Synthetic Worlds or Integrating ISA Server 2006 with Microsoft Exchange 2007

Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games

Author: Edward Castronova

From EverQuest to World of Warcraft, online games have evolved from the exclusive domain of computer geeks into an extraordinarily lucrative staple of the entertainment industry. People of all ages and from all walks of life now spend thousands of hours—and dollars—partaking in this popular new brand of escapism. But the line between fantasy and reality is starting to blur. Players have created virtual societies with governments and economies of their own whose currencies now trade against the dollar on eBay at rates higher than the yen. And the players who inhabit these synthetic worlds are starting to spend more time online than at their day jobs.

In Synthetic Worlds, Edward Castronova offers the first comprehensive look at the online game industry, exploring its implications for business and culture alike. He starts with the players, giving us a revealing look into the everyday lives of the gamers—outlining what they do in their synthetic worlds and why. He then describes the economies inside these worlds to show how they might dramatically affect real world financial systems, from potential disruptions of markets to new business horizons. Ultimately, he explores the long-term social consequences of online games: If players can inhabit worlds that are more alluring and gratifying than reality, then how can the real world ever compete? Will a day ever come when we spend more time in these synthetic worlds than in our own? Or even more startling, will a day ever come when such questions no longer sound alarmist but instead seem obsolete?

With more than ten million active players worldwide—and with Microsoft and Sonypouring hundreds of millions of dollars into video game development—online games have become too big to ignore. Synthetic Worlds spearheads our efforts to come to terms with this virtual reality and its concrete effects.

“Illuminating. . . . Castronova’s analysis of the economics of fun is intriguing. Virtual-world economies are designed to make the resulting game interesting and enjoyable for their inhabitants. Many games follow a rags-to-riches storyline, for example. But how can all the players end up in the top 10%? Simple: the upwardly mobile human players need only be a subset of the world's population. An underclass of computer-controlled 'bot' citizens, meanwhile, stays poor forever. Mr. Castronova explains all this with clarity, wit, and a merciful lack of academic jargon.”—The Economist

“Synthetic Worlds is a surprisingly profound book about the social, political, and economic issues arising from the emergence of vast multiplayer games on the Internet. What Castronova has realized is that these games, where players contribute considerable labor in exchange for things they value, are not merely like real economies, they are real economies, displaying inflation, fraud, Chinese sweatshops, and some surprising in-game innovations.”—Tim Harford, Chronicle of Higher Education

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Changing Meaning of Play
Part I. The Synthetic World: A Tour
Chapter 1. Daily Life on a Synthetic Earth
Chapter 2. The User
Chapter 3. The Mechanics of World-Making
Chapter 4. Emergent Culture: Institutions within Synthetic Reality
Chapter 5. The Business of World-Making
Part II. When Boundaries Fade
Chapter 6. The Almost-Magic Circle
Chapter 7. Free Commerce
Chapter 8. The Economics of Fun: Behavior and Design
Chapter 9. Governance
Chapter 10. Topographies of Terror
Chapter 11. Toxic Immersion and Internal Security
Part III. Threats and Opportunities
Chapter 12. Implications and Policies
Chapter 13. Into the Age of Wonder
Appendix: A Digression on Virtual Reality
Notes
References
Index

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Integrating ISA Server 2006 with Microsoft Exchange 2007

Author: Fergus Strachan

This book is a convenient, targeted, single-source guide to integrating Microsoft's ISA Server with Exchange 2007 SP1. Unlike longwinded "comprehensive resources" it doesn't waste time re-hashing general information on the architectures and purposes of ISA and Exchange for raw beginners. Instead, its pragmatic purpose is to smooth the path of the busy administrator who is under pressure to get the integration done quickly, and done right, the first time. It features "break-out sessions" for issues that require in-depth discussion, "tips and tricks" sections that hone in on and demystify trouble spots, and "FAQs" alphabetized by topic that act as a quick-reference for readers who just want a quick answer to a specific question.

Readers will learn how to:
*Create the protocol definitions and firewall policy to allow only authorized users to connect to your Exchange Server
*Configure SMTP Filtering and SMTP Message Screener
*Troubleshoot the SSL connection to your Exchange Server
*Take advantage of ISA 2006's integrated Exchange 2007 support
*Enable forms-based authentication for Outlook Web Access
*Leverage unified SSL, VPN, application-layer filtering and endpoint security to optimize access for mobile devices
*Configure user-based settings to provide pre-authenticated access to specific Web applications
...and much more!

*Practical and focused, this guide explains explains everything you need to know in order to successfully integrate ISA 2006 and Exchange 2007, without wasting time on minutiae
*Tips and tricks from the expert author help you avoid pitfalls before you stumble into them, troubleshoot problems with ease, and optimizeperformance
*In-depth coverage of Exchange SP1 highlights the many security enhancements that optimize integration with ISA