Time Keeps on Slippin'

A year ago today I walked in the front doors of Google, picked up my badge, and started a journey that I could never forget. Or at least that's what I'd like you to believe.

Sure, those first two things happened, but that last part is very questionable.

I'd love to tell you my year was full of drama, with heroes and villains and victories and losses and, of course, loads of gratuitous sex scenes (As Hedonism Bot says, "Let us cavort like the Greeks of old! You know the ones I mean..."). Unfortunately, if any of that occurred, I'm finding the events difficult to remember.

Don't get me wrong, this year was great. New climate, new job, new friends, lots of great things. The downside? Being so far away from everything I grew up around, including my old (read "matured", or "better") friends. However, compared to the two previous years of grad school though, anything would look good.

The issue I find is that the year feels half-missing (or perhaps half-full?). I didn't actually miss anything, and it's not my memory that's failing, it's simply life. I just look back on the year, and find that there were months where nothing major happened. But c'est la vie, the important parts aren't the months I don't remember due to lack of drama; the important parts are the months I do (they must be important if my brain found a place for them). And what do you know, I might even be able to conjure up a few good stories out of those, with the hero Software Engineer solving the puzzle of the code and thus saving millions of users from boredom due to lack of cat videos!

Actually, I don't know why I'm complaining at all (beyond it being second nature to me). It's been a good year, better than I could've imagined. And this next year is looking even better, with trips planned and some good time to spend back in the ol' Hotlanta with nothing to do but relax.

And maybe, if you're lucky, I'll conjure up some of the better memories and share them. Knowing me though, I probably already have.

YouTube on TV: Leanback with a Vengeance

It wouldn't be YouTube if things weren't drastically changed every now and then. It can be jarring, but hopefully it leads to better use cases of the site and overall more satisfaction.

The most current case: YouTube Leanback. A new version was just released, this time focusing on helping users find content they want to watch, and then keeping them satisfied with both more videos from a single stream and an easy browse experience to discover related streams. At the moment it's a work in progress, but it meets all the expectations and use cases of the initial version with the added benefit of easier navigation. There are more ideas on the way though, hoping to help surface more common, but simple, actions for the user as well as providing discovery of better videos.

You can check out what's changed, or as always go play around with it yourself.

Might I suggest though: sign up and log in to YouTube. You'll get more things which matter to you personally that way.

Re: 80710A06

On one note, I was wrong. Netflix wasn't blocked by not being able to sign in (though I did get regular interruptions where it was trying to sign me in).

On another note, all my personal data has been lost by Sony. To any identity thieves out there: you can have my identity, I hardly want it myself. If you happen to come across the identity of someone awesome, say who owns an island and has no need for a job, can you send it my way?

What will I be doing tonight? Keeping a watchful eye on my credit card and changing all my passwords...

80710A06

So for those not paying attention (also those having no reason to care), right now PlayStation Network (PSN) is down, and has been for many days. PSN is how PlayStations verify themselves to Sony, allowing online play and other connected functionality. Now, anyone who has a PS3 has probably run into a standard maintenance shutdown of PSN anyways. It happens, you live with it. Only it's not down due to any technical issues; this time it was attacked. (Rumor mill is anonymous, but that's just rumor, who knows?)

Personally, this doesn't get in my way much. I don't normally play video games online anyways. But I do still use it for one major thing: Netflix. That's right, these jerks have made me watching Netflix on my TV a bit more difficult, and that shall not stand. After all, what am I without my leisure time.

[caption id="attachment_691" align="alignright" width="191" caption="You may take our lives, but you may never take ... OUR LEISURE!"][/caption]

Now, I'm not saying that Sony isn't stupid for tying Netflix to a PSN account. After all, I can still use the browser. It could be some business deal which ties Netflix's hands though, licensing and such. Really, I'm just getting to the point that I'm not a fan of Sony themselves.

But I simply don't understand this. There's no way to profit from this attack. (Maybe make Sony lose face and try to short-sell some stock?) Revenge doesn't really fit. If anything, it's just an annoyance to the general public. As part of that general public, I take offense.

The attackers of this, just know, I'm putting you on notice. No one attacks my leisure time and gets away scot free. I've given a good 5 minutes towards damning you. So, take that. Yeah, not much you can do about it, is there? How's that feel? Jerks.

Meanwhile, I guess I can go outside and do something in the blinding sunlight...

Trust me, I'm the Doctor

Part 3 of 3, finally reaching the latest season: The Eleventh Doctor.

David Tennant had a spectacular run, but at The End of Time, he had to go. So series 5 brings a new Doctor, played by Matt Smith, a new Tardis, and a brand new pace to the series.

At first I was skeptical because of the tone-change from series 4 to 5. At first, series 5 feels much much lighter than the others, especially in production design. But as you watch it, you realize that's purely on the surface. The show as a whole still has a solid undercurrent of heavier themes which continue to lend to its credibility. The only part that changed is the light touch they apply, which makes the deep and heavy moments seem even stronger than before.

The music is still top-notch: new title music made of the standard theme, but opening with a somewhat darker fanfare. Some more outstanding themes for monsters like the vampires of Venice and the Silurians*. And then there's the new Doctor theme itself, "I am the Doctor", predominately featured right at the end of the series premiere.

And the writing still maintains the good Doctor Who pace and fare. Entertaining and light most of the time, powerful and deep when it needs to be. This series, the Doctor gives multiple unforgettable speeches. I can think of three off-hand (not only thought of, but linked/embedded in this post! You're welcome!)

If you still don't believe me, check this out. A great scene showing off the writing, music, and grandness of the show:


Interesting side-note: the track in that video is called "Words Win Wars", how apropos for the Doctor.

If you liked that, I suggest you check out this as well.

If you're not sold on Doctor Who, then I am convinced something has broken your ability to listen to reason. Because no one should be able to deny how awesome this show truly is (at least among those who've seen it).

And wait, what's this? That's right, I waited till today to post this, because Doctor Who is back! Series 6 premieres tonight on BBC America!

* Haha! I just realized I'd put "Salarians".  No, Doctor Who and Mass Effect are not the same thing.  Have to keep reminding myself of that.

HUGE SUCCESS

For those who have been living under a rock, four years ago Valve released a game called Portal. This game was groundbreaking: a mind-bending First Person Puzzler, all centered around the idea of creating portals connecting two points in space.

But Valve didn't stop there. The game was already new and fresh, but they decided to sprinkle in an interesting story, one which fits our mute hero well. It's very difficult to create a story which requires next-to-zero interaction from the protagonist rather than just moving forward, but they managed it. The whole time in the "testing environment", a disembodied voice gives hints, help, and provides comic relief. Only to pull the twist once you reach the end: the cake is a lie.

That disembodied voice isn't so disembodied as you thought, and it turns out she's a passive-aggressive machine bent on testing subjects for her own amusement (when she's not releasing deadly neurotoxin).

All in all, the puzzles stay fresh, and then applying them outside of the standard environment makes the final areas memorable. I recently re-played the game and still enjoyed it thoroughly.

Of course, the real reason for this post: now there's a Portal 2! So much science to do, so little time.

A Really Long Satuday

For the past seven years I've taken part in an (unaffiliated) Georgia Tech Band tradition: Get A Clue.

What is Get A Clue (or GAC, as we in the know call it)? Well, it's a day filled with reckless driving, possible trespassing, and some intellectual pursuits thrown in for the hell of it. I believe the proper term is that it's a "Treasure Hunt" game: Get Clue, Solve, Find Location, Lather, Rinse, Repeat. The trick is that the locations can be anywhere within a 40 mile radius of Georgia Tech campus. Also, it starts at about 9 AM on a Saturday, and you'll be lucky to be done by midnight (this year, we didn't finish till 3 AM).

What do you win? First place gets...

*drumroll please*

To run the game next year!

Second place is "The Real Winners"; they're team smart enough to beat everyone else and also ensure they don't have to run next year's game! It's a coveted position, the running for which causes the accidental first place (no one wants to come in last, even if it is for nothing).

Why do it? It's just great fun. Spend a day with friends driving around the city solving clues. Sure, those friends rarely do it a second year in a row (and those who do forget how long of a Saturday it really is). But once you get going, you wonder why you don't do this everyday? And then once you pass around 11 PM, you remember just how tired you get when you've been solving clues all day and have who-knows-how-many left to go.

The other part of the fun are the yearly themes. I've played it with themes ranging from "Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse" to "Where in Atlanta is Carmen Sandiego?" to even "Corporate Espionage". I stole the image at the top of this post from this year's theme: "CSI: Atlanta", complete with tracking down the notorious "cereal killer". Yes, that's right, all victims were dressed up as cereal mascots, including the hooker ("When they're dead, they're just hookers") in Las Vegas dressed up as a bunny while turning tricks (get it?).

Was returning to Atlanta for a weekend to do this worth my time? Probably not, given how busy I was. Did I enjoy it anyways? Hell yes. And made sure I got to see all my friends and family while there as well. Good trip, will have to do it again next year.

P.S. Talk about Scheduler keeping me on my toes, it keeps reposting this even though I never wrote it...