I’m writing this at 22:30, having been awake barely 5 hours, and getting ready to head to the Pig & Whistle with some friends (Brit, Aussie and American) for the England vs USA game, which kicks off at 0430 local. Unfortunately, because of Aussie laws, we actually need to be at the pub before 3 (we’re aiming for about 0230), because they then have to lock the doors, despite the fact they can serve alcohol ’til 5 (and you have until 0520 to drink up). It’s likely to be a month of screwed up sleep, though France & Uruguay managed to put me to sleep pretty effectively last night 
As I write this, Korea have gone up 2-0 against Greece, so I guess those in Cyprus won’t be in such a good mood as they were during Euro 2004 
Life in Brisbane is great, and my thesis continues to plod along at a steady pace; I have now submitted the Stage 2 and (touch wood) it seems to be proceeding through the administrative processes without problem. I have shifted focus a bit from Star Trek Online (which frankly doesn’t seem to be an interesting example of much — it’s a single player game with a bit of multiplayer functionality, and none of the interest that is attached to other environments for now) to Eve Online, which despite being around a fair while has yet to attract much academic focus, yet has it’s own policy committee and a relatively open discussion with players who shape the game far more than is possible with STO. I continue to look at Second Life & Project Entropia, and on the fringes am looking at some games like NationStates and A Tale in the Desert, which provide some interesting examples of in-game regulation. I have installed on this blog a digress.it mini-blog which will contain chunks of my thesis as I go, and I welcome constructive feedback on that as things progress.
It doesn’t look like I’m going to make it back to the UK (or Cyprus / Europe in general) this year, though family are coming out next Easter which will be nice, and I learnt today that friends of the family will also be out next Easter as their daughter is doing a year at Griffith on the Gold Coast, so will be nice to catch up with them who I haven’t spoken to in maybe 5+ years now. I’m planning to make a trip back to Europe next winter (Nov/Dec 2011), where I intend to visit Iceland/CCP, and have even got a good friend lined up to help out, which is something of a relief, and will be a great help. I also intend to speak to regulatory bodies in the gambling industry, however the details of that are still TBC. Not quite sure what else I’ll fit into that Europe trip or possibly a separate one over Christmas, but may stop by the UK, Cyprus and possibly Denmark for varying time periods — a lot depends on money/timings, and what terms are applied to any additional funding.
Well I think that’s a wrap for now. As I move now past the stage 2 and onto the actual research I will post more, and I hope to start getting small sections (which may become papers in their own right) up into the digress.it system within the next 6 months or so.
Come on England!
