SnoutCast #97: Neuroplasticity

This is not our best podcast.


[ Download mp3 - 26 MB ]

00:59 - "brainy"
01:17 - "For a Healthy Brain in Old Age, Start Early" (NPR, January 4, 2007)
03:20 - "Stay Mentally Active" (Alzheimer's Association, 2011)
05:14 - "Nine Stubborn Brain Myths That Just Won’t Die, Debunked by Science" (Lifehacker, December 12, 2011)
08:57 - in which DeeAnn goes for walks to not step on salamanders
12:00 - Curtis attempts to define "real" and/or "meaningful"
14:22 - let's talk about engagement
16:00 - in which DeeAnn's nieces and nephews only like "fun" games
18:52 - let's talk about complexity
23:11 - IN CONCLUSION
26:47 - we love listener mail!
28:29 - The End

Got a comment or question? E-mail podcast@snout.org or post at snout.org/podcast!

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "Re: Your Brains" by Jonathan Coulton

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Happy Boxing Day!

And here's all the news from Apartment de Snout, where the women use PCs, the men use both PCs and Macs, and the cats run Linux in Beowulf clusters.


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Christmaaaaaas!!

Honestly, I'm surprised someone didn't do this sooner:

(Source: Kevin David Anderson)

Hope you're all enjoying your winter holiday(s), whichever one(s) you may celebrate! DeeAnn and I will be doing our traditional Christmas Day movie marathon, this year with our friends Karin and Bryan. More on that later.

Friday Flash Fiction: "Meet Suit"

This week's piece is a first-draft excerpt from a longer story which began with "Unanswered Questions."

The current draft of Lirrina's speech in that story is much shorter, because she's only a minor character. I might use a version of this spiel somewhere else, though. Because I'm probably going to write another police procedural at some point. Maybe.

And yes, the title is a pun on "meet cute." Sue me.

Read "Meet Suit" at 512 Words or Fewer

SnoutCast #96: By the Numbers

Math is hard. Let's solve puzzles?


[ Download mp3 - 27 MB ]

00:59 - "statistically significant"
01:40 - compiled for Doctor When: Curtis' personal puzzlehunting history
08:56 - other statistics: regarding this very podcast!
14:48 - five minutes of disclaimers later, a top ten list
22:16 - and the #1 downloaded episode for the last 11 months...probably!
25:42 - (insert "99%" joke here)
28:31 - The End

Got a comment or question? E-mail podcast@snout.org or post at snout.org/podcast!

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "Chiron Beta Prime" by Jonathan Coulton

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Friday Flash Fiction: "Interview Prep"

More from this year's NaNoWriMo draft, because my capacity for laziness is great. And no, this conversation is not as autobiographical as you might imagine.

Read "Interview Prep" at 512 Words or Fewer

SnoutCast #95: Gamer Profiles - JESSICA & JEFF WALLACE, SharkBait/Briny Deep

Joining us this week from Seattle, Washington: Jessica and Jeff Wallace talk about how they've built their family around Gaming. Literally!


[ Download mp3 - 23 MB ]

00:59 - "kindred"
01:39 - Jessica says, "I am a Puzzle Geek."
03:31 - when Jeff met Jessica (at Microsoft)
06:12 - have puzzlehunts ever conflicted with your family life?
08:20 - Briny Deep vs. Sharkbait
09:47 - day jobs vs. GC
15:13 - the offspring
19:54 - (DeeAnn always has to tell her Halo story)
22:45 - PuzzleHuntCalendar.com and the secret puzzle cabal
24:25 - The End

Got a comment or question? E-mail podcast@snout.org or post at snout.org/podcast!

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "You Ruined Everything" by Jonathan Coulton

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Friday Flash Fiction: "Police Duality"

It occurred to me this week that I haven't yet exercised my laziness and excerpted any part of my NaNoWriMo output from this year as a 512. So, here you go! (This bit is not particularly skiffy, but rest assured, the novel itself is quite genre-tastic.)

Read "Police Duality" at 512 Words or Fewer

SnoutCast #94: Gamer Profile - CHRIS HARRIS, The Gipper

Kids, if anybody knows the solution to the How I Met Your Mother puzzle, it's probably Chris Harris.


[ Download mp3 - 26 MB ]

00:59 - "comedic"
01:43 - who were The Gipperian Advillains?
05:32 - their adorable application video for WHO Game
06:57 - how Chris stumbled into the world of puzzle hunts
11:04 - do your TV-writer day job skills overlap with The Game?
16:28 - getting the "Big Boss" involved with the WHO Game
23:10 - what is the least you can do, really?
25:06 - plug-o-rama: HIMYM; what's next?
28:06 - The End

Got a comment or question? E-mail podcast@snout.org or post at snout.org/podcast!

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "Tom Cruise Crazy" by Jonathan Coulton

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Friday Flash Fiction: "Parents Just Don't Understand"

Yes, I am, in fact, writing my own goddamn fanfic. Because who the hell else is going to do it?

Also note that I would totally have used this picture for the illustration, if it had been properly CC-licensed. (I think the original image is featured here, but I don't speak Portuguese well enough to follow the trail back to its creator and ask permission. Oh well.)

Read "Parents Just Don't Understand" at 512 Words or Fewer

SnoutCast #93: SEAHOP Player Debrief

In which Ana, Katie, Matt, Rob, and Vic tell us about playing in the 2011 Seattle Epic and Awesome Hunt O' Puzzles (SEAHOP)! (Apologies for the inferior sound quality; our dining room is not an ideal recording environment.)


[ Download mp3 - 24 MB ]

00:59 - "epic and amazing"
01:50 - the legend of SEAHOP
03:17 - comparison to other puzzle hunt events?
07:07 - memorable puzzles
13:52 - boo .NET
18:20 - the Sunday afternoon wrap-up
22:09 - did SEAHOP inspire you to (wait for it) Run More Games?
24:05 - plug-o-rama: DASH 4, Puzzled Pint (want to simulcast? E-mail gamecontrol@puzzledpint.com)
26:13 - The End

Got a comment or question? E-mail podcast@snout.org or post at snout.org/podcast!

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "Mandelbrot Set" by Jonathan Coulton

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Friday Flash Fiction: "Runaways"

I can neither confirm nor deny that this scene was inspired or influenced by a mash-up of The Matrix and Hanna. (Wow, that sentence had a lot of unnecessary words. Have I mentioned I'm doing NaNoWriMo?)

Read "Runaways" at 512 Words or Fewer

SnoutCast #92: DeeAnn's Complex Relationship with Puzzles

In which we explore how a woman who admits she doesn't love puzzles nevertheless creates at least one new puzzle every month.


[ Download mp3 - 28 MB ]

00:59 - "fastidious"
01:59 - "Let's talk about Puzzled Pint!"
03:50 - INDEX INTO ALL THE THINGS! (thanks, Mike Janney)
05:31 - DeeAnn's complex relationship with one particular puzzle
11:39 - playing vs. solving
14:47 - the wrong question: "was it too easy?"
21:39 - when do we get good at making puzzles?
29:05 - Puzzle Hunt Calendar, Trenchwood (Doctor When), Thanksgiving, and more!
29:59 - The End

Got a comment or question? E-mail podcast@snout.org or post at snout.org/podcast!

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "Baby Got Back" by Jonathan Coulton

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Friday Flash Fiction: "Just Another Fish Story"

One hundred years ago, Edith Wharton's novel Ethan Frome was published. The first line of that novel, now in the public domain, is the same as the first line of this week's story. I was inspired to recycle it by an incident in the film Finding Forrester (not this), and the general laziness which infects many of my creative endeavors.

A note on the title: I didn't call it simply "Fish Story" because I wrote another story with that title many years ago, and even though that piece will probably never see publication, I don't want to confuse it with this one in my mental catalog.

Read "Just Another Fish Story" at 512 Words or Fewer

SnoutCast #91: GC Loves Volunteers

Because not only can helpers make or break a puzzlehunt event; volunteering on GC is also the gateway drug to running a puzzlehunt yourself. And you know how much we like to encourage that!


[ Download mp3 - 28 MB ]

00:59 - "voluntary"
01:25 - volunteering for Shinteki events
02:33 - our first GC volunteer experience: Espionage (1999)
10:07 - old-school Game Clues? not necessarily puzzles
15:02 - helpful volunteers are helpful
19:53 - managing ~40 volunteers in Hogwarts Game (2006)
23:07 - good volunteers know what they want to do
28:55 - plugging away: Puzzle Hunt Calendar and Doctor When (Trenchwood) applications
30:39 - The End

Got a comment or question? E-mail podcast@snout.org or post at snout.org/podcast!

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "Shop Vac" by Jonathan Coulton

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Pictures from an OryCon

...OryCon 33, to be precise, which happened this past weekend in Portland, Oregon.

DeeAnn was this year's Liaison for Artist Guest of Honor (GoH) Jim Pavelec, and we watched him do a painting demonstration:


https://picasaweb.google.com/sparckl/OryCon33JimPavelecArtistGoH

Our friends The Doubleclicks performed a concert on Friday night:


https://picasaweb.google.com/sparckl/OryCon33TheDoubleclicks

And other fun stuff happened:


https://picasaweb.google.com/sparckl/OryCon33

I'll post later with an update to The ORC Equations. After three years of running the Open Read and Critique sessions (ORCs) at OryCon, I think I've finally got a proper structure figured out... so of course I have ideas for changing it next year. Stay tuned, sports fans.

Friday Flash Fiction: "Inheritance"

If it weren't for weird, disjointed dreams, I might not get half the ideas that end up becoming 512s. This one was more textual than visual, but the latter might figure more in a follow-up, in which Eddie Jr. has to deal with--well, you'll see.

Read "Inheritance" at 512 Words or Fewer

SnoutCast #90: BANG 28 Debrief

Corey "Weird Al's Doppelgänger" Anderson, Dan "Puzzle Hunt Calendar" Egnor, Doug "You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry" Zongker, and Dr. Melinda Owens tell us all about running BANG 28.

(I can neither confirm nor deny that I'm still a little sleep-deprived--and therefore punchy--from helping with the Bay Area WHO Game re-cast this past weekend.)


[ Download mp3 - 23 MB ]

00:59 - "glow-in-the-dark"
02:12 - why do the Burninators seem to run every 7th BANG?
05:23 - the night-time chicken and the electronics egg
09:05 - "Did you guys have fun?" "Almost always."
10:22 - Game Control and friends
12:05 - meeting the neighbors
14:30 - puzzle completion rates, estimated
16:15 - Seattle shipping shenanigans
17:44 - the GC "puzzle bible"
20:15 - what else? (see also: BANG 28 : By the Numbers)
22:36 - what's next? (implied: Run More Games)
24:37 - The End

Got a comment or question? E-mail podcast@snout.org or post at snout.org/podcast!

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "The Future Soon" by Jonathan Coulton

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Friday Flash Fiction: "Want You Gone"

Why, yes, as a matter of fact, DeeAnn and I are going on JoCo Cruise Crazy II!

Thanks to Corby, Beth, Sean, Crissy, Taylor, Maria, Kate, Molly, Blue, Marian, and all the others who prodded us into joining the nerd herd. :)

Read "Want You Gone" at 512 Words or Fewer

SnoutCast #89: SNAP 8 Debrief

In which we break the half-hour barrier with Jeff Phillips and Jay McCleery of SNAP 8 GC in Seattle. (Tune in next week for our BANG 28 debriefing!)


[ Download mp3 - 28 MB ]

00:58 - "snappy"
01:40 - What is a SNAP?
03:26 - re-casting BANG 28 (vs. simulcasting SNAP VI)
13:57 - an impolitic question about device re-use
15:25 - location, location, location
17:52 - on re-running an event you haven't already played
21:00 - on the coming together of plans and such
24:56 - the one horrendous clue building experience
26:35 - budgeting
27:11 - what's next? (implied: Run More Games!)
30:33 - The End

Got a comment or question? E-mail podcast@snout.org or post at snout.org/podcast!

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "First of May" by Jonathan Coulton

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Friday Flash Fiction: "Unanswered Questions"

This week's story was inspired in part by Breakin' It Down with Catherine Reitman and the Occupy Oakland clusterfuck.

You might not think those two things go together, but they are both Halloween-thematic: Ms. Reitman is the daughter of the guy who directed Ghostbusters, and what happened in Oakland is pretty damn scary.

ETA: DeeAnn points out that I may have also been influenced by Cowboy Bebop. She is, as usual, correct.

Read "Unanswered Questions" at 512 Words or Fewer

SnoutCast #88: Alternate Reality Games, Part 3 of 3

The conclusion of our extended conversation with ARG enthusiasts Matthew Schuler and Sean C. Stacey!


[ Download mp3 - 24 MB ]

01:46 - the exciting(?) conclusion(!)
02:16 - "that craiglist guy who pulled off that bank heist"
03:58 - Microsoft Legal vs. The Beast
07:10 - social engineering and live event challenges
09:02 - what would you like to see in future ARGs?
13:18 - Curtis' question about This Is Not A Game
17:56 - unsolvable(?) Perplex City puzzle cards
20:09 - plugs: Unfiction.com, ARGFest-o-Con, "I'm a WHATmaster?"
23:07 - more fun: PuzzleHuntCalendar.com, Haunted Fox Hollow, etc.
25:40 - The End

Got a comment or question? E-mail podcast@snout.org or post at snout.org/podcast!

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "Re: Your Brains" by Jonathan Coulton

[ Subscribe to SnoutCast / iTunes link ]