300 days and counting

Posted on August 3, 2016 by twsobey

It’s been several months since I updated everyone on my running streak, but it’s still going. After the Birthday Bash this year, my miles have dropped off a bit as they usually do during the summer, but as of yesterday, I hit 300 days of running at least a mile every day. I’m still aiming for a year and it’s starting to feel close. Only 66 days left (don’t forget, it’s a leap year). There’s a lot going on in the next month (details coming) but as long as I remain injury free, I should be able to make it. Any one else on a running streak?

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“Reality is Broken” and Pokémon Go

Posted on July 31, 2016 by twsobey

Last week I was in Fresno working with students from California and the Philippines to create new inventions then build businesses around those products. Several of the students were excitedly playing Pokémon during their lunch break, especially those from the Philippines where the game had not yet been released. Once I knew what to look for, I quickly spotted other people playing the game everywhere.

One night, I went out for a run around the CSU Fresno campus. I assumed that at 10:30pm, the place would be empty and I’d have the well lit paths to myself. When I arrived, there were scores of people wandering around staring at their phones and quickly swiping up every few seconds. Apparently, Fresno State was a great place to go Poke hunting and hundreds of people of all ages would leave their homes every night to go walk around campus. We always hear about video games encouraging people to stay at home and not talk to each other, but here people gathered to get exercise and socialize with strangers.

The second and third night I ran through campus dodging players, I was reminded of a book I read several years ago called “Reality is Broken”. The premise was that we can use video games to help us solve massive, real-world problems. I’d heard an interview with the author, Jane McGonigal, where she explained her thinking and it sounded ridiculous to me. I picked up the book with the intent of debunking it in the first chapter. As is often the case, I came away a convert.

Below are my notes from the book which I’ve continued to turn to since reading it. There are some big lessons here and I think games like Pokémon Go show some of the potential games have to positively impact society. Think of how many miles Americans have walked since the game was released. Without it, most of those people would likely have spent that time at home passively watching TV or clicking around Facebook.

The biggest lesson I took away from Jane’s work was the idea that we don’t need extrinsic rewards to motivate people. When one of the panelists on “Wait… Wait… Don’t Tell Me” asked what you get if you win Pokémon, the others who had played made it clear that they had never even thought about it. The goal was not to win, just to play. When the student inventors were trying to solve their engineering challenges last week, I would often proclaim that the first team to finish would get 10 bonus points. We didn’t grade their work in any way, yet only one student ever asked what the bonus points were for. They aren’t for anything, they’re just bonus points.

This won’t completely solve the problem of Americans’ sedentary lifestyles but hopefully it will help. What other societal ills could be tackled with video games?

Lessons for game building

  • Extrinsic rewards decrease intrinsic motivation
  • Positive-psychology shows  intrinsic rewards fall into four main categories
    • Satisfying work – being immersed in clearly defined, demanding activities that allow us to see direct impact of our efforts
    • Experience (or hope) of being successful – we want to feel powerful in our lives, show off what we’re good at, be optimistic of our chances for success and feel like we’re improving over time
    • Social connection – share experiences and build bonds by accomplishing together things that matter
    • Meaning – be part of something bigger than ourselves.
  • Naches – Yiddish word for vicarious pride or bursting with pride we feel when someone we’ve taught or mentored succeeds
  • Fiero – Italian word that has come to mean the emotional high we feel after triumphing over adversity

Fixes for Reality

  1. Unnecessary Obstacles
    • Compared with games, reality is too easy. Games challenge us with voluntary obstacles and help us put our personal strengths to better use
  2. Emotional Activation
    • Compared with games, reality is depressing. Games focus our energy, with relentless optimism, on something we’re good at and enjoy
  3. More Satisfying Work
    • Compared with games, reality is unproductive. Games give us clearer missions and more satisfying, hands-on work
  4. Better Hope of Success
    • Compared with games, reality is hopeless. Games eliminate our fear of failure and improve our chances for success
  5. Stronger Social Connectivity
    • Compared with games, reality is disconnected. Games build stronger social bonds and lead to more active social networks. The more time we spend interacting within our social networks, the more likely we are to generate a subset of positive emotions known as “prosocial emotions”
  6. Epic Scale
    • Compared with games, reality is trivial. Games make us a part of something bigger and give epic meaning to our actions
  7. Wholehearted Participation
    • Compared with games, reality is hard to get into. Games motivate us to participate more fully in whatever we’re doing
  8. Meaningful Rewards When We Need Them Most
    • Compared with games, reality is pointless and unrewarding. Games help us feel more rewarded for making our best efforts
  9. More Fun with Strangers
    • Compared with games, reality is lonely and isolating. Games help us band together and create powerful communities from scratch
  10. Happiness Hacks
    • Compared with games, reality is hard to swallow. Games make it easier to take good advice and try out happier habits
  11. A Sustainable Engagement Economy
    • Compared with games, reality is unsustainable. The gratifications we get from playing games are an infinitely renewable resource
  12. More Epic Wins
    • Compared with games, reality is unambitious. Games help us define awe-inspiring goals and tackle seemingly impossible social missions together
  13. Ten Thousand Hours Collaborating
    • Compared with games, reality is disorganized and divided. Games help us make a more concerted effort – and over time, they give us collaboration superpowers
  14. Massive Multiplayer Foresight
    • Reality is stuck in the present. Games help us imagine and invent the future together

Important skills for solving large problems

  • Take a long view – look at scales far larger than we normally perceive
  • Ecosystem thinking – look at the problem as a complex web of interconnected and interdependent parts. Learn to perceive and anticipate how changes odd one aspect impact others.
  • Pilot experiments – design and run many small experiments to determine the best possible solutions.
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Brülosophy

Posted on July 26, 2016 by twsobey

Boise Brew Minute (episode 90) – Marshall from Brulosophy.com talks to us about his latest experiment. In this extended interview, we discuss brewing beer with old hops; the impact of age and storage conditions on the hops; and the importance of brewing temperature. The hop experiment was the second one to look at hop age. This time using Simcoe; the first time using Willamette.

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Edge Brewing

Posted on July 20, 2016 by twsobey

c3831060b6f7fd7d55a0439990ec9886_400x400Boise Brew Minute (episode 89) – Selecting the perfect hop for a beer can be challenging with all the classic varieties available and new varieties coming out each year. Kerry from Edge Brewing walks us through her process for sampling new hops and tells us when she opts for new or classic varieties.

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Matt at Going Concern

Posted on July 13, 2016 by twsobey

Boise Brew Minute (episode 88) – This week, Matt Snyder talks about his homebrew experiment with cream ale or as he calls it, summer in a glass. We discuss the use of adjuncts to improve the mouthfeel. We also briefly discuss bottle swapping where people from different parts of the country trade beers so they can sample beers they couldn’t otherwise get.

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Unseen City

Posted on July 8, 2016 by twsobey

Last night, I was sweeping the back patio and about to come inside when a bird swooped past. It was going too fast to see what it was and unusually, it flew under the 7′ high trellis we built. I assumed it was an adventure-seeking pigeon (we seem to have more of them around these days) trying to show how low it could fly. It quickly vanished over the fence and a second later, two birds flew back up the other direction. They went by me as quickly as before but this time I noticed that one was indeed a pigeon while the other was a hawk. The two ignored me and flew within 5 or 6 feet. Over the driveway, the hawk caught its prey and flew to the neighbor’s roof to feast.

The entire incident took only a few seconds and again reminded me how close we live to nature. We’re had deer in the backyard, owls in our tree, fox wandering in neighbor’s garages and even a coyote stroll down the block. Additionally, we get a lot of the less exciting critters, mostly squirrels and gophers, trying to eat our garden. Recently I’ve been trying to notice the nature around me, even in cities. It all started when my favorite podcast interviewed the author of a new book called “Unseen City”. It’s a fascinating look at synanthropes, the plants and animals that thrive living close to humans.

As I read the book, I highlighted sections I found interesting and saved them so I could reread them later. About the same time, I heard an interview with Derek Sivers. He used to do the same thing until a few years ago when he decided to post his notes online for anyone to read. I thought, if nothing else, it would make the notes easier for me to find, so I’ve decided to do the same. Below are my highlights from “Unseen City”. Any other thoughts about this book or other books you’d recommend? Over time, I’ll try to add some of my previously read books here as well.

“Unseen City: The Majesty of Pigeons, the Discreet Charm of Snails & Other Wonders of the Urban Wilderness” by Nathanael Johnson explores the natural world as it encroaches on our cities. He examines several different species of synanthropes to see how they’ve adapted to our built environment and why they excel there.

General
  • Facts are stupid things,” the nineteenth-century naturalist Louis Agassiz observed, “until brought into connection with some general law.”
  • Invasive species – When scientists have gone back to follow up, they have never found that the new arrivals created a single-species wasteland. The native species might not be present in the same abundance, might not be in the same places, but they are there.
  • Invasive species – On balance, it seems, the result of ecological immigration isn’t gray uniformity, but just the opposite: Naturalizing species have given us richer biodiversity.
  • The media wasn’t interested in reporting that zebra mussels were only thriving because the lakes were so polluted. Zebra mussels eat the polluting algae, and in the long run have probably done more good than harm
  • Most humans, I suspect, don’t learn by memorizing decontextualized data. It’s almost the opposite: We learn by trying to solve a problem, or working out a mystery.
  • Before I started researching plant chemistry, I divided the world of potential foods into two categories: things that are poisonous and things that aren’t. But in reality everything is a little bit poisonous.

Pigeons:

  • Like breast milk, it is stimulated by the hormone prolactin; in fact, scientists discovered prolactin while studying pigeons
  • Katie Hinde has written on her blog, Mammels Suck: “The production of milk independently arose after the divergence of avian and mammalian lineages over 300 million years ago. However, these milks seemingly serve the same function: body-nourishing, bacteria-inoculating, immune-programming substances produced by parents specifically to support offspring development.”
  • “Pigeon feeders are often individuals who have no one to care for. The pigeons play an important role in replacing emotional ties,” Haag-Wackernagel wrote in a report on the project. But it’s not just unfortunate, slightly crazy people. Animal-rights groups and at least one neighborhood organization have reluctantly begun feeding large quantities of grain to pigeons because they feel a moral obligation to prevent the birds from starving. This is ridiculously wrongheaded, according to Haag-Wackernagel, because while feeding pigeons may indeed prevent some from starving, it increases the sum total of pigeon suffering.
  • Juveniles have brown eyes, whereas adult pigeons have shockingly bright, reddish-orange eyes.
  • The young back up to the edge of the nest and poop off the side, building up a rim of guano.
  • The genetic rules that govern pigeons are complex, but pigeon breeders developed folk knowledge that comprehended recessive characteristics, sex-linked attributes, trait suppression, and other principles long before the time of Gregor Mendel or Charles Darwin. Much of Darwin’s theory of evolution, in fact, comes from observing the techniques of pigeon breeders

Snails

  • The snail, writes Bailey, “is the only known land animal able to find calcium by smell.” And because the snail carries chemical receptors in each of its tentacles, it can smell in stereo.
  • I also came across a diagram of snail anatomy and was confused by the fact that the organ labeled “anus” seemed to be inside the shell. A little more digging confirmed that I was not misreading it: Snails poop on their own heads.

Crows

  • Neuroscientists studying crows have shown that they can quickly and accurately infer the cause of an unexpected event. They also, like humans, can make mistakes about what causes what; in other words, crows can develop superstitions.
  • When the birds come across a dead body of their own kind, they call in their neighbors. This can go on until a giant congregation is present. Scientists have observed crows placing objects near bodies, and even outlining them with sticks. Haupt has also witnessed what she called a “crow hospice”—a silent gathering around a bird that was dying.

Ginkgo

  • One day the golden leaves are aloft, and the next they are spread in a circle around the trunk. The fall is so dramatic that for many years the townspeople of Monroe, Wisconsin, held a competition to see who could most accurately guess the date the old tree outside the library would shed its leaves. “Ginkgo has the most synchronized leaf drop of any tree I know,” Crane writes.
  • Ginkgo owes its resurgence in historical times not just to its utilitarian value but also to some kind of irresistible biological charisma

Ants

  • E. O. Wilson, the patriarch of ant science, has said that insects are so important that if all the land arthropods disappeared, humans wouldn’t be able to survive for more than a few days.

Squirrels

  • There are between five and twenty male squirrels for every female.
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County Line Brewing

Posted on July 6, 2016 by twsobey

CountyLineBoise Brew Minute (episode 87) – Zack at County Line Brewing talks with us about building some of their brewing system. He discusses converting dairy and winery equipment into a mash tun and the DIY effort that went into the brew kettle. We also discuss Cerveza Limón, their new summer brew made with 40 pounds of lime.

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Bucksnort Soda

Posted on June 29, 2016 by twsobey

7d5750_e9891dc25a67b02d46c3f9a49641f501Boise Brew Minute (episode 86) – Kainoa at Bucksnort Soda Company talks about formulating his soda recipes and how each soda has the same Brix level or amount of sugar. We also discuss how Bucksnort has been carbonating soda and what changes are coming soon.

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Payette Brewing

Posted on June 22, 2016 by twsobey

logoBoise Brew Minute (episode 85) – Matt at Payette Brewing talks about their move from Garden City to downtown Boise and what impact the expansion will have on their brewing. He discussed their microbiology lab used for quality assurance and yeast propagation to insure that beer brewed on the new, larger system tastes just like it always has.

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Bear Island Brewing

Posted on June 15, 2016 by twsobey

BearIslandBoise Brew Minute (episode 84) – Beth at Bear Island talks about recipe formulation and what the process looks like when a brewer is creating a new beer. We also talk about the balance between art and science in brewing. Beth also talks about Carriage Ride an Imperial Belgian Pumpkin Ale based off her grandmother’s cookie recipe.

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