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“This is a videogame, those are real peoples’ lives, we are not trying to make a statement with that.” #devquote #missingthepoint #semionautvia Twitter

SemioTweet #1265382157

    Just remember folks; if you’re talking, you’re making a statement.

    Just curious, what was the context of that statement?

    It was a quote from a Valve developer in response to criticisms of L4D2.

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I was recently reminded that I wrote this advice for GDC attendees and I realized that it’s a huge part of how I go about life:

Make eye contact with everyone. If they look back at you, smile. If they smile back say, “Hi.” If they say hi back, ask them how their conference [day/week/month/year] is going. The next thing you know, you’re in a conversation with an industry [interesting/insightful/intelligent/angry/crazy] pro [artist/geek/homeless person/middle-aged woman with a golden retriever *].

The trick, of course, is finding value in talking to people from different backgrounds and with different perspectives. If you’re not genuinely interested, the above advice won’t do you a lot of good.

* Crazy Middle-Aged Woman with a Gold Retriever appears to be a Portland archetype. I’ve met at least three in as many months.

Just Put One Foot in Front of the Other…

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There’s a new link in the Notebook’s menu. It’s titled Field Notes and it contains the last nine shared items from my Google Reader account. It still needs some formatting tweaking, but I’m considering replacing the framework of this theme with something HTML5-ish soon, so you’ll have to live with the warts for bit.

If you don’t use Google Reader or another RSS reader (my shared items do have a feed), then feel free to stop by and check out the semionautical items I’ve brought back from my travels around the datasphere.

And that page is just the tip of the Field Notes iceberg. There are so many interesting people and ideas out there that deserve discussing and I want to ensure this blog reflects that. So stay tuned for new Field Notes features as I unveil them!

Don’t Mind Me, I’m Just an Observer Here