ncase posts
Posts: 255
Files: 345
One Megapost on Mass Violence
It's been a sad month.As I mentioned in my last Patreon update, I was going to write a summary of the research I've done on the social psychology of violence – or, "emergent evil". What I didn't expect was for this summary to become my way of coping with all the worldwide tragedy in the last six weeks, a string of punches that slowly feels more and more numb.Anyway, here it is – three books on the psychology of violence, a...
June 2016 patron supported
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"Emergent Evil", and other shtuffs
I really, really thought my first project with PBS Frontline would be out this month. It's a Parable of the Polygons-esque explainer on the social psychology of terrorism. However, given the recent tragedy in Orlando, (on which I wrote some pissy, ill-advised reflections) that project's going through a re-write, and won't be out for a while.So instead of that, I'll share the related work I've done in the last two months.While ...
May 2016 patron supported
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April 2016 patron supported
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How To Simulate The Universe, In 134 Easy Steps
http://ncase.me/OVC2016/ Here's the word + picture version of a talk I gave a few days ago at OpenVisConf! (a gathering of art/tech peeps who do data visualization, you know, charts and stuff) My talk was about systems and simulations – and how they can make us more empathetic, more empowered, or at least, give us a deeper understanding of the world! Or something like that.I just plugged this page into a word count tool, and apparently it&#...
I'm at Frontline! + Society Sim Prototype
I mentioned it a few Patreon posts ago, but now it's actually happened – I'm a Knight/Mozilla OpenNews Fellow at PBS Frontline! My name appeared in the credits of their latest documentary on Saudi Arabia this week. Not sure why. I didn't do anything for that documentary, other than watching an early screening and making bad punsBut don't worry, all my work will still be open source/Creative Commons Zero. And the OpenNews Fellows...
March 2016 Patreon supported
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Two Half-Baked Prototypes
Hi everyone!For the past couple months, I've been in "exploratory" mode – making lots of tiny prototypes, rather than any one complete, self-contained project. Most of the prototypes were crap, so I'm going to pretend they never happened. But today, I'd like to show you two prototypes that were... okay-ish!Schools & Prisonshttp://ncase.me/prison-wip/model.htmlAll of my past interactives have been more "theory-heavy" ...
February 2016 patron supported
Thank you so much for the support this month!
The new ExplorableExplanations.com! (+other sneak peeks)
ExplorableExplanations.com If you're wondering why the thumbnail is from Bret Victor's essay on climate change, that's because Patreon's being a doofus and not picking the thumbnail I put right in the <head> tag, or even letting me change the thumbnail. I can't.ANYWAY.A lot of people have asked me how do I get started making an interactive explainy thingy whatever it's called? Well! That's what the new Explorable Expla...
January 2016 patron supported
Thank you so much for the support this month!
It's finally out! Simulating The World (In Emoji)
http://ncase.me/simulating/ An interactive guide to thinking in systems. In emoji.At long last -- well I guess it hasn't been that long, since I made the first prototype a bit over a month ago -- this thing's finally out! It's about the systems that run our lives... and how we can use sims, to explain, explore, and experiment with them.It wouldn't be too much of an exaggeration to call this project my New Year's Manifesto.A co...
December 2015 patron supported
Thank you so much for the support this month!
sneak peek: Simulating The World (In Emoji)
http://ncase.me/simulating-wip/Oh joy oh joy, do I have a holiday gift for you!This project's very close to being done, and I could publish it before the end of the month, but all my friends recommended I wait until after the holidays. So, it will come out on Jan 4th, 2016. In the meantime, though, you wonderful supporters get to play with it now! (Besides, I need one more round of feedback to polish it to its finest.)Please lemme know what y...
You, In My Upcoming Interactive?
My next project is coming out in a couple weeks, and I'm pretty excited! It's an interactive explanation that helps you build your own interactive explanation. It combines all the stuff that's been on my mind for the last six months -- from systems to simulations, from education to existential despair -- to answer the Big Question: how can we change the world?Also it uses emoji.I really couldn't have come this far without all your...
November 2015 patron supported
Thank you so much for the support this month!
Simulating the World... in Emoji!
http://ncase.me/emoji-prototype/Golly oh goodness do I have a new prototype for you.So, remember Parable of the Polygons? I'm prototyping a tool that lets you make your own Parable of the Polygons. That is, an easy-to-use, in-the-browser tool to make simulations of complex systems -- be they social systems, ecological systems, economical systems, or whatever.Also, it uses emoji.Here's the core idea of the prototype, one that I hope will r...
I'm going to be a Knight-Mozilla Fellow!
Or, The Big News You Probably Already Found Out About But I Was Too Exhausted To Post Onto Patreon Until Now: https://opennews.org/what/fellowships/2016meet/The Knight-Mozilla OpenNews Fellowship (previously just MoJo, short for Mozilla Journalism, which frankly is a much better name) is a 10 month fellowship where I'll get to collaborate with a bunch of peeps in code-journalism, as well as work with a news organization to make cool stuff.And...
My XOXO 2015 talk is up!
This one's about chaos, and adapting to chaos. My talk was actually uploaded exactly one week ago, but I couldn't get around to posting it here on Patreon until now. That's coz last weekend, I was at the Mozilla Festival in London! (then promptly fell sick afterwards) I was rather busy there, due to some exciting news that I'll be sharing on Patreon tomorrow~Well, I mean, the big news is already up on my Twitter. But I'll also...
October 2015 Patreon supported
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Behind-The-Scenes: The Spooky Edition
Hey hey! It's my second Patreon exclusive behind-the-scenes post. This month: two and a half prototypes, and apparently... either academic research is sorta interesting, or maybe I'm just a really boring person???Behind-The-Scenes Oct 31stAnd don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the drawn character rewards! I'm wondering if I should just do the drawn rewards + supporter credits for each prototype I make, rather than make you...
I'm Talking at IndieCade, Apparently!
This Friday, I'll be on a panel with a bunch of other indie gamedevs, talking about how to use games to say shtuff. Given that I've made Coming Out Simulator, Parable of the Polygons, and most recently, Neurotic Neurons, the conference organizers thought I could say shtuff about using games to say shtuff.Here's the link to the conference session!This is at IndieCade, “The Sundance of Indie Games” or so I've been told. I'll...
New Prototype - Ingroups & Outgroups
Because Neurotic Neurons took several months of mucking about before settling on something, I'm going to try something new this time -- make a whole bunch of prototypes first, then decide which one(s) to fully flesh out. This also means I can explore more directions at once, and I'll get to release stuff more often for you peeps!(Also, for the next couple months I'll be working on an interactive explainer for the BBC(!!!) I don't ...
September 2015 Patreon supported
Thank you so much for the support this month!
My First Patreon Exclusive: Behind-the-scenes
First off, welcome new backers! Thank you so much for supporting me -- and for those who pledged before last week, thanks for sticking around! Also, there's a few *actual* Patron rewards now, including "getting credited" and "drawn character reward". If you're already pledging at those reward amounts, you can click "Edit Your Patronage" to get your reward!The most basic reward is Patreon-exclusive content. And, thi...
Neurotic Neurons - an interactive animation
http://ncase.me/neurons/At long last, my explorable explanation on neurons & anxiety is finally out! Just like how Parable of the Polygons put interactivity into the blog post format, Neurotic Neurons puts interactivity into the "animated explainer" format. (Think Vi Hart, CGP Grey, Minute Physics, etc)Also, if you answered that survey I posted a while back, your name is thanked at the end of Neurons! If you missed it, no worries, there&#...
August 2015 Patreon supported
Thank you so much for the support this month!
Neurons! An interactive animation.
You know how Parable of the Polygons was basically a half-game half-blog-post? I've been thinking about what other mediums we could inject interactivity into. One in particular, I think might be a great candidate: edu-videos, like CGP Grey, Minute Physics, or Vi Hart!This is my prototype of just that, an interactive animation about neurons:http://ncase.me/neuron-prototype/It's basically a sandbox, but with a Bastion-like narrator that gui...
Your name thanked in my next Explorable?
This is patron-only post. This one's just for you. Because seriously, you've all been supporting me this far, and I just wanted a little way to thank you! So, if you'd like your name thanked in I'd Like To Be A Machine, my upcoming explorable explanation on neurons & anxiety, please let me know what name you'd like me to credit as a supporter: https://nickycase.typeform.com/to/eopCHXNo pressure, of course! Also, after this Exp...
