Archive for January, 2003

Higher Learning with L3

Tuesday, January 14th, 2003

Landau Luckman and Lake have a client, New River University. And New River University has a site. It presents as a high-tech research college that "advance[s] the technology, research, and economic outlook for the entire United States." Sounds like a pretty influential institution. Props to dashcat for discovering the new link on the "about us" page of the L3 site.

Hunting for the Chase

Tuesday, January 14th, 2003

Drizjr picked up on changes afoot at the Speed Hunting Club. The front page underwent a rapid series of updates before settling on the current (as of this writing) flying hand [29KB] flash. Other short-lived representatives included a man walking on water [47KB], and a six-fingered instrumental [935KB]. Coming on the heels of Monday's email hinting that the game wouldn't start until at least the end of January, this just makes us even more impatient. How about you?

TerraQuest Still Kicking

Tuesday, January 14th, 2003

Sharp-eyed Carlitoxxi found that another site went live today, adding new characters to your LARS console if you surf there with the LARS running. And wouldn't you know it, it's another law firm. With all these lawyers everywhere, I'd say it's just like real life! But wait, check out Knight, Bishop, and Castle and tell me if that isn't Captain Stubing from the Love Boat!

Uncapping the Ride – BMW Endgame Gives Hope

Sunday, January 12th, 2003
by Steve Peters
Beginning in 2001, BMW released a series of short films showcasing their cars. Each film starred Clive Owen as the "Driver" alongside many famous actors, and each was directed by such notables as Ang Lee, John Woo, Guy Ritchie, and John Frankenheimer. News eventually surfaced in a Macintosh rumors forum that the Apple site had a mysterious tiny :K: link which seemed to have something to do with those BMW films. Investigation of the subplot films that went along with each production revealed clues to a massive internet scavenger hunt set in the Driver's universe that spanned many sites, including the Apple and BMW Films sites, Starbucks, First Illinois Mortgage, and the Susstones' site.

Several thousand people took the bait and followed the trail, which ultimately led to the chance to register to win a brand new 2003 BMW Z4. Last night's event in Las Vegas, Nevada, was the culmination of their quest. Only 250 people completed the online portion and registered to win the car, and many of them travelled from all over North America to meet the man with the forks. Unfiction's Vegas Correspondent, Steve Peters, was there.

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On Pixels, and Puzzles, and Pi

Thursday, January 2nd, 2003
Elonka Dunin was gracious enough to sit down and have a chat with me the other day. It started out as an interview but she turned the tables on me a few times and it ended up being more of a discussion of the ARG and MMORPG genres, cryptography, and puzzle creation.

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