Petri writes:

I have developed a new orientation sensor game for Nokia N95, N95 8Gb and N82, that I think will interest you and your audience at geektronica.com.

The game is called “Marble Maze”, and the basic idea is from a classical game, in which you have a board with labyrinth and holes, and you try to guide a metal ball into the goal without dropping into a hole. The thing about N95 and N82 is that those phones have orientation sensor, that enables this kind of idea taken from physical world, to be implemented in the phone.

Check out a Youtube video of the game play with N95:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G3puULvn_E[/youtube]

Another with N82 (with rubber ball):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_C_pz3F8TY[/youtube]

Some features of the game include:

• Use of orientation sensor data of the device to control the game play
• 40 different fields
• Create and save your own fields (and share with friends)
• 3 different balls, with different bounce and friction (metal, rubber and pingpong balls)
• Saving of record times for each field
• Tactile feedback, you can feel the ball hit the walls

You can get the game (or read more about it) here.

Great way to take advantage of the built-in sensors - reminds of me of the slap-Mac hack.

If you’ve seen the breathtaking and profound 1986 film The Mission, you know of the musical talents of the native people encountered by the colonizers and missionaries who came to South and Central America in the 1600s and 1700s.

NPR has an amazing story on the revival of baroque music in Bolivia, which I heard this morning on the way to work. As soon as the story started, I recognized a familiar tune from The Mission. Sure enough, the story revealed that this piece was one of many that have been restored from 17th-century manuscripts from Jesuit missions in Bolivia.

The Mission is a story of the tragic clash between the peaceful Guaraní natives, Portuguese colonizers, and Spanish Jesuit missionaries. The musical abilities of the Guaraní are pointed out as evidence that they are, in fact, human and worthy of respect.

Few situations in human history are as complex and conflicted as the situation between colonials and the people they colonized (both militarily and religiously). The Mission is a must-see for feeling the tensions and the beauty in this situation, and this NPR story is a great way to convince yourself to see it. The music is beautiful.