事情是，我生病时，有人到病房探视。我得åƒç¥¥æž—嫂一样的é‡å¤æ²»ç–—的情况。更令人懊æ¼çš„是，少数人并ä¸æ˜¯ä¸ºè¿™ä¸ªæ¥çš„。

What I hate the most is that when I am sick, people come to look after me, and I have to repeat how my treatment goes time and time again. What disappoints me more is that some one even come bearing other purposes.

Visitor will usually leave one or two comments.

终于åˆçœ‹åˆ°ä½ å‘åšæ–‡äº†,身体好了å—,一定注æ„å•Š,虽然首都医疗æ¡ä»¶å¥½,但还是得é è‡ªèº«æŠµæŠ—力强æ‰å¥½,ä¾é è¯ç‰©å‰¯ä½œç”¨å¤ªå¤š.真心ç¥ä½ ä¸€åˆ‡éƒ½å¥½! 周愿

Finally again I saw your blog updated. Do you feel better? Though Beijing has good health-care hardware, you have to really rely on yourself and a strong immunity. Too much side-effect with medicines. Sincerely wish you the best with everything! Zhou-yuan

Beautiful girls

Li-xiang confessed he loves beautiful girls. He also has a girlfriend named Wu, translated as “Dance”.

ç¨å¾®äº†è§£æˆ‘的人，都知é“这样的传闻，æŽæƒ³å–œæ¬¢ç¾Žå¥³ã€‚
有人å‘我求è¯çš„时候，我也会直接和直爽的说，是的，我喜欢美女。
幸甚至哉，我认识好几个这样的美女。当然ä¸ç”¨è¯´ï¼Œå…¶ä¸­æœ‰ä¸€ä¸ªæ˜¯æˆ‘的女朋å‹ã€‚呵呵。如果连美女都ä¸å–œæ¬¢ã€ä¸æ¬£èµäº†ï¼Œç”Ÿæ´»å“ªé‡Œè¿˜æœ‰ä»€ä¹ˆå¸Œæœ›ï¼Ÿ

Those who know about me all have heard that Li-xiang loves beautiful girls. When people ask me about the rumor, I will give a straight answer, “yes, I love beautiful girls.”
It’s lucky for me to know exactly some beautiful girls. It goes without saying that one of them is my girlfriend. Aha, what hope will life have if beautiful girls were no long liked and appreciated?

But some netizens left on his blog unfriendly comments on his love of beauty.

这个å«æŽæƒ³çš„åšä¸»çœŸæ˜¯éžå¸¸ä¹‹ä¸è¦è„¸äº† 自己明知é“自己的情况 还找什么美女åšå¥³æœ‹å‹ è¿™ä¸æ˜¯æ˜Žæ‘†æƒ³å‘害人家å—？鄙视这样的人ï¼ï¼ï¼ï¼ï¼ï¼è¯·ä¸ºä»–äººå¤šè€ƒè™‘ä¸‹å§ æ–°æµªç½‘å‹

This blogger named Li-xiang is really shameless. He knows how he is but still find a beautiful girl as his girlfriend. Isn’t this meant to be harming her? Shame on him!!!!! Please be more considerate for others. Sina.com Netizen

But the remark met rebuttal from other netizens very soon.

æŽæƒ³.ä¸è¦è·Ÿè¿™äº›æ²¡é“德与良知的人计较,人生有许多的ä¸å…¬å¹³.你这么善良,èªæ˜Ž.å´å› ä¸ºè¾“血而感染.è¿™ä¸æ˜¯ä½ çš„过错,很痛心这个世上还有这些æ¶æ¯’而狭ç¢çš„ 人.他们ä¸çŸ¥é“欣èµç¾ŽåŒæ ·ä¹Ÿæ˜¯ä¸€ç§å–„.他们ä¸çŸ¥é“人与人之间除了肉体,还有精神的爱.他们的无知与å执,他们空洞的精神,是无法ç†è§£ä½ çš„, 新浪网å‹

Li-xiang, don’t bother to argue with this kind of people. Life could be much unfair. You are so kind, wise, but were infected with AIDS due to a blood donation. This is not your fault. I feel painful that there is so malicious a person in the world. They don’t know the appreciation of beauty is also a virtue. They don’t know besides bodily relationship, there is spiritual love. Their ignorance and bigot, are impossible to understand you. Sina.com netizen

Sometimes Li-xiang would disappear for a while. He explained to those care about him:

有一阵没有写日记，也好一阵没在åšå®¢ä¸Šå†™æ–‡ç« äº†ã€‚ä¸æƒ³è¯´æ‰€æœ‰çš„原因都是因为忙碌，也有一些其他的原因，有时候有些低è½ï¼Œæœ‰æ—¶å€™æœ‰äº›èŒ«ç„¶ã€‚是的，我ä¸åƒä½ æƒ³åƒçš„那样有ç€é“œåƒä¸€æ ·çš„åšå¼ºã€‚我åªæ˜¯ä¸€ä¸ªæ™®é€šäººï¼Œå¸Œæœ›æ¢¦æƒ³æœ‰å¤©ç»ˆä¼šå®žçŽ°ã€‚

For quite a while I have written no diary and blogs. It’s not all because I was busy, but for some other reasons. Sometimes I felt depressed, and sometimes at a loss. Yes, I am not as strong as bronze. I am just a common person with a belief that some day hope will come true.

Though his blog enhances his popularity, he still takes it as a simple platform for communication, and a window to look at the world.

我åªæ˜¯ä¸€ä¸ªå¹³å¸¸çš„俗人，åšå®¢åªæ˜¯ä¸€ä¸ªçœ‹ä¸–界的角度，我ä¸æ˜¯ä¸€ä¸ªé¡¾å½±è‡ªæ€œè‡ªæ€¨è‡ªè‰¾æˆ–者è¦è¯æ˜Žè‡ªå·±æ˜¯å¤šä¹ˆæ— è¾œçš„病人，我的心ç†éžå¸¸å¥åº·ã€‚更多的时间，我并ä¸ä¼šæ‰®æ¼”病人的角色。我似乎已ç»ç¦»å¼€äº†ç—…人，也离开了公众，æˆäº†ä¸¤è¾¹éƒ½å¾ˆç†Ÿæ‚‰çš„一个中间的人。

I am just a common man. Blogging is just another angle for me to look at the world. I am not a self-pity man to prove how innocent a patient I am. I am mentally healthy. In more time, I don’t play the role of a patient. I depart from the group of patients, and leave away from the public, just to be a man familiar to both groups.

This is Li-xiang life, plain, easy but active. As he said, “Now, though a lot of people think I am greatly unfortunate, I am, however, feeling like having the most meaningful life ever”.

pIt's actually kind of unfortunate that many of the folks who work on providing OpenSource software don't get the recognition, or at least the respect they deserve./p