New 2d game development software - BlitzMax

I frequent many indie game forums and websites, and it looks like all of them are reporting about a new product from the folks who gave us Blitz3d and BlitzBasic - called BlitzMax. It looks to be a new and improved compiler/engine for 2d game development. Right now it's only out for Mac OSX, but other platforms are planned to have releases very soon. I've heard many good things about the Blitz platform, so head over there and check it out. I'm bookmarking this till the Win32 version comes out. However it'd take a lot to draw me away from GameMaker...

The Calcium Bomb

I just got in to work this morning and I was listening to NPR, and they were talking about a book called The Calcium Bomb. Appearantly, there are these little buggers called nanobacteria which create little calcium shells - and it appears they may be playing a role in a huge number of human illnesses like Cancer, Heart Disease, etc.

Cross Browser Rich Text Editor

I love public domain code, especially useful code that I need for a project I'm working on. If you too have a need for a simple rich text editor (read, easy way to do HTML in forms) then look no further.

Metamemes Game - spreading the meme

I love games of all kinds, and I enjoy intellectual fun - so this game seems to be something you might also dig. Here's a quote from the site:

MetaMemes is a game of ideas about ideas. During this creative card game you combine, for instance, Mambo Chickens with the children's' game Chutes and Ladders and see what their offspring looks like. Players take Idea, Word, and Object cards from the deck and combine them to produce New Ideas, which just might be brilliantly off- the-wall enough to become a meme of their own. And remember, a spoonful of funny makes the creativity go down.

New Free MMORPG - The Universal

Via the wonders of del.icio.us I've discovered a new open-ended MMORPG in the style of Second Life. I just downloaded the client myself, so I cannot really say how cool or sucky it is. The idea is very cool. The game is free for anyone to play. However, if you want to create stuff or build worlds, you donate a bit for access. From the site:

Magrathea (London branch), 3rd December 2004: the first publicly-available version of The Universal is here! The Universal is a free, massively-multiplayer online game set in a virtual 3d universe of worlds owned and run by other players. Created by Games For May, an independent team of volunteers from the games industry, The Universal brings a totally unique approach to the popular massively- multiplayer gaming genre.

Deep in Half Life 2

WOW! Words are hard to find to describe my experience so far with this game. It's singlehandedly restored my faith in PC games as a cinematic experience. Things have come a long way from Wolfenstein (or Ken's Labyrinth). If you have anywhere near a decent PC, you simply MUST buy a copy of this game.