A Glorous Thing

I may not have ranted on here much but I despise conventional new broadcasting.  And it appears I'm not alone because some of the oldest networks are finding their viewer base decaying under them.  There's a ton of reasons why this is, but I attribute it mostly to too fucking much crap not-news and fear mongering. 

Two shining beacons of hope in this sea of shit have been consistently Attack of the Show and X-Play, now admittedly X-Play isn't quite news…. but both shows take dry(ish) topics and make them interesting!  Now Morgan Webb co host of X-Play is web casting more NEWS!  I have to support her.  Let me count down the reasons why:

• She's soooooo gorgeous.
• She's got snappy wit.
• She's SMART!

So check out Webb Alert, subscribe to the Podcast, the RSS, and Embed her Widget.  Spread Morgan all over the internet, and then vote her in for Prime Minister.  (She's Canadian, so she can't be President, sorry guys, your loss.)

 

Webb Alert

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Five Grateful Things – Inspirational Edition

I consider myself a writer even though I've never had anything published and as of yet I don't think my writing for various sources has yealded me even $1000.00 over the course of my lifetime.  In some ways it's presumptuous but we all have to have a dream right?

So today I'm going to offer the five primary sources of inspiration to keep me writing.  They effectively are the food that feeds my dreams, which is why I'm grateful for them.  Maybe someday I'll post an update to these sources but these are what they are now.

1) Simple Abundance – It's not so much the group or the subject matter that has inspired me, as it is the goal.  Dee's gentle requirement to post 5 things a day is a healthy deadline.  It's not hard, but it's there and it makes me think more, all day, and thinking is good for inspiration.

2) G4 Tech TV – Or more accurately 3 shows on it.  Attack of the Show, X-Play, and The Lab with Leo Laporte. 

Attack of the show is my primary source for news, which may be limiting myself, but I find other news sources are overly negative and lacking in actual legitimate news.  AOTS is primarily geared towards the tech aspects of news so in that it is limited, but it portrays pop culture in a trendy way and it's a pleasure to watch.  I honestly wish that more networks would develop news programs like it.

X-Play is a Video Game Review show.  It's funny, trendy, and enjoyable to watch even if you don't really care for video games. 

The Lab is a call-in show featuring Leo Laporte, who in my opinion is one of the most credible and knowledgable people involved in the tech scene today.  His web of influence spreads far, and the more I learn about the web the more I see traces of his involvement.

3) John Chow's Blog – This is a relatively new addition to my inspiration sources.  It's mostly about money, which might be mundane, but it fills my mind with new ideas for blogs, so it's inspiration.

4) Mythology – It's a source for my fictional works that I always return to.  And really what better stories than the ones that have stimulated minds and hearts for thousands of years? 

5) Frustration, Guilt and Disappointment – These three things could be #1, but I don't care for them very much so they get to be last, but to ignore their value in my writing would be naive.  Frustration urges me to change my tactics, guilt leads me to try harder and do better, and disappointment leads me to think of a better idea.  All are inspiring.

There you go.

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E3 2007

The last 4 days of my TV watching life have been domintated by one thing.  E3 Game conference.  There's been a lot of controversy over the fact that E3 has been closed to the public this year, but I've got to say it's nice to have it this way.  I don't live in California, and I'm not about to drive there, but I very much enjoyed watching G4's coverage of it. 

E3 opened with Microsoft's presentation, which I enjoyed despite G4's criticisim of it.  It had the most playable demo's which to me is important.  Seeing a playable game actually gives me an idea of what the game will look and play like.  Seeing theatrical trailers is nice and all, but it doesn't say anything about the game.   The thing I loved the absolute most about the microsoft presentation was the opening which I will share with you.  I have a weakness for symphonic rock, violins and hot women.  Enjoy.

Halo Band

The game I'm anticipating most was also well demonstrated in Microsoft's presentation.  Assassin's Creed.  The combat looks more realistic than anything I've seen, the gameplay looks solid, and the setting… ohmygod… the SETTING!!!  Jerusalem!  Holyland!  CRUSADES!!! O-M-F-G…  You have no idea how sick I am of WW2 shooter settings, and fantasy.  At last!  A mideaval setting that doesn't have dragons and elves.  I love the holy land and nights templar era, and this looks like it actually does that.  Wow.  Watch and Enjoy.

Assassin’s Creed ‘E3 2007 Live Demo’

Last but not least, I mentioned in an earlier post as it was going on.  The Wii Fit, and Wii Balance board.  I own a Wii allready, and I'm stoked about this.  Some say that Nintendo is abandoning it's traditional market as it moves mainstream, but I see more potential in this than interactive yoga.  This may be the first step to truly interactive user interfaces.  In the past ergonomics have leaned towards putting a gamer in a full-body suit with sensors, but Nintendo's latest innovations seems like this might not be the way to go.  The Wii-mote was immensely successful, and if the balance board keeps that same level of quality then the heaven's will open and Nintendo will be showered with riches and praise.  Here's some of the presentation here.

Wii Fit E3 2007 Introduction and part 1 of Demo.

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How do I approach those I admire?

Yesterday I was serfing for interesting articles and I found someone who had Leo Laporte as their friend.  And it sort of hit me how close I could actually become to interacting with the people in the media that I respect and admire. 

I'm an avid watcher of G4 Tech TV when I'm at work and I download the podcasts when I'm at home because I don't get that channel with my Cable (I don't watch much TV at home anyways so no point in subscribing for a G4 subscription really.) and in fact my decision to join Vox was due to watching a re-run of Call for Help where he pitched the Vox beta. 

It never occurred to me before yesterday that I could use the internet to correspond with those I admire and have influenced me.  I went to Leo's blog and started reading, it's great stuff he's obviously been doing this for a while, and it shows in the style of his writing and the subject matter. And I have to admit he's light-years ahead of me regarding tech knowledge, and I try and keep up a lot. 

If I wanted to, I could put all sorts of comments on his site telling him how much I like his show and how glad I am that I found his blog, and I bet he'd even read some of them… but I don't.

I respect people such as this for their success, and I look to them for drive and inspiration to hopefully achieve success myself in the things I like.  I would love to start a correspondance with Leo and some of the other people I see in the media that inspire me, but I know that these people are busy, they probably get thousands of e-mails per day from guys like me, and simply don't have the time.

Everyone, know matter how rich, famous or intelligent has people they admire.  And I imagine for the most part people 'like' to be admired especially for something they've worked hard at.  But how do you go from a simple handshake and saying "I love your work."  to establishing a meaningful dialog?

I guess that lies in the give-and-take of the first moments of the conversation… there has to be some reason why this busy person would continue to spend his-or-her time listening or reading what you have to say. 

So what do I have to say?

…

*Silence*

…

I'll get back to you on that.

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