Time to Clean up my Computer

The end of the year is one of those times where we think about changes in our lives that we plan to make for the coming year. A lot of people resolve to lose weight. In fact it is probably one of the most broken new year's resolutions. So instead of trying to lose weight yourself, see if you can't help your computer or mobile phone lose a little weight. It is rather simple and can be done quickly with immediate results.

Start with your screen desktop on your computer. Go through all of the files and see if you really need all of them. If not, go ahead and delete them. If there is a question as to if you will need it or not, simply move the file to another directory or onto some form of backup. Also make sure to review computer programs and applications. Most Windows computers come loaded with a number of applications that you don't really use or need. Simply uninstall them.

Now move to your phone. Do you really use all of those apps you downloaded. Perhaps you downloaded a game and played it a lot in the past but don't any more. Be sure to check your download directory on the phone to make sure you don't have any files there that are unneeded. Finally go through and delete any photos that are not wanted or needed. I am always taking pictures of whiteboards and then making notes from them. The photos can be erased once the notes have been sent out.

The best thing about helping your electronic devices lose weight is that you can do it while eating the last of the Christmas cookies and not feel guilty about it.

Online Recommendations

This afternoon I am working on a personal project related to a recommendation engine. I don't really want to go into too many details as there are plenty of examples that I can draw from without giving away any secrets. While I don't have a confidentiality agreement in place that prevents me from talking about it, I am working with friends and that bond is stronger than any signed legal document.

This example has nothing to do with the project but is something else I have been working on today as well and illustrates the project. I want to take my family on a vacation next autumn. We enjoy going in the month of October because the usual crowds associated with summer are long gone. However we can't do the usual summer things nor can we do the winter activities either. Shoulder seasons can be tough but I am looking for a good recommendation on where to go. There are some important criteria to take into account:

• Price
• Ease of travel
• Level of fun
• Not needing a vacation after the vacation
• Flexibility to add one or two people

I am taking all of my children along with my wife and their spouses. Right now I only have one child that is married but that number could change in the next 10 months. I also have children in college and that may limit who can go, which is why I need the destination to be somewhat flexible.

Now I travel almost every week of the year and so I have a very good understanding of destinations that are easy to get to vs. ones that are difficult. I also understand that it might be a coin toss for certain destinations because of things like hurricane season in the Caribbean or early snow for places like Alaska.

So how does one distill all of the information into a helpful recommendation engine? If you look at how Amazon does it, they ask you to start with something and then show you what other things people have also looked at, starting with the most popular. In the case of a vacation, I might look at hotels in Hawaii and Amazon would also show me places like Mexico or Tahiti. It would then be up to me to weed out the best choice based on my criteria.

If you look at how online forums handle this issue, I would simply provide a posting with the criteria listed above and then leave it to other actual humans to give recommendations based on their previous experiences. The problem with this approach is that someone may have gone to Alaska at this time of year and had a wonderful time. However a freak snowstorm during my proposed dates could severely impact the "Level of fun" in a negative way.

If you look at other online vendors like Backcountry.com, they employ human experts that you can ask via chat windows to get their opinions. This is better than the online forums because the experts should know enough to filter out the "Alaska" responses. The only problem is that it requires paying people to answer questions and provide recommendations.

The Google search engine has sort of combined all of these methods with some extra smarts to give you the results of your online searches. Theoretically if 100 people all enter the same search criteria, the links near the top of the results are the most popular ones that have been clicked. For the first 10 searchers, the results are not nearly as accurate. However as more and more people click results, the better answers rise to the top.

There are a number of recommendation engine algorithms and some of them work better than others. Unfortunately none of them are perfect and so it is a matter of figuring out how much effort to put into my next project. I have some ideas and will post the results as they come in.

Technology Debt

This morning I was up skiing at Snowbird and it was rather cold. I had a friend coming up to meet me and so I stopped in one of the lodges to warm up and wait a bit. There was someone working on her laptop computer and it looked like she was writing code. I can't be sure that is what she was really doing as I try not to be one of those nosy people that reads other people's computer screens. However it got me excited to do some coding of my own.

One of the things that is fought in a high-tech job is that of technical debt. Sometimes we spend so much of our career specializing in one technology or another and ignore new ones coming out. If we do it too long then our own skills become irrelevant. That is why it is good to periodically look at one's technical skills to see if they should be enhanced.

I used to have a developer on my team that would never create a second version of any software he wrote with the same technology. Instead he would look at other computer languages and see if it could be done faster with fewer lines of code or in a more efficient manner. That can be a bit drastic, but constantly looking for better ways to do things is something we should all strive towards.

Seeing someone coding at the ski resort got me excited about the coming year and the new projects I will be working on for my job as well as my personal edification. It also has me focused on my own technical debt and what I can do to move forward with the industry so I don't get left behind. Nobody likes being left behind, especially me.

The Best Gift I Gave This Year

Tuesday my son and I got back from skiing and were spending the afternoon playing video games when my wife got home from work. She didn't think it was fair that she spent the day working and then came home to clean the house while we continued to have the day off. She strongly encouraged my son and I to help with the vacuuming. My son was with me when I purchased my wife's Christmas gift and wanted me to give it to her 3 days before Christmas. Why? Because the gift could have eliminated our need to do any vacuuming. I got my wife an iRobot Roomba 655.

My son pleaded with me to give it to her then so he wouldn't have to stop what he was doing and help with the house chores. I explained to him that secretly my wife was trying to see what she was getting for Christmas. She knew that I wanted to continue playing my game and that a request for help might lead to a clue as to what she was getting. If I had told her to wait until Christmas, she would know she was getting a robot vacuum, as it was high on her wish list this year.

Today we came home from skiing and my wife immediately put the robot vacuum to work while we made lunch. About 20 minutes later the vacuum returned to its charging station and announced its completion with a few chimes. My wife then emptied its completely full dust bin. She then programmed it to wake up at 3pm every Monday and Thursday to automatically vacuum the main level of our house.

Yes I have to say that the iRobot Roomba 655 is quite possibly the best Christmas gift I gave this year. Now when my wife asks for help around the house at least it won't be to vacuum.

God Gives the best Christmas Gifts

Today is Christmas and this morning I received one of the best Christmas gifts ever: Christmas snow. There is something magical about Christmas snow. If you watch the "Frosty the Snowman" Christmas special, that is the important ingredient that brings Frosty back to life after he melts in a poinsettia greenhouse. In my case, I always have a wonderful ski experience with Christmas snow.

The whole family was up at 6am this morning opening gifts. We hung out eating candy from our stockings and then used Skype to talk to my son currently living in Armenia. Once we were done, we headed outside and had a serious amount of snow to remove from the driveway before we could head up the mountain to go skiing. That is always a good sign. It was especially nice to pull into the parking lot and immediately find a premium parking spot so close to the lifts.

We spent the next several hours skiing the wonderful fresh powder that has fallen over the past few days. It was glorious skiing where you could point your skis downhill and make the smallest of turns. There was so much snow, you didn't need to make a lot of turns to slow down. When you got to the bottom, you could look up and see your superb figure-8 ski tracks. It was as perfect as a day of skiing as could be. Life is good this Christmas.

Technology Musings on Christmas Eve

Today is Christmas Eve and I have spent it as I usually do by spending the morning up skiing. I enjoyed today much better than yesterday as more of the mountain is open to help dissipate the crowds. When the lines started getting too long, we called it quits and came home.

As I sit in front of my computer this afternoon, I find it difficult to comprehend that tomorrow will be Christmas. The day where the Christian world celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Sometimes it seems that science or technology can often be at odds with religion. During these times I am reminded of a quote by Albert Einstein that says something along the lines of, "The more I delve into the mysteries of the Universe, the more I believe in God." Einstein was a pretty smart guy and so we might want to think about what he has said before dismissing the existence of God as easily as we do.

As you go about celebrating Christmas throughout the remainder of today and all of tomorrow, remember to keep technology in perspective. Technology is here to help us live more comfortably while Jesus Christ taught us how to live with our fellow man. Both benefit us all, but one may be just a bit more important.

Finally Some Video Game Time

This rarely ever happens but today was one of those days where skiing was just not that great. All of the new snow makes it tough for the mountain to get everything open in a timely manner. When there are only 3 chairlifts running over the Christmas break, lines can get pretty long. After waiting in lift lines twice for about 45 minutes, I decided I was done skiing and headed home. One of the benefits of a season's pass at a ski resort is not having to stick around all day if you don't think the skiing is worth it. Today it wasn't.

I find that I am much more satisfied with my Saturdays when I try to get some errands taken care of around the house. While today isn't a Saturday, it sort of feels like one so when I finished skiing, I immediately attacked some necessary errands. Only after they were completed did I feel I could play video games. My oldest son took a look at my video game collection and laughed at me because I have such a large collection of unopened games. He took one out an put it in my console so I could start playing it. Then he pulled one out and put it in the second console and started playing it. Remember that it is Christmas break and so we have two TV's and two video game consoles in the TV room. It is a temporary thing though.

I enjoyed the suggestion from my son but opted for a different game. We both sat down and played for several hours. One of the nice things about the PlayStation 4 is that you can plug a headphones into the controller. My son had on his while I had on mine. That way we were not distracted by each other's game. It was a great way to pass the afternoon. With tomorrow being Christmas Eve, I doubt we will be doing much game playing and so it was good to have some time today.

The Risk of Buying Things Online

I have opted to forego a lot of the hassle of driving places to purchase Christmas gifts this year. Instead I have tried to purchase a number of things online. Most of the time this isn't an issue. However this year I am having to do a fair number of returns. I can't go into too many details as it is still before Christmas and I don't want to spoil anyone's surprise. There is one case where I did get something for myself: some active 3D glasses for a new computer monitor.

Normally I wouldn't buy anything for myself before Christmas except that I got a really great deal on a 3D monitor: $50. I knew it didn't come with the required glasses at that price and so I ordered a 4-pack of them from Amazon. Interestingly enough, the glasses ended up costing more than the monitor. Yesterday the glasses arrived and I was excited to test them with my monitor. Three of the four pairs work perfectly. The 4th pair needs to be returned.

Now Amazon has this awesome guarantee where if you are not satisfied, you can return the purchase for a full refund. The problem is, I don't want to return all of the glasses, just one pair. So I am trying to work with the seller and they want me to send back the bad pair on my dime. It is kind of a giant pain in the butt. Had I purchased them from retail store, it would just be a matter of driving to the store and getting them replaced.

Now if this was the only case of things not working the first time around this Christmas, I would chalk it up to a fluke. However it isn't and I am rather jaded with online purchases this year. Hopefully your experiences are different this year.

Fixing a Slow Internet Connection

It is Christmas break and so my oldest son and I spent the afternoon setting up our PlayStation 4 consoles so we can kill bad guys together. Last night we saw the latest Star Wars movie and so naturally we plan to spend a fair bit of time playing Star Wars Battlefront.

This afternoon we got done skiing and decided that instead of playing split-screen coop we would each try playing on our own consoles. We set up a small monitor next to the big screen in the TV room and worked through the difficulties of having 2 consoles so close together. When we tried to initiate Share Play, we were told that my home Internet connection was too slow. So we pulled out some tools to see if we could fix the problem. The first was to bring in a laptop and run a speed test over the WiFi network. The tool of choice can be found at SpeedTest.net. I then ran another test on a computer hardwired into the home Internet connection. The wired connection tested at over 50 Megabits per second. The WiFi tested at only 2. That is a huge difference.

The next course of action was to try and figure out how we could speed things up over WiFi. My son introduced me to a tool on his Android phone called WiFi Analyzer from farproc. This showed us that all of my neighbors have their 2.5 Gigahertz WiFi routers all set up around channel 11. Guess where my WiFi connection was set? It was on "Auto" but was really using channel 11. My router only does 2.5 Gigahertz and so I manually set the channel to 3, where nobody seemed to be. I then reran the speed test and got much better numbers. Unfortunately they were not good enough for Share Play.

When trying to use Share Play you are told that it is best to use a wired Ethernet connection. Fortunately I have a large spool of CAT-5 cable and the tools to make Ethernet cables. We measured everything out and made 2 cables capable of reaching from the hub in my office to the PlayStation 4 consoles in the TV room. We tested the connection and the network ran sufficiently fast to use Share Play.

We got ready to play and then discovered that with Share Play, my son could watch me play or I could watch him. However we each couldn't play Star Wars Battlefront with only a single copy of the game. That was a bummer. Fortunately we each have a copy of the game and so we popped in the 2nd disk and have enjoyed several survival games together.

It is good that I now have enough network speed to use Share Play but the real problem turned out to be that we each needed our own copies of the game. I am glad we went through this exercise though as I now know a lot more about WiFi networking and have the tools to fix problems when they arise. Hopefully someone else finds this useful.

My 2015 Christmas List

Normally at this time of year I like to put together a Christmas list to give people ideas for the season. Last year I took a departure from the norm and wished for small and simple things that didn't have anything to do with computers nor technology. I figured it is only fair that I try to go back to a regular list and provide some good ideas for those last-minute shoppers:

New Video Games: There are 2 games that I can recommend this year: Star Wars Battlefront and Fallout 4. My recommendation comes from playing one of the games at home a lot and the other comes from talking with other gamer players and listening to what they are playing. Both games seem to be a lot of fun and will bring countless hours of entertainment.

Old Video Games: I have a huge collection of older video games and have seen these for sale at rock-bottom prices in places like Target and Best Buy. My two favorite games that I have played this year have to be Tomb Raider and Red Dead Redemption. Both provided hours of enjoyment. I enjoyed Tomb Raider so much, I returned the copy I borrowed from a friend and purchased a version for the PS4 at Game Stop during a Black Friday sale for $15.

Television: I hate to recommend any one brand or model as everyone has such varying requirements. However I think that if you are in the market for a new TV you should consider upgrading to one of the 4K models. A normal HDTV has a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. The new UltraHD TV's are 3840x2160. That is the equivalent of 4 HDTV's. Furthermore they are coming down in price so that they are actually affordable.

There are a number of other smaller gifts that you might consider. In the past I have recommended USB thumb drives. I don't see a need for these as much simply because there are a number of online places to exchange large computer files. You can never have too many memory cards though. The only trick is making sure you get the right ones. While it used to be safe to pick up SD cards in the past, there are a number of different format cards for different devices. I would love to add a memory card to my Android phone and my kids are always running out of space on the cards used in their DSLR cameras.

Another small gift recommendation in the past has been USB cables. I now have a huge supply of them but find myself lacking HDMI cables. HDMI cables are not that expensive and I would definitely appreciate having a few extras.

Hopefully your Christmas shopping is done and this list is useless. If not, I hope I have given one or two good ideas to choose from. Merry Christmas.

Split-Screen Coop Mode

I did not get as much time as I would have liked to play video games this Thanksgiving break. I spent a lot of time skiing and while video games can be fun, skiing is much more fun. About the only spare time I had was yesterday afternoon when the family was done skiing and everyone but my oldest son and I was tied up with other activities.

We had some good father-son-bonding time and so I pulled out Star Wars Battlefront for the PS4. Some of the missions have three different modes to choose from: Solo, Coop, and Split-Screen Coop. While I have 2 PS4's, the 2nd one is in a different part of the house right now and so I didn't want to play coop mode. While we would be playing together, we would be far enough away that it really wouldn't count as father-son-bonding time. So we opted for split-screen coop. I took the top half of the screen while he took the bottom and held our own wave after wave of bad guys. It was a lot of fun.

We spent a couple of hours playing together and my son did much better than I did. At the end of each game, it would give statistics. We were pretty even except when it came to kills. I would get about 45 per game while he would get 75. Naturally I will have to concede that he is the better player but what is important is that the both of us had a lot of fun playing together.

When we were done, we headed to Target and picked up a 2nd copy of the game. Now when I am in California, I can play coop mode with him in Utah. I just need to bring one of my PS4's out there for when I am on my sailboat during the week. That will happen after Christmas.

Thanksgiving Travel

I have had the luxury of being able to stay home this Thanksgiving and not having to travel to visit family. In fact, I didn't even go to work this week and instead worked from home. It has been rather nice. Others have not been so fortunate. When I do travel I have a number of sources that I use to help with my weather predictions.

If I am flying somewhere, my preference is to look up the weather forecast on my iPhone. There is a nice weather app that links into Yahoo's weather. While the predictions are not always 100% correct, they generally do a good job of telling me if it will rain or snow and the temperature range will be for the next several days.

If I am driving, my preference is the National Weather Service website. I find it to be much more accurate than any other forecasts available. Furthermore you can zoom in on specific areas that you will be driving and get detailed forecasts for each part of your trip. This is helpful when making long road trips. While it may be sunny in the Bay Area, I want to know if I will have to fight bad weather over Lake Tahoe, around Elko, or as I enter Salt Lake.

Those are my sources of truth. Perhaps there are better places but I have yet to find them and I do look.

I'm Glad I Play Video Games

Today is Thanksgiving and so it is only appropriate that I express thanks for my video game playing skills. It is rare that anyone should be thankful for such a trivial thing. However this morning I was headed up for the usual Thanksgiving tradition of skiing while the turkey cooks when that skill was tested in real life. The mountain received six inches of new snow last night and so the road was very slick. We came up over a rise and there was a deer in the middle of the road. I hit the brakes before anyone else in the car even saw the radiator destroying obstacle. The anti-lock brakes did their thing and we stopped amazingly fast given the road conditions. The deer continued across the road unharmed as we drove away equally safe.

I once asked if there was a benefit to playing video games. Yes there is: your reaction time decreases. When a deer jumps out in front of you, it takes less time to hit the brakes than someone that doesn't play video games.

Spoiling Kids is Grandma's Job

Yesterday my wife called me from work and asked me to use my industry discount and pick up some console video games for a lady she works with. Naturally my wife wanted me to provide a recommendation or two. So the first question I asked is the age of the kid receiving the video game. He is seven years old. What do you get a seven year old kid? When my nieces and nephews come over, I have only one or two games I let them play. Most of them are older than that though.

When my wife came home from work, I asked her about the situation with a young person getting such an expensive video game console. I had to laugh when my wife told me that it is a gift from the child's Grandmother. Furthermore the Mom, with whom my wife works, is not happy about the gift. The kid originally asked for an iPad and when Mom said, "No," the kid amended the Christmas wish to a PlayStation 4. Grandma obliged.

Fortunately all of my kids are older and so I would have no problem if my or my wife's parents picked up an iPad or latest generation video game console for them. In fact I am wondering how I can get adopted and become this other lady's grandson.

For those of you looking for a recommendation on what video game to get a seven year old, I have no idea. There are a few games that I only know about because my company makes them. However I don't think that is very fair and so I will remain silent. If you can think of an appropriate game, please feel free to comment.

So Many Games, So Little Time

I am working from my home in Utah this week as it is the Thanksgiving week and I figured I would abstain from adding to the chaos in the airports this time of the year. With all of my recent travel it feels kind of strange to be home for such an extended period of time. Normally I don't play video games at home but as I find myself with a lot more time here I have turned on my consoles every now and then. It is a great way to stay awake when I am tired.

I only have a PS3 on my boat in California while I have both a PS3 and a PS4 at home. That has opened up a number of games for me this week. Here are some of the games I will be playing this week:

1. Star Wars Battlefront - I preordered a copy and it arrived while I was in Japan last week. Since I have been home I have gone through several training missions. If you are a fan of the Star Wars movies, then you will love this game.

2. The Order: 1886 - I was given a copy of this game when it came out yet have never found the time to play it. I understand that it should only take 4 to 6 hours to complete and look forward to finally being able to dedicate that much time to it.

3. The Uncharted Collection - I have all three Uncharted games for the PlayStation 3 but only ever played the first game. My sons have played both the 2nd and 3rd games and said they are awesome. I enjoyed Tomb Raider a lot and look forward to a very similar game. I want to get all 3 Uncharted games completed before Uncharted 4 comes out next year so I am ready for it.

Now for the standard disclaimer: I have connections in the video game industry that allow me to get really cheap copies of all these games. In fact I may even work for one of the companies that creates the games mentioned in this post.

Waking Up Early

Every time I think I have this jet-lag thing figured out, I prove that I don't. I got home from Japan Friday evening and immediately went to bed. I woke up at 4:30 am and started the day as I couldn't fall back asleep. That gave me time to go through all of my accumulated e-mail and postal mail before the family got up and we went skiing.

I stayed up as late as I could on Saturday evening yet found myself asleep at 8:30pm. I thought I would sleep through the night but was up at 1:30am, unable to do anything more than force my eyes closed. I got out of bed at 3:30am and did a few quiet projects around the house.

Last night I stayed up and made it to 10:30 before I fell asleep. Then I was up this morning at 4:30 ready to go. The nice thing about being up so early is that I was able to get an early start on the day. I finished watching a YouTube video from a recent ham-radio conference. Then I read my e-mail from the weekend. When my wife woke up to get ready for work, I talked to her. I really felt like I got an early start on the day and appreciated what seemed like extra hours in the day.

Unfortunately it is only 5:30pm and I am ready for bed. My wife got tickets to go see a high-school play this evening in support of our niece. I hope I actually get to watch it and I don't end up taking a nap. Stupid jet-lag.

Video Game Review: Tomb Raider

The guys at work love to recommend new games for me to play and so when I finished "The Walking Dead: Season One," they were quick to recommend a new one. One of them even brought in his PS3 copy of "Tomb Raider" and let me borrow it for a few weeks. So I guess that is my first disclaimer about this review, I didn't purchase the game, I just borrowed it. That being said, I did enjoy it enough that I probably would have purchased the game if I had known it was going to be so fun.

Early versions of the Tomb Raider video game used a disproportional physical representation of Laura Croft, the protagonist. The 2013 version of the game treats her with much more respect.

I jumped into the game on a Monday evening while staying on my sailboat in the San Francisco Bay and found it difficult to find a stopping point for the evening. It is not that they don't exist, I just could have easily kept playing all night long. Considering I have to get up at 4am on Mondays to catch a flight to the Bay Area, that says a lot about the game as I was incredibly tired. I then faced a similar dilemma the next two nights I played. It really is that good of a game. The thing I appreciated most is the variety of game play. Sometimes you are looking for things, other times you are battling bad guys, then you get to move to a different part of the game. It all blends together well and I never felt like I was doing the same thing over and over again. Tomb Raider is not the first Square Enix game that I have played. I completed Thief earlier this year and found that game to be a lot of fun, but now feel Tomb Raider is much better.  It took me about 20 hours to complete the game.

Tomb Raider has an ESRB rating of M for mature because of violence and strong language. I would recommend the game to young adults looking for an action-adventure game that is well done. Oh and my final disclaimer is that I work for a large video game company that might be associated with one or more of the products listed in this review.

Using a Smartphone for Calls

Saturday afternoon I boarded my flight from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles and patiently took my seat. About 10 minutes before our scheduled departure the pilot came on and informed us there was a slight problem with the plane's computer and that he was going to try to reboot it. For some reason, I pictured him typing CTL-ALT-DEL. Twenty minutes and a few announcements later, we were informed that the computer was not responding and that it needed to be replaced. The process would take 45 minutes. My layover in Los Angeles was only 45 minutes to begin with and we were already 10 minutes into that. I was going to miss my flight to Tokyo.

Missing my flight was not an option. I was scheduled to arrive at 10:30pm Sunday evening and I was hosting a conference at 8:30 am the following morning. Any delay would seriously jeopardize my attendance at my own event. An event that I had spent the previous 6 months planning. I immediately got on the phone with Delta using a special number given to their platinum-level customers. My mobile number identified me and there was no need to enter my frequent flyer number. I thought that was a nifty feature. Soon I was connected with a real person who immediately knew why I was calling. He told me to get off the plane and run to another flight headed to San Francisco. While I ran, he rebooked me on a different itinerary using another carrier for the leg from San Francisco to Tokyo.

I ended up sprinting through the Salt Lake airport and immediately boarded my new flight. Then I landed and sprinted through the San Francisco airport to the international terminal. I got a new boarding pass with my seat assignment and had the luxury of experiencing TSA security for the second time that day. Yes, that last sentence was dripping with sarcasm. For those that don't know me, I hate going through airport security as I do it twice a week, whether I want to or not. I sprinted to the gate and boarded the flight to Tokyo. Yes, I was stuck in a middle seat for the 10-hour flight but I was going to make my conference. In fact, I landed only a few minutes later than my originally scheduled flight.

Yes, Delta has a smartphone app that I could have used to help with my travel. However it wouldn't have booked me on a different carrier. Unfortunately my unique situation required human intervention. At those times, it is nice that a smartphone can also be used as a phone. After all, that is why I carry it.

Video Game Review: The Walking Dead, Season 2

It is Monday morning here in Japan even though the time for this entry is posted as Sunday. That is what happens when you cross the international date line. Another thing that generally happens is that you get to spend a lot of time on a plane as I did last night. That gave me time to finish up Telltale Games' The Walking Dead, Season 2 on my PlayStation Vita. I know I wrote that I wasn't going to continue with the game series but when I found I had a copy for my hand-held console, I thought I would give it a try.

The game plays like an interactive movie and the experience I had on the Vita was a bit different than on the PS3. Both versions have a tendency to pause unexpectedly but it happened a lot more on my Vita. Sometimes it was distracting and game-play suffered. It was also very difficult to tell how to interact with the characters. The Vita has a touchscreen and so sometimes you would use that while other times you would use the controller buttons. I missed several choices because I was pushing buttons instead of touching the screen or visa versa. It was somewhat frustrating.

The game continued where Season 1 left off and it was like catching up with old friends. I was told I wouldn't like Season 2 as much as Season 1 but they didn't take into account that part of the story takes place at a ski resort. I love ski resorts and so that part of the story resonated with me. As can be expected with a game that mimics a television series where they hope to continue the following year, the game ends with a cliff-hanger and it has me wanting to play Season 3. Unfortunately I will have to wait until 2016 as it is not expected until then.

The Walking Dead, Season 2 has an ESRB rating of M for Mature because of strong language. I would not recommend this game for children or even teenagers because of this.

A Use for Square Root

Earlier this week I volunteered to come up with an algorithm to spread test data across a number of days. We ran a test for about an hour and then were left with trying to make the data look like it came in over a series of days instead of all on the same day. "Well that's easy," I thought, "just subtract a random number of days from the entry date." It turns out, that wasn't going to work because we needed to show a change in the amount of traffic. Statistically, the random number would provide an equal number of entries for each day. I quickly adjusted my algorithm by using the square root of a random number. I then subtract the integer part of the square root from the existing date.

So how does that work? It is actually quite simple. If you generate random numbers from 1 to 35 and only use the integer of their square roots you get the following:

• sqrt(0)  to sqrt(0)  = 0 with  1 chance
• sqrt(1)  to sqrt(3)  = 1 with  3 chances
• sqrt(4)  to sqrt(8)  = 2 with  5 chances
• sqrt(9)  to sqrt(15) = 3 with  7 chances
• sqrt(16) to sqrt(24) = 4 with  9 chances
• sqrt(25) to sqrt(35) = 5 with 11 chances

As you can see there is a higher chance the random number will generate a 5 than a 1. I created the following SQL statement for a MySQL database:

UPDATE my_table 
  SET date_coumn = (ADDDATE(date_column, 
      INTERVAL -1 * FLOOR(SQRT(ROUND(RAN() * 35))) day )); 

We ran the UPDATE statement and it behaved exactly as we expected. There were more entries that appeared 5 days previously than the previous day. Other than using the Pathagorean Theorem to calculate the length of a diagonal line, this is the first time I have ever had a valid use for the square root function. I guess I can't wear my One-more-day-that-I-didn't-use-Algebra shirt.

Catching Up With Friends

One thing about spending time in the Bay Area and working in high-tech is that it is pretty easy to run into old work acquaintances. This morning I got a text from the former CEO of a company I used to work for. He wanted to get my opinion on a new project he is working on and so we met this afternoon for 30 minutes. It was good to catch up.

Last week, I was riding from my office back to my boat when I passed someone walking that I recognized. Amazingly we worked together at a company in New Jersey, yet here we were in California. Naturally I stopped and talked to him and it was good to catch up. Coincidentally, this friend worked with me at the same company that shared the CEO I met with today.

There are a number of old coworkers from my days at Oracle that reside in the Bay Area and I will often get together with them to catch up. After today I am glad that I make sure never to burn any bridges with those I have worked with in the past. You never know when you will run into them again. When you do, you want it to be a happy reunion and not an uncomfortable one.

A Case for a PlayStation Vita

It is no secret that I am a PlayStation fan. Ever since my brother gave me a PS2 for my birthday complete with SOCOM II, I have been a fan of the PlayStation consoles. When the PlayStation Vita came out several years ago, I picked one up and purchased a few games for it. Unfortunately it has sat in my home office for almost a year without anyone picking it up. That may change next week.

One of the problems with the Vita is a lack of good games. Most video game companies have a limited number of resources and trying to put their games on all of the consoles, including the PS Vita does not always make sense. As someone that plays games, I would much rather buy a game for my PlayStation 3 or 4 than my Vita, so I understand why there is a lack of content.

Fortunately for me, there are a number of free games I am given all the time. Some games are good while others are not. This afternoon I was going through my library of games and noticed I have "The Walking Dead: Season 2" for the Vita. Now I know I said I wasn't going to play it in my last review. However the Vita has one thing that will make me change my mind: it is portable. I spend a lot of time on airplanes and in airports. The Vita is a perfect platform entertaining me in those situations.

Next week when I fly to the Bay Area, I will bring my Vita with "The Walking Dead: Season 2" and see if I can't continue the game. Naturally I will provide a review.

Video Game Review: The Walking Dead, The Complete First Season

Last night I received my first platinum trophy on the PlayStation video game console. I received it simply because I completed all five episodes of the video game The Walking Dead. There are actually six episodes if you include the "400 Days" episode found on the Game of the Year Edition. I have yet to play the sixth episode though as it is not necessary to get the trophy. As I completed the game, I thought I would give a quick review.

I just finished playing Heavy Rain and was looking for something a little more upbeat. The guys at work told me to play something else but for some reason I had my heart set on playing The Walking Dead. I should have listened because it was also rather somber. It played very similarly to Heavy Rain in that they are both more like interactive movies that require just a bit of interaction now and then. I am a fan of the television series The Walking Dead and thought the game would keep me entertained. I wasn't wrong.

The Walking Dead started as a series of downloadable episodes that take about two to three hours to complete. As I had a disk that contained all of the episodes, I binge played much as someone might by watching all the episodes of the television series. It started out as a lot of fun but I think having a break between episodes might have made it more enjoyable towards the end. By the fourth episode I just wanted the game to be over. I was pleasantly surprised that the fifth episode only took about an hour and a half to complete.

This evening I am trying to decide whether or not to play the "400 Days" episode or start a new video game. I enjoyed the game over the course of a two-week period but have decided not to play the second season as there are so many other video games I want to play. My hope is that the extra episode will tie up one or two loose ends in the story.

The Walking Dead is developed by Telltale Games and I picked it up for only $1. It is well worth the price I paid for it and would have been so even if I paid $20. The game has an ESRB rating of M for language and violence. Remember my disclaimer that I work for a video game company and may or may not be associated with this title in some way. In reality, I review games based on whether or not I want to play them and not the studio they come from.

Trophy Hunting

I am back from vacation and so I have been playing video games on my boat during the week. I picked up a stack of games for next to nothing and am trying to get through a number of them as quickly as possible. Don't worry, I will provide reviews for some of the good ones as I get to them.

One thing I have started to notice is the number of trophies I am accumulating for the PlayStation family of consoles. I am told that there is a similar system for the XBox consoles. Trophies have absolutely no value other than the sentiment one assigns to them. I don't really play video games to collect trophies but the topic came up during lunch today. Those are the types of conversations you have when one work for a video game company.

Naturally I got a lot of good-natured ribbing because while I have over 465 total trophies, none of them are platinum. Most are bronze with some silver ones and a few gold thrown in. One of the guys I eat lunch with loves to trophy hunt. That means he finds out what is necessary to earn a trophy and then plays to achieve it. He feels it adds to the game as he must try out new things. While I may find a favorite gun and use it throughout the game, he will mix it up as different trophies can be awarded based on getting a certain number of kills with differing weapons.

I asked how to find out about the various trophies and how to earn them. Most of the time, the game will tell you what to do. Other times you have to do a bit of research on the Internet. To me that sounded like cheating. My buddy didn't think so.

Someone else at the table pointed out how he earned a trophy by connecting a rubber band to his controller and letting it run three nights in a row to accumulate 75 miles of driving for a remote control car in one of his games. Doing so rewarded him with a platinum trophy for the game. Everyone at the table agreed that he is a trophy hunter and it definitely qualified as cheating. Personally I found it to be hilarious.

There is not much to the current game I am playing and if things continue I will earn my first platinum trophy. Simply playing the game all the way through is all that is necessary. Does that make me a trophy hunter? I don't think so because I am not altering how I play the game. However if you catch me attaching a rubber band to my controller and letting it run all night for 3 nights in a row, then you can call me a trophy hunter. Now if I only had a rubber band on the boat.

E-Mail is Bad on Vacation

I just got back from a week in Hawaii and learned a very important lesson. I should say I re-learned a very important lesson: Avoid e-mail and as much technology as possible while on vacation. As usual, I brought my laptop so I could stay up on my e-mail. Each time I would turn on my computer, I would have at least one message that required immediate attention. It got to the point where I started getting mad at people for sending me work to do while on vacation. Then I realized that while some people knew I was out of the office, not everyone did.

Friends asking me to help with things in the neighborhood or with Scouts assumed I was just away during the week like I normally am. They didn't know I was trying to get some rest before the chaos that happens in the video game industry right as Christmas approaches. Once I realized that people were not going out of their way to upset me on vacation, I also figured out that the best way to keep from getting angry was to stop reading e-mail and checking my phones. In fact, I left them in my hotel room during the day and tried my best not to check them at night. I wasn't perfect, but it was nice to unplug from technology for a few days.

My 21-year-old daughter that came with my wife and I on this trip remarked how her generation found it difficult to unplug. She followed my example and left her phone in the hotel room as well. She noticed how others her age would float along on an inner-tube on the resort hotel's extensive lazy river with iPhone's in waterproof cases unable to refrain from constantly looking at the screen. She was disgusted with her contemporaries. I also noticed that younger children quickly snatched parents' phones the moment they were put down so electronic games could be played. Parents and adults were no better as they constantly ignored family members to stay in contact with their hand-held devices.

I enjoyed my trip to the islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I especially enjoyed not being connected to the rest of the world. My hope that at least one person reads this and follows our example and disconnects on their next vacation. It may only be for a day or two but you will be richly rewarded.

Video Game Review: Heavy Rain

Monday evening I finished playing the Undead Nightmare expansion pack for Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption. It was a lot of fun after having spent quite a few hours on the original game. The expansion only took about 15 hours of total time to finish. When I was done, I wanted something a little different and just picked up Heavy Rain from Quantic Dream. Heavy Rain is an older game available on the PlayStation 3 video game console but still manages to hold up well. The reasons I picked the game are that it is significantly different than the other games I have finished playing, I knew it to be about a 10-hour game, and it is not another zombie game. It was a lot of fun to play in the evenings on my boat.

I didn't know what to expect when I sat down to play Heavy Rain. I imagined it would be similar to watching a movie with the chance to make choices that would effect the outcome of the story. There was actually a bit more involved in the game play and so it was a lot more interactive than I originally thought. During the game, you take turn playing 4 different characters as you try to find the "Origami Killer." You also try to make sure all 4 characters make it to the end of the game as you also try to save a young boy. I was not successful except for saving one of the characters and the young boy. I probably could have done better but one of my choices had far-reaching consequences. I did fairly good figuring out all of the clues and knew who the killer was before it was revealed.

Heavy Rain is rated Mature and definitely should not be played by anyone who is not an adult. There is violence, nudity, and strong language, so it is not a game for kids. Personally I enjoyed the game and would recommend it to adults looking for entertainment and a great tutorial on how to use the PS3 controller. I got the game from a recent sale "insider's only" sale for only $1 and while you may not be able to find it for that price, it has been out for a while and you should be able to find it for between $10 and $20. I should also remind you that I work for a video game company that may or may not be associated with this title.

Expense Reports

One of the downsides of traveling a lot for work is that I often get stuck doing expense reports. When I was at Oracle, I was forced to do them every week. Fortunately I can now do them once a month but it is a painful process. My company uses a Software as a Service (SaaS) expense reporting solution. I hate it. I am fairly certain it was designed by someone that never ever had to fill out an expense report. Especially someone that never had to fill out an international one.

It takes me a while to get through my expense report and when I finally think I have done everything correctly, I get to deal with our accounts payable department. There are a number of little rules that we have and it is tough to keep them all straight. For instance, we have a daily food maximum of $100 for some cities and $125 for others. We also have the rule that the highest ranking employee pays for the meal and so I often get stuck paying the bill. This maximum food allowance carries through for people all from the same company. However if there is someone who works for our parent company, but not the US branch, then the expense item goes from a "meal" to "entertainment" and any limits on food go away. That means I have had expense reports kicked back because someone at the table was miscategorized as an employee when they should have been a guest. This delays payment by at least a week or two.

Last month I was in Japan and then I was in San Diego at the beginning of last week. Guess what that means? Yep, I am in the middle of doing my expense report. Nope, I don't like it.

Time to Break Out the Walkman

This morning I pulled out a decade-old Sony Walkman and actually had a legitimate use for it. There was a radio program I wanted to listen to. It was something I could do at the same time I rode my indoor bike. Yes, I would have rather ridden outside but it was raining and so listening to my program while I got some exercise seemed like a good idea.

I have an old Sony Walkman that I got probably 10 to 20 years ago. It was one of the last cassette player models released and it also has a built-in radio. I found a fresh set of AA batteries and connected it to my favorite ear buds. Then I quickly found the right station and had a great indoor ride.

Sure I could have downloaded an application for one of my smartphones and streamed the program to it. However that seemed like a lot of work when all I needed to do was add a fresh set of batteries to something ready to go. Sometimes those old technologies may seem out of date but often times they still have a purpose. Today was one of those times.

In-flight Entertainment

Last night I took a flight from San Diego to San Francisco and noticed they had free entertainment available. I was on one of those small regional jets and so there wasn't a screen embedded in the seat in front of me. They simply had a video server on the plane with a number of movies or shows that you could stream to your electronic device. This is something that Southwest has provided for a number of years but I have never bothered taking advantage of it. I was on a different carrier last night and wanted to make sure I wasn't bored so I gave it a look.

The flight attendants were kind enough to let me know that I needed to download the latest app from the airline carrier while we were still at the gate. I pulled out one of my smartphones, the one with the largest screen, and downloaded the app. It was rather large but finished a few seconds after they closed the front door. Once it was done installing, I put my phone in airplane mode in order to comply with the flight attendant instructions. This automatically turns off WiFi capabilities which I could over-ride and turn back on. Nothing really worked until the plane got above 10,000 feet. Then I could browse the available movies and television shows.

At first glance I thought I would have plenty to keep me entertained. Then I realized the flight was only an hour. That means a movie was out of the question. I didn't want to start a movie only to have it stop as we dropped below 10,000 feet to land. So I started looking at television shows. I actually stopped watching television a while ago and so nothing looked interesting. Eventually I forced myself to pick something and tried to watch a single episode. I was instructed to turn off USB debugging on my device or the video wouldn't play. I browsed a few menus on my phone but ultimately decided that I really wasn't that interested in watching the show. Instead I picked up a paper ham radio magazine and read during the flight. Before I knew it the flight was over as was the need to entertain myself.

I think it is great that airlines have started including video servers on their flights and am glad they allow us to bring our own electronic devices to use. No matter how large the seat in front of me is, my laptop or tablet has a screen that is significantly larger. This is even true with a larger number of smartphones. While I didn't bother with a movie or television show on this flight, I'm sure others took advantage of it.

Video Game Review: Far Cry 4

Last night I found myself at home with nobody around and 4 hours of uninterrupted "Me" time. As someone who spends 3 to 4 days a week away from home, I have no shortage of "Me" time and I would have much rather been spending the evening with my wife. However as she had plans to spend time with our 2 daughters, I took advantage of the situation and sat down in front of my television. I recently purchased a bunch of PlayStation 3 video games but also have a number of PlayStation 4 video games that have yet to have the wrappers removed. It probably took too long deciding which game to play but I settled on "Aliens: Colonial Marines."

Hey wait, that isn't the title of this review. Well it had been a while since I had turned my Utah PS3 on and so there was an update required. I then turned on my PS4 and figured out where I last left off in my game of Far Cry 4. It was not my intent to play it all night though. When my PS3 finished updating, I needed to download an update for the Aliens video game. Naturally I went back to the PS4.

Everyone had told me that "Aliens: Colonial Marines" was a waste of the $1 I paid for the game (wrapper still on the package) but I wanted to test it out for myself. I settled in to play the game with a nice refreshing beverage handy as I was ready for a workout. Oh was it a workout. I discovered I really suck at certain video games. It became painfully clear that I have no dexterity when it comes to proper use of the controller. I figured out that I can't fire and move at the same time. While I enjoy playing first-person shooters like Aliens, I am not very good at them. After restarting at the same point for like the 20th time, I turned off the game and went back to my PS4. I am probably done playing Aliens unless I want to work on my hand/eye coordination, which I may. I would like to add that it was well worth the $1 I paid for it so if you can find it cheap, it is entertaining.

Before continuing I have to give the following disclaimer: I met one of the developers of Far Cry 4 at a video game developers conference and he provided me with a code to download the game for free. I would have been willing to shell out $60 for the game as the trailers and reviews made it look that good.

I am only a few hours into the game and will continue playing it to completion. Yes, it is that good. The visuals are very stunning as you run through a beautiful alpine setting in the fictitious country of Kyrat. This is my first Far Cry game and so I am probably unaccustomed to the game mechanics familiar to long-time franchise players. Even then there are plenty of helps along the way and so it is fairly easy to pick up. There are a number of gun battles and my aforementioned controller deficiency doesn't keep me from enjoying the game.

Far Cry 4 is rated "M" for mature and definitely lives up to the rating. While the gun battles are not overly grotesque, there is a lot of strong language and I understand there is some nudity in the game. I have not gotten to that part but understand if I stay true to my morals, I shouldn't come across it in the game. I would recommend the game to college-aged or older guys looking for a visually stunning video game.

Software Development Trends

Today I had an experience at work that underscored the evolution of software development. When I was in school working on programming assignments for various classes, there really wasn't a need to use a formal methodology. I looked at the problem, sketched out my algorithm, sat down and coded it. Life was pretty easy but so were the assignments, relative to the projects I am involved with now.

I got out into the software development field and had a team that kept up on all of the latest software development methods and we were one of the leaders in implementing the capability and maturity model (CMM). It worked for us and we were able to create some pretty amazing computer software that was on time and under budget.

Fast forward a few years and I found myself doing consulting for various organizations. As I was a lone coder working on projects, there really wasn't a need to completely embrace CMM. Instead I took what felt good and coupled it with what worked in college. Once again life was easy but my projects were rather small and not very complex.

Eventually I found myself working for a very small software organization in Southern California and was introduced to agile software development. My first thought was that "agile" must have been developed by 3M because you use a lot of sticky notes. It felt like the next evolution of software development and seemed fairly efficient.

Then "the cloud" comes along and the next bit of evolution is needed so DevOps is born. DevOps doesn't replace "agile" but becomes coupled with it. In addition to creating software, a group of software developers gets tasked with writing tools to deploy the software. This isn't a large task for small and simple programs. However bigger software projects requiring large numbers of computing nodes or instances running on such services as Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Goole's Compute Engine (GCE) require a lot more care to ensure the code gets deployed correctly.

In my meeting today we discussed DevOps and whether it should be done by a specific team. The group consensus is that each developer should have a hand in the deployment process and understand DevOps. I wouldn't say we are ready to disband the DevOps team yet as each project needs at least one person responsible for architecting the entire deployment system. However this is a shift from how we have done things in the past and seems to be the next step in the evolution of software development. Of course, now that I have written this down it is obsolete. Tomorrow there will be yet another twist.

Investing in a Video Game

Recently I finished playing a video game after about 40 hours of total game play time. I have to admit that I was sad when the game ended. It is not that the game had a bad ending. In fact, the ending made perfect sense and perfectly matched the game. After 40 hours of game play, I felt connected to the character I was playing. He was a part of me in that the choices made during the game were mine. I felt very invested in the character as well as the entire video game.

Once finished with the game, I started to think about where else I felt such a connection with a fictitious person. I love watching movies but they are usually only a few hours long. Sure there are sequels and prequels, but The Lord of the Rings trilogy maxes out at 9 hours, while the Harry Potter movies total around 19 hours.

Thinking about Harry Potter reminds me that the story started as a book series. My children grew up with me reading them the books at bedtime. The time it took to read those books easily surpasses the 40 hours of game play, yet I still don't feel invested in the characters the same way I do with those in my recently completed video game. With a book, all you can do is read about choices the author makes for the characters. My kids would often scream at the stupid choices certain characters in the book would make. With a video game, you get to make your own choices. As a result, you are much more invested in your character.

I am now ready to start my next video game adventure and picked up a dozen games at a recent clearance sale. I set aside 3 different games that came highly recommended and have them stashed by my video game console on my boat where I spend most of my weeknight evenings. Sure I could relax and read a good book or watch a few movies. Instead I plan to get wrapped up in another video game character and chart my own story. I'll let you know how it goes.

Troubleshooting an Internet Connection

I am in Japan this week because of the Tokyo Game Show. That means I am using Skype to talk to my wife every day instead of running up a huge phone bill. I went to call my wife today but couldn't get through to her home computer. When I used Skype to call her cell phone she answered and said that our home Internet was down. Naturally she was rather frustrated. I asked her to reset our cable modem to see if that helped. Nope, it didn't. There was not much else I felt I could do to help as I am over 5,000 miles away.

Later in the day I got a text from her saying that not only was the Internet down, but also the cable television connection. A few minutes later she said that the soonest the cable company could get to the house wasn't for 2 days. I thought about it for a few minutes and remembered a similar problem several months ago. So I called my wife and had her check a few things for me.

I used to get a really strong cable signal and then my cable company did something stupid. Since then I have to have a signal amplifier inside my house. That amplifier requires power and I had my wife check to make sure the power was still on. Nope, it wasn't. I had her check the circuit breakers and they were all set correctly. The power for the amplifier comes from a single outlet in the basement that is tied to a GFCI outlet in my main-floor powder room. I had her reset that and power was restored. Once the signal amplifier had power, the cable television connection started working as did the home Internet connection.

I'm glad I was able to help my wife get our home Internet connection restored without requiring the help of the cable company. I know I feel really stupid when they come out and it is as simple as a power connection.

True Civilization

This past weekend I had the opportunity to drive from Salt Lake to Gooding, Idaho. Ever hear of Gooding, Idaho? No, I didn't think so. The only reason I know it is there is because my wife's sister lives there with her family. There was a family event up there and so we made the relatively short drive to get together. During the quick trip I was surprised at how I found myself comparing life in small-town Idaho with life in Salt Lake and life in the Bay Area.

One may be tempted to believe that cities are much more civilized than small towns. After this trip, I believe the opposite is true. The first indication was the traffic and speed limits. While the distance I traveled was around 250 miles, the trip only took around 3 hours each way. That same trip in California would have taken over 4 hours. Why? Because the speed limit in Utah and Idaho is 80 miles per hour. It is only 65 in the Golden State. Furthermore there was no need to fight any sort of traffic as there were relatively few cars on the road. The last time I left the Bay Area headed to Salt Lake, I spent an hour or so fighting traffic just to get out of the Bay Area. I thought that was ridiculous given that I left at 9:30 pm.

My next observation came when we stopped for dinner. We pulled off the Interstate and found a relatively popular family dinning restaurant chain. There is an identical restaurant found near my home in Salt Lake as well as one near my office in the Bay Area. The menu is the same at each of the 3 places and one would think the food and service would be as well. Nope, not even close. This small-town restaurant in the middle of Idaho had significantly better service and the food actually matched what I saw on the menu. When does that ever happen? The menu always looks awesome and then the food gets to you and one would think it was run over by a truck before arriving at the table.

I thought about the joys of civilization as I drove to the motel to check in for the night. While I could find a much higher quality place to stay in both Salt Lake and the Bay Area, there wasn't a chance I would find the same quality for the price I was paying. The motel had clean rooms and a very nice swimming pool with attached hot tub. Again, a point for small-town America.

My final check was to pull out my smartphone and check the Internet connection. It was LTE speeds with a stronger signal than I get at my office in San Mateo, California. I did a quick check to see if there were any Uber drivers in the area. That is the one short-fall of a small town: no Uber. Of course the town was so small you could walk from one end to the other in a few minutes and so a taxi or Uber would be pointless, but I had to check.

With all of the technology we have available to us, why do small towns continue to shrink while large cities continue to get bigger? Can't we have more telecommuters? What is wrong with us? Small-town America is much more civilized than our overcrowded cities. Maybe we might want to start taking advantage of that.

Limit Smartphone, Laptop, and Tablet Usage

Yesterday I got some disturbing news. My oldest daughter recently was hired for a new job but only lasted 4 days. My wife and I assumed there were budget issues and our daughter was let go because of them. Then my wife visited someone associated with the company, which is where my daughter originally found out about the job in the first place. According to our friend, our daughter was let go because of not paying attention in the new hire training because she was spending time on her smartphone. Naturally there are two sides to every story and so my wife called our daughter to see if there was any truth to it. Of course my daughter didn't see it that way as she explained that "she wasn't using her phone any more than anyone else in the training." When I heard that, a buzzer in my head went off, followed by the phrase, "Wrong answer!"

While there may be other reasons why my daughter was let go from her job, her response shows that we could all use a little education on smartphone etiquette. Meetings and training classes can get boring. Trust me, I spend way too much time in them and I am often looking for something else to do. However I find that when I do pull out my phone is exactly the time that I miss some important information that often needs to be repeated and makes an already long meeting last even longer. That means I am being rude to the presenter as well as everyone else in the meeting.

I was ruminating over this thought today when I opened up one of my wife's health magazines and came across an article about how being glued to your gadgets can be bad for you. Northwestern University found that people who were exposed to blue light right before or during dinner felt an increase in hunger. For those that don't know, blue light is the type of light emitted by smartphones, tablets, and laptops. What this means is that our little gadgets are making us more hungry than we really are. No wonder I want to snack every time I sit in front of my laptop.

One anecdotal story does not make a trend but I imagine there are a number of missed opportunities because of being glued to our electronic gadgets. This coupled with the fact that our devices are making us hungrier ought to cause us to pause and think about it before we use them.

Video Game Ratings

One of my good friends just posted something on a popular social media site that I found interesting. Here is the sentence that caught my attention:

"How are we the only parents that think Call of Duty for a 12yo is a bad idea?"

Let me preface my remarks with a reminder that I currently work for a large video game company. While I do not work for the same company that publishes "Call of Duty," my comments also apply to our own games that are similar and I am not trying to single this game out as a bad game. I actually like "Call of Duty" and have played several of the various titles. There is a reason it is one of the most popular video games.

Video games come with a rating similar to movies, never mind that most American's ignore movie ratings. In the United States we use the ESRB system and "Call of Duty" is rated "M" for mature. That means that the game is meant for those 17-years old or older. My friend's son is only 12. Now I know that not all 12-year old boys are the same. However not a single one that I have ever met has the maturity that the ESRB expects from a 17-year old. Furthermore a lot of actual 17-year old boys lack the maturity the ESRB expects from them.

You can argue that first-person shooters like "Call of Duty" are rated that because of violence and strong language. That doesn't really make it acceptable for your 12-year old to be playing it. Some parents want to be their kid's friend and think that getting a video game will help strengthen those bonds of friendship. Guess what? Your kids have enough friends and sometimes need you to step up and be a parent. This is one of those times.

So if your kid comes to you asking for a game that is meant for someone older, grow a backbone and tell him, "No." When he throws out that his friend's parents got the friend the game, tell him, "Your friend's parents are idiots." You can quote me on that. 

Printed Airline Tickets

This morning I got up and boarded my usual flight to Oakland from Salt Lake City. My son flew with me and we had a nice flight together. As we headed through the airport I noticed a number of differences between our experiences. I always print up a paper ticket after checking in online. My son sent his ticket to his phone and saved on the cost of a sheet of paper. I thought I would comment on the differences seen today.

My son woke up at 7am yesterday and checked in for his flight using his mobile phone. I knew I was going to print my ticket and so I waited until I was near a computer before I checked in. As I fly a lot more than my son, I still had a better boarding position on Southwest because of my "A-List" status. If I needed to check in exactly 24 hours before my flight, I would have used my phone and then had to print a ticket later. Mark this as a win for the ticket on the phone.

We got to the airport this morning and I pulled out my ticket to hand to the TSA representative along with my government issued ID. The security person took my ticket and wrote all over it as she verified my name on both documents. My son had to pull out his phone and hold it so the TSA agent could verify his name with his ID. It actually took a bit longer than my process but not enough to make a difference.

The last and final spot where an airline ticket is needed is when boarding the plane. I just pulled my ticket out, handed it to the gate agent, and boarded the plane without slowing down. My son had to pull out his phone, unlock the screen, find his ticket, hold it just right so the scanner could read the digital code, and then boarded the plane. It is this last process where the paper ticket wins out over the one on the phone.

If I look at the score for each method of presenting an airline ticket, it seems to be a draw. However since I don't rely on checking in at a set time due to my frequent flyer status, the paper ticket has a slight advantage when it comes to boarding the plane. Perhaps I should give the ticket on my phone more of a chance and see if I prefer it though. That is something I will definitely think about.

Are There Benefits of Video Games?

This week I have been spending a lot of time playing video games in the evening. I got to a point Monday night and had to ask myself if I was having fun or just killing time. To be honest, I really felt like I was just killing time and felt like I could be doing something more productive. It turns out I wasn't making any progress in my game and when I figured out what I was doing wrong, it became much more entertaining. However it got me thinking about if there are any benefits of video games.

Video games have been a part of my family since I was very young. My Dad had a DEC PDP-11 computer installed in our house and I used it to play a Star Trek game when I was about 10 years old. There were a few other games but Star Trek is the one I remember the most. Later we had an Atari 400 computer and it had the arcade version of Pac-Man. My dad wanted to know if there were any benefits of video games and had a hypothesis that they could help you read faster. He used Pac-Man to test it. Every so often an item appears in the Pac-Man maze and if you eat the item, you score points. The first item is a cherry and it is worth something like 100 points. The more points an item is worth, the faster everything goes. The nice thing about the Atari 400 version of Pac-Man is that you can choose which item you want to appear in the maze without having to start with the cherry. That means you could set the game to the "key" or highest level and everything moved amazingly fast.

My dad would bring in a bunch of kids from the neighborhood and time them reading several pages out of a book. Then he would have them play Pac-Man at key level for 30 minutes followed by having them read different pages out of the same book. I forget the exact numbers but there was a significant increase in reading speed for everyone my dad tested. My siblings and I used that as justification for playing more video games.

Now I find myself wondering if there are more benefits to playing video games. We all have only 24 hours in a day and I would not recommend spending all of that time doing one single thing. I know that after a busy day at the office I just want to relax. In the past I have watched television or read a book. I still enjoy reading and have been keeping that up. I have completely given up on TV though. I figure that replacing television with playing video games is a fair trade. Am I wrong? Comments welcome.

New Favorite Technology

This morning I was the perfect husband and brought my wife to the doctor's office for a routine screening. They sedated her for the procedure and I was needed simply to drive her home afterwards. Fortunately I came prepared for my stay in the doctor's waiting room. I brought my laptop and both of my mobile phones. I also brought one more seriously needed piece of technology that has recently become quite beloved.

We got to the doctor's office and my wife filled out a bunch of paperwork. I sat next to her and kept glancing over at the television. I have to admit that I have not watched any television in the past several months. Furthermore I think you can count in decades the last time I have watched day-time television. The only word that comes to mind is, "Garbage." Every time I would look over at the Today show with Kathy Lee, my stomach would churn and my mind would ask, "Isn't it time for her to retire and go away?" Unfortunately the sound was up and I couldn't help continuously glancing over and getting nauseated.

I thought about bringing my laptop to the doctor's office and rather than just pulling it out of my computer bag, I brought my whole bag. In it was my new favorite technology: earplugs. I actually have 3 different sets in my bag. The first is a set of closed-foam plugs that Hampton Inn's started giving away for free. That is what I used today and I was glad I had them. Once I put them in, I could work on my laptop and got some important management tasks done.

The other two sets of earplugs I carry are not really "earplugs." They are two different kinds of headphones. The first is a set of ear buds that came with one of my tablet computers. They are great in that I can play music through them and they also do a fairly nice job of limiting outside noise. The other set of headphones are some more expensive over-the-ear kind that also have a noise cancelling button. Simply put them on, flip a switch, and about 90% of outside noise just goes away.

I enjoy all three sets of ear plugs I carry. Sure I could have used any of them to drown out distractions and get some work done today. I didn't want to listen to music and so the simple foam earplugs worked. Sometimes simple is all you need.

Time to Upgrade my Gaming Console

I have been traveling a lot over the last 6 weeks and have missed playing Red Dead Redemption on my PlayStation 3. Last night I was able to start playing some more. I have to say that I really like the game and continue to enjoy it. However I think it will be the last game I play on my PlayStation 3 as I prefer the graphics on the latest video game consoles.

I have a PlayStation 4 at home in Utah but don't get much of a chance to use it for more than watching movies. When I am in the Bay Area on my boat, I have a lot more time to play video games as I am all alone and don't have to share the TV with others. While the PlayStation 3 has been good on the boat, I am ready to upgrade to a PlayStation 4. Some might argue that getting an XBox One would allow me to have both of the latest video game consoles. As you can see from how long it has taken me to get through one video game, I have more than enough games to keep me busy and so keeping with a single brand allows me to share games between my two systems. Besides, I have a number of PS4 games still in their plastic wrappers and would love to start playing them.

So now the question becomes which PS4 should I get? You can pick up a pre-owned system at Best Buy for $349 or a new one for $399. Then there are the bundled units that come with games for the same $399 price. I already own The Last of Us for the PS4 and so that bundle doesn't make sense. One of my co-workers is encouraging me to get the Batman: Arkham Knight Limited Edition bundle. I asked my oldest son for his recommendation and he said that the I should get the Batman Limited Edition because if I decide to resell the console later, I should be able to get the same or more money for it. My son has the Destiny Limited Edition and it seems to be worth more than he paid for it even though it is used. So which one should I get? Fortunately I have a lot of time to think about it.

Spotify Scores a Point

I am currently in Tokyo, Japan. Yes I know I was in London last week and No I didn't just keep going East. I actually went back to Utah for the weekend and then caught a Sunday evening flight to Tokyo through Seattle. I have to admit I am doing amazingly well considering the jet lag I should be feeling.

This morning I woke up early and went to use the hotel gym. I find music very inspiring as I ride an indoor bike for 30 minutes. In the past I have tried to use streaming music from Pandora. Unfortunately it is only available in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Today I started out listening to MP3 music loaded onto my iPhone. Then I thought I would see if Spotify works in Japan. Yes it does and so I finished my workout listening to streaming music.

There are a number of differences between Pandora and Spotify and I have favored Pandora in the past. However if it works in Japan, I will have to start listening to it more often. Now I feel bad for not listening to it while I was in London last week. While I enjoy the songs I have on my iPhone, there are a lot more songs available through any of the streaming music services than I could ever hope to own.

The Power of People

I have been in London all week and am getting ready to head back to the United States. It has been a quick trip and I am just getting over jet lag now that it is time to leave. I have learned a lot on this trip though and it is one of those gems of wisdom I wish to impart today.

I came to London with a presentation that I have given about a half a dozen times since being here. Each time I present a technical solution and elicit feedback from the group. When I originally developed the solution, it was in response to another group telling me a need they have. Each new group has acknowledged that need but also provided other scenarios my seemingly simple solution can solve. I have gone back and added these suggestions to the original presentation and now I am getting more and more interest in my project.

This gem of wisdom I wish to impart on you today is that you should always recognize the power of other people's ideas. You never know when your proverbial solution to crack open nuts can also be used to extract the tasty meat inside crab legs.

Beating My Previous Score

Ski season ended back in May and so I have been riding my bike to get my daily exercise. When I am home in Utah, there is a loop I like to ride that I call the "Prison Run." It is a 14-mile loop that happens to run by the the prison which is where it gets its name. One side-effect of doing the same ride over and over is that I can compare my ride stats to see if I am getting better or worse.

For the past several years I have been averaging 16 miles per hour (MPH) on the loop. That sounds pretty slow until you factor in the 1500 feet of climbing over the short 14 miles. When I hit the long section of the climb, my speed drops from 20 MPH down to about 10. I used to try to keep in the double-digit speeds and thought that was great. However I have recently lost about 35 pounds and that has really helped my climbing ability.

A few weeks ago I noticed that I had my fastest average ever at 17.9 MPH. That got me excited about my cycling ability. The next time I went out, I did better with an 18.2 MPH average. Now each time I go out I am trying to do better than the previous ride. Last week I clocked in an amazing 19.0 MPH. I didn't think that was beatable until I went out yesterday and averaged 19.2 MPH. I keep getting better and better.

What does this have to do with computers and technology? Well that is the idea behind gamification. While I am always trying to do my best, there is something that makes me want to do better when there is a measurable score associated with my effort. When I take notice of that score, I can't help but try harder. Now it is time to get on my bike and see if I can't do better than a 19.2 MPH average. Wish me luck.

My E3 Favorites

I have had the pleasure of walking the E3 show floor for the past couple of days and have been amazed by the high-quality games soon to be available. I thought I would take a paragraph or two and mention my favorites from the show. Before I do that I have to provide the disclaimer that I work for a video game company and may be promoting one of my own games. I don't think that is a real issue as there are a number of games from different studios that I mention. Hopefully I am seen as objective and not playing favorites. So in alphabetic order (to keep it fair), here they are:

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - I have always been a fan of first-person shooters and Call of Duty is the most popular franchise out there. I have played a number of COD titles and they all have felt very well put together. This one looks like it will be a great game when it is released on November 16, 2015.

Doom - Doom is the original first-person shooter. I remember playing it on the PC when it first came out and spent many hours crawling around the dungeon-like setting. The latest version is a major advancement in graphics and looks to be the same great fun available in the Spring of 2016.

Just Cause 3 - I never played the first two versions of this game but was drawn into the Square Enix booth at E3 and really enjoyed the rich environment found in this game. I sat through the demo movie more than once and look forward to the release some time this year.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain - Several years ago one of my coworkers gave me a copy of Metal Gear Solid and suggested I play it. I loaded it onto my PlayStation 3 but couldn't really figure it out. Today I spent 45 minutes in the Konami booth watching an expert go through a mission. There is a lot to the game and I could see why it was so tough to figure out the first time. This is one of those games that will take hours to master but will be well worth the effort. It will be available September 1st of this year.

Star Wars Battlefront - When EA released Star Wars Battlefront II for the PlayStation 2, I went and bought 2 copies. One for each of my PS2 consoles. That way each of my sons could play each other over the network. It was a really great Christmas break. When the latest version was announced, I was excited to see game play footage at E3. It did not disappoint me and I will immediately rush out and get this one when it is available on November 20th of this year.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End - Uncharted has to be one of my favorite game series ever. I have to admit that I am not very good at it but my youngest son is. I could sit and watch him play for hours. It was a toss-up between 2 or 3 being better but they were all a lot of fun. I have only been able to see small sections of 4 and it looks like it will be another immediate purchase I make when it is available in 2016.

There were a lot of other games I thought looked pretty amazing and are eager for their release. I didn't mention them only because I don't have an unlimited amount of time to write this evening. Besides, these are the ones I am most excited about. Judging by the E3 crowd reaction, I don't think I am the only one.

Attending E3

This year is the first year my company has sent me to the Electronic Entertainment Expo or E3, the video game trade show. I have attended one E3 previously and so while I am not new to the experience, I am reminded that it is not for the weak. I arrived Monday afternoon and shared a shuttle bus with a bunch of young video game enthusiasts. When they found out I worked for a large video game company, they were excited to talk to me and see if I knew any exciting things that were going to be announced. Unfortunately I honestly didn't have any.

I checked into my hotel before heading over to the show. The only real activity on Monday was a number of press conference events. I enjoyed one and then headed back to my hotel to get some of the work done that I missed because I am out of the office. I know, I am a real party animal. Then I spent today at the show meeting with a large number of people. As luck would have it, I ran into one of the young kids from the shuttle bus who seemed to be enjoying the chaos that is E3. I was looking for a quiet place to rest.

My time at E3 lasted past 5pm and then I started walking back to my hotel. They have shuttle buses but after my ride this morning I felt I could walk the distance faster. I was right. Besides, I needed the walking exercise. I was able to have a nice dinner with a work associate and then he asked me if I could attend one of the after parties in his place. He had a late-night conference call to attend but promised the party organizer he would be there or send someone in his place. I was that someone and couldn't let him down.

The party venue was only about a mile from my hotel and I debated walking or taking a cab. My wife told me I needed the exercise and so I took her advice. Fortunately it was still light outside as my path took me through a sketchy part of Los Angeles. When I walked passed a toothless hooker, I decided I would be taking a different way back to the hotel after the party.

They were checking names at the party venue so I threw out my coworker's very Asian name and said he asked that I attend in his place. He was on the list so they gave me an elite-black wristband. I then took a special elevator to the roof of an exclusive LA club with an open bar. I found an empty space with a bartender that looked rather bored. I asked her for something without alcohol and without sugar. She stood there thinking for a moment as if I had asked for the secret of the universe. Finally she poured me a glass of sparkling water and threw a lime in it. I thanked her and worked my way through the crowd for a place to sit.

After spending all day walking around the conference, it was good to get off my feet. I strategically found a place where I could watch the Warriors basketball game and caught the last four minutes. It was an important game and so those four minutes of play took more like twenty minutes of actual time. It was well worth watching as the Warriors won. Naturally there was a lot of cheering. Unfortunately nobody could hear anything other than the loud music being blasted by the club DJ. As trying to find our company contact and having any valuable conversation was out of the question, I descended the elevator and walked a very different way back to my hotel.

I am only two days into E3 and am so ready to go home. Unfortunately I have meetings all the way until Friday and so I am stuck here for the rest of the week. I'm not sure I have the energy for many more days like today. I have decided that even though the bus may take the same amount of time to get to the conference, it beats walking.

Yellowstone History

I spent a bit of last week at Yellowstone National Park. I enjoyed my trip last year so much that I came home and made reservations to go back again this year. I'm glad I did as it was a very relaxing and worthwhile trip. If you have the opportunity to go, I highly recommend it.

One thing we were able to do this year was take the Uncle Tom's trail down to the bottom of Lower Yellowstone Falls. Last year it was closed and we were not able to experience it and so we were happy to do it this year. To call it a trail is rather generous; it is more like a really long staircase. It is 328 steps to be exact. Naturally going down is rather easy. The climb back up isn't.

My wife, daughter, and I happily descended the stairs and got some spectacular pictures of the falls before sitting a bit to get up the energy to climb back up. As I was climbing the steel-grated stairs, I wondered about the story as to who first created this trail. I could peer through the steps and see that there were several stairs chiseled out of the rock underneath them. All I could think of was how scary the original trail must have been.

I got back to my hotel room later that night and did a search to see if I could find out more about the history behind the trail. "Uncle Tom" was actually a real person who built the trail and would guide visitors to the bottom after ferrying them across the river, feed them lunch, and then bring them back up. The cost of the trip was just $1 and I imagine he made a pretty good living doing it until a bridge eliminated the need for the ferry.

Uncle Tom's trail is something of a marvel to me. I imagine all of the hard work that went into building the original trail and am amazed. I am further amazed by the new staircase that was built by the National Park Service. The maintenance required to keep the trail open is also astounding and I am glad I was able to use it this year. I am thankful that there are a number of resources I could use on the Internet to find out its history.

A Failed Computer Monitor

I flew back to Salt Lake last night as I have some things to take care of at home. When I went and turned on my computer in my home office this morning, I noticed a flicker in one of my computer monitors. Upon closer inspection there is a flickering horizontal line as well as a burned out vertical row. At first I hoped there was simply a loose connection. I turned off the monitor and re tightened everything. Nope, that didn't solve the problem. Next I disconnected the monitor from the computer and saw that even when the monitor isn't connected to my graphics card, the artifacts still exist. That indicates there is a problem with the monitor and not my computer, graphics card, or cabling.

Fortunately the monitor that is going bad is my second monitor and not my primary one. It wasn't that expensive and replacing it won't be that difficult nor painful. It has lasted over 5 years and I have to say that I am grateful it has lasted this long. If you were to ask if I regret purchasing it and wish I had spent a little more on a name-brand monitor, the answer would be, "No." I think I made the right choice then. Now I just need to find something similar so I don't have two drastically different monitors on my desk.