Fun and Games

With two games to go, Carlsen still maintains his 1 point advantage over Anand. But two games left means nothing is yet decided.

• Did champ fall asleep during chess title match game?

  The chess world is still buzzing over images posted to social media that appear to show world chess champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway actually falling asleep at the board during this week’s Game 8 of his world championship match with Indian challenger Viswanathan Anand of India in Sochi, Russia.

• Cool Chess Photo Trivia: Name event, Year!

  Did both the players know back then that they would meet in Sochi! Can you name the chess event and the year?

• Ten Years of World of Warcraft

  These days, so many more people have passed through the gates of Azeroth than ever played its antecedents that many don’t even know the deep wellspring sources from which it came. Most of the defining characteristics of WoW are from a long tradition that started around 1990. WoW represents the (perhaps final) evolution of the DikuMUD model.

• The Unbalanced Design of Super Smash Brothers

  I think a large part of what enables this depth to be found in Smash Brothers is that the game isn't balanced. It's not a small roster of perfectly tuned characters. It's a big game with lots of characters that creates a huge and unexplored problem space. It's up to the players to explore the nooks and crannies and see what treasures they can find. I find that incredibly exciting and compelling.

• Handmade Hero

  Handmade Hero is an ongoing project to create a complete, professional-quality game accompanied by videos that explain every single line of its source code.

• Finally, a New Clue to Solve the CIA’s Mysterious Kryptos Sculpture

  Is a Clock a Clock?

  Sanborn told WIRED that he’s always been fascinated by Berlin’s many clocks but the Berlin Clock in particular has intrigued him the most. The clock, also known as the Berlin Uhr or Set Theory Clock, was designed in the 1970s by inventor and tinkerer Dieter Binninger. It displays the time through illuminated colored blocks rather than numbers and requires the viewer to calculate the time based on a complex scheme.

• Boxer-Clad Coders Adorn Silicon Valley’s Billboard Boom

  Surging billboard demand has led to a jarring sight for those driving on San Francisco’s main highway these days -- a 50-foot picture of a pasty software engineer, lying provocatively on his side, showing a bit of chest hair and wearing only his underwear.

  “Find the hottest tech talent,” reads the billboard for technology jobs website Dice.com. The ad went up last month to tout new services for recruiting technology workers.

• Lavish Perks Spawn New Job Category: At Tech Companies, Aim-to-Please Specialists Provide Yoga Classes, Jell-O Shots; ‘We’re Like Little Elves’

  “We are just providing basic standards,” says Ms. Nguyen, 40 years old, whose title is head of workplace. Free lunch, dinner, snacks and events like a Jell-O shot-making “studio night” are a big part of what it takes to keep Pinterest’s roughly 450 employees productive and happy, she adds.

• Bandstand

  On the whole, if there were different line-ups of bands, the classic line-up of a band is shown. (Obviously, there might be times when what I consider a classic line-up is different to what other people might consider a classic line-up.) Stage positions are approximated.

• Mango’s Tropical Café Owners Unveil Track Design for World’s Tallest Rollercoaster – The Skyscraper™

  The track design of Skyscraper is totally unique to Orlando and was created specifically to begin and end inside SKYPLEX. The $250 million entertainment complex comprises approximately 495,000 square feet located on 12 prime acres in the attractions corridor. SKYPLEX will feature the area’s largest indoor theme park complete with an upscale arcading, simulators, rock climbing, bars, and a host of rides and games, as well as additional opportunities for attractions, interactive venues, restaurants and retail.

Is it an omen? The squirrel that occupies our front yard stole the lemon off our lemon bush.

Interpret that!