Thank you for this! Lots of people online have pushed forward the idea that Google search results are not as useful as before. This was the first article that I've read that did a good job of quantifying what that actually means and providing context as to why it is happening.

I've been enjoying my Fairphone 4 a lot since getting it last year. This camera update really improved the experience of taking photos.

Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed this article!

Thanks for this! This gave me a lot of new ideas to explore.

One game I played a few years ago had a really neat rule that I've used in a lot of other games and contexts.

The game came with a 1 minute sand timer that didn't have to be used to play the game. But the rules said "If any player feels like the turn is taking too long, they can turn over this timer. This is a signal to the current player that they should wrap things up". I can't recall which game it was. Codename, I think? I'm sure someone here will let us know.

I've used that rule in a lot of different places. If you have a healthy relationship with your co-workers, it makes for a really useful tool for keeping meetings rolling. We occasionally mime turning over the same timer to each other to say "I respect what you're saying, please continue, but also let's get this back on track".

I've also ported it to many boardgames. In my circle of players, turning over an imaginary sand timer is a way of politely saying "we like playing with you, but we're feeling bored so please make a turn".

Maybe something like that can work for your group? It requires some communication up front to ensure that people know the spirit of what's being communicated.

Edit: re-reading this, I'm not sure I conveyed what I was suggesting well. Cosmic Encounters has a 1 minute timer you're supposed to use. I'm suggesting making that timer optional. Let people barter until someone at the table feels like enough time has passed, then flip the timer as a polite way of saying "please wrap it up".

Oh man. Polysecure gave me so many of the words I needed but didn't have.

Oh man, I just want to give a shout out to the Splatoon ink mechanic.

The game is a competitive arena shooter. That would be pretty uninteresting, but instead of competing for kills or holding objectives, the teams are competing to cover the largest surface area with ink or paint. That's pretty neat. But there's more.

Every player has a special "squid mode" they can use when standing on ink of their colour. When in squid mode players travel much faster, can travel up walls, and are extremely hard to spot, but can not attack or lay new ink.

This makes the laying ink in specific areas valuable, as it makes it faster to get from the spawn point to the front faster and easier. It also rewards holding contiguous trails of ink, or conversely, cutting off your opponent's ink trails.

That was a fascinating read. The plasticity of the brain constantly amazes me. It's incredible the way some parts of the brain will just handle tasks that are seemingly totally unrelated.

Please consider WanderSong. It's a small game and was made with so much love. Games can have a huge variety of plots and environments. But the vast majority of games, regardless of what they are about, are actually about victory. You're a space dwarf mining for minerals, but the game is all about mastery and winning. You're a dragon-kin with magic shouts, but every quest is about achieving a victory over a challenge. And so on.

I would say that WanderSong is not a game about victory. It's a game about happiness. The character, the mechanics, the plot, the environments; they all serve first to explore the meaning of happiness. There's nothing else quite like it. You can find it here.

I knew that I was going to enjoy A Short Hike before I played it. What I didn't expect was how much I enjoyed it. There's so much more there than I anticipated and some of it is really lovely.

Just got all the supplies I need for making a Dopp bag.

Just finished a crochet blanket with hood for my little one. Still have to put a ridge of dragon scales down the back for him.

I feel this comment is brushing off the important point the commentator above is making. I understand that you wanted to clarify or defend your original statement. But if you don't respond appropriately to what the person you're talking to has said, you're not really having a conversation. Instead you're just talking at someone.