Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Yes, I Finally Got Around to Reading Last Week's B3TA Newsletter

I don't ordinarily have much patience for online games, but the Real World Racer, a mashup employing a Google Maps API and a loony dedication, is damned compelling.

Enter your starting and ending points, hit Go, and begin to race through the streets past familiar or (your choice) unfamiliar landmarks. I had a ball zooming through the Concrete Canyons of Manhattan at 130 MPH, and the experience of doing doughnuts in the parking lot of West End Motors in Lovettsville gave me no small satisfaction.

Try it! Recapitulate your evening commute! What's it like to race to the grocery store? The teeming streets of Calcutta? The desert wastes of the Gobi! Dodge IEDs in Baghdad! It's fun! The game's creator suggests making vroom-vroom noises while playing, advice I heartily endorse.

(One hint: Nothing too rural; driving through little gray blocks telling you there's no satellite information for this area ain't exactly fascinating.)

(Via the B3TA Newsletter.)

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