Over the weekend, I finished getting the second of my old games running on the PS2, and took it round to the Gallery to show off.

To my slight surprise and great pleasure, it seemed to be a massive hit. I wasn't really expecting this, since it was originally written as a simple exercise in dynamics ("Hey, look, I've just found out the mathematical formula for what happens when two snooker balls collide! I know, I'll illustrate it by writing a very simple game in which two powered snooker balls try to knock each other off a table.") and I've always vaguely felt that my other stuff was generally more impressive and somehow more game-like. But actually Sumo (as I somewhat unimaginatively titled it) went down very well, even with people who I wouldn't have thought were into that sort of game.

Perhaps part of this was due to the fact that I got silly while porting it to the PS2, and added a second playing area shaped like a snooker table (so that instead of being able to knock the opponent off any available edge, you have to pot them reasonably accurately into one of the pockets); this seemed to make the game inspire a lot more giggling, which always helps...

And people liked the font, too, so perhaps I didn't waste all that effort I was agonising about the other day :-)

It's very upsetting when someone you'd respected and trusted turns out to be unworthy of it.

Today someone did, and that someone was London Gold Exchange, who are an e-currency exchange company I've dealt with twice to change small PuTTY donations into sterling. They've been efficient and helpful both times, particularly last time when I fluffed the e-gold transfer and they still managed to find my money and get it to me in double-quick time. I would unhesitatingly have gone back for a third time, if it hadn't been for the e-mail I received today.

London Gold Exchange's monthly newsletter contained a section advertising an "investment scheme". On closer inspection, this had all the hallmarks of the standard pyramid scam - you send a small amount of money to the five names on the list, add your name to the bottom and remove the name at the top, and send it on to N friends. This means London Gold Exchange are either about to sucker some people or are about to be suckered, and no matter which - whether they're unscrupulous or just stupid - I suddenly don't want them handling any more of my money.

(I did check the mail to make sure it wasn't a forgery perpetrated in their name by someone else; not only do all the headers look identical to the last legitimate mail they sent me, but they point to a "further details" section on their web site, making it pretty much definite that it's the real company doing this.)

It seems odd, even to me, that a company I've only dealt with twice and never with anything more than tiny amounts of money involved should have managed to inspire enough respect and trust in me that I feel this upset and angry when I lose it. But I do. This has really shaken me.