2 posts tagged “sci-fi”
... you've woken up in the night.
(Very obscure 99p Challenge reference there.)
But, yes, the black dog. Winter is coming, nights draw in earlier and earlier, the days are grey, the cold niggles (though, not as much as it once did, it must be said) and today the world looked like a cold white corridor, stretching endlessly forward with no break to the monochromal monotony.
Then I came home, turned all the lights and heating up, submerged myself in my latest escape route, and after some time, felt a world of difference.
I know my depression is seasonal, I know that I can feel better under the right circumstances, and I know that if I take better care of myself, I'm less likely to sing them blues. But the knowledge is cold comfort when the black dog bites.
So, earlier, I was reading about Google Spreadsheet (mainly because I noticed, while checking my Gmail, that the kind folks at Google had added a link to the Spreadsheet app to the list of services). At some point in the 'Take a Peek' tour I came across some user testimonials, which are always interesting to read.
There were the usual usage scenarios one might expect; synchronised shopping lists, weekly marketing reports, etc, etc. But the one that really struck me was from Amy Kimber, game maven, who writes:
In the game PuzzlePirates I own an Iron working shop, this shop makes cannon balls which the pillaging hordes of pirates can buy to fire at their enemies. As there is a never ending stream of brigands for my fellow players to attack I have to produce enough cannon balls to meet demand - but, at a price that means I make a profit. That is where the spreadsheets come in.
My shop's co-owner lives in a different time zone, so with Google Spreadsheets he can now update the current market values for balls (and the wood and iron used to make them) when he plays, as I do when I log in. This way our data is never more than 12 hours out of date. This is especially useful when our pirate world is at war - having the information available to share with the other fleet admirals instantly is brilliant - it enable us to make a larger profit to spend on the more important things in a pirate's life like rum and ships.....
This kinda makes my mind go wibble... not for any other reason than she could just as well be talking about a realworld business, and it would be as relevant. The more I'm exposed to this type of blurring between the real world and the numerous virtual living spaces that have, do and will exist, the more it seems like life is turning completely sci-fi. I don't mind, I just want to know when I'm going to be issued with my personal jetpack. ;-)
