The Secure Scuttlebutt

06/20/2026, 02:17:09 PM

"Did you see that ludicrous display last night?"

I found myself at the Scotland vs. Morocco World Cup game, and my knowledge of statue hats came in quite handy to understand what was going on around me.

image:Note the fan wearing a traffic cone hat at the bottom right. They courteously collapsed it when to game started to not impede viewing.

image:Of course I don't understand this sport at all.

I didn't really understand the game at all, but the fans were all a lot of fun and very polite.

#noscotlandnoparty

06/12/2026, 10:19:32 PM

Midnight Murder Club left early access and saw its full release yesterday.

image:Midnight Murder Club: Available Now on PS5 and Steam

06/12/2026, 01:18:03 PM

Our other exciting news this week is that we're part of a proposal to build at 1 Monument Square in Troy, NY: https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/troy-mayor-pitches-new-plan-for-long-vacant-one-monument-square-site.

Information about the history of the site is a bit bleak: https://www.timesunion.com/projects/2025/troy-1-monument-square/.

image:screenshot of an article about many prior attempts to build at 1 monument square

I'm personally super excited. The lot has been an eyesore since I first visited Troy, the proposal looks pretty good, and if anyone can make this happen, we can.

06/09/2026, 03:39:21 PM

Happy to share that we worked on Star Fox for Switch 2 at Velan Studios: https://bsky.app/profile/velanstudios.bsky.social/post/3mnuig2crp225.

05/26/2026, 04:55:18 PM

Race Report: 2026 General Clinton Canoe Regatta 70-Miler

I completed the longest paddle I've ever attempted on Sunday, canoeing 70 miles from Cooperstown, NY to Bainbridge, NY in a race down the Susquehanna River.

image:two very tired paddlers (I'm in the front) crossing a finish line represented by a banner that has gotten tangled up in its line over the river

This was quite possibly the hardest physical thing I've ever done.

We fell in probably 4-5 times. Don't ask me to count exactly. I was thinking "1, 2, 3, ... 7, SWITCH" for twelve hours straight. Also one time I looked back and my sternman was outside of the boat, so does that count for half? The ideal number of times to fall in is zero, but one of the pros confided to us that he fell in once.

It rained steadily for the first half. The main outcome was that my hands blistered pretty badly, which sucked for the second half of the race. Our support crew got us gloves that helped a lot. Why didn't I bring them from the start??

One of our biggest takeaways is that we were not prepared for the rapids. There were easily class II+ rapids that roughed us up every time.

I lost two water bottles. They were the only things of mine that weren't strapped down. My support replaced at about the halfway point, so I only had to paddle a short section without hydration.

image:A better shot of us paddling. If I have an expression on my face, it's because I was feeling things

One of my coworkers didn't now what type II fun is, so here's a refresher:

image:"the fun scale": type II fun is only fun in retrospect

There was a live stream of the entire event from a variety of vantage points. I'll watch through more thoroughly over time. The one place I spotted us was when I stumbled in front of the camera, and we took a minute to try to figure out what we were doing at a dicey put-in after a dam and carry. The person on camera summed us up quickly and accurately, calling out that they saw us fall in early, that we were taking our time, and that we looked unsteady on the water. Yep, that was us.

image:Look ma, I'm on YouTube.

I would say we had a competent start but fell back further and further as we grew more sore, tired, and less confident throughout the day. Twelve hours was my guess for how long it would take us, but I was hoping for less. The race was about seven miles shorter than I expected (my watch measured 63.4mi). I can't express how relieved I was when I saw that finish line. I'm sure we could have done the extra mileage, but it would have been even more painful.

This was a great experience. I currently have zero interest in doing it again, but ask me in a year.