Advice for Idiots…Using “Reply All”

On June 5, 2013June 5, 2013 By James CastroIn Opinions, Random FunLeave a comment

I’ve been working in an office environment for about a decade now. I know that’s not long by some standards, but I have been around to watch several trends expand and evolve as time progresses and more and more people realize what they can do with the tools provided. Email isn’t a new feature, but for some reason people don’t seem to understand certain etiquette or common-sense approaches to using it. That being the case I thought I’d offer some advice for idiots starting with the “reply all” feature.

Reply all is very useful when talking with a group about a single issue, even if some are included just to “stay in the loop” as it were. It becomes a nuisance when people misuse the feature or don’t follow basic practices for use. Here are some things that would make life easier when dealing with reply all:

1.) Ask yourself: Is this an appropriate response for all to see? A lot of emails go out something like, “What does everyone think about X?” A slew of responses come back voicing their opinions on “X.” This is fine. But if you have a closer friend amongst the recipients of the email and want them to see that you think “X” is silly or make some inside joke about how “X” reminds you of “what she said” then you probably shouldn’t “reply all” that response…how about just reply to the individual you’re talking to…

2.) If the conversation continues in a more focused manner does everyone need to continue to be included in the string? I have found typically the answer to be no. Almost all the time. The argument is that it’s “informational” so everyone knows what’s going on. I’ve found that when most people are “reply all’d” unless they are directly involved they mostly ignore the email. They think, “if it’s not directly to me, this might as well be spam.”

3.) If you’re added to an email string late, PLEASE read the entire string before weighing in. This one seems to be a no-brainer to me, but often I’ve been involved with a string that starts: “Hey I wanted to remind everyone ‘Y’ is still a problem. ‘X’ seems to be ok but I’ll need to change it to make it work with the new system.” Ten emails later a new person is added to a continuing conversation and is asked to weigh in on how to fix “Y.” Their response includes, “I’ll look at ‘Y,’ a reminder though that ‘X’ looks fine but it will need to be changed to make sure it’ll work within the new system.” Really!? Does it!? Was that not present in the original statement? Before you respond read the entire string so you know what needs to be said and what HAS been said.

4.) Does the email string need a response at all or was it informational, if it DID need a response, did we all need to be copied? Someone sends an email, “Wanted to let everyone know mail pickup is an hour early today.” It goes to 30 people. In response you, and EVERYONE in the original string, gets a reply all from 21 people that reads an insightful “ok.” In the case of strictly informational emails needing no reply, senders please consider BCC as an option…

5.) Don’t use an email that has a many individuals included to continue a private conversation, if you DO don’t Reply All. Though it’s related to the first complaint I’ve seen this one specifically and frequently. A genuine “reply all” string is resolved and begins to have a private conversation but continues to reply all. Once the string is resolved, the rest of us don’t need to know where a group of you are going to lunch, or what you are doing over the weekend.

So what can you do?

First only send an email string with many recipients if it’s necessary. Second, only reply to those who NEED the response. Third, private conversations should be kept private amongst the appropriate respondents. Fourth, pay attention to long strings. If you’re included assume it’s for a reason and your advice should be included only after previous comments have been reviewed. Fifth, if you’re a sender consider whether BCC accomplishes the same thing!

Off the Edge #4: Issues with Next Gen Gaming

On May 29, 2013May 29, 2013 By James CastroIn Games, OpinionsLeave a comment

I’ve maintained a console through every generation of gaming, NES, Genesis, Saturn, Playstation, Dreamcast, Playstation 2, XBOX, Gamecube, Playstation 3, Wii, XBOX 360. I’ve owned (or still own) all of these at one point or another and I just assumed I would always have a console. I have to say the recent pre-launches of the upcoming PS4 and especially the XBOX One have kind of put me off buying either next gen system.

The first question I have is, “why?” Though I jettisoned my 360, I have to say the PS3 and 360 are still both strong systems. They can get loads of life out of them and provide years of games with the “current” gen technology. I know there are loads of gamers out there who always want more and more in terms of graphical capabilities but they can squeeze so much out of the hardware it seems unnecessary that new hardware is needed to make games look better.

The second objection is the threat of DRM control. Most of us are familiar with the gaming industry in general and have heard that, despite shaky economic conditions and various natural disasters, the game divisions of most of these companies are turning profits, and in some cases are helping keep the rest of the company afloat. So why are game companies so concerned about “piracy” or the used game industry? It isn’t about their economic viability at this point it’s just greed. As a cartridge-gaming kid I never had more than a handful of games. My friends were in a similar situation. So we borrowed and traded with each other. Broke kids could play lots of games that way. When your friends wanted it back you had to either do without or, more often, sell some of your old ones and buy the new one you wanted. Buying used and trading has always been a dynamic part of the culture. The new plan is to DRM all games. To borrow a game from a friend you still have to pay for a game. This makes trading useless. All so companies already turning profits can make more money.

Even worse is the method in which they verify the DRM, specifically the XBOX One seems to have adopted the atrocious method used for Diablo III and the latest Sim City, always-on online server verification. It reminds me of the first time I put in my copy of Empire Total War and it made me install Steam. At that time Steam had to connect to the internet. I had a dodgy wi-fi connection. I couldn’t play it. A similar problem occurred when Diablo III came out, despite all the server preparation they didn’t have enough to allow the first-wave rush and people who pre-ordered the game couldn’t play it. The same happened with Sim City. Companies are now forcing you to be online even when you just want to play single-player games. I exclusively play one player so this is a barrier; as they focus on their marketing on online gamers and ignore what I’m guessing companies feel is a less-valuable customer. Microsoft can tout the number of servers they have ready for launch. There will be people who can’t get on. They will crash, and those gamers who want to just basically play a game won’t be able to.

They’re watching us…but they aren’t paying any attention to what WE want…

And my third major objection, can we have a game machine that really just plays games? Both Sony and Microsoft seem to be obsessed with all the other stuff their dream machines can do. It can connect to their proprietary networks to play proprietary movies! It can constantly keep connected to social media! It can control your TV! It watches you while you sleep and checks your vitals like HAL from 2001! Ok. All well and good…and well-and-creepy, but does it play games? Are the games any good? Do they do anything new and worthwhile? It doesn’t seem to be the case just yet. They look slightly better from what I can tell. The question really is do they look good for what they NEED to do? Sonic the Hedgehog and Double Dragon II still look amazing for what they need to do. Make it HD and it doesn’t add much more. Make it 3D and it doesn’t make it better. Add motion control and it generally gets in the way… Do they do anything worthwhile and new? Or is it just “here’s the single player game (with maybe some motion control stuff) and here’s the multiplayer game.” At this point I’m not sure how much innovation can be put into games, but typically the innovation comes from designers and writers not the hardware. Get some good, creative ideas and you can make 8-bits look amazing.

I once read a book called The Pentagon Wars by Air Force Colonel James Burton. In the book he describes the major issue with weapons development in the Pentagon (in the 80s and it’s probably still true) is that weapons manufacturers use military funding to create new technology that was ridiculously overpriced and entirely unnecessary. The developers and consequently the Pentagon top-brass, made the weapons they wanted to see using the new technology they wanted to play with. In doing so they totally ignored what the soldiers and pilots wanted and needed. He discovered pilots mostly dog fight with enemy planes via sight…in response the Pentagon and weapons industry produced a missile that can fire from miles away and missed far more often than it hit. A troop transport vehicle was requested to carry troops and instead it was outfitted with so much hardware it doesn’t carry enough troops and can’t do anything well, it just does them “good enough.” While reading about next-gen consoles I thought of this book. The console manufacturers are spending WAY too much time trying to shoe horn the newest technology into their latest plastic box. All the cameras, TV-internet connectivity, social media functionality, 3D gimmicks, motion control, and voice activation won’t be worth anything if the newest, fanciest game machine doesn’t have good games or play let you play them easily. There will be decent games on it, but to me, it won’t be worth what we’ll be paying for all the technology I don’t want or need.

The only way to send a message to the gaming industry would be to NOT buy their latest over-engineered next-gen system or let them know NOW what we really want in a new system. The economic system is all on its head; it should be what the market desires not what the industry mandates we will have. I won’t be getting one any time soon after launch. But I have a feeling the market will buy it. They’ll buy it, complain about it, and continue to support an industry that cares more about doing what they can do rather than doing what’s needed; and increasing profits via absurd protection methods rather than simply making products their market wants to buy.

I’ll have fun with Mega Man 2 and Streets of Rage 3 in the meantime…

I’d take almost any one of these any day at this point…

Off the Top of My Head #13: Playgrounds for Grown Ups!

On May 22, 2013May 21, 2013 By James CastroIn Opinions, Random FunLeave a comment

Our generation (everyone who’s around 30 something now) has received a lot of criticism from our parents’ generation as being “immature.” Almost as if, though we’re in our late 20s and early-to-mid 30s, we are arrested adolescents who don’t want to “grow up” in the same way their generation did.

Honestly I remember, as a kid, everyone I knew who was “30” seemed very grown-up, very adult, very boring, and OLD.

Well I’m over 30 now. I do feel a bit old as I have, honestly said “kids these days” recently, and my body doesn’t like the idea of some things as much as it used to (I have thought, “Oh lord my knees won’t be doing THAT” recently as well). However I have to point out, I see nothing wrong with being a member of the Toy-R-Us generation. I’m a Toy-R-Us kid. I don’t wanna grow up.

I have a grown-up job and grown-up responsibilities, but the day I stop finding the joy in playing with toys, board games, and old-school video games is the day a part of me dies. If older generations heap criticism on us for enjoying reading Wolverine instead of The Washington Post I say it’s their loss.

Which brings us to the topic of the day. Recently, on a whim, my lovely RevPub counterpart and I were walking around a park at night. It was a park I visited as a kid, and I was reminiscing on the dodgy playground that used to be on the grounds. Near the end of the trek, I spotted landmarks I remembered; a bell, a café (that was just a bathroom at the time), and a picnic area. I then discovered the old playground was long gone, replaced with a NEW one. A new one that had features big enough for adults. We spent the next 45 minutes or so running around on the playground structures, sliding down the big tube-slide, traversing the awesome twisty slide, and the monkey bars. Afterward we ran over to the swings and swung for another few minutes (I’m so lame I got a bit nauseous and it was at this point I thought “I used to jump off while swinging! Oy my knees wouldn’t take that now…”)

After the run around on the playground we both agreed, there NEEDS to be playgrounds for adults. Playgrounds where NO kids are allowed (so you don’t have to worry about knocking over tiny people while running like crazy or watching your language), rides big and high enough for adults, and open all hours.

Imagine a busy day at work, but taking a break on lunch to have a go on an adult-sized merry-go-round or teeter totter. We loved them as kids, had great fun, got all our frustrations out, and got exercise. Part of adult frustration is no exercise. The secret to exercising is finding an activity that’s FUN. If it’s not fun, you won’t keep doing it. I haven’t had as much fun exercising as I did playing on the playground and could see doing that every day if I could!

It would provide adults with a healthy activity, relieve stress, and help us forget the troubles a bit. You can’t be angry on a swing set!

So come on playground/park industry. Let’s make this happen. I think everyone I know who is my age would spend time on an adult playground, and we can’t be the only ones.

And fellow adults, let’s let go a bit and enjoy a go on the slide. We loved them then, and I think a part of us will ALWAYS love them. Never forget the responsibilities of being an adult, but also never forget the pure, carefree, joy of being a kid. I think finding a medium between the two is the secret to being truly happy.

90s Shooters: The Joy of the Wolfenstein – Doom Era

On May 17, 2013May 16, 2013 By James CastroIn Games, Random Fun, ReviewsLeave a comment

Though I was a video gamer from a young age, playing Atari and NES, I didn’t get into PC gaming until I was in middle school.

My first home PC was a simple IBM with no hard drive. I played games directly off a 3.5” diskette and could only play shareware versions of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and use Print Shop Pro to print on the DOT Matrix Printer. As time went on it became difficult to find games I could play that only had one disk…luckily we eventually upgraded our PC to one with a moderate hard drive (I think around 120 mb or so) and a whole new world of gaming opened up.

This was when I was introduced to shareware versions of Wolfenstein 3D, Blake Stone, and eventually Doom.

These represent the first person shooters I ever played, and some of the earliest entries into the genre. My friend Mike provided me with Wolfenstein and eventually Blake Stone. We played both shooting games on the 8^th grade newspaper computer instead of actually working on the school newspaper (I don’t know if we even had one) until we got caught.

Wolfenstein 3D was fascinating, killing all those Nazis in castle hallways. Hearing their low-fi German shouts (“Halt!” “Guten Tag!” “Mein Leben!” “Schutstaffel!”) and eventually working up to fight some strange version of Adolf Hitler in terminator armor.

Blake Stone is almost forgotten now, but it was a sci-fi game of the same making. I remember the blue-green gun and the mad scientist and green alien bad guys. Blake Stone was another one Mike and I played in English class (right behind the teacher if I recall…) and, though I never played it at home, it really got me into the corridor shooter game.

When Doom came out it changed the dynamic for me. Released from the corridors, you now moved through expansive locales and multiple-story levels. I played it on shareware, only the first few levels and I played them over and over. It’s the first “god mode” I ever used (IDDQD!) and even more often I’d use IDKFA for all weapons.

I played Doom relentlessly. I was one of the few individuals who bought a Sega 32X and even though it didn’t have a lot of games I truly enjoyed the ones it had. I listened to Use Your Illusion I & II and played Doom for months on my 32X as a middle schooler.

Once my PC could handle it I finally got a copy of Ultimate Doom and Doom II at the local Media Play and swapped the dozens of disks to install them. It was this era when you could play a game for months…even years. Turn on some midi music and play Doom for hours just as a time waster. I can’t even remember how many homework assignments I blew off to kill the Cyberdemon yet again…

I’m pretty sure the Imp sound effects are actually camel sounds. Weird to think about it now….

I actually remember it being a controversy at the time: did Doom make kids violent? It was ludicrous to me. Doom was as realistic as a cartoon (though a tad gorier than most I’ll admit) and it would follow that kids would only learn how to kill cacodemons with a keyboard while wielding a pixelated plasma rifle… How that equates to loading a pistol I’ll never understand. I’d say unless you’re a spiked imp throwing fireballs on screen and I’m a crew cut face wielding a video-chain gun society should be safe.

Doom really stands as the last first person shooter I really loved. Others came along (Duke Nukem 3D shortly after the Doom era…Kingpin when I was in college) but none really captured that Wolfenstein–Doom feeling for me. Now it’s one of my least favorite genres, burdened with a heavy emphasis on multiplayer (I’ve said it a million times…I deal with idiots all day in my real life…I don’t need to deal with anonymous idiots during my leisure time…) and less on long campaigns I could put on some music and kick back to they haven’t appealed to me.

So here’s to the 90s first person shooter. Turn on the game, turn off your brain, and enjoy some mindless (but entirely harmless) violence!

Story of the Month Wasps and Irrational Anger

On May 15, 2013May 15, 2013 By James CastroIn Story of the Month2 Comments

As I mentioned last month, the weather is getting warmer, which means all the critters of spring are beginning to arrive.

With a relatively mild winter in my area again it means we have more than usual (the same was true last year…and these critters included MICE but maybe that’s next month’s story…) and they start arriving earlier. Though spiders tend to freak people out more, nothing causes fear and panic through a school playground, office parking lot, or park picnic spot more than wasps buzzing through.

It could be because they seem to come right at you. It could be because, with their natural red and black costuming (or yellow and black depending on the species and area), they seem to be DRESSED like villains from an 80s action movie. But they seem to radiate aggression.

I’d managed to live 30-some-odd years on this planet without ever feeling the wrath of their terrible sting…until last month. Stepping barefoot into my closet to read the back of MUSTARD (of all things….) from my mini-fridge I felt a sharp pain. Like I’d trod on glass. Glass sculpted into the shape of a fanged thorn. Glass sculpted into the shape of a fanged thorn and dipped in molten lead. And venom. And HATE.

I immediately jumped back and saw I’d stepped on a wasp who stung the $#!* out of me. As the pain sunk in I vented it by brutally crushing the life out of it with all the antagonism I could muster. I spent the morning hopping on one foot, and the rest of the day refilling bags of ice and resting my foot on them to keep the pain down.

My friend Mike says being stung builds character. Bollocks to that!

After the initial wash of rage had subsided it dawned on me…that wasp stung the crap out of me…but only because I’d stepped on it. I’ve lived with venomous spiders, aggressive frogs, feisty turtles, and attitude-y cats, but only this little critter managed to really inflict serious pain. But essentially, I started that fight. Though I ended it with extreme prejudice as well, it did make me realize that reaction is essentially the same anger I get when the gate to my station wagon closed while I was getting my guitar in high school and smashed me in the head (seriously happened) or when I stood up underneath my pull-up bar and it crashed into my neck (that also happened). The immediate reaction is irrational rage at the inanimate object…just for existing… (I punched the metal pull-up bar. Yeah that was smart…) I became one of those idiots I hate who hear a bear has killed imbecile that was trying to get a picture hugging said bear and immediate go out to kill all bears.

In retrospect, I got stung, it hurt like a *&%^!#$^&#@ but I can’t blame the evil little monster who assaulted me as it was reacting to my actions. Who knows how many times I’d stab some big oaf that tried to step on me.

I’ll keep that in mind the next time a vicious, little, fire-red demon attempts to do me in via near-microscopic venom shard…

That's the one that got me... — That’s the one that got me…

Off the Top of My Head #12: Warhammer 40K Orks Dreadtrukk

On May 8, 2013May 7, 2013 By James CastroIn Games, Random Fun5 Comments

If it wasn’t clear from my previous posts, most recently the one about Dreamlike Gaming (congrats on the new store guys!) I’m pretty well into the Warhammer/Warhammer 40k hobby now.

Over the last couple months I’ve built two 40k armies. One went along with the release of the new Dark Angels codex. Dark Angels are troubled and all about smiting chaos (with their own flaws so that makes them interesting) not to mention a super-cool robed look. I love my Dark Angels army and pics of them will be coming soon. However…my favorite 40k army is orks.

Orks are a great horde army. All movement and weight of fire. They have a terrific all-id attitude and slight regard for personal survival; it’s all about the good fight.

One of the tragedies of the orks is their slightly humorous persona. Orks ARE funny and I do love that about them, but their cockney slang accents and brutish attitude usually make them difficult to tell entire stories for. I’d hate to see them lose their sense of humor but I’d like to see some good, long narratives from Black Library about them. Like Rodney Dangerfield….they get no respect. Except Ghazghkull.. If you don’t believe me read Chains of Golgotha and see how menacing this guy is.

My favorite tabletop aspect of orks is their junkyard tech. They can make things work just be believing they work, and can “loot” vehicles from other races, make ’em orky, and use them under the “looted wagon” codex profile (btw orks REALLY need a 6th edition codex…c’mon Games Workshop!)

Keeping this in mind I was able to get my hands on a Chaos Defiler for a discount price and, as I truly despise the traitors, I knew I’d never use it in a chaos army…but I could loot it!

Since it’s half Deff Dread and half Trukk I dubbed it the “Dreadtrukk.” It has parts of a Chaos Defiler, Battlewagon, Trukk, Land Raider Crusader, Wartrakk, Dakkajet, and Warbike to name a few.

Attached are pics of my looted Chaos defiler. It was a challenge to build, but I created it under codex rules and gave it:

DredTrukk	Points	Number Taken	Total
Original Points: 35			35
Skorcha	15	1	15
Big Shoota	5	2	10
Red Paint Job	5	1	5
Stikkbomb Chukka	5	1	5
Armour Plates	10	1	10
Boarding Plank	5	1	5
Wreckin’ Ball	10	1	10
Reinforced Ram	5	1	5
Grabbin’ Klaw	5	1	5

Total			105

The lower “jaw” is obviously the reinforced ram from the battlewagon. Believe it or not it is held in place with the left “arm” weapon of the Chas defiler left in two pieces. It worked remarkably well.

The Skorcha is actually the Flamestorm cannons from a Land Raider Redeemer. I made the Crusader variant but liked the look of the flamer so I was glad to use it. The turret still raises and lowers slightly which means the jaw actually “works.”

Inside the “mouth” is a ram head from a warbike.

The boarding planks I attached to the back of the trukk bed rather than the sides. Since the legs are on the sides it gives a bit more range, plus they can board whatever is “grabbed” by the Grabbin’ Klaw. For the Grabbin Klaw I used the claws that came with the Defiler and laid the trukk bed on top of them.

The “commander” is a nob with a stormboy head in a cupola made of Killa Kan shoulder pads an a vision slit.

The left side gunner is from the old Wartrakk set, I made a skorcha out of that too so I had him left over.

The right gunner is a “big shoota” boy with a nob head (no laughing!) I was very please with his posing, the big shoota held wildly in one hand and the human head held high in the other. I gave him a bloody chain axe just for fun. His “turret” is made of left over parts of the Dakkajet, a bike tire half, and Killa Kan parts.

I admit I like my orks “dirty” and scratched up even when bright and flashy. I had it painted in a nice pristine color scheme but didn’t like it until I scratched it to kingdom come with Necron compound.

I have another looted wagon I actually like better. A typical Leman Russ wth a boom gun. Pics of it and my custom warboss, Grimskragg Defftrigga, coming soon!

Click the picture below for a 360 view!

Revenant Publications

Author: James Castro