EA To Sell Gamers To Advertisers.

On By WinstonIn Media, Pop Culture, Society, Technology, Uncategorized, Video GamesLeave a comment

The nice people at Electronic Arts (commonly know as EA) are rolling out a new service called “Legend”.  Sounds impressive right?  Well here’s the thing, it’s not.  At least not for gamers.  Or is it?

Confused?  Sorry.  I’ve got some mixed feelings about this one myself.  First, let me tell you what “Legend” is.  It’s an analytic tool which EA will use to provide advertisers with detailed usage habits of it’s products.  This would allow advertisers to be much more specific in their marketing efforts.

From the corporate side, this is a potential goldmine.  If it works as (you should pardon the joke) “advertised”, there isn’t a marketing department in the industry that won’t want a piece of it.  On the player side, my first instinct is, “Oh goody.  More ads shoved in my face while I’m gaming.”

But maybe I’m looking at this wrong.  Not that that ever happens, but maybe this one time.

Maybe this time, they’ll start to get it right.  What if they use this marketing data to develop a functional “less is more” approach?  How about using this new analytic to create ads which are more effective, and can therefore be less pervasive.  That could work out to being good news for gamers.

Only time will tell.  But if the vendors in Fallout New Vegas start trying to sell me a “Simpsons” t-shirt to go with my new “West 49” board shorts, then I’ll decide whether or not it’s a good thing.

Cheers, Winston

Psychology IS A Science

On By WinstonIn Psychology, Science, SocietyLeave a comment

For a long time now, people have been saying that psychology isn’t an actual science. This is based on the standard “scientific method”. This method requires repeatable results from repeatable processes. Seems like a good way to do things, and it is. When it works.

Psychology is one of the places it doesn’t work. Does that mean it’s not a science? Of course not, and I can tell you why. There’s another science that suffers from the same issues. What you may wonder would that be? Meteorology. What you may wonder do they have in common? It goes like this.

How about working with such large data sets that repeatable processes become impossible? How about dynamic systems where huge percentages of the relevant variables change constantly? The scientific method is predicated on the ability to control the variables in an experimental setting. That level of control is not viable in either meteorology or psychology. So how do you establish scientific validity for a field that doesn’t play by the rules?

Well, it’s not easy. First off, you need to change the criteria for “scientific” studies. Instead of requiring control, acknowledge that control is an illusion. There’s no reasonable way to duplicate any one person’s experiences, so an expectation of reproducible results is ludicrous. This is a more localized version of the problems meteorologists have predicting weather. Too many variables. Too little processing power.

Global weather systems and the human psyche are phenomenally complex systems. Expecting them to fit neatly in to labs makes no sense at all. The fact is, both systems are based as much on observation, as if/then logic. By wasting less time questioning it’s validity, we free up resources to push forward the study of psychology.

All sciences took time to achieve legitimacy. Few have as much raw data to work with. None are as dynamic as the human mind. Not even the weather, and I think it’s pretty obvious they still have some glitches to work out there.

So yes, psychology is a science. Not only that, it’s probably one of the most complex sciences there is. That’s why it’s not all neat and tidy and sorted out. That doesn’t mean it never will be.

Cheers, Winston

A Little Smile In My Day

On By WinstonIn Humor, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I love National Geographic. They cover a huge range of topics and now and then, they just make me smile.

Today was a good example of that. I recently liked Nat Geo on Facebook, and now get status updates from them. So far, so cool. An update from Tuesday ran as follows:

“Hailing from China’s ‘heyday of chariot warfare’, five well-preserved chariots with accompanying horses, emerged from an urban tomb.”

Apparently their “heyday of chariot warfare” was pretty recent. Chariots might last for a while, but horses, not so much. At least not in any shape to emerge from a tomb.

Personally, when I read this I had a visual of “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”. That’s probably just me though.

One way or the other, it made me smile. Thank you National Geographic!

Cheers, Winston

It May Be A Double Standard… At Least It’s A Standard

On By WinstonIn Politics, Society, ValuesLeave a comment

Bob Dechert exchanged amorous emails and messages with Shi Rong.  So how is that anybody’s business but theirs?  He’s married, she’s married.  She’s a correspondent for China’s Xhinhua News Agency, he’s parliamentary secretary to Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.

Dare I mention that Mr. Baird, and his parliamentary secretary are both members of the Conservative government that keeps going on about family values.  There’s also the minor detail that Xinhua is widely regarded as a common front for Chinese intelligence operations.  it’s not like Dechert might have access to any sensitive material.  It’s not like he works for the Foreign Affairs Minister…. oh yeah.  Oops.

Maybe that’s what happened.  Maybe he took a different meaning from the term “Foreign Affairs”.  Sorry.  I know that was low hanging fruit, but I couldn’t resist.

He insists it was just “flirtatious”.  She was planning to divorce her husband to be with Bob “Sexy Text” Dechert.  Her husband apparently wasn’t too pleased about how things were shaping up and started sending messages from her account.  No word on how Dechert’s wife Ruth Clark feels about it, but probably it’s safe to say she’s not pleased either.

All of which sets the stage for my point.  If it was a Liberal carrying on like this, Harper would have been demanding his resignation from the moment the story broke.  He would have been held up as an example of all that is wrong with liberal values.  He would have represented the disdain Liberals have for “Family Values”.  But Mr. “Sexy Text” Dechert isn’t a Liberal, he’s a Conservative.  A well connected,  back-room mover and important to the party Conservative.  The PM has yet to demand his resignation.

Like the title says, “It may be a double standard… but at least it’s a standard.  Maybe next elections, we can have less “Family Values” rhetoric.  It might give the Conservatives a chance to tell us how they’re going to create actual jobs.  Ones that pay actual living wages to ALL levels of a business, not just the the tax dodging executives.  But hey, that’s a post for another day.

In the meantime, I now have to explain to my teenager that I really don’t want her practicing Conservative style family values.

Cheers, Winston

One More Blockbuster Moment…Very Few Left

On By WinstonIn PersonalLeave a comment

Anyone who reads my blog, or Canadian business news, or shops there already knows that Blockbuster Canada is closing.  I’ve done a couple of posts already about losing my job, and the misrepresentation in the press etc.  This isn’t going to be one of those posts.  This one is going to be a bit more personal.

First off, I found out tonight that instead of closing Friday, our location is slated to close Wednesday night.  It burns me for my last couple of shifts, but really, there wasn’t enough business tonight to pay my wages, never mind rent, hydro et al.  So that’s okay.  That’s not what I’m writing about either.

Nope, it’s more personal than that.  What you may wonder could be more personal at work than losing your last two days wages?  I’ll gladly pretend you asked.  The truth is, it’s only indirectly personal for me.  It’s more personal for one of my customers.

This guy has been a lifelong customer.  He’s been renting movies at Blockbuster for as long as he can remember.  He hadn’t heard we are going out of businss..  Tonight, he came in to rent one of his favorite movies that he has seen a dozen times.  He looked at the bare shelves where it used to be, and started to cry.

This guy is five years old.  Walking over with his parents to get movies has been a big part of his life.  He doesn’t really understand the idea of rentals, so his parents always told him someone else had “borrowed” it if one was out.  To him, these were his movies.  Suddenly, his movies are all gone.  No wonder he was crying.

Blockbuster closing is going to put a big hole in his life.  Just like the one it will leave in so many peoples lives.  Like the one it will leave in my life.  But I’m not going to start to cry about it.  At least not until I finish this post.

Cheers, Winston

Hoping For Horwath & The Provincial NDP

On By WinstonIn Personal Responsibility, Politics, Society, ValuesLeave a comment

For those who don’t know, don’t care, or aren’t from around here, we’re heading into a Provincial election here in Ontario.  For those in the US, that’s the State level.  For the rest of the world, it’s important to us, but likely most of the world won’t be greatly impacted by it.  Locally though, it’s a big deal.

If you’re new to this blog, I’ll get you up to speed quick.  I’m a big fan of social justice.  i think corporations have an obligation too be good citizens too.  I support social programming.and helping those who need it.  All of which is to say, I don’t generally vote for the Conservatives.  I used to vote Liberal because I didn’t want the PCs to get in.  That thinking changed with the changes Jack Layton brought to the federal NDP in the last election.

This time, I’m going to vote my values.  So far, that looks like voting for Andrea Horwath’s NDP.  If nothing else, her refusal to play gutter politics is very refreshing.  I also like the NDP plan to offer tax breaks to companies who hire and train new employees.  That’s an idea that directly rewards them for being “good corporate citizens”.  Sounds good to me.

Up until now, I’ve been voting Phil McNeely, My local Liberal MPP.  He’s done some good things for my local community, so it’s going to be hard for me to change.  On the other hand, the party as a whole leaves something to be desired.  The decision I have to make before election day is simple.  Do I vote for Phil because he’s good for me locally, or do I look at the bigger picture and hope Mx. Horwath lives up to her potential.

Decisions, decisions……  I’m just happy that I’m fortunate enough to live somewhere that I get to make them.  I can go to the polls without anyone threatening me or trying to kill me.  Once I cast my ballot, I am reasonably confident of a accurate count and legitimate winner.  If more people realized how rare and precious those things are in the world, maybe we’d see a better voter turn-out.

Instead, the pathetically apathetic non-voters will sit on their brains and waste one of the greatest privileges in our society.  You don’t have to vote in Canada.  Your also don’t have to eat, breath or not step in front of a bus.  None of those are any stupider than not voting.

I’ll close for now because I’ve got to go and do some pre-election homework.  See my fellow Ontarians at the polls.

Cheers, Winston

Feel Safer Now?

On By WinstonIn Discrimation, Politics, Society, ValuesLeave a comment

Here’s how the scenario unfolds.  The police follow a suspect in an active investigation.  They observe him go into the woods.  Fifty minutes later, he emerges, and drives away.  The officers enter the woods and observe an area where the pine needles and soil appear disturbed.  The following day, a forensic team returns and unearths four wooden crates containing fourteen hundred rounds of ammunition and a garbage bag containing fourteen tins of black powder.

Tony Spears, writing in the Ottawa Sun goes on to say that Claude Haridge has been charged with careless storage of ammunition and breach of undertaking.  That’s where I get confused.  A guy buries over a thousand rounds of ammunition and a pile of black powder in the woods and that’s the best they can come up with?  Either he’s a total nut job, or he’s up to no good.

Meanwhile, his defense lawyer is arguing there shouldn’t be any charges at all.  Seriously?  We’re just supposed to look the other way?  I’m not sure where Mr. Brown got his law degree, but that school should probably start offering a course in common sense.  I expect you’d have a hard time finding a fifth grader who wouldn’t see a problem with someone hiding bullets and powder in the bush.

Oh yeah, one more detail.  That open investigation that had them watching him in the first place?  It involved the firebombing of a bank in the city.  Now you maybe start to see my problem with this.  The police have apparently not charged Mr. Haridge in connection to the bank bombing.  On the other hand, they had some reason for following him as part of their investigation.

So here we have a suspect in an urban bombing who admits to burying large quantities of ammunition and black powder in the bush.  He’s facing a mickey-mouse careless storage charge.  If Mr Haridge were of “non-caucasian” ethnicity, or a practicing Muslim, I bet the charge sheet would have looked a bit different. It probably would have included words like, “terrorism”, “terrorist”, and of course “Al Qaeda in Ottawa”.

The good news…. Apparently local law enforcement has concluded that people with names like “Haridge” aren”t likely to be terrorists.  Really, he probably had some perfectly valid reason for stashing ammo and powder like that.  Probably just a fun geo-caching game with his buddies from “Definitely Not Al Qaeda In Ottawa”.  What else could it possibly be?  After all, he doesn’t look like an “islamicist”.  They’re the ones Prime Minsiter Harper said are the big threat.

Feel safer now?

Cheers, Winston

Guild Wars 2 Is Coming!

On By WinstonIn Personal, Pop Culture, Video GamesLeave a comment

I don’t play a lot of online games.  It’s a combination of not being competitive enough and not being willing to make the commitment to my fellow gamers.  GuildWars  was the exception to that.   There were a couple of things I liked right from the get-go.

There are no monthly subscription fees.  You buy the game, you play the game as much as you want for as long as you want.  What a concept!

It is one of the most visually stunning games in any genre in my opinion.   Many thanks to Daniel Dociu for that.  The man is a creative genius in terms of concept art design and art direction.   Google him if you doubt me.

The other perk for me personally is the ability to solo through most of the game with only AIs for company.  I know, the idea is Massively Multiplayer.  Not so much for me.  I thought it was a beautiful game.  I love the way it’s put together.  The story was well constructed and the worlds immense.  Why should I have to mess that up by hanging around with other people?  The nice people at ArenaNet seem to understand.  There are a few places where you have to partner up with real people, but for the most part, I can solo.  Their Design Manifesto on the ArenaNet blog http://www.arena.net/blog/guild-wars-2-design-manifesto promises to continue this in GuildWars 2.

Unlike the previous stand-alone expansions Factions and Nightfall, or the Eye of the North add on for the original GuildWars, GuildWars 2 is set to be a totally new adventure.  It takes place 200+ years after the first series and will feature new settings, new creatures, new threats, a more organic story system and five, count them FIVE playable races!

There are very few games that I am willing to say I can’t wait for.  This is the only one for me right now.  I’m not expecting it until late 2012, or maybe 2013.  That’s okay.  Whenever it gets here, it’s going to be most welcome.  Like an old friend too long absent.

I’ll post more as it gets closer.

Cheers, Winston

Guild Wars Copyright and Trademark Information

© 2011 ArenaNet, Inc. All rights reserved. NCsoft, the interlocking NC logo, ArenaNet, Arena.net, Guild Wars, Guild Wars Factions, Factions, Guild Wars Nightfall, Nightfall, Guild Wars: Eye of the North, Eye of the North, Guild Wars 2, and all associated logos and designs are trademarks or registered trademarks of NCsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

If “Not In My Backyard”, Then Whose?

On By WinstonIn Environment, Green Energy, Media, Politics, Society, TechnologyLeave a comment

Christina Blizzard, writing in the Ottawa Sun is slamming David Suzuki and Dalton McGuinty. One for being a “pompous ass”, and the other being praised by a pompous ass for wanting to build wind turbines where the wind blows.

Before I go any farther, I want to make it clear that this is not to bash Mx. Blizzard.  I subscribed to the Sun for many years.  I’ve always enjoyed Christina\s articles, and this is not an attack on her personally.  Only on the views expressed in the article in question.

Apparently, Dr. Suzuki endorsed McGuinty’s green energy initiatives and  stated bluntly that it would be “absolute insanity” for Provincial Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak to scrap them if voted in during our pending election.  She raises the point because of it’s status as a registered charity, The David Suzuki Foundation is not allowed to participate in partisan politics.  Fair enough.  On the other hand, Dr. Suzuki had apparently stepped down from the board, so is no longer bound by those rules.

Part of her ire stems from a plan put forward by Premier McGuinty’s Liberal party to place 260 massive wind turbines near the town of Zurich on Lake Huron.  According to Mx. Blizzard,  “Each turbine consumes 1.6 hectares of prime farmland – that’s some 405 hectares of farmland that could be use to grow crops.”  She then adds, “How green is that Dr. S?”

Just a couple of quick points.  If she’s so keen to preserve farmland, where has she been while the farms around Orleans have been sub-divided into the history books?  Oh and by the way:  Nice use of the diminutive “Dr. S” to undermine his standing with the readers.  She is an op-ed for a second string tabloid.  He is an internationally recognized leader on environmental issues who hosted a long running science program on national TV.  This probably has a lot to do with her later characterizing him as a “pompous ass” for telling homeowners to use energy efficient light-bulbs and caulk draft-causing leaks in a couple of “creepy” ads in partnership with the provincial government.  I suspect that when you can’t compare credentials, trash-talk is really all you’ve got left.

All of which serves as background for the point I want to make here.  In her unending quest for truth and objectivity, Christina Blizzard talked to the rural residents around Zurich, Ontario and discovered something remarkable.  They are “outraged” by the “monstrosities” springing up and feel they are a “blight on the landscape.”  I’m shocked, aren’t you?

Okay, maybe I’m being a little bit sarcastic there.  Realistically, I would have been more genuinely shocked if they had been happy about it and declared the turbines “paragons of aesthetics in harmony with their natural setting.”  That would have been news worthy.  The fact is, it’s another in a long line of “not in my back yard” issues.

Years ago, when I lived in  a different city, there was talk of building a Young Offenders Facility there.  Much of debate didn’t focus on the jobs such a facility would bring to a “one industry town” where the “one industry” had been declining for years.  Nope.  Most of what made the news were residents worrying what such a facility would do to property values and city councilors pandering to them.   Everyone agreed it was good, just not where they happened to live.

I don’t think you’ll find too many people who will argue in favor of coal burning generating plants over wind turbines in terms of sustainability.  Not unless they work for the coal industry, or they just want to be difficult.  As for the rural residents around Zurich, sorry, you just happen to live where the wind blows.  I’ve spent some time in the area myself, and I know how steady the winds are on the east shore of Lake Huron.  Nothing against the people there, but no matter where they wanted to put them, someone would complain.  It would be someone’s back yard.  This time, it’s in yours.

Sadly, coal, oil and other fossil fuels aren’t going to last much longer.  There are only so many waterways suited to hydro plants, and if the tragedy in Japan is any indicator, nuclear may not be the greatest either.  Barring any major breakthroughs, it seems probable that if you live in a naturally windy place, you could end up with a turbine or two… hundred.  By the same logic, if you live somewhere with a lot of sun, I see a high probability of solar panels in your future.

We need to develop these more sustainable energy technologies now, not when the last puff of smoke from coal drifts away on the wind off Lake Huron.  They have to go somewhere.

If “Not In My Backyard!”, then where?

Cheers, Winston

Gaming, Movies, And My Reality

On By WinstonIn Movies, Pop Culture, Self Awareness, Technology, Video GamesLeave a comment

As I mentioned yesterday, I really like Portal 2. I enjoy gaming, watching movies and reading. The commonality? They all take me out of reality for a while.  Not that my reality is even sightly terrible.  In fact, it’s pretty darned awesome.  I’ve got a wonderful wife, a great daughter, and the world’s best dog.  So why would I want out of it for a while?

Even billionaire playboys go on vacation.  It’s not about wanting to escape reality, it’s about keeping it fresh.  Truth be told, most of the time, my wife is sitting on the couch beside me using her laptop to play on Facebook. So even when I’m gaming or watching a movie, ore reading, I’m usually with my wife who will be gaming, watching TV, or reading or whatever.  Neither of us is the type to complain if the other interrupts what we’re doing.  Likewise my daughter and I watch movies or play games together.

We are a connected family.  That’s part of the reality that I love.  Really, when I’m avoiding reality, I’m still in the middle of it.  Sure, sometimes i game when they’re out, or after they’re in bed, but it’s not like I have to wait ’til I’m alone.  It just works out that way.

I love movies.  I LOVE my family.  I love games.  I LOVE my family more.  Likewise reading, listening to music, hanging out with friends etc.  These are all things that most people think of as taking people out of their relationships.  I’ve said it before in other posts, and I’ll no doubt say it again in others:  I’ve got an awesome wife, and I’m incredibly lucky to be part of her world.

I don’t game to avoid reality.  Games, movies, books etc.  are all part of that reality.  Why would I want to avoid that?

Cheers, Winston