Nice long blog essay looking at some influential software programs.

So I set myself the task of picking five great works of software. The criteria were simple: How long had it been around? Did people directly interact with it every day? Did people use it to do something meaningful? I came up with the office suite Microsoft Office, the image editor Photoshop, the videogame Pac-Man, the operating system Unix, and the text editor Emacs.

https://medium.com/p/705b87339971

This is a pretty crazy look at how out of date our nuclear silos are here in the US. It was a story on 60 Minutes last night. 8' floppies? From the 1960s!?!

http://gizmodo.com/inside-the-us-nuclear-silos-where-floppy-disk-are-still-1568609439

First of all, what is Ludum Dare?

Ludum Dare is two similar events taking place over one weekend

The Competition is the familiar “make a game in 48 hours solo competition” that Ludum Dare is known for. Specific details can be found below. After the competition ends, participants are given 3 weeks to play and rate games created by their peers. After those 3 weeks, winners are announced.

The Jam is the new “relaxed” Ludum Dare. It was created to make Ludum Dare even more inclusive. You can work in a team, borrow assets from your other projects, or do things that would normally be against the rules. You also get one extra day, giving you up to 72 hours to submit an entry. This is helpful for those times real life gets in the way, or for games that need just a bit more time to become something great.

Ultimately, our goal with Ludum Dare is to encourage people to sit down and make something. Our hope is that the new structure continues to encourage more and more developers to join us and create a game in a weekend.

-http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/rules/

Ludum Dare 29 begins today. In about 6.5 hours from the time of this post. I'm planning on trying it out, which means before Monday comes to an end (in my timezone, at least) I should have a new game playable for all of you.

More details can be found here:

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/

Join me (us)! Scrap your plans for this weekend and make a game!




See my previous DC posts about Ludum Dare:
Ludum Dare - Game Programming Challenges
Ludum Dare 23 - 1,000 New Games and Counting
Be Tiny, World! (The game I made two years ago during Ludum Dare 23, which I've continued to update to this day!)

I recently stumbled across this and bought it for my 10 year old niece, and she is really getting a kick out of it:

"Wreck This Journal" by Keri Smith.

http://www.amazon.co...panded/dp/0399162704

Wreck This Journal, an illustrated book that features a subversive collection of prompts, asking readers to muster up their best mistake and mess-making abilities and to fill the pages of the book (or destroy them). Through a series of creatively and quirkily illustrated prompts, acclaimed artist Keri Smith encourages journalers to engage in "destructive" acts--poking holes through pages, adding photos and defacing them, painting pages with coffee, coloring outside the lines, and more--in order to experience the true creative process. With Smith's unique sensibility, readers are introduced to a new way of art and journal making..

I think she really got a kick out of how subversive the book is, telling you to do all the things to a book that you are never supposed to do (stomp on it, take it into the shower, etc.)

Highly recommended.

Originally posted:	2014-04-15
Last updated	2014-04-15

Basic Info

App Name	RIPT (shareable scrapbook-clipping program)
Thumbs-Up Rating
App URL	OBSOLETE http://www.ript.com
App Version Reviewed	RIPT v.0.5.0218 (Freeware, 2007)
Test System Specs	Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit
Supported OSes	Windows
Support Methods	None. (OBSOLETE product)
Upgrade Policy	Not applicable.
Trial Version Available?	Freeware
Pricing Scheme	Not applicable.

Intro and Overview:
RIPT is a shareable (with other RIPT users) scrapbook-clipping program.
I thought I'd publish a review of this forgotten, elegant program for those who (like me) might find an occasional - if not frequent - use for it. I don't really need it now, as I tend to use:

• (a) Microsoft OneNote (refer MS Office 2013 US$9.95 Corporate/Enterprise Home Use Program - Mini-Review) for most of my scrapbook-clipping and information collection and management,
  and
• (b) @mouser's Clipboard Help & Spell as the primary collection tool.

An utterly fascinating and entertaining discussion of a strange video game (Rusty's Real Deal Baseball) based on in-game purchases:

• http://www.gametrail...t-effed-up-game-ever

Other reviews of the game:

• http://www.wired.com...-real-deal-baseball/
• http://www.ign.com/a...deal-baseball-review