A while ago, I discovered a fun tactical strategy game called Neuroshima Hex. Shortly thereafter, I downloaded the corresponding iOS app.

In one of my recent games, I came across a sticky situation which I thought had a particularly elegant and satisfying solution. Here's the board state and the pieces available. You're green, and the next person ( Read more... )

Dear Lazyweb ( Read more... )

I recently posted a Dominion puzzle. If you haven't checked it out yet, you should because the rest of this will make no sense without first reading that.
( Answer hidden behind the fold for those who wish to try the puzzle first )

I'm on a plane! And I'm posting to LJ!

(Google gives out awesome Christmas presents.)

I wrote an entertaining little game where you try to guess words based on three-letter substrings of those words.
Link to the dictionary game
I originally wrote this game in May 2006, but wasn't satisfied with it and lost interest. Reading over the four-year-old python code was quite an adventure. I was struck by 1) how much python I've forgotten ( Read more... )

I can't believe that this has existed for over a year and a half and I hadn't heard of it until now. It's an amazing fan prequel to the LotR triology, done in much the same style, with surprising production value.LotR Prequel - The Hunt For Gollum

If you love Dominion (and if you don't yet, perhaps you should consider doing so), then you'll love this javascript Dominion implementation. It's bare-bones enough to be simple, yet it implements all the different card mechanics.

Rob, this might be an excellent venue for (y)our proposed Dominion AI bake-off.

Wikipedia is fascinating. From the "Red Baron" article:
Although he was now performing the duties of a lieutenant colonel, he remained a captain. ... It was not the custom for a son to hold a higher rank than his father, and Richthofen's father was a reserve major.
In the same section,
In the German army, it was not unusual for a wartime officer to ( Read more... )

As some of you may already know, I work for Athenahealth. They're generally a good place to work - filled with bright, fun people (my brand of nerd) and the occasional interesting problem. Today, our marketing department released a new ad campaign that tries to change our "brand identity" to that of an angry octopus. I dearly wish I was kidding ( Read more... )

As amusing as five-pound gummy bears are in their own right, the real genius of this ad campaign is their FAQ video.