January 2008 Archives
The guys over at Pure West Media released their trailer for the upcoming documentary Second Skin today. This film documents the story of seven gamers and their experiences in a less than real world environment. 75 gamers were interviewed during the 2 year production. Topics such as addiction, online relationships, guild mechanics and virtual currencies are covered.
Pure West is hoping to hold the premiere viewing movie at SXSW.
I'm curious to see the results of their research in a couple of areas. Addiction to MMORPGs is a real problem, one that I feel is being ignored. In the trailer we are introduced to a gamer named Dan. Dan was a successful businessman who threw it all away for virtual world. In the trailer he states his whole life just fell apart and wanted to kill himself. Dan's not alone, there are many others in his situation or well on their way. While I am not aware of any US efforts to combat this problem, in 2007 China imposed mandatory controls on gaming providers to encourage time limits for teenage players. Chinese internet policies of blocking or restricting access to certain sites or services has received bad press here but this is one example of a policy I could live with.
For those gamers that take the "job" seriously and can balance the real and the virtual world I do think there is abright future. Business is slowly moving toward the virtual office where coworkers may never meet face to face. One of the largest challenges for success in this venture will be to find managers that can lead a team solely through pixels. In MMORPGs, guild memberships can reach into the hundreds with multiple layers of leadership. Games like World of Warcraft provide dungeons that 25 to 40 players can enter as a raid. The guild or raid leader has the challenge of coordinating the efforts of his raid to reach a goal, usually the killing of a boss monster. In the latest patches of WoW, the encounters in these dungeons require all raiders to do their job flawlessly, one mistake can mean a complete wipe of the raid and a waste 30 minutes to an hour before their next attempt. The raid leader not only has to perform his individual part but also monitor everyone else's performance. While this may sound like child's play it is setting the foundation of skills required to lead a group of professionals toward a common goal without the classic human interface we find in our offices and cubicles today.
What do you think?
Pure West is hoping to hold the premiere viewing movie at SXSW.
I'm curious to see the results of their research in a couple of areas. Addiction to MMORPGs is a real problem, one that I feel is being ignored. In the trailer we are introduced to a gamer named Dan. Dan was a successful businessman who threw it all away for virtual world. In the trailer he states his whole life just fell apart and wanted to kill himself. Dan's not alone, there are many others in his situation or well on their way. While I am not aware of any US efforts to combat this problem, in 2007 China imposed mandatory controls on gaming providers to encourage time limits for teenage players. Chinese internet policies of blocking or restricting access to certain sites or services has received bad press here but this is one example of a policy I could live with.
For those gamers that take the "job" seriously and can balance the real and the virtual world I do think there is abright future. Business is slowly moving toward the virtual office where coworkers may never meet face to face. One of the largest challenges for success in this venture will be to find managers that can lead a team solely through pixels. In MMORPGs, guild memberships can reach into the hundreds with multiple layers of leadership. Games like World of Warcraft provide dungeons that 25 to 40 players can enter as a raid. The guild or raid leader has the challenge of coordinating the efforts of his raid to reach a goal, usually the killing of a boss monster. In the latest patches of WoW, the encounters in these dungeons require all raiders to do their job flawlessly, one mistake can mean a complete wipe of the raid and a waste 30 minutes to an hour before their next attempt. The raid leader not only has to perform his individual part but also monitor everyone else's performance. While this may sound like child's play it is setting the foundation of skills required to lead a group of professionals toward a common goal without the classic human interface we find in our offices and cubicles today.
What do you think?
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Today I was shared a blog post via Mixx from xrrg.com concerning the new service NotchUp.com. Their service is confusingly simple. You provide your resume to a pool that employers can search through. Instead of paying a recruiter, the employer can pay you for interviewing with them if they feel you are a good match for their position and the price is right. Interview costs are set per individual, ranging from $75 to $5000.I recieved a beta invite to the service this weekend from a friend I haven't had any contact with in quite some time. At first I was happy that this person thought of me to send the invite, maybe he knew I was in the job market. Then puzzlement took over when I investigated the site and read who their targeted audience was. Their homepage states: "NotchUp is for you if: - you're happy at your job; - you're good at what you do; and - you're not looking for a new job." Well that doesn't fit me so why did my friend invite me?
AHHH I SEE. As you register you come to a part where you can import your LinkedIn profile. This was a great addition as you don't have to refill out the monotonous forms that every job board requires. After that part of the registration it asks if you want to import your LinkedIn contacts so they can send invites to the service...AND OH BY THE WAY...you get 10% of any commissions earned by your referrals. BINGO! Thats how I received my invite. There was nothing personal in sending it, just the easy reward of a possible commission by allowing a service to take a portion of my social graph and spamming it.
I would highly advise anyone, both prospects and employees, to stay away from this or similar services using this model.
For the employee you are taking an immediate risk right from the start. The service targets people that are happy with their current jobs and not looking to move. Will you really pay $500 or more to interview someone that doesn't want to change jobs?
For the normal user, is that how you want your social network to be utilized? Networks built on LinkedIn and others social sites are built with trust. Services like NotchUp misuse that trust and should not be rewarded for their effort. I hate to use the term pyramid scheme here but if the shoe fits...
What do you think?
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Last month at Le Web 3 in Paris, Six Apart released the first version of Movable Type Open Source (MTOS). After a number of weeks in beta they released the first stable version yesterday. MTOS 4.1 can be downloaded at MovableType.org.
MTOS is a separate, open source version of Movable Type. It’s licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2. Importantly, in a recent statement, the company asserts that “MTOS has every feature in Movable Type 4.0 along with several new minor improvements and bug fixes.”
I sat in on a Six Apart ProNet conference call in December hosted by Byrne Reese, MT Product Manager. When asked about performance of the MT 4.1 releases his response was as follows:
"All aspects of performance are a priority to every member of the MT team. By company directive every release will have performance enhancements in it. No release will ever be slower than any previous."
In todays "hurry up and ship" mode of software development this kind of direction is welcome news. Lets hope they live up to it.
You may notice this blog is powered by MT 4.0. So far it fits my purpose and have no plans to upgrade anytime in the near future. I have recently investigated Drupal, Joomla and WordPress as options to move to. The support for templates is extremely limited in MT as compared to others I listed. I will hold out for a few months and see how popular MTOS becomes. Hopefully we'll see the creation of communities for MT like the Joomla template site, Joomlart.com.
On a side note today marks the release of this sites new branding and design. There are still some small items I need to take care of like adding a blog roll and minor design tweeks. Let me know what you think of it so far.
MTOS is a separate, open source version of Movable Type. It’s licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2. Importantly, in a recent statement, the company asserts that “MTOS has every feature in Movable Type 4.0 along with several new minor improvements and bug fixes.”
I sat in on a Six Apart ProNet conference call in December hosted by Byrne Reese, MT Product Manager. When asked about performance of the MT 4.1 releases his response was as follows:
"All aspects of performance are a priority to every member of the MT team. By company directive every release will have performance enhancements in it. No release will ever be slower than any previous."
In todays "hurry up and ship" mode of software development this kind of direction is welcome news. Lets hope they live up to it.
You may notice this blog is powered by MT 4.0. So far it fits my purpose and have no plans to upgrade anytime in the near future. I have recently investigated Drupal, Joomla and WordPress as options to move to. The support for templates is extremely limited in MT as compared to others I listed. I will hold out for a few months and see how popular MTOS becomes. Hopefully we'll see the creation of communities for MT like the Joomla template site, Joomlart.com.
On a side note today marks the release of this sites new branding and design. There are still some small items I need to take care of like adding a blog roll and minor design tweeks. Let me know what you think of it so far.
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JobMatchBox.com is hosting Social Matchbox DC on Monday, January 28th from 6-8:30. Organized by Robert Neelbauer, the event is designed to facilitate connections between local startups and professionals in the job hunt (like myself). From Bob's email announcement:
"This event is not for companies to sell products or consulting services to area startup companies. This is an event for startup companies to attend so that they may find people who they are interested in hiring, find people to join them in launching their own startup, or to get hired."
The implementation of JobMatchbox is a refreshing alternative to traditional job boards like Monster and CareerBuilder. While it provides conventional listings, the strength of the service is what Bob provides in the background. All reqs are vetted by him prior to posting to ensure the positions are solid opportunities and marked in the correct categories. There is virtually no spam on his boards. He also provides a blog on the site which has recently covered such topics as video based resumes, scouting at Carnegie Mellon, and extraordinary recruiting practices.
Bob is also a master social networker and works hard as a proponent for both the recruiter and the job hunter. He can be found at most DC tech events and always in conversation. He knows the market and can quickly introduce people with like minded interests together. This I feel is the real strength behind JobMatchBox. And best of all...its free!
"This event is not for companies to sell products or consulting services to area startup companies. This is an event for startup companies to attend so that they may find people who they are interested in hiring, find people to join them in launching their own startup, or to get hired."
The implementation of JobMatchbox is a refreshing alternative to traditional job boards like Monster and CareerBuilder. While it provides conventional listings, the strength of the service is what Bob provides in the background. All reqs are vetted by him prior to posting to ensure the positions are solid opportunities and marked in the correct categories. There is virtually no spam on his boards. He also provides a blog on the site which has recently covered such topics as video based resumes, scouting at Carnegie Mellon, and extraordinary recruiting practices.
Bob is also a master social networker and works hard as a proponent for both the recruiter and the job hunter. He can be found at most DC tech events and always in conversation. He knows the market and can quickly introduce people with like minded interests together. This I feel is the real strength behind JobMatchBox. And best of all...its free!
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See that girl in the picture? The one with the stupid grinning guy? Her name is Sherri and she's the love of my life.Twenty years ago today in a small country church we faced each other and vowed to live together forever in marital bliss. I never tell her this but as I look back over my life that was the single best day of my life.
Sherri is an amazing woman and an amazing wife. I'm not saying that she's perfect. We both learned long ago that neither one of us is perfect, and therefore, our marriage is not perfect. But, even though she is not perfect, she still amazes me. Besides taking care of our home and children she also takes care of me.
She's put up with a lot over the years, especially the early years. Shortly after our marriage I converted to active service in the US Navy, moved her from her family to Charleston, SC and left her alone for many months at a time while she raised our newborn daughter. Those that served will understand how easier deployments are when you have a spouse at home that can manage the family matters, not only their side of it but yours as well. Of course I worried about her but she never complained and was always there waiting for me to come home.
Words cannot express my gratitude to her. I could not imagine my life without her and would not want to. I just hope I can make the next 20 years better than the first.
I love you Sherri.
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Tomorrow is January 23rd which marks my 20th wedding anniversary. It got me wondering what else happened that year. Here's a list from my deteriorating memory and a little web research:
The Washington Redskins handily defeated the Denver Broncos 42-10 at SuperBowl XXII in San Diego, CA a week after my wedding. I did see this.
The Edmonton Oilers gained their 4th Stanley Cup but lost Wayne Gretzky to the LA Kings. It was a good year for Los Angeles as their Dodgers won the World Series.
The Games of the XXIV Olympiad were hosted in the Winter at Calgary, Canada and in the Summer at Seoul, South Korea.
At the Oscars The Last Emperor won Best Picture, Michael Douglas won Best Actor for Wall Street, and Cher won Best Actress for Moonstruck. (My personal favorite is Harry and the Hendersons winning Best Makeup)
INXS (5 awards) was the star of the MTV Music Awards and Guns N' Roses walks away with Best New Artist award.
The Writers Guild of America goes on strike....deja vu?
TV Debuts - 48 Hours, America's Most Wanted, China Beach, Roseanne, Yo! MTV Raps, Murphy Brown, Mystery Science Theater 3000, COPS
TV Endings - Magnum, P.I. , The Facts of Life, Cagney and Lacey, St. Elsewhere, Punky Brewster, Solid Gold
Oprah Winfrey created Harpo Studios to produce her already successful talkshow. (I added this one for Sherri)
The Soviet Union began it program of economic restructuring (perestroika) under Mikhail Gorbachev.
Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan.
The United States was tied up with a presidential election which would eventually see George Bush defeat Michael Dukakis and the Iran-Contra affair.
An unknown governor from Arkansas named Bill Clinton gave a disappointing 32 minute opening night address at the Democratic National Convention. He made up for it a few nights later on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and again 4 years later by winning the presidential election.
The US Navy retaliates for the USS Samuel B. Roberts mining with Operation Praying Mantis, in a day of strikes against several Iranian oil platforms and naval vessels. (I had first hand experience with this one)
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