No Crowbars in the Library, Sir

[major_clanger]

You know you've been playing Half Life 2 for too long when you walk up to the Edinburgh University Main Library and start having flashbacks. To be fair, the library is currently being refurbished, which means that as well as having its brutalist architecture festooned in scaffolding you approach it through a warren of shipping containers, crates and metal fences, so the whole effect is more than a little reminiscent of HL2's decayed post-industrial aesthetic. The impression is completed by the looming presence of the Appleton Tower, which with its peeling facade looks like it would fit right into City 17. Fortunately the library itself proved free of zombies, Combine troops or even resistance fighters seeking to distract me from my essay research on the nature of in-game currencies in virtual worlds.

Freedom from distraction being the point of my trip in; I could actually have done almost all yesterday's research from home, but I find that working in the library concentrates my mind, not to mention that I don't want to spend several days cooped up inside. I even managed to visit the gym - something I've been slacking a bit on lately - and do some errands in town. One of those was to get a beard trimmer, so I'm no longer quite as shaggy in that department.

Today: more research, and probably another trip in to college. I may actually use the library more for its main purpose, as yesterday's work has opened up some lines of inquiry: what is the legal status of money in different jurisdictions? What precedents are there for informal currencies? And if I get bored with that, there's one of my other essays to start looking at, on the fun-filled topic of Passing Off on the Internet.*

*Not to be confused with Passing Out in front of the Internet, which is what too much late-night surfing will bring on.

Comments

[surliminal.livejournal.com]

Heavens. I scent Andres: ) Don't forget the EMI Directive! I'd like to see that essay..

[cdave]

I went to a WSFII event once and got issues with some Limes. It was a slightly odd experience. Probably best summed up as Luncheon Vouchers, with pretensions of grandeur.