Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Heheh
"Aidan, why don't you come into the living room with us?" "Oh, is it time for breakfast?"
Priorities...
Friday, August 2, 2013
Dinner tonight was Cracker Barrel - not impressive compared to last night's meal, but still okay enough. The hamburger was a little bland, the pickles were sweet and not sour (dammit!), the waitress was a little flaky... But it was a pleasant meal.
The person stealing my chocolate cake in that picture, if you're curious, is Aidan. My Double Chocolate Fudge Coca-Cola Cake with Premium Vanilla Ice Cream.
And of course while waiting, we ended up drawaing. The cat is my father's; the second bird (in blue) is Aidan's. The dog, turtle, frog, snake, and first bird (in red) are mine.
I was told that my seagull wasn't a real bird, which is why Aidan had to fix it for me. :-)
Does the tooth fairy find you on vacation?
Aidan's first lost tooth! In the pool, when he hit himself in the face with a giant foam pool noodle. Luckily, we didn't lose it, and it's now sitting here with me on the desk...
Wait, that's not lucky. That's vaguely gross. Yeuch.
Lunch today ended up being only about 8 miles from our hotel for the night...
The dog (Bella) is a 1 lb 7 oz toy wire-haired terrier, that two women on their way to Myrtle Beach had with them. We shared a picnic table. They were friendly enough, but just a little weird... Which is fine, I suppose.
Also? Not even nearly enough shade. Get it together, North Carolina! Your visitors don't want to die from the evil burning sun-fire within the first mile past the border!
The dog (Bella) is a 1 lb 7 oz toy wire-haired terrier, that two women on their way to Myrtle Beach had with them. We shared a picnic table. They were friendly enough, but just a little weird... Which is fine, I suppose.
Also? Not even nearly enough shade. Get it together, North Carolina! Your visitors don't want to die from the evil burning sun-fire within the first mile past the border!
Well, the first rest stop is quite early today. It's only four and a half hours of driving today and tomorrow, give or take. My parents judge that as about the maximum the kids will survive in the car - probably because they'll be murdered if they get too riled up. At least it makes for restful days.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
And you know, it didn't taste like a tree at all!
We had dinner at Cedar, which is a delicious place.
We sat at the Chef's table, and started off with an amouse bouche, possibly because it was my parents' anniversary. The kids got a very tasty fried cheese rice ball of some sort, while the adults got a shrimp-radish-parmesan spoon.I
The bread was excellent. I normally wouldn't have said anything or but it was warm and crusty and tasty and served with butter and olive oil, and it was definitely a different taste to the olive oil. It tasted, and this sounds dumb to me, more olivey; like it was less processed than I'm used to. Which is entirely possible.
Claire, of course, felt required to test the structural integrity of the cheese from her lobster grilled cheese sandwich...
But my meal continued with a bison carpaccio with ground mustard, a goat cheese "crouton" (sortof more like a fried cheese ball), and cold ratatouille.
The main course was a rabbit sausage and braised rabbit leg with green pea agnolotti and morel mushrooms in a delicious gravy of sorts.
And dessert was (I'm still drooling over this...) a coconut tres leches cake with key lime ice cream.Over all? Amazing. And very very expensive (upwards of $500 for the 7 of us), but very, very good.
Woohoo, second leg down!
Well, we're here, and here's my parking meter receipt to prove it:
Aidan got his birthday present from my sister, and decided the best possible thing he could do was decorate me. I'm... Uncertain I agree with the high quality of this plan...
Aidan got his birthday present from my sister, and decided the best possible thing he could do was decorate me. I'm... Uncertain I agree with the high quality of this plan...
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
.JPG)
.JPG)
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Friday, July 12, 2013
I would like to say...
..for the record, the contrast solution for CT scans is immensely unpleasant. If <<>>the side effects I've heard about online are anything to be believed, the rest of my day/weekend isn't going to be immensely pleasant either.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Aidan's painting
Aidan created this over the weekend for my office - my new department does an art thing for the staff's kids. It's pretty adorable. I tried to encourage him to use a bit more of the canvas, but he insisted he was done.
It's difficult, of course, to convince him he wants to sit down and concentrate on this type of thing; he'd much rather sit down and concentrate on playing games of various sorts. I got him to stop grumbling by just saying "Okay, today's the only day you have that you have time to do this before it has to be turned in. Do you actually want to do it?" He said yes, settled down, and worked on it. Which I'm happy about on multiple levels - partly because it's awesome to have a kid you can reason with, and partly because he actually chose to do something besides playing, which - some days - is a really nice change.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Uh oh...
Apparently the Russian space program is having a bad day:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/07/proton-m-launch-three-glonass/
Of course, that article confuses me on one important point: it's unclear to me whether they really meant "causalities" every place they put it or whether they actually meant "casualties" in one or more of those places. From context, I couldn't tell.
Not knowing causalities is cause for concern; not having casualities is cause for celebration. Hmmmm.
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/07/proton-m-launch-three-glonass/
Of course, that article confuses me on one important point: it's unclear to me whether they really meant "causalities" every place they put it or whether they actually meant "casualties" in one or more of those places. From context, I couldn't tell.
Not knowing causalities is cause for concern; not having casualities is cause for celebration. Hmmmm.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Friday, June 28, 2013
Whoah...
So I just got out of my meeting. Another 4 pounds - 36 total. Officially, I'm 0.2 pounds off of my 10% goal... But 0.2 is well within the margin of error given body weight fluctuations. So I'm calling this one a win.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
This, if you're curious, is my kagum:
No, the hilt is not supposed to be in two pieces. No, I'm not happy about it.
Anyone have any good leads for putting a new (wooden) handle on a half-tang Eastern-style sword?
Swords
It's fascinating to me what I find when swords come up in various contexts. I tend to consider myself as much more knowledgeable about swords than most people... But I constantly find out new little things I didn't know before. Like, apparently, the type of blade Beowulf used to slay the Grendel was a "Seax" or "Sex" - an old type of medieval knife/sword I hadn't heard of before. Fascinating stuff.
The thing that really struck me, though, was the movie "Reclaiming the Blade", which is a documentary about swords. I don't remember hearing about it before... Which astounds me because it's exactly the type of thing I'd have expected to have found somewhere back in my various researches into the topic. Not sure how that happened.
Not that it matters a huge amount, I suppose. But it is going onto my wish-list...
The thing that really struck me, though, was the movie "Reclaiming the Blade", which is a documentary about swords. I don't remember hearing about it before... Which astounds me because it's exactly the type of thing I'd have expected to have found somewhere back in my various researches into the topic. Not sure how that happened.
Not that it matters a huge amount, I suppose. But it is going onto my wish-list...
Monday, June 24, 2013
Take as directed...
So I think this amoxicillin is making me feel sick. Every time I take it now, it I get a bit nauseous, and that's no fun. It didn't do that when I first started taking it, but now it's every time. I'm not a fan. Though of course I didn't look at side effects or anything when I got it. Lets see... "May decrease the effectiveness of birth control pills" and "finish all of it."
...Not the most helpful warnings ever.
I looked it up online, and I did take it with food... But possibly not *enough* food. Not sure what to do with that.
...Not the most helpful warnings ever.
I looked it up online, and I did take it with food... But possibly not *enough* food. Not sure what to do with that.
I'll be glad when this course of medicine is done.
Bah!
Today's ThinkGeek e-mail is so boring! Normally they have good stuff, but this time, it's just limited to the Titanium Survival Spork and DC Superheroes Shot Glasses.
Bah humbug. Come on, guys, you're supposed to entertain me!
Bah humbug. Come on, guys, you're supposed to entertain me!
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Hey, new stuff!
Spent my first day with new material in Gumdo, today. Did my battle drill, my new pattern (which I think I did remarkably well at!), and also some time with throwing and hitting ping-pong balls.
And yes, I know that last one sounds almost silly. Next time you think that, though, try putting a sword through your belt, throwing the ping-ping ball with one hand, drawing the sword, taking two steps, and hitting it with a horizontal strike. It's... Non-trivial.
Anyway. Good stuff.
And yes, I know that last one sounds almost silly. Next time you think that, though, try putting a sword through your belt, throwing the ping-ping ball with one hand, drawing the sword, taking two steps, and hitting it with a horizontal strike. It's... Non-trivial.
Anyway. Good stuff.
Friday, June 21, 2013
Are Fridays supposed to feel like this?
I just don’t feel well; I still have a lingering cough from the last week (yup, it’s been a week now) of being sick. This whole "strep throat" thing is for the birds. Congestion, coughing, sneezing, and generally feeling like crap. I started seriously feeling like crap last Friday, and proceeded to do so all weekend and just control it as best I could. I took Monday as a work-from-home day so I would try to recover a bit more, and Nina dragged me out to Urgent Care, since she'd caught whatever I had. And what ended up happening... She got diagnosed with a cough and told to control it with Mucinex and vitamin C; I tested positive for strep and was given a prescription of amoxicillin for my troubles. The doctor framed it as "Well, I don't know if I believe it, and I wouldn't have even run the test if I were doing your work-up, and it could be a false positive, but I'm not going to ignore the result." So same symptoms, and it looks like she caught it from me, but I'm lucky enough to get the worse diagnosis. Yay.
Incidentally, I need to get more DayQuil. It's for some reason difficult to find outside of a DayQuil/NyQuil double-pack, but you use DayQuil twice as fast (or at least *I* do)... So I have much more NyQuil in the house but the DayQuil ran out.
Last night I actually finally got my blue belt test done for Gumdo. I passed, which I don't think is actually a surprise to anyone involved. Noone else was in class, this time, so it went very quickly. We did paper cutting first, and while the first two were iffy, the third was fine; all the basics and warmups; the stance focus drills (1, 2, and 3); then in a change from the norm, we did things by level instead of type. So it was my first-level pattern, then 10-count, then battle drill; then second-level pattern, 10-count battle drill; then third level pattern, 10-count, and battle drill. The only thing I had to repeat (other than the paper, which is pretty typical) was my third pattern, once. I managed to muck up the footwork on one section of it slightly - even noticed when I was doing it - and so did it a second time, and hit it fine.
Grand master Traina described it as "the fastest test he's ever done", which I take a little bit of credit for (even if it was mostly just because I was alone and he had noone else to deal with).
Oh, at the WW meeting today? I was up a little bit from last week. I'm fairly okay with it, though, because last week wasn't a typical weigh-in (wrong time, wrong place) and I've had two weddings the last two weekends; I'm still lower than my last meeting (two weeks ago) and I call that a win.
Incidentally, I need to get more DayQuil. It's for some reason difficult to find outside of a DayQuil/NyQuil double-pack, but you use DayQuil twice as fast (or at least *I* do)... So I have much more NyQuil in the house but the DayQuil ran out.
Last night I actually finally got my blue belt test done for Gumdo. I passed, which I don't think is actually a surprise to anyone involved. Noone else was in class, this time, so it went very quickly. We did paper cutting first, and while the first two were iffy, the third was fine; all the basics and warmups; the stance focus drills (1, 2, and 3); then in a change from the norm, we did things by level instead of type. So it was my first-level pattern, then 10-count, then battle drill; then second-level pattern, 10-count battle drill; then third level pattern, 10-count, and battle drill. The only thing I had to repeat (other than the paper, which is pretty typical) was my third pattern, once. I managed to muck up the footwork on one section of it slightly - even noticed when I was doing it - and so did it a second time, and hit it fine.
Grand master Traina described it as "the fastest test he's ever done", which I take a little bit of credit for (even if it was mostly just because I was alone and he had noone else to deal with).
Oh, at the WW meeting today? I was up a little bit from last week. I'm fairly okay with it, though, because last week wasn't a typical weigh-in (wrong time, wrong place) and I've had two weddings the last two weekends; I'm still lower than my last meeting (two weeks ago) and I call that a win.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
A minor thing...
One of the postcards on PostSecret today almost made me cry. It also made me angry. Too close to home, I guess.
I'm so tired today.
I'm so tired today.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Pattern Recognition
I was trying to remember who had written a book I was familiar with called "Pattern Recognition" - I ended up remembering the one I was thinking of as I was searching (it's William Gibson), but it made me realize there are a few book titles that *a lot* of books share.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s?store=allproducts&keyword=pattern+recognition
I suppose it's justified - it's a concept that comes up in math, computers, algorithmics, economics, psychology, and other academic fields, as well as other places.
And yet William Gibson still comes up as the top result - shows what people care about. Not even that I don't understand or agree... But it still makes me slightly sad.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s?store=allproducts&keyword=pattern+recognition
I suppose it's justified - it's a concept that comes up in math, computers, algorithmics, economics, psychology, and other academic fields, as well as other places.
And yet William Gibson still comes up as the top result - shows what people care about. Not even that I don't understand or agree... But it still makes me slightly sad.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Some Job Stats...
...for my current position:
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151122.htm
Apparently, the average salary for my role in NY state is $112k. Which I'm not making. But that's okay - I could certainly be doing far, far worse than I am...
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151122.htm
Apparently, the average salary for my role in NY state is $112k. Which I'm not making. But that's okay - I could certainly be doing far, far worse than I am...
The Nicaragua Canal?
So this showed up on Slashdot (depressingly, my main source for news outside of InfoSec blogs, these days):
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/06/11/1238231/nicaragua-gives-chinese-firm-contract-to-build-alternative-to-panama-canal
I think the funniest part was the comment near the bottom "You realise if the pull this off technically Costa Rica will become an island." Would that improve their tourist trade? The newest tropical island in the world?
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/06/11/1238231/nicaragua-gives-chinese-firm-contract-to-build-alternative-to-panama-canal
I think the funniest part was the comment near the bottom "You realise if the pull this off technically Costa Rica will become an island." Would that improve their tourist trade? The newest tropical island in the world?
Monday, June 10, 2013
A little light reading...
http://sacreddisease.blogspot.com/2008/01/common-uncommon-knowledge.html
I read this and my first thought was "I don't know anyone with Epilepsy!" Which I think is an absurd thing to focus on. It's funny the loops my mind will twist itself into trying to rationalize the ridiculous guilt and stupidity I go through on a regular basis.
I found the blog, of all things through a podcast. The author of that blog wrote in to "Stuff to Blow Your Mind", a podcast I listen to; and the URL was read out in the comments section. As far as I can tell the blog is dead, in that there have been no posts this year, 1 in 2012, and the vast majority in 2008; but I'm still going to go back and read through it.
It was pointed out to me, after I'd started looking at it, that the author actually lives in Troy, not that far away. Interesting the way these coincidences happen.
Reading through the beginnings of it, though, I realized that it did remind me of something important - of how my father was handled after his car accident. I don't remember how much I went through it, but he blacked out, and it was never explained. They went through neurological studies and sleep studies and medical exams and scans and whatever else, and in the end just said "Okay, you can't drive for six months, and if nothing else happens we'll move on."
Kindof scary, really.
I read this and my first thought was "I don't know anyone with Epilepsy!" Which I think is an absurd thing to focus on. It's funny the loops my mind will twist itself into trying to rationalize the ridiculous guilt and stupidity I go through on a regular basis.
I found the blog, of all things through a podcast. The author of that blog wrote in to "Stuff to Blow Your Mind", a podcast I listen to; and the URL was read out in the comments section. As far as I can tell the blog is dead, in that there have been no posts this year, 1 in 2012, and the vast majority in 2008; but I'm still going to go back and read through it.
It was pointed out to me, after I'd started looking at it, that the author actually lives in Troy, not that far away. Interesting the way these coincidences happen.
Reading through the beginnings of it, though, I realized that it did remind me of something important - of how my father was handled after his car accident. I don't remember how much I went through it, but he blacked out, and it was never explained. They went through neurological studies and sleep studies and medical exams and scans and whatever else, and in the end just said "Okay, you can't drive for six months, and if nothing else happens we'll move on."
Kindof scary, really.
...
Apparently, I need to be more careful printing. For some godawful reason, the default settings on the colour printer nearest my desk - the one sitting next to a black-and-white printer, meaning its only real reason for existing is to print colour - is greyscale. Every time - every time - I print something I need in colour, I forget and end up having to print it twice.
You'd think I'd learn...
You'd think I'd learn...
Friday, June 7, 2013
Consoles: Going downhill since 2000...
And I hate to jump on the "paranoid fucktard"
wagon train, but this article:
http://games.slashdot.org/story/13/06/07/1229246/microsoft-confirms-xbox-ones-phone-home-requirement-game-resale-rules
Quite well summarizes why I'll never actually be comfortable
in the same room with an XBox One. Always-on requirement + active listening +
PRISM (the government program for pulling user records from most major
technology companies + restrictions on publicizing it) = fuuuuuck that.
But there's a comment somewhere down in the feed that really
summarizes this well: This console will have neither a used nor rental game
market. Enabling it to "allow publishers" to enable people reselling
their games means most won't. The rental and used game market for the XBox One
won't exist.
That’s not even touching the bullshit Sony’s pulled with
removing backwards compatibility, removing Linux enablement, hidden rootkits,
and other utter crap.
Fuckit. If I hadn’t already jumped on the “back to computers
as a gaming console” bandwagon, this’d convince me I had to by the next
generation.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Gaaaaah.
The pool is 70.
70.
The air is still near 90... But the pool, complete with trees on 3 sides, has not recovered from the 40-50-degree weather and massive rainstorm.
Can't argue with its ability to cool me down.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Another late update...
I'm apparently very bad at writing, both on time and at all. But... At the WW meeting yesterday, I weighed in at 340 and change - down 21 point something pounds. That makes me happy. Still a long way to go, but it's occasionally nice to know it's not hopeless.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Weight Watchers Update...
I forgot to mention it on Friday: so officially, I'm up 0.2 pounds, to a total loss of 18.6 pounds. That's... Frustrating, but, it's what it is. It'll be fine.
Today, I don't have much of an appetite. No reason I'm aware of - just... Don't really want to eat.
Today, I don't have much of an appetite. No reason I'm aware of - just... Don't really want to eat.
Friday, April 19, 2013
As an amusing aside...
...Dick's sporting goods apparently classifies sleeping bags under the "Team Sports" on their web site search function.
>.>
I can think of one "team sport" you do in bed, but it's certainly not their primary function.
>.>
I can think of one "team sport" you do in bed, but it's certainly not their primary function.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
A Small Sideline from the Day
Forwarded to me by my manager, and found from http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/17-ways-to-be-happier-at-work-230909033.html:
1. Don't compare yourself to others.
Everybody, and I mean everybody, starts out in a different place and is headed on their own journey. You have NO idea where someone else's journey might lead them, so drawing comparisons is a complete waste of time.
2. Never obsess over things you cannot control.
While it's often important to know about other things--like the economy, the markets that you sell to, the actions that others might take, your focus should remain on what you actually control, which is 1) your own thoughts and 2) your own actions.
3. Know and keep your personal limits and boundaries.
While your job might sometimes seem like the most important thing in your world, you're killing a part of yourself if you let work situations push you into places that violate your privacy and your integrity.
4. Don't over commit yourself or your team.
It's great to be enthusiastic and willing to go the "extra mile," but making promises that you (or your team) can't reasonably keep is simply a way to create failure and disappointment.
5. Remember you get the same amount of time every day as everyone else.
You may feel you're short on time and that you need more of it, but the simple truth is that when the day started, you got your fair share: 24 hours. Nobody got any more than you did, so stop complaining.
6. Don't take yourself so seriously; nobody else does.
The ability to laugh at your foibles not only makes you happier as a person, it makes you more powerful, more influential and more attractive to others. If you can't laugh at yourself, everyone else will be laughing behind your back.
7. Daydream more rather than less.
The idea that daydreaming and working are mutually exclusive belongs back in the 20th century. It's when you let your thoughts wander that you're more likely to have the insights that will make you both unique and more competitive.
8. Don't bother with hate; it's not worth the effort.
Hate is an emotional parasite that eats away at your energy and health. If something is wrong with the world and you can change it, take action. If you can't take action, you're better off to forgive and forget.
9. Make peace with your past lest it create your future.
Focusing on past mistakes or wrongs inflicted on you is exactly like driving a car while looking in the rear view mirror. You'll keep heading in the same direction until you collide with something solid.
10. Don't try to "win" every argument.
Some battles aren't worth fighting, and many people are easier to handle when they think they've won the argument. What's important isn't "winning," but what you, and the other people involved, plan to do next.
11. Remember that nobody is in charge of your happiness except you.
While some work environments are inherently difficult, if you're consistently miserable it's your fault. You owe it to yourself and your coworkers to either find a job that makes you happy or make the best of the job you've got.
12. Smile and laugh more frequently.
Contrary to popular belief, smiling and laughter are not the RESULT of being happy; they're part of a cycle that both creates and reinforces happiness. Find reasons to smile. Never, ever suppress a laugh.
13. Don't waste precious energy on malice and gossip.
Before you tell a story about anybody else, or listen to such a story, ask yourself four questions: 1) Is it true? 2) Is it kind? 3) Is it necessary? and 4) Would I want somebody telling a similar story about me?
14. Don't worry what others think about you; it's none of your business.
You can't mind read and you don't have everyone else wired into a lie detector. Truly, you really have NO IDEA what anyone is REALLY thinking about you. It's a total waste of time and energy to try.
15. Remember that however bad (or good) a situation is, it will inevitably change.
The nature of the physical universe is change. Nothing remains the same; everything is, as the gurus say, transitory. Whether you're celebrating or mourning or something in between, this, too, will pass.
16. Trash everything in your work area that isn't useful or beautiful.
Think about it: you're going to spend about a third of your waking adult life at work. Why would you want to fill your work environment--and that part of your life--with objects that are useless and ugly?
17. Believe that the best is yet to come, no matter what.
When my grandmother was widowed in her 70s, she went back to college, traveled across Europe in youth hostels, and learned Japanese painting, among many other activities. The last thing she told me was: "You know, Geoffers, life begins at 90."
I refused to be terrorized by this.
So the Boston Marathon was just a couple of days ago, and probably everyone reading this knows what happened. There were multiple bombs planted along the route; 3 are currently dead (one an 8-year-old), and possibly hundreds injured, including a large number of severe foot and leg injuries to the bystanders and participants (my understanding is that this was because a bomb or bombs were placed under bleachers, and the positioning led to a higher proportion of leg injuries). It was terrible; it was horrifying; and to anyone involved or affected by it, please accept my deepest sympathies and support for the full recovery or memory of you and your loved ones. It was awful.
And yet... It doesn't terrify me. It doesn't spur me to shrieks of indignation. It doesn't lead me to want to point out blame. It strikes me how immensely unsuccessful it was. With that kind of clustering of people, it could have been thousands; in a city like that, it could have brought down buildings or bridges and done infinitely more property damage. A man (or woman, not to be sexist) with a handgun could have done a significant portion of this damage. It could have been orders of magnitude worse. In no way do I want to undersell the horror of what happened to the people there, but the effect was - for a bomb going off in a packed crowd - absolutely minimal.
Far more eloquent people than me have commented on it:
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/04/initial_thought.html
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/04/15/something-else-to-talk-about/
And as I think both of those point out... Look up how many people have died in violence in Iraq or Iran over the past few days. Look up how the rockets and bombings affected Israel for years. Look up some of the domestic terror campaigns in Ireland.
Whatever this is... It doesn't terrify me; it's hard for me to even classify at it as a terrorist attack, just a crime by a pathetic excuse for humanity. It just makes me sad and angry.
And yet... It doesn't terrify me. It doesn't spur me to shrieks of indignation. It doesn't lead me to want to point out blame. It strikes me how immensely unsuccessful it was. With that kind of clustering of people, it could have been thousands; in a city like that, it could have brought down buildings or bridges and done infinitely more property damage. A man (or woman, not to be sexist) with a handgun could have done a significant portion of this damage. It could have been orders of magnitude worse. In no way do I want to undersell the horror of what happened to the people there, but the effect was - for a bomb going off in a packed crowd - absolutely minimal.
Far more eloquent people than me have commented on it:
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/04/initial_thought.html
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/04/15/something-else-to-talk-about/
And as I think both of those point out... Look up how many people have died in violence in Iraq or Iran over the past few days. Look up how the rockets and bombings affected Israel for years. Look up some of the domestic terror campaigns in Ireland.
Whatever this is... It doesn't terrify me; it's hard for me to even classify at it as a terrorist attack, just a crime by a pathetic excuse for humanity. It just makes me sad and angry.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Quick WW Update
As an aside, I forgot to post last Friday: When I weighed in, I was down 18.8 pounds. In 5 weeks, that's not too shabby. Also passed my first 5% goal (18 lbs). I'm pretty proud of that.
I like my music with Soule...
So here's one of the Kickstarter's I've supported recently:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/499808045/from-the-composer-of-skyrim-soule-symphony-no-1
It's finished now (I suppose I should have posted about it earlier?), but it's interesting - a modern classical composer. I mean, I'm a fan of Skyrim, and honestly, I'd never heard of this guy. I have a nasty habit of just turning music off in games and only noticing it when it's on because it's annoying me (while I'm trying to hear something else, especially), and Skyrim was no different - I'd just muted the music and been done with it. Going back and turning it on, and then listening to the soundtrack, though, prompted by this... It really is pretty good. Well within my range of taste, at least.
Anyway, the composer in question is Jeremy Soule (http://www.facebook.com/mrsoule), and if you like Classical music, I strongly recommend checking him out. I find his work excellent. I mean, obviously, I like some of it more than other; but that's true of any composer I know of, so I'm perfectly willing to accept that.
Interestingly, a little bit of research came up with this:
http://halloffame.classicfm.com/2013/chart/position/5/
which is a British Classic FM station. Apparently he hit #5 on the top 300 "hall of fame" for 2013 with his Skyrim soundtrack, and it was a huge controversy. There appear to be three major groups in that discussion: the first group, who say it's not classical music (either because it's from a video game or because he's still alive); the second group, who say it's classical music but didn't deserve its position on the charts (mostly because they say it got that high purely through a successful social media campaign and not on merit); and the third group who points out that both Harry Potter's and The Pirates of the Carribean's soundtracks made it into the hall of fame and yet aren't the subject of controversy, and social media is part of the equation, so suck it up and accept that it's classical music and people like it. Without the occasional bits of vitriol, I admit I'm part of the third group. Social Media is - for better or for worse - the way the world works, and part of the equation with any kind of public poll-based rating like this... And at least to me, classical music is a style, not a date-based defition available only to the long dead.
Ahh, well. Check his stuff out - I hope you like it as much as I do.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
A Life in 30 Minutes
Please forgive me - I wrote this on Tuesday but forgot to publish it until just now. I'm publishing it at approximately the time I finished it, in the past.
-----
Funerals are always interesting. I've only been to a small handful, but I have first- and second-hand accounts of a number more. I don't typically find them depressing, though I frequently find them fascinating. Usually, my mourning - my breaking down and crying - is done beforehand. I did cry at the funeral today, but I suppose that can be excused.
It was interesting, though, listening to a minister trying to summarize my grandmother's 90-odd years of life into 30 minutes, and still have time in it for a psalm and a couple of prayers. He concentrated on the environment she fostered in the people around her. She was always calm, always quiet, always listening... But you never for a second didn't know exactly where you stood with her. She was one of the most proper, most friendly ladies I knew.
I kept on thinking of that postcard I transcribed, that granddad wrote to her back when he was at academy. He was such a gruff pain in the ass, and yet I never saw him anything except tender and loving with her, however he expressed it. It's a statement about him, on some level, but it was a statement about her as well.
My last grandparent is dead; and my family is a small, colder place for it.
-----
Funerals are always interesting. I've only been to a small handful, but I have first- and second-hand accounts of a number more. I don't typically find them depressing, though I frequently find them fascinating. Usually, my mourning - my breaking down and crying - is done beforehand. I did cry at the funeral today, but I suppose that can be excused.
It was interesting, though, listening to a minister trying to summarize my grandmother's 90-odd years of life into 30 minutes, and still have time in it for a psalm and a couple of prayers. He concentrated on the environment she fostered in the people around her. She was always calm, always quiet, always listening... But you never for a second didn't know exactly where you stood with her. She was one of the most proper, most friendly ladies I knew.
I kept on thinking of that postcard I transcribed, that granddad wrote to her back when he was at academy. He was such a gruff pain in the ass, and yet I never saw him anything except tender and loving with her, however he expressed it. It's a statement about him, on some level, but it was a statement about her as well.
My last grandparent is dead; and my family is a small, colder place for it.
Monday, April 1, 2013
A note from the past
Kath Darling,
Sorry no letter for Thursday, but just to tell you that all OK, and will be home on Friday. "Events" gone off well, and only Guest Night left. Remember last? All (^always) my love,
xxxTomxxx
-----
Sent from Thomas E. Goldsmith to Kathleen Goldsmith on the 8th of June, 1961 from his police academy.
Sorry no letter for Thursday, but just to tell you that all OK, and will be home on Friday. "Events" gone off well, and only Guest Night left. Remember last? All (^always) my love,
xxxTomxxx
-----
Sent from Thomas E. Goldsmith to Kathleen Goldsmith on the 8th of June, 1961 from his police academy.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Some Cell Phone Advice...
This seems like reasonable advice. And for the record, this is copied from a Slashdot comment - I don't remember who or what user, but this isn't me.
=====
As I type this, my father is on his phone yelling at his carrier. He's now spent over 20 hours this month yelling at them over the same billing error. He's furious, and it all makes sense.
I have the same carrier. I'm very happy with my carrier. But I've done things very differently. And I continue to do things differently.
The carrier did mis-bill my father. Absolutely and without question. Whether or not it was intentional is optionally obvious. But it's irelevant. My father, like most people, calls them, expects them to work out the issue on the phone for him immediately. And while we all know they should, and they could, it takes twenty minutes and then they don't. Again, intentional or otherwise is up to you.
I've seen all of you guys get frustrated with this sort of thing. So I've solved the problem. Here's what I did, and what I do.
First, I have a "business account". The only difference between a business account and a consumer account is that I asked for a "business account" and they call it a "business account". Otherwise, it's the same. All plans are available to me the same way. If anything, it actually reduces the availabitily of customer support because I need to be transfered to a business account person. Again, true or not is up to your own belief system.
Second, I don't expect anything to ever get done immediately over the phone. About once a quarter, sometimes once a month, I have some sort of an issue to deal with. Maybe billing, maybe account change, maybe whatever. I call, I leave the phone on speaker-phone until I get the right person -- sometimes I'm on hold for twenty minutes, rarely but sometimes. Doesn't matter, I'm working to hold music instead of to my own music, big deal.
Then, I ask for whatever I want. If it doesn't get done and solved perfectly in five minutes by the first reasonable-correct agent, I simply say: "I need to go, please work this out and call me back tomorrow at this time." 90% of the time, that's exactly what happens, and it's perfect. The remaining 10% of the time, if they don't call me back and it doesn't get done, then I walk into the physical brick and mortar store, and say exactly the same thing -- to someone wearing a manager tag. I smile, I shake her hand, I flirt a little (it works between men too, by the way), and I ask them to do me the personal favour and call me back with the solution -- and I give them a full week.
I think a lot of you forget that, assuming your phone is functional, all of these billing- and plan-, and account-related issues can be worked out retro-actively. There really is no rush. It's not urgent.
So I live a very happy life. I get problems solved within a week, with minimal time and effort spent by me. Why does anyone need any more? You deserve to have your problem solved. You don't deserve to have your problem solved within an hour.
=====
As I type this, my father is on his phone yelling at his carrier. He's now spent over 20 hours this month yelling at them over the same billing error. He's furious, and it all makes sense.
I have the same carrier. I'm very happy with my carrier. But I've done things very differently. And I continue to do things differently.
The carrier did mis-bill my father. Absolutely and without question. Whether or not it was intentional is optionally obvious. But it's irelevant. My father, like most people, calls them, expects them to work out the issue on the phone for him immediately. And while we all know they should, and they could, it takes twenty minutes and then they don't. Again, intentional or otherwise is up to you.
I've seen all of you guys get frustrated with this sort of thing. So I've solved the problem. Here's what I did, and what I do.
First, I have a "business account". The only difference between a business account and a consumer account is that I asked for a "business account" and they call it a "business account". Otherwise, it's the same. All plans are available to me the same way. If anything, it actually reduces the availabitily of customer support because I need to be transfered to a business account person. Again, true or not is up to your own belief system.
Second, I don't expect anything to ever get done immediately over the phone. About once a quarter, sometimes once a month, I have some sort of an issue to deal with. Maybe billing, maybe account change, maybe whatever. I call, I leave the phone on speaker-phone until I get the right person -- sometimes I'm on hold for twenty minutes, rarely but sometimes. Doesn't matter, I'm working to hold music instead of to my own music, big deal.
Then, I ask for whatever I want. If it doesn't get done and solved perfectly in five minutes by the first reasonable-correct agent, I simply say: "I need to go, please work this out and call me back tomorrow at this time." 90% of the time, that's exactly what happens, and it's perfect. The remaining 10% of the time, if they don't call me back and it doesn't get done, then I walk into the physical brick and mortar store, and say exactly the same thing -- to someone wearing a manager tag. I smile, I shake her hand, I flirt a little (it works between men too, by the way), and I ask them to do me the personal favour and call me back with the solution -- and I give them a full week.
I think a lot of you forget that, assuming your phone is functional, all of these billing- and plan-, and account-related issues can be worked out retro-actively. There really is no rush. It's not urgent.
So I live a very happy life. I get problems solved within a week, with minimal time and effort spent by me. Why does anyone need any more? You deserve to have your problem solved. You don't deserve to have your problem solved within an hour.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Last Friday was my second Weight Watchers meeting, which went well. It was a fairly successful meeting all around. One person hit "lifetime" status; another hit 10%; another hit 25 lbs. Me? I hit 11 pounds, which is pretty impressive (to me) in two weeks. I don't know how long I can keep up that pace, but even if it's only a short time, it'll be amazing. I've been pretty stable for a while - a slow increase, really, up to where I was - and I'm now the lightest I've been in about a year and a half. I'll be honest and say I don't really remember when I got this heavy - but it's been a long time. A depressingly long time.
So this week is looking very, very busy at this point, and I am... Tired. Tonight is Gumdo class; tomorrow is blood drawing for tests in the morning, and my son in the evening; Wednesday is a doctor's appointment in the morning, and class in the evening; and Friday I'm leaving as soon as I can after work. On top of that, I have to buy a suit, get my car inspected, take Nina food shopping and to BJs, get to the vet to get more food and refill Poe's medications, refill at least one of my prescriptions, do laundry, buy a power adapter, and pack.
I'll just hope I find time to squeeze "sleep" into there somewhere, but no guarantees.
Next week... I'm expecting to be stressful. I suppose this type of trip always is? At least I'll have a day or two either side of the funeral to deal with things, and after both flights. Fly out Saturday night, arriving Sunday morning their time; Tuesday the 2nd is the funeral itself; then flying back Friday and landing barely two hours after I take off, to decide whether I'm driving home Friday or Saturday. I'm just assuming class Saturday after I get back is a non-starter due to jet lag, but I suppose you never know.
Either way. The circumstances are sad, and I wish Nina was going with me, but I'll be glad to see my family. And this is also the first time I've been back since my grandfather's funeral, so I can visit his grave for the first time as well.
I'm tired. I just want to go home and sleep. >.<
So this week is looking very, very busy at this point, and I am... Tired. Tonight is Gumdo class; tomorrow is blood drawing for tests in the morning, and my son in the evening; Wednesday is a doctor's appointment in the morning, and class in the evening; and Friday I'm leaving as soon as I can after work. On top of that, I have to buy a suit, get my car inspected, take Nina food shopping and to BJs, get to the vet to get more food and refill Poe's medications, refill at least one of my prescriptions, do laundry, buy a power adapter, and pack.
I'll just hope I find time to squeeze "sleep" into there somewhere, but no guarantees.
Next week... I'm expecting to be stressful. I suppose this type of trip always is? At least I'll have a day or two either side of the funeral to deal with things, and after both flights. Fly out Saturday night, arriving Sunday morning their time; Tuesday the 2nd is the funeral itself; then flying back Friday and landing barely two hours after I take off, to decide whether I'm driving home Friday or Saturday. I'm just assuming class Saturday after I get back is a non-starter due to jet lag, but I suppose you never know.
Either way. The circumstances are sad, and I wish Nina was going with me, but I'll be glad to see my family. And this is also the first time I've been back since my grandfather's funeral, so I can visit his grave for the first time as well.
I'm tired. I just want to go home and sleep. >.<
Friday, March 15, 2013
First meeting...
So today was my first Weight Watcher's meeting. I have mixed feelings about it. The women there leading the meeting were very friendly, but the actual coworkers at the meeting seemed rather unhappy to be there. We went over last week's goal, the official "goal of the month", talked about eating out and things like that, went over a couple of success stories from the group, raffled off a basket of Weight Watcher's food (not a weekly thing, but interesting). As it turns out, I weighed in at 357.4 - approximately a 4.6-lb loss.
And no, I didn't win the basket.
And no, I didn't win the basket.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
The Best Buyer's List...
It's easier than I'd ever realized to buy your way onto the best seller's list.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323864304578316143623600544.html
I mean, on some level, this is the most basic scam possible in that industry - best seller lists are based on unit sales, so the easiest way to elevate your ranking on such a list is to generate the sales counted... Even if that means buying 5,000 copies yourself (or through intermediaries). The fact that it's not an honest purchase is non-trivial to detect, though. You could go and white-list or black-list buyers for these metrics - but there's a fine line in there. Should a library be buying one copy, or ten, or one hundred? If a university bought 1,000 for "reference purposes", is that valid? (And don't tell me no universities - or even departments or professors - wouldn't be willing to make such a purchase to get a small premium on the check.) And if you have a heavy enough touch on the sales routes to determine more than very basic information, you have potential privacy issues.
Just another of those things, I guess, that I never really considered but is blindingly obvious once you see it.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323864304578316143623600544.html
I mean, on some level, this is the most basic scam possible in that industry - best seller lists are based on unit sales, so the easiest way to elevate your ranking on such a list is to generate the sales counted... Even if that means buying 5,000 copies yourself (or through intermediaries). The fact that it's not an honest purchase is non-trivial to detect, though. You could go and white-list or black-list buyers for these metrics - but there's a fine line in there. Should a library be buying one copy, or ten, or one hundred? If a university bought 1,000 for "reference purposes", is that valid? (And don't tell me no universities - or even departments or professors - wouldn't be willing to make such a purchase to get a small premium on the check.) And if you have a heavy enough touch on the sales routes to determine more than very basic information, you have potential privacy issues.
Just another of those things, I guess, that I never really considered but is blindingly obvious once you see it.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
The SMALLEST of Worlds!
Since I'm sure you all care (don't you?), the next Kickstarter I've supported is Small World 2:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/daysofwonder/small-world-2-the-return
It's "2" in the sense that they're retiring the existing iPad app and replacing it wholesale. But, for those of you who aren't familiar... Small World is a board game by Days of Wonder (www.daysofwonder.com/smallworld/) specifically designed at being short and... Interactive. The map is designed to specifically be too small to allow non-interaction in a standard game. You start off by choosing a race and power combination, where each race and power has both an ability (or lack thereof) and a number of armies. So, the Peace-Loving (4) Skeletons (4) have a total of 8 armies, while the Swamp (4) Kobolds (11) have 15. You come onto the board (if your active race has no territories) through any edge space; and you have to pay 1 army to claim a territory, plus extras depending on terrain features (mountains are +1) and armies there (one per defending army) plus, sometimes, special powers (fortifications are +1, etcetera). If you don't *quite* have enough but are close, your last fight can roll a die with a 0-3 "bonus" to allow you to conquer it. For the defender, they lose one unit to death and the rest go back into their hand to re-deploy on their next turn. At the end of your turn, you score one per territory (plus and bonuses - like terrain bonuses for your power or whatever); and instead of taking a turn you can choose to put your race into "decline". Any in-decline races you have are removed; your active race loses all their units except one in each territory; and they're flipped over to their inactive side, where they lose all powers but still score until they're removed... And then the following turn, you pick a new race/power combo. So not overly complicated - very simple rules - but lots of potential complex interactions through power/race combinations. The big thing, though, is that it's designed to both be short (8-10 turns by default, based on number of players) and interactive (the map is intentionally cramped and encourages people to plan against the other players).
The existing iPad app has a few... Problems - the biggest ones being that it's 2-player only, and doesn't allow multiplayer except pass-and-play. Their new implementation will fix both those things, and they're offering it free to everyone who has the current version as a bonus. So yeah. Long story short... It's a good game, and the Kickstarter's a good idea, so I'm supporting it.
In other Kickstarter news, this one is about to succeed in a handful of hours:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1544851629/throw-trucks-with-your-mind?ref=thanks
Apparently, they're amused by the possibility of using the brain-scanner-headband-controllers to do interesting things, and want to encourage you to throw things in the environment at your friends and neighbours. I mean, it's nifty, but I think it's unlikely that I'm going to support it - just not really enough interest for me. Interesting as a concept, though, and I'm glad they succeeded.
In Weight Watchers news... I need to get active and eat more fruits and veggies! Tracking things every day makes that far more obvious than it was. It's like, intellectually, I already knew that, and I'm being silly on some level by saying this; but looking at the glaring holes on the tracker for things I'm doing (and not doing) make it more obvious than it otherwise might have been, y'know? So I need to get into the habit of buying more fruit, and actually eating it; and eating more things like salads when I have the opportunity. Fruit being the big one, I suspect. I mean, hell - buying a bunch of bananas and just making a habit of eating one when I get home, or something similar, is probably a good idea. And I like apples and oranges (even if I have a tendency to shy away from oranges because of the effort involved in peeling them).
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/daysofwonder/small-world-2-the-return
It's "2" in the sense that they're retiring the existing iPad app and replacing it wholesale. But, for those of you who aren't familiar... Small World is a board game by Days of Wonder (www.daysofwonder.com/smallworld/) specifically designed at being short and... Interactive. The map is designed to specifically be too small to allow non-interaction in a standard game. You start off by choosing a race and power combination, where each race and power has both an ability (or lack thereof) and a number of armies. So, the Peace-Loving (4) Skeletons (4) have a total of 8 armies, while the Swamp (4) Kobolds (11) have 15. You come onto the board (if your active race has no territories) through any edge space; and you have to pay 1 army to claim a territory, plus extras depending on terrain features (mountains are +1) and armies there (one per defending army) plus, sometimes, special powers (fortifications are +1, etcetera). If you don't *quite* have enough but are close, your last fight can roll a die with a 0-3 "bonus" to allow you to conquer it. For the defender, they lose one unit to death and the rest go back into their hand to re-deploy on their next turn. At the end of your turn, you score one per territory (plus and bonuses - like terrain bonuses for your power or whatever); and instead of taking a turn you can choose to put your race into "decline". Any in-decline races you have are removed; your active race loses all their units except one in each territory; and they're flipped over to their inactive side, where they lose all powers but still score until they're removed... And then the following turn, you pick a new race/power combo. So not overly complicated - very simple rules - but lots of potential complex interactions through power/race combinations. The big thing, though, is that it's designed to both be short (8-10 turns by default, based on number of players) and interactive (the map is intentionally cramped and encourages people to plan against the other players).
The existing iPad app has a few... Problems - the biggest ones being that it's 2-player only, and doesn't allow multiplayer except pass-and-play. Their new implementation will fix both those things, and they're offering it free to everyone who has the current version as a bonus. So yeah. Long story short... It's a good game, and the Kickstarter's a good idea, so I'm supporting it.
In other Kickstarter news, this one is about to succeed in a handful of hours:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1544851629/throw-trucks-with-your-mind?ref=thanks
Apparently, they're amused by the possibility of using the brain-scanner-headband-controllers to do interesting things, and want to encourage you to throw things in the environment at your friends and neighbours. I mean, it's nifty, but I think it's unlikely that I'm going to support it - just not really enough interest for me. Interesting as a concept, though, and I'm glad they succeeded.
In Weight Watchers news... I need to get active and eat more fruits and veggies! Tracking things every day makes that far more obvious than it was. It's like, intellectually, I already knew that, and I'm being silly on some level by saying this; but looking at the glaring holes on the tracker for things I'm doing (and not doing) make it more obvious than it otherwise might have been, y'know? So I need to get into the habit of buying more fruit, and actually eating it; and eating more things like salads when I have the opportunity. Fruit being the big one, I suspect. I mean, hell - buying a bunch of bananas and just making a habit of eating one when I get home, or something similar, is probably a good idea. And I like apples and oranges (even if I have a tendency to shy away from oranges because of the effort involved in peeling them).
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Watcher in the Wings...
So on some level, in the back of my mind, I've always considered Weight Watchers a scam. I know that's ridiculous. I mean, it's one of the most popular diet plans ever, it's been around for a while, and it's still around. It's successful, and for something that's 50 years old and still running, that's saying a lot. But in my head, there's always been this... Assumption, that there's something just a little bit off about it. I guess I was forced to confront it this past week, though. My employer recommends Weight Watchers. My insurance (being the same, it isn't a surprise) recommends Weight Watchers. And when a second one of my doctors specifically recommended it... Well, I thought I should actually take it seriously.
I weigh something on the order of 360 pounds. I mean, it ranges from 355-365 depending on when I weigh myself and the context around it - time of day, whether I've eaten recently, what I'm wearing, etcetera. But that's just too much. So... On Thursday I joined WW, after research and procrastination and internal bitching... and this week I'll be going to my first meeting at work.
Nina joined with me, both as support and to lose weight herself. She has... I think it's 39 points a day, based on her weight and height. I have 71 using their default method, and that's sortof terrifying to me. That's... A lot. So I've been carefully watching what I eat, recording everything (or at least recording everything that's non-zero points - I've been slacking off on recording things like grapes and undressed salad) and I'll start weighing myself regularly. Probably mornings, after showering and getting dressed but before eating.
Why then, you ask? Because the two meetings at work at 7:30 Wednesdays and 11:30 Fridays... Which means I'd end up dressed (in the office) but they're right before meals. And if that's what my group weigh-ins are going to end up being (fully dressed and right before a meal), I figure that's what my non-group ones should be, also.
So... I'm vaguely nervous about it, which is dumb. But, well, if things go well, it'll be good for me. Hell, maybe this time next year I'll be one of those "I lost 100 pounds on Weight Watchers!" success stories. Who knows...
I weigh something on the order of 360 pounds. I mean, it ranges from 355-365 depending on when I weigh myself and the context around it - time of day, whether I've eaten recently, what I'm wearing, etcetera. But that's just too much. So... On Thursday I joined WW, after research and procrastination and internal bitching... and this week I'll be going to my first meeting at work.
Nina joined with me, both as support and to lose weight herself. She has... I think it's 39 points a day, based on her weight and height. I have 71 using their default method, and that's sortof terrifying to me. That's... A lot. So I've been carefully watching what I eat, recording everything (or at least recording everything that's non-zero points - I've been slacking off on recording things like grapes and undressed salad) and I'll start weighing myself regularly. Probably mornings, after showering and getting dressed but before eating.
Why then, you ask? Because the two meetings at work at 7:30 Wednesdays and 11:30 Fridays... Which means I'd end up dressed (in the office) but they're right before meals. And if that's what my group weigh-ins are going to end up being (fully dressed and right before a meal), I figure that's what my non-group ones should be, also.
So... I'm vaguely nervous about it, which is dumb. But, well, if things go well, it'll be good for me. Hell, maybe this time next year I'll be one of those "I lost 100 pounds on Weight Watchers!" success stories. Who knows...
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
The sad decline of a giant...
This, kids, is why I've given up on the SimCity franchise. Requires an always-on connection for a single-player game. 20+ minute queues for login just to play (not even multiplayer play). Problems connecting and following friends. Problems finding multiplayer games. Hours for the game to fully unlock after going live. People being booted from games - with no progress saved. Saved games not loading properly. Metacritic score low and sinking - the game is being panned almost across the board. There are plent of comparisons to the (arguably) disastrous Diablo III launch.
More to the point, though, this is why I'm finding big-name game publishers less appealing and more frustrating. They make games with questionable features, little/no community involvement, and architectures that seem blatantly aimed at making profit at the expense of the community rather than in collusion with it. When did the industry become so... Hostile? Has it always been this way, and we've just never seen it? Is there such an enormous disconnect between executives and their customers, or is it really just the niche view of a small crowd? Facebook games have become big, the "freemium revolution". Play Farmville, and make money off of people putting in voluntary payments towards some in-game gems or coins. Or if not Farmville, then maybe Hay Day. Or if not that, then City Folk. The same thing has become big on mobile devices - look at Pixel People, or Pocket Planes, because Chillingo is a master of this. Free games where the only profit is from microtransactions. Even much bigger games are going this way now - look at how many MMOs are free-to-play, either entirely, or up to a level limit. Look at MechWarrior Online and Planetside 2. Games which are good - which are great! Games which are some of the best ones out there right now.
Piranha Games Interactive (PGI, the people making MWO) is an interesting, almost transitional company, in my mind. It's a smallish team, working with a traditional production stack and funding, putting out MechWarrior Online as a "big-name" game. It's free-to-play and supported by pre-orders (the "founders") and microtransactions, but also, they're doing one of the best jobs I've ever seen or heard of of getting the community involved. They (devs as well as designers and community managers) monitor the forums closely, and are actively involved in discussions. They get on podcasts, talk with people - live - and answer questions. They listen to feedback. They discuss things, and explain the reasons why things happen. They don't give excuses, they explain the decision-making process. Not everything they've done is something I necessarily approve of or agree with, but at least I don't think I'm being ignored - they just don't agree with my reasoning. I find myself supporting them more than I otherwise would purely because of their attitude. This is a game company I want to survive, and I'm willing to vote with my dollars to make my contribution to that end.
But look at some of the Kickstarted games. Watch the original video for Wasteland 2. This is a game with a big fan following and rabid supporters; a game that's been pitched so many times; but a game that no big publishing house would touch. They refused to accept the designer's vision, saying it was old-fashioned and going to be a failure. It wasn't going to sell a million copies on pre-orders, so they ignored it. It made it on Kickstarter. It only got 61,290 backers... But it got 61,290 backers. It got almost $3,000,000 in fundings. The fans stood up at the campaign and said "Yes, this is a game we will pay for. This is a game we will put money into, knowing we won't see it for a year. This is a game we want to exist, and we'll vote for it with our wallets."
Amanda Palmer's TED talk is an interesting one. Anyone who knows me well knows I'm more than a little bit of a Kickstarter junkie; I've supported more games than I'll ever be able to play, and other projects to boot. But one quote summarizes my feelings perfectly:
Her record label, on her first album with the Grand Theft Orchestra, declared it a failure because it only had 25,000 sales; but then 25,000 backers put up $1.3 million for her second album and tour.
I love crowd-funding. Kickstarter will, itself, eventually die off; but this - letting fans pick their own projects - to me, is the future... And SimCity is a shining example of why it's so much harder than ever before to support the big publishing houses.
---
* The list of Kickstarter projects I've supported so far, in the order I've funded them:
HexBright (the "open source", programmable flashlight)
The Silk Road in Stereo (supporting a road-trip across Asia with musical rewards)
Mystic Empyrean (a player-driven role-playing game)
Creatures (one of the most adorable card games I've ever seen)
Biochemies (DNA molecule plush dolls)
Lance T. Miller's Steampunk Playing Cards
Sentinels of the Multiverse: Rook City (expansion to SotM, a card game)
Velociraptor! Cannibalism! (a silly board game)
Double Fine Adventure (a new take on an old computer adventure game genre)
FTL (an awesome, sci-fi, vaguely rogue-like adventure PC game)
Wasteland 2 (post-apocalyptic PC roleplaying, and sequel to the founder of the genre)
Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Assault (a lego-based wargame)
Dinocalypse Now (a role-playing expansion and fiction-writing project)
Shadowrun Returns (a new game set in my favourite setting ever)
Sentinels of the Multiverse: Infernal Relics (another expansion to SotM)
Carmageddon: Reincarnation (a re-boot of the original gratuitous car-crushing pedestrian-killing video game)
HAND Stylus (a pretty good stylus for tablets)
Dead State: The Zombie Survival RPG (yay zombie apocalypse computer RPG!)
Zombie Playground - 3D Action, Online Battle RPG (computer game)
Solforge (electronic CCG focusing on iOS)
Castle Story (computer strategy/survival game with strong Minecraft influences)
Project Eternity (an old-school fantasy CRPG of grand scale)
Strike Suit Zero (transforming mecha space shooter)
Sentinels of the Multiverse: Shattered Timelines (yet another expansion!)
1 Second Everyday (an awesome art project and iOS app)
Aero 3D Bird Flight Game (supported by Bill Nye, of all people. This one failed...)
Forsaken Fortress (post-apocalyptic survival CRPG)
Girl Genius and the Rats of Mechanicsburg (video game based on a popular web comic)
Claymation "Mourning Riturals" (a musical album)
Elite: Dangerous (massively multiplayer re-boot of the founding member of the space sim genre - and a huge source of nostalgia for me)
Antharion ("old-school" CRPG)
Galcon 2: Galactic Conquest (a sequel to one of the first iOS games I ever bought)
Smallworld 2 (cancelled, but an updated version of the iOS port of the Smallworld board game)
Monster of the Sky (a claymation/puppet movie I found through a band I've recently fallen in love with)
Ledo and Ix: Season 2 (web comic/video series)
Ascension Online (a PC and Android implementation of an awesome deck-building card game which is already on iOS)
Torment: Tides of Numenera (spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment by one of my favourite computer game designer/producers)
Dungeon Roll (cute- and silly-looking dice game)
More to the point, though, this is why I'm finding big-name game publishers less appealing and more frustrating. They make games with questionable features, little/no community involvement, and architectures that seem blatantly aimed at making profit at the expense of the community rather than in collusion with it. When did the industry become so... Hostile? Has it always been this way, and we've just never seen it? Is there such an enormous disconnect between executives and their customers, or is it really just the niche view of a small crowd? Facebook games have become big, the "freemium revolution". Play Farmville, and make money off of people putting in voluntary payments towards some in-game gems or coins. Or if not Farmville, then maybe Hay Day. Or if not that, then City Folk. The same thing has become big on mobile devices - look at Pixel People, or Pocket Planes, because Chillingo is a master of this. Free games where the only profit is from microtransactions. Even much bigger games are going this way now - look at how many MMOs are free-to-play, either entirely, or up to a level limit. Look at MechWarrior Online and Planetside 2. Games which are good - which are great! Games which are some of the best ones out there right now.
Piranha Games Interactive (PGI, the people making MWO) is an interesting, almost transitional company, in my mind. It's a smallish team, working with a traditional production stack and funding, putting out MechWarrior Online as a "big-name" game. It's free-to-play and supported by pre-orders (the "founders") and microtransactions, but also, they're doing one of the best jobs I've ever seen or heard of of getting the community involved. They (devs as well as designers and community managers) monitor the forums closely, and are actively involved in discussions. They get on podcasts, talk with people - live - and answer questions. They listen to feedback. They discuss things, and explain the reasons why things happen. They don't give excuses, they explain the decision-making process. Not everything they've done is something I necessarily approve of or agree with, but at least I don't think I'm being ignored - they just don't agree with my reasoning. I find myself supporting them more than I otherwise would purely because of their attitude. This is a game company I want to survive, and I'm willing to vote with my dollars to make my contribution to that end.
But look at some of the Kickstarted games. Watch the original video for Wasteland 2. This is a game with a big fan following and rabid supporters; a game that's been pitched so many times; but a game that no big publishing house would touch. They refused to accept the designer's vision, saying it was old-fashioned and going to be a failure. It wasn't going to sell a million copies on pre-orders, so they ignored it. It made it on Kickstarter. It only got 61,290 backers... But it got 61,290 backers. It got almost $3,000,000 in fundings. The fans stood up at the campaign and said "Yes, this is a game we will pay for. This is a game we will put money into, knowing we won't see it for a year. This is a game we want to exist, and we'll vote for it with our wallets."
Amanda Palmer's TED talk is an interesting one. Anyone who knows me well knows I'm more than a little bit of a Kickstarter junkie; I've supported more games than I'll ever be able to play, and other projects to boot. But one quote summarizes my feelings perfectly:
And the media asked, "Amanda, the music business is tanking and you encourage piracy. How did you make all these people pay for music?" And the real answer is, I didn't make them; I asked them. And through the very act of asking people, I'd connected with them; and when you connect with them, people want to help you.
Her record label, on her first album with the Grand Theft Orchestra, declared it a failure because it only had 25,000 sales; but then 25,000 backers put up $1.3 million for her second album and tour.
I love crowd-funding. Kickstarter will, itself, eventually die off; but this - letting fans pick their own projects - to me, is the future... And SimCity is a shining example of why it's so much harder than ever before to support the big publishing houses.
---
* The list of Kickstarter projects I've supported so far, in the order I've funded them:
HexBright (the "open source", programmable flashlight)
The Silk Road in Stereo (supporting a road-trip across Asia with musical rewards)
Mystic Empyrean (a player-driven role-playing game)
Creatures (one of the most adorable card games I've ever seen)
Biochemies (DNA molecule plush dolls)
Lance T. Miller's Steampunk Playing Cards
Sentinels of the Multiverse: Rook City (expansion to SotM, a card game)
Velociraptor! Cannibalism! (a silly board game)
Double Fine Adventure (a new take on an old computer adventure game genre)
FTL (an awesome, sci-fi, vaguely rogue-like adventure PC game)
Wasteland 2 (post-apocalyptic PC roleplaying, and sequel to the founder of the genre)
Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Assault (a lego-based wargame)
Dinocalypse Now (a role-playing expansion and fiction-writing project)
Shadowrun Returns (a new game set in my favourite setting ever)
Sentinels of the Multiverse: Infernal Relics (another expansion to SotM)
Carmageddon: Reincarnation (a re-boot of the original gratuitous car-crushing pedestrian-killing video game)
HAND Stylus (a pretty good stylus for tablets)
Dead State: The Zombie Survival RPG (yay zombie apocalypse computer RPG!)
Zombie Playground - 3D Action, Online Battle RPG (computer game)
Solforge (electronic CCG focusing on iOS)
Castle Story (computer strategy/survival game with strong Minecraft influences)
Project Eternity (an old-school fantasy CRPG of grand scale)
Strike Suit Zero (transforming mecha space shooter)
Sentinels of the Multiverse: Shattered Timelines (yet another expansion!)
1 Second Everyday (an awesome art project and iOS app)
Aero 3D Bird Flight Game (supported by Bill Nye, of all people. This one failed...)
Forsaken Fortress (post-apocalyptic survival CRPG)
Girl Genius and the Rats of Mechanicsburg (video game based on a popular web comic)
Claymation "Mourning Riturals" (a musical album)
Elite: Dangerous (massively multiplayer re-boot of the founding member of the space sim genre - and a huge source of nostalgia for me)
Antharion ("old-school" CRPG)
Galcon 2: Galactic Conquest (a sequel to one of the first iOS games I ever bought)
Smallworld 2 (cancelled, but an updated version of the iOS port of the Smallworld board game)
Monster of the Sky (a claymation/puppet movie I found through a band I've recently fallen in love with)
Ledo and Ix: Season 2 (web comic/video series)
Ascension Online (a PC and Android implementation of an awesome deck-building card game which is already on iOS)
Torment: Tides of Numenera (spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment by one of my favourite computer game designer/producers)
Dungeon Roll (cute- and silly-looking dice game)
Monday, March 4, 2013
Higgins!
So Higgins is apparently having a series of "Women in Armor" events this month:
Women in Ancient Times: http://www.higgins.org/women-ancient-timesWomen of the Roman Legion: http://www.higgins.org/women-roman-legion
Women of the Celtic World: http://www.higgins.org/women-celtic-world
Elizabeth I at Tilbury: http://www.higgins.org/elizabeth-i-tilbury
An Audience with Elizabeth I: http://www.higgins.org/audience-elizabeth-i
Women in Viking Times: http://www.higgins.org/women-viking-times-9
This should be interesting. I'm hoping to hit one or two of those, especially the Celtic and Viking one.
In related news, the History Channel has started a series on Vikings:
http://www.history.com/shows/vikings
Nina's psyched, and I'm interested. Apparently we're going to be watching this sooner than later. :-)
Women in Ancient Times: http://www.higgins.org/women-ancient-timesWomen of the Roman Legion: http://www.higgins.org/women-roman-legion
Women of the Celtic World: http://www.higgins.org/women-celtic-world
Elizabeth I at Tilbury: http://www.higgins.org/elizabeth-i-tilbury
An Audience with Elizabeth I: http://www.higgins.org/audience-elizabeth-i
Women in Viking Times: http://www.higgins.org/women-viking-times-9
This should be interesting. I'm hoping to hit one or two of those, especially the Celtic and Viking one.
In related news, the History Channel has started a series on Vikings:
http://www.history.com/shows/vikings
Nina's psyched, and I'm interested. Apparently we're going to be watching this sooner than later. :-)
Monday, January 7, 2013
From my Desk Calendar:
Q: Aix-en-Provence, a sunny city of plane trees and cafes, was the hometown of two preeminent French cultural figures, a painter and a writer, who grew up there as boyhood friends. Who was this famous pair?
a) Paul Cezanne and Emile Zola
b) Eugene Delacroix and Honore de Balzac
c) Henri Matisse and Alexandre Dumas, fils
d) Vincent van Gogh and Gustave Flaubert
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Posting again - at least a little.
So if you're curious but can't see it, I've started posting on my other blog. So far, twice, this year. I'd really like to actually do every day, even if it's just a very small thing... But since I know it only has 1 follower subscribed to it (openly, at least), I thought I'd say something.
*shrugs* You may or may not care. But there you go.
*shrugs* You may or may not care. But there you go.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)