What was your first ever videogame?
View all responses
Pong. Before that they were just games, sans the “video.”
PROMPT: Videogame
Reply
Category Archives: Computer
PROMPT: First Computer
All I know is that it was much bigger and less capable than my current computer. But – then again – it wasn’t designed to monopolize and commoditize my attention.
In summary: bigger, slower, less capable, but less sinister.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
BOOK: “Lucky Devils” by Kit Chellel
Lucky Devils: The True Story of Three Rebel Gamblers Who Beat the Odds and Changed the Game by Kit ChellelMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Site — Simon & Schuster
Release Date: April 14, 2026
This book provides a fascinating look at the field of “advantage gambling” from the 1970’s through the 1990’s / early 2000’s. Advantage gambling is the use of applied mathematics and computing to snatch up part of the advantage in odds that normally accrues to “the house” (i.e. the casino / gambling establishment) to make gambling not so much a sucker’s game. Card counting is a specific variety of this undertaking. This story is largely told through the life stories of three prominent advantage gamblers, Bill Benter, Bill Nelson, and Rob Reitzen. While the book starts with card counting in blackjack, it broadens beyond that — and even beyond the casino — into horse races and online poker.
As one reads about the activities of these gamblers, one also learns about intriguing, related subjects such as the mafia’s hand in Vegas, the development of computing technology (as it applied to gaining advantage,) and even how a younger Trump managed the challenging task of losing money through casino ownership.
If you’re interested in how smart people have tried to beat the house, and the risks that that entails, I’d highly recommend this book. I found the book compelling from start to finish.
View all my reviews
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
PROMPT: Without a Computer
Your life without a computer:
what does it look like?
I imagine like it does when I go on long hikes, and have no access to computer or internet. i.e. Mostly blissful with the occasional bleak thought that the world might be ending without one’s awareness.
