More Brain Training

Dr. Kawashima must be doing well for Nintendo: the game he inspired and gave his name to, Brain Age, was the killer app for the Nintendo DS, sold millions worldwide, and helped create a new gaming genre from the ground up.

Brain Age 2, or More Brain Training is the sequel to this title, and serves to cash in on the success of the DS and the edutainment/training game genre. It is delightfully similar to the original, making you feel instantly at home. All the controls are still there, the styling hasn't changed, and the sound is what you'd expect. And then of course you throw yourself into the training proper:

• you start off with a rock, paper, scissors game that takes quite a while to get used to. Especially if you've all been growing up to win rock, paper, scissors, it's strange to have to lose when Kawashima asks you to; it takes so much time, I was 68 when the game ended.
  
• then you can start doing some small exercises. Now after one day only three exercises are open to you: a maths exercise requiring you to fill in the missing operator, a spelling exercise where you have to form words from jumbled up letters, and a musical exercise, that asks you to tap the right chords to a song in time to the music. Another opens very soon, another maths exercise that requires you to give back correct change at a cash register, and one where you have to identify words spoken to you from the DS. I've not opened up any more exercises yet, but these are already challenging.

Compared to the original the exercises seem a little harder. It was terrible to see that I couldn't really do the jumbled letters test well, but maybe that's just a matter of recognition. The listening exercise is really, really hard, but that may be a technical limitation. The DS speakers are simply not that good.

Then again the original's exercises (the house occupants' one for example) proved to be no challenge at all after a while, were stale or boring (100 maths formulae, or the memory game) or were seriously flawed (the reading aloud one). So these are somewhat of an improvement.

Of course, we have to hold off on the final verdict until I've gone through the entire game, but for now, let's call it a 30 Euro luxury, instead of a necessity.

World Crashing Down Around You

So you're a world champion, idolized by many, regarded as the very best of your kind. You are a hero figure, a fighter, a warrior, a well-respected fan favorite.

And then one day you don't show up for work. Actually you call-in with a family emergency, and you go home. Next thing we know, you're found dead in your home, along with wife and son. The investigation is treated as double murder/suicide, which is confirmed by all the authoritative sources. And then the world comes crashing down on you...

Only you know what happened this past weekend. It doesn't stop everyone else to try to cope with your death. Speculation if rife, drawing conclusions is done plenty. How did you come this far? Some see it as an opportunity to mock pro wrestling, or to point out the character flaws, the lifestyle and the addictions that many personalities have in that industry. Others don't want to accept this harsh reality as a given, and either wallow in tears for the loss of a dear idol, or murder the person after the fact, just to make sense of it all.

Details and conclusive facts won't be available for some time. Could be days, could be months. In the meantime people will do everything mentioned above just to make sense - mainly to themselves - of what is obviously a tragic, unexpected and disastrous turn of events. People won't wait for the truth. They can't. They'd go crazy.

As a colleague of mine displayed recently: the truth is how people see themselves, not what the truth actually is.

- Chris Benoit 1967-2007

Two Months Later This Still Deserves A Mention

Geeky? Maybe. Looks like this guy has too much time on his hands? I guess so. But it is the best homage to the Matrix, John Woo, video games, feminism seen so far.

The Nintendo Generation

Slowly approaching 30 and already I'm berating younger, more junior colleagues. I could say stuff like "Kids today...", or "In my day...", and I would be right. I could ridicule them for jumping, and I would still be right.

It's not just an age thing though, the entire mentality of my generation opposed to the one coming out of school the past two years is completely wack. These guys want everything, from their cars and their pay, to their career choices, houses, sports and television to be fed to them on a silver platter. And they want it now. As if they're pushing buttons and stuff is supposed to happen to them, just like that.

Thing is, with the internet, MSN, hyves, youtube and the like people hear about the latest information and the greatest success stories faster than ever before. And people tell you exactly how to emulate it. Next, people get frustrated because the trick only worked once, and it did not work for them. And then they up and leave.

People are much too used to experiencing immediate cause and effect, with a remote controller or a gamepad, and they expect everything else in life to work the same.

Welcome to the Nintendo Generation.

Crash and burn

What's with these guys lately? NBA baller J.R. Smith gets thrown out of his vehicle in a wicked car crash, that actually killed his passenger. Baseball pitcher Josh Hancock gets himself killed in a motorcycle accident. Last year Pittsburgh Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was involved in a motorcycle accident as well. And now fellow NFL player Lavar Arrington suffered the same fate.

What's with these guys? Even if you are a big superstar on the road, in traffic you are just the same as everyone else. Okay... maybe you got the bigger cars or the faster ones, but they wreck totally just the same.

Then again since when did their off-game activities become national news? Normal accidents, with just as much impact are not even a sidenote in the local newspaper, but when one of these guys gets himself wrapped around a telephone pole, they get frontpage billing.

Learning from past mistakes

When the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated, careful analysis after the fact showed that part of the shielding was damaged during takeoff. This was not picked up upon until it was too late. Now with the current mission the bright guys and girls at NASA are more alert to damage sustained during takeoff.

About a week ago there was this newsbite that basically said the shuttle was damaged. Then later on the news said the damage sustained was minor. Just a little thermal blanket. Still considering the cost of one shuttle, and the fact they won't make any more, it's better to be safe then sorry.

Do you think astronauts applaud when they land safely?

Unwanted attention

Humility is a great virtue, one that saves you a lot of trouble, and can still bring you a lot of good things if you're really, really good. (Unfortunately, if you show great humility, but aren't good at all, then you - rightfully - don't get anything.) Coupled with a well-developed skill like social awareness humility can become a strong weapon to build your career on.

Here's a real-life example. You could try to do a group picture shoot, and keep to the side and let others take the front. Suddenly Mr. Photographer might just switch the point of view around and shoot the group from the side... where you just happen to be front and center.

Of course, your positive attitude brings out the best in the picture. How's that for exposure?

Where was Don McMillan when I needed him?

Nuff said.

How Many Bad Gambles Can You Have

Dutch television agents are probably the worst gamblers in the world. These are the guys who buy television shows (usually American) to fill their programming with. You would think that they would be able to discern good shows from bad ones, but unfortunately they keep missing the mark.

It gets worse: when they start advertising shows heavily as the big hit series from the U.S.A. and then find out the show was cancelled even before the show hits the Dutch airwaves, how stupid would you feel? It happened to:

• The Nine
• Daybreak
• The Class
• Summerland
• Out Of Practice

Now apparently good shows the Dutch can't pay for. So much that they get dumb and start programming it at around 23:55 on a Thursday or Friday night. This happened to:

• The Sopranos
• The West Wing
• The Agency
• My Name Is Earl

And of course you keep rerunning the same old shows over and over again, like:

• Friends (ENOUGH ALREADY)
• The A-Team
• Will & Grace
• ER
  

If you know a series is gonna cost a lot of money, why would you spend it so unwisely? And if you wanna gamble, why do it this way? Why do you programme a television evening like a novice poker player plays a hand?

The Heart, The Head, The Gut: NBA Finals 2007

One more final to go before we head into the summer, and it's a doozy... Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs versus LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Heart says: Cavs win. Simply because the Spurs are rather bland, not really colourful (literally). Okay I give them Eva Longoria, but other than that there's nothing really fun about the Spurs. They're decent but boring, opposed to Cleveland's new found pizzazz in LeBron James. It's good to see if the NBA finally has its new superstar, after Michael Jordan, and winning the NBA title this year will definitely usher in that era. James has certainly brought the franchise back from their weak period starting in the mid-nineties, when the Cavs themselves were a boring team.

The Head says: Spurs win. On the grand stage of world basketball the Spurs have a collection of players that's simply impressive. Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Bruce Bowen, Michael Finley, and of course the indomitable Tim Duncan. The Spurs have experience on their side, having been to the NBA Finals three times already since 1998 and winning each trip. The Cavaliers have nothing to show, except for some regular season wins over San Antonio, and the rush of having beaten the Detroit Pistons for four straight in the Eastern Conference finals.

The Gut says: Spurs win. Two years ago I simmed a couple of NBA seasons in EA Sports NBA 06 (playing the Lakers mind you), and for the 2006/2007 season I couldn't beat the Spurs in the West playoffs. I was blown out. The Spurs would go on to reach the NBA Finals... against the Cleveland Cavaliers. That means a computer game called this match-up two years before it actually happened! Mind you the Spurs won that simulated series as well, 4-2.

Wink

It's getting really scary now... I don't even have to say anything, just a wink and a nod, and I'm in.

It would be really useful if it was for a club, or a fancy restaurant, or a championship game final, or even a bloody plane ride. But NOOO... just your regular neighbourhood hospital...

The Heart, the Head, the Gut: NHL Stanley Cup Finals 2007

The Stanley Cup final is coming Monday, and this time it sees the Anaheim Ducks face the Ottawa Senators. Either one could win their first Stanley Cup. Supposedly its going to be an exciting series. And like the last couple of finals, it pits a Canadian team against a southern US, non-traditional-hockey territory team.

The Head says: on the one side you've got a Ducks team, that - while powerful - is not very effective in front of goal. Teemu Selanne has always been a feared scorer, and in fact many different Ducks managed to score, but it's not exactly a tale of riches to say the least. On the other side you've got the Senators, who've got Jason Spezza, Dan Alfredsson, Dany Heatley who pretty much make up half Ottawa's entire goals production these playoffs on their own. If the Ducks defense, Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger, can stop this line, and the Ducks can get production from all of their offensive lines, they will win. It would suit the last two finals as well, when the Southern U.S. team (Carolina, Tampa Bay) would beat the Canadian team (Edmonton, Calgary). Purely from an observer point of view, the Ducks have the better and more experienced goalie (Giguere over Ottawa's Emery), although the difference isn't all that great. Even so... Ducks win.

The Heart says: I've been playing EA Sports NHL for a while now, and two players that always got roster spots in my teams, were Mike Fisher and Mike Comrie. Lo and behold, both play for Ottawa this season.
In addition I found it a travesty to see the Stanley Cup in the hands of regions where hockey is not really appreciated. After all these years it's about time that a Canadian team brought the Cup back north of the border. Senators win.

The Gut says: Difficult, difficult... which one has the better story? Either one would win their first Cup, so that can't be it. Media has been calling attention to Daniel Alfredsson being the first European-born captain in the Stanley Cup finals, so maybe I'll swing that way. Ducks have home-ice advantage though, and there's still that losing streak that Canadian teams have at the moment... it would be nice if the Senators would bring back the Cup to Canada, after two previous failed attempts.
Senators in seven.

Relationship momentum

After you've been around for a while all the people you've met, - worked with, had fun with, played sports with, drank with, ate with, slept with, went on vacation with, - are going to be running around the world and sometimes you won't speak to each other in years. And then all of a sudden you get into contact again, either through pure coincidence, similar interests, MySpace, class reunions and... you always get the same couple of questions:

• what are you doing now, where do you work
• have you seen or do you still speak some mutual random person tm
• ... and that's basically it...

When people enter into any kind of relationship, be it friendly, business, sports, romantic, or adversarial, the roles, personalities and events that play around them decide how things go. Sometimes a relationship is established quickly, others take years or even generations to develop. All that is a matter of momentum. Some people have a lot of it with some, and nearly nothing with others.

Now when erstwhile friends meet up who haven't spoken to each other for quite a while, the relationship has to be rekindled. The longer you haven't spoken to each other, and the farther the distance, the more a previous relationship's momentum (if any) has died down. In this context people must regain momentum to move the relationship again to any significant level.

Of course some people gain momentum extremely quickly, no matter if it has been fifty years since they last met, or if they've never met before. There are also other factors that influence the speed that people can re-establish relationships with: similar interests or shared experiences, family bonds, institutions (marriage, birthdays, funerals, graduations, traditions) a degree of personal friendliness and being accepting to others, willingness to reset the relationship at all. A relationship with high momentum is more likely to get sustained and is more likely to get revived after an idle period, than one that has none.

So when it comes to relationships, momentum is key. If you are inclined to keep as many relationships alive as possible, then keep triggering those positive momentum changers.

Silver Linings

Busy is in the eye of the beholder. It can't really be called busy if the majority of your activities are self-inflicted, self-served or self-chosen. Nonetheless everybody can fill up all hours of his or her day extremely quickly with all kinds of tasks. It could be a sport, a job, even a person.

You can complain all you want about not having enough time, but it's all a choice. You can be as busy or not as you want... as long as you realize that there are consequences and if you want to carry them.

Sometimes you get less busy involuntarily... you might get a signal from your body (getting sick or getting stressed), or something else happens: You get locked in your elevator, or you crash your car, or you get stopped by police. Anyways, when that happens it's best to look at the silver linings: at least you got to fill up your time with something new and exciting. And that is the source of great stories...

The Head, the Heart, the Gut: Champions League 2007

The rematch is here: tonight Liverpool will take on AC Milan in the final of the UEFA Champions League. Two years ago (that long already) Liverpool shocked the world by coming back from 3-0 down to beat the heavily favoured Italians after a penalty shoot-out. Of course this time, Milan won't be so blase. They will be cautious and careful to hopefully not trip over themselves. The teams playing will be roughly the same, even though Milan has seen some turnover opposed to 2005 (no more Shevchenko, Crespo, Stam), and the Reds added Kuyt, and Crouch.

The Heart says: Liverpool wins, because you cannot hear You'll Never Walk Alone too many times.

The Head says: Milan wins; Liverpool simply hasn't been consistent enough this past season, which is why they had little to play for in the Premiership. Milan has been impressive against Man United, and I do see them attain the same level of play. Milan in Kaka and Seedorf have more elite players than Liverpool (Gerrard).

The Gut says: Milan wins; I'm going out on a limb here, but the Italians will be more careful this time around. Despite the true cupfighter mentality of the Reds, I don't see them upsetting Milan twice in the same decade.

I do hope for a penalty shootout though. In which case, I think Milan should not put all their eggs in Dida's basket...

It's just a game

I know it's just a game, and I know Korea is a bit weird (especially about this particular game)... But just look at this video (which is actually pretty good), and listen to the crowd, when the title comes on.



Truly I haven't heard a whole crowd go nuts like this for a video game ever.

My Company's Favorite Jokes

For some reason people who've been with the company for longer than two years generate a form of humour that's kind of subtle, and oh so very typical. It is also very shallow, and is repeated far too often the higher you get up the pyramid.
Jokes include:

• if you happen to leave at about 17:00, people will quip "you got the afternoon off boy?" or "working half days now are we?"
• when you've been around, you're bound to have left behind a lot of projects, teams and old friends. If you did good, you probably meet up again at a banquet, company drink, or dinner. Managers always like to joke about "hey, did you hear already? you're coming back to the team next week!"
• somebody in another team messes up, that person becomes a running joke throughout the week. If someone in your own team messes up, you ignore it.
  

Somehow this has to be a sign that the company culture is not heading in the right direction. I just can't tell which sign.

When the stars are aligned

...you could break your locks, have water leak through the ceiling, get rubbish smeared all over your walls, get chewn out, receive speeding tickets, get picked up, get shot down, laugh your ass off, cry like a baby, forget where you are, find your way, meet old friends, lose new friends, get promoted, get booted...

...and at the end it just feels like you didn't spend a worthwhile weekend, and you just feel tired. You didn't do anything physical, but it feels like you ran a marathon three times over.

When the world seems to throw you sliders, do you duck or back away? No, you face everything head on... and it's this mentality that tires us out. Sometimes it may be better to get struck out, and try again later.

More work observations

• I know I've been talking about the differences between consultants and programmers a while back, but maybe the differences between managers and the rest are more funny. For example managers are good at patting their people on the backs. In fact they're so good at it, they they pride themselves on it, even to the point where they get competitive with other managers who can get the best compliments down, who can do it the fastest, who can do it with the most fervour, etc...
• Consultants and managers look down on their computers. That's why they never (take the time to) use a separate screen for their laptops. A computer is a tool, something to be used as a means to an end. This also means they look down as a natural posture. If they're tall from the outset, that's fine, but it looks rather funny if they are smallish.
• Programmers look up to their computers. Programmers take the time to put laptops on a pedestal (or in this case, a desk riser), or to use a proper, bigger separate screen. They always look up or straight. Of course, seeing they spend a huge amount of time behind their computers, they have to do all this, lest they get all kinds of physical complaints. To them the computer is their friend, a pal. Some even give computers first names.
  

This is why consultants look down on programmers.

All Alone

In NFL you win together, and you lose together. Every pass, every run, every block, everything is a joint effort.

In baseball a pitcher is completely on his own on the mound, but he's never alone on defense and he has fielders around him to get his ass out of the fire.

I guess in basketball you could conceivably get the last shot of the game (the infamous buzzer beater), but while definitely dramatic, it has to be a team-on-team exercise.

But the penalty shootout in soccer is where you can truly be alone. Nothing is more dramatic than failing to convert a penalty. Much like Ryan Donk did today against Ajax in the final of the Dutch Cup. All the weight of the team, the club, the fans, maybe even the nation, rests on the shooter's shoulders. And if you miss, it is you that has missed. It's just you against the keeper. No one else. No team mates to blame. No one there to pass back on.

Ironically in the shootout the shooter is in the firing line, not the other way around.

N.B.: showing just what a class roster AZ has, at the end of the game the entire group gathered round Donk, who was crying his eyes out. In a great show of support, they shared his grief with him.