Updates: Movies VS Games

When George Lucas re-released Star Wars, he replaced bad rubber puppets with fancy CGI, added more scenes, and changed others. This led to nerds around the world crying out in anger (much like Darth Vader in Ep III) because the movie from their childhood was modified and thus ruined.

This never happens to video games.

When a game is updated everyone is happy. In fact, most gamers want to see their favorite games updated for the next-gen consoles. Who doesn't want to see the flat, pixel-ridden Mario from Super Mario Bros. changed into a beautifully drawn cartoon Mario? Heck, add in some extra levels too. Why don't we toss in some new enemies while we're at it? As long as Nintendo kept what was good about it (the gameplay), so very few would ever be bothered by the update. And those that were bothered are probably content playing the original anyhow.

What is it that makes video games different? Why do we mourn the loss of our childhood when a movie we liked gets a fresh polish, but cheer when we see a new update come down the pipe for our favorite game?

Getting spun-up on piracy

Nothing gets me more frustrated than people sticking their fingers in their ears because it's easier to maintain the status quo than to admit they might be wrong and change something. Today's frustration comes from the video gaming industry.

This here is a long-winded article discussing why PC game piracy isn't the real problem. Please take the time to read it. Maybe someone with some clout in the industry will read it and take a stand. If nothing else, perhaps it will help garner enough support in the general populous to get some positive changes made.

Quasihemidemisemiquaver

Let us welcome the 128th note's full name into our vocabularies. "Billy, do play this group of sixteen quasihemidemisemiquavers; it sounds lovely."

Two heads are better than one

When two people are paired correctly, pair programming works beautifully. There's always that second set of eyes, The Nodding Dummy, sitting right there with you, ensuring that your stupid, little mistakes are fixed as you write the code.

As opposed to later, when you're busy tearing your hair out, and praying you don't get fired for incompetency.

Movin' on, uh over, to the, uh, west side...

Well, I'm not quite moving up, nor am I moving east, but I've moved. Or at least my stuff has moved. I'm still settling in ( read: unpacking).

Thanks to all my friends who helped me load and unload and haul furniture, I owe ya one (or two).

Sending a mixed security signal

I have recently experienced what some might say is a gross security oversight. At a certain company every employee is required to lock all company data in their drawers before leaving for the night. This is obviously to prevent easy theft of non-public material data. There is nothing wrong with this practice.

However, this same company has no policy regarding its paper trash. Most people toss their old printouts in the trash or recycle bin. Yes, those who work with highly sensitive data do shred their printouts. However, the majority of the employees have had little to no security training, and not having a policy regarding sensitive printouts sends a very mixed message about corporate security.

So listen up kids, don't so this, it just makes you vulnerable, and teaches poor security to your employees. Also, it makes security wonks cry. No one wants to see that.

Singing accents

Does anyone have a good explanation why some people sound like they're from elsewhere when they're singing? AC/DC never sounds Austrailian, Styx sounds British half the time.

Then again, no matter how hard the Scorpions try, they always sound like they're from Germany.

Like vultures to roadkill

Someone walked out of the conference room next door and said "there's wraps and stuff going to waste in there." First I thought, "no, surely someone must want them." So I waited, but the call of the vulture was too loud. So I asked my neighbor, "did he just say free food?" Upon agreement, we both carefully tiptoed our way over to the room. Like a pair of siblings sneaking downstairs to see what Santa brought, we maed our way to the food.

Lo and behold, there really were wraps! Greedily, we took our spoils and as we were leaving we saw that the news had already traveled far and wide; there were packs of hungry men making their way across the office in search of the fabled carrion.

As I sat at my desk nibbling on my food, I watched the men walk out with their portions, smiling, happy, victorious. Now I know how the vulture feels after devouring the carcass of some large rodent: a little gassy.

The hi-def update

It appears as though the format war may be coming to an end. HD-DVD looks like it's about to die, and Blu-Ray is still going strong (well, relatively anyway). It's not the side I would have liked to see win, but at least this silly war is nearly over. I just hope HD-DVD concedes Blu-Ray's win soon and allows us to finally get our hi-def on without worrying if it will be the wrong choice.

Ironically, things are not as clear-cut if you want to buy a hi-def TV. As it stands, there are leaps and bounds being made in both the image quality and the display size, as well as the display type. Currently we're seeing LCD and Plasma as what's hot, but OLED and SED are around too, and promise all sorts of good stuff. Even if you stuck with the current image leader, plasma, you'd still be best to hold off. Despite Pioneer creating what's been touted as the best TV ever, they've already shown us that they've got slimmer and better coming in a couple of years. If you're going to spend $6000 on a high-end TV, you'd like it to not be out-dated in 2 years. As far as CRTs go, we've hit the point where it's as good as it gets, I'm curious to see how long it takes for plasma to get there. ...You know, unless SED grows up.

The contractions are getting worse, doct'r

I just had an IM conversation in which the response to my request for confirmation was:
"Ok, I'll".

This is an amazing use of a contraction. Technically speaking, "I'll" means "I will". Saying "Ok, I will" is a perfectly acceptable response to my request, yet something seems so very wrong about using that contraction there.

Do I think he might do it again? I think he'll.

A corporate competition where everyone loses

I'll begin by saying that I'm a big supporter of the idea that competition between companies brings lower prices and greater innovation, giving the consumer better, cheaper products to choose from. However, this is not always the case.

The battle for a new high-definition video-disc format is killing everyone. The consumers lose because there are 2 incompatible formats that do pretty much the exact same thing for about the exact same price, except the title availability isn't the same. So if I flip a coin, and go with HD-DVD I lose out on all the Pixar films I love. If I decide to switch over to Blu-Ray, I'll miss out on Paramount and Dreamworks films. And even if I drop the huge amount of money on a quality player from each camp, I'm still stuck when it comes to heading over to my friends' house: what player do they have? I might as well buy the DVD version of everything and forget about all of this high-falutin' high-def stuff.

Now here's where the companies lose too. By not collaborating on one format, they lose customers who either choose the other format, or neither.

Personally, I'll be waiting, along with most of the world, for a winner. If that winner never comes, we'll either see both formats die and be replaced altogether, or we will see high-def combo players become standard (to note, this would be fine by me, just as long as they get cheap soon).

For the time being, no one's happy, and it's all because the big studios were too busy worrying about this piracy thing that they keep telling us is killing their profits, to see that a new unified format is the only way to rake in money like DVD did.

November is Hip Hop History Month

Now's the time to break out all your Run-DMC, Eric B & Rakim, KRS-ONE albums, and spin a James Brown break or two, all while poppin' and breakin' and watching your local graf crew bomb the city.

Let us all celebrate the four elements of hip hop this month...
1) Emceeing
2) DJing
3) Break dancing
4) Graffiti
...and remember those who have come before you.

Grab a copy of some of these fine documentaries: Style Wars, Freestyle, The Freshest Kids, Scratch

Bonus points for anyone who knows who that is in the picture, and why he's notable.

Cellphone surprise! (Solved!)

It appears that it was not "Annie" they were saying but "Amy." Thankfully I know just who that Amy is. Mystery solved. Thanks, Ames (even if you're always 10 days late)!

Cellphone surprise!

Most people just call someone when they want to wish them a happy birthday. Apparently I have a friend who decided that that was too mundane. For today I received a voice mail from India wishing me a happy birthday. It's 10 days late, but really, it was a great surprise. I wish I could somehow post the message here because it was great, but you can pretend to listen to it by visiting the website at TajTunes.com and read the greeting to yourself in your favorite Indian accent.

I couldn't tell who it was that sent me the message, but it sounded like they said "Annie." I don't know any Annies that would know my birthday, so it's a bit of a mystery. If you have any information on who this might have been, post it in the comments, I'd love to thank them.

I have a bunch of new co-workers!

This was new co-worker 26453. He worked hard, but we had to kill him when he got too close. Let this be a warning to all of my other new co-workers. Except Paul, we'll let him live.

Halloween is serious business

Because I can't stay away from my punk side, I dressed up again this year as a punk. You might remember me as being Elvis Costello a couple of years back. I went to WookieFoot's halloweeen show this year, and had myself a fine time rockin' out and checking out the amazing variety of costumes there.


Maybe next year I'll go as something post punk, so I can have a punk time line triptych.

Jerry Springer: The Opera

This past Friday night, I went and saw the opening show of Jerry Springer: The Opera. It's an absurd, but interesting look at Jerry Springer, and the role he plays in our society. It deals with questions like: Is he to blame for our society, or is he a product of it? Does Satan watch TV? Is Jesus really just a big baby? As much as I enjoyed the story, I felt the rhythm of the lyrics felt choppy and forced.

However, don't let that dissuade you from going. The sets are fantastic, the singing is incredible, and the whole thing is just plain bizarre. So if you're in Minnesota, go ahead, indulge in local theater, just don't blame me if you come out of it having some sympathy for Jerry.

Grab tickets and find more info at the Minneapolis Musical Theater's web site.

Better Living Through Moustaches!

Come, indulge yourself! Enjoy the delightfully witty repartee of two distinguished gentlemen, as they discuss important worldly topics. This is truly an insight into the razor sharp minds of
two well known men, Mr. Salt and Mr. Pepper. Behold: Better Living Through Moustaches.

I Want A New Blog

One with no doubt
One that wont make me talk too much
Or make my face break out*

Well, I've got a new blog going along-side this one. It's a simple, fun, little thing that tracks the music and stuff looping through my head. It's called "The Phonological Loop."

Check it out.


*"I Want A New Drug" copyright Huey Lewis And The News

The thing that wouldn't die

Cardboard friend differs from actual item

Last night I've come come to realize that the best of friendships never really die, they just take extended vacations in the remote jungles of apathy.

After 2 years of awkward silence between me and my best friend, we finally got back in touch with each other. But how does one come back and say, "hey, I don't really know why we stopped talking, but now we've got a gulf of time between us, wanna hang out?" It took me a long time to get up the courage to admit that I've got blame to carry for the falling out as well. When you feel like you've lost a best friend, it's easy to shift the blame elsewhere, and avoid taking the responsibility of re-making the connection. It's easy to fear that everything has changed and things will never be the same again.

However, when we got together to hang out, within the first minute I forgot about the years that had passed us by. It was like not a day had passed. Sure, there was some news that came as a surprise, but when it all comes down to it, neither of us has really changed in any fundamental way, despite all the growing up we've done. It's like an old lock and key. Even after years of use, my house key still works. Sure, the parts have been warn, and they don't look quite the same as they did when they were new, but it all fits together and I can still open that old door.