An hour to late

I’m up an hour too late. I should be sleeping, but instead I’m in front of the computer.
We must be nearing the weblog apocalypse. My Mother has got her weblog groove on and is posting now. Today, she wrote about my brother’s post. I have no idea where this is going to end up.
Think about it, my 60-something year old mother is BLOGGING.
I went to Fry’s today at lunch and didn’t buy a thing. I joked that what I wanted to buy was more time. Time to do things. I was checking out the new micro-rockets that need 50 ft to launch into. Maybe next time.
A few days ago I posted about the icon buttons I made in the mold of Tay McKnight’s. I made a Powered by Linux button for my own use and it got post on the main Steal These Buttons page. Today I saw someone using the button I made at HitorMiss.org. I felt happy that someone liked the button enough to use it.
Night all.

E3 2003

It’s Saturday morning and the kids are playing up front. I’ve got some time to write about E3.
First of all, what I looked at is what interests me. PC games, specifically PC games with multiplayer. I don’t really care much for console games, not because they are bad, but because I don’t play them much. So don’t ask me why I didn’t update you on Mario Kart 4 or Final Fantasty XXVI. I don’t effing care about those games.
I took a number of photos, but haven’t whipped them into shape. You can see the pictures later.
In no particular order:
MaxPac – A transportable PC. Not a laptop. This PC is size and shape of a briefcase. Slip off a side cover and there’s a 17″ LCD screen backed by top of the line CPU & video cards. Looks to be great for LAN parties or even takign it places where you want to do video editing.
World Cyber Games – It’s the Olympics of video games. Players from all over the world compete in various games heading toward the World Championship. From Counter-strike to Starcraft to Age of Mythology to Halo, all gamers can find something they can relate toin the WCG. The US finals are at the UGE this summer.
Ultimate Gamers Expo – Imagine E3 for the general public? The UGE is going to try to through a convention for the gamers, not the gaming industry at the LA Convention Center on August 15-17. I’m going!
Halo for PC – Yes, the game looks great on an Xbox and i did have much even when it was released. I played the game on PC. It’s OK, but still feels like a slow, chunky console game. There’s no precision ala Unreal Tournament or smoothness ala Quake. There isn’t really much that distinguishes Halo from the horde of other FPS available on the PC. I’ll probably still end up buying it, but my enthusiasm is low. Still undecided if they will have a co-op play mode fr the game like Serious Sam. Also, there’s no commitment yet to a mod SDK.
NVidia – The NVidia booth was great. They had demos of most of the great games on the floor in one place. When I first walked up, there was Gary Coleman talking about video cards with an NVidia guy. I saw demos of the FX series of cards and they are simply unbelievable. Smooth as glass and great textures. Too bad they are going to be $400+…
Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII – BF1942 is a great game and deserved all the Game of the Year awards it garnered. The new expansion is basically fantasy stuff that might have been on the drawing board in WWII. I played the demo for about an hour total at the show. The secret weapons are all a blast. I dig the rocket pack the most. The cargo plane is cool because it becomes a mobile spawn point once in the air.
Uru – I hated Myst. I’m gunna hate Uru. Utter garbage.
Coaxsys – Coaxsys systems makes system that converts the coax wiring in your home into a 100 megabit ethernet network. With a hub adapater and seperate adapters at each end you want ethernet, it appears to work seemlessly with cable TV. At the Coaxsys booth, fatal1ty was playing UT2003 against all comers. Noone had killed him once all week. Amazing.
Play TV – Radica has a PlayTV line of games that are standalone. You plug the game into the video and audio in of your TV and you are good to go. Each game is designed for kids and is a physical object. The fishing game is inside a toy fishing pole. The snowboarding game is inside a snowboard.
Star Wars Galaxies – I saw this at the NVidia demo booth. All they showed was a guy running around in his underwear. They need to do better than that. I can run around in my underwear already.
Lineage II – I tried playing the original Lineage a while ago and was unimpressed. I saw the demos of Lineage II and the graphics are much better, but I saw nothing that would differentiate it from any other MMORPG. I know the Koreans love it, but I don’t.
Tron 2.0 – I saw the Tron demo last year and it ws impressive. It’s almost ready for release now. The graphics look good, but lack any texturing like other FPS games.
Toontown – Disney’s version of an MMOG for children and Disney fans. I tried the beta a while back and it wasn’t for me. It’s tightly controlled to protect children from anyone that would try to interact with them in an inappropriate way. Looks like a blast for tweens to play with other kids online.
Wireless Controller for Gamecube – I don’t know it took E3 for me find the solution to our problems. The girls like playing the Gamecube, but the controller cords are always a problem. With the new wireless controllers, it makes things much simpler.
Dark Age of Camelot: Trials of Atlantis – Seeing the Mythic developers demo the new Atlantis expansion for DaoC was fun. “Show me how to ride a shark. Show me how you swim.” and they did. I haven’t played DaoC in while but the new expansion look pretty fun. Instead of riding a horse you can ride a shark. They haven’t came up with an explanation of how everyone breathes underwater, but they are working on it. I suggested a James Bond style mouth gadget.
Worlds of Warcraft – Holy Crap! This game looked GREAT. I was really suprised when I saw the demo at the show. The graphics are fantastic, like Warcraft 3, unlike the standard graphics in EQ/DaoC/Shadowbane. Smooth and fluid, the action looked arcade-like with all the options and flexibility of MMORPGs. I hadn’t thought I would look forward to WoW, but I do now.
Guild Wars – NCSoft, makers of Lineage, showed a new game called Guild Wars. This MMORPG attempts to do awaya with the constant leveling and running from place to place that exists in other games. Evidently you’ll be able to group instantly and jump into the action easily. Amazing concept, making a persistent world game that is more play than work. If you can distract a few of the EQ players from their food pellet levers, this game might catch on.
Magic the Gathering Online – Back in 1995 I started playing Magic the Gathering, the collectible card game. For several years it consumed my free time and my thoughts. I played in tournaments and collected box after box of cards. Unfortunately, Magic was a game that you needed to play in person. As I became a father, I found my time for playing severely crunched. Eventually my attention drifted to video games I could play from home and away from Magic. The online version of the game looks like perfection. Collectibility, rule adherence, and a good engine make Magic Online a great game. I met a guy from Wizards at the show and we discussed things a bit. I’m energized to give it a try.
Half Keyboard – I’m n ot sure why I’d want this, but it’s done well. The company founder, Edgar Matias, explained the halfkeyboard to me personally. Smaller than a PDA, you can type on the thing in a somewhat familiar way. While I tried to type on it, I could feel my mind snapping as I tried to mentally flip the letters in my mind. Edgar can type very fast on the halfkeyboard. He had a few other products like full size keyboard that let you type onehanded when you wanted and two handed at other times. The wearable one hand keyboard that goes on your sleep looks like something straight out of cyberpunk fiction.
City of Heroes – NCSoft is publishing the game that appears to actually be headed for shelves. The game looks interesting, but in the limited test of combat I tried, the NPC kicked my superpowered ass easily.
Good things about E3: Pizza vending machines, booth babes, and Datafloss in full effect
Bad things about E3: Sold-out pizza vending machines, neckbone chicken and rice, Nazi registration folks
Games that were hyped but sucked: Black 9, American Idol, Tomb Raider: *.*, Sims Expansion 27, Mario anything, driving games, Counterstrike on a console
Companies that sucked because I could not play demos: id for not having playable Doom3, Valve for not having playable Halflife 2, Activision for not having a Return to Castle Wolfenstein booth
Companies that sucked because of their booths: Infogrames/Atari since their areas was appointment only. Sony Online Entertainment for their black box booth that made you wait in line to enter like a friggin Hollywood nightclub. I hope they lose money on all their games for their attitude.

The Day Ends

It’s a little after 2AM and I just got home. I met up with TWELVE friends at the movies to see the Matrix Reloaded again. It was fun being out with so many people.
On the drive home, the highway was deserted. I could have easily done 120 on the highway but didn’t. I only did 90…
At this time of night, dear old South Pas is empty and the town is quiet. I roll down the windows and listen to the silence.
When I get home I step out in the street and feel the calmness around me like a cool breeze. There’s nothing else like the middle of the night. I love the feeling. Maybe it’s the idea that everything is not so busy, or maybe it’s just hearing the rustle of leaves.
I walk into the house and kiss the girls, soundly asleep. It is a good day. Good night.

The day begins

Today I’m off from work and will be going to E3 in a couple hours. Zoe and I walked to school together and Michele is taking Mira to preschool. The house is quiet and I have a few minutes to collect my thoughts.
Caffiene
Today is day 6 of no caffiene for me. Several people have asked why quit? I’ll explain. I had been drinking a cup of tea or coffee in the mornings for a while. No big deal. I started also having a soda pop at lunch and sometimes a cup of coffee in the afternoon. Multiple cups of caffiene became the norm. I wasn’t drinking 6 uber-supra-grande mocha lattes per day.
After a while, I found myself getting that caffiene headache in the evenings. Nothing an Excedrin wouldn’t handle, right? I thought about the fact that I was feeling ill because I was using (for me) so much caffeine. I know others that drink three cups of coffee before 9AM and don’t feel a thing.
So I quit. While I love me a can of iced coffee, it’s best I lay off it until the effects clear my system. And while I’m atthat, I guess I should start exercising more and eating better…
Books
Last week I finished the John Barnes book, The Sky So Big and Black.
I’ve enjoyed John Barnes’s novels for a while now. This novel takes place in the future laid out in the previous novels Kaleidoscope Century and Candle. In this future, the concept of Memes that can control the human mind are central to the story. They aren’t memes like an idea that spreads across the internet and becomes part of the culture. We are talking about the concept of a method by which a Meme can take over and control a human mind.
In Barnes’s future, the Earth is completely taken over by the Meme called One True. The rest of humanity, spread out in space on the Moon and on Mars try to make do without the Earth.
This story takes place on Mars with a group of ecospectors, ecological prospectors. Rather than hunting for valuable minerals, they hunt for ways to terraform Mars by releasing water or identifying other organic resources.
Mars is cast in the light of the seminal Heinlein Libertarian society. Few laws, much personable responsibility, and a huge focus on trust and reputation. It very much harks back to ideas from Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
Without giving out any spoilers, the Martians face a tragedy are must make choices between their lifestyle and dealing with One True for help. Barnes looks at how the libertarian world (Mars) and the socialist world (Earth) can interact and what price are the libertarians willing to pay to keep their way of life.
I recommend the book. It’s a fast read and has plenty of neat technical ideas interspersed with the storyline.

I don’t need no stinking caffiene

The caffiene withdrawal drama is slowly leaving, but I still crave the taste of a nice cold ice coffee.
I just got a call from Michele, my wife, She’s driving down to Disneyland for a couple of hours with her friend Jenny. Since I work for the Mouse, don’t cost nothing.
Wish I was going. Instead, I have 4+ hours of meeting scheduled. Joy.
Here’s an interesting article on the making of the amazing Honda ‘Cog’ commercial.
The rest of the week should be better. I’m seeing the Matirx tomorrow and going to E3 Thursday & Friday.
Any Cruft readers also going to E3?

No caffiene – Day 3

So maybe this no caffiene things wasn’t such a good idea.
I’m at my desk, my eyes feel tired, I have a headache, and I keep thinking, “A cup of coffee would be good right now…”
In a couple days, these feelings will subside, but for now, it is the suck.
E3 is in a few days and I am really looking forward to it. If all goes well, I’ll also see the Matrix on Wednesday morning, making it a geekeriffic week.

NetSol Free

As of today, I am free of Network Solutions. Network Solutions is the company that used to run the entire domain name registration system. If you wanted any kind of .com, .net, or .org domain name, it was NetSol that registered them. NetSol did a good job and was a valued part of the internet community for their professionalism.
Back in the earlier days of the internet, there was not a serious business about domain names. There was no resell market and the number of new additions per year was in the thousands. Once the WWW took off, the interest in domain names took off. Suddenly, there was money to be had. Suddenly, the profit motive took over at NetSol and they tried to ‘own’ domain registration forever.
They did all kinds of crazy stuff like claim they owned the database of domain names and owned the right to claim expired domain names for their own use. They fought vehemently against the expansion of domain name registration to multiple registrars.
In simple words, they acted like assholes. Even today they charge three times what other domain registrars do for services and attempt to mislead users from switching away.
Back in 1997, I registered two domain name for myself and Michele. At the time, you basically needed a web host company to do this for you because most mere mortals could not satisfy the requirement for two nameservers in the application. The webhosting company I chose used Network Solutions to register my domain name. At the time, it was no big deal,I was ecstatic to have a domain name.
Fast forward to today and I wanted to make a few changes to Michele’s site and I realized it was still registered at NetSol. After about three days of answering “Yes, I want to transfer my domain” email, I am finally free of Network Solutions.
I currently use Godaddy.com, a registar with good tools, good service, and good prices. You can’t complain with a registration price of $8.95 for a domain.
The bad side of things is looking at the list of 14 domains I own and wondering why I could possibly own 14 domains.

3XThursday

Jake at 8bitjoystick offers a 3XThursday:
Hypothetically speaking imagine if some one really important like Bill Gates, The Pope or Adam West put you in charge of improving the personal computer.
1. What is the biggest problem with the current personal computer that you would address first?
Computers are turned off. They are turned off for several reasons, Noise, power usage, heat, etc. Your computer should always be available to you, always on. There should be no waiting to boot.
In close second is voice operation. You shoudl be able to speak to your computer and say ‘Check email’, ‘Launch Winamp’ or ‘Check blogroll’ and the computer should be able to execute these things for you.
2. Who would you pick to help you improve the PC? Who would you like to have in your corner to help you make the decisions
I would choose scientists and engineers that have never worke don PC design before. I would choose people from other cultures besides the US. Richard Feynman, always suggested the alternate points of view from differing disciplines was the optimal way to solve problems.
That being said, I’d choose Jean Paul Gaultier, Stephen Hawking, Andrew Goldsworthy, Dean Kamen, and Gene Spafford.
3. How would you change the hardware? What would the PC of the future look like and how would people use it?
The computer of the future will be hidden in a closet somewhere and people will access the computer via a variety of interface. The traditional desktop will exist, the tablet style for document reading will exist, the mini interface via the cell phone, the TV interface for notification will exist.
Device in the home will signal you when you have messages waiting. Just as you come home and see a number flashing on your answering machine, you will see a light flashing telling you there are emails & IMs waiting. Different colors will denote if they are messages from specific friends and family. Integration of the computer into household appliances will be everywhere.
Bonus Question for Comments: Should I get a notebook for my next Computer or a desktop with a LCD flat screen?
If you are going to play games, CRTs are still better than LCD panels. That being said, it is tons of fun to have a laptop you can use on the couch, at the coffee shop, and when traveling. Get the laptop and do minimal upgrades to your existing desktop to keep it usable.