I came across this page (and Zompist's website) about five years ago. It has quite literally changed my life - it introduced me to a hobby where intellectual games are pursued for their own sake, and a community of people who discussed ideas rather than what was on tv last night. Another great resource is the zompist bulletin board, at http://www.spinnoff.com/zbb/ - it's where the community is.

Although I've since moved on to programming and engineering, I owe a big debt to zompist. So long, and thanks for all the ideas!