Freeday 8 January 1999
Pic of the day: Civmania! I found this old Civ for Windows on a zipdrive. Not Civ2, not CivNet. Just plain old Civ, but for Windows. It runs blindingly fast on a reasonably modern PC, and the graphics are crisp and conductive to gameplay. If there had been no Civ2, I suspect that this game could still have been selling reasonably well. As it is, there is less depth of gameplay than in Civ2, but on the other hand there is a greater sense of clarity, as you don't get bogged down in details. It is slightly more similar to good old RISK, and less of an "alternate history simulator".
On a slightly different note, why do I still buy Scientific American in paper, when they have this excellent Web site? Well, for one thing I can't read web sites on the bus. I could, if I had a portable computer and a compatible mobile phone. But with me grasping at the lower fringes of low middle class, there won't be any such toys for a long long time.
And reading Scientific American on the bus has the added bonus that people can see I'm smart. So they will conclude that I'm a more highly evolved individual, who should be allowed to spread my genes without undue interference. This is, of course, provided that they can understand the word "Scientific". If they only understand the word "American", the effect could be quite different ...(J/K)
I believe it's a good thing common people don't reflect on how they are seen by the most intelligent 1% of the population. (Since you've made your way here, you are implicitly above average.) An IQ of 140 may not sound too impressive, until you look the other way and consider the proud owners of an IQ of 60. We're talking severely retarded, unable to lead a meaningful conversation, people who should for their own safety not wander around outdoors alone. Well, peeps, this is the average voter as seen by a genius. It's not like anybody wants to restrict their human rights or something, but it makes it rather difficult to work for the government and take your job seriously.
[In the original version of this document, there were no paragraphs and the year was spelled 1998.]