You log in with your Google account username and download the applet-like software, and you then have the choice of many types of “rooms” to explore. I visited the Mountain View room, and had a brief walkabout, but to be honest, the whole experience was quite boring (and filled with equally bored people). The text uttered by people ended up on speech bubbles which were not readily viewable. I couldn’t figure out if the computer terminals worked or not. Moving about was also slow and difficult. The keyboard navigation worked the opposite way.

I ended up not saying anything, and just checked out this big YouTube screen on the wall. It was interesting, cos it showed that Google can actually build in YouTube videos into the game, and you can view them just like you would on YouTube itself. This video was showing Google Earth scenes, which may indicate a future merger with elements of Google Earth within the game.

Disturbing elements were the “Adult Rooms” even though reading the TOS gave me the impression there was a No Adult policy in place. I didn’t take the time to check them out as loading a room up fully, took a little too long.

Overall, the game is not quite as lively as I had hoped, the avatars had a lot of limitations, the movements were difficult, and the detail wasn’t there, but its potential is much bigger, and I suppose this is its appeal. You can sign up for an invite at the future Lively download site, although there isn’t anything there yet. Of all Google’s mooted projects, this is the only one that I think could work (if they really want it to).

The potential for another scope in advertising is there in the game. One of Second Life’s greatest draws is its virtual currency and economy. So, fancy buying stuff in Lively with Google Checkout? The possibilities are endless, the management required would be a huge burden especially if money is involved, but hey, let’s see how this Beta works out.

For those who didn’t realize it yet, chess is big online. In fact chess is one of the main reasons for a large number of people to go online, everyday. How do I know that? Well, at any given time in 24 hours there are many tens of thousands of people at various online chess sites – playing chess. These games can get pretty intense, and it’s not uncommon to have some people playing for hours on end – everyday. Did I say it can become addictive?

Chess at its core is a serious game. Not everyone has the temperament to play chess, which may explain why 80% of chess players are men. Some people find chess a little too serious for their liking. But ask any doctor and they will all say chess is a very good mental exercise.

In technology, chess is regarded as a good fit for artificial intelligence development, and many AI researchers have always used chess intelligence as a benchmark. In the war between man and machine, it is a widely held view that machines have already won the war. Bear in mind, many chess programs can now calculate millions of positions per second, depending on the hardware they run on. Today, computer chess is a foregone conclusion.

In fact, chess programs are also handy to use in gauging how fast your computer processor is running, and there is a small but growing fraternity that employs chess engines to test their overclocking, and to pit programs against each other (minus the humans), in simulated competitions between different chess programs.

Chess was, and still is an enjoyable Web activity for me. I used to play at Chess.net a long time ago when it was free, and sometimes at Yahoo Games and Internet Chess Club. Then, when the Kasparov Chess site was still up, I used to pop in quite frequently. For the past few years, I checked in at Playchess.com, but recently they made it mandatory for all free accounts to pay a yearly fee or lose their ratings. I had a free account there for many years, but it seems they prohibited all the free accounts (including mine), from accessing the main playing hall. Since I’m just an occasional player, I don’t see the need to pay yearly fees for a free game I play now and then. Now I’ve moved on to playing at FICS (Free Internet Chess Server).

Two places where you can play chess (against computer programs) while determining the playing strength levels are Accoona Chess and Shredder Chess.

Maybe this whole WuChess idea could work, but if I were to speak from experience, 70% of people playing chess online will only play chess if it’s free. Actually, chess and the Internet have always made a good fit from the start. Or to be more precise, speed/blitz chess. Take a look at this video….

Click here to view the embedded video.