In the Guardian piece I linked yesterday Clay Shirky was quoted saying, “Institutions will try to preserve the problem for which they are the solution.” Anecdotal evidence and intuition agree with this observation, but what does it really mean?
Archive of posts filed under the life category.
Little Games
On Wednesday the New York Times Magazine published a really interesting article that talks a little about gamification and a lot about specifically the type of games, often found on Facebook and mobile devices, that capitalize on the snippets of “free” time everyone has between doing other things. It’s definitely worth a read; go check it [...]
More about Draw Something
I mentioned in an earlier post how the developer of Draw Something was purchased by Zynga, but I wanted to talk a little about my experience with the game. I did order a stylus, by the way; it should arrive this week sometime.
First Drafting
There’s been a lot going on lately. I’m writing a novel, which I started a few months (a year?) ago and then let sit. I’ve been continuing to write it intermittently, and I am at a point where I really feel a need to finish it, hopefully this year. It’s been slow going. There are [...]
Eating Animals
I just finished reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. I’ve mentioned it here before, but I finally got around to buying and reading it, and there’s so much more here that needs to be told than I knew.
Geekdom Adventures
If you don’t already know about it, my wife is starting a company called Geekdom Adventures. It might coincide with your interests. Check it out.
finally
The A/C seems to be fixed now, just in time for… fall. Anyway. I still haven’t stopped running away from sitting down to write. But I’m enjoying reading to Keisha when she lets me (less often since I started reading Ready Player One to her… she’d prefer to get back to The Dresden Files).
sigh
After over a month, probably more than a dozen technician visits, installation of a new condenser unit, and replacement of the new unit’s compressor, wiring, and part of the suction line, our home A/C still doesn’t work adequately. Right now I feel so tired of the whole thing. Maybe the thermostat is a piece of [...]
games and stuff
Picked up “Kard Combat,” which is an badly-themed, badly-named version of Spectromancer. Spectromancer is fun, and this is it for $3, basically. So it’s fun.
We interrupt this interruption to return you to your regularly scheduled program.
Just migrated to a new host and domain registrar, so the site was down for a bit. But now it’s not. Sweet.
GMO
Everyone who thinks there’s no science showing any problems with genetically modified crops should watch this.
More Gamification
I’m reading this right now. Haven’t gotten far yet, but it strikes me that operant conditioning techniques are right at home in organizations which value obedience in their members above all else.
Oops, I forgot the title.
This week I… …finished Persona 3. Started playing “The Answer,” the follow-up in the FES version which I have. I also recently got Persona 4, which I will play at some point after finishing “The Answer.” I really like Persona 3. The social game aspect seems like it could be a game on its own if [...]
