I just installed Netflix on a new computer, and the first movie I used to test it is… Blade Runner.

The opening, of course, but especially the legendary Rutger Hauer monologue at the end. I just don’t get tired of this scene, even if it only lasts a minute. Even more incredible is the fact that he added it to the movie at the last minute (I think I learned this from the extras in the DVD).

Sadly, the version that Netflix is offering is the one with the background voice, which I find absolutely horrific, especially for this particular scene. Roy Batty just died, Deckard is staring at him, still waiting for the final blow, you, the viewer, are holding your breath, trying to process what just happened, and suddenly, the voice comes on, completely breaking the suspension of disbelief, in a lame attempt at trying to explain Batty’s actions in case the audience didn’t get it. Really lame.

And of course, I’m not particularly thrille by the rumors of Ridley Scott committing to shoot a sequel. It’s hard for me to imagine how you could improve on one of the best movies ever created.

The creator of Minecraft, known as “Notch”, is taking part in Ludum Dare, which is a game competition in which participants have forty-eight hours to create a game from scratch. Notch is streaming his screen for the entire duration of the competition, and I find this absolutely fascinating.

Take a look at the stream (13,000 viewers right now) and you will see Eclipse, Java and… well, how to write a game. I checked an hour ago and since then, he’s added walls to what is beginning to look like a maze.

I don’t know what’s the most riveting: hearing him brainstorm with himself (probably for the benefit of his 12,000 viewers, but maybe that’s what just how he codes) or having his game run continually in the background and update itself as he makes the changes. I use Eclipse’s hot replace all the time, but seeing it apply to write a game is… mesmerizing.

Update 1: Notch stopped the stream because it was too expensive, he’s looking for alternatives

Update 2: New stream here.

Update 3: Here is the final game, a maze crawl with six bosses and permadeath.

I wanted to try Vorp not recently, a browser shooter that I heard good things about. Unfortunately, the first thing that the game asked me was to log in with Facebook. No option to play anonymously, use a different authenticator or even their own: Facebook. That’s all. Oh and of course, they asked for permission to access my contacts and all that.

I’m sure Vorp’s intentions are honorable but there is a big difference between willing to support indie games and handing them full access to my contacts without the slightest hint of what they are going to do with this information.

Obviously, there are plenty of web sites following this model, and even when they give me the choice to authenticate through Twitter or Google, I still reserve the right to draw the line about the amount of private information I’m willing to disclose. And when I’m just trying out a new service, my full name and my email address is basically the extent of what I’m comfortable to share.

So I did something I have been meaning to do for a very long time: create an empty Facebook account. With Google Voice providing me a one time SMS number, it took me five minutes to create my empty Facebook persona, which I’m now happy to pass around to any service that wants it. I’ve already used a few times and pressing the “Log in with Facebook” button has never felt so great.

Amusingly, Facebook took pity on me, and a few days after I created my empty account, I found the following in my inbox:

Thanks, Facebook, but I got that.