Yeah... that little thing. 

I wanted to produce something that would be useful and new, not a rehashing of what has been done before, something cutting edge in web design / user experience, etc. It turns out this isn't really an option, and a rough proposed topic of mine ~ 'Can 'achievements' used in web applications increase user participation?' was more of an industrial / scientific research paper than a media dissertation. 

It's a shame a research type paper isn't an option but I guess that's down to my degree, there will be plus points to the course, like looking more into the cultural elements and what effect that has. I'd love to look at something like that a new research paper in the future, however then i'd probably just build into a website, make some rough analysis and judge that way, maybe even a blog post on it, but not a 8-10k word dissertation.

Current dissertation, purely in the form of keywords: Games, Japan, Western, Eastern, America, Culture, Final Fantasy, Gears Of War, Zelda.

Yesterday I read a twitter post that said 90% of blogs created in 2000 are now dead. I'm surprised it is not more.

When I stumble across a blog that hasn't had a post for at least a month, I get a sad feeling, like 'this is over', im reading something that is dead now. So i'll update my blog so at least someone similar to me doesn't get that feeling.

Currently, my PintBet (coming soon dunDunDunnn) is now my major project for my final year, replacing WikidTutorials. I'll skimp on the details for now. I'm also writing a dissertation, about what yet i'm not 100% (hand-in is in < 8 weeks) but I'm doing a lot of research into achievements within games currently. Some interesting quotes from gamers on achievements and games:

It's encouraging because in an MMORPG (Mass Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) you can see a consistent progression of development in your skills...you are getting better at a steady rate...In RL you don't level up when you get ahead, it isn't as obvious.

As children, we are taught to 'achieve' by being given milestones with specific goals. 'If you eat your green beans, you can have ice cream.' 'If you get an A in biology, you can get your driver's license. There are direct relationships between 'doing' and 'accomplishing' that I think disappear to an extent after we enter the 'real world. 

So from this i'm thinking - turn life into a game. Create goals for yourself (or others), get rewards.

Map life out, quantify it as much as you need.

Ref: The Daedalus Project: In Their Own Words: The Achievement Component