Coolness Reality Check

I'd like to think I'm cool and hip. Like today, I was driving in to work, enjoying the music on the radio, checking stocks on my iPhone and feeling pretty damn good about myself.

And then this happened: I was about to get out of the car, when I hear the host on the radio say, "You Won!! You just got two tickets to the Kelly Clarkson concert!" This was immediately followed by ear-piercing screaming... from the winning caller. From me... came a whooshing sound of deflation, a sigh which carried with it the last remnants of my taken for granted youth-attached coolness. The realization, as welcomed as a hug with a cactus, came quickly: I was rocking out to this radio station only a few seconds ago and they just gave away Kelly Clarkson tickets. I am a total dweeb.

Photos In Post Production

Here's a photo from my trip that's gone through post production. The rest are still in the works and will probably not be ready till I get a solid weekend behind me.

The image was taken at Wong Tai Sin, arguably the most popular temple in Hong Kong.

One pic before I fly

Waiting for my flight to board and sending one more pic before I head home. Will then post more.

Your Postcard

Hi all. I'm currently in a Gloria Jean's coffee shop in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. What a fantastic place. Going to have to tell you all about it later. In the meantime, enjoy two random photos. I'll upload more photos to Flickr at a later time.

Treehugger!

I get my power from the LA DWP. Today, I found out you could sign up to get 100% green power from them. Now I'm pretty sure that doesn't mean my power comes straight from wind mills or solar panels but it probably means they buy more of that kind of power from the extra costs I pay. It'll come out to about $200 a year for me to go 100% green power. That's not too bad if you think about it. I mean, if a lot more of us do this, we'll probably make a significant impact on coal consumption in the US.

Here's the problem. I found the sign up form here. It took me literally 5 minutes to find it and it was buried about 5 clicks deep from the main site. You would almost think they don't want you to find it. That kinda ticks me off. I mean, if they priced the green power correctly, then why would it matter to them if more of us went green? Now I do have to admit that they have a little promo line on the back flap of my paper bill, something to the effect of "Buy Green Power Now". The problem is, they don't actually tell you how to do that. Cheeky monkeys!

Anyways, I don't want to get all treehugger on you guys but if you should explore around your own power company's site and see if there's a green option for you too. It doesn't cost that much more and you'll really be doing the world a favor.

Irony tastes better on ice

As part of a promotion for Halo 3's release overseas, they did a PR stunt where tokens were frozen inside a giant block of ice. Participants shot water guns at the ice, melting it to get to the tokens and use them to redeem for gamer tech prizes like TVs and, of course, Halo 3.

Hmm, big block of unmovable ice sponsored by Microsoft. Consumers "pissing" on it until finally it yields and delivers the goods. Sounds like Microsoft's been on a roll lately with their PR efforts, remind you of anything?.

via AdRants

Underestimate of the moment

According to a new study, online game revenue will account for a third of all game industry revenue by 2011. Now, I'm not sure if they mean only games that live online like Wow or if they include all games that touch online, including digital distribution and console games that can be played online (Warhawk). If the latter, then I believe this estimate to be way off.

Four years is an eternity online. Think back to 2003 and the offerings we had at that time and think of the breadth of online gaming now. The fall of traditional console and hardware distribution will happen quick and fierce and my own gut feeling is that it'll happen in two years. It would be more realistic to think that online game revenue will be over 50%. This will include pure offerings like Wow but also downloaded content. Folks, the Wii isn't offering classic games just for the nostalgia or the minor revenue, they're testing a digital distribution model. The Xbox360 and PS3 are already offering full titles online. It won't take long before all titles move online.

By the way, this isn't only for the obvious reasons. Sure, you'll save money on getting rid of the pesky middle man (retailers) but think about the iTunes model. Offering a full suite of titles online will make more games available and tap into the long tail revenue potential of titles that never got a chance at retail.

Over 50%, mark it.

Longtime listener...

So I know, I haven't been around lately. So the fact that I'm coming back now to post something shamelessly about myself is probably the wrong thing to do. In fact, it's downright the worse of self-promotion. But, I know you'll forgive me because that's the wonderful, forgiving, "let's not fight, want to watch a movie on the couch with some ice cream?" kind of reader you are. Have I mentioned how much you mean to me lately?

And now on to the post:

I was on NPR today! It was for Marketplace, the show about business and things. The article was about the huge hype behind Halo 3 and how the game industry's becoming so much like Hollywood. Anyways, you can listen or read the transcript here: My Marketplace moment.

It was a cool experience and Lisa Napoli, the writer, was very nice. What's funny is that the whole time there, I was thinking, "Wow, I really should sign up to be a member of KPCC (the local public radio station)" Anyways, it was funny how I basically just regurgitated what I've written before in this blog and somehow it was interesting enough to include in the segment. Go figure.

Lunar Eclipse Photos

The lunar eclipse from my balcony:
1:34 AM













2:05AM













2:51AM













3:03AM

Some perspective

On Saturday morning, at 4AM, the Aurigid meteor shower will light up the skies on the West Coast. This, like many other meteor storms, are caused by dust left over from comets that pass Earth's orbit.

According to MSN, "this comet previously swept passed the sun sometime around the year 82 BC (when Julius Caesar was alive). Jenniskens and Vaubaillon calculated that a trail of dust released by the comet at that 82 B.C. visit will run smack into Earth's path when our planet passes by on September 1."

Pecking last

An interesting thing happened today. As a blogger, it's my sworn duty to report on things that I find interesting and that you might find remotely interesting IF we were on a date and you thought I might put out. Okaaay, the story...

I was leaning into a cubicle this morning, talking to someone who was either looking down my shirt or wondering why I felt the need to lean in to a wide open cubicle. We were engaged in a heated discussion on the placement of links in a shopping page when this guy, Spence (not his real name, but an appropriately vague and "spitty" bilabial pseudonym), walked by and said hi.

Now a guy saying hi isn't news, unless the guy is Jesus, because then, well, you'd have a question or two. No, not Jesus, just Spence. So Spence is walking by on his way to the kitchenette and says, "Hey man, causing trouble again?" and turning to the cubicle occupant, "Gotta watch out for that guy, he's always up to something."

So yeah, that wasn't exactly a hi but it was meant as such. Also, he said it kinda quick so what it sounded like was "hey, trouble, watch out, something." In other words, "Hi". Quite fascinating was the ability for his head to stay centered while the rest of him kept moving towards the kitchenette, like an ironic t-shirted owl.

First, how the hell are you supposed to respond to something like that? You don't right? Because I didn't. I just said, "Hey, what's up?" As expected, he kept walking and that was that.

What's interesting about this? Well, first, I don't really know Spence very well. In fact, I barely know him at all, aside from being in a few of the same large meetings with him. Socially, we're not in the same category and would never be non-work friends. So the funny thing is, Spence has been doing that a lot lately. The exchanges have been the "hey, notice me" type of things. In fact, so have a few other people. Now if I was one of the many ridiculously good-looking women in the office, that exchange would totally make sense. I'd file it away as a poorly executed attempt at flirtation and remember not to bend over in a busy hallway. And I'd also button up my shirt a bit more, there was definitely staring from within the cubicle.

Soooo I'm not a hot girl and I'm pretty sure I'm not a hot guy so I began to think this was something else entirely. What I came up with was this: Spence is relatively new and in the order of things, I outrank him. I also outrank most of the other people that have been strangely friendly. Could it be... I'm being kissed up to?

Oh boy.

Now I should be saying something about not being power hungry or the boss type but you should know that about me already. Seriously, this is freaking me out. I am quite aware, with a little pride but not too much arrogance, that at this stage of my career, I do solidly outrank a few people. I am also aware that in the scheme of things, kissing up is de rigueur and everyone does it. Hell, I've done it before.

The problem is, I haven't expected people to do it to ME! I've always had the same problem with women. A hot girl in college asked me after class one day, "Hey, I liked what you said in class, we should have coffee sometime and talk about the next project." To which I said, in all seriousness, "Ok, but I can't this week, gotta finish my thesis." Doh!

The thing is, I'm great at poker but horrible at spotting social maneuvers. When is it necessary to second-guess a person's motives and when can you just take people at face value? Perhaps Spence wasn't kissing up but if he was, I'm not sure I could act normally myself. Opening the door to interpreting people's motives means taking the red pill and never seeing the world the same again. Not taking the pill means being blissfully ignorant but perhaps susceptible to manipulation. It's not a fun choice.

I'm in the business of selling people what they didn't know they wanted. Perhaps it's too late to take the moral high ground... or in my case, swim back to shore, cut through the forest and hope to find the trail to the high ground. The problem is, I don't like where this going. Is this game so intricately woven into our social fabric that everyone has to play? Is it possible to trust and respect in an environment where we all act out roles?

I don't know. I don't have the answer but I at least feel like I need to give Spence the benefit of the doubt. Oh god, I'm going to be eaten alive.

The fish were a sign

My fish died today. Both of them. I never named them because I couldn't tell them apart so they were just "the fish". I found them dead this morning, which brings up some interesting questions: Did they die at the same time? Did one of them die first, prompting the other say "O happy dagger" and end it? Was it a bowl-shattering domestic dispute that ended in a murder suicide?

Or was it just me, neglecting the fish?

I'm not suited for the whole responsibility thing. At first, I'm pretty good, taking care of the fish on a daily basis. Changing things up like the water on a weekly basis. And then for some reason, more often than not because I'm simply bored of it, I forget a feeding. A mossy coating soon lines the bowl, as if protecting the fish from suicidal tendencies.

I'm not heartless so I do occasionally come back and feed the fish, maybe not as neatly as I did before, maybe not counting out pinches and waiting around to watch them eat. Do fish choke?

Well, I completely blame myself. No fish deserves to die like this. Not through neglect. Maybe an unfortunate accident off the credenza or a predatory swipe by a visiting feline. That's the way to go.

Alas though, I am helpless against the dark cloaked one. The fish are gone.

I miss them.