All good things...

Earlier this week, the Aces game studio at MGS (of which I was a member) was shuttered.  Close to 140 people, including myself, were laid off from Microsoft.  

It's actually not quite as dire as it sounds.  At the same time they were shutting down Aces, MGS was busy opening up new positions in other game groups.  There were about 130 people in Aces, and not all of them will be able to slot in to the new positions, but a good number should be able to find new homes in relatively short order.

Feel odd being on "administrative leave."  I'm eager to find a new position and get back to work.

A Crude Awakening

I watched "A Crude Awakening" last night. I thought it was particularly interesting as seen through the lens of the current economic crisis. Many believe, as I do, that the War in Iraq is more about oil than it is about spreading democracy. We've basically spent ourselves into penury in an attempt to secure more oil for ourselves and sustain our prosperity, but we haven't been successful. Our economy is in shambles and we still don't control the oil.

So what's Plan B? "Drill, baby, drill?" Not likely.

We need to find or invent a new energy system, quick. Something that can keep our prosperity growing even when gas costs $100 per gallon. Thinking about war, poverty, terrorism, global warming, air pollution and many other ailments of the world, it seems like most if not all could be solved by switching to a clean, renewable, abundant energy source like solar.

The alternative is grim, especially for our kids.

A lot of smart people (Warren Buffett included), point out that over time the stock market has always gone up. But it seems like that is only true so long as we have cheap oil. If cheap energy becomes scarce, I suspect the stock market, along with world population and global trade, will "contract." The center cannot hold. Even if I'm not around when that happens, my kids probably will be. What can I do now to help them prepare?

Alice

From time to time, people have asked me what's the best way to teach their kids how to make video games.  Alice is something I learned about in the Randy Pausch lecture.  It looks pretty cool.  Even better, it can teach kids how to tell stories (and learn programming as a side-effect).

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

I just watched the Randy Pausch Last Lecture. You want to know what makes a hero? 

Just watch this video.

Three Rings of Death

My Xbox 360 experienced the infamous Three Rings of Death last night, 2 years (to the day!) after I bought it. Having heard about quality issues when I bought it I opted for the Best Buy Product Replacement Plan. So I called Best Buy yesterday. They informed me that Microsoft would replace the unit because it had extended the warranty on all 360's that experience the Three Rings. I didn't think that sounded very fair to Microsoft since I had paid Best Buy $50 for their warranty. The customer service guy then said it didn't matter anyway because my extended warranty has expired the previous day.

*sigh*

Thinking of voting for McCain?

If you're at all interested in technology issues, you owe it to yourself to watch this video by Larry Lessig:



Interesting comments afterward, too, suggesting that maybe Lessig's numbers are off. Still, just his stance on Net Neutrality is enough to make any responsible technophile queasy.

Braid

Braid is the most innovative game I think I've ever seen. I started playing it last night and when I looked at the clock I couldn't believe it was 2AM. It's that engrossing. It's a visual feast, has a mysterious and engaging plot, and is just plain fun. Time is used not only as part of the narrative, but also part of the game play. You've got to play it to see what I mean. I haven't had this much fun since Portal.

I wish I had made this game.

I offer one hint-- Do NOT check out the walkthroughs on YouTube. It'll spoil the best plot twist since (again) Portal. If it seems there is a puzzle piece you can't reach, just keep in mind that the game has a non-linear story. You won't "finish" each level in turn as you would, say, Donkey Kong. OK, you can finish each level in sequence. Still, be careful about looking for clues. I made the mistake of poking around and it spoiled the ending for me.

Dinner Tonight

We had home-made broccoli and chicken calzones from the Best 30-Minute Recipe book tonight.  Thumbs up on the recipe and thumbs up on the 2004 Chateau St. Michelle Canoe Ridge Estate Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet Sauvignon we had with it.

It's as if it's trying to tell me something...

This error message from Windows Vista Backup speaks for itself.

Obama should be hammering on this nail

McCain and the economy. Great opinion piece in the NYT about McCain's complete economic ineptitude. Could it be that McCain would be as incompetent with our new American Crisis-- the economy-- as George W. Bush was with foreign policy and the "War on Terrah"?

Let us hope we don't have the opportunity to find out.

Cui bono?

Have you read this?

If not, go check it out. It's not just a rundown of what happened to Bear Stearns. It makes you wonder-- What if it was intentional? What if Bear imploded because someone(s) wanted it to implode? Why would someone want to take down Bear?

I've been thinking a lot about the markets recently. Oil up, dollar down, inflation up, housing prices down, foreclosures up, stock market down. It seems more amplified now than ever before in my lifetime (and I remember the 70's oil shortage). It's all connected, thanks to the efficiency of computers. Think you understand how it all works? Read this then come back and tell me you still think you understand.

Most people believe that the markets are too efficient to be gamed or manipulated; that it's impossible to time it or consistently better the returns without running afoul of insider trading laws. It's all just risk and reward.

But over the last 20 years a whole class of professionals has sprung up-- investment bankers. By all accounts the sharp ones make obscene amounts of money. They're the ones who dreamed up the Collateralized Debt Objects that wrapped risky mortgages in what appeared to be low-risk, high-return investments. Nobody understands these things. Maybe not even the people who created them.

According to Bad Money, our GDP is now made up in significant part (20%) by "financial services." It's the single largest sector of the private economy. These things aren't real. You can't see them or touch them. They're just ways of packaging up debt and credit. Mostly debt.

Who provides the "financial services"? Banks. Run by investment bankers. Smart investment bankers. Some who probably have a really good idea how markets work, and just what would happen if a certain sequence of events occurred to a certain company like Bear Stearns.

Bear tanked, and though JP Morgan bought the remains, it was a shotgun wedding with the Fed holding the shotgun in one hand and a Bible in the other. You can bet that the American taxpayer is going to wind up picking up the tab. The same thing is happening to Freddie and Fannie, and you-know-who is going to get stuck with the bill again.

Maybe these catastrophic failures are just accidents-- unintended and unforeseen. Or maybe not. I don't know, but I think it's worth asking, "Cui bono?"

Two movies that surprised me

My frist two rentals from Netflix were The Kingdom and 28 Days Later. I won't summarize the plots here because you can just go to imdb or Rotten Tomatoes and take care of that. But I will say that they were both very good movies. Surprisingly so.

I'd seen trailers for The Kingdom back when it was in theaters, but even though the idea of seeing Jennifer Garner shoot it out with terrorists was intriguing, I never bothered to go see it. Netflix featured it prominently in its custom recommendations for me (good on you, Netflix), so I picket it up. I was expecting an action/intrigue type of thing but instead found myself watching a smart "buddy film" with characters I cared about and a story arc that not only moved me but made me think.

28 Days Later also made me think. I was expecting a mindless zombie flick (which I enjoy for reasons I don't even understand, myself). But what I got there was a visually mind-blowing film with good acting, interesting characters going through multiple arcs, and a suprising and satisfying plot twist. I watched the film, then I stayed up late to watch it again with commentary from the director and the writer. Good stuff!

Too bad 28 Weeks Later wasn't nearly as good in comparison.

Freedom from Cable TV

I recently cancelled my cable TV subscription. Here's why:

• After seeing the quality Michael was getting at his house via an HDTV antenna, I pulled the trigger. I bought a small antenna from AntennasDirect and set it up in a window in the TV room. I didn't even have to mount it on the roof. I get the big networks as well as PBS is lovely HD. After paying for TV for decades, it's hard to believe I can get this stuff for free.
• Technology has finally reached the point where I can get the shows I want a-la-carte through distribution means other than cable TV. The only TV shows we care about are Battlestar Galactica (which is in its last season) and House, and even House we could do without. We also like to get PBS shows for the kids. Even so, I'm usually open to checking out something new and good, and I don't mind being a season or two or three behind. With complete seasons of TV shows like Stargate, Sopranos, etc. all on DVD I still have access to the shows even though I don't get the cable networks.
• There's a neat (but still beta-quality) little app out there that lets me stream Netflix shows directly to my Xbox 360. This was a key feature for me because it opened up the whole a-la-carte TV thing without requiring me to pay for each episode individually. I'm also in a phase where I'm checking out movies from 5 - 10 years ago, which matches the "Watch Now" selection pretty well.

It's a small thing, but boy does it feel good to kiss those absurdely high-priced Comcast bills goodbye.

Ping

Let's just take as read all the comments about gosh, how long it's been since I posted anything. I'm sure you've heard it all before. Come to think of it, I don't even know if you exist. So there.

Coffee. Yeah, that didn't work out so well. I'm back to something like 4 cups a day, but I almost never finish them so how about 4 * 3/4 = 12/4 = 3 cups a day?

Nick's been posting a some interesting stuff. He also just picked up a new Canon 40D, giving us something new to geek out about.

It's been a few months since I've written anything new, and a few years since I've produced a live short. I'm feeling the creative itch. Allan's been pushing me to do something new, too. It's good having friends like that.

Beautiful day in Seattle. There have been too few of those this year. And what am I (supposed to be) doing right now? Sitting inside writing reviews for my Microsoft reports. You owe me, Ballmer.

Is it just me, or are we going insane?

This morning I was listening to an NPR segment on the upcoming Republican primary in South Carolina. Every person they interviewed was gushing about how they just absolutely had to have the most "Christian", most "righteous", most "faithful" candidate.

"My belief in Jesus Christ tells me..." etc etc etc

I kept waiting for the segment to continue with something about how unfortunate it is that so many people cast their vote based on their religious faith rather than on real issues that affect all of us, like educating our kids or feeding the hungry or helping others in need around the world.

The segment said nothing of how our democracy is stumbling ever-closer to a theocracy. Or how faith-based (read: anti-reality) thinking has gotten us into quite a scrape these last few years.

Nothing.

I think it's totally fine that people have their various faiths and it's great that they have found these foundations upon which to live their lives, but can't they just peek out from behind their righteous parapets for a few moments to make a decision like electing a President on some grounds other than religious fervor?

Is it just me?

Oh coffee, my coffee

Three months ago, I decided to give up french fries because I decided they represented an affront to my self-control. That is, I often found myself eating them despite intentions to eat healthier. It's been going quite well.

I've had a fry here or there. Maybe three fries (not servings mind you. actual individual sticks) in as many months. I'm calling it a success.

Today I decided to tackle a much greater challenge-- coffee.

I don't think coffee is all that bad for me, at least not as bad as fries. But I have on too many occasions found myself caffeinating my way through the day, and to be honest I don't much like the way it makes me feel. So I decided on a whim to have a coffee-free day.

So far so good.

I don't intend to give up coffee altogether. I enjoy drinking that one special cup in the morning. Instead I've set a goal to stick to one serving a day. Oh, and I'm done with latte's. Too many calories and sugar. I've switched to americanos or just plain old drip.

Extra-less films

Saw this on Boing Boing. Wow.




Get more info here: http://kk.org/ct2/2008/01/extraless-films.php

Wow-- Take 20 minutes and watch this video

I have become much more aware of where my "stuff" comes from. It all began a couple years ago when I began to notice that nearly everything I was buying was made in China. Feeling like the frog being slowly boiled, I decided to seek out products that were specifically not made in China, just to see if it was possible. It's become harder and harder, but can usually be done.

But this video provides a pretty compelling argument that just being aware of where your products are made is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to being a mindful human being.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Insurance

At lunch yesterday, Allan pointed out a flaw in the logic of the "Global Warming" video I posted in my blog a few weeks ago. Basically, he pointed out, the argument goes:

If we do nothing about (insert big risky thing here), then something terrible could happen. Therefore we should do something about it rather than sit back and wait for the worst.

Sound familiar? It should. It's your insurance salesman's bread and butter. In the case of the video, the crisis is global warming. However, the case could be made for an asteroid colliding with earth, global cooling (anyone remember the 70's?), or even a fire in your home. Effectively we're being asked to buy insurance against global warming.

There's no problem with that, per se. I'm insured up to my ears against things that seem reasonably risky (car, fire, quake, life, disability, health, liability). But the interesting point that Allan made (and that I failed to see until he pointed it out) is that the argument made in the video can be reduced to "buy insurance!"

And that's not enough. We should all spend our money wisely, so when someone says "buy insurance" it's worthwhile to ask why.

Allow me to illustrate:

Global warming is a grave and gathering threat to life as we know it. We have done the research. We know that carbon emissions are directly linked to the increase in temperatures that have resulted in massive changes in the environment. Polar ice caps melting. Sea levels rising. Mass starvation. We must act and we must do it now. We do not want the incontrovertible proof of man's environmental impact to come in the form of the extinction of our species.

If you're a Liberal like me, you read that and say, "right on!" Now try this on:

Saddam Hussein is a grave and gathering threat to freedom as we know it. We have done the research. We know that Saddam is directly linked to al qaeda and has been trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction. We must act and we must do it now. We must attack Iraq in order to prevent the terrorists from attacking us. We do not want the smoking gun to come in the form of a mushroom cloud.

Doesn't feel quite as convincing, does it?

As noted by many, there's still some room out there for interpretation about the "real" risk of climate change (or as another friend puts it, whether climate change is even real). We don't know enough about what's going to happen to the planet as a result of our misuse. So until there's enough proof/consensus/political will-- whatever you want to call it-- that global warming is a real threat, there's room for debate about what, if anything to do about it.

Don't misunderstand. I do believe global warming is a real threat. I don't understand why skeptics don't see it, but I respect their right to differ. I just hope that enough skeptics can be swayed by facts. Unfortunately, that is something of which I am quite skeptical, myself.

Well, when you put it that way...

Yesterday, I was asked to take a Microsoft summer intern candidate from Dartmouth out to dinner. I have fond memories of my time at Dartmouth and I've always been one to perpetuate the strength of the alumni network, so I gladly accepted.

I took John (not his real name) to McCormick & Schmick's in Bellevue to sample some representative Northwest fare. Unfortunately, what we ended up sampling was the insane crowds that coalesce around Bellevue Square this time of year. One of the hostesses politely informed us that the wait for a party of two was somewhere around an hour and might she recommend Manzana as an alternate just down the street. "They have a much larger dining room," she explained.

I've waited for an hour or more to get a table before, and I've been turned away before, but I've never been told by the hostess of one restaurant that I might want to try another one nearby. In fact, in all of my restaurant experience it has been as if the restaurant I'm standing in is the only restaurant within ten thousand miles of my current location:

Me: Hmmm... an hour wait? Can you recommend somewhere else we can go for (sushisteakfishetc)?

Host/Hostess: Hmmmm...... no. No, I can't think of anything. Sorry. So, what name shall I put down?

I'd actually been to Manzana before and thought it was pretty good. I figured that since John was under 21 we could swing three courses without blowing the $100 expense cap I'd been given. We walked into Manzana and were seated right away at a comfortable booth adjacent to the kitchen.

John seemed like a smart kid who, as expected, was still not entirely sure what he wanted to do with his life. I grilled him for information about the current state of the Computer Science program at Dartmouth (CS 5, 15, and 18 are still the first year staples of the program). They still have the fundamentals covered like data structures and algorithms, linear math, operating systems. They've fully separated from the Math department, too. No tears shed about that.

Though I went into this with the intent not to be the "old fart alum" who waxes poetic about Dartmouth of yesteryear and doles out sage advice about how to live a meaningful life, I did find myself sharing snippets of stories of what I've done since I graduated from college-- working at Apple, Amazon.com, Microsoft, starting my own company, spending a year trying to break into Hollywood, working in a restaurant kitchen, hanging out on the set of Sheena, living in OC, Bay Area, and Seattle, sailing the Med, travelling to Turkey and Cyprus, shaking hands with the dictator of a rogue nation...

At one point, John said, "Wow. You've really lived an interesting life." (or words to that effect).

To be honest, I wouldn't have characterized my life as particularly interesting. I mean, I wouldn't have called it boring but it's not like I've travelled the world, cured cancer, been a Hollywood mogul, or lived in Bora Bora. But John made me stop and think about it. As I did I started to feel pretty good about The Story So Far. I hope I keep it that way as I make my way through Life's Second Act.

We had a good time (I think) and I didn't bore him too much (I think). It was great for me to get a glimpse of how the old alma mater is doing (pretty well, it seems). I hope John got something out of it, too.