Somewhere, someone in Nintendo’s Wii division just said “Oh, fuck…”
And somewhere else, a new kitt3h was born:
Welcome Project Natal.
Category Archives: GeekStuff
Xbox LIVE Update: The New Digs
I remember going to the Microsoft Millennium campus for first the first time, three years ago. At the time, I was working as an SDET for MSDN and they were just coming off a ship cycle for some online work as well as Visual Studio 2005… I was interviewing at a couple of different places at the time. One was the team that did the Sidebar and Calendar for Vista. Another was going to do some other incubation work within the company. I also interviewed with an internal shared technology for Microsoft Game Studios called Tools and Technologies. When I got to their building in Millennium, I remember walking into the “old Bungie space” – they had just moved to Kirkland that year – and stopped dead in my tracks at what I was seeing: they were in cubes.
Over the years, the TnT group re-orged within the company, taking on new roles and tasks as we went, until we eventually became part of Xbox LIVE last year. This past weekend, my team moved from the Millennium campus to the newest and most contemporary campus within the Microsoft world: Studios West.
While I’m not back in a proper office – the Xbox LIVE team has opted for Open Offices which is still a cube – the new digs are just absolutely jaw dropping… keep reading for some pics from the Commons today.
Continue reading Xbox LIVE Update: The New Digs
Wii Fit: Mini-update
It seems that putting a fourth generation Japanese woman onto a Wii fit with a kawaii dressed-as-a-penguin Mii will cause her to burst out into what could easily be any average conversation from Akihabara… I think Nintendo has tapped into something primal here.
So, yes, you can give a Wii fit without insult, even on Valentine’s Day. I’m sure the flowers helped too – always good to have a backup plan.
The best comment Jolene has made while standing on the Wii Fit? Well, in English, I mean…
“Wow, these graphics suck – why aren’t they as good as the 360?”
If Bedlam Means “Accidental” Sale, I’m All For It
c|net: Bedlam breaks out at Circuit City After Best – Buy mega-stored Circuit City to oblivion, the hapless retailer has quickly gone to pieces. On Friday, Circuit City said it was liquidating all of its stores. Then, on Saturday, there was a big liquidation sale at my local Circuit City–up to 30 percent off. The checkout line was almost as long as the lines you encounter on a typical Saturday at Fry’s–the mostly California- and Texas-based sprawling electronics warehouse. (The line actually snaked to the back of the store.)
I was witness to something similar: Jolene and I leeringly went to the Circuit City in Bellevue and poked our heads in, seeing as I’ve been lurking around for a new camera and she for a new TV. The line for the front registers went straight to the back and people were everywhere yet not a “SALE” sign in sight. I asked a guy in line: what’s the sale like? “20% off games and movies; 10% off everything else.” Based on that, the TV’s and cameras were actually more expensive than most other stores: regular price – 10% = more than an average online or sale price for electronics.
On a whim, we wandered into the computer section… number of notebooks were still in stock. Including some Lenovo S10; their in stock model sells for $399 online and they had over ten of them in stock… I’ve been thinking about getting a netbook – and Jolene has been dying for one – so I said “ah, it’s still pricy, but no sales tax… I’ll get one and see what Windows 7 does on it.” Looked in a few corners to find a guy to help out – he brings it to a register in the back, so I didn’t have to wait in line. Asked him to tell me the price before swiping the Visa – he puts in $269.
I had to go find Jolene after seeing this, but first I had to push my eyes back in. I found them rolling around near the KVM switches, popped them back in, and ended up with each of us getting our own. Seems that the kid thought the regular price was $299 – even 30% off $399 isn’t $269… 10% off $299 is. So, after getting screwed by Circuit City for so many years – including many stabs in the spleen by a 10% restocking fee on unopened box returns (damned buyer’s remorse from my late teens) – I’m feeling rather satisfied that I finally got a sale priced item from them.
Damn shame their best sale is their last – I would have started shopping there again.
Mission Accomplished
Ahhh…
Yes, after ten years of looking at the back of coins in three different homes in two states, I have a complete of [moderately good conditioned] state-backed quarters, in a very Geeky paper coin holder thingy. I only need another five to have two more complete sets, but those are hanging out in a Ziplok bag.
Anyone else keep up with this? Most people I know dropped off by the second year…
Ahhhhhh.
MacBook Update
Thought I’d do a quick recap of my week-long, multi-state travel experiment with a MacBook in place of a PC.
Bottom line: I almost didn’t notice a difference.
Continue reading MacBook Update
oO! A Fix!
Apple posted a new update for the Multi-Touch trackpad on Vista and I have to say: it’s better. Much better. I’m using it right now in Windows 7 (the PDC build) and it’s pretty solid. The main gripe I had was scrolling being erratic, right clicking being just plain unresponsive, and drag/select was flat out broken. You still need two fingers on the trackpad if you click with your thumb, but that makes sense in a way. Drag/select works really well now – it’s a very nice fix. Scrolling is only slightly better and still weird – at least it’s more spastic than erratic… what makes me smile is that they were able to fix other bugs; this one is fixable as well.
Over all, tho, I might not even pack an external mouse this weekend… oh yeah, I shoulda mentioned that: I’ll be travelling to see family this coming week and I’m taking the MacBook, instead of the Lenovo. The caveats to that were: a) Outlook via XP and VMWare works and is usable, b) said VM uses an external card reader and VPN if I have work issues, c) Boot Camp is running the PDC version of Windows 7 very well (although it could use better heat control,) and d) I was able to uninstall Entourage and it’s reminders.
Best thing of all: Live Mesh continues to impress me with how well it sync’s files – just added the Windows 7 and OSX machines to my account and *bam* – all of my “must have” files were there for me.
Good stuffs!
Third Time Is The Charm?
I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!
The WBCOOP is an online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers.
Registration code: 955613
Till The Flood Do Us Part
MTV.ca: ‘Halo’ Wedding Planned By Two Video Game Fans; Master Chief Will Officiate ‘I love ‘Halo’; I love her,’ the groom says of his bride’s idea (seriously!) for the theme wedding. […] They met playing “Halo” in 2004, and in January they’ll get married by a guy wearing Master Chief armor. Desirai Labrada, 29, and John Henry, 26, are having a “Halo” wedding. And it was her idea.
Wow.
Just… Wow.
T3h Fail: NXE vs PS3@Home
GameDaily: Home Sweet Home: Nine Reasons Home Beats NXE
Or as I like to think of it: what happens when someone that’s never played a game online thinks when s/he reads marketing materials… lets take it one page at a time, shall we?
Continue reading T3h Fail: NXE vs PS3@Home
Zune Tips: Connections Afar and Away
In what started with the small task of adding a hard drive to my PC, I’ve been through a fairly lengthy media-managing saga.
From this I have three Zune tips involving library management, sharing media with a 360, and syncing with a physical device.
Continue reading Zune Tips: Connections Afar and Away
Xbox LIVE: New Xbox Experience
Culmination.
It’s a word. A fitting word. At least for the last 36 hours… over the last day and a half, I’ve been re-org’d, launched, re-launched, partied, liquored up, and chatted up. Not too bad, considering that today’s Xbox 360 Dashboard update is our biggest. …so far.
Want a look behind the curtain? I expect that Major Nelson will have something Inside Xbox before the end of the week… true, there’s almost always following him in the cafeteria, but he usually doesn’t wear a velvet smoking jacket while filming. At least not on camera… Anyway, until his clip is released, I can tell you what the NXE experience has meant to me…
Continue reading Xbox LIVE: New Xbox Experience
A Moment With Gears of War 2
Grandmother: “Oh… why is [my grandson] Billy on the floor again?”
Mother: “Randy killed him again.”
Grandmother: “Again? Oh, oh.”
Billy: “OK, that’s enough grandma!”
Classic.
GoW2: LIVE, Part III
Welcome west coasters!
Next stop: Asia.
I’m going to bed for a bit – here’s to the next 12 hours!
GoW2: LIVE, Part II
Still at work and watching all you east coast gamers getting your pictures online…
Logged over three hours in private matches – I might not suck as bad as I thought!
Some other people just popped over to Call of Duty 4 as the Midnight line heads over the Mountain time zone…
Next up: Pacific Standard Time in 90 minutes.