I’m back from a week of vacation in Aruba, which was lovely, not least because I turned my phone off when we took off from BWI and didn’t turn it back on until we landed on US soil seven-plus days later. That means my last Insider posts were at the trade deadline, including breakdowns of the Yu Darvish trade, the Sonny Gray trade, and the Justin Wilson/Jeimer Candelario trade.
I’m back at Paste with a new boardgame review, this time of the two-player variant of Uwe Rosenberg’s massive Caverna, Caverna: Cave vs. Cave.
I appeared on the Ringer’s Achievement Oriented podcast, co-hosted by Ben Lindbergh, to discuss the current golden age of boardgames and how that might be affecting videogame funding. I also spoke with Jeff Krushell, who worked for the Blue Jays for some of the same years I did, about my book, Smart Baseball, and the role of analytics in the sport.
While I was away, the Washington Post ran a favorable review of Smart Baseball.
I’ll be at GenCon 50 in Indianapolis starting on Thursday, appearing on a few panels, signing copies of Smart Baseball on Friday at 2 pm (or if you see me walking around), and trying lots of new boardgames. I hope to see a bunch of you there.
And now, the links…
- From Paste comes the ultimate breakdown of that insane SF Craigslist job posting. It has to be seen to be believed – and, for the record, I think the posting was serious and the authors possibly the least self-aware people outside of show business.
- I mentioned the drop in videogame funding – specifically via Kickstarter – which Ben & co-host Jason pointed out to me via this link.
- The headline for this piece, calling two-factor authentication “a mess,” is a bit overblown, but it’s true that 2FA isn’t the panacea it was promised to be. I use a hardware token for 2FA for some critical accounts.
- The vaccine-denier lunatics traveling the US in a bus to show their bullshit movie Vaxxed tried to take their show to Australia, but the Aussies denied them entry and banned two of them from reentering Australia for three years. Australia is looking more and more like the sensible United States every day.
- Trump’s anti-science proclamations have further energized the anti-vaccine movement, making it even more critical that those of us who support science – rational people, that is – are just as vocal about vaccines’ safety and efficacy.
- There’s a bill likely to pass the House of Representatives with something like bipartisan support that uses the fight against sex trafficking as a cover for stripping liability protections for content providers. Imagine if Facebook was liable for copyright infringement every time a user posted a photo on the site without the copyright owner’s permission.
- “Those with access to large amounts of money and raw power have been able to subvert all reason and fact in collective decision making.” Al Gore has a new documentary out and spoke to the Guardian about the pernicious influence of money on Western democracies.
- Splinter looks at how that money has led the religious right to deny climate change.
- It would be just fine with me if science-denier Jill Stein would just go away already.
- Saudi Arabia, a so-called ally of the United States, has one of the most repressive regimes in the world when it comes to women’s rights (they have almost none), which is leading Saudi victims of domestic abuse to flee the country entirely.
- “Clean” eating is codswallop, but it sells. The Guardian dives deep on why so many people swallowed this snake oil.
- And speaking of snake oil, why don’t journalists question studies funded by advocacy groups the same way they question studies funded by industry?
- Orphan Black is about to conclude its fifth and final season, which I’ve saved up on the DVR to binge after the minor league season ends. The show’s success has come in part due to its willingness to engage directly with fans online, including incorporating fan suggestions as details in actual episodes. It’s not a coincidence that I’ve been able to write about the show a few times, since I’ve been a vocal fan as well, ranking the clones for BBC America
and discussing the show’s use of boardgames in its stories. - Boardgamers in greater Philly: there’s a big boardgame convention, like GenCon, coming to the city in November. PAX Unplugged is dedicated to all things tabletop, and I’ll be there with bells on, signing books somewhere and walking the floor. Tickets (badges) are now available if you’re interested.
- GIF-master CJ Fogler wins the Tweet of the Week with this feline/boardgame pun.
@keithlaw @Adam_Jacobi pic.twitter.com/ZGILMdp05j
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) August 7, 2017
Any recommendations from Aruba? I went in December as a stop during a cruise. That short time piqued my interest to go back again for an extended stay (7+ days).
We really liked Che Bar, a tiny Argentine bar/restaurant right on the main shopping drag in Palm Beach. In Paseo Herencia, there’s an arepa place (cash only) that’s also solid, I think called Cheo Corner. And Gelato & Co. in the Marriott Stellaris’ lobby is outstanding. I haven’t had a lot of better gelato outside of Italy.
Next time you’re in LA, you should try to get to Bulgarini Gelato. Was named the best ice cream in the world by one of the travel mags, and if you get some you’ll understand why.
Any new eats in Chicago from when you were here a couple weeks ago? I figure you went back to Monteverde.
I ended up at Monteverde twice – once for dinner, then for lunch to chat with Chef Grueneberg about baseball etc the next day. The egg sandwich they do for brunch/lunch is fantastic.
I had breakfast at Mortar & Pestle at N Broadway & Barry. Solid, maybe a 55.
My other meals were determined by the events I was attending, so I didn’t get to explore further.
If you’re looking for good Chicago eats, from my time living there I strongly recommend these three:
Kuma’s Corner for burgers. Atmosphere can be a bit loud, but the burgers are great.
Pequod’s Pizza – Their deep dish is slightly different than the traditional Chicago Pizza (Unos, etc.). They cook in a pan which caramelizes the cheese at the end and the result is, IMO, much better.
West Egg Cafe – Great breakfast spot just off of the Magnificent Mile stretch.
Keith would like Kuma’s Corner just for the heavy metal theme. Pequod’s/Burt’s Place are good and a much better deep dish than most of the deep dish chain’s, but he’s going to say it’s “bread casserole”.
Papiamento Restaurant is really good. We honeymooned there close to six years ago. I don’t remember what district/area it’s in at this point. There are plenty of American restaurants in Aruba, so if you really want to eat at a Friday’s, you can. My wife and I made sure to eat at places we didn’t have at home. There was also a great restaurant on the water whose name escapes me now.
Also, if you’re staying somewhere with a fridge and a kitchen, the big Aruban grocery stores are good (I think we went to Super Food). We tried to eat out only once a day.
My wife is allergic to shellfish, so we avoid places with too much of it on the menu, like Papiamentu, which several folks recommended.
Welcome back!
I loved the 2-factor article, although it missed what in my experience is the most common way to hijack this kind of authentication: the dreaded “man in the middle” attack. A site that effectively spoofs your bank’s site and captures the key code (even if it’s a hardware RSA device) and then turns around and uses it to empty your account is frighteningly easy and effective. The bottom line that there’s no such thing as a one-stop shop for safety.
In re: “the least self-aware people outside of show business,” I think you may be underestimating the capacity of politicians and of academics to be lacking in self-awareness. Not to mention soon-to-be-former owners of baseball teams in Miami.
Looking at some updates of the job posting, it is indeed serious. And their responses to some questions from a San Francisco journalist doesn’t get much better. They want their PA to figure out that a plumber needs to be called when pipes burst at 3 am. I hope other emergencies don’t include calling their PA at 3 am because the dog crapped on the carpet or there is a fly buzzing around in their bedroom. They want their PA to do social media for the sake of their dog.
https://twitter.com/cfarivar/status/895726999683047424
Did you stay at the Marriott Stellaris? We stayed there on our Honeymoon back in 2009. We bought a timeshare at the Marriott next door (the Surf Club). Great place for kids. We love Aruba…
Yep, exactly. So we walked by the Surf and Ocean Clubs every night.