News You Can Bruise for 2007 August 6

Misc. links.

• RESTful Web Services: beach reading
• The Nethack Purity Test.
• The original D&D rules from the 1970s, edited for clarity instead of being scattered through about five books. (Note: a big chunk of the HTML is missing due to an uploading error or something; get the PDF version if you're seriously interested.)
• Narrative of turning Settlers of Catan into a wargame, alternating between rule brainstorming and details of piece manufacture.
• Speaking of Catan, Feral Trade would be cooler if there were more than five resources being transfered through it.

Google search service reborn as a RESTful web service somewhat along the lines of my proposed design that works just like the website. As usual, they put severe restrictions on use—most notably you can't use it at all unless you're an academic researcher.