Understanding the subprime mortgage crisis

Here is a ~45 minute radio show which aired on NPR explaining the road that led us to the subprime mortgage crisis. I found it very informative, check it out.

Listen by clicking here.

Read by clicking here.

An economist's explaination of the current financial crisis

Mike Masnick, a tech blogger/economist who's opinions I (usually) respect, has an posted two informative articles on the current economic crisis. Please go read them:

Take A Deep Breath: Some Perspective On The Financial Crisis

So How Will The Financial Crisis Impact The Wider Economy?

Will Wright on the difference between kids and adults.

Paste Magazine has an interview with Will Wright, the creative mind behind SimCity, the Sims, and Spore.

At one point in the interview they ended up talking about accessibiltiy of a game, and the way that children and adults approach a game. I thought it was really interesting:

Paste Magazine: As an entertainment product, is Spore capable of replicating the processes of science such as experimentation? Do you feel those processes are occurring when people play Spore?

Will Wright: I think they occur in almost any game that's made. If you look at any kid playing a game, what they do is they go up and they grab the controller and they start pushing buttons randomly. They observe the results. They start building a model in their head for how the buttons are mapped. Then they start trying to set high-level goals. They start building a more and more elaborate model in their head of the underlying simulation in our game. And they're doing it purely through the scientific method. They observe data. They craft and experiment and do interactions to test their experiment. They observe their results then they increase the resolution of their model. And that's pretty much exactly what the scientific method is. So I think any kid, almost inherently, knows that and recognizes it as such. If you look at adults, they're really the problem case. Adults generally don't want to touch these things until they know what the rules are. They don't want to fail. Whereas kids are totally comfortable with failure-based learning. And so the kids are the whole time experimenting and actually learning much faster as a result of inherently knowing the scientific method. Whereas adults basically want to know all the rules, they're afraid to press the wrong button, they're afraid to experiment, etc., etc.

Intersection of nerd hobbies

Did you know that the J.K. Rowling character Hermione Granger is written with a birthday on September 19th, 1979? Did you also know that September 19th is talk like a pirate day?

That's an alignment of the planets that I just cannot argue with. Ms. Granger is my new favorite character from the series.

Slashdot reports that the University of California has put out a series of videos demonstrating weaknesses in the Sequoia voting system.

Since I feel it is important that the general public understand that they should not accept insecure voting methods, I'm echoing the videos here.

(Mark 4:55 in Part 2 shows a particularly interesting bypass of tamper-proof tags.)

Part 1:

Part 2:

I <3 Mythbusters!

I love Mythbusters!

I got sold a counterfeit copy of 'The World Ends With You'

Counterfeit game!

As you can probably guess from the post title, I just bought a copy of 'The World Ends With You' on EBay. Or, I thought I did. What I really bought was a counterfeit copy of 'The World Ends With You'. Grrrrr.

In keeping with my running tradition, I'll take this post to spell out all the signs that this item is counterfeit.

The Box:

'E' for everyone?

The counterfeit box lists the rating as 'E'. The actual game has a rating of 'T'. A legitimate item wouldn't list the wrong rating on the box.

Time travel?

The counterfeit box claims a copyright of 2004. Very interesting, considering the real game was released in 2008. A legitimate item wouldn't list the wrong copyright date on the box.

One size fits all!

The counterfeit box is a one-size-fits-all game box. See that upper bracket? That's so the box can optionally hold a Gameboy Advance cartridge. A legitimate item would have a box designed to hold the product.

Also, it doesn't come out in the pictures very well, but the whole box has a grainy, printed-on-an-inkjet-printer look. Fine text on the box has blurry edges around it from the lower quality printing.

The Instruction Manual:

(sorry for the blurry pictures)

The counterfeit instruction manual takes an approach that I've not seen before. The manual contains no actual instructions, but instead contains is a scattering of screen shots from the game surrounded with text plagiarized from assorted preview sites. My favorite quote in the manual was this tidbit:

You can host or join a match with up to three other players to knock their collected pins off of the virtual table. It's a nice touch that really looks set to add a fun dynamic to what seems to be a solid single-player experience. We'll have more on The World Ends With You as the April release date draws near.

Not a phrase I ever expected to see in the game's instruction manual.

The Cartridge:

(blurry! But still 'rated' E)

There's not a lot to talk about on the cartridge, outside of the single damning bit of evidence: The real game is rated 'T', this is labeled 'E'. A legitimately manufactured cartridge wouldn't list the wrong rating on the label.

Epilogue:

I'm writing the following to the seller:

Dear Stephen Burr,

You have sold me a counterfeit copy of 'The World Ends With You'. As you probably know, selling counterfeit video games is against the EBay terms of use, and is unfair to me as a customer.

I have put together a detailed summary of how I know that this is a counterfeit on my blog. You can read more at: http://jaqenn.blogspot.com/2008/09/i-got-sold-counterfeit-copy-of-world.html

I require that you send me a full refund ($31.95) for the purchase of this item. I will then destroy it. If you wish the item to be returned to you, please include an additional $5 shipping and handling.

It is my opinion that you were unaware that this was a counterfeit item when you listed it for sale. However, your good intentions do not compel me to accept an item substantially different than you advertised. If you purchased this item on EBay, I recommend that you seek a refund from your seller. If you are within 60 days of the purchase date I believe you can have Paypal assist you in getting a refund.

Thank you for your time.

-Trevor Christman
ebay Jaqenn

I love my job...

Here is a copy of a clip played at our last company meeting, to encourage us to turn out the lights when we're done with a room. At a lesser company, you'd be told "Please turn our the lights, it costs us lots of money." At National Instruments, you get told:

New Van

Our car started having troubles a few weeks ago. We ended up deciding that it would be better to replace it than to fix it, especially since we've pretty much outgrown it anyway. So, after much searching we ended up with a 2004 Honda Odyssey:



You know how some people name their cars? I've always thought that could be fun, but I can never come up with a really good one, and using a dumb name always felt pretentious.

Well, Shauna came up with the perfect name for this one:

Tohru. Tohru Honda.

Quote of the day

I was looking over the catalog of sessions presented at the Game Developers Conference earlier this year. I noticed a session from the Mercenaries 2 design team, describing programming a physics engine which supports network gameply, which looked very technically interesting. But then I saw the intended audience line:

Intended Audience:

Programmers who need to network a large streaming world and/or havok simulation. People who enjoy blowing things up.

I think that includes a great number of us.

Recanted: Neurological Game Control Finally a Commercial Reality

Even though I was very excited to read about it earlier, I'm recanting my desires for an OCZ NIA input device.



I am doing so because I am skeptical of it's usefulness. Lets consider the three input types provided by this product.

- Jaw Tension
The NIA takes an analog measurement of your jaw muscles, and maps this to multiple input triggers. One example review mapped 'slightly clenched' to run forward, and 'very clenched' to run forward while jumping. Another review commented that by using brain-to-jaw communication instead of the brain-to-finger communication, you shave about 100ms from your response time.

But that means you cannot speak, yawn, or eat while using the device. And that, my friend, is insane.

- Eye movement
The NIA takes an analog measurement of your lateral eye movement, and maps this to multiple input triggers. One example review mapped the left and right edges of the screen to 'sidestep left' and 'sidestep right'.

But that means that you must keep your head pointed straight at the monitor, and it means that you stop looking at the screen when you want to give input to the stupid thing. Or, that if you look too hard at an edge of your screen, you accidentally give input to the stupid thing. And that, my friend, is insane.

Even the most exciting potential for this thing - using your eye movement as a replacement for the mouse - is impossible because it only tracks horizontal movement, not vertical movement.

- Brainwaves
The NIA takes constant measurements of your alpha and beta brainwaves, and maps their intensity and frequency to six different input triggers. For instance, elevated alpha levels are associated with spikes of aggression. An example review commented that they were able to make their character jump by thinking profanity.

Besides the whole stream-of-mental-profanity madness, doesn't that mean (and I'm the least educated about this aspect) that you have to stop emotionally responding to your game? If spikes of aggression trigger one behavior, and spikes of elation trigger another behavior, what are you going to do to stop triggering this behavior from normal gameplay? Stop caring about what's happening?

Also, those calculations are reportedly done in software, reported to consume 10% - 15% of your processor time. I was using that processor time, thank you very much.

Add to this that almost every review I found reviewed this aspect the least, commenting that 'we couldn't train ourselves to use it quick enough to give a fair review', and it makes me very, very skeptical that it will be useful.


- Final Thoughts
So, what you really do with the OCZ NIA is give up $150, the uncaring use of your jaw, the uncaring use of your eyes, and the uncaring use of your brain, and gain about 100ms of reflexes. I'm a gamer, but I'm not that hardcore.

If I was paralyzed, I'd think this was great. As someone with full use of their limbs, I'll pass.

Neurological video game control finally a commercial reality.

Ever since my first game of BattleTech at the age of ten, I've been eagerly awaiting the day that I can control a robot with my brainwaves.

Looks like that day is today.

Now, don't get me wrong. This technology has existed in prototype form for a long time, squirreled away in laboratories while they try to make it work right.

Nope, today is the day that I discovered that it's been commercialized and targeted to the general public.



Sure, it's hard to learn to use. Sure, it will probably never work as good as a mouse and keyboard. Sure, it's $150 for a 'keyboard' with around 10 buttons.

I don't care. It's controlling a computer with my brainwaves. For me, it's as deep of a childhood dream as those other misfits who wanted to be an astronaut.

I'm currently trying to convince myself that it's worth $150. I'll let you know if I take the plunge.

June 26th: Happy Carterphone day!

Happy Carterphone day! On June 26th, 1968 the FCC ruled that AT&T was required to let any specification-compliant phone onto the public telephone network, regardless of manufacturer. From the Ars-Technica Article:

Take a look at the FCC's best rulings, and there you will find Carterfone. You will find it, for example, in the agency's 1998 decision to let consumers pick and choose their own cable set top boxes...in the FCC's 700Mhz auction Block C concept, with its requirement that consumers can connect any broadband device to that portion of the mobile phone spectrum...the proposal that a merged XM/Sirius must let developers build any kind of receiver linking to the new broadcaster, including receivers that also play mp3 files and connect to the Internet.

In the end, Carterfone says that it is our telecommunications system, not AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast's. We finance the system with our subscription, application, and investment money. We support it with utility easements, regulatory breaks, and government contracts paid for by our taxes. We make it work because we are its workers. We make it exciting with our innovations, technical and social, big and small.

We do not begrudge the CEOs of these great corporations their legal positions. But they are, as Andrew Carnegie would put it, stewards of the system, not its owners. They are not there to tell us to Go Away. They are there to keep the system running while we discover it, use it, develop it, innovate it, game it, finesse it, and reinvent it to our heart's content. The great enterprise of telecommunications is no better than our right to participate in it as individuals.

It is a good day to download.

Through a fortuitous alignment of planets, two bits of download worthy content are scheduled for release today:

- Firefox 3:

This new release of Firefox is reviewed to be bigger, faster, stronger, and awesome-er than the last. I thought the last was pretty good, so I'm looking forward to giving it a spin.

As a side note, an internal utility webpage that I use at work conflicts with Firefox 2, but not Firefox 3. That means that I have to keep an I.E. window open to interact with it...no fun. Until today at 10am Pacific Daylight Time! Yay!

Also, they are trying to create a new Guinness Book of World Records entry for 'Most Software Downloads in a 24 Hour Period'. Go download it right now!

- Spore Creature Creator Demo:

Who knows if Spore (due out in September) will be any good or not, but the Creature Creator Demo is free, and looks pretty interesting. For the uninitiated, one of Spore's more intriguing features is that you build creatures lego-style, and it is then animated on the fly; the engine looks at what your critter has available to it, and makes a 'best guess' on how to animate it. Supposedly the creature creator will show that off.

My one complaint? They have a 'light' demo for free, and a 'thick' demo for $10. Maybe I'm just cheap, but unless I can later get a $10 credit toward the full game, I feel ripped off to pay $10 for a preview of what I'll later get for $50.

Here's a video tutorial of the editor:

Nothing to see here, move along...

Nothing to see here, move along...

Counterfeit items on EBay, and why you should care.

So, I just contacted a bunch of people who won the same auction as me, and sent this message:

Hi there. I am contacting you because you won an auction from nrbarish for Final Fantasy VI Advance.

I also bought this item from him, and I was sent a counterfeit game. I imagine that your copy was counterfeit also. You can read more of how to spot a counterfeit item on my blog at http://jaqenn.blogspot.com/2008/06/i-got-sold-counterfeit-copy-of-final.html

It is my opinion that nrbarish knew that this was a counterfeit game when he sold it to us. I find this unacceptable, and so should you.

Please consider contacting him and asking for your money back. If he fails to respond, please use the paypal resolution center to open a complaint and get your money back. Please also report him to EBay at the 'report unauthorized copies' page.

Why do I care? If he keeps making money selling counterfeits, he'll keep selling even if he gets caught sometimes. If he loses money selling counterfeits, maybe he'll stop, which will make EBay a better place.

Thank you.

Got a refund for Final Fantasy VI.

Dear Trevor Christman,

nicholas barish (nickbarish2000@yahoo.com) has issued you a full
or partial refund for your payment.

Message from merchant:

----------------------------------------------------------------
Original Payment Details
----------------------------------------------------------------

Date Payment Sent: May 29, 2008

Amount: $18.00 USD

Sincerely,
PayPal

Yaaaaaay.

I got sold a counterfeit copy of Final Fantasy VI

So, I just bought a copy of Final Fantasy VI on EBay. Or, I thought I did. What I really bought was a counterfeit copy of Final Fantasy VI. Grrrrr.

Here was the text for the auction:

This PRE-PLAYED game comes COMPLETE with box, & game cartridge.

Item is GUARANTEED to work.

Everything is in perfect condition.

How can I tell that it was counterfeit? Well, I'm glad you asked. I put together this handy writeup to accompany my campaign to get my money back. Lets go through this point by point:

First, this pre-played game comes COMPLETE with box, right? Lets look at a legitimate box, and compare it to my box:

Legitimate Box

Two problems with mine:

Everyone?

- The real game is not rated 'Everyone' by the ESRB. It's rated E10+.

Nintendo?

-The real box would have a Nintendo logo in the lower right corner, mine does not.

I can't find a picture of the back of a real box, but I can still pick apart the back of this one:

Do I know you?

- Who are these little misfits? They're not Final Fantasy VI characters, they are Edward, Rosa, and Rydia from Final Fantasy IV. A real box wouldn't have pictures from the wrong game on it.

2001?

- They claim a copyright on the game for 2001? The real game was released in North America on May 2nd, 2007.

Top all that off with the fact that he claimed that the game was pre-played, but the box is straight off of a printing press. It's never been folded at all, and was shipped to me disassembled.

Ok, so maybe he sent me a real cartridge, but went and got a fake box to try and increase the value of his auction? I don't really care if the box is fake, as long as the game is real.

No luck. Lets look at the cartridge:

Do I look real to you?

- Still labeled with the wrong ESRB rating.

- Still labeled with characters from the wrong game.

Nope, it's one big batch of fake.

I'm sending the guy a request for my money back, and I'm probably going to report him to EBay. Here is a copy of the email that I sent him:

Dear nbarish,

You have sold me a counterfeit copy of Final Fantasy VI. As you probably know, selling counterfeit video games is against the EBay terms of use, and is unfair to me as a customer.

I have put together a detailed summary of how I know that this is a counterfeit on my blog. You can read more at: http://jaqenn.blogspot.com/2008/06/i-got-sold-counterfeit-copy-of-final.html

I require that you send me a full refund for the purchase of this item. I will then destroy it. If you wish the item to be returned to you, please include an additional $5 shipping and handling.

Should you comply with this request, I will make note of your apology and refund in my report to EBay.

Thank you for your time.

-Trevor Christman
ebay Jaqenn

I'll let you guys know how it pans out.

Garfield, minus Garfield

I ran into an interesting comic strip today, named "Garfield, Minus Garfield". The guy has taken a bunch of Garfield comic strips, and edited away Garfield, leaving only Jon Arbuckle.

From the site:

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb.

Imeem.com

In case you havn't heard yet, Imeem.com is pretty cool. It's kind of like a crossbreed between myspace and napster, where you can upload music from your personal collection and other people can listen to it and talk about it.

Last year it (as expected) got sued. Everyone expected that to be the end of it.

Early this year it emerged from oblivion with a statement that it had signed licensing deals with all five major record labels. They can play you any song in their library, and if you click on an ad while that song is playing, they send some money to the band. If the band doesn't like it they can individually opt out of having their music available.

So, for those of you that always ask what music I like, and I don't know what to tell you? This is a pretty good sample:

(today, I particularly recommend tracks #7, #19, and #44. #54 is great also)