This show has now made Pokémon creepy to me.” Augmented and Alternate Reality Games, Interactive Narrative and the Documentary TV Series Hellier

Regardless of whether it is a genuine documentary or not, the series certainly represents the investigative team’s immersion in an interactive quest narrative comparable to such Alternate Reality Games as Joseph Matheny’s Ong’s Hat from 1988 – widely considered to be the first Alternate Reality Game and, like Wriste, associated with both anarchism and occultism… Continue reading This show has now made Pokémon creepy to me.” Augmented and Alternate Reality Games, Interactive Narrative and the Documentary TV Series Hellier

My Old Friend, Nick Herbert in The New Yorker

My old friend gets a nod in the New Yorker regarding his contribution to quantum computing. The World-Changing Race to Develop the Quantum Computer Such a device could help address climate change and food scarcity, or break the Internet. Will the U.S. or China get there first? But Clauser had also demonstrated that entangled particles… Continue reading My Old Friend, Nick Herbert in The New Yorker

25 BIZARRE CONSPIRACY THEORIES You’ve Never Heard Of #15

Another conspiracy theory “joke” that got out of hand was that of Ong’s Hat, New Jersey. Ong’s Hat was one of the earliest online conspiracy theories, based on a few run-down, abandoned buildings located deep in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. The story goes that science and the paranormal blended together to open doors to… Continue reading 25 BIZARRE CONSPIRACY THEORIES You’ve Never Heard Of #15

ONG’S HAT SQUATCH TALKS PODCAST S3 / EP43

Tonight we just have some things to discuss about upcoming investigations, and look back on what we are truly grateful for. Especially ‘You’ our viewers. Added to this is some audio recorded on a night hike in the Pine Barrens with the UK BBC who came over the pond to investigate the mystery surrounding Ong’s… Continue reading ONG’S HAT SQUATCH TALKS PODCAST S3 / EP43

The Birth of Alternate Reality Games

Alternate Reality Games have existed for far longer than most people realize, I just wanted to talk about some of the first ones. (the outro has all the music used in order) CONTENTS: 00:00 Intro 00:55 Ong’s Hat 04:17 Publius Enigma 09:13 Blair Witch 11:44 The Beast 14:03 ilovebees 16:04 Closing Thoughts 17:10 Outro

333: Episode 3- Ong’s Hat

Si hoy es miércoles, hay nuevo episodio de #333podcast, el programa que Perra de Satán y yo hacemos con @PodiumPodcast . Hoy exploramos las relaciones entre una revista contracultural de los sesenta, el misterio de Ong’s Hat, 4chan y QAnon. LINK: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6klpVzZoq7I4fqfWK5gzo2?si=2Y1E7CDtQSuJN7oPvGeoNQ

Some links on ARGs: orbific.com

At the start of November, I ran a seminar for a university transmedia course on ARGs, Alternate Reality Games. I was looking specifically at examples of three ARG-like projects had been taken as real, with disturbing effects. This post lists some of the links that I referred to. Another will follow with some thoughts on ARGs.… Continue reading Some links on ARGs: orbific.com

Lifehacker-11 Famous Places That Don’t Really Exist: Ong’s Hat

Slide 8 Located in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, Ong’s Hat was listed as a town on early maps of the area. It may have been the site of a small village, but it was probably just the site of a Ong’s hut, a place a farmer named Ong stopped on his way to market.… Continue reading Lifehacker-11 Famous Places That Don’t Really Exist: Ong’s Hat