Author Archives: steve

Vornheim Communication Networks

[Note: This is an entry in the Vornheim: Hack This Book contest, run by Zak Smith. Vornheim is a fantastic RPG setting/supplement, and it seems unlikely I can improve upon it. All the same, it is fun to try and … Continue reading

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Performing your thinking and enjoyment

In the two and a half years since his death, a D.F.W. cottage industry has sprung up… To speak of Wallace, now, is inevitably to take part in all of this — and to suffer the D.F.W.-esque worry that you … Continue reading

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Urination mechanic

This is a sophisticated videogame. The urination mechanic itself is remarkable; the game implements a strange attractor that draws and repels the player’s cursor target in an increasingly haphazard fashion. The lack of control is palpable, a superb unit operation … Continue reading

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Sexism and MMA

I’m OK with friends and family thinking that my new-found fandom of mixed martial arts (mostly embodied in the UFC “league”) is odd due to the violence. I’m less eager to associate myself with a group that tolerates aggressively demeaning … Continue reading

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Random RPG table: Stereotypes

[The following is my entry in a random tables contest for the old-school D&D fanzine, Fight On! -Steve] In real life, stereotyping groups of people is reductive by definition and usually harmful by default. In genre settings, however, stereotypes are … Continue reading

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Getting creativity done

I want to be creative. And I often am. But I often feel like I’m running up against something, something that fetters my ability to be truly creative. I feel like I’m often too left-brained, too rational. I can come … Continue reading

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Review: Dungeon Quest: Book One

Dungeon Quest: Book One by Joe Daly Hilarious, juvenile, borderline obscene. Loved it. View all my reviews

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Review: As Though I Had Wings: The Lost Memoir

As Though I Had Wings: The Lost Memoir by Chet Baker It seems that this is a posthumous publication of a lightly-edited version of Baker’s notebooks or journals. I loved some of the little stories or character sketches, done with … Continue reading

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8-Year-Olds Publish Scientific Bee Study | Wired Science | Wired.com

8-Year-Olds Publish Scientific Bee Study | Wired Science | Wired.com. “We discovered that bumblebees can use a combination of colour and spatial relationships in deciding which colour of flower to forage from,” the students wrote in the paper’s abstract. “We … Continue reading

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Times Higher Education – Research intelligence – Rip it up and start again

Times Higher Education – Research intelligence – Rip it up and start again. “Dr Neylon thinks it would be far better for all the artefacts of the research process, such as videos, samples, data and images, to be made freely … Continue reading

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