A senior manager at work recommended The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity by Carlo Cipolla (economic historian at Berkley). Anyone familiar with a certain type of office already knows the punchline: the higher the position, the more likely the book is misconstrued as an instruction manual. Cipolla's essay is amusing and there is some benefit … Continue reading Is the Man in the Arena stupid? (after reading two essays)
Author: systemchalk
After Reading Nothing But The Truth
The Toronto School Board rejected a girl's book club event, including a speaking engagement, for Marie Henein's memoir due to a case she was the defence lawyer for in 2016. That case, along with all of the other high profile cases Henein has been involved in do not appear in the memoir, though her concern … Continue reading After Reading Nothing But The Truth
Should companies be allowed to buy games?
Drake Star Partners, an investment banking firm, published a report on deals in gaming made in the first three quarters of 2021. The report states that the total dollar value of acquisitions (announced or closed) is already twice that of 2020 in its entirety. The comparison to 2020 is even more striking considering that 2020 … Continue reading Should companies be allowed to buy games?
Did you hear about that dumb Kotaku article?
Did you hear about that dumb Kotaku article that made a bunch of people mad? How about this instead: Did you know that one of the founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was an occultist who ecstatically recited Crowley's "Hymn to Pan" during rocket tests and befriended L. Ron Hubbard? Interesting huh? No really, the … Continue reading Did you hear about that dumb Kotaku article?
Happy “y no international mens day?” Day
I've posted variations of this on Twitter or in private messages before, but given that today is International Women's Day, I thought I would enshrine the comments in a blog post. The original analysis was lighthearted, and I'm probably not the best one to speak substantively on International Women's Day, but I've also tried to … Continue reading Happy “y no international mens day?” Day
Untimely meditations on a mania
Gamestop's market capitalization (share price multiplied by number of shares, a measure of valuation for the company) exceeded $22 billion by the end of this week, up from the quarter of a billion it was valued at the same time last year. This $22 billion valuation is greater than the market capitalization of Kellogg's, the … Continue reading Untimely meditations on a mania
Good politicians should disappoint you
I'm one of those people who is "into politics" but, in my defence, I started back when it was boring. The last four years have seen politics consume everyone's attention and the results have not been edifying. If there is one political story to come out of 2020 it is that people want politics to … Continue reading Good politicians should disappoint you
Leave Lurkers Alone
When I was in university I was walking home late one night with my headphones in. The only other person around was a man walking down the sidewalk the other way and he said something like "nice night" or other some pleasantry. I wear headphones to avoid this sort of thing, and I was not … Continue reading Leave Lurkers Alone
Steam Reviews are Asinine
Preface: I wind up wanting to write this article each time I check out the reviews for a game that I like that has recently been released. The game in this case is Lucifer Within Us and I was given a press key from Kitfox Games for promotional purposes. As much as I enjoy the … Continue reading Steam Reviews are Asinine
Store Wars: Imperfect views of imperfect markets
Economics has something of an edge when it comes to respectability among the social sciences, but it is often squandered by talking heads acting like everyone else is an idiot on TV. The benefit of taking an introductory economics class is not prestige or a set of talking points but rather a set of tools … Continue reading Store Wars: Imperfect views of imperfect markets
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