Notices by Andrew Plotkin (zarfeblong@mastodon.gamedev.place), page 2

I want a programming language that supports kennings.

How many times have you written code like “errlog.stacktrace(t, verbose=true” when you could have said “Bring the back-breaking hunter-sign to the singer of sorrow-tales.”

@technomancy It’s been suggested, but is bittorrent a good solution for a file that’s updated weekly? Seems like that would just keep out-of-date versions in circulation.

We’ve added a one-URL download for the entire contents of the IF Archive.

https://blog.zarfhome.com/2024/02/download-the-ifarchive

(That's not the URL, that's a post *about* the URL. I'm not about to put a 30GB download link in a social media twoot, good grief no.)

#InteractiveFiction #IFArchive

You got coding problems, I feel bad for you, son.
I got 98 problems ‘cuz I’m off by one.

You have two wolves inside you. Also two goats, two cabbages, and a boat.

The Activision thing finally landed. Which means MS owns Infocom, via an impressive 40-year chain of buyouts, takeovers, and shakeups.

Now I formally put forth the plea:

Microsoft should put all of Infocom’s IP under a Creative Commons license. Or donate the rights to a nonprofit which can do the same. Let’s bring all these legally-shaky fan sites and collections into the light.

https://blog.zarfhome.com/2023/10/microsoft-consumes-activision

(Yes, I’m part of a nonprofit that could do that.)

Pass it along.

#InteractiveFiction

This went around today:

https://www.semianalysis.com/p/google-we-have-no-moat-and-neither

Leaked Google document, basically saying "We have no competitive advantage over open-source LLM work."

This is interesting Google-kremlinology. But surely the important point is that AI -- at least the text-generation, image-generation parts -- are out of the hands of tech companies. Anybody can run that stuff at home. It is now impossible to legally regulate or limit it.

(DeCSS flashbacks, anyone?)

This isn't entirely negative. It opens up new ethical uses for AI tech! You can train a text or image model *entirely on your own work*, at home -- no need to rely on a predatory tech company *or* questionably sourced data.

Indeed, I know at least one artist who is doing this right now.