Feb 14, 2017
me n my valentine #bluemoo #luvubaby
seen from Malaysia
seen from China
seen from Sri Lanka
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Switzerland
seen from India
seen from Belarus
seen from Poland
seen from Bulgaria
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Egypt
seen from India
seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from India
seen from China
seen from Netherlands
seen from China
me n my valentine #bluemoo #luvubaby
BlueMoon by ziggeman
#MarGotKidsGambling
I don’t know what planet Margot James, Minister of State for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is living on, probably somewhere in the far reaches of No Man’s Sky. Unbelievably, she has concluded that loot boxes do not constitute gambling because skins can’t be traded offline. That’s like saying using online bookmakers wouldn't really be gambling if it wasn’t possible to sell a winning bet to a mate down the pub. I’ve never felt the need to call for a Minister’s resignation more than I do right now and it’s not just James that needs to go, the whole department needs a rethink; do they actually have any gamers on their staff? I very much doubt it. I’m tempted to instigate a freedom information request just to find out if anybody in her department has heard of Skins.Cash, CS.Money, Skinbaron, Skin.club or Bitskins. They all trade CS:GO skins for hard cash and that’s just one game. The link between gaming disorder and an addictive personality is well and truly established and it just so happens; that’s an ideal personality to develop a gambling addiction. So, why on earth isn’t she doing something to protect the young gamers that are exposed to the lure of loot box gambling? There’s a whole heap of parents out there that don’t really engage with their children’s gaming activities much beyond applying time constraints. They misguidedly trust the Government to put in place protective measures. Well, here’s the thing: That ain’t happening while James is at the helm. There must be some way to instigate her resignation on grounds of gross incompetence? It’s a shame that we are avoiding exposure at this stage in our product development; if we had loads of followers we could probably do something. But we don’t, so maybe share this with people that do "MarGotKidsGambling” perhaps?
Not convinced? At the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee inquiry into immersive and addictive technologies, James said: “I would contest the assumption that loot boxes are gambling and I don’t think that all the evidence that I’ve read from your committee’s hearings would support that assumption either. “Loot boxes are a means of people purchasing items, skins, to enhance their gaming experience, not through an expectation of an additional financial reward and importantly they can’t be traded offline for money, so I think that there are big differences.” Ok Margot, if you ever pick up an AWP | Dragon Lore I’ll bung you a fiver, meet me on CS.Money. Oh hang on, I forgot you don’t really play video games. More’s the pity. #LootboxGambling #MarGotKidsGambling Keith Anderson - Managing Director
Is he a machine?
I’m beginning to think he, or should I say it, might be. The boss had twelve hours of dental surgery on Friday, it was meant to be 8 hours max so he got back pretty late. Saturday noon; he is thanking me for my work on the social media posts, dealing with emails and making meeting arrangements for next week. It’s not human! Or maybe, he is. He always thanks me for any work I do, I’ve never had anyone do that before and it really makes me feel appreciated, I don’t think that I’ve ever told him that. The problem is; with Keith getting back to work straight after 12 hours surgery, how the hell will I be able to pull a hangover induced sickie? I just don’t think I could do it, the guilt would be terrible! Kasper out.
Odd One Out?
I’m sure that it was Mike (level designer) that first alerted me to the mischievous influence of the monkey. Yeah, I know it’s another Chinese horoscope reference but think back to 2016. It was, by all accounts, a bit of a strange year. So who is the odd one out? The most powerful statesman on the planet? A fun but unfortunately lethal video game? Perhaps an ice-breaker in need of a name, or maybe like me you can’t resist another chance to blame everything on Brexit?
They all have something in common. 2016 was the year that Donald Trump was elected. This actually happened. Despite odds of 25 to 1 in August 2015 when he first announced his campaign, he somehow, remarkably turned it all around and now he is the leader of the free world. It’s also the same year that Nintendo and the Pokémon Company decided that people need to get out more. Again in 2016, the quest to find a suitable name for an Arctic research vessel was launched at pretty much the same time that the UK was asked to vote on whether to remain in the European union.
Reports from 2017 suggest that Pokémon Go was directly responsible for $7.3 Billion costs in just the U.S alone in the single year since its release. The actual number of deaths that can be attributed to Pokémon Go is the subject of much debate and we won’t speculate. The aptly titled “Death by Pokémon Go” from Purdue University's Krannert School of Management makes for fascinating reading for those who are way inclined. But hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time right? However, I’d suggest that the mischievous monkey had a role in this ill thought-out and ultimately lethal video game.
David Cameron in 2016, decided that it would be a good idea to deal with the Eurosceptics within the Conservative Party once and for all by affording the public a vote that would obviously give him a mandate to tell to them all to shut the f**k up. Nice idea Dave, BUT the monkey said NO. Oh dear.
It’s not all bad in 2016. In the midst of the monkey’s destructive influence, one body stood strong and went against public opinion, rejecting the nonsensical public votes yielded. You can’t possibly call an Arctic ice-breaker “Boaty McBoatface” how very dare you! We never should have asked you in the first place if you are just going to be silly! We will call it the “Sir David Attenborough” and that’s the last time we ask the public to vote on something as important as the name of a ship! Odd one out? I guess so.
Keith Anderson - Managing Director
Life, the Universe and Brexit
Poor Kasper has had to wait for quite some time for this post and I think he might be a bit disappointed; actually, I don’t really understand why he is so fascinated with the financial aspect of the project but it’s nice to be able to discuss this stuff with him. Personally, I’m rather frustrated with the ongoing saga of Brexit and the damage that it has done to not just Bluemoo and project Headshed but the European economy as a whole. It seems like an age since our rather excellent venture capitalist, Mike, informed me that London is shut for business until after Brexit. That’s a direct quote: “London is shut.” This was back in November 2018 and the prospect of waiting until the end of March to launch our next key stage funding campaign was ultimately manageable, albeit somewhat annoying. Yet here we are three months later, in fact where are we? Does anybody really know? I can only speak for Bluemoo and we need to raise considerable funds in order to ramp up our endeavours, and sadly this isn’t going to happen anytime soon. The Conservatives are currently in the midst of trying to decide who will lead their party after Mrs May’s ultimately doomed attempt at steering the UK to a successful Brexit. Given the last, nigh on, three years of faffing around getting absolutely nowhere and embarrassing Britain on a global stage week in and week out, I can’t wait for the next enthralling instalment of Brexit. Clearly I jest; like most people I’m sick to death of the whole unsightly affair but hey, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; when the world stops making sense it’s probably time to sit back and have a good old laugh. With this in mind, I’ll be running a series of posts that take a light-hearted look at the UK, as it stumbles through the next few months in the lead up to the final Brexit deal. Or at least the next few months in the lead up to the revised proposed exit date of October 2019, or at least until the revoking of article 50, or at least until a new “people’s” vote... or at least until the world enters a full Brexit generated economic meltdown and the whole Headshed project becomes meaningless along with life, the universe and everything else! Still, it’s not all doom and gloom at Bluemoo, far from it. Magnus has recently joined the crew and will be working on Headshed’s core mapping functions. Kevin is also making excellent progress with his recovery and will be working on our universal map marking system for video games very soon. Actually, it is probably worth mentioning that Barts hospital duped him: ”The Miracle Man” and that’s a great thing, because whilst miracles are happening the world can’t be all bad. Keith Anderson - Managing Director
Welcome Magnus!
You know that I love it when the boss talks finance and he promised me that it would be today, but that’s going to have to wait until next week because I’m delighted to welcome Magnus Rasmussen!
He’s our brand spanking new and perfectly formed software engineer. I haven’t found out that many details about his role because he has been with us for hours rather than days but I can tell you that he will be working with the cartography team. Welcome on board Magnus, I’m looking forward to meeting you.
Kasper out.
I’m guessing that you are following our progress because you have an interest in video games. Hence, I’m probably on safe ground if I share this short promotional video that one of the Knighthood guys have put together. They even mention our sponsorship which is nice of them. It beats discussing the investment climate mess that Brexit has created but don’t worry, I’ll talk about that next week! Keith Anderson - Managing Director