August 2006 Entries
Lidor Wyssocky has some good thoughts on why it is that developers don't implement changes that they know would be helpful. The problem is that although we know exactly what doesn’t work right and how it should be fixed, most of us will never say anything. We don’t say anything because there’s a very good chance the minute we do we will be marked as uncooperative, pessimistic, or simply detached from the business reality. (emphasis in original) He concludes with his call to action. If more of us say what we know in our hearts to be true,...
Okay, more Bollywood. I can't help it, it's interesting to me.
Tere Naam
We saw Tere Naam a couple weeks ago. I was underwhelmed. It's a Romeo & Juliet/West Side Story cultural translation, but it just didn't work for me. More specifically, the guy worked, but the girl was incomprehensible. Seriously, I couldn't figure out what she saw in him. He was violent and loud and she was a relatively together, smart kind of person. He kidnaps her and threatens to kill her so she decides she's in love. Makes no sense. The description does the hero something of a disservice, actually. He's...
Jack Thompson (unhinged anti-gaming activist attorney) shows that his capacity for self-parody is boundless. Here's his fax to the makers of Bully, a game scheduled for release shortly: Take-Two has until five o’clock p.m., Eastern time, Monday, August 14, 2006, to inform me in writing that it will forthwith provide me with a copy of Bully so that I and others can analyze it to determine whether it still poses a threat of copycat violence in our schools (See Miami-Dade School Board’s unanimous Resolution), or the following will occur: I shall file a lawsuit against your respective companies...
Some busy-body is trying to create a new mental disorder of "Game Addiction." Now, there may be those who play games too much. They may even need professional help. but I have a couple of problems with this Dr. Orzack and what she is trying to do. Obvious Self-Interest My first issue is the same one I had back in 1998 and 1999 with the wide-spread Y2K hysteria. Talking with experts who have an obvious self-interest in an issue is problematic (at best). The first tip-off that this is a problem in the analysis is her "estimation" that some 40%...
As you may have noticed, MSN Spaces has officially changed to Windows Live Spaces. The URL has changed and I notice that redirects are in place. I'm not sure how long those will remain valid, so update as needed (if you're using my Feedburner RSS feed, no worries--I've updated that already and nothing else will change. This is an unlooked-for bonus on using Feedburner as an aggregator re-publisher). Anyway, I like what they've done with the place. My favorite change (by far) is the addition of Gadgets. There are a couple of new modules available that I have taken advantage of...