The Hacker Knights

Move over, Sir Mick. Fresh on the heels of the Rolling Stones singer’s knighthood, Tim Berners-Lee, the British scientist credited with inventing the World Wide Web, got the royal treatment this week. Sir Tim, who now heads up the World Wide Web Consortium at MIT, downplayed his contribution in an interview with the BBC as “just another program.“ But that’s just modesty, of course. It’s good to see innovators like Berners-Lee, a former student hacker who was once banned from using his university’s computer, get the recognition they deserve.

Now it’s time to start recognizing some other unsung digerati: video game creators. Guys like John Carmack, Will Wright, and Shigeru Miyamoto have had a profound impact on the world we live in. The New York Times Magazine recently ran a belated cover story on the importance of gaming, maybe that will help the cause. There’s at least one guy in England who’s eligible for knighthood: Peter Molyneux, creator of so-called “God“ games including Black and White, Populous, and the upcoming Fable. Someone phone the Palace.