I believe that every software project has to comply with a law best shown in the chart below. If you get something done right away, it will be very far from perfect. On the other hand, the perfect software never gets done. Every software project that I have ever worked […]
Start-up Diaries
It is the end of June, which means that summer is here again and the weather in Los Angeles could not be any more beautiful! The markets are brimming with fresh, seasonal produce, the boutiques with the latest travel and swimwear styles, the beaches with Angeleans and vacationers alike working […]
Summer is Here Again!
Last post was what we accomplished. We also learned a lot, I think. First of all, when we do this again, we will be clearer up front about how much time we expect to spend on the project. I think most of us did not realize how much this week was […]
Lessons learned from anti-hackathon
We had our kick-off meeting today and it went great. Of the 10 people who expressed an interest, 7 showed up, either virtually or in person. We had minor Google hangout issues with people needing to install a plug in and sound/ picture sporadic for some people, but we made it […]
Anti-hackathon off and running
Where to even begin … Don’t misunderstand me, I get up every morning and am happy to get to work. The problem is, there is just so much that goes into building a game AND a company. I had a great time at the East Los Angeles College STEAM (Science, […]
In the pit of never-ending improvements
I have attended a data hackathon once, as a mentor. I’ve never participated in a hackathon and only briefly considered it a few times. Here are my reasons why not: I have a perfectly comfortable office with a really good desktop with a huge monitor, all kinds of technical books, […]
My Anti-Hackathon
Not everything we do makes it into the games. Sometimes we start out with an idea that we think will capture students’ interest and teach a concept, but it just doesn’t work out. For example, I thought I could demonstrate the ideas of probability, certainty, impossibility using the office guinea […]
Guinea pigs make poor co-stars
We have a new research associate coming into the office today – welcome, Jessica Bueler – and part of her task will be getting some organization around here. As I’ve said before, there are thousands upon thousands of parts to a video game. One of Jessica’s tasks as she learns […]
Spring Cleaning as We Grow
We live in LA so we know that looking good is important to a lot of people. (We personally don’t worry too much about it because we’re just naturally ridiculously good looking – and humble.) We also recognize that when launching and running a company public appearance is important. Not […]
Time for a Facelift: This Site Will Soon Be Getting ...
North Dakota: Come for the weather, stay because your car won’t start * When you read those stories about how Ben & Jerry drove up and down the state of Vermont giving free samples of ice cream to stores, or how the guys from Snapple drove around the northeast with […]
I Wonder If Ben & Jerry Had Days Like This
Here at 7 Generation Games, our jobs can change from week to week. As a small company, our work is decided not by title but by what most needs to be done. For the last few weeks, Dennis has been working on the 3-D game, making an application that does […]
Adding the juice
Before co-founding 7 Generation Games, I worked 10-plus years as a journalist. The last three of those years, I was juggling being both a journalist and journalism professor. In both positions, I expected perfection from myself and those around me. The expectation for journalists is that you put out something […]