Yes, Virginia, there really is Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure

I've worked a lot of different places in a lot of different capacities in my life so far. I've worked as an apprentice private investigator, as a telemarketer and as a computer consultant. I have operated a snocone stand and a video game review websites. I've worked at Autozone, Wal*mart, K-Mart and Service Merchandise. I learned something everywhere I went. One of the things that I learned first hand, while at Service Merchandise, is that every year there are one or two "hot items" that, statistically, every child wants for Christmas. It may not actually be every child, but from the perspective of someone working in the toy department, talking to parents that have trekked to every Toys'R'Us, K-Mart, Wal*Mart and department store in the city (and, possibly, the surrounding area) and they're all asking if you have that one toy that they couldn't find at any of those places... and that's the same toy that everyone else is asking about... and the next truck is expected to have two of them on it... that's certainly what it feels like.

It's been quite some time since my Service Merchandise days and I'm not nearly as familiar with children's toys as I used to be, but it seems like a few years back, this trend was true of new consoles being released, as well. When the PS3 first launched, it was just as difficult to get one's hands on as a Tickle-Me-Elmo or a Color Blaster from back in the day. But, all of these were examples of products that caught the attention of the children. While it's true that the parents earn the money and make the purchasing decisions, it would be foolish to think that that adorable high-pitched whine (which can only be made by small children or dental drills) doesn't help them make their decision in favor of getting whatever it takes to shut the thing off.

These objects of desire that capture the waning attention of the American youth typically have certain key elements that make them more attractive. They may be: novel, new, interactive, collectible, and, of course, well marketed to children... ...which brings use to the subject of this post: Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure. This list could very well part of the features listed on the initial design for the game... and they've delivered on all of them.

I expect that Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is going to be a contender for the most popular product this Christmas season. I has all the earmarks of one, and, while the game is rated for Everyone 10+ and the figurines are rated 6+, our reviewers who played the game enjoyed it immensely and most pre-ordered every figure they could and ran out to Target and Sam's Club to get the exclusive characters, as well. I've read of people changing pre-orders based on getting access to special extra items and J.R. Nip went out and bought the game for a second system just to get the exclusive figure from it that he can't buy packaged separately from the game. While it's true that some of our reviewers are collectors, they're far above 10 years old, I assure you.

I don't know that supply will be able to meet the demand this Christmas season...

Maybe if we all just pretend there's no problem...

So, I just read an article on Daily Finance entitled, "Sony Spits on Innovation." No, they don't do so physically (I checked)... it's a metaphor for the fact that Sony's response to having their gaming network (the PlayStation Network - or "PSN") hacked to heck and back is to slap a Bandaid on it and then make everyone who uses it agree that they won't sue if the network gets hacked again.

I get it... and agree... with the basic sentiment. Sony is a major force in the world of electronic entertainment. IF they offer online gameplay, it should be secure. User information should not be vulnerable to attack... and the first step is that any unnecessary customer info should not be stored to begin with. My credit card should not be sitting on a server somewhere, waiting for some hacker to break in an buy themselves something nice simply because I decided I wanted to buy a DLC song for Rock Band.

However, in addition to being a gamer and a game reviewer, I am also a software engineer. As such, I can tell you that if you're interested in writing secure software, that pretty much has to be taken into consideration from the beginning. Every time a new function/method/interface/webpage/etc. is created/fixed/upgraded or otherwise changed, it has to be tested to make sure that it is still secure... and that changes to that piece don't cause exploitable issue in other parts that interact with the part that changed. It's a tall order, especially when a lot of software developers don't know how to write secure code.

So, truthfully, taking the network code they already have and simply throwing resources at it in the hopes of "securing" it isn't truly an option. It would be better -by far- to start from scratch, either by purchasing something from a third party (MicroSoft... wanna make some more money from XBox Live?) or by building a new online network from scratch, throwing some talented developers in a dark room and throwing pizza, Red Bull, Dr. Pepper and beer into the room at carefully metered dosages to achieve the optimum development environment and keeping them in there until a new, secure, PlayStation Network is done.

That process, however, takes money, talented individuals and, well, time. Lots of time... We're not talking geographic time, here, but we're definitely talking about more time that your average gamer (and, for that matter, even PlayStation fan-boys) are willing to wait to get back online with the PlayStation Consoles. Online gamers should be fairly familiar with these types of agreements, for that matter, since you sign agreements every time you join a network or start to play a game online. This time, however, someone actually read one... hence, the flack.

I like PlayStation games, but I'm not a big online gamer, personally. For that matter, it seemed the general consensus was that Xbox LIVE had won the online gaming contest some time ago. If Sony wants to compete (on any level) in the online gaming arena, they need to reinvent their online gaming network... and I expect that, at some point, they will.

Personally, I hope that this agree-not-to-sue-us clause is merely something to buy Sony the time needed to complete the above-mentioned dark room-pizza-beverage scenario. In the mean time, you can either choose to play at your own risk or simply not play Sony games online.

How to keep a Programmer busy ...for about 2 minutes...

I can ALMOST see it...

Today's Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal comic (SMBC-Comics.com) depicts a bunch of nerds (what is a group of us called, exactly?) trying to employ the "pinhole trick" of reducing the direction of incoming light to remove the need for focusing to look at their own noses, which, typically, are too close to be successfully focused by the eye.

Actually, this works... or would work, if it weren't for the thickness of the fingers. In the various contortions that are depicted in the comic strip, the fingers block the view of the nose. That is why they keep trying different contortions.

However, I found that if you use two hands, you can actually do it. Take the pointer finger of the opposite hand and, with it pointing downward, tucked tight to the bridge of your nose, use its fingernail against the thumb and pointer from the hand on the same side as the eye being used to look at your nose.

Squeeze your fingertips together to allow just a small point of light to pass through, and use your other fingers to shield light from outside of this hole. Now adjust the pinhole so that you're looking at the end of your nose. If you are doing it right, you'll be able to see the end of your nose, in focus. (In my case, I can see several short, very light-colored hairs... What do you see?)

Oh, it also helps if you can get some extra light on your nose. I suggest close proximity to a lamp or other light.

Visual Studio Express is Trying to Kill Me.

I have a copy of Visual Studio. From quite some time ago. As in Pre-dot-net. I have, however, grown quite accustomed to C# and find that I can program quickly in it. At least, I can with a full-fledged version of Visual Studio.

I am working on a top-secret personal project, however, and I'm using Visual C# 2010 Express to develop it. So far. It's great that there is a free version for people to try out if they're not familiar with Visual Studio, I guess, but I keep finding things missing that I can't see living without.

One glaring case-in-point would be the lack of ability to attach to a running process and debug through it. Really? I was using NUnit in my developing effort and when I went to debug a unit test, I simply couldn't see a way to do it. I eventually found a post online that allowed me to at least debug through my code using the Console NUnit runner, thanks to a chap named [Blokely].

If you're interested, check out Blokely's reply on this blog:
http://kenthall.wordpress.com/2006/09/09/debugging-nunit-test-within-c-express/

This will tide me over for a bit, but I see a full version of Visual Studio in my very near future. Bah. Humbug!

The UFC Kicks My @$$...

So, UFC Personal Trainer came in for review on the Xbox 360 with Kinect. I asked for this when I saw a short write up in a magazine for it, thinking it would be exactly what I needed to whip myself into shape.

At least I got the "whipped" part right. The first time I started a "Quick Workout," I had to exit out of it. I couldn't get through the warmup. Since then, I've tried some of the activities and actually started a 30-day workout plan to work on my Endurance... mainly so I'll have the endurance to try a 60-day workout plan to lose weight.

As I write this, my muscles are considering mutiny. I am not looking forward to the pain I will experience tomorrow, but I plan to stick with it and see it through the 30 days.

One down, 29 to go...

Replacing a Daewoo Lanos Fuel Filter... the Cheap Way...

Here's some advice from the past for anyone who owns a Daewoo Lanos (and, perhaps, other models)...

I found that a certain cheap, readily available door panel remover tool from AutoZone allowed quick and easy removal of my old fuel filter. (I had previously attemted to remove it with everything from a wrench to a piece of cardboard cut in the shape of a KM-475-B, but to no avail.

Read the full article on the OEM Industrial Door Panel Remover on GameVortex.com

This Week on the 'Net - Elementary, Dear Watson...

IBM creates an artificial intelligence able to take on the best human players in a linguistically challenging game - Jeopardy.

Check it out:
Jeopardy Feb. 14 2011 (HDTV) - Watson vs Ken Jennings vs Brad Rutter IBM Challenge Day 1 Part 1/2

Jeopardy Feb. 14 2011 (HDTV) - Watson vs Ken Jennings vs Brad Rutter IBM Challenge Day 1 Part 2/2

Jeopardy Feb. 15 2011 (HDTV) - Watson vs Ken Jennings vs Brad Rutter IBM Challenge Day 2 Part 1/2

Jeopardy Feb 15 2011 (HDTV) - Watson vs Ken Jennings vs Brad Rutter IBM Challenge Day 2 Part 2/2

Jeopardy Feb. 16 2011 (HDTV) - Watson vs Ken Jennings vs Brad Rutter IBM Challenge Day 3 Part 1/2

Jeopardy Feb. 16 2011 (HDTV) - Watson vs Ken Jennings vs Brad Rutter IBM Challenge Day 3 Part 2/2

Final Jeopardy! and the Future of Watson

This Week on the 'Net - OK, Go

If you're not familiar with the work of OK, Go, you're in for a treat. This band is fairly straightforward pop, but they have some of the most fantastic videos.

One of their early videos that got a lot of attention was their Here It Goes Again, which feature the band members performing imaginative choreography on several treadmills - all in one take.

OK Go - White Knuckles (Official Video)

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass - Rube Goldberg Machine version - Official

OK Go - Get Over It

This Week on the 'Net - An Introduction...

My friend and fellow Game Vortex review, J.R. Nip, has said for quite some time that he hates YouTube. I thought that was funny, but understood much more when he finally explained that the reason he hates YouTube is because he can end up stuck there for hours on end, following one link to the next, and that most of the content is utter crap, but, occasionally, some of the stuff there is, well, epic.

Point taken. That's why I've made it my job to show him really cool things on YouTube, without all of the crap... Sort of "The Best of YouTube", if you will. It only occurred to me today that others might benefit from that selection process, so I will share my picks here, on a recurring 'column' (?) called "This Week on the 'Net". Oh, and don't assume that I plan to have something every single week... I just don't plan for this to be more frequent than that. (I do have lots of other things to do.) Furthermore, the name doesn't include "YouTube" so that I'm not unnecessarily limiting my scope.

Personally, I will also be using this as a way to quickly find content that I want to be able to see on my TV; This will primarily be focusing on content that will look good on a large screen, so you can do the same, if you like.

XKCD: Na... (Suggested Revision)

I'm a geek. I'm a nerd. Perhaps that's why I love xkcd so much. It's difficult to make it through Tuesdays and Thursdays as I wait to get my dose of xkcd on the next day.

A good deal of the humor is in the observations; there are a lot of really good thoughts that go into the making of xkcd. Another slice is the sheer simplicity of the artwork used to portray the humor - sometimes it's stick figures, other times it's graphs. The part that truly cinches it for me, personally, however, is the accuracy. I can laugh to myself over the truisms on his world map of the Internet for a better part of an hour, as I notice smaller gags I had overlooked at first glance.

It's for this reason that I was a bit shocked and saddened when comic #851 appeared to be riddled with inaccuracies...



First of all, there should be twice as many "Na"s before "Batman!". Second, as far as I could tell, from memory and looking on the Internet, there are three "Hey"s in "Hey, Hey, Hey... Goodbye!". I was unfamiliar with the Katamari Damacy song, so I checked that one out, and it appears that one was correct. And, while there are, undoubtedly, several other songs that could be added, "She's got the look" was extremely obvious, so I was surprised it wasn't included.

I'm no expert, so I may have gotten this wrong, but from what I could tell from multiple careful listenings to these songs, I suggest the following revised version:



I know this is a lot wider, and at first I thought, perhaps, he was intentionally truncating the Batman thing for space, but dimension has never been an issue for xkcd. I might be wrong; I might be crazy. If you see something wrong here, let me know. I welcome comments and suggestions.

Addendum: I just noticed on xkcd, that there is actually an officially "updated" version of Na, which simply features the addition of "Hey Jude".