Archive for March, 2009

The Guardian Open Platform

// March 15th, 2009 // No Comments » // Platforms, Web

The Guardian recently announced their Open Platform – the UK’s answer to the New York Times‘ own API. As Egon Spengler rightly pointed out in the mid-80s: “print is dead”, and it’s only the more progressive publications that stand a chance of surviving in these penny-pinching times.

The Open Platform is an example of an API done well, and I’m very keen to see try fitting this into some of the work we’re doing at Imagini with our VisualDNA Platform. The idea of recommending content from a massive pool of providers – be they products, articles, videos, or photos – based on a user’s VisualDNA, or their similarity to another user’s VisualDNA, is quite appealing.

There are already some fine examples and proofs of concept out there, and I can only hope that the web community firmly utilises the potential.

The Emperor Guides My Blade

// March 14th, 2009 // No Comments » // Gaming

The sequel to one of my all time favourite games – Dawn Of War – has been out of a couple of weeks now, and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the new campaign and the move from traditional RTS-style combat to the more intimate combat style of Company Of Heroes. The game runs on the latest Essence Engine 2.0 and looks fantastic.

Rather than the turtle style that the original, and its multiple add-on packs, encourages, Dawn Of War II focuses on managing up to 4 squads of specialist Blood Raven Space Marines. Each squad has a hero unit who can be incapacitated, but revived. As the game progresses each hero unit gains levels and abilities, as well as new armour, equipment, and accessories. It’s a refreshing change from having to upgrade tech levels for each new mission in the game.

I have yet to try multiplayer but have heard mixed opinions so far. Hopefully by the time I get around to finishing off the campaign (and maybe even again with the co-op option), there’ll be enough patches out to provide a decent balance.