Word to the Wise

I once received great advice about being hooked on a computer game: if you want to get away from it, and regain motivation to hack, then try and develop the game.

Around the holidays, I was playing way too much online poker at home. So I indulgently uninstalled the damn thing and started playing around with some ideas/puzzles from the game. Currently, I'm starting a modest poker simulation in Groovy. It is just as fun as the time-waster, and yet infinitely more productive.

Admittedly, if you are hooked on Guitar Hero or Final Fantasy XVII, then it is going to be a tall order. But puzzle games such as Sudoku make great inspiration for learning a new language.