GDC 2011 San Francisco Quick Hits: Prototype 2, Samsung Photo App

Some really quick, brief early morning Game Developers Conference hits.

NOTE: San Francisco Hotel Parc 55 has a GDC Bar Special - 55 percent off the second drink for GDC badge holders. Go to the hotel at the corner of Sacramento and Battery in SF's Financial District. The Parc 55 sent out a Twitter Tweet to inform folks including me.

First, before I get to the other GDC stuff, I'm complaining about my Samsung Galaxy's photo app. Normally it's supposed to upload photos to my Flickr account, but for some #$$% reason, it's freaking not working. I took five photos at GDC events last night - none are in the smartphone or on Flickr. I don't like that, man.

Anyway.

Activision and Radical Entertainment took over much of the lobby at the W Hotel, the unofficial hub of GDC activity, as always. The gaming company roped off a little rectangle of space, set up finger food, had a check-in girl, and the usually overly nervous security guy checking for wrist bands, and held court as Studio Hesd Ken Rosman fielded questions about the new game.

If you don't know it, Prototype is best described as the basic "angry loner bald white dude looking to get into a battle" game, of which there are so many variations they're all starting to blur into one. In this case, it's about Alex Mercer vs. Sgt. James Heller, who is set out to destroy him because of the BLACKLIGHT infection that Mercer has caused to spread, and kills Sgt. Heller's family.

But I gotta say, Sgt. James Heller, and Alex Mercer both look like Eminem. Still, the graphics on the game are KILLER. It's virtually 3D, which means at some point it's going to be 3D.

Just saying.

It's a also a great candidate for a movie of some kind, but the storyline has to be deeper than the video game, if it's to be successful. Watch for more on this at Comic Con 2011 because I'm informed the game producers have been in talks about Prototype as a movie - nothing solid as of this writing.

Oh, and a video interview is coming. But...

Beyond that, I'm still steaming about this Zeevex "little people" marketing crap. Here:



And on a good note, the Blacks In Gaming event - held at the same time as the GDC Developer Awards, so guess what I missed - was a rousing success. While my video will come in a few hours, it must be said that with 300 people in attendance, and about a 50 percent black makeup, "BIG" proves that people of all stripes will come to such a gathering.

Look, it's got free food, Microsoft's sponsoring it, and the people are fun. It's really cool to meet black men and women who are real tech heads with a story to tell.

Ok. More later.

Loretta Devine, Adele On Grey's Anatomy, On The Oscars And Blacks

Grey's Anatomy's Loretta Devine ("Adele") made a majestic appearance at The Night Of 100 Stars Oscar Party, explaining to my line partner who represents the mom's watching, that her lovely dark green dress was made by Haro, the jewelry was by Fenix Jewelry, and the purse by Mary Francis.

Devine, who plays one of the most popular characters on Grey's Anatomy ("I'm still there after all these years."), informs us that she's also in a new movie with Pastor TD Jakes (called Jumping The Broom), and comes out on Mother's Day. She's also in Madea's Big Happy Family.

Devine went on to gush over Melissa Leo's performance in The Fighter, saying she hoped Leo would win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress (she did), and said she saw most of the Oscar Best Picture nominees.

OK. Harmless, enough.

So I asked Devine for her view the idea that there were not enough blacks in the Oscars, siting Whoopi Goldberg's statements about the New York Times article pointing to this problem. Devine said that while Whoopi's statements on her being omitted from the NY Times article were not correct considering what the author's intended (and I realized were were going "off-track" here in subject) on the matter of not enough blacks on the Oscars she said "I don't know how they (at the NY Times) could include everybody because there have been so few (blacks) nominated. And in a way, I guess you could say the same thing about the NAACP. How many white actors have won NAACP's? So I guess it depends on how you look at it."

The comment was so unexpected, I couldn't help but crack up. But it was also unfortunate.

I wonder what the NAACP would think of that view? It just goes to show that when things are going well for some people it's hard for them to sympathize with the problems of others.

But that said, here's hoping for more years of Ms. Devine on Grey's Anatomy.

Zeevex Use Of Little People At GDC 2011 Disturbing

Zeezex Awful Use Of Little People - GDC, originally uploaded by zennie62.

While there's a lot going on at 2011 The Game Developer Conference here at Moscone Center, and videos and interviews yet to be compressed and uploaded, this issue had to be pushed forward, now.

A company called Zeevex, which offers a micro-payment transaction service that can be used in online games and other types of digital content, and seems to be an attractive alternative to PayPal, is at GDC.

Zeevex is using a rather unusual and unfortunate way to promote its product on the floor of the Game Developer Conference: it's employing little people as part of an effort to get show goers to put on Mohawks. If they're spotted with the Mohawk, they win some kind of prize.

Oh, and you can't just put on the Mohawk, either. You have to win the right to wear it by - get this - playing a kind of slapping game with one of the little people. I only made the video so you could see what I was talking about, but could not bring myself to play the game - it's too insulting and I was just not with it. I tried to mask my feelings just to do the video. While it's a kind of game in the sprit of GDC, that it employs these poor people is just shameful.

I think the man who seemed to be leading the band of people knew I wasn't really "hip" with what they were doing just because I was making a vlog while he was talking, and sported a GDC badge that reads "MEDIA."

But with all that, the band seemed to be navigating GDC without mishap. It's not that people don't have a problem with what Zeevex is doing - people in the media room I talked to did - it's just that people are too focused on whatever else they're interested in.

Sad.

Well, off to the Blacks In Gaming function. Yep. Another party.

Nikky Talks about Carbohydrates

Homework from Debby: "Google the carbohydrates: I want definition of all the different types. then I want a list of foods that are in each category."

All information obtained through google searches and various health web sites. These are just my notes to show to you all the hard work that goes into a detox - it's worth it. Debby helps me educate myself about what is going into my body with her little projects for me. Ignore the grammar - this is strictly a blog post that should be regarded as a page from a notebook or diary, good information maybe a bit scattered, but worth reading. I reworded everything I read and researched into my own words.


Carbohydrates:

A carbohydrate is an organic compound with the general formula Cm(H2O)n, that is, consisting only of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, the last two in the 2:1 atom ratio. Carbohydrates can be viewed as hydrates of carbon, hence their name.

Major classification of carbohydrates Debby are--

MONOSACCHARIDES
DISACCHARIDES
OLIGOSACCHARIDES
POLYSACCHARIDES
NUCLEOTIDES


Monosaccharides--> glucose, fructose, galactose
glucose is the main sugar metabolized by the body for energy
galactose combines with glucose to form lactose in milk - it is converted within our bodies to glucose by the liver to provide energy.
fructose is absorbed and converted into glucose by the liver just like lactose - it's also like fruit, honey, and high fructose corn syrup.

Disaccharides-->
Sucrose , Lactose, Maltose
Lactose - forms from condensation of glucose and galactose . It's a beta-glycosidic bond that some people can't digest which is why some people are lactose intolerant
Sucrose - found in common table sugar and composed of glucose and fructose. It is an excellent natural preservative found in jam and sugar cane and even maple syrup.
Maltose - It is used in alcohol production through a process of fermentation. Glucose, maltose and other sugars are converted to ethanol by yeast cells in lack of oxygen. Uncommon in nature but can be formed through the breakdown of starch by the enzymes of the mouth.

Carbohydrates with more than two simple sugars are oligosaccharides or polysaccharides. Responsible for storage of glucose and other sugars in plants and animals.

Oligosaccharides -> Raffinose and Stachyose. Composed of repeating unites of galactose, glucose and fructose. These are in beans and legumes. They cannot be absorbed through the small intestine - they are metabolized by bacteria in large intestine to form unwanted gaseous byproducts.

Polysaccharides - Complex carbohydrates. Naturally allowing for storage of large quantities of glucose. Starch is major storage. Potatoes, beans, bread, pasta, rice. Some forms are indigestible like gum.

Nucleotides - Sugar of importance in DNA and RNA. Breakdown of glucose for energy and can be used for the synthesis of compounds.

Carbohydrates give us energy, dietary fiber, break down the fatty acids.
Biological recognition processes

Monosaccharides ->
Orange Juice
maple Syrup
Limes
Pork
Celery
Candy Bars
Lemon
Squash
Sweet potatoes
bananas
pineapples

Disaccharides -- citrus fruits, milk, vegetables, beans

Debby Kaplan is amazing. Make sure to visit her web site http://yourfitday.com

IPad 2 Apple Announcement

On March 11, 2011 the IPad 2 will be launched and available in stores. USA TODAY reports that Steve Jobs promises faster performance chip and front and rear facing camera for photos and video chats - they will also be thinner.

The price of the Ipad 2 will probably be starting around $400 and will come with cool new cases that are in different colors.

Also new information includes:

The new iPad uses a new A5 chip that Jobs says is twice as fast, along with a promised nine times faster graphics performance. It comes in two colors, white and black, and is 33% thinner and lighter, at 1.3 pounds instead of 1.5.
Apple will offer a HDMI connector, allowing iPads to plug into flat screen TVs. Unlike most devices, which offer slots, Apple will offer a $39 accessory that fits into the iPad 30-pin opening, and connects to a TV.
The electronics icon also offered a new kind of protective case, a "smart cover" for the iPad, based on magnets, which slips over the iPad and puts the unit to sleep when not in use. The case can be used to prop the iPad up as well when on an airplane, for instance.

99ers & Tier 5 Advocates: U-CUBED is advocating hard for JOBS

****Attention 99ers & Tier 5 Advocates: U-CUBED is advocating hard for JOBS - what are you doing to HELP?

In a site wide communiqué with all members of U-Cubed yesterday, Executive Director Rick Sloan encouraged all members of the Union for the Unemployed to take back their rights now.

The inspiring proclamation was titled: "Necessitous Men Are Not Free Men" and read in it’s entirety:

"True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. 'Necessitous men are not free men.' People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
1944 State of the Union Speech



Dear UCubed Leaders and Jobs Activists:

The three sentences quoted above led into FDR’s demand that Congress consider a Second Bill of Rights. For Roosevelt, the litany of economic rights included:

• The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation
• The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation
• The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return that will give him and his family a decent living;
• The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad
• The right of every family to a decent home
• The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health
• The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident and unemployment.
• The right to a good education.

What was the stated reason for this presidential initiative? Roosevelt said it was designed to forestall “the grave dangers of a ‘rightist reaction’ in this Nation.”

Roosevelt knew all too well the role necessitous men played in the rise of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Hideki Tajo and Joseph Stalin. He had watched the demise of the Weimar Republic in Germany, the rise of fascism in Italy, the spread of militarism in Japan and the murderous march of communism in Russia. Each dictator had clawed their way to power by abusing those unemployed in the Great Depression.

A decade earlier, Roosevelt had battled America’s home grown demagogues – Senator Huey Long, Father Charles Coughlin, Gerald L.K. Smith, and Dr. Francis Evert Townsend. They, too, sought power by appealing to necessitous men. From Huey Long’s Share Our Wealth Plan and Father Coughlin’s National Union for Social Justice to Dr. Townsend’s $200 per month old-age pension plan, each had attracted massive followings by Glenn Beck-like rants on the medium of the day: radio.

Roosevelt, who had been called a traitor to his class, knew that the forces of “rightist reaction” would use any and every excuse to wrestle power from the people, at first little by little and then when the time was right in large bursts. Their lobbyists would rewrite his New Deal regulations; their congressional allies would dismantle his New Deal programs; their judges would reinterpret settled law; and their presidential candidates would kowtow to corporate executives, promising to cut corporate taxes and red tape – all in the name of “jobs, jobs, jobs.”

So the Second Bill of Rights was meant to protect “We, The People” long after FDR left the world stage. Think about what it would mean today if Congress had acted and two-thirds of the states had ratified his language.
Unemployment benefits would be a constitutional right, not bait for a filibuster. The right to a useful and remunerative job would be backed by decades of legal precedents. Businesses would be afraid to pay sub-minimum wages. The right to a good education would be enforceable in, and protected by, federal courts. The right to adequate medical care would not be subject to whims of insurance companies.

But don’t just think about it. Act on it.

Ask your Senators and Member of Congress to sponsor a joint resolution that defines your economic rights.
In Unity – Strength,

If you are not yet engaged in U-Cubed Please DO SO TODAY:

U-Cubed on:

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/ucubed

TWITTER: @U_Cubed

WEBSITE: http://www.unionofunemployed.com

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Your Government has FAILED YOU BADLY! MAKE them HEAR YOU NOW!!!!

Take a look at this info from NELP: ...these findings do suggest that for unemployed workers, as well as for those seeking to move up in the labor market or entering it for the first time, the current distribution of job opportunities has deteriorated, compared to before the recession."

http://www.nelp.org/page/-/Justice/2011/UnbalancedGrowthFeb2011.pdf?nocdn=1

"Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a president and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

[The donation button below is for Paladinette. If you like what I write please donate so I can keep on fighting for the 99ers! Thank You!]

99ers, We Must Organize and We Must Fight

This "99ers, We Must Organize and We Must Fight" article appeared today in the From the Trenches World Report.com blog and echoes what I have been reporting for nearly a year.

"The mainstream propaganda is all abuzz with the effects current world events are having on the New York Stock Exchange. If any of you took the time to download and watch Zeitgeist III – Moving Forward you know that the stock exchange is in no way an indicator in reference to our economy. It is in fact no more than the ultra rich’s score board to show who is steeling the most from whom.

There has not been one damn word in reference to the 99ers, though it does seem we may be gearing up for another Middle Eastern war at a million dollars a year per soldier. Of course there is no expense too great when it comes to helping other countries. Hell, we’ll just add it to our debt. Our grandchildren can afford it.

I swear, I just want to get a bullhorn and stand out in front of the White House and scream at the top of my lungs, “We are not stupid enough to believe another word you say, you bat-eared son of a bitch.” The fact is neither Obama nor any other scum bag serving in our government has ever seen a hungry day in their lives. I wonder how much we paid for the latest party Obama threw to honor the legacy of Motown. These bastards are beginning to make Marie Antoinette look like Mother Theresa.

God knows we do not want a French style revolution in our country. But I’m beginning to believe that the elite do. You see starving us out in the cold just isn’t killing us quickly enough. If our enemies could only find a way to get we the people to divide ourselves into two camps and start killing one another, maybe they could get us out of the way faster which would allow them to get back to enjoying their lives of luxury.

If the United States goes into Libya and our Congress allows the expenditure without Obama showing how it will be paid for, it must be considered the final wad of spit in our faces. And I’m telling you I believe they are going to do it, as the CIA has already helped the rebels to form a new government. They would not have gone to this trouble unless they had a plan that involved spending billions more dollars that could be going to help the 99ers.

I don’t know how but we have got to find a way to assert the power we possess – now. Wouldn’t it be nice if the CIA would come and give us money to organize a rebellion against the totalitarian dictatorship we are living under? But then that is never going to happen because it is no longer America for Americans, but rather America to the highest bidder.

We cannot let up. We cannot slow down. We must organize and we must fight."

[You can read the rest of the article HERE]

So why is it that the millions of Americans screwed over for so long by Washington and the corporate elite refuse to take to the streets and DEMAND their rights? Have we not had enough of the rich "HAVES" taking every advantage that money can buy them at the expense of the American poor and middle class? What is it going to take to revolt?

Cindy Paoletti, long time 99er advocate came up with a novel idea to have ALL UNEMPLOYED in America stop spending money for 2 days this month, in a type of economic protest on behalf of 99ers who Congress and Obama continue to allow to suffer inexcusably. She has been Tweeting the following: #99er boycott Mar. 15 & 16 Don’t spend money anywhere! PLZ - need support from employed people too and it is catching on like wildfire. Please tweet out to all fellow unemployed on your Twitter list and to ALL Politicians & Media contacts as well.

We must do everything at our disposal, including using social media - YES - BUT we also MUST get out in the streets and fight for our very survival. The only thing that is going to wake up Washington is for millions of Americans to take to the streets in every corner of this country and make known that we are MAD as HELL and are NOT GOING TO TAKE it ANYMORE - And KEEP DOING SO until We WIN this fight.