Stewart Butterfield and friends and friends in Vancouver, Canada who had a failing online gaming startup in 2003 turned their attention instead to photo-sharing, and the company, Flickr, that they created was so successful that Yahoo paid $30 million for it just months later. Now Butterfield is turning his attention – and money – back to the gaming business, to create a massive multiplayer game under the name Tiny Speck. Details are secret but the Globe & Mail in Canada notes that “Tiny Speck, started by a quartet of the original Game Neverending /Flickr team, including Mr Butterfield, wants to do for online gaming what Nintendo Co Ltd’s Wii did for video game consoles.” Gambling? apparently not. Global bridge? not exactly.
Links to other sites: Globe & Mail, Tech Vibes, Tiny Speck
Fête du Bois, Lausanne school parade
Geneva, Lausanne and Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Geneva and most international schools in the area finished the 2008-09 school year 26 June, last Friday, but canton Vaud children are still braving hot days for their last week of school, which finishes Friday 3 July.
Lausanne’s primary schools Wednesday 1 July celebrated the end of the year with their traditional Fête du Bois parade through the city, to the cheers of parents.
Images: reproduced with permission, celestialpilgrim (see his complete parade collection on flickr). Click to view larger.
Summer music festivals begin
Summer now begins in earnest, by popular acclamation, in the Lake Geneva region with city music and arts festivals.
Montreux Jazz Festival
The Montreux Jazz Festival opens Friday 3 July. Expect long lines at the A9 autoroute entrances to Montreux, and if you’re going to the festival from another town, seriously consider taking the train. The festival’s new magazine is out, with day by day highlights. The free music in the streets pulls in crowds so prepare to mingle! [Ed. note: GenevaLunch articles on the Montreux Jazz festival are here. We'll be reviewing the festival for you, starting next week]
