June 2011
1 post
Open-Source Software Feels Insecure →
May 2011
1 post
Khan Academy →
This is my new favorite education initiative. I wish I had the time right now to explain what I like about it and how it gamifies learning. Expect more later. It will include diagrams. (via SMBC)
April 2011
1 post
March 2011
1 post
Buy one today! →
Jon Carrol categorizes car commercials
January 2011
4 posts
“My dear sir, there are individuals roaming the streets of Fallen London at this...”
– Based on a recommendation, I decided to try out a browser-based game called Echo Bazaar.
I don’t yet know enough about it to recommend it myself, but it’s off to a good start when that is one of your possible answers to the account-creation question, “May we ask whether...
“Snakes have a totally undeserved bad reputation. Who tempted Eve with the power...”
– The snake threateners
Video game music (Twilight Princess)
So, I just finished playing through The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. This week has been my first real opportunity to play my Wii at home since moving into my apartment, since I didn’t previously own a TV.
What struck me on this play-though was the way it used music to set the mood, leaving me with a very immersive experience. Composing video game music is a different animal than...
Hair Guy: Chip Kelly vs. The Zombie Apocalypse →
Oregon-Football-Zombie fan fiction. I’m pretty sure this is why the Internet was invented
December 2010
2 posts
November 2010
2 posts
Online Media
This is just going to be a short one. I was responding to a quote on somebody’s Facebook wall, and I decided that the analogy was good enough to share with the general public and expand on a bit.
Online socializing is to social interactions what the Gutenberg Bible is to religious texts. It’s obvious to everyone that the mass-printed copies are far inferior to those painstakingly ...
September 2010
1 post
Penny Arcade! - Warrants Further Assessment →
Many comics have a punchline at the end, but this one just rachets up the humor all the way through.
August 2010
3 posts
Public LARPer
As always, I invite lively discussion in the comments section.
For those of you who don’t know, I LARP. LARP stands for Live Action Role… You know what, wiki-friggin-pedia it yourself. In particular, I have reproduced the paragraph below that is most relevant to my discussion.
While fan and gamer culture in general has become increasingly mainstream in developed countries, LARP...
Who has the right to judge? →
August 04, 2010 →
July 2010
1 post
Dancing Through Time
I have a list of topics to blog about. It’s open question whether I will get to all of them before the heat death of the Universe, but this one is timely, no pun intended. See, I recently read some thoughts on time travel from the Geek Groupies blog (If I Could Turn Back Time), and the linked Wired article (Physicists Tame Time Travel by Forbidding You to Kill Your Grandfather), and I...
April 2010
1 post
WatchWhat happens when pixels attack? (via Game|Life)
March 2010
1 post
The Bomb for Beginners: A DIY Guide to Going... →
Pretty tongue-in-cheek, but I’m sure also probably true. (via Schneier)
February 2010
2 posts
Artificial Flight and Other Myths (a reasoned... →
'Don't ask, don't tell' promise... →
December 2009
7 posts
ihomeaudio.com
I find myself in possession of a 10% off code that I do not intend to use to this store. Shoot me an e-mail or post in the comments if you want it, first-come first-served.
The Sun →
Game Framework (Call for help)
Regular readers will know that I wrote a turn-based game in Java using the Game Gardens framework. This was useful in that it provided common multiplayer things such as matchmaking, turn-based design, and distributing a game state so I don’t have to touch sockets (not that I can’t, but it’s been done before). As a bonus, I can get hosting for my game there, so that’s...
Friends lists
This begins the series of posts wherein I tick off a list of topics I’ve been wanting to write about. I’ve learned from experiences not to make any promises about frequency or volume of these, but I can say that currently my list contains 17 items, most of which I actually remember what I was going to say about them.
I’ve had a number of discussions with people about social...
Game Gardens: Laser Battle! (Update!) →
Update: Now, there’s an AI for the game, so you can play by yourself also
This is what I’ve been doing for the past few days. I implemented Khet in Java with a framework that one can use to play it online. There are still a few rough edges in the graphical area, but for just beginning to learn the framework Monday, I think it’s pretty decent. The UI is fully functional, and...
November 2009
4 posts
“The “terms of service” are “Don’t violate copyright...”
– Cory Doctorow
Oregon Daily Emerald - Geeks unite: Battle of... →
Here’s what I did last Saturday. It was fun, but sad that I couldn’t be competing. I spent a lot of time watching our teams to see what they were working on and working out the problems myself. I could be heard saying things like, “Good, they’re doing green first,” “Jake’s overthinking yellow. You just have to do it,” and, “Oh,...
August 2009
1 post
How to Create an Original Story →
June 2009
2 posts
Open wide and say 'Arrgggghhh' →
A pessimistic view of health care reform. Unfortunately, I think I agree with it.
May 2009
2 posts
Why this tolerance for torture? - Leonard Pitts... →
Regular readers will know that I’m not Christian, and that several of my core moral beliefs conflict with certain Christian ones. However, given my upbringing, I have a kind of affinity for people that say to fellow Christians, “Come on guys, we’re better than that.” I particularly like this quote: “[I]n our smug belief that God is on our side, we often fail to ask...
April 2009
3 posts
Is legal same-sex marriage inevitable? →
This model seems to indicate yes, something I’ve believed for a while. (via Freakonomics)
Why I wear a white knot, parts deus and machina
Regular readers will remember that I posted a link to a heartwrenching story of a woman being denied the ability to see her spouse or children on her death bed. I recently read an opinion piece by a fellow UO CS student, which prompted me to realize that I don’t think I’ve talked about gay marriage in this space before.
First of all, for those that don’t know, a white knot is...
reCAPTCHA →
Every so often we find that we can repurpose otherwise wasted effort for a greater good. Some people do the whole calculating things on their home computer when it’s idle. This captures the human effort in CAPTCHAs to improve on OCR efforts. Pretty cool to me.
“There’s no fail, only free doughnuts”
– Jim Allen, on the UO programming contest
March 2009
6 posts
There she is!! →
Here’s something you might enjoy if you have a heart, and aren’t instantly put off by anime. If you’re gonna give it a shot, watch it until the end. They’re about 5 minutes apiece. (via bisqy)
Geeks and Nerds
Many people are unaware of the difference between geeks and nerds. Allow me to enlighten you: there isn’t one.
Yes, if you search the ‘net, there will be pages that list them as distinct things, but usually those all fall into the category of “one has a more negative connotation.”
So, for your information, I will continue to use the terms interchangeably. Thank you.
The Superior Civilization - The New York Review of... →
An interesting look at ants as a superorganism. It gets me to thinking about people and the Internet, as well. (via Freakonomics)
Game Theorist: Why not? Period edition →
I’m not sure why, but I feel empathy for this guy being suddenly out of the loop with respect to his daughter.
February 2009
11 posts
Comic for February 25, 2009 →
“The “dialog from hell”, … is now less ridiculous and has a...”
– Aquamacs 1.7 changelog
On progress bars
If they don’t actually depict progress, but instead animate to the right indefinitely regardless of internal success or failure, I don’t think they should be present.
That is all.
February 18, 2009 →