Stuart Spence Blog

"They’re weak."

Foreword Days after first watching Obsession (2025 film) it's still on my mind.

Greetings, stranger.

This is how I like to get all my news and information in 2026.

This post is a chronological tour of all the types of art assets in ChessCraft (images, sounds, music, voice) and how they were made.

I've had this on my mind for years.

I'm a senior computer scientist for the government of Canada, there since 2018.

I've often liked year-end reviews like from Wendover Productions.

Wow!

Sometimes a merge request (MR) doesn't merit a code review (CR) because AI was used in a bad way that harms the team or the project.

I often see these questions online: "I have no work experience.

I've often liked year-end reviews like from quanta magazine.

Voici mon expérience au congrès fondateur du Parti avenir canadien (PAC) en novembre 2024 à Ottawa.

Here's my experience attending the founding convention of the Canadian Future Party (CFP) in November 2024 in Ottawa.

The human internet is dying.

Sometimes my friends, family, colleagues, or online communities ask me this question: "If you could wave a magic wand to make one change in public service, what would it be?"

After some big disappointments at Environment Canada, I decided to take three months off in May, June, and July of 2024.

Since 2018 I've heard thousands of feature request ideas.

This page describes a point system where public servants and their managers can autonomously identify what their minimum work-from-home (WFH) day count should be.

Every so often someone asks me what I thought about the master's program in education technology (instructional design) at Concordia University in Montreal.

I've often liked year-end reviews like from quanta magazine.

Today I'm excited to say I'm moving to a new team!

When I help with government hiring I often give the same suggestions to hiring teams.

After years of strange problems and bad performance with MongoDB, this week I successfully migrated chesscraft.ca to PostgreSQL.

I've just released version 1.15 on Google Play and Steam.

I've just released version 1.14.0 on Google Play and Steam.

I've often liked year-end reviews like from quanta magazine or Wendover.

The free ChatGPT AI gave excellent or perfect answers to all my real ECCC interview questions: code writing and soft skills.

The views expressed here are my own, and do not express the views of my employer or my union.

If you love your stable diffusion art made with a vague prompt, consider checking out the artist instead.

What's more important to you: climate science or social justice?

I often see these questions online: "What are the differences between private and public sector IT?"

Most training videos are really bad.

I like that the full ChessCraft game is free and ad-free, and yet it is monetized.

This amazing release has the most new piece and board rules ever in a single update!

Richard Stallman may be a legend in the world of software, but he also has decades of history promoting a toxic environment in software communities.

Today I'm incredibly excited to announce a test release of ChessCraft with online multiplayer!

So...

I thought this was a small update, but then I reviewed all my changes and I surprised myself!

Two great new features have been added!

This small update is all about convenience features and bugfixes.

Before I ramble too much about the random board generator, I must thank: Luigi Annicchiarico Johan Estévez Selianin Alexander - for volunteering to fully and thoroughly edit my Italian, Spanish, and Russian translations!

This is a fun one!

Updated: 2025-01 This page is a description of the artificial intelligence (AI) in ChessCraft.

Apparently, some of you have been very busy making lots and lots of custom boards and pieces.

So I'm told (by many of you) that achievements are a critical element of mobile games.

I'm extremely excited to share this new version!

The new version of ChessCraft is here!

This wonderful update includes a new human versus human mode, ranged attack pieces (which attack without moving), and board preview thumbnails.