February 2006 Archives

It's sad to see the death of the "intent" of intellectual property law.  For example, patents [wikipedia.org] were intended to protect inventions for a period of time to allow the inventor to capitalize on a technology they had invested time, effort, and money into developing.  After that period of time, the technology would become free to everyone and the world would gain unfettered access to a new invention, having given the inventor time to earn a profit from it.  Today, patents are being used by one organization to bully another, or to blackmail it, or put it completely out of business, usually by patenting something blatantly obvious (like a method for opening and closing a door).  Copyright law [wikipedia.org] was intended to allow creative professionals the same kind of window from which to benefit from their creations, after which they would become part of the common body of literature available to the public.  Thanks to companies like Disney being deathly afraid of losing their famous rodent's image, copyright law was extended to wholly inappropriate lengths.  More recently, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) [wikipedia.org] was passed, further limiting the public's ability to use and access stored information and music.  The Recording Industry Artists' Association (RIAA) [wikipedia.org] is currently fighting to make copyright law even tougher, claiming that the ability of consumers to copy music from their CDs to their computers or iPods isn't granted under the "fair use" provisions of copyright law but instead is a "favor" they're doing their consumers.  They are, of course, mistaken.

The fair use [wikipedia.org] provisions of copyright law allow for things like school students to write papers quoting information from copyrighted books without violating the law.  The same provisions allow the student to make copies of information in those books for educational purposes, provided there is no intent to defraud or resell the copies.  The laws allow us to make backup copies of computer software, music, and other media in the event that our original copies are destroyed or damaged.  The freedoms permitted under "fair use" law are not "favors" that publishers give us.  They are requirements dictated to the publishers by our government.  Publishers like the RIAA want to take that freedom away from us.

We need to be diligent and make sure we do not let that happen.

You can read in almost any news publication that somewhere in the United States at
any given moment there is a debate raging on the theory of evolution versus the
story of creation in the Bible.  I think that's sad, because the effort being spent
debating these points of view could be better used in so many other ways, like
helping to house the homeless, raise funds for schools, and so forth.  But when you
realize, as I do, that these two concepts are NOT mutually exclusive, it's not only
sad but rather silly.

Creationism, depending on whom you ask, tells us that there is a God.  God, we are
told, created the Heavens and the Earth.  This took him six days to complete.  When he
was finished, we had the Earth and all the creatures upon it, including humans.  If
we look in the Bible for exact methods that God used to create these things, there
is little or nothing specific.  Most theologians would tell us that it is an act of
blasphemy to suggest that we as humans could ever truly understand and/or reproduce
God's methods of creation.  They would tell us that such understanding is beyond us.
This the image of creationism that exists in my mind.  Yours may differ, as is your
right and belief.

Evolution, on the other hand, tells us that all life on Earth started from some
humble organism that gained the "spark of life".  While there are theories on just
how that spark happened and how life began, there is no concrete proof.  In this
sense, evolutionists and Christians have the same "question mark" in their heads when
they look at the initial "creation" of life on Earth.  Neither side can say exactly
how it began.  It should be noted at this point that Charles Darwin, who is credited
with inventing the theory of evolution, believed that there was a God of the Christian
variety and that his theory was in keeping with Christian beliefs.  Evolution says
that from the initial living organisms, all other life on Earth came about through a
series of changes, mutations, and interactions.  As a particular form of life
found itself ideally suited to its environment, it thrived and sometimes displaced
other less-ideally-suited forms.  At the end of all that "evolving" we find the many
varied forms of life on Earth today.

I've been a fan of the ThinkGeek[thinkgeek.com] site for a while.  They have a lot of really cool geeky toys, gadgets, and stuff.  Recently I had the opportunity to pick up a free USB Mini Lava Lamp from them (it's normally $9.99) by purchasing $25 worth of merchandise from them (using the promotional code "GROOVY" at checkout).  I received my order recently and wanted to review the product with you.

The lamp has a coiled cord about a foot long with a USB plug at the end (the flat style used on most USB mice and keyboards).  The other end goes directly into the lamp itself.

The lamp is just under 6 inches tall and about 1.5 inches wide at the widest part.  The top and bottom sections are a gray plastic.  The center section is a clear plastic with a seam through the middle.

The "lava" portion of the lamp is filled with (presumably) water and what looks like silver glitter.  Once the lamp has been plugged in and lit up, it won't be long before the glitter inside starts churning slowly in a circular pattern from bottom to top and back again.  The rate of descent is relatively slow, but faster than you might expect for a USB-powered lamp.  While I think it would be more fun to have a true "lava" lamp with the colored lava liquid flowing through it, that's probably not feasible in something powered by USB.

The bulb inside is replaceable and the specs for the necessary bulb are printed on the bottom of the lamp.  There is a small locking "hatch" which can be opened to expose the lamp.

I've had the lamp for a couple of weeks now and find it kind of a fun addition to my desktop clutter at the office.  It has brightened up my desk and a few people have commented on it.  One or two have stared oddly at it.  Everyone who's commented on it seems to like it, and I certainly enjoy having it there.

The primary one is "It's not fair because...", but the ultimate reason is "I can't afford it." Some folks are more honest about that than others. Even the arguments about 'earning' it ends up with "I spent 3 months doing X trying to make Y drop, but now some jagoff with $Z can go on eBay and buy it." Frankly, if *this* ruins your gaming experience then you weren't having that much fun anyway.

The real problem is the professional sellers. In games like WoW and EQ/EQ2 they camp the best spawn points and then harass or pull mobs onto anyone trying to hunt those areas. It's one thing if they spent a couple hours a day trying to get some uber loot to drop, but the real pros tend to camp the spots all day/all night. No one gets a shot at it. This does ruin the experience for folks, because htey may not be there for the uber-loot, but something common that drops off the kill which they need.

The best solution would be making the spots where the uber loot drops instanced. You get a quest to clear X dungeon/castle/forest. You show up and click on the mission door, or whatever, go in and clear it. You may have to clear it 100 times for the uber loot to drop, but at least everyone has a shot at it. It's not the best solution, but at least you can balance the needs of professional players (those playing for money) and amatuers (those playing for fun).

The amatuers have their fair shot at it dropping. Those who don't want to clear the same dungeon 100 times can still go to eBay or wherever and buy it. The pros don't have to worry about noobs getting in their way or getting harassed about the hogging the best spots.

Failing that they could offer them items for sale for in-game money. The trick would be making folks 'earn' it. Perhaps you complete a very difficult quest and you may buy one item from the Developer store. Failing the quest means having to start over. It should be extremely difficult, perhaps requiring the assistance of other players, and be timed. On top of that, making the spawns/mission requirements random.

I think WoW or EQ2 had an inventive solution, setting up an in-game eBay. Players could auction off loot to other players for in-game money. 

I've been listening to They Might Be Giants for quite a few years now (decades, probably).  If you've never heard it, their music is fun, catchy, and kind of quirky.  Above all else, it's good. Lately I started really taking a good long look at listen at They Might Be Giants, and I've reached the conclusion that these guys might well be business geniuses in addition to musical ones.  Allow me to explain.

Many artists who were popular decades ago try to reinvent themselves or incorporate the latest musical fad into their musical arsenal, often unsuccessfully.  This usually winds up making them sound like has-beens trying to recapture their past glory by imitating currently-popular artists.  It alienates their core fan base, and fails to bring in new fans in many cases.  This is not the case with They Might Be Giants.  Their music stays true to itself, and has for about 20 years now.  

But where other artists often fail is bringing in new listeners.  They Might Be Giants is, in effect, growing theirs.  Their music has been made famous by Animaniacs cartoons, which resonate with a younger crowd than their earlier listeners.  They've also released children's albums, which help them introduce their music to a young fan base that will grow up to develop an interest in their grown-up fare.  I'm sure other artists must have done this before, but I can't think of one.

They Might Be Giants also recognizes the value of the Internet in reaching their audience.  Their web site offers free MP3s, Macromedia Flash music videos, concert/tour information, merchandise, and more.  One of their recent releases for kids also sells on Amazon.com with "exclusive Amazon-only content".  It's a very net-savvy approach.

But the web site isn't their only Internet venture.  They also offer "TMBG Clock Radio" which is a small Macromedia Flash application that provides non-stop streaming TMBG music, announcements, and more.  Their radio station plays live concert clips in addition to tracks off their albums.  Again, it's a great way to reach true fans and to introduce their music to others.

Most bands today make a good chunk of their money from live appearances.  That means packing the place with fans and building good relationships with the concert venues so that they're welcome back.  TMBG recognizes this, and recently created a unique song about every venue they played on their international tour.  I'd be willing to bet those venues use the songs in their advertising and on their intercom systems.  That means free advertising for TMBG.  This is another smart move, and one I don't see a lot of artists making.  Their emails to fans probably help pack the venues with people, too.

It's really impressive to see a band with such marketing savvy.  They keep in touch with their fans, provide a web site with lots of interesting content, a podcast, streaming radio station, fare for children and adults, butter up the venues they play in, and offer their own merchandise over the Internet as well as through mass-market retailers like Amazon.  Genius!

I've been a student of massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs, or "MMOs" for short) design since I began playing Ultima Online several years ago.  Since then, I've played Earth and Beyond, EVE Online, City of Heroes, and a few others.  One thing all these games try to do, unsuccessfully, is maintain what they refer to as "balance".  The reason they are unsuccessful is a simple one:  Balance in a game is a myth.  It doesn't, can't, and won't ever exist in any game that people want to play for very long.

Any MMO is a combination of the game rules (as implemented in the software and overseen by game masters or administrators), player characters, game content (monsters, environments, missions, quests), and the people who play it.  If we define "balance" as keeping all these factors under control so that no player or character gains an unfair advantage over another, we can quickly start to see why no MMO will ever be truly balanced.

Before we look more deeply at that, let's first look at what makes any game fun.  According to Raph Koster in his book "A Theory of Fun for Game Design", a game offers puzzles to solve, patterns to learn, teaches us something or how to do something, and gives a feeling of triumph when we succeed at learning.  As Koster says, "To make games more long-lasting, they need to integrate more variables (and less predictable ones) such as human psychology, physics, and so on." (Page 38).  MMOs usually offer players a variety of things to learn, such as how to approach a potential enemy, strategies for dealing with an enemy that does a lot of damage at close range (e.g., used ranged weapons and stay away), and there can be a feeling of triumph when we've made it through a difficult mission.  There are often a lot of variables in these games (skills to learn, tools to use, etc.).  So why can't we have a truly balanced game mechanic?