So Long To 2013

The year 2013 has been a pretty good year. I started the year writing about winter driving and linked to a video of winter driving accidents. It was one of my most popular posts for some reason. Then in February, the PlayStation 4 announcement was made. It would be a topic for many blog entries throughout the year.

March saw me venting about poorly manufactured Chinese goods. That is something that continues to plague us all. Unfortunately I don't think it is something that will be going away any time soon. It is too bad that we can't come up with an easier way to manufacture goods in the United States for less money.

Summer was busy and I was able to experience a nice vacation from technology. It happened not only once, but twice, thanks to a lengthy backpacking trip in the New Mexico mountains. It was nice at the time, but after spending my Christmas break working on cars, I'm glad I have chosen computers as my primary vocation. Automotive repair is fun for a limited amount of time, but it is now really starting to get on my nerves.

August saw me revising my computer recommendation for kids heading out to college.  While I used to be a fan of Apple laptops, I now prefer a Sony laptop running Windows that either dual boots to Linux or runs a Linux virtual machine (VM). Hopefully Apple can stop their downhill slide with respect to quality.

This past fall I found myself having to recover a PostgreSQL database which was a first for me. It took all night but I learned a lot. PostgreSQL is a great database that needs a minimum amount of administration and it took a severe hardware failure to cause the problem.

November found me pointing out the epic fail that is Obamacare. Interestingly enough, I found myself riding the chairlift yesterday with a hospital administrator from Texas. I asked him what he thinks of Obamacare and he doesn't really know. One thing he has seen though is a number of private physicians choosing to work for larger hospital chains so they don't have to worry about billing and collections. His thought is that we will see more consolidation in the medical care industry. Oh great! Soon going to the doctor's office is going to be like shopping at Walmart. The exclamation point is my way of expressing sarcasm.

I have spent most of my December playing video games and going skiing. I also had time to write a lot of blog entries as I try to keep the same number as I have for past years. Why 71? That's how it worked out the first year and I figure it is a nice number for a goal.

Time for Another PS4 Game

My boys have really enjoyed playing Knack on the PlayStation 4 over the Christmas break. My youngest son completed the game towards the beginning of December and my oldest son finished the game on Saturday. They both loved the game even though it didn't get very good reviews. Now it is time to find another game on the PS4 for them to play.

I came home from skiing today and my oldest son was playing an old version of Need For Speed: Most Wanted on the PS3. He wasn't playing the PS3 version of the game though, he was playing the PS2 version. He says that the PS2 version has a much better story line . . . and the PS3 version is at his apartment at school. Driveclub should be available in early 2014 and I will be interested to see if he is interested in it as much as Need for Speed. I should also pick up Need For Speed: Rivals and see how he likes it.

My youngest son is a fan of the inFAMOUS series of games on the PS3 and is looking forward to inFAMOUS: Second Son. Unfortunately it won't be available until March 21st, 2014. That is a long time to wait for a game. Until then, he will have to satisfy himself with Battlefield 4 or Killzone: Shadow Fall.

As for me, I continue to enjoy playing Super Motherload. I have it for both the PS4 and the PS3 and have been playing it on my PS3 in the bedroom. Unfortunately my wife thinks it is an incredibly boring game to watch and so I have to wait until she is busy doing something else before I can play it.

The Holiday season is one of the few times we all get to hang out playing games. Once the new year begins, we only have time for one recreational pursuit and that becomes skiing until the snow melts. Luckily we have until January 6th before school and work start up again. Until then, I'll see how much more time I can spend on video games.

The Right Tool

This morning I took my son to Snowbird and we arrived at 6:45 am. He is on the ski team and has early morning training all of this week and the next. That means he gets to race down the mountain 2 hours before the general public is even allowed to load the lifts. In the past I have just gone to sleep in the car. One of my Christmas gifts was a set of climbing skins to go with my super fat powder skis that also have backcountry bindings. So instead of sleeping in the car, I got out of the car and hiked up the mountain. It has been difficult hiking in the past because I have had to carry my skis and hike in my hard-plastic ski boots. Having the right equipment makes things so much easier.

As I have had a lot of time off because of the Christmas break, I have also been working with my oldest son to fix his car. He is driving a 1996 Jeep Cherokee that keeps misfiring. This problem was occurring when we purchased the vehicle and the dealership that sold it to us was trying to narrow down the problem before we took over. They replaced the spark plugs and distributor cap. They also gave us a fuel filter that we had to install. We also replaced the fuel injectors thanks to a local salvage yard. While things keep getting better, we are still not solving the problem completely. I have narrowed it down to 2 possible problems: The fuel pump or a broken valve spring. Unfortunately I don't have the tools to figure out either one. So this afternoon, I will head to my local auto parts store and borrow a fuel pressure gauge and a compression test gauge. Both are necessary to further diagnose the problem. Having the right tool is very important for me to finish this job.

Computers, tablet computers, and smart phones are another area where it is important to have the right tool. While you can edit an electronic photo with a paint program, it is significantly easier with a photo editing program like Adobe's Photoshop or the open source program GIMP. So if you find yourself taking a lot of time to do something on your computer, tablet, or phone, you might not be using the right tool. Chances are, there's an app for that.

Merry Christmas

This has been a pretty good Christmas for me. When I was a kid, that meant I got lots of gifts that I wanted. Now that I am older it has a completely different meaning. So many adults dread the Christmas season and actually become depressed. Not me. I love this season. Some of it has to do with being able to really start skiing again. Most of it has to do with spending time with family and close friends.

Last night I had a good friend drop by and let us share our Christmas Eve feast with him. Unfortunately he is divorced and Mom had the kids last night while he has them today. His plan was to go hang out at a cabin in the mountains alone. I am glad he stopped by and spent a little time with us. He greatly added to our evening.

This morning my wife and I were awoken by our youngest daughter giving us a call. She is in North Carolina and was unable to come home for the Holidays. It was great to be able to talk with her for a bit. We then talked with her for about an hour just before noon. The conversation wasn't expensive but was one of our most cherished gifts this year.

I managed to get a few things that I really wanted and one of those gifts was a remote control helicopter. It wasn't anything expensive nor was it very fancy. My older son also got one. Both gifts were from my youngest son and the three of us had a great morning flying them around the house. Sure there were a lot of crashes and we kept having to dig behind the couches to recover them and get them flying again. It was a lot of fun and time well spent with my boys.

Yes it has been a great Christmas day. Very little of it has to do with the material things of the world though. All of it has to do with time spent with family and close friends. I hope you had a Merry Christmas as well.

Android Keeps Me More In Touch

I always thought that having to carry 2 mobile phones was going to be awful but I am enjoying being able to compare and contrast Android with iOS. Over the past couple of days I have felt more in touch with work because of my Android phone.

Last night I spent the day working while my wife took my son to a ski race in Park City. She knew it was going to kill her entire day and so I thought I would make it up to her by taking care of dinner. My intention was to get a pizza but time got away from me. Instead of leaving my wife to whip something up, I took everyone out to a restaurant.

We had to be quick about dinner because I only had an hour before an evening conference call with co-workers in Japan. We got to the restaurant and I was able to see a string of e-mails related to the meeting which eventually got cancelled due to problems in Tokyo. While I have the ability to read work e-mail on my iPhone, the larger Android display makes reading e-mail much easier. That means I read my work e-mail more often and am always in touch. This can be a blessing and a curse.

Blazing Angels 2

My two favorite types of video games are first person shooters and driving games. I have never really gotten the chance to play any flight simulators until I was given Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of WWII a couple of weeks ago. Battlefield 3 has a great air combat group of missions and I enjoyed them a lot. In fact, they are my favorite part of the game so I was looking forward to Blazing Angels 2.

The problem I have had with flight simulator games is that they can be difficult to learn. Blazing Angels 2 is not. It has a very simple set of controls and is easy to pick up. You start the game by doing a number of tricks. They vary from flying through hoops suspended by balloons to skimming over the roofs of buildings. The trick that I liked best and saved for last was skimming over the water and under a bridge.

Once you get the hang of flying a World War II era plane, you go back in time and fight battles from that conflict. I have only been through a couple of the missions but they are a lot of fun. I have the game set on the easiest level of difficulty and it is still non-trivial to shoot down other planes. That adds to the appeal of the game. I look forward to getting better as it might help me with some of the other video games I am playing.

One of the nice things about the new generation of consoles is that there are a large number of games available for the old ones. This means there are some great deals to be had on older games and now is the time to stock up on games that used to run $60. If you are lucky, you can find them for $10. Blazing Angels 2 is one such game if you can find someone that has it. It is well worth it and highly recommended.

Singularity

One thing about being home during the Christmas season is that I get the chance to play more video games. This week I had some extra time while my wife was busy working on Christmas gifts and my son was doing homework. I looked at a stack of games I had been given and pulled out Singularity for the PlayStation 3 (it is also available for the PC and XBox 360).

My original intention was to play for just a bit to see if I liked the game and then move onto another game. I figured I would then give away the games I didn't like and go back to play the ones I did. Singularity was actually pretty good and I kept playing for quite a while.

Singularity is a first-person shooter (FPS) combined with some puzzle elements. It is the puzzle that kept me playing the game. A lot of FPS games are just running around killing things and it gets old quickly. With Singularity your helicopter is brought down by an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) and you are alone on an island that was once part of the Soviet Union. You do some exploring and find weapons along the way. Then you discover the former inhabitants of the island never really left, they turned into superhuman zombies (think "I am Legend" instead of slow-moving brain-dead ones).

I would have continued playing the game all night but my wife came and got me to go Christmas shopping. I am reluctant to get back into the game because it is rather addicting and I want a large chunk of time.

Android Phone vs iPhone

I have been carrying both an Android phone and my iPhone 5 for a week now and I have to say it is kind of a pain having 2 phones. I am constantly afraid I am going to leave my Android phone somewhere because I don't have a dedicated carrying case for it yet. To be honest, I am afraid to get a case because then I will have 2 phone cases on my belt and will look like an uber-nerd. Well we may be past that point right now.

My first week has taught me a lot. My Android phone is significantly larger (5.70 x 2.79 inches) than my iPhone (4.90 x 2.33 inches). That has its advantages and disadvantages. Some long-time iPhone users think the Android phone is too big while others are tired of the iPhone's size and want a bigger screen. I actually prefer to read my e-mail on the Anroid phone, something I rarely do on my iPhone. It sure is tough to put in my pocket though.

I have always said that the user interface for Android is not quite done. I still believe that to be true. There are also a lot more "hidden" or non-intuitive elements with Android. The funny thing is that in learning about Android, I am also learning more about iOS as there are things it does now that I have never thought about.

It has only been a week with my Android phone and so I am still more comfortable with my iPhone. However I am liking some of the Android features more and more each day. I'll try to remember to provide more feedback after the new year. Perhaps I might be a bit less biased and be able to give an objective comparison of both phones.

My First Android Phone

I have never been a fan of carrying around 2 mobile phones. I often comment to people I see on planes that their life must suck if they have to carry around 2 phones. Most people laugh and agree that it is a pain. Today I joined them, so my life must suck too.

The reason for my second phone has to do with a new project that I am working on. It also gives me a phone that is paid for by my company and so I don't have to worry about expensing anything when I use it on one of my frequent trips to Japan. That will be nice. The only downside is that I have never used an Android phone. My only smartphone has been an iPhone. While I do have a lot of experience with Android on tablets, this is the first time with a phone and it is a bit different.

The nice thing about the iPhone is that it is very intuitive to use. My Android phone is doing all sorts of things and making noise all the time. Every time I get an e-mail, it beeps. Several minutes before a meeting, it beeps. When I get a text, it beeps. I had to turn off the sound during one meeting because the phone kept beeping and interrupting things. I'm sure I will figure out all of these little nuances with the new device. Until then, it is going to be interesting learning about this new phone.

Thoughts on Working in the Video Game Industry

Before working in the video game industry, I always thought it would be a lot of fun. Now that I have been working here since around 2006, I can confirm it is a lot of fun, but it also has some unique challenges. Anyone wishing to have a career in the video game industry should be well aware of these challenges.

It has always been difficult to break into the video game industry and I didn't think that was very fair. Now I know why though. There is a lot of turnover here and so the high barrier to entry serves as a form of job security to those already in the industry. Without it, job security wouldn't exist. We have had a lot of people leave our division only to return after a year or so. This is because games fail or are not successful enough for a sequel. At that point, the game studio tries to absorb some of the team into another group, but more often than not, lets the whole team go. Everyone scrambles around to the various companies in the industry looking for a new project. Often that means going back to a previous employer.

Over the past month, we have had a fair number of former coworkers return. It is good to see friends come back even if they are now in different departments. This is a stark contrast to working at companies like Oracle where people stick around for decades. So if you want to join the video game industry because you think it means job security, I would rethink your decision. If you want to join because you tire of projects easily and don't mind jumping from one to another, then this is the industry for you.

It's Cold Outside

The weather forecast is for incredibly cold temperatures in the West. My boat that I am staying on during the week is in San Mateo, California and the low this morning was right around 34 degrees Fahrenheit. The high at Snowbird where my wife and son skied this afternoon was 3. Those are insanely cold temperatures.

I ran the heater all night and snuggled up underneath my electric blanket. I stayed warm but didn't want to get out of bed this morning. My boat was a frigid 53 degrees Fahrenheit when I woke up. I hung out for an hour under my covers until I had to get out of bed and start getting ready for work. I was glad the shower was extra warm.

It looks like it is going to be very cold for the next couple of weeks. Given that information, I would like to amend my Christmas list from earlier in the week. This year, I want a second heater for my boat. Not just a simple inexpensive one. One that has a digital temperature control. I wonder if Santa would deliver it before Christmas?

2013 Christmas List

It is the beginning of December and so I thought I would be a bit earlier than last year and put together my annual Christmas list. The idea is to give you an idea of what I would want for myself in the hopes that it gives you an idea for others on your shopping list this year.

Unfortunately computer and electronic gadgets have a tendency to be rather expensive. I try to include one or two low-cost items for that child that wants to get their parent something special. I will start low and then get more expensive. Hopefully there is something that fits everyone's budget.

Older Video Games - With the release of the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, we are about to see a decline in the previous generation consoles. Fortunately those older systems still have a lot of life in them and you can find a number of older games for a really good price. This one requires a bit of searching on your part though. You will need to find what games are wanted but haven't been played yet. When I was at Best Buy over the weekend, there were a number of really great games for $19.95 or less. A good starting point is to figure out the genre: racing games, first person shooters, sports games, puzzles, etc. Then do an Internet search for popular games and read the reviews and you should be able to find something that will be enjoyed.

A Remote Control Helicopter - This was on my list last year and I still want one. My oldest son had one and had a great time with it until his roommate crashed and destroyed it. You can pick up a number of inexpensive models including the more powerful quadcopters.

Rocksmith - A few years ago, my wife picked me up a left-handed acoustic guitar. I played that thing every night for several months but became discouraged at my lack of progress. Taking a cue from the success of Guitar Hero, Ubisoft created a similar video game that actually teaches you how to play a real guitar.  I mentioned this to my wife, but she got angry because she thinks I also want a new electric guitar. If you already have an acoustic guitar, all you need is an electronic pickup, which is really inexpensive and allows you to use your existing instrument with the game.

Bluetooth Speakers - I have some really nice over-the-ear headphones (which are also a really good Christmas-list idea) but sometimes I want to share my music. A nice bluetooth speaker would make a nice addition to my music hardware.

A New Monitor - This is not a gift I need at home as I have a couple of really nice monitors already. This is something I need at work. In the office, I have 4 monitors on my desk and they are all rather old. It would be nice to replace them all with a set of 24-inch matching monitors running at 1920x1080 resolution.

A New Tablet Computer - Not all tablets are created equal and my favorite one on the market now is the Xperia Z from Sony. Why do I like it so much? It is waterproof (they claim water resistant up to 3 feet for 30 minutes). This is one that you can take with you while you read in your hot tub. Should it accidentally fall in, no worries.

Non-Computer Gifts
This year I thought I would introduce some new gift ideas. I spend most days in front of a computer and this year I find myself looking at other ideas. At the end of the day, the last thing I want to do is spend more time with computer equipment. I have some other hobbies I would like to pursue. Perhaps you have someone in your life like me and so here are some other ideas.

Ratcheting Box Wrenches  - I have been working on cars a lot lately. These in both Metric and SAE sizes would be greatly appreciated. Sears also has a nice set of Craftsman that are a bit more expensive, but have a better warranty.

Wire Arc Welder - I really want a MIG or TIG welder, but they are much more expensive. However I have not done any welding for the past 30 years as my only real experience was a shop class back in junior high. An inexpensive wire welder would give me the chance to learn how to weld using cheap scrap metal before I discover I have no talent at it. With all the work I am doing on cars lately, this may be a skill I need in the near future.

Previous Years
In compiling this list, I made sure to go through my previous Christmas lists and there are a number of gifts that are still valid.

2010     2011     2012

Now all I need to do is send an e-mail to my wife so she knows what I want this year. I found out over the weekend that she doesn't really know. This is a good start.

Knack on the PS4

One of the games I recently picked up for the PS4 is Knack. It was developed by the main architect of the PS4 and serves to showcase some of the things you can do with the new console. Unfortunately it has gotten a number of bad reviews as a game. Some say it is a kids game but too difficult for kids to play. Others describe it as tedious.

I have been watching my 17-year-old son play it over the past couple of days and think it is a great game. Yes, the animation is cartoonish and the game seems to keep going and going, but I don't see either of those as negative. I like the artwork as it helps with the escape from reality. I also like that the game isn't over in 2 hours. Unlike most game reviewers who get their games for free, when you pay $65 for a game, you want it to last. Perhaps that is why a lot of gamers disagree with the critics about Knack.

My son is out of school for the Thanksgiving holiday and immediately headed to play Knack after a morning of skiing. When I told him that the game was getting a lot of bad reviews, he couldn't understand why. My son grew up playing Ratchet & Clank but has since grown tired of it. Knack is a great follow-on game for someone a little older. It is definitely worth the price we paid for the game.

Where to Get a PS4 for Christmas

Last night my son wanted to go to Best Buy to do a little Christmas window shopping. I'm not one to pass up the chance to go to the local electronics store and so we made the quick trip. Naturally they were all out of the next-generation game consoles and so I asked when they are getting a new shipment of PS4's. They are getting one today but the store won't put them out until Black Friday. I'm not sure if they will also have XBox One's as I only asked about the PS4. I imagine they will have both machines Friday morning.

Sony has tried to anticipate demand for the PS4 this Christmas season and rumor has it they will be shipping consoles on an almost weekly basis. That means if your favorite store doesn't have a PS4 at the moment, you just need to ask a salesperson when they get their next shipment. Then be sure to be at the store as soon as they restock their shelves.

A lot of my friends know I am in the video game industry and have been asking how to get a PS4 for Christmas and this is the advice I give them. It is just a matter of timing. Chance favors the prepared and so do everything you can to reduce being there at the wrong time.

Broken Electronics

This weeks has been a bad week for electronics in our family. The only problem with owning something is that you get used to it and really hate it when it breaks.

Yesterday I got a call from my son down at college and he was pretty upset. He had been cleaning the screen on his relatively new Sony Xperia Z phone when it cracked right down the middle. When that happens, the touch screen no longer works and the phone is almost useless. He was only able to call me because he has a smart watch linked to his phone and could use the watch to interface with the phone. As long as the number he wants to call is in his phone's address book, he can make calls. He can also receive calls through the watch.

To add insult to injury, the power supply on my son's 40-inch Samsung TV went out on Saturday. There was the Bronco's game on last night that my son's room mates wanted to watch but couldn't because of the broken TV. They were giving him grief over it and my son was pretty bummed. Never mind that the TV was a free gift from someone at work and none of my son's other room mates had a TV.

My wife and I got done consoling my son when my daughter called and complained that her MacBook's charger had died. She is using a room mate's to charge her computer for now. This is the second time her charger has failed.

There are solutions to all of these problems but it is tough to deal with them all at the same time. Furthermore, Three of the major electronics brands are represented in this week's failures. Guess what they all have in common? Every single one of the failed parts was made by the same company in China. We really need to find another source for our electronic products as this is not the first time I have written about Chinese crap failing.

Headed Home

I am at the Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan waiting to board my plane back to the States. It has been a busy and successful trip but I am glad to be headed home. Now if my flight is on time, I might be able to make my connection from Seattle to Salt Lake City.

This morning I checked the Internet to see if my flight was on time and saw a red warning saying it was 45 minutes delayed. I want to know what algorithm Delta Airlines is using to determine my flight is going to be delayed 18 hours before I board it. I spent the day worrying if I was going to make my connection. I got online and mapped out an alternate itinerary so I could make it home without having to overnight somewhere on the West coast. Then I planned to get to the airport early so I could get the airline to change my itinerary.

I had to leave a celebration dinner early so I could have plenty of time to get to the airport only to discover trains were delayed due to an accident. Rather than take a direct train to the airport, I jumped on another one, made a connection, and got to the airport 20 minutes earlier than if I had waited for the direct train. I got up to the ticket agent and discovered my plane was now on time.

This is one of those times where computers actually complicate our lives. I spent the day wondering if I would make it home as scheduled only to discover that the computer was wrong. Every once and a while they need a little human intervention.

Super Motherload on the PS4

Several years ago my son introduced me to an Adobe Flash game called MotherLoad. It was incredibly addicting and so when I saw that one of the PS4 launch titles was Super Motherload, I wanted to see if it was a similar game. It is and so once I was able to log into the PlayStation Network, I used some free credits to pay for the $15 game.

The idea of the game is to dig holes in a 2-dimensional world. There are some simple physics with digging and you use a helicopter rotor to fly out of your holes. As you dig, you mine minerals. Some pay better than others just like in the real world. The deeper you dig, the more expensive the materials you find as well as more dangerous hazards you encounter. The game is a balance of fixing and gassing up your digging machine while earning money.

Super Motherload has a number of differences with the original Flash game. For instance, you can have up to 4 players at the same time. This is a perfect reason to get a second controller for your PS4. As all of you have to stay in the screen at the same time, one player can't head to the surface while the other continues digging. You have to communicate about when you go back for more gas.

I knew I was headed out of town and so I didn't mind that my son wanted to play the game late Saturday evening. We played until well past midnight and had a great time. Having played the original version of the game, we had a pretty sound strategy for getting rich quick. The game is different enough though that we had to adjust our play somewhat. I have to say that the adjustments contributed to the fun.

We have yet to play the game through to the end but I imagine we will have time during the upcoming Thanksgiving break.

Super Motherload is not a triple-A title on the PS4, nor is it priced like one. If you are looking for a simple video game to play on your PS4 with friends and family over the Holiday season, I would consider buying it.

Failed Automobile Safety Inspection

I am in Tokyo, Japan this week for work and so my weekend was busy running around doing all of those tasks necessary to get ready for my trip. My BMW is up for registration renewal and my front tires were in dire need of replacement. I took it to my local tire shop who also happens to do safety and emissions inspections. Normally I avoid shops that do more than just safety and emissions because they have a vested interest in you failing your safety inspection. It allows them to sell more services. As I was already buying new tires, I figured I had a better chance of getting an objective review of my vehicle. Nope, I was told I needed to replace my front brake pads and rotors. Considering my brake pad sensor had yet to tell me I needed new pads, I question the inspection but am forced to replace them.

It surprised the mechanic when I seemed excited to replace my pads and rotors as I have been looking to get slotted and drilled rotors and was just waiting for them to wear out. I also think it surprised him that I don't let anybody do my brakes as I am perfectly capable of doing them myself. Actually anybody who knows how to change a tire can do their own brake jobs. If your warranty is up or doesn't include brake pads, I highly suggest you take a look at an online video or two and give it a shot yourself. My local O'Reilly auto parts store loans me the specialty tool necessary to spread the brake calipers and so the only costs are the rotors, pads, and brake sensor (not all cars need the sensor).

I drove home from the tire store and immediately logged onto my computer. My rear rotors and pads are fine and so I was concerned about having slotted and drilled rotors in the front but not the rear. A quick Internet search revealed that it was fine. All of the auto parts forums also said there was no advantage to slotted and drilled rotors. In fact I am probably going to run through pads and rotors faster. I reluctantly resigned myself to the fact that I should probably replace my rotors with the same type I am taking off. I was sad as I really was looking forward to having high-performance brakes.

I called both O'Reilly and Autozone auto parts stores that are less than a mile from my house to price things out. Then I did a search on the Internet to see if I could get a better price. Guess what? It turns out you can get a kit that contains slotted and drilled rotors, new high-performance brake pads, and the brake sensor for less money than the least expensive OEM rotors and pads (OEM are what originally came on the car). So I bought the kit and made sure it will be delivered before I get back from Japan.

I have had my BMW since I bought it new in November of 2000 and only have 65,000 miles on the car. In fact, this is the first brake job I have ever had to do on it. I'm going to try out the slotted and drilled rotors to see if there is a difference. If they only last half the time as my last ones, then I will go back to OEM parts in 6 years. That is a long time between brake jobs.

Correction

Wouldn't you know it, I was wrong. Yesterday I said that I couldn't log into the PlayStation Network from my new PlayStation 4. While that was correct earlier in the day, I finished my blog entry and gave it one last shot for the day. I was successfully able to log in and download some of the free PS4 launch games. The games are free to all PlayStation Plus members and since there is a free trial that comes with each new PS4, everyone should take advantage of the free games. Our favorite right now is Resogun. It is reminiscent of the old arcade-style games with much better graphics. I'd write more, but my son and I are having too much fun with our new toy.

PS4 First Impressions

The new PlayStation 4 has some impressive features. It also has some problems. Most of the problems I have encountered are software related and so I know they can be fixed with an update. The biggest problem is that there is an update to begin with. I got wind that the update was going to be huge and so I downloaded it to a memory stick yesterday. Then when I turned on my PS4, I held the on button for 7 seconds and listened for a beep. This put the console in safe mode and allowed me to install the update. Then I could begin playing games. Unfortunately the PlayStation Network is so overwhelmed with people logging in and trying to install the almost 1 GB update that I couldn't download any of the new PS4 games and am stuck playing the only game I purchased on disk so far: Killzone Shadow Fall. Don't worry, I ordered a couple of more games this afternoon.

The first thing I noticed was how superior the graphics are over the PS3. Don't get me wrong, the graphics on the PS3 are incredible. The PS4 is just that much better. We are playing both PS4 and PS3 games this evening and so it is easy to notice how much better the PS4 really is. The PS4 games have intricate detail while the PS3 ones looks plastic and fake.

We also tried to watch some movies on the PS4 today with mixed results. DVD's played just fine. Some Blu-ray disks worked without any problems on the PS4 while others didn't. Speed Racer played flawlessly and I felt it looked better on the PS4. Neither Chasing Mavericks nor Avatar would play. As for 3D Blu-rays, I don't think they are supported yet. The only 3D disk I own is Avatar and I was not even given the option of 2D or 3D, just 2D and that didn't work. No worries though as I still have my 2 PS3 units that play them just fine. I have also not been able to get to the PlayStation Store because of connections problems.

I'm sure it will take a bit to get the kinks worked out of the PS4 and so don't feel bad if you have to wait a bit before you can pick one up. I also talked with the folks at my local Gamestop and Best Buy stores this evening. They are both getting more shipments soon and so you should be able to get one before Christmas if that is what your family wants. The trick to finding one will be to ask the store when the next shipment comes in and being their that day. Otherwise you run the risk of someone else getting your console.

The PS4 is Coming

This Friday the PlayStation 4 will be released. I am a PlayStation fan and so it is hard for me to gauge how big this release is going to be. I am wondering if there will be lines around the block Thursday evening with people waiting for units to go on sale at midnight or if nobody will care. I know large number of consoles have been presold before this weekend and Sony believes they are going to sell 5 million units before the end of March. Will that happen or is Sony as overly optimistic as I am?

Smartphones and tablets have changed the gaming industry. Why tether yourself to your TV when you can take a tablet and go anywhere to play games? I work at a video game company, yet I spend a lot of time playing a simple game on my iPhone. Do consoles gaming systems really matter any more?

I will have my new PlayStation 4 on Friday morning and my 17-year-old son has invited a lot of his buddies over that night to play games at our house. We will set up both of our PlayStation 3 consoles in another room to give others a chance to sample our extensive game library and connect the PS4 to our 60-inch flat screen coupled to our THX certified sound system. We will probably crank up the sub woofer so loud we will need to replace windows Saturday morning. I plan to be a fly on the wall Friday night. Only then will I be able to tell if Sony has a success. Stay tuned.

Obamacare's Epic Fail

I flew back to Salt Lake from Oakland on Friday evening and couldn't help but notice all of the TV's showing President Obama apologizing for people losing benefits because of his affordable care act. Imagine that, a politician not realizing the long-term effects of his legislation. It seems that all of the politicians who were in favor of Obamacare never bothered to read the bill and just passed it because of partisan politics. I guess I'll chalk up reading as another thing the politicians running our country don't know how to do.

Right now I work for a company that provides great health benefits and so I am not one of the many Americans that will find himself "taxed" for not having healthcare once Obamacare goes into effect. I am concerned about the computer system that we Americans spent $400 Million to create though. What did we get for that price tag? A "clunky" system built by Canadians using 10-year-old technology. Now I have nothing against Canada or its citizens. Some of my best friends are technical geniuses and come from our neighbor to the North. They just happen to live in Silicon Valley now and that is where our government should have gone to build our nation's healthcare website.

If you look at the population of the United States, there are currently around 321 Million Americans. If you look at how much traffic popular massive multi-player online (MMO) video games process, it is in the billions of transactions per day. That means that any number of video game companies could build a website to meet the demands of every man, woman, and child pressing the "submit" button within an 8-hour window and still have enough processing power to kill a few monsters. Furthermore these same video game companies could build the entire system for around $10 Million. I think there are a large number of other companies outside the video game industry that could also have solved this problem. How many people do you think visit Google or Yahoo on a daily basis?

Kathleen Sebelius is the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human services and has gone on the record as saying that she is the responsible party for the Obamacare website's dismal failure. If that is the case, why is she still employed?

Printed vs. Online Catalogs

I got a nice 4x4 catalog in the mail today. Normally I would just toss it but today was different. I spent a good part of my morning replacing the starter in the Jeep Cherokee that my oldest son drives. It was a fairly simple and painless task. More importantly, we both felt a huge sense of accomplishment once we were done and the vehicle started right up. After working on the Jeep, it was kind of fun to sit on the couch and just look through the catalog seeing what modifications we can make.

This got me thinking about paper or printed catalogs vs. online shopping sites. The last thing I wanted to do this afternoon was to log onto my computer and browse 4x4 websites. Sitting on the couch doing basically the same thing seemed like an excellent idea though. I had 10 minutes while I was waiting for something and reading the catalog was fun. Ok, I didn't really read the catalog, I just looked at the pictures and pointed out things to my wife that I might want for Christmas.

My 10 minutes with the catalog were up and it was time to head off to my next task for the day and I tossed the catalog in the recycling bin. Why? Well the store that sent me the catalog has an online store. They also have a physical store here in Salt Lake as well as in other cities across the country. If I know what I want to buy, I will just go to the website and order it. If I need something immediately, I will just go to the store and pick it up.

So the question that needs to be answered is if the printed catalog was useful? Yes it was. I now know what products are offered as well as the relative price. Without the paper catalog I would never have known I could get a simple product that turns my trailer hitch into a useful step. Now that is a sweet stocking stuffer. Oh yea, Christmas is coming so be prepared for the annual deluge of paper shopping catalogs.

Sexy Pictures

Last night the local CBS news station ran a story about a girl who took a sexy picture of herself and sent it to a potential boyfriend. Unfortunately things did not work out for this couple and the guy posted the racy photo on a revenge website. Now the girl is afraid of what this is going to do to her online reputation.

If there is one thing that celebrities have taught us it is that embarrassing photos almost always seem to show up on the Internet somewhere. All it takes is a little time. Therefore the best way to make sure sexy pictures of yourself never end up on the Internet is to make sure none get taken. It seems like simple enough advice, but not everyone is listening.

I feel bad for the poor girl in the story and hope that my little posting saves some other innocent person from a similar mistake. Even though you don't plan anyone else to see electronic photos, they have a way of getting online and hurting your important online reputation.

Free Airport WiFi

Last night I was in the Delta terminal 2 at JFK trying to read my e-mail. The airports I visit most frequently have free WiFi. All I have to do is turn on my computer, pull up a browser, confirm I am willing to abide by their use policy, and I have Internet access. In Salt Lake there are no strings attached. In Oakland, I generally have to watch a 30-second video advertisement. That one video gives me 30 minutes of use. If I need more, I just watch another ad. You can imagine my surprise when New York's largest airport didn't have free WiFi.

All I had to do was go onto my phone and I could read my e-mail. While the process is painless to get my e-mail, I prefer the full-size keyboard on my laptop. Fortunately I only had to respond to one or two e-mails before catching my flight and none of my messages needed to be very large.

Here is a list of airports that I have personally visited and know have free WiFi:

• Haneda, Japan
• LAX - Los Angeles, CA, USA
• OAK - Oakland, CA, USA
• SLC - Salt Lake City, UT, USA

The list is small right now, so I will have to continue to update it as I fly. Hopefully you find it useful.

Strata Conference and Hadoop World in New York

This week I get to spend a couple of days at the Strata Conference in New York. Combined with Strata is Hadoop World and that is why I chose to attend this conference instead of just waiting for the Strata conference in Santa Clara coming in February. Right now I am sitting in the keynote session where all of the major sponsors get to showcase their products. I don't really consider myself to be cynical but right now I find my eyes glazing over as I have seen way too many marketing pitches. But I won't let that keep me from giving my own marketing pitch.

So what is Hadoop and why does it matter? Hadoop is not something regular computer users will see in their homes. I'm sure there are several guys running it in their garage or basement, but that is more of an anomaly than normal. Hadoop is an open source project managed by Apache that allows users to take a bunch of cheap commodity computing hardware and combine it into a large data platform. It does this by making multiple copies (the default is three) so that the loss of hardware doesn't mean you lose data. You can also use the CPU's from all the computers in the system to process or look at the data stored in the system.

Hadoop matters to you in that companies can use it to process larger amounts of data. In the video game world, it means that companies can figure out what types of games you like to play and only market those types of games to you. It means they can figure out where you are getting stuck in a game and provide hints to help you get through those tough sections. It means that video game companies no longer rely on their gut to determine what their customers want and can analyze the data to truly see what is wanted.

This can be scary to some and exciting to others. Do we really want the companies we buy products from to know too much about us? That sounds a lot like Big Brother. However if I am in the market for a new car, automobile advertisements are seen as helpful. When I am not in the market for a car, those same advertisements are seen as annoying. Anything that can reduce the number of annoying advertisements I have to endure is beneficial. Now let us hope that is the outcome of Hadoop instead of just getting even more junk mail.

Apple, Google, and Microsoft

This evening was a monthly get together for friends from the office. We all met at a local restaurant and enjoyed catching up with former colleagues. One just happens to be working at Apple. There were several televisions located in the restaurant bar and so I kept catching glimpses of the football game going on in the background. While I enjoyed keeping up with the game, it was more interesting to watch the various commercials. They alternated between the Google Chrome book, the Apple iPhone 5S, and Microsoft's Surface tablet.

Naturally the conversation started discussing the various products in the advertisements. I talked about my hatred of the touchscreen fad that seems to be invading computers these days. One of my coworkers mentioned that I am a power user that has spent way too much time with a mouse or track pad and don't represent the masses. While I interact with my computer, most users simply retrieve information. I couldn't argue with that.

Next someone mentioned that one of my coworkers had a Microsoft tablet computer. One question I have had is if there are a large number of apps for the tablet. My coworker explained that he had the Pro model and so it was a real computer running Windows 8. Lesser version of the Microsoft tablet don't have many applications available to them and should be avoided. Everyone at the table seemed to agree with the comments. It also explained why Windows is embracing the the touchscreen interface so much.

The conversation ended with Apple. It was enlightening and my friend did not divulge any confidential information. However I don't want to go into too many details just in case I get my friend in trouble. Rest assured it was a good conversation and I was able to discuss some of my pet peeves with Apple products. I'm not sure it will do much good but it was nice to get that off my chest.

Recovering a PostgreSQL Database

A couple of weeks ago I got to pull an all-nighter at the office. This was a first for me at this job but it was necessary. It was also a first in that I lost a PostgreSQL database. Considering I have been working with PostgreSQL for over a decade, that speaks to its reliability as I was always losing Oracle databases when I worked for them.

The culprit turned out to be some maintenance we were doing on our network that caused us to loose connection with our database machines. We had to do a hard reboot on them. Normally that would not cause a problem with PostgreSQL but we were using the ext4 filesystem and that did. We lost our global/pg_filenode.map file which is a pretty bad problem. Searching through the Internet we discovered how bad. Everyone pretty much agreed that we needed to find a backup of that file or all our data was lost.

We searched high and low for a backup of the file without any luck. Our next step was to restore from our nightly backups. Unfortunately our backup had not been taking place and so that was not an option. Our last-ditch effort was to go through the data files and try to recover the information one byte at a time. At least we still had those.

There is a utility for PostgreSQL called pg_filedump that allows you to go through your data files and browse their contents. I located a series of scripts that helps you find the data files that contain table data. We really only needed to rebuild 2 tables and they were not very large.  The pg_filedump program helped us locate the data we needed. It took a while but we were able to get everything back.

There were a number of problems that all cascaded together and caused me and my coworker to stay up all night. While it shouldn't have happened, it did. The trick to getting our data back was never giving up.

Hand-Written Notes

I can't remember where I was told to send a thank-you note after going to a job interview but it is good advice. Lately I have been looking for some people to join my team and I am more impressed with someone after they send me a note thanking me for their interview. Sometimes it is the important difference between a successful job-seeking candidate and another. So far, all of these thank-you notes have been via e-mail. Perhaps I am showing my age when I remember that these notes should be hand written.

Back in 2003 I found myself looking for a job without much success. I was invited to attend a conference for C-level executives in high-tech companies. The main person putting on the conference was an old family friend and I explained that I would like to attend but could not afford the very high conference fee. The friend understood my situation and allowed me to attend free of charge. I made a number of significant contacts and so I scribbled a hand-written note and dropped it in the mail to my family friend. The day it arrived, I found out that the friend was appreciative that I would take the time to write something down. His comment was something along the lines of how e-mail is great but a hand-written note is more significant and sincere.

Right now my youngest daughter is in North Carolina and very homesick. This is the first time she has been away from home for more than a week or two. I make sure to send her a weekly e-mail and do a good job keeping in contact with her. Two weeks ago she was really depressed and so I made the effort to write her a letter every day. Yes I had to go buy stamps (did you know you can get them from ATM machines? I didn't until I was getting cash one day). Yes it took a lot longer to write out the letters and the spelling is very questionable. It also took longer for them to arrive. However my daughter thanked me for those letters. She is keeping them and re-reads them almost daily. It has also helped with her homesickness and she is doing much better.

I still prefer to use e-mail and hate texting but tolerate it. However every once and a while it is important to sit down and write something out. I think whoever receives the note or letter will overlook any grammar or spelling mistakes as something hand written is much more significant than electronic characters on a screen.

Dead Battery

This morning I had a very important doctor's appointment that involved being put to sleep for the procedure. I have never had any serious surgery and being put to sleep was a first for me. Needless to say, I was a little nervous but am happy to report that everything worked out fine. Last night I didn't know how it would turn out and found it tough to fall asleep.

I awoke at 3am but didn't know what time it was. I heard my dog get up and walk down the stairs. Normally that means she wants me to let her out. It didn't take long for me to figure out why she left the comfort of her dog bed: she was hiding. A battery in one of our smoke detectors had died and now the detector was chirping. Since I was awake, there was no way I could get back to sleep until I fixed that high-pitched beep.

I went down to where we keep the spare 9-volt batteries and grabbed a handful. Then I headed to the central part of my house where most of my smoke detectors seem to be located. I replaced one battery but the chirp continued. I replaced the next one with the same result. Then I started going through the bedrooms. I could still hear the chirp in the first bedroom, but it wasn't from that smoke detector. I finally heard it in the second bedroom and could confirm I found the bad battery. I put in a new one but the alarm chirped again. My replacement battery was also dead. I was out of batteries at this point and so I returned to where we kept extras. I pulled one out of the packaging and put it in the offending detector. Once again, it chirped.

At this point I was getting ready to pull the smoke detector from the ceiling but decided to hold out for a minute or two more. It must have taken a bit for the smoke detector to figure out the battery had been replaced because the noise it was making stopped. I could finally go back to bed. I tried to coax the dog to come back upstairs but she was comfortably asleep under the desk in my office and didn't trust that the painful noise was silenced.

Sometimes it is easy to fix technology problems. If the designers of smoke alarms had put in a simple red light to indicate which alarm had a dead battery, my searching would have been much more simple. In my case, I had to pull an "Edison" and test a number of devices before the problem was solved.

Stupid Technology

Last week I was riding from the office back to my sailboat when I passed a fellow cyclist on the bike path. As I rode past him, I noticed he had earphones on and a mobile phone mount on his handle bars. As he was on a bike path, I didn't fault him too much for the earphones. Then I noticed he was watching a movie as he rode down the bike path. At that point I was extremely glad to get around him. What kind of moron rides his bike in public and watches a movie at the same time?

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching a movie and riding a bike. In fact it is the only way to get through a workout on my indoor-stationary bike. When I am on a real bike and I am out in public, I feel it is critical to my health to devote 100% of my attention to my surroundings. It keeps me from getting hit and hitting other things. I'm sure this guy justified his actions because he was on a bike trail. The problem is that the bike trail is used by people walking, runners, rollerbladers, and other cyclists.  It is not a question of if someone will get hurt, it is a question of when.

Computers and technology have a place in our lives. Let's be sure to use them appropriately and not to create any unnecessary hazards.

Report from the Tokyo Game Show

I have been in Tokyo, Japan all week and was able to attend the Tokyo Game Show today. This is the first time I have ever attended the show and I am glad I didn't make the trip just for this show. Don't get me wrong, it was good to be there, it just wasn't very large. I was glad I had very productive meetings earlier in the week to justify the trip.

I got to the exhibit hall a little after the show opened and so the floor was not too crowded. The first booth I saw was from Electronic Arts (EA) and was for Battlefield 4. I am a big fan of Battlefield 3 and am looking forward to the next version. There was a lot of information about the new Frostbite 3 engine and it looks to have some great improvements that are especially nice for online play.

My next stop was the Microsoft booth where I was able to play with the XBox One. There were a number of games available which should put to rest any fears XBox fans have about not having a lot of game titles. I'm not sure how much of what I saw will be available at launch but they seemed in a playable enough state that if they aren't available on day one, they will be shortly after.

It was only fair that my next stop was at Sony's PlayStation booth. Microsoft's booth was a ghost town compared to Sony's booth. There were a number of lines, each containing an insane number of people wanting to play the PlayStation 4. There was also a healthy mix of Vita and PlayStation 3 games to sample. In all fairness to Microsoft, the XBox is not nearly as popular in Japan as it is in the United States. For every XBox 360 sold last week in Japan, there were 70 PS3's sold.

I enjoy a limited time spent at tradeshows in the United States and also enjoyed the day at the Tokyo Game Show. The one big difference between the two countries is the number of scantily-clad "booth babes" in Japan. It was not uncommon to see a crew of bikini models running around the exhibit hall. One unusually small booth had an equally unusual large number of models in their booth. I have no idea what game they made even though I passed that booth a number of times. I could probably pass it a dozen more and still wouldn't have any idea what they do.

Home Auto Repair

Last week I got an emergency call from my 17-year-old son. I was in the middle of something very important and so at the next available moment, I stepped out and gave my son a call. He told me that the horn on the family Jeep had just started beeping. He first assumed it was related to the car alarm. He went out and unlocked the car but the horn kept making noise. He then tried to start the car only to have it run roughly and not stop the racket. My son is a smart kid and so his next trick was to turn the car off and disconnect the battery. The horn stopped but it also meant the car was unusable until we could fix it.

The family Jeep is a 1998 Jeep Cherokee. If you are a Jeep fan, it is better known as an XJ. My wife and son only paid a couple thousand dollars for the vehicle but it came with a 3-inch lift kit and a sweet set of tires. It makes a great car for the kids even though it has a tendency to break down on a regular basis. Having it break down is part of what makes it a good car. I use it as a teaching tool for basic automotive mechanics with my kids. The XJ is incredibly easy to work on and tons of them are still on the road, making replacement parts extremely inexpensive.

Unfortunately automobile electrical problems are sometimes the most difficult to track down and fix. When my son turned on the car, the check engine light came on. I plugged in my OBD-II computer that I picked up many years ago and saw that the car thought it had a bad throttle position sensor (TPS) based on the P0123 code it was throwing. I then did a careful Internet search using the following, "1998 Jeep XJ P0123." Why did I use the term XJ instead of Cherokee? Jeep also makes the Grand Cherokee, which is a completely different SUV. Besides anyone that knows how to work on Jeeps calls them by the car's 2 letter code instead of model name.

The Internet search yielded a number of stories about people replacing the TPS only to have the problem still exist. Most had better luck replacing the clock spring which is part of the cruise control, horn, and TPS electrical circuit. Thinking about how the horn started going off while the car was just sitting in the driveway and the TPS is only engaged while the car is running, I decided to look for a quick check to verify it was the clock spring. Pulling off the steering-wheel shroud and unplugging one of the connections to the clock spring (it is located just above the turn-signal lever) fixed the P0123 code. The horn and cruise control no longer work, but the rest of the car does.

Now that I knew the real problem, I went back to the Internet and ordered a new clock spring for the Jeep. This is not one of those parts that auto stores keep in stock. Until then my son can drive the car to school and back with the help of an inexpensive air horn resting in one of the cup holders. 

Text Messages at 4am

I was rudely awoken this morning at 4am from a text message claiming that Chase approved me for a $1000 instant loan. I had a similar message yesterday at the same time. Yesterday's message said I could stop these text messages by replying with the word, "STOP". As it was 4am, I stupidly sent the message. This is always a bad idea because then the company knows there is a real person connected to the number.

Both Android and iPhones have a "Do Not Disturb" function that I decided to investigate today. As I have an iPhone, I played with those options and recommend anyone with a smart phone do the same. The first thing I did was turn on the Do-Not-Disturb feature in my phone's settings. Then I went into the notifications section and turned on the "Scheduled" function. That means my phone will not ring, buzz, or turn on the screen should I get a call or text message between the hours of midnight and 7am.

My reluctance to set this up in the past has been in case there is an emergency and someone needs to get a hold of me. There is are 2 ways around this. The first is to populate my "Favorites" list. Anyone on the list will cause my phone to notify me during the Do-Not-Disturb period. If you are not on the list, your first call goes unnoticed. If you call back immediately after, it will ring through.

My hope is that I will be able to sleep through the night without getting another notice that I am approved for some high-interest loan I don't really care about.

Finally, A New Mobile Phone

I really beat up my mobile phone when I went backpacking back in July. I made sure to get a new one when I got back to civilization after spending only slightly less than a year in a state of indecision. There were a number of features I was using as criteria for the new phone:

1. Waterproof/Dustproof - There are a number of manufacturers making phones that are waterproof. Seeing as I spend a fair amount of time in snowstorms, having a waterproof phone was kind of important to me.
2. 4G LTE - It didn't make sense to have an unlimited smartphone data plan only to not have the fastest speed possible. Ideally, I would also like to have it usable as a mobile hotspot, but not having it was not a deal-breaker.
3. Size - While most people are looking for the largest screen possible, I wasn't. I prefer something that doesn't look like an aircraft carrier stuck to the side of my face.
4. Cost - Nobody wants to pay full price for anything, especially me. I wanted a deal and wasn't going to spend North of $400 for a piece of electronics that could easily fall into the toilet.
5. Android or IOS - In case you haven't figured it out over the past couple of posts, I really hate Windows and refused to buy a Windows phone. There is a huge ecosystem of applications available for both IOS and Android, most of which are not available on Windows phones.
6. Ease of Upgrade - Moving the data from by antique iPhone couldn't be a lengthy process.

Unfortunately I could not find a phone that had all of the features I wanted, as some of them (like waterproof and ease of upgrade) were mutually exclusive. In the end, I had to pick a phone that was a compromise of features. I decided on the iPhone5 after getting one for my wife when her old iPhone died. So far I am happy with my decision. Sure I had to lock myself into my current service provider for the next couple of years to get the price I wanted, but the ease of upgrade made up for that. The size was what I was used to and felt natural.

I'm sure I will find something to complain about in the near future. Until then, I am happy to have a somewhat newer phone that does everything I need it to. I was even able to load some new applications that wouldn't work on my other phone because it was so old.

A Laptop is Not a Tablet

My son was able to solve a number of his problems with Windows 8 today. It turns out that the designers at Microsoft want their users to have the same experience on laptops, tablets, and phones. What a stupid idea. Hopefully Apple never stoops to such a moronic idea.

I thought touchscreens were really cool when they first came out. That lasted about 10 minutes. After that, my screen became so covered with fingerprints and body oils that I came to my senses and realized a mouse or touch pad is a much better interface. Sony figured that out with their PlayStation Vita. In addition to having a touchscreen, the back of the Vita works as a touch pad. Why? They realized that if your finger is on the screen, you might be missing something taking place in the game. Not having your fat finger obscuring your vision very important in first-person shooters.

About as near as I can figure, the guys who came up with the idea that we would all want to treat our laptops the same as our tablets, spent a little too much time sniffing model airplane glue as kids. A touch screen is a compromise in a tablet so you don't have to carry around a mouse. I only hope that the public doesn't try to embrace laptops masquerading as tablet computers. Sure there is a place for tablets, just don't try to make my laptop or desktop computer behave as one.

Windows 8: What Were They Thinking?

My son started playing with his new computer today and loves the hardware. It is not all roses though as this evening he is setting up Windows 8 and I am learning to swear in multiple languages. After living in Romania for 2 years, my son knows how to swear in Romanian, Russian, and Moldovan. Setting up Windows 8 is helping my learning process as there are plenty of opportunities to use such language.

Earlier in my career I worked on Larry Ellison's Network Computer. We basically took NetBSD and wrapped a user friendly interface around it. In the process I worked with our graphics designer and went through countless hours of usability testing. We would sit behind a one-way mirror and watch as users played with our software to do a number of simple computer tasks. We learned a lot in the process and created an award winning user interface. I only wish Microsoft had taken the time to do the same thing with Windows 8.

I don't know how Microsoft let Windows 8 get through any sort of usability testing. As near as I can figure, they wired electrodes to their users and had a plate of cookies on the table. When the users complained about the interface, they received an electric shock. When they appreciated the non-intuitive features of a horribly designed computer interface, they got a cookie. There is no way that anyone would prefer Windows 8 over an abacus.

Here are some examples of why I think only a fool would use Windows 8:

1. If you leave a CD in the drive too long, it won't eject. You have to restart the computer to get the disk out.

2. You have to get updated drivers for your laptop's touch pad in order to use multi-finger scrolling. It doesn't matter which hardware manufacturer you buy the laptop from, they all require the update. Sony, Toshiba, and Lenovo have their drivers posted in their technical support forums on their websites.

3. You have to use the task manager to kill Windows 8 native programs. Who writes a program and doesn't put a quit option in one of the menus? Isn't that part of user interface 101?

The longer I sit here typing my blog, the more examples of Microsoft stupidity are exposed. Unfortunately my son is almost in tears and wants to ditch Windows 8 in favor of Linux. We will probably spend the next couple of nights figuring out a way to run Linux as the primary operating system and Windows 8 in a VM. . . but only as a last resort.

Finally Fedora Core 18 Is Usable

A few months ago I decided to update the Linux version on the desktop computer in my home office. I used it as a chance to decide if I wanted to stick with Fedora or move to Ubuntu. We are moving from CentOS to Ubuntu at work and so I wanted to start with Fedora just to be able to compare and contrast multiple flavors of Linux.

Unfortunately the upgrade from Fedora Core 10 to Fedora Core 18 was not painless. There was the problem with importing my old e-mail that I was able to figure out. The worst problem appeared about a week after the upgrade. For some reason, my Firefox browser kept crashing. I thought I could just download Google's Chrome, but that didn't even load. Previously I had been running the 32-bit version of Linux and upgraded to the 64-bit version. I figured there was some library mismatch in the 64-bit versions of the software and that by constantly sending crash reports to the developers, it would eventually get fixed. In the mean time, I just used the browser on my laptop.

I work in the Bay area during the week and fly back to Utah on weekends. Every Saturday, I would patiently update my system only to discover the bug with my browser hadn't been fixed. One perk I have with my job is that I get to work from home one week per month and this was that week. On Monday, I gave the old update a shot and cranked up the browser. I let it sit there and several minutes later the browser was still running. Next I cranked up Pandora and filled my office with music. It has been running all week with no crashes. I have yet to give Chrome a try, but I don't like Chrome and avoid it if I can.

Running the latest versions of software can be a little dangerous sometimes, as I was reminded. However you can send in the bug and crash reports. Eventually things will get fixed and the updated software becomes the stable version. Just be sure you have a second computer to use in case things don't work.

A New College Computer Recommendation

One of my first postings when I created this blog back in 2009 was my recommendation for a laptop to take to college. I have pretty much stood by that original decision until this year. Both of my daughters took Apple laptops to school. Now it is time to buy my oldest son his. As he is a computer science major, I am breaking away from Apple and suggesting a different computer.

What is the reason for this change? Well there are actually a few reasons. When Steve Jobs was at the helm of Apple, they put out a better product than they do now. At first the slip in quality was hardly noticeable. Now it is becoming more pronounced and so you can find an equally well-built laptop from a number of other vendors. Furthermore Apple continues to charge a premium for their hardware and so you can now get higher-performing laptops for the same price. When I first made my comparison, there wasn't much of a difference, if any.

So what did I decide for my son? I actually let my son pick out his own computer. There are a number of manufacturers that give college discounts and Sony is one of them (look for the Education Store link at the bottom of the page). I then told him he had $1000 to spend, as that is what the least expensive Mac would cost with Apple's education discount. He opted for their S-line of computers as he felt that represented the best deal and performance. That $1000 gave him 8 GB of RAM instead of only 4 and a 750 GB hard disk instead of 500.

I am still a fan of Mac OS X and despise any operating system made by Microsoft. My son's new computer comes with Windows 8 but he has a plan to fix that. He will keep Windows and install an Ubuntu virtual machine (VM). This is how he has his work computer set up right now, only with Windows 7 instead of 8. It has worked out very well and will be much more flexible as he works on his programming assignments in school. While this setup may not be as polished as OS X, I think it will better for him as Linux seems to be ubiquitous at universities these days.

It took a few years for other computer manufacturers to catch up with Apple, but now that they seemed to have stopped innovating, it is a good time to look at other vendors. Your dollar will go farther.

3D Television

Two years ago I purchased a new television for my bedroom. I picked up a nice 32-inch HDTV from Sony at Costco. It was a nice purchase that increased my old bedroom TV size quite a bit, yet small enough to hide in a cabinet when not in use. We got so accustomed to watching the new TV that it was only a matter of time before I replaced the family one. That time came a few months ago and it has been nice.

I can't remember the year I bought my Hitachi Ultravision, but it was probably close to 15 years ago. I picked up a bunch of speakers and a really nice Pioneer receiver at the same time. I put everything together in my family room and had a THX certified theater in my house. I probably would have replaced the TV a while ago if I didn't worry about all of the other audiovisual equipment as well.

Finally I decided to replace both the TV and the receiver as everything is now moving away from RCA jacks and going towards HDMI connections. My experience with the TV in my bedroom had me looking at Sony products and I decided to get one of the R550 televisions capable of 3D. I also picked up a nice receiver with a ton of HDMI inputs. It arrived on a Friday and I had it all set up before going to bed.

I had resisted getting the movie Avatar on DVD or Blu-ray until I got a 3D capable television. So the next day, I hit the local discount store and picked up a Blu-ray copy that was way overpriced. I have to say that it was spectacular. Not wanting to buy another expensive movie, I downloaded Jack the Giant Slayer from Sony's PlayStation Network for $5. The movie was only mediocre, but the 3D effect made it well worth my time to watch.

Yes, I will admit that 3D is a gimmick. However I have to say that I really enjoy watching movies in 3D. I even turned on the simulated 3D while watching Chasing Mavericks and the waves were really spectacular. Considering that the price difference between a 60-inch television with 3D and one without is only $200, I highly recommend spending the extra money. I also recommend Sony's R550 series as they use the same passive 3D glasses that you get at the movie theater. The only problem is that you may never want to leave your home again.

Two Weeks Backpacking

My sons and I just completed a 2-week backpacking trip at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. It was one of those character-building experiences that I think every young man should have the opportunity to experience. Every day you hike to a new campsite where they have various programs in which you can participate. Some of our activities included shotgun shooting, touring a mine tunnel 500 feet into the side of a mountain, rock climbing, repelling, and various campfire programs.

The only technology we took on the trip was our mobile phones in case of an emergency. While most of the time, they would not work, we could climb to the top of a mountain and get a signal and call home. One of the other boys on the trip brought a Goal Zero solar panel to charge his camera and it worked very well. All he did was hang it off his backpack while hiking and at the end of the trail, he had a fully charged camera. My oldest son was also able to use it to charge his mobile phone after discovering he had an Internet signal at one of our camps. After a couple of hours of Internet surfing and reading e-mail, his phone was almost dead.

I have to admit that it was good to get away from technology for a while. The only downside was that I had over 600 personal e-mail messages and 350 work-related ones when I returned. It took me a long time to get through all of my mail. Now I need another 2 weeks off. I just don't want to have to deal with that much e-mail again.

The Bus Ride

I am at the Oakland airport waiting for my flight back to Salt Lake and had an interesting experience on the bus ride to get here. My son and I parked our borrowed car in the off-airport long-term lot. They had a shuttle bus to the airport and it didn't take long to fill up. Traffic is really horrible in the Bay Area this week because of the BART strike and so I had time to look around and notice what everyone on the bus was doing as my son was busy with his smartphone. It turns out that anyone under the age of 30 was on their smartphone. I laughed as I watched young couples ignore each other in favor of watching their miniature screens.

My son looked up as I chuckled thinking about the texting conversation the young lovebirds facing us were having on their phones. It went something like this:

Boy: This is cool. We R on this crowded bus & nbdy can hear R conversation.

Girl: LOL.

Boy: What do U think of those 2 in front of us?

Girl: They look like father and son

Boy: They could be brothers

Girl: No, 1 looks much older. He's cute

Boy: What? Which one?

Girl: The Dad

Boy: R U kidding?

Girl: No, look how handsome he is

Boy: But he's fat!

Girl: No he's not. Look how sure he is of himself

Boy: And bald!!!

Girl: It makes him look distinguished.

Boy: R U crazy?

Girl:  Y, R U jealous?

Boy: R we looking at the same guy?

Changes at Microsoft

I was in a meeting this afternoon and someone mentioned that the head of the XBox One is leaving Microsoft to go to Zynga. I didn't believe it at first and so I looked it up on the Internet as soon as I had a spare moment. Yes, it looks like Don Mattrick is headed to the folks that brought you Farmville. Now let's see if he can't help them create another product that is as successful as their first one. It is a tall order that Zynga has thus far failed to duplicate.

With Mr. Mattrick leaving Microsoft, what does that mean for the XBox One? Did he not believe in his own product? Or was the offer so good, it was worth going to a company with a ton of cash, but no visible future products? No matter the answers to those questions, Microsoft finds itself with yet another hurdle to overcome with its forthcoming console release.

In the meantime, Sony continues to march forward with the PlayStation 4 release. You can preorder a PS4 bundle from their Sony store. I'm not sure if the bundle shows retail prices for products, but if it does, then their equivalent hardware to Microsoft's Kinect is only $60. That means in an apples-to-apples comparison, the PS4 is $40 less than the XBox One. It will be interesting to see what other changes we will see before either product is launched.

Summer Intern

I managed to get my oldest son a summer intern position where I work. When I was going to college, I never thought about working as an intern. I was too busy trying to make money to pay for school. It turns out, you can actually get paid for some internships. That is the case with my son and he is really happy to be working with Dad as he thinks I work at cool place. It is hard to tell him that this is work when he has managed to get a whole bunch of free swag, leading-edge hi-tech toys, and invited to a number of after-dinner parties. It is a good thing he is staying in the Bay Area this weekend or he might go home to Utah and tell everyone that we play more than we work.

I have found that it is really difficult to break into the video game industry. Everyone is reluctant to hire people from outside the relatively small industry. I still don't know how I found myself where I am, but I am glad to be where I am. An internship is a great way to get started. There are a number of kids that come back after graduating from college.

So what does an intern do? My son has spent a lot of time doing on-the-job training. While he has experience with a fair number of programming languages, he needs to dive deeper into the one he will be using this summer. He is also working with a specific framework and is running through a number of various examples before he gets his proverbial hands wet. Next week that will happen. The idea is to have him complete it before going back to school. That way, we get something from his experience and he gets the experience of seeing something go from prototype to production.

If you are young and want to work in video games, you should definitely think about applying for an internship. The competition is tough as my son was selected from a pile of 51 other applicants. However it is possible to land a really sweet summer job.

Bored on a Boat

My oldest son is staying with me on the boat this evening. He has actually been here all week and this is the first night we have gotten back to the boat at a reasonable time. We could have gone sailing but were just a bit too late. We made dinner and then cleaned up. Now he thinks there is not much to do. I suggested we turn on the TV, but he wants to watch a movie.

The funny thing is that we have 3 computers on the boat and my son says he is bored. Furthermore we have a pretty good Internet connection. If my son was serious, we could stream a movie to one of the computers. Instead, he is just sitting at the table playing games on his smartphone. All I can do is laugh as there is no reason to be bored.

Someone Is Watching

It is nice to see that Microsoft completely changed their mind with respect to being able to play used games on the XBox One. There are rumors circulating as to why this reversal took place, but I don't want to speculate. Their own site says they listened to their users and in my opinion, that is the right thing to do.

One advantage the XBox One has over the PS4 is that it comes bundled with the Kinect. With the PS4, you will have to shell out another $80 or so to get the equivalent feature. Including the Kinect will allow Microsoft to do all sorts of things for all of their users that a large number of PS4 users won't be able to do. For instance, when you are watching TV on your XBox One, the Kinect will be able to count the number of people in the room and be able to distinguish the relative ages of everyone. Think what a benefit that will be to the advertisers paying for commercials during your favorite shows. Whereas they used to have to go through expensive and error-prone services like Nielsen, they will have immediate feedback on their audience.

The XBox One will also always be listening to you. They say it is so it will turn on when it hears you say, "XBox On". However it can also be used to hear things like, "I love this game," or "This game blows." Just think, they will be able to take that information and feed it back to game developers to help them create better content for you to play.

Microsoft is also very concerned about security with their devices and would never let anyone have the ability to write a virus for the XBox that would allow it to listen in on your private conversations or watch what you are doing in the privacy of your own home. After all, their operating systems are known for being the most secure and immune to hacking or viruses. And we were told at launch that the XBox One would be running three different operating systems, one of which was a form of Windows.

Yep, I think these features are really awesome. Just as long as today is opposite day.

PlayStation 4 vs XBox One

Microsoft and Sony have both made some significant announcements at the E3 conference in Los Angeles this week. The biggest is probably Sony unveiling the new PlayStation 4 along with pricing. In case you missed it, the PS4 will be priced at $399 while the XBox One is priced at $499. Microsoft also announced their policy about having to keep their console connected to the internet so it can check back in with the home office every 24 hours. If it doesn't, then the unit shuts down and won't play games.

At first glance it looks like the PS4 is the console to buy while you would have to be an idiot to buy an XBox One. Some gamers have even started calling Microsoft's offering "the XBox Done". I have to admit that I am a fan of the PlayStation and am happy to see that Sony did a few things right. However someone should point out that it is not all roses for the PS4. The obvious thing to ask is why the $100 price difference between the two hardware platforms. Well that is easy, the XBox comes with the Kinect while the equivalent PlayStation Eye is extra. I have not seen a price on the Eye and so I don't know if it will cost more or less than $100, but it is something to consider when arguing which platform will be better.

When it comes to being able to play used games, I have to say that Sony is taking the better path. I have started hating Apple because they feel it necessary to interfere with my MacBook Pro without my permission. Therefore I find it annoying that Microsoft feels they have the right to control whether or not you can share games with your friends. I have always believed that the best software licenses are ones that treat software like a book. You are free to loan your book to a friend, you just can't read it at the same time as your friend. There is still time before consumers can purchase either console and so I hope that Microsoft listens to their customers and figures out that we don't really want Big Brother watching everything we do.

One thing I have not seen is a comparison between the looks of the two devices. When the XBox One was announced, I found it to be a boring box. My opinion was that Sony didn't even have to try very hard to beat the ugly XBox One. When I saw the PS4 for the first time this week, I wished Sony had tried harder. Sony's looks like a box with slanted sides. I still think it looks better than Microsoft's console, but not by much. I do have to say that a closer look at the PS4 pictures shows a really sleek-looking color scheme and the design is starting to grow on me, but I'm not sure if that is my PS4 prejudice coming out or not.

Ultimately the success of either platform will be found in the services and games available. Microsoft is trying to appeal to the gamer as well as other consumers looking for an entertainment device. Sony seems to be appealing to the hard-core gamers. This is a role reversal from the last consoles provided by these two companies. While it is difficult to say the PS3 was a success for Sony, that fact that it was the cheapest Blu Ray player on the market kept it from being a dismal failure. A relatively high percentage of the original PS3 consoles were purchased simply as movie players and were never used for playing games. Perhaps the public is looking for an entertainment device and not just a video game one. If so, Microsoft is in a good position to take advantage of the trend.

I wish I could be more objective and say that I think both devices are good and there is room in every house for both. Unfortunately money doesn't grow on trees and I still have to work hard for every dollar before I spend it. So when both consoles are released later this year, I will be standing in the Sony line, not the Microsoft one. And it will be my Christmas present I am buying, not the kids. If they want one, they can get their own PS4.

Vacation From Technology

I just got back from a three-day vacation with my family in California. I brought my laptop just in case someone from work needed me to take care of something. I worked late the night before having to get up early for our flight and was sure I would need to fix an emergency while I was away. Fortunately I had some people at work who refused to contact me knowing that I was on vacation. I didn't bother to turn on my computer and check mail. The funny thing is that I could have done so on my phone. I just would have rather spent time with my family.

I blame the girls for ending up at Disneyland. My daughters are 19 and 23, yet they both wanted to go to "The Happiest Place on Earth." It was very crowded and I just assumed that other parents were paying as much attention to their kids as I was to mine. It surprised me as I rode the train around the park and watched parent after parent turn to their smart phones to check e-mail and play with apps. Aren't you there to spend time with your kids? How about talking to your kids instead of looking at cooking class coupons from Groupon?

When you go on vacation, it is perfectly fine to take a vacation from technology. I managed to pull it off and you should too. Your kids will thank you for it later.

The XBox One

One of the nice things about working for a video game company is that you get to take time out of your busy day and watch press release announcements about new gaming consoles. Today Microsoft unveiled their XBox One, which is the follow-on to the XBox 360. Sony made their announcement of the PlayStation 4 back in February and so it is nice to be able to compare the two new consoles.

Microsoft was able to do something at their release that wasn't done by Sony, they actually showed what the new console will look like. It wasn't sexy or pretty as I thought it looked like a black box. As far as technical specifications go, the PS4 and XBox One look to be very similar. They both use 8-core CPUs, have 8GB of RAM, and come with BluRay players. I like the looks of the Sony Controller vs. Microsoft's, but then I am a fan of PlayStation and so that makes sense. Microsoft's new console will also come bundled with the next version of the Connect. I've never used the Connect but can't really say there is anything groundbreaking with this new version. Perhaps I am wrong.

Missing from both announcements are pricing and release dates. I think both companies are waiting until E3 to make those announcements. The software announcements made by both companies looked very similar, but Microsoft will include Windows with the XBox One. While Microsoft may see that as a benefit, I really hate Windows and that is enough to keep me from buying one. You may feel differently.