Category: General

I’m often thinking about the future. Mostly about how society will change, and my usual corresponding feeling is that I wish that change didn’t take so long. And then I get mad at those that stand in the way of progress by holding onto the past.

Why are people so afraid of change? Nostalgia? Lack of introspection into what they really care about, what really matters, and the inevitability of change? Fear that a different world might be a worse place for them? The problem (particularly with the last one) is that the world is a pretty crappy place for a lot of people, and you’re stopping them from improving their lives.

My general philosophy around change is composed of two main concepts:

1. Everything is transient
2. Why put off the inevitable?

Let’s consider a few issues with the above points in mind:

• Gay marriage. It’s going to happen eventually, and society will look back at those that fought against it (knowing that they could only delay it) as spiteful bigots. Think about how we consider those people who were against inter-racial marriage because it was “unnatural” and would produce “mongrel” children. Just accept that social mores are changing and get out of the way. You’re embarrassing yourself and others.
• Physical media. Bookshops will go under. CD/DVD/BluRay stores will go under. Selling stuff on physical media has no long-term future outside of a niche market (like record sales). Don’t lament it, celebrate it. Moreover, get rid of your stuff. When was the last time you used a cookbook rather than just looking up a recipe online?
• Paying for pollution. Without getting into the merits/shortcomings of any particular pollution pricing policy, it’s completely nuts that wanton pollution of the environment has been a short-cut to economic success for pretty much the entire industrial age. Why is it that we have landfills full of crap, islands of trash in the oceans, and so much carbon in the atmosphere? It’s because it costs next-to-nothing to throw things out, and even less to pollute the air. This is completely unsustainable. Given that it must change eventually, why fight the basic concept?

Aside from issues that are being held up, there’s a lot of impending cultural change that will affect various industry and social sectors. Realistically, those who have grown-up surrounded by Internet technology won’t see the value in a lot of things that those who haven’t (or didn’t embrace it when it came along) hold dear, and this will lead to gradual change in:

• Ownership. Many older people lived through times of great inflation and would hold onto things “just in case”. Everything you owned was an investment in some way. Conversely, younger people would have seen most things constantly depreciate (particularly technology products that drop in relative performance and real value at an astonishing rate). Why hold onto things or purchase stuff because it’s cheap and you just might need it later on? Wait until the last minute. Only buy what you need right now. Better yet, subscribe or rent so that you always have the latest stuff (more often media than gear). Even better, it’s probably available to stream online.
• Services. You can save a lot of money by doing things yourself right? Or so it seems. Given the dilemma and burden of ownership, isn’t it better to just get a gardener (rather than buy and maintain a lawnmower and other equipment)? Would someone with no emotional-formative-years connection to CDs really prefer to amass a collection at $20-30 a disc if they can pay $9 a month and stream music to their heart’s content. Services are more convenient and (as the market grows and pricing works itself out) will become an increasingly mainstream preference over product purchases. I wonder what this is going to mean for diy-stuff-you-won’t-ever-use businesses like Bunnings?
• Drugs. There is a huge market for drugs. People want all sorts of drugs. They just don’t want the negative (personal health or social) side-effects. Alcohol has been the recreational drug of choice for many years, because it’s legal and culturally accepted. However, energy drinks are increasingly popular for people who want to party without being a jerk and ending up with a hangover. People want to be able to choose how they want to feel and what side-effects they are willing to tolerate. Interestingly, I think that wider drug use and legalistion will be driven by the older generation. As they approach old-age, they’re going to want the memory enhancers, libido boosters, energy drinks, and anti-depressants. Before you know it you’ll be buying synthetic mood-enhancers at your local Woolworths, because it’s serving their needs rather than the demands of the younger generation. With modern medical technology and industry regulation, these drugs will be safer and more predictable. Everybody wins.
• Religion. Does anyone really think that we’re going to allow belief in the supernatural to guide public decision-making in 1000 years time? Really? Even if society hasn’t abandoned religion by then, it would likely be so religiously diverse that the importance of secular governance will be even more self-evident. So why hold up progress? Sanction everyone’s right to believe what they want, but also ensure that people don’t have others’ religious beliefs thrust upon them. Why the hell can’t we buy alcohol on “Good Friday”? Surely that’s an insane restriction with a limited lifespan. We’ll look back on that and think: how did that last so long? Oh that’s right, it was in the olden days.

Hmmm, that’s probably enough ranting for today. I’m trying to write once each week on either Friday or Saturday now, so expect more thoughts next week.

I’ve been thinking a lot about partnerships recently.

I’m involved in two major partnerships: a life partnership with Heidi, and a professional partnership with Minh. I feel that it’s vitally important for each partnership to act as an inseparable atomic unit (in regards to its own area), conducting its activities with the best interests of the individual partners in mind.

Heidi and I don’t make major life decisions alone, we have no independent personal finances, and we don’t keep secrets from each other. I really can’t imagine sharing my life with someone in other way.

Likewise, Minh and I make all our professional decisions together, we bill as a single entity, and we have complete professional disclosure. Our income is split down the middle, and we try to match each other’s time commitment. I know that there are other ways to go about business, but this suits me to a tee.

There’s something deeply fulfilling about partnership. You have to trust in the other person completely, and you feel a great deal of responsibility to ensure that you are taking care of them to the best of your ability.

That level of trust and responsibility are fairly difficult to accept at first. In both partnerships, we initially gravitated towards making things perfectly equal: splitting expenses, splitting the billable work, taking turns doing chores. Simply trying to feel that everything is undertaken in the same measure.

That sort of equality is superficial, unrepresentative, and (for all intents and purposes) impossible to balance. The beauty and value of good partnerships are that the partners are different and incomparable. Each contributes in unique and immeasurable ways, and I feel that you’re better off pursuing partnerships in which both are committed and not worried about quantifying value.

It may be difficult to do, but I’ve found that the sooner you think of yourself as one entity and the sooner that you stop keeping score, the sooner your partnership will flourish and the happier and more successful you will be.

But you know, YMMV.

“My wife is pregnant.” Just reading those words aloud makes me feel… very grown up I suppose… and happy obviously… and reflective.

Heidi fell pregnant around 20 weeks ago, but we didn’t say much about it to anyone outside of family and close friends. We wanted to wait until the initial anatomy scans to be sure that the pregnancy was viable.

Now everything is looking good. Ten fingers, ten toes, good growth, all normal. I think that she looks just like me, but Heidi doesn’t seem so convinced yet.

Expecting a baby has motivated me to consider what they may pick-up from my day-to-day interactions. I figure that you can tell a child how to behave all you want, but they will ultimately learn by watching you.

I hope she learns to be bold, focussed, respectful, assertive, healthy, considerate, and happy. I think we’re pretty close to that in our lives… although we could do with getting rid of some boxes, and organising our meals better.

Beyond that I think about what sort of life I want her to have. Living in different places helps you become well-rounded. I think “maybe we should plan for relocation after a few years”… and then I stop thinking so much.

We’re so fortunate that we’re able to be concerned about such minor things. She’ll have a home and parents that love her. She’ll be fine.

I just got back from a short trip to Singapore. It was great times, I’m really glad that I went, and I hope to have occasion to return later in the year.

I was originally expecting to go to Freeplay last weekend, but Heidi had a workshop in Singapore and wanted some company. Plus, the Singapore Toy, Game & Comic Convention (STGCC) was on and I figured that I could check it out.

I got to wander around by myself during the day and then hung out with Heidi at night. I made a little check-list of things to do and got through most of them, so it felt pretty productive (note that most items were food-related).

Anyhow, here are a bunch of photos. Let’s start with this one of a place near Chinatown with awesome Chicken Rice set meals for AU$3.50:

The apparently well-regarded (although that one guy gave them 7/10) Song Fa Bak Kuh Teh was also pretty good. This European guy next to me got all sorts of intestines, and a Japanese couple nearby seemed to have heard about it online.

While I took the opportunity to touch up on my Singlish, I found that some groups were discouraging it entirely.

This photo was taken near the Riverside hi-so area. It’s some sort of outdoor cooler… but why would you make it look like that? Why?

STGCC was a pretty seamless mix of Western and Eastern comics, art, and games. I suppose that it was a lot like Singapore, but with more rangers and storm-troopers.

For me, the highlight of the convention was the talk by Simone Legno, the artist behind tokidoki. He spoke about building a lifestyle brand over the course of 10 years, delving into his personal history, artistic influences, product development, and rising corporate profile. It was a fantastic talk.

Here’s a photo of Simone signing the panels of the tokidoki booth:

Hmmm, yeah so that was my trip. I want to go back later in the year for more of the food. Maybe a group trip. Let’s do it! 😀

Thai life insurance ads are pretty popular online and now Thai Life Insurance have started their own channel, featuring this new video:

Growing up in Thailand in Australia, I can appreciate the very different approaches to television advertising between the two countries. In Australia, the same advertisement can be on television over a number of years, but runs are much shorter in Thailand so there’s always something fresh and they seem to put a lot more effort in.

via chinasmack (with interesting commentary on the response in China).

Minh and I are posting work-related stuff over at Guts Up! every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Most of the stuff we can post about is concerned with:

• Video streaming
• HTML5, WebGL, multi-touch
• Natural user interface developing using the Kinect
• Cloud-based server hosting

So follow our posts if that sort of thing interests you.

In other news, it turns out that I like routine. Here’s my rough weekly schedule:

• Monday: Let’s Make Games
• Tuesday: Semi-secret online video business
• Wednesday: Business administration, contract work
• Thursday: Contract work
• Friday: Contract work, Music game development
• Saturday: Farmers Market, hanging with Heidi
• Sunday: Yum Cha, socialising

I feel like there should be another day at the end of the week, and the activity should simply be “PROFIT”.

Update: Show your support on the facebook page.

I’m looking for collaborators interesting in helping me reproduce “Please Do Not Enter” here in Perth:

For a basic reproduction, I will need:

1. A security guard: Amiable and willing to memorise and repeat specified lines
2. A venue: An exhibition space housing other works with a large empty space
3. Materials: Packing materials, a yellow bin, a sign, and a rope safety barrier

For a fully-realised reproduction, in addition to the above I will require:

1. A funding partner: Able to cover associated costs
2. A travel partner: Able to fly participants to Perth from the US
3. An advertising/promotional partner: To get behind this project

“Please Do Not Enter” has been described as:

A good comment on the disposable American society.

And:

Absolutely brilliant. There is so much debate about what is — and isn’t — art… It’s a conversation between two people on opposite sides of the issue

Another reaction:

Wow. I didn’t see all that.

Given the global impact of exported American culture, I feel that the social commentary made by “Please Do Not Enter” is pertinent within a contemporary Western Australian context. Moreover, the piece has a modern cultural reference which will resonate with the general public.

If this project achieves a high level of support, I would like to get the original materials and participants (chiefly the security guard from the original installation at the Smithsonian American Art Museum). I would also like to invite the original artist to comment on their work.

Let’s work together to make this a reality. I only require a few key partners to produce a referential reproduction, but major partners such as the Department for Culture and the Arts, the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Qantas, and Youtube could make this happen on an unprecedented scale.

Please contact me directly if you are able to help and would like to get involved.

This site has been pretty quiet (with only one blog post for each of the last two months). Everything seems to be happening on twitter and facebook these days, and my blogging time is usually split between Let’s Make Games and Guts Up!.

In order to compensate for the lack of updates of late, I’m posting a brief summary of what I’ve been up to in the last couple of months.

April:

• Broke my phone. Gah! The screen looked like it was shattered and then the pieces were stuck back on, but it was pretty new and still worked… so I had trouble justifying replacing it. Plus, I’m lazy.
• Attended X|Media|Lab Perth. I’ve had a post about this sitting in my drafts for weeks, but I’ll summarise a little here: A great way to tap into experience and explore ideas, and critically analyse your project and team. Also, Minh was part of a winning team. Go Minh!
• Moved house. Back into the family home. My parents are overseas indefinitely and the place has been renovated and emptied, but it still feels a little… nostalgic. It’s got a big yard and the cats are happy. We’re probably going to be unpacking boxes for a while… but we’re pretty settled now.

My poor broken phone (a Huawei IDEOS). It was my first smartphone and amazing value for money. I wish that I hadn’t dropped it:

Josh, Simon, and I at X|Media|Lab (images courtesy xmedialab):

May:

• Trip to Melbourne: Heidi had a practical exam in Melbourne and we turned the trip into a week-long affair. We celebrated our second wedding anniversary and mostly spent time with her sister’s family. I caught up with my brother and cousin, and spent the week in a state of perpetual satiety due to the abundance of good food (and vegetarian fast food).
• Business planning: My love for spreadsheets has reached new depths. They’re one of the best tools for informed decision-making. I’ve also grown to love Google Docs, and I abhor when I have to go back to using non-collaborative office programs.
• Got a new phone: Yay! Why didn’t I get this earlier. The screen is huge and it’s better than the old phone in every way. Except it’s quite a bit bigger…

Two of my favourite Melbourne dishes: Cucumber w/ Garlic Sauce and Deep-fried Chicken in Chilli (from Sichuan House):

Bruce all settled into the new place, and enjoying a tree in the back/side yard:

One last thought: I was amazed that Google doesn’t have Melbourne public transport in Google maps, and even more amazed to realise how much I depend on it (and my GPS-enabled smartphone) here in Perth.

 

I went to my first “The sketch group for sketching. As a group. In Perth” meetup on Saturday. It was at the Perth Zoo, and it was totally awesome!

Here are some photos of my sketchbook:

My basic process was: fine line work using an Artline 200, followed by thicker lines using a Sharpie, and then shading using a 2B pencil. I think it worked out well. In regards to the actual sketches, the rhino is probably my favourite. After that the ghost bat eating a mouse, and then the zebra (although the head is a little big).

Simon and Jenna (the event organiser; thanks!) have also put some of their sketches online. It’s interesting to see how different people approach the same subject matter, and I feel that there is a lot I can learn at these events. 😉

Note: The photos are slightly amber due to lighting. They were originally even more orange, but I desaturated them a little using a command I picked up from Suovainaja’s blog post on using mogrify:

mogrify -modulate 100,50,100 *