Apologies to anyone waiting re: my speaking gig in Edinburgh – it's tomorrow but I can't make it in person because of the still-pending baby. I hope to be able to attend via Skype and say a few words about games and art, and am disappointed I can't be there. The event is called Sandbox, part of Fair at the Talbot Rice Gallery.

After Google Drive decided I could choose between having duplicates of all of my folders or deleting all of my files, I decided to defect. I plan to be free of Google for productivity software in three years, if I can.

My new choice for cloud storage is Copy.com, which starts with 15 GB (+5 GB if you sign up with a referral link). Two features I really like:

1. Backup Shortcuts: you can drop shortcuts/symbolic links into the folder to automatically arrange for the originals to be copied onto the cloud as a backup.
2. Human Service: you can email the support desk and eventually summon a human. This beats Google’s method of “compete to see if we care!” approach to support.

If you fancy trying Copy.com for yourself, here’s my referral link.

The second part of my interview at First Person Scholar is now up, talking about blank slate characters, guns, and the potential of games. My thanks to FPS for arranging this!

Part one of an interview with me is running over at the excellent First Person Scholar today, talking about realism, imagination, and artgames. Check it out!

Over on Only a Game today, the aftermath of the bloot continues as Critical Distance picks up the baton and runs with it for the latest Blogs of the Round Table! You can read my contribution, “After the Volcano” at Only a Game, or you can jump to any of the entries in the round table discussion below with the triumphant return of the drop down box:

Over on Only a Game today, the probable conclusion of the discussion I’ve been having with other bloggers about the future of blogging and the possibilities for reviving or retaining community. You can read Bloot Me If You Need Me over at my original blog.

Over on Only a Game today,  the continuation of my discussion of the threat of blog cluster extinction. As well as consideration of what made previous clustering methods work, there are three suggested ‘blog revival’ options – chogging, ABoRT and bloots – with an invitation for both feedback and additional suggestions.

You can read Prototypes for Blog Revival over at Only a Game.

Over on Only a Game today, I ask if the community of bloggers destined for extinction. Here’s an extract:

Why was Google+ toxic to the blog clusters? After all, it made it easier to share blog posts, and simpler to manage comments from random passers by. True enough. But it also sank the concept of engagement with another person’s ideas by transferring the locus of community from the blog to the social network. Bloggers do all the work for Google in posting ideas or sharing links, but Google sells the tickets to this three-ring circus, monetizing the data and the social connectivity.

I welcome your feedback to The Extinction of Blogs over at Only a Game.

Still more swamped than a drunken Cajun fisherman who mistakes a log for his boat. But I can see the light switch at the junction nearest the end of the tunnel, even if no actual light is reaching my retinas at this precise moment in time...

• I was on national radio yesterday, on BBC Radio 4's consumer affairs show, You and Yours, commenting on (of all things) the portrayal of disfigurement in videogames. It’s a step up from local radio, to be sure! Slightly too many 'ums' coming out of my mouth for my taste, but I guess I did fine. If you’re in the UK you can listen for the next week on BBC iPlayer. My slot is 20 minutes in, after gold traders and smart meters.
• Now less than one day’s writing (about 3,000 words) short of a first draft manuscript for Chaos Ethics! So far inside its world now that I no longer know how people usually use the word 'ethic'.
• Have a final version of my PhD materials approved by my supervisor squad now. Soon, I shall be a real fake doctor!
• After a year, the journal Games and Culture found one reviewer to provide feedback for "Implicit Game Aesthetics". Alas, I don't think they understood my paper but on the plus side I can now edit it to reduce the chance that others will also misunderstand it. In journal terms, let’s call it a win.
• Three games of Arkham Horror this weekend, all against Zhar. Result: 14 Investigators devoured. We had good fun, but it’s galling to lose so badly so many times in a row. Great to get a friend along for the last game, though – even if he was as doomed as we were!

So close to wriggling free of my obligations – expect far more frequent and regular bloggery from me this Summer!

Reposted from Only a Game.

It’s with great pleasure that I announce that the winner of the third copy of Dungeons & Dragons & Philosophy is Samantha Blackmon. A signed copy of the book will be winging its way to Indiana shortly! (Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery).

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the Spring Review Drive – you all won a book, so that’s a pretty equitable outcome for all concerned!