todd.tokubo.com

So… I broke down. I got myself an XBox360 for one reason: to play Mass Effect. I also got Jade Empire because I saw it on STEAM. I have LOVED Bioware games since the Baldur’s Gate series came out. They take so many little things into account that old-school RPGers like me definitely appreciate their attention to detail.

I begrudgingly tried Knight of the Old Republic (after it came out on PC) and loved it. They took that gameplay and moved it back to D&D with Neverwinter Nights. I have been waiting for Mass Effect for a while. I’m a grand total of 30 minutes into the game, and I can’t wait for my kids to go to sleep so I can play every night.

In the midst of playing games, I was tinkering with the Xbox360. Here’s my quick comparison of the XBox360 vs. the PS3:
Even:
- Backward compatibility
- Legacy games purchasable through on-line store
- Internet available demos
- DVD upconversion
- Both can cook Sunday breakfast

Pluses for the PS3:
- Gran Turismo, Grand Theft Auto
- Minor upgrades to legacy game visuals
- Better minimalistic media interface
- Standard hardware interfaces (Bluetooth, hard drives)
- Quieter than the 360
- Full Web Browser
- Remote play with PSP
- BluRay support

Pluses for the 360:
- Mass Effect, Halo
- Better overall seamless on-line approach
- Better integration with WM11 for pulling audio / video from PC (duh)
- Better DivX and Xvid codec support (surprising)
- Slightly better input method

You can tell which one was made by a PC software company and which one was made by a consumer electronics hardware company. If you can get past the Xbox Live visual overload, the Xbox360 is actually very nicely implemented system. It is clear that MS learned A LOT from their previous PC in a black box exercise. I have replaced my standard DVD players in two rooms with the 360 and PS3. Being able to pull data from my WM11-enabled PC also has be rethinking my DVR strategy.

Lemme see… For about $400, you now get a high def DVD player and media endpoint (like a DMA), along with a game console. Yeah… name two markets that need to get cheap fast if they want to succeed. Now, if more TV content was available then we’d really start talking about SCE and Microsoft taking over the living room.

To my mom and my friends (aka the people responsible for the 10 hits a week that I get.)

Had to quickly hop a flight to Asia.

The way over:

Hairspray- Remake of the movie adaptation (with Ricky Lake) of the Broadway musical. A bit of 60s swing with some good old American political unrest is still a good story. Worth the price of admission: waiting for Christopher Walken to break out the moves (if you remember the Fatboy Slim video). Loaded with star power: Travolta, Pfeiffer, Queen Latifa, Amanda Bynes, Zac Efron and James Marsen cover just about every potential viewer and age group from Grease to High School Musical and X-Men. (6/10 - Less for being a remake)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Quite dark and political for a Harry Potter film. With not so subtle hints to No Child Left Behind and the seemingly ever growing control of the Homeland Defense, the movie had a much more mature tone than previous movies. I wonder if they’ll ever make a Harry Potter book series? The usual fantastic special effects are used. (7/10)

I Now Pronouce you Chuck and Larry - Adam Sandler and the guy from King of Queens. The whole plot revolves around a guy who forgot to change this HMO options, so he fakes marrying his friend to enroll. Predictable to say the least. Sandler is much better in things like Happy Gilmore… (4/10)

The way back:

Evan Almighty - The sequel to Jim Carrey’s Bruce Almighty. It takes the anchor from the first movie and advances the story a bit. We have Steve Carrell as the guy that God turns into a neo-Moses. Pairs of animals start to show up on his lawn. The story always seems stretched, where as Bruce Almighty seemed to have a way to touch everyday life. Standard Carrell humor. If you don’t like Steve Carrell, avoid this one. (6/10)

Sicko - Let me say, I’m not a huge Michael Moore fan. SiCKO was definitely written for Middle America. If you don’t have a good job, if you aren’t financially savvy, if you’re not well travelled, SiCKO makes America look like the ass-end of health care. Moore’s film does what it intends to: make you think. Nothing more. The target this time of Moore’s microscope is the American Health Care system. Which most of us widely acknowledge as being broken. He compares it to other places like France and Cuba and shows that if the government truly cared about taking care of its citizens then socialized health care is the way to go. However, socialist has been a dirty word in America since the 1940s… Anyway, I digress. The story is touching, but as usual, those who are well-educated and well-traveled feel like the film is being quite sensationalist. In usual Moore style, it only shows how other health care systems have evolved, not how to solve the problem here in the states, but he shows you what doesn’t work. Health care as a business has it’s faults. It does make you think… How would you fix health care… (7.5/10)

The Simpsons Movie - It’s an almost 2 hour version of the TV show. Homer messes up (again). Lisa is too smart for her own good (again). Bart skateboards naked and had a split second of FFN. If you like the TV series, you’ll like the movie. (7/10)

Transformers - As a child of the 80s, I was both waiting for this movie and dreading it. Steven Spielberg on-board: Yes! Michael Bay: we’ll see… Bumblebee as a Camaro - sacrilege. Optimus Prime as a Peterbuilt - AARRGH. The whole GM sponsorship of the movie really left a bad taste in my mouth. The movie jumped from typical Michael Bay action to campy, cheesy kiddy lines. There were enough little bits for fanboys to keep themselves busy, but the change of the robots to more complex organic looking vs. the clean four-color robots of yesteryear was a bit much. The complex design of the robots made it tough to watch. The movie flowed like the first episode of a longer set. Even with lowered expectations, it was still tough to watch. (6/10 because I actually loved the original TV show)

Via Digg.

Here’s a quick hit of 15 in demand careers.  The titles are horribly generic.  Almost all of these really require a form of specialization at some point.  Again, it’s worth pointing out that just getting the degree doesn’t guarantee you results…

Via Lifehacker:

Twentysomething: Why I regret getting straight A’s in college

Outstanding. Incredible. Dead on.

Where this article ends, is there I start with the debate of going to grad school or not.  As usual, my two cents follows:

1. No one has ever asked about my GPA.
This can close some doors to getting an interview.

2. I didn’t sleep.
I didn’t sleep either, but I had a lot of fun not sleeping… Think about blowing 80 hours a week for something you’re going to forget 95%.

3. I’ve forgotten 95% of it.
True. 6 quarters of math and calculus and now I barely use it on a day-to-day basis. The important part is that all of these types of exercises have be seen as a problem solving exercise. I hear too many people talking about “why do I have to learn this stuff”? This work is

4. I didn’t have time for people.
Really important point. The best people in my career have been people from college who

5. Work experience is more valuable.
Especially for engineers, this is key. If you

Now, I’m not saying don’t try for good grades. Doing so will open doors. Good grades will get you interviews. However, they will not ensure a good interview. However, if you know what you’re looking for, good grades are far less important.

As opposed to the bad habits that we always seem to concentrate on:

• 7 Habits of Highly Innovative People
• other links from thinksimplenow.com
  • How to Capture Creativity
  • 9 Ways of Cultivating Creativity

Probably the most interesting thing to an engineer would be the fact that the guidelines in these articles pretty much directly apply to engineering work.

SURPRISE!!!! Engineering is a creative undertaking. If you think engineering is all about logic, math and science, you’re missing the point that the right half of your brain needs to get involved from time to time.

These are also great guidelines for engineering managers to look out how to deal with those who work in their group.