The Comforts of Home

My brother's wife stopped by my house this afternoon to talk with my wife. During the course of the conversation it came up that there are a number of appliances that decided to break down at my brother's house all at the same time. I feel my brother's pain as I had something similar happen to me several years ago. It felt like every time I would get something fixed, something else would break down. Furthermore nothing was cheap. It all cost money to fix and that only seemed to make things work.

It is at times like this that I think back to what really matters as far as technology. Nobody likes being uncomfortable and so proper shelter is very important. Once I had my heater go out and couldn't get it repaired for several days. The culprit turned out to be a $2 light switch on the furnace. I also had a leaky roof replaced this summer. I was tired of going into my wife's office and seeing water damage after big rain showers. Heat in the winter, air conditioning in the summer, and a solid roof over head are all important for comfort.

However I think the most important technological invention during the past several centuries is indoor plumbing. That contributes to my comfort more than almost everything else combined. I don't care about high-definition television nor do I care about being able to heat things up in an ultra-modern microwave if I can't have a hot shower or have to use an outhouse. Think about the last time you were sick and how comforting it was to be able to soak in a warm tub.

When it comes to the comforts of home, we all think we need high-speed Internet connections and the latest TV technology. In the end, indoor running water is much more important. If you don't believe me, go camping for a week. Trust me, you will come back with a renewed appreciation for the simple things at home.

Don't Pay to Watch People Play Video Games

This weekend I was riding the chairlift at Snowbird with someone from San Diego and he was telling me about a guy in his mid 20's that was looking to rent a place on the beach for around $8,000 per month. Naturally the guy thought the young man was dealing drugs but asked what he did for a living. The answer shocked him in that the response was that he played video games and people pay to watch him. Now I know that these type of sites exist but don't understand how anyone can make that kind of money with spectators.

Today I was at work and someone had a website up where people watch others play video games. I was interested in what was going on because of my chairlift conversation over the weekend. I watched for about 5 minutes and saw donation after donation stream in. Now I can understand watching someone get through a particularly difficult part of a game to get ideas on how to overcome it, but I don't think I would donate money to the person. Furthermore, once I discovered the secret, I would get back to my own video game and turn off the website.

I spend a lot of time skiing because it is an activity I love to do. I rarely watch it on TV or the Internet. It is just one of those things that is a lot more fun to do than to watch others do. I think video games are the same way. They should be more fun to play than to watch others play. If you feel differently then you might want to try playing something different and build up to the game you want to master.

No Instant Experts

What do playing the guitar and skiing have in common? Both require many hours of practice to become proficient. This is something I didn't understand growing up. Fortunately being a beginner skier can still be a lot of fun. When I would take guitar lessons as a child or teenager, I would practice for about a month or two and then get frustrated that I didn't know very much. This time I am making the process of learning the guitar a lot of fun and I look forward to practice every day.

So what does any of that have to do with computers and technology? The same rule of practice applies. If you want to get good, then you need to spend some time with the technology. The trick is how to make it fun. Each of us is different and so one solution might not work for everyone.

I once read about someone that wanted to learn how to program computers with a new language. He loaded his computer into his camper and headed into the woods for a week. He then spent one uninterrupted week of running through Donald Knuth's Fundamental Algorithms and turning out computer programs. My wife would never let me get away with that but I always thought that would be the perfect way to learn a new programming language.

I find that the right motivation helps people learn new things as well. I often try to marry learning tasks with something something I really want to do. Back in 2004 I had wanted to learn more about the PostgreSQL database system. I was also part owner in a restaurant and heard a great presentation about customer loyalty systems. I thought it would be fun to use PostgreSQL to help me write a web-based customer loyalty program. So I sat down and designed a system to keep track of customers and reward them with points every time they made a purchase. My program never got used but I did learn a lot about PostgreSQL and made a career of it for quite a while.

If you find yourself frustrated with your computer, just remember that there are no instant experts. It takes time to learn a lot of this stuff. Search engines are your friend and there may be someone who has already solved the problem you are having. If that doesn't work, post your question on a forum and a number of experts may be able to help you out. Who knows. One of them may have learned how to solve your problem by spending a week camping in the woods.

Entertaining Yourself During Long Airport Delays

I have been flying between Salt Lake and San Francisco on an almost weekly basis for the past 6 years and this is the first time I am stuck at the airport trying to get home when the flight isn't expected to depart until after midnight. I don't expect to get home until 4am. This isn't a good way to start my long weekend. Other people I fly with have experienced such delays but this is a first for me. About the only thing I can do is try to occupy my time with something entertaining. Fortunately I have 2 smartphones, a laptop, a magazine, and my PlayStation Vita.

My original departure time was 9:10pm. Then it changed to 9:23pm followed by 1:04am. Now it is scheduled to leave at 12:51am and I expect it to change several more times before I board. That means that I really can't fall asleep or I run the risk of getting left behind. I got to the airport and did a little reading on my iPhone. I have a number of reference books on it and I was finishing up an article I started earlier today. Then I pulled out my PS Vita and started playing Uncharted: Golden Abyss. I will be sure to include a review when I am done, but so far it is an entertaining and fun game to play. The only reason I stopped was because I knew I had some time and wanted to create another blog entry. Once I am finished with this entry I will continue playing the game until my battery is drained to zero. I have the cable to charge my handheld console but the airport is crowded and I don't feel like searching for an outlet. At least not yet.

I really hate feeling like I am wasting my time and so when I think about what I would be doing if I was spending another night on the boat, I would just be playing a video game. My PS Vita is not as enjoyable as a PS3 or PS4 but it does come close. It is definitely better than trying to play a game on one of my smartphones. At times like this I just keep telling myself that sometimes the destination is not nearly as important as the journey. Tonight's journey is going to be a long one.

Learning to Play Guitar

Several years ago I recommended RockSmith as a Christmas gift. This year I finally got tired of waiting to receive it and went to get it after Christmas. First I had to acquire a pickup or microphone for my acoustic guitar. Then I purchased the game from the local Gamestop. The key part of the game is the cable that interfaces between the guitar and video game console. Unfortunately both connections were one-quarter inch male headphone plugs and so I had to return to the guitar store to buy a coupler. I searched for it at 3 different Radio Shacks but they have stopped stocking useful items like that in favor of cheap electronic toys. After such an experience, I vowed never to return to that chain again.

I got everything home and set it all up on my PlayStation 4. The first thing to do is calibrate the guitar which I did painlessly. Then I used RockSmith to tune my guitar. I have an electronic tuner, but RockSmith does a much better job and is infinitely easier to use. Then I ran through a few lessons.

In my lifetime I have taken several sets of guitar lessons but never really learned much. While I enjoyed going to the lessons, I never really got into the practicing part. RockSmith has a number of games to play to make practice fun and interesting. Furthermore the game is very patient. When I couldn't quite hit the right notes during one lesson, it never got upset. When I finally figured it out, it provided some encouragement. A human instructor would have been incredibly frustrated and less than supportive by the time I got it right.

Naturally the first day I played the game, I worked at the guitar until my fingers could no longer touch the guitar strings without hurting. I made sure to try again the next day and went as long as I could again. It was important to make sure to tune the guitar again before playing. The sensitivity is such that if your guitar is out of tune, it is difficult to play the correct notes. A simple tune fixes the problem and doesn't take very long.

I have always wanted to learn to play the guitar well and RockSmith from Ubisoft is the perfect way to do that. I paid full price for the game at around $60 and think it is well worth the money. While I work in the video game industry and probably could have gotten a discount, this was one game I felt like paying for and recommend it for anyone looking to increase their guitar playing abilities.

Video Game Review: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

I had a goal to finish one video game over the Christmas break and was successfully able to complete Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. It is the first in a series of PlayStation exclusive games and really set the bar high for action adventure games. I have versions of the game for both the PS3 and the PS4. I understand that they went so far as to rerecord the music to higher standards for the remastered version on the PS4 and so I played that over Christmas. I had started the game on the PS3 several years ago but never had the time to finish it. I got all the way to chapter 7 and thought I was getting close to the end. Little did I know that there are 22 chapters and was really just getting started.

One nice thing about action adventure video games is that you get to run through a number of different activities. Sometimes you are shooting at bad guys while other times you are solving puzzles. Sometimes you try to do both without getting killed in the process. It was a lot of fun over the break to come home from skiing and spend an hour or so getting deeper into the game. Sometimes it was painful for those around me to watch as I struggled to climb around various parts of the game only to fall and have to restart that section. My son kept wanting to take the controller and get me through certain areas. Then I would breeze through other parts of the game that had him stuck for hours. It probably would have been much more enjoyable for him to jump from precarious ledge to ledge while he let me shoot bad guys. We could have worked together to complete the game in half the time.

The original Uncharted game was a breakthrough in many areas and really opened a new genre of video games. It was followed up by Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3 which continued to build on a solid foundation. Then other games like Tomb Raider evolved the genre so that I am eagerly anticipating the release of Uncharted 4 later this year. Unfortunately that means that Uncharted is not as much fun as these other games and I have to admit that it got rather tiring at times. Several of my co-workers that are avid video game players have yet to finish the game because they lost interest. Given the choice of Uncharted or Tomb Raider, I would recommend the later.

That being said, Tomb Raider is one game and if you purchase the remastered version of Uncharted, you get Uncharted 1, 2 and 3. I have yet to play 2 or 3, but judging from comments made by those who have, I am in for a lot of fun. I'll give them a try over the next 3 months and be sure to provide a review for each of them.

Uncharted is rated T for violence and strong language. It definitely has a lot of both and so if you are sensitive to them, I would recommend a different game. However if you like a good tropical action adventure game, Uncharted is well worth your time. If you are a budget shopper you can get Uncharted on the PS3 very inexpensively. The Uncharted Collection for the PS4 won't be so kind to your wallet.

I have to remind the reader that I work for a video game company that may or may not be involved with any of the 4 games listed in this review.