Wow, 20 consecutive days posting to the blog. I'd be lying if I said there were no doubt in my mind that this would occur.
Today's topic is more of a question than an exposition. While tooling around the various games and other apps now living in my precious iPhone, i couldn't help but be struck by the amount of them which asked me if I'd like to integrate with Twitter, Facebook or both. Most of the time it was for posting updates or scores, but others were asking for access to my friends lists, to 'find others using XYZ service'. While I'm all for the advancement of connectivity and social media, most of what I ignored or opted out of today seemed extraneous. To have Doodle Jump send my scores to Facebook and Twitter, aside from the fact that they are embarrassingly low, just feels like a great way to annoy anyone who's following me on either or both of those platforms. That feels like the incredible amount of posts visible on my profile from friends playing the latest casual Facebook games. While I don't begrudge them their enjoyment, sometimes the sheer volume of useless spam becomes overwhelming.
Don't take this as an attack on social media. I follow Twitter almost obsessively, and I enjoy my Facebook account. I use some basic forms of social media broadcasting to inform people that I've posted to this very blog, so in some ways this post feels a bit hypocritical. This commentary is not aimed at the existence of social media integration, but at the overwhelming use of it at this time.
Is this the future? Will everything we do be broadcast on some platform to keep others up to date? When will our cable boxes post to Twitter what I'm currently watching? Will my cellphone soon send updates to Facebook as to who I'm on the phone with? Will it get to the point that my toaster will tell the world whether I'm defrosting an Eggo or warming up a bagel?
Strange topic, I know, but it's becoming more and more relevant by the day. Console games, PC games, mobile phone games, they're all increasingly being sold with some sort of hook into the social media scene. Is there such a thing as being too connected? Am I just a technological dinosaur who's already been passed by? I'd like to think not. To me, this feels like the industry, and the public as a whole, trying to find some equilibrium with all of this incredible connection ability available to us these days.
Long story short, I want to hear what you think. Since this is going to be posted on my Facebook account, if any of you were linked to this from that portal, what do you think? Are the notifications that I've posted to my blog annoying to see on my profile? Are you as tired as I am about casual game spam? Let's start a conversation about this in the comments. i want to hear from you.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Not Sure What to Call This One
On this, the 19th day of NaBloPoMo, I may have finally run out of things to talk about. A bit of exhausted exposition later, and the streak is still alive.
Today was not a banner day. Work went well, as I tried to implement some of the resolutions discussed in this post. The drive home did not go so well. The office where I'm working this week is about 85 miles from my folks' house, so it's a bit of a drive anyway, but this evening brought snow that made the roads downright treacherous. I fishtailed twice on the ride home, which took almost double the usual time. After crossing the center line (twice) and ending up in a school bus turnout on the side of a rural road, I began to think that someone must be watching over me. If anyone had been approaching from the opposite direction or following me when it occurred, my NaBloPoMo streak would have been over That's something I don't want to think about.
As awful as the ride home was, everything suddenly became much more bearable upon arriving at my destination, because my son was at the door waiting for me. Both he and his sister were still up, hoping to see Daddy before going to bed. It never ceases to warm my heart and bring a smile to my face to have them light up and run over to greet me when coming home from work. Just this simple act of unconditional love and excitement can bring clarity and truly underline exactly what matters in this life. It certainly isn't electronics, or work, or money, or any of a million other trivial, material things. The fact that my family loves me, and have such a wonderful way of expressing it, keeps me going. For anyone without children, there's no way to accurately convey that feeling of love, happiness, joy and peace when your children are happy and safe, but I surely wish I could.
Today's entry was not earth-shattering or particularly exciting, but I hope someone can relate to it. Leave me a comment if this strikes a chord with you. Until tomorrow, be safe out there!
Today was not a banner day. Work went well, as I tried to implement some of the resolutions discussed in this post. The drive home did not go so well. The office where I'm working this week is about 85 miles from my folks' house, so it's a bit of a drive anyway, but this evening brought snow that made the roads downright treacherous. I fishtailed twice on the ride home, which took almost double the usual time. After crossing the center line (twice) and ending up in a school bus turnout on the side of a rural road, I began to think that someone must be watching over me. If anyone had been approaching from the opposite direction or following me when it occurred, my NaBloPoMo streak would have been over That's something I don't want to think about.
As awful as the ride home was, everything suddenly became much more bearable upon arriving at my destination, because my son was at the door waiting for me. Both he and his sister were still up, hoping to see Daddy before going to bed. It never ceases to warm my heart and bring a smile to my face to have them light up and run over to greet me when coming home from work. Just this simple act of unconditional love and excitement can bring clarity and truly underline exactly what matters in this life. It certainly isn't electronics, or work, or money, or any of a million other trivial, material things. The fact that my family loves me, and have such a wonderful way of expressing it, keeps me going. For anyone without children, there's no way to accurately convey that feeling of love, happiness, joy and peace when your children are happy and safe, but I surely wish I could.
Today's entry was not earth-shattering or particularly exciting, but I hope someone can relate to it. Leave me a comment if this strikes a chord with you. Until tomorrow, be safe out there!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Swords & Poker
Another day, another entry for NaBloPoMo. Today's entry focuses on the iPhone game Swords & Poker, my current go-to gaming fix.
One of the distinct advantages to having an iPhone is the ability to experience 'snack-sized' gaming sessions regardless of where I happen to be at the moment. Obviously, the type of game that can be played on the system differs greatly from that which can be found on the PC or XBox 360, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy them. Since I bought it on a whim a couple of days ago, the game sucking the most of my battery life is Swords & Poker.
The blurb I wrote about the game in this blog entry does not do the game justice. The game is a very simple one; you travel through floors of a dungeon, fighting battles with monsters to progress on your journey. The battles take place on a 5x5 grid which holds cards. The center of the grid (a 3x3 grid) is filled with cards at the beginning of the round, and each combatant (the AI-controlled monster and you) is dealt 4 random cards. The object is to create poker hands with the cards in your hand and the cards on the grid, consisting of 5 card hands going horizontally, vertically and diagonally on the board. When you create a hand, you do 'damage' to your opponent, represented by coins in a coin purse, based upon the weapon you carry. For example, the starting weapon you have allows you to do one point of damage for a single pair, two points for two pair, and so on. This damage scales as you upgrade your weapon, so I am now doing 6 points of damage for a pair, 12 points for two pairs, etc., with the Stylet weapon. By defeating your opponents, you earn bounty money, and by clearing a floor, you also earn money. Items you find along the way in chests also reward you with coins or abilities.
To make a long story short, this game makes use of a very simple mechanic to represent battles. I'm currently on the 16th floor of the dungeon, and have played on the order of 75-80 battles, and the mechanic still hasn't gotten old. It takes time to really see the gameboard and all of the possibilities, and to become truly good you need to learn how to look a few moves ahead and anticipate your opponent's plays. There is a fair amount of strategy involved in this simple game. In the immortal words of Kenny Rogers, "You gotta know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em."
Not surprisingly, this type of game lends itself very well to the portable gaming platform. Another game I likened this to, Puzzle Quest, was best experienced on the go (my personal preference being the DS), even though it is available on the XBox 360 and PC. Both games can be picked up, complete a battle or two, and then put it away, without losing the thread of the game, and that is a quality suited to a mobile platform such as the iPhone.
For those of your still reading, hopefully I haven't lost you too much in all of this topic jumping. Going from yesterday's deep introspective topic to this rather light-hearted subject must seem strange. It's just a window into the bizarre, jumbled and often incoherent workings of my brain. I go back to work tomorrow and have a long commute from my parents' home to my company's closest office, so there's no predicting what I'll come up with to talk about tomorrow. Hopefully you'll be back to find out!
One of the distinct advantages to having an iPhone is the ability to experience 'snack-sized' gaming sessions regardless of where I happen to be at the moment. Obviously, the type of game that can be played on the system differs greatly from that which can be found on the PC or XBox 360, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy them. Since I bought it on a whim a couple of days ago, the game sucking the most of my battery life is Swords & Poker.
The blurb I wrote about the game in this blog entry does not do the game justice. The game is a very simple one; you travel through floors of a dungeon, fighting battles with monsters to progress on your journey. The battles take place on a 5x5 grid which holds cards. The center of the grid (a 3x3 grid) is filled with cards at the beginning of the round, and each combatant (the AI-controlled monster and you) is dealt 4 random cards. The object is to create poker hands with the cards in your hand and the cards on the grid, consisting of 5 card hands going horizontally, vertically and diagonally on the board. When you create a hand, you do 'damage' to your opponent, represented by coins in a coin purse, based upon the weapon you carry. For example, the starting weapon you have allows you to do one point of damage for a single pair, two points for two pair, and so on. This damage scales as you upgrade your weapon, so I am now doing 6 points of damage for a pair, 12 points for two pairs, etc., with the Stylet weapon. By defeating your opponents, you earn bounty money, and by clearing a floor, you also earn money. Items you find along the way in chests also reward you with coins or abilities.
To make a long story short, this game makes use of a very simple mechanic to represent battles. I'm currently on the 16th floor of the dungeon, and have played on the order of 75-80 battles, and the mechanic still hasn't gotten old. It takes time to really see the gameboard and all of the possibilities, and to become truly good you need to learn how to look a few moves ahead and anticipate your opponent's plays. There is a fair amount of strategy involved in this simple game. In the immortal words of Kenny Rogers, "You gotta know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em."
Not surprisingly, this type of game lends itself very well to the portable gaming platform. Another game I likened this to, Puzzle Quest, was best experienced on the go (my personal preference being the DS), even though it is available on the XBox 360 and PC. Both games can be picked up, complete a battle or two, and then put it away, without losing the thread of the game, and that is a quality suited to a mobile platform such as the iPhone.
For those of your still reading, hopefully I haven't lost you too much in all of this topic jumping. Going from yesterday's deep introspective topic to this rather light-hearted subject must seem strange. It's just a window into the bizarre, jumbled and often incoherent workings of my brain. I go back to work tomorrow and have a long commute from my parents' home to my company's closest office, so there's no predicting what I'll come up with to talk about tomorrow. Hopefully you'll be back to find out!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Increased Professional Dedication
Yet another day in the life of NaBloPoMo, the 17th in fact, finds me discussing work and my level of dedication to that endeavor. One of the things I've learned about trying to post every day is that, unless there is a plan for the content and schedule of the posts, topics jump all over the place. My strategy of posting about something that's occurred or I've thought over the course of the preceding twenty-four hours has topics either clustering for a bit, or veering wildly all over the map. Another kernel of wisdom to carry forward.
I work for a living. That revelation is probably a huge shock, I know, but it has to be said. The occupation that keeps a roof over our heads, food on the table, and clothes on our backs (I ran out of cliched terms to put in this sentence) happens to be instrumentation and control engineering, mostly in the municipal wastewater arena. Arriving at this job after almost seven years working in the semiconductor industry, I started almost from the bottom and have had to do an awful lot of learning the craft on the fly. There have been many good days, when I feel , if only for a moment that I really 'get it'. These days are often immediately followed by a violent coming back to earth, when an inadvertent error or missed facet of a project comes back to haunt me. In between all of this are the days spent struggling to keep my head above water. Now this might sound familiar to many of you, and I could happily continue in this pattern and be a valuable and happy employee.
But I choose not to continue this cycle. During a bit of sleeplessness last night, I came to the conclusion that this wasn't what I wanted to do or the person I wanted to be. As this point in my career and my family life, I owe it to myself, my employer and my family to improve my work performance and achieve the success in business that I feel I've achieved in my personal life. This is not going to be a quick fix, and it will most certainly not be easy.
This line of thinking came about partially because of an impromptu meeting between my 'boss' and I late last week. He and I discussed my career path and where I saw myself going within the company and the group, and as I stated my desire to transition from the primarily engineering ranks into the world of project management, it dawned on me that changes need to be made for this to happen and be successful. While lying awake thinking last night, mulling over how to accomplish this task, I created a bit of a checklist of things to work on or do to make the process go more smoothly and to increase my professional success and standing, regardless of what lies in store.
Putting the above details into print is the easy part. The difficult part is yet to come. Over the next week, my intent is to develop a plan or schedule on how to achieve each of these items, and create tangible goals and schedules to make the entire exercise more 'real.' I will share these as I make progress, and hopefully the use of this blog to record milestones will encourage me to keep true to the task. This doesn't mean that I won't be writing about games or my family any more, but it will mean that you'll see weekly updates on the tasks I've undertaken.
Well, now that I've completed the brain dump, it's time to get some rest. A long day lies ahead, along with some serious brainstorming before sleep. Of course, I may sneak in some iPhone gaming time in there somewhere, but not too much...:)
I work for a living. That revelation is probably a huge shock, I know, but it has to be said. The occupation that keeps a roof over our heads, food on the table, and clothes on our backs (I ran out of cliched terms to put in this sentence) happens to be instrumentation and control engineering, mostly in the municipal wastewater arena. Arriving at this job after almost seven years working in the semiconductor industry, I started almost from the bottom and have had to do an awful lot of learning the craft on the fly. There have been many good days, when I feel , if only for a moment that I really 'get it'. These days are often immediately followed by a violent coming back to earth, when an inadvertent error or missed facet of a project comes back to haunt me. In between all of this are the days spent struggling to keep my head above water. Now this might sound familiar to many of you, and I could happily continue in this pattern and be a valuable and happy employee.
But I choose not to continue this cycle. During a bit of sleeplessness last night, I came to the conclusion that this wasn't what I wanted to do or the person I wanted to be. As this point in my career and my family life, I owe it to myself, my employer and my family to improve my work performance and achieve the success in business that I feel I've achieved in my personal life. This is not going to be a quick fix, and it will most certainly not be easy.
This line of thinking came about partially because of an impromptu meeting between my 'boss' and I late last week. He and I discussed my career path and where I saw myself going within the company and the group, and as I stated my desire to transition from the primarily engineering ranks into the world of project management, it dawned on me that changes need to be made for this to happen and be successful. While lying awake thinking last night, mulling over how to accomplish this task, I created a bit of a checklist of things to work on or do to make the process go more smoothly and to increase my professional success and standing, regardless of what lies in store.
- Lose some weight. This will be a difficult bullet to cross off this list, but it will serve many purposes. I will gain more self-confidence, look better in both personal and professional settings, improve my health, and be around longer for my family.
- Get more regular haircuts. My hair often is longer than it should be, as I loathe to spend the money to get it trimmed at an interval where it would still look good (for me, probably every three weeks). There's also the factor that it's become far more difficult to budget the time to take care of this annoying task.
- Shave more promptly. I'll be the first to admit that I don't budget my time in the mornings efficiently, and I often choose a few more minutes of sleep or time with the kids over shaving. As I currently sport a beard, the effect is not as striking as if I were without facial hair, but it is unprofessional nonetheless. I will improve my efforts to shave regularly and improve my professional appearance.
- Dress more professionally. As I am overweight, I don't look good in many types of clothes, and khakis are one of those types of clothes. These are my best option for the business casual attire required for my line of work, and yet I wear jeans to work every day. This needs to change and, combined with my proposed weight loss, would greatly improve my appearance in the workplace.
- Become more focused while at work. Like many in the workplace today, I find it difficult to resist the call of the Internet and the information and entertainment it offers. While it is a required tool in my job, I need to reduce the amount of time I find myself lured away from productive work and better focus on the task at hand. This should improve my productivity and whittle down the 'to-do list' that's been accumulating in my brain.
- Develop a delivery system for my portion of the projects, that allows for a consistently accurate and repeatable product more efficiently. The foundation of this idea, at this point, is a design manual, containing useful sheets, formulas, articles and information, arranged in such a way that it can be easily accessed and followed throughout the course of each project. I've been gathering this information since I started work, including jotting down notes on particularly tricky items, and keeping little pearls of wisdom gained only by previous failures. By collecting, cataloging and arranging all of these things, I hope to put together a road map to follow in the future that will help not only myself, but my entire department.
Putting the above details into print is the easy part. The difficult part is yet to come. Over the next week, my intent is to develop a plan or schedule on how to achieve each of these items, and create tangible goals and schedules to make the entire exercise more 'real.' I will share these as I make progress, and hopefully the use of this blog to record milestones will encourage me to keep true to the task. This doesn't mean that I won't be writing about games or my family any more, but it will mean that you'll see weekly updates on the tasks I've undertaken.
Well, now that I've completed the brain dump, it's time to get some rest. A long day lies ahead, along with some serious brainstorming before sleep. Of course, I may sneak in some iPhone gaming time in there somewhere, but not too much...:)
Saturday, January 16, 2010
iPhone Gaming and Apps
NaBloPoMo, day 16. Enjoying the relative peace of the folks' house while they spend time with my kids, it seemed like a good time to talk about the iPhone games I've tested out so far.
Having gotten a bit of sleep after what felt like a day on the road (actually only 6 hours, but long enough), I took the opportunity to try out some of the many games which have found their way onto the iPhone over the past few days, today included. This is just a simple list of the games I've tried so far, and my initial impressions of each one. Included after the title of the game, in parentheses, is the price I paid for it, if any.
Flight Control ($0.99) - A 'line drawing' game where you trace the path for planes to take to land at an airport. Planes can't run into each other or the game will end. There are red planes, yellow planes and helicopters, and each type has a specific place to land. It's a test of your ability to monitor and control multiple moving objects at the same time, while trying to plan out the most efficient routes for each. I'm not very good at it yet, but it's definitely something I play at least once a day. Well worth the $0.99 price tag.
Mass Effect Galaxy ($1.99) - An interesting use of characters and setting, basically a tie-in game for the franchise. You control a soldier fighting enemies using the tilt controls of the iPhone, tapping the screen to use special abilities at times. The game itself, including the random control mechanic is ok, but I enjoy it for the story, since Bioware did such a fantastic job creating the Mass Effect universe. There also appears to be unlockable bonus content for Mass Effect 2 if I complete this game and log into my EA.com account. Overall, I'm not sure if it was really worth $1.99, but I'll keep playing, if only to feel that I got my money's worth out of it.
Kapowie (free) - Tap the screen to 'shoot' a certain amount of targets in a certain time. Longer streaks of hitting targets without missing increases your score. I picked it up because it was free, so it's worth at least that much, though I'm quite sure I wouldn't pay for something like this.
Mr. Aah Lite (free) - A stick figure swinging from platform to platform, trying to hit a target on each platform. Your control is limited to tapping when you want the stick figure to let go of the rope he's swinging on. There are added wind and gravity effects to change the rate and distance of the figure's drop, which creates the challenge. It's fun, and I keep going back to it, but I don't think I see myself upgrading to the full version.
Poker Quest Lite (free) - A dice rolling game where you use dice to create poker hands and try to beat an AI opponent. It reminds me of Yahtzee in a way, set in Egyptian pyramids. It's fun as a short diversion, as the match structure allows for play in short bursts. Right now, I wouldn't pay to unlock the full game, but I do play it a fair amount, so we'll see.
DoodleJump ($0.99) - This game gets the most play for me right now. A simple game where you control what looks like a hand drawn sketch (a doodle, get it?) jumping up platforms on a piece of graph paper, avoiding obstacles and trying not to fall. Tilt the iPhone left or right to steer and tap the screen to shoot. It's the most addictive game I've found on the system so far, and one I would highly recommend to anyone.
Star Hogs Lite (free) - Feels like a more advanced version of the old Scorched Earth game and its many clones. You have a ship that has a certain amount of action points to spend each round, which can be used to shoot or move. You use up your points, then your opponent does the same. The objective is to destroy your opponent before they destroy you. Not having played a lot of it, I think you earn points or money you can spend to upgrade your ship, for different weapons and abilities. There's also online multiplayer. The verdict is out on this one, as I've played it a couple of times and it just hasn't grabbed me yet.
Dark Nebula (free) - A fun little game I picked up on sale, the object is to guide a ball through an obstacle course and pick up canister like objects, while avoiding traps and ledges. The control is achieved through the tilt of the iPhone, with right and left movement, plus tilting forward to accelerate and back to decelerate. I've only played two or three levels, but it's a game I will spend more time with. The premise is simple, the graphics are clean and fit the game, the challenges are fun, and the control is intuitive.
Swords & Poker ($0.99) - Picked up on sale after reading a glowing review and noticing that all reviews submitted to iTunes were 5-stars, I've yet to really get into it. It's a Puzzle Quest meets Texas Hold 'em game, where instead of gems to match, you use cards to generate hands to damage your enemy. I tried 3-4 battles and will play more, as I didn't get the hang of the system yet. It appears to have an RPG skin over what could be a simple but addictive game mechanic, and anyone who reads this blog knows I love that type of thing.
Paper Toss (free) - It's really a silly physics demonstration as you try to throw wads of paper into a trash can, where the trajectory of the paper is affected by a fan. Useless time waster and nothing more.
Having gotten a bit of sleep after what felt like a day on the road (actually only 6 hours, but long enough), I took the opportunity to try out some of the many games which have found their way onto the iPhone over the past few days, today included. This is just a simple list of the games I've tried so far, and my initial impressions of each one. Included after the title of the game, in parentheses, is the price I paid for it, if any.
Flight Control ($0.99) - A 'line drawing' game where you trace the path for planes to take to land at an airport. Planes can't run into each other or the game will end. There are red planes, yellow planes and helicopters, and each type has a specific place to land. It's a test of your ability to monitor and control multiple moving objects at the same time, while trying to plan out the most efficient routes for each. I'm not very good at it yet, but it's definitely something I play at least once a day. Well worth the $0.99 price tag.
Mass Effect Galaxy ($1.99) - An interesting use of characters and setting, basically a tie-in game for the franchise. You control a soldier fighting enemies using the tilt controls of the iPhone, tapping the screen to use special abilities at times. The game itself, including the random control mechanic is ok, but I enjoy it for the story, since Bioware did such a fantastic job creating the Mass Effect universe. There also appears to be unlockable bonus content for Mass Effect 2 if I complete this game and log into my EA.com account. Overall, I'm not sure if it was really worth $1.99, but I'll keep playing, if only to feel that I got my money's worth out of it.
Kapowie (free) - Tap the screen to 'shoot' a certain amount of targets in a certain time. Longer streaks of hitting targets without missing increases your score. I picked it up because it was free, so it's worth at least that much, though I'm quite sure I wouldn't pay for something like this.
Mr. Aah Lite (free) - A stick figure swinging from platform to platform, trying to hit a target on each platform. Your control is limited to tapping when you want the stick figure to let go of the rope he's swinging on. There are added wind and gravity effects to change the rate and distance of the figure's drop, which creates the challenge. It's fun, and I keep going back to it, but I don't think I see myself upgrading to the full version.
Poker Quest Lite (free) - A dice rolling game where you use dice to create poker hands and try to beat an AI opponent. It reminds me of Yahtzee in a way, set in Egyptian pyramids. It's fun as a short diversion, as the match structure allows for play in short bursts. Right now, I wouldn't pay to unlock the full game, but I do play it a fair amount, so we'll see.
DoodleJump ($0.99) - This game gets the most play for me right now. A simple game where you control what looks like a hand drawn sketch (a doodle, get it?) jumping up platforms on a piece of graph paper, avoiding obstacles and trying not to fall. Tilt the iPhone left or right to steer and tap the screen to shoot. It's the most addictive game I've found on the system so far, and one I would highly recommend to anyone.
Star Hogs Lite (free) - Feels like a more advanced version of the old Scorched Earth game and its many clones. You have a ship that has a certain amount of action points to spend each round, which can be used to shoot or move. You use up your points, then your opponent does the same. The objective is to destroy your opponent before they destroy you. Not having played a lot of it, I think you earn points or money you can spend to upgrade your ship, for different weapons and abilities. There's also online multiplayer. The verdict is out on this one, as I've played it a couple of times and it just hasn't grabbed me yet.
Dark Nebula (free) - A fun little game I picked up on sale, the object is to guide a ball through an obstacle course and pick up canister like objects, while avoiding traps and ledges. The control is achieved through the tilt of the iPhone, with right and left movement, plus tilting forward to accelerate and back to decelerate. I've only played two or three levels, but it's a game I will spend more time with. The premise is simple, the graphics are clean and fit the game, the challenges are fun, and the control is intuitive.
Swords & Poker ($0.99) - Picked up on sale after reading a glowing review and noticing that all reviews submitted to iTunes were 5-stars, I've yet to really get into it. It's a Puzzle Quest meets Texas Hold 'em game, where instead of gems to match, you use cards to generate hands to damage your enemy. I tried 3-4 battles and will play more, as I didn't get the hang of the system yet. It appears to have an RPG skin over what could be a simple but addictive game mechanic, and anyone who reads this blog knows I love that type of thing.
Paper Toss (free) - It's really a silly physics demonstration as you try to throw wads of paper into a trash can, where the trajectory of the paper is affected by a fan. Useless time waster and nothing more.
Better Late than Never
Day 15ish in my quest to win NaBloPoMo has me filing a late entry, due to traveling concerns.
It's way too late, or way too early, depending on how you decide to classify the time. Because the family and I packed up the minivan and traveled the 6 hours to my hometown, this entry technically is not filed the day it should be, but I hope for leniency in the judgement to keep my streak of a post a day alive. Technically I haven't gone to sleep yet, so it could count as a post for the 15th, even though the clock says otherwise. Anyway, I won't bore you with my internal arguments. Instead, I'll bore you with something else.
Having spent some time with the iPhone over the past few days, I really feel that it could be a tool used for good or for ill, when it comes to my productivity. For example, from a media sharing standpoint, I've already posted a couple of short videos via Twitvid, though they aren't anything to write home about. There's an app I downloaded, called Dragon Dictation, which I could see myself using to get some of the thoughts in my head onto the computer screen. I've also considered the use of the voice recording function to capture the ideas that float around in my head at times when they can't be written down, and conveniently are forgotten when I try to recall them later. It's small things like this that, if I integrate them correctly into my daily routine, really could provide tangible benefits down the road.
However, there's another edge to this sword. The games available on the platform can suck away my time and will to be productive faster than a jackrabbit on a date. Doodle Jump currently has its hooks in me, as well as Mass Effect Galaxy. Two distinctly different tastes, mechanics and experiences, but both provide amusement in bite-size chunks. Also loaded up and waiting for a test run are the lite versions of Poker Quest, Star Hogs, Words with Friends, and Mr. Aaaaaah! The next few days, spent in the relative peace of my parents' home, could prove to be a great place to give all of these a test drive.
My excitement over having the iPhone hasn't waned since acquiring it, instead it's gotten stronger. The possibilities for use seem endless right now, and I can only hope to figure out ways to integrate the potential benefits into my routine to augment or improve what I do now, not just for the sake of doing so. That's the big challenge facing me right now, and here's to hoping I get it right.
That's all for now, since my eyes aren't really focusing on the text anymore. Take care and see you later today!
It's way too late, or way too early, depending on how you decide to classify the time. Because the family and I packed up the minivan and traveled the 6 hours to my hometown, this entry technically is not filed the day it should be, but I hope for leniency in the judgement to keep my streak of a post a day alive. Technically I haven't gone to sleep yet, so it could count as a post for the 15th, even though the clock says otherwise. Anyway, I won't bore you with my internal arguments. Instead, I'll bore you with something else.
Having spent some time with the iPhone over the past few days, I really feel that it could be a tool used for good or for ill, when it comes to my productivity. For example, from a media sharing standpoint, I've already posted a couple of short videos via Twitvid, though they aren't anything to write home about. There's an app I downloaded, called Dragon Dictation, which I could see myself using to get some of the thoughts in my head onto the computer screen. I've also considered the use of the voice recording function to capture the ideas that float around in my head at times when they can't be written down, and conveniently are forgotten when I try to recall them later. It's small things like this that, if I integrate them correctly into my daily routine, really could provide tangible benefits down the road.
However, there's another edge to this sword. The games available on the platform can suck away my time and will to be productive faster than a jackrabbit on a date. Doodle Jump currently has its hooks in me, as well as Mass Effect Galaxy. Two distinctly different tastes, mechanics and experiences, but both provide amusement in bite-size chunks. Also loaded up and waiting for a test run are the lite versions of Poker Quest, Star Hogs, Words with Friends, and Mr. Aaaaaah! The next few days, spent in the relative peace of my parents' home, could prove to be a great place to give all of these a test drive.
My excitement over having the iPhone hasn't waned since acquiring it, instead it's gotten stronger. The possibilities for use seem endless right now, and I can only hope to figure out ways to integrate the potential benefits into my routine to augment or improve what I do now, not just for the sake of doing so. That's the big challenge facing me right now, and here's to hoping I get it right.
That's all for now, since my eyes aren't really focusing on the text anymore. Take care and see you later today!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
The One Where I Talk Too Much About Myself
NaBloPoMo, Day 14. Fighting off exhaustion and lack of a good topic, a cluttered mess falls out of my head into the blog. I truly apologize to anyone reading this, as the recent posts have veered off from the original mission, to discuss all things video games. Bear with me as I try to get back on track.
For the past few weeks, a lot of my head space (that not wholly consumed with the acquisition and enjoyment of the iPhone) has been preoccupied with rather heavy topics. Even though the product may not bear up to it, I've really enjoyed putting time into writing and posting to the blog, so much so that there's a tickle in the back of my mind which would have me explore the possibilities of using writing to somehow earn some extra money on the side. That would be great: doing something I like to do and get paid for it! Sadly, the big problem lies in the fact that many, many people aspire to the same thing, and most of those people have the education (let's just say that possessing an engineering degree and trying to break into a writing or journalism field isn't the best angle of attack), experience and talent which I lack. Understanding all of that, my little daydream of using an outlet like this to generate an income will have to wait.
A bit of my head space has also been directed to ways to improve my current craft, as an instrumentation and controls engineer for an environmental engineering firm. I've been mulling around a lot of ways to improve the design process and delivery standards, and there are a lot of half-formed ideas bouncing around. To create a list of these would benefit only me, and would drive the rest of you to click away from this page in boredom. Rest assured that it's a great list and, if implemented properly, would revolutionize the I&C design team. There might be some hyperbole in that last statement, but probably only a dab.
The problem I have, and one that's plagued me for as long as I can remember, is that I can't seem to keep my brain focused on one task long enough to complete it, before it careens off in another direction. You would figure that this would be frustrating and annoying, to go through life like this, and you would be right. This blog, for instance, probably does a great job at illustrating my point. If you were to go back and look at all of the things I've set out to do, and how many of them I actually do, you'd be appalled at the completion percentage. In a single, concise statement, I can sum up most of my adult life: I Lack Followthrough. Hopefully this isn't going to come out sounding too pretentious, but if I could train my brain to focus on one task or project at a time, see it through to completion with attention to detail and proper review each one deserves, I would be a far more successful person than I am today.
What do I do about this? There's the rub...I just don't know. If anyone reading this has any ideas, I'm all ears. Clearly, this behavior demonstrates a shocking lack of discipline on my part, and maybe that's where I need to start. It will require further research to understand my options, which isn't going to happen tonight. My eyes are starting to blur, and I'm going to be driving back to my hometown tomorrow night, starting around 9pm. We should reach our destination around 3am or so, which tells me I need to get some sleep. This post, though, will serve as my reminder to actually take the time to figure out what I can do about the issues that haunt me.
To those of you who've made it this far, through all of this navel-gazing and introspection, thanks for continuing to read. My hope is to get back to other topics, starting tomorrow. Until then, stay safe and be well!
For the past few weeks, a lot of my head space (that not wholly consumed with the acquisition and enjoyment of the iPhone) has been preoccupied with rather heavy topics. Even though the product may not bear up to it, I've really enjoyed putting time into writing and posting to the blog, so much so that there's a tickle in the back of my mind which would have me explore the possibilities of using writing to somehow earn some extra money on the side. That would be great: doing something I like to do and get paid for it! Sadly, the big problem lies in the fact that many, many people aspire to the same thing, and most of those people have the education (let's just say that possessing an engineering degree and trying to break into a writing or journalism field isn't the best angle of attack), experience and talent which I lack. Understanding all of that, my little daydream of using an outlet like this to generate an income will have to wait.
A bit of my head space has also been directed to ways to improve my current craft, as an instrumentation and controls engineer for an environmental engineering firm. I've been mulling around a lot of ways to improve the design process and delivery standards, and there are a lot of half-formed ideas bouncing around. To create a list of these would benefit only me, and would drive the rest of you to click away from this page in boredom. Rest assured that it's a great list and, if implemented properly, would revolutionize the I&C design team. There might be some hyperbole in that last statement, but probably only a dab.
The problem I have, and one that's plagued me for as long as I can remember, is that I can't seem to keep my brain focused on one task long enough to complete it, before it careens off in another direction. You would figure that this would be frustrating and annoying, to go through life like this, and you would be right. This blog, for instance, probably does a great job at illustrating my point. If you were to go back and look at all of the things I've set out to do, and how many of them I actually do, you'd be appalled at the completion percentage. In a single, concise statement, I can sum up most of my adult life: I Lack Followthrough. Hopefully this isn't going to come out sounding too pretentious, but if I could train my brain to focus on one task or project at a time, see it through to completion with attention to detail and proper review each one deserves, I would be a far more successful person than I am today.
What do I do about this? There's the rub...I just don't know. If anyone reading this has any ideas, I'm all ears. Clearly, this behavior demonstrates a shocking lack of discipline on my part, and maybe that's where I need to start. It will require further research to understand my options, which isn't going to happen tonight. My eyes are starting to blur, and I'm going to be driving back to my hometown tomorrow night, starting around 9pm. We should reach our destination around 3am or so, which tells me I need to get some sleep. This post, though, will serve as my reminder to actually take the time to figure out what I can do about the issues that haunt me.
To those of you who've made it this far, through all of this navel-gazing and introspection, thanks for continuing to read. My hope is to get back to other topics, starting tomorrow. Until then, stay safe and be well!
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