Social Media Gems

ifttt - Stands for If This Then That. You know how most online services have alert functions now? For instance, if you receive a message on Facebook you can have it email you or send a text to your phone. Well ifttt is that kind of service but you can apply it to anything. You can have it call you every time one of your friends checks into the bar down the street on foursquare. It ties into an impressive number of services, including: Craigslist, facebook, Flickr, foursquare, most Google services, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Youtube and more. It's already been immensely helpful in setting job search alerts on Craigslist. I highly recommend.

gdgt - A show-off-my-collection site for electronics. Create lists of things you own or want to own, from the past, present and future. Compare lists with others, comment and ask questions. It's also an interesting place to get new updates about the latest interesting technology coming out.

Weotta - A social planning site, useful in finding an itinerary for an unplanned weekend night. You enter what kind of crowd you're running with, what mood you're in, and Weotta will give you a list of things to do. For example, one plan is to grab dinner at a new cajun restaurant, go see the Deftones in concert, and then drinks at a hip, bayside bar. They only have San Francisco and New York so far but I'm really excited to see what they do with the service.

Movies

Wow, I've been pretty knee-deep in code and textbooks lately. First Javascript, then Flash, and now PHP. I have to say by far the hardest for me has been PHP. With the first two they're primarily visual tools: you can see what you're doing with them. Learning to think about what goes on in the backend of a site purely in code is really tough.

I'd like to find a script to host moview reviews on my site. I used to post them on my Flixster app within Facebook until they all got deleted. I haven't written any lately and I would love to put down my thoughts on what I'm watching. More than a long-form blog entry I'd like something where someone could flip through a series of small, paragraph-length entries. Maybe with a small built-in search.

I did see Thor the other night and it was pretty good, better than I was expecting. Chris Hemsworth more than held his own with the other cast. I only knew him from his small part in Star Trek before this and I worried he should be dwarfed by Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins. Not only did he hold his own but he owned the character and became the heart of the movie. In both the dramatic and comedic scenes he shined. I'll really be looking forward to his future performances. Portman performed well typo and fit the part excellently. She never overpowered a scene. I also appreciated the scenes in Valhalla were many and we got to see some great, fantastical effects. I didn't notice much of Branaugh's mark on the film but he didn't detract from it either. Overall it was one of the better Marvel films I've seen.

Deep Love Core

Found a really excellent design portfolio site with some help from the benevolent Nicopolitan. It's this site called Krop and they display your resume and portfolio in a really clean, slick looking setup. The free account lets you have ten images and looks great as it is. They've got more layout designs and a larger portfolio size for the paid service. I'm really enjoying the results I've gotten with it so far.

Really, really hooked on this song at the moment. It's actually a collaboration that Girls' Generation did with Intel for the release of one of their processors in Korea. It sounds like a aural bomb dropped through a time warp from some far flung distant future digital society.

My Keyboard is Unnecessarily Obtuse

I hope I spelled unnecessarily correct.

I'm another chapter farther into Javascript, but it's an awful long one. Just got done with Arrays and next is Objects, though I'm most looking forward to the next chapter which is specifically about web design applications. That's what I was looking for in the first place! Though I do feel like I've gotten a good general mindset for programming with what I've learned so far. Just the logic leaps and how you have to break down what you're going to output into code-digestible bits.

I'm giving The Name of the Wind a second chance. I didn't much care for the author's writing style the first time around. There were a lot of unnecessary (let's hope I'm right) metaphors and he tends to write out way too much of the scene and characters' actions, when I feel more should be left to the reader's imagination. My good friend from high school really enjoyed it and actually got me a copy as a present, so I told him I would give it an honest second read.

I watched The Fountain again last night. I really enjoy that movie even though I hear it get a lot of hate. It's very visual and emotional, with a really elaborate mood that kind of envelopes you as you watch it. I don't feel it's confused or poorly written at all, just that there is more simply to absorb and let wash over you than to clearly parse with dialogue. Plus Hugh Jackman is at his finest when he's playing a broken, tortured man in my opinion. Between this and The Prestige my opinion of his acting greatly increased. Wolverine is badass but watching him struggle with his wife's death and desperately searching for a cure is incredibly engaging through his acting.

The Day After Yesterday

I've been working on my Javascript. I hope first and foremost it'll improve my resume and make me a more attractive candidate for jobs. The long term goal is to climb those programming languages one by one and build myself up as a programmer. Of course I wonder how far I'll go without an actual degree, but half the time what's written on a job posting is just to screen out all the people who don't have the balls to put their money where their mouth is. That's rather harsh, I suppose. I finished the fourth chapter in my Javascript for Dummies book, all the way up through loops and into arrays. I realise now a lot of it was intimidating because I'm not good at math and math was always linked with programming in my mind. Now I'm approaching it from more of a language angle. It is a lot like a language, just that you have to think about the logic underlying it as well, which you really do have to do in learning any language it's just not something people typically think about from the outside. I'm enjoying programming so far, I just wish I was on the applicable stuff already. I wanna be making snazzy menus and sliding galleries for web pages instead of writing programs that output the results of a six-sided die roll as a popup. I know I have to start somewhere. We'll see how far I am in a month. I've managed to do about a chapter a day.

I watched the Game of Thrones pilot. Wow, that was fantastic. They seem to have captured the series incredibly well, though HBO is in the business of making the best drama on television. There's a wonderful feeling of the innocence of the Stark children and the darkness of the world around them. It feels a lot like those classic fairytales. I absolutely cannot wait for more Tyrion as that actor is excellent and only got a couple of minutes onscreen in the pilot. Same with Arya. A lot of the characters still need time to develop, though I think the pilot did a good enough job introducing us to Ned Stark. The production is incredible as well, everything looks accurate and realistic. The swords are all shiny and the horses are horsey. I can't wait for more.

Oh, and the intro is incredibly original and awesome.

I've been using Robot Science as my work music and it's working out quite well. It kind of fades into the background but keeps out the noise and is interesting enough to keep me engaged when I do zone out a bit and listen to it.

Robot Revolution, When Not If

The robot revolution has been a popular scifi theme for the last twenty years. In one form or another, robotic servants of humankind become more human-like, develop self-awareness and a survival drive, and act in ways their human masters didn't plan for. It's always presented as an "if" scenario, a distinctly fictionized story. It's likely more of a "when".

In a previous post I pointed out how we'll definitely see robots in economic functions. Business decisions are always about the best value for the lowest cost and once robotics become commonly affordable it'll make the most sense to have humanoid robots perform tasks already in place for humans, using equipment already in place for humans. I linked to a documentary about how Japanese society is planning for its ongoing population decline by developing human-like robot workers, and this shows there are very real plans to place robotic servants in human jobs.

Necessarily these robotic servants will have a human appearance, though people have even become attached to their roombas. It will make interacting with them more comfortable and alleviate some of the unease at seeing "mechanical" servants take over human jobs.

Once you have a human-like being doing a human amount of work how long will it be until people start calling for equal rights? Animal rights protesters fight for the rights of non-human creatures. There will be loud, perhaps violent, counterarguments of robots being manufactured creatures and thus not "alive". However, as we've seen storytellers say in many robot revolution stories: if they think like a human, talk like a human, and act like a human, aren't they also human? It's not like they chose to be "mechanical", they were "born" that way. I don't think it's unfair to say this struggle will resemble the gay rights movement.

Whether these robots have independent thought or not, it will surely be one of the rights we fight for. Determining the path of one's own life is a right we recognize extended to all human beings, and once robots are recognized as "human", we'll extend it to them as well.

It's a sure thing there will be discrimination and any number of darker acts on the road to robot freedom. We can only hope that when the robots win their eventual freedom they don't hate us too much for the inevitable shit we will put them through.

Digital Memories: Soul Calibur 2

Following in my post about the ten year anniversary of the PS2, I talk about one of my favorite games for the platform: Soul Calibur 2.

Bravo, Google

I'm sure you're aware of the ongoing battle between Google and the Chinese government over its decision to switch to uncensored search. It's important to also keep in mind this battle was started by Chinese-government-sponsored web attacks on Google.

We're also all aware that China is on the rise to become the next world dominating power. Economically they've managed to recapture momentum after the global crash, even if they did it at the expense of other countries' economies by fixing their currency. They've committed themselves to putting their citizens second and profits first, and they continue to deny their citizens a voice of any kind in the determination of their destiny. China may have changed their image economically but they remain a totalitarian power exercising complete political control over their citizens.

There are a number of US companies who overlook China's government and are moving their operations wholesale to the Communist country. The vast majority of US companies have exploited the country's cheap labor over the past twenty years. And yes, it's worth pointing out that Google did enter mainland China censored for five years before pulling out this spring. Their posturing may just be putting a good face on a strategic pull-out.

Even if that's the case, it's the message of this that should be considered. This move won't make Google any money, they'll definitely lose out on a huge and growing market, and there are plenty of other companies that are willing to step over the trampeled rights of the Chinese people to make a few bucks. It does send a message to the Chinese government that not everyone cares more about dollars than freedom. It shows that political censorship coupled with anything goes economic exploitation won't get you the whole way.

I say bravo, Google. Whatever the motivations that began this, you've decided to take a stand on your principles. That's something the people within China don't have the power to do, and the companies outside of China have no interest in.

Japan: New Frontiers in Censorship

Some Tokyo politicians thought up the wonderful idea to "ban provocative visual depictions of characters who appear to be 18 or younger." Many speculate this comes at a time when Japan is facing pressure from other countries to curb its child pornography. I have a lot of problems with this.

To start, I don't care for these characters in anime. I would rather see realistic portrayals of women (such as Black Lagoon's Revy or RahXephon's Haruka) than the continually rehashed ideal of a naive, junior high school girl pining after a socially inept older man. That said, I don't necessarily think these characters drive fans to sexually abuse young children. Take a look at your average otaku's room and you'll find shrines to these characters alone rather than anything that suggests an interest in real little girls.

This ban is first of all an act of misdirection. As the author of this article points out, it's merely an "aesthetic bandaid" fix to the problem. Rather than take real, controversial steps to change the state of child pornography in Japan politicians decide to take on a safer target in underage anime characters in order to look like they're doing something. Authorities in Japan, whether in government or in business, favor the appearance of change rather than change itself, as you can read in this heavy, yet accurate rant.

Secondly, while it's a despicable decision politically it's also a dumb move economically. If this goes through it could injure Japan's anime culture, which is a major financial asset both domestically and abroad. As much as I may not care for the character type, there's no arguing that these "lolicon" characters have become a major pillar of the industry. Straight out banning their depictions would stop shows that feature these characters (of which there are currently a LOT), stop fans buying their merchandise, and cause the anime industry to shrink.

Finally, it's flat out censorship. Japan has not had a great history of fighting censorship, as their antiquated pornography laws will show, but it is censorship all the same. If no one is being hurt and there are people who want this kind of content, who are they to stand in the way?

Japan has a problem with fetishizing youth, but it's being sidestepped rather than dealt with by this solution.

Happy Birthday PS2!

March 4th marks the ten year anniversary of Sony's little black wonder, and inspired by other accounts of the console I wanted to share my own experience.

The PS2 was one of only two consoles I've bought at launch (the other being an N64). I've read stories about shortages at launch but I had mine preordered months in advance and it arrived as expected in the beginning of the second month of my freshman college year. None of the launch titles interested me so I didn't order any with the system. I was intrigued by the console's ability to enhance the graphics of PS1 games, and it was a noticeable if not mindblowing effect. Within a couple weeks I realised I needed to have a real PS2 title to show off the system and I picked up Tekken. The graphics were indeed a step up from the previous generation. I remember being in awe of the shiny, curvy new polygons and deep, 3D backgrounds. Tekken's intro movie also looked beautiful (I didn't realise at the time such movies were entirely pre-rendered files).

The PS2 served me well throughout my college years, with some big gaming enjoyments along the way. Final Fantasy X was of course a huge moment. The powerful narrative, the first-time inclusion of voice-acting, the graphics, the music, and an energetic new battle system combined to make it one of my favorite FFs to this day. Metal Gear Solid 2 delivered a Hollywood-caliber espionage story that, even if it largely dropped its star character, lived up to the promise of its predecessor. Soul Calibur 2 brought my circle of friends back together for more fighting game goodness that had begun with Super Smash Bros on the Gamecube. Gran Turismo 3 streamlined the series into a next generation experience that refined the core concept of realistic racing.

It was about this time, a year to year and a half after purchase, that my PS2 began to wear out. A well-documented issue with the disc-reading laser lens claimed first the systems ability to read DVDs, then PS1 games, and then gradually PS2 title after title began to read errors. I read online guides and opended up my system to tinker with no miraculous results. There was a period of about half a year or so where I couldn't play much else than a handful of the newest games for the system. Luckily a friend of mine came through with a replacement PS2 shanghaied from a deadbeat college roommate and I was back in the game. This system would eventually begin to fail too, and as of this moment I am on my third PS2 system, a brand new Slim bought two months ago.

Towards the end of the system's time in the spotlight there were some true gems. Final Fantasy XII was a graphical marvel on "aging" hardware, if a bit incoherent in terms of story. Really, for me, the shining moment in the systems twilight time was Shadow of the Colossus. I had seen a puzzle-fiend friend play through ICO and swear up and down its brilliance. The game was breathtakingly beautiful and haunting, though my brain having trouble with the most basic of puzzles I never got into it. SotC immersed me in a beautiful, simple, powerful world that was sublime in its simplicity. The massive "boss battles" were stunning and beautiful, but at the same time I spent hours just riding around the massive world and taking in the gorgeous scenery. I never wanted SotC to end, and one of these days I'll jump back in for a replay.

There are still games being released for the system, even as it's no longer Sony's flagship. I've heard the recent Odin Sphere is amazing, and Nippon Ichi among others continues to port the vast backlog of Japanese RPGs. Barring the multiple failures of my PS2s I've had a wonderful experience with the system and I hope my current console lasts long enough to enjoy its stellar titles for years to come.

Battle Angel Alita Plot Details

Jon Landau, one of the producers on Avatar, and a producer on James Cameron's Battle Angel Alita film discussed the plot in a recent interview.

Battle Angel Alita is my favorite manga. It's basically the only manga I've read. Besides a couple of one of issues of things like Tenchi Muyo and Eat Man back in the late nineties, the only manga I've read is Alita. I've watched my fair share of anime but never really got bitten by the manga bug.

It was hinted and obvious from the start that they'd be focusing on Motorball for this film. It's the most accessible plot line of the series and would best translate into a straight action film. It's something I see Cameron having a hard time messing up.

Focusing on Motorball, I imagine it will be hard to move on to the rest of the story. Motorball is merely one of the settings for Alita's reawakening and remembering her powers. If they start the "series" with a Motorball movie, everyone will be thinking it's all about Motorball and any future installments may be distorted or never even be produced.

Oh well, I suppose it's not worth worrying over. Even one Alita movie, which I never dreamed I'd see, is a treat.

Google Buzz Issues

Why did Google release Buzz without a closed beta as they traditionally have with their products; such as Gmail, Voice, and Wave?

McG, Murakami, and Dunst are Turning Japanese

Takashi Murakami and McG teamed up to film a cover music video of The Vapors' "Turning Japanese" in Akihabara starring Kirsten Dunst. A fun video and playful enough to not flog the dead horse of "Japan/Akihabara is different and weird!" Dunst turns in a good performance, and is obviously enjoying herself.

I think Murakami's genius is simplified by many observers in the current wash of anime-aesthetic hitting US shores. His visions manage time after time to be more compelling and interesting than the vast majority of commercial cash-ins on the anime boom.

I saw a display of his work at the Little Tokyo branch of the LACMA two years ago. His designs border on the psychadelic but manage to incorporate a bubbly, cute anime/cartoon feel that makes them digestible. I especially enjoyed how he takes the exaggerations of women and sexuality in anime aesthetics to the extreme conclusion. (see: "Hiropon")

Olympic Theme

I'm sure news shows in the US are using powerful, bombastic orchestral songs as their Olympic theme but here in Japan our news shows play this over Olympic montages:

Mechanical Tumor

Part of a Japanese installation art series, a realistic-looking tumor like mass is connected to a PC and inflates to approximate the CPU load of programs and running tasks.

Olympic News Bias?

Watching the Olympics outside of the US I've noticed that the events covered tend to be those in which the country I'm watching from performs the best in.

Androids versus Battle Mechs

My first video blog. I figure I'd try this format as it's less time-intensive. In this post I discuss the commercial and wartime application of robots and why I think the former is more likely to come true in the near future.

(Here is the documentary I reference in the video, provided by my friend nicopolitan.)

I Now Pronounce You Man and Video Game

Over the weekend what some say is a very important event in geek fandom took place: a Japanese man married a video game character. The man, going by the online handle "Sal9000" married the character Nene Anegasaki from the video game Love Plus. Many watching the video of the event commented it represented the "end of Japan", and while I think it is a sad expression of one human beings need for companionship, I wouldn't say it's the "end of Japan" and there are certainly other factors to take into consideration when examining the broken down psychology of relationships in Japan.

First of all, it's not the "end of Japan". Obsessive otaku have existed for at least the past 35 years, and have found slightly disturbing outlets in everything from naked, mid-coitus anime character statues, to full length body-pillows with popular, scantily clad anime characters illustrated on them. In addition, what both Boingboing blogger Lisa Katayama's video erroneously states and the related Kotaku article fail to mention (even though it is plainly stated in a previous Kotaku article) is that although this was a Japanese man, the ceremony took place in Guam at a church that agreed to hold the ceremony. No goverment agency was involved in recognizing this "marriage" as a legal union in any way, particularly not the Japanese government. This is far from a permanent shift in Japanese society. Lisa Katayama goes so far as to suggest that rather than a "real marriage" the Japanese man just wanted to express "he's hooked on this game and that he's really into the character who lives inside of it". On that point I differ, and while I don't believe this is the "end of Japan" I do think it's one more symptom of a confused, stressed-out society.

The decline in relationships and dating in Japan is a serious issue. The Japanese population is expected to decrease by 30 million over the next 40 years, and 50% of that population will be 65 years old or older. Japanese citizens are having fewer children, and part of the issue is that they are forming relationships more and more rarely. In my opinion, it stems from a culture that emphasizes incredibly exhausting work schedules, the clash of traditional and modern views of relationships, and the culture that surrounds Japan's unique brand of escapist entertainment.

Ever since Japan's rapid industrialization in the late 1800s Japan has had an incredibly strong work ethic. At that time the government drove the country to "catch up" to the West in an effort to avoid colonization. This effort was effective, and transformed Japan into a colonial power itself at the beginning of the 20th century. In the aftermath of WWII, this same spirit created the "salaryman" culture that saw Japan rise from a post-war country with a ruined infrastructure to a premiere economic power in the 1980s. The salaryman was expected to work 15 hour shifts, move wherever his company needed him most, and by and large sacrifice his family time and leisure for the good of the company and by extension the country. DThe fiuring that time Japanese men may have been willing to accept this grueling lifestyle as they had either seen first-hand or were not far removed from the destruction and poverty of war, and they were buoyed by Japan's fantastic rise to eminence on the world stage. Once the economic bubble burst in the early 90s however, a generation raised in wealth entered the workforce at a time when the country was facing an economic recession some say has never ended. These young men were expected to work the same endlessly tiring schedules as their fathers; expected to step into harsh and thankless roles after leaving a relatively easy childhood. This pressure may have drove them to seek escape from the reality of Japanese business culture.

Due to Japan's rapid industrialization many tradition aspects of Japanese society have clashed with their foriegn-influenced modern counterparts. Traditional Japanese society practiced arranged marriage. The Western feeling of passionate "true love" was one that was acknowledged but acknowledged as problematic and not a feeling to be indulged. Instead the traditional Japanese ideal of love was very innocent. Like the "first love" during adolescence, this ideal emphasizes shy, tentative expressions of affection as opposed to the passionate outpourings of Western "love" (and by extension was something expected to be shed when the demands of "adulthood" arose). This has remained the ideal for Japanese men, while buoyed by their growing economic power Japanese women have embraced the imported concept of the empowered woman. This is a positive development as traditionally women have had very submissive roles in Japanese society. The conflict lies in that Japanese women have come to expect confident men who have their lives organized, while the driving economic pressure and obsession with innocent, stress-free relationships has left more and more Japanese men checking out of relationships.

Just as Japan was known worldwide for its economic prowess in the 1980s, Japanese pop culture began a rise to international renown in the mid 1990s. Driving this rise inside Japan were a growing fanbase of "otaku", men in their twenties and beyond with a childlike obsession with video games and anime. Series aimed towards young girls, featuring young female protagonists and innocent "first love" stories, were particularly popular with this demographic. As the animation/video game industry saw this they began to produce products that catered to these desires for innocent, stress-free relationships. One of which is the very videogame, Love Plus, which features Sal9000's "bride". In a society where men are under a large amount of stress to work tirelessly and the major form of escapist entertainment offers them their ideal romantic relationship, many choose to tune out the changing realities of modern relationships in Japan.

A Japanese man marrying a video game character is by no means the "end of Japan" or even a symptom of the sole cause in the Japanese population decline. There are still men and women who manage to have realistic relationships in Japan, but may decline to start a family because of the pressures of their jobs. However, this event is a symptom of a society in crisis. A society that on its current path is looking at the prospect of extinction.

Assassin's Creed

Having just gotten into Assassin's Creed on the PC, I am already psyched for the sequel. Nevermind that Ubisoft crafted an amazing game with rich gameplay, a detailed, authentic world, and fascinating story and characters. The marketing blitz for Assassin's Creed 2 has been mindblowing, largely due to a short film series being produced about the game's characters. The films are rendered in digital environments but feature real, quality actors, period costumes, and quite well written dialogue and story. I would watch all of these strung together and put into a movie theater.

I'm also reminded of my social marketing experience and the idea of using apps to market an upcoming product. Many see the success of games like Mafia Wars on Facebook and Spymaster on Twitter then want to create something as interactive and viral. The idea of simply "skinning" a game like Mafia Wars, turning the mobsters into say vampires and assassinations into feedings, is often brought up. I would play a Mafia Wars skinning of Assassin's Creed to no end. Playing through the first game I already see parallels, like assassinations, rescuing innocents from brutal guards, and completing missions with fellow informants to gain information, parallels that could easily be skinned for Assassin's Creed. This is a game I want to tell my friends about and get them interested in as well, and what better way to direct that desire than through a game app. I know people get tired of the constant spam updates on Facebook from others' games but I think Assassin's Creed holds more weight as an established franchise than something about generic mobsters, vampires, or farm animals.

Just a thought, Ubisoft.

Mind Hole Balls

Via the Nefariously Magnificent Nicopolitan:

Nicopolitan: it's gonna blow your mindhole
Nicopolitan: well, maybe not, but still neat
redFred: Hehe
redFred: I will prepare my mindhole
redFred: Pack it all stuffed with all kinds of cotton balls
redFred: Don't wanna lose too much
Nicopolitan: i hear you can get a great deal on mindhole cottonballs at Costco
redFred: Hmm, but it's gonna be a bitch to carry that huge box home
redFred: I'd rather just get the individual packs at Rite Aid
Nicopolitan: individually wrapped mindhole balls
Nicopolitan: like, the ones you get on the airplane
redFred: Sealed for your protection
Nicopolitan: do not open if safety seal has been broken
redFred: Apply to mindhole only with the advice of a trained professional
Nicopolitan: consult a physician to ask if mindholeballs are right for you
redFred: Stop using mindholeballs immediately if you see adverse symptoms such as bleeding, leakage, or grey matter absorption
Nicopolitan: ok, ok ok ok, now we need a slogan
redFred: Mind Hole Balls: A Better Life through Balls ?
Nicopolitan: wow. okay, i just snotted on my keyboard
redFred: Hahaha
Nicopolitan: there is no way i'm not Photoshopping a logo for this