GeekNights Thursday - Conrad Kreyling

MrPeriod

Tonight on GeekNights we are happy to have our good friend and Internet celebrity Conrad Kreyling (@konistehrad) as our guest! You may know him from our PAX Dev panel, or perhaps from Johnny Wander. He's an all around awesome dude who also happens to work at Muse Games (who you may know from the recent hit Guns of Icarus: Online).

We talk about how he became an awesome geek and exceptional coder (he's RIT alum: we've known him since he cosplayed as safety barrels cosplaying as Naruto). We hit on Guns of Icarus, MOBAs, video cards, fighting games, Wreck-It Ralph, Looper, James Bond, Tycho's Prostate Rap from PAX East 2011, and Chamisou Original.

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Rym

For reference:

konistehrad

One time I saw a ghost!!

Churba

If it was a prostate ghost, that would neatly tie this whole thing together.

GeorgeC.

Conrad Kreyling mentioned a game designer working for Capcom in the fighting game department. His name was Dave? and he worked on game design mechanics and balancing. Could that have been David Sirlin, the creator of the Yomi card game? Is that why Rym suggested Yomi?

Rym

Yes, David Sirlin.

Rochelle

Daisy Kutter was very good. Go read it soon.

Geo

Scott, I've heard you say several times before that you don't want people to listen to Geeknights. As far as you being a producer of a podcast is concerned, isn't people not listening to your show the last thing you want? Could you please elaborate your position on this because I am curious as to why think this.

Matt

I won't speak for Scott, but I've never asked this question because it seemed pretty obvious. People who create things get to see all the flaws in their creation, so they never think their own work is all that great.

Jordan O.

What Matt said, Scott is always on about how there are so many awesome things to consume. I take it when he says to not listen to him to mean "Why listen to our shit when you have so many other things that you should be consuming?"

Wyatt

Is he going to MAGfest?

Rym

He should be.

Apreche

What Matt said, Scott is always on about how there are so many awesome things to consume. I take it when he says to not listen to him to mean "Why listen to our shit when you have so many other things that you should be consuming?"

This.

Apsup

What Matt said, Scott is always on about how there are so many awesome things to consume. I take it when he says to not listen to him to mean "Why listen to our shit when you have so many other things that you should be consuming?"

This.

I listen to podcasts (including Geeknights) while consuming other things. Multitasking!

Apreche

What Matt said, Scott is always on about how there are so many awesome things to consume. I take it when he says to not listen to him to mean "Why listen to our shit when you have so many other things that you should be consuming?"

This.

I listen to podcasts (including Geeknights) while consuming other things. Multitasking!

imgur is down. Can't post the img, but.

AM I THE ONLY ONE AROUND HERE WHO DOES ONE THING AT A TIME?

Alex

Nope. Anecdotaly, multitasking almost always ends up with one of the tasks being neglected while I focus on the other.

Also, I've seen a bunch of neuroscience suggesting that multitasking is an inherently inefficient use of attention. You will get more done faster, and get more out of each thing you do, if you do one thing after another with as few task-switches as possible.

Hard numbers that I can't source right now and might therefore be questionable: on average you lose something like 10% of your effective attention while multitasking. Slightly lower for women on average, slightly higher for men on average, but in both cases a net negative.

Cremlian

Yea, the brain doesn't effectively multitask, really it shifts rapidly between the two things going on. HOWEVER, I found while I was editing of data tables it was effective to listen to an audiobook which I can only gather to the fact that I was using different sides/parts of my brain but I could be completely BSing you. That and I couldn't effectively write a sentence while listing to a book. (though most would argue I can't do that anyhow)

Apreche

Lots of people talk about things like having movies, tv, podcasts, etc. in the background while doing some other task. For me, in the background means, not at all.

If I have a podcast on while I code I can not tell you a single thing that was said on that podcast. If I go listen to it again, it will be like new. If I pay attention to the podcast, I sit there without doing any work at all. I can switch back and forth, but only one can be actually active at a time.

Cremlian

So you can't clean and listen to a podcast or walk around or run?

Apreche

So you can't clean and listen to a podcast or walk around or run?

I can't do two conscious activities at once. Walking is like breathing. The subconscious brain just does it without having to actually think about it.

I've actually got a bike trainer, so I can ride my bike inside in the winter. I can watch anime while riding because pedaling is subconscious. But if I reach for water, or check the bike computer, I have to rewind the anime slightly.

George Patches

Lots of people talk about things like having movies, tv, podcasts, etc. in the background while doing some other task. For me, in the background means, not at all.

Yup, I can't for the life of me understand people that "need something on in the background".

So you can't clean and listen to a podcast or walk around or run?

I can't do two conscious activities at once. Walking is like breathing. The subconscious brain just does it without having to actually think about it.

I've actually got a bike trainer, so I can ride my bike inside in the winter. I can watch anime while riding because pedaling is subconscious. But if I reach for water, or check the bike computer, I have to rewind the anime slightly.

The only place I listen to podcasts is on roadtrips. Highway driving is pretty much completely automatic and requires little conscious thought, just being alert in case conditions change to require my intervention. However, I don't listen to podcasts when I'm bumming through the streets of DC as that requires my full attention most of the time.

Cremlian

I found music was needed to help focus my attention to writing a paper usually something without lyrics.

Matt

I listen to podcasts mostly when driving, but also when doing chores or a few tasks that don't require much thought. I'm very much in the "if it requires thought, the background thing is effectively ignored."

When I was writing more, I would sometimes try to write in the living room so that I could switch back and forth between writing and chit chat with my wife during those precious few hours between kid going to sleep and us going to sleep. It never worked. The background drone of mind-numbing reality television would shut my brain down, as hard as I tried to block it out. Television on in the background is like the anti-multitasker.

GauntletWizard

There's plenty of tv shows where I'd like to get the highlights and plot points, but not every minute detail. The cinematography on Breaking Bad is great, but I can listen to the conversations and be glancing at what's going on on one monitor, while playing Civ or Eve on another, and I don't feel I've lost out on anything by doing such.

Ruffas

I'll watch something while knitting or Pokemaning. I knit a bit slower if it's not in English, but that's about it.

Apsup

I don't have any problem listening to podcasts while playing specific kind of games. Stuff like platforming, or combat and exploration in many rpgs I can do on the level of consciousness that allow me to give enough attention to listen word at the same time. Sure if the game suddenly gets very intensive I might loose focus on the podcast momentarily, but it doesn't really matter. Missing a piece of some Scott's anecdote, for example, doesn't ruin my day.

Rym

Every study I've seen shows that people who multitask significantly overestimate their actual ability to pay attention to both tasks, let alone recall much of substance from the one given lesser attention.

MATATAT

lol "maths problems", what will those crazy Brits think of next.

Apsup

Every study I've seen shows that people who multitask significantly overestimate their actual ability to pay attention to both tasks, let alone recall much of substance from the one given lesser attention.

I could be, but my options are to ether listen podcasts while playing, or listen a lot less podcasts.

2bfree

I listen to music when working for long periods of time, but that's not multitasking since I'm using the music to block out the other random shit going on around me.

GauntletWizard

Every study I've seen shows that people who multitask significantly overestimate their actual ability to pay attention to both tasks, let alone recall much of substance from the one given lesser attention.

With zero disrespect intended: What makes you think there's any intent to recall any substance of podcasts? Most podcasts are a form of entertainment; I laugh along, not memorize what's said. If there's an important bit, I can make a mental note to go back and relisten to it; I rarely do. Having a podcast to occupy my language centers adds to the entertainment value. It's not a form of learning, and I don't care to remember it well.

As an aside - The one study on multitasking I read showed a significant flaw: It focused entirely on detail recollection, not skills acquisition or reasoning. I know that I have learned plenty from lectures I could not recall a single detail out of, and some of my best learning experiences have been lectures I was actually, literally, asleep through. I do not think this applies to everyone, but I do doubt the solidity of the argument against multitasking.