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Social Networking & Location Based Games in 1812

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Today is the draw for Spain’s Christmas lottery, known as El Gordo . It is indeed a big lottery, the biggest in the world. Tickets cost €20, but there is a very large number of prizes and some are very big. The ritual draw has been conducted in the same was since 1812. Wooden balls spin in large globes, one containing numbers and the other prizes. One school child sings the winning number, and a second sings the value of the prize. This shepherd like singing wafts from televisions, radios, and web browsers the length and breadth of the land and it goes on for hours. The Christmas lottery is hugely successful. One report puts the participation rate at 98% of the population. Many people who do not gamble the rest of the year, buy a Christmas lottery ticket. But the lottery’s success is due to more than tradition and scale. Despite its age, it has two very modern ingredients: social networking and location based gaming. One aspect of the Spanish lottery that makes it different from th...
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Planned App-solescence

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My iPhone 3 is like a penis that has lost a few inches.  It was once very impressive and I was so proud of it.  I relished every opportunity to whip it out of my pants and show if off to admirers.  And they were many.  But now not so much. Other men’s are much more impressive these days, and I have had to console myself with the knowledge that although mine isn’t as impressive as it used to be, it’s still perfectly fine and meets my needs. That was until recently. A few of my favorite apps no longer work.  FourSquare was the first to go.  But that was a bit of harmless fun and was no great loss.  Next went Skype.  That was a huge loss.  Even, audio-only Skype was really useful.  I found it so useful that I even switched to a network that allowed it to work without WiFi.  The most recent departure was WhatsApp, which is the messenger of choice in Spain where many of my friends and family live.  I’m quite annoyed by a...
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Remembering the Titanic

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Earlier this year there were a large number of ceremonies in towns small and large, up and down Ireland commemorating the loss of the Titanic 100 hundred years ago. Why? Why are some events considered worth commemorating and some lost lives special? In the next ten years there will be a number of anniversaries in Ireland. It will be interesting so see how each is commemorated. The Great War, the 1916 Rising, the foundation of the state, and the civil war, all occurred just over 90 years ago. Historically Ireland has not placed much value on those who gave their lives in the Great War. Their sacrifice was largely ignored and was in stark contrast to the mythical place that the 1916 Rising occupies in Irish culture. So what about the Titanic? How has it come to occupy such a special place in the popular culture? Perhaps because the tragedy occurred in an era of mass communication, it captured the public imagination. It was a big news story. Perhaps because some rich people died...
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