manufactured freedom

More Media Exposure, Xbox 360

2005-12-05T21:45:00.000-07:00

My friend Luke (who took me to Zero Hour) just called tonight and said he and I were on G4! The episode was this one: (links broken when video expired, will post soon) http://www.g4tv.com/g4tv/episodes/4855/Moore_Xbox_360.html and it will be replayed within the next few days if you get a chance to check it out, I'm going to try to record it and maybe I can post it here. We did a number of interviews at Zero Hour because of our unique story and strong interest in the business/marketing behind gaming. Aside from G4 we were featured in a few other articles including this one which was done for the local newspaper and has some interesting stats on gaming: (links broken when article expired, will post soon) http://www.avpress.com/n/03/1203_s12.hts

Microsoft did such a great job at this event! I have already thanked these people but I wanted to send another shout out to Titus, Ceasar, Ryan and Homer from GameSpot, Marilyn Ishak, Richard Irving, Simon Jones from Digital Outlook, Cliff Blezinsky (I like your blog), Arne Meyer, Jay Allard, and especially Clinton Fowler!

Jay? Clinton wants to know why you keep falling off your bike! By the way, those developer special edition Xbox 360's are awesome, I really admire your hard work and the positive / rewarding culture that Microsoft fosters :) I want to join your company and I am currently job searching with Microsoft Australia! Maybe we will get to meet again at the Xbox 720 launch event???

Zero Hour - Mojave Desert - 11/20,21,22

2005-11-24T22:40:00.000-07:00

Zero Hour, the culmination of multiple viral marketing (guerilla marketing) campaigns put on by Zed, AKA the Xbox team within Microsoft. Why was it done in the middle of the Mojave desert? To attract only the hardest core, most serious gamer enthusiasts... early adopters... trend leaders. Only 3,000 members of the general public were admitted into Zero Hour with over 64,000 applicants worldwide. While I was there I met people from California, Missippi, Chicago... all the way to Poland and Japan including MS execs all the way from Australia and the UK.

J Allard, Corporate Vice President and Chief XNA Architect was there, I met him. Clinton Fowler, J's mountain biking friend who also works on the Xbox team was there as well :) and I got the chance to ask him EVERY Xbox/MS question I could think of. Not to mention Peter Moore, Cliff Blezinsky and many others. All of these guys work hard, you can just tell by talking with them. Clinton was planning to stay up for the entire 29hr stretch of Zero Hour (which doesn't include the 2.5hr trip it takes to get to or from LAX to Palmdale. It was amazing to speak with such dedicated and influential people. Almost every person at the event was important to Microsoft, hardly any of them were "hired hands".

My interactions with Clinton, and others, began when they helped me with an Xbox 360 service featured at the event. Clinton helped me register and convert my Xbox Live account inside of this crazy white bubble tent (you can see the tent in the picture on the left). I spoke with another exec named Richard Irving out at the parking lot where he was handing out wristbands. I talked with all of these guys so much during the event that I ended up playing the Xbox 360 for less than an hour over the course of the entire 29hr event!

Artist rendition of the Xbox 360 Zero Hour event

I have to give these guys props, they pulled this event off with world class. It was surreal to see a rendering of how the event "would look" online when I found out I was going, and then to actually see it in real life and have it match exactly. It was also envigorating to see a giant green light in the desert on the night of the 20th when we were first arriving, it was like "that's it, that's amazing!" The fact that I was able to hook up with a friend who lives in Chicago at the LAX and then trust eachother enough to drive down to Palmdale together and split a hotel is a testimate to the community Microsoft has fostered. I have beta tested over ten top PC, PS2, and Xbox titles so I know what's out there in terms of community, and what kinds of promotions are being done in this industry. Hats off to all of the hardworking individuals who made this a possibility, this post is about your comittment and passion for the community. Special thanks to Marilyn Ishak, Ceasar, Ryan from Gamespot, Arne Meyer from Edelman, and Simon Jones from digitaloutlook.

For more on Zero Hour check out stories from GameSpot, IGN, G4 here & here, and a fan weblog called lowdown411

Xbox 360 Load Times To Fast?

2005-11-24T15:59:00.000-07:00

Now this might sound like a strange topic, load times being to fast... but let me explain the problem before you call me crazy.

I just picked up a copy of Kameo and popped it into the 360, started the game, and watched the cinematic intro. All was well. The problem started when I progressed into the game a bit and ran into load times between diferent levels. The game puts up a loading screen and during the short wait a story element plot sequence is displayed in text. I'm not sure how critical the short paragraph is to the overarching story but I would shure like to read it IF IT DIDN"T LOAD SO FAST and force the text off the screen before I was through. In the older generations of game consoles you would have plenty of time to read story elements or hints durng load times but with newer hardware and 512MB of ram at their disposal for the Xbox 360 I think it's important for software developers like Rare to give us readers an option such as "begin level" which would hold the text up there a bit longer and only change the screen after we hit a button or something.

I experienced this problem/agrivation with Call of Duty 2 as well but to a much lesser extent. Call of Duty 2 displays these cool war quotes during load periods and also when you die, but sometimes it loads so fast that you don't finish the quote! I have almost been tempted to die on purpose just to finish the quote...

Xbox 360 Adidas Commercial

2005-11-24T15:20:00.000-07:00

The Adidas commercial that comes preloaded on the Xbox 360 premium edition keeps crashing my system? It gets all the way to the end and then bam, my system shuts off and the lights on the front do a flashing red signal? Is anyone else getting this...

On a more positive note, the commercial is pretty cool, it features pro soccer players running on a field made of metal beams where anyone could fall off into space! They do a lot of acrobatic tricks and guys keep getting knocked off the sides, it's pretty extreme.

When I was a Zero Hour in the Mojave Desert at Hangar 71 Adidas stuff was sort of interlaced with the Xbox 360 signage. We all received Adidas hoodies with Zero Hour printed on them and they still had the price tags attached stating $49.99 which made us feel pretty special. Adidas also erected "the worlds largest foosball table" outside of the hangars and it featured a lifesized soccer ball as the foosball! Inside of the hangars there were small Adidas advertisements and a few plastic stands with Adidas shoes inside of them.

Xbox 360 Rants

2005-11-03T02:34:00.000-07:00

okay here goes:

with regard to the new "jump in" commercial: okay, marketing? It's all about communicating the feelings that products "will" give you, you don't focus on features - you focus on benefits. Graphics and bling are all features, the benefits are unclear for the broad masses (we do not represent the broad masses here at teamxbox okay) so when you see people of different cultures and lifestyles all having fun together, boys, girls, men, women, BMX bikers, two chubby chicas... all jumping rope together you see the benefits of a social gaming system that is open for anyone to just "jump in" and this slogan is short and concise so as not to be overwhelming and "complicated" two things that computers and high end games are well known for...
Microsoft is doing just what they said, reaching out to a broader audience, using feelings and simplicity :)

with regard to the complete package (with the chrome drive plate): Okay, so everyone has been complaining about how the chrome doesn't exactly match the white on the complete systems? Well, at first I was in the same boat... I like to have a streamlined cohesive look to my high end electronics, especially monitors and computers and stuff. After spending some time looking at both systems in pictures and reading about the 360 I came to a realization:begin realization transmission: the chrome will reflect the colors of the faceplate! Maybe it clashes a bit with white or draws too much attention, but with 99.9% of the other color faceplates the chrome is the obvious winner vs. the white. Can you imagine that hulking white door with any of the custom faceplates? maybe a few, but I know the chrome looks great with so many more!

Xbox360 shortage? Forced to get the "core" pack!!11

2005-08-18T00:47:00.000-06:00

Dude, this is my prediction... Day of release, preorders at places like EB (who set up way too many preeorders) will sell out of the premium versions of the 360 and there will only be core systems left... Once this happans the unthinkable will ensue; people will begin buying the Xbox360 Core!

We never thought it would happen this way, for all the wrong reasons, not only forced to buy the version with a white CD tray (instead of silver) but also being forced to buy all of the upgrades individually, costing well over $200.00!
Terrible... I know, what can we do? what... can, we do...

(above is the Xbox 360 Core system)

(above is the Xbox 360 system)

Custom Star Wars Imperial AT-AT Walker Model

2005-05-29T22:32:00.000-06:00

Since Star Wars has been back in fashion lately I decided to break out my old Kenner Star Wars Imperial AT-AT model. This toy is one of the coolest (and largest) Star Wars figures ever made! In fact, it was so cool that it was released once in the 80's when episode V first came out and again in 1995 as a remake. The model shown below is the 95 updated version and I got my hands on it when a kid in my neighborhood was selling it at a garage sale. I think I paid ~$20.00 for it (which is a lot for a garage sale toy) but I had special plans in store for it and the 20 was well worth it!

Shown below, the once abandoned garage sale junk toy that was probably once considered "to big to keep around any longer" by someone's mom, has been transformed into a custom Star Wars figure / LCD monitor complete with composite connectors, stereo speakers, and hidden wiring in the left rear leg.

The only sad part about this awesome project is that I just sold it on ebay today... It turns out that it really is just too big to keep around, even for me. I plan on moving to Australia and this is just one of many cool items I will have to sell in order to lighten my load. Luckily, I brought in a hefty $200.00 for it which covered all of the parts and time put in but it couldn't buy the love I had for the time I spent building it. I guess in the end it was really just a large plastic reminder of all the fun I had!

The model was built by cutting a square hole in the side of the AT-AT and sanding it down with a bastard file, removing one leg and cutting tiny nitches in the structural supoports where the wires were to be run, running wires up the leg for the stereo video & power and then installing connectors at the base of the leg and finally the screen and all of the switches in the body. I lucked out and found the five inch LCD at Best Buy a few years back for ~$100.00 when five inches still seemed big for a color LCD. The LCD package had almost all of the parts I needed because it was designed to be very versatile for gaming. The LCD was originally designed as a portable monitor for a PlayStation 2 and I just gutted it. Thanks for sharing in my Star Wars memories! Feel free to contact me for more pix or infomation on the project and where to get the parts if you decide to build one yourself!

New Nintendo DS in Pink

2005-05-29T01:36:00.000-06:00

I just found this article at IGN and thought it was very intriguing considering I had just finished a Nintendo DS report for my marketing promotions class at CU. I also found this article on GameSpot which mentions the 94% market share of the Nintendo DS but also that Sony cannot produce enough PSPs to meet demand and may have to delay it's European entry... That 94 could be dropping soon Nintendo!

Here is the introduction to the Article I wrote for my marketing promotions class outlining a possible strategy for the DS in the US market. You can contact me directly for the Excel data if you are interested and view a better formatted version of the report here: http://manufacturedfreedom.com/extras/DS.html

The images below were created by me as prototypes for a possible Nintendo female gamer promotion. The handheld console has been produced in iridescent pink (to match the success of the i-pod mini) and has been packaged with Nintendogs, a hot game title currently out in Japan and making its way to the USA.

Executive Summary
Nintendo's DS (Dual Screen) gaming system is the newest in a line of portable handheld gaming systems offered by Nintendo. Since 1989, when it launched the first Game Boy, Nintendo has dominated the handheld gaming market and focused on a demographic of five to 17 year old males. Over the past 15 years Game Boy has been challenged by Neo Geo (Neo Geo Pocket), Sega (Game Gear and Nomad), and more recently Nokia (N-Gage). None of these offerings have been successful at stealing market share from Nintendo who has continued to improve its offerings with newer more powerful systems to challenge competitors as well as backwards compatibility for it's previously released titles. On March 24th 2005 Sony introduced the PSP (PlayStation Portable) gaming device aimed at the growing demographic of 18 to 34 year old gamers. The PSP is still relatively new as of this report but already there has been a shift in handheld gaming as over 500,000 PSP units were sold within the first two days of the US launch.

Sony has been incredibly successful working with third party software designers in gaining support for its previous gaming platforms (the PlayStation and PlayStation 2) which has put pressure on Nintendo and decreased their market share for the Game Cube system. When Sony entered the console gaming market with its PlayStation 2 in the United States on October 26, 2000 the pressure was so intense between Nintendo, Sega and Sony that Sega was forced to exit the market. Just as Sony was able to enter the console gaming market in the early 2000's and rise to the top, dominating Nintendo and forcing Sega out, the PSP is currently threatening Nintendo in the handheld gaming market. So this prompts our research question, how will Nintendo be able to continue to increase their market share in such a competitive market place?
Faced with huge competition from the PSP in the 18 to 34 year old demographic, primary and secondary data indicates that Nintendo should reinforce itself as the primary offering for young adults age 5 to 17. Nintendo will continue to expand into the entertainment industry outside of gaming to increase its intellectual property with the PoKeMoN franchise and strong ties to Nickelodeon and Disney. This gives Nintendo leverage and a competitive advantage in younger demographic. New products such as GameBoy ADVANCE video have expanded the feature set of the original GameBoy and Nintendo needs to communicate this competitive advantage to its consumers.

Since Nintendo has not traditionally contracted with third party software developers as strongly as Sony, Nintendo has a distinct opportunity to market itself as the original first and only in the market. Furthermore, Nintendo has avoided violence in it's games (the majority of which are rated E for Everyone) which has pleased parents and maintained the image of being a kid-friendly brand. With Nintendo's kid friendly background, the company has a unique opportunity to penetrate a growing market of female gamers age 5 to 17 with offerings such as PoKeMoN and the soon to be released Nintendogs. Communicating these advantages and positioning itself as a kid friendly brand using scuba style communications will increase market share for Nintendo and allow the company to dominate in an increasingly competitive market. ...read the full story here: http://manufacturedfreedom.com/extras/DS.html

Clay Timon - Beyond Petroleum - CU Leeds School of Business Presentation

2005-04-14T20:52:00.000-06:00

In my article titled Clay Timon - Retired Landor CEO - CU Marketing Presentation I discussed a company called Landor which helps other companies reposition their brand and ultimately keep from dying off as markets change. Clay Timon is a retired CEO from Landor who visited my Advertising and Promotion Marketing class at the Leeds School of Business at CU on April 14th. I wanted to do another article about Clay and one of the companies he worked with at Landor because I think a lot of people interact with this company. BPAmoco, which recently changed it's name to bp is one of the most widely recognized brands worldwide and the subject of this article.

Lets start off with a fun fact. There are more bp gas stations around the world than there are McDonalds outlets! Unfortunately, those dirty polluted gas stations represent what bp thinks of as "the old side" of the energy business. That's one of the main reasons bp has adopted a new tag line "beyond petroleum." Aside from just being dirty, one other problem has been waiting for bp (and other oil companies) for a long time and according to some estimates this problem may be realized within our lifetimes (I am 21...). Gasoline is running out, even Saudi Arabia, a country which continues to discover new oil resources and is believed to have one of the largest supplies of oil in the world estimates that it will run out within 65 years!

bp wants to continue supplying energy and if energy is changing then it will have to change too. Saudi Arabia, like bp, wants to continue being successful in terms of income. That means they are going to have to discover an alternative to oil. It is unknown how Saudi Arabia will continue its monetary success without oil but many countries who are in the same position are turning to tourism. This has begun to work in some situations, Dubai is one example of a city that wanted to become independent of oil and tourism has been their solution. In order for Saudi Arabia to attract tourists however, they will have to construct a lot more hotels, not just the ones reserved for "royals" that are currently in existence today. We will keep an eye on this situation, but for now, back to bp.

So if oil is running out and you are in the business of selling oil "energy" what should you do? bp has faced this question and decided to start moving towards alternatives. Sure they still sell oil at all those gas stations around the world but they have begun changing their image. They are positioning themselves as the "future of energy" and that's where Landor and Clay Timon come into the picture. Clay got to work with bp CEO John Browne to take the first steps in this transformation. Clay explained to my class that employees are one of the keys to success in shifting a brand identity. In the olden days companies didn't understand that employees are really a part of the brand, the employees interfaces directly with customers and it's sometimes easy for a CEO or COO to forget that. In order to begin the change, bp employees of all levels were asked three simple questions. What is it you do in your job that supports this new idea, what do you do that does not, and why not. Clay and John received a lot of "it's my boss's fault" responses, but the truth is it was their fault! The next step was to approach the "boss" and communicate the new vision. This program has been ongoing for sometime now and it includes more than just the employees but it is working. What really makes this successful at the employee level is the realization by workers that their concerns are being addressed, it really motivates them. Clay told our class that he believes nearly every employee at bp can describe at least part of the new "beyond petroleum" identity. They may not all have it perfect but the company is slowly turning in this new direction.

In order to further motivate employees of the changing image and service that bp is becoming physical changes are beginning to take shape all over the world at every bp petroleum outlet. These gas stations still serve as bp's primary income but when gas runs out bp needs to be prepared. New fuel types are the product solution and bp is working on that. Differentiation is the consumer solution to getting people to identify bp as the leader in energy. New bp gas stations feature a clean white look with a green "energy helio" logo (which looks a bit like a flower). These two upgrades give the company a new look and also support the idea of bp as being a successful company which can afford new technology. Digital pumps where you can pay at the pump are becoming more common, and bp certainly has these but what bp has that others don't is solar power. New bp stations cover their gas pump canopies (the roof over the gas pumps) with solar panels that actually provide enough energy to completely run the pump! The goal is to provide all the energy needed to run the entire station someday. To cap it all off BPAmoco has adopted the "beyond petroleum" tagline as discussed earlier and simplified or "purified" thier name to bp. The tagline really communicates that bp is committed "beyond" the current age of gasoline and into future cleaner sources of energy.

One of the biggest keys to bp's success has been working hands on with every level of employee. Group sessions are small and employee concerns are taken seriously. bp makes it all work because their new image is backed with actions like the solar pumps and investments into new technology. As an environment conscious gasoline user myself, I have noticed the bp campaign and it has had an affect on my consumer behaviors. bp has a great website that really communicates the movement towards simple, efficient, pure sources of future energy at: http://www.bp.com/

One last note. Certainly bp isn't perfect, Greenpeace refers to them as "burning the planet" rathar than beyond petroleum but I am convinced that a positive effort by bp to move towards a cleaner tomorrow (even if it is mostly marketing at this point) is better than nothing. Sure they spent a lot on the new image, the logo, the branding etc. but you have to spend money to make money and it's hard to lead change in a distribution channel oriented industry unless you are a current leader in the industry to begin with.

I want to thank Clay Timon once again for his outstanding presentation at the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business and I look forward to the transformation that bp is striving for to provide energy beyond petroleum.

Clay Timon - Retired Landor CEO - CU Marketing Presentation

2005-04-14T19:33:00.000-06:00

Today in marketing class, Advertising and Promotion, Clay Timon (the retired CEO of Landor) visited as a guest speaker. Clay is an amazing individual to say the least! I was overwhelmed by the number and caliber of clients he had worked with during his time at Landor. Clay got his undergrad at the University of Colorado and it was great to have him back speaking to new students such as myself.

Okay, what is Landor? According to their website: "Landor Associates is the world's most accomplished and internationally recognized branding and design consultancy. Offering a multidisciplinary range of brand strategy, design, naming, interactive and research services, we help our clients worldwide create, renew and strengthen their brand power." Basically, they work with the CEO or director of a company to move towards a new public image and corporate philosophy. During the class presentation, Clay stressed the importance of what he called "the four critical building blocks of a brand" one of which was differentiation. He explained that you can tell when a brand is about to die because it is no longer differentiated. Landor is a company designed to help these "dying brands" get back on track, or help an already successful company change directions and achieve the vision and differentiation they need to stay competitive. Good examples of companies that lack this critical differentiation and are slowly disappearing include Greyhound, Oldsmobile and TWA. A few companies that are taking the initiative to reinvent themselves include FedEx, bp Beyond Petroleum and LG Life is Good.

The four critical building blocks of a brand

differentiation - without this you will have no business or brand.
relevance - how many people is this brand relevant for?
esteem - emotional like for a brand, customers will describe themselves as "your customer" such as Coke drinkers or BMW drivers.
knowledge - people feel so comfortable they begin to talk about why they chose you.

Speaking of Oldsmobile as an example of a brand that needs a change, the GM parent company was an example given to us as a brand that could also use some work. When asked by a Leeds CU student in class "if you could choose one company to develop an image for, who would it be?" Clay responded "the United States of America... Although that would be suicide, maybe GM" He went on to describe that the US image has been used and abused terribly over the years and that it would be "suicidal" and "a real challenge to get right." Most of the companies that Clay had been hired to work with before he retired from Landor approached him for help, nearly 85%, when dealing with the USA however he would be working with a CEO "the President" who doesn't understand the brand or where it needs to go and an approval hierarchy "Congress" that would reject the process and adapt slowly to change, if at all. I often wonder if a change like this is necessary for the image of the US? I suppose the idea would be to improve relations with the rest of the world so they would "buy" into our products and programs and see us in a better light. Many US citizens would welcome such a change but I can certainly relate to working with the government on business as being "suicidal" as Clay had implied. Back to GM, Since America would be nearly impossible GM was Clay's second choice. He suggested at one point that it may not be necessary for GM to exist at all saying, "what brand are they?" and following up his remarks with "I like a challenge." Clay is certainly ambitious and although I don't know exactly how old he is, he is in great physical shape and his mind is running at full capacity on fresh relevant issues.

While at Landor Clay traveled around the world working with different companies. At one point in 1979 he got to work directly with the Chinese government and ultimately assess their ability to do do business with the US. Upon returning to America he did an interview for an article in the Wall Street Journal saying that "NO" China is not ready for marketing, we should not market our products to them. The idea was that until there is more than one choice of pens or clothing to buy, there is no need for marketing. Well, over the decade that followed his Wall Street interview China exploded in terms of business and Clay was proven wrong. He thinks of that experience as "one of the few times" he has been wrong.

Moving from past to present time companies but keeping our focus near China, Clay spoke about his experiences working with the Korean company LG. I have been exposed to LG a lot recently with some of my friends doing group projects focusing on their products. I have also begun to seeing LG products making an appearance in Best Buy stores and through online retailers. The reality is, LG has always been around but until recently they have never sold their products under the LG name. LG started out in the 1800's as a family owned chemical business. Since that time it has expanded into many industries including electronics. The L and G originally stood for Lucky and Goldstar which were two branches of the parent company, each focusing on different products; chemicals and electronics. LG had traditionally focused their product design process on building high quality products at low prices. Eventually they their focus from just quality at low prices to include customer needs and desires. This all happened one day when the chairman got a company washing machine that chewed up his wife's clothes. He returned the machine, thinking it was defective, but the replacement had the same problems and it just didn't meet his needs. At this point the Chairman had spoken with the product manager but nothing had been done to fix the process so he approached the employees at the very bottom on the assembly lines to get their feedback. This sort of interaction is very rare in Chinese hierarchical society and it served as a starting point for a new way of driving a company. This new philosophy of every employee actually being a part of the overall brand is at the core of what Landor does to help companies. Today, with the help of Landor LG has been redefined to stand for "Life is Good." The new logo for LG is a tiny face which represents the importance of the people it now focuses on. With a new logo and image LG has gained the confidence it needs to identify as its own brand. LG logos are popping up everywhere! Airports have billboards and pushcarts with the logo. Cell phones are starting to display the logo, and new high end flat screen LCDs are also sporting the new brand identity. A complete overview of Landor's work with LG can be found on the official Landor website at: http://www.landor.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=cPortfolio.getCase&caseid=837

I will be doing another post about Clay Timon's work with bp seperately from this article. As I stated before, there was a lot covered in class and it was quite inspiring to learn from a University of Colorado alumni who has done so many amazing things throughout his career. I am especially thankful for the insights and inspiration gained through today's lecture on business and marketing, both domestic and international.

Thanks Clay

Powertoys for Windows XP - Tweak UI - Change Location of My Music

2005-04-11T10:17:00.000-06:00

Organizing and managing stored music on my computer has always been an important issue. I regularly reinstall Windows XP because I like to keep my computer running clean and I also upgrade hardware a lot. Reinstalling my operating system and formatting my hard drive help to keep things functioning correctly. At one point I purchased an external hard drive to back up my important files and store my music on. Relocating my my music to this seperate drive would save me time whenever I had to reinstall my operating system. I wouldn't have to burn it to a DVD or worry about reorganizing it.

At first it seemed like keeping my music stored on the external was a great idea. Once I got the drive I adjusted my Windows Media Player settings to identify my external music folder as my "main" music location. Unfortunately, every time I used Windows Media Player or any other software application to buy and download music it would default to my C drive and save the music under My Documents > My Music. I finally called Microsoft and asked how to fix this problem and they turned me onto Powertoys for Windows XP.

Powertoys is a set of official programs that are offered as extras built by developers in order to help advanced users customize and manage thier computer resources. The best part is that Powertoys are all free! In under five minutes I was able to download the Tweak UI utility from Power Tools and configure my operating system to identify my external D hard drive as the primary location for "My Music." Ever since using this simple program I have been able to harness the potential of my music software and other "defaulted" windows applications, using my external HD as if it were the original C drive.

This program has really helped streamline and simplify my computing and I wanted to share this knowledge with anyone looking to customize and organize their music files. You can download Tweak UI from the list of Windows Powertoys here: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

Steps for using Tweak UI: Start > All Programs > Powertoys for Windows XP > Tweak UI expand "My Computer" then click "Special Folders" use the drop down box to hilight "My Music" then click Change Location. Specify the new location for storing music then hit OK.

Other Windows XP Powertoys include:

ClearType Tuner - This PowerToy lets you use ClearType technology to make it easier to read text on your screen, and installs in the Control Panel for easy access.
HTML Slide Show Wizard - This wizard helps you create an HTML slide show of your digital pictures, ready to place on your Web site.
Open Command Window Here - This PowerToy adds an "Open Command Window Here" context menu option on file system folders, giving you a quick way to open a command window (cmd.exe) pointing at the selected folder.
Alt-Tab Replacement - With this PowerToy, in addition to seeing the icon of the application window you are switching to, you will also see a preview of the page. This helps particularly when multiple sessions of an application are open.
Tweak UI - This PowerToy gives you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including mouse settings, Explorer ettings, taskbar settings, and more. Note: Version 2.10 requires Windows XP Service Pack 1 or Windows Server 2003.
Power Calculator - With this PowerToy you can graph and evaluate functions as well as perform many different types of conversions.
Image Resizer - This PowerToy enables you to resize one or many image files with a right-click.
CD Slide Show Generator - With this PowerToy you can view images burned to a CD as a slide show. The Generator works downlevel on Windows 9x machines as well.
Virtual Desktop Manager - Manage up to four desktops from the Windows taskbar with this PowerToy.
Taskbar Magnifier - Use this PowerToy to magnify part of the screen from the taskbar.
Webcam Timershot - This PowerToy lets you take pictures at specified time intervals from a Webcam connected to your computer and save them to a location that you designate.

please note - all Powertoys names and descriptions were taken from the official Powertoys website.

CU Boulder - 57th annual Conference on World Affairs

2005-04-11T10:16:00.000-06:00

Every year CU hosts "The Conference on World Affairs" which is a week long summit with representatives from all over the world discussing a plethora of diverse issues. The conference is structured with each session being hosted by a panel of speakers (usually 4 or 5) who lead a discussion about the topic of interest. After a brief overview of the topic by each panel member, audience members are invited to pose questions to the speakers and provoke conversation. Panels are set to last an hour and a half and usually have to be cut off! The panels are also recorded and tapes & CD's are made available for purchase through the official website at: http://www.colorado.edu/cwa/

This year was the 57th annual event and unfortunately I only had time to visit one forum entitled Nanobots: Who, What, Why, When, Where. Nanobots only featured three guest speakers but each one presented a unique viewpoint from a different industries or field of study. The speakers included Andy Ihnatko, Seth Shostak and Jim Smith. Much of the discussion was focused specifically on how robots could be created on a nano level and what tasks they might perform. How would they be powered? How do we make something so small? How can we control these things! It was all very interesting but most of the discussion was purely speculation because nanobots aren't actually being produced yet. One member of the audience however, shared news about how nanotechnology had been used to design stain proof pants: http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view.php3?article_id=218391840&cat=3_5 but aside from that, a short discussion on military aircraft technology and the US's resistance to the metric system none of the discussion focused on real nanobot objects. A few doomsday scenerios were tossed up during the discussion but a majority of the audience was more excited about the potential good of nanobots than the possibility of world domination as featured in Michael Crichton's novel Prey. We were told that the real possibilities of nanobots comes in their ability to work together and reproduce, like small insects that team up to build something or help pollinate crops. One panel member seemed to think that, just like bugs, nanobots will work in limited numbers and have a limited ability to assimilate on a global level (which has been the big sci-fi scare).

The best idea for nanobots that I have been able to come up with on my own is a process by which these tiny creatures could be used for landscaping purposes to cut grass, or even replace a jetty by transporting small sand grains over time to keep beach erosion down. The steps that need to be made for this sort of technology to become a reality are a means for fueling nanobots and a way for them to reproduce independently (so if you step on one or two, they can replace themselves). It's a bright future but people need to invest in this technology if we want to see it blossom. The panel harped on the dot com bust as being a primary contributor to the current lack of investment in nanotechnology. The general feeling of the speakers was that in the next 50 years nanotechnology and nanobots will take hold and replace some of our older less efficient technology. Until the day comes when we jump from sci-fi to reality you can check out Michael Crichton's book Prey or if you want to learn about why Prey might actually be hurting the image of nanotechnology check out this critiquing article from Nanoparticle News.

Video Game Beta Testing Experiences

2005-04-11T10:15:00.001-06:00

In the gaming industry beta testing is a process whereby a video game developer calls on a group of people to help stress test or bug test a near finished product. Often times beta testers are chosen from online forums or applications that are provided to select individuals.

Over the past few years (2000-2005) a lot has changed in the world of beta testing. It used to be harder to find out about beta tests. In recent years FilePlanet has helped companies expand the use of beta testing from simply a stress and bug testing tool to a promotional element for upcoming titles. FilePlanet offers it's paying members the opportunity to sign up for high profile beta tests like World of Warcraft or Everquest II through programs it arranges with developers. These days many games will even offer a beta tester account to anyone who pre-orders the game in store! The idea is that if you are willing to "invest" in the final product by pre-ordering it then by being a beta tester you will have some impact on how the game is actually being developed. The truth is that beta tests done in this manor are very large in scale and the tester is more like a number and less like an individual contributor. You add value by simply playing. Your character adds weight on the server which creates lag and helps the game designers polish how the game runs, not the game itself.

The picture below is of a final phase beta test for the PS2 version of Everquest, "Everquest Online Adventures." Being that this was a final phase test it was focused primarily on stress testing the servers and not tweaking the actual game. Sony offers some general guidelines on the blue sheet stating that "We want to take a few minutes to discuss beta testing in general. Being part of the beta test is a huge responsibility. Our development team is extremely busy finishing up the game and pulling it all together, and we will need all the help we can get tracking down bugs, testing various aspects of the game, and listening to suggestions from our testers on how to make the game better."

One of my favorite REAL beta tests was working with NOVALOGIC on Joint Operations. Many of the employees at the company are ex-military and they care a lot about the quality and realism of their finished product. All of the details and specs of the weapons in the games they develope, including the sounds for all of the guns, are recorded on location at military bases. I applied for the preliminary beta test for Joint Operations during a seven day window on NOVALOGIC's website during which a special form was available to community members only. I barely entered on time and I had to do it from a campus kiosk computer which ended up making me late to class... but it was worth it! Basically, you had to be an avid fan of NOVALOGIC and actually check the website weekly to have a chance to get in. It took nearly three months until I even heard back about the beta test! By then I had nearly forgotten all about having even signed up. Let me tell you though, it was awesome! I got to play with nearly all of the top developers and executives at NOVA including Joel Taubel the games producer. I spoke to Joel in the game through a chat system as well as through forums on the official NOVALOGIC website and really felt like my suggestions had an impact.

In another beta test for Sony Online Entertainment's Star Wars Galaxies, a member of the beta testing community died in a car accident. Everyone in the community felt so close to the member that an in game memorial was created! This was an amazing interaction between our community and the game developers. Everyone was touched and Sony and Lucas Arts really made an impact on all of us. To make things even better, at the end of the test SOE put out a press release for all the beta testers on the Star Wars Galaxies website thanking each SWG beta tester and listing the name of every single individual involved. You can use the find command and search for pocket to view my name.

Some beta testers specialize in catching bugs, some spend their time focused on the graphics or the gameplay, many beta testers are just there to have a good time. Whichever category you fall into, I highly recommend signing up for the next beta that catches your eye. Be sure to stop by FilePlanet as I mentioned earlier and discover how companies are changing their marketing strategies to focus on interactions instead of one way broadcasting of promotions.

Sony PlayStation Underground / Gamer Advisory Panel

2005-04-11T10:15:00.000-06:00

I wanted to do a short post about the Sony PlayStation Underground. The Underground itself is a group of community members who are interested in PlayStation products. The Advisory Panel on the other hand is an exclusive group of hand chosen contributors who actually work with Sony game developers in a sort of think tank! Most people haven't heard of the Advisory Panel or don't know what it is and I applaud Sony for not using it as a marketing gimmick in this manner. Being a Sony fanboy I have always admired the honest personality of the Sony company. Even at this years E3 Sony threw down with a "real" presentation that focused on the technology and the gaming instead of the marketing BS (like Microsoft). Don't get me wrong, Sony had some crappy Power Point slides and the presentation was definitely boaring in terms of language and flow but they kept it real!

I haven't spent nearly enough time on the Underground forums leately but I have competed in a few contests, written a few stories and given feedback for existing products. Sony has been sending me one email a month consistently for years with regards to "the Underground." Most of the time it has to do with a servey or poll and there is usually a reward involved. One of the neatest parts has been the constant flow of PlayStation beta tester invites exclusive to the Gamer Advisory Panel. Before I got on to the Underground and the Panel I had to spend a lot of time applying for tests and often I felt left out, but being a member has put me in a position of having to decline beta tests or having to give my pass to a friend. I guess part of the reason I have had to skip out on a few tests is because of my rampant system swapping (I have owned and sold two PS2's two Xbox's and two GameCubes to date!).

I think almost anyone can become an Underground member but I'm not sure how it works if you want to get into the Advisory Panel. I was invited when I posted a large article about getting a PS2 online at college on the public PlayStation forums. I didn't even apply to the Advisory Panel! That made me feel 1337 to say the least... For those of you who read my blog you will know that I posted a similar, more up to date, version of the "getting your PS2 online" article right here at manufacturedfreedom recently. For those of you who are truly dedicated and honestly interested in helping Sony shape the future of gaming, consider applying for the Underground at Sony's website, I would post a link strait to it but I believe that would be a little bit too easy for you...

Now you know I've gotta list off what it says on this Advisory Panel certificate right? ahem... "Acknowledged as an expert gamer, the owner of this certificate is helping to shape the future of gaming."

"Greetings, Because of your expertise in gaming and your PlayStation Underground membership, you were invited to join the Gamer Advisory Panel - a group of gamers whose knowledge, insight and experience could help shape the future of gaming. Because you are a member, we've sent you this exclusive Gamer Advisory Panel case, filled with some bla bla members only etc. etc... okay that was a bit overboard, I don't want to brag my head off here!

Networking a PS2 or Xbox Online at College

2005-04-11T10:05:00.000-06:00

I go to school at CU Boulder where we have awesome T1 internet access. The problem is that the IT (internet technology) department doesn't support video games and network system has to register a users MAC (Media Access Control) address before it will let them on to the network! For computers it is easy to get online because the first time you plug into the network a screen prompts you to enter your student ID and password. Once you enter your info the system registers your MAC, asks you to restart your computer and suddenly the internet just works! The problem with video game systems is that they don't have internet browsers built in! Therefore, when you plug your Sony PlayStation 2 or Microsoft Xbox in to the network, you are being sent the "register now" information page but your game system is not capable of displaying it to you. For this reason you cannot register your MAC when prompted. When I first encountered this problem two years ago I figured I could just call IT and feed them my MAC address over the phone, unfortunately, even though this would be the simplest solution IT just lectured me instead of helping...

The good news is that I have spent many hours figuring out a legal way around their unhelpfulness. Please note that at my school routers are strictly prohibited and switches are also frowned upon. This means that you could get your internet feed shut off for the entire year if you were caught!

Xbox - For the Xbox there are only two simple step. All you have to do is identify the MAC address of a computer (hypothetically the one you already have registered with the school as described above) and feed it into the Xbox.

using Windows XP, go to start>run> then type "cmd"
once the command window appears type "msconfig/all"
look at the line called "Physical Address" and find a 12 character code such as (XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX) which will be comprised of both numbers and letters.
enter this number into your Xbox by opening the disk drive to bring up the navigation menu. If you are using Xbox Live, navigate the menu all the way back to the starting screen by pressing the B button repeatedly
At this screen you will see four choices. choose "Settings" then "Network Settings" then "Advanced" at the bottom of the advanced menu there is a field for "MAC ADDRESS" select this field and enter the address you just found on your registered computer.

PS2 - Getting the PS2 online is a bit more complicated because it does not allow you to "spoof" the MAC address. For this reason you are required to identify the MAC address of the PS2, then spoof your PC's MAC, then re-register your PC with the new MAC to make the PS2's address eligible for network access.

navigate the PS2's menu system until you find the unit’s MAC address (this process is slightly different for the thin PS2 and the older PS2+Network adapter, it is easier with the thin version). You may need to use the PS2 network startup disk included with the network adapter or in the box with the thin PS2
once you locate the MAC address for the PS2 write it down, the number is 12 units long and can be comprised of both numbers and letters in the form of (XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX).
now use your computer to "spoof" the PS2's MAC address as follows
using Windows XP navigate to start>control panel
at the control panel choose either Network and Internet Connections>Network Connections or if you are in classic view simply choose Network Connections
choose the NIC you want to use (there may be a few choices, usually it is labeled Local Area Connection)
right click the NIC and choose Properties then navigate to the General tab and choose Configure (you will know you have the right NIC because it will have an Advanced tab when you hit Configure)
navigate to the Advanced tab and highlight "Network Address" or "Locally Administered Address"
enter the MAC address you wrote down for your PS2 into the blank field (without dashes) then choose OK
in order to verify that the MAC of your computer has changed navigate to start>run then type "cmd"
in the command prompt type "msconfig/all" and then look at the line called "Physical Address" if the physical address matches the MAC address you wrote down for your PS2 you can restart your machine.
once the machine has been reset you will be prompted by the network when you try to use the internet at which point you will enter your identification information.
now that you have used your computer to register your PS2's MAC your PS2 should easily connect to the internet using the PS2 startup disk!

if these instructions do not work for you, or you are a Macintosh owner who doesn't have a PC owning friend try these more complicated suggestions at Addict3d.org or search the web!

Custom Blogger Templates

2005-04-11T10:00:00.000-06:00

The template for this blog is an altered version of Minima designed by Douglas Bowman for use with Blogger. I decided to adapt his design to a flexible format using tables to obtain high cross browser compatibility. Doug has done multiple websites including the interface for http://www.blogger.com and his personal website/portfolio can be found at http://www.stopdesign.com.

If you are interested in borrowing the altered version of Minima that I have used for Manufacturedfreedom.com just post a comment here with your email address and I will get in touch with you.