the world of Wazzamba

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

I joined the team working on the Wazzamba virtual world back in April 2009. And now we’ve launched in the real world.

Wazzamba is a virtual world with a twist: it includes built in games which allow you to build up a score to compete for real world travel prizes. Every week, we award 4 prizes. So far we’ve given away quality, all expenses paid trips to China, New York, Las Vegas and San Diego. Forthcoming destinations include Spain, Rome and Australia. And actually winners can select an alternative if they don’t like the headline.

The virtual world itself so far has 6 “cities”, each sub-divided into areas, for example Sunset Strip in LA (you can see me there on the left with my friend Marilyn). And we’re growing.

You can also find various adventures, or quests, set for you by NPCs (non-playing characters) usually gifted with dreadfully punning names, courtesy of my unhinged colleagues Tim & Sven.

So how do we make any money out of this ? Well the idea is you pay a subscription to take part, at “silver” or “gold” level. The higher the level, the higher the number and value of prizes you qualify for. But you can play - and win - for absolutely nothing. Zero, free, peanuts. Although we’d be terribly grateful if you didn’t.

My part in all this in theory involves building up a mobile channel, from a mobile-enabled web site up to an iPhone application. But I’ve also ended quite heavily involved in building our Facebook applications and presence, as well as a blog built on Wordpress.

It’s early days yet and Wazzamba is not fully mature. But it’s certainly worth a few minutes of your time. My avatar there is called Ostakokur and has great dress sense. Don’t forget to say “hi” if we meet!

Something of a list

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

One thing that I really hate about this time of year is newspapers, blogs and all other publishing outlets filling up with lists of the year’s best cat photos or whatever else.

So I’m going to do it to. Probably for the first time ever: here is the music I’ve been most taken by this (last) year (well I started writing it in December. Honest).

Overall Winner: Thin Air by Peter Hammill

This is really a big surprise for me. I’ve been a Peter Hammill fan for somewhere near 20 years, but recently my interest has tailed off and I’ve found his newer releases unengaging. But this year’s Thin Air is really something else.  Right up there with Bob Dylan’s “Time Out Of Mind”, this is a hard hitting collection of songs full of dread, fear, unease and awareness that life is running out.  With a strong sub-theme of time running out for all of us, referring to 9/11 and the collapse of dreams, this is not exactly easy listening. The counterpoints of grace and beauty which Hammill has always brought to his best work make it is absolutely addictive. There isn’t a weak song on the CD. I doubt it will get much better than this.

Runner up #1: “Untitled #23” by The Church

I picked up Untitled #23 in San Francisco back in June. This is totally irrelevant. The Church have been going for ages, and honestly, like with Peter Hammill, I didn’t really expect them to surprise again. Well they did. Untitled #23 (it isn’t their 23rd album, but that’s The Church for you) is the culmination of a slow return to peak form which started a good few years back. It features some superb songs, like Pangaea and Deadman’s Hand, an absolutely drop-dead gorgeous finale, “Operetta”, and a good dose of typical weirdness (“On Angel Street”). I played Untitled #23 pretty much all some, and got hooked on Steve Kilbey’s freeform stream-of-whatever blog. It wore off a bit, but ... hey, time to listen again.

Runner up #2: “Here Come the Vikings” by Astrid Williamson

I don’t have a lot to add to what I wrote back in October, but a glance at my latest Last.fm statistics will show that it hasn’t worn off yet. For a taste of Astrid (unplugged) check out this video.

Runner up #3: “Me and Armini” by Emiliana Torrini

Actually “Me and Armini” was released in September 2008, but it didn’t really take off until later this year, helped along by “Jungle Drum” being a huge hit single in Germany. Emiliana Torrini is of mixed Icelandic and Italian descent, and you can’t do much better than that! (well ok, you could mix in a bit of Romanian). I was introduced to her music by an Icelandic friend a few years back, and it will always remind me of coffee overdoses and strange journeys. Torrini has not had the smoothest of rides through life, and this shows through in her music, which although often quirky and humorous, has a dark edge lying just beneath the surface.

Discovery of the year: My Brightest Diamond

Ok, so this isn’t music from anywhere 2009, but I discovered it this year, and listened to it obsessively, so as far as I’m concerned it belongs in this list.

My Brightest Diamond is essentially Shara Worden, a musician and singer with an eclectic range of influences and a unique warm, expressive voice and style. My Brightest Diamond is impossible to classify but inhabits a space where people like Jane Siberry and Kate Bush might hang out. Songs like “Golden Star” and “Gone Away” from “Bring me the workhorse” or “Ice and the storm” and “Bass Player” from “A Thousand Shark’s Teeth” can stay on auto-repeat all afternoon as far as I’m concerned.

And that’s quite enough lists for now.