Five things worth sharing from the last week or so, brought to you by a different member of the Browser Media team every Friday.
This week’s My Five is by Katie.
1. Big in the politics ‘game’
Studio Colibri have come up with a rather awesome parody video of the first Mario game in celebration of the election, and – without wanting to get too political – it’s absolutely amazing. As well as doing the social media rounds, it has also featured on Daily Politics BBC2.
Please spare a few minutes to have a good laugh at this guy’s ingenuity. He also works for the NHS, so hopefully he’s spending a few minutes thinking about cybersecurity as well.
2. Shall I compare thee, to a poetry game?
I have just been informed about a pretty funky writing game, and because I like a bit of poetry and pretty things, I thought I’d share it with you:
Elegy for a Dead World was created by Dejobaan Games and Popcannibal in 2013, and features three dystopian worlds, based on three remarkable poems:
The worlds, like the poems, are full of beautiful melancholy, and you play a character navigating particular challenges in each. The backgrounds are hand-painted, and the scenery is perfectly suited to the mood of the poetry.
The game has 27 writing challenges, and allows the player to go from finishing off creative sentences, to being able to write free-form, and build up their own story, poem or song.
It’s available on Mac, Window and Linux on Steam, and whilst it may not be of particular interest to hardcore gamers (it only takes about 3-4 hours gameplay to complete), it is an incredible educational, and inspirational tool.
3. Look at my cool, new stuff! Or Social Dominance Theory in action
So to massively paraphrase the theory, Social Dominance Theory (SDT) is all about how hierarchy is created within social groups. And people who consistently share their amazing job/holiday/partner/roast dinner are those who are attempting to raise their social standing, through displaying traits that indicate that they are socially dominant.
This handy article sums up the psychological phenomena and others, explaining the scientific reasons behind why there are just some people who can really grind your gears on social media.
4. Just the one more? App provides control over your alcohol intake
It used to be the risk of being arrested, publicly humiliated, or mortally wounded, that prevented people from continuing to imbibe booze past the point of no return. And, dear friends – have you ever woken up on Saturday morning chuffed to bits that you still had a few quid in your wallet only to check your account later that day to realise that YOU’VE SPENT EVERYTHING YOU’VE EVER EARNT!? No, me neither.
If you have ever fallen victim to this though, never fear – there’s a well handy new bit of tech called DrnkPay. The app can be set to a maximum number of drinks you think you want, and can be linked to all of your debit or credit cards. Once you have hit your limit, you can only unlock the ability to purchase more if you take a breathalyzer test – and if carrying around a breathalyzer sounds cumbersome, you can wear a Quantac Tally sensor around your wrist to continually monitor alcohol levels.
Additional spending limits can be set for 12 hours to stop you ordering all of your friends a kebab, or spending online to get that thing you really need . Which will certainly be a relief to some!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WdaimrO5BU&feature=youtu.be
5. Happy Hippo
And because the sky looks as if it’s about to rain cats and dogs, I’m cheering things up this week by introducing you to the gorgeous baby hippo Fiona, as she receives a rather relaxing cheek and face rub at Cincinnati Zoo. Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrGYTEROol4
