We're insanely delighted to announce that we have a new author, Nic Ducheneaut, a research scientist in the Computer Science Laboratory at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Nic's research interests include the sociology of online communities, computer-supported cooperative work, and human-computer interaction, and he is one of the principals of the amazingly amazing PlayOn blog.
We've been thinking for a while about how best to mount a takeover bid of the PlayOn blog, coz we're so impressed at what they do. We realized that we just don't have enough capital to buy Xerox (even though the share price is a little deflated these days), so we just thought we would just poach their talent and not bother to pay for it. It works for us. Nic is only the first stage in a long-term project that we anticipate will culminate in us acquiring John Seely Brown at no cost. But more on this later.
Nic's interest in virtual worlds is how they function as public spaces and communities, with a particular emphasis on social capital and collaboration. How can we assess and possibly improve the quality of social interactions in games? What makes some of them successful social environments, and others abysmal failures? He is interested in 1) observing social behaviors using a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches; 2) modeling these behaviors using a variety of techniques including social network analysis, information visualization, and data mining; 3) building tools to help members of these communities and/or game producers manage their social environment better.
His work on the ethnography of MMOGs is balanced by his love of sailing, his ability to drill through the hull of his self-restored 1961 sailboat below the waterline ("This has to be above the waterline, right?" [sound of a powerdrill, followed by gurgle]), and his ability to bake Kouign Aman, a specialty of Bretagne from whence he hails. Like many of us here he has come surprisingly close to dying as a result of multiplayer gaming. He set up a gaming LAN in a friend's small apartment when he was an undergrad. They were so absorbed in Command & Conquer that they forgot the fries they'd put on the stove. His last words were very nearly: "What's this orange glow on my monitor? And why is it so hot all of a sudden?"
Welcome Nic!
A Breton : everything will be fine as long as you lock the alcoholic beverages.
Kenavo! :)
Posted by: yabonn | Feb 06, 2006 at 13:01
(to the tune of "We're off to see the Wizard")
We're off to conquer the world, the wonderful world of the Earth (and beyond!)
Welcome, Nic.
Posted by: Michael Chui | Feb 06, 2006 at 17:05
Ding! Welcome, Nic!
Did Zaphod invent "amazingly amazing" -- or was that out there before him?
Posted by: greglas | Feb 06, 2006 at 22:32