I use Apple Mail instead of competing products like Microsoft Entourage or Google Gmail. I don’t use Entourage because I try not to use Microsoft products if I can help it, not just as conscientious objection but also because they are bloated. I refuse to use Gmail because I try not to use Google products if I can help it,… read more
Straight Outa Canada
This week I was in Canada, which is the country immediately north of America (“the States” for the rest of you). I like to read the newspapers delivered to my hotel room when traveling, so I inhaled today’s issue of the Globe and Mail, which is a national coverage paper in that country. Among the many things I learned about… read more
My keynote presentation at the 2008 Game Developers Conference Education Summit
Note: this is a written version of the keynote address I gave at the Education Summit at the 2008 Game Developers Conference. The original presentation was extemporaneous and included evocative (rather than explanatory) slides. This version has been adapted from the presentation and the slides in a manner that will hopefully preserve the ideas fully while maintaining their original context:… read more
The Transportation Security Administration's new blog
As an airport obsessive, I was interested to learn that the TSA has a blog now. It’s a curious thing. For example, they’ve gone to some significant lengths to humanize the bloggers: Hi, I’m Bob, and I started with the TSA in September 2002. … I live in Southwest Ohio with my wife, 3-year-old daughter, and a 100 pound German… read more
Why downloadables aren't more accessible than physical media
Recently, friend and colleague David Edery wrote a nice feature on Gamasutra about how to make trial versions of downloadable software sell more games. He has some good points, including observations about how a trial shouldn’t just be the beginning of the game nor should it give away enough that a purchase is unnecessary. But there’s something missing from Edery’s… read more
A letter of complaint to U Haul, circa 1998
22 May 1998 The U Haul Corporation P.O. Box 21502 Phoenix, AZ 85036-1502 Dear Sirs and Madams: Chrome shimmering in the afternoon sun, fleets of U Haul trucks and trailers lie in wait on lots across the nation, armed with mighty orange racing stripes and obliquely printed American vistas—imagery meant to inspire even the most bleak-hearted self-mover to Napoleonic spirits.… read more