Games as teaching aids

A few weeks ago, my mom called to ask me about games. She knows I play them and follow the industry, and she had a specific question: where could she find screenshots of Modern Warfare 2, a popular recent game?

My curiosity got the better of me, and I had to ask. Why?

My mom is a speech therapist, but she spends most of her time with developmentally delayed kids. Many of her students are low functioning and have short attention spans, so she’s always on the lookout for new ways to keep them motivated and interested.

She’d heard her boys (and me) talk incessantly about video games over the years, and she’d seen firsthand the spell they could cast over even the lowest functioning kids. She realized she could harness that to help motivate them while working on reasoning, comprehension, and language skills.

I pointed her to a few screenshots and some background, and she was off to the races. “Who is this guy?” she’d ask, pointing to a soldier. “What’s he doing? How about that guy? Why are they doing that? Are they working together, or against each other? What happened before this? What’s going to happen next?”

Very cool. Such a great example of stepping outside yourself, thinking about other people, and meeting them where they are. gg mom!

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Amano Chocolate goes to Chuao

Amano, one of my favorite makers, recently held a “guess the origin” contest to stir up buzz for a new bar they’re introducing. I wasn’t enough of a cacao expert to guess, but I was still excited.

When they announced the answer, I wasn’t just excited. I was shocked. Amano’s new chocolate is from the Chuao region of Venezuela, a prized cacao source widely thought to produce the best beans in the world. It’s so well known that some makers have even named themselves after it.

For a long time, Amedei has been the only way for fans to get at Chuao’s cacao, since they had an exclusive deal with the village. Evidently Chuao is finally branching out, though. Good for them, and good for us too! I can’t wait to try Amano’s take on these famous beans.

Thanks to Seventypercent.com for their hands on report.

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Climbing at Planet Granite

planet granite climbing

I went to Planet Granite in the Presidio last Sunday to go indoor rock climbing with Cynthia, Clara, and Dan. I’d done some light climbing a few times before, but apart from a short session at the Stanford climbing gym, this was the first time I’d ever done anything serious.

The safety procedures for climbing and belaying aren’t too involved, but I still needed a refresher course, which Dan was happy to provide. He prepared me more than enough for the quick, hands-on safety exam in the gym. $24 later, I was harnessed, tied in, clipped on, and climbing up a wall!

planet granite wall

I have to admit, I didn’t enjoy that first route much. I’d learned to tie knots and handle carabiners, but I didn’t really know how to climb, so I had to learn on the job, which wasn’t very fun. On top of that, climbing wasn’t the aerobic or restistance workout I’d hoped for, but my fingers and toes did complain bitterly at the abuse. To top it all off, the height gave me solid dose of vertigo.

I managed, though, and I saw how I could enjoy it, even if I wasn’t actually enjoying it quite yet. I belayed Dan while he climbed, then tried another route. And another. It eventually came together, and before long I was having a great time.

planet granite crack

By the end of the day, I’d climbed routes rated from 5.7 up to 5.10a, which I was happy with. I even managed to “send” a few of the 5.9s, ie climb them without falling or weighting the rope. I fell off the 5.10a once, but I climbed back on and made it to the top without falling again.

It was a lot of fun. It never really turned into a workout comparable to running or lifting, and my fingers did turn into claws for a while, but it was worth it. I started to get a feel my center of gravity, and I learned a few interesting moves and techniques, enough to make me look forward to trying again next week. See you on the wall!

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Ignite at Google I/O

Google I/O 2010   ignite logo

I just got back from the first day of Google I/O, and one of my favorite sessions wasn’t Google related or even particularly technical. It was Ignite, a fast-paced collage of talks that gives each presenter only 5 minutes total, 15 seconds per slide.

Naturally, Ignite talks tend toward the unusual. The ones I saw ranged from the lighthearted to the esoteric to the absurd. They included a (search engine) search for the meaning of life, rowing across the North Atlantic ocean, battleship with real life scale model boats and guns, and a deconstruction of funny cat pictures by an expert. (Srsly.) The last speaker even found Atlantis!

Too fun. I wonder if anything tomorrow will come close, at least in entertainment value…

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Newborn foal

newborn foal and mother

My parents live in Eden Canyon, a secluded, rural piece of land that stretches a few miles above the 580. It rambles its way through rolling hills, dry creek bed, patches of light forest, and scattered wildflowers and other ground cover.

It’s spread out, fairly steep, and mostly undeveloped. Of the people who do own land there, some run working ranches, some are gentleman farmers, and a few just enjoy the country life. There aren’t many, though. The cows and horses probably outnumber the people. So, when a mare at one of the ranches has a baby, it’s big neighborhood news.

house

I happened to visit this past weekend at just that time. My mother and sister were on the scene less than an hour after the newborn foal was born, and I saw him soon afterward. He was barely able to stand up. He was all knees, to use my mom’s words, and his stick-thin legs splayed out in every direction. He didn’t know what to do with them.

His mother nudged him a bit with her nose, here and there, almost lifting him up, and he finally took a few faltering steps. He looked around, his eyes wavering between confused and terrified. I couldn’t blame him.

newborn foal legs

We came back just a few hours later, and he seemed much more stable. He was nursing singlemindedly, eyes closed and legs stretched as far as they could go.

We’re not sure if he has a name yet. My parents think they stable a few horses for other people, so if his mother is one of them, they’d probably wait for her owner.

Just another day in the canyon…

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Back to work

datacenter

After four years on App Engine, I took a sabbatical and relaxed for the last couple months. I didn’t go on an extended trip or do anything big, but I did spend lots of time with friends and family, worked on a few side projects and other fun things, and generally forgot about work and made the most of the time off.

All good things must come to an end, though, so I finally went back to work on Monday and started on a new project. It’s early still, and I have a lot of domain knowledge to ramp up on, but my new team is great, and I’m already hacking on some really cool stuff. I’m excited!

google headquarters sign

Sadly, I’ve never quite managed to keep home and work in sync, and this is no exception. I’ll be commuting yet again, from SF to Mountain View. Still, I can’t complain too much, all things considered.

Wish me luck with the new gig!

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Dining room table shopping

Recently, in my time off, I’ve been shopping for a dining room table. I started out with only a vague idea of what I was interested in. I liked dark wood, and I wanted a natural looking, uncut edge, but beyond that, I had no idea what I was doing.

A couple weeks of research solved that problem. I have a solid idea of what I want now, and I know the words to describe it. The style is called live edge, and it’s often found in tables made with a single slab or two “book matched” slabs of wood. George Nakashima pioneered this style, followed by John Houshmand, Live Edge, Hudson, Meyer Wells, and Jeffrey Greene, among others.

Large whole slabs of high quality wood like this tend to be rare, especially since designers now try to reclaim or salvage them instead of cutting live trees. If you’re looking for an unusual species or a particularly large slab, it can often take years.

Happily, my requirements are pretty tame. I’m planning to get a single slab or book matched slabs of black walnut, claro walnut, or bubinga, roughly 8′ long by 40″ wide by 2″ thick. I’ve seen thicker slabs, 3″ and more, and they’re stunning, but you pay through the nose for the extra thickness.

I’ll then attach a plate or pedestal base made from iron, steel, or bronze. They’re not as cheap as simple legs or frame style bases, but I like the solidarity and substance.

Here are the tables and designers I’m looking at so far. Let me know what you think!


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Working on my car

2006 mustang

I’ve been doing lots of different things in my free time between jobs. One of the most fun was working on my car the other day.

Of course, it’s a modern car, so it’s stuffed with microchips and “no user serviceable parts” under the hood, and I haven’t had the years of specialized school that you need to be an auto mechanic nowadays, so I didn’t touch the engine block or drivetrain. itself. I just wanted to add aux input to the stereo so I could connect it to an MP3 player.

pie frd04 aux

Happily – and surprisingly – the electrical side hasn’t changed as much over the years as the stuff under the hood. With the help of an aftermarket adaptor, some tap-in connectors from Radio Shack that are way easier than stripping wires and soldering by hand, and a helpful guide, it was pretty straightforward.

Most importantly, though, it works! The car speakers are so much nicer than headphones. Gotta love free time!

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New job!

app engine goodbye plaque

App Engine has been a great home for the past four years. It’s been an unforgettable experience – co-founding something so ambitious, iterating for years, the adrenaline rush of launch, seeing it grow and mature and make its way in the world, and most of all helping build a brilliant, awesome team. They pushed me and kept me on my toes the whole time, and I loved it. I’ll miss them.

google headquarters sign

Even so, it’s time to move on something new. I’ve always wanted to work on networking, and I’ve dabbled in it some, but I’m finally going to do it for real. After looking around and talking to lots of people, I finally settled on the network systems group at Google. I’ll likely start with the system that generates and monitors routing tables for all of our network devices, based on interesting constraints.

At first, though, I’ll just be learning. A lot. Wish me luck!

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SF Beer Week

sf beer week

It’s SF Beer Week! Oh boy oh boy oh boy…

I missed the big opening party, but I’m looking forward to the rest of the events, especially the ones here in SF. See you out there!

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