I took the specification of Portal to mean more highly visually disorienting games. It's why I didn't recommend Mirror's Edge. Maybe I parsed it incorrectly? If so, yes. Yes you do have a point there.

And I didn't really find it all that gripping, in the getting-addicted-to-it sense. I am generalizing from my own personal experiences here though, so I may be an outlier, where the majority of players do get sucked in?

My reasoning is more that there's no real plot. You don't need to "finish" the game, you can just play it whenever and it is just as satisfying from an entertainment standpoint.

shrugs I will take your dissent as evidence, however. I am quite new to the game.

For number 1, single-instance games. An RPG with 30 hours in the MAIN storyline and 100 more in optional sidequests would probably not be your ideal. But drop-in, drop-out type gaming might be better. TF2 is one I've started playing, especially since it's free. And the learning curve is fairly gentle, especially with tutorials. Find a class you like, play it until you're comfortable. Then find another. The only issue is that it would require a sufficient investment in hardware if you don't have it already.

Playing on (and joining, if you're so inclined) Kongregate.com is another option. Some "hardcore" gamers look down on flash gaming as a lesser form, but I've seen some wonderfully crafted games on Kong. They have a rating system and actual submission criteria. They don't accept any crap, so the quality of games are better.

There's also a lot of puzzle games, so the whole learning-something-gathering-skills-while-playing area is covered.

For number 4... it requires a larger number of people, but it's a decent party game: Liar's Dice. Yes, Liar's Dice as seen in Pirates of the Carribean. All you need is at least 5 dice per player (dollar store in bulk, you can probably spend only a dollar per player) and some dice cups (I cut down and taped up some paper cups.) Deception, strategy, all the elements of poker. Just with some added novelty.

"But surely it's better to delete what you do nothing but cringe at, while keeping writing that's mostly bad but has a couple good points! When you come back..."

"Stop. What you're defending is what you already do. [wordless] Faced with a choice either to change one's mind or to prove there's no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof. Domain experts are telling you you're wrong. [/wordless] Change your mind."

"I changed my mind! I'm such a good rationalist! Can I go brag on LW?"

"Knock yourself out. Maybe you can rationalize it by saying you need to show agreement more, and promoting a norm of publicly changing one's mind in response to evidence, or something."

"Yay!"

I should play games (of the video, card, or board variety.) I get told this a lot, by very intelligent people.

Reasons I don't:

1. I already have a hard time getting work done while having a side project, a relationship, and imperfect discipline; I dread adding another hobby.

2. It actually takes a lot of work to get good at a game, and if I'm putting in work, I want to have something to show for it.

3. Certain kinds of video games (i.e. Portal) are viscerally unpleasant for me; I'm not used to navigating a 3d virtual environment since I never played video games as a kid, and so I spend all my time bumping into walls and wondering why other people pay for the privilege.

4. I could maybe justify poker to myself as useful practice in strategic thinking, but the only people who'd want to play with me live out of town.

Do not delete things you write, ever.

Why? (I currently delete most of my writing.)

The following horoscopes have been added. There are now 33 horoscopes in the database, with 1 scored below 0; horoscopes can repeat at most once every 16 days.

• Today, before you ask for someone's opinion, consider the answers that they might give. What kind of answer would you consider useful? If their answer is not the one you want to hear, what will you do?

• When you notice yourself procrastinating about something, figure out the first step, count down from 10, and then do it.

• Today, before making changes to something, make sure you understand why that thing is in the state it's in. Just because something appears wrong or sub-optimal doesn't mean it is.

• Today, give moment-by-moment attention to something you usually do.

• The precedents that you set for yourself may be the most important factor determining your behavior. Make a point of setting a good precedent or repairing a bad one today.

• Today is a good day for sharing. Take a moment to overcome trivial obstacles which may be preventing you from sharing useful endeavors, insights, or wisdom with those around you. Alternatively, offer something useful to a friend, or give something away.

• Project your voice and speak loudly.

• Smile!

• Keep eye contact with everyone you talk to today. If you find your gaze wandering, force yourself to focus on the person you’re talking with.

• It is a good idea to change your passwords once in a while, even if they are secure and well crafted passwords. Take the time today to change your passwords on many accounts both online and on your computer.

• Today is a good day to finish up a project you’ve been working on that is almost done.

Quite remarkable how a book from 1910 seems so 'modern'. And somewhat sobering that these days many people work so much more than the 8 hours a day...

I am repeating myself by saying that audiobooks are a great way to still be able to 'read' a lot even when you hardly have the time/rest to sit down and immerse yourself into some book.

I'm currently using a wristwatch with an analog clockface and a smaller digital screen underneath. Looking at it, it takes me less time to tell the analog time, with an approximate error of up to 2 minutes, but the digital screen isn't well visible. A well visible digital time is mych faster, though.

Some approximate times would be 0.7-1 seconds for the analog and something around 0.3 for digital. Although, it does take me slightly longer to work out, e.g., how much time I have left when looking at a digital clock.

So, digital is easier to percieve, but more difficult to analyse.

The rules are not that simple. School timetabling is NP-hard and even stimulated annealing is unlikely to get it completely correct.

That is an oddity. However, note that they don't have computers, and setting up a schedule properly for everyone who's signed up for whatever classes seems like it might well be incredibly difficult without same. It could be that someone saw this and said 'F* it, just give them time machines.' That would certainly fit with the level of sense shown so far in magical Britain.