Tonight on GeekNights, we take on a high level overview of software testing. Unit testing, QA, UAT: all this can be yours. First, Zynga has seen substantial layoffs (hopefully as a beginning echo of the 80s videogame market collapse for the "free" to play monetization model, the Red Wedding seems to have startled some people, and Google currently won't allow app developers to use glass hardware effectively.

It was one of those weird coincidences where you suddenly hear about the same thing from multiple sources in a short time span. Multiple friends separately mentioned the Culture series of novels, and I became curious. Apparently they are about a far future utopia where there is no material scarcity. The second book in the series, "The Player of Games", is about a man living in that Utopia who is the best at playing games. If the back of the book is to be believed, he gets embroiled in some games with unusually high stakes.

Based on everything I have heard, I think this book, if not the entire Culture series, is more down the dead center of GeekNights alley than any book(s) can possibly be. If you listen to this podcast, you owe it to yourself to read this book. It may even be possible this book is more up our alleys than the Prince of Nothing.

Shortly after this book was selected we have learned that the author, Ian M. Banks, has terminal cancer. We are very sad that we did not discover or appreciate his works earlier in his life, and that not much more ink shall flow from his pen.