Parchmap is a wonderful expansion to the interactive fiction player Parchment. It adds a visual auto-mapper to Infocom-style games, including those created with Inform 7. You can jot notes on the map, too! My own 2001 IF-Comp entry, “Fine-Tuned: An Auto-mated Romance,” is one of the 217 stories available on the Parchmap site.
I remember when I started seeing political cartoons that began depicting office workers using flatscreen LCDs instead of bulky CRTs. I inherited a handful of CRTs as people I know upgraded. I still haven’t bought a new LCD TV — I’ve inherited several hand-me-downs from family members. The next time I offer my course on the history and culture of video games, I’ll have to include this article so my…
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Succeeds in Historic First Flight
In March 2001, I was blogging about All Your Base Are Belong To Us (early meme) “Remembrance of Things Past” (reflection on the digital legacy we are creating with our personal data) (Simson Garfinkel) A new generation of three-dimensional printers (“Fax It Up, Scotty” I Missed Class… Did Anything Important Happen? (From a FAQ page I totally forgot about) “Every Pixel Tells a Story” (transition from pen-and-ink animation to digital animation)
The chunky laptop seems to boot and the LCD screen flickers, but never actually turns on. I should check it with an external monitor. I’m sure I’ll never fit in 32-inch waist slacks again, even if I had occasion to wear a suit. (I occasionally wear a jacket and tie.) The $10 is, I presume, still good.