What is a PBBG?

A persistent browser-based game, or PBBG, is a computer game that satisfies the following two criteria:

1. It is browser-based. The game is played over the Internet using only a web browser.
2. It is persistent. Progress in the game is achieved over multiple playing sessions.

PBBGs merge the depth and longevity of an application-based game with the accessibility and portability of a browser-based game. PBBG can be spoken as pee-bee for brevity.

What is this website?

In a nutshell, this website advocates the adoption of the label persistent browser-based game, or PBBG, to describe browser-based games that allow progress over multiple playing sessions.

What is a PBBG?

The PBBG definition is quite broad. The PBBG genre encompasses games of all traditional genres: role-playing, strategy, sports, simulation, and so forth.

PBBGs may be single-, multi-, or massively multi-player games. However, since an Internet connection is required to play, most developers incorporate massively multi-player and community elements into their PBBGs. A multi-player PBBG can be referred to as a MPBBG, but multi-player game play is usually assumed.

PBBGs may be text-based, or they may take advantage of browser plug-ins such as Flash or Java to create a more dynamic game play environment.

The PBBG definition is device-independent. In particular, a persistent game played within the web browser of a cell phone or other wireless device is still a PBBG. Such a game may be referred to as a mobile-enabled PBBG.

What is not a PBBG?

A PBBG is not the same thing as a MMOG (massively multi-player online game), generally speaking. There is some overlap, but MMOGs include games that are run as an application on your computer. Application-based games do not have the portability that PBBGs do, because you can only play them on a computer that has the game installed. Think of PBBGs as a subset of MMOGs -- those that are browser-based.

A PBBG is also not the same thing as a browser-based game, generally speaking. Browser-based games include arcade, puzzle, and card games which are over as soon as you move your browser to a different web page. These games lack the longevity of PBBGs, where progress is made over days, weeks, or months. PBBGs are a subset of browser-based games -- they are persistent browser-based games.

Why do we need YAA (Yet Another Acronym)?

There exists a vast collection of online games that are often referred to as browser-based games or MMOGs, but which are really the intersection of both. The terms browser-based game and MMOG do not adequately describe this segment of the gaming industry. The PBBG designation is a solution to this problem.

Widespread adoption of the PBBG designation will:

* Make it easier for players to discover new PBBGs.
* Encourage the development of new, better PBBGs.
* Encourage the provision of tools and resources designed specifically for PBBG developers.
* Establish a more cohesive identity for this segment of the gaming industry.

How do I get involved?

Simply use the term PBBG. If you are a player, try searching for PBBGs using your favorite search engine. You will find many. If you are a developer, publicly designate your game a PBBG on your website. PBBGs will not be known as such until their makers and players acknowledge them as such.

The PBBG project has already accumulated substantial grassroots support -- the links page is a testament to that.

About the Author

Official Website

What's in a username?

Your e-mail address 'can reveal your personality'

Think twice before you pick an email address -- it can reveal your personality.

Researchers at the University of Leipzig in Germany have carried out a study and found that an
email address may speak volumes about the character of the person who created the unique online identification.

According to lead researcher Mitja Back, even the thinnest slice of communication via the world wide web - the mere e-mail address -- contains valid information about the personality of its owner.

In their study, the researchers asked a panel of 100 students to guess the personalities of 600 young adults simply by looking at their e-mail addresses.

The panel's guesses agreed mostly with a personality survey the teenagers had completed when it came to qualities like openness, conscientiousness and narcissism, and diverged most on the trait of extroversion.

Addresses that gave away personality often contained full stops, numbers or a name that was obviously not genuine, the researchers found.

Level of accuracy was explained using lens model analyses -- the students made broad use of perceivable e-mail address features in their personality judgements, features were slightly valid and the observers were sensitive to subtle differences in validity between cues.

The study has been published in the latest edition of the Journal of Research in Personality.

Source: Yahoo!

What does height have to do with finding love?

She Says vs. He Says: What's Height Got to Do With Love?

Agreeing on the "right height" for a healthy relationship has been a hot topic since before Darwin tried to explain why both genders finally stood up. In this debate, authors Christine Hassler and Jason Ryan Dorsey attempt to demystify what each gender thinks about height and its impact on dating. This discussion is particularly important for single people who want to improve their chances of finding a date online by adjusting their personal height stats.

SHE SAYS: When it comes to initial attraction, height matters. A woman wants to look up to a man, both literally and figuratively. Now I know a lot of women may disagree with me here and say it's all about equality, but when it comes to height, many women aren't drawn to a level playing field. I don't know if it's feeling a taller man can better protect us or simply look good on holiday postcards, but short guys definitely have to work harder to stand out in a crowd.

But here is the thing, if you take the time to get beyond the superficial stuff and see someone for who they are, then height doesn't matter at all. When it comes to love, physical attraction may spark a relationship but it rarely sustains one. And, hey, as a woman, I know that there's a lot a guy has to offer when he is not standing. The things that matter when it comes to love are whether or not your values, life goals, priorities, and communication skills align -- not whether you can see over him when you wear your favorite stiletto heels.

HE SAYS: As a guy who is vertically mediocre, I don't think height is the deciding factor when it comes to falling in love -- unless you want your future children to play college basketball on scholarship. However, when a short guy shows up at a restaurant on a date with a much taller woman you know that some of the other guys in the place are thinking, "What does he do?" That particular situation has never happened to me, but it sure sounds cool. What I do know is that love doesn't come with a minimum height requirement like a ride at Six Flags. Sometimes the one you end up falling head over 3-inch heels for doesn't necessarily fit your "type," but then maybe she is exactly your type after all. I mean you may not end up seeing eye-to-eye on your wedding day, but that shouldn't matter because you can always PhotoShop the pictures. I did.

Source: Yahoo!

Want to quit smoking? Go online. Really!

Surfing For A Longer Life!

With more and more people inhabiting the virtual world today, doctors are using that space to encourage people to quit smoking. There are websites that list out the disadvantages and dangers of the addiction, and also those that help you formulate a personal quitting plan.

The helping hand At the Champs Club, an Indian anti-smoking website, you can calculate exactly how much money one one save by quitting smoking for a month/year/five years and so on. It helps one understand how long and what kind of changes one's body will undergo in the first 30 days of quitting.

The site has names of smoking rehab clinics over the country, where addicts who want to kick the butt can enroll for a three-month programme. Says Dr Gupta, a panelist, "Since the website was launched last month, we have received a number of inquiries and four people have already enrolled.

We expect a lot more soon." Becomeanex.

org helps smokers come up with personalized quitting plans, which map out when s/he needs a smoke and how s/he reacts when s/he doesn't smoke. Indian brothers A blogger called 'nocigarette' has collected anti-smoking TV ads from over the world.

One Indian ad says, "Be nice to smokers, they don't have long to live." Though India-specific anti-smoking websites have yet to catch on, Cancer Patients Aid Association India (CPAA) has an active website with a detailed section on "How to quit smoking".

The section directs traffic to a website called whyquit.com that is headed by Joel Spitzer, a world-renowned anti-smoking campaigner.

All of Spitzer's reinforcement articles for those who have quit have been compiled into a 1.4 MB PDF e-book called Never Take Another Puff.

Since 2005, over 8,50,000 copies have been downloaded. Besides, there are about 1,000 anti-smoking meet-up groups on meet up.

com, of which two are Delhi-based.

Source: Yahoo.com

The Worlds Longest Bike - Amazing, Superb!

It has been to our attention that the longest bike in the world, officialy registered by Guinness record book is from Russia. It’s creator Oleg “Leshij” Rogov was from Tver city, a small town near Moscow city. He was a big biker fan since his childhood. One day he has got an idea to build the longest bike in the world, according to his own story “probably after he got too much beer inside”.

So after two years of planning and delaying he did it. He built the bike that was 31 feet 4 inches long (9 meters 57 cm). After the thing was ready he sent his claim to the Guinness book and got registered as longest bike in the world.

The saddest part of the story is that he got into accident and died this summer, still we have the photos of his creation, it would be some kind of tribute to him.

Move over '.com' and get ready for '.hotel' or '.sports'

Come 2009, and almost any word will be able to replace ".com" in a Web page address - thanks to a decision made by the organization that manages the technical underpinnings of the Web, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, (ICANN).

ICANN unanimously approved the new guidelines as weeklong meetings in Paris concluded.

Top-level domain names, or TLDs, refer to Internet name suffixes, such as the ubiquitous .com, .net and .org, among others. Currently, there are more than 200 TLDs, which also include the two-character country codes used by websites, such as Britain's .uk.

Under the new plans, a domain name, the suffix at the end of a website address, can now be based on any string of letters.

This will allow individuals to register a domain based on their own name, for example, as long as they can show a "business plan and technical capacity".

The result could be the creation of thousands or even millions of new addresses.

ICANN also voted collectively to open public comment on a separate proposal to permit addresses entirely in non-English languages for the first time.

"We are opening up a new world and I think this cannot be underestimated," BBC quoted Roberto Gaetano, a member of ICANN, as saying.

Dr Paul Twomey, chief executive of ICANN, described passing the resolution as a "historic moment".

ICANN officials said some technical issues for the new system must still be worked out, but it could be reviewing the first applications for new TLDs as early as 2009. (ANI)

(Source: Yahoo)

How To Make A Magnet Board?

A lot of people complain that they have no place to hang their pictures, memos, or memorable items. A creative, free, and totally easy way to turn your clutter into a pretty display, is to make a homemade magnet board!

Things you'll Need

• A metal cookie sheet/biscuit tray
• Wrapping paper
• magnets
• photos, artwork, etc.
  

Steps

1. Get a metal cookie sheet.
2. Get some funky or simple wrapping paper from a closet, attic, etc.
3. Either buy or use magnets that you already have.
4. Tape a a fitted wrapping paper piece to the cookie sheet.
5. Use the magnets to hang up photos, drawings, memos and other things to your brand new magnet board!
6. Place your finished board on a window sill, desk, or table.
   

Tips

• Try to use fun but simple wrapping paper, you don't want too elaborate or else it will take away from your artwork and photos.
• Don't put more than 1 layer of wrapping paper, or else the magnets won't cling to the metal.