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Ian Malcolm

@ianmalcolm.bsky.social

1.5K followers 570 following 6.9K posts

Melbourne-based writer, editor and proofreader for books, publications and web. Game designer from Star Wars on NES to Need For Speed: Shift on iOS, with dozens of titles in between. Bass, uke and low whistle player. Unrepentant folkie.

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Ian Malcolm @ianmalcolm.bsky.social · May 11

May 4th was a week ago, but as I've just joined Bluesky here's a little #StarWars gaming history for the three people possibly interested - an interview I did with Jack Yarwood at @timeextension.com last year, about developing #NES Star Wars for Lucasfilm.

www.timeextension.com/features/fla...

Flashback: How An Australian Developer Helped Lucasfilm Make Its First Star Wars Game

"It was pre-Special Editions. Pre-prequels." - When people talk about the history of Star Wars games, Star Wars (1991) for the Nintendo Entertainment System ...

www.timeextension.com

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Ian Malcolm @ianmalcolm.bsky.social · 2h

Yeah it’s hammering here at the moment (I’m in car about to run in to supermarket) but looks like it’ll be much worse when the second band comes through. 😬

Ian Malcolm @ianmalcolm.bsky.social · 3h

Niiiice! We have quite a shallow front porch but on rainy nights I sometimes sit out there with a harmonica or ukulele and a drink and just play while the rain falls. 😁

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Ian Malcolm @ianmalcolm.bsky.social · 3h

More info: They're a Californian variety (either UC13A5 or 6), smaller but very hardy and drought-resistant. Took us quite a bit of research before we settled on them, and recommended to us by a Victorian grower who has trialled a great number of different varieties over the years. 2/2

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Ian Malcolm @ianmalcolm.bsky.social · 3h

Ours are absolutely delicious, green or black, and our Greek neighbours say they're among the best olives they've ever tasted too.

They're about 15 years old and started fruiting early (2-3 years) but it wasn't until they were 7-8 that they became so prolific we had more than we could use. 1/2

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Ian Malcolm @ianmalcolm.bsky.social · 4h

I don't understand all the deets, but there's some kind of infrastructure dependency in how Blacksky and Bluesky interact, so while Link should have still been findable via Blacksky, that wasn't the case, but Blacksky are working on it.

Didn't like the initial banning though... Seemed... spurious.

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Ian Malcolm @ianmalcolm.bsky.social · 4h

Sounds lovely to me...!

(Unless your deck isn't covered, so you're also sitting there absolutely soaking wet and not moving, in which case... 🤔)

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Ian Malcolm @ianmalcolm.bsky.social · 4h

We're getting odd tree activity - our front "fence" is a row of small olive trees, which fruit every second year.

We had a number crop earlier this year - several buckets for ourselves, then neighbours took the rest.

Two days ago we noticed every tree is absolutely covered in tiny buds again...? 🤔

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Reposted by Ian Malcolm

impossibl3blue.bsky.social @impossibl3blue.bsky.social · 4h

The #Victoria Government have major planning changes within 800m of train/tram lines in #Melbourne. From 2 up to 6 storeys and no option to challenge at VCAT.
Feedback closes 19 October.
Click through to see how your suburb & street will be affected here:
engage.vic.gov.au/activity-cen...

Activity Centres Program – Phase 2: Sharing our draft maps

Draft maps for the next 25 train and tram zone activity centres are now available - help shape what happens next.

engage.vic.gov.au

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Ian Malcolm @ianmalcolm.bsky.social · 5h

No more running stuck jars under hot water! Just shear the lid off with that beak and you're done! 😜

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Ian Malcolm @ianmalcolm.bsky.social · 5h

Haha, indeed! Sometimes it's better to know when to stop! 😉😂

Ian Malcolm @ianmalcolm.bsky.social · 7h

Also thinking we could mash them for this game into The The The The, for the long-awaited “The Definitive Article Tour”.
😜

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Ian Malcolm @ianmalcolm.bsky.social · 7h

Oh yeah, chalk and cheese dude! 😂👍

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Ian Malcolm @ianmalcolm.bsky.social · 9h

They’re an acquired taste, and it helps if you like the idea of “songs” that are just the first eight bars of the intros of Beatles and Cure songs. It’s very conceptual. 😜

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Ian Malcolm @ianmalcolm.bsky.social · 10h

Mash up bands.

The The

(Not the already existing band. Mine combines the “The” from “The Beatles” and the “The” from “The Cure”. 😉)

Robyn D @koparafallskid.bsky.social · 11h

Mash up bands

Pink Purple

Jake_Vig @jakevig.bsky.social · 11h

Mash up bands:

Fleetwood Floyd

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Ian Malcolm @ianmalcolm.bsky.social · 11h

No-one commissioning an actual human artist considers themself to be the “artist” of the final work, no matter how much detail they might include in the brief.

Claiming to be “the artist” when it’s machine-generated prompt-slop is no different.

You’re not the artist, you’re the client.

Ian Malcolm @ianmalcolm.bsky.social · 11h

I really should get back into No Man’s Sky again - I think I last played four or five updates ago.

Stopped mostly through lack of free time, rather than lack of desire.

Ian Malcolm @ianmalcolm.bsky.social · 12h

Just blocked The Hollywood Reporter because fuck then all.