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Books

Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do

More fully, Tom Vanderbilt wrote Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us). I liked the book a lot, though much of it felt familiar. The book is less about technological issues contributing to traffic, but about the sociological side of it.

The book is divided into nine chapters, each with two to four major sections. The first three chapters do a good job of establishing human biases, and explaining how our hardwiring affects how we see the world, particularly while we’re enclosed alone in a car. They also establish how difficult driving really is– and the biases that lead us to overestimate our competence, underestimate threats, etc.

Chapters 4 and 5 are bigger picture, about a systemic overview of the process. Interestingly, parking is targeted as a major component of traffic, due to circling, the way it blocks entire traffic lanes, etc. Chapter six talks about how our individual problem optimizing leads to the overall problems– there are a lot of tragedy of the commons issues in driving.

Chapter seven was the most familiar (due to ASCE articles); a lot of discussion about how things that feel unsafe (like roundabouts) can be much safer, just because it makes you more alert. It also talks about some of the efforts in the Netherlands to incorporate cards more into village life instead of giving spaces over completely to cars– and some of the unusual effects that result.

Chapter 8 was about local traffic variations– particularly how varied traffic can be in third world nations and rapidly developing nations. Chapter nine has a few loosely connected themes; how statistics don’t match our perceptions and concludes with a discussion of new technologies… and how they aren’t any more likely to dramatically revolutionize things than the last hundred inventions that promised to revolutionize driving and traffic.

All in all it is a good introduction to the subject. I suspect everyone will be familiar with some of the points brought up– through casual exposure, drivers education, etc. There’s a huge breadth here– I doubt anyone, even traffic engineers and other professionals, have looked at the problems of traffic from all of the angles mentioned. Check it out if you want a better handle on why traffic is the way it is– and why that frustrates us so much.

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Game Group

Next Game: Friday, Jan 23rd

If you think you’ll have a problem making it, please let us know. Otherwise, I’m looking forward to resuming your mission of destruction on Friday.

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Books

Jubilee by Jack Dann

This is a collection of short stories over a career. Lots of interesting stories, some more appealing than others. Still, a solid sampler for a man I hadn’t otherwise encountered.

While it’s billed as SF and many stories have some element out of the norm, the more constant focus is his characters’ relations with Judaism. Among the characters are several interesting perspectives on the culture and well described struggles with doubt and similar religious themes.

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Game Group

Next Game: Friday, Jan. 16th

After defeating and killing the Dwarven King (though the body vanished), the group decided to hole up and enjoy a few tankards celebrating their victory. Can everyone make it Friday? Let us know if Friday won’t work– otherwise we’ll start at 6:30 as usual.

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Game Group

Friday, Jan 9th

We resume on Friday, the 9th. Does anyone have a problem making it? We’ll need to figure out schedules and possibilities, and make sure that Fridays are still available for everyone given the new semester.

Does anyone remember where we left off? You just defeated the remainder of the elite guard, in the snow, a day and a half’s march from the great volcano. Any thoughts on your upcoming actions so I can prep appropriately?

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Books

The Dark Door by Kate Wilheim

A solid book, SF according to the subtitle, but as easily classified as a suspenseful thriller. Very enjoyable and a quick read.

There are three POV characters (not including the -logues), but it’s the two men whose eyes we look out most of the time. They’re smart and driven, each with interesting limitations and blinders. Constance is a very engaging woman– scientist and outdoors woman, with a perfected retreat towards domesticity that comes out a couple of times. The author sells the relationship between the characters; the marriage and unspoken communication are conveyed well.

I’ll probably pick up more of her books at the library soon. (On reading her Wikipedia page, it appears that there are several novels featuring Constance and Charlie– this is the second written.) I also remember her book Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, an interesting twist on a calm end of the world.

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Books

Game Night

Game Night is a fun book by Johnny Nexus. The core concept is very familiar– a dysfunctional RPG night and pokes fun at the problems common to RPG groups (much like the movie, The Gamers). Time starts and stops, rewinds, and one character just stands around because its player is asleep all the time.

A conceit of the book is that the players are gods guiding their mortals, not strictly roleplayers. The book’s humor runs well throughout, even as he needles our foibles.

If you’re interested in giving it a try, the author just released a free novella length prequel as a teaser. It’s called Saving Stone.

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Books

Things We Think About Games

Things We Think About Games is an exceptionally quick read, fun and thought provoking. Much of the book is a collection of short, sharp sayings. Much of the work is in the interpretation– sometimes that author takes up the challenge, writing up to a page of discussion– and sometimes the analysis is up to you, only a quickly sentence is provided.

It’s a fast read that might shake loose some dangling thoughts. It’s probably more useful to designers, to make sure they’re not falling into traps, but there’s a little something here for everyone. I’ll happily lend it to locals if they want to look it over.

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Books

The Black Company by Glenn Cook

Clearly the first book in a trilogy, The Black Company is about a bunch of mercenaries who leave a depressing garrison job to go fight in the north. It feels relatively gritty, with a lot less common magic than most fantasy novels these days. Magic is still mysterious and often grim.

The book was marred by a bad back cover that emphasizes The White Rose, who doesn’t play much of a role in this book at all. The back cover applies to the trilogy– but doesn’t get at the core of this book.

The forces of the Lady and her dark servants (the ten) are appropriately dark, though there is more complexity than I feared. The opposition, fighting under the circle, is well written as grubby and desperate, even if their cause is nominally better.

In the end, as a book it’s interesting but unsatisfying. As book one of a trilogy it does its job– the characters are strong enough that I’d like to read more about them. Even if this book feels adrift, mostly valuable as a signpost to the rest of the series.

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Books

The Well of Ascension (Mistborn 2)

The Well of Ascension is the second book in Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn Trilogy. It’s very much an Empire Strikes Back type middle book. There are still lots of interesting things going on but the conflicts are muddier and the opposition is suffocating (rather than more viscerally scary).

After the good accomplished by the heroes in the first book, everything seems ready to fall apart. The book begins a year after book one, with Elend ruling a shaky kingdom centered on Luthadiel.

If I had to quickly summarize the difference between this book and its predecessor, I’d say this book is like the first, minus the “planning the overthrow of the Last Empire” crime caper style collaboration and adding an extensive “politics and ruling” subplot. This was still a great book and has me eagerly awaiting book 3 (The Hero of Ages).

One of the biggest changes is spoilery, so I’ll put it below the fold.