This is a very nice video, both in style and in its message aronud how nanotech may change the way we interact with devices in the future.
Nanotech of this sort, like 3d printers is something that may help us blend the virtual worlds with the real world in more than on screen/glass integration as we do at the moment with augmented reality.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Living life publicly - sharing a CV
I recently went through a bit of a CV review, my current CV was quite frankly too long, too detailed and extracted from an internal system. There is a balance between having full details and having a sales document.
I had decided to do the rewrite after a "free" evaluation of it, which pretty much told me all the thing I already felt about it. Professional CV writers are well worth it, but as someone who lives life online and publicly on stage it would be a little strange to outsource my CV.
However, having written something I did ask the world for help in reviewing it.
CV's are normally very personal and close to the chest documents, after all they are used for competitive bids for jobs. However I felt it a good idea to ask not only Mrs Epred but a whole array of other people over on Twitter. The people who I follow on Twitter and who follow me are part of my support network and not purely work contacts. Many of them are of course in the growing metaverse business, so I thought it important to share the creation of the CV with them.
A CV is never finished, never perfect, always too long/too short/wordy/sparse, but I must say that after all the good comments and feedback and taking many of them on board I am quite happy with my CV at the moment.
I also experimented with using the microsoft doc format but without Word. instead plumping for the free open version of lotus symphony. This is still in beta and it appears to differ across NT and Vista in formatting a little. However, it is possible to live without Office.
Of course people googling me or checking my del.icio.us showreel, looking at linkedin recommendations and reading my various blog posts would be the thing I would expect people to do, but it seems we still end up needing to create a point in time post about who we are to help people understand what they need to research further.
The new CV is here in PDF format, I have another with address/postcode etc but this has email address only. Though I am not hard to find :-)
I still have to take up some of the suggestions on machine readable versions.
Anyway, thankyou everyone for your comments and help. I will of course keep evolving it and have some comments that I want to take on board but need to adjust some balance a bit first.
I had decided to do the rewrite after a "free" evaluation of it, which pretty much told me all the thing I already felt about it. Professional CV writers are well worth it, but as someone who lives life online and publicly on stage it would be a little strange to outsource my CV.
However, having written something I did ask the world for help in reviewing it.
CV's are normally very personal and close to the chest documents, after all they are used for competitive bids for jobs. However I felt it a good idea to ask not only Mrs Epred but a whole array of other people over on Twitter. The people who I follow on Twitter and who follow me are part of my support network and not purely work contacts. Many of them are of course in the growing metaverse business, so I thought it important to share the creation of the CV with them.
A CV is never finished, never perfect, always too long/too short/wordy/sparse, but I must say that after all the good comments and feedback and taking many of them on board I am quite happy with my CV at the moment.
I also experimented with using the microsoft doc format but without Word. instead plumping for the free open version of lotus symphony. This is still in beta and it appears to differ across NT and Vista in formatting a little. However, it is possible to live without Office.
Of course people googling me or checking my del.icio.us showreel, looking at linkedin recommendations and reading my various blog posts would be the thing I would expect people to do, but it seems we still end up needing to create a point in time post about who we are to help people understand what they need to research further.
The new CV is here in PDF format, I have another with address/postcode etc but this has email address only. Though I am not hard to find :-)
I still have to take up some of the suggestions on machine readable versions.
Anyway, thankyou everyone for your comments and help. I will of course keep evolving it and have some comments that I want to take on board but need to adjust some balance a bit first.
Natural History Museum brochure barcode
We bought a guidebook on our half term trip to the natural history museum. I realy liked the attention to detail on the back for the barcode.
Friday, February 22, 2008
A top the tower, having collected a gemstone
Rita and Josh from Dancing Ink Productions are on a Global Quest to meet and talk all things metaverse and virtual world with people all over the place.
Rob and I, (Roo was away at a customer) met them on their way to the isle of wight, fresh from Dohar and Geneva, in Portsmouth.
Whilst we had a very long lunchtime meeting, talking some very deep subjects and futures we ended on a fun note by going up the portsmouth spinnaker tower.
Rita could not resist getting a 'gemstone' from a dispenser on the 2nd viewing platform, all part of gathering things on a global quest :-)
Over lunch Rita wrote loads of things down aswell as pushing some ideas around. Rob, Josh and I were also in full flow.
I doubt the people in the old customs house in gunwharf had much idea of the depth of future we were discussing.
Of course they may have just said "geeks!" and tutted :-)
It was also not wasted on us that as a set of metaverse evangelists we were discussing the future in a venue such as this
"The building constructed in 1790 is a scheduled monument and is believed to be one of first examples of a specifically designed office building. "
Also on the way out up the spinnaker tower as we existed the lift RL imitated Sl as a rather oddly dressed jester/clown was standing waiting for the lift back down. This photo turned out a bit freaky, the n95 was lagging a bit :-)
So good luck on the rest of your trip guys. Enjoy the isle of wight :-)
Monday, February 11, 2008
Awesome avatar effect
I recently got a new web cam, a creative one. It has this fantastic avatar replacement that it can do from a simple photo.
I the head tracking is from me moving around in front of the camera, but it is lip synching to the excellent rockstar song.
It can do this in a lot higher rez too :-)
I the head tracking is from me moving around in front of the camera, but it is lip synching to the excellent rockstar song.
It can do this in a lot higher rez too :-)
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Sounds like
Do you think predlets toy sounds like the chorus of "I love it when you call" by the feeling?
Friday, February 08, 2008
Rockstar - Nickelback
This song has been going through my head and coming out of my headphones all week.
Its ripe for a spoof too. Rockstar -> eightbar or Avatar etc.
I am not sure I will have the talent I need to build the song I want but I will see what happens. For now just imagine it says I want to be an eightbar
Its ripe for a spoof too. Rockstar -> eightbar or Avatar etc.
I am not sure I will have the talent I need to build the song I want but I will see what happens. For now just imagine it says I want to be an eightbar
misleading message or what?
I decided to bite the bullet and upgrade the 20gb drive to the 120gb drive on the xbox360. Stupidly expensive relatively speaking, but thats proprietary hardward for you!
The drive contans everything, all you paid for content, all you games saves all your profile and achievement information. If it goes wrong thats a few years lost and a few pounds worth of xbox live arcade titles downloaded and payed for.
So after 1hour of transferring this is result.
It says Successful, but the next line says apart from the bits that were not!
The drive seems ok, the games seem to be there, content etc, but if something has gone I wont know until I hit it an miss.
Not a great feeling.
The transfer is 1 way and apparently deletes all the stuff due to DRM on the smaller drive.
A bit lacking in customer service I think?
Though not as bad as poor Aidy who moved to ireland and the xbox live will not transfer his country becuase of all these region lockout insanity.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Aliens Vs Predator Requiem - hmmmmm
I finally got to see AVP-R. Now clearly representing myself online wherever possible as epredator and with predator avatars I feel I have some sort of vested interest in the mainstream use of what has become part of me.
I should add I used the predator handle way before the original predator movie. It was a coding thing, killing bugs etc. When the film came along whilst an Arnie vehicle it was the predator and the hint at a hunting race that seemed to resonate.
In both predator and predator 2 the Yautja (as us geeks refer to them) are honourble hunters. Seeking to challenge themselves against worth opponents and not praying on the weak. e.g unarmed or pregnant women. It is about the challenge of the hunt and done with some degree of meaning. Strength and compassion. A few of the traits that I took to.
The comics tend to have this too, the hunter race and their respect for others with courage.
When we get to Aliens Vs Predator the back story has always been that the Aliens (effectively a vicious virus that seeks to take over and replicate) were used as a right of passage by the Predator race. A great tie in to the franchises.
So in the first AVP we had a Yautja dealing with a nest of Aliens and an Alien Queen. During the fight he comes to see a hunter's attitude and honour in the one remaining human caught in the alien frenzy. It was not a great film, but had something of interest and extra insights into the tech and lifes of the Yautja.
The new AVP-R sees a predator alien cross occur. A mini queen alien with the strength and power of both a predator and alien, born of the hero from the previous AVP impregnated by a face hugger and exploding into life on the ship.
This part was interesting, the predator ship crashing and landing on earth with its face huggers farmed and in a jar.
The crash landing leds to Aliens on earth, and descends quickly into a massive destruction of all human life in a small town. The vicious and unforgiving nature of the aliens is actully quite shocking.
This is where I actually felt a bit challenged and saying to myself there was not need for that. A youg kid at the start getting facehugged and chest burst was really not what I wanted to see. Let alone the scenes later in the maternit ward of the hospital. Yuk!
Some of this may be being a parent now and having a different set of sensitivities, but I am usually open to movies causing some shock.
Now we get to the Yautja. In this film he/she is a clean up predator. The aim is to both remove the infection and also remove all trace. They are like Harvey Kietel in Pulp Fiction, a fine upstanding member of society, but will do anything to get things sorted. *** Update having just looked at the wikipedia entries it seems the predator in the movie is called "Wolf" the same as Winston Wolf in pulp fiction :-)
I found lots of the predator tracking and new weapons pretty good, some nice cool ideas and just like James Bond, gadgets. He was fully aware of the PredAlien. He also seemed to be pretty flawed in targetting some of the Aliens. This seemed odd, so maybe he was not a cleanup agent but an opportunist who was sitting on his sofa and decided to give the hunt a go, but that did not really seem the case.
I was not too happy he killed the first human to see him, he was not a threat as such and it seemed to lack honour. However after that he used the humans a bit as bait, needs must. An generally fought a massive battle against the spawning aliens.
In general though, if this was the only predator film we woudl not have any inkling of this strong honour bond.
The film ends with some sort of here comes some more questions though and also shows that humans can be as calculating as Aliens and can work without individual honour but following orders for the greater good.
So all in all, aside from the permanent darkness in the movie which means many of the effects are lost or cheap and hidden, it was not too bad.
I hope my inspirational Yautja do not descend into hack and slashers, though clearly it takes all sorts.
This epred will continue to work out there with honour and strength, but with a hint of malice and the ability to just cut to the fight when needed :-)
I should add I used the predator handle way before the original predator movie. It was a coding thing, killing bugs etc. When the film came along whilst an Arnie vehicle it was the predator and the hint at a hunting race that seemed to resonate.
In both predator and predator 2 the Yautja (as us geeks refer to them) are honourble hunters. Seeking to challenge themselves against worth opponents and not praying on the weak. e.g unarmed or pregnant women. It is about the challenge of the hunt and done with some degree of meaning. Strength and compassion. A few of the traits that I took to.
The comics tend to have this too, the hunter race and their respect for others with courage.
When we get to Aliens Vs Predator the back story has always been that the Aliens (effectively a vicious virus that seeks to take over and replicate) were used as a right of passage by the Predator race. A great tie in to the franchises.
So in the first AVP we had a Yautja dealing with a nest of Aliens and an Alien Queen. During the fight he comes to see a hunter's attitude and honour in the one remaining human caught in the alien frenzy. It was not a great film, but had something of interest and extra insights into the tech and lifes of the Yautja.
The new AVP-R sees a predator alien cross occur. A mini queen alien with the strength and power of both a predator and alien, born of the hero from the previous AVP impregnated by a face hugger and exploding into life on the ship.
This part was interesting, the predator ship crashing and landing on earth with its face huggers farmed and in a jar.
The crash landing leds to Aliens on earth, and descends quickly into a massive destruction of all human life in a small town. The vicious and unforgiving nature of the aliens is actully quite shocking.
This is where I actually felt a bit challenged and saying to myself there was not need for that. A youg kid at the start getting facehugged and chest burst was really not what I wanted to see. Let alone the scenes later in the maternit ward of the hospital. Yuk!
Some of this may be being a parent now and having a different set of sensitivities, but I am usually open to movies causing some shock.
Now we get to the Yautja. In this film he/she is a clean up predator. The aim is to both remove the infection and also remove all trace. They are like Harvey Kietel in Pulp Fiction, a fine upstanding member of society, but will do anything to get things sorted. *** Update having just looked at the wikipedia entries it seems the predator in the movie is called "Wolf" the same as Winston Wolf in pulp fiction :-)
I found lots of the predator tracking and new weapons pretty good, some nice cool ideas and just like James Bond, gadgets. He was fully aware of the PredAlien. He also seemed to be pretty flawed in targetting some of the Aliens. This seemed odd, so maybe he was not a cleanup agent but an opportunist who was sitting on his sofa and decided to give the hunt a go, but that did not really seem the case.
I was not too happy he killed the first human to see him, he was not a threat as such and it seemed to lack honour. However after that he used the humans a bit as bait, needs must. An generally fought a massive battle against the spawning aliens.
In general though, if this was the only predator film we woudl not have any inkling of this strong honour bond.
The film ends with some sort of here comes some more questions though and also shows that humans can be as calculating as Aliens and can work without individual honour but following orders for the greater good.
So all in all, aside from the permanent darkness in the movie which means many of the effects are lost or cheap and hidden, it was not too bad.
I hope my inspirational Yautja do not descend into hack and slashers, though clearly it takes all sorts.
This epred will continue to work out there with honour and strength, but with a hint of malice and the ability to just cut to the fight when needed :-)
Yay for pancakes
It was shrove tuesday. Mrs Epred-in-Law came and did her thing in our kitchen. The predlets loved it. Proper flipping and everything
Monday, February 04, 2008
PSP and PS3 remote play and Skype or not
Here is some more of the PSP remote play at work. The basic premise is that the PSP can, whenever attached to any network reach and turn on a paired PS3 anywhere in the world. This is also useful in the home when your predlets are watching kids tv but you want to get at some of the content.
Here though is a film I created on the PS3 on boxing day. Using the eye toy camera and eye create (a video editing/capture application) it has a load of effects in this case it was the time lapse of some present unwrapping.
So the movie is created on the PS3 and then streaming to the PSP.
Even better now though some of the playstation network titles are PSP compatible. i.e. You download a version of an old classic like PS wipeout, the game that started the next gen revolution way back. You can play this in full on your PS3 screen, or you can have the play streamed to the PSP. At least I think it is streamed. In some respects you cant tell if its an emulator on the PSP that loads the data from the PS3 or the PS3 rendering and sending. Given the main desktop and videos are streamed as images I think we can guess :-)
It is also a pity that everything does not work like this, after all if its just streaming images then why not have a go at anything, like PS3 Home
Come on Sony!
Also I am rather dissapointed that having got the latest PSP firmware to get ready for Skype on the PSP it turns out the Skype function will only work on the new thin and light PSP's not the original (and identical) regular fat PSP's. There is some basic messaging but not skype. Seems a bit odd really.
All we need now is wireless hotspots that are economic to use eveywhere.
Here though is a film I created on the PS3 on boxing day. Using the eye toy camera and eye create (a video editing/capture application) it has a load of effects in this case it was the time lapse of some present unwrapping.
So the movie is created on the PS3 and then streaming to the PSP.
Even better now though some of the playstation network titles are PSP compatible. i.e. You download a version of an old classic like PS wipeout, the game that started the next gen revolution way back. You can play this in full on your PS3 screen, or you can have the play streamed to the PSP. At least I think it is streamed. In some respects you cant tell if its an emulator on the PSP that loads the data from the PS3 or the PS3 rendering and sending. Given the main desktop and videos are streamed as images I think we can guess :-)
It is also a pity that everything does not work like this, after all if its just streaming images then why not have a go at anything, like PS3 Home
Come on Sony!
Also I am rather dissapointed that having got the latest PSP firmware to get ready for Skype on the PSP it turns out the Skype function will only work on the new thin and light PSP's not the original (and identical) regular fat PSP's. There is some basic messaging but not skype. Seems a bit odd really.
All we need now is wireless hotspots that are economic to use eveywhere.
Superbowl, Football? No this is football
Predlet 2.0 decided that now he is 1 and can walk he really should start practicing his football (known as soccer in some other parts of the world) skills.
So whilst the Superbowl was going to be kicking off follwed by lots of carrying of the ball in about 7 hours time he decided to have a kick about.
(I do like American Football and I am just sore I did not stay up and watch it this year :-(
So whilst the Superbowl was going to be kicking off follwed by lots of carrying of the ball in about 7 hours time he decided to have a kick about.
(I do like American Football and I am just sore I did not stay up and watch it this year :-(
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Unusual Marketing - I dont like this one
Now I am all for clever uses of ideas, but tonight I was not really with it when I opened this envelope from Southern Electric. Despite the back of the envelope having SE on it I did not realize.
On opening it you get a rather unusual "hey this is a ransom/hate mail" look from cuttings about your boiler needing fixing or else.
It made my heart skip a beat, I am not a frail old person, not do I usually miss things like this, but this was horrible.
It has an anti effect on me in that I no longer want anything from Southern Electric, and I am not sure many people would?
Given some of the odd things that have been going on around blogs and a public life this was not on in my book.
Maybe I am just over-reacting, what do you think?
Friday, January 25, 2008
Understanding art for geeks #44
Akelatal on twitter started to use a new icon of the Scream picture but with a :-o pasted on it. It turns out is part of a whole set by paulthewineguy
This is his latest, simple but brilliant.
A whole flickr set can be found here its fantastic
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Fancy toy 2
Predlet 2.0 also got this french market toy from his aunty. It is a clever toy in that it uses a set of small buttons that get pressed when you place the produce in the counter. It then remembers what you have bought and when you checkout reads it out to you. Fo use it is also slightly more interesting as its speaking french. It seems to be a very well recorded and expressive voice rather than some of the more american toys we have had.
Predlet2.0's cool 1st birthday toy, like an iphone?
Today was predlet 2.0's 1st birthday and we got him this early learning centre rocket toy. Its got a load of pieces, people, aliens, buggy etc that all fit in but a really good single button action.
If the rocket is up vertically it does things differently to if it is hotizontal. A nice touch and pretty much what that iphone things does when you tilt it ;-)
If the rocket is up vertically it does things differently to if it is hotizontal. A nice touch and pretty much what that iphone things does when you tilt it ;-)
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Carry On
I grew up watching carry on films. There are a few things which if they are on TV I end up having to watch them. Tonight was Carry On Camping. I was 2 when this was released but it was on YV when I was gowing up. It is pure brit humour and I think stands the test of time. A mix of double entendre and pure farce make most of the films just hilarious. As a kid I am sure I did not understand the slightly fruity nature of things, but it is harmless fun. It forms the roots of many other pieces of comedy as the comics of today have experienced this too.
Take this "gone for a pee" and abbot and costello/marx brothers style fleecing
A whole host of carry on films out there to enjoy.
Take this "gone for a pee" and abbot and costello/marx brothers style fleecing
A whole host of carry on films out there to enjoy.
Comedy highs and lows this week on radio 1
This week on radio 1 the Chris Moyles show, which I always listen too despite being over 30, hit a high and a low.
The low, and one they are still joking about, was poor old Chris Rock. Now Moyles is clearly a fan and seemed a bit embarrased that Chris Rock was clearly asleep. Chris Rock is funny on stage and probably does so cool interviews, but this one just plummetted and bombed.
For some reason I pay more attention to how people work crowds, audiences and guests now. If the thing is not working you have to change tack, change gear, try a few new things until you find something that clicks. Moyles did his best as did comedy Dave but it just plain died death. Thats the beauty of live radio though.
However at the end of the week the bristol accent of Justin Lee Collins really really worked. It was some of teh funniest radio I think I have heard but it was also spiced up by JLC doing his Tom Jones impression. He had worke don this on one of his shows. as Moyles pointed out all his shows tend to be "I dont know if I can pull this off but I will have a go".
They popped a bit of the performance on Youtube. It was really really good. I will make sure I grab teh podcast as I cant help but think this will be the main part of it.
Strangely Moyles also appeared on the live cooking show that Gordon Ramsay was doing on Friday. A show that did have me laughing but I am not always sure why :-) The mickey take that Moyles did of the hard hitting Ramsay was great. Odd that some could make a joke up about melting chocolate on a bain marie ---- Done.
Also the show seemed to have an awful lot of wobbly cameras for a live show, about 6-10 camera angles it seemed, this was a bit hectic if people were supoosed to be following along in the kitchen. The Web cam hookups to other people cooking were funny, especially the naturist which gave Ramsay a stack of swearing jokes to throw in. This show is a good idea to get people cooking. I cook all the time so I did not need convincing, equally I did not follow along.
Anyway, it was good to see/hear both ends of the spectrum on the same show in the same week and appreciate how to make live events work better.
The low, and one they are still joking about, was poor old Chris Rock. Now Moyles is clearly a fan and seemed a bit embarrased that Chris Rock was clearly asleep. Chris Rock is funny on stage and probably does so cool interviews, but this one just plummetted and bombed.
For some reason I pay more attention to how people work crowds, audiences and guests now. If the thing is not working you have to change tack, change gear, try a few new things until you find something that clicks. Moyles did his best as did comedy Dave but it just plain died death. Thats the beauty of live radio though.
However at the end of the week the bristol accent of Justin Lee Collins really really worked. It was some of teh funniest radio I think I have heard but it was also spiced up by JLC doing his Tom Jones impression. He had worke don this on one of his shows. as Moyles pointed out all his shows tend to be "I dont know if I can pull this off but I will have a go".
They popped a bit of the performance on Youtube. It was really really good. I will make sure I grab teh podcast as I cant help but think this will be the main part of it.
Strangely Moyles also appeared on the live cooking show that Gordon Ramsay was doing on Friday. A show that did have me laughing but I am not always sure why :-) The mickey take that Moyles did of the hard hitting Ramsay was great. Odd that some could make a joke up about melting chocolate on a bain marie ---- Done.
Also the show seemed to have an awful lot of wobbly cameras for a live show, about 6-10 camera angles it seemed, this was a bit hectic if people were supoosed to be following along in the kitchen. The Web cam hookups to other people cooking were funny, especially the naturist which gave Ramsay a stack of swearing jokes to throw in. This show is a good idea to get people cooking. I cook all the time so I did not need convincing, equally I did not follow along.
Anyway, it was good to see/hear both ends of the spectrum on the same show in the same week and appreciate how to make live events work better.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Is it any different out there?
I have had several conversations with people today about just how long I have been with the same company. Some people admire it, other people view it as lucky many others see me as institutionalized. Linkedin hassle me everytime I logon saying my profile is only 85% complete becuase I only have 2 positions on it (partly becuase I have only been using it a for a few years and did not do a full history)
I have been with the same corp for 17 1/2 years, plus an industrial trainee year from university. That is quite a rare thing these days.
I am genuinely interested in how other people view this sort of loyalty, or if they view it as lazy and safe.
In many ways being in a large corp is the same as being in an open market, there are a pool of things going on, people have to hustle for jobs and funding. There are huge opportunities and clearly some rights as an employee.
At the same time it is a restricted domain. Whilst you might manage to carve something unusual as I tend to have it often does not blend well with the status quo.
So is it a good thing, a bad thing or just a thing of no great description?
I have had some great conversationns over teh years with people who have left corporate life, equally many of them come back again. I have also met people that consider this sort of longevity lucky. In a way it is, but equally it is of my own making, by constantly finding new things and understanding them.
I know some people get to this sort of place and decide to just plod along playing the game until retirement (which still is a very long way off) but that is certainly not my style. Equally there must come a point when being all rock and roll and pushing things and experimenting you start to age and stop being quite such a punk rebel and turn out a bit more rolling stones. Of course the Stones still have a great credibility and an awesome history :-) That though would be the case in any sort of career I think, getting older and wiser?
I am not sure where I sit on this. When the predlets get a bit older will they see me as a plodding corporate wage slave or someone with vision and drive doing cool things. I guess that is up to me to make sure I dont let them down on that front :-)
I have been with the same corp for 17 1/2 years, plus an industrial trainee year from university. That is quite a rare thing these days.
I am genuinely interested in how other people view this sort of loyalty, or if they view it as lazy and safe.
In many ways being in a large corp is the same as being in an open market, there are a pool of things going on, people have to hustle for jobs and funding. There are huge opportunities and clearly some rights as an employee.
At the same time it is a restricted domain. Whilst you might manage to carve something unusual as I tend to have it often does not blend well with the status quo.
So is it a good thing, a bad thing or just a thing of no great description?
I have had some great conversationns over teh years with people who have left corporate life, equally many of them come back again. I have also met people that consider this sort of longevity lucky. In a way it is, but equally it is of my own making, by constantly finding new things and understanding them.
I know some people get to this sort of place and decide to just plod along playing the game until retirement (which still is a very long way off) but that is certainly not my style. Equally there must come a point when being all rock and roll and pushing things and experimenting you start to age and stop being quite such a punk rebel and turn out a bit more rolling stones. Of course the Stones still have a great credibility and an awesome history :-) That though would be the case in any sort of career I think, getting older and wiser?
I am not sure where I sit on this. When the predlets get a bit older will they see me as a plodding corporate wage slave or someone with vision and drive doing cool things. I guess that is up to me to make sure I dont let them down on that front :-)
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
QRcodes and street art
Over on twitter xantherus just posted this excellent video and link to the voice of the street
In short using QR codes to connect street artists and viewers anonymously.
A very nice use of a clever piece of tech accessible via camera phones
In short using QR codes to connect street artists and viewers anonymously.
A very nice use of a clever piece of tech accessible via camera phones
Monday, January 14, 2008
Games have come a long way, but its all back to where we started
I often find it funny people's attitude to games and consoles. The recent batch of social and "casual" games has helped widen the benefit and appeal. Just take this typical family gathering.
Years ago people would have gathered around the piano for a sing song. Now... well after years of 1st person shooters, fighting and driving the PS3 has this Singstar.
People often worry about whether they can sing, but it just does not matter if its fun.
Not all games are the same, not all games are violent, though singing final countdown can do some damage on this :-)
Years ago people would have gathered around the piano for a sing song. Now... well after years of 1st person shooters, fighting and driving the PS3 has this Singstar.
People often worry about whether they can sing, but it just does not matter if its fun.
Not all games are the same, not all games are violent, though singing final countdown can do some damage on this :-)
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Penne Arrabbiata - Darth Vader strikes back
After last years Dont you know who I am vader thing that we seem to have taken on board in our rock and roll lifestyles I cant help but laugh when I see Penne Arrabbiata on the menu as I did today out with the predlets.
I did not order it, as I woudl have needed a tray :-)
I ended up having a mammoth manhattan burger, 2 6oz burgers in a bun at Frankie and Bennies.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Odd pairings - Avatars come alive?
This week was the first full week at work for a long while it seems. It turns out to not be as bad as that may seem as there were a whole host of exciting in interesting things going on out there. Some metaverse related some web 2.0 related and some just cool.
I would really have loved to be at CES08, maybe next year :-)
So we had Scoble/Facebook/Plaxo locking horns. If nothing else it was interesting to see someone use their influence in such a clever way (I am assuming it was clever) it was also great to watch it unfold live on twitter as the script Scoble ran hit Facebook and then he got banned and his account suspended.
It was also very interesting to see Slash and Gates at Bill's final outing at CES. Slash coming on as a ringer in guitar hero but with his real gibson guitar playing the real welcome to the jungle.
I was in 2 minds about that. It felt Slash was selling out in some way, but equally it showed a sense of humour from both sides. The counterpoint of the geeky gates and the plastic guitar vs a rock legend and a hero was just bizarre. Slash of course has a great avatar appearence in GH III so it was not that random
Check out the youtube of all this just look for gates and slash :-)
I was also intrigued this morning on the Chris Moyles show with how he dealt with a very flat response from his guest Chris Rock. Now Chris Rock seems a high energy performer but it was the breakfast show and he seemed a bit not with it. Moyles did his best to spark and move the comedian as we could all feel it going flat. I nearly had to turn off the radio, but I love the show and it makes me laugh. It did start to turn into an observation of how to turn around a difficult siutation, live. So it was close to my heart given all the perfomances I end up doing when you can easily loose the audience.
I also spotted what was happening on my windowsill, hence the picture which just looked to me like Second Life avatars had come to life. Then frozen again :-)
Saturday, January 05, 2008
I object! Stupid idea that gravel pit
It seems that they have all gone mad down here on the south coast quite close to the lair.
First there was the story on boingboing about the grandparents being thrown out of Fareham shopping centre for using a camera to photo their grandkids, branding them terrorists.
Now some mad planner wants to dig up a huge area of the countryside and coast near some very important nature reserves to get some gravel. 70 football pitches worth and where I cycled nearly every day along the solent way in my fit years. Yes I used to workout every day for about 4 years. It's somewhere I am planning to return to when I get the bike oiled.
So we are all objecting via email, very advanced for the council.
So if anyone else wants to object, it here is the email and the wording we used.
Someone has set up a site too
This is the link to the campaign website....
http://www.camelsolent.org.uk/
This is the link to the hampshire county council site on this subject....
http://www3.hants.gov.uk/planning/mineralsandwaste/planning-policy/development-framework/sites-plans/regulation_26/minerals-plan.htm
planning.policy@hants.gov.uk
Objection to Hampshire Minerals Plan - Bromwich & Chilling Farms
I would like to voice my objection to the inclusion of the Bromwich & Chilling Farms site into this plan, as any possible consideration of mineral extraction and landfill would severally impact a lovely coastal area and local vibrant village life.
My objection is on several fronts:
the ecology of the area and the impact on wildlife, both in the area itself plus the neighbouring areas such as Warsash Nature Reserve.
the impact on the local road system and infrastructure. Junction 9 of the M27 is already over-crowded with it taking around 20 minutes to leave the motorway - a distance of less than 1 mile. The additional traffic from this on top of significant new houses will make the area untenable to live in.
Pollution - the additional traffic, plus the actual extraction will impact the locality in terms of noise, fumes, and dust.
Impact on the sea front - sea defences are important to protect the local areas and this proposal will put additional pressure on the coastline.
The proposed area also encompasses the solent way - which is regularly used by walkers - are we expecting them to walk thru a quarry?
All of the above are likely to effect the house prices and the desirability of what is currently a lovely place to live.
Please do not proceed with this proposal and destroy a valuable habitat and coastal area.
Power to the people!
First there was the story on boingboing about the grandparents being thrown out of Fareham shopping centre for using a camera to photo their grandkids, branding them terrorists.
Now some mad planner wants to dig up a huge area of the countryside and coast near some very important nature reserves to get some gravel. 70 football pitches worth and where I cycled nearly every day along the solent way in my fit years. Yes I used to workout every day for about 4 years. It's somewhere I am planning to return to when I get the bike oiled.
So we are all objecting via email, very advanced for the council.
So if anyone else wants to object, it here is the email and the wording we used.
Someone has set up a site too
This is the link to the campaign website....
http://www.camelsolent.org.uk/
This is the link to the hampshire county council site on this subject....
http://www3.hants.gov.uk/planning/mineralsandwaste/planning-policy/development-framework/sites-plans/regulation_26/minerals-plan.htm
planning.policy@hants.gov.uk
Objection to Hampshire Minerals Plan - Bromwich & Chilling Farms
I would like to voice my objection to the inclusion of the Bromwich & Chilling Farms site into this plan, as any possible consideration of mineral extraction and landfill would severally impact a lovely coastal area and local vibrant village life.
My objection is on several fronts:
the ecology of the area and the impact on wildlife, both in the area itself plus the neighbouring areas such as Warsash Nature Reserve.
the impact on the local road system and infrastructure. Junction 9 of the M27 is already over-crowded with it taking around 20 minutes to leave the motorway - a distance of less than 1 mile. The additional traffic from this on top of significant new houses will make the area untenable to live in.
Pollution - the additional traffic, plus the actual extraction will impact the locality in terms of noise, fumes, and dust.
Impact on the sea front - sea defences are important to protect the local areas and this proposal will put additional pressure on the coastline.
The proposed area also encompasses the solent way - which is regularly used by walkers - are we expecting them to walk thru a quarry?
All of the above are likely to effect the house prices and the desirability of what is currently a lovely place to live.
Please do not proceed with this proposal and destroy a valuable habitat and coastal area.
Power to the people!
Friday, January 04, 2008
They have cancelled the Dakar
It is very sad they have had to cancel one of the most interesting and challenging motorsport events in the world the Dakar.
The Dakar has always fascinated me since I can remember. I have always held a little dream behind that one day I might take part.
As that is probably unlikely I make do with watching it on Eurosport. This year due to security concerns though there will be no Dakar.
It was interesting how I found that out, @jreesnc twittered to @robbygordon and I thought oooh a driver in the dakar, hit the website and saw the announcement.
The Dakar has always fascinated me since I can remember. I have always held a little dream behind that one day I might take part.
As that is probably unlikely I make do with watching it on Eurosport. This year due to security concerns though there will be no Dakar.
It was interesting how I found that out, @jreesnc twittered to @robbygordon and I thought oooh a driver in the dakar, hit the website and saw the announcement.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Motorbike groupie/team shirt MIST Suzuki Racing
Mike came to visit over last weekend, aside from having known one another for years and the fact we are both in a similar industry he runs a bike racing team that races in the european rounds on the world superbike circuit in the superstock class. Which I think is very impressive!
The team is MIST Suzuki racing and good luck to them for this season.
The racing scene is a load of wheeling and dealing and complicated arrangements. If I had a bit more spare cash we would have put Eightbar sponsorship on the bikes :-)
Anyway Mrs epred and I got shirts from Mike. So we can support the team together. So this post is by way of a thanks :-)
Mike also has his own sponsorship on this for his GiveMeTheKeys.com this is a high value ticket competition to let people win very cool vehicles. I cant enter as I am a friend and if I won that would look odd wouldnt it!
So if you are a biker and spectate look out for the team. Mike is very active in SL aswell so you may find you already know him out there :-)
The work year begins - things change
After quite a long holiday in December I was back to work with a bang today, well not a bang as such more of a broken inbox and a pile of things that will need to be sorted in the next few weeks.
Most notably is having to help people migrate away from my Hursley and IQ islands in SL onto company owned ones so that I dont keep using my personal finances.
This is an odd thing to end up doing, but I think we have reached the point where the benfits of those original private islands have got the company into where it needs to be. With so many other people doing metaverse work and customers etc there is really no need for me to keep paying for it. The company cannot buy it from me as that is too complicated legally so the options are limited unless someone manages to find something clever, I dont even think I can give them to the company without complication.
I am not ranting, just post return to work blues. Our little home needs to be demolished to make way for an interstellar highway... oh no thats hitchikers guide!
I am not sure whether I will sell the islands or downsize a bit or make them a commercial proposition. The commercial aspect gets complicated as an employee though.
They are not closed or gone yet, but it is a sad thing to think about doing. At the end of the day it is just a server or two with names. Though it shows the sort of attachment we get to a virtual place that I feel sad that its usefulness has been overtaken by the success of the idea, yet very proud that the plan worked and we got us into this business in so many ways and gave me some minor celeb status.
So having come home now and put up my 08 calendar it seemed time for a post to lift my mood. My calendar is a marvel super heroes one and January has Spidey. "with great power...." etc. :-)
Oh well..... onwards and sideways.
Besides.... I have seen the future but thats for another post :-)
Most notably is having to help people migrate away from my Hursley and IQ islands in SL onto company owned ones so that I dont keep using my personal finances.
This is an odd thing to end up doing, but I think we have reached the point where the benfits of those original private islands have got the company into where it needs to be. With so many other people doing metaverse work and customers etc there is really no need for me to keep paying for it. The company cannot buy it from me as that is too complicated legally so the options are limited unless someone manages to find something clever, I dont even think I can give them to the company without complication.
I am not ranting, just post return to work blues. Our little home needs to be demolished to make way for an interstellar highway... oh no thats hitchikers guide!
I am not sure whether I will sell the islands or downsize a bit or make them a commercial proposition. The commercial aspect gets complicated as an employee though.
They are not closed or gone yet, but it is a sad thing to think about doing. At the end of the day it is just a server or two with names. Though it shows the sort of attachment we get to a virtual place that I feel sad that its usefulness has been overtaken by the success of the idea, yet very proud that the plan worked and we got us into this business in so many ways and gave me some minor celeb status.
So having come home now and put up my 08 calendar it seemed time for a post to lift my mood. My calendar is a marvel super heroes one and January has Spidey. "with great power...." etc. :-)
Oh well..... onwards and sideways.
Besides.... I have seen the future but thats for another post :-)
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Compression makes things look more real?
I took some more footage on the n95 pointing at the screen with a replay of 360 PGR 4 running, then sent it to youtube using Shozu.
The opposite of the uncanny valley then seems to occur. The game looks great in HD, but crunched down and youtubed the in car stuff looks even more realistic.
What do you think?
It is this sort of approach to immersion in virtual worlds that seems to work best. We need to either see things perfectly rendered or fill in the gaps ourselves to engage with an emotional response to people.
The opposite of the uncanny valley then seems to occur. The game looks great in HD, but crunched down and youtubed the in car stuff looks even more realistic.
What do you think?
It is this sort of approach to immersion in virtual worlds that seems to work best. We need to either see things perfectly rendered or fill in the gaps ourselves to engage with an emotional response to people.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Rock and roll xmas party
I just blogged this to a few collegues at work but as I twittered it and the video is on youtube I thought I would also post it here :-)
My fellow evangelist Roo came by the lair last night. Once we had put the world to rights and discussed the past few weeks in particular we got down to being the rock and roll stars that we really are. At the end of the evening I seem to have nearly fallen into the christmas tree, something odd to do with metaxa. Thats by the by though. Here Roo and Mrs Roo do their thing on guitar hero iii and then on Singstar.
As I always say we are not trying to replace the real world with metaverses, but we can use technology to enhance the experience of now.
Enjoy
My fellow evangelist Roo came by the lair last night. Once we had put the world to rights and discussed the past few weeks in particular we got down to being the rock and roll stars that we really are. At the end of the evening I seem to have nearly fallen into the christmas tree, something odd to do with metaxa. Thats by the by though. Here Roo and Mrs Roo do their thing on guitar hero iii and then on Singstar.
As I always say we are not trying to replace the real world with metaverses, but we can use technology to enhance the experience of now.
Enjoy
Predlet2.0 gets mobile
I guess the hunting training can begin in earnest as predlet2.0 is mastering being a biped
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
ZOMG its orville he is back!
Most brits will have come across Keith Harris and Orville the duck. Well predlet 1.0 came back from the local pantomime having now seen Orville live on stage.
This led to my most odd piece of n95 mobile footage that I have ever sent to youtube.
Ok so its not the muppet show :-) but it made us laugh.
No animals were harmed in the making of this movie
This led to my most odd piece of n95 mobile footage that I have ever sent to youtube.
Ok so its not the muppet show :-) but it made us laugh.
No animals were harmed in the making of this movie
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Merry christmas
This sketch is another one from the "Bottom" guys. A classic that was going through my head at the predlets nativity play. A bit of language in it, but worth it :-)
Friday, December 14, 2007
Clever dyson hand dryer
I love clever, innovative things. On a recent trip to London I got to see this dyson hand dryer in the gents at Waterloo station.
I wanted to take a photo, but that was just a little bit odd. However this hand dryer you place your hands in fingers pointing down. Drawing your hands out slowly a blast of air pushes the water out and down your fingers. Unlike other hand dryers which take ages and move the water around your hands as you wring them.
It may seem something small and not important, but it seemed very clever and an "obvious" solution
I wanted to take a photo, but that was just a little bit odd. However this hand dryer you place your hands in fingers pointing down. Drawing your hands out slowly a blast of air pushes the water out and down your fingers. Unlike other hand dryers which take ages and move the water around your hands as you wring them.
It may seem something small and not important, but it seemed very clever and an "obvious" solution
Gaping void on control
This was twittered by @monkchips and I just loved it. It is so correct, yet simple.
http://www.gapingvoid.com/0711allcontrol.jpg
All control is damage control. Brilliant, just brilliant.
http://www.gapingvoid.com/0711allcontrol.jpg
All control is damage control. Brilliant, just brilliant.
Skate me
Well it sort of looks like me. It is strange in some of these games now like Skate I go for a near me image, unlike the virtual worlds where I go for a predator look or my green spikey.
It may be to do with the context of the game. As a would be skater (I was never very good and the kit when I was a kid was appalling) I may be attempting to relive something. The nearly me look, slightly overweight but not as much seems to add to the sense of who I am in this environment.
It is akin to the differing tones of persona that I use when blogging here, inside work or on eightbar. All still me, but I am confronted with choices and shades of me to enhance my experience and the experience of others.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Even more Call of Duty 4
I have now managed to complete Call of Duty 4, and I am even more impressed than I was a few posts back.
It is obviously enhanced by very cool graphics and sound, but the variety and the emotional involvement as you push through the game is just so well done. The final scenes, which I wont spoil, were subtle, brilliant, emotive and just down right awesome.
So well done all at treyarch
This was just some phont footage from midway through. Awesome detail (in HD on the 360)
Of course holding a phone makes it hard to 'play' so there is not much movement. Still there are plenty of trailers out there. Or just go have a go :-)
I also managed to play a little online, which was mostly embarassing as I was canon fodder for the l33ts. Still I viewed it as a victory to get one kill. Once you can beat one you can beat ten, beath ten and you can beat thousands. (As a wise man once said, I will leave it to the you to find that quote)
It is obviously enhanced by very cool graphics and sound, but the variety and the emotional involvement as you push through the game is just so well done. The final scenes, which I wont spoil, were subtle, brilliant, emotive and just down right awesome.
So well done all at treyarch
This was just some phont footage from midway through. Awesome detail (in HD on the 360)
Of course holding a phone makes it hard to 'play' so there is not much movement. Still there are plenty of trailers out there. Or just go have a go :-)
I also managed to play a little online, which was mostly embarassing as I was canon fodder for the l33ts. Still I viewed it as a victory to get one kill. Once you can beat one you can beat ten, beath ten and you can beat thousands. (As a wise man once said, I will leave it to the you to find that quote)
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Chess the bottom way
I was watching a re-run of bottom just now. It is one of my all time fave progs. This one playing chess is the one that stick in the mind. Its been running on the "dave" channel on sky.
strange numbers?
Ok these are not totally symmetrical but it does look a little unusual. Its not quite an episode of lost, and this is not a rabbit hole for an ARG but my car ended up with this odometer reading today when I pulled into the drive.
I dont think I am overly superticious, however I do like serendpity and a certain pattern becoming visible in things. Of course in this pattern I have no idea what it refers to and the combination is no more special that a completely random one.
As humans we look for patterns, some of us more than others, so this may remind me of something or be a day when something happens I will remember the 5,3,1 day accordingly in that flow pattern.
Singstar Ps3 - Who would have thought it?
A belated 40th present arrived today with Singstar on the PS3 (only 4 months late). I know I am not singer, hence always trying to play guitar as a yoof. However, I have always fancied learning to ding a bit better and the feed back of singstar seemed to be the way.
Mrs Epred and I sparked it up tonight and it turns out she is way better than me on most songs.
We waded through duets on most of the songs that come with it, but the draw of the singstar online store grew too great.
If nothing else to buy Wizard's "I wish it could be christmas everyday" and our soccer anthem "three lions".
The thing was we got there and there were a fair few tunes from our generation. Culture Club, Depeche Mode etc.
I downloaded the 2 Duran Duran songs "Hungry like the wolf" and "Rio".
Having just sung hungry like the wolf it turns out of all the songs and all the styles I appear to be a Simon Le Bon clone :-) I got a pretty decent score, felt in tune (nealry) and seemed to be hitting and holding the right notes.
I am not going to be launching a pop career, though...... no I am not!
I am so looking forward to our UK version of rockband now, being able to combine the guitar and the singing and doing the band thing in a kareoke style.
I used to really not even consider karoike bars back in the 90's but now my performance and ego gene has been enabled I am more than up for giving it a go, after a bit of practice of course.
So atlast an app that makes me want to spark up the PS3. Just get some more songs on that shop Sony!
**Update I just twittered a precise 140 character one saying
"singstar, I am twisted sister, wolfmother, culture club, duran duran and the killers. I am not Robbie Williams or Gwen Stefani (relatively!)"
Monday, December 10, 2007
Green Spikey Hair - Skate and Guitar Hero III
One of my other non predator looking AV's in Second life and other places usually has green spikey hair as a bit of a nod to punk, and as a nod to the fact that if I cant have green spikey hair the system may be a bit too straight laced. Of course sometimes, in games etc, the options to open up hair colour come over time. I was a bit dissapointed that EA Skate. did not let me go green and spikey, despite the massive amount of customization. Though.... I am sure it in in there somewhere.
Skate is a really good twist on the skateboard games, using some very clever and intuitive analogue stick movements to ollie the board. It has the free roaming and self challenging aspects, "can I just do this one trick here just because"
It also lets you edit up videos, and unlike Halo3 where you have to run the game to see the videos (which to be fair are more than just videos they are fully interactive recorded games) Skate renders the video and allows you to share it stand alone.
Here is one of my attempts (see no spikey hair) you may have to select country first, the site is not quite youtube which is the only pity, I would like to post it there to make this post easier.
Whilst on green spikey hair though there is no such problem in Guitar Hero III. A very impressive mohawk green spikey cut is available on the punk character. This makes thrashing along to the anthem from my youth "anarchy in the uk" by the Sex Pistols (which explains alot) an even more integrated experience for me.
If anyone is in any doubt, guitar hero ii and iii on the 360 are fantastic. The depth of involvment in the music that just holding the guitar and being in the music playing is amazing.
That means I now have to write a much better post on the nature of involvement in modern media and how we can all evolve to appreciate artistic creations more through immersion.
Skate is a really good twist on the skateboard games, using some very clever and intuitive analogue stick movements to ollie the board. It has the free roaming and self challenging aspects, "can I just do this one trick here just because"
It also lets you edit up videos, and unlike Halo3 where you have to run the game to see the videos (which to be fair are more than just videos they are fully interactive recorded games) Skate renders the video and allows you to share it stand alone.
Here is one of my attempts (see no spikey hair) you may have to select country first, the site is not quite youtube which is the only pity, I would like to post it there to make this post easier.
Whilst on green spikey hair though there is no such problem in Guitar Hero III. A very impressive mohawk green spikey cut is available on the punk character. This makes thrashing along to the anthem from my youth "anarchy in the uk" by the Sex Pistols (which explains alot) an even more integrated experience for me.
If anyone is in any doubt, guitar hero ii and iii on the 360 are fantastic. The depth of involvment in the music that just holding the guitar and being in the music playing is amazing.
That means I now have to write a much better post on the nature of involvement in modern media and how we can all evolve to appreciate artistic creations more through immersion.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Thankyou Hursley Elves
I posted something along these lines on my internal blog. I woul like to say a big thanks to all the people who organize the IBM Hursley Santa's grotto for all our kids.
The predlets really enjoyed it and love the presents.
For predlet2.0 it was his first xmas experience really.
So to everyone a big dose of christmas cheer and goodwill.
Thankyou
Thursday, December 06, 2007
More Call of Duty 4
I have not yet managed to capture the images from call of duty 4 on the 360 but I have to say it is the most stunning and in some cases shocking game I have ever played.
Even the intro from the perspective of a prisoner being taken across town breaks a few of the usual rules you expect of an FPS enough to make you stop and go. Oh Wow.
The scenes inside a gunship flying over the country side with night vision just looks like CNN. However the combat back chatter and fog of war is also quite though provoking.
"Follow the curved road" is an order barked to your pilot. The response is, "er which curved road". It is set as modetn combat but it shows some of the sorts of communications that add to the confusion of close air support.
This is a game, and gloryfying war is a borderline thing. However, it makes you think. The scenes I reached having rescued a downed pilot and the subsequent effects thats again I will not spoil for you had me sit back and say, well that has never happened before in any game I have ever played!
Awesome, just Awesome
Even the intro from the perspective of a prisoner being taken across town breaks a few of the usual rules you expect of an FPS enough to make you stop and go. Oh Wow.
The scenes inside a gunship flying over the country side with night vision just looks like CNN. However the combat back chatter and fog of war is also quite though provoking.
"Follow the curved road" is an order barked to your pilot. The response is, "er which curved road". It is set as modetn combat but it shows some of the sorts of communications that add to the confusion of close air support.
This is a game, and gloryfying war is a borderline thing. However, it makes you think. The scenes I reached having rescued a downed pilot and the subsequent effects thats again I will not spoil for you had me sit back and say, well that has never happened before in any game I have ever played!
Awesome, just Awesome
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Wow I must be famous
the other day I wrote an internal blog post inside the company after trying lots of other avenues to say that I am not overly happy with the recognition that I am getting from the company versus the external recognition the company gets from what I have done in virtual worlds and metaverses.
The post got 'leaked' ah shock horror. A "tina Bell" who took a dislike to my tone on terra nova has decided to plaster it all over the web. Well thanks.
It shows several things.
1. I still care deeply enough about my collegues that I am willing to carry on leading the way despite having lots of ways I could just said "s*d it" and pull the plug. My direct managers have been listening and trying, but have to work within a system. So, as in the post, I have a lot of respect and time for them and their efforts.
2. That inside and outside of the company we do have free speech. I have not breached any guidelines in the way I have communicated this, but I was able to communicate it. We are able to have a free and frank conversation, albeit inside the firewall.
3. The language used and the approach differs on the audience. Same persona, same belief system but just adjusted.
It also brings in an element of trust, the dissapointing thing is that a "collegue" should choose to "leak" something that is actually pretty well known.
It does not show anything other that how corporations do not really exist, that people do, politics is people.
So. to be clear.
Yes I am not happy at quite a few things. The pace of change in management systems has not been as fast as the pace of social change and technology change. However I still have hope. Otherwise I would have just left ages ago, enticed by a fantastic offer.
The things that I talk about and the direction we are going are all still true, they are all still happening. Just I am not getting the internal recognition that I was hoping would come over time.
So this could go a couple of ways.
My company could step up and say oh sorry, sort things out and then I will be writing glowing "see you do get recognized" posts as I already have for some collegues (which diud nto get leaked of course)
Or my family now gets to starve.
Or well its always the thing you dont think of isnt it.
The post got 'leaked' ah shock horror. A "tina Bell" who took a dislike to my tone on terra nova has decided to plaster it all over the web. Well thanks.
It shows several things.
1. I still care deeply enough about my collegues that I am willing to carry on leading the way despite having lots of ways I could just said "s*d it" and pull the plug. My direct managers have been listening and trying, but have to work within a system. So, as in the post, I have a lot of respect and time for them and their efforts.
2. That inside and outside of the company we do have free speech. I have not breached any guidelines in the way I have communicated this, but I was able to communicate it. We are able to have a free and frank conversation, albeit inside the firewall.
3. The language used and the approach differs on the audience. Same persona, same belief system but just adjusted.
It also brings in an element of trust, the dissapointing thing is that a "collegue" should choose to "leak" something that is actually pretty well known.
It does not show anything other that how corporations do not really exist, that people do, politics is people.
So. to be clear.
Yes I am not happy at quite a few things. The pace of change in management systems has not been as fast as the pace of social change and technology change. However I still have hope. Otherwise I would have just left ages ago, enticed by a fantastic offer.
The things that I talk about and the direction we are going are all still true, they are all still happening. Just I am not getting the internal recognition that I was hoping would come over time.
So this could go a couple of ways.
My company could step up and say oh sorry, sort things out and then I will be writing glowing "see you do get recognized" posts as I already have for some collegues (which diud nto get leaked of course)
Or my family now gets to starve.
Or well its always the thing you dont think of isnt it.
Linkedin - come connect
I have a fair few connections on linkedin but I am happy to have more, in particular virtual world and metaverse metarati.
Linkedin has been great this year as I was asked to provide some evidence of my contribution to the w3rld and I have had some awesome recommendations publicly on Linkedin.
The balance of work/personal connections on linkedin versus facebook and alike is quite interesting. Especially for us blending work and social into one existence.
See you there :-)
Linkedin has been great this year as I was asked to provide some evidence of my contribution to the w3rld and I have had some awesome recommendations publicly on Linkedin.
The balance of work/personal connections on linkedin versus facebook and alike is quite interesting. Especially for us blending work and social into one existence.
See you there :-)
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Global audience and book writing - "Who says Elephants cant Rez"
My cluster map is looking very interesting. Whilst this blog is by no means that high on the technorati scale, not close to eightbar it does still attract a readership from around the world.
Indeed I feel the urge to say "Hello World"
It is interesting which continents show up, obviously North America and Europe and to some extent Australia. The main bulk of Asia is a bit weak on hits.
Of course stats can be misleading, but it does make you think just how many places and people you can reach with a humble blog.
Ten years ago this just would not have been the case without writing a book or being on TV.
On the subject of books I really must write one/some about my experiences. I think there are a lot of lessons to be learned. Of course I have no idea where to start to suggestions/offers etc. gratefully received.
The rise of eightbar, turning over the traditional approach to corporate life with web2.0
I even have a title in mind "Who says Elephants cant Rez" as a nod to the famous Lou Gerstener book about turning IBM around in the late 90's
Other titles
"Well you didnt have to do it did you?"
"Don't you know who I am?"
"Yes they do like like fishnets, not lets talk about this million dollar deal"
"You cant be scared of an epredator when his surname is Potato"
"Epredator:The other same side of me"
I have some more but will hold onto them or this will be the book.
Indeed I feel the urge to say "Hello World"
It is interesting which continents show up, obviously North America and Europe and to some extent Australia. The main bulk of Asia is a bit weak on hits.
Of course stats can be misleading, but it does make you think just how many places and people you can reach with a humble blog.
Ten years ago this just would not have been the case without writing a book or being on TV.
On the subject of books I really must write one/some about my experiences. I think there are a lot of lessons to be learned. Of course I have no idea where to start to suggestions/offers etc. gratefully received.
The rise of eightbar, turning over the traditional approach to corporate life with web2.0
I even have a title in mind "Who says Elephants cant Rez" as a nod to the famous Lou Gerstener book about turning IBM around in the late 90's
Other titles
"Well you didnt have to do it did you?"
"Don't you know who I am?"
"Yes they do like like fishnets, not lets talk about this million dollar deal"
"You cant be scared of an epredator when his surname is Potato"
"Epredator:The other same side of me"
I have some more but will hold onto them or this will be the book.
junior monopoly - cash flow crisis
I have been honing my entreprenarial skills playing junior monopoly with predlet1.0.
I lost of course :-)
Its a great mini version of the classic game.
Instead of a board of places its fairground, roller coasters candy floss etc. The houses are ticket booths. So you charge the other players the fee to use the particular fairground facility.
The currency is 1,2,3,4,5 Pounds notes. The chance cards tend to involve getting a free property or being sent to one.
If you own both in a group you can charge double. That meant that as I had the "mayfair" of roller coaster and loop the loop I could charge the double rate of £10. The trouble was the predlet had lots of yellow ticket booths in double configurations on the mid range part of the board.
So.... she bankrupted me and is now very excited.
Saturday, December 01, 2007
The curse of the dark side - what now?
Anyone who has seen me do my thing will know that I am extremely passionate about the subjects I enagage with. e.g. metaverses. This passion and deep obsessionaly behaviour (but intelligent thought out obsession) is certainly an extreme. This runs very deep with me. If I like something and can see the potential I will commit alot of time, effort and emotional energy to it.
It is this extra ramp up that seems to work when I tell people about things. It is the reason that so many of us have continued along the metaverse path. It does however take it out of you at some point.
Turning up the wick to enthuse, persuade and evangelize is a skill. Its one I am still learning. After a set of sessions being sparky and enthusiastic with people there is a definite adrenalin crash. It is then you have to watch for the dark side.
Major highs also bring major lows.
I find that just as I can engage deeply with something positive I suffer from being able to have the same obsession for things that are not right, inequities, lack of recognition etc. It is very hard to not apply the same degree of passion to things that I regard as not going the right way.
Big highs and big lows tend to not aggregate out to a happy middle ground, they fall below that middle ground. The potential draw of the negative fight, the dark side is sometimes quite frightening.
This of course sounds like the ramblings of a madman, but I am trying to figure out how I have ended up feeling so damn annoyed. Clearly my deep anger and annoyance is purely internal, but external forces have an effect.
In some respects I have spent a while ( a long while) being angry and patient, hoping that doing lots of postive things, being sparky, doing what I do in life would bring some sort of balance.
Whats this all about, well I cant say. If I do say it becomes another reason for things that need to be done to not get done.
So right now I seem to be back in a very stressed and depressed place, and change seems to be the only option as waiting and sometimes fighting does not seem to be working fast enough.
Or maybe I should just change what I do, not enthuse, not be passionate. Just live a more normal small highs and lows existence?
It led to my favourite twitter "wondering is there is an online equivalent of a "for sale" sign as part of career managment?" which of course does not mean anything as it can be taken as either looking for people or being for sale ;-)
It is this extra ramp up that seems to work when I tell people about things. It is the reason that so many of us have continued along the metaverse path. It does however take it out of you at some point.
Turning up the wick to enthuse, persuade and evangelize is a skill. Its one I am still learning. After a set of sessions being sparky and enthusiastic with people there is a definite adrenalin crash. It is then you have to watch for the dark side.
Major highs also bring major lows.
I find that just as I can engage deeply with something positive I suffer from being able to have the same obsession for things that are not right, inequities, lack of recognition etc. It is very hard to not apply the same degree of passion to things that I regard as not going the right way.
Big highs and big lows tend to not aggregate out to a happy middle ground, they fall below that middle ground. The potential draw of the negative fight, the dark side is sometimes quite frightening.
This of course sounds like the ramblings of a madman, but I am trying to figure out how I have ended up feeling so damn annoyed. Clearly my deep anger and annoyance is purely internal, but external forces have an effect.
In some respects I have spent a while ( a long while) being angry and patient, hoping that doing lots of postive things, being sparky, doing what I do in life would bring some sort of balance.
Whats this all about, well I cant say. If I do say it becomes another reason for things that need to be done to not get done.
So right now I seem to be back in a very stressed and depressed place, and change seems to be the only option as waiting and sometimes fighting does not seem to be working fast enough.
Or maybe I should just change what I do, not enthuse, not be passionate. Just live a more normal small highs and lows existence?
It led to my favourite twitter "wondering is there is an online equivalent of a "for sale" sign as part of career managment?" which of course does not mean anything as it can be taken as either looking for people or being for sale ;-)
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Jools Holland and Imelda May plus Marc Almond and Ruby Turner
We just got back from a night out (yes a real night out with babysitters and everything) at Portsmouth Guildhall for Jools Holland's tour.
Jools is an awesome musician and very well respected as well as having a road appeal. So the demographic of the audience was from kids to pensioners. He and his 16 piece band of brass, hammond organs, drums guitars and singers plays a lot of blues, boogie woogie and just fantastic music.
We had seen him and the band before twice over the years so it was good to go again as the sets and the guests are always very varied.
The biggest initial treat was the warm up act, which does her a dis-service. Imelda May and her band perfomed a set of songs.
I was blown away by her and her 3 man backing band. A double bass, a single drum and a guitar. It was pure rocakbilly. In fact the closest thing I could could think as a way to get your head into who she is is a cross between the stray cats and Gwen Steffani. I love the simplicity and style of rockabilly and proper rock and roll. When delivered with such a powerful voice and passion it just gets better. It was a real hairs on the back of the neck moment. Those are seldom wrong in my experience, (Maybe I should go and be an A&R person in the music Biz as I am sure thats how they feel about good artists).
Imelda May has a couple of free songs on her site if you register. Worth a listen, if you like what I have described. I will certainly be following this career.
I found this on Youtube from another festival gig.
Then it was onto Jools and the band. Very good, the usual comedy and passion that Jools and his crew bring. You cant help but be moved by that boogie woogie blues.
I managed to snap this, we we at teh back in the cricle, but you get the gist.
Not only is he an awesomely talented pianist, but he also picked up a rhythm guitar at one point. It is unusual as most music I like featured guitar heavily, usually the guitar blues solos and the bass are sparse, favouring the sax, trombome and trumpet solos. Which is all very refreshing. In particular Jool's band features Rico Rodriguez a ska and reggae legend. He even got to sing a couple of tracks in his awesome style.
The biggest surprise though was Marc Almond coming on as a guest. He got a massive reception from everyone. He has such a powerful and crooning operatic voice that his songs lifted the emotion of the crowd and had people on their feet. It moved from semi laid back boogie to powerful driving vocals.
He finshed his part of the set having done Say Hello Wave Goodbye and Games People Play with the anthemic Tainted Love. Now this is a tune that takes me way back. I even loved the marilyn manson version, here it was a driving blues band power croon. To see so many of the auidience singing along given the older demographic there was actually very amusing. All the fuss made back then in the press about tainted love and his sexuality it was reassuring that his pure talent and the strength of the song and the delivery had even made him a granny favourite. The song was originally done back in 1964 so maybe that helps, but Soft Cell putting it on "Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret" is the famous one and somewhat adjusted its meaning. Either way though it rawked.
You would think that would be hard to follow, but follow they did with Ruby Turner. Another powerhouse of blues and gospel. She just grabbed the whole thing and blasted out some awesome tunes.
It ended up with a good couple of encores ending with the entire band doing "enjoy yourself"
You are not supposed to record these concerts, so this is not an attempt to give anything away other than a snippet of the setup. You clearly cant beat real life.
Jools is an awesome musician and very well respected as well as having a road appeal. So the demographic of the audience was from kids to pensioners. He and his 16 piece band of brass, hammond organs, drums guitars and singers plays a lot of blues, boogie woogie and just fantastic music.
We had seen him and the band before twice over the years so it was good to go again as the sets and the guests are always very varied.
The biggest initial treat was the warm up act, which does her a dis-service. Imelda May and her band perfomed a set of songs.
I was blown away by her and her 3 man backing band. A double bass, a single drum and a guitar. It was pure rocakbilly. In fact the closest thing I could could think as a way to get your head into who she is is a cross between the stray cats and Gwen Steffani. I love the simplicity and style of rockabilly and proper rock and roll. When delivered with such a powerful voice and passion it just gets better. It was a real hairs on the back of the neck moment. Those are seldom wrong in my experience, (Maybe I should go and be an A&R person in the music Biz as I am sure thats how they feel about good artists).
Imelda May has a couple of free songs on her site if you register. Worth a listen, if you like what I have described. I will certainly be following this career.
I found this on Youtube from another festival gig.
Then it was onto Jools and the band. Very good, the usual comedy and passion that Jools and his crew bring. You cant help but be moved by that boogie woogie blues.
I managed to snap this, we we at teh back in the cricle, but you get the gist.
Not only is he an awesomely talented pianist, but he also picked up a rhythm guitar at one point. It is unusual as most music I like featured guitar heavily, usually the guitar blues solos and the bass are sparse, favouring the sax, trombome and trumpet solos. Which is all very refreshing. In particular Jool's band features Rico Rodriguez a ska and reggae legend. He even got to sing a couple of tracks in his awesome style.
The biggest surprise though was Marc Almond coming on as a guest. He got a massive reception from everyone. He has such a powerful and crooning operatic voice that his songs lifted the emotion of the crowd and had people on their feet. It moved from semi laid back boogie to powerful driving vocals.
He finshed his part of the set having done Say Hello Wave Goodbye and Games People Play with the anthemic Tainted Love. Now this is a tune that takes me way back. I even loved the marilyn manson version, here it was a driving blues band power croon. To see so many of the auidience singing along given the older demographic there was actually very amusing. All the fuss made back then in the press about tainted love and his sexuality it was reassuring that his pure talent and the strength of the song and the delivery had even made him a granny favourite. The song was originally done back in 1964 so maybe that helps, but Soft Cell putting it on "Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret" is the famous one and somewhat adjusted its meaning. Either way though it rawked.
You would think that would be hard to follow, but follow they did with Ruby Turner. Another powerhouse of blues and gospel. She just grabbed the whole thing and blasted out some awesome tunes.
It ended up with a good couple of encores ending with the entire band doing "enjoy yourself"
You are not supposed to record these concerts, so this is not an attempt to give anything away other than a snippet of the setup. You clearly cant beat real life.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Consoles and Consoling
A very odd couple of weeks is in progress here at the lair.
I am about to dash off back to my hometown to visit my Dad (who is having an operation today), My 93 year old Grandad, who recently ended up in hospital, which led to my Nanny having to be moved to a care home, where she fell out of bed and bashed her face leading to here being in Hospital. On top of that predlet1.0 had one heck of a fever at the weekend which meant we had to go to the out of hours doctors. In trying to find a chemist on a Sunday Mrs Epred ended up in Boots in a shopping centre where she was verbally abused by someone who was clearly not totally stable.
The shop was unable to call any security, "they dont work Sundays". Grrrrrr
Still, on the plus side (which is not that good a plus) Call of Duty 4 on the 360 proved to be awesome, though I have only played a few hours. Its all too hectic to shozu flickr and youtube. Then yesterday Assassins Creed arrived, which I got for the PS3, yes its on the 360, but I felt I needed at least one decent game to keep me interested in the PS3. Creed is graphically very good, gameplay is a little same-y. Its certainly not the next gen masterpiece that is was hyped as.
COD4 of course is awesome, its mixture of adrenalin pumping action and set pieces is stunning.
AC is a bit more relaxing really, though I dont think the climbing about is as good as the super hero feel of Crackdown
Anyway here is a view out over Damascus. Clearly youtube, mobile and compression does not d oit justice, but it was a memorable moment as you ride your horse through canyons and emerge at the first major city. Seemed to take 2 hours to get to this point with a lot of "story" and "training", still good though.
I am about to dash off back to my hometown to visit my Dad (who is having an operation today), My 93 year old Grandad, who recently ended up in hospital, which led to my Nanny having to be moved to a care home, where she fell out of bed and bashed her face leading to here being in Hospital. On top of that predlet1.0 had one heck of a fever at the weekend which meant we had to go to the out of hours doctors. In trying to find a chemist on a Sunday Mrs Epred ended up in Boots in a shopping centre where she was verbally abused by someone who was clearly not totally stable.
The shop was unable to call any security, "they dont work Sundays". Grrrrrr
Still, on the plus side (which is not that good a plus) Call of Duty 4 on the 360 proved to be awesome, though I have only played a few hours. Its all too hectic to shozu flickr and youtube. Then yesterday Assassins Creed arrived, which I got for the PS3, yes its on the 360, but I felt I needed at least one decent game to keep me interested in the PS3. Creed is graphically very good, gameplay is a little same-y. Its certainly not the next gen masterpiece that is was hyped as.
COD4 of course is awesome, its mixture of adrenalin pumping action and set pieces is stunning.
AC is a bit more relaxing really, though I dont think the climbing about is as good as the super hero feel of Crackdown
Anyway here is a view out over Damascus. Clearly youtube, mobile and compression does not d oit justice, but it was a memorable moment as you ride your horse through canyons and emerge at the first major city. Seemed to take 2 hours to get to this point with a lot of "story" and "training", still good though.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
AVP2PS3PSP
The PSP streaming the Alien Vs Predator 2 movie trailer from the PS3 over an internet connection, using the new patch that lets the PSP turn the PS3 on remotely anywhere in the world.
All we need now is PS3 Home to be enabled to run over remote play
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Peter Serafinowicz I think this is funny
The BBC Peter Serafinowicz show is quite an odd combination of impressions and sketches. He does impressions, but fairly charicature ones. I loved this deniro one.
Tonight he did one with Brando, but as jabba the hut
Tonight he did one with Brando, but as jabba the hut
Monday, November 05, 2007
These metaverses are not an age related thing
A trend that Roo and I have noticed in conversations about all things virtual world/metaverse and Web 2.0 is someone will try and compartmentalize into age ranges. Metaverses are only for the kids who are used to video games. We also had the recent discussions on blogging and age. Kids blog older people dont/wont/cant.
I think now we have hit the conceptual age, rather than the information age, it is no longer anything to do with an individuals phycial years on the planet.
In metaverses we see older people saying "this is what the internet was supposed to be". We see people who have never played a game entering into a 3d environment and moving around. Initially not as quickly as a PS3/Xbox player, but they get it quite quickly.
Age is not the issue, it really is state of mind. You want to share things, share them, blogging is not technically hard, facebook does not need an instruction manual. Flickr needs you to operate a camera, not worry about a computer.
All these things free people to be creative and concetrate on the content. It is true that the older you get the more stuck in your ways you may get, but equally it is when you are after more quality in your life, when you are younger you just will try anything, maybe not stick with it for life, but learn patterns that can be applied anywhere.
So the technology is not an age barrier thing, its a mental state of mind and attitude to things that people often will retreat into the stereotypes of comfort.
Just a thought, but one backed up with a lot of anecodotal evidence, people who Do Web 2 tend to have the same sort of mindset and willingess to share. Some may be sharing wisdom, others ego. Either way its not a young thing/old thing/male thing/female thing etc..... Its different types of people respond to different things.
I think now we have hit the conceptual age, rather than the information age, it is no longer anything to do with an individuals phycial years on the planet.
In metaverses we see older people saying "this is what the internet was supposed to be". We see people who have never played a game entering into a 3d environment and moving around. Initially not as quickly as a PS3/Xbox player, but they get it quite quickly.
Age is not the issue, it really is state of mind. You want to share things, share them, blogging is not technically hard, facebook does not need an instruction manual. Flickr needs you to operate a camera, not worry about a computer.
All these things free people to be creative and concetrate on the content. It is true that the older you get the more stuck in your ways you may get, but equally it is when you are after more quality in your life, when you are younger you just will try anything, maybe not stick with it for life, but learn patterns that can be applied anywhere.
So the technology is not an age barrier thing, its a mental state of mind and attitude to things that people often will retreat into the stereotypes of comfort.
Just a thought, but one backed up with a lot of anecodotal evidence, people who Do Web 2 tend to have the same sort of mindset and willingess to share. Some may be sharing wisdom, others ego. Either way its not a young thing/old thing/male thing/female thing etc..... Its different types of people respond to different things.
Friday, November 02, 2007
Armstrong and Miller RAF goes street and all that
I found this really funny, its a build on Catherine Tate's am I bovvered
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Lunch - Roast Black Bass with chestnuts
My awesome lunch I treated myself too here in Lisbon. After the food poisoning in London with the chicken at the noodle bar I coudl nto resist this.
It was, needless to say, delicious
Lunch - Roast Black Bass with chestnuts
My awesome lunch I treated myself too here in Lisbon. After the food poisoning in London with the chicken at the noodle bar I coudl nto resist this.
It was, needless to say, delicious
Friday, October 26, 2007
hand-waving at VWFE
Roo took this great action photo, I tend to be quite animated. I am not usually sitting down to talk to a large audience, but the VFW 07 panel I was on I had to ;-)
We have not worked out who is blogging what on eightbar yet, and have another few days of handwaving passionat evangelizing to do in Lisbon next week at an IBM analysts meeting.
interaction gone mad
Whilst staying over in london for the virtual worlds forum europe I noticed this mad sign on the mini bar in the room. I think thats using the interactive label a little too oddly for my liking.
Still..... I took a photo and now have a radisson logo on the blog so maybe its geek based marketing?
Monday, October 22, 2007
The conceptual age is here - eightbar is living proof
Up until the other week I used a term called web 2 thinking, or open source thinking to try and engender the change in attitude that we are seeing and the cultural shift in both working practices, organization and attitude.
Since hearing our very own Sandy Kearney speak at VW 07 I now have picked up on a much better word and idea. The Conceptual Age. This piece of thinking seems to fit right in with both what is happening, what I see might happen in the future and, looking back, some of the personal experiences and changes I have felt.
Personally I think I groked conceptual age withing a few seconds, as it mapped to so many things. However I will try and explain it in very quick friday terms.
We have moved from agriculture, to industrial and then to information ages. In each step it had required a change in what is considered normal, in the tools and techniques required to deal with that change. Business and social changes have been massive.The information age is identifiable by the massive use of compute power, of logical, left brain thinking. Gather, analyze, mechanize etc. This however has not proved enough for us as humans. We have had to find and build on this to get a creative outlet, to spend time cultivating relationships and to having to come to understand good design. We have been in a transition to this conceptual age, where design and creativity matter as much as logic and information. The web started it really, combined with 'designer' products and the need for people to augment their experiences in real life with brands.
Now we are seeing this as the differentiator for business. We talk about innovation that matters, and indeed we do it. That is not about cranking out code, that is not about the digital equivalent of a factory line. That is about people, about empathy and about appealing to the higher order of things in peoples lives than just pure money.Idealistic? yes. thats the point.
I realized a good few years ago that whilst I was a programmer my love of creating code was not the logic and order, but the creativity and gut feel that can be applied. Once I realized that i was able to let go of the pure logic, not try and be spock. I learned that sometimes I coudl be Left brain, but I tended to be right brain as well and see all sorts of other patterns.Its these patterns, threads etc that I saw, felt, touched with the whole metaverse/secondlife/virtual worlds buzz. It was these that worked in my head. A mixture of logic AND gut feel.
All this sort of thing is described in this book, which of course I have not read all of !
It does not mean solely right brain wacky creativity, nor solely left brain nuts and bolts. It does mean that we have to think about things in a different way, use our full human make up to get things done.
It struck me that the entire measurement culture, target based approach is still very information age. To a hard nosed pure left brain attitude that is clearly the only way forward, logic dictates if you set this target and make it then things will be great. Well..... I dont think so.Whilst we have all been asked to think out of the box, the box has gone and moved.
I can see this concept of the conceptual age (see a nice self reference) will be winding its way into my vocabulary and presentations. I will write some more, and give more anecdotal stories, but the story of eightbar does appear to be the power of the conceptual age come to life.Enjoy
Saturday, October 20, 2007
halloween predlet1.0
Just to add to the madness of virtual and real life we went to fancy dress shop to equip predlet1.0 with a vampire costume.
The weird things was it was absolutely not weird.
The costume shop was full of wings, attachments, makeup, tattoos and flexi dresses.
Where on earth have I come across that before.
The only thing missing was a salsa dancing pose ball
predlet2.0 fire punch
You predlet 2.0 appears to be taking the virtual power of fighting games, dragon punches, fireballs etc and rendering them in the real life. :-)
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
A convincing argument on our future?
Nick Wilson twittered this recently, so I took a look. I started to expect a spoof, but it is not. I started to think yes but, in order to pick some holes. The guy has done the thing I like to do, select the extremes and see where it takes you. I found this very thought provoking, see what you think its only a few minutes
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Project Gotham 4 - Tis good
I have beenn playing the gotham games since they were metropolis street racer on the dream cast. They thrive on teh fact that they are about style, aswell as speed. The Kudos system and chaining mad slides and drifts together make for a very entertaining style of driving game. Now PGR4 is here, more of the same, but better on the 360.
Now there are also bikes, and you have even more style options such as this wave tot hte crowd.
Even stationaru things look pretty good
They have also mixed in the old and the new. I got to drive this around the old Nurbergring in this old maserati in the snow. A fantastic experience for a driving game
Things like weather effects are quite important to the atmosphere, puddles of standing water feel rock solid as you hit them and get a rumble pack jolt.
The music is pretty cool too, I enjoyed razzing around in a scooby with Ruby by the Kaiser chiefs, and Our velocity by Maximo Park blasting out.
Some of the car damage is also quite subtle, look at the scratches on the side of this one
So yes Halo is good, but so is this :-) I need to play online now I have a few miles under my sparco belt, but no reason to think it will be a bad experience :-)
Subtle little extras I have seen, Geometry Wars in the garage again, a new wave based version. Also you can upload shots to share with people. If you wander around your garage the walls will get populated randomly with other peoples photos of car incidents. You can walk up to them and vote on them. Nice touch for serendity and Web 2.0 there.
Now there are also bikes, and you have even more style options such as this wave tot hte crowd.
Even stationaru things look pretty good
They have also mixed in the old and the new. I got to drive this around the old Nurbergring in this old maserati in the snow. A fantastic experience for a driving game
Things like weather effects are quite important to the atmosphere, puddles of standing water feel rock solid as you hit them and get a rumble pack jolt.
The music is pretty cool too, I enjoyed razzing around in a scooby with Ruby by the Kaiser chiefs, and Our velocity by Maximo Park blasting out.
Some of the car damage is also quite subtle, look at the scratches on the side of this one
So yes Halo is good, but so is this :-) I need to play online now I have a few miles under my sparco belt, but no reason to think it will be a bad experience :-)
Subtle little extras I have seen, Geometry Wars in the garage again, a new wave based version. Also you can upload shots to share with people. If you wander around your garage the walls will get populated randomly with other peoples photos of car incidents. You can walk up to them and vote on them. Nice touch for serendity and Web 2.0 there.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Virtual Worlds 2007 conference San Jose
The virtual worlds 2007 conference in San Jose ran teh last two days, I was lucky enough to be able to attend and also to speak on a panel session.
There was so much excitement and buzz I need to sit and think what to write about, probably do that over on eightbar.
The cool thing, as per usual, was ,meeting people I already know, know of or who know of me. The metarati were in full attendance, and as the place got derezzed around us we still gathered for lose last morcels of real life interaction.
I captured a bit of ad hoc spur of the moment video and Eric Rice, being media savvy, did an impromptu piece to camera. It was a cool ending to a cool show. Next stop London for the VW europe, more of the same but on my turf this time.
So hi everyone, it was great to meet/slmeet/remeet you all, lets take this industry and make it massive.
There was so much excitement and buzz I need to sit and think what to write about, probably do that over on eightbar.
The cool thing, as per usual, was ,meeting people I already know, know of or who know of me. The metarati were in full attendance, and as the place got derezzed around us we still gathered for lose last morcels of real life interaction.
I captured a bit of ad hoc spur of the moment video and Eric Rice, being media savvy, did an impromptu piece to camera. It was a cool ending to a cool show. Next stop London for the VW europe, more of the same but on my turf this time.
So hi everyone, it was great to meet/slmeet/remeet you all, lets take this industry and make it massive.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Funny lines in not going out
The not going out show on BBC has some fanstastic lines, wit and sarcasm. It appears up front to be a bad sitcom, but it really is funny.
Lee Mack tends to get the best lines as its his show really but the other do get some nice builds.
last night's episode featured Lee who lives in a posh London flat but is from up north and sells ice creams from a van for a living saying "I can sell snow to eskimos... well ice creams to hoodies its the same thing"
The show is peppered with clever one liners, and misunderstandings. It loks liek it should not work, but it does.
Being the beeb it will be repeated lots, and the first series was funny too :-)
This is from season 1, or the 1st series as we say here in the uk
Lee Mack tends to get the best lines as its his show really but the other do get some nice builds.
last night's episode featured Lee who lives in a posh London flat but is from up north and sells ice creams from a van for a living saying "I can sell snow to eskimos... well ice creams to hoodies its the same thing"
The show is peppered with clever one liners, and misunderstandings. It loks liek it should not work, but it does.
Being the beeb it will be repeated lots, and the first series was funny too :-)
This is from season 1, or the 1st series as we say here in the uk
Friday, October 05, 2007
Waterfalls, Rocks, Halo3 and Roovatar
Having made a nice waterfall in Torque it was a bit mad that I ended up in Halo 3 by a waterfall of similar dimensions
Also in Halo3 is a very creative user creation scheme called Forge. You can actually edit the maps and the engine whilst a fast pace game is going on. One of the options is to let people see you, as a small bot, creating and placing things whilst the action goes on.
Just in single player this lets you get the right tools in the right place so that you can explore the replay mode and capture moments.
So forge and theater together make for a stunning set creation and playback faciltity.
The waterfall in the torque internal metaverse (which I am experiementing with) got enhanced by the addition of a cool rolling rock. This was tryging to see how far the base physics goes in Torque.
and finally there was the slightly odd look I managed to give Roo and his Roovatar when an experiment crossing him with penguin went a bit odd.
It did prove the tool chain though :-)
This video also made a cool association between Roo, Metaverse and Brian Eno and Will Wright and Spore :-) its sort of networking by proxy
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Internet People - Awesome geek fest
Thanks pranab for twittering this. It is amazing how many of those references I just nodded and said oh yes to :-)
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Guitar Hero on tv
This weekend guitar hero appeared in 2 of my favourite programmes on the box
The first was the excellant IT Crowd, a work of genius from Graham Linehan the creator of father Ted.
The second was a little spot on charlie brookers Screenwipe. He has been at this for a while and whilst he is not TV based he was one of the original blogger commentators back in 1999 with TVGOHome
The still shows a guitar on the sofa :-)
This episode is, like all them them very funny. There are a few parts you will have to go to youtube and find the next parts if you like his style.
The first was the excellant IT Crowd, a work of genius from Graham Linehan the creator of father Ted.
The second was a little spot on charlie brookers Screenwipe. He has been at this for a while and whilst he is not TV based he was one of the original blogger commentators back in 1999 with TVGOHome
The still shows a guitar on the sofa :-)
This episode is, like all them them very funny. There are a few parts you will have to go to youtube and find the next parts if you like his style.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Living the life
We popped down to hill head on a family trip today. It may not be glamorous but this is UK charm for those of you in other parts of the world. Check out the beach huts. The view shows the isle of wight, in cae you are wondering why we are so close to land.
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