crankyuser

Goodnight.

In the interesting of trying something new, this blog is now deprecated. Please check out crankyuser.com for the new blog!

Halo 2 and the Xbox Live ban

Some random speculation, without any insider information:

crankyuser: "I�m guessing they�ve decided to clear the decks in anticipation of Halo 2, which is likely to push Live to the breaking point." http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/xbox/xbox-live-ban-day-025247.php
wow, that's an idiotic theory -- "lots of people are going to be on live! we haven't planned for this, NOR engineered live 3.0 specifically for this game! let's ban people!"

pen40ny: yeah, I don't buy it. I think it's more like, "lets get people to buy halo 2, play a bit, then drop the hammer on them. a little "fuck you" from microsoft"

crankyuser: heh

Let the healing begin

losangeles.craigstlist posting, via souris:

Straight male seeks Bush supporter for fair, physical fight - m4m
I would like to fight a Bush supporter to vent my anger. If you are one, have a fiery streek, please contact me so we can meet and physically fight. I would like to beat the shit out of you.
this is in or around anywhere is fine by me

Rivers Cuomo

Did you know my cousin Jeff is an undergrad at Harvard, along with such esteemed colleagues as Rivers Cuomo? He is, and they are!

optimisticego: hey dude...guess who i just ate dinner with? rivers cuomo
crankyuser: is he really quiet and bearded? how did you meet him?

optimisticego: he was very quiet, yes. not bearded. he goes to school here

crankyuser: ...he's finishing his degree? i thought he did that already.

optimisticego: nope. he has one more year

crankyuser: what's he doing it in? does he just hang around like some full time student?

optimisticego: english. i guess so

crankyuser: and not working on the next cd? hm. how old is he?

optimisticego: 34 or something crazy like that. older than you.

crankyuser: dude, way older. i turn 25 on saturday!

optimisticego: he is like 5'4" -- tiny

crankyuser: yeah, i've seen them live. that's pretty neat though. he's just one of the guys..? or is he really tortured and socially awkward?

optimisticego: he is kinda awkward. he didn't really want to talk.

crankyuser: probably just wants to talk about weezer all the time. and asian chicks

optimisticego: he actually did mention asian chicks

crankyuser: lol

optimisticego: i'm not kidding.. i mentioned how i met my girlfriend in china, and he asked if she was chinese.. and explained how she is white, from texas.. he said that all the chinese girls he met here at harvard are from texas.

crankyuser: doesn't the age difference make it a bit odd?

optimisticego: yeah.. he seems a bit out of place. but everyone here is a bit awkward.

Priorities

I think the new hardware has satisfied my recent obsession with being able to write and connect on the go. It seems that my step dad needs a new device now, too -- he didn't have TMobile coverage in Alaska, which is a minor case but as a doctor he's concerned. His other concerns though, are:

g n u e y: have you played w/ a treo cell phone before?
crankyuser: very briefly. why
g n u e y: i mentioned to allen that there were pda phones and he seemed interested. they look very large
crankyuser: they are. very expensive. if you don't need the web connectivity, it's not worth it. if he gives me a prioritized list of features, i can talk to a friend in mobile pc at MS. he can help pick out a phone
g n u e y: yeah, i think you can hook most phones up w/ a cable and use the internet somehow

g n u e y: ringtones are at the top of his list. and camera. and possibly world coverage. he was looking at the NEC 525 on ATT. i am looking at the lg vx7000 on verizon
crankyuser: i know -_-
g n u e y: i know the lg has the ability to use mp3s for ringtones
crankyuser: whoop.

g n u e y: allen really wants startrek ringtones. everytime he calls me he tells me that. he is mad that he doesnt have startrek ringtones on his current phone

This is a good reminder of how normal users care a lot more about personalization and not the underlying technology, which is why colored iMacs and iPods do so well. And why we're stuck with annoying ringtones.

Now with fewer reasons for posting regularly

I recently got some old hardware from my friend Chris. In the process of setting it up (thanks to Adrian and Vic), I noticed that I carry over the same workflow flaws that I sometimes have as a designer. I tend to focus too much on implementing shiny objects, geeking out by adding stuff but not really making sure it fits its intended purpose. It would probably have been a lot smarter to check whether the keyboard was sufficient before proceeding any further. As someone who generally thinks a lot more about the social implications of software than the implementation, it's funny to see myself stray from the ideals of rapid testing and iteration -- especially when I'm the intended audience.

Regardless, this is one badass moblogging device. Though not quite small enough to make bringing it an afterthought, it's still conveniently small enough to carry unobtrusively. Hopefully the webcam will come in handy as well.

I write this sitting from the Madison Park beach, looking at the traffic on Lake Washington and the odd couple taking pictures of the geese. Wifi is goodness, but I need to wave this thing around everytime I refresh a link. I mostly turn it off to conserve power, though.

Earlier today I played Fable for a bit, and ran errands, taking care of Chris's cats and helping Khoo put together his new bed. He's been pretty sick -- I think we may have the same thing (sore throat, etc) but I tend to sleep better than he does, so recover faster. I grabbed him some SuperFood and chicken soup, then assembled what remained of his bed. He has one of those foam Tempur-Pedic style mattresses, so it was vacuum sealed and expanded to 400% of its size once opened. I left him full of soup and with a made bed; hopefully he doesn't pass out on the couch again.

Catching up Adrian and Lauren next, then off to see the Beastie Boys.

Washington to Washington

So you attempt to fly from Rochester to Pittsburgh to connect to a flight to Seattle. That falls through because of a bum tire and you get rerouted to DC, which feels like backtracking, but at least makes for a snappy blog title. Trying to get from Rochester to DC is an entirely different matter, as the other airline is closed for the evening and security refuses to honor your new ticket and or let you through. So you return to your original airline, watching the newly repaired tire take off while wondering whether you should have given up on getting home that night, and instead spent the night with friends Pittsburgh.

The attendant who helped change your ticket walks you over and argues with TSA for a bit. After some more waiting you infiltrate to the gate, and get on that plane, also late. A short nap and a lot of circling later, you run to the connecting gate in DC only to find that plane pulling out.

They hook you up with a couple of meal vouchers and put you up in a hotel, which takes about an hour to reach via the complimentary shuttle. You're able to get a hold of the two friends you know in DC, put some flip flops on, and watch TV while waiting for them to show up.

You all go to T.G.I. Friday's and have a great time catching up.

The next morning you fly home, get picked up by your new houseguests, and work a full day. You go grocery shopping with them but things are catching up with you, and you're too tired to cook. You retire around your normal bed time and get up on time for once. In the morning you're far less jetlagged than you have any right to be, and end up going in to work half an hour earlier than usual, which is your official start time, anyway.

In conclusion, knowing people at major hubs can make getting stranded fun, and crunch hours are a good remedy for jetlag.

Reading material

A good friend is moving cross-country and slowly parting with years of carefully collected pop culture. It's a painful process, but she's graciously offered to send me her collections of Metropolis and Adbusters, with some Tokions and Faces on the side. Shipping is small beans compared to what they're worth to an aspiring student of culture!

Time to move the bookcase to the living room so I can start conversations, and amaze people with my friend's literary choices and generosity. Thanks so much.

Happy Trails

Tonight one our prize aikido students had his final class and a farewell dinner before he left for college in New York. We went to Monsoon, which is the best pan-Asian restaurant in the area, a good mix of Vietnamese and Chinese that actually reminds me of Chinatown in New York.

Buzzed off good food and wine, a table full of aikidoists said farewell to one of their most promising members after six years of dedicated work. Have fun in the big city, Ridge!

Speechless

You can't make this shit up.

rob: so [our stepfather] bought a new hdtv ready tv. seems like a waste of money. instead of using one of our existing tvs, he decided to get a new one and spend more money. he wants to surprise mom. i dont think she really cares..she does afterall keep watching that crappy projector
me:
if allen thinks he can cheer mom up by spending money...
well, maybe it would work.

rob:
yeah that's what im thinking. i keep telling him i can get some help to move the tv from the basement up. and in order to move the old proj tv, he decided it'd be best he cut it in half. so he woke me up w/ his saw and told me to vacuum his shit up. he didnt even bother to clean up the area before cutting. there's sawdust all over their papers on the floor. i dont know he couldnt take the time to clean it up. i see his name on a lot of those papers. it's so damn annoying. this is a reason why i will not live here if i have a choice. poor mom is stuck w/ it

me:
wow.

rob:
i should just live at dad's place. it's so much cleaner for the most part.

...much later:

rob:
he lied to me about the price and the brand. and he missed the free home theater system. great shopping. eh well you cant add it to the cart online so i dunno

me:
Chris: For whom the bell tolls says:
you could've found a much better value for that screen size at costco. and been able to return it anytime

rob:
yeah, but he doesnt want to move it once it's there. he doesnt know how to shop for deals apparantly. but I'm assuming it's a business expense for him. and he got some in house service plan where they will come and clean the lenses or something. i dunno, ive given up. goodnight

Mistaken identities

My good friend Robert Khoo and I are sometimes mistaken for each other at networky events, despite his short hair, lack of glasses, lack of piercings, business casual attire, and being far louder and wirier (but fighting dirty). While somewhat an honor, we typically file the offender under "confuses Asians easily," and put them on an internal shit list. The latest evidence:

"Hey, Robert!"
"...it's actually Brian. You're Kevin, right? I think I met you at Tami's, with you and...Nikki?"

"Oh yeah, my girlfriend. She's not here because she's working, at EBX."

"Is she trying to get into the industry?"

"Yeah, she's into abstract design, like GUI work."

"Hey, that's what I'm working on these days."

"Don't you work at Penny Arcade?"

"...no. I work at Monolith. On the Matrix Online."

"Ah."

Later I met a guy from my company who thought I had gone snowboarding with him, when in fact I had only had Indian buffet with him once, where he spent most of his time vomiting in the bathroom because of a physical condition. Turns out he was confusing me with the other Asian guy who was at that same lunch; he first met us both that day.

I preferred the other guy from my company, who is bad with names -- stemming from a martial arts accident in which he caused three parts of his brain to hemorrhage internally. He at least knows who I am and whether he vomited around me, even if he can't remember my name.

Maybe I need more facial piercings. Would that help?

Doom�

Yesterday morning my coworkers and I drove to Best Buy looking for copies of Doom�. The rumor was that they were price matching it and selling it for $45. They had copies, but weren't price matching. We tried EBX and Gamestop, but their policy is sell all their copies in advance to people who like to reserve such things. Empty-handed yet morally victorious, we drove back to the office, past a guy taking a hit out of a Mountain Dew can while driving. At what point in a person's life this is thought to be a good idea, I am uncertain.

Today we went to Fry's to pick up our copies for the discount price of $45.

The game itself is pretty suspenseful, but one wonders how long they can sustain the imp/zombie jumping out of shadows/hole in wall effect. Kudos to the System Shock 2 style of notepads and voice clips to create characters and suspense. Sentry bots are fucking rad. Designing the flashlight as a weapon (light or gun? you choose!) is pretty cool. Multiplayer quickly devolved into a battle of who had the biggest gun, making me miss Halo's tactical strategy.

Gaming Open Market down

The Gaming Open Market is a stock market clearing house where players can trade currency in different MMOs. They recently lost $3k in a trade where a player claimed the delivery did not go through, so they're revisiting their policies. To that end, they are switching from PayPal to YowCow, and not dealing in anything other than Second Life Linden$.

Part of their press statement, via the Alphaville Herald:
1) Game publishers need to recognize the commodification of their game worlds, and accept that out-of-game trading is going to occur. Plain and simple. Until they do that, no trading, mule or deposit account is safe. Of course there are *many* good reasons why the companies might not want to do this, and I won't bore you with the details. (Email me if you would like to discuss it.)

2) Payment services have to start recognizing that FedEx courier tracking numbers are *not* the only way to prove delivery was made. PayPal doesn't, and has no interest in considering it.

3) Game companies have to become open to working together with payment services to prevent fraud. This isn't hard. The game companies simply have to be willing to provide documented proof for the payment systems to use when defending themselves against a claim. What's so tough?

Working together with Linden Lab and YowCow, we *can* provide you with a safe trading environment.

This is great, because they're calling out how PayPal doesn't really support this sort of digital transaction.

Also mentioned on Terra Nova and Penny Arcade.

Griefing in Second Life

Interesting theory from the CEO of Second Life -- one of the alternative MMOs -- about how griefing only comes about when players get frustrated that there isn't enough to do, and when tormenting other players is the most fun thing you can do.

Via the Alphaville Herald
Philip Linden: You can look at an online world, and ask how much freedom it gives you as a user. Sort of like the rat-in-a-cage analogy... How big is the cage? What is there to do? So when you look at historical online worlds... something like everquest, or even TSO... it seems quite obvious that in them you are far more restricted than in your waking life. There is a LOT less you can do there than in reality.
Urizenus Sklar: true
Philip Linden: So I believe this is a simple test for how basic and abusive and frustrated people will become in these worlds. The answer to the question "how much can I do?" tells us "how mean you will be."
Urizenus Sklar: you mean the less you can do the meaner you will be?
Philip Linden: YES

Back from the north

I have lots of photographs and writing to edit from my trip to Alaska, but I'm currently suffering from a deluge of work and catching up with friends both locally and abroad.

For now let me say that it is nice to have your parents in town to stock you up -- like you were in college again -- and to be able to appreciate having more than the bare minimum of material goods, like some transient. I've recently finally adjusted to the "settle down" mode, which means looking into real estate and being able to have more than one roll of toilet paper in the closet.

It's also nice to get new tools, like a wok and ceramic knives. Slicey-slice!