I mentioned Valkyrie Sky earlier — it’s a “freemium” MMORPG from Korea (freemium MMORPGs seem to be a major export for that country). I’ve also been seeing Flash games on Kongregate run this model, apparently since Flash developers also want to eat as well.

For those not familiar with the free-to-play model: you can play it for free, but if you want to look cool it will cost you. Purchase better equipment and items, skip all of that boring grind. It works particularly well by feeding on your psychological weaknesses — by the time you’re looking at the real-money-for-fake-item shop, you’ve already invested 10+ hours into your character. It’s escalating commitment against sunk costs.

Granted, Valkyrie Sky has a lot more skill involved in the gameplay than World of Warcraft‘s “spam all of your abilities” battles; you can grind bosses down with your wimpy attacks, as long as you can do it within the ~10 minute time span without getting hit. I don’t think I’ll be buffing myself to redonkulous DPS just yet; I’d be missing the challenge.

– Alex

For those that don’t know Mr. Resetti, I present you his 20 min monolog that happens when you reset animal crossing without saving first:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze5MPltFz34

Danny

Here’s a chart of how some common MMORPGs are seen by players of other MMORPGs. The idea is inspired by this image comparing some popular programming languages (we even ended up using the same Office Space stock image).

In related news, Danny has got me hooked on a muh-more-pig-uh called Valkyrie Sky. It’s a mash-up of the fantasy MMORPG and shmup genres. It’s pretty okay for a freemium game, but the English is rather… Engrishy at times (For example, the weather sometimes says “It’s a clear day. Feel so good.“)

– Alex

I was first introduced to the Utah Teapot during my internship at ALT Software. ALT is a computer graphics company that specializes in writing drivers for aircrafts, like the Eurofighter. A co-worker was showing me a test case for a demo when I first saw this teapot. I found it hard to believe that it is a standard object in libraries like GLUT. Goes to show we are just THAT bored in the world of programming.

Danny

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_teapot

–Alex

I’ve been really bogged down with work lately. It feels like there are too many unknowns, and too little time in my life. I want an escape, but I just can’t quit the grind. I think the only way out is to reorganize, clean up my room and apply the “Getting Things Done” methodology.

Funny story about this book, I ended up borrowing it from my CEO. It took me 3 months to finish, as it was boring as hell, so I ended up avoiding him in the office the entire time. I had to listen to the book in audio form in order finish it, because the pace was so slow.

Danny

I’m feeling kind of bummed out because my kick-boxing gym closed down. Not only did I lose a months membership, but I also lost a great place with great people to workout with.

We take for granted how hard it is to start a successful business. We end up ragging on the big businesses, yet we forget that they all started out as a small business just trying to get by. Sure they may have grown to a bloated monster, but wouldn’t you be sad if McDonalds closed down forever? Think of all the jobs that McDonalds maintains.

Danny

Re: MikuMikuDance

Vocaloid is a Japanese voice synthesizer used for lyrics in songs and whatnot. Apparently some guy made a dynamic 3D renderer for the mascots (Hatsune Miku, et al.). Now you too can re-create famous Michael Jackson dance moves without busting a real-life hip. You can find other MikuMikuDance videos imported onto YouTube; this is my favourite so far.

I downloaded it and played around with it for a little bit; I got a thirty second clip of her moving her leg, and then blinking. That was time well spent.=p

If you want to try it yourself, here’s the download link: http://www.geocities.jp/higuchuu4/index_e.htm

– Alex