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Wednesday 3 May 2006

Going Underground

My web site, www.downthetubes.net, is occasionally visited by people seeking more information about London's Tube, and leave disappointed, so I'm happy to report the ongoing success of a site that is actually about London Underground, written by friend, Mecca: http://london-underground.blogspot.com.

Packed with observations of Tube life, the web site and this spin-off blog has seen the creator interviewed on Australian National Radio over the bank holiday.

The site also resulted in a book deal a couple of years ago now off the back of the site called One Stop Short of Barking and there's more writing on the way. (Click here to buy the book from Amazon.co.uk: it's packed with observations of the weirdness of the Tube).

You don't get the same opportunites to observe all human life in Lancaster like you do while on public transport (my commute these days is a 15 minute walk rather than an hour on a train every morning and evening, something I definitely don't miss), although it was interesting to sit in an outdoor cafe with three cops at lunch time who exchanged pleasantries with a passing couple, smiling... and as soon as they were out of earshot, were on their radios, warning about the impending arrival of two of the town's top shoplifters in the city centre.

Tuesday 2 May 2006

Darfur is Dying Game

US MTV Networks' mtvU college TV network has launched Darfur is Dying, a Web-based game created by students at the University of Southern California. It rapidly brings home the hopelessness of Dargur's refugees without outside help, offering users real world ways to fight the genocide in Darfur. The second stage of the game doesn't seem to work on a Mac (perhaps that's the point). There are links to real world action you can take to help.

Update 12/6/07: mtvU has announced that Darfur is Dying (www.DarfurisDying.com) is being translated into Chinese, Arabic and Spanish and will soon re-launch globally. It is a student-developed online viral video game . The game has been played 2.5 million times by more than 1.2 million people since its launch and the website is an extension of mtvU's Sudan resource centre on mtvU.com, which offers news updates, facts, background info, student activist profiles, and more.

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