December 2008
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Month December 2008

Entries 10 Total

There Are No “Mouse” Puns In This Post

Dec 21, ’08 9:13 PM

Computer Cat

Buttons is a modern, technologically savvy cat. He often uses Katie’s laptop, and not just because it’s a source of heat.

Send Folder "mmmmmmm" to Internet Moniker

He also enjoys it because it allows him to send files to his friends on the internet. Here you can see that – with no intervention or assistance from us – he is attempting to create a folder named “mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm” and send it to one of the people on Katie’s IM list.

Power Feline User

I suppose after becoming a minor Bemani icon, a CIA agent, and a doctor, nothing should surprise me about this cat. But he’s like the gift that keeps on giving.

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Silently Protest This

Dec 19, ’08 10:26 AM

On Tuesday, Dec. 16, Apple Inc. announced that Steve Jobs would not do the keynote at the 2009 Macworld Conference & Expo. That’s okay.

They also announced that they would no longer attend the conference in the future. That’s actually also okay. Apple doesn’t run the Macworld Expo, has never run the Macworld Expo, and for years has been appearing at the event because it was the easiest way for them to get press coverage, albeit at a great cost. But Apple no longer has an issue getting press coverage, and so they have outgrown the utility of going to Macworld San Francisco, much like they did in 2002 with Macworld New York.

Some people don’t feel that’s okay. Some people are so upset, they feel that such a decision is worth staging a protest against.

For 25 years, a very feral and cultish Mac community – some call them MacMacs – have swarmed the halls of Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA to see, obnoxiously line up for, and collectively drool over the products they love. By announcing their departure from this otherwise pointless trade show (really, there is little point for most people to attending MWSF if Apple isn’t there) Apple is signaling to the entire community that people now have a chance to froth at the mouth and act personally insulted that you will no longer be able to pay to hear someone announce products.

If you’re attending the Macworld Expo keynote on Tuesday, Jan. 6, you aren’t sending a message to Apple by remaining silent during the 2009 keynote. While Phil Schiller is on the stage, if you’re sitting in the audience, even if you sit on your hands, duct tape your mouth shut, and hold your breath, you’re not sending a message to Apple.

You know how you send a message to Apple? The same way you send a message to other companies: you stop buying their products. You stop worshipping the company and/or the products and/or Steve Jobs.

My name is Dan Dickinson, and I’m tired of fanboys.

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Contemplating Home

Dec 10, ’08 11:06 PM

Contemplating Home

It’s been a strange eighteen months in the private Home beta. It’s hard to believe it’s coming to an end tomorrow.

Sony has announced that yes, tomorrow, December 11th, is the day Home finally goes into Open Beta. The indication I’ve gotten from the in-beta documentation is that we’re looking at a roughly 6PM Eastern launch, with a downtime tomorrow morning so some final housekeeping can be done.

Now, technically, the closed beta doesn’t end until tomorrow at that time, so I perhaps still cannot talk in great detail about the last 18 months. But here’s some things I’ve been mulling over about the service lately:

Gamers who spend a lot of time in a particular title tend to memorize maps. The terrain is always the same, the shopkeepers are always standing in their stores, and the town never changes. But serving 18 months in the Home beta can mess with your brain. Almost all of the areas have undergone multiple overhauls. The “Central Plaza” is on its third or fourth major version. Whatever you may remember from the early demos is probably gone now, so come in with a clean mind.

Home is not the cure to all of Sony’s woes regarding online play. It does not fill in the common holes that people point to when they line PSN up next to Xbox Live Gold. But is it supposed to? Was it ever? I’m not sure. I’m not sure Sony’s sure.

There are two things I’ve seen other fellow testers really get into: spontaneous dance parties, and wall hacks. Expect more of the first than the second as time progresses. R1 opens the Emote menu, and the dance options are at the bottom. They are all pretty awesome. (It is intentionally difficult to see in the picture above, but I am in a position only obtainable through a wall hack. I am explaining this to those who ask as only being possible through “incredible balance”. I’ve only had one person respond with an expletive.)

Above all else, Home is a good encapsulation of what Sony has focused on this generation: a reasonably pleasant user experience, missing a few things you’d probably expect, including a few things you wouldn’t have thought of, and providing a certain je ne sais quoi that makes it a fun place to visit but leaving you unsure if you really want to live there. I’m not sure if I’ll be spending a lot of time in Home, or it’ll just be something to fill the gaps – but it’s nice to know it’s there.

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Hot Truck Memories

Dec 9, ’08 7:27 PM

Reflections In The Glass Facade

The big project for my department (and the entire Medical College) at the end of 2006 was the launch of our new clinical care building at 1305 York Avenue. For much of the length of the project, those of us in the IT shop simply referred to it by the most appropriate acronym: it was the new York Avenue Building, so it became YAB.

But eventually, the building was given a more donor-friendly name, and it became the Weill Greenberg Center. The appropriate acronym became WGC.

I refer to it now, as I did then, as “YAB”. Sometimes “1305″. But never “WGC”.

“WGC” still only means one thing to me: Wet Garlic and Cheese.

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I Was Instructed To “Tell You” As Well As To “Crank That”

Dec 9, ’08 7:03 PM
After I put the Xbox 360 challenge up on the Internet, it was over all these video game sites. And a couple video game companies hit me up on my email because I put the email on there too. And hit me up like, “Blah, blah, blah, blah.” So I was like, “Oh snaps!” So I forwarded to my management, and they forwarded to my label. And now we’re doing the video game. It was the same way I got signed for my music. It’s like history repeating itself, but instead of music this time it’s about video games.

This is the way the world ends: not with a bang but a whimper.

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Bucket Of Tears: A Review Of Dance Dance Revolution The Musical

Dec 7, ’08 7:00 PM

I ingested no alcohol or drugs prior to, during, or after the show. But, in hindsight, I wish I had.

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Cloudy Downtime Music

Dec 7, ’08 12:12 PM

I’ve been informed by the vengeful gods of Victoly LLC, my beloved hosting company, that we are joining the future and moving to a new colo host that will thrust my websites high into the atmosphere and place my web applications into the cloud.

I mention this not because it’s particularly interesting, but because it will require a coordinated downtime across all five of my web offerings.

Luckily for you, there’s plenty of groundwork to be done first. I’ll provide further details when the downtime draws nearer.

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Pat’s Papers Launches

Dec 6, ’08 12:07 PM

One of things I miss most about being in NYC proper anymore is not having NY1 on my cable box. The TV in our bedroom rarely would change off of NY1, especially in the morning when Pat Kiernan would provide a very calming (and slightly sarcastic) take on the news. (My love of NY1 in the past was noted by Mr. Kiernan.)

Pat – who if you’re outside NYC, you probably know best from VH1′s World Series Of Pop Culture – also happens to be on Facebook, and today let all his friends know of his newest endevour: Pat’s Papers. No longer limited to reading just the NYC papers, Pat’s going national.

Being once again able to have Pat read the papers to me in the morning is a great joy. (Pat has also mentioned that a podcast version is coming soon.)

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Extremely Rapid Game Development

Dec 3, ’08 11:46 PM

Seen on AppShopper during my nightly browsing (red emphasis mine):

Releasing a sequel to an “award winning card game pack” one hour after its release? Talk about agile development.

To make a less joke-y point about marketing: if you are porting games from another platform, avoid citing awards that may not apply to your software on the new platform, such as “Best PocketPC Card Game in 2003″.

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Kermit, I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down

Dec 3, ’08 11:18 PM

Via Noah Brier: Simon Owens has created what may be the most appropriate video possible for LCD Soundsystem’s New York, I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down.

It gets better: when the Kermit-like nature of the vocals were brought up a few months ago, James Murphy responded with this:

the “kermitness” in the vocal was totally intentional. in fact, had the song sung, and went back, saying “it needs to be more like kermit”. i know this sounds like i’m taking the piss here, but it’s 100% fact.

Taking the piss or not, it’s a great video, and it’s put a smile on my face. So kudos to those involved.

EDIT: The video has been pulled, and I don’t need a lawsuit but you can find it elsewhere. James explains:

the reason it’s getting pulled down is basically that it was just a fun thing a guy was doing, and we ran into each other in a bar and i went and shot with him for less than an hour… it was just a fin thing! but then it got very widespread… and, uh, kermit is sort of now owned by disney… and, uh… they scare me.
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