Switch Off the Sun
My bro got me a huge time-sink for Christmas. "
The Movies" - a game that really lets me pour out my creative genius.
Check out my first decent creation:
Switch Off the Sun, a sci-fi horror flick made in the 1950s. Hence the degraded film quality. It took me about 12 hours to figure the system out and push this thing out, but I've gotten past the initial learning curve now. You'll need Windows Media Player 9 to watch it.
I'm pretty excited about the kinds of things I'll be able to put together once I have the time to put a little more thought into the script.
You may remember
I mentioned "The Movies" before. Incase you haven't seen it, take a look at some of the
top movie picks. The one about
Intelligent Design struck my funny bone.
Canada - Politics & You
With the Government of Canada defeated in a confidence vote, and a January election fast approaching, I would like to broach the subject of politics.
When this topic came up recently with my peers, the vast majority of them indicated that they are disinterested in the current campaigning, and do not intend to vote in the coming Federal Election. They say they just don't care enough to bother. Even I must admit that I did not vote in the last election, I have an array of excuses, but the real reason is apathy.
So why are we so apathetic? Are we so disinterested in the fate of our own country that we are happy to let others guide its course without any input from ourselves? Or are we so busy with our careers or personal lives that we just can't spare any time to follow the election and make an informed choice? No, I think that the explanation to our disinterest is that we do not feel empowered.
Sure, we know we can follow the campaign and debates, and choose the party that best matches our own ideologies. We can vote for the party that promises to do what we want the next Government of Canada to do. The problem is that we feel that our vote is impotent.
We "know" from experience that governments often capriciously change their minds once they are safely locked into the seats of power for the next four years. So, our mind ponders, "If I vote based on what they say they are going to do, but then there is nothing forcing them to actually do what they promised to do once they do get in power, how does my vote accomplish anything?", essentially we think that our choice comes down to who do we want to be in power doing whatever the hell they want to. That doesn't seem like a very motivating choice to me, and obviously that resonates with the majority of Canadians that stated in a recent poll (I tried to find the source on Google but could not at the time of this article) that they distrust politicians.
Even one of the questions posed in the French debate on Dec 15, 2005 directly addressed this issue: a lady asked in essence "Will you swear on The Bible or whatever is most dear to you, that you will keep your election promises?". Of course all four of the party leaders in the debate affirmed their commitment to keep their promises. The unfortunate truth however is that politicians are not held accountable for the promises that they make. The only theoretical punishment is that four years later, if the public can stay pissed off long enough, they can punish the offending party by not voting for them. The reason why this does not work is that generally the public cannot stay pissed off long enough -- see above rant on apathy -- and it does not preclude the party next in line from breaking their own promises. What we need is some firm accountability and strict enforcement of penalties for breaking promises.
From the CBC: "All the leaders hastened to insist they would keep their promises ... however, none actually promised to swear on a Bible." and "An interesting note: Only one jurisdiction in Canada holds politicians truly accountable. B.C. politicians can actually be charged if they don't tell the truth."
-> source <-In a long conversation with MistaLobo, we discussed the root causes of apathy, identified the issue of accountability and the public's perception of all politicians being dishonest. We thought: why don't we force parties and their leaders to enter into public contracts when they create their election platform? On penalty of
**insert large fine, jail time, or public humiliation of choice here**, they will swear to follow through on their promises. We could even allow them to make the distinction of weak promises that would be classified as intentions. We would be able to compare between what various parties intend to do, and what they promise to do. To be fair, I have to give credit to MistaLobo for the public humiliation penalty option.
There were other issues and ideas that came when MistaLobo and I were holding our podcast (unfortunately corrupted), and I would like to briefly mention one of them. I hope that when we get podcast #2 done we can elaborate on them a little more. Hopefully by then we will have both watched the English language debate.
We thought about the need for a free vote by all MPs. If each MP is unable to vote as directed by their constiuents (the ones that elected the MP to represent them), how exactly can the voters feel that they are being represented? We pondered having anonymous votes mid year, to be attributed at year end in order to protect MPs that don't toe the party line. Or some other method to protect dissenting MPs. An MP should be able to vote against his party, and with his constituents without fear of being sent to the backbench. End of story.
Look for another political article and perhaps podcast in the near future. Meanwhile if you're interested in learning about the Federal election process in Canada, you can learn by
reading, or learn by
doing. You can see a
transcript of the French language debate here. The interesting thing is that I called Elections Canada to find out if they knew where a transcript of the official debate was, but I was told that Elections Canada does not involve itself in the debates at all, and that I should talk to my local MP. Anyway, you should also check out
Sirdar's political blog that discusses some other interesting issues pertaining to this election.
iPods and podcasts
I'm sure you have all heard enough about how great, sexy, and cool iPods are. I know I did, especially before I got one of my own. Now, as the owner of a sleek black little number, I completely understand the obsession.
Allow me to indulge myself in a couple sentences of praise for my new toy. The iPod owes its success to many things, but certainly one of those is the interface. It is so good that the controls require no explanation. Although I may not be the best proof point for this, my iPod always does what I intend for it to do. For the iPod nano specifically, I am especially impressed with the battery life. My 2GB device is all flash memory, that means no moving parts (small spinning hard disk drives were required in the iPod mini line), and extremely long battery life. Yesterday I listened to it for almost 8hrs straight, and the battery indicator still read that about 30% of capacity remained when I returned home from work.
As a physical unit, the iPod nano is very solid, functional, beautiful, and a pleasure to use. What makes it really shine is the accompanying software and content distribution mechanism - iTunes. Yes, iTunes delivers music and legal purchase of that. Ok, so what? For the most part we can already get the music we want, through CDs, radio, or otherwise. Enter podcasts.
If you have already experienced the diverse world of podcasts, be patient as I extol the virtues to those who have not. In a very naive sense, one can think of podcasts as 30 minute snippets of commercial free radio. -- Indeed if you look at the podcast listing on iTunes, you will see most of the major media companies represented. CNN, NBC, CBC, CBS, ABC, etc. Did you notice I threw CBC in there? And yes I know that podcasts won't likely be ad free for long. -- However, podcasts are much more than that. Imagine a selection of tens of thousands of niche programming. Now imagine the majority of said programming being fresh, honest, and created by your peers. It's real and iTunes really makes it painless to take advantage of the content through slick subscription and on-demand delivery. It is practically the video-on-demand wetdream come true, but for audio.
Granted, content created by your peers is not always worth consuming, but the good news is that the barriers involved in creating podcasts work in the favour of consumers in both directions. First, the barrier to entry is much lower than that of creating video content, which opens the door to many more content producers, especially beyond the major media companies. Second, the barrier to entry is high enough to discourage podcast spam (the way we see blog spam) and people with little motivation to create valuable work (the way we see a plethora of blogs about various boring and pointless things aka the "I missed the bus this morning" blog). If you want to make a podcast, you can do it,
all you need is a microphone and Internet access, but the effort involved will require enough dedication that I don't see people doing it (creating regular podcasts to which people will be inclined to subscribe to) unless their hearts are really into it.
Part of what has driven me to these conclusions is the great content that I have been enjoying the past few days. Let me outline my recent listening choices with brief comments:
- Metro Morning from CBC Radio - content from established media, this fits the "30 minute snippets of commercial free radio" description perfectly, give or take a few minutes. Some good interviews, but nothing I couldn't hear if I was actually listening to the radio. Still, it is a great bonus that I can listen to it on demand, on my schedule, even pausing when a coworker comes to talk with me -> podcast link <-
- The Al Franken Show - content from a professional celebrity, this may fit the "30 minute..." description, but keep in mind that this serious political commentary from the intelligent SNL comedian doesn't readily play over Toronto airwaves. Again, listening to it on demand is perfect -> podcast link <-
- The Nintendo RetroCast - ahh, my first breath of fresh air, content from a couple of guys that could have easily been your friends back in highschool. I highly recommend this podcast as it flows like a conversation with your best friends, doesn't feel scripted or forced, and had me hard pressed to not snicker and laugh. I would love to do something like this with my crew. The best part is they do it all so casually, and still manage to have a very informative show that sticks to the agenda -> podcast link <-
- Gamers with Jobs - content from some independents. More polished and so "slick" that it seems a little forced when compared to The Nintendo RetroCast. Later episodes stuck to the agenda more, but for the most part it seemed like the hosts were trying to out do each other making cheesy jokes and the content I came for often got lost. Still, the fact that I could get audio programming on demand of two wisecrackers talking about how one guy will "shave (his) baggy testicles if the xbox 360 launch experiences a shortage" [sic] and how the other guy is going to pick up a bottle of Nair for him on his next trip to Costco, if that was indeed the kind of programming I wanted, is quite impressive -> podcast link <-
- Asia Cast World News - content from a smaller media company "Sound of Hope Radio Network". Content that just sounds like what it is. A daily recap of important news taking place in Asia. Very professional and to the point, much like a brief BBC newscast. An excellent way to listen any news that broke overnight as I make my way to work in the morning, especially now that I'm taking the bus -> podcast link <-
Remember you don't need an iPod to take part in consuming the podcast content that is out there, but it definitely makes it more convenient. Try
Juice and one of these great podcast directories as an alternative to iTunes:
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Another great way to get into the holiday spirit is through the timeless magic of Christmas carols. I bought a music book the other day entitled "Twenty Five Top Christmas Songs" from the wonderful Guitar publisher Hal Leonard (their Guitar Method books with CD are a great way to learn), I picked it up at the Cosmo music store where
I bought my guitar. Although searching online seems to reveal a decent mark-up on prices on music books in Canada compared to the USA. Especially if you consider the marginal difference in currency valuation between USD and CAD these days.
One of the few songs that I am able to approach is this song: "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". I have used it as a good example to further my knowledge of my Noteworthy Composer music software as well.
Here is the result:
Of course the book has some information on chords to play while strumming, but I can't play chords yet and I have no idea how to read the strumming/chord notation yet. I didn't really pick up a beginner's book so perhaps that's my fault. When I start going to my lessons again at least I will have lots of questions to ask.
I'm planning on transcribing this music into TAB format (tablature) because that's what Indesin has been practicing with so far. I haven't used it as much so I can't easily take advantage of some of the
great free guitar tablature sites that are out there.
On another unrelated topic, I was on a bit of an eBay inspired videogame buying binge. I ended up buying about 10 games over the course of 2 weeks. Most were easily 50% off retail, including shipping and sometimes retarded handling fees sellers charge. I only got dinged by customs on one of the packages. The seller had marked it as videogame - value $10. Customs opened it and decided the game was worth at least $30 CDN.
Thanks customs, you are experts on the used videogame market, and when I plan on selling something, I'll make sure to go to you first and maybe you can convince the buyer that what I'm selling is really worth more than what the free market decided through the ultimate supply-and-demand experiment known as "auctioning".
Anyway I haven't even had time to play most of them, other than turning them on to make sure I didn't get stiffed with a dud. However I think I know what I will be doing this weekend.
Especially since my car is now basically dead and I won't be going anywhere anytime soon. My car (used 1990 Toyota Cressida - 190 horse power Toyota Supra engine) has had regular maintenance type problems over the last couple years and I hadn't experienced ANY problems for the last 6 months or so. Unfortunately just last weekend it overheated - coolant leaked out - and I took it in. I pick up the car and nothing was done to it, but I paid to get a one or two liner stating the car engine needs a major overhaul and new head gasket.
Now I'm in a quandary. Do I pay big to fix it, not knowing what could go wrong next (it is a 15 year old car with lots of km)? Do I buy another used car and take the risk that it may well have who knows what kind of problems? Do I buy a new car and throw money away that could be well used paying down my mortgage? Do I try to make do with taking the bus (new high-speed bus service to my work), and walking to nearby stores (I live really close to a mall etc)?
I'm leaning towards toughing it out, saving money on insurance (
assuming I can somehow sell or dispose of my car), renting out my 2 underground heated parking spaces, and making a decision later.
Ah, good ol' procastination. The neat thing about it is that when it comes to making decisions that involve spending money, sometimes it pays to be indecisive.
Unless inflation is running rampant. Then you better spend it as soon as you get it. On GOLD!
Christmas (Made in China)
For a western tradition (of sorts - mixed with western paganisms to be sure), Christmas sure has sold out to one of the last bastions of communism. Everything I found that was meant to be used to decorate for the coming holiday was made in China. Of course, that probably goes for everything not related to Christmas as well, but let's ignore that for the time being as it does not further my point.
Anyway, after I plugged this baby in, it started making popping sounds. I don't think I'll trust it enough to leave it on unattended for any amount of time.
That said, my place does feel more Christmas-y after my trips to IKEA and Walmart. Too bad all those little presents are empty.
So what am I doing Derelict asks... I'm busy as hell since the fourth quarter is ending soon, and that means that sales people need to get as much in as possible before that time window shuts. So I narrowly averted being sent to California on business, and thankfully the customers in question have decided to pay me and my team a visit in Toronto. Now the long haul of preparation for a flawless technical customer workshop begins, but at least I won't be in a strange hotel room wondering how clean those sheets really are.
My bro got me a huge time-sink for Christmas. "The Movies" - a game that really lets me pour out my creative genius.
