Mike Salsbury’s Blog

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.

Read more…

admin Life argument, creation, creationism, darwin, darwinism, debate, evolution, evolution versus creation, evolutionism

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. 

admin Games

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!

admin music internet marketing, music, They Might Be Giants, TMBG