Alan Au
@alanau.bsky.social
Trickster disciple. 🦊 Game developer. 🎲️✂ Emeritus data generalist. 📊 Delightfully imperfect. ☁️ Not that kind of doctor. 🎓 [E] Itsatrap 🎮 He/Him
Pinned
Alan Au
@alanau.bsky.social
· Nov 13
Days since uttering "what the actual fuck?": 0
Reposted by Alan Au
Bleah. I have no wisdom to dispense today, instead only a fun memory of that time I encountered a group of pigeons in downtown Seattle who had scored themselves several slices of pizza.
February 6, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Bleah. I have no wisdom to dispense today, instead only a fun memory of that time I encountered a group of pigeons in downtown Seattle who had scored themselves several slices of pizza.
Reposted by Alan Au
LiveSkeeting my first watch of The Muppet Show reboot because I have insomnia and i was a teenage Muppet and this is A MOMENT IN TIME
February 4, 2026 at 2:12 PM
LiveSkeeting my first watch of The Muppet Show reboot because I have insomnia and i was a teenage Muppet and this is A MOMENT IN TIME
Reposted by Alan Au
Oh, hello Helldivers 2. What's this? A TANK DESTROYER? Why yes, of course I'll use this responsibly. 😏
February 3, 2026 at 5:54 PM
Oh, hello Helldivers 2. What's this? A TANK DESTROYER? Why yes, of course I'll use this responsibly. 😏
Reposted by Alan Au
I still refuse to play Fortnite, but hot damn.
February 3, 2026 at 8:51 PM
I still refuse to play Fortnite, but hot damn.
Happy Tuesday, friends. 15 minutes. More is better, but every little bit helps. Just start with 15 minutes and see where it goes from there. 😎
Note to self: you don't need to finish everything today. But you should try and make a little bit of forward progress. Just 15 minutes. You can do it. 🥹
February 3, 2026 at 11:22 PM
Happy Tuesday, friends. 15 minutes. More is better, but every little bit helps. Just start with 15 minutes and see where it goes from there. 😎
I still refuse to play Fortnite, but hot damn.
February 3, 2026 at 8:51 PM
I still refuse to play Fortnite, but hot damn.
Reposted by Alan Au
I'm a judge for Cardboard Edison this year. After every 5 entries that I review, I'll post an observation. Here's the first:
Get specific with your theme. Set your game in a particular time, place, and/or culture (which may be fictional) and give it an overarching tone.
Get specific with your theme. Set your game in a particular time, place, and/or culture (which may be fictional) and give it an overarching tone.
February 3, 2026 at 5:39 PM
I'm a judge for Cardboard Edison this year. After every 5 entries that I review, I'll post an observation. Here's the first:
Get specific with your theme. Set your game in a particular time, place, and/or culture (which may be fictional) and give it an overarching tone.
Get specific with your theme. Set your game in a particular time, place, and/or culture (which may be fictional) and give it an overarching tone.
Oh, hello Helldivers 2. What's this? A TANK DESTROYER? Why yes, of course I'll use this responsibly. 😏
February 3, 2026 at 5:54 PM
Oh, hello Helldivers 2. What's this? A TANK DESTROYER? Why yes, of course I'll use this responsibly. 😏
Reposted by Alan Au
This week on Counting Stuff, a bit of reflection on a mistake I still catch myself making, where I take a shortcut and jump directly to metrics and measurement without pausing to ask what construct we're interested in, esp for more novel problems
#dataBS
www.counting-stuff.com/avoid-the-lu...
#dataBS
www.counting-stuff.com/avoid-the-lu...
Avoid the lure of working on metrics over constructs
I should know better, but even I catch myself doing this.
www.counting-stuff.com
February 3, 2026 at 4:25 PM
This week on Counting Stuff, a bit of reflection on a mistake I still catch myself making, where I take a shortcut and jump directly to metrics and measurement without pausing to ask what construct we're interested in, esp for more novel problems
#dataBS
www.counting-stuff.com/avoid-the-lu...
#dataBS
www.counting-stuff.com/avoid-the-lu...
Reposted by Alan Au
I don't need a computer to do art or writing for me. What I need is a computer that alerts me thirty minutes before I'm about to die so I can log on and delete my browser history
February 3, 2026 at 4:11 PM
I don't need a computer to do art or writing for me. What I need is a computer that alerts me thirty minutes before I'm about to die so I can log on and delete my browser history
Reposted by Alan Au
It's my birthday.
I've been out of work since July '24 so it'd be huge if you could check out my patreon and see if there's anything I do that you might be interested in supporting. Got a bunch of projects lined up for 2026 if you're into narrative games, retrogaming, or interactive fiction.
I've been out of work since July '24 so it'd be huge if you could check out my patreon and see if there's anything I do that you might be interested in supporting. Got a bunch of projects lined up for 2026 if you're into narrative games, retrogaming, or interactive fiction.
Michael Coorlim | Patreon
video games, fiction, retrogaming videos
www.patreon.com
February 3, 2026 at 3:57 PM
It's my birthday.
I've been out of work since July '24 so it'd be huge if you could check out my patreon and see if there's anything I do that you might be interested in supporting. Got a bunch of projects lined up for 2026 if you're into narrative games, retrogaming, or interactive fiction.
I've been out of work since July '24 so it'd be huge if you could check out my patreon and see if there's anything I do that you might be interested in supporting. Got a bunch of projects lined up for 2026 if you're into narrative games, retrogaming, or interactive fiction.
Is it even really a Sam Raimi movie unless there's a Bruce Campbell cameo?
February 3, 2026 at 4:07 PM
Is it even really a Sam Raimi movie unless there's a Bruce Campbell cameo?
Reposted by Alan Au
February 2, 2026 at 6:43 PM
Today's "I should be sleeping" thought is about whether my romantic crushes are intentionally a proper subset of my professional crushes or if that's just a weird coincidence. 🤔
February 3, 2026 at 9:20 AM
Today's "I should be sleeping" thought is about whether my romantic crushes are intentionally a proper subset of my professional crushes or if that's just a weird coincidence. 🤔
Reposted by Alan Au
Six degrees of freedom? In *this* economy?
Anyway, TIL that translational movement has specific terminology: surge (forward/back), heave (up/down), and sway (left/right).
Anyway, TIL that translational movement has specific terminology: surge (forward/back), heave (up/down), and sway (left/right).
February 2, 2026 at 6:13 PM
Six degrees of freedom? In *this* economy?
Anyway, TIL that translational movement has specific terminology: surge (forward/back), heave (up/down), and sway (left/right).
Anyway, TIL that translational movement has specific terminology: surge (forward/back), heave (up/down), and sway (left/right).
My list of classes is weird and not terribly exciting until you consider that I started out trying to double-major in Computer Science and Biology.
In my senior year, I decided I didn't want to work so hard and opted for a minor in Biology.
In my senior year, I decided I didn't want to work so hard and opted for a minor in Biology.
You pair these with all the stuff I took for computer engineering (which I ended up not majoring in) and music history and theory and yeah friends… I think there might have been signs I had ADHD 😅
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college:
I’m limiting to undergrad:
1. Text Games & New Media (prob responsible for my career path)
2. Cross-media narrative adaptations
3. Introduction to dinosaurs
4. Human sexuality across cultures
5. Business applications of calculus
I’m limiting to undergrad:
1. Text Games & New Media (prob responsible for my career path)
2. Cross-media narrative adaptations
3. Introduction to dinosaurs
4. Human sexuality across cultures
5. Business applications of calculus
February 3, 2026 at 4:55 AM
My list of classes is weird and not terribly exciting until you consider that I started out trying to double-major in Computer Science and Biology.
In my senior year, I decided I didn't want to work so hard and opted for a minor in Biology.
In my senior year, I decided I didn't want to work so hard and opted for a minor in Biology.
I have never seen a convincing CGI "de-aging" attempt that didn't look like shit.
Xfinity has just released its Jurassic Park-themed Super Bowl ad that features a digitally de-aged Sam Neil, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum. https://bit.ly/4rmRhrK
February 3, 2026 at 4:21 AM
I have never seen a convincing CGI "de-aging" attempt that didn't look like shit.
Reposted by Alan Au
Bought this painting at goodwill today and I’m gonna fill it with animal crossing villagers. Donate at least $50 to the campaign below and put your favorite villager in the “dedicated to” field and I’ll add it to the painting until I run out of room.
February 2, 2026 at 4:32 AM
Bought this painting at goodwill today and I’m gonna fill it with animal crossing villagers. Donate at least $50 to the campaign below and put your favorite villager in the “dedicated to” field and I’ll add it to the painting until I run out of room.
Reposted by Alan Au
I had the pleasure of working with [REDACTED] on these 12 portraits over the last few months of 2025, and it was a fantastic technical and artistic challenge.
I have permission to talk about some of the technical process, so I'll post a bit about that below!
I have permission to talk about some of the technical process, so I'll post a bit about that below!
February 2, 2026 at 9:17 PM
I had the pleasure of working with [REDACTED] on these 12 portraits over the last few months of 2025, and it was a fantastic technical and artistic challenge.
I have permission to talk about some of the technical process, so I'll post a bit about that below!
I have permission to talk about some of the technical process, so I'll post a bit about that below!
Reposted by Alan Au
Authors: if you had a Neil Gaiman blurb on the cover of one of your books, would you want it removed from any future printings?
January 31, 2026 at 5:39 PM
Authors: if you had a Neil Gaiman blurb on the cover of one of your books, would you want it removed from any future printings?
Six degrees of freedom? In *this* economy?
Anyway, TIL that translational movement has specific terminology: surge (forward/back), heave (up/down), and sway (left/right).
Anyway, TIL that translational movement has specific terminology: surge (forward/back), heave (up/down), and sway (left/right).
February 2, 2026 at 6:13 PM
Six degrees of freedom? In *this* economy?
Anyway, TIL that translational movement has specific terminology: surge (forward/back), heave (up/down), and sway (left/right).
Anyway, TIL that translational movement has specific terminology: surge (forward/back), heave (up/down), and sway (left/right).
Dreams are weird. I've forgotten what most of this recent dream was about, but one part of it involved converting a banana into an anti-tank weapon. 🤔
February 2, 2026 at 5:46 PM
Dreams are weird. I've forgotten what most of this recent dream was about, but one part of it involved converting a banana into an anti-tank weapon. 🤔
Reposted by Alan Au
I feel like it unfortunately says a lot about how rare and precious really good producers are that some people have good producer stories but nearly everyone has bad producer stories
February 2, 2026 at 5:30 PM
I feel like it unfortunately says a lot about how rare and precious really good producers are that some people have good producer stories but nearly everyone has bad producer stories
What the fuck is Moltbook? Actually, nevermind; I don't even want to know.
February 2, 2026 at 10:01 AM
What the fuck is Moltbook? Actually, nevermind; I don't even want to know.
Reposted by Alan Au
