David and the Internet

Back to where it all began

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 18:59:58 -0500

Back when davidsiegfried.com was a new site I had a notion that I would write all of these wonderful articles about web design and development and davidsiegfried.com would be a place to see all my writings as well as my professional portfolio and resume all in one stop.

There, of course, was a problem with that. That problem was that I wanted to write about more things than just my professional life. I am, without fail, a man with many passions and my professional life is just one of the things I want to write about.

Enter Tumblr

Tumblr was going to be a game changer in the fact that it would be a blog where I could write whatever I wanted and didn’t have to get rid of my portfolio site davidsiegfried.com. Alas while I wrote on Tumblr, the site that mattered, the one that ranked well on google, the one that people actually looked at languished under a lack of attention. Finally my portfolio meant nothing to anyone, especially me.

Going back

My solution was to spend the last couple of weeks in a rapid redesign (and stripping down) of my original site. I don’t want to maintain a portfolio site anymore. If you want to know if you should hire me and if I am qualified just check linkedIn and send me an email. My efforts instead went into merging my Tumblr writings back in with my wordpress posts into a minimalist wordpress theme. The site is now responsive, current and stripped down to just the content, the way I think it always should have been.

So, now I need to say farewell to Tumblr. I will leave the posts up, but, if you want to see the most recent and full collection of blog posts check them out over at davidsiegfried.com.

Thanks for reading and look for many more writings to come!

Carcassonne: Game Review

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:29:15 -0500

This is my first review and I thought I would use one of my first gateway games to get my reviews started. It also happens to be the case that Carcassonne is an all around brilliantly designed game. I put a lot of stock in a game that is designed simply enough that it can be fun your first time, and a game that has enough complexity and strategy to be fun on your on you 25th, 50th or 100th time playing. Carcassonne is one of these games. To a first time player it is a creative puzzle, to a more seasoned veteran Carcassonne is a strategic game of knights, thieves and farmers; The player who controls the growing map will win the game.

The Premise

Carcassonne is played with one inch square tiles that feature pictures of cities, roads or fields. Different tiles are arranged differently so that the road, city or field is touching different edged of the tile. On your turn you draw a random tile and place it touching the edge of at least one other tile provided road touches road, city touches city and filed touches field. That way the game feels like building a giant puzzle where there are no rules concerning where each puzzle piece should go. The player is then able to play a “follower” represented by a small wooden person called a meeple. The meeple can only be played on the tile just played. Followers can be thieves if they are located on the road, knights if they are in the city and farmers if they are in the field. Followers score the player points either when the city or road are completed (city walls surround the entire city, roads end in stop points eg. villiage, city) or in the case of farmers, at the end of the game and depending on how many cities farms support. In this way players score points and the most points win the game. Note: there is actually one more type of tile called the cloister which has its own rules.

That’s really the gist of the game. At the very basic level, just building a big city or a long road with random tiles has a certain appeal to it. I still find myself getting a pleasure out of completing a map without any holes. As you get a little experience playing you will find ways to get your followers in the right positions to steal cities away from your opponents and find ways to play tiles that make finishing a city or connecting two farms impossible for your opponent.

My Experience with the Game

I was first introduced to the game by my regular gaming group when we were between D&D campaigns. The first game I played was a 4 player match where two of us had not ever seen the game before. The two new players actually tied for the win in that game. The ease of entry and the speed at which new players are able to be competitive makes the game really strong and I saw it in my first game. I almost immediately bought a copy of the game for myself and my wife. Now, my wife likes games, but had been hesitant to play D&D or Small World due to sort of a perceived level of nerdom from which she tries to keep her distance. I knew instantly that Carcassonne would be a game I could use as a gateway to get my wife playing games with me. I was right, the easy entry and rate at which she was able to become competitive made the game a perfect way to get her involved and get her to trust future games I brought home.

Since that first game I have played the game with my nephew’s, family, friends and coworkers. All have enjoyed the game, all have been able to see what fun a well designed board game can be. Frequently the biggest hurdle in introducing a new game is getting past the monopoly stigma where new or infrequent board game players fear a complicated or long-winded game that could ultimately end in a flipped table and a binge on comfort food. Carcassonne is perfect for this challenge.

Critical Review

Though I think it is important to share the basics of the game and my experiences with it, I think I do a disservice as a self-titled reviewer to not critically diagnose what makes the game successful or not. I decided the best way to review and ultimately rank games is on a set of criteria that could be used for any game. The areas I will rate games on and discuss are as follows:

Point of entry - The ability for new players to get involved. This also will take into account the rate at which a new and experienced player will become competitive. Scored out of 2.
Mechanics - The stuff that makes the game work. The way the game flows, the turns pass and how the board or structure is organized all factor in. Scored out of 2.
Replay-ability - The ability to play the game many times with enough variety of play and competition to ensure many more enjoyable plays. Scored out of 2.
What comes in the box - The tactile game pieces, the box organization, the art style and the way which they compliment the game. Scored out of 2.
Fun factor - Is this game fun to play? What makes it fun, who will most enjoy it and when it is best played. Scored out of 2.

Point of entry. As I mentioned before, the point of entry on Carcassonne felt very low to me. And as I have used the game on both my (at the time) skeptic wife and 12 year old nephew that any level of player can quickly get into a game and start preforming tactics in an attempt to win. Carcassonne excels here. The game is heralded as a “gateway” in the gaming community and the heralding is deserved Almost anyone can understand this game quickly and begin having fun right away. 2/2

Mechanics. Carcassonne has two basic mechanics and they are simple ones. Drawing random tiles to play on the community tile-base and playing a meeple on the tiles you just played. This concept, though simple is complimented by the variety of tiles that can be drawn, the sheer number of possibilities a player has when placing the tile and the options that the player has for placing his/her meeples. A simple concept mechanically is complimented by pieces that, by their square nature, are designed so it is easy to see what to do with the tile you drew — road connects to road, city to city, etc.The game also has a very obvious end point that no player need wonder when it will come. The game is finished when tiles are used up and the remaining meeples are scored to announce a winner. My one slight knock, and it is a small issue, is that the base game comes with a score board to 50 and there is no strong design element that allows you to keep track of circuits around the 50 square scoring board. In later expansions, 50 point chips are provided which helps a little but still feels a little awkward. The last point of contention that I don’t love about games is having some uncertainty about when a turn is over, at the end of a turn in Carcassonne there is an optional mechanic of playing a follower on city, road or farm. This can lead to slight confusion with faster play and newcomers, but, small detail ultimately. 1.5/2

Replay-ability: A game that has a lot of replay value usually has a good mix between random happenings and player interaction which usually results in something along the lines of strategy. To note, I have played the game upwards of 25 to 30 times so far and I am still willing to play at about any point. I do think the level of random is a little higher than the level of interaction/strategy. Getting a random piece one at a time can sometimes feel a little limiting to strategy and depending on who you are playing with, you might find yourself playing most of your tiles on the clear opposite side of the map as the other player(s). More players make the game a bit more strategically interesting as there are fewer available places to place followers and more tendency to try to steal cities, roads and farms away from other players. I have also heard of playing the game with a hand of 3 tiles, which I believe would effectively up the strategy factor. Ultimately this is a great game you will want to play over and over again, especially when introducing new players to the world of ‘Euro Games’. The more advanced players may drop the game for more complicated concepts in time, but, I still think for the most part it is fun for any occasion or audience for many, many plays. 1.5/2

What comes in the box. I actually think the tiles are really solid, the meeples are wood and sturdy even when dropped on the floor. So far I haven’t seen much wear on our set in the form of dents or scratches on the tiles themselves. The box is compartmentalized well for the base game (gets a little more complicated when trying to store expansion tiles in the main box). The art is just the right amount of bright, colorful and enticing which is pretty common is some of the more popular Euro Game including Ticket to Ride and Small World. 1.75/2

Fun Factor. I believe if the game isn’t fun the other details don’t matter that much. With that in mind, this game is endlessly fun. Partially this is because of solid mechanics and design. Partially this game is really fun because getting new people playing a game and having them see the fun they can have with some wood and cardboard pieces sitting around a table is a very rewarding feeling. As far as replay value, or, am I still having fun playing it much later, I still think it is strong even for more advanced players. Say you don’t want a hard strategy game one day and just want a relaxing game to end the night or to sip wine around — Carcassonne fits perfectly in so many situations. The one situation I might warn against: playing this game on a smaller surface. Running to the end of a table can be a bit maddening. For optimal fun, find a large playing surface and start right in the middle. 2.75/3

All together this is a classic game, 8.5/10 is a score I am very comfortable giving. Everyone should enjoy this game for a long time. One of the heralded gateway games of the table top gaming community, and it is a true beauty. Give it a go if you haven’t already, and it you have it and haven’t played for a while, get it back out and build another map of the city of Carcassonne.

A gamer in transition

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:53:02 -0500

I have always been a gamer, I think looking back it is one of the few things that have defined me throughout my entire life. At maybe 8 I was playing super Nintendo on a mini trampoline in my basement. When I was 10 I got a computer and began my early life as a PC Gamer. By 12 or 13 I had rebuilt it into a formidable gaming machine and was playing original Starcraft, Counter-Strike, Half-Life and eventually World of Warcraft. PC Gaming is still my strongest passion when it comes to gaming, but it is slowly ebbing away.

I am entering a phase of my life where not only do I have an added amount of responsibility and family time (see posts about my daughter). I now have somewhat less time to sit on the PC for hours at a time. I have less time to play whatever new games there are and honestly somewhat less desire. I find my hands, or more importantly one hand occupied much of the time and my erratic sleep schedule leaves me going to bed early and not spending late hours of the night racking up wins in Starcraft2. I realize this may just be a temporary setback in my gaming time, but, even so, I am starting to expand my gaming palette.

Enter Tabletop

I really have to give a lot of credit to Wil Wheaton’s “Table Top” web show. I started watching these out of mild curiosity and quickly began discovering a whole new world of gaming possibilities. Around that time, I began playing D&D 4th Edition with some fiends who also turned me on to my first “Euro Style” board game (Carcassonne) and my first true indie game Pushfight!. I found myself thinking, “holy shit, there is a whole world of games out here I had no idea about.” I was honestly taken aback, I had no idea even what I was missing. As a kid we had played Monopoly, Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, Apples to Apples and the like and I always sort of felt demeaned by inferior gameplay and childish themes. I had no idea there was this world of deep, strategic, fun board games out there.

How board games fit

Some of the advantages to board games feel a little obvious but, I think as someone who never fathomed enjoying them, they are worth pointing out.

Board games have a certain deep subtlety about them that my “gamer” side really appreciates. Sometimes it is hard for me to look at cardboard cutouts, dice and cards and think, ‘hey, this is some advanced thinking going on here,’ when I was used to the insane complexity of an MMO or a good RTS game. However, sometimes complexity is not always the most fun. Complexity can also be crude and complex just to seem like there is a lot going on. The depth and subtlety of board game is apparent when simple mechanics such as tile laying, card playing and piece moving can have a complex strategy behind them. Suddenly moving a piece is as interesting as controlling and building an entire army.
Board games are inherently social. And granted, many games are now played online. In fact I spend most of my life online, talking over chat and on the phone and that is where board games are very refreshing. I find myself craving interactions face to face. Sitting at a table with friends or family over a game is a wonderful way to talk and get all the humanness I can soak up in our increasingly digital world.
Family playtime is something I’ll probably find ways to bring up all the time on this blog. But, as a dad and a husband, I find myself looking for ways to spend more time siting together, playing together, talking together. TV is both good and terrible for this. We sit but we don’t talk, we don’t use our brains, we don’t interact. Board games are something I enjoy playing with my wife (and thankfully, she enjoys them too) and one day I hope to share with my children. Again, I will write more on this at another time, but, I believe strongly, the family that plays together, stays together.

So now, I can proudly announce I have started; my collection has begun. I am now a collector, player and advocate of board games. I have a boardgamegeek collection page started and I play and share games whenever I can. Will there always be room for computer games, sure, but, somehow I don’t care as much about missing my time sitting alone playing Starcraft or Skyrim. I look forward just as much to playing board games and card games with friends and family when it comes to getting my gaming fix.

A New Dad: 4 things I've learned in 4 weeks

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 20:11:31 -0500

I haven’t written yet on this subject, but I will be writing about it much more going forward. I am now the proud father of my first child. Hannah Grace Siegfried was born on December 29th 2012 at 11:22pm. She was 3 weeks early and weighed in at a wopping 6 pounds 9 ounces and 20.5 inches long.

In the last 4 weeks, like any new parent, I have had to learn a lot. I think perhaps less than some and likely more than others. These four things are as much learned as confirmed guesses I had about fatherhood. These four things have worked well for me as a dad so far.

1. Be consistent.

My mother once told me (and yes this is one of the few phrases of wisdom I have actually remember from my mother) as a father you can’t always be there for your child, but you can always be consistent. This may not be universally true thanks to the emergence of stay at home dads, but, for the most part, most dads are around for the first week or so full time before having to go back to work and leave a very young baby and a possibly overtired, overwhelmed mom at home alone. This was the situation I had to deal with after two weeks with my wonderful wife and new daughter at home. The feeling is heart breaking. I love them both so much, and the trials they have faced together in her short life have been hard on both of them. As a dad, I can’t be there every minute, but what I can do is be there consistently. I come home in the evening, eat or help make dinner and then launch into the bedtime routine. I take the early morning feedings as often as I can in the time I have before work. I am always there to help, and I know my wife knows, and soon my daughter will know, that I will always come home to them and solve all the problems I can help them solve.

2. Be flexibly rigid.

I have known from the beginning that winning the first few months was all about getting a schedule down. Babies and everyone else do well on schedules; also to refer to the above, what could be more consistent than a schedule. The first thing that gets out of wack is your sleep schedule. We had Hannah at 11:22pm and there was no sleep to be had that night. I think I was up for at least 48 hours straight at one point. I didn’t get on it as well as I could have, but, as soon as we regained some of our wits, we enforced a pretty strict bedtime schedule. Keeping her awake for several hours before bed followed by a big feeding and sleep time gives us at least 6 hours of sleep in a row at night (and sometimes more for my wife as she can get to sleep while I do the bedtime routine). I can’t ask for much more than that right now and with that schedule in place we have done pretty well. There is a point though, and it happened to me last night, that you do everything in your power and she wont stay up those few hours before bed or she refuses to eat on your schedule. Don’t stress out, know when she knows best and try again tomorrow.

3. Come ready to learn

As I mentioned above there will be times when she knows far better than you what the right thing to do it. Some of this comes by trial and error, and sometimes she will fix you with those beautiful eyes and just give you a squawk a grunt or a scream and you know whatever it is that you are doing isn’t working. Sometimes it is that you are just the wrong person, sometimes she just needs mom. The instincts we are born with are nothing short of amazing. Hannah’s instincts are the penultimate guide to how to take care of her and if you are ready to listen she will let you know just what to do. To note: Some screaming at you for doing it all wrong is pretty normal, they have short memories though and will usually snuggle with you once you figure it out.

4. The family that games together stays together

I intend a separate post on this subject as the phrase was handed down to me in the weirdest of ways, however, this is just how I have dealt with the issue of too much baby time for my wife. Everyone needs their alone time and their breaks from even the sweetest of babies. My wife and I have always been conscious of this and we spend good amounts of time away from each other and good amounts of time finding new things to do (to prevent fights and boredom). I say the family that games together stays together because a couple of times a week I take our little girl, either get her napping, or just hold her in my lap while my wife and I play a game. It cuts the stress, we get to talk and she gets to take a moment to stop spending her entire day thinking about our daughter. This might not be long, usually less than an hour, but, I think it is refreshing for both of us and it is one of the ways I plan to continue helping to maintain both our sanity.

That’s it for now, I know I will have more theories to test and more things to learn on the way. Cheers to you Hannah, you’re already beginning to change my entire life and outlook.

David Siegfried, Warrior Poet

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 14:27:46 -0400

I guess you could say this title is a bit arrogant. But that is not really the point. It is interesting in our work lives we have to take on some sort of title and use it in our lives whether or not it really defines anything but your role in a business. Society as a whole wants to know what you are doing to contribute. My neighbor asked me 2 things when I met him, “What do you do?” and “You like dogs right?” I was obliged to tell him, “Web Developer,” in my best corporate robot voice and “uh… sure” but that was mainly because his dog looked a bit intimidating and I didn’t want to start a feud.

No one wanted to ask me what sort of title I would give myself for my life. I like being husband and uncle and soon, father. I have always felt that my life will be defined best by how I am there for my family, I have known this for years. And yet, I still feel like I could use a title for me, not for my job, not for my family members, just for me.

So, there you have it, a two paragraph explanation for the title of this post. I batted around a few ideas. I like to think and organize and learn. I feel I am at my best being creative, bringing people together and telling the truth. I am comfortable working though tough spots and overcoming obstacles and I think at the end of the day I do nothing better than I write (if you’re critical and dislike my writing you might have cause to laugh here, that’s fine, you look better smiling anyway).

I tried thinker-poet, life champion and philosopher None of those suited me, not the way I liked. Something about the warrior word sounded right. I don’t make a habit of physically fighting but, I feel like in a lot of ways just having the will to make it in this world means you need a little bit of warrior in you. I don’t really think poet is a perfect work, but, in conjures up some nice images, the one I like best is creative. Poetry implies depth, wit, creativity, awareness and organization all are things I value in myself and find ways to perfect.

I don’t know, maybe just a funny idea, maybe something more, maybe something I can keep in my head when I step out of the house, I remind myself what I am, where I have strengths and what I want to be every day, just me, not my job and not anyone else. Just me, just something that I can keep for myself.

Make one for yourself perhaps, carry it with you, help it define how you go about your life.

a city with streets paved in gold

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:42:47 -0500

Well, not exactly gold, but, when I hopped off a street car and headed down on Bourbon Street in the world famous French Quarter of New Orleans, I found a street that was wet with soap suds and puddles of water. This has nothing to do with soap stores or rain, and has everything to do with the fact that Bourbon street is such a party zone that the street literally needs to be hosed down in the early hours of the morning for the sheer amount of spilled beverages, vomit, urine and who knows what else.

I had a hard time getting it through my head that this was real. A street where the partying is so intense that the street gets cleaned nightly? This is still unbelievable to me, and I’ve seen it. The street is in fact lined with bars, gentlemen’s clubs and other party related locations.

The rest of the French Quarter was a lot of fun and the fact that the hordes of fans for the saints game in the evening and the BCS College Championship on Monday crowding the streets made it that much better. Who dat nation knows how to party and so do those LSU fans. Overall, if someone told me they are having a party in New Orleans, I’d be in, no question.

A visit to the Domain of the King

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:26:09 -0500

As you might or might not have heard I am currently traveling with my family in the southern united states. Today we woke up somewhere in southern Missouri and got on the road south into Memphis, TN. And when you have to pass right through Memphis you might as well stop by a little place know as Graceland and take a look at the house of one of the legends of Rock and Roll.

I’ve never been a big Elvis Presley fan, his music is all right I suppose but, really as I was anything but part of that era, I just don’t understand what it was like when his music came on the scene and therefore really can’t appreciate all the ground he broke as a musician.

He was a hell of a musician, and that is evident in the room that housed his golden and platinum records, his awards and the like, the man broke so many barriers with his music that I can see why even now flowers and cards adorn his grave-site. I’ve never seen a grave of someone who was that influential in the course of the history of anything, and seeing Elvis’ grave visited by hundreds of people to day alone was really a strange feeling I can hardly place. The man is no longer alive, and hardly even a man any longer, he is a legend and a myth and yet, there he lies, just as dead as you and I will be one day.

His house struck me for how modest it feels by today’s standards of riches and over-exaggerated houses and possessions of the rich and famous. For a man who did so much, his house seemed fairly plain, and a mere 16 arches hardly seems like enough space for someone who had to rent the grocery store at night so he could do his shopping in peace. How things have changed these past 40 years.

Well, that is about it. We are going to be spending tomorrow in downtown New Orleans, visiting the markets and hopefully finding some music and interesting food. Hopefully we round out the evening with a visit to a local bar to catch the Saints and the Lions and get in on some of the excitements the fans down here are lucky enough to experience.

Minnesota to Sikeston, MO

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:51:00 -0500

A vacation blog post! F yeah! I am on a trip with my parents brother and lovely wife Lauren (sort of a family thing we always do around new years) to New Orleans, La. So, my mother has a great van and we did drive this day. Obviously we didn’t go all day like I would have done, but you know what, might as well pace ourselves. We stopped a number of times, have some good meals and just enjoyed ourselves.

Let me tell you, not a ton of highlights this day. The travel day is always the least exciting, highlights included wind farms in Illinois and a fabulous trip through St. Louis, MO in rush hour (good news, St. Louis has some great road system).

But then towards the end of a tiring drive we stopped for some food at a place called Lambert’s Cafe “The Only Home of Throwed Rolls.” Yes, the phrase that goes with the name says it all. They do indeed throw rolls at you! Hot fluffy rolls flying through the air, just waiting to be buttered and sauced to perfection. At the end of the meal I needed one of the 32 ounce mugs they served soda in. I plan to bring it to work and drink water from it. Yeah, slim pickings on highlights for the day, but, it was still nice to just be relaxing.

That is my brother with one of the giant mugs.

Tomorrow on the docket is more driving, a stop at Graceland when we are in Memphis, TN more driving and dinner in New Orleans, home of jazz and beads so I have heard. Enjoy the end of the work week suckers, I’m taking it easy in the big easy this weekend.

the most epic explosion of all time was not the deathstar

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:31:42 -0500

Oh yes, I know how you might have felt when Hands Solo blasted the Battle Star Galactica to pieces and yelled “Get out of there Warf!” That was indeed the best explosion of all movies, you’d be wrong, very wrong.

The movie featuring the most epic scene of destruction that has ever appeared in any movie ever in this history of Sci-Fi. That’s right, most epic. In this case it also might be the most over done too. I’ll leave that for the next generations of film industry buffs to sort out. Am I talking about a space move? No. Am I talking about a war move? No. I am talking about a movie where kids in their early teens are trying to make a zombie movie when shit gets real. I’m talking about Super 8.

For a movie about kids trying to make a movie, a passtime for which I have great respect and fond memories, I can admit it seems strange to have Hollywood’s most jarring scene of explosions, wreckage and plain old chaos happen here. The movie, until the point of the train explosion, is something like the set-up for Stand By Me. Where a young Wil Wheaton or in the case of Super 8 a young Joel Courtney has suffered some amount of childhood hardship and finds his friends are all the more important to him because of it.

Next thing you know, you have 5 kids standing on a train platform shooting a scene to try to add some story to their zombie bloodbath movie when our hero sees a car driving onto the train-tracks. Now, I understand a car speeding down the tracks would surely destroy the car, it would likely rip apart the fuel tank and would cause fire and explosions around the car, and certainly derail the train. My bet is the crash would be over in 10 seconds. This crash goes on for what seems to be about 5 minutes. Whole train cars flying through the air, kids dodging cargo and scrap-metal vaulted from the train cars and ripped from god knows where. The train station itself was crushed to splinters and likely exploded itself. All of this while our hero children run though the debris like a war zone. Unscathed, uncrushed, but jarred surely.

Now this would all be just fine if I was not cursed with a film background from my college days. Every movie is an opportunity to be followed by a long period of analysis if I feel it had something to say. I ponder over the nuances, scenes that capture a moment, and themes that mean something to me. This movie made me not want to analyse it in some ways too because I couldn’t help connecting with the kids and their dream of creating a great movie for a festival. I think because of this my analysis of this movie is slackened a bit. I realize the explosions are the height of hollywood pornography and every movie these days needs the big hook if it is going to sell tickets. I can’t help the feeling that this explosion meant something, however.

I think it is possible that kids in this movie are a portrayal of the bored kids that come about every summer, wishing something interesting would happen. How about the bored adults working day in and day out in the office, wishing for something interesting to happen. A little disaster can spur a great adventure. But maybe more for our main character Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) the great summer adventure is a way to forget the loss of a family member. This suspicion is pretty simple, however, no one needs to make the movie more than it is. This ranks this movie as another summer flick, reminiscing on ET and Stand by Me, showing a coming of age under strange situations, learning what friendship and community are worth when something disastrous happens.

I suppose the outrageously done train crash is more of a marker what needs to be included to sell tickets. Forget great shot composition, fantastic acting performances by a young group of performers (also Kyle Chandler who is possibly my favorite actor) and a solid plot. In ET the monster was a little rubber costume fixed up with some animations. Stand by me featured only a dummy as a dead body that is hardly seen. As movies have progressed, we need more and more to satiate a crowd of digital-effect junkies that is the movie ticket buying generation of today. Take away the effects here and I still think you have a great story well acted, it just wouldn’t have sold tickets. Blow something up in an eccentric manner and now we’re talking. Cha-ching baby.

stop sopa, an email I sent to friends and family

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 10:05:00 -0500

Friends and Family,

I am generally pretty A-Political because I usually see no hope for our leadership no matter where I might cast my vote. This seems to be another battle that can’t be won, but truly one that is worth fighting. I’m talking about the bills on the congressional floor called SOPA (Stop online piracy act) and the Protect IP Act.

These two bills are good natured in the fact that yes piracy is not a great thing. However it is the details that really hurt the internet as a communication platform and will, in the long run, take away jobs at internet companies that are unable to innovate and who cannot gather investors because the risks for running a site like facebook or youtube would be simply too high. If this bill were to pass a user posting something that infringes on any copyrights (real or perceived) could lead to the entire site being shut down, and leave the owners facing fines and jail time. This could all be done without any due process meaning a company can make a claim and shut down a site based on nothing but good faith.

Please, if you value your freedom of speech, and your right to due process, help me by contacting our congressmen/women.

Here is an excellent article explaining the effects these bills can have.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/toms-hardware-sopa-Stop-Online-Piracy-Act-PROTECT-IP-Senate,14393.html

and here is where you can go to contact your congress people.

https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8173

Thank you for helping to save the internet, jobs and progress. Oh, and pass this on if you believe as I do please.

David

sounds like a big difference to me

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:46:22 -0500

In my earlier life I put a lot of emphisis on durability cheapness in my compuer periferals. Duribility mattered for traveling to lan events, cheapness was because my bottom line was very low. I hated to see good equipment broken and when it came to cheaper headphones that was something that happened all the time. Now however I have learned the value of the expression ‘you get what you pay for’, and then some. I have become a headphone snob/junkie.

Now, when I say snob I just mean, I am beginning to care more about quality than anything else. There are some people out there posting on amazon saying, “I had this and this headphone and the decible output on the base was less satisfactory at 1200 mhz.” F those guys, you think that helps me figure out of this is a good pair of headphones or not? No way! I want to know are the headphones comfortable, do they have good sound (I don’t care how many mhz’s) and are they going to last long enough to make them worth the hundreds of dollars they sell for.

Enter the Sony MDR 7056 Professional Large Diaphragm Headphones. Some good advice from a former soundboard student these headphones were recommended as good sound, great durability at a reasonable price. Now 80 bucks is nothing to scoff at but I needed help at work. With a large wide open room and only crappy little earbuds to protect me I had a hard time getting work done for not being able to concentrate. These headphones saved my butt and the sound they produce I think is quite awesome for the price. I didn’t think the headphones would make that much of a difference but man, was I wrong. With these headphones at work, I knew I needed better headphones for home and gaming.

I did a lot of searching around the internet over the period of months looking for a good pair of headphones with a good microphone for chatting and comfortable enough to wear for hours on end.

This is what I found.

The Sennheiser PC 360 headset for Pro Gaming was the result of my efforts researching. What stood out about this series? The headphones are full ear covering but not noise canceling which means air can get in and out and keep your head from getting too warm. Another advantage is that these headphones have no control halfway down the cable for volume controls, rather the volume control is on the right earpiece and the boom actually works as the mute button; when it is down, it is active, when it is up, it is muted, easy enough. Finally, instead of leather ear cuffs, which can feel a but sticky and hot at times on your face, these ear pieces are felt, comfortable and cool.

The sound is excellent, even my friend’s voices on Skype sound better and I didn’t think those could improve, heeeyooo! The point is, I now know that a good pair of headphones is sometimes worth the price for good sound and better comfort.

I think a cheaper pair which also might be just as good is this one here. The Steel Series 7H also looks like a great pair of headphones and a shade cheaper than the Sennheiser, I haven’t tried them on, but my research extensive as it was for gaming headsets makes me think this would also be a good pair.

fantasy football and my 2nd place destiny

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 00:57:16 -0500

This year, like the 8 before it I am hosting a fantasy football league for an odd amalgam of people including friends from highschool, former co-workers from lifetime and even family. Each year we battle it out on the fantasy football scene over at yahoo.com/fantasysports with nothing on the line but self-satisfaction and bragging rights.

This was our first year doing a live draft party over at my house and we had a great time doing it. It made the season feel a bit more competitive and forced you to work with those good or bad decisions made during the draft through the rest of the season. This adds to the sense of accomplishment I always feel when it comes down to the last week of the season and I am, without fail in the championship game. And this is where it all goes wrong.

Each year of the last seven, I have been in the league championship play-offs; which means I have been in the top four teams at the close of every season. Coming into the play-offs I have without fail won the first game landing me in the final championship match. And then. Well, and then I have, with the exception of one year, lost that championship game. Hardly without fail, I arrive #2 of 10 or #2 of 12. Now there is nothing wrong with second place in a game that I enjoy for an entire football season, but, come on. There seems to be a fate about it at this point. There was a year where we even tied and the tiebreaker went against me. Last year I appeared to have won the game, only to later have the stats adjusted and title already declared for me, literally taken away. I mean, honestly, come on.

This year, I sit on the precipace of another championship game, facing off against the team that finished in second place and the person who knows more football and fantasy football than I do. And I find myself wishing, as I do every year, that this year I’ll be #1 of 12. If it doesn’t go my way though, I guess being number two isn’t really all that bad. Here’s hoping I break my trend.

unboxed, my 3rd woot bag of crap

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:33:00 -0500

Two days ago to my very happy surprise a box from woot.com sat on the front stoop waiting to be claimed. This is the rare package you order, for a mere 8.00 dollars from woot and never know what you’ll find inside. This is my 3rd of such packages. They come up only on certain days of the year called ‘woot-offs’ where instead of the 1 day 1 item rule woot usually follows, there is a deal available until such time as there are none left. When that deal sells out a new item is posted. This lasts for 48 hours. There is no warning, there is no way to predict this occurrence and when it happens there is no way to know when the bag of crap will show up.

Talk about smart web marketing if I am allowed an aside here. Folks who follow woot or know about the deals and the wacky products that comprise a woot-off check the site every day. The bag of crap takes it one step further, check the site daily for a woot-off and when a woot-off happens keep watching to see if you can spot one of these hard to come by random bags of crap.

Are the contents always good? No, frankly they are rarely useful, it is crap after-all. But the joy of getting a box filled with who-knows-what is something even more surprising than Christmas. My first bag of crap had something like 50 mini-slinkies among other things. My second bag has dust pads refills for a device I didn’t own and a mechanical usb dog that is the most useless piece of crap I can imagine. This time, here is what I got.

2 fire engine red duffle bags
1 spitball dartboard of excuses
1 Dremel Trio Multi-tool for sanding and cutting wood
1 keychain woot monkey
1 Cupcake flavored(?) lip gloss in a cupcake shaped container

I think the duffel bags are endlessly useful and the multi-tool has to be a steal at 8.00 dollars when it retails at $80.00. I think this might have been my best bag of crap ever. I even gave the Mrs. the cupcake lip gloss.

when seeing is believing, the proper eye wear is key

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:30:30 -0500

You know, I once scoffed and mocked people who put small shards of glass and or plastic in their eyes for their unwillingness to embrace their disabilities. “I wear my disabilities on my face,” I would tell them, “I can’t see and I am proud.” But now, I have joined the ranks of those wearers of hidden lenses, the fraternity of the sighted eye, I now own contact lenses.

You may be hurt by this gesture you glasses wearing folk you. But let me tell you, it’s not that bad after-all. Sure you have to be mildly comfortable touching your own eye and sticking something in them to boot, but it is nice in ways too. I mean, try wearing a scarf over your cold face in the winter time without fogging up those specs. Try running in the summer heat with those glasses on, not only will you look like a nerd, you’ll have sweat stained glass and have to worry about the glasses sliding off your nose. Not for me, there are times in life, when glasses are not the way to go, and I am now someone who has the choice.

So call me what names you like. Two-eyes, Normal, whatever; Your pathetic insults can’t hurt me. Now that I have another option for seeing I am invulnerable to your name calling and also I am less likely to trip when running or working outside in the cold, times when I usually would just skip attempting to correct my vision at all.

Take that!

merry christmas to all and to all a new game!

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:40:21 -0500

I’ve got my tree up, I’ve hung my stocking, the manger scene rests on the windowsill, my house, the neighborhood are all decorated and teaming with Christmas spirit. Family, friends and coworkers are in the holiday mood and yet, something is missing - or at least is was. To me, it’s just doesn’t start to feel like Christmas without the Steam Holiday Sale, fortunately, it started yesterday and I’ve already begun to reap the deals.

If you’re not using steam to manage your digital copies of most of your pc games, where have you been? Steam has been around since the early 2000’s originally being developed to help distribute and update Valve games such as Counter-Strike, Team Fortress Classic and Day of Defeat. Slowly though the steam platform has grown to house around 1,400 games and is estimated to manage a 70% share of all digital game distribution. Needless to say, if you’re not on steam already, you should be.

Moreover, on the week of, and post Christmas every year, steam puts on a fantastic sale featuring massive discounts on all the game titles of the past year.

Any games you hadn’t yet purchased throughout the year might end up being a part of a sale. These titles change every day at noon so it is a new gift every day to see what games you might be able to curl up with on the cold winter night to come in the new year. I picked up Amnesia the Dark Descent already and who knows what else I’ll find this year.

Happy Holidays and a very merry steam holiday sale to everyone!

a little bit about indie games and me

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:06:25 -0500

So, this week among other things such as some holidays etc that you might be hearing a bit about, is also the week that the Humble Indie Bundle number 4 is online selling for whatever you want to pay. Indie game developers have been forced to get really clever in their marketing and that means trying some tactics like this deal. 5 games in a pack, pay whatever you want, pay above average and get two more games. Simple, fun and a good cause.

It’s a pretty successful way to buy a handful of fun little games for a nominal price and everybody wins. I am the proud owner of the 4 normal bundles they have released in the last year and a half. I have gotten some classic games from the bundles like Trine and World of Goo that were definitely worth the price of admission. But let’s face it, it feels good to help out some people chasing their dreams and putting a lot of time, effort and probably money into their own pet project.

I have dreams and pet projects too; I feel for these guys and gals, hence, playing to my emotions, the marketing works. I also urge others to check out what they have to offer, hint hint, try the link above, it is probably worth your money.

My other quick note on Indie Game Developers is mainly a note on the fact that I am semi-part (I’ve been to two meetings thus far) of a really cool Twin Cities group called IGDATC which of course stands for International Game Developer Association chapter for the Minneapolis/St Paul (Twin Cities) metro area (a great time for an acronym if you ask me). These guys and gals are passionate indie game developers willing to give you advice on projects, tell you what they have learned and how they have been successful or not in the past. If anyone is interested in what a meeting is like, you can check out last month’s meeting which they so nicely recorded for everyone to view. Also if it were me and you want to watch I’d start around 44:30 as I couldn’t really stand the first guy (not a regular member anyway).

As for me I’m off to try one of the games from the bundle called Night Sky. It is pretty good so far.

something I loved from my childhood, revisited with a new generation

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 23:28:28 -0500

I think perhaps if I had kids right now I would write the joys of being a parent this time of year creating traditions with my children and what-not. However, with no children of my own I still got a chance to share something I loved from my childhood with my nephew tonight.

I think everyone has those couple movies they loved when they were kids that they watched a number of times … a week (in my case). My brother and I can still quote a few movies to eachother with perfect recognition, thanks to watching them on a constant loop. For me, these movies were Tommy Boy, Happy Gilmore and the Three Amigos. We were in our early teens and these movies marked the transition from animated Disney films to the real live action movies.

I showed Tommy Boy to my nephew Jack tonight, he is 10 and I think slowly coming into the age where he can appreciate some young-adult oriented comedies like this. I think he enjoyed it, it is a fun movie and being able to share it with Jack is part of being the uncle I want to be.

What movies do you plan to share with the next generation?

kindles rooting on an open fire

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 09:48:00 -0500

I had the distinct pleasure the last week to be in on a Christmas gift for a family member who best not be reading this blog post (I’m very sure he wont be). The gift was the Kindle Fire, the desire, to be able to play games found only on the Android Market. Well the kindle only has the Amazon Market so it was going to need some customization to get this to work.

My thoughts on rooting the Kindle Fire

I don’t necessarily recommend the process at all. I was able to do it though with little prior eperience. It was not an easy task though, at no point was I having fun and all the while I worried about royally screwing up the device. At one point the device was not starting thanks to a launcher .apk file which you need to install to be able to view the Android Market App you finally got installed properly.

However, once it works, it works well and makes so much sense. Why a tablet maker would not include the android market on such a capable device is beyond me. I realize there is money to be made, but, it is almost a reason not to buy the device. These tablets are nothing without great apps, the Android Market gives you the greatest ability to find great apps, the limited amount in the Amazon Store seems laughable and seriously hinders the tablet.

At least let me share some links I used

Well, if you want to try this yourself, here are some websites I found pretty useful, be prepared to be patient and learn a lot about these tablets along the way.

http://liliputing.com/2011/11/how-to-sideload-apps-even-the-android-market-on-the-amazon-kindle-fire.html

http://androidadvices.com/android-market-place-amazon-kindle-fire/

http://www.pcworld.com/article/244303/how_to_root_your_kindle_fire.html

There were a couple of others but the top one here was actually the most useful set of directions for me, it had some little hints along the way that made a big difference. The last link here is what you need to do first, you can’t do any app sideloading without rooting, but make sure you unroot when you are done to avoid hangups in your amazon video streaming service.

curled up by the fire with eggnog and a new blog

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 22:30:17 -0500

Well, starting this whole process up again around Christmas time is a bit of a gift to myself. My last attempt at a blog was more of a look at me and my big important thoughts about HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP and so forth. Bah Humbug to that!

Fortunately life is all about starting over and with another year and another Christmas gone by, I’ve given myself the gift of a blog that I can write whatever I want in. I can write about work if I want but, I have other things I’d like to write about.

I’m a bit of a gamer and I have a fair few opinions on movies, books and music as well. So, going forward, I plan to give those thoughts and whatever else strikes me at any given moment (I was a bit of a fiction writer in my collegiate days, who knows).

Merry Christmas and a happy new blog!