A couple of weeks ago, in talking about the new Equifax issued digital identity card, (and we gave you the wrong Web site for it, it should have been this) I mentioned an online game that the Equifax folks provided to help you while away the time waiting to bulk-load your LDAP directory. Little did I know that there were other, more relevant, time-wasters available.

From Ping Identity comes what may well be the most optimistic portrayal of an identity manager ever conceived. According to Ping CEO Andre Durand, “…our marketing department brought up the notion of some sort of identity superhero.” Well, of course anyone working in identity management must be a superhero. The Golden Guardian (I guess all the good names were taken) is a super hero. Disguised as mild-mannered network admin, Dan Dawson is the world’s first identity-related super hero comic strip! Read it for yourself here.

Not to be outdone, the Java-enhanced folks at Sun have come up with their own interactive game “Identity Hero”. In this game you progress through different levels with analogies to different identity management tasks (provisioning, lock-outs, single sign-on, compliance, etc.) using the keyboard arrow keys to move around the office in a Pac Man-like way. If you get in trouble, you can always click a button and read about the various parts of Sun’s identity management products.

(Editor's Note: See the slideshow of Network World's networking superheros!)

Sadly, the area of identity management entertainment seems to end there. Googling “identity” and “game” turns up references to the Penn Jillette game show on NBC (and the online version http://www.nbc.com/Identity/game/game.shtml) but that’s not really about identity management. Even further afield is “Identity Quest” which appears to have been named so that the initials are IQ rather than for any other reason.

Still, there may be other games and entertainments out there which I haven’t come across just yet. If you know of any, drop me a line and I’ll share with everyone.

Event Alert:

I know it’s short notice, but there’s an interesting webcast this Wednesday (Dec. 3) called “The Inside Story on SharePoint Security” and conducted by Larry Ponemon in association with Cisco and Avenade http://www.avanade.com. Register right now; you’ll be glad you did.

Dave Kearns is a consultant and editor of IdM, the Journal of Identity Management.