Where Have All The Good Techs Gone?

Strange title? Read on fellow traveler, read on. Recently, there have been a few 'hacking' attacks against a whole range of companies, all across the private and government sectors. First we start off this gauntlet of breaches with George 'GeoHot' Hotz and his cracking of the Playstation 3 home console. Now, previously, hacking into cell phones was deemed legal but home gaming consoles of any kind still remain a nice big grey area that large companies, like Sony or Microsoft can and will exploit for every penny they can. I'll let you all do the research, but the short of it is Sony put this kid's head on a pike at the top of their headquarters.

Next, we jump right into the large and very public hacking of Sony's website and servers, in what seemed a response to the handling of the GeoHot case. The group Anonymous was blamed, and the responsibility war is till going back and forth, more than a month after the attacks. These attacks, for those of you that either didn't care or were living without any internet connectivity, managed to pry thousands of users' personal and sensitive information, including user names, passwords, and very possibly credit card data, which Sony denies the latter. Regardless of what was taken, this showed how vulnerable this network really was, if a relatively small group of hackers could fairly easily slip in and have their way with things. The result was Sony's PSN being down for almost a month, and countless thousands if not millions of dollars in lost revenue. About the same time, another one of Sony's online systems was brought down after some intrusions, their SOE systems that ran such titles as EverQuest and their newly popular Realm for all ages of users. This was a huge breach in the end and not all of the details of what was really taken have been dished out.

Soon after, we jump right into the 50 days of hack-attacks from the newly formed group calling themselves LulzSec. These mighty hackers penetrated everything they could get their code-hooks into, ranging from BioWare, a game development powerhouse, right on up to the CIA and the U.S. Senate. They went everywhere their little fingers could take them, and exposed weaknesses of not only websites, but also at times the organizations behind them and how inept or corrupt they might be. They had no holds barred on this one, unlike Anonymous. They broke in and took what they could, plundering and pillaging vast amounts of internet real estate. And, much like a modern-day Robin Hood and Merry Men they gave all of this back to the community in the form of stolen accounts information about major corruption. They have announced that they are now bored of themselves, and they are finished also having met their 50 day goal. That was more of a whirlwind let loose on the web, that quickly blew itself out but still having left a huge swath of destruction in it's digital wake.

So, I go back to the title now- where have all the good techs gone? Are they sleeping? These breaches were, in my opinion, almost begged for by some of these companies. While I know that a Google search of me can find a bunch of data that wasn't easily accessible 12 years ago, there are some things that you can't find. Passwords, credit card data, previous legal proceedings, etc. This data is supposed to be securely locked away in a database somewhere, with only very specific groups of people having access to it. Standing in front of the physical server where my life is stored are supposed to be competent server administrators and security specialists. That does not seem to be the case anymore. Are large companies not putting money into this area, and just resting on the notion of 'set it and forget it'? While I may not completely agree with the method, I do agree that these attacks have shown two things here- 1, that as a company executive I have to take more responsibility and pay more attention into all things related to my technology; and 2, as the consumer I am now more aware that those companies are not doing their proper diligence in securing my amazingly private data and that I need to be a little more careful on what I give out.

Agree or not, the issue of data security needs to be addressed on a wide-scale level. Now, where is my aluminum foil hat...

..The End of the World, As We Know It...

And I feel fine. Thank you R.E.M. for heralding in the end of days. Honestly, I thought it would have been someone a little heavier, maybe Cannibal Corpse, Slayer, or even Metallica. I did a reply over at the Jace Hall blog, and I wanted to maybe go a different direction with that the poster there, Paul Nyhart said.

Look at this- if the world were to end today, gone, kaput; would you be happy with where you are, and what you've done to get you there? Also equally as important, would you be happy with the world around you, and what you contributed to it? Now, wait before you jump to an answer. I think a lot of points he made were very similar to the way I think- more people know the finalists in American Idol than who their local county and state representatives are; even their local town mayor. My generation, so dubbed 'Generation X', is a generation of oxymorons and oddities. Vocal yet silent. Aggressive yet passive. Intelligent yet so very, very stupid. I have acquaintances from high school that went in so many directions, if would be like the scattering of roaches when the light is turned on. One is practically living on Capitol Hill, reporting good, witty facts and updates about local and Federal politics. One is a nationally known and awarded body builder. One is out in Cali, living the 'punk out with your junk out' credo. Me? I'm a geek to the bone. I do systems administration for a private South Florida college. One of those 4 has current knowledge of politics, one of health and nutrition, one the music culture, and one the latest technology buzz. Together, we'd be a force to be reckoned with. Separate, not so much. This sounds like a strange description, but, let me tie it all in.

My father, who has passed on some 10 years ago now, had a little of all of those talents, and still was amazingly versed in all current events, whether it be the local candidates running for selectman or the national Olympic team standings. I'm lucky to know when the Olympics are even being held. We now have an information overload, and we glamorize the trivial, and shuffle away that which is truly important. Parts of my generation are finally waking up to this harsh reality, and realizing that we may be too late to change it for ourselves. So, we start change now, and let it trickle down to the next gen, and hope that they see much sooner than we what is truly important in our country, and the world.

As fascinating as it is to know what Lady GaGa is wearing today, I would rather learn something useful.

Moral Dilemmas

Big decisions would be much easier in life if I was 10 years younger, and had no kids. That's my biggest hold back, the kids. I'm not happy where I am. Both mentally and physically. I've gone over the part where I don't think I'm super healthy, so, I'll go into a quick gripe session.

I moved 1200 miles away from anyone I knew. I did this for 2 main reasons- 1, my wife's family lived in the South Florida area, and she really wanted to be a part of their lives. And, obviously I wanted her to be happy. She had lived down in this area before, and I had never really ventured too far out of the New England/Tri State area. The other was that my father had just passed away, and I was sort of struggling in the area. There were a lot of reminders of him up there, and my mother had just moved from CT to MA. I figured, what the hell? A new start would be just what I needed to perk myself up.

Let me go into this next part with the fact that I do not regret any choices I've made. I made them, and I live with them. I can regret the choices I left alone; the things I didn't act on. So, there are no regrets about moving the Florida. The people I've met, mostly, the experiences I've been able to have, and the places I've been able to visit. I do miss the region I left. I miss my family, and real trees. Do you have any freakin' idea how strange it still is to me to see Christmas lights on palm trees? Santa in shorts? I'm a country boy. I define that as somewhere between a redneck and a honky. I love the woods, and would live on the side of a mountain in Appalachia if I could. I miss clean air, silence at night, and stars. So, to say I'm homesick would be incorrect. I don't miss exactly where I came from, only that kind of area.

Now, comes the dilemma. I have 2 kids and a wife to support. Luckily, if we were to ever move, the company my wife is the president of, Laci Group Inc, is a virtual customer service solution; meaning, she can work from anywhere that has power and a land line. I however am the problem. I currently work in a technical field, and was not experienced enough years ago to begin venturing into my own business. That would have been a great idea. Now, it would be starting from scratch. And, as much as I would love to throw caution to the wind, quit my job, and go pro-blogger and technical contracting, I just don't know if that's the best idea for my family and I. So, instead, I go in to my office every day and start some menial morning task in what is now a no-promotion job. I read about all of these smart and talented people who went off, did their own thing, and were successful. Hard work is a no-brainer. The part about that is I'm really attracted to finally being my own boss, and will be much happier. The second part that gets me is the amazing quality time I'll get to have with my family. That has become amazingly important to me. Being at work for 50-60 hours a week right now, I don't get a lot of time to spread out between my 2 kids and my wife; forget about my personal time.

So, I want to say to you all, to follow your hearts, and listen to reason along the way. When the time is right, I'll make the decision that is best for me and my family. Until then, I'll hunker down and wait for that light at the end of the tunnel...

So, Ya Think You're Healthy?

It has come to my attention that Americans, overall, are pretty damn unhealthy. I saw a graphic today that sort of disturbed me, but really just validated all the things that I thought to be true. It's about what most Americans do now all day long because it's what we're paid to do. Sitting. And, it's about how sitting down is more corrosive to your overall health that you may think. Let me elaborate.

Let's start with a brief description of an average work day for the 9-5 desk jockey. You roll into your office at about 8:50, typically sans breakfast. You sit down at your semi-cluttered desk and kick on your computer in one fashion or another. Once 9 o'clock strikes it's time to grab a quick cup of coffee, maybe a bagel or bar, and start the day. Hunched over your desk, pounding away at the keyboard, and being semi to mostly productive. This will last until around 11:30 when the body's desire for actual energy starts to kick in, and the thoughts of sugarplums begin dancing around your noodle. This is a 50/50 split on the next decision; either you go out to lunch, which will have to be a quick bite as you have afternoon deadlines and/or meetings...or, you eat at your desk, maybe getting up to grab a plate and some form of eating utensil. After the lunch break is over you resume light desk activity as now your brain is not processing data as fast as it should be, due to the over-carbed lunch you just powered through. 5:30 rolls in, and you can finally move your legs again to regain feeling in your feet, shut down that computer, and dash on out of the office. Sound familiar? Let's break down how not one part of that entire scenario is actually good for you, both mentally and physically.

We'll begin with rolling out of bed, which was an activity not listed above. Immediately after this reflex based action, no doubt caused by the annoying sounds of the miniature car-alarm you call an alarm clock, you will begin your daily preparations for your daily grind. Stop here. Rub that sleep out of your eyes and put on some pants for goodness sake! Take a step outside into the morning sun. Close your eyes and take a few super-deep breaths of the morning air. I'm not saying this from the aspect of the mighty tree-huggers, there's actually a reason. Getting that air into your lungs will help with your oxygen saturation in the blood, which will in turn give you an energy boost. Also, the sun is not just good for plants. Other than being a mental boost, it does give you energy as well. To get a little technical, humans are Heterotrophs. This means, for those of you too lazy to click the magical link I provided, that we get solar energy by eating the plants that use the sun for energy. On a mental level, you get to see the sun, sky, and not be confined inside of four walls. After your invigorating stretch and view of the new day, you march your ass inside and start breakfast. This, above all else, will be the most important thing you ever do in your day. Besides not wetting your pants, that is. When you were a kid you were constantly told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Oddly enough, it's one of the little cliches that is actually true. It's been proven to raise brain function and awareness, as well as better nutrition and energy for the coming day. If you want to take a look at these claims, just do a little Googling. 


Next, we move onto the work day. You arrive at the office, now a little more chipper and awake than normal thanks to our breakfast break. You step over to your desk and power on your computer. First thing you need to do is download an application for your machine that let's you set custom alarms. By this I mean some sort of time application. You want to get up and stretch your legs and back at least once every 15 minutes. This will help you relax your eyes as you stop staring at all of those pretty colors in the monitor, as well as wake up your leg muscles and back. I will have a link, here that will show you some interesting facts about sitting down all day, and how it will more or less kill you faster. Once an hour, you need to walk around. Get the blood flowing, maybe take a walk outside and grab some fresh, un-recycled air and sunlight. Your brain and lungs will thank you, as will your legs and heart. Morale will pick up since now you are not confined within the four walls of your office. After about 2 1/2 hours, have a small snack. Something non-sugared and carb-loaded. Preferably something with a good amount of protein, to help boost that mid-morning slump. This will also help your metabolism speed up by keeping it going, and lower your overall hunger levels. That leads into lunch. Follow the morning routine right up to, and after lunch. For lunch, well, I'm not going to preach diet diet diet. You all know what's good for you, and what isn't. All I can recommend is smaller portions. Your hunger level should be good, but not crippling at this point. I try to stay with the 50/50 rule; 50% carbs to 50% proteins. I might get 2 pounds of fries with a hamburger, but, I might not eat them. I have the bun with the burger for carbs, and the burger for protein. Carbs will put you back into the after-lunch coma that everyone falls into. Once done, get back to work you slacker! But, set that timer again, and make sure to follow it strictly. 


Once home, I bet your energy levels are still fairly high and you're ready for a nice dinner, and some quality time with family, or a cat. I'm not a doctor by any means. I have common sense, and I listen to professionals of their fields talk about better living through small life changes. In this crazy hustle-filled world we live, work, and play in, we need to start taking the time to charge ourselves so that we're not grumpy, lumpy, depressed husks crawling through the day. Carpe Diem....to a degree.

To Be Healthy

I'm writing this more for me, than for anyone else. This is an accountability post. I hope that one or two others reading will feel empowered, as I know reading other people's stories have helped me out. I'm a geek. I think I've covered that, but, maybe not in detail.

From my best recollection, my first memory was around 3 or so, when my father who worked for IBM at the time, brought home a shiny new home PC. To date me, this was an IBM PC XT  At first, it was completely used for his internal PROFS system. It wasn't until later that year when I was blessed with my first games- Big Top, Ninja, and Zork II. The Atari was kicking around the house as well, from the time of my older brothers and sister, with amazing classics like Combat, Berzerk, and of course Asteroid. Within that time period, the Nintendo had come out, and I started looking already to the future. I'd like to say that I've grown with gaming. At that time, I was in school, and had time to game AND go outside for all those crazy adventures that one does as a child.

When I was 10, my family moved. Now, mind you, we moved about 40 miles away from our old place, but, it was in a new state, and being 10, it might as well have been 1 billion miles. The new area didn't quite greet me warmly. New school, new kids, same old cliche. I was an outsider, and was an easy target for bigger fish. I never really fit into their little cliques, so, the first chance I got, I ran out of there with a passion. During this 12 year period however, because of my lack of new friendships, I turned to technology more. I just about lived in the basement, getting that easily noticeable florescent tan from the garage style lights hanging above, pounding away at either gaming console or computer; or sometimes both. Sure I could whip your ass at a round of darts, or a few games of intense ping-pong, but my focus was technology. So, my physique suffered as a result of this. The sad thing is that during this time period, I had access to more physical fitness equipment than I ever would. Official size pool with 9 foot deep end, heated with underwater lights, full size old-school hanging heavy bag; you know the one I mean, no leather wrap here, all knuckle-bleed canvas. Weight bench with an assortment of freeweights. And, an amazing area for hiking, biking, and just about every outdoor activity you can think of. If I had a regret in life, it's not fully utilizing those tools, and still coveting my shiny tech gadgets.

Let's jump ahead to now, I've been working for about 15 years now, and half of those at desk jobs. It's sad, but I look like a computer technician. I am definitely way out of my hight/weight range, which, for reference, I'm 5'10" and 250lbs, and have the stamina of an 80 year old chain smoker. I just turned 30 in February, and have a semi-decent job, 2 beautiful kids, and a wonderful wife. I have finally come to the decision that I need to be in shape. Not triathalon shape, mind you. But, bigger, stronger, and faster; most certainly. So, I'm going to combine my love of all things glowing, blinky, and beepy with fitness. Enter the Wii. I chose the Wii originally for it's Wii Fit game. This is a decent title for people to get into routines, and develop basic skills. Balance, some good core exercise routines, and even a decent Yoga routine. But, it wasn't going to help me lose what I wanted. I went through a few others, then I found the EA Sports Active, and now Active 2. These programs give a great routine set, fully customizable to what your level of fitness may be. It was a good all around cardio+weight training game.

Wait, let me get back to that- GAME. It's amazing what a simple word can do. Now, I'm not going to gym and working out, I'm in my living room, playing a game, getting fit. I can't stress how this really helped me out, and I hope some of you will try it as well. I do not like gyms or fitness centers. I live in Sunny South Florida, and apparently to be a gym member, you have to already be in great shape. I can't stand these places; it seems like people do more time talking and hitting on each other than actually exercising. So, I decided on the Wii, which comes with ups and downs. I have absolutely no more excuses why I can't do it; it's in the living room for crying out loud. No more driving, fighting traffic, finding parking, etc. Just walk about 20 feet, and push a little button. It also adds a lot more self accountability, mostly because no one can make this fail or succeed but you. If you skip a day, it's on you. It's amazingly empowering. I'm trying to eat a little better, slowly but surely, and do a steady routine almost every day.

So, back to the beginning. I'm a geek. Now, I'm working on being a fit geek. With any luck, a few of you will do the same.

It's the Motion of the Ocean...

Motion controlling. That seems to be the new way of things for our gaming consoles. Nintendo unleashed their system on the North American masses in November of 2006. By now, the XBOX 360 had been out for about a year, and the Playstation 3 was freshly released, just 2 days earlier. Everyone in the gaming community laughed at Nintendo, and their goofy looking Wii-mote. Secretly though, everyone still wanted to play Mario, Kirby, and the rest of the long-lasting Nintendo mascot lineup. Even though we didn't see a Kirby game for a few years, Mario was all over the Wii. It seemed a little desperate, in fact, how much over the system he was. All their party games, sport games, and, of course, Super Mario Galaxy. He was karting, fighting, flying, switch-hitting, defending, kicking, and  pseudo-monopolizing. All with the help of the newly constructed, motion-activated Wii mote. Or was he?

In the early titles that came out for the Wii, the motion part of the motion controller was fairly weak. But, it was a new technology, and had a Galaxy of growth ahead of it. It made you get up, and actually move around while you were playing a couch-based game. It felt a little more interactive than the normal 'button' style gameplay. It just needed a little push. By the time Mario Galaxy came out, there were a few titles that were really using the motion. Luckily, Nintendo made the console, the technology, and the Mario. It was an instant hit, and really started to showcase what the Wii mote could do. Unfortunately, due to the Wii's hardware shortfalls, and Nintendo's rock-solid stance on the majority of violent video game on their consoles (Mad World, I think, was amazing, but a total anomaly), the Wii just couldn't push the sales the way they'd hoped. Also, even after the addition of the Wii Motion Plus, which added better motion tracking and movement response, it was still a twitch-based controller. This meant, in a nutshell, that you could still sit on the couch, and find the proper movements to play any motion game. Now, mind you, I'm not saying any of this to slight Nintendo. I can proudly say I love my Wii, and will stomp anyone at MarioKart or Modern Warfare. I just see where it fell short.

Now, enter the other, bigger brothers. Microsoft and Sony. Sony took the safer approach with the Playstation Move, while Microsoft jumped into a Steve Jobs-esque hands-free motion system, the Kinect. They watched the evolution of the Wii mote very closely, and, I think, just had more money to patch the holes Nintendo left behind. Let's start with the move. When it was officially shown off to the world at E3, it was a real knockout. Unlike the Wii mote, this new controller has a full range of motion. This means that if you were to hold the controller, and rotate your arm around in a circle, without tearing your rotator cuff that is, it follows your movement in a 1:1 ratio. This will make you move, rather than twitch. They showcased a few games that they had in production, and it really looked amazing. Physically, it looked a little goofy, but, hey, innovation isn't always beautiful. This would now open the door for all of the PS3 titles, such as Heavy Rain or even the Call of Duty series, to be played with this new controller. The accessories started rolling out for it, like a gun adapter and a steering wheel, much like what happened with Nintendo. And, I don't think Sony was prepared for the warm reception this controller received from the gaming community. Constantly, the controller and it's nunchuck add-on, were not available in local retailers, both large chains and small. Good innovation, good functionality, now, they really need to focus on more marketing for it.

Enter Microsoft with their hands-free Kinect. I won't bore any of you with tech specs, as half of your reading this already know them, and the other half couldn't care less. You pop in on top of your TV, stand back, and voila! The little rectangular box will track your motion, and translate that to the game your playing. It was amusing to see Microsoft go with something that Apple would be proud of, for a little injected irony. I don't want to sound biased here, but, to say they dropped the ball on this one would be an understatement. I'm still trying to figure out their angle on this one. The technology is fairly sound, with a few shortcomings, that luckily can be patched with software updates. The game lineup however, well, not sure where we went with that train wreck. This is a system that is mainly used by an older gaming crowd. Maybe not necessarily more mature, but older in actual age. I don't want my inaugural title to be Kinectimals; a cute, furry little tiger cub that I can pet, train, and talk to. I would expect to see that on the Wii. I didn't see any huge game innovations come through, and, a year later, I still haven't. The best thing they showcased was the ability to do a Minority Report style menu navigation. However, I still stand on the pedestal that the technology is sound, and, has the financial juggernaut of the big 'M' behind it. This could be a great motion system for gaming, if they get a few more actual gamers to give them a hand in game planning.

At the end of the day, I think the Playstation Move has the stuff. They added support to existing titles via a software update, that was free when you bought the controller. The full range of motion, and snap tracking give it a one-up on the Wii. And, I think the color changing ball at the end of the controller, phallic as it may look, is actually a cool idea. C'mon, I'm a gamer, and easily amused. Isn't that the heart of things? Simplicity can be complex too.

...Of Mice and Children

So,I'm a dad. This was something I had planned on being at one point in my life, but, maybe not when it happened. I regret absolutely nothing, and my children, all one and a half of them, are great. I'd like to think I've done a fairly decent job so far of raising them, albeit with tons of help from my wonderful wifey.

I'm the Fight Club-style generation. A generation of men raised by women, as our fathers, if there was one of them in our lives, worked a full-time job, and mom was home raising us hellions. We played our games, and tried to delay our ascension to adulthood as much as Peter Pan and his Lost Boys. For the most part, we succeeded. But, like in all facets of life, success comes with that mystical double-edged sword. We held onto our youthful approach to things, and, of course, our amazing immaturity. This allows us to laugh more, to enjoy life more, and feel more oppressed at smaller things. We show our emotions more, and let more out on our sleeves than previous generations who prided themselves in being conservative and very private. We pride ourselves in knowing that every minute of our lives is Tweeted, Facebook'd, Dugg, Slashdot'd, or Buzz'd. If management used this method to track their employees, productivity would be amazing.

So, let me rein myself in here, and get back to the original topic. Dad. Daddy. Pop. Father. I'm 30, but I'm a big kid. I know how to behave, I just hate to do it. I joke, I kid, I'm sarcastic, I swear, and I'm most certainly not politically correct. Now, I have to raise a new generation. I have to be a role model. I have to be that shining example in a sea of waste and confusion. I have to be...well...responsible. I have to dig deep, and find those core values that mom and dad taught me, examine them thoroughly, and re-shape them for the current day and age. To say the least, it's been a challenge. Like a lot of families today, both my wife and I work. She works from home, but, it's when I'm not at work. So, my time for passing on these values and knowledge was just chopped down to maybe 5-6 hours a week, and 14 hours on the weekends. It's hard for them, and for me. I'm constantly trying to be the best parent I can, never knowing if I'm doing the right thing or not. Am I giving too much attention, or not enough? Should I pick them up all the time, or let their little tiny behinds walk using the feet they were born with? Do I really need to keep telling them the same thing over and over and over again, or do I draw the line at a certain number, and just punish after that? What is a good bedtime? What if...

Then, it hits me. I was ready. I am a good parent. Because I care about all of those things. Because I give a shit enough to think those things through, and be angry at myself when I forget a change of clothes on a day trip. I think people have a preconceived notion that there is a 'Ready' light that will go off when your life is at it's peak, and spawning may commence. That is not quite the case. During the pregnancy, up to the birth, you still feel that everything is crazy, and nothing will be as good as it should be. Then, you look down into those tiny, barely formed globes of hope, and you see pure innocence, and a slight tinge of naivety. This tiny little package of meat and goo will grow up to be, in essence, a reflection not of you, but of your values.

You're not ready until it happens. So, let it happen, and enjoy every second.

RPGs and FPSs and RTSs, Oh My!

RPG, MMORPG, FPS, MMOFPS, RTS, and on, and on...What do we choose? And, for those that may not entirely know, what do they all stand for?

I don't say this as a superiority thing, because I don't believe in that way of thinking. I do believe that I've been playing games for almost 27 years, spanning PC and console, pencil-and-paper tabletop game to minature hobby tabletop. Most of the people that I'm gaming with have either not been alive that long, (oh gosh deary me, did I just actually date myself?) or only play a very specific set of games, and may not have any exposure to the wonderful world of gaming as a whole. I will cover only the RPG genre in this article. So, let me briefly enlighten you.

-RPG- Role Playing Game. That is exactly what it sounds like. In these games, you typically start off with some sort of character creation, which, right off the bat, gives you a little sense of ownership and immersion. But, let me dig a tad deeper into that. I've been asked, for both digital media and tabletop gaming, what, exactly, does it mean to 'create a character?' Well, in short, just that. You are given a set of guideline style rules; i.e. character classes, such as Paladin, Rogue, Warrior, etc., to choose from at your will. This is the beginning of feeling your connection with the in-game character you will be playing for your duration inside whatever virtual world you choose. Once you have 'created' your character, given them the desired looks, name, race, class, and moved around some skill points that are specific to the class, or, in another way of looking at it, profession, you have chosen, you move on into the game world.

Like a newborn baby, the light burns your eyes, the sounds are a little bubbly, and you can't quite make out what anyone is saying. Well, some games begin this way. For all intents and purposes, you become this character. You 'Play this Role', as if it were you, hideously over-developed muscles, maybe blue-tinted skin, with a large battle axe strapped to your back, and in a room full of all different shapes and sizes of men and creatures. This is where you get to make your first choices- do you talk to the shadiest character in the shadiest spot in the room? Do you walk up to the largest, meanest guy there, and punch him square in the face to prove who's the biggest? Or, do you walk outside the room, block the door, and set the building on fire? These choices define who you are in the game world, how people will react, and what your stay here will be like. That is playing a role, choosing your own adventures, and learning to live with the consequences.

That is the essence of a roleplaying game, or RPG. I won't lump the other subsets of the RPG in here, as I think they all deserve their own write-ups. In this particular type, you have a visual representation of what the world looks and sounds like, as well as the character you created and shaped. You learn about everything as your character does. It's an immersive style game, meant to bring you in with twisting plots and humorous nuggets. Just like that book your started reading on a rainy Friday night, and finished sometime Saturday afternoon. You couldn't stop reading, you had to go one more chapter, one more page, see where that plot twist ends up... There are all shapes and sizes of the RPG, meant to cater to the hardcore enthusiast, who can spend hours and hours at a time in these worlds, as well as more casual, light-hearted versions that are no less immersive, but offer an easier time for those that are just entering the genre, or don't have the time available for such a thing.

In closing, ask some friends, you know the ones, about which RPGs they play. Give one a shot. Who knows, you might like it.

Arcade and Beyond!

I was just watching an on-line show that I catch every week, on G4TV.com, called Feedback. http://bit.ly/j9L92F  Please check it out, if you haven't yet. But, back on track, they briefly touched on something that our country is missing- large arcades. I'm not that old- I just popped my third decade on this ever changing rock we call Earth. I grew up in small towns in upstate New York and Connecticut, with family spread out all over the New England area. I was really lucky that my paternal grandparents found this little area in New Hampshire, in a town called Laconia. In this town, there is an actual wooden boardwalk, on one of the largest lakes in that area. They have a motorcycle rally every year- the oldest running rally in the country, beautiful summer weather, water skiing, jet skiing, boating, and water slides. That's not what I wanted to do the most while I was there.

This boardwalk was across the street from where my family resided, so, a two minute walk, and was walking down something that doesn't really exist in this country anymore. On one side, the beach and various water activities- on the other...arcade row. Yes, arcades. One was still named Penny Arcade. I can't properly describe what it sounded like, or felt like, but, I will try, as I feel it's very important.

Imagine walking down a white concrete sidewalk, cars to your right, a giant waterslide to your left, the 10am sun above, about 85, and a few whispy clouds floating overhead. The sidewalk is a slight down angle, and almost forces you to walk at a brisk pace, like the road knows where you need to go. After about 50 feet of walking, you begin to hear strange noise- bells dinging loudly, people laughing and talking, strange slamming of a cloth-covered rubber mallet striking down on a plastic mole figure with the ferocity of a lion ripping into a zebra. You can't help but start to smile. Also, at this point, you begin to get the smells; fresh pizza coming out of the ovens, fried dough getting it's final sprinkles of powdered sugar, and popcorn, fresh and heavily buttered. By this time, you've reached the beginning of the row of open steel, garage style doors, and you peer into this darkly lit room: Games. Tons of games. All shapes and sizes, colors and sounds. The senses are immediately overwhelmed, and there's nothing you can do to stop staring. Your grin is now ear to ear, and you pick your first target, and rush in. You start with a shooting game, the gun ready to be commanded, the aliens just jumping in front of those little electric explosions on the screen. After that, and maybe $2 worth of quarters gone, you rush to the next, hoping that by the end of the day, you've hit them all, even though there are hundreds of different games, big and small.

This is what I miss. Where have these gone? There are a lot of shows on TV now that travel across the country, trying to find the last hidden gems of this country, and trying to expose them to the public, and keep them around. What about us? What about the little kid that ran to the arcade with, quite literally, a pocket full of quarters, and wanted that unending joy of what the day would bring? I met kids like me. I had a great time. I was outside, running around, in a safe area. At lunch, I would grab some pizza, sit out on the beach, maybe take a quick dip, then back to the games 'till the money ran out. This is what the newer generation of gamers won't have. They'll only know the tiny, ten game arcades in the local malls, if that. It's a damn shame.

Sony's Intrusive Intrusion

So, the general consensus here is that Sony, all of Sony mind you, should be ripped from their offices, and thrown into the street. On the other side of this, the hacker or hackers responsible should be publicly, and gruesomely, executed. Am I about right?

Let's step back from this for a second. Sony, whether you want to see it or not, is a victim is these attacks. I say attacks, plural, because, admitted from Sony's court statement (http://bit.ly/lz46ae), there were more than one set of individuals responsible. I'll let you all do the digging, but, essentially, it states that the group Anonymous did indeed perform a major DoS, or Denial of Service attack against Sony's systems. Amidst the confusion and clamor, another set of individuals snuck in through the magic hole that had been created, and, quite literally, stole the show. Let me quickly state that I'm not a supporter of either side. I like to think that I'm a fairly neutral person, while I have my own personal views, which I will share below. So, Sony was the victim of an extremely malicious cyber-attack.

That leads me to you, the gamer. You are the victim as well. But, where do we put our blame? The knee-jerk reaction is Sony. They are the company that held our info, so, they're most certainly to blame. Right? Well, yes and no. Sony is indeed responsible for your data warehousing. Their systems should most certainly have been much more secure, with a bunch of high-level technical crap I'm not going to list here. Just use this link to find more- http://lmgtfy.com/?q=File+system+encryption Now, most of the data that was stolen, such as names, addresses, zip codes, etc., is all public. One can find that with relative ease these days, and having very little technical expertise. Try it sometime...it's an eye opener. But, the two major issues here are both relating to credit card data. The first is the actual credit card number itself. This number should have been extremely secure, by using secure data transmissions, file encryption, private vLANs, etc. It's still not clear if this was happening on Sony's end, as they are remaining quiet about it...for now. I'm certain that at some point, a court system will rip this info from them. The other part, and perhaps, the most damaging, is the CVV number. This number is that little three digit number on the back of the credit cards. It is the best way to verify that you physically are who you say you are, and that you have the card in hand. http://bit.ly/iT0Hyd  There were early claims of these numbers, obviously attached to all the other above listed data, being sold on some less that reputable web sites. IF, and I stress, IF this is the case, there will be a lot of heads rolling. That number is not to be saved. Ever. End of story. Period. That number is embedded inside the magnetic stripe of credit cards, and is not asked for when you make a purchase in a store for that reason. If Sony did in fact store that number, and it was part of the intrusion, then yes, by all means, blame the hell out of Sony. Or, at least, the executives who authorized such a bone head move. They may have had slightly good intentions, not making you enter the CVV number every time you wanted to make a purchase on their store, of, let's say, 20 individual songs for Rock Band or the likes. But, it seems that the bad should have outweighed the good in that decision.

So, who do we blame as the end-user? Well, that's sort of grey, and not yet clearly defined. Let's all step back, and stop causing such a ruckus over this, and let the court system, fallible as it may be, and the Federal and private investigation companies do their jobs unhindered. When the dust settles, let's see what Sony did wrong, and how much was lost. It could still be just a scare tactic, or outright lie, by these people selling the lists. It could be all valid information up to the credit card area, where they just came up with some randomly generated numbers, which isn't complicated to do, and sold them as-is. If questioned, they can say that you didn't purchase it fast enough, and the cardholder has already canceled that particular card. We shall see. For now, keep waiting until Sony brings their network on-line, play some single-player, maybe a few card games. Maybe even go take a look at the sun. I know I did, and I almost went blind.