• @frandallfarmer I 1st read Watchmen 20+ years back & many times since. It helped form a chunk of my world view. I am…nervous. Scared. in reply to frandallfarmer #
• @davemcclure I followback a falling fraction. Are they interested or interesting? I follow the interested: more signal, more focus & use. in reply to davemcclure #
• RT @timoreilly/@doctorow: Economist calculates optimum length of copyright http://bit.ly/nYrxL Turns out the founders were right #
• Xaquery’s Noblemen just won Hippodice: http://bit.ly/V5Dzv #
• @neilhimself Sorry man. David was good guy that helped many, incl me. Love, sympathy, support, wish could help. Life is in the living. in reply to neilhimself #
• @venturehacks Printers are xlation devices & there are ALWAYS losses in xlation. Multi-func printers offer more xlations and are so worse. in reply to venturehacks #
• As Google demonstrates, security is trust: trust in others and trust in the network of trust: http://bit.ly/jgoW3 #
• @timoreilly I’d say your Web Presence isn’t the dataspaces,but the relationships you create among those dataspaces and Real World entities in reply to timoreilly #
• @brettspiel I miss snow. I wish I lived in an area with 4 real seasons. in reply to brettspiel #
• @brettspiel CA has been ran and sun in fairly equal measure, sometimes simultaneously. The world is already turning green. in reply to brettspiel #
• RT @timoreilly I endorse @CarlMalamud’s campaign to become the public printer of the US, open documents online for all #YesWeScan #
• @boydscott (I think) pointed me at this neat collection of stop motion animation. Some excellent works. http://bit.ly/QqHRn #
• An odd challenge with Twitter: My primary interest is professional, primary activity is personal. This discord must be resolved. Identity! #
• @toddbert Yeah, thought abt split accs. Such a bother! Temptation is integrated view. Unsure how that fits with proffessional self-mktg. in reply to toddbert #
• You called regarding a quick? Plone consulting gig in SF. I’ll be up that way anyways. maybe I can help, but I can’t if you don’t email… #
• Much of yesterday was thinking about exit strategies for startups. These women’s exit strategy is far better: to LIVE! http://bit.ly/LlJxs #
• RT @planetmoney: Interesting to see how easily British say “deflation.” + “printing money” /lc http://tinyurl.com/acvs7q #
• Crowd-source musical notes at a time, then assemble (via @timoreilly): http://bit.ly/StKB #
• Best general journalism article to date on Twitter. They get it ~all, but not (yet) why its more formal than Facebook: http://bit.ly/NqgM #
• Common wisdom write large for shared endeavour, esp startups but also author/publisher relationships etc: (@hnshah)  http://bit.ly/5Qfgx #
• Ooops, bad URL on that last. My bad. Fixed: http://bit.ly/5Qfg #
• @ingredientx Time’s arrow is full of fruit flies that couldn’t find the banana. in reply to ingredientx #
• @toddbert In which one do you put more professional foot forward and why the character diff? There’s sharp contrast btw Twitter and FB. in reply to toddbert #
• @toddbert I see more work, real work, done in Twitter than FB. I wanna know why given their diffs and yet strong similarities. in reply to toddbert #
• @toddbert In short: coordination. eg @timoreilly @davemcclure @eWords @planetmoney Allows synch in field built on the meta-conversation. in reply to toddbert #
• @toddbert A comp is the bkgrnd conv buzz in a startup. Knowing what e/one is saying/doing/thinking is key to good coordination and focus. in reply to toddbert #
• @toddbert Agreed, a msging platform w/ extreme timeliness SLAs & public broadcast. Sorta meta-Usenet built on pers filters. That’s different in reply to toddbert #
• Why are all the women in the dating-for-over-40s ads on FB clearly in their 20’s and surgically ballooned? Doh! Massage parlor anyone? #
• @raphkoster Gimme a shout if you want a hand with TweetDeck. in reply to raphkoster #
• @raphkoster Twiter is more to blame for that than TweeDeck – users have to manage their API call rates manually due to Twitter failings. in reply to raphkoster #
• @raphkoster You’re err, lucky then. I regularly hit the limit with several diff desktop apps and the two clients on my iPhone. Annoying! in reply to raphkoster #
• @raphkoster Might be useful. http://bit.ly/13rmog ION I’ve found Twirl to be pretty feature-eqiv to Tweetdeck, but smaller real-estate. in reply to raphkoster #
• @toddbert http://bit.ly/7xwSa in reply to toddbert #
• @hnshah Raw cranky-but-clever APIs are often at raw cranky bleeding frontiers. We love that edgy stuff. #
• RT @Veronica: Dog Armor: Because your pit bull isn’t intimidating OR medieval enough! http://bit.ly/lDJRV #
• @davemcclure I rarely read Subject: s. The biggies are FROM, THREAD (controlled by References: and In-Reply-To:) and key words. in reply to davemcclure #
• @shanselman You can’t, not as a CSS background. You’ll need a foreground element you can hang an AREF or JS/DOM link off. #lazyweb #xhtml in reply to shanselman #
• @toddbert Think of Twitter as a conv with a stochastic sample of an undefined crowd. It isn’t 1:1, it is 1:many which degrades to 1:1. in reply to toddbert #
• @robconery Table cells can’t be AREF links either. #lazyweb #xhtml in reply to robconery #
• RT @timoreilly: Introduced to the music of Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou by @mearabai http://bit.ly/DqrVI (excellent stuff) #
• I pray for the return of the automat – I near lived on them in my youth: http://bit.ly/IXUDY #

I played a wonderful, just wonderful, game of 18Mex. Final scores were delightfully tight: ~5,700, ~5,600, ~5,500, ~4,800. The 18xx are firmly cementing themselves as my favourite games; solid and somehow enheartening comfort-games.

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I arrived late and didn’t get much onto the table:

• Medici
• Pampas Railroads
• Cavum

Tomorrow is the second 18xx night at SB-Boardgamers. A fairly typical gamesday in all.

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• @brookscl GTD? in reply to brookscl #
• @brookscl Thanks. in reply to brookscl #
• BAP: Too late for Steel Driver, watched Supernova, sat out Agricola, played Hive & Princes of Machu Pichu (won both). Forgot to tale pics. #
• Steampunk Myths & Legends winners announced. Amazing work. http://tinyurl.com/dbzkm8 #
• Juan Enriquez’ TED talks may be porous (format constraint), but he’s a sharp and polished optimist: http://bit.ly/oB9eY #
• My youngest wears glasses. He’s, well, a kid. Replacements cost. Enter Zenni: http://zennioptical.com/ Thanks: @epopt ! #
• RDBMS without a lot of the R and with relaxed integrity constraints: http://bit.ly/1DTsN Brilliant for lightly keyed datastructures. #
• Good comment thread on that last URL BTW. #
• @jdludlow There’s much to love about Outpost for fans of dZvZ. Some say dZvZ neutered what make Outpost great. Bigger snowball in Outpost. in reply to jdludlow #
• @jdludlow A friend (Jon Leonard) is an outpost addict (a/time a/where). He taught me the game. That’s where I started my -ve obsession. in reply to jdludlow #
• I must not fall in love. I must not: http://ilovetypography.com/ #
• @jdludlow It is severely OOP. Talk to Tom Lehmann about what is required for reconstruction? Or I can ask him on Thurs If I remember. in reply to jdludlow #
• @jdludlow You might also consider Lehmann’s Phoenicia. The rules are borked (publisher rewrite) but it is classic Lehmann snowball. Short! in reply to jdludlow #
• @jdludlow That’s pretty decent timing for dZvZ. 180 minutes is common here. in reply to jdludlow #
• School desks that allow kids to stand, lean, sit etc: just like modern adult workstation. Excellent idea. http://bit.ly/QTSY9 #
• NASA can still do real science. Only a few more days until the Kepler launch: http://kepler.nasa.gov/ #
• The net of a thousand lies also never forgets: http://tinyurl.com/ctagfa #
• The only real response possible to Seth Godin’s google-memory post: http://tinyurl.com/6de3jw #
• @Seth_Godin On Google memory, are you familiar with Dr Fun and the ghosts of Usenet past? http://tinyurl.com/6de3jw #
• RT @davemcclure: Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss: http://bit.ly/seussday (thx for reminder @mona :) #
• RT @timoreilly: RT @lowflyingrocks: 2009 DD45 just passed the Earth at 9km/s, approximately seventy-four thousand, eight hundred km away. #
• @doctorow Dunno know the X, but it could be, “Why do you find ___ so interesting? What is so interesting about it?” in reply to doctorow #
• RT @raphkoster: RT: @juliandibbell deconstructs “Kittens” to an amazing degree http://is.gd/lrHZ #
• RT @timoreilly: “…premise that correlation was more of a constant than a variable.” http://bit.ly/hdtrt The math behind the meltdown #
• @NotGodinREPOSTs WRT “Looking for yes”: I suspect that a primary humans look for is opportunity to help & to be helped. We delight in it. in reply to NotGodinREPOSTs #
• Surprise! Yahoo Outperforming Google (YHOO, GOOG): http://tinyurl.com/c2m7hw #
• Meteor 2009 DD45, 21-47m dia, missed earth by only 72,000 Km. Impact would be 10K times bigger than Hiroshima. http://bit.ly/oehST Phew! #
• @davemcclure The jam Study sounds like a rule-of-seven result. in reply to davemcclure #
• @davemcclure Twitter is hi-speed time shifted conv; a looser-coupled no-history Usenet. Facebook is media-richer but narrow and w/ history. in reply to davemcclure #
• Politics, long term growth, recovery. Pick any one: http://bit.ly/uhsIE #
• @brooksci: I used to drive stick. 15 years later at 03:00 hours in the morning I didna remember what did what. My arms and legs did tho. #
• @brookscl I went cold turkey for ~2 years. It came flooding back. I didn’t know why i was doing e/g I did, but I was winning! #
• @brookscl Funny really. Had to figure out why it was working as I watched myself do it. Uhhh, because! #
• I think I like Twirl more than Tweetdeck. Smaller. Denser. Less obtrusive. Need to play more. #
• Stunning: RT @raphkoster: Lovely: http://www.vimeo.com/3365942 #
• @icheyne Gwibbber eh? Nope, I’ll look at it. Thanks. in reply to icheyne #
• Zelazny left big inspiring footprints: http://tinyurl.com/626k7k #
• @timoreilly Stuff that matters: Mortality and resources: How to build next frontier so both can sustainably benefit? Otherwise bad zero-sum in reply to timoreilly #
• @judell The network is the human. in reply to judell #
• Job searching is too damn stressful (and fun)! Adrenaline rush performance. Another one down, next round to be scheduled. Nice problems. #
• ‘Tis the square root of Xmas. Nerdigras. (@timoreilly, @gnat): http://tinyurl.com/bkyfqp #
• Doug Purdy’s info-systems dream defined in terms of discrete use-case qualities: http://tinyurl.com/d6fl92 #
• Muddle & Go Nowhere. Topical name for this economy. Nearly used M&GN in Muck & Brass & kinda wish I had. Charming: http://bit.ly/hCJ5x #
• @neilhimself Declare! Dictate! “Stop here!” Bit late now. in reply to neilhimself #
• Maps to tabletop too. RT @andrew_chen: GReader share: What is your game design style? http://tinyurl.com/br8sh7 #

A night dominated by Dominion at the other tables for SB-Boardgamers. So far it is showing no signs of fading. It was good to see Hammer of Scots come back into play; it has been a while for that classic. I managed to get in:

• Hive
• Stephenson’s Rocket ¹
• Bridges of Shangri-La²
• Thor (x2)
• Army of Frogs³

Sorry, no pictures of the Bridges of Shangri-La, Thor and Army of Frogs games. I must recall to take pictures of my own games, not just other’s games. I’m also not sure why the pictures are all so badly cropped on the right end. Oops. They weren’t so badly cropped when I took them!

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• Tired, cranky, looking forward to getting out of resume hell and playing tonight. #
• In founding the local 18xx group, what is the realised value of session reports and score reporting? I am unsure. #
• Saw Push this weekend with Q. Disappointing. It spent more time setting up the sequel than delivering plot coherence. #
• Tonight was my night – won all three games played: Imperial & two games of Army of Frogs (the latter is much better with 3 than 4). #
• Ideogram makes a nice distinction among types of economic games: http://tinyurl.com/d94vdm #
• Yale has released a most excellent series of game theory class videos: http://tinyurl.com/5mbqev #
• If you haven’t seen Coraline in 3D yet, do so before Saturday. It is about to lose it’s 3D screens for the next 3D movie. Well worth it. #
• @Crumpleton you’ll save the ticket cost? If you are a Gaiman or Laiko fan and wish to see the movie as intended you’ve but few days left. in reply to Crumpleton #
• Dinner at Trends (lots of prickley ash) then gaming at SVB. #
• Skylon reusable orbital lifter: http://tinyurl.com/99nk83 #
• RT @neilhimself: Philip Jose Farmer died. He was 91, wrote many wonderful things. A worldbuilder, of influence and some real magic. Sigh. #
• RT @raphkoster: Blogged! Another silly game design meme http://cli.gs/apa6NB

  Ahh a boundless source of questionable game themes. #

• A nice discussion of intricacy, decision points and the role of a game player as spectator: http://tinyurl.com/atmskf #

A fine dinner – I ate so many peppers I was slurring words. I should put myself through this abuse more often.

Played 3 games of Axiom and lost them all – I blame low blood sugar from an overly replete belly! Axiom is both less and more than I was expecting; a fine but not terribly engaging combinatorial game. I still somewhat wish Axiom were the game I imagined it to be on first sight, a game of moving pieces about the entire exterior surface of a constantly changing 3D shape which the players held in their hands and manipulated (changing the shape and the locations of their bits) before handing it to the other player to do likewise.

I screwed up the last auction of Medici, simply wasn’t paying attention again and drew an extra tile to a set that was already worth nothing to every other player but would also have given me biggest ship plus a max on the wheat track for a +60 bonus (I was already at +5 on wheat). Apparently I let my internal snoring break my absent concentration. Gahh.

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Last night was the fifth anniversary of SB-Boardgamers. This is also my first attempt at a blog post using my iPhone from end-to-end. It was a fairly typical night at SB-Boardgamers, perhaps a little low on attendance and most people left a bit earlier than usual (morning meetings), but that happens now and again. I took some quick snapshots (see below) to give an idea of the evening.

Eugene Huang gave a short speech about the history of the group and awarded prizes to the people who had played with the most different people (thus fostering the group’s goal of evangelising gaming) and there were pies, cake and cookies to munch. Ted Alspach’s table were surprised that I did not win the award; they thought it was a given for me and not by a small margin. So goes perception bias. It may have been close but Randy Farmer and John Yeager took the prizes instead (a copy of Tadsch Mahal and one of Knizia’s Lord of the Rings games) which seems reasonable (I’ve no interest in either game).

I played 5 player Imperial (won) and two 3 player games of Army of Frogs (won both). Apparently it was my night. Adam Kao (my primary opponent in all of the night’s games) was excellent competition. I had to (surreptitiously) muster and coordinate all three other players against him while also playing tempo hard against him, pushing him to decelerate when he really needed to keep accelerating the game in order to win Imperial. It was an excellent game!

Observations:

• Army of Frogs does not suffer the uncontrollable blocking problem with 3 players as it does with 4.
• My iPhone camera skills need improvement.
• The native camera application on the iPhone is poor. Darkroom does image stabilisation and is much better.
• Lack of cut’n’paste support on the iPhone is a problem.
• Lack of integration between the iPhone’s Wordpress application and the NextGen gallery module I use on this blog is unfortunate. I will probably end up post-processing all iPhone posted entries with pictures to move them over to better gallery product. Bah!
• Lack of easy cite support (partly a function of the lack of cut’n’paste support) for AREFs and the like (mostly for boardgamegeek links) is annoying. It is tempting to write a Wordpress module to extend the markup language for Boardgamegeek links.

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Much of the old crew got together for a farewell lunch at Trends today. It was great to see everyone again, shake hands, eat good food and perhaps even to remember the late nights, all the projects we together carried over the line despite, and more than all that, what great people they are to know and work with. Thank you.

Sadly a few couldn’t make it (there was an All-Hands-On-Deck). Life happens and sometimes the bear does get you first. But never fear, we’ll have another lunch with them tomorrow.

qI was one of the 1,600 laid off from EBay/PayPal (I was on the PayPal side), so I’m on the job trail again. My resume is in the standard place (HTML, PDF).