DM of the Rings CXXXI:
Socks
The diameter of the chamber in my clothes dryer is about 2 feet, or 0.6 meters. The circumference is roughly 1.9 meters. Movement in there is pretty chaotic, but we can simplify things by assuming that items travel halfway around (from the bottom to the top) and then drop down to the bottom again. So, for one revolution an item will travel half the circumference plus the diameter. About 1.5m. When running, the dryer seems to do a revolution every two seconds. This works out to 42.6m a minute. A typical drying session lasts about 45 minutes, which means that items typically travel just over 2km – about 1.2 miles – while being dried.
This means my socks do most of their travel while I am not wearing them.
I could even this out by washing them less often, but this solution is unpopular with others. I could also balance things out by getting out more, but that solution is unpopular with me.
DM of the Rings CXXX:
You May Now Celebrate
Blogging Paradox
When Blogging, we usually talk about stuff we’re doing or that we’ve done. Watching shows, movies, playing games, knitting stuff, writing fiction, going to work, attending school, whatever. The more stuff you do, the more stuff you have to write about. Except, after a certain point you’re doing so much stuff you don’t have time to write about any of it anymore.
I’m currently watching Samurai 7. It’s immensely enjoyable. A year ago, I would have been blogging the thing a disc at a time, talking about the characters and my impressions of the plot as it unfolds.
I’ve got a programming project in the works. Like my Terrain Project, it’s full of little lessons and surprises. Unlike my terrain project, I don’t have time to write about it. (I’m making notes here and there. I actually do hope to post this stuff eventually.)
I’ve got another project in the works that I can’t talk about yet. It’s hardly taking up any real time in the sense of doing work, but it occupies my thoughts for a majority of the day.
I’ve been playing a little Puzzle Pirates here and there. I was really into this MMO game a year ago, even going so far as to write a little Java applet to demonstrate a game concept to the developers. (The folks at Three Rings are amazingly open and interact regularly with users, even to the point of encouraging them to help design new mini games.) I could do a whole series of posts on this game and on Three Rings. It’s a unique concept from people with a unique approach to game development.
On top of all of this is just the regular ambient level of distractions everyone has to tolerate when they get out of bed in the morning. I’m exercising a bit to recover from my surgery. It truly is shocking what can happen to your body after just five days of rest.
So, I have an astounding number of things to write about, and no time in which to do it. This is in stark contrast to a few months ago, when I had copious free time and nothing to say. Hopefully I’ll be able to unpack some of this stuff later when the buffer isn’t quite as full.
Anyone else have this problem regulating blog output?
DM of the Rings CXXIX:
While You Were Fighting
Insert Lawyer Joke Here
Most advertisements are stupid. I’ve mentioned this before. But once in a while an ad comes along that exceeds the others in banality, vapidity, and idiocy. It achieves some sort of transcendent state where it becomes the sort of stupid that only a genius could come up with. Which makes you wonder how the thing came to exist in the first place. Case in point:
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Legal advice. For single “girls”. The mind reels. I predict this will annoy twice as many women as it will attract. The idea that women can’t be expected to seek legal advice unless it’s fabulous! is about as insulting as suggesting a man couldn’t comprehend an algebraic formula unless it was written on some chick’s boobs.
Perhaps this is the first in a series of articles on esoteric subjects which have been demarcated by meaningless personal distinctions:
- HTML for Redheads.
- Paleontological tips for Canadians.
- The newlywed guide to Astronavigation.
- Gravitational Theory for Italian-Americans.
- Metallurgical Engineering for Diabetics.
Oh, and I’m just commenting on the ad. I have no idea if the column or the expert herself are interesting or not. I’m just saying: That ad is crazy.
DM of the Rings CXXVIII:
A Legacy of Deceit
The Brilliance of Mass Effect
What is "Domino Worldbuilding" and how did it help to make Mass Effect one of the most interesting settings in modern RPGs?
Lost Laughs in Leisure Suit Larry
Why was this classic adventure game so funny in the 80's, and why did it stop being funny?
Trusting the System
How do you know the rules of the game are what the game claims? More importantly, how do the DEVELOPERS know?
Do It Again, Stupid
One of the highest-rated games of all time has some of the least interesting gameplay.
A Star is Born
Remember the superhero MMO from 2009? Neither does anyone else. It was dumb. So dumb I was compelled to write this.
Spider-Man
A game I love. It has a solid main story and a couple of really obnoxious, cringy, incoherent side-plots in it. What happened here?
The Best of 2016
My picks for what was important, awesome, or worth talking about in 2016.
The Truth About Piracy
What are publishers doing to fight piracy and why is it all wrong?
PC Hardware is Toast
This is why shopping for graphics cards is so stupid and miserable.
Grand Theft Auto Retrospective
This series began as a cheap little 2D overhead game and grew into the most profitable entertainment product ever made. I have a love / hate relationship with the series.
T w e n t y S i d e d
