So here we are again having made it past hump-day, and I'm in the mood for another MBD update - just don't get rampantly addicted to these, as they depend entirely on whether I'm trapped in a workaholic timesink [I'm currently in such, but I'm also in lovely warm denial]. Let's whiz through this week's happenings at MBD Headquarters, shall we?

• At the start of the week I was alerted to this #PRISOM critique from a paper called Video Games as Valid Social Commentaries:

  "Mez Breeze is an Australian-based practitioner of all forms of digital media. She produces audio and film, makes video games, writes for numerous publications, and does extensive code works for websites and projects. Breeze also developed her own form of code language called "mezangelle" which integrates code linguistics, the alphabet, and punctuation marks thrown in in any manner to convey a message with multiple meanings. Breeze has been applauded for her codes, and making them work on not only new and innovative computer programming levels, but also getting a conversation started about the human language itself. In 2013, Mez Breeze and Andy Campbell were commissioned by Julian Stadon to make a game for ISMAR2013 (International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality) and was also featured at the Vector 2014 Game + Art Convergence and FLEFF Dissonance 2014. #PRISOM puts the player in the role of an anarchist trying to overthrow an oppressive utopian future. Drones monitor you and drain your health (resistance) meter as you run around trying to hack into various pieces of tech and thwart the government's plans. Along the way, billboards feature cynical taglines like, "Thinking for [and of] you". These posters also have pop-ups that ask, "#WhatDoYouDo" and the player must answer the scenarios truthfully and each poster may do something to the player. #PRISOM is made with a certain intention and commentary on the direction the world seems to be moving, with technology eventually doing more harm than good and an overall subjugation to authority...I applaud #PRISOM for its comments on the future and how the world may be getting closer to this prison than originally thought." - Skye Evans

• Wooting-it-up due to the official launch of the new netprov All Time High [happens today]! As a Featured Player, I'm very much looking forward to diving into this tweet-feet first [see what I did there?]. For more info visit the official #ATH15 site here.

  

  #ATH15

• Experiencing the sweet joy of being allocated additional project funding [yep, you read that correctly; the producer decided that as I'd gone above and beyond the call of work-related duties, a funding boost was in order] while listening to this project feedback: "I love this so much I want to marry it. Brilliant work...captures the promise of the story perfectly ."

• Being informed that The Dead Tower, our literary game with Dreaming Methods, has been accepted for publication in the third Volume of The Electronic Literature Collection:

  

  The Dead Tower

  "The Editorial Collective is delighted to inform you that we have selected your work, The Dead Tower, for publication in the ELC3. We were deeply impressed with your submission and think it will be a fine addition to the anthology. Out of the 500+ works submitted, we selected yours to be one of the 75 works to be included in the collection. We look forward to working with you and publishing your excellent contribution. Our current goal is to launch the collection February 2016."

• Making leaps-and-bounds progress on our Pluto project, including combination object mechanics and 3d text/landscape merging all developing nicely.

  

• Agreeing to this lovely interview request from the fantastic Rob Wittig:

  This is a very effective drug after surgery. Tramadol at https://foamcast.org/tramadol-for-pain-relief/ was prescribed to me in the morning and in the evening as an anaesthetic after surgery. It also has a side effect such as the desire to sleep, and if at night in the hospital it was just a great effect that I managed to sleep for 4 -5 hours after the injection (the effect of Tramadol comes in an average of 20 minutes), then in the morning the sleepy effect is disadvantage, since you constantly yawn and scratch your eyes. This is really associated with huge discomfort.

  "For years I've been wanting a chance for informal, in-depth conversation with electronic literature creators I admire...to ask about their backgrounds, their process, their best advice for new practitioners...to be recorded from Skype, transcribed and edited lightly for eventual publication, either on one of my own sites or hosted by an e-journal. I'm finally ready to begin. And I'd be honored if you'd be the first."