A Pirates Life...Not for Me

Back in the day a pirate was one who lived on a ship with other men. They sailed the seas and pilfered from anyone they came across. They were thieves, cheats and 100% untrustworthy. (Look at Jack Sparrow) In today's world there are still pirates that work in operation similar to this but the main pirate you come across today is...everybody. Well it seems like everybody anyway.

So many people in this world would rather get something for free than pay for it. I understand the attraction of something for free. I work hard for my money and I'm sure lots of other people do too. Being able to gain something at no cost to myself is awesome but I have to remember that although I may have gotten this at no cost it didn't just come from thin air. Somebody put their hard work, time and money into whatever it is that I just got for free.

Music, movies and video games are wonderful forms of entertainment. Everyone has a favorite band/artist, song, movie, video or game to play and/or watch. Each of those forms of media are expensive and cost thousands of dollars to make. These days video games get budgets similar to those of a Hollywood movie. Hundreds of people work hard on the games just as hundreds of people work on the set of a movie. When the finished product is released all those people who worked for years of their lives on it look forward to sharing it with everyone, for a price of course. They want to be paid for their hard work and creativity. Wouldn't you?

I know far too many people who see a game or movie they want and they go online to download a copy of it. Digital Distribution is awesome and I'm all for owning something in a digital format but these people don't pay for what they download. They find it on various pirate sites and download it for free. They enjoy the game or movie in full and never give thanks to those who worked so hard to create it. The people who put their time and effort into this gauge the profits and see if a sequel would be worth their while.

So many of my friends get upset that some of their favorite games never get a proper ending or sequel. They wonder why the company would drop such an awesome game that they worked so hard on. Well I'll tell you exactly why they decided not to make a sequel. It's because of people like you. Consider this:

MAJOR GAME COMPANY: This looks like a great idea. You have a great game here and we would be happy to publish it for you.

CREATORS: Excellent. I'm sure this game will be a huge success!

Game is released and is a HUGE success. Only problem is that 70% of the people who played and enjoyed this game downloaded it from the internet and didn't pay for it.

CREATORS: Ok we're ready to create a sequel to our last game. Here are the plans, what do you think?

MAJOR GAME COMPANY: This looks awesome and I'm sure it would be fun however, we just didn't make enough sales on the previous game so it's not in our best interest to fund your next project. I'm sorry.

The game never gets made.

The same goes for television shows, movies, music and any other form of media entertainment. People are in those businesses to make money. They aren't going to produce something that doesn't generate a flow of cash into their pockets. I'm not saying that if everyone stopped pirating that everyone would get sequels to their favorite things. Even if everyone paid for everything they enjoyed there are some things that just don't gain enough support to warrant a follow up, it happens but at least it had a fair chance.

Companies do their best to combat the pirates with various forms of DRM (Digital Rights Management) but this never prevents piracy. It might slow it down for a small time but pirates always find a way around DRM no matter what it is. In the end DRM only ends up hurting the paying customer. This is an ongoing battle and it needs to stop. One side needs to lay down arms and show the first sign of peace. Several companies have distributed their media without DRM in hopes that people will buy their game in good faith. Pirates distribute this game and people download it without paying for it.

The companies have tried and they have failed. It's our turn now. Pirates need to lay down arms. I am a pirate and I am laying down my arms. I have lots of movies, music and video games that I have downloaded illegally online. I have gone through my computer and deleted ALL of those pirated files. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. If I want a song or music album I go online to Amazon and I purchase it. If I want a movie or TV episode I watch it on my instant watch Netflix account OR if I want to own it I purchase it on Amazon On Demand. Any video games I want to play I purchase through either Steam or GOG.com. Everything I own now is paid for. A pirates life is not for me.

I urge others to follow my example and lay down their pirate arms.

The Doll Maker and a Party

You never know when your going to meet someone new. Last week I was online and I got a pretty random message from a girl. She's really into feet and nylons and stuff of that nature. Personally I find feet to be pretty disgusting. Anyway she said that she enjoys reading about feet and had a story in her head about feet, bondage and horror. She really wants to read this story but doesn't want to be the one to write it, partly cause she says she isn't a good writer and partly cause if she was the one to write it she wouldn't get the same enjoyment from reading it. I understand where she's coming from and it just so happens that I think I'm a pretty good writer (of course that's only my opinion).

I asked her about the storyline and we talked for about two days. We discussed the characters and got all the who, what, when, where, why and hows out of the way. Once I felt I had a pretty good idea for the story in my head I began writing. She has strongly encouraged me to write more and more everyday and so far I've gotten quite a bit of it written. I'm very proud of what I've got so far and she is very impressed with the writing style and descriptions of everything I put in.

I've started writing various stories in the past and I've only ever finished one of them. (which is something I wrote over the summer between sophmore and junior years in high school) This might end up being something I finish that I'm really proud of. I really enjoy writing and there is a part of me that has a fantasy that this could be the beginning of a writing career for me. I could use this to get in the door and then write something real and have it published. I don't ever fantasize about becoming a famous writer like J.K. Rowling or anything but making enough money on writing that I could quit my job and live comfortably.

On the one hand I know it's all just a pipe dream, but on the other hand...why not? Why couldn't I write and sell books? Stranger things have happened, right? Sarah Sundin is a local author who started writing and had her first book published a few years ago. She lives in the same city I do and her book is really good. She isn't famous but her book sells. Why couldn't I do that? Maybe this book really will be encouragement for me to write a real story. I could submit it to a publisher and even if it gets rejected I could say that I tried. I wonder what the future holds for me in the world of writing...

In other news my wife and I held a house warming party this past weekend. I've never hosted a party before in my life so I was a little nervous. Everything went really well though. Her parents let us borrow a few tables and lots of chairs which was nice, otherwise all of our guests would have had to sit on the grass. Then again one of my neighbors daughters (who is only 10 years old) commented on what soft grass I have and how much she liked it. Before I knew it she and her Dad were wrestling on the grass having a great time.

I got to meet several of my neighbors and start that friendly relationship with them. I'm very thankful for that. I like the "olden days" when people knew all their neighbors and were good friends. It seems like these days people arn't even willing to go next door to ask for a cup of sugar or a few eggs. I want to be able to go next door and ask for something basic or be available if my neighbor needs something. Life just seems better when your friends with those around you.

My Two Cents - Nintendo

Saying I’m a fan of Nintendo would be wrong, because that just isn’t true anymore. Although Nintendo has a huge library of great games they just can’t compete in the market as a console developer anymore.

Sega made a lot of bad decisions starting with the Sega CD and continuing with the 32X, Saturn, Game Gear and by the time they finally made a product that was selling well (Dreamcast) they were too far gone to come back. They changed their business model to only create software as opposed to hardware. This was a smart business move for them. Although they still aren’t doing as well as I’m sure they wish they were doing they are doing better than they would have been if they had attempted to continue to support hardware.

Nintendo began to make bad business decisions as early as 1996 with the Nintendo 64. They aren’t falling quite as fast and hard as Sega did but ever since their decision to support cartridges for the Nintendo 64 they haven’t been able to gain what they had lost. Up until recently Nintendo was always able to depend on their sales in the handheld market to help cover their loss in the console market.

Nintendo has recently released the 3DS handheld game system and just announced their new console, the Wii U. The 3DS released with no solid games and the only game currently out that has anyone’s interest is Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3DS, which is just a remake of an old Nintendo 64 game. Last week Nintendo revealed that the price of the 3DS system is going down by almost $100 and that in the last 3 months they lost about $330 billion.

Nintendo needs to understand that they are really good at making great games. Franchises like Mario, Zelda, Kirby, Metroid and Donkey Kong are things people think about when video games are brought up. Systems aren’t their thing anymore and they need to gracefully give up. The sooner they do this the better off they will be.

Stop development of the Wii U and before the problem gets worse stop production of the 3DS. Drop everything like a bad habit. I have no doubt that lots of Nintendo fans who have purchased a 3DS (I own a 3DS) will be really pissed off but in the end it’s for the best. There will be massive lay-offs and jobs lost but they can’t sustain themselves as a company at the pace they’re going. Once they come out as a software only company, just as Sega did, they can begin to publish their games on the systems that are selling. It would be smart to take advantage of the hardware and user base already dedicated to Playstation and Xbox. They could even tackle the PC market by releasing games on a service like Steam or Direct 2 Drive.

That’s my 2 cents.

Vacation to Oregon

My wife and I decided to take a little vacation to Oregon to see our friend Jo. Last time we went we drove and it was about a 10 hour drive. We decided that we would rather take the one and a half hour flight this time. I’m not sure which one was faster in the end.

We flew out of San Francisco through United Airlines. When we arrived at the airport everything was chaos. There were people everywhere and very few attendants to help people get in the lines they were supposed to be in. Luckily we managed to get in the line we were supposed to be in but people around us were complaining that they had been in a few lines before they got to the line they were supposed to be in and it took them hours to get any help. What’s more we noticed some people had even missed their flights due to the incompetence of the United Airlines staff. When we finally made it to the front to get our boarding pass we hit another conflict. Turns out that Expedia.com screwed up when I made a change to my ticket and United was going to charge me an extra $150 even though I had already paid Expedia.com $300 to make the change in the first place. I complained and luckily they made the change without charging me any extra fee. (If they had required payment I would have paid so I could make my flight and then worried about complaining until I got my refund once I got home)

After that whole crap-fest we got to the security lines. I had to empty all my pockets, remove my shoes and go through the metal detector scanner thingy. When we were getting our belongings together after the scan they said that my wife’s bag didn’t clear and they had to search it. They removed a bottle of hairspray and re-scanned the bag, it cleared this time. We had no choice but to throw out the hairspray. I do understand the issue with the hairspray bottle, security said that with the elevation change it would explode in her bag. I didn’t believe them at first but when we got to our destination her lotion bottle had exploded in her bag and made quite a mess. Probably a good thing we didn’t have the hairspray as well.

Once we finally got on the plane we had smooth sailing all the way to Portland. We got off the plane, quickly met up with Jo and made our way to her house. The weekend was filled with movies, laughs, good times and good food. We celebrated Jo’s birthday with Hanna and her family, we saw the waterfall in Falls City and we laid around like lazy bums.

Wonderful time with JoAnn but it had to end. She drove us back to the Portland airport and we made sure to get their early in case we had to deal with the same bullshit we did at San Francisco. The Portland airport was FANTASTIC. We flew back on Alaska Airlines and they had a little kiosk where we typed in our information and got our boarding pass without needing any assistance from airport employees. The line to get through security was quick and although we still had to empty our pockets and take off our shoes everything flowed so much faster and smoother. When we were through we still had an hour until our plane took off so we sat down at a little café for breakfast. I was starting to think everything for our way home was going to be wonderful and easy.

Once we arrived at our gate we got the notice that our flight had been delayed due to heavy fog in San Francisco. We had to wait an extra hour for our flight and once we did finally start boarding we were told that we couldn’t keep our carry on luggage with us, it had to be put on carts and put into the back of the plane. The flight home was much more bumpy and shaky but we arrived in San Francisco safely, got our luggage and started our trek through the airport (which was once again a madhouse of people everywhere) to the BART station to catch a train back to Pittsburg.

I had arranged for my brother to pick us up from the BART station in Pittsburg but due to the delay in our flight he would no longer be able to pick us up. I tried to call my Mom but the train kept going underground through tunnels which killed my cell phone reception. Getting through to my Mom was a pain in the ass but I got through and she agreed to pick us up.

I enjoyed my time in Oregon with JoAnn but I wasn’t fond of the flying and BART train ride. I think that perhaps driving was a better option. Next time we decide to head out to visit JoAnn I’ll plan for more days off and we’ll drive and stay in a hotel along the way or something. We’ll see what happens.  

Homeless People - To Help or Not To Help?

I see homeless people everyday. Usually they are standing at the exits to freeways or they hang out in front of drug stores. They all have a cardboard sign that says something about needing money for food and usually end with “god bless”. The smell of booze and weed is a constant and they all wear ragged clothes and obviously haven’t showered in months.

To be perfectly honest I don’t feel sorry for these people at all. They made the choices to take up drugs or drinking and do nothing with their lives. They may have had horrible home lives or had no inspirational role models but they had to know the difference between right and wrong. They are where they are in life because of the choices they made.

I’ve given my loose change to them a few times in the past. They are always as respectful, thankful and happy to get the money as they can be. They obviously don’t know how to talk real English and usually speak in street ghetto. I’m glad they have the manners to thank me for giving them the money but I feel like I’m just enabling them. I highly doubt the money I just gave them is going towards food, pretty sure it will go straight to their drug dealer or to a local liquor store. It’s now my policy to never give money to homeless people.

My wife was standing on a table a while back and fell off. She was fine but her arm really hurt and was getting swollen. Luckily she didn’t break it but she needed a sling and some pain medicine.

We went to the local CVS Pharmacy to fill the prescription our doctor provided us and on our way through the parking lot we were approached by a homeless man. My first reaction was coming automatically, just say “I don’t have money” and keep walking. I didn’t say or do that. I stopped and listened to this man. He was African-American, dressed in nice jeans and a button up t-shirt, kept a comfortable distance from me so he could still talk to me but didn’t invade any of my personal space or comfort zone, and he spoke intelligent English. He explained to me that he is just down on his luck. He lost his job, lost his house and his pregnant wife was down the street at a fast food restaurant (so as to stay out of the cold and rain). He wasn’t looking for money. All he wanted was canned food that wouldn’t spoil quickly, preferably in easy open containers because he didn’t have a can opener.

This man was either telling me the truth or he was a damn good liar. I believed that he was just down on his luck; the way he presented himself, the way he talked, no smell of booze or weed anywhere. I wanted to help this man and his wife. For a moment I seriously considered offering he and his wife a warm place to sleep and plenty of food to eat at my apartment. They could get a warm shower, wash their clothes, use the internet in an attempt to find work. I really wanted to help but I was hesitant and didn’t offer it to him simply because I didn’t know him. I handed him $5 (which really was all the cash I had on hand) and wished him the best.

Life should be about helping each other and being a better person. I have no doubt that I did help him with the $5 I gave him but I could have done better. I had the means to provide he and his wife more than just $5 but I didn’t do it because I was afraid. What if he was lying? He could have been telling me that story just so he could get money to buy drugs, but he didn’t smell like he did drugs or look like he had been doing drugs. He could have had a gun hidden on his person and once he got to my apartment pulled it out and robbed me, of course he could have also robbed me right there in the parking lot.

There are so many things that could have happened to me if I had opened myself up to him in the way I wanted to. I took the safe way and just gave him the money because I was scared. I was scared because so many other people make it impossible to trust a stranger. I wish I could go back and give myself the strength to make the offer available to him. I think about my encounter with him often and I truly hope his luck has turned around. 

First Post EVER!!!

I've never had a blog before. I've had various journals where I write my ideas down but I've never published any of them, well except that one time but that was quite a disaster. I've got a lot I want to say, a lot I want the world to be able to hear, and a lot I want to hear from the world.

I'm kinda shy in some ways and extremely outgoing in others. I'm writing this blog to get my thoughts and feelings out there. I'm not one to speak up about things I believe in or things I feel. Maybe no one will read this ever and that's ok because as long as I say what I want to say I'm happy. Maybe people will read it and leave mean comments, hopefully they will leave nice comments and I'll make a few new friends.

I hope to update this at least once a week. We'll see how that goes. This is really just an introductory message, I already have my first real post ready so I'll be posting that tomorrow.

Here's hoping I'm able to keep up with this, meet some new friends, and find the outlet I'm looking for in sharing what I feel inside.