I’m not a fan of Ayn Rand. Her rejection of altruism, collectivism, and statism in favour of a kind of virtuous selfishness was bleak, while her justification of colonial genocide by labelling colonised peoples as “savages” was contemptible. But the last month has seen various stories relating to Rand bubble up.
Category Archives: Thoughts
Upland: A Llama-themed Lesson in Game Design
To Upland’s credit, it does have a certain unsettling realism to it, in part enabled by its blockchain functionality. However, this realism is used for all the wrong reasons — to rationalise mechanics that line the developers pockets, rather than empower players or encourage them to reevaluate the world around them.
Consider The Blobfish
The most important thing we can learn from the blobfish is that we shouldn’t default to making judgements based on our personal or societal preconceptions of what “good” looks like.
A Year of Haikus
I was planning to do a long-form piece about my experience writing a haiku every day for a year (well, almost every day… Sometimes I had to play catch-up after missing a few). I would have taken the time to explain how they have been a fantastic way of sharing things with my girlfriend, whoContinueContinue reading “A Year of Haikus”
Want to cut down on screen time? Buy a shit phone
Three years ago I wrote a blog post entitled “Smart usage: Two productivity application trends to get you thinking”. The post reviewed a few standout apps that help people either cut down on their smartphone usage or incentivise daily tasks through the use of gamification. During the process of writing it I tried my fairContinueContinue reading “Want to cut down on screen time? Buy a shit phone”
Post-publication: the nips, the tucks, and the cut-ups
Publishing your creations is a funny thing. It means sending them out into the big bad world and inviting both praise and criticism. It also normally means calling time on any final nips and tucks and declaring it a “finished product”, but this isn’t always the case. A host of filmmakers, musicians and authors haveContinueContinue reading “Post-publication: the nips, the tucks, and the cut-ups”
What do millennials and goldfish have in common?
Goldfish In a much cited and frankly extraordinary commencement speech delivered to the 2005 graduates of Kenyon College, David Foster Wallace told a story about goldfish. Two young fish are swimming along together. Another older fish passes them and says, “morning boys, how’s the water?” The two fish swim on for a while, then oneContinueContinue reading “What do millennials and goldfish have in common?”
Monopoly Empire – Brands and billboards
Everyone knows Monopoly: the game with the potential to destroy relationships and ruin perfectly pleasant rainy afternoons. There is, however, something timeless about the real-estate peddling simulator. The colourful banknotes (that are inevitably embezzled by a corrupt banker), navigating the board as a Scottie dog, and the smug feeling of having won second prize inContinueContinue reading “Monopoly Empire – Brands and billboards”
Smart usage: Two productivity application trends to get you thinking
In recent years more and more people have been succumbing to smart-device procrastination. eMarketer found that on average US mobile users now spend as many as 4 hours on their phones every day, with other studies substantiating their findings. Alarming? Maybe a little. A host of productivity applications have set their sights on this emergent mobile culture.ContinueContinue reading “Smart usage: Two productivity application trends to get you thinking”
“The ironic voice”
NB: Since 2017, I’ve changed my mind on this. That’s what happens. People change their mind about things. In an essay critiquing the cynicism, self-reference, and black humour that had gained prominence in America David Foster Wallace famously wrote that irony was “ruining our culture”. In Dave’s eyes there was a time and a placeContinueContinue reading ““The ironic voice””
gabriel burrow 