Last week I attended an educational seminar at work on graphics. The first thing I realized was how little I know about the topic. Sure I know what a pixel is and how to draw pretty pictures but the seminar dove into a very technical topic on graphics and how it is related to video games.
Later in the week a few of us gathered one evening and I remarked about how little I knew about the topic discussed at the seminar. One of my coworkers admitted that the presenter dove right into the topic and didn't provide some rudimentary definitions related to the topic. It turns out there was a previous seminar that I was unable to attend that gave a base foundation that this later seminar built upon.
The field of computer science is rather large. While I have a very strong understanding of database technologies, there are a number of others about which I know very little. Whenever I try to learn something new, it is important to understand the basic concepts and vocabulary to build upon them. Otherwise I just end up getting frustrated. Should you find yourself in a similar situation, don't get frustrated. Use your favorite Internet search engine to help you discover those things you don't understand. Ask your trusted coworker that seems to have all the answers. If that fails, then ask your kids. They probably have it all figured out.
Monday, February 29, 2016
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Researching a New Laptop
My youngest son will be starting his first year of college in the fall and our family tradition is that I purchase him a laptop. My very first post for this blog contained my recommendation for my oldest daughter when she started college. When my youngest daughter headed to school, I followed my original advice and got the same brand of computer. When it came time for my oldest son to head to school, I had him help with the process and he decided on something else.
With my youngest son I am rethinking all of my decisions. My daughters really only need a computer for word processing and e-mail. My oldest son will finish up his Computer Science degree this April and his laptop decision was the correct one for him. My youngest son has already been accepted into the Mechanical Engineering department and so I am torn between a Windows laptop or another Mac computer. Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I wound my way through Electrical Engineering school, Windows was the operating system of choice. A number of the software programs throughout the discipline relied on it and could not be found for the Mac. Now I am sure things have changed but it has me wondering what the laptop of choice will be.
One nice thing about the Mac is that it will also run Windows and do so quite well. Sure I may have to set up Boot Camp on the Mac, but that isn't really that difficult. However you still pay a premium for Apple computers and can get more for your money with other laptops.
Fortunately I have some time and don't have to make that decision right now. I want my son to talk with his academic advisor and see what the school recommends. I think I know the answer but would like to be pleasantly surprised. If my son and I do decide to go with a Windows laptop, then I will have to also figure out which manufacturer to buy. I'll keep you posted what I decide.
With my youngest son I am rethinking all of my decisions. My daughters really only need a computer for word processing and e-mail. My oldest son will finish up his Computer Science degree this April and his laptop decision was the correct one for him. My youngest son has already been accepted into the Mechanical Engineering department and so I am torn between a Windows laptop or another Mac computer. Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I wound my way through Electrical Engineering school, Windows was the operating system of choice. A number of the software programs throughout the discipline relied on it and could not be found for the Mac. Now I am sure things have changed but it has me wondering what the laptop of choice will be.
One nice thing about the Mac is that it will also run Windows and do so quite well. Sure I may have to set up Boot Camp on the Mac, but that isn't really that difficult. However you still pay a premium for Apple computers and can get more for your money with other laptops.
Fortunately I have some time and don't have to make that decision right now. I want my son to talk with his academic advisor and see what the school recommends. I think I know the answer but would like to be pleasantly surprised. If my son and I do decide to go with a Windows laptop, then I will have to also figure out which manufacturer to buy. I'll keep you posted what I decide.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Is it Really Hacking?
I have a son living in Armenia. He has been there for about 18 months and will be done with his assignment, ready to return in August. When he comes back he will be enrolling in the University and will begin classes in September. In order to get him ready for class, my wife has access to his e-mail account. The University is starting to send him information now and my wife wants to make sure everything is taken care of and he is ready to go. My son is relying on my wife to help with some of these tasks and is glad my wife can get into his e-mail. Is this considered "Hacking his e-mail?" I don't think so.
My son is in Armenia with a number of other American young men and women. The parents (mostly the mothers) of these kids sort of have a support group that remains in constant contact with one another. They even go to lunch on a monthly basis. Every Monday we get an e-mail from our son telling us how his week has gone. The parents in this support group also get e-mails from their children and then there is a flurry of e-mail exchanges that take place between the parents so we get an idea of how things are going for others. If any of those expected e-mails to the parents are late, there is a mass of group texting among the mothers to see who has received an e-mail and who hasn't. Sometimes e-mail servers are down and it takes an extra hour or two for messages to get through.
This past Monday happened to be President's day and it also happened that some of the e-mails were delayed. I got to listen to my wife's phone get group text message after message. I asked her what was going on and she explained about the frantic worries of mothers that had not heard from their kids. We got a letter from our son and so I knew there wasn't some sort of terrorist attack or massive earthquake over there. Eventually the mothers started calming down once they were able to "hack their kids' e-mail." They all have the passwords to their children's e-mail accounts. So they logged in and checked the "Sent" folder. Sure enough, the messages had been sent, just not yet received. I had to laugh at the term used by all of the mothers: hacked e-mail.
So that leads me to my question: Is it really hacking? Again, if you have your child's permission to log into his or her e-mail account and also have the password, I don't think it is hacking. It is more like "logging in." Perhaps I am being a bit too literal. What do you think?
My son is in Armenia with a number of other American young men and women. The parents (mostly the mothers) of these kids sort of have a support group that remains in constant contact with one another. They even go to lunch on a monthly basis. Every Monday we get an e-mail from our son telling us how his week has gone. The parents in this support group also get e-mails from their children and then there is a flurry of e-mail exchanges that take place between the parents so we get an idea of how things are going for others. If any of those expected e-mails to the parents are late, there is a mass of group texting among the mothers to see who has received an e-mail and who hasn't. Sometimes e-mail servers are down and it takes an extra hour or two for messages to get through.
This past Monday happened to be President's day and it also happened that some of the e-mails were delayed. I got to listen to my wife's phone get group text message after message. I asked her what was going on and she explained about the frantic worries of mothers that had not heard from their kids. We got a letter from our son and so I knew there wasn't some sort of terrorist attack or massive earthquake over there. Eventually the mothers started calming down once they were able to "hack their kids' e-mail." They all have the passwords to their children's e-mail accounts. So they logged in and checked the "Sent" folder. Sure enough, the messages had been sent, just not yet received. I had to laugh at the term used by all of the mothers: hacked e-mail.
So that leads me to my question: Is it really hacking? Again, if you have your child's permission to log into his or her e-mail account and also have the password, I don't think it is hacking. It is more like "logging in." Perhaps I am being a bit too literal. What do you think?
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
A Tale of Two Rocksmiths
We were cleaning out the storage closets at work today and I managed to pick up a number of old PlayStation 3 games. One of them happened to be the original version of Rocksmith. I have the 2014 version for both the PS3 and the PS4. Why both copies? Well one is for my house where I have an acoustic guitar retrofitted with a pick-up. The other is for my boat where I have a super inexpensive electric guitar. Fortunately the copy I picked up today runs on the PS3 which is the console I have on my boat and where I am this evening. So tonight I loaded it up to see how it plays.
I have only been playing Rocksmith for the past month and am not very good at the guitar yet. My method of learning is to spend at least an hour a day with Rocksmith as my teacher. I am also sure to do scales as that has been instrumental in helping with my technique. While some may argue that you shouldn't use Rocksmith as your only teacher, I don't have the luxury of a regular schedule that would allow me to take lessons. It is a video game or nothing and I want to learn to play the guitar and so my options are somewhat limited.
While the interface between Rocksmith on the PS3 and PS4 is exactly the same, there is one difference: the PS4 version feels more accurate. While that may be a function of the different guitars I am using, the PS4 version just feels smoother, faster, and a bit more polished.
My only complaint with Rocksmith 2014 is that it doesn't provide enough direction for a beginning guitar player. After playing the original Rocksmith this evening, I now know why: there was only one path to follow and that got fixed in the 2014 version. With the original Rocksmith, the game assumes that you are a beginning guitar player and the instruction is very linear. This can be incredibly boring if you already know how to play the guitar and just want to improve. In fact, my hope was that there would be a larger catalog of songs to chose from and that I would be able to switch between the two games. Nope, Original Rocksmith starts with a single Rolling Stones song that you have to play correctly enough before you are presented with a 2nd song. Rocksmith 2014 starts off with about 70 songs to choose from, many of which are recognizable. Of course there is a huge catalog of other songs that you can purchase and add to your music library.
One nice thing about going back to the beginning of the Original Rocksmith is that I was able to see how well an hour a day of practice is helping my guitar-playing skill. I played with over 95% accuracy of the first song and that was a huge ego boost. While the calluses on my fingers tell me I am getting better, it is difficult to see until I went back and compared myself to when I was a true beginner. I guess the video game is doing its job and I am actually learning to play the guitar.
On that note, I think I am done typing this evening and plan to play one or two more songs on my guitar before heading to bed. Success really helps motivate one to practice.
I have only been playing Rocksmith for the past month and am not very good at the guitar yet. My method of learning is to spend at least an hour a day with Rocksmith as my teacher. I am also sure to do scales as that has been instrumental in helping with my technique. While some may argue that you shouldn't use Rocksmith as your only teacher, I don't have the luxury of a regular schedule that would allow me to take lessons. It is a video game or nothing and I want to learn to play the guitar and so my options are somewhat limited.
While the interface between Rocksmith on the PS3 and PS4 is exactly the same, there is one difference: the PS4 version feels more accurate. While that may be a function of the different guitars I am using, the PS4 version just feels smoother, faster, and a bit more polished.
My only complaint with Rocksmith 2014 is that it doesn't provide enough direction for a beginning guitar player. After playing the original Rocksmith this evening, I now know why: there was only one path to follow and that got fixed in the 2014 version. With the original Rocksmith, the game assumes that you are a beginning guitar player and the instruction is very linear. This can be incredibly boring if you already know how to play the guitar and just want to improve. In fact, my hope was that there would be a larger catalog of songs to chose from and that I would be able to switch between the two games. Nope, Original Rocksmith starts with a single Rolling Stones song that you have to play correctly enough before you are presented with a 2nd song. Rocksmith 2014 starts off with about 70 songs to choose from, many of which are recognizable. Of course there is a huge catalog of other songs that you can purchase and add to your music library.
One nice thing about going back to the beginning of the Original Rocksmith is that I was able to see how well an hour a day of practice is helping my guitar-playing skill. I played with over 95% accuracy of the first song and that was a huge ego boost. While the calluses on my fingers tell me I am getting better, it is difficult to see until I went back and compared myself to when I was a true beginner. I guess the video game is doing its job and I am actually learning to play the guitar.
On that note, I think I am done typing this evening and plan to play one or two more songs on my guitar before heading to bed. Success really helps motivate one to practice.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
A New Work Laptop
After almost 5 years with the same work laptop I broke down and ordered a new one. I really liked my old 15-inch MacBook Pro and didn't want to take the time to get a new machine configured. The thing that caused me to finally break down and get one is that my old laptop needed a newer version of the operating system. The brain trust in our IT department recommended against an upgrade and so I took this chance to fix a few things that I didn't like about the old one.
This time I went smaller. I opted for the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the Retina display. So far I have to say that I really like the smaller form factor. My computer bag is so much lighter and I appreciate that. Sure I would have gotten more horsepower out of the 15-inch, but I mostly use my laptop for e-mail and spreadsheets. If I need more computing power, I have 2 desktops for that.
This time it was fairly painless setting up my new laptop as I had a nice backup of my other computer. While the old backup took about an hour to copy to my external USB drive, it only took 7 minutes to copy to my new computer, thanks to the USB 3.0 port. I highly recommend one.
In addition to copying files and setting up e-mail, which my IT department took care of, I also had to copy all of the bookmarks out of my browser. Fortunately this was a great time to go through and clean them out. I only ended up keeping about a half-dozen of them. I also had to go through and set up printers. The process was painless but something I had to remember to do so I could print my airplane ticket for tonight's flight.
I still have my old laptop for the next couple of days. My hope is that I don't have to turn it on. Then I will feel safe giving it to our IT department. Naturally I will remove all of my files from the machine as opposed to assuming it will get done for me. Then I really hope I got everything.
This time I went smaller. I opted for the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the Retina display. So far I have to say that I really like the smaller form factor. My computer bag is so much lighter and I appreciate that. Sure I would have gotten more horsepower out of the 15-inch, but I mostly use my laptop for e-mail and spreadsheets. If I need more computing power, I have 2 desktops for that.
This time it was fairly painless setting up my new laptop as I had a nice backup of my other computer. While the old backup took about an hour to copy to my external USB drive, it only took 7 minutes to copy to my new computer, thanks to the USB 3.0 port. I highly recommend one.
In addition to copying files and setting up e-mail, which my IT department took care of, I also had to copy all of the bookmarks out of my browser. Fortunately this was a great time to go through and clean them out. I only ended up keeping about a half-dozen of them. I also had to go through and set up printers. The process was painless but something I had to remember to do so I could print my airplane ticket for tonight's flight.
I still have my old laptop for the next couple of days. My hope is that I don't have to turn it on. Then I will feel safe giving it to our IT department. Naturally I will remove all of my files from the machine as opposed to assuming it will get done for me. Then I really hope I got everything.
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Some Video Games are too Long
I have a bunch of video games I picked up for $1 and I am trying to get through a number of them. One of them is L.A. Noire from Rockstar Games. I bought it because a friend of mine used to work at Rockstar and got me a t-shirt for this game and I felt obligated to play it. Now I can't wait for the game to be done. This is disappointing because one of my favorite games is Red Dead Redemption from the same publisher and it uses the same game engine.
L.A. Noire is set in 1950's Los Angeles and you are a police detective back from being a marine in World War II. You get to run around trying to solve various crimes by looking for clues and questioning people. One of the unique things about the game is that you have to decide if the person is telling the truth, you doubt their answer, or they are lying. If you accuse them of lying then you need to have evidence to back it up. At first it was interesting and fun. However now the game just keeps going and going. I only have 3 more crimes to solve and then I will be done. If I wasn't so close to the end, I would stop playing the game now, never to pick it up again.
Today I was thinking about why I love Red Dead Redemption so much but hate this game. They are both open world where you can roam anywhere you want. Both have you go off on missions only to interrupt you with other tasks. In RDR you may have to kill an animal or shoot an outlaw. In LAN, you get to respond to street crimes. RDR is much more enjoyable because they are small tasks on the way to larger ones. In LAN you often drive minutes out of your way just to shoot a couple of thugs robbing a bowling alley. Then you have to drive all the way back to where you were heading and in some cases, it is just around the corner from where you were before you got sidetracked. The game tries to make it up to you by sending you past notable Los Angeles tourist sites. While they may be interesting, they are not nearly as fun as killing a Grizzly bear with a knife or rescuing a maiden in distress.
As I try to finish L.A. Noire, I have decided that I just want to get through it and finish the game. I don't care about doing all of the side missions nor do I care about any of the other trophies. That is too bad because if Rockstar released a remastered version of Red Dead Redemption for the PS4, I would totally buy a copy.
L.A. Noire is rated M for mature because of gruesome scenes, strong language, violence, and a number of nude murder victims. Remember that I do work for a video game company and while I try to be unbiased, may not seem so to others. I really did enjoy Red Dead Redemption but can't recommend L.A. Noire even though I only paid $1 for it. I am playing it on my PS3 and just want it to be over.
L.A. Noire is set in 1950's Los Angeles and you are a police detective back from being a marine in World War II. You get to run around trying to solve various crimes by looking for clues and questioning people. One of the unique things about the game is that you have to decide if the person is telling the truth, you doubt their answer, or they are lying. If you accuse them of lying then you need to have evidence to back it up. At first it was interesting and fun. However now the game just keeps going and going. I only have 3 more crimes to solve and then I will be done. If I wasn't so close to the end, I would stop playing the game now, never to pick it up again.
Today I was thinking about why I love Red Dead Redemption so much but hate this game. They are both open world where you can roam anywhere you want. Both have you go off on missions only to interrupt you with other tasks. In RDR you may have to kill an animal or shoot an outlaw. In LAN, you get to respond to street crimes. RDR is much more enjoyable because they are small tasks on the way to larger ones. In LAN you often drive minutes out of your way just to shoot a couple of thugs robbing a bowling alley. Then you have to drive all the way back to where you were heading and in some cases, it is just around the corner from where you were before you got sidetracked. The game tries to make it up to you by sending you past notable Los Angeles tourist sites. While they may be interesting, they are not nearly as fun as killing a Grizzly bear with a knife or rescuing a maiden in distress.
As I try to finish L.A. Noire, I have decided that I just want to get through it and finish the game. I don't care about doing all of the side missions nor do I care about any of the other trophies. That is too bad because if Rockstar released a remastered version of Red Dead Redemption for the PS4, I would totally buy a copy.
L.A. Noire is rated M for mature because of gruesome scenes, strong language, violence, and a number of nude murder victims. Remember that I do work for a video game company and while I try to be unbiased, may not seem so to others. I really did enjoy Red Dead Redemption but can't recommend L.A. Noire even though I only paid $1 for it. I am playing it on my PS3 and just want it to be over.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
