When you want to cheat on an online game you usually just have to use another computer in your house but that is all changing.
I recently attempted to set up a second account at MafiaCorruption.com (MC) and got a message calling me a "bad doggy"! This was because the developers at MC have produced a system that checks your IP address and automatically prevents cheating.
They also manually verify your details if you want to add a second account. I was impressed with this as I have cheated on many games on a number of occasions and not been found out but it seems as if things will change in future and maybe MC will be the responsible site that leads the games industry into developing more sophisticated fraud prevention technology.
http://www.mafiacorruption.com/
Monday, 31 December 2007
MMORPG and the future
Over the last few years we have seen an explosion of online role playing games. On very well known game is TheMafiaBoss, usually shortened to TMB, and MafiaCorruption (MC). These games put you into the role of a gangster and you have to fight to protect yourself and/or your gang.
TMB has spawned a multitude of clones such as TheMafiaCrimes.com and Allmafia.com and, due to the site being created in PHP, it provides a good training ground for the programmers of tomorrow. TMB has rounds lasting 9 days and whoever ranks highest at the end of the 9 days wins, easy? Not quite. To be the highest ranking player you need a family, or a lot of physical money to buy credits so you can hire millions of du's, defensive units. You can get better protection by being part of a family and many families are part of a Union - a collection of families.
The families in the largest Unions, such as 13/Empire, use the Empire name for their families while others use names of their own choosing and just let people know they're members of a Union by writing it on their profiles.
MC is very different to TMB and it's clones. MC has everything you need right in front of you and you also have a City (Boston for newbies) to go to so you can buy weapons and hire whores! To get anywhere with MC you need points, or lots of cash. Thankfully the developers of this site have a crimes link so you can commit crimes and get cash. You can also attack other players but this takes up 50% of your energy and you have to wait for it to be replenished to attack again (you get 100% energy but it gets taken when doing things) by waiting or by using your points to purchase an energy refill.
MC also has offspring in the shape of PrisonStruggle, it is based in a prison, hence the name!, and it seems more complicated than MC. It is as enjoyable but a little bit harder to understand than MC.
M$ and the other big boys are currently eyeing up the Social Networking sites (as I mentioned in an article below) but maybe they should be looking at the Mafia games as they have a large fanbase and could potentially be turned into "crime-fantasy" social networking sites with the games at the core. I know that the developers of MC are adding new features and working very hard to make it even better for the players.
These games, I believe, are the future. They will keep adding new features, new members and will expand so much until just a few of them have the majority of Mafia-games' members.
http://www.allmafia.com/
http://www.mafiacorruption.com/
http://www.prisonstruggle.com/
http://www.themafiaboss.com/
http://www.themafiacrimes.com/
TMB has spawned a multitude of clones such as TheMafiaCrimes.com and Allmafia.com and, due to the site being created in PHP, it provides a good training ground for the programmers of tomorrow. TMB has rounds lasting 9 days and whoever ranks highest at the end of the 9 days wins, easy? Not quite. To be the highest ranking player you need a family, or a lot of physical money to buy credits so you can hire millions of du's, defensive units. You can get better protection by being part of a family and many families are part of a Union - a collection of families.
The families in the largest Unions, such as 13/Empire, use the Empire name for their families while others use names of their own choosing and just let people know they're members of a Union by writing it on their profiles.
MC is very different to TMB and it's clones. MC has everything you need right in front of you and you also have a City (Boston for newbies) to go to so you can buy weapons and hire whores! To get anywhere with MC you need points, or lots of cash. Thankfully the developers of this site have a crimes link so you can commit crimes and get cash. You can also attack other players but this takes up 50% of your energy and you have to wait for it to be replenished to attack again (you get 100% energy but it gets taken when doing things) by waiting or by using your points to purchase an energy refill.
MC also has offspring in the shape of PrisonStruggle, it is based in a prison, hence the name!, and it seems more complicated than MC. It is as enjoyable but a little bit harder to understand than MC.
M$ and the other big boys are currently eyeing up the Social Networking sites (as I mentioned in an article below) but maybe they should be looking at the Mafia games as they have a large fanbase and could potentially be turned into "crime-fantasy" social networking sites with the games at the core. I know that the developers of MC are adding new features and working very hard to make it even better for the players.
These games, I believe, are the future. They will keep adding new features, new members and will expand so much until just a few of them have the majority of Mafia-games' members.
http://www.allmafia.com/
http://www.mafiacorruption.com/
http://www.prisonstruggle.com/
http://www.themafiaboss.com/
http://www.themafiacrimes.com/
Wednesday, 26 December 2007
Eastenders tops Xmas TV ratings
13.9 million viewers watched the second part of the Christmas special of Eastenders, beating Corrie's 9.6 million. It's a shame that the Christmas speech by Her Majesty The Queen only had 7.5 million viewers.
The Dr Who special was in second place with 13.8 million, only just behind Eastenders. Both programmes are examples of excellent programme making by the Beeb.
The Dr Who special was in second place with 13.8 million, only just behind Eastenders. Both programmes are examples of excellent programme making by the Beeb.
Tuesday, 25 December 2007
Google Knowledge open to all
It seems like Wikipedia will have a major competitor soon. Google is launching what it calls a "Knowledge Project", basically an Encyclopaedia.
The company plans to share income from ads with the authors of all entries, thus giving people the incentive to not only post information onto the site but to also make that information correct.
Google is expanding at such a rate that Micro$oft must be worrying about their own future online. As I have previously written, Google are producing a phone based system, well they have formed a group called the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), now consisting of 34 companies, which will act as a new platform for mobile phones and the code for this platform will be open source, meaning it will be open for modification by other programmers.
Shares in Google will continue to go up as they continue to expand. I'm just waiting for the Google Virtual World with mobile phone based controls and speech based text entry.
The company plans to share income from ads with the authors of all entries, thus giving people the incentive to not only post information onto the site but to also make that information correct.
Google is expanding at such a rate that Micro$oft must be worrying about their own future online. As I have previously written, Google are producing a phone based system, well they have formed a group called the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), now consisting of 34 companies, which will act as a new platform for mobile phones and the code for this platform will be open source, meaning it will be open for modification by other programmers.
Shares in Google will continue to go up as they continue to expand. I'm just waiting for the Google Virtual World with mobile phone based controls and speech based text entry.
Saturday, 8 December 2007
Media Giant open to offers
Emap, one of Britain's largest media Groups, says it is open to offers on it's businesses. The group, which owns the popular Max Power magazine, is selling off a number of magazines to concentrate mainly on Internet based businesses.
Emap shares are a good buy, the group will continue to grow, there's no doubt about that. The group should be working on creating it's own social/networking sites because it has the finances, it has the right people already in it's employ and it's business units are able to be utilised in the marketing process, thus giving the networking site(s) major publicity for little or no cost.
I did some research and found a site that mentions Emap 'eyeing' up networking sites but it doesn't say much so I couldn't put anything decent here!
Any EMAP networking/social site will be a success due to it's publishing businesses. Max Power readers will use the site to talk about cruises, as will readers of the other motoring titles. The Group also publishes Government newspapers and magazines which would be useful in getting politicians using such a site.
Emap shares are a good buy, the group will continue to grow, there's no doubt about that. The group should be working on creating it's own social/networking sites because it has the finances, it has the right people already in it's employ and it's business units are able to be utilised in the marketing process, thus giving the networking site(s) major publicity for little or no cost.
I did some research and found a site that mentions Emap 'eyeing' up networking sites but it doesn't say much so I couldn't put anything decent here!
Any EMAP networking/social site will be a success due to it's publishing businesses. Max Power readers will use the site to talk about cruises, as will readers of the other motoring titles. The Group also publishes Government newspapers and magazines which would be useful in getting politicians using such a site.
Hatton v Mayweather - Media companies will benefit
With all of the publicity surrounding tonights bout, the media companies covering the fight would've experienced a sharp rise in their share prices had it been a week day.
Maybe the best time for the fight to have gone ahead would've been midday in the middle of the week, so the traders and other purchasers could have made some money from this event.
Companies such as Sky, with it's pay per view programming, will gain much from tonight, not just in cash profits but also from the inevitable publicity. James Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch, was mentioned all over the newspapers and online news sites recently due to his 'take-over' of News Corp's UK, Asia and Europe operations and his appointment as non-executive Chairman or British Sky Broadcasting.
Maybe the best time for the fight to have gone ahead would've been midday in the middle of the week, so the traders and other purchasers could have made some money from this event.
Companies such as Sky, with it's pay per view programming, will gain much from tonight, not just in cash profits but also from the inevitable publicity. James Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch, was mentioned all over the newspapers and online news sites recently due to his 'take-over' of News Corp's UK, Asia and Europe operations and his appointment as non-executive Chairman or British Sky Broadcasting.
Hollywood's Writers' Block
It appears as if there's no end in sight for the Hollywood strike. It has been going for five (5) weeks now and both sides seem to be dragging their heels.
With the Hollywood Screenwriters, and some actors, on strike, now would be a good time for lesser known (amateur) screenwriters to get their films produced. Laws of supply and demand mean that when a product becomes more scarce, it also becomes more expensive so, for amateur screenwriters and actors, the price may be right!
With the Hollywood Screenwriters, and some actors, on strike, now would be a good time for lesser known (amateur) screenwriters to get their films produced. Laws of supply and demand mean that when a product becomes more scarce, it also becomes more expensive so, for amateur screenwriters and actors, the price may be right!
Friday, 7 December 2007
Political Forums
There has been a massive explosion in the number of political forums over the past few years. Sites such as DemocracyForum.co.uk are probably one of the best known in the United Kingdom and most political parties have their own for their members to discuss policies and such like.
DemocracyForum.co.uk was initially set up as an unofficial UKIP forum, indeed it's name was UKIPForum.co.uk but it was changed due to pressure from the party. The owner of this site is a guy called Anthony Butcher who was also a member of the UKIP NEC and he has quite a following both on the forum and also within the party.
Political forums are not as good an investment if using basic PHP based boards as they all tend to look so much alike that the user could be on any of these sites and not know the difference. The best sites, at present, for political discussion are networking sites. Facebook has thousands, if not tens of thousands, of political groups, plus everyone has their political views on their profiles and 'The World's Smallest Political Quiz' result down on the bottom left of their profiles.
If we saw political forums produced differently, still using PHP as it is a great language for this purpose with MySQL, then maybe we'd see more participation by the electorate. Make the forums look warm and welcoming, not cold (blue/grey) and impersonal, and you'd become more appealing for people. Sites that look welcoming and easy to use generally attract buyers as they are perfect for marketing purposes, as we are finding out with such sites as Yuwie.com (shares their profits with their members), Facebook (M$ has a share in FB) and MySpace (films are advertised on here with their own groups).
Unless you only want a small membership, go international.
DemocracyForum.co.uk was initially set up as an unofficial UKIP forum, indeed it's name was UKIPForum.co.uk but it was changed due to pressure from the party. The owner of this site is a guy called Anthony Butcher who was also a member of the UKIP NEC and he has quite a following both on the forum and also within the party.
Political forums are not as good an investment if using basic PHP based boards as they all tend to look so much alike that the user could be on any of these sites and not know the difference. The best sites, at present, for political discussion are networking sites. Facebook has thousands, if not tens of thousands, of political groups, plus everyone has their political views on their profiles and 'The World's Smallest Political Quiz' result down on the bottom left of their profiles.
If we saw political forums produced differently, still using PHP as it is a great language for this purpose with MySQL, then maybe we'd see more participation by the electorate. Make the forums look warm and welcoming, not cold (blue/grey) and impersonal, and you'd become more appealing for people. Sites that look welcoming and easy to use generally attract buyers as they are perfect for marketing purposes, as we are finding out with such sites as Yuwie.com (shares their profits with their members), Facebook (M$ has a share in FB) and MySpace (films are advertised on here with their own groups).
Unless you only want a small membership, go international.
Google's iPhone Application
Google has launched it's iPhone based search application that will, according to the company, make searching easier and will combine their email, search and calendar programs into one app.
The company has been growing substantially in the last few years and was taken over by Yahoo!. Google has been busy unveiling new services such as Google Earth which can be used to see houses from a satellite or as a map.
Google also plans to bid in an auction for 'airwaves' so it would be able to launch a Wireless network. As with Yahoo!, I strongly advise buying Google shares. If it does win the auction and launch a wireless network, we may see a lot more of Yahoo! and Google and their share prices will go sky high.
The company has been growing substantially in the last few years and was taken over by Yahoo!. Google has been busy unveiling new services such as Google Earth which can be used to see houses from a satellite or as a map.
Google also plans to bid in an auction for 'airwaves' so it would be able to launch a Wireless network. As with Yahoo!, I strongly advise buying Google shares. If it does win the auction and launch a wireless network, we may see a lot more of Yahoo! and Google and their share prices will go sky high.
Yahoo! India forms joint venture with large Hindu Publisher
Yahoo! Group has formed a joint venture with one of the largest News publishers in India. The new venture, to be called Jagran Yahoo! India, is going to combine news and other content into a single site.
Apparently Jagran's site accounts for about 80% of India's online audience, that's a lot of people. Yahoo! shares will probably sky rocket due to this. India's technological expertise is creating many more opportunities for companies to carve out a larger piece of the net.
I seriously think Yahoo! shares would be a great investment, they will be earning a fortune from this deal and gaining substantial media coverage - mainly from their own venture!
Apparently Jagran's site accounts for about 80% of India's online audience, that's a lot of people. Yahoo! shares will probably sky rocket due to this. India's technological expertise is creating many more opportunities for companies to carve out a larger piece of the net.
I seriously think Yahoo! shares would be a great investment, they will be earning a fortune from this deal and gaining substantial media coverage - mainly from their own venture!
Aussie soap to replace Neighbours
It seems the Beeb has had enough of Neighbours after all of these years and is going to replace it with a new series called Out of the Blue.
The BBC News site had a comment from a former Beeb bloke saying that Grundy Television, the owners of Neighbours, wanted too much money for the series and that viewing figures showed less people were watching the series.
I think people are watching it less regularly because it's on everyday and they can catch up with what's been happening later on. People tend to get bored with long-running programmes sometimes, even Eastenders and Corrie have lost viewers over the years, it's part and parcel of the business.
Rather than having the same good-looking Aussies with their nice beaches and nice bodies, maybe a series based in India or China?
The BBC News site had a comment from a former Beeb bloke saying that Grundy Television, the owners of Neighbours, wanted too much money for the series and that viewing figures showed less people were watching the series.
I think people are watching it less regularly because it's on everyday and they can catch up with what's been happening later on. People tend to get bored with long-running programmes sometimes, even Eastenders and Corrie have lost viewers over the years, it's part and parcel of the business.
Rather than having the same good-looking Aussies with their nice beaches and nice bodies, maybe a series based in India or China?
Call of Duty producer is merging
Activision and Blizzard, both producers of very well known games and very profitable companies, have said they are to merge.
This is great news for the games industry, especially since Vivendi has the majority shareholding. The companies produce such games as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, WoW is an online multiplayer role-playing game that charges a subscription for the privilege and it's players regularly trade products earned within the game through other sites.
Both companies, combined, will put a total of $3bn into the new entity. Shares in this and Vivendi are going to be well worth buying, certainly a good investment purchase.
This is great news for the games industry, especially since Vivendi has the majority shareholding. The companies produce such games as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, WoW is an online multiplayer role-playing game that charges a subscription for the privilege and it's players regularly trade products earned within the game through other sites.
Both companies, combined, will put a total of $3bn into the new entity. Shares in this and Vivendi are going to be well worth buying, certainly a good investment purchase.
Murdoch and ITV
It seems our favourite Media mogul (moghul) wants to take over ITV PLC. I think it would be a very bad idea to allow News Corp, or Murdoch personally, control over one of the major British broadcasters.
He is known for the way he controls his media empire, giving favourable coverage to politicians and parties who he supports and be negative towards the rest. ITV, like the BBC, is an important part of the UK's broadcasting 'system' and to have it under the ownership, and full control, of Murdoch would end up costing the viewers a lot more.
If News-controlled-Sky merged with, or owned ITV then ITVSky would be more likely to result in pay per view on ITV channels, the films we currently watch for free would then only be available if we pay for the privilege and many people would be turned off by this.
He is known for the way he controls his media empire, giving favourable coverage to politicians and parties who he supports and be negative towards the rest. ITV, like the BBC, is an important part of the UK's broadcasting 'system' and to have it under the ownership, and full control, of Murdoch would end up costing the viewers a lot more.
If News-controlled-Sky merged with, or owned ITV then ITVSky would be more likely to result in pay per view on ITV channels, the films we currently watch for free would then only be available if we pay for the privilege and many people would be turned off by this.
Social Networking Sites as Marketing Media
If you haven't heard of Facebook or MySpace, where have you been?
These two sites are social networking sites, you can upload videos, tell people about yourself, even make money selling stuff. For the media World these sites are extremely important.
In the future these sites will expand substantially and not only include games and other fun applications but more advanced auctions than what they currently have and also job vacancy databases showing job adverts for businesses Worldwide.
Now is the time to get involed in social networking, if you're a business then maybe you should think about producing your own. Facebook is produced using PHP as are many online multiplayer role playing games, which are also a good medium for marketeers.
If you were trying to market your latest computer game or film, social networking and online gaming sites provide a great platform and they're free to use.
Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and Ebay have already seen the benefits of such sites and within the next two (2) years these companies will be a major part of the social networking 'group', producing complicated (programmed) sites that offer everything:
Ebay would integrate their World-famous auction site and Paypal payment system into a network site, Yahoo would use their messaging and current networking expertise and platform to offer knowledge (Yahoo! answers) to the rest of the World and encourage the use of it's information services to school kids and teachers. Schools even allow the use of Yahoo! Social within their properties although they currently block Facebook, Bebo and Myspace.
Microsoft has the most to offer networking sites. Microsoft downloads could be offered and maybe even earned through challenges. M$ has the expertise from it's messaging (Outlook, Hotmail - now Live- and Messenger) services and also from it's software divisions to outmanouver any of it's competitors.
These two sites are social networking sites, you can upload videos, tell people about yourself, even make money selling stuff. For the media World these sites are extremely important.
In the future these sites will expand substantially and not only include games and other fun applications but more advanced auctions than what they currently have and also job vacancy databases showing job adverts for businesses Worldwide.
Now is the time to get involed in social networking, if you're a business then maybe you should think about producing your own. Facebook is produced using PHP as are many online multiplayer role playing games, which are also a good medium for marketeers.
If you were trying to market your latest computer game or film, social networking and online gaming sites provide a great platform and they're free to use.
Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and Ebay have already seen the benefits of such sites and within the next two (2) years these companies will be a major part of the social networking 'group', producing complicated (programmed) sites that offer everything:
Ebay would integrate their World-famous auction site and Paypal payment system into a network site, Yahoo would use their messaging and current networking expertise and platform to offer knowledge (Yahoo! answers) to the rest of the World and encourage the use of it's information services to school kids and teachers. Schools even allow the use of Yahoo! Social within their properties although they currently block Facebook, Bebo and Myspace.
Microsoft has the most to offer networking sites. Microsoft downloads could be offered and maybe even earned through challenges. M$ has the expertise from it's messaging (Outlook, Hotmail - now Live- and Messenger) services and also from it's software divisions to outmanouver any of it's competitors.
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