Computer Science Gets No Respect: A Talk with Son 1.0

From my son whose nearly 6 years old.

Son: Dad, when I get bigger I want to be a scientist.

Me: You know I'm a computer scientist.

S: No, I want to be a real scientist!

M: You don't think I'm a real scientist?

S: Yes, but I want to make a shrink ray. That's going to need a lot of
thinking because I have to create the formula. Then I can make people
small, or make them into giants.

M: It sure will!

iTimeZone participating in Indie Relief

I am late to the announcement, but Tangerine Element is participating in the Indie+Relief charity program for Haiti. iTimeZone isn't on the main page, couldn't get organized soon enough for that, but we are listed on Justin Williams (organizer of this excellent event) Bonus Indie+Relief Participants.

I also put out a Tangerine Element press release to commemorate the occasion.

Now go buy some software and donate to Haiti at the same time!

Day 12: 12 Days of Promo Codes for iTimeZone for iPhone/iPod touch

Day 12 of Tangerine Element's 12 Days of Promo Codes for iTimeZone is ending, the batch of promo code below are the last.

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KHYTEHKP49W6
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A3RHLYT69MWX

History
You can read about the promotion here.

Day 11: 12 Days of Promo Codes for iTimeZone for iPhone/iPod touch

Day 11 of Tangerine Element's 12 Days of Promo Codes for iTimeZone starts now. Wish me luck as I try to install Windows XP on the 27" iMac to prepare for Star Trek Online

JM3W4AYAWAJW
6J4H9FX76TLR
HKX7WTTMAM9Y
E3WKK96FLLL6

History
You can read about the promotion here.

Day 10: 12 Days of Promo Codes for iTimeZone for iPhone/iPod touch

Day 10 of Tangerine Element's 12 Days of Promo Codes for iTimeZone is for New Year's Day. Go 2010! I doubt it will be the year we make contact though (can you spot the movie reference?)

TPK93FKYR4LN
36PXJHH3WN7H
97KWKEHXRF46
6YNLPEJ346AH

History
You can read about the promotion here.

Day 9: 12 Days of Promo Codes for iTimeZone for iPhone/iPod touch

Day 9 of Tangerine Element's 12 Days of Promo Codes for iTimeZone is for New Year's Eve

NHNM4JY6KPEJ
NFFJ6RY3JTXA
XYK6EFTPJ969
NMMKW6NRFLEL

History
You can read about the promotion here.

Day 8: 12 Days of Promo Codes for iTimeZone for iPhone/iPod touch

Day 8 of Tangerine Element's 12 Days of Promo Codes for iTimeZone is also late, I promise I will catch up tomorrow! I was wrapped up in my first play of Assassin's Creed II...

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9KK3NNN9N4YW
9YWAW7KXK6FR
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History
You can read about the promotion here.

My Top 10 Video Games of the Decade

Since I banged out a Top 10 Movies of the Decade list, I figured why not put together a list on something I spend a lot more time doing than watching movies.

This list is primarily console games, my experience this decade has been on the Dreamcast, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and just the one computer game, but it's a doozy. The system listed next to each title is how I played the game, not necessarily all the systems the title appears on.

1. World of WarCraft - Mac OS X
• No game has changed the video game landscape more in the last decade than WoW
• My own struggles with addiction to this game have inspired a pretty good chunk of my blog posts
2. Bioshock - Xbox 360
• The first game I can remember playing that presents an agonizing, emotional, moral choice to make
• Not only the moral choice makes this game special, but the story of what happened to an Ayn Rand-ian laissez faire scientific society free of all restrictions was a powerful one
• See my full review
3. Halo Trilogy - Xbox-Xbox 360
• The Xbox would not have survived or certainly made it into the current generation without this franchise.
• Local and online multiplayer pioneer with Xbox Live
4. Uncharted 2 - PS3
• There has been no more cinematic experience than this game.
• Showed how powerful the PS3 really is with incredible graphics.
5. Batman - Arkham Asylyum - PS3
• Most licensed games suck, and certainly all Batman games have sucked, until this game
• This wasn't just a great Batman game, it would have been a great game even if you didn't have Batman at all
6. Wii Sports - Wii
• You can't deny, even if it's just a collection of mini-games, that this title demonstrated believable, usable motion controls for the first time in a home console
• In-person multiplayer opened people's eyes that the market for video games could be ages 5-85
7. Rock Band 2 - Xbox 360
• Pushed the music game experience from solo to group play and added an in-game song store which constantly adds new content to the game
8. Super Mario Galaxy - Wii
• Go read my full review, it says it all.
• Well not all, this is the only game on this list I couldn't finish. I just got to a certain point where I couldn't figure out how to get to the next world and gave up. That has certainly dropped the game in my decade ranking.
9. NFL 2K1 - Dreamcast
• Redefined football games with better announcers, graphics, and play calling. I still remember seeing the close-up replays from across the mall when seeing a promo for this game and thinking when did EB Games get football on TV, only realizing it was a game when I got closer
10. The Orange Box - Xbox 360
• With Half-Life 2, HL2: Episodes 1 & 2, Portal, and Team Fortress, this was the most value packed video game bundle to ever arrive
• It also helped that all the games are amazing. Half-Live 2: Episide 3 (or maybe it's Half-Live 3 now, the next episode is taking so long) has to be one of the most anticipated games of the 2010's

Day 7: 12 Days of Promo Codes for iTimeZone for iPhone/iPod touch

Day 7 of Tangerine Element's 12 Days of Promo Codes for iTimeZone is late! It could be because I was laughing so hard at The Hangover...

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3RJAMXTFHJ4F
J9WM334K96KN
XLNTRPER6793

History
You can read about the promotion here.

My Top 10 Movies of the Decade

Everyone's doing it, so why not:

1. The Dark Knight
2. Children of Men
3. Memento
4. Batman Begins
5. Avatar
6. Lord of the Rings - Extended Edition
7. Casino Royale
8. The Incredibles
9. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
10. Star Trek