Games At Work dot Biz

Michael Rowe, Michael Martine, Andy Piper

At the nexus of games, work, and tech

  1. -17 ч

    e559 – Welcome to the Matrix

    Photo by Francis Painchaud on Unsplash Published 29 June 2026 e559 with Michael R and Andy – it’s a catch-up and geek out on things we’ve been doing, games we’ve been playing, and topics we’ve been thinking about… including Apple history, Retro Computing, and self-hosting services. A slightly different show format this week, as Michael R and Andy decide not to cover the weekly news stories and links… and instead catch up with one another, across a range of topics. Michael has backed a new Kickstarter, for a podcast talking about Apple’s background and history in California. Andy talks about his recent visit to the Retro Computer Museum in Leicester, UK. Then, there’s a discussion of Andy’s latest work project, a new role at the Matrix.org Foundation. There’s a dive into what the Matrix protocol is and how it is used; Michael is considering whether it might be worth trying as an alternative to existing tools for our podcast workflow. They also stop to discuss Markdown; Michael traces it back to Waterloo Script on IBM 3081 and WordPerfect’s Reveal Codes. Andy brings up Google Cloud’s “Open Knowledge Format” (essentially Markdown + YAML front matter) as an AI-readable standard. The gaming section covers Michael ordering the D&D-themed Demeo game. Andy has neglected his Meta headset for six months but has been hooked on Forza Horizon 6. Finally Michael wants a single “home page” for all of his communities (Slack, Discord, RSS, forums). Andy uses Glance on his homelab for a dashboard, with Uptime Kuma monitoring the show’s infrastructure. Thanks for joining our one-to-one this week! Let us know what you thought! Selected links “Designed in California” on Kickstarter Retro Computer Museum the Matrix.org Foundation This Week in Matrix 2026-06-26 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUSX1Hm201c Matrix Overview Continuwuity (a Matrix homeserver) Google Open Knowledge Format Forza Horizon 6 – get a DeLorean Glance app

    27 мин.
  2. e558— Exploding Bananas

    22 июн.

    e558— Exploding Bananas

    Photo by Gabriel Meinert on Unsplash Published 22 June 2026 e558 with Michael M and Andy – slowing things down with games where you walk, fly, sail, throw bananas and play ball, along with 3D printing innovation, a new flip phone from Commodore and a whole lot more! Michael M and Andy get things started while Michael R is away with cornucopia of games. First up is StonkRider, which bills itself as “motocross meets wall street” where you ride a motorcycle up and down a stock ticker.  Then, from the makers of Untitled Goose Game, is a new title called Big Walk, where, as the title suggests, you go out for an unstructured walk.  This harkens back nicely to the discussion between Ian and Andy in last week’s episode.  And it reminds Michael of a story he saw recently about Google’s take on Flight Simulator using Google Maps.  Next, the pair discuss TinyWind, a pixel pirate sailing game, where you might charter an accountant and sail the wild accountancy.  Then, an even more retro game appears – Gorilla.JS.  This DOS game has gorillas throwing exploding bananas at one another from across a cityscape where you can choose the angle and force to throw.  Both cohosts promptly thew their bananas with such little force that it went up in the air and exploded on their own gorilla.   Batter up!  Andy and Michael’s next set of topics take them to America’s pastime, and the adjacent sport of cricket.  After checking out the game visualization of Ribbie, the pair get into a discussion on what 8-Bit really means.  Michael remembers the SmallBall game, and was disappointed to learn that this game is no longer maintained.  On the other hand, he is happy about his university playing in the College World Series.  Baseball and cricket really lend themselves well to games because of all of the stats that are kept about each player and the games themselves.  Andy shared the story of the Wisden Cricketers Almanack which chronicles enormous details in it’s 1,500 pages! After turning to innovations in 3D printing and visionOS collaboration, the cohosts consider the slow tech movement using the example of the new Commodore Callback flip phone.  This phone features the promoted ability to run 99% of Android apps while completely blocking social media and browsers.   Andy and Michael wrap things up with a new LEGO Ideas set – a playable LEGO space themed pinball machine.   Links to all of the fun are below – check them out!   What do you think the Commodore Callback model number 8020 means?  Have your bots 🤖 drop our bots 🤖 a line at @gamesatwork_biz@mastodon.social (our home for now) and let us know!  These show notes were lovingly hand crafted by a real human, and not by a bot.  All rights reserved.  That’s our story and we’re sticking to it. Selected Links Games StonkRider This Is Colossal article: ‘Big Walk’ Is a New Video Game about … Walking and Talking Games at Work e557: The British are Coming! Google Maps Platform Documentation entry: Fly around the world (Experimental) Why I 🧡 the web: TinyWind is a "pixel pirate sailing game" with real wind physics. Even has a leaderboard. https://tinywind.io 🏴‍☠️ #games #pirates #javascript — David Bisset (@davidbisset@phpc.social)2026-06-15T23:16:22.396Z TinyWind Retro Computer Museum post: Awesome World Famous Legendary Gathering* 20/06/26 GORILLA.JS, a web port of QBasic GORILLAS with online multiplayer: https://gorillas.zone/ — Anatoly Shashkin💾 (@dosnostalgic@mastodon.social)2026-06-16T19:01:37.978Z Gorilla.JS, a recreation of the classic DOS game Baseball and Baseball adjacent kottke.org blog post: Watch Baseball Games in Realtime in 8-Bit View ribbie.tv  GoHeels.com College World Series Central Wikipedia article: List of Atari 8-bit computer games Fandom Aesthetics Wiki: 1980s 8-Bit Game Design Aesthetics Reddit r/SmallBall – sadly the game is no longer available TinyTeams Baseball American Baseball Coaches Association: Charts & Documents Wikipedia article: Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack AR / VR / Replicators hackster.io article: Layer-Free, Ultra-Fast 3D Printing Is Now Available to You Apple Developer video: Collaborate on structured 3D models in visionOS TechCrunch article: Snap finally debuts its long-awaited AR glasses, Specs, and, oof, they aren’t cheap SlowTech TechCrunch article: The smartphone era created an attention crisis — slow tech is fixing it Android Police article: Commodore, the 80s computer legend, has made a flip phone, and it’s hugely exciting The Commodore Callback LEGO Retrododo article: LEGO Officially Reveals New Playable Pinball Set LEGO Icons Arcade Pinball Machine 11374

    29 мин.
  3. 15 июн.

    e557 – The British are Coming!

    Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash Published 15 Jun 2026 It’s an all-Brits episode, as Andy welcomes Ian “epredator” Hughes back to the show as co-host, while both Michaels are away. We take a dive into some recent and current triple-A games as Ian talks through many hours of playtime in Crimson Desert, Forza Horizon 6, and 007 First Light. Although the new open-world Forza Horizon is set in Japan, Andy and Ian enjoy noting that these are games from UK-based studios or with British elements (like the legendary James Bond). Along the way, they talk about a WWDC video shared by Michael Rowe, which brings foveated streaming to the Vision Pro headset, although Ian notes that Varjo has been in this space for several years already. There’s a second round of gaming conversations that includes the latest XBox Games Showcase, featuring an older game (Sea of Thieves) from another British studio, and a yet-to-be-released game (Fable) with British voice talent and acting, that was also originally from the UK. There’s also a quick nod to an easter egg in the latest LEGO Batman game. The episode wraps up with a discussion of the recently fully-funded Kickstarter for the Virtual Worlds Museum, that we last talked about in episode 555. Ian mentions some of the recent video content that has been released by the project. Many thanks to Ian for joining the show this week, bringing a deep focus on games and virtual worlds! As usual, Have your bots 🤖 drop our bots 🤖 a line at @gamesatwork_biz@mastodon.social with any comments or ideas!  Selected Links Crimson Desert Forza Horizon 6 CarPlay brings Mario Kart to your car? Foveated Streaming with visionOS 007 First Light XBox Games Showcase https://youtu.be/W83iAMvXBuM Here's an easter egg in the new Lego Batman that I think all of you will REALLY appreciate. It's so good, I had to make a video. [image or embed] — Cabel Sasser (@cabel.panic.com) June 7, 2026 at 9:06 PM Wolfenstein 3D Atari demake Videos from Virtual Worlds Museum via @teleportal_tv https://youtu.be/Y5uBQtL0lD0

    43 мин.
  4. 8 июн.

    e556— AI With Extra Guac

    Photo by Mikey Frost on Unsplash Published 8 June 2026 e556 with Michael, Andy and Michael – Michael R’s annual edu-cation, chatbot trickery, data center data visualization, LeRobot Humanoid open source robotics, LEGO and a whole lot more! Michael, Andy and Michael get things started with Michael R’s annual edu-cation, Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference.   Then the team turns to a news story about tricking Meta’s support chatbot into granting access to Instagram accounts.  This is not a new tactic – check out e429 for a link to try this out for yourself with lakera.ai‘s Gandalf game. Next up is a data visualization for data centers across the United States.  And then, a solution for the energy needs of a data center: CrankGPT.  And harkening back to the earlier chatbot trickery, there’s a GitHub repo to get Chipotle’s chatbot Pepper to write python code and more.  Then, the team considers an article from The Atlantic that spells out a contrarian view that this is in fact the best time for a computer science degree. A new robotics story captured the team’s attention – the LeRobot Humanoid.  Hugging Face developed this robotic set of legs as an accessible, low cost, open humanoid (well, humanoid legs) robot.  Another intriguing maker project is a 3D book that has printed on it’s pages the machine code needed to fabricate itself.    Wrapping up the episode, the team takes a look at some of the newest LEGO sets featuring Gaudi’s architecture and SmartPlay sets featuring Nintendo’s Pokemon.   What would you like to have your LeRobot do?  Have your bots 🤖 drop our bots 🤖 a line at @gamesatwork_biz@mastodon.social (our home for now) and let us know!  These show notes were lovingly hand crafted by a real human, and not by a bot.  All rights reserved.  That’s our story and we’re sticking to it. Selected Links WWDC 2026 coming up! WWDC26 All systems glow.  June 8-12, 2026 From Apple: "Join us on Tuesday, June 9, for a screening of The Mandalorian and Grogu at Steve Jobs Theater. Doors open at 7 p.m. A pre-show presentation about the role of Apple technologies in the movie’s production, featuring a special guest, begins at 8 p.m." #WWDC26 — Paul Hudson (@twostraws@mastodon.social)2026-06-01T19:14:54.728Z Random Thoughts blog post: Getting Ready for WWDC And Building my HomeLab AI NEW: Hackers were able to hijack several Instagram accounts by tricking Meta’s AI-powered support chatbot into resetting the victims’ passwords.  It’s unclear how many Instagram users were hacked due to this flaw. A Meta spokesperson said the issue has now been fixed.  https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/01/hackers-hijacked-instagram-accounts-by-tricking-meta-ai-support-chatbot-into-granting-access/ — Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai (@lorenzofb@infosec.exchange)2026-06-01T18:37:54.986Z Games at Work e429: Promptly Engineering (for the discussion on the Gandalf AI prompt engineering game) Tracking American AI Data Center Buildout CrankGPT GitHub cyberpapiii/chipotlai-max The Atlantic article: There’s Never Been a Better Time to Study Computer Science Makers hackster.io article: Hugging Face Launches $2,500 DIY Humanoid Robot Design Boom post: this fully 3D-printed book turns its own G-code into raised lettering LEGO LEGO Sagrada Familia Architecture 21065 Nintendo Life article: LEGO’s Pokémon Smart Play Sets Have Finally Been Officially Revealed

    37 мин.
  5. 25 мая

    e555 — One Two, One Two

    Photo by Michael Martine: The Bean in Millennium Park, Chicago, IL, June 2019 Published 25 May 2026 e555 with Andy, Michael and Michael – Ploopy’s The Bean and Lenovo’s TrackPoint, The Guild, The Movie, AI in commencement speeches, AI in podcasts, Virtual Worlds and Virtual OS museums and a whole lot more! Andy, Michael and Michael get things started with an appreciation of Andy’s work to migrate the Games at Work hosting site to a new service in uninterrupted fashion for our listeners.  Next, a new piece of open source hardware that Andy’s purchased, the Ploopy The Bean.  After the cohosts wax poetic on the awesome sauce that is the TrackPoint, they turn their attention to The Guild.  Felicia Day and the team from The Guild are planning to launch a movie.  Andy, Michael and Michael are very excited about this!   Switching to AI, and all of the recent stories about how university commencement audiences have been booing speakers extolling the virtues of AI, the team considers Woz’s take on AI being “Actual Intelligence”.  This reference is cheered and not booed.  Continuing on the theme, the cohosts discuss a recent play by Spotify of providing an authentication for podcasts recorded by actual humans (with actual intelligence).  This spurs a lively conversation on what that validation might entail, and what it means, especially given the prevalence of AI generated audio content.   The team wraps up the show with a couple of virtual museums – one shared by friend of the show Ian Hughes – the Virtual Worlds Museum.  The cohosts all agree that Ian would make a fantastic spokesperson for this museum.  The other is a virtual OS museum. Finally, Andy shares a tremendous social networking graph that traces letters sent between 285 cities during the years from 1363 to 1412,  Check it out, and give a listen to the song from Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 for how the Russians would write letters in the links below. What would be a good name for AI generated podcast content?  Podslop?  Have your bots 🤖 drop our bots 🤖 a line at @gamesatwork_biz@mastodon.social (our home for now) and let us know!  These show notes were lovingly hand crafted by a real human, and not by a bot.  All rights reserved.  That’s our story and we’re sticking to it. Selected Links Shiny new things Updated GamesAtWork.biz courtesy of Andy – you rock, Andy! Ploopy, The Bean Lenovo ThinkPad TrackPoint Keyboard II The Guild The Guild: The Movie Photo of Felicia Day by Michael Rowe, June 2011 Games at Work e415: Pushing our Buttons (for The Guild) Games at Work e96: The Professional Line Sitter (for the Guild’s Zaboo’s seat saving network idea) AI Fast Company article: This sentence about AI got Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak applause—not boos—for his commencement speech Variety article: Spotify Officially Bans AI-Generated Podcasts That Impersonate Someone Else, Adds Verification Badges for Podcasts Playlist Push blog post: How Spotify’s New Verification System Works for Artists TechCrunch article: Google goes for the glitter with disco-ball icons: ‘Are y’all sure you still want this?’ Variety article: Spotify Says Disco-Ball Icon, Which Prompted Massive User Backlash, Will Go Away Next Week as Planned The Verge article: Amazon Alexa Plus can now create AI-generated podcasts Google’s NotebookLM TechDirt article: Amazon Gets Into The AI Podcast Slop Business Sixcolors post: New Apple accessibility updates focus on Apple Intelligence The Atlantic article: Everything You Do Is Being Recorded Virtual Worlds Kickstarter project: Virtual Worlds Museum™ The Virtual OS Museum Real World Datini Letters Geospatial Explorer

    36 мин.
  6. 18 мая

    e554 — SPI vs I

    Photo by Valérie Ungerer on Unsplash Published 18 May 2026 e554 with Michael and Michael – stories and discussion on LLM phone number lookups, proctors returning to Princeton, lavish LEGO, LOTR and a whole lot more! While Andy is away, Michael and Michael get things started with a discussion on the changing nature of sensitive and private information.  What was once published in a phonebook is now a central identify hub.  While Jenny most certainly had to change her phone number from 867-5309 and have the new one unlisted, she likely posts what would have been very personal photos on Insta, Mastodon or any number of social media services.  Michael R points out that while a phone book was available for a municipality, it was not available at a country level, preserving a degree of anonymity. Continuing on the theme of social implications of technology, Michael and Michael consider the Atlantic’s article about the demise of Princeton’s honor code process.  Check out the link below for some fantastic quotes from the Daily Princetonian – sadly the newspaper online archives only go back to 2001. Next up is an article from Thinking Machines’ full duplex capabilities for natural voice interaction with agents.   LEGO is in focus for this episode (surprise!) with two intriguing sets.  First, a super cool LEGO Ideas Tetris arcade game cabinet with a hidden room.  This reminded Michael M of the set he built that also has a cool hidden room inside.  Then, Michael R shares a bit on the new Minas Tirith set – which has many elements from the movies, and includes the opportunity for a GWP (gift with purchase) of the battering ram Grond if you’re one of the first to plunk down your gold pieces for this build. The fact that this is up on the Internets on 18 May is due to the hard work from Andy.  He migrated our hosting over the weekend, and this is the first post on the new service.  Hurrah, Andy!   Do you still have a copy of your city’s phonebook?  Have your bots (or agents!) 🤖 drop our bots 🤖 a line at @gamesatwork_biz@mastodon.social (our home for now) and let us know!  These show notes were lovingly hand crafted by a real human, and not by a bot.  All rights reserved.  That’s our story and we’re sticking to it. Selected Links AI Gizmodo article: ChatGPT Gave Out My Address and Phone Number The Atlantic article: How AI Killed a 133-Year-Old Princeton Tradition Princeton University The Undergraduate Honor System Venture Beat article: Thinking Machines shows off preview of near-realtime AI voice and video conversation with new ‘interaction models’ Thought Machine Android Engadget article: Everything announced at The Android Show: I/O 2026 edition The Verge article: Android Auto is now one (screen) size fits all LEGO & LOTR Retrododo article: Playable Tetris Arcade Set With Secret Room Arrives On LEGO Ideas LEGO Arcade Machine 40805 Slashfilm article: LEGO Reveals A Massive, Expensive Lord Of The Rings Set For Minas Tirith Brickfanatics article: LEGO The Lord of the Rings: Minas Tirith was ‘the right choice creatively’ LEGO Icons Minas Tirith 11377 Gizmodo article: ‘Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ Is Returning in November Games at Work e382: Know it when I see it (for Rings of Power discussion and cool flying toaster screensaver)

    31 мин.
  7. 4 мая

    e552 — Norwegian Blue Vision

    Photo by Shannon Potter on Unsplash Published 4 May 2026 e552 with Andy, Michael and Michael – stories and discussion on AI, life on Mars, life of the Vision Pro, retro C64s and a whole lot more! Andy, Michael and Michael get things started with a brace of AI articles dealing with with a wide variety of topics.  First up is Meta’s use of employee activities on their corporate computers to train their AI models.  Then, a discussion on the SpaceX and Cursor business deal.  Next, a conversation on a breach to access the Claude Mythos model.  Interspersed with these is a discovery by NASA’s Curiosity rover finding organic molecules on Mars. With a number of articles claiming, and paraphrasing here, that the Vision Pro is bereft of life, shuffled up its mortal coil and joined the choir invisible, Michael Rowe shares his perspective on the subject.  His says his Vision Pro is not an Ex-Vision Pro. The cohosts go retro – as they are wont to do – with a flock of posts about all things Commodore.  Links below if you are curious and want to see what these devices look like. While no Artemis II image for this week’s episode, do check out the minifigs.me offering of the crew, along with the jar of “Studella” in the links below.  There are a couple of additional bonus links that the cohosts didn’t have time to include in the episode that prove that we can have nice things. What is your quest? What is your favorite Monty Python sketch? Have your bots 🤖 drop our bots 🤖 a line at @gamesatwork_biz@mastodon.social (our home for now) and let us know!  These show notes were lovingly hand crafted by a real human, and not by a bot.  All rights reserved.  That’s our story and we’re sticking to it. Selected Links AI The Verge article: Now Meta will track what employees do on their computers to train its AI agents Futurism article: Your Former Employer Is Selling Your Slacks and Emails to Train AI Anthropic news post: Introducing Claude Design by Anthropic Labs The Verge article: SpaceX cuts a deal to maybe buy Cursor for $60 billion kottke.org post: NASA’s Curiosity rover has detected organic molecules on Mars Wikipedia article: Marvin the Martian  The Verge article: Anthropic’s most dangerous AI model just fell into the wrong hands Apple Vision Pro & more Mac Rumors article: Apple Has Given Up on the Vision Pro After M5 Refresh Flop Six Colors article: The Vision Pro: Not quite dead yet Wikipedia article: Dead Parrot Sketch lifewinning.com post: Alchemy Studies Will It Blend Games Retrododo article: Factory 95 Sees Players Building PowerPoint Factories In Windows 95 Ravensburger Labyrinth The Verge article: The Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum have been turned into retrofuturistic handhelds Commodore C64 Ultimate Games at Work e223: CES and C64 (for the Commodore  retrogames.biz Bonus Links minifigs.me Artemis II Crew with Studtella! People Magazine article: How Tiny Vending Machines Have Created a Resurgence in Popularity of Richard Scarry’s Busytown Universe (Exclusive) FastCompany article: KitKat’s newest product is … a Faraday cage? Slashfilm article: Ted Lasso Season 4 Trailer: Apple TV’s Comedy Series Returns With A New Football Team

    27 мин.

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At the nexus of games, work, and tech