Crank Arm Brewing Co., NC

We stopped off at Crank Arm Brewing (map) when in Raleigh, NC, last week. It’s got some great beers; be sure to try the Unicycle if it’s on.

We also went to the amazing The Pit – just opposite Crank Arm – for BBQ. I ate enough that I had difficulty sleeping (or I could blame jetlag, but, to be honest, it was really my greed).

Reward vs. Fun

Most modern games don’t ask the player to interpret the wry smile on another character’s face. The narratives are built on enjoyment and, as games are chiefly meant for recreation rather than as a test of emotional intelligence, there’s nothing wrong with that. Old-time RPGs did not adhere to that idea: back then, “fun” was what you made it and you were not guaranteed to have any.

Does it matter if people don’t finish games any more?

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One to Watch update submitted to Apple

In One to Watch’s film querying at risk I mentioned that the Freebase API that One to Watch relies on was going offline on June 30th.

I’ve submitted an update to Apple which migrates the application to use TMdB’s API. I’ve been using this for the past couple of months without issue, and it was getting close to June 30th, so I decided it needed to be submitted.

Please accept this update :)

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Setting up git-clang-format

I am draconian when it comes to code formatting. Combined with an “I’ll know it when I see it” attitude, this can become irritating. In exasperation, a colleague suggested using clang-format to automatically format our Objective C codebase. Their proposal:

I’ll get the tool’s formatting specification as close to what you like as possible. In return, you agree that you’ll accept what the tool produces.

So, quite some time ago, we introduced a clang-formatting file to our repository.

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Facebook’s presumably a more successful AOL

Back in the late 1990s, AOL tried to create an alternative internet. It was roundly derided, and everyone instead used its sign-up CDs as drink coasters.

As far as I can see, Facebook is now trying very hard to create an alternative internet for its users, one which threatens to be more successful.

Facebook has said publicly that it wants to make the experience of consuming content online more seamless. News articles on Facebook are currently linked to the publisher’s own website, and open in a web browser[…]

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