Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2
#130849 07/29/04 02:07 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 428
F
addict
OP Offline
addict
F
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 428
Is there a speaker of Mandarin Chinese in the house?

I have been participating in what is called an "Alternative Reality Game" for a week or so now (hence my lack of time on the Board). An ARG is essentially a game played out on various specially-created sites across the Web, and includes many word-based puzzles (cracking codes, finding embedded text, recompiling fragmented documents). The biggest one to date is called The Beast or AI, and was part of a marketing campaign for the Spielberg movie A.I.. This one (called ilovebees, from the website it started on) appears (at this point) to be a marketing campaign for the upcoming Microsoft video game Halo 2, and involves a young woman heading off to China, and she has left a snippet of what we are assuming to be Mandarin on her outgoing voicemail message. We are also assuming it means nothing more than "Good Bye, Good Luck." but we don't know for sure yet.

If you'd like to help, let me know and I can email you an mp3 of the recording (or the San Fran phone number it's been recorded from.

If you'd like to play along (we've only just begun, we think), check out the forums here http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/index.php?c=15 and the wiki for the game at http://bees.netninja.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page


Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Send a PM to Stales. Though I don't know that he checks his e-mail any oftener than he comes here. But he's been studying it.

P.S.--What's a "wiki"? I took a look at the link you posted; a lot of it made no sense to me; just too much for me to try and learn even the lingo, let alone how to play.


Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 428
F
addict
OP Offline
addict
F
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 428
P.S.--What's a "wiki"? I took a look at the link you posted; a lot of it made no sense to me; just too much for me to try and learn even the lingo, let alone how to play.

A "wiki" is short for "wikipedia". I've not idea where the term comes from, but a wiki is basically an online encyclopedia that any reader can add to or edit. Of course, this means that incorrect stuff can be added, but it also means that the incorrect or out-of-date stuff can be quickly updated.

There is a bit of a learning curve to ARGs, but coincidentally, I had been doing some reading up on the history of The Beast a couple of weeks ago, and I was just thinking that I'd love to participate in a new version of it. My timing was perfect, which seems a bit suspicious, now that I think about it... (one side-effect of ARGs appears to be increasing your Paranoia Quotient dramatically!)


Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 428
F
addict
OP Offline
addict
F
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 428
Well, nevermind. It's been translated by a native speaker to be really bad Mandarin for "I'm not coming back. Sorry."

But you're all still welcomed to join our Collective Detective in solving the case!


#130853 07/29/04 04:56 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
It comes from Hawaiian creole; wiki-wiki = quick! Also a nickname for a shuttle bus there. Mizz Wow will correct/ amplify, I hope.


#130854 07/29/04 07:18 PM
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Spicy crawdads stuffed with pineapple, perhaps??



TEd
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
J
veteran
Offline
veteran
J
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
A "wiki" is short for "wikipedia".

Actually, the Wikipedia project is a latecomer to the wonderful world of wikis. A wiki is a website that's editable by everybody organized by categories (wiki words). The first one is at c2.com and is about design patterns in programming. It was called wiki from the Hawai'ian wiki wiki for quick because of the rapidity of editing without having to download and upload files, etc.

See http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiWikiOrigin


Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 725
old hand
Offline
old hand
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 725
And wiki wiver would be "quick-chopped liver"?


#130857 07/30/04 12:33 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Thank you, Coffeebean. Where do I send the pound of Kona we agreed on?


Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
A wiki is a website that's editable by everybody Ohmigawd--and here I've been taking Wikipedia's word for everything I've looked up! Horrors! I thought it was a REAL encyclopedia, with just some computer lingo stuck on the front. Geez. Thanks, you-all.


Page 1 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,912
Posts229,283
Members9,179
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV, Heather_Turey, Standy
9,179 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 302 guests, and 2 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,510
LukeJavan8 9,916
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5