Looks like Hasbro is learning that you can create a community, play host to a community, but never, ever own a community.
The courage and talent of Laura Price, whom I had the privilege of teaching a few years ago, continues to inspire me, as she prepares to launch the paperback edition of her novel from her post-cancer surgery hospital bed.
D&D’s OGL was a corporate con job
Cory Doctorow on the Hasbo D&D OGL rugpull:
If you’re a game designer who was pissed off because the OGL was getting ganked – and if you’re even more pissed off now that you’ve discovered that the OGL was a piece of shit all along – there’s a lesson there. The OGL tricked a generation of designers into thinking they were building on a commons. They weren’t – but they could.
Source: Pluralistic: John Deere’s repair fake-out; Good riddance to the Open Gaming License (12 Jan 2023)
There’s a guy down the river collecting old boats. He seems to be working on them. It annoys some locals, but I rather like it. It’s a great reminder of the Tonks maritime past.
This looks worryingly like the Royal Mail has been hit by a ransomware attack.
The science of stupidity
Stupidity is a very specific cognitive failing. Crudely put, it occurs when you don’t have the right conceptual tools for the job. The result is an inability to make sense of what is happening and a resulting tendency to force phenomena into crude, distorting pigeonholes.
Source: Why some of the smartest people can be so very stupid - Psyche Ideas
It’s interesting how many publications do “predictions for the year ahead” posts - and how few of them go back and assess how good their post the year before was…
I love it when a book randomly mentions where I live:
”I was also looking forward to experiencing my first aid station, laid on at regular intervals to help runners stay fuelled and hydrated on their journey south to Shoreham on the West Sussex coast.”
— from Failure is an Option by Matt Whyman 📚
Back into the “7.30am swimming lesson for my eldest” routine for Sundays.
As ever, a flask of great coffee and a good book makes it tolerable - and even enjoyable.
From Silence by Erling Kagge 📚:
“Deep down in the ocean, below the waves and ripples, you can find your internal silence. Standing in the shower, letting the water wash over your head, sitting in front of a crackling fire, swimming across a forest lake or taking a walk over a field: all these can be experiences of perfect stillness too.”
From Failure is an Option by Matt Whyman 📚:
“A seam of bullying ran unchecked through the school, which wasn’t uncommon in the late seventies and early eighties. You could be targeted for the slightest weakness, and if you didn’t fight back or assert dominance, that made the target bigger on your back.”
Ain’t that the truth.
