Dan Schmidt
@dfan.bsky.social
Co-creator of Ultima Underworld, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, et al. Lead singer & songwriter of Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer-Incentives. These days I mostly play the piano and Go.
For what I paid for this Scotch, you'd think they might bother to use more than just a single malt.
November 3, 2025 at 2:12 AM
For what I paid for this Scotch, you'd think they might bother to use more than just a single malt.
Tonight marks the transition from everyone incorrectly writing EST to incorrectly writing EDT.
November 2, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Tonight marks the transition from everyone incorrectly writing EST to incorrectly writing EDT.
Reposted by Dan Schmidt
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
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The official home of the Python Programming Language
www.python.org
October 27, 2025 at 2:47 PM
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
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A long chat with Łukasz Ściga of the Wookash podcast about my career at Looking Glass Studios and Harmonix Music Systems, making games like Ultima Underworld, Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri, and Guitar Hero: www.youtube.com/watch?v=II9L...
Behind Great Games | Dan Schmidt
YouTube video by Wookash Podcast
www.youtube.com
October 18, 2025 at 8:05 PM
A long chat with Łukasz Ściga of the Wookash podcast about my career at Looking Glass Studios and Harmonix Music Systems, making games like Ultima Underworld, Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri, and Guitar Hero: www.youtube.com/watch?v=II9L...
11/16 bliss www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le1k...
Palm - Parable Lickers [Official Audio]
YouTube video by Saddle Creek
www.youtube.com
September 4, 2025 at 8:54 PM
11/16 bliss www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le1k...
I would pay handsomely for Pedro Pascal's voice in my GPS as long as after informing me of the optimal route he would always add "This is the way".
August 27, 2025 at 12:04 AM
I would pay handsomely for Pedro Pascal's voice in my GPS as long as after informing me of the optimal route he would always add "This is the way".
August 3, 2025 at 2:29 AM
William Bolcom straight-up trolling me with an A♭♭ dominant seventh chord (the key signature at this point is Oops! All Flats)
July 1, 2025 at 11:34 PM
William Bolcom straight-up trolling me with an A♭♭ dominant seventh chord (the key signature at this point is Oops! All Flats)
A sign that you're playing too much Blue Prince: you get excited when you see this while walking down the street
May 12, 2025 at 10:52 PM
A sign that you're playing too much Blue Prince: you get excited when you see this while walking down the street
Writing lyrics is usually kind of a pain but sometimes you get to rhyme soapbox with roadblocks.
April 9, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Writing lyrics is usually kind of a pain but sometimes you get to rhyme soapbox with roadblocks.
Attention all musicians: the chance that I will buy your record goes up by around a factor of 10 if an excerpt of its sheet music is on the album cover.
March 22, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Attention all musicians: the chance that I will buy your record goes up by around a factor of 10 if an excerpt of its sheet music is on the album cover.
An inordinate number of my dreams take place in restaurants.
January 16, 2025 at 2:35 AM
An inordinate number of my dreams take place in restaurants.
January 4, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Love to sight-read music in A# minor
January 3, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Love to sight-read music in A# minor
RIP Tom Johnson, an incredibly original and vital voice in modern music. If you know one piece by him, it's probably "Failing"; if you don't, now you do: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM9N...
Failing: A Very Difficult Piece for String Bass
YouTube video by Robert Black - Topic
www.youtube.com
December 31, 2024 at 7:17 PM
RIP Tom Johnson, an incredibly original and vital voice in modern music. If you know one piece by him, it's probably "Failing"; if you don't, now you do: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM9N...
The six most common answers on r/piano, in no particular order:
1. The time signature's fine, that's a triplet.
2. That staff has two voices.
3. It's a turn.
4. It's cancelling the previous accidental.
5. I can't tell unless you provide the clef and key signature.
6. Is that from musescore.com?
1. The time signature's fine, that's a triplet.
2. That staff has two voices.
3. It's a turn.
4. It's cancelling the previous accidental.
5. I can't tell unless you provide the clef and key signature.
6. Is that from musescore.com?
December 20, 2024 at 2:53 PM
The six most common answers on r/piano, in no particular order:
1. The time signature's fine, that's a triplet.
2. That staff has two voices.
3. It's a turn.
4. It's cancelling the previous accidental.
5. I can't tell unless you provide the clef and key signature.
6. Is that from musescore.com?
1. The time signature's fine, that's a triplet.
2. That staff has two voices.
3. It's a turn.
4. It's cancelling the previous accidental.
5. I can't tell unless you provide the clef and key signature.
6. Is that from musescore.com?
Today's belated discovery was Dopesmoker by Sleep, and it's glorious, the For Philip Guston of stoner metal. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq1o...
Dopesmoker (2022 Remastered Version)
YouTube video by Sleep - Topic
www.youtube.com
December 19, 2024 at 2:03 AM
Today's belated discovery was Dopesmoker by Sleep, and it's glorious, the For Philip Guston of stoner metal. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq1o...
I can finally confidently claim that I've memorized all the Bach Inventions. Biggest unexpected benefit: I always have something to do with my mind when it's not otherwise engaged. On to the Sinfonias?
December 18, 2024 at 3:01 AM
I can finally confidently claim that I've memorized all the Bach Inventions. Biggest unexpected benefit: I always have something to do with my mind when it's not otherwise engaged. On to the Sinfonias?
A bandmate just reminded me of an old customer review of one of our CDs: "It doesn't get any better than this. ★★★★☆"
December 16, 2024 at 9:52 PM
A bandmate just reminded me of an old customer review of one of our CDs: "It doesn't get any better than this. ★★★★☆"
Carry-On: Snakes on a Plane but it's luggage
December 14, 2024 at 2:12 AM
Carry-On: Snakes on a Plane but it's luggage
I knew a bunch of these dots individually but was unaware of many of the connections. A great intro to an amazing cluster of creative scenes.
Had a blast surveying the '90s Chicago underground — from the Vandermark 5 to U.S. Maple, 8 Bold Souls, Shellac and, of course, the Chicago Underground outfit itself... — for Shfl: theshfl.com/guide/The-90...
The ’90s Chicago Underground
Read Hank Shteamer on The ’90s Chicago Underground
theshfl.com
December 12, 2024 at 9:53 PM
I knew a bunch of these dots individually but was unaware of many of the connections. A great intro to an amazing cluster of creative scenes.
Doing editing passes on my text writing usually means cutting material. Doing editing passes on my music writing usually means adding repetitions.
December 12, 2024 at 3:00 AM
Doing editing passes on my text writing usually means cutting material. Doing editing passes on my music writing usually means adding repetitions.
Sometimes a song needs to be 8 minutes long. shrubbies.bandcamp.com/track/memphi...
memphis in texas, by Shrubbies
from the album memphis in texas
shrubbies.bandcamp.com
December 11, 2024 at 3:55 PM
Sometimes a song needs to be 8 minutes long. shrubbies.bandcamp.com/track/memphi...
I went to look up the original music to Jingle Bells to see if it had a secondary dominant under "one-horse open" and boy was it not what I expected. Full score at drive.google.com/file/d/12gOf...
December 7, 2024 at 12:26 AM
I went to look up the original music to Jingle Bells to see if it had a secondary dominant under "one-horse open" and boy was it not what I expected. Full score at drive.google.com/file/d/12gOf...
I've been managing to do okay for the last few weeks but I don't know what's going to happen when I run out of Nero Wolfe novels.
November 27, 2024 at 7:02 PM
I've been managing to do okay for the last few weeks but I don't know what's going to happen when I run out of Nero Wolfe novels.