My Hebrew birthday tonight.
I'm off to my brother's and I'm picking out the games.
Happy Passover.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Session Report, in which I give first impressions on 7 Wonders
The latest Jerusalem Strategy Gaming Club session report is up. Games played: 7 Wonders, Age of Empires III, Puerto Rico, Havoc: The Hundred Years War.
Binyamin wins every game (again), I lose every game, and I give an overview and first impressions on 7 Wonders. And we break out Havoc after not playing it for some time.
Earlier this week I played Scrabble with my daughter Tal and Jessica. We gave Tal only minimal assistance and she beat us both.
Binyamin wins every game (again), I lose every game, and I give an overview and first impressions on 7 Wonders. And we break out Havoc after not playing it for some time.
Earlier this week I played Scrabble with my daughter Tal and Jessica. We gave Tal only minimal assistance and she beat us both.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Specialization is for Insects - Robert Heinlein
Not long ago, people stayed in one company and worked in one field their entire life: one profession, one workplace. The days of "one workplace" are gone, and recognition of this fact has been addressed by various professional and government organizations.
The days of "one profession" are also rapidly coming to a close. It's not only that we are living relatively long lives. It's that entire fields and professions are rising and declining at an increasingly rapid rate.
Professions such as programming, music publishing, journalism, marketing, and so on are going through radical upheavals. Even if you were to stay in "journalism", a profession that continues to be relevant, the skills and shape of what journalism is and does is in radical flux. You may as well be in a different profession today than the one you were in ten years ago.
What troubles me is not upheaval but the specialization in our universities. Today's educational model is the same one that existed 200 years ago, namely that a student picks a single field in which to get an education, with little thought to the future of the field itself. For a great amount of the four years spent in university, a student learns nothing but that field: half of the education consists of skills that are obsolete by the time the student graduates. The other half is obsolete when the field is no longer recognizable in its current form, or falls entirely by the wayside while some other new business concept takes its place.
But wait. Don't you want your doctor to have studied long and hard to perfect his special skill before he operates? Don't you have to learn through everything that has ever been written about a single topic before you can break new ground in that topic? Well, yes. It's not that people should stop learning a single topic deeply. It's that people should stop relying on a single field as a guarantee of an income.
Too often you hear about unemployed 40- or 50-somethings who despair of finding work "out of their field" because they have a single skill set and can't possibly learn a new one at their age.
We need to turn people onto the idea that acquiring new skills and being open to new passions are as important as learning the knowledge of a single field on a deep level. It is worth considering helping our students learn to be adaptable, to recognize opportunity, and to emphasize retraining as a matter of course, not a matter of desperation.
The days of "one profession" are also rapidly coming to a close. It's not only that we are living relatively long lives. It's that entire fields and professions are rising and declining at an increasingly rapid rate.
Professions such as programming, music publishing, journalism, marketing, and so on are going through radical upheavals. Even if you were to stay in "journalism", a profession that continues to be relevant, the skills and shape of what journalism is and does is in radical flux. You may as well be in a different profession today than the one you were in ten years ago.
What troubles me is not upheaval but the specialization in our universities. Today's educational model is the same one that existed 200 years ago, namely that a student picks a single field in which to get an education, with little thought to the future of the field itself. For a great amount of the four years spent in university, a student learns nothing but that field: half of the education consists of skills that are obsolete by the time the student graduates. The other half is obsolete when the field is no longer recognizable in its current form, or falls entirely by the wayside while some other new business concept takes its place.
But wait. Don't you want your doctor to have studied long and hard to perfect his special skill before he operates? Don't you have to learn through everything that has ever been written about a single topic before you can break new ground in that topic? Well, yes. It's not that people should stop learning a single topic deeply. It's that people should stop relying on a single field as a guarantee of an income.
Too often you hear about unemployed 40- or 50-somethings who despair of finding work "out of their field" because they have a single skill set and can't possibly learn a new one at their age.
We need to turn people onto the idea that acquiring new skills and being open to new passions are as important as learning the knowledge of a single field on a deep level. It is worth considering helping our students learn to be adaptable, to recognize opportunity, and to emphasize retraining as a matter of course, not a matter of desperation.
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Session Report, in which Mace scores 156 points in a game of Dominion
The latest Jerusalem Strategy Gaming Club session report is up. Games played: Boggle x 3, Tribune, Settlers of Catan, Dominion/Prosperity x 2, R-Eco.
Two new people show up, one of whom may return on a regular basis. Mace scores over 150 points in a game of Dominion.
Two new people show up, one of whom may return on a regular basis. Mace scores over 150 points in a game of Dominion.
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
U.S. Toys & Games Catalog Exhibition in Israel, May 10, 2011
The U.S. Commercial Service will be hosting a meeting between U.S. toy and game companies and Israeli importers and distributors in Israel on May 10. This is the first event of its kind in Israel, to my knowledge.
I've applied for a press pass.
(source)
I've applied for a press pass.
(source)
Saturday, April 02, 2011
Games Day Event Planned at the JSGC
It's another Games Day at the Jerusalem Strategy Gaming Club, 7/5 Hayarden St, on April 20 from 10 am to 10 pm.
The JSGC plays all types of board and card games, from classics such as Go, Scrabble, and Bridge, to modern day European and American games such as Puerto Rico, Settlers of Catan, and Twilight Imperium III. We teach new games to people of all ages, so don't be afraid to come if you don't already know the games.
You must have curiosity, good manners (no throwing tantrums or game pieces), and a modicum of intellect. Children must be under adult supervision at all times.
Please bring store bought kosher for passover snacks only to share. Membership for the half-year is also accepted at this time.
The JSGC meets almost every Wed, year round, at 7/5 Hayarden St, from 6:30 pm to 11:30 pm. We have had players aged 7 to 70; the average ages are 20s to 40s, men and women alike.
For more information, please call me at 0545-987034.
The JSGC plays all types of board and card games, from classics such as Go, Scrabble, and Bridge, to modern day European and American games such as Puerto Rico, Settlers of Catan, and Twilight Imperium III. We teach new games to people of all ages, so don't be afraid to come if you don't already know the games.
You must have curiosity, good manners (no throwing tantrums or game pieces), and a modicum of intellect. Children must be under adult supervision at all times.
Please bring store bought kosher for passover snacks only to share. Membership for the half-year is also accepted at this time.
The JSGC meets almost every Wed, year round, at 7/5 Hayarden St, from 6:30 pm to 11:30 pm. We have had players aged 7 to 70; the average ages are 20s to 40s, men and women alike.
For more information, please call me at 0545-987034.
Friday, April 01, 2011
Session Report, in which we take too long to play Shipyard
The latest Jerusalem Strategy Gaming Club session report is up. Games played: R-Eco, Shipyard.
Shipyard takes the four of us 3.5 hours.
Shipyard takes the four of us 3.5 hours.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)