Friday Four

1. A mystery solved and a creative way of solving a problem reside in the answer to the following question:

When I watch [soccer] in [a U.K.] pub, why is there a pint glass in the bottom corner of the screen and why is it sometimes full, sometimes empty and sometimes in between?

The answerer lists as his qualification, "Publican for 20 years".

2. Did you know that Gary Gygax, the inventor of Dungeons and Dragons, once played Diplomacy, the "Board Game of the Alpha Nerds"? There's much more in a long, but absorbing history of the game at Grantland. Author David Hill devotes much ink to the psychological aspects of the game, too, and for good reason:

"There's a guy here who last time we were together he was so mad he chucked a book at me," said [Thomas] Haver. "When I saw that, I laughed, because 'I win.'" For my part, I found it hard to laugh at rattling people to their emotional breaking point. As much as I was fascinated with this game, even the psychological elements of it, I was taken aback at how often players -- even at the highest level -- were pushed beyond their ability to think of it as just a game. Every single person I spoke with at Dixiecon told me the same thing, that to enjoy Diplomacy you need to leave all of that stuff on the board. After the 10th person told me, "We always go get a beer afterward," I started to think it was less a practical maxim and more a personal mantra. It was a lot easier said than done.

Hah! That certainly comports with my limited experience as a player!

3. Little Man, closing in on two, has become an avid hugger. When the mood strikes him, he'll hug me, his mother, his big sister, or any combination thereof. He'll even plant one on us from time to time.

4. Three lists I encountered recently, in list form:

1. A Field Guide to the American Sandwich -- This is really an article, but I'll use it like a list when traveling or in need of culinary inspiration.
2. List of Screw Drives -- As seen in Wikipedia, the list also briefly explains why each type is designed as it is.
3. 11 Must-Haves for Every Power Programmer -- This Emacs-centric list has items that could potentially be useful to non-users of Emacs. Nevertheless, I found Item 5 useful recently when writing calendar conversion and news aggregation scripts.

-- CAV

Updates

Today: Added a missing hyperlink.