ceoln @ceoln@qoto.org

Greetings. The amount of cynicism I see here about the Internet is really quite remarkable. Maybe it helps to have been engaged in this wonder of the world from the early ARPANET days (as I have) to fully appreciate what a fantastic tool the Internet is.

And yes, like any tool, the Internet can be used for good or evil. A hammer can help build a house for a needy family, or it can bash in someone's skull. The hammer doesn't make that decision -- the people using it are in control.

And so it is with the Internet as we stand on the cusp of 2023. Best, -L

Here’s my new #blog post (finally) on story structure and beats in the second half of Act 2, or, if you prefer, in Act 3 of 4.

Disclaimer: this #WritingCraft series reflects my current understanding of conventional “three act” structure and how I apply beats and milestones to help me shape my narrative chaos. As with any #WritingAdvice, take what makes sense to you and leave the rest.

#Writing #WritingCommunity #Writer

https://erinfulmer.com/2022/12/26/story-structure-in-act-2-part-2/

Some computing milestones may be overlooked or taken for granted. In this post a computer scientist goes over the most significant computing milestones he lived through over the past 50 years, explaining why they were such big deals at the time:

https://billwadge.com/2022/12/24/50-years-of-wow-i-lived-through-5-decades-of-computing-milestones

#retrocomputing

The Insurrection Act must be reformed so a president who needed to deploy federal troops to suppress an insurrection would have ample authority to do so, while a would-be autocrat could not exploit the law to carry out an insurrection. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/how-fix-insurrection-act?fbclid=IwAR2Ca_f6yslMBDci2EWB331OJn7TxqnhTOfCZD8IybH1h1oBZztw-x9aSPM

i do agree QTs are a great way to 'spread the word' so to speak bc a lot of ppl ignore regular RTs, like if I RT a friends fundraiser it gets a fraction of the engagement compared to if I QT the same fundraiser with a personal comment

but that goes both ways
the dream is everyone uses that power for good- the reality is that most people do the opposite

I’ve been playing Ixion for the past few days on the advice of @flaki and I can confirm it is very good. A fairly deep city builder/resource management game a bit like Cities Skylines meets Stellaris, with a story to tell (one you unfortunately can’t ignore, which may hurt replayability). I’m about halfway through the storyline, at a guess, and most of the way through the tech tree, and I’m enjoying it a lot. There’s a side quest with a dog. Highly recommended if you need to waste a few days over the holiday season.

Some answers just write themselves.

https://www.quora.com/How-can-evolutionists-account-for-the-fact-that-many-animals-exhibit-cooperative-behavior/answer/Daniel-Dvorkin-3

The first test flight took us to Ursus minor. Alien life form is remarkably similar to the terrestrial Ursus arctos, except for size. Friendly, but hungry.

Bee, Emily Short 2012

Bee was stuck on a tech island for years, unplayable but not forgotten. Autumn Chen was able to migrate the game to the Dendry system, and Emily Short rebalanced event frequencies (link below).

I thought the writing was lovely and found the protagonist one of the most sympathetic and likable PCs in IF. I wrestled a bit the identity of the church, since religious conservatism carries a lot of baggage here in the US. Nevertheless: not to be missed.

https://emshort.blog/2022/09/06/rebalancing-bee/

I've stepped back from coding/writing my #inform7 project to research games with "close" narration released between 1993 and 2012. I got some great recommendations on the IF community forum, and thought I'd do a thread about them as I play them.

The forum thread is here:
https://intfiction.org/t/looking-for-intimate-personal-games-written-between-1993-and-2012/59157

🧵

#interactivefiction

IF Proximal Subjectivities, pre-2013

"Common Ground," Stephen Granade (1999)

Despite its uneven critical reception, "Common Ground" may be the first IF that features multiple protagonists playing through the same scene. It is not a "Rashomon"-type story, as the characters all seem to experience the same thing. That is, even if they lie, they do not lie to us.

(continued)

#interactivefiction

My #Travel #ebook Guides for #Ireland and #Scotland are on sale today!

Yearning to delve into the mysteries of the Emerald Isle or the Highlands of Scotland? Skip the tourist traps and unearth new ways to delight in its legendary landscape.

#TravelPlanning #TravelPhotography #Photography #Irish #Scottish #Outlander #TripPlanning #Holiday #Vacation #VacationPlanning #TravelGift

https://amzn.to/3FRXyWd

Some inconvenient facts about immigrants that MAGAs hope you ignore:

•Seeking asylum is a legal & human RIGHT, protected by the US Constitution and the UN Convention on Refugees (to which the USA is a signatory)

•Both documented AND undocumented immigrants have LOWER crime rates than US Citizens (and usually higher vaccination rates too)

•Undocumented immigrants pay MORE in taxes ($12B annually) than Trump ever has or will (and get none of the tax benefits)

RT if you learned something new!

The best #Aurora display I've ever experienced. #Iceland, October 2018.

#Photomonday
#Fotomontag
#AuroraBorealis
#Photography
#NightPhotos
#LongExposure

Just launched my very own Instance of One on the fediverse. I had another one but it was just experimental. Wish me luck and feel free to connect. I'm still setting things up but it'll be all sorted before the end of this week. https://abraham.su/@chris