Andrew Plotkin
@eblong.com
An interactive fiction guy. https://zarfhome.com, https://blog.zarfhome.com, https://eblong.com/zarf/home.html
November 3, 2025 at 10:26 PM
I have mastered the MPMediaItemPropertyArtwork property.
October 6, 2025 at 9:56 PM
I have mastered the MPMediaItemPropertyArtwork property.
Kinda curious what burningman.org/countdown/ will say in ten minutes.
Spoiler: it’s wrong by three hours. Time zone error — I’m in Eastern. Time zones are hard but not *this* hard.
Spoiler: it’s wrong by three hours. Time zone error — I’m in Eastern. Time zones are hard but not *this* hard.
August 31, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Kinda curious what burningman.org/countdown/ will say in ten minutes.
Spoiler: it’s wrong by three hours. Time zone error — I’m in Eastern. Time zones are hard but not *this* hard.
Spoiler: it’s wrong by three hours. Time zone error — I’m in Eastern. Time zones are hard but not *this* hard.
In Philadelphia, I took the opportunity to visit mathstodon.xyz/@bathsheba 's “Eltanin”.
bathsheba.com/gallery/comm...
bathsheba.com/gallery/comm...
June 25, 2025 at 3:27 PM
In Philadelphia, I took the opportunity to visit mathstodon.xyz/@bathsheba 's “Eltanin”.
bathsheba.com/gallery/comm...
bathsheba.com/gallery/comm...
mathstodon.xyz/@bathsheba/1...
"Binder-jetted steel with bronze infiltration” is this 3D-printed metal composite.
"Binder-jetted steel with bronze infiltration” is this 3D-printed metal composite.
June 10, 2025 at 7:49 PM
mathstodon.xyz/@bathsheba/1...
"Binder-jetted steel with bronze infiltration” is this 3D-printed metal composite.
"Binder-jetted steel with bronze infiltration” is this 3D-printed metal composite.
Dug these LEFT/RIGHT signs out of a drawer. I made these in high school. They're transparent plastic, so I could put them in my car windshield, in the bottom left and right corners.
(I am not very good at telling "left" from "right" when someone shouts driving directions at me.)
(I am not very good at telling "left" from "right" when someone shouts driving directions at me.)
May 4, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Dug these LEFT/RIGHT signs out of a drawer. I made these in high school. They're transparent plastic, so I could put them in my car windshield, in the bottom left and right corners.
(I am not very good at telling "left" from "right" when someone shouts driving directions at me.)
(I am not very good at telling "left" from "right" when someone shouts driving directions at me.)
Lotta Godot being mentioned on big banners here at GDC.
March 18, 2025 at 5:49 AM
Lotta Godot being mentioned on big banners here at GDC.
Test of paragraph transition effect. Sketched up in Godot.
(I hope the screen recording works sensibly...)
(I hope the screen recording works sensibly...)
February 19, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Test of paragraph transition effect. Sketched up in Godot.
(I hope the screen recording works sensibly...)
(I hope the screen recording works sensibly...)
Making screenshots...
Jason Shiga's _The Beyond_, coming to the iOS App Store... er, pretty soon. A couple of weeks probably. Depends how fast I transcribe the captions for VoiceOver mode.
Jason Shiga's _The Beyond_, coming to the iOS App Store... er, pretty soon. A couple of weeks probably. Depends how fast I transcribe the captions for VoiceOver mode.
January 26, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Making screenshots...
Jason Shiga's _The Beyond_, coming to the iOS App Store... er, pretty soon. A couple of weeks probably. Depends how fast I transcribe the captions for VoiceOver mode.
Jason Shiga's _The Beyond_, coming to the iOS App Store... er, pretty soon. A couple of weeks probably. Depends how fast I transcribe the captions for VoiceOver mode.
Pretty good for less than a day! It's nice having a well-tested framework.
January 23, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Pretty good for less than a day! It's nice having a well-tested framework.
There was a moment in about 2011 when I said "I don't need an array, no panel in Meanwhile has more than three outcomes except for that one special case. Which I'll just do some cut-and-paste for."
Two books and several special cases later...
Two books and several special cases later...
January 23, 2025 at 6:07 PM
There was a moment in about 2011 when I said "I don't need an array, no panel in Meanwhile has more than three outcomes except for that one special case. Which I'll just do some cut-and-paste for."
Two books and several special cases later...
Two books and several special cases later...
This is a rough month but you can make a food. I made a pile of macaroni and cheese and, as you see, ate a lot of it.
Not pictured: a very nice asian-pear/carrot/arugula salad. I believe in vegetables, I just didn't think it came out photogenic.
Not pictured: a very nice asian-pear/carrot/arugula salad. I believe in vegetables, I just didn't think it came out photogenic.
January 13, 2025 at 1:06 AM
This is a rough month but you can make a food. I made a pile of macaroni and cheese and, as you see, ate a lot of it.
Not pictured: a very nice asian-pear/carrot/arugula salad. I believe in vegetables, I just didn't think it came out photogenic.
Not pictured: a very nice asian-pear/carrot/arugula salad. I believe in vegetables, I just didn't think it came out photogenic.
This morning's discovery: Zork parser bug dealing with the word ZZMGCK, which is in the game dictionary but attached to a placeholder object.
(Previously noted by Nathan Simpson: www.microheaven.com/InfocomBugs/... )
(Previously noted by Nathan Simpson: www.microheaven.com/InfocomBugs/... )
January 1, 2025 at 6:43 PM
This morning's discovery: Zork parser bug dealing with the word ZZMGCK, which is in the game dictionary but attached to a placeholder object.
(Previously noted by Nathan Simpson: www.microheaven.com/InfocomBugs/... )
(Previously noted by Nathan Simpson: www.microheaven.com/InfocomBugs/... )
I wound up comparing the room connection properties to identify the maze rooms one by one. "If TROLL-ROOM is EAST, that's [30 102], so this must be MAZE-1..." Felt like 1980 all over again!
December 25, 2024 at 4:22 PM
I wound up comparing the room connection properties to identify the maze rooms one by one. "If TROLL-ROOM is EAST, that's [30 102], so this must be MAZE-1..." Felt like 1980 all over again!
Today's progress:
“Hang on,” you say, “we've had an in-browser Zork interpreter since 2008. What progress?”
Quite right! This is... part of another thing. Wait for it.
“Hang on,” you say, “we've had an in-browser Zork interpreter since 2008. What progress?”
Quite right! This is... part of another thing. Wait for it.
December 24, 2024 at 4:43 AM
Today's progress:
“Hang on,” you say, “we've had an in-browser Zork interpreter since 2008. What progress?”
Quite right! This is... part of another thing. Wait for it.
“Hang on,” you say, “we've had an in-browser Zork interpreter since 2008. What progress?”
Quite right! This is... part of another thing. Wait for it.
Woke up this morning, said "What if IF tools were more purple?"
December 10, 2024 at 5:27 PM
Woke up this morning, said "What if IF tools were more purple?"
By the way, I dug through my photo folder for image fodder for Jimmy's post. I didn't pass this one along because it's not IF-relevant, but here's me in 1992 -- I suspect I was home for the holidays shortly after graduating from college.
December 6, 2024 at 6:06 PM
By the way, I dug through my photo folder for image fodder for Jimmy's post. I didn't pass this one along because it's not IF-relevant, but here's me in 1992 -- I suspect I was home for the holidays shortly after graduating from college.
React progress. Working on a Blorb editor tool.
(It doesn't edit yet, but displaying the structured data is working pretty good.)
(It doesn't edit yet, but displaying the structured data is working pretty good.)
December 5, 2024 at 11:41 PM
React progress. Working on a Blorb editor tool.
(It doesn't edit yet, but displaying the structured data is working pretty good.)
(It doesn't edit yet, but displaying the structured data is working pretty good.)
Been a while since I hung out at one of these.
December 5, 2024 at 9:49 PM
Been a while since I hung out at one of these.
Met a blue heron. (Huron River, Ann Arbor)
November 29, 2024 at 12:00 AM
Met a blue heron. (Huron River, Ann Arbor)
"You've read it, right?" she asked.
I have never read it. Guess I will.
I have never read it. Guess I will.
November 22, 2024 at 7:24 PM
"You've read it, right?" she asked.
I have never read it. Guess I will.
I have never read it. Guess I will.