July 17, 2011
I’m a Firefox user since the 1.0 days. I did my part for the GetFirefox.com campaign when working at Emerson College helpdesk and getting people away from IE 6.
Since then I have moved on to Chrome as my primary browser, but I still use Firefox for the Something Awful forums extension, various HTML developer extensions, and my Ümloud! logins (preventing acidental personal posts). I also started using 1Password (a future post!) for better security across all my browsers. The key component to my Firefox use are the extensions (also known as Add-ons).
When Firefox first rolled out extensions, the API asked developers to limit what version the extension would work for. An extension for Firefox 3 wouldn’t work on 4. This forced developers to test the new browser and for users to update when needed. That way extensions wouldn’t soft-fail on users, causing them to think the browser is broken when the fault was the extension. This process was fine when major Firefox releases were around a year or more.
Recently Firefox started going on a version number release schedule similar to Chrome: Release early and very often. Major version number updates occur in a span of months or weeks. This is fine, but flies against extensions. An extension that got updated for the shipping version won’t work on a beta. The updating messages aren’t removable; just “ask later”. Now I have to pick between seeing update messages every time I launch, or break extension support.
So we need two things to happen here:
- Make a third “wait till it’s released, not beta” option.
- Extensions move away from version numbers and more to capability testing.
While the “not beta” option should be there in any case, we’re starting to see a change that the old versioning system isn’t paired with the change of development schedule. Without knowing too much about the extension system, I can’t help but think of the disastrous history of using User Agent strings to assume capabilities. The better approach is using something like Modernizr1 which tests what a browser can do, rather than the name/version of a browser. That way when a browser with a different name, but capable of the require actions, can still work. Past, present, and future.
Sadly, I can’t wait for these things to happen. Which sadly means on my Mac, I’ll be using Safari as my Ümloud! browser and only venturing into Firefox when I absolutely need to use an extension, assuming it still works…
1 Shout out to Faruk Ateş!
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July 16, 2011
This is a little PSA for any laptop battery. I happen to use a Mac Book Pro, but it’s an issue that can apply to any device.
For the past few weeks, I’ve noticed my trackpad was super sensitive to clicks. I haven’t notied it that much, but the bulk of my laptop use in the past three months is via Synergy and not using the trackpad. Now that Puzzle Agent 2 shipped, I’m back to working at my coffee shops. Today the clicking got so horrible I couldn’t do anything and had to shut down the computer.
Flipping it over to the back, the hood was bent out of shape a bit. I noticed this before, but I thought it was just use. Popping the hood, I remove the battery and see what’s under it. Didn’t see anything out of place, so I thought I’d see if there’s something wrong with the lid. Putting the lid back but without the battery, the lid clicked in place normally.
Looking at the battery, the “bottom” side which should be flat was bowing out:
Keeping the battery out, I started my computer up again and things were working fine. Who knows what would have happened if I didn’t look at that sooner…
No more battery power, but I can click again! The Internet says it’s covered by Apple Care, which I have till Nov. Figuring out when I can make an Apple Store appointment.
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April 17, 2011
A few days ago I tweeted about Amazon’s Cloud Player which started a discussion about the cloud and how to deal with a digital storage of music. It quickly reached the point where I should blog about it.
My music collection is roughly 22GB of music I’ve purchased in the past 15+ years; Moving to digital when it was easy to buy digital. I wasn’t much of a file sharing person in the days since I just didn’t have the time. Course with that large of a library, I’ve had to make some choices between all the devices I use for music play. While it’s changed over the years due to technology, my current layout works for me.
Central storage of music is important for me as it helps to keep things consistent between the devices, unless the device can’t store that amount. I also concerned about backups of this music data. While I still own physical CDs, the digital purchases can’t be re-download (except new Amazon.com purchases). So here’s my system I’ve established for myself. I’ll explain it in a typical workflow.
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April 11, 2011
I’ve released over 130 SKUs of video games to date.
These Mac & Windows SKUs are the most personal.
Thank you to the many people who helped me Antidote! While I wish the project met the expectations I and others had, it still provided me and others the experience that helped all of us to become talented and successful practitioners of interactive media and beyond.
I would not be where I am today, making video games for a living, if it wasn’t for Antidote and all the people who helped to make this happen. For this I am forever grateful. Now, to formally announce the release in my traditional manor:
Please enjoy this game.
It was made for you, with love, in Kalamazoo, Northville, Ann Arbor, Boston and Berkeley.
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March 27, 2011
A few quick items of what’s been going on in my life and what’s to come.
Child’s Play, Ümloud!, PAX East Panels
For PAX East 2011, I reprised my role in the Child’s Play Charity panel. This time it was extra special as Kristin revealed the first full-time hire for Child’s Play, Jamie Dillion! You can see her interview process on PATV (Part 1, Part 2). Her roll with Child’s Play is to help expand upon the org and deal with community fundraiser people like me. I’m really excited about working with Jamie and see a lot of cool and awesome things in the future for Child’s Play.
For the panel, I wrote this document as an extended outline for the panel. It will soon be expanded upon and made into a Child’s Play publication with a lot more info soon.
Antidote
The other panel I was on was AJ’s “The Sorting Workshop”. It started out with a game “preview” in which attendees had to write about the game for 10 minutes. From there, the other panelest would read the writings and comment with notes on how to write for journalism, marketing, pr, etc. AJ asked me to be the dev to preview a game. She was expecting something of MSPaint quality — Something with little effort to use. Instead, I used a live-action video game called Antidote. 
This got me thinking that I should release the thing, though I am nervous about it. I’ll just go out and say that this isn’t a good game to play and I don’t plan on fixing it. I don’t worry about people trashing it in reviews, but I worry a little that people think I’ve at that level with the art form when I’ve grown well beyond that in the years. So the website’s going to have notable disclaimer setting the exceptions low and pointing them to better games I’ve worked on like Puzzle Agent.
On the tech side, I was glad to see that the Mac build was able to run on an Intel based Mac. This is especially key as the version of Director that I used was before the Intel business and thus a PowerPC executable. The saving grace is the Rosetta layer on Mac OS X. It’s technically an optional install with a “just-in-time” download and install when the user first runs a PowerPC executable. However, Rosetta will be removed from Mac OS X 10.7 “Lion”, so the time is now to release the thing. For the curious, it would cost me $300+ to get a version of Director to make the Intel version — which I don’t plan to spend.
The Windows version runs without problems on Win7. I did remake an installer last night using Inno Setup so the install process flows better. There is the requirement of having Quicktime installed, but if you have iTunes you have it. I also have the Mac installer redone, but still need to make the DMG background for it. From there, I’m going to clean up the website and make it pretty. I’ll be using Amazon S3 to distribute the builds as straight downloads and Bittorent. The download is big at 240-260mb, but bandwidth is much cheaper these days than five years ago.
I plan to get everything ready and released by the end of April, if not sooner.
Posted in Antidote, Penny Arcade Expo, Ümloud! No Comments »
March 5, 2011
Four years ago, I came to GDC for a second time. After all of the years I put in trying to make interactive media as the source of income, I saw that trip as my last chance to get a foot in the door. That year, 2007, I broke a GDC rule. I got a job with my top choice in a studio.
This GDC, I talked to a super majority of non-art entry level and students that came to GDC. The Telltale jobs booth is one of the most attended job booths at the convention. I took great pains to be kind and give career counseling to people who are working the right direction but don’t have a fit to what my employer is seeking. I hope I gave the right kind of direction to help them grow. The kind of advice I wish I had when I was in their shoes.
When people see my business card, there’s a wide eye reaction that the met someone from Telltale. It is humbling to me that I have earned such respect with my work to incite this kind of reaction. I hope that I impress on them an openness and kindness when they meet me. I hope that I live up to and surpass the expectation from the work my fellow artists and I have created. I hope that the impression I left with the people I met at GDC this year
I hope that the impression I left with the people I met at GDC this year is that kindness and hard work do indeed lead to great things. I can not live in a world in which my success came exclusively by luck alone and that hard work and adaptiveness lead me to where I am today. That is why I will do what I can to give the kind of support to the people who came to the other side of my table the past few days. Four years ago this week, I was one of them.
Posted in Education & Curriculum, Game Developers Conference No Comments »
February 13, 2011
I finally put thought and words to something nagging me for the past two years. With my work in founding and working on Ümloud! and a new video game non-profit project (I’ll post later), I’ve worked with a number of people in different aspects of the video game industry. Lots of journalists, lots of PR personal, and lots of people not working in the biz. Yet in the two years I’ve worked in the game related non profit world, I find myself with very few contacts from actual game developers. Which leads me to state:
Very few game developers work with non-profit organizations (NPOs).
As with any overly broad statement, there’s nuance here. I’m setting the bar to beyond monetary donation, but committed infrastructure involvement. I don’t have hard facts to prove or disprove this statement; Believe me, I wish I had hard facts. There are some developers who do great NPO work out there, some even volunteer with Ümloud!, whom do count and are doing good things.
What is clear to me is an overall lack of willingness from developers to work on NPOs. I’m trying to figure out is why I’m the only developer involved with these projects. Of the Child’s Play community organized events I know of, I can’t think of any developer that’s founded any (please tell me if I’m missing something). I see involvement on a corporation level, which is awesome, but I’m trying to find individuals acting on their own. I should not that I’m not limiting the argument to only Child’s Play, that’s just where I’ve done my research though the years.
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January 31, 2011
For years at the places I worked, I used more than one computer at a time. Usually my personal Mac laptop and a Windows desktop. The key piece of software that makes me work with more than one device is a piece of software called Synergy.
Synergy is a software KVM switch (Keyboard-Video-Mouse) but without the video. Instead, it allows you to work on one computer, move the mouse to one side of the screen, and start working on the computer next to it. All of which connected by the local network to control mouse and keyboard.
It doesn’t matter what OS the computers are using. Once they’re set up with Synergy, you use one keyboard and mouse to run as many computers as you wish. Have one computer with more than one screen? Synergy adjusts flawlessly. Even more amazing is that text-only copy and paste works across the computers!
The bugger is getting the system set up. Right now the project is recovering from a bit of neglect as well as a lack of user-centered focus on design. As you’ll read on, we’re now at a point where the setbacks are worked on. I invite you to use Synergy now as it’s stable. Just a bit curious to set up with Windows as the “server” (the computer with the physical keyboard & mouse).
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December 31, 2010
With Ümloud! a real boy and granted full 501(c)(3) status, there are an avenue of options available to non-profit organizations. There are services and goods which companies provide for free or discounted based on non-profit status. I’m going to take Google as an example and talk about how this process goes in one particular case and how it could be better.
There are a few things that Google makes available to non-profits in their range of products. Some don’t need to check your non-profit status. One requires extreme but understandable scrutiny. Then there’s this middle ground which for a company such as Google, is surprisingly more complex and resource intensive than it should be.
Of all the programs and services Google offers, there are three levels of involvement to use these products. These are terms I made up since Google doesn’t classify products this way.
- No Application/Approval Needed:
- Google Apps (Standard Edition)
- Anything anyone uses personally (Gmail, Search, Analytics, etc).
- Non-Profit Status Clearance:
- Full Evaluation & Decision:
No Application are products that work once you set them up with no need to confirm non-profit status. Besides Google Apps, these are products that are no different to anyone, individual or organization.
Non-Profit Status Clearance are products that require a non-profit status check, but not discerning beyond established rules. Checkout falls into this category as Google wants to make sure the entity has the non-profit status for tax and legal reasons. The idea being any valid non-profit gets clearance.
Full Evaluation is on the other end of the spectrum. It’s not enough to be a non-profit, but Google making the decision to go beyond what they do for any non-profit. For Google, it’s the Grants program which goes beyond free product and is a direct partnership with the company. High bars of entry are expected here.
The difficulty I’ve had with Google is in this middle category, status clearance. The problem with these Google products is the lack of centralized application process. When you apply to any one product, the forms are similar enough as far as status clearance is concerned. The prerequisites are the same which all focus around having an entry in GuideStar to validate status. However, each product goes though each step from square one, regardless if you have already established a relationship with another product.
I would like to see Google have a one-stop shop for this middle ground. As a non-profit, I want to establish and register with Google once. Where I as the non-profit admin go to one place and have Google recognize the entity of Ümloud! as a non-profit. Then when I go to other status clearance products, the process is simply setting up the tool, rather than a human being checking if I’m a non-profit again.
Besides the reduction of time for staff to go though applications for every product, it should be easier for current and future Google products to latch onto the status clearance. Then a non-profit set of features wouldn’t need to reinvent the approval process for that product.
I could see an expansion of this with the Grants program. The first step being on the non-profit clearance list, then an organization can apply to Grants. At least then the applications to Google won’t require basic validation and spend more time on the premium standards Google has for Grants recipients.
If this can happen, then non-profits can spend more time doing their work, rather than waiting on procedure. Not to mention Google having a better handle on the organizations who use their services.
If by the off chance someone from Google reads this, I would love to talk and consult with you and your staff about this. I’m in the Bay Area and wouldn’t mind stopping by for a chat!
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July 13, 2010
This is a two part series! Read part one to start.
Since I moved to San Francisco, I always end up backstage the first time I visit a concert venue. This comes from being a vegan baked goods delivery service for Jenny Owen Youngs. This was a favor for my friend Lynn, baker for the Rockstars. This time I didn’t have brownies in my hands, but I would have an audience with Amanda Palmer at the Filmore.
Meeting with Internal Staff
The morning of Sunday May 18th, I met with Margot Cannon, who would be my co-conspirator for this project. While I was planning the ARG assets to be completed by the Palmer Art Army, I needed someone to help me with the writing, planning, and general ‘I know a guy/girl’ task assignments.
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Posted in Who Killed Amanda Palmer 1 Comment »
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