Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Customer Service
I called WSIB to get a clearance certificate and the women who answered on the phone was surly and I'm pretty sure chewing bubble gum as well. She was being uncooperative so I just said I'd call back. The next woman who answered was extremely polite and helpful and didn't make me jump through hoops. If you ever get a terrible customer service agent on the phone, just hang up and call again.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Go to hell, Rogers.
Great article on Wired explaining why ISPs like Rogers are total money grubbing assholes. You Don't want ISPs to Innovate.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Get Off My Lawn
I was walking my dog earlier this evening. As I was passing by a house, an old woman sitting on a lawn-chair started yelling at me to move my dog off her lawn. Actually, she was yelling at my dog.
"MOVE DOG! GET OUT OF HERE DOG, GO! STUPID DOG! I'M AN OLD CUNT!"
I'm paraphrasing there but you get the picture. I didn't say anything. She was likely afraid that my dog would take a shit on her lawn. I just kept moving. After my dog had done his business somewhere else, I bagged it and headed back. When I reached her house I lifted the bag up and yelled "WAS THIS WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR?" and threw the bag at her. It hit her squarely in the face, leaving a streak of shit on her forehead. She rose up to chase me but her kneecap buckled and she fell on her lawn... where she lies to this day, quietly crying about her sad pathetic life.
"MOVE DOG! GET OUT OF HERE DOG, GO! STUPID DOG! I'M AN OLD CUNT!"
I'm paraphrasing there but you get the picture. I didn't say anything. She was likely afraid that my dog would take a shit on her lawn. I just kept moving. After my dog had done his business somewhere else, I bagged it and headed back. When I reached her house I lifted the bag up and yelled "WAS THIS WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR?" and threw the bag at her. It hit her squarely in the face, leaving a streak of shit on her forehead. She rose up to chase me but her kneecap buckled and she fell on her lawn... where she lies to this day, quietly crying about her sad pathetic life.
This comedian is about to die
Gabriel Iglesias is on the Comedy network right now. This guy is going to die of a heart attack. In fact, in researching for this post, I googled "fat mexican comedian going to die of heart attack" and Iglesias' name showed up. At least he won't be gracing us with his horrible comedy for much longer.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Troubleshooting
I have Ubuntu and Windows installed on my old computer, and just for funsies I decided I would do two things:
1. Back up all my old documents on to an external harddrive.
2. Update Ubuntu to the latest distribution (9.04)
Unfortunately, I decided to update Ubuntu first. The update went fine, but when I rebooted my computer I couldn't boot up Windows. A startup file was missing. Turns out I left Windows in hibernation mode - bad idea. I started up Ubuntu to try and fix the problem from there, but Ubuntu won't let you access hibernated drives - or so it says.
I used the Windows recovery disk to fix the master boot record, but guess what that did? Now I couldn't boot Windows OR Ubuntu. I had to take out my trusty Super Grub Disk to repair the MBR. I was finally able to get back into Ubuntu, and it turns out you can enable access to hibernated disks.
Quick sidenote; it's absolutely asinine that you have to use the terminal to do anything useful in Ubuntu. This is why Linux is not catching on - everything should be accessible from a GUI. Also, if I'm the only user, I should have full privileges, I shouldn't need to be "root". There are all these levels of security that seem redundant and confusing.
Anyway, I somehow enable access to the harddisk and I'm able to drag the necessary file from the Windows CD on to the harddrive. So it only took about 4 hours, but thankfully I was able to update Ubuntu, back up my documents, and get full access back to Windows and Ubuntu.
1. Back up all my old documents on to an external harddrive.
2. Update Ubuntu to the latest distribution (9.04)
Unfortunately, I decided to update Ubuntu first. The update went fine, but when I rebooted my computer I couldn't boot up Windows. A startup file was missing. Turns out I left Windows in hibernation mode - bad idea. I started up Ubuntu to try and fix the problem from there, but Ubuntu won't let you access hibernated drives - or so it says.
I used the Windows recovery disk to fix the master boot record, but guess what that did? Now I couldn't boot Windows OR Ubuntu. I had to take out my trusty Super Grub Disk to repair the MBR. I was finally able to get back into Ubuntu, and it turns out you can enable access to hibernated disks.
Quick sidenote; it's absolutely asinine that you have to use the terminal to do anything useful in Ubuntu. This is why Linux is not catching on - everything should be accessible from a GUI. Also, if I'm the only user, I should have full privileges, I shouldn't need to be "root". There are all these levels of security that seem redundant and confusing.
Anyway, I somehow enable access to the harddisk and I'm able to drag the necessary file from the Windows CD on to the harddrive. So it only took about 4 hours, but thankfully I was able to update Ubuntu, back up my documents, and get full access back to Windows and Ubuntu.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Braid
I recently bought Braid on PC, a game I've been looking forward to ever since it was first released on XBOX Arcade. I had heard great things about it, from its stunning hand-drawn art to its thoughtful narrative. I purchased and downloaded the game from the Steam gaming platform.
Steam, I should add, is a great platform for independent game developers. It eliminates a lot of the overhead associated with game sales and has a large user-base in which to advertise and sell to. Steam does an excellent job of advertising games on its service through special "weekend sales" in particular. I have frequently been suckered into buying games I otherwise wouldn't because games are on sale anywhere from 5% to 90% off. I bought Bioshock, the most critically acclaimed game of the year, for 5 dollars!
Unfortunately, whenever I wait so long and so excitedly for something, I'm ultimately dissapointed (e.g. Watchman). Braid is not perfect. The breathless praise and admiration for this game is unwarranted. However, it is still a great game, and I appreciate what it brings to the gaming scene. Maybe this is pretentious, but I've noticed that independent developers are bringing a thoughtfulness and artistry to the medium that for some reason the big gaming development houses lack and ignore. Whereas big gaming developers tend to churn out similar aesthetics and gameplay mechanics (generally dark WWII first-person shooters), the smaller developers, who are constrained by a lack of staff and finances, are able to succeed because they are innovative and offer people an experience that is genuinely fun or exciting.
Braid's art is truly beautiful. I'll just let the artist himself describe it: David Hellman's Art of Braid Blog. Suffice it to say, the graphics are stunning. The music, also beautiful. Very moving pieces. The presentation of the game is flawless. The gameplay mechanics are familiar - up, left, down, right, jump - similar to games like Super Mario Bros. we've all been playing for years. The time shifting mechanic is where things get really interesting. Each of the 6 worlds presents a new time mechanic in which to solve puzzles - rewinding time, slowing down time, etc. Solving these puzzles and figuring out how to properly manipulate time is very rewarding.
Now, the point that was stressed to me through my reading of reviews and stories about Braid, was that this time distortion was a reflection of the story's narrative. I did not get a strong sense of that. I was dissapointed with the story. There are several elements in the game that help tell the story - the puzzle pieces you find throughout the game, the prose found in journals between worlds, and through the actions in the game itself. First, the act of putting together puzzle pieces is an interesting concept - the main character, Tim, is seemingly trying to solve what went wrong in his life. But who is Tim? What are the pieces really saying? What's the significance of the journal passages beyond some kind of regret of a ruined relationship? It was all so maddeningly vague and... I suppose its my fault for being so used to conventional storytelling, but it just seemed incoherent. I felt no connection to Tim, which seems like a weird problem, because often shouldn't the first thing you do as a storyteller is have your protagonist be relatable or sympathetic in some way?
The funny thing is, in the process of writing this post I found myself going back to Braid despite myself. There really is something interesting there that needs at least a second run-through to really appreciate. I was first skeptical when hearing the game's developer, Jonathan Blow, say the game's story "avoids direct analysis" (unfortunately cannot find the quote) or something of that nature, but I grudgingly accept this now.
With all that being said, I highly recommend Braid. It is a step in the right direction for the future of gaming. We need more thoughful work that tries to instill emotion and thought into people because I do feel that games can be as relevant as books, movies and other storytelling mediums, and even moreso, because games can be engaging in ways no other medium can.
For those interested in independent games, I also recommend Nifflas' Games, an independent developer who makes great (free!) games, or simply check out Indie Games. I find the evolution of games as a storytelling medium absolutely fascinating and will continue to comment on it in the future.
Steam, I should add, is a great platform for independent game developers. It eliminates a lot of the overhead associated with game sales and has a large user-base in which to advertise and sell to. Steam does an excellent job of advertising games on its service through special "weekend sales" in particular. I have frequently been suckered into buying games I otherwise wouldn't because games are on sale anywhere from 5% to 90% off. I bought Bioshock, the most critically acclaimed game of the year, for 5 dollars!
Unfortunately, whenever I wait so long and so excitedly for something, I'm ultimately dissapointed (e.g. Watchman). Braid is not perfect. The breathless praise and admiration for this game is unwarranted. However, it is still a great game, and I appreciate what it brings to the gaming scene. Maybe this is pretentious, but I've noticed that independent developers are bringing a thoughtfulness and artistry to the medium that for some reason the big gaming development houses lack and ignore. Whereas big gaming developers tend to churn out similar aesthetics and gameplay mechanics (generally dark WWII first-person shooters), the smaller developers, who are constrained by a lack of staff and finances, are able to succeed because they are innovative and offer people an experience that is genuinely fun or exciting.
Braid's art is truly beautiful. I'll just let the artist himself describe it: David Hellman's Art of Braid Blog. Suffice it to say, the graphics are stunning. The music, also beautiful. Very moving pieces. The presentation of the game is flawless. The gameplay mechanics are familiar - up, left, down, right, jump - similar to games like Super Mario Bros. we've all been playing for years. The time shifting mechanic is where things get really interesting. Each of the 6 worlds presents a new time mechanic in which to solve puzzles - rewinding time, slowing down time, etc. Solving these puzzles and figuring out how to properly manipulate time is very rewarding.
Now, the point that was stressed to me through my reading of reviews and stories about Braid, was that this time distortion was a reflection of the story's narrative. I did not get a strong sense of that. I was dissapointed with the story. There are several elements in the game that help tell the story - the puzzle pieces you find throughout the game, the prose found in journals between worlds, and through the actions in the game itself. First, the act of putting together puzzle pieces is an interesting concept - the main character, Tim, is seemingly trying to solve what went wrong in his life. But who is Tim? What are the pieces really saying? What's the significance of the journal passages beyond some kind of regret of a ruined relationship? It was all so maddeningly vague and... I suppose its my fault for being so used to conventional storytelling, but it just seemed incoherent. I felt no connection to Tim, which seems like a weird problem, because often shouldn't the first thing you do as a storyteller is have your protagonist be relatable or sympathetic in some way?
The funny thing is, in the process of writing this post I found myself going back to Braid despite myself. There really is something interesting there that needs at least a second run-through to really appreciate. I was first skeptical when hearing the game's developer, Jonathan Blow, say the game's story "avoids direct analysis" (unfortunately cannot find the quote) or something of that nature, but I grudgingly accept this now.
With all that being said, I highly recommend Braid. It is a step in the right direction for the future of gaming. We need more thoughful work that tries to instill emotion and thought into people because I do feel that games can be as relevant as books, movies and other storytelling mediums, and even moreso, because games can be engaging in ways no other medium can.
For those interested in independent games, I also recommend Nifflas' Games, an independent developer who makes great (free!) games, or simply check out Indie Games. I find the evolution of games as a storytelling medium absolutely fascinating and will continue to comment on it in the future.
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