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Books Read 2022
The Walrus and The Warwolf by Hugh Cook, i.e. the picaresque story of Drake, shithead pirate teen in a world of decaying magic, was above and beyond the most impactful book to me. Don’t just take my word for it – read China Miéville’s commentary. In non-fiction, The 1619 Project is a must-read to exist…
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Books Read 2021
I am in the habit of publishing the list of books I read every year. Due to world events, I forgot the last couple years. Here we are now… NK Jemisin’s The Fifth Season and MJ Lyons’ Queer Werewolves Destroy Capitalism were the most memorable pieces of fiction; both felt very human. Eric Tyson’s Investing…
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Jobs in Industrial Research
This post summarizes advice I’ve given several people who are looking for jobs in industry just after finishing an academic research degree. Here, I want to be helpful by not just getting you any job, but a job that is a fit for you and you excel in. It isn’t the best term, but I’m…
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MetaMovie’s Alien Rescue
This afternoon, I played in the high-end VR LARP The MetaMovie Presents: Alien Rescue. This was a ticketed show, with multiple live actors, some audience that could speak (like myself), and some audience with free-floating avatar cameras, called “eyebots” with in-world lore. The recording is on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1807898598I chose the alias “In Clutch”, as I…
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Sabbatical Themes
Late 2022, I quit my job at Meta Reality Labs. I’m not looking for any commercial projects until at least 2024. In academia, a year outside your normal work environment is formalized as a “sabbatical”; this my DIY Sabbatical. Gestural Input, 2008-2023 At Meta, I was working on EMG Input for AR since the CTRL…
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A Plot Summary of Disney’s 1963 film Sword in the Stone
Merlin: I need to find the boy who will one day be King Arthur, and educate him so he is an effective King. Arthur: I conveniently fell in through your roof. Merlin: I am going to teach you kingly stuff like geometry and Latin. Arthur: Okay. I’m currently a squire, and I want to be…
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Cyclone Types
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Talk @ Roguelike Celebration 2022
This upcoming Sunday, Oct 23, I’m doing a talk at Roguelike Celebration, a conference about the creation, appreciation and analysis of roguelikes; that odd genre of game incorporating procedural generation, permanent consequences (often called permadeath) and maximalist systems. In 2020, I did a short talk on Procedurally Generated Technology Trees. This year, I’m talking about…
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A Dream-Locked Vision
A had a strange experience last night. Background: I had had some back pain and insomnia for a couple days. It seemed better yesterday morning, but got worse over the day. I met up with friends midday near Prospect Park to grab drinks on a patio. The back pain was getting worse, and I gleefully…
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1px VR
I have always had slightly dry eyes. This has made wearing contacts difficult. During the pandemic, I gradually became inexcusably annoyed at having to choose foggy glasses or blurry vision when wearing a mask in public. Independently, it occurred to me in The Year of Isolation that this would be an ideal time for some…