("JP")

The concept of play can, of course, be tricky to pin down (Sutton-Smith 1997). For some it means a specific form of activity, for others it is a disposi-tion (Barnett 1991), a process of unfolding contingency (Malaby 2007), a state of experience (Csikszentmihalyi and Bennett 1971), or located within a play frame (Bateson 1972; Goffman 1974;... See more

And worst of all, we’ve lost sight of the most salient part about computers: their malleability. We’ve acquiesced the creation of our virtual worlds, where we now spend most of our time, to the select few who can spend the millions to hire enough software engineers. So many of the photons that hit our eyes come from purely fungible pixels, yet for... See more

Vernacular design outside of architecture

I've been thinking about how this idea applies to design in fields outside of architecture. Architecture is unique in its geographic, climatic, and cultural contexts, since the "localism" aspect is particularly relevant. But there are probably some parallels that could be drawn to modern software design,... See more

THEY ATE TOGETHER every chance they could. They had to. The enormous photocopiers they were responsible for maintaining were so complex, temperamental, and variable between models and upgrades that it was difficult to keep the machines functioning without frequent conversations with their peers about the ever-shifting nuances of repair and care.... See more

There is much evidence on several levels that there are at least two major tasks to human life. The first task is to build a strong "container" or identity; the second is to find the contents that the container was meant to hold.