As I reported, the DiKopA network held a second Archaeogaming Hackathon in Darmstadt last February and we now have the results online. The two groups produced two unique Archaeogames based on the RPG Maker MV software, and you can play both of them directly in your browser. But before you head over there, let me…
Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (2007) is a really powerful critique of neoliberal economic policies imposing in times of crisis. She argues that governments and corporations take advantage of social and political upheaval. They do so to push through free-market reforms that primarily benefit the elite. Klein traces this strategy…
For the longest time I used Goodreads to keep track of what I was reading and what I wanted to read next. I really liked the site. Even though I’d been using it for a long time, there wasn’t much going on. Then I read that it was actually owned by Amazon. In my quest…
For the fourth time, the Interactive Pasts Conference will take place in Leiden from 8 to 10 October 2025. I always wanted to go, but never could for various reasons. Now I have a new reason: I was asked to help out by moderating a panel. Of course I agreed and now I am super…
A few weeks ago I announced that I would be organising the second Archaeogaming Hackathon. This time in Darmstadt. Well, time flies and it is already over. Like last time, there will be a more detailed report on the DiKopA project website in the coming weeks, but today I will give you a short summary…
I have given my fair share of presentations over the past 16 years. 42 to be precise, which works out at 2 or 3 presentations a year. My last one, however, was special because I was not presenting at a conference or to students. I was giving a presentation in front of children at a…
I finished the game after 30 hours. Last time I wrote that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (IJatGC) might have a chance of replacing my favourite IJ game, Fate of Atlantis. And I have to say, at least they now share first place. Story-wise, IJatGC is a really, really good game. Much better than…
At the end of last year I offered a first Archaeogaming Hackathon in Cologne. I also reported that it was quite successful and that we were planning to do more. Well, here it is, we have just announced the second hackathon, this time hosted by the Technische Universität Darmstadt. Between the 16th and 18th of…
Today I went to my second CIDOC CRM workshop. As before, the workshop was led by Stephen Stead, one of the people who started the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model Special Interest Group (CRM-SIG). He has been working on the CRM since 2000 and is one of the editors who helped to make the CRM an…
I came across this German book on the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in a local castle gift shop. “Die Hängenden Gärten von Babylon” was written by Stefan Schweizer, a professor of European garden design in Düsseldorf, Germany. I was intrigued by the cover and the title as I had done some research on gardens in…