I'm on a Boat!

One. More. Time:


http://youtu.be/avaSdC0QOUM

This is probably the last time we'll be sailing on the now-annual JoCo Cruise. We've done all five tours so far, and while it's been lots of fun, it is a long journey, and the inconvenience is starting to outweigh the novelty. But don't worry, we can find plenty of other opportunities to commune with our fellow nerds.

Meanwhile, though, we're enjoying our week in the Caribbean—including a tour of Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico! Where my mobile phone will also work without any special setup! That'll be important for reasons which should become clear next week. #waitforit

SnoutCast #160: GC Summit 2013 Debrief

Some highlights from Game Control Summit 2013. Individual talk videos coming soon! Meanwhile, you can review the archived livestream or check out Corey Anderson's notes.

[ Download mp3 - 34 MB ]

00:59 - "educated"
02:38 - location, location, location
09:03 - thanks, Larry!
10:51 - re: Allen Cohn on Doctor When
15:43 - re: Amos Eshel on the 2013 MIT Mystery Hunt
17:59 - re: Bob Schaffer on Elevate Tutoring's charity hunts
22:07 - re: Curtis on the JoCo Cruise Crazy hunts
24:00 - re: Sean Gugler on JoCo Cruise Crazy puzzles
33:24 - e-mail gcsummit@snout.org if you want to present at GCS2014!
35:14 - you can still apply for WarTron: Boston (through Sunday, March 17th)!
36:55 - The End

Tell us we're wrong on the Internet! E-mail podcast@snout.org or post a comment at www.snout.org/podcast.

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "Skullcrusher Mountain" by Jonathan Coulton

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SnoutCast #159: Star Quest Debrief

In which we discuss how our third puzzle hunt on a boat went.

[ Download mp3 - 35 MB ]

00:58 - "seagoing"
01:23 - DeeAnn's sea stories
04:24 - Re: JoCo Cruise Crazy 3
07:34 - Curtis's reputation
13:09 - the importance of hanging out
16:25 - the difficulty of difficulty
19:22 - going paperless?
23:39 - hooking the new fish
28:59 - know your audience
33:23 - ...solve ALL the puzzles?
35:11 - opportunity sails
37:00 - see also: GC Summit 2013, Puzzle Hunt Calendar
38:00 - The End

Tell us we're wrong on the Internet! E-mail podcast@snout.org or post a comment at www.snout.org/podcast.

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

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Friday Flash Fiction: "The Space Between"

Part five of five: in which domestic violence is not really an issue.

Read "The Space Between" at 512 Words or Fewer

Friday Flash Fiction: "Funny Story"

Part four of five: in which Liz gets friendly with the ship's doctor, who does not reciprocate.

Read "Funny Story" at 512 Words or Fewer

Friday Flash Fiction: "Dinner Conversation"

This is part three of a five-part story.

I wrote the first part back in the summer of 2011, at the request of one of my Clarion Write-a-thon sponsors: he wanted a piece of short fiction which might persuade his girlfriend to come with him (and D and me) on JoCo Cruise Crazy II.

I wrote the second part at the request of said girlfriend, after she'd decided to go on the cruise with our whole group of friends; it was a sort of counter-surprise back to the original requestor.

At that point, I had a longer story in mind, so I went ahead and finished it. It's set in the same universe--in fact, on the same interplanetary cruise ship--as my novel-in-progress Waypoint Kangaroo, but is a horse of an entirely different color. So to speak.

The finished piece was an odd bird, with a science fictional setting but really no other genre elements, and has been rejected by multiple markets already. So now, as #JCCC3 approaches, I've decided to just put it out there for your enjoyment, 512 words (or fewer) at a time. You'll see part four next week, and part five the week after that.

Now here's part three of Liz and Barrett's adventures between Earth and Mars...

Read "Dinner Conversation" at 512 Words or Fewer

SnoutCast #138: Gamer Profile - Corby Anderson

This week, an extended conversation with Corby Anderson, late of WarTron Game Control!

[ Download mp3 - 42 MB ]

00:00 - teaser: "every single show...type type type"
01:25 - "wordy"
02:22 - reminiscing about JoCo Cruise Crazy 2
04:07 - whence thy interest in puzzles, and hunts thereof, kind sir?
08:03 - Corby's first Game experience: Genome
10:22 - what type of puzzle event do you prefer?
13:02 - Corby's day job
14:45 - "Excel always wins."
18:03 - WarTron Bit Builder backstory (minor puzzle spoilers)
24:21 - playing Games vs. being on GC
28:48 - yeah, yeah, we're planning a JCCC3 puzzle hunt
32:05 - everybody loves source control software
39:52 - thumbs up for Samsara
43:04 - (Corby has never been to Cinetopia)
45:24 - The End

Tell us we're wrong on the Internet! E-mail podcast@snout.org or post a comment at www.snout.org/podcast.

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

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Food Robot Redux

Today is Ignite Portland 11 Eve, and I just realized that I never followed up my IP10 blog posts with the promised video of my "Cat Feeding Robot" talk. Oops! To rectify that, below are not one, but two recordings of that presentation.

The first video is from Ignite Portland 10, during which I managed to mispronounce the word "cruise." Fortunately, that didn't seem to damage the audience's comprehension or enjoyment:


http://youtu.be/XZ8Ue3vAYMA

The second video is from Ignite SAO v2, whose organizers generously invited me to present at their event a month after IP10 (I took the opportunity to amend the talk and remove the Cylon joke, which had bombed previously*):


http://youtu.be/rau937D56rY

I've archived links to both of these videos, the slides themselves, and MOAR at www.snout.org/foodrobot . I'm sure the current page does not fulfill everyone's cat-feeding-robot needs, so please, send me your suggestions for improvement!

Finally, if you live in or near Portland, Oregon, you should come see IP11 tomorrow night. (And anyone on the Internet can watch the livestream; check igniteportland.org tomorrow afternoon for details.) As usual, there's a terrific variety of talks, this time including two different talks about gaming and two other talks about doing cool stuff without dying. What's not to like?



* I actually gave this talk a third time, in between the two instances shown above, at the open-mic night on JoCo Cruise Crazy II. I don't think anyone recorded video of that, but you can see plenty of other videos from the cruise (and you should definitely join us on JCCC3 if you can!). The funny story there is that our hosts were not able to pull video from my computer to the big screens in the lounge, so I presented from my laptop (thankfully, one with a 17" display) to an audience sitting on the dance floor. I can honestly say that's an experience I've never had before, but it was just as awesome as the other two times.

SnoutCast #108: Dead Man's Quest? The Puzzles

SPOILER ALERT: We discuss the inner workings of many, if not all, of the JoCo Cruise Crazy II treasure hunt puzzles in this podcast. If you want to try solving the puzzles yourself (they'll be online soon, we promise), DO NOT LISTEN to this episode until later!


[ Download mp3 - 28 MB ]

00:59 - "piratical"
02:04 - Puzzle #0 (sample)
03:52 - Puzzle #1
04:29 - Puzzle #2
05:53 - Puzzle #3
07:08 - Puzzle #4
09:55 - BTW re: puzzle release order
12:17 - Puzzle #5
12:49 - Puzzle #6
16:50 - Puzzle #7
18:05 - Puzzle #8
19:12 - Puzzle #9
20:32 - Puzzle #10
22:43 - Puzzle #11 (meta)
25:02 - closing thoughts
30:37 - The End

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

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

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SnoutCast #107: Dead Man's Quest? The Hunt

In which we recall the second time we ran a puzzle hunt... on a boat!


[ Download mp3 - 28 MB ]

00:59 - "nautical"
03:24 - compared to the first JoCo Cruise
05:38 - did someone say WarTron?
09:49 - Game Control after dark
12:39 - you too can be an "executive producer"
16:42 - a crowded entertainment marketplace
18:19 - the burden of fabulous prizes
22:44 - mo' puzzles, mo' problems
30:16 - The End

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

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "I Feel Fantastic" by Jonathan Coulton

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SnoutCast #105: Hooray for Hollywood

In which we repeat last year's exercise of asking: which Best Picture nominees might make good Game themes? And as a tribute to the Academy Awards telecast, we also run long. Yeah, that's the ticket!


[ Download mp3 - 33 MB ]

00:59 - "tropical"
03:08 - The Artist?
06:06 - The Descendants?
08:00 - Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close?*
09:27 - The Help?*
11:24 - Hugo?
13:05 - Midnight in Paris?*
16:10 - Moneyball?
21:15 - The Tree of Life?*
27:16 - War Horse?
32:42 - And the one which would make the best Game is...
35:57 - The End

* (We have not seen this movie.)

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: "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

Friday Flash Fiction: "Phobos Cruise Crazy"

And now, a follow-up to my earlier story "To Cruise Or Not To Cruise," which was commissioned by one of my very generous Write-a-Thon sponsors in hopes of convincing his girlfriend to go on a particular cruise with him. She, in turn, commissioned me to write this story as a response (that being YES). They are just too cute for words, aren't they?

Read "Phobos Cruise Crazy" at 512 Words or Fewer

Friday Flash Fiction: "To Cruise Or Not To Cruise"

This week's story was inspired by: an idea from Corby, one of my Clarion Write-a-Thon sponsors; JoCo Cruise Crazy II (about which I am still undecided); my own novel-in-progress, which mostly takes place aboard an Earth-to-Mars cruise spaceship; and one of JRA's ex-girlfriends.

Read "To Cruise Or Not To Cruise" at 512 Words or Fewer

There's Good News and There's Bad News

DeeAnn and I had a great time on JoCo Cruise Crazy last week, and had an all-too-brief visit with my VPXII classmate Julia and her husband the following weekend (they live near Fort Lauderdale, where the cruise ship port was).

That's the good news.

The day before we flew home, we found out by e-mail that our friend Cary had suffered a stroke and was in the hospital. He's still there now, after one surgery, and we remain cautiously optimistic.*

I've been distracted the past few days, checking my e-mail even more often than usual, looking for news about Cary's condition. His parents have been sending frequent updates, which our friend Karl (also one of Cary's co-workers) has been forwarding out to more people. And Cary's Facebook page has become a central location for his friends and family to share their thoughts. There hasn't been much news since the surgery yesterday, but people are filling the silence as best they can.

There's not much more to say right now. It's scary that this happened to Cary, who's about my age--less than forty years old--and in good physical shape, with no health issues. And I can't decide if it's a good thing that we're not in the bay area anymore, where we'd be tempted to bother his family with our lingering around the hospital; I don't know if it's better that we're two states away and insulated from what has surely been an endless emotional wringer for those close to him.

On the gripping hand, there's not much we can do anyway. Cary won't see any of our messages or gifts until he's off the ventilator and no longer sedated. There are plenty of people on hand to lend support; the family's actually been turning away visitors so he can rest and recover. He knows there are a lot of people who care about him, and we can only hope that's helping.

DeeAnn and I still have luggage to unpack, laundry to do, and other things demanding our attention. It seems selfish to get back to our own lives when Cary's is still uncertain, but what else can we do? What else should we do?

We'll be there when he needs us. That's all I have right now.

* Compared to this, DeeAnn's post-trip migraine and my recent issues with what appears to be sinus barotrauma seem pretty minor--more on the latter, I'm sure, after I see the doctor on Monday.