Before the awesome adventure game, Fahrenheit, Quantic Dream developed Omikron - The Nomad Soul, which was a hybrid action/adventure/fps/fighting game. Unfortunately it wasn’t fun in any of the genres it tried to tackle, but it was still a pretty ambitious game. For one, it featured David Bowie, great music, and at the time great graphics (no computer could run the game at full quality.)
Now computers can, and when I found the Omikron disc lying around I decided to record a movie at the beginning of the game.
There’s something nice about having your own swimming pool. Of course, I had my own lake out back at the old house in Interlachen, but I never felt comfortable swimming in a lake, especially with all the fish peeing and pooping in it. However, a swimming pool is like a whole new world.
Not only is it great for physical fitness, and enjoyment, but it looks great. The swimming pool is inside a screened-in enclosure, so there’s no leaves falling in it, no bugs, no mosquitoes or horse flies buzzing around. It’s always pure looking, bright blue, and inviting. Everytime I walk by it to take the dogs for a walk, it invites me to dive in and enjoy the crystal cool feeling of clean water.
At night, it’s neat to turn on the light in the pool and look out there. At 6 in the morning, right when the sun starts rising over the horizon, it’s fun to start off a day with a brisk swim. Before, I never realized the value of having your own swimming pool, but now I do.
I can’t remember when I first heard this song, but it was on the radio, and I remember thinking how utterly catchy it was, and the lyrics rocks too. At the time, I was into Nine Inch Nails and Smashing Pumpkins, so I was surprised that I enjoyed this song so much. For some reason the song didn’t get much radio play when it came out, but it has managed to stick in my collection of awesome rock songs.
One thing I pride myself for is making informed decisions when buying stuff I want. Having the internet at my disposal, I can find what is the best bang for my buck. With that said, here’s a number of products I’ve bought that has made a difference in my life, and has me very appreciative of them.
Audio-Technica ATH-A500 headphones - These hi-fi headphones truly make music, games, and movies pure auditory bliss. Everytime I put the soft velvety strap over my head, I’m so impressed with the sound and impact these cans have on my ears. Music sounds crisp, games are more visceral and immersive, and explosions in movies rattle my skull oh-so-sweetly. Only available in Japan, it’s worth importing and plugging it into a quality headphone amp for maximum glee.
Microsoft Ergonomic 4000 keyboard - I’m a typing mofo. Conventional keyboards are fine, but the ergonomic shape and feel of this Microsoft keyboard has given me more comfort, and speed than any other traditional keyboard can do. Well worth the investment, especially in the long run to prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Icemat glass mousepad - I’ve worn out to death so many mousepads; whether it’s made of cloth, plastic, or metal. Cloth pads don’t track that well and have too much friction. Plastic wears out too quick, and metal has an adverse effect on optical mice. The Icemat is made of glass, never wears down, and is super-slick. Since it’s black glass, optical mouse don’t have a problem with it. Sure, it’s a little pricey for a mousepad, but I’m going to have this pad forever. That’s well worth the investment in the long run, if you ask me.
Dell 2005FPW 20.1″ Widescreen LCD monitor - (Now updated by Dell to the 2007FP) It’s huge, it’s bright, feeds me eye candy, and goddamn if widescreen movies don’t look so glorious on it. It blows away most any HDTV on the market today, plus gaming in widescreen is the icing on the cake. For productivity, I can have more windows open, more data presented, and design websites faster due to all the extra space. Colors are vivid and bright, text is easier to read, and the USB ports on the side are very handy. I don’t see myself upgrading to a bigger/better monitor as long as this baby is alive.
Wusthof Grand Prix II knives - For cooking, chopping up veggies and slicing meat is much easier than any other knives I’ve used. They stay sharp longer, so they require less sharpening in the long run. Also the Grand Prix II series have very comfortable handles, and are well balanced. I don’t see myself needing any other knives for as long as I have these knives in my collection. Even cutting the tough acorn squash isn’t an exercise in frustration and sweat anymore. Not to mention if you accidentally nick yourself, you’re more likely to heal up faster due to the knives cutting cleanly (dull knives leave nasty, painful jagged cuts.)
Swedish Penis Pump - Hold on, wait a tic … what the … ?? Honestly, that’s not mine!
A lot of people dislike lawyers, they have a bad reputation among the plebes of the world. That’s understandable; the vast majority of them are greedy, conniving bastards. However I wonder why people in marketing and sales don’t have as bad a reputation as lawyers. Those in press relations annoy the hell out of me. They lie, stretch the truth, use semantics to mislead, and do anything to sell a product or service, even if it means being wholly unethical.
Edward Bernays, a supposed pioneer in the field of public relations, said, “When I came back to the United States, I decided that if you could use propaganda for war, you could certainly use it for peace. And propaganda got to be a bad word because of the Germans.. using it. So what I did was to try to find some other words, so we found the words Council on Public Relations”. Bernays saw public relations as an “applied social science” that uses insights from psychology, sociology, and other disciplines to scientifically manage and manipulate the thinking and behavior of an irrational and “herdlike” public (from Wikipedia). In other words, people are stupid.
Even if you don’t assume a lot of people are stupid, as a marketing “guru” you rely on statistics to earn your paycheck. Even if 1% of a million people believe your sales pitch, you’ve convinced 10,000, and the pitch can utterly outrageous, but statistics doesn’t care. I heard a press relations representative at a trade show tell his fellow co-worker his favorite quote, “A sucker is born every minute.” I wouldn’t doubt if this was a personal motto of a lot of those in the marketing field.
Take spammers for instance. They know spam is unanimously hated by the world, and most people delete it without a mere thought, but 10,000 people out of a million will open it because they are either too old to know better (Save on your mortgage!), desperate (Increase your penis size!), or not used to the concept of spam yet (Holy cow, woman has sex with horse!). Keep spamming millions, and you earn massive profit, no matter how stupid the sales pitch is.
Anyone can go into marketing and be largely successful. Why are there college courses and degrees for it? It’s a braindead profession that requires skills that any human being can develop without education. Skills such as being deceitful, ignoring a guilty conscience, sleazy use of semantics to mislead, and a well-rounded grasp of the common language. Show me the top marketing guru in the country, and I’ll show you any hustler on the street peddling drugs who is as good, if not better.
These days, competition is fierce in a number of industries, and to survive, even well-meaning companies with solid products better than competitors still try to use seedy marketing tactics to stay at the top. When you have investors breathing down your company’s neck, the problem is exacerbated.
When a company has a product/service that a competitor does better, at a lower price-point, then the more aggressive the marketing tactics, and the more likely to border on unethical. Companies get away with it all the time, because once again they rely on statistics. People may catch on, Newsweek may bash the company, internet sites may point out the sleaze going on with a company, the reputation may suffer for a bit, but the vast majority of people won’t ever know or care.
In closing, I’ll acknowledge that not all those in the field of marketing and press relations are dishonest, conniving idiots. There are those who represent the best in the field, who are honest and passionate about their job. They usually belong to companies with good policies and know how to sell a good product/service, and doesn’t resort to aggressive marketing tactics when a competitor does better. Just like there are lawyers who are good people, willing to help, and some even do pro bono work. Unfortunately, I feel the good people are in a field where the bad ones are more successful and lucrative, thus they are more prevalent.
This was a simple figure eight race in Flatout 2. Back in the days when I first started gaming on the PC, a game called Destruction Derby came out. It featured cars and destructive mayhem. Car parts would fly off, sparks would shoot when metal came in contact with metal or concrete, and the pace was fast and furious. Flatout relives those glory days, and this sequel just adds more of the chaotic goodness. Sure, it’s boys and their toys, but I love it.
Google Reader
