Ben's thread reminds of a hilarious bug we were alerted too shortly after shipping Quake IV. Two facts: (1) Just as in all the Quakes, weapons to pick up hovered and spun on the floor. (2) Like all prior Quakes, we had a console for lots of console commands...

https://twitter.com/bgolus/status/1508874560799592449

And as in all other Quakes, you could use the console to change your model. But UNLIKE prior Quakes, we had somehow managed to disable the ability to change yourself to ANY model in the game via the console.

So the topic of gatekeeping comes up a lot in games, and lately it's come up in the fiber/textile world, too. I want to mention a form of gatekeeping that I've always found grating, and it will sound SUPER minor, but it bothers me: "the Teacher's First Name Drop". I'll explain. (This very same phenomena happens in the dance community, which I was a part of for a while, btw.)

You're a newbie spinner or knitter, and you decide for the first time (in a non-Covid world) to go to a fiber event. Your first! You're SO EXCITED.

So this is the Merino fleece I've been working on, from a sheep named Thor (sadly, I don't have a pic of Thor, even though I met him). Last night I decided to try a new (to me) method of washing Merino fleece -- Margaret Stove's method. I learned about it recently. Now, check this method out: you pull out individual locks from the fleece. You dip the lock into very, very hot water. You rub it on a bar of soap. You dip it again until the water runs clean, and you press the water out and lay it on a towel to dry.

My 7yo told me today that he wants to make a holiday where “we give money and do things for poor people.” I said we don’t need a holiday, we can do that every day. He said, “but then kids can do it, too,” meaning that we’d just all have a day of service to the poor. I told him that in lieu of a national holiday, since I don’t have that kind of pull, we’ll put together a fundraiser. His dad and I will each double match whatever he gives from his own money. I gave him some topics as ideas — he immediately chose food for hungry kids.

NOOOOO! You guys, I am SO SAD TODAY. My backyard fiber festival is doing its last one after 20 years. This amazing festival that I look forward to for AN ENTIRE YEAR is going away, and I want to cry. madronafiberarts.com I mean, I get it. They're retiring. I know it's their festival. But I LOVE Madrona. I only discovered it a few years ago and kicked myself for not discovering it sooner. It's big, yet intimate. Wonderful classes where you feel you get you to know your teacher.

I've been in interviewing loops lately, and something struck me about gender and interview questions that I'd never thought about before. It has to do with the common question, "tell me about a time when you've encountered conflict, and how that got resolved." (1+) I realized today how loaded that question is whenever I'd had to consider how I should answer. Most women in tech encounter gender-based conflict, so when we think of conflicts we've had to resolve, they're heavily steeped in extra stuff that has nothing to do with our work.

For those of you who work in social media, I need to share the story of my friend who died, and I didn't know because algorithms. A friend I've known mostly online for 15+ years died this weekend. Our friendship started on an old gaming forum, but continued on Facebook.