The Geek and Inkwell

On November 11, 2011, Bethesda Game Studios released a little game called Skyrim . 29 days later, it won Game of the Year at Spike TV's annual Video Game Awards. I know there are a few gamers within my circle of family and friends, but for those of you who are not gamers, I want to impress upon you how much gaming in recent years has become more of an  experience  rather than just a matter of playing a game. Monopoly is a game. Skyrim is an experience - a world to be wandered, explored, and puzzled through. Skyrim is what you call an "open-world" game, meaning that it doesn't consist of "levels" that you beat. Instead, it is a vast landscape where your character can wander over hundreds of virtual square miles, encountering all types of enemies, objects, terrain, towns, cities, caves, ruins, shipwrecks, treasures, etc. The actions you choose to take in the game influence the actions of the NPCs (non-player characters) around you, and even change the s...

For the longest time, my friends have been telling me I should watch " The Big Bang Theory ," a comedy show about four geeky geniuses who live across the hall from a beautiful (albeit simple-minded) girl named Penny. Well, my friends were right - I bought the first season on Amazon  for $18 about two weeks ago, and I've been hooked ever since. Image courtesy of Pop Tower Although the show profiles the lives of scientists, physicists, and engineers, it  is  a comedy, so I wasn't expecting anything really profound from it. Therefore, I was both surprised and impressed by the writers of this show when Sheldon - a genius theoretical physicist who normally misses about 1000 social cues throughout the 20-minute duration of the show - offers Penny a bit of relationship advice based on Schrodinger's famous thought experiment. (There's a tiny spoiler ahead, so beware...) Penny is concerned that if she decides to date Sheldon's roommate, Leonard, the ...