"Nothing elicits comments like a story on grammar" #wymhm

What interests me about grammatical and other “mistakes” on Twitter is what they signal about our changing culture—a thread of inquiry entirely absent in the Times article. John Cusack spelled “breakfast” as “breakfasy.” Why this error? Surely not because he cannot spell—no one confuses “t” for “y.” But look at your nearest keyboard: The two letters are next to each other on the keyboard, and Cusack clearly mis-hit the keys. QWERTY keyboards were developed in order to prevent exactly these sorts of mistakes on the typewriter—the letters are spaced so to avoid common letter pairs hitting the carriage at the same time. When we hit the digital age, we kept the typewriter-based keyboard. So now we make new errors.
via good.is

"To trace the convoluted path of our country's beer legacy, here's a tour of American brewing" #wymhm

Even more crucial to our brewing backstory are a handful of entrepreneurial Germans from the Midwest -- Industrial Age go-getters who helped wean much of the U.S. off cider and whiskey. In Milwaukee, Jacob Best and his sons founded the Best and Company brewery in 1844. One son, Phillip, later left the brewery to his son-in-law Frederick Pabst, who preferred his own name be slapped on kegs, bottles and cans.

 

"Proper facilitation of discussion relies on guidelines that encourage contributions from all participants" #wymhm

The student facilitator and recorder roles are chosen at random at the beginning of the discussion, which means that each student is responsible for preparing background material and contributing. In a typical student-leader approach, only one or two students will be prepared to discuss the topic in any detail, while the rest of the students may not feel their viewpoints are legitimate. By removing "expert" status, each student is free to discuss the topic on their own terms.

 

"The general public has remained largely unaware of the staffing crisis in higher education." #wymhm

As I got to know my adjunct colleagues better, I began to see these largely invisible, voiceless laborers as a hugely diverse group of amazing teachers. Some are employed at full-time jobs in education or elsewhere, some are retired or supported by wealthier others, but far too many are just barely surviving. While instances of dumpster diving are rare, adjunct shopping is typically limited to thrift stores, and decades-old cars sometimes serve as improvised offices when these "roads scholars" are not driving from campus to campus, all in a frantic attempt to cobble together a livable income. Some adjuncts rely on food stamps or selling blood to supplement their poverty-level wages, which have been declining in real terms for decades.

 

"College degrees are simply not necessary for many jobs." #wymhm

Professor Vedder likes to ask why 15 percent of mail carriers have bachelor’s degrees, according to a 1999 federal study.

“Some of them could have bought a house for what they spent on their education,” he said.

Professor Lerman, the American University economist, said some high school graduates would be better served by being taught how to behave and communicate in the workplace.

"Facebook is displacing other forms of online publication." #wymhm

The Facebook model of organizing the world’s information involves a mix of personally sensitive information, impersonal information that is potentially widely useful, and information whose sensitivity and usefulness falls in between. It’s a tangle created by Facebook’s origins as the host of unambiguously nonpublic messaging among college students.

The company’s desire now to help out “the world” — an aim that wasn’t mentioned on its “About” page two years ago — has led it to inflict an unending succession of privacy policy changes on its members.

"Are [videogames] really nothing more than a digital realisation of yourself, walking through an art exhibit?" #wymhm

By being given control of a character in a game, we are by definition a part of the world that's being realized in front of our very eyes. We're a part of the action, and a part of the story as it unfolds.

Even so, this would still appear to somewhat support the theory that games are galleries with action sequences. If it's us walking from A to B in a given area, then how is that any different from the enthusiast strolling thoughtfully through the rooms of an exhibition in the real world?

I think the answer is roleplay.

"having believable characters would strengthen games on every front" #wymhm

To my mind, the concepts of a believable world and believable characters are inextricably intertwined. This is why skeptics should be paying attention to whether or not their characters are more than empty shells with strong arms and good aim.

Regardless what type of game you're making -- linear action or open world; action or RPG -- you're trying to build a world that players must believe in. Whether you call it a world, or you call it zones, or you call it levels, this is your goal: because one thing we do well, as a medium, is build worlds. But we must recognize that this not just down to the talent of the art team and the quality of their research and imagination.