One of the more important conversations I had in my college career went something like:
Professor: So really, a paper is just an answer to a question
Me: So how do you generate questions
Professor: that’s the hard part.
The trick to writing a good paper is to think of a question no one has ever before answered, and then answer it. And you need to anticipate every possible objection– questions about your methodology, data, etc– and answer those, too. Want to tear a paper apart? The trick to that is not to attack the methodology, but to attack the thing I just glossed over in the “etc”*. Attacking the basic assumptions made by a thought process is the the most fundamental method of determining the strength of that thought process.
So: how big should government be? This isn’t the fundamental question, obviously. The fundamental question is “what is government”. Wikipedia provides a pretty good answer: “governments are the means through which state power is employed”. Employing state power sounds… unpleasant. So that brings up the next question “why would we want that?”
The very short version is this: government exists in order to facilitate positive-sum interactions, in cases where humans tend to default to negative-sum interactions.
There are a whole host of goods and services for which it is cheaper to buy them in bulk, or there are positive or negative externalities associated with their presence or absence**. It is almost always easier for government to set up rules for private organizations to provide those goods and services, but once we have a fabulous coercive mechanism in place, there is a temptation to use that mechanism to provide for some of those goods and services.
Vague talk about “shrinking government” doesn’t really enter into this equation. The question is “which services are we collectively over-paying for?” It may even be “which programs should we cease being responsible for collectively?” The question, in other words, isn’t about size, it’s about efficiency.
I don’t like paying taxes either. I don’t like paying for anything, but the people who create the goods and services I want would like some recompense for their labor. It doesn’t really matter if I’m paying a private organization or a public one– I’ve still got to pay for services rendered.
*see what I did there?
**Yeah, I’m repeating stuff I said yesterday
Those guys? Those are the most bad-assed guys in the world. No matter what you’ve done in your life, these guys stared down a pride of lions.
It’s Sunday morning. Sunday mornings are for getting up early and cleaning house so that you can get to work. Sundays are for fitting your entire life into a carry-on baggage so you can move across a continent. Sundays are the days that mysterious people from Washington read this. Alternately, Sundays could be a free for all.
This week the Space Shuttle Discovery launched for the final time. The Lyibian dictator declared before the world that he is an insane man (by strict political-science definitions of insanity). Also: the North Korean government got petulant that they were being ignored. The world yawned at their threat to go to war, and informed them that revolutions get better ratings.
I’m told that CNN is not reporting much- if anything- about the showdown in Wisconsin. This, I think, is symptomatic of the larger trend towards journalism’s utter failure to rise above the sort of gossip that makes 9th grade homeroom such an unbearable experience. Hell! When journalists do so much as point out that objective lies are actually lies, their colleagues get upset at them. I think it’s not “objectivity” ‘that the American media demands, so much as pablum.
Look at Wisconsin. Now back at your state. Now back at Wisconsin, now at a hypothetical. Sadly, your reality isn’t like the hypothetical. But it could look like the hypothetical, with Solidarity.
As we all know, when faced with certain types of recessions, we need a major shot of government investment to act like adrenaline to the stopped-heart of the economy. And as we all know, we’re in that sort of recession. Sadly, we didn’t get enough adrenaline. And now you know.
People want certain things done. Some of these things– either by commission or omission– have enormous positive or negative externalities. Other times, there are some massive free rider issues. For instance: I rather like the fact that my neighbors know that robbing me will land them in jail. And the fact the local children are getting a quality education benefits me in ways too numerous to count. Also: raw sewage doesn’t back up into my house. Also: the water that pumps into my house won’t kill me. Try to imagine the roads if there _wasn’t_ a DMV keeping at least a few people from driving. And just for fun, I’ll mention that food stamps keep the prices at my grocery store artificially low. All of these programs and services require We the People to pay other people (who are also citizens, never forget) to to them. It isn’t “the government” doing it– except that “the government” is a manifestation of our collective will. We hire a lot of people. We get an incredible bargain.
Pensions are a benefit. They’re part of the “total rewards program” that your Human Resources department runs. Basically, a company starts with a number– the amount of money they’re willing to pay for a certain job to get done. They then cut this money into various pools– Salary, insurance, pensions, video games, etc. Ask anyone in HR, that money all comes from the same pot. That means that you’re paying 100% of your pension. This, by the way, shows you what fantastic bullshit it is that people are complaining about paying for pensions of state workers. Only an utter asshole makes a deal and then tries to weasel out of it. Yeah, we’re being utter assholes to our state employees.
Nathan Filliion wants to buy the rights to the show “Firefly”. If he can buy the rights, he’s like to start producing more episodes. fans are trying to help him raise the funds. Two comments: 1) if there is a just and loving god– any just and loving god– any combination of deities that amount to “just”, and “loving”– this will happen. 2) socialism in television? That’s the best thing, like, ever.
One the one wrist, a few of the protesters in Wisconsin are comparing the governor to another union-busting conservative– Adolf Hitler. On the other wrist, at least one observer is calling for the protesters to be murdered. This is what they mean when they say “both sides have their extremists”
I think… It’s possible that I’ve exhausted everything I’ve got to say (for now) about Wisconsin. But not about unions, solidarity, or the plight of the working my little pony. The title alone is worth a click.
The end game in Wisconsin? Not just the end of public-sector unions. It’s not just the end of unions, it’s the end of public education. Because nothing helps foment a middle class quite like letting only rich people get an education.
Journalists are in a tough situation. They have to get close enough to their sources to learn true things. In getting that close, there is a natural tenancy to make friends. You know who you never really want to embarrass? Your friends. Especially friends who are well-positioned to do you favors. It’s one of the reasons, I think, the military is so eager to embed reporters with front-line soldiers. It’s less about controlling what the reporters see, and more about making sure that the reporter doesn’t want to embarrass the people keeping him or her out of the line of fire. Video games journalists are under the same pressures. I’m not sure there’s any real solution.
The last few weeks have seen more uses of the word “solidarity” than we’re used to in the American discourse. What does that word mean, anyway?
If miscarriage is criminalized, every woman will be a criminal. This is a really, really, very quite poorly thought out law. It’s not just that: the way in which it is poorly thought out betrays a basic lack of understanding about how the reproductive system works. I wonder the exact relationship between that lack of understanding and the anti-choice mindset?
When sports players go on strike, the common refrain is that it’s “millionaires versus billionaires”. And yet, I wonder if the players would be millionaires were it not for their ability to collectively bargain? Given that the player’s lives are shortened by decades, don’t they deserve quite a bit of coin? I think so. And so I’ll stand in solidarity.
6 days from now, one of my little sisters ends her South American Sojourn. Looking forward to seeing the punk back in the home country. Here’s what she’s been reading
Speaking of books. I love my kindle. It’s a revolution nearly as intense as the one sparked by Gutenberg. The only real downside to the device is the fragility of digital records. As a species, every time we invent new methods of data storage, they get easier to damage or destroy–stone tablets gave way to clay, which we replaced with paper, and now e-ink. The only real way to keep the data from being lost is to back it upHere’s a great article about creating your own ebook cloud. The bonus? That cloud is accessible from your very own kindle.
We gamers like to complain about prices. I’m not actually sure we’re wrong to. It does seem to me that game prices are rather absurd to be at the actual revenue maximizing point. Even so: they’re currently near historic lows.
America is a country where the rich have more than the poor. No, even more than you think. More than that. And I use “rich and poor”, because there really isn’t a middle class. At least, not in comparison to the rich.
Ian Miles Cheong is untrustworthy, irresponsible and someone I hope to never work with professionally. As it happens, I have some personal knowledge of this situation, and I can state categorically that the things documented here are a very small part of it. I hope this post doesn’t cause drama, but people had been asking about Hellmode. One person in particular had asked why I snarled at Ian’s name. Here’s your answer.
Are you still reading all the way down here? GREAT! Bad news, though: the Kilogram is smaller than you thought. It’s worth remembering that the the way we think about even the most basic facts of existence are socially constructed. The weight of the Kilogram was decided on by human beings, for human reasons. It is not a fundamental law of nature.
This week’s theme? Do I have to spell it out? Solidarity. So leave a comment about a time you stood shoulder to shoulder with your comrades and got something done. Gods, I’ve spent about seventeen hundred words on this post today. And it was just a bunch of links! And I even left some out! There are at least 2 that you guys will be seeing next week.
Speaking of next week: 5 March is my birthday. I’m not saying you have to get me anything, but I do have a Steam wishlist.
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
There’s an odd clause in there, seemingly allowing slavery to exist under certain circumstances. I don’t think it was the intention of the Abe Lincoln– or whoever wrote the actual text of the Amendment (possibly Lyman Trumbull)– intended to create a loophole allowing for slavery to exist. I’m not psychic, so I won’t pretend that I have time traveling mind reading powers, but it seems unlikely. Rather, I think it’s simply impossible to draw a bright line between prison and slavery.
Which is why this article about prison labor is so scary. There is nothing inherently wrong with prison labor, per se. The feeling of utter uselessness is perhaps the most depressing one in the world, and the ability to do something probably keeps at least a few people from going stir crazy.
So that’s one thing. Stacked against that you have “wet-suit-clad inmates repair[ing] leaky public water tanks”. I’m not sure how much it costs to hire someone to to put on a wet suit, re-breather, grab a welding torch and get to work, but I’ll bet it’s more than $29,000 a year.
This creates some awfully perverse incentives for society to create more prisoners than it otherwise might. It might sound like cartoonishly evil to imagine that a judge would accept payment in order to convict children, but such things happen.
If we’re using prison labor as free labor– if we’re selling that labor off to private companies (as is strongly implied by the article), that means that there are two people being deprived of the value of their labor: 1) the inmate and 2) the person who would otherwise be getting paid to do the job in lieu of the slave.
This is what we mean when we say that labor has dignity. The dignity of labor is one of the major differences between a slave society and a free one. It may not be the case that organized labor is the only force capable of standing up against the reimposition of slave labor– not even I will be that hyperbolic– but it is the case a well organized labor movement is capable and incentivized to stand up against the encroaching prison state.
This is what they are fighting for in Wisconsin. Not a particular wage and benefit package, but the right to stand up and say “we are worth more than slaves.” If they can’t do that, then who will?
My lines had been empty all day. Those lines ought to have had tens of thousands of people in them, and they were empty. Field reports ought to have been reassuring, but Central Ohio has an ugly history of voter intimidation. Four years previously, the lines had been hundreds deep and hours long. Four years previously, thousands of (black) voters had been– illegally– turned away. One party stood up and said that voter intimidation wasn’t a big deal. One party, in fact, had said that they were going to solve the opposite problem– paperwork was going to be demanded of everyone before they would be granted the franchise.
That party wasn’t pushing for voter intimidation, not exactly. Just an extra bit of grit in gears of an election. Special grit that only effects people who don’t drive. You know– poor people. It was one more obstacle between citizens and the vote. Just one more thing preying on my mind as I saw empty lines.
The other party– my party– looked at those hours-long lines and shouted out “Never Again!” Well. Alright. Democrats never shout. Shouting is for socialists like Bernie Sanders. But we did sort of hint around the edges that we wouldn’t really like to see that sort of thing ever again. So we had some people sit down and draw up plans. My job was to implement those plans. But my lines were empty.
An hour before the polls closed and my lines were empty. That’s when the van showed up. 30 people in SEIU purple spilled out. Running. “Who’s in charge of this staging location” came the shouted question. I grabbed my crutches and hobbled over. I handed them some walk sheets, watch them work out logistics, grab sandwiches and hustle out to find voters to fill my lines.
There are a lot of lessons from that story. Perhaps most importantly: early voting wins elections. But the great moral lesson is this: whenever poor people need a hand, wherever working people are getting a raw deal, whenever you see someone who would like a job but is being denied, whenever money and power are being used as a tool of oppression, you will see a union fighting against that injustice. Because an injury to one is an injury to all.
In the world where workers have more money year over year, they don’t need to borrow money against their houses in order to afford their lifestyles.
In the world where second mortgages do not become normal, Wall Street lacks the raw material to create the CDO, and the synthetic loan.
In the world where Wall Street cannot do that, the housing crisis doesn’t happen, or if it does happen it’s effects are minimized.
In a world where the effects are minimal or non existent, We’re not facing 10% unemployment that’s causing the US government to borrow even more money.
I could go on. But you should get the point. Unions are the key by which America unlocks prosperity. We let managment break that key, but a new one can be forged. They’re doing it right now in Wisconsin.
The Simpsons writers are union. And they stand in Solidarity with the workers of Wisconsin.
It’s Sunday morning. Sunday mornings are for snuggling your cats while they steal your warmth. Then again, Sunday morning could be for going “OhmyGod My Sweetie is out of the Army and living with me!!!” Alternately, Sunday mornings are for sleeping late and reading in bed. Which neatly wraps around to the point of this post.
This week. Oh gods. This week was like last week but more. Even Saudi Arabia– Even China is exploding. Also this week: the revolution came home to Wisconsin. Turns out there actually is a limit to what the American worker will put up with. More on that later.
The Slactivist would never, in any way, stoop to cheap devices of repetition to make a post more interesting. It’s the sort of terrible writing that only a true hack would stoop to. A sample? “Reading The Fountainhead does not enrich or improve. It stupefies. Time spent reading this book would be better spent watching television.” It gets better. Much better.
It wouldn’t really be Sunday Morning without a post by Slactivist and Rob Zachny, would it? We’ve got one, and now the other. Rob tells us how to do a good job at writing gay characters. At least, one option, anyway.
I got a job last week. It’s not a great job, but it pays actual money. I really need that job, because I’m not qualified for this one anyway.
The rich, of course– stop groaning!– the rich are different from you and me. They have money.
Anyway, Chevron has a bit less money than it used to, because they are filthy polluters who fill the Earth with garbage. Yes, it’s useful garbage, and yes that cost will be passed along to consumers. Nonetheless: the true cost of a product includes cleaning up after it’s use. There’s no reason that shouldn’t be reflected in that products price to consumers. If we can’t get cap and trade through legislation, we might get it through litigation.
Speaking of Rich people: there isn’t any way that Republicans will miss a chance to help them. When I was doing constituent service, I spent a few idle minutes wondering what conversations with Republican constituents sounded like. Because they couldn’t be getting the same calls from frantic parents desperate to keep working in the face of state budget cuts that I was getting.
The inevitable march of time means that “now” is also “later”. Specifically, it’s the “later” referred to “earlier”. “Now” is also “Earlier”, but don’t let that confuse you– it’s a different earlier than the previous one. Anyway. I’m going to break a rule (that I arbitrarily made) and link to a post I put up yesterday about Wisconsin and labor rights. It might take a bit of time to get through the main article and the links, but it’s about 90% of my thinking on the subject.
The human psyche is an interesting and poorly understood thing. That word “psyche” obscures more than it clarifies, actually. It means “soul” in Greek. Psychiatrists? Soul doctors. Makes the whole thing sound more like witchcraft, right? Anyway. Trying to capture the soul and turning it into algorithms that can scare the crap out of you is a huge undertaking. Most games fail. Some succeed. Brandon Cackowski-Schnell, at the newly launched “No High Score” meditates on this mechanic.
Anyone who says that Social Security is difficult to understand is either misinformed or lying. A modest tax increase would help keep it solvent under any weight it might be asked to bear.
The attack on Social Security is a tactical choice employed by the Republican Party to attack the entire New Deal. They really will use any way that comes to hand. I think one of the reasons I like games is that they let me think in similar ways as I do in politics: What does this look like from China? Glad you asked. I really should have posted this earlier in the week, but I’ll link to it now anyway.
If you think you’ve reached your quota of stories about Afghan Fried Chicken, you’re wrong. There isn’t any way that you’re right. So read this one and enjoy.
Does the phrase “data visualization tool” speak to the secret hot nerdy side of you that’s usually kept locked up? Yeah, me too. There are so many ways this tool set can be used. I can’t wait to dig in.
For instance, in the future you can find the kinkiest parts of your own neighborhood, instead of relying on a magazine to do the work for you. Doing so will keep you from having to send any away teams out into the field. Yeah,that was a stretch, I admit.
I was going to squeeze one more article in here anyway. Bill Harris has been writing about the games industry for a long time. He’s seen the rise of the AAA title, and looking at current trends and competitive pressures, he sees a rosy future– for gamers. AAA games, he says, are doomed.
This week’s theme was “anyway”. So leave a comment about your favorite method restoring a train of thought.
If Portal 2 is the last-ever AAA title, we’re in for a treat. No two ways about it!
Hurrah, hurrah, I have a new job. I’m working at a restaurant. This is not the sort of thing that’s considered a “real” job– management was shocked when they saw someone with my resume applying. Put a pin in that thought for a moment.
During the orientation, I was given a bunch of paperwork to fill out. Many of the forms I was required to sign were certifying that I had “read and understood” things like tipping laws, and the employee handbook, among others. After I had signed these forms, I was given the opportunity to read the documents I’d already sworn I’d read and understood. If I don’t like it, I can join the 10% of Americans looking for work.
Another interesting bit of paperwork I was required to sign was one waiving my right to a civil trial if I had a litigation-requiring dispute with the company. I am, of course, free to not sign these papers. Of course, most every employer requires the waiving of such rights, and individuals nearly always lack power with which to negotiate. So I signed. And generally hope that those clauses are unenforceable.
The boss told myself and my fellow trainees that “the restaurant gives you two holidays ever year. You should be happy– some restaurants are open on Christmas and Thanksgiving” That prompted me to ask “But we get overtime on Federal holidays, right?” The response is worth emphasizing:
“No. That’s only for places that have unions. We don’t have unions around here”
So about Wisconsin.
They’re not striking for wages and benefits. At least, they’re willing to negotiate and make concessions. We’re in a time of major economic difficulty, and we can’t ask rich people to foot part of the bill, so Unions need to do their part. Seems fair, right? Certainly part of the landscape in 21st century America. That’s not what this strike is about.
This strike is about the fact that every job is a “real” job. The strike is about the basic right of workers to form organizations that leverage the only power workers have: their ability to collectively walk off the job.
The thing is, most workers have enough human capital to do a whole lot of jobs competently. Which means the bargaining power of any given worker is pretty small. An organization that lacks a single person can fill that hole. An organization that lacks all workers is in a whole lot of trouble. Thus the only real power that workers have is en mass.
This strike is about the fact that your boss might care about you, but your organization cannot , does not, and is not allowed to.
The only organization which does care, can care, and must care is a union. This strike is about the fact that the governor wants to take away the only power workers have, and workers cannot let that happen.
Remember what I said a earlier about arbitration? That’s when a worker thinks an employer has harmed them in some way that isn’t illegal, and so they sue. Except that instead of going before a disinterested judge, the corporation will hire a judge– and that judge knows that if they wants to get hired again they will find in favor of the corporation. When workers are unionized, unions help pay for the judge.
And about negotiating pay? Who has the stronger bargaining position: 1) an individual and replaceable worker, or 2) an entire workforce? (hint: 2).
And finally, let’s not forget what my new boss said about federal holidays being for people in unions. In Wisconsin, they’re fighting for the basic right to wave a flag and have apple pie at a 4th of July barbecue.
It’s Sunday. Sundays are for lazing in bed reading a good book before realizing that it’s Sunday, and you owe the world a post. Alternately, Sundays are for cuddling a baby so new that his age can be measured in hours. Then again, perhaps Sunday simply means another day of waiting for your sweetie to be discharged from the Army.
This week: The Egyptian dictator stepped down after only 18 days of being asked politely to leave. Algeria, seeing how successful Tunisia and Egypt had been, decided to start asking their dictator to step down. Italian women seem to have decided to get in on the “politely asking their rules to step down” action also. And Saudi Arabia’s first ever political party got started this week. They’re going to try and politely ask their king to… be less dictatorial, I’m sure. And Nokia realized that it’s phones were so shitty that even Microsoft would be a step up. So they cut a deal.
I was going to post a link to this last week, but couldn’t quite fit it in. A short excerpt from a book about 20th century horrors. Interestingly, we have stronger memories of the less-horrible camps than the more horrible ones– survivors spread stories, dead people don’t.
Juxtaposing a link to the Holocaust with one about the woes of George Bush probably violates Godwin’s Law. Nonetheless, I’m going to do that. Bush has to cancel a trip to Switzerland for fear of being held on war-crimes trials. I look forward to the day he is held to the same standards of justice that he denied hundreds of people during his presidency.
American conservatives like to pretend that the Civil War was started by the North, and the Southern cause was one of noble resistance to the imposition of Federal regulations over the States. American conservatives really, really do not want to concede that the war was started by the South because Southern “gentleman” wanted to keep their slaves. The war was fought over slavery. This is another issue on which conservatives are wrong.
American society is deeply polarized. Let’s not kid ourselves about it either: it’s all Republican’s fault.
You want another Coates post? You got it! Women in the ante bellum South.
Funranium drinks. At the South Pole, that’s basically how you entertain yourself. It’s also how you mourn.
I don’t drink. Never have, and I would be shocked if I ever did. Which means I’m cut off from some normal human interactions, like mourning with a good stiff drink. Or meeting women at a bar.
One of the reasons the average wage of American workers has declined is the simple fact that unionization has declined. Large organizations are organized to have one voice speak on their behalf to employees– without a union, workers are left to bargain individually against such behemoths. When one side has all the power, and the other side is divided… that story basically writes itself. The Wisconsin Governor is so terrified of unions that they’re contemplating using the national guard to keep “order”.
One of the incredibly frustrating things about unionization efforts is that the government plays favorites. Rather than simply letting private organizations to their own devices, we see time and time again that government power is used on behalf of management , and against employees. Class warfare? The Secret Service got its start as a strike breaking organization.
Why do I love San Francisco? Every Valentine’s Day we throw a major pillow fight. This isn’t an organized or sanctioned event. We just do it. It’s a lot of fun.
Games are very good at letting humans experience different types of reality. I am never in my life going to actually fight and slay a dragon. When games try to create a model closer to reality, however, they start limiting player choice in interesting and significant ways. Those limitations can be revealing.
For some reason, Americans decided that a certain type of funding mechanism was responsible for a lot of problem with the American budget. Turns out that the real problem– as it often is– is “programs I don’t approve of”. Remember: it’s only pork when it’s in someone else’s district.
What’s so funny about Peace, love, and Brain Surgery. Possibly the best writing you’ll read all day. Unless you also read Aeschylus. In which case it’s only going to be second best.
Today’s theme? Class Warfare and video games. Seems like it’s always class warfare and video games around here, doesn’t it? So today, leave a comment about your favorite method of peasant suppression that could also work against uppity dragons.
It’s Sunday. Sundays are for waking up at 5am and being unable to fall back asleep. At least, that’s what the evidence would suggest. Sundays are also for traveling to San Francisco and paying outrageous cab fair. Also: Sundays are for football– one last time this season.
This week Egypt showed the world that it longed for democracy. Iran put some Americans on trial for spying, and Canada decided to let private enterprise destroy its internet.
So, what do we have this? Oh! How about this uplifting story about a black woman being thrown in jail for sending her children to school with some white kids. This is how American schools resegregated themselves. Or rather: this is how we Americans resegregated our schools.
One of the weirder things to me about our species is it’s persistent need to sort itself into various artificial groupings. For instance: my grandmother was born an “Italian” woman, but died “white”. There aren’t “Asians” in China, Japan, or Korea the way there are in America. Ta-Nehisi Coates meditates on the subject.
As interesting to me is the differences between genders. There are some obvious ones (men and women have different secondary sex characteristics– unless you’re trans– unless…), and we’re left sort of scratching our heads about what it all might mean. For sure, we know that men and women are treated differently. I’m fairly sure most of this is social construct. I’m not sure how to change society.
If you’re a Simpsons fan (as I have been), then you’ll probably want to check out this McBain movie.
Speaking of awful, right-wing organizations: The National Organization for Marriage stole Zach Weiner work– and his bandwidth. He fought back. it was glorious.
Speaking of stealing work and bandwith: Microsoft’s Bing uses Google’s information.
My rule of thumb: when you see a bunch of people doing the same stupid thing, there’s usually a fairly strong incentive. For instance, the most recent financial collapse was caused because bankers were making more money off bad loans than good loans. Talk about socially non optimal! The solution isn’t to hector people into making more moral decisions, but rather to so utterly change the incentive structure that bad outcomes are difficult to achieve. Has the Financial Regulation bill done this? I don’t know.
Robots? Freaking adorable. Everyone likes Robots. Well. Except that one robot. You know.. that robot which dropped the grenade and then drove over it. Yeah. That one gets demerits for starting the human-robot war early.
Speaking of butts: San Franciscans love our opinions. Do try and understand that we are an ornery, cussed, lot who would much rather ridicule your taste in coffee than admit that anything coming from outside our Faire Citye could have value.
Things that have value outside of San Francisco? Seattle’s VALVe software. Upwards of $1 billion in revenue, in fact. I’m honestly not sure I believe the number. It’s about the closest thing to a “solid” number we have, though.
Fans of gaming should check this out: some interesting-seeming games you might not know about. I actually own, but haven’t played, Frozen Synapse. I’ve played the crap out of Magicka, and am very much looking forward to Subversion.
I swear that everything I said above is true. Apparently a lot of people lie about what they’ve done in games. Interestingly, I think this is more an artifact of the past than something that can sustain itself much longer. Between my Steam Profile, and Raptr account, pretty much everything I’ve done in gaming (in the past 3 years) is immortalized. My X-Box having friends will have even more data.
And finally: if you read only one link of all that I’ve posted– you’re doing it wrong. But! Rob Zacny talks about Alan Wake and the creative process. Are games art? Are we still having this debate? Rob’s article is pretty clear proof that they are.
Look at the time! I’ve got to make some Chili for the Big Game!
Back in August, Penny Arcade did a comic that some people found offensive. And pretty much everyone agrees that the way Penny Arcade handled someone taking offense to their work was pretty much the least-sensitive way they could have dealt with it. I don’t really want to talk about either the comic or the response. If you want to know what I think, just pretend that I, rather than Amanda, wrote this. Also, Leigh Alexander, and Ashelia have some interesting things to say on the topic. I think that’s the last I’m going to say about the controversy per se. If you’re an absolute glutton for watching train wrecks, here’s a timeline.
What interests me is this: there are at least 10 million, and perhaps as many as 27 million, people in the world for whom panel 2 is nearly-literally true*. In this entire conversation, we seem to have ignored or forgotten the slaves. No one is speaking of them, or for them. In 2011, slavery is as real as a punch in the gut. This is not a problem confined to the 3rd world.
What shocks me is the fact that I didn’t think about the slavery implications of the comic. Slavery is a fairly major hot-button of mine, both in and out of games. I don’t ever talk about “p0wning” people, and I’ve never been one to turn away from a “free the slaves” quest. Slavery is something I’ve spent a lot of time reading and thinking about in my life. Yet when it came up in this context, I allowed myself to forget about it.
