Shoutout to the very senior professor in HCI who gave a talk last month about how AI can do qualitative data analysis better than people now.

We don’t value tool devs enough 🥹🙏💛

if you’re feeling depressed about the AI changes announced by Google yesterday, let me bring some comfort: some of us are still trying to build AI-free products, and as long as there’s people willing to take the fight, there’s hope 🔥 No opt-in, no opt-out, no nonsense. NO AI.

I was just listening to one of the Narrative Kaleidoscope podcast eps (Ed Stern I think?) and they talked about stories like Knives Out, that "violate" convention but still hook you to figure out WHY. The advice is "don't write against character for the sake of the plot." (cont)

😃

Microsoft launching improved Xbox Adaptive Thumbstick Toppers

To me the anti-consent language is a leading indicator of the intent of those who would steer our culture whether we like it or not. It is to me an indicator of people who don't want to solve human problems in human systems, but who want to solve the problem OF humans in THEIR systems.

Yesterday Google made it very clear it will degrade Search to use the massive amount of traffic to goes through it to push its billions of users into generative AI tools they aren’t asking for. Search is no longer a portal to the web; it’s a portal to Gemini. disconnect.blog/google-is-it...

Boycott Barnes and Noble. Loudly. Right fucking now. www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...

This goes for games with real world settings as well, be they historical, contemporary, or speculative.

With its new AI-based "search," Google is literally killing the infrastructure that its entire business is built on. Instead of linking people to the web, it will lock users into an "interactive" mode that slorps up data what is rapidly becoming the now-neglected and unvisited web. (1/3)

terrible. 20 years ago, the internet was full of hobbyist blogs and forums. over time, these have been replaced by paywalled substacks and private discord channels, each a walled garden. google's decision to prioritize AI just makes it less likely people will create free, public info

You have options: flipyourtrip.org

in very different ways, I think of both Google and the CDC as examples of the kind of information resource that's been so ubiquitous to our daily lives for so long that we trained ourselves to think of them as neutral entities, and a lot of people still do even though we see clearly that they're not

What we must demand from the primary candidates are detailed plans for accountability, reform, and repair. Not platitudes. PLANS. Reject anything less.

I think it may really be time to start migrating away from google entirely.

Congress still hasn't evaluated California's request for FEMA assistance.

One of my biggest gripes with how we tell video game history is how we erase cool stuff like this - usually because it's "local" or isn't "a real game" So much of 90s and 2000s gaming was just derping around with freeware, browser & Flash games, emulators, and these sort of weird independent games

Indeed, what is ceremony but ostentatious inefficiency in order to communicate the importance and value of the moment.

Only 13 days left to donate during @stjudeplaylive.bsky.social challenge season this year! Every dollar makes a difference! tiltify.com/@lectalights... We're starting a new (and very stylish) game today. It's called Replaced! Come check it out with me! twitch.tv/lectalightsome

Women-Led Games: Summer Game Fest Edition returns on June 4th, 2026, as part of Summer Game Fest. Hosted by the amazing, @itsbrianawhitee.bsky.social! Catch us LIVE at 4PM PT / 7PM ET on YT, Twitch, & BiliBili. See you there! 😄 #SummerGameFest #WLG2026

I think we as designers need to be deliberate about defining "complete" in large games as happening at well under 100% engagement. And that needs to be communicated to players *before* completion.

This is 100% true but it's still a risk most studios outside of the US can't take. Tons of amazing culturally specific studios have to first find their audience, prove their ability, and do that with games palatable for an audience that generally knows very little culture outside US culture.

Dems are polling crazy high based on the flaming catastrophe that is Republican fascist rule, so primarying as many of the bad weak complicit Democrats in favor of good determined angry ones has rarely if ever been more crucial

If you’re a writer, write “I waited” without saying "Put in a call to customer support. The representative asked how they could help me."

The most common form of hubris is people who are good at one specific thing thinking that they are good at everything.

Would love it if ice cream recipes gave temperatures to heat the custard to instead of portents of overheating to be wary of

I was like, that's it. that's it exactly. that's why I hate means testing. that's why I hate moralizing about access to medical care or what if that homeless guy just spends this money on drugs. we shouldn't help people because of who THEY are, we should do it because of who WE are. it's so simple

Anyone can read Moby-Dick, but not just anyone can live up to it.

Just checked on the app on android and yep, it shows the whole area as pre-Eaton Fire. Street view is accurate to 2026, but satellite view is not.

Getting an indie game to 500 reviews is the funniest prank you can pull on a game dev, it gets them every time

PSA in my tradition there's no really convo about forgiving harmdoers who have not done the work of owning harm, beginning to change, amends and serious apology (up to at least a few times, and possibly never is the harm involved trauma) more in my most recent book, ON REPENTANCE AND REPAIR, natch

Without the library, there is no history, only the stories power wants told.

Time Scar deserves a symphony orchestra every damn time

Ok but it is an outrage not to see solar panels on a ranch. I had solar panels twenty feet from my gas tanks, down the hill from my windmill.

Quartet passes the diagetic musical performance test

Finished The Game Narrative Kaleidoscope last night, and I can't recommend it enough! Lot of great insights by some of the best in the biz!

Moby-Dick swerved me when I first read it in my early twenties. Don't let its sometimes scary, sometimes dismissive reputation put you off. It's long, but it's made up of many short chapters, so it's much easier to read than it seems.

One of my favorite interactive maps is this one by TreePeople, which tracks tree canopies by zip code in LA County. 19.94% of the county is covered by trees. US Forest Service sets 30% as an ideal baseline for equitable nature access and the environment. treepeople.org/los-angeles-...

Glad to see more people saw this and wants @steampowered.com to remove it

This, combined with "vice signaling" (taking pride in antisocial behavior) has given us the reign of the Stupid Asshole, something most people are against, but can only be remedied if we're not too polite to talk about it

There is nothing more humbling as a designer than seeing players showing you firsthand that what you thought was obvious and self-evident totally misses the mark.

Here's "Discovering my Heart" for the @musicweeklies.bsky.social #wanderlust challenge! Decided to write a rondo (more or less) this time, inspired both by the theme and by @tinelinen.bsky.social reminding me to break out of my form box more often m.soundcloud.com/james-youngm...

Today’s Motor City Comic Con schedule: Panel: Not Just D&D 12pm ET Pearl Room Diamond Center Panel: Marginalized Voices in TTRPGs 3pm ET Pearl Room Diamond Center #JoyfulGaming #MCCC #PixiesAndPins #RoughMagic

...The funniest part is that within Judaism, there are actually 6 genders. I don't thiiiiiiink Christianity includes that element as it's part of Hebrew and commentaries, but like. There specifically being 6 genders is arguably a thing. Just not a lib thing. An OLD Jewish thing.

It's heartbreaking that games as a medium remain out of reach for people telling the stories worth telling most. www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfe...

Sorry for the delayed update, but the bill has passed! 🎉🎉🎉 It will go into effect in August. this really is the first law in the US explicitly prohibiting the technology/service of AI nudification/deepfake pornography. Would love to see this as a model nationwide www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/ne...

Are you at Motor City Comic Con? Come see me! Honey Heist 1pm ET The Game Room Panel: GM Like a Pro 5:30pm ET Pearl Room Diamond Center #JoyfulGaming #MCCC #PixiesAndPins #RoughMagic