(The following will no doubt make slightly more sense if you've read Chapter One and Chapter Two first!)
Chapter Three: The Villain
"And that heated debate at the Royal Albert Hall was only the beginning. As the two men matched wits in contest after contest, their fates became increasingly - and inextricably - linked. Newspapers of the day captured the ebb and flow of the battle with headlines like Allen vs Jeffries - Who's Right?, Jeffries Asks: "Why Can't Nigel Not Read?", Jeffries to Allen: "It's Immoral!", Allen Stands Firm Despite Opposition, and Let The Law Decide!
No other topic had held the attention of so many, for so long, since the time of Jack of Ripper, nearly two decades earlier. It was as if the very fate of the country hung in the balance, were you to ask some of those in the Allen and Jeffries camps. When the debate finally moved into the English court system, police were required to blockade the entrances in order to keep the most fervent members of the public from turning the courtroom into a circus."
- "The Villain", Coming Of Age Tale, Laurel Allen (Born 1982), Published 1997
"It's the foundation of modern society, Linus," Laurel said evenly. "We just passed the centennial of the Literary Revolution last year. What part of it are you struggling with?" She mentally added, besides the part about not wanting to write your own COAT, that is, but feared that her pupil would only withdraw into himself if she were to take that tack with him.
Linus Morgan looked from face to face, scanning the four students' faces around him. He hadn't really expected to see any support there, and therefore wasn't surprised by how little he actually perceived. "So I'm the only one who finds the whole COAT concept strange, then. That's fine. But would someone care to connect the dots for me? Or am I just too stupid to get it?"
Laurel reached out and touched Linus briefly on the arm. "You're not stupid, Linus, and you know it. None of you are." She unintentionally repeated the action of a moment ago, as she glanced from student to student, following the same arc that Linus' gaze had prescribed. "It's not all that common for young men or women to question the value of the COATs anymore, since it's been a part of our culture for so long now that it's generally just accepted. But it still happens, and that's probably a healthy sign all on its own."
"Our very own Doubting Thomas, that's Linus!" chimed in James, in a characteristic move to lighten the mood. "He wouldn't believe in gravity if it didn't keep dropping apples on his noggin!"
"Gravity's a law of Nature, James!" Linus' replied, eyes flashing. "COATs are entirely man-made, and all I'm asking is, why do we place such faith in their relevance? Has anyone ever proven that it's really all that important that you write your own little piece of forgettable literature as a requirement to join society as a full-fledged member? I mean, doesn't that sound ridiculous to anyone but me?"
Peter answered, "Ridiculous, or intimidating? Is it that you don't see the value, or that you don't want to do the work?"
Laurel wasn't sure whether to be thankful that Peter had called Linus on the very point that she'd been thinking about herself, or angry that he'd potentially put his fellow student and friend on the defensive. In either case, she said, "Let's not make this personal, Peter. Linus has raised a valid concern today, and we should all be able to discuss it as such."
Elizabeth looked at Linus but directed her words at her teacher as she said, "And it's a topic that you're something of an expert on." Only then did she turn her gaze toward Laurel. "Aren't you?"
"What do you mean, Liz?" Sanjay asked. "Did Miss Allen rail against writing her COAT back when she was in school, too?" His own personal interest in rebellion was something that he tended to wear on his sleeve, and today was no exception.
"Or are you just remarking on the common surnames involved: William Allen then, Laurel Allen now?" Peter offered, as he struggled to follow the thread started by Elizabeth. Why is she always one step ahead of the rest of us, he silently wondered. Or does it just feel that way to me?
"Do you mean to tell me that none of you have read Miss Allen's COAT?" Elizabeth inquired, with perhaps just a little more derision than she'd intended.
"Um, I meant to..." James said, looking down. "It was on my To Do list, I swear!"
Laurel cleared her throat quietly and said, "Liz, it's hardly Required Reading in this class, or any other. It's nice that you've read it, but with the billions of COATs out there in the Hive, I'm not sure anyone should be wasting their time reading mine!"
"Alright, I'll be the one to say it: I'm completely lost at this point," James volunteered. "What's the connection between your COAT and what Linus has been talking about?"
"May I?" Elizabeth asked, looking at Laurel with the same expression that she always wore when she was the only student in class who knew the answer to a particularly tough puzzle.
At least you asked first, Liz, Laurel thought to herself. But you still can't help resembling the cat that swallowed the canary, can you? Pointedly, she said, "Only if you dial down the sarcasm and remember that we're all friends here, Elizabeth. Can you do that for me?"
The Chinese teenager looked briefly like she'd been slapped in the face with a cold fish but then her features relaxed as she remembered words that her teacher had said to her, one-on-one, earlier in the year: Nobody likes a smart ass, Liz. And you don't elevate yourself by putting down others. "Yes, ma'am, I can." She continued, "The title of Miss Allen's COAT, from '97, is The Villain. It has what I think is a pretty ingenious concept at its core - "
James snorted and was just about to start making kissing sounds when Sanjay, seated beside him, elbowed him in the ribs and hissed, "Shhhh!"
Elizabeth continued, " - which is that it follows the turmoil caused by a man named Richard Jeffries, who challenged William Allen during the early days of the Literary Revolution."
Sanjay said, "I don't recall that name from my studies, Miss Allen. Has history simply forgotten him?"
Before the teacher could respond, Elizabeth said, "No, that's just it, you see. He never existed! Miss Allen made him up, and inserted him into that time in history."
"But why?" Linus asked. "What was the point?"
This time, Elizabeth looked to her teacher for direction.
"Keep going, young lady," Laurel said, with a smile. "You're doing just fine!"
"Well, I'm only speculating, but it seems fairly clear from the work itself that she wanted to bring out into the light some of the very same doubts that Linus has been expressing here today. Huh. I hadn't really considered it in that way when I read The Villain originally, but sitting here now, in the midst of this conversation, that's what occurs to me. Am I way off the mark, Miss Allen?"
"No, not at all. Although it was perhaps less about doubts and more about simply wanting to explore the question, from all angles, for my own peace of mind."
"Did anything like that actually happen, back in the early 20th century?" Peter asked. "I know you made this... Jeffries?... character up, but was he based on someone real?"
"Not that I know of," Laurel answered. "I did as much research on the period as I could afford at the time. Just as we teach in class, the whole thing started slowly - and locally - and then built upon itself over time, as the results started to exhibit themselves. Not terribly dramatic, really. I was struck by the thought, when I was your age, that it really ought to have been more full of Sturm und Drang, so I wrote The Villain to provide that, and to give me a chance to consider the Literary Revolution as the people of the time might've, if things had gone differently."
"Hey!" James said, "You made it into a real revolution! Now I want to read your COAT!"
"So do I," said Linus.
Laurel couldn't tell from his tone if that was good news or bad, but since their session was over for the day, she left it at that.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Next Up Is Post # 1300
As my parting shot before I leave for San Francisco, I've cobbled together Chapter Three of my Imaginary Stories saga. Hopefully you'll enjoy it while I'm not around to otherwise entertain and amuse...
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Perhaps I Shouldn't Have Ended The Embargo!
After going 9-2-0 while I wasn't watching them for a little over 3 weeks, the New York Rangers have now gone 1-1-1 in the days since (or 1-2-1, if you count the game they lost immediately after I announced the embargo would end the next day!)
Of the 2 losses, today's wasn't too surprising (3-2 to a very good Dallas Stars team). It was Friday's shootout defeat at the hands of the struggling Panthers that made me shake my head... as in, why was that game even close enough to go to a shootout, if the Rangers are playing so well?
Oh well, I guess I shouldn't have expected anything different!
Of the 2 losses, today's wasn't too surprising (3-2 to a very good Dallas Stars team). It was Friday's shootout defeat at the hands of the struggling Panthers that made me shake my head... as in, why was that game even close enough to go to a shootout, if the Rangers are playing so well?
Oh well, I guess I shouldn't have expected anything different!
Wake Me Up In A Month
We're now into that post-US Thanksgiving, pre-Christmas period of advertising that I could mostly do without, truth be told. Not that I much like commercials at the best of times, but this time of the year just makes a bad situation that much worse.
Here are the archetype ads that always seem to show up, earlier and earlier each year:
Here are the archetype ads that always seem to show up, earlier and earlier each year:
- the husband who finally shows his undeniable love for the wife by buying her a diamond (and presumably found one for his girlfriend, too)
- the person (usually, but not always, a child) who's completely disappointed with what they got for Christmas until that one special gift turns their whole year around
- conversely, the lout who doesn't get that one special gift and acts like they were just diagnosed with cancer
- the person who gets a new car for Christmas (does anyone out there really give cars as Christmas presents?)
- the piece-of-crap flashy toy that looks like the most exciting thing to come along since ice cream but actually will break the second time a kid uses it... if there even is a second time!
- the "nothing says Christmas like a week of whiny kids misbehaving at Disneyworld" ad
- the many, many incredibly lame attempts to transform products no one in their right mind would associate with Christmas into " great holiday gift suggestions"... I'm waiting for the always-ridiculous Viagra folks to get into the act this year!
Nothing To F.E.A.R.
I got myself into quite the pickle recently while playing F.E.A.R. on my PS/3. To understand how that happened, you need to first know how the Save function of the game operates.
Like many console games, F.E.A.R. employs a checkpoint system for progress saves. This means that, as you play through the game, there are periodic automatic saves done for you, such that if you get killed, you'll restart from that point. It avoids the mind-numbingly scary prospect of playing for hours, through many different levels, only to take a stray bullet and have to start all over again. However, it's also not as flexible (read: user friendly) as the way many PC games work, which is that the player can save at any time. Speaking as one of those cautious gamers who will sometimes do very frequent saves - usually because of very frequent dying! - I much prefer to be in charge of the saving. But many games, especially on the consoles, just don't support that.
Usually in a checkpoint-based game, however, you not only have the option of re-starting at the most recent game-initiated save but also of going back to an earlier one. There are several reasons why that capability is good, the most important of which - for me, anyway - being that you can 'undo' some recent poor choice by simply backing up a bit further and playing that part again, smarter this time. What I discovered this past week, while playing F.E.A.R., was that the game doesn't make all of those past checkpointed saves available to you (only a subset) and that, if you pick one of them to resume at, you don't actually get back to that point as you left it. How do I mean? Keep reading!
So one night this week, as Vicki was watching me play for a change, I got into a particularly difficult section of the game. I started off with tons of health and lots of ammunition, only to be set upon by some of the toughest AI bad guys to date, and survived that confrontation with the tiniest bit of health and a very depleted set of ammo left. At which point, as I stumbled forward in the game, it did a checkpoint! A few moments later, as a new wave of villains attacked and made short work of me, I realized just how dire my situation was! My restart situation, after all, was: almost dead, and almost weaponless! Each attempt to get through that latest gauntlet of ne'er-do-wells failed, and I had no way to increase my health or load up on different weapons!
That was when I resorted to resuming from an earlier checkpoint, only to discover that it put me an hour or more earlier in the game - so, not the previous checkpoint or anything close to it! - and reset all of the characteristics that I'd been painstakingly building up (a higher health maximum, a more varied set of weapons, a longer period of Slo-Mo abilities). This essentially made it impossible for me to use those prior checkpoint saves, as they were too infrequent and didn't actually capture my specific profile each time! Very poor design by the game creators, if you ask me!
I then spent one entire evening of gaming - about 90 minutes - trying, again and again, to get through my low-health, low-ammo scenario, with each attempt ending in my demise. Finally I gave up and went to bed, more frustrated than I should've been, considering that it was only a video game!
The next night, though, I happened to stumbled upon the solution, thanks to a "Tip" that appeared on screen as I was loading the game once more. This helpful text 'reminded' me that it's possible to adjust the difficulty level at any time, even during the game. A light bulb appeared above my head, and I immediately dialed my "Normal Difficulty" setting down to "Low Difficulty" and got through that troublesome scene on the first try! Shortly thereafter I was able to find some health, and then I reset the difficulty level back up, and have been playing happily in that mode ever since.
So now I forgive the game designers their poor checkpoint scheme, in light of the adjustable difficulty setting (many games require you to set the difficulty right at the start of the game and don't allow you to change it any point afterwards without starting a new game). If I hadn't noticed that one tip, though, it's possible that I would've given up on the game, more than halfway through (and having enjoyed it immensely up to that point).
Like many console games, F.E.A.R. employs a checkpoint system for progress saves. This means that, as you play through the game, there are periodic automatic saves done for you, such that if you get killed, you'll restart from that point. It avoids the mind-numbingly scary prospect of playing for hours, through many different levels, only to take a stray bullet and have to start all over again. However, it's also not as flexible (read: user friendly) as the way many PC games work, which is that the player can save at any time. Speaking as one of those cautious gamers who will sometimes do very frequent saves - usually because of very frequent dying! - I much prefer to be in charge of the saving. But many games, especially on the consoles, just don't support that.
Usually in a checkpoint-based game, however, you not only have the option of re-starting at the most recent game-initiated save but also of going back to an earlier one. There are several reasons why that capability is good, the most important of which - for me, anyway - being that you can 'undo' some recent poor choice by simply backing up a bit further and playing that part again, smarter this time. What I discovered this past week, while playing F.E.A.R., was that the game doesn't make all of those past checkpointed saves available to you (only a subset) and that, if you pick one of them to resume at, you don't actually get back to that point as you left it. How do I mean? Keep reading!
So one night this week, as Vicki was watching me play for a change, I got into a particularly difficult section of the game. I started off with tons of health and lots of ammunition, only to be set upon by some of the toughest AI bad guys to date, and survived that confrontation with the tiniest bit of health and a very depleted set of ammo left. At which point, as I stumbled forward in the game, it did a checkpoint! A few moments later, as a new wave of villains attacked and made short work of me, I realized just how dire my situation was! My restart situation, after all, was: almost dead, and almost weaponless! Each attempt to get through that latest gauntlet of ne'er-do-wells failed, and I had no way to increase my health or load up on different weapons!
That was when I resorted to resuming from an earlier checkpoint, only to discover that it put me an hour or more earlier in the game - so, not the previous checkpoint or anything close to it! - and reset all of the characteristics that I'd been painstakingly building up (a higher health maximum, a more varied set of weapons, a longer period of Slo-Mo abilities). This essentially made it impossible for me to use those prior checkpoint saves, as they were too infrequent and didn't actually capture my specific profile each time! Very poor design by the game creators, if you ask me!
I then spent one entire evening of gaming - about 90 minutes - trying, again and again, to get through my low-health, low-ammo scenario, with each attempt ending in my demise. Finally I gave up and went to bed, more frustrated than I should've been, considering that it was only a video game!
The next night, though, I happened to stumbled upon the solution, thanks to a "Tip" that appeared on screen as I was loading the game once more. This helpful text 'reminded' me that it's possible to adjust the difficulty level at any time, even during the game. A light bulb appeared above my head, and I immediately dialed my "Normal Difficulty" setting down to "Low Difficulty" and got through that troublesome scene on the first try! Shortly thereafter I was able to find some health, and then I reset the difficulty level back up, and have been playing happily in that mode ever since.
So now I forgive the game designers their poor checkpoint scheme, in light of the adjustable difficulty setting (many games require you to set the difficulty right at the start of the game and don't allow you to change it any point afterwards without starting a new game). If I hadn't noticed that one tip, though, it's possible that I would've given up on the game, more than halfway through (and having enjoyed it immensely up to that point).
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Battlestar Galactica Razor & The Dilemma
I've already asked for advice on this of my resident expert (hey, Kevin, if you're out there reading this!) but I thought I'd put this out to a wider audience, too:
We've not yet watched BSG Season Three, because it still hasn't come out on DVD. Season Two ended on a dramatic enough cliffhanger note that we don't want anything spoiled from the third season if we can help it.
And yet, tonight saw the debut of a 2-hour BSG TV movie, called Razor. I've tried to avoid reading anything about it, for the aforementioned spoiler reason. So I don't know if it's something that we could safely watch - before Season Three - or not. As it is, I've recorded it, but don't want to even start it up just yet for fear of... well, spoilage!
So if you know anything on the subject, and can impart wisdom without ruining any surprises, please do.
We've not yet watched BSG Season Three, because it still hasn't come out on DVD. Season Two ended on a dramatic enough cliffhanger note that we don't want anything spoiled from the third season if we can help it.
And yet, tonight saw the debut of a 2-hour BSG TV movie, called Razor. I've tried to avoid reading anything about it, for the aforementioned spoiler reason. So I don't know if it's something that we could safely watch - before Season Three - or not. As it is, I've recorded it, but don't want to even start it up just yet for fear of... well, spoilage!
So if you know anything on the subject, and can impart wisdom without ruining any surprises, please do.
San Francisco Now Just A Few Days Away
We leave early Tuesday morning for San Francisco, and don't return until the following Monday. I'm not sure how much - if any - blogging I'll get done while away, so it's possible that things will grow quite quiet around Kimota94's Place for that week.
Consider yourself forewarned, but maybe I'll still find the time to post a thought or two from the Left Coast.
Consider yourself forewarned, but maybe I'll still find the time to post a thought or two from the Left Coast.
Destination: Unknown
There are so many things to love about this new Omega the Unknown series by Jonathan Lethem and Farel Dalrymple that I sometimes don't know where to start. But for now, I'm going with this brief exchange between young Alex - he of the so-far-inexplicable link to superheroic-but-silent Omega, not to mention parents who turned out to be robots - and one of his new guardians, Clare Weiss, on the topic of Alex attending an inner city school in the midst of modern day New York:
Alex: "Is it academically superior, Miss Weiss?"
Clare: "Let's focus on the good news for now."
That sort of dialogue, that's both laugh out loud funny when you read it for the first time, and yet poignant in terms of what it foreshadows for poor, lost Alexander, showcases Lethem at his best.
Other highlights include Clare and Edie, the latter of whom has taken Alex into her own home after the hospital began making noises about the cost of his stay, trying to explain Sammy Sosa High School to an American teenager who's never even heard of baseball ("They named it for him before that whole steroid thing." "Named it for whom?" "Never mind.") and the outlandish Mink, who perhaps represents the more absurd nature of the Marvel Universe of men-in-tights. As he races to the scene of a battle, he stops long enough to provide the local news crew with a sound byte or two: "When in the course of human events, ask not what you can do for your country, blah blah blah blah blah blah. And you can quote me on that."
Lethem also introduces a new character in this second issue, that of a professor who receives an unexpected gift. A book called Robotics: What Comes Next arrives at his doorstep, after which he takes it to bed to read, stays up all night reading it, and can't put it down... literally! By morning, the book has attached itself to his chest, and by the next day is partially absorbed into his body! Yeah, that's pretty weird!
Another trick that Lethem's employing in this series is one that I've only ever seen Alan Moore do better in this medium: visual irony. While it's unlikely that anyone else will achieve the level of quality of the examples strewn throughout Watchmen, here the author deftly brings us instances of a conversation between two characters reflecting events occurring literally outside their window, as well as intersections of lives that have nothing in common (so far) but still manage to glance off of each other from time to time.
I enjoyed the first issue of this 10-part series, but I truly loved the second one. I'm sure not many comic fans are reading it, but I'm equally convinced that it's one of the best series right now. Jonathan Lethem simply writes at a higher level than most comic authors, and it shows. The big question for me remains, "Will he pay it all off in the end, or will some of it just end up being weirdness for weirdness' sake?" I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now, and we'll see what we see at the finish line!
When The Bar's Set Too High
Today, at my twice-annual professional haircut appointment (Vicki cuts my hair the rest of the year), the stylist was talking about how much she loves being self-employed, as compared to the days when she worked for someone else, in a salon. That prompted me to ask, "Have you ever had a customer, since you went out on your own, who so bothered you that you refused to do their hair?" I asked this because that seemed like one of the obvious advantages of her current situation over what she'd have faced when turning away annoying louts wouldn't have been an option. She's such a nice, easy-going person that I expected her to say, "Oh no, that's never been a problem." But instead, she grimaced and said, "Just one."
Then she proceeded to describe a former customer of hers who would consistently find fault in everything that she did. The colour was never quite right; the cut wasn't what she'd wanted; and so on. Sometimes my friendly stylist would be in tears after finishing for the day, she said, remembering how embarrassed she'd been, often in front of other customers, by this never-happy complainer. Eventually, she told the loser that she was cutting back her clientele and would only be able to take on her core group from the early days. And happily, she never heard from that particular miscreant again.
This story reminded me of someone I used to work with, who could be very much the same way. He was the type of person who always sent his meal back at a restaurant because it wasn't up to his exacting standard, and then would still complain about whatever steps were taken to address the situation. Nothing in Life ever seemed to live up to his expectations, and therefore he often seemed unhappy or disappointed. This applied to the products he bought, the people he worked with, and even the details of his personal life and family.
What I wonder, with people like that, is how they ever came to the mindset that the world owed them that much? These generally aren't the truly unfortunate - those who've suffered great illness, or loss, and had to live on a fraction of the wealth, success or luck that the rest of us enjoy - but instead tend to be folks with plenty to be thankful for! What happened to them, presumably early in Life, that put them on the path toward such high expectations that never seem to be realized? And how is it that constant disappointment hasn't resulted in them taking the very obvious, and I think, natural course of simply lowering their bars until such a point as to being able to actually enjoy what they have?
As we were saying while my hair was being cut, those types of individuals are never any fun to be around, and don't seem to be having any fun themselves. So what's the point?
Then she proceeded to describe a former customer of hers who would consistently find fault in everything that she did. The colour was never quite right; the cut wasn't what she'd wanted; and so on. Sometimes my friendly stylist would be in tears after finishing for the day, she said, remembering how embarrassed she'd been, often in front of other customers, by this never-happy complainer. Eventually, she told the loser that she was cutting back her clientele and would only be able to take on her core group from the early days. And happily, she never heard from that particular miscreant again.
This story reminded me of someone I used to work with, who could be very much the same way. He was the type of person who always sent his meal back at a restaurant because it wasn't up to his exacting standard, and then would still complain about whatever steps were taken to address the situation. Nothing in Life ever seemed to live up to his expectations, and therefore he often seemed unhappy or disappointed. This applied to the products he bought, the people he worked with, and even the details of his personal life and family.
What I wonder, with people like that, is how they ever came to the mindset that the world owed them that much? These generally aren't the truly unfortunate - those who've suffered great illness, or loss, and had to live on a fraction of the wealth, success or luck that the rest of us enjoy - but instead tend to be folks with plenty to be thankful for! What happened to them, presumably early in Life, that put them on the path toward such high expectations that never seem to be realized? And how is it that constant disappointment hasn't resulted in them taking the very obvious, and I think, natural course of simply lowering their bars until such a point as to being able to actually enjoy what they have?
As we were saying while my hair was being cut, those types of individuals are never any fun to be around, and don't seem to be having any fun themselves. So what's the point?
Friday, November 23, 2007
The Power Of The Internet
J Michael Straczynski's swan song story on Amazing Spider-Man, wrapping up his several-year-long run on the character, is a four-part status quo changing 'epic' called "One More Day."
All four parts were originally scheduled to come out months ago, on a more-or-less weekly basis. Instead, we've gotten the first two parts, a month or more apart, along with repeated word that the remaining issues would arrive a little later than expected. I used to always say that the definition of a millisecond was the length of time between a stop light turning green and someone behind you honking their horn, but now I think it may instead be the amount of time it takes someone on the Internet to react to a press release with a scathingly funny rejoinder. Case in point:
When the most recent scheduling announcement about "One More Day" came out, someone immediately re-named the storyline "One More Delay". (Tell me that name's not going to stick!) That's why I love the Internet!
All four parts were originally scheduled to come out months ago, on a more-or-less weekly basis. Instead, we've gotten the first two parts, a month or more apart, along with repeated word that the remaining issues would arrive a little later than expected. I used to always say that the definition of a millisecond was the length of time between a stop light turning green and someone behind you honking their horn, but now I think it may instead be the amount of time it takes someone on the Internet to react to a press release with a scathingly funny rejoinder. Case in point:
When the most recent scheduling announcement about "One More Day" came out, someone immediately re-named the storyline "One More Delay". (Tell me that name's not going to stick!) That's why I love the Internet!
Thursday, November 22, 2007
A Milestone Is Passed... Finally
After not working on the Agile book for several weeks, I took advantage of Vicki being out at a team-building cooking class (?) tonight and spent an hour or so finishing up the chapter I'd previously left off on. This was the longest chapter to date (I think, six pages in total) and was all about our Feature Lead experiences at work. It'd probably be a tough section for some at work to read but I figured there were lessons learned there that should be shared (even if no one but my immediate circle ever reads it!)
Anyway, I passed 20,000 words tonight. In Word, it's about 55 pages long at the moment, which I have no idea how to translate into "paper pages" since I'm sure it's all dependent on font size, page dimensions and all kinds of other parameters that I haven't even considered yet. I find word count more reliable, as I've had the notion of the book being somewhere around 50,000 words right from the start. Considering how long it's taken me to produce the first 40% of that number, though, I may end up reducing the target. I guess it really depends on when I feel like I'm running out of topics, which is nowhere close to happening just yet.
Anyway, I passed 20,000 words tonight. In Word, it's about 55 pages long at the moment, which I have no idea how to translate into "paper pages" since I'm sure it's all dependent on font size, page dimensions and all kinds of other parameters that I haven't even considered yet. I find word count more reliable, as I've had the notion of the book being somewhere around 50,000 words right from the start. Considering how long it's taken me to produce the first 40% of that number, though, I may end up reducing the target. I guess it really depends on when I feel like I'm running out of topics, which is nowhere close to happening just yet.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
The Portable Agile Manager
Still not out of a job, I nevertheless effected a cube move today. Including time to pack up, it took me less than 20 minutes from start to finish! The vast majority of what I have at my desk these days resides, somewhat permanently, in a short, open-faced cabinet-on-wheels, as well as a big plastic moving crate with a flip-open lid. Since I divested myself of a workstation - no more monitor, keyboard, mouse or silo to cart around with me - and decided not to bother unpacking most of the stuff, my portability has gone through the roof. I remember the traumatic event that moving out of my office (of four years!) had been fifteen months ago, and today wasn't even 10% as significant, either in terms of time spent or hassle. Our IT folks, to their everlasting credit, have adapted quite nicely to our new Agile world, making for a very painless transfer of phones from spot to spot, as well as wide-scale wireless coverage.
And of course I moved just in time to ensure that I'll be completely thrown off when I come back from my week in San Francisco, as I'll no doubt instinctively head to the old location two weeks hence!
In other Agile news, a meeting I was in today had one of the most unexpected turn of events in a long while: several Feature Team representatives indicated more than a passing interest in the notion of shrinking their Iteration lengths down to 1 week, from the current half-month that we use. I always associate the desire to do shorter Iterations with a growing sense of Agility, especially since we often saw the exact opposite reaction when people were most resistant to Agile ("1 month Iterations? Are you crazy? That's too short! You can't get anything done in a month!") Considering that some of these reps were also reporting that their teams could now plan a half-month's worth of work in an hour or less, there were plenty of good signs evident in this meeting.
And of course I moved just in time to ensure that I'll be completely thrown off when I come back from my week in San Francisco, as I'll no doubt instinctively head to the old location two weeks hence!
In other Agile news, a meeting I was in today had one of the most unexpected turn of events in a long while: several Feature Team representatives indicated more than a passing interest in the notion of shrinking their Iteration lengths down to 1 week, from the current half-month that we use. I always associate the desire to do shorter Iterations with a growing sense of Agility, especially since we often saw the exact opposite reaction when people were most resistant to Agile ("1 month Iterations? Are you crazy? That's too short! You can't get anything done in a month!") Considering that some of these reps were also reporting that their teams could now plan a half-month's worth of work in an hour or less, there were plenty of good signs evident in this meeting.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The End Of "The Embargo"
As some of you may recall, a little less than a month ago I entered a self-imposed "NY Rangers-free zone", henceforth referred to as "the embargo" for reasons too nebulous to explain. I was very discouraged by the team's 3-6-1 start (and winless on the road!) in a season where they were being touted as a serious contender to win it all, and also by the fact that they were seemingly finding it nigh-impossible to score any goals (in the final 4 games prior to the start of the embargo, they'd tallied a grand total of 3!) So I committed to giving them about a month to get their house in order, during which time I wouldn't be watching them and swearing at their inadequacies.
With our impending trip to San Francisco next week, and a clearly-stated intention on the parts of Boneman and Shane to provide me with an update the instant I lifted the embargo, I figured I probably needed to do so this week. So I booked them and a meeting room - my old office, as a matter of fact - over lunch today, brought in pizza and they proceeded to fill in the past three weeks for me.
I'd actually heard two scores over that period, both of them losses to the Islanders by a single goal (3-2 and 2-1). I therefore didn't have very high hopes, since they were now effectively 3-8-1, as far as I knew. My lunch companions didn't waste any time launching into their recap of the "lost games", though, as they ran through each one, in order, from the point following the embarrassing 4-1 loss to the Leafs four Saturdays ago.
As it turned out, the Rangers rattled off 4 consecutive wins as soon as the embargo started:
Next came the first of the 2 "known" results, a 3-2 loss at Long Island.
Then they proceeded to go one better and post a 5-game winning streak:
More important, though, was the incredible 9-2-0 record by the non-evil New York hockey team, improving from 3-6-1 to 12-8-1 in less than a month! Quite a turnaround, comparable to what they accomplished after I gave up on them late last season. Makes me wonder why I don't stop paying attention to them more often!
Shane also provided several sheets of statistics, including current standings, highlights and lowlights over that period, and anything else I might've wondered about. I asked how several of the other teams had been faring, and generally got caught up with the current state of the NHL. I couldn't have scripted a better re-entry path back into the world of hockey after more than three weeks away, and I thank the two of them for that (again)!
With our impending trip to San Francisco next week, and a clearly-stated intention on the parts of Boneman and Shane to provide me with an update the instant I lifted the embargo, I figured I probably needed to do so this week. So I booked them and a meeting room - my old office, as a matter of fact - over lunch today, brought in pizza and they proceeded to fill in the past three weeks for me.
I'd actually heard two scores over that period, both of them losses to the Islanders by a single goal (3-2 and 2-1). I therefore didn't have very high hopes, since they were now effectively 3-8-1, as far as I knew. My lunch companions didn't waste any time launching into their recap of the "lost games", though, as they ran through each one, in order, from the point following the embarrassing 4-1 loss to the Leafs four Saturdays ago.
As it turned out, the Rangers rattled off 4 consecutive wins as soon as the embargo started:
- a 3-1 victory over Tampa Bay, at home
- a 2-0 win over the Capitals, at home
- a 2-1 shootout decision over the Devils, at home
- a 2-0 shutout of the Flyers, at home.
Next came the first of the 2 "known" results, a 3-2 loss at Long Island.
Then they proceeded to go one better and post a 5-game winning streak:
- a 4-2 win over Pittsburgh at MSG
- finally, their first road victory, by 3-2 (in a shootout) in Toronto
- another 4-2 result, in New Jersey
- another shootout win, this time 4-3 in Philadelphia
- and a 4-3 Overtime decision on the road against Pittsburgh
More important, though, was the incredible 9-2-0 record by the non-evil New York hockey team, improving from 3-6-1 to 12-8-1 in less than a month! Quite a turnaround, comparable to what they accomplished after I gave up on them late last season. Makes me wonder why I don't stop paying attention to them more often!
Shane also provided several sheets of statistics, including current standings, highlights and lowlights over that period, and anything else I might've wondered about. I asked how several of the other teams had been faring, and generally got caught up with the current state of the NHL. I couldn't have scripted a better re-entry path back into the world of hockey after more than three weeks away, and I thank the two of them for that (again)!
The Unacknowledged Conflict
After tossing and turning for an hour or more tonight, I finally got up and read for a bit. I'm still working my way through Thomas Friedman's book The World Is Flat, which Tammy had recommended (and lent me). I hit a section that beautifully summed up what I see as a constant conflict these days, although it's rare to ever have anyone address it.
Most people I know seem to believe that every item they ever want to buy, rent or lease should be ridiculously inexpensive, almost to the point of "whatever price is quoted is too high." (This philosophy often leads to electronic piracy, with rationalizations like, "If music CDs weren't so expensive, I'd actually pay for them!" regardless of the price of a CD.) At the same time, those same people act as if whatever salary they're currently drawing is too low, and thus are always angling for a big raise or more generous benefits. How is that they can't sense the (admittedly invisible) line that joins these two contradictory stances? After all, whatever you do for a living eventually boils down to a service or product of some sort, the consumers of which - if they're taking the attitude described here - want your salary and benefits cut to the bone, so that they can get their 'whatever' at the cheapest possible price! How does that not screw you over, by making your employer (or the conglomerate that owns the holding company that directs the entity that pays you) more likely to reduce benefits and salaries just to stay competitive and meet their ridiculous demands? So aren't you essentially cutting your own throat?
Friedman puts it as, "Yes the consumer in us wants Wal-Mart prices, with all the fat gone. But the employee in us wants a little fat left on the bone... But the shareholder in us wants Wal-Mart's profit margins... Yet the citizen in us want's Costco's benefits, rather than Wal-Mart's, because the difference ultimately may have to be paid for by society." What amazes me is that most people, as far as I can tell, don't even recognize that as a conflict!
These are the things I think about at 5:30 in the morning when I can't sleep!
Most people I know seem to believe that every item they ever want to buy, rent or lease should be ridiculously inexpensive, almost to the point of "whatever price is quoted is too high." (This philosophy often leads to electronic piracy, with rationalizations like, "If music CDs weren't so expensive, I'd actually pay for them!" regardless of the price of a CD.) At the same time, those same people act as if whatever salary they're currently drawing is too low, and thus are always angling for a big raise or more generous benefits. How is that they can't sense the (admittedly invisible) line that joins these two contradictory stances? After all, whatever you do for a living eventually boils down to a service or product of some sort, the consumers of which - if they're taking the attitude described here - want your salary and benefits cut to the bone, so that they can get their 'whatever' at the cheapest possible price! How does that not screw you over, by making your employer (or the conglomerate that owns the holding company that directs the entity that pays you) more likely to reduce benefits and salaries just to stay competitive and meet their ridiculous demands? So aren't you essentially cutting your own throat?
Friedman puts it as, "Yes the consumer in us wants Wal-Mart prices, with all the fat gone. But the employee in us wants a little fat left on the bone... But the shareholder in us wants Wal-Mart's profit margins... Yet the citizen in us want's Costco's benefits, rather than Wal-Mart's, because the difference ultimately may have to be paid for by society." What amazes me is that most people, as far as I can tell, don't even recognize that as a conflict!
These are the things I think about at 5:30 in the morning when I can't sleep!
Monday, November 19, 2007
A Cover To Make My Heart Skip A Beat
This Alex Ross cover, for Justice Society of America # 13 (due out in February, 2008), is the sort of thing that an older fan like me just salivates over.
First, it's Alex Ross. Nobody captures the grandeur of superheroes better than he does.
Second, there's two freakin' Supermen in that main shot! Two of them! And doppleganger stories rule, after all!
Finally, you've got those ringed headshots of the various JSA members, all staring at what's going on in the centre, evoking memories of the old Justice League of America covers from the 60s and 70s that were laid out that way.
'Tis a thing of beauty, that cover...
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Today's TechnoChallenge
After yesterday's misadventures with the wireless card(s), you'd think I wouldn't venture into those waters again quite so soon... and yet I did.
I've wanted to introduce WEP encryption into my home network for awhile now, but just never seemed to get around to it. I decided that today was the day!
First I read up on Wired Equivalent Privacy (not Wireless Encryption Protection, which is what I'd thought WEP stood for). I considered going with WPA-PSK instead, but then decided that all I'm really trying to do is ensure no one's catching a free-ride off our network and potentially having access to our shared folders. I don't really expect to be the victim of a hacker's attack. Should I??
So to do this, I used Vicki's PC (wired, temporarily) and my laptop to test it out, which went differently than I'd expected (I had planned to use a passphrase but eventually just went with a HEX key). I made sure my laptop worked after that, and then unplugged the ethernet on Vicki's PC, and made the settings change there. Each time, it was a different experience, because I was changing versions of Windows (Win2000 vs WinXP) and wireless configuration utilities. Finally, I got my basement PC working and then tackled the PS/3. I'm not sure why, but I'd expected the Sony device to be the hardest of the bunch, and instead it was the easiest! It was the only one where it was absolutely straight-forward and I didn't have to experiment at all to get it to work (on my basement PC, for example, I had to think to click on a "Rescan" button before the new settings would work, until which time I had not been able to get any Internet access).
So now any neighbours of ours who might've been using our router to get Internet access are probably cursing. (Not that I think anyone really was!)
I've wanted to introduce WEP encryption into my home network for awhile now, but just never seemed to get around to it. I decided that today was the day!
First I read up on Wired Equivalent Privacy (not Wireless Encryption Protection, which is what I'd thought WEP stood for). I considered going with WPA-PSK instead, but then decided that all I'm really trying to do is ensure no one's catching a free-ride off our network and potentially having access to our shared folders. I don't really expect to be the victim of a hacker's attack. Should I??
So to do this, I used Vicki's PC (wired, temporarily) and my laptop to test it out, which went differently than I'd expected (I had planned to use a passphrase but eventually just went with a HEX key). I made sure my laptop worked after that, and then unplugged the ethernet on Vicki's PC, and made the settings change there. Each time, it was a different experience, because I was changing versions of Windows (Win2000 vs WinXP) and wireless configuration utilities. Finally, I got my basement PC working and then tackled the PS/3. I'm not sure why, but I'd expected the Sony device to be the hardest of the bunch, and instead it was the easiest! It was the only one where it was absolutely straight-forward and I didn't have to experiment at all to get it to work (on my basement PC, for example, I had to think to click on a "Rescan" button before the new settings would work, until which time I had not been able to get any Internet access).
So now any neighbours of ours who might've been using our router to get Internet access are probably cursing. (Not that I think anyone really was!)
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Living In F.E.A.R.
I spent most of today doing one of two things:
1) Trying to get a wireless card to work in Vicki's PC for the first time ever (so that I could move the router away from her PC whenever I want to play on XBox Live), and
2) playing F.E.A.R. on the PS/3.
The former was way too frustrating, as my first attempt kept resulting in the machine freezing up whenever I'd try to get the drivers to install. After giving up on that card, I scavenged a second one, and it took me two more tries before I could even get that one to successfully install! The whole episode wasn't helped at all by Sympatico changing our e-mail access this week such that I initially thought I'd broken the PC's ability to "get mail" only to eventually figure out it had nothing to do with anything that I'd done. But I still had to fix that issue!
The latter activity, on the other hand, was a whole lot of fun, as I've really gotten into F.E.A.R. since figuring out how to play it without getting killed every five minutes. One of the trickier aspects of it revolves around only being able to carry 3 weapons at a time, and trying to anticipate which ones it's best to leave behind... hoping that you won't regret your decision a few minutes later, when you realize, "I could really use my sniper rifle right now!"
It's funny that I bought this game only because Call of Duty 4 was sold out on the day I was looking for it, as it's hard to believe I'll actually end up enjoying COD4 more than this!
1) Trying to get a wireless card to work in Vicki's PC for the first time ever (so that I could move the router away from her PC whenever I want to play on XBox Live), and
2) playing F.E.A.R. on the PS/3.
The former was way too frustrating, as my first attempt kept resulting in the machine freezing up whenever I'd try to get the drivers to install. After giving up on that card, I scavenged a second one, and it took me two more tries before I could even get that one to successfully install! The whole episode wasn't helped at all by Sympatico changing our e-mail access this week such that I initially thought I'd broken the PC's ability to "get mail" only to eventually figure out it had nothing to do with anything that I'd done. But I still had to fix that issue!
The latter activity, on the other hand, was a whole lot of fun, as I've really gotten into F.E.A.R. since figuring out how to play it without getting killed every five minutes. One of the trickier aspects of it revolves around only being able to carry 3 weapons at a time, and trying to anticipate which ones it's best to leave behind... hoping that you won't regret your decision a few minutes later, when you realize, "I could really use my sniper rifle right now!"
It's funny that I bought this game only because Call of Duty 4 was sold out on the day I was looking for it, as it's hard to believe I'll actually end up enjoying COD4 more than this!
Friday, November 16, 2007
On Days Like This
I think it's time for a new Agile Manager at my company.
Is anyone out there interested in the job?
Is anyone out there interested in the job?
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Secret Cloverfield Movie Title Is... Cloverfield?
Ain't It Cool News is reporting, in perhaps the most anticlimactic reveal of all time, that the actual title for this once-exciting project originally dubbed "Cloverfield 1-18-08" is in fact... Cloverfield.
Oh, and there's a new low-tech, illegally-copied trailer out at that link, too.
The more I see think about Cloverfield, the more it strikes me that it's going to be to sci-fi monster movies what The Blair Witch Project was to scary slasher movies: you'll either get into it and love it, or think it's amateurish crap and hate it.
Oh, and there's a new low-tech, illegally-copied trailer out at that link, too.
The more I see think about Cloverfield, the more it strikes me that it's going to be to sci-fi monster movies what The Blair Witch Project was to scary slasher movies: you'll either get into it and love it, or think it's amateurish crap and hate it.
This One's For Tammy
(... who likes it when she's mentioned in blog posts... so imagine her delight when she discovers that she's being mentioned in the title of a blog post!)
Three months after taking part in this year's Silver Age Trivia Panel at the Chicago WizardWorld Comic Convention, I'm finally - yes, almost 100 days later - transferring the video from that event onto a VHS tape (and off of Tammy's camcorder). Normally I do this in the week immediately following the convention... this year I did it approximately a quarter of a year later! It's just been that kind of hectic!
Anyway, so as I set up the pieces (VHS tape in the VCR, charge up the camcorder, hook up the various wires) I realized that I couldn't find the camcorder's input for the A/V connecting cable. I mean, I looked... and looked... and opened every little flap that I could find on it, and nowhere could I spot a place to plug the cable into! I looked for Tammy online, hoping that she could solve the mystery, but she - like the input slot itself! - was nowhere to be found!
Before too many more minutes passed, though, I remembered: we live in the Information Age! I went to Sony's website, found the camcorder model, requested the manual - got asked to sign up as a member, filled in the required fields - downloaded the manual and then quickly scanned it, looking for the answer. And wouldn't you know, there's a little piece near the head of the device that looks like it's permanent but is actually removable... under which lay the A/V input slot! Success!
And now I'm busy transferring over the trivia panel that I can barely remember taking part in anymore!
Three months after taking part in this year's Silver Age Trivia Panel at the Chicago WizardWorld Comic Convention, I'm finally - yes, almost 100 days later - transferring the video from that event onto a VHS tape (and off of Tammy's camcorder). Normally I do this in the week immediately following the convention... this year I did it approximately a quarter of a year later! It's just been that kind of hectic!
Anyway, so as I set up the pieces (VHS tape in the VCR, charge up the camcorder, hook up the various wires) I realized that I couldn't find the camcorder's input for the A/V connecting cable. I mean, I looked... and looked... and opened every little flap that I could find on it, and nowhere could I spot a place to plug the cable into! I looked for Tammy online, hoping that she could solve the mystery, but she - like the input slot itself! - was nowhere to be found!
Before too many more minutes passed, though, I remembered: we live in the Information Age! I went to Sony's website, found the camcorder model, requested the manual - got asked to sign up as a member, filled in the required fields - downloaded the manual and then quickly scanned it, looking for the answer. And wouldn't you know, there's a little piece near the head of the device that looks like it's permanent but is actually removable... under which lay the A/V input slot! Success!
And now I'm busy transferring over the trivia panel that I can barely remember taking part in anymore!
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