I'm Not Dead; I Feel Happy

Cool, so... hey blog.  It's been what, five years?  Yeah, good.  You?  Good.  Ready for some more personal shit?  Also, casual swearing.

Way back then I wrote this little gem of drug-induced crazy where I proclaimed that I would be able to write a whole bunch more, then wrote one more extremely pretentious thing then promptly went utterly silent.  I could blame kids but they were really only a catalyst for what was to come.

Game Designation

I've decided to offer my definition for the word "game" to the greater internet, for scrutiny.

This is such a contentious debate and it's been built up as this unattainable holy grail to one day know what a Game Truly Is as if it's quantum physics or something.  I think the main reason people have this problem is that they create their definitions not to understand more deeply, but rather to support their own ideas of what things are games and what things aren't.  To that end, they start creating lists of features games need, like win conditions, challenge, blah, blah, blah.  A difficulty curve!?  Ugh.

The result is a muddy debate and definitions that can't be used in place of the word itself, which defeats the point of having definitions.  You should be able to remove the word and insert its definition without changing the meaning of the sentence.

I'm not covering all the definitions for the word, just the one that describes a type of activity.  There are other meanings, but this is the one of interest.

So, here's my definition:

Game (n): an inconsequential, voluntary activity with arbitrary rules.

Let's break that down.

Rules

None of that.

"First guy to die loses."  That sort of thing.  This particular example is known as a lose condition.

Self-Medication

Update 8/6.2018:  This post is not at all accurate.  See this post for what I think is actually going on.

Let me be upfront:  I am totally tweaking right now.  Like, on drugs.

I was diagnosed with ADD quite a few years ago, although I was already out of high-school and halfway through an unsuccessful attempt at an engineering degree when it happened.  It didn't do me any good at the time, though, because I didn't go through any effective treatment.  There was neurofeedback therapy, which was not offered to adults at the place I went to, and medication, which I was offered at the drop of a hat on my first appointment with a psychiatrist without a whole lot of discussion, explanation or qualification.  I said no.  Then I tried an unproven, ineffective treatment, then forgot about the whole thing, because ADD.

Things Wot I Did With Computers

So I've put my portfolio online, it's available at this place:

centreforexcrubulence.blogspot.com.au

Prospective admirers may now witness my programming aptitude.  There are interactive demos and everything!

How to simply send simple instructions back to the User Interface thread in C#. SIMPLY.

After a few insane months where I had no time to give to this blog, I'm back with my first ever how-to.  All of the non-programming readers, which to date has also been all of the readers, may decide to switch off at this point.  Go ahead; I can't stop you, but let me preface the tutorial with a few reader-friendly notes.  If you just came here for the answer, there are helpful headings that you can scroll down for.

Let the Stupid Rats Die. For Science. You Monster.

Clear-headedness under pressure.  It's a skill that should come in handy if I ever find myself in a life-or-death situation where I need to keep my wits about me to survive.  Am I driving a FWD, RWD or 4WD car?  That will be key to knowing how to regain control of the vehicle and not slide off the cliff into the canyon below.  Will water extinguish this fire, or cause an explosion?  Should I put my hands out to stop my fall, attempt to roll with it or take the full force of the fall on my stomach so as protect my head?

That last one is a real situation I found myself in where I did indeed take the fall on my stomach.  With a metal bar acting as the delivery system.  I couldn't roll with the fall and putting my hands out would have catapulted me off a ledge and onto my head.  The stomach option was very painful, but I take pride in the notion that it was actually the smart choice.  The details mattered.  In the best games, the details matter, because then my decisions have meaning, and I have a chance to develop this crucial survival trait that I may need some day.

A Narrow Window 2: Narrow Harder

This is expected to be read in the context of the post immediately preceding this one:  A Narrow Window.