Python's string formatting tools annoy me. And what annoys me, eventually gets fixed, even if it's with an evil hack.

more...

Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!

In 2007, I wrote Amazon's Kindling, or, "Burn Before Reading" and Throw More Kindling on the Fire, where I ripped on the Kindle's terrible aesthetics, reading experience, and lock-in to Amazon's store.

But at the time, it had no real competition (apart from Sony's apathetic marketing of the E-Reader), and it did reasonably well. The aesthetics and user interface improved marginally, though it's still pretty awful to use, still unreadable in dim light, still gray-on-gray, still tied to Amazon only.

Now that the iPad is available, the Kindle and all other e-ink readers (Sony's E-Reader, Barnes & Noble's "Nook", Border's "Kobo") are doomed. The iPad has a bright high-contrast display, color, better fonts, and has iTunes, movies, and the App Store if you get bored of reading.

more...

Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!

Scott Sigler's Ancestor was originally released as a podcast and PDF several years ago, but finally in print (just as print is dying, go figure).

It's a fast-paced science fiction horror story in the vein of Michael Crichton, Robin Cook, etc., with a medical company genetically engineering a common ancestor of all mammals to use as a universal organ transplant source. Of course, everything goes wrong, horrible monsters are produced, many cows die, and then many people die on a tiny island in Canada.

more...

Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!

I'm not at WWDC this year. By the time they announced it late, and with an increased price, I had to stop and think hard about that money… and then it was sold out 8 days later, making my lack of decision easier. I'll get the videos later, I guess.

But for now, I'm watching the video from the Apple Keynote podcast.

The tone of this piece is pretty angry. There's some serious problems in Apple Land, videogames, and tech "journalism", and all three were showcased heavily in the keynote. I'm not anti-Apple, and I'm not quitting iOS dev to eat nuts and berries and code on Android and hope someone puts a few pennies in my begging cup. Let's not be stupid here. But there are problems, and I'm angry at them. Apple have changed their minds in response to anger before, so maybe it'll happen again. OH, GREAT SPIRITS, HEAR MY ANGRY BLOGGING. Should I sacrifice a goat, too? I dunno where to get a goat around here.

more...

Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!

I got my DODOcase for iPad today, a mere 5 weeks after ordering (for something hand-crafted... not bad!).

The traditional unboxing photos after the break:

more...

Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!

So, I'm not inherently the most productive monkey on the planet. I am, in fact, near-amnesiac, easily OOH SHINY distracted, and have no willpower against fun (say, making that "shiny" joke which was funny once a hundred years ago).

Out of desperation is born solutions. I track what I've done and what I'm doing in two complementary ways:

more...

Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!

Old games never die, they are periodically reanimated to stagger forth, frighten townsfolk, throw small girls into wells, and finally exact bloody revenge on their creators for abandoning them to a cruel world.

Myst Online: Uru Live (MOUL, or Uru) is just such an old, cranky Frankenstein's monster of a game. It was first designed and beta tested by Cyan Worlds in 2003. In 2004, publisher Ubisoft killed the online game and released a single-player version. In 2006, Cyan released a sort of samizdat version called "Until Uru", where fans ran unofficial shards of the online game. In 2007, GameTap hosted Uru, and let it run on minimal budget for another year, then cancelled it in 2008. Here in 2010, Cyan is hosting it themselves, for free, and collecting donations to keep the servers running. Their plan is to eventually release the system and building tools as open source, but run an official server.

more...

Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!

"The way we look at it is, we don't want to get into something unless we can invent or control the core technology in it, because we'll get slammed if we don't. And the more we look at it, the more and more consumer devices, the core technology in them is going to be software.

If you really look at the iPod, we looked at that at the very beginning, we said the ultimate competitive barrier is going to be software in this thing. I mean, we're pretty clever at hardware, but eventually people will copy us and do other things.

But the competitive barrier will be software. And the more consumer products as we see them evolve, the more and more they look like software in a box. And a lot of traditional consumer electronics companies haven't grokked software."

—Steve Jobs, D2, 2004

more...

Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!

Andrew Sullivan asks: "If I may intrude, and ask a questoin I do not mean to be loaded, just curious: I wonder what Kevin thinks happens to him when he dies? And how does he feel about that - not just emotionally but existentially?"

A reasonable atheist simply doesn't fear death. We weren't unhappy before birth. We get a life; however good or bad it is, at least it's life. We won't be unhappy after death.

It's only made-up stories of immortality and eternal torment that make people fear death.

I'll try to stay alive as long as I can, but there's no reason to fear it ending someday, because I certainly won't care afterwards.

more...

Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!

Immigration in the U.S. is a giant problem for only one group of people: Racists.

The U.S. is built on illegal immigration. Pre-Columbian North America was inhabited by millions of people. They were at a stone age technology level, but it was still their country.

more...

Do you like old-school computer RPGs? Do you play tabletop RPGs? Do you have an iPhone®?

Perilar is my turn-based RPG for the iPhone, in the style of classic computer RPGs. Full version is $4.99, Lite version (limited to level 10) is free!