maetl

Writing

On Editing

A quote by Vladimir Nabokov.

To Be a Philosopher

Celebrity philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy causes an existential crisis by quoting a hoax author.

Iterating Short Texts

How to make short text messages more effective.

Siphoning the Here and Now

Various musings of the moment. Given this general theme, one could be forgiven for thinking that I'm applying a cattle-prod to myself (or at least trying to). How to Do What You Love 50 Strategies…

Learning to Read Code

Usually when I write spontaneously here, it's because a topic or idea has been percolating in my mind for a while, and I will stumble across a reference or blog post that provides the necessary…

Pay Me For Content

Really? I expected better from such a radical thinker as Jaron Lanier. His recent op-ed in the NYT is just not making any sense at all. Traditionally, artists, writers, musicians have been at…

Thoughts of a Lonely Programmer

The writer is doubtless stricken with writers block And can thus, for weeks, vanish into a myriad of dark rooms Where conversation dangles under glistening rows of liquor. The programmer is expected…

Some People Say Weasel Words Are Great

Wherewithin, Wikipedia is a seemingly infinite source of hilarity from an unsurpassed synthesis of inanity and insanity.

Programming Again

It’s hard to explain the collision of forces and events that has occurred over the past several months.

You Are Not Innovating

Innovation means a new way of doing something. At least, it used to mean that. Now, it apparently means a different way of doing something.

The Best Blog Posts of 2008

Though I'm clearly not a fan of link whoring "best of" or "top 10" posts, I wanted to take a quick look back at the most amazing ideas and incisive commentary that exploded through my RSS reader this…

Incorporeality Renewed

In case you hadn't noticed - it's the 4th anniversary of this website. Happy birthday maetl! Well maetl has really been around for much longer than that - it's just that it wasn't until 2004 when…

Still Life with Typewriter

I'll never write another novel on an electric typewriter. I'd rather use a sharp stick and a little pile of dogshit.  - Tom Robbins, Still Life with Woodpecker On rereading this, and pondering…

Incorporeal Transformations

Long overdue, perhaps more difficult than finding time, was the problem of actually having something to write inside this architecture. But finally, the format of the experiment…

Why I No Longer Work for the Man

Positive life changes can only happen when I am able to choose when and how I work, what I work on, and who I work with.

Signs, Sigils, and Syntax

Why do we call programming languages “languages”? What is missing from the literary traditions of programming?

Words Per Day

Anyone who knows me, is well aware of the variegated mayhem of my creative impulses. I get swept away by so many different ideas, some days I get pretty lost in a flurry of forking paths, not knowing…

Closing Loops

Apologies for the recent silence on this channel. The pipeline is rather choked at present, and I haven't completed any interesting content for a while. Recent work has been fairly frustrating and…

In my craft or sullen art

In my craft or sullen art Exercised in the still night When only the moon rages And the lovers lie abed With all their griefs in their arms, I labour by singing light Not for ambition or bread Or…

Narrative Action

The games industry has come to a crossroads, something that is becoming more and more apparent as I engage deeper into research for my upcoming game (more on that soon). The Guardian Games Blog has…

Alphabets

From time to time we take our pen in hand And scribble symbols on a blank white sheet. Their meaning is at everyone's command; It is a game whose rules…