[rant] The 5Pm Quake sessions at the Company have reached a frenzied crescendo in the past month. Never before have Quake's 16 player limit been tested as much as it has during the past few weeks when the gibbing kicks in.

Quake reminded me of last weeks rant on VRML. Responses to our statements were varied: "SGI has set the standard with OpenGL", "Microsoft will dominate with DirectX thanks to its marketing muscle," or "Virtual worlds are the desktop of the future". Who knows? The point of the article was this "VRML remains an eclectic and confusing way to present information."

Take the browser window you're in right now. All the controls are familiar and easy to use. If you want to move on to another piece of information, just click on the colored, underlined text and you're there. If we move into a VRML world, the familiar controls are gone are you're faced with a difficult question: "How do I act in a virtual world that is supposed be a real representation of the world I live in?"

In terms of behavior, the "shoot first, ask questions later" world of Quake isn't the answer, but easy interaction with a three dimensional world absolutely is. Navigating a three dimensional world via dimensional screen is tricky, but while playing Quake, I have complete mastery of my movement. Through the use of the mouse, mouse buttons, and several keys, I am able to move and look in any direction. Additionally, I have at my disposal a variety of tools (in this case, lethal weapons) which I can use to interact with my environment. The whole process of running down a spiral staircase, picking up a object, and jumping into a river is absolutely instinctual. Simply put, that is what makes a virtual world REAL.

VRML developers should be applauded for the lightwight VRML plug-ins that are available for browsers, they represent the cutting edge in 3D technology. All that is missing now are the means to intelligently interact with users.

[sift this] Last night, while I was sleeping, a computer program in whoknowshwhere was happily parsing through a list of soon to be published books. It was on last names which begin with "P", specifically, a mystery writer of the name Robert B. Parker. Upon arriving at this name, the computer checked it's database to see if anyone cared that Robert B. Parker had published a new novel and they found my name. A e-mail was sent to me not informing me of the impending book, but also also me to purchase the hard back via a secure transaction.

When I got in this morning, the Internet had saved me a trip to the Mall.

Amazon.com Books has been dangeously ahead of the techno-curve since day 1 of the web. With over a million titles available for order on-line, it is hard to think of a subject that they don't cover. When I first wandered the site several months ago, a feature that popped off the page was their personal notification system. Just type a few of your favorite authors or even subjects and when a new book appears in Amazon's listing, you'll get a notification via e-mail.

Sure, it's mostly just a clever way for Amazon to sell more books, but I'm a consumer and when I want something, I want it quickly and cheaply. With advanced notification, not only am I the first guy on the block to get the newest booty, I'm also well informed.