The Wordsmith's Forge

Here is a post about the loss of a famous gaming company.

goodbye, bioware

BioWare is a game studio that has been around since the mid-90s, and was responsible for the creation of games like the original two Baldur's Gate games, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, and of course the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series.

And today Electronic Arts, the company that owns BioWare, laid off hundreds of people and shut the studio down for good.

I found this cool post:

Keystone Plants for Pollinators: Bees, Butterflies & Birds

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Consumers are falling for a surprising eco-friendly trap

New research reveals why consumers reward companies for adding eco-friendly products while overlooking the environmental benefits of reducing waste.


It is true that people respond to things that snag their attention, and additions do more of that than subtractions.

However, that's not an absolute. Subtractions can be MADE visible with a simple sign. Here are some ideas...

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National park reservations may give wealthier visitors an advantage

Popular park reservation systems may favor visitors from wealthier areas when permits require early planning or fast booking.


No shit. The national parks allegedly belong to everyone. But the moment people have to register and pay to get in, it stops belonging to the people and becomes a paid privilege just for the ones who can afford it.

What we really need are wilderness spaces open to everyone, for free. It's not like America is short of space.

This is up on bookclub_dw:

THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR DISCUSSION POST

I was reading a magazine article about building bases on the Moon. Great idea. With 3D-printed parts using lunar dust bound with plastic or other ingredients.

That is a terrible, horrible idea because lunar dust is one of the most obnoxious materials in the galaxy. It does not want to be your friend. It does not want to be your house. It wants to destroy everything as if it is entropy incarnate. It gets everywhere. It wrecks everything it touches. It's hard to beat as a sabotage material though. Lunar residents turn the word "dust" into an obscenity.

Sure you can try to shove it into an extruder. The extruder will break. You fix it. It breaks again. You make a better one. It breaks too. This continues until you give up trying to manipulate lunar dust or you invent an actual fabber that can manipulate matter at the atomic level and has an intake insulated with an actual forcefield.

I found an online reference:
DESIGN AND VERIFICATION OF A POWDER SPREADING DEVICE FOR IN-SITU 3D PRINTING OF LUNAR SOIL

AI doctor assistants make life-or-death choices very differently from humans

Artificial intelligence (AI) supports decisions that affect people’s lives. In medicine, that raises a concern: fast information processing does not mean an AI weighs human values the way people do.


AI should not be involved in life-or-death decisions. Those are for humans. A person needs to take responsibility for that, so they can be held accountable.

"I was the logical choice. It calculated that I had a 45% chance of survival. Sarah only had an 11% chance. That was somebody's baby. 11% is more than enough. A human being would've known that."
-- Detective Del Spooner in I, Robot

The Road Decides Where the Money Goes

A new database shows how the design of a road decides whether travel money stays in a community or leaves it.


Basically, big chains suck money out of the local economy; they're parasites. Independent stores, restaurants, hotels, and other amenities keep most of the tourist money in that town.

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adore has a wonderful 3-sentence story about ruining things.