"Programming is a joy. That's why people do it. No one should spend hours in front of a computer terminal out of some dreary sense of duty, or because they have some vague notion of becoming "computer literate". That's not the point. Programming ought to be fun—and if you're not having fun, you shouldn't waste … Continue reading "Programming is a Joy"Read More »

This is weird. A series based very loosely on Shirley Jackson's great book (more likely for the writers, the 1963 movie The Haunting or the shitty '90s remake). The builders/founders of the house, the Crains, and the scientist ghost-hunters of the book, are here replaced by house-flippers with five children in flashback to the '80s(?). … Continue reading "What I'm Watching: The Haunting of Hill House (Netflix)"Read More »

Noire, by VNV Nation 8-Bit Operators: The Music of Kraftwerk Performed on Vintage 8-Bit Video Game Systems The Trip Home, by The Crystal Method Fragment, by Project PitchforkRead More »

"Finally, it is a pleasure to acknowledge our debt to the Unix operating system, developed at Bell Labs by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie. We wrote the text, tested the programs, and typeset the manuscript, all within Unix. Many of the tools we describe are based on Unix models. Most important, the ideas and philosophy … Continue reading "Software Tools Quote"Read More »

Hot take (about 30 years after release): In Warhammer 40K, the Emperor is THE existential threat to the Universe, the cause of Chaos invading reality. The Empire is absolutely evil, destroys any human hope, and blatantly uses Nazi iconography. It's a crapsack universe, but even for that, the Empire is the worst. So it creeps … Continue reading "Warhammer 40K"Read More »

1. One article or blog entry that exemplifies the best of the Old School Renaissance for me: Matt Finch's Swords of Jordoba youtubes, which have been hilarious and accurate to how we played/still play original games. Except the minis, which I'm not really into, but it makes for better youtubes. 2. My favorite piece of … Continue reading "OSR Guide For The Perplexed Questionnaire"Read More »

In OS X before Mojave, Keychain Access had a full Preferences screen, and let you put an icon in the menu bar. Most importantly, from that icon you could Lock Screen instantly and securely. Well, here's the Preferences now: And there's no way to restore this or get equivalent functionality. I noticed this because the … Continue reading "Keychain Access Regression"Read More »

As noted in Google Minus, G+ shutting down hurts a large RPG community. Over the last few days, most have settled on a startup called MeWe as a replacement. Couple videos on the topic: Matt Finch panel discussion Matt Finch interviews MeWe product director I've been trying it out, and it's not bad, it's a … Continue reading "Gamer Migration"Read More »

My second-favorite Mac app ever (after BBEdit) was CoverSutra — MacWorld review, make sure you have ad-blocking. Alas, it didn't keep Soaps in silks and champagne as she deserved, and she shut down and went to work for Apple. The key feature here is: It watches iTunes, and shows the cover art with artist/album/track name … Continue reading "I Miss CoverSutra"Read More »

No zombies or magic, just people in a plausible near future shithole like we'll have by 2100. Ordered by how much I like each film, not so much plausibility or rotten fruit reviews. Hardware Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome Waterworld (watch it for Dennis Hopper) A Boy and His Dog Blood of Heroes Tank Girl Steel … Continue reading "Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland Movies"Read More »