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Derek K. Miller died on Tuesday, May 3, 2011. On May 4, his last post was published on the Internet. His words are simple and true. Go read them, and then go enjoy this beautiful world. Life is fleeting.

If you read one book this month, make it Patrick Rhone’s new book, Keeping It Straight. I read it on my Kindle, and I just ripped through it. The book may contain a lot of things you already know, but Patrick’s personal essays give insight and at times, a swift kick that will propel you into action.

Chuck Wendig reviews Portal 2, but also addresses an important storytelling mechanic in video games. Sometimes there need to be some unanswered questions and gaps to fill during the adventure, and perhaps even afterward.

Gary Taubes, author of Good Calories, Bad Calories, wrote a well researched article on the possible toxicity of sugar in The New York Times Magazine a couple of weeks ago. While it may be a long read, the article is worth your time, and once the studies in progress are complete, we’ll know a little more about the hazards of refined sugar, fructose in particular.

I love the game, Tiny Wings, but I have to say, Garrett Murray accurately describes how I feel when I play it, too.

Merlin Mann has become an adept writer, and this piece illustrates that. It is my hope that Merlin’s eventual book is more memoir and less “how-to” because damned if he doesn’t drop wisdom in a most unique and effective way when he simply tells us the story of his life.

Using the analogy of a single family income, Greenspun illustrates how much (or little) Congress’ proposed spending cut will save. We have a family that is spending $38,200 per year. The family’s income is $21,700 per year. The family adds $16,500 in credit card debt every year in order to pay its bills. After a long and difficult debate among family members, keeping in mind that it was not going to be possible to borrow $16,500 every year forever, the parents and children agreed that a $380/year premium cable subscription could be terminated. So now the family will have to borrow only $16,120 per year. ...

In 1874 the QWERTY keyboard was invented. In 1963, the world was introduced to the mouse. Some 50 years later, we’ve seen the advent of microprocessors, high resolution webcams, and spatial tracking technology. But all the while we’ve continued to use outdated technology to interact with devices. Why? This is a question that we’ve been thinking about a lot at Google, and we’re excited to introduce our first attempts at next generation human computer interaction: Gmail Motion. ...

The Brooks Review elaborates on this conclusion: The only free things I like and trust are free things that are trials, or labeled as beta. Everything else should be charging from day one — I don’t mean to get all 37Signals on people here, but they have a good point. What good will Twitter be next month when 20% of the average user’s stream is advertising? Will I even want to use it? ...

8-bit gaming meets the modern MMOG: NEStalgia is an original MMORPG inspired by the glory days of traditional console RPGs. Essentially “Dragon Warrior 3 meets World of Warcraft”, NEStalgia is an amalgam of the best generations of RPG gaming. Wage classic turn based battles using a multiplayer party system, and enjoy modern trappings such as a full-featured quest system and hordes of epic loot to find. We even have a WoW-style Auction House for item trading! ...