I reviewed Jason Scott's interactive fiction (text adventure) documentary Get Lamp. It's a good movie. Fans of interactive fiction, either the modern works or the classics, will likely enjoy this movie.
The US Postal Service is proposing a $0.02 price increase on first class stamps. Magazines and junk mailers complain that it's unreasonable. How unreasonable is it? Let's look at the inflation adjusted price for US first class stamps:
Despite raising rates 4 times in the last 5 years, the inflation adjusted price of stamps has held steady at about $0.44 since the 1970s! Bumping the price to $0.46 is just a bit more expensive than it's been recently, but it's only a very minor premium.
"Inflation" data is based on "Consumer Price Index, All Urban Consumers - (CPI-U), U.S. city average, All items". I used the monthly data.
Why do people keep giving M. Night Shyamalan money to make movies?
I've reviewed the Motorola Droid and the HTC Droid Incredible compared to the phone they replaced: a first generation iPhone. In short: I love the Motorola Droid but the Droid Incredible was unusable. Also Here are the app's I'm using; I'd love to hear more recommendations!
For the last few years, Gen Con has offered the "SPA" track of events, targeted at non-gamers and gamers looking for something a bit different during the convention. Animal training, dance lessons, a haunted walking tour, photography, and more. It's good idea. But what about the full name and icon?
There are many good arguments about why this is a bad idea. Vanir summarized them well in his post that recently raised awareness. My wife covered it well as well, adding in some actual examples of sexism she has experienced at Gen Con. Gen Con answered, and blew off those concerns. (Yes, it's an official response.) I thought I might try a different argument: this is bad branding, and thus, bad business.
Despite the name, these activities are, mostly, of interest to both women and men. That I need to say "despite the name" highlights the first branding problem. "The better half" has meant "wives" for decades. Many Gen Con attendees who might enjoy these events will never look because they erroneously assume they're only of interest to women. Gen Con is selling these events short.
The branding problem is also related to the name, and it's the implication that women, or at least wives, are somehow not interested in the rest of Gen Con's offerings. It's a relatively mild implication, but it's still there. There is unfortunately view held by some, both in and outside of gaming, that "women" and "gaming" are disjoint sets. A logo that suggests the otherness of women reinforces this belief which hampers Gen Con and gaming as a whole.
These are both relatively mild problems. But the logo is a serious problem. A ball and chain. We're dragging up a decades old, negative stereotype of wives. Yes, it's used ironically, we get it. That doesn't eliminate the negative emotional impact.
Gaming has an unfortunate image as a boys-club rife with sexism. Some potential attendees are on the edge, and concerns about sexism could push them from attending to not attending. Something as simple "Activities for the better half" illustrated with a picture of a ball and chain might be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
This is bad branding. It can drive away potential attendees. And what's the benefit? Will a single additional person attend Gen Con because of it? I find it unlikely. It's just not that amusing.
Update 2010-04-29: Other interesting posts on the subject: "SPA Should Not Mean Prisoners" from Pixiepalace. "Dear Gen Con: This is not ironic. This is stupid." from Introspective Navel Gazing.
Several new game reviews since the last announcement. The Dark Athena review is fresh off the press, while the Broken Sword reviews date back to February, but weren't announced here.
I've had an essay on why guaranteed health care for all Americans is a good idea kicking around for a long time. I've realized that if I don't just put something up, I'll never put it up. It will never be as perfect as I want. So in what will likely be permanent draft form "Guaranteed Health Care Is a Good Idea."
For as long as I could remember, I wanted cats. I thought that having cats would be awesome. Sometimes they would want to play. Sometimes they would want to cuddle. Sometimes they would be aloof. It would be awesome.
Sadly, I'm allergic to cats, so after have my doctor advise against it, I mostly didn't think about it. However, Eva had grown up with cats and really wanted cats again. So after much research we determined that the anecdotal evidence is true for us: Siberian cats are significantly cause less allergic reactions. (This observation has been confirmed repeatedly by allergic friends and family.) So we got two adorable little bundles of fluff.
So it's a year later. The kittens are now approaching full size. One had serious medical problems early on that necessitated expensive vet visits. I spent a while force feeding her. I spent about a week feeding her an antibiotic that caused her to spit up astonishing amounts of mucus and her to fight as though I was killing her. She was so hostile to it, and so desperate to spit out the mucus, that it would take two or three attempts each day to get the full dose into her. She also had diarrhea, and on several occasions I got to clean liquid poo out of her fur. Beyond that there is the litter box cleaning, more frequent cleaning to cut down on allergens, cat proofing our home, and more.
So it's a year later. And you know what? Sometimes they would want to play. Sometimes they would want to cuddle. Sometimes they would be aloof. Having cats is awesome.
