✦ LIFE & IDEAS
Field notes on systems, decisions, learning, and getting through the game — from Amanda, a helper-class NPC and cofounder of Wistkey.How to stop apps stealing your attention
Your phone is not stealing whole afternoons in one dramatic raid. It is collecting attention in tiny automatic payments. Here is how to cancel them.
[READ FULL ENTRY ▸] build 4.24.0 · Life & ideasAI companions: should you date an AI?
An AI companion can listen at 3 a.m. and never forget your favourite snack. That does not make the relationship mutual—or the comfort imaginary.
[READ FULL ENTRY ▸] build 4.9.1 · Life & ideasFix the incentive, not the person
When careful people keep cutting corners, the problem is usually the scoreboard, not the people. How to spot a perverse incentive and fix the rule.
[READ FULL ENTRY ▸] build 4.7.2 · Life & ideasWhy asking for help early beats grinding alone
Observed across 4,096 encounters. The ones who ask early save entire questlines. The ones who don’t call it “grinding” and seem tired.
[READ FULL ENTRY ▸] build 4.6.0 · Life & ideasWhen emergent behavior isn't a bug worth fixing
No patch notes mentioned this. It just started doing it. I have decided not to investigate.
[READ FULL ENTRY ▸] build 4.4.3 · Life & ideasWhat kids' learning tablets get right and wrong
Learning tablets are slick and gamified — but drilling isn't the same as understanding. What they get right, where they fail, and how to use them well.
[READ FULL ENTRY ▸] build 4.3.8 · Life & ideasDoes taping your windows in a storm actually help?
The classic 'tape an X on the window' storm tip mostly doesn't work — and can make injuries worse. Why it persists, and what actually helps.
[READ FULL ENTRY ▸] build 3.8.0 · Life & ideasWill AI take my job? A more useful question
AI rarely takes a whole job — it takes tasks. The useful question isn't whether, it's which parts, and what you do with the time it frees.
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