Good on you. You can teach your son some valuable perspective, while getting in some quality time as well. Please let us know how it goes, if you don’t mind. I feel invested now.

Depends on what you’re looking for, really. I’m unsure about the rules regarding sharing specific sites, but if you DM me, I can throw a few recommendations your way.

You make some good points there. I remember LAN parties in high school where we would spend hours troubleshooting network problems and calling older brothers for advice. I learned a lot from those experiences, because I was forced to. I think a big part of the changes we are seeing in computer literacy is what I would call the Apple philosophy: if a toddler can’t use it, we need to simplify. Basically, as you said, things are getting simpler with less granular control. Of course, Apple is far from the only company doing this stuff, but they seem to be industry leaders in the sense of ‘dumbing down’ tech.

I recently had a friend say that privacy is a luxury these days. My first thought was that there is nothing luxurious about it. It takes hard work, inconvenience and savvy. And I’m not even close to Stallman levels of privacy paranoia. I know just enough to acknowledge that I know nothing. I feel similarly about tech in general. I have been using Linux for ten years, I use VPNs, I have played around with DNS settings, et cetera. But I realize that I have barely scratched the surface of what is possible and available to those willing to spend the time and get it done.

Anyway, I’ll shut up now. Thanks for replying thoughtfully, and thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

Ass Ponys. When you search for them on YouTube, be sure to search for “Ass ponys band.” Otherwise you’ll find a lot of softcore My Little Pony porn.

I have that one already, and it’s great. But yeah, the Playdate category on itch.io has 900 entries. It’s a bit overwhelming, to be honest.

Thanks! I’m sideloading it now. I’ll let you know what I think of it.

I’ll only say no to this question because I don’t want to have kids. But I taught my mom how to pirate, and I’m proud of that. I believe that piracy is not a morally neutral act. It is morally good. Pro-piracy is an ethically good stance to take in this age.

Definitely some beautiful stuff there; thanks for the link. I’ll keep him in mind for it.

Can I DM you?

I can imagine; I wouldn’t recommend it for kids. Way too much gore and tension.

I think it’s intentionally ambiguous. For me, the point is the paranoia and distrust. I might be wrong, of course, but my interpretation is that we are supposed to leave the experience with questions.

Awesome, thanks. I just checked out her website, and it looks great. Thanks for the link. I will definitely consider this as an option.

Right? I can’t watch it with people anymore, because I keep pausing to explain how certain effects were achieved. It’s a monumental achievement.

That’s a great one as well. That alleyway fight scene is so fucking cool. Carpenter is easily one of the most creative, most fun artists of his generation.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I’ll return to this comment when mine arrives to remind myself of the titles you mention. I am very excited to get mine. I’m not a huge retro gamer, but I do love the creativity of constraint. Like setting a movie all in one room. You have to get pretty inventive to pull off an enjoyable experience with so little to work with.

John Carpenter’s 1982 masterpiece The Thing. The themes of paranoia and isolation are so perfectly explored; it launched the career of Keith David, who is just a treasure; the performances are all immaculate; and those effects. My god, the effects.

Can I DM you with the concept(s) I have in mind?

That sounds awesome, although I do want to insist on paying. Your labour is worth something. Can I DM you with the details?

As far as design/style, I have a few specific ideas in mind that I could easily explain to an artist, but I have no stringent requirements. I’m also very flexible on the timeline. This is a hobby project, so there are no deadlines or prerequisites.

That’s probably the most practical suggestion; thanks. I’ll turn to that if this post doesn’t get anywhere. I just wanted to ask the fediverse first, for a number of reasons.