I’m not much of one to post pictures and information on the Facebook machines or wherever, but I do need to share some shots of little Vivian Kathryn aka Cupcake. Here are a couple; check her out.
Vivian in the Bouncer
Vivian at 6 months.
She’s so freaking cute! dba
Ever wonder if there’s someone watching you. Well, I’d propose the Raleigh police department change their wifi network name if they wish to remain unseen.
I also agree. Not a Carolina Tarheels fan either. dba
When I was setting up Activate3D, I recruited Nick. Shortly thereafter, he was asked to stay on at an old job. This forced me to dig deep into my pockets to offer him a signing bonus. I dug out $29.95 which is conveniently enough to buy one of these. (They’ve apparently gone up since then.)
World's Largest Gummy Bear
Some might wonder if such a wonderful item with its 5 lbs. of mostly sugar and its 12,000 calories would work as a signing bonus. I give you, exhibit A.
Nick With Gummy
Nick’s still writing code and kicking butt at Activate3D. Last sprint, he optimized our software and made it more than 2X faster… come to think of it, maybe I should buy more Gummy Bears.
dba
I just took a trip to Atlanta, and I ran into two really good restaurants that I figured I’d mention on here.
First up, Stats. Stats is a sports bar near the Georgia Aquarium. Theresa and I stopped in for a quick burger. The food was great, and our server, AJ, was equally good. However, Stats gets a mention because it has tables that they call Beer Heaven. Beer flows from taps on the table, and the TVs descend from the sky. (Literally. They have TVs on winches that come down from the ceiling.) I’m not sure it gets better than that. On top of it, AJ said that beer from the table taps is measured by the ounce and sold at the same price as from the bar. i.e., Take the pint price and divide by 16 to get the ounce price. It just sounds outstanding, and I hope that I get a chance to go back and partake.
Second up, Piola. We went to Piola for casual Italian one night. It’s more of a specialty pizza place than Italian/pasta, but I’m not unhappy. For example, we got the Copenhagen which had Parmesan, brie, and smoked salmon on it. It was unique and surprisingly good. Piola also has a number of locations in Brazil and has, as a result, added a mean Caipirinha to the menu. Theresa recommends it. Best of all for my local readers, they just opened a location in Raleigh with another planned in Chapel Hill. It was a very fortuitous find for this trip.
dba
I posted a bit back that I’d be in Korea for GameTech 2010. I’ll try to get a few pictures and post them later. I’m here now enjoying the kimchi and living that surreal feeling that you get when you don’t speak the language. Being that alienated gives you a very deep appreciation for how it feels to be on the other side when folks are in America and don’t speak English, and Korea is actually pretty friendly to English speakers if you know just a few phrases in Korean.
Also, it looks like the middleware meetup will be going down. Location is TBD, but the Thirsty Bear is the current frontrunner. Drop a message if you have an opinion otherwise.
dba
I saw this over on I Get Your Fail. This is a particularly funny thread safety fail worth sharing.
dba
Kim Pallister has a very interesting blog, and he’s put up a post on his five year anniversary.
That post is worth reading in general, but it has a particular interesting idea in it. He proposes that his blog is valuable to him in part because it forces him to think through a position on a topic and make sure he presents a full argument. He has to see both sides of things and make sure that he’s addressing them. That’s a very interesting analysis of the personal value of blogging, and it made me stop and think about how I post. When I look back at some of my posts, I don’t think I’m doing that which is a shame. For example, my last post was about how I think stereoscopic 3D would fail at least in the short term. There are many more reasons for my position than the few I put in the post, but I didn’t take the time to sort my thoughts out fully. As a result, I have something fairly incoherent sitting on my blog as one of my highest traffic items. I guess people are looking for stories about 3D tech post-CES.
Kim goes on to say that blogging is even more important because of the relationship it fosters with other folks. I don’t want to discount that by not talking about it, but it didn’t have as much impact on me. It seems the more obvious point. Blogs are conversations, and I joined the conversation to talk with people and forge relationships.
Regardless of which reason resonates with you, click the link and read his post.
dba
3D TV for homes is one of the big things getting pushed in 2010. I’ve always been a skeptic of stereoscopic 3D. It feels like a gimmick to me, and I don’t see uptake in homes. Here’s an article outlining some challenges. On top of that, however, I think the sheer dorkiness of sitting around with the glasses on is a factor. To prove it, check out me looking like a dork.
To drive that point home, I’d like to point to the pointlessness that was Sony’s press event at CES. Check out Engadget’s live blog for these choice quotes which I’ve chosen to make fun of. I”ve left timestamps in place to make it easier for you to find context.
Another delay in posting. 
This time I blame viruses. I got a cold, and my computer got a rootkit. Good times.
My friend and colleague, Shaun Kime, put up a post about a tradition at our company where we exchange gag gifts. Each person draws a name out of the hat, and the goal is to make a personalized gift that makes light of some facet of that person.
This year, someone decided to make fun of the fact that I think Earth Defense Force 2017 is one of the best games you can own for Xbox 360. To be clear, it’s not the bad animations, choppy frame rate, object interpenetrations, or lack of online co-op that make this game great. It’s the simplicity of the game design and the overall campy feel that make this game a must-own. I love this game, and I’ve played through it many times. If I had the money, I’d bankroll a sequel tomorrow.
Since I can’t do that, someone decided to give me a sequel in the form of Earth Defense Force: The Board Game. Here’s some pics.
First off, take a gander at the top down view. The game comes with a player character, NPCs, enemies, and upgrades. Notice that the board game upgrades on the video game by adding cockroaches!
Here’s a perspective view of things. It really gives you the same feeling as when you play the game.
The board game also includes a fully destructible building. Much like the video game, these buildings crumble at the slightest impact. i.e., I assembled the building, and it fell apart when I closed my office door one day.
Finally, for those who have played the game, the Air Tortoise missle system. It’s light on the missles, but aficionados of EDF will get the joke.
Overall, this is a really solid gag gift. Whoever made this should give themselves a pat on the back.
EDF! EDF! EDF! dba
I’ve got a big trip next week where I’ll need my laptop to function. What does that mean? The lappy has to break. But does it really break to the point where I’d upgrade? No, just the ‘R’ key stops working. That’s right. I had to cut and paste every ‘R’ you see in this post.
Barg!
dba
