Just got back from watching GoG in 3D and here's my thoughts (the title kind of gives it away  )

I will admit, prior to this week I had no interest at all in seeing GoG. I have no history (even passing) with the source material, so no desire there. After seeing the trailer and teaser stuff when they were released... I was torn on what the film was trying to be. The sequences shown didn't really leave me with any desire at all to find out more. The lead-in marketing was a complete DUD for me.

But this week after some people had seen it, spoke well of it, and even made comparisons to Avengers.. even saying topping Avengers. That peaked my interest. I think Avengers is an illustration of the peak of the modern super hero film. From the moving soundtrack, the scale, the pace, the visuals, the dabs of humor, the balance of comic suspension of belief... The Avengers does it all.. and does it well. That hero theme from the battle of NYC is just quintessential super hero stuff. It's the kind of blend of sound and staging that whenever you hear it.. it tickles you and you feel a bit superhero yourself. Like the Superman theme from the 80s films.. or those other inspiring John Williams soundtracks. It just inspires a feeling and click in your brain. So.. you think GoG has that? I'm interested.

First... do not let the fact you have zero idea what the premise of the film is, or who these characters or, etc distract you at all. You need ZERO background of anything Marvel to enjoy this film. In fact, you need more 80s pop knowledge than anything Marvel to get all the gags.

The movie does a great job of introducing you to the characters without boring you with flashbacks or spending time focusing on trying to beat into you 'hey, this is why this guy is here'. They do a respectable job of qualifying each character and their behaviors 'on the fly' without derailing the main track the film is heading down.

Some of the gags are a bit 'old game'.. like Groot's speech (Hodor!) but its not to the point of annoying.

Music
People had made comments about the soundtrack.. and how the music is almost a 6th character in the film. Bleh to that. Without giving away the film... the music played is often Pop tracks of significance to the main character. I love the story tie in here... but really didn't find the pop tracks all that stirring or core to the staging of the action. The lone exception to that is in the climatic battle when they face the bad guy.. and the track inclusion really plays to the comedy of the scene. That and in the credits the Jackson 5 song works out well. But the rest of the film? Meh... want a contemporary track to add punch to the film? Think at the end of the Matrix when Rage starts up.. that's powerful.

Outside the pop tracks... the film has a score that is very reminiscent of Avengers at times.. and it plays well. I think it sounds great.. I just think the 'music as a 6th character' kind of lines are way over blown.

Visuals
The visuals in the film are amazing. It's fun because some of the scenes feel like the classic huge matte paintings of classic sci-fi... yet others have the impossible realism that you only get with modern CGI. The film blends the effects, CGI, and settings perfectly. The only thing I found a bit distracting was Quinn's mask.. but it's minor thing. Overall I think the effects do exactly as they should.. advance the wow factor, make it all look real, all while not trying to be the lead character itself.

There are a few seconds of 'extra 3D to be 3D' but not too much and not overwhelming. The film looked great and I would probably feel a bit robbed without the 3D.

It doesn't matter what form you put Zoe Saldana in.. she looks amazing. It's not over the top like Black Widow in the Avengers.. but its near impossible to hide her sexy.

Characters
The characters (and famous names) in the film are vast and varied. I found most of them interesting and fun and while I'm no Academy critic... I found most of the acting transparent and did what I want it to do.. which is fade into believable. The only part where it gets a bit corny is in the "I have a plan" scene where the 5 characters discuss their plan (or lack of) of attack. Quinn's acting in there made me turn my nose a bit.

Plot/Pacing
Now where this movie excels IMO is the pace and action. It keeps you engaged and you feel like you are along for a hell of a ride. It slows a bit prior and after the climax.. but after the ride you've been on you almost need a breather! But it's not overload.. it's just nearly two hours of "I don't want to look away and miss something!". This is where I think some of the Avengers comparisons come in too.. the movie is PACKED with action sequences.. and unlike Captain America 2 which resorts to the 'lets move the camera around so much so you can't keep track of anything during fight shots' this film's action sequences are so much more enjoyable to watch.

I don't want to say much about the story except I bought in. It felt good, it didn't make me cringe, and it had sufficient twists that I didn't bore of anything. It does have some tear jerker moments. My 11yr old put it as... "it made you happy, sad, cry, and excited all at the same time!"

So what kind of film is this?
Going in, being Marvel and knowing it's comic universe based I was expecting another super hero film like a Thor, Iron Man, etc. But walking out of the theater it really didn't feel like one. It actually felt more like a Science Fiction action film more than anything related to comic books. It feels closer to a Star Wars or Last Starfighter than it does an Iron Man or Superman film.

Not that the movie plays out like Star Wars in any sense.. but in terms of what kind of audience appeal.. I said "its like a supercharged star wars". Way more action, a lot more sci-fi, but not nerdy sci-fi, so it would still have broad appeal. The movie has violence, but it's mostly bloodless violence and while there is some anger/spiteful kind of actions at time, I don't think its anywhere near as bad as Captain America 2 and falls more in line with what you get from an X-Men or Iron Man film. I didn't have any problem at all with what my 11yr old saw. Some of the jokes are a tad pg-13, but nothing more than you might see on network TV these days. I hope people give this film a chance and don't pigeon hole it as a 'super hero film' and then not want to see it. It's not a Rambo.. it's not X-Men.. It's not Star Trek. Maybe the JJ Abrams Star Trek might be the closest parallel give the pace and action Star Trek packed.

Overal Grade?
I think this is a MUST SEE for anyone who enjoys any sort of action film and isn't only interested in dramas or romance films. It's memorable.. its fun.. its amazing to watch.. and it's just the kind of film that makes you ENJOY going to the movies. You don't second guess what you just paid to see it, you don't say "well I'll wait for the DVD...", it makes you think "when am I going to come and see this again?". It's good... no, it's great.

I'd give it 4.75 out of 5 stars. I hope people give it a chance.. it's a great fun movie.

Disney Customer Service? A case study in how Disney is losing its way

Disney is a company that built its reputation on quality and customer focus.  For years, Disney has been able to charge a premium for its products based on customer expectations of getting a premium product and premium service.  But of late, long time followers of Disney have been upset over what they have perceived as the declining quality of products offered, the declining service by the company, all while Disney continues to raise prices for what they offer.  In many aspects the company is leaning on their legacy, selling on image, while failing to live up to the standards that built the company.  For an example of this… follow along with my recent experience with the online Disney Store.

Background

The adventure starts with my Chase Disney Visa.  I had rewards dollars which I had transferred to a rewards card, but had forgotten to cash in during our last cruise.  Reward cards?  They are effectively rechargable gift cards you use to redeem your Chase Disney cash back rewards.  The catch is, the cards have an expiration date, and once rewards points are transferred to a card, they must be used before the card expires, or the points are lost.  My card was to expire at the end of Dec 2013.

I only had a little bit on the card.. $57 and change.  But who wants to throw away $50??  You can only use the cards at limited Disney locations – but one of those is the Disney Store, both retail and online.  A common method to avoid having your rewards dollars expiring, is to buy a Disney gift card with your rewards card because while the reward cards expire… Disney gift cards do not.

A purchase!  Store or online?

So, I’d buy a Disney Gift card from the Disney Store.  I have a retail location about 45min drive away, but I can also buy Gift Cards from the online store… so that’s easy.  I log onto the Disney Store website, and see Gift Cards even have free shipping!  Even better!  It’s Dec 30^th, but that gives them two days to process the rewards card before I have a problem.  The gift cards are only available in $25 increments, and I have $57.xx on my card.  So I shop for something cheap on the site, and find they have a Cars die cast car on sale for $3.99.  Ok, not something I need, but it’s passable, and with shipping it will eat up my balance with just a slight overage. 

The site has two kinds of Gift Cards, Gift cards and Personalized Gift Cards.  I just want a basic card, so I pick from their normal list of cards, and add the die cast car.  When paying with a rewards card, the site requires you to supply a normal credit card for overages or if the reward card does not go through.  Fine.. so I complete my order on the website.  I get an order confirmation in email about 30 seconds later. 

Note the time stamp… 10am PST on Dec 30^th.  But there is an interesting footnote in the email..

Did you use a Gift Card?Only if the total of your purchase exceeded the amount on your Gift Card, will the balance be charged to your credit card. The new balance of your Gift Card may not be reflected immediately. Like a credit card, your Gift Card is not charged until your order has shipped.

Hrm, card is not charged until the order ships!  This is not anywhere in the order process on the website, but isn’t too uncommon.  But now it’s critical my order ships tomorrow.. else my reward card will be expired, they will charge my credit card for things I don’t really want.. and instead of being out $57 dollars, I’d be out $57+$59 = $116 dollars by having to put money out now ($50 I’d get back at some point in the future when the GC was used…).  Ok, but they have two days to process and ship my gift card… which is nothing but an electronic activation anyways.  So they should be able to pull that off.. Disney Store is not some mom and pop website.

First Contact

So the next morning I check my mail, worried now they won’t process my order in time and I’ll be screwed.  No mail… so I look up the contact number on the website to call and check on the status of my order.  I call them at 10:26 am eastern time on Dec 31 – the morning after my initial order. 

I speak to a nice sounding lady and explain my concern, worried about my rewards card not being charged before it expires.  The lady responds quickly that she has looked into this already as several people have called with similar concerns and assures me they will still charge the card even though it’s past the expiration and things will be fine.  Now, I get they will still charge the card ignoring the expiration date, but it’s not the Disney Store that decides if my card is still valid or not, that’s Chase.  So the fact Disney Store will ignore the expiration date really doesn't really me at all.  If Chase decides it’s expired, Disney Store will happily collect from me via my credit card.  Note, my Guest Relations Agent was oblivious to this distinction… and just wants me to think all is fine.

So, I turn to understanding when my order will ship, so I can focus on when my card will be charged.  She can not give any estimate of when it will ship, but informs me gift cards take 10 to 15 business days to ship!  WTF??  It’s a premade piece of plastic that fits in an envelope.  There is no such notice on the website when you order the gift card, and there was no such detail in my order email either.  So obviously with those kinds of expectations, the idea of my order shipping within 2 days is never going to happen so I tell her I want to cancel my order.  She says my order is being processed so she can’t cancel right here, but she will send a message to that department to have the order canceled.  I confirm to her I want the order canceled because she can not tell me it will ship before my card expires, she acknowledges and we wrap up the call.

Execute.. Plan B

Now it’s the last day my card is good, so I have to do something NOW, and Disney Store online obviously can’t get it done.  So I drive the long drive to the closest Disney Store, and buy basically the same two items.  The car isn’t onsale in the store, but no shipping, so the total actually was less than my card balance.  I pay with my rewards card with no problem, and head home.

Next day I check my email, and see an email from the Disney Store… odd.  The mail (#2) is a shipping notice.. they have shipped my die cast car.  Huh?  I canceled that order.. the time on the mail is 1:04pm eastern on Dec 31^st.  2.5hrs after I had spoke to Guest Relations on the phone.  Well.. maybe it’s a mistake, so I pass it off and wait to see what happens next.

Unleash the non-service

Skip ahead to January 6^th  Now I get yet another email from Disney Store (#3) dated Jan 6 at 11:03am… Congratulations, your Disney Gift Card has shipped!  WTF  Ok, obviously something is wrong here, so I forward the email to the Guest Relations (Disney fancy labeling for ‘customer service’) email for Disney Online Store with the following email dated Jan 6 at 12:17pm  (the shipping confirmation was part of the message including my contact, order #, etc)

“This order was canceled with guest services on Dec 31 by phone at 10:26am eastern time.  This order should never have shipped.  The order was primarily funded by a Disney rewards card that would not be charged until shipped, and guest services said it would take 10-15 business days to ship the gift card - so I instructed the agent to cancel the order - which she acknowledged she did.”

At 12:51pm, I get the following email (#4)

Dear Disney Guest, Thanks so much for your recent email. I certainly appreciate you taking the time to inform us of the difficulties you experienced when ordering through DisneyStore.com. This is not an example of the quality service we wish to provide and we hope that you find this to be an isolated incident. Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. Upon reviewing your concern, I am delighted to inform you that a request to cancel this gift card was made however that was no guarantee. I have sent a request to deactivate the gift card and for a credit to be issued to you. Once the gift card has been deactivated you will receive your credit. Again I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. We appreciate your business and hope you will visit DisneyStore.com again in the future. Sincerely,Charlena Have a Magical Day!
 The DisneyStore.com Team

Ok, so she acknowledges ‘this is not an example of the quality service with wish to provide…’  -  but then proceeds to tell me a request was made to cancel the gift card, ‘however that was no guarantee’  .  No guarantee?  I didn’t cancel the gift card, I canceled the whole order and the agent made no such disclaimers.

So I reply on Jan 7 at 11:20am

I didn't request to cancel the gift card - I requested to cancel my order period.  I had paid with a Disney rewards card as my primary payment method, and the agent could not confirm you would charge the card before it expired at the end of the month - so I said to cancel the order.  We had discussed the gift card because she said it would take 10-15 business days to ship ?!?!  My rewards card had to be used by Dec 31 and it was clear you would not ship the order in that timeframe so I said to cancel the order.  There was no discussion that this was a 'request' to cancel the order - or that it was 'not guaranteed'.  

Surely at this point, any company that is customer service focused would just correct the problem, and not argue over what their agent had done or not.  Customer doesn't want the order.. just fix it.  Oh, and on Jan 7, DisneyStore charges my credit card for $55.25  - so the worst possible situation is now happening.

Now they throw gas on the fire…  after my last email explaining how we got to this point, I get this reply (Mail #5) on Jan 7 at 3:27pm

Dear Disney Guest, We are delighted to have received your recent email and we appreciate your interest in DisneyStore.com. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have further questions. We look forward to future opportunities to be of service to you. Sincerely, Nikki Have a Magical Day! The DisneyStore.com Team

Can anyone tell me how this message addresses ANYTHING??  Their patronizing boilerplate about service and ‘Magic’ is getting infuriating at this point as they do absolutely nothing to actually address the problem.  I almost send back a ‘WTF is this??’ email, but stop myself.. and send this email in reply at 12:01am on Jan 8

What in the world was this last reply?
You have charged my credit card $55.25 for an order I canceled and spoke with guest relations to cancel.  This past email made reference to the gift card only  - I canceled the entire order, and I want confirmation that my card is not charged and the $55.25 reversed.

Disney Store replies (Mail #6) on Jan 8 at 7:22am

We are delighted to have received your recent email and we appreciate your interest in DisneyStore.com. Upon review of your concern, I apologize for what has happened with your order. Regrettably, your order has already shipped on 12/31/13 and the gift card on 1/6/14. However, I have sent a intercept request over to both the shipping and gift card department to have these packages shipped back to the distribution center. However the request is not granted before the the order is delivered, simply deny the packages upon delivery for the return of them back to the distribution center. Upon return, a credit will be issued back to your account. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have further questions. We look forward to future opportunities to be of service to you. Sincerely, Tomisha The DisneyStore.com Team

Ok, if we ignore the horrible grammar to start, mixing up past and present tense confusing it even more.. her offer to me is to decline the shipment.  Who here has UPS ask you before they leave a box on your doorstep?  Every email follows the same stupid boilerplate of apologizing but not actually doing anything to fix the problem.  So I have to reply again..  at this point I’m losing actual WORK time dealing with this crap.. so I reply quickly from my phone that morning Jan 8 at 9:59am

Hi, I can't deny shipment when ups leaves packages unattended.  Give me a return label and I'll send them back.

Yes, just give me a return shipping label, credit back the charges and all of this would go away.  Here’s the easy out for Disney… yet, how does the company who built an image based on customer service.. up to the point they had a full training program for OTHER companies to train them how to do customer service… how do they reply?

We get email #7 on Jan 8 at 11:28am

Thanks so much for your recent email concerning order # 1239227244. Upon reviewing your order, I see that resolution is already underway per an earlier email conversation. An internal email has been sent to the appropriate department to request the gift card be deactivated. Item # 461724786524 has shipped. Regrettably, the request to cancel your order was no guarantee as your order was in the processing stage at the time you called in to cancel. For this reason, we will not be able to issue a return label for this item; if delivered you may return this item to a local Disney Store. If there is no local store in your area, you will be responsible for shipping this item back to us in order to receive a full credit. Please let us know if you have any additional questions. We appreciate your business and look forward to your next visit to DisneyStore.com. Have a Magical Day! Sincerely,LaShundra
 The DisneyStore.com Team

Same patronizing boilerplate?  Check

Same lame ‘Magical Day’ references?  Check

Lack of accepting the original agent’s mistake?  Check

Lack of offering to correct the issue without penalizing the customer?  Check

Continuing to make the problem MINE to solve?  Check!

Failure to recognize a simple cheap fix to correct the situation?  CHECK!

Complete customer service failure?  Batting .1000!

So their offer, return the item to a store..  of course I’m intelligent enough to know doing so they would not refund the shipping, so I’d be driving to return a $3.99 item!  So, way to go Disney… instead of just writing off $9… or just issuing a return label so you get your $4 car back, you yet AGAIN tell the customer to take an action that doesn’t actually solve the customer’s complete problem. 

Disney non-service

Here we see the complete breakdown that illustrates how Disney has lost the principles that made it great.  Instead of providing great customer support, we get empty boilerplate messages that don’t offer to extend ANY effort to fix the customer’s problem.  We mislead the customer with half truths, and instead of focusing on turning a bad customer situation into a good one.. we pass the buck and instead turn the customer away.

A quick recap.. for a simple UPS pre-paid label, Disney could have fixed the entire problem.  Instead, Disney in its penny pinching way, refuses to spend a few bucks and in turn blows a far more expensive opportunity and turns a customer sour.  Congrats Disney, by saving a buck you lost yourself far more. 

This exchange epitomizes the false front that Disney is evolving to.  Relying on empty words like ‘magical’, failing to spend a buck to save ten, and burdening the customer, Disney makes money short term by relying on fake images while throwing away their future.  They use labels and terms to give a false image they are customer focused, with terms like ‘guest relations’… but it’s all fake.

So we end with my fed up reply to ‘guest relations’ on Jan 8 at 1:23pm

It's complete garbage that the blame is put on me because
1) You could not process an order in 24hrs, nor give any estimate of when it would be processed  (the whole reason to cancel the order in the first place - your inability to process an order in a timely fashion was going to cause my rewards card to be invalid)2) Your agent gives WRONG information over the phone3) It takes multiple contacts to correct 'cancel order' means the order.. not one item4) You waste my time with emails saying nothing at all5) It's absurd that an order requested to be canceled on the 31st... STILL ships on the 6th.  Blame my timing all you want, but given 4 business days you can't figure out how to cancel an order?6) I could drive two hours to return the $3 toy car, but they wouldn't refund my $4.95 shipping

Congratulations... over $8 you've lost a customer for life.  That's a magical day!

Now, it should be pretty clear they’ve just totally pissed me off… last chance Disney.. make the save!  Instead, we get Disney email #8 at 9:38pm

Thank you for your recent email and your candid feedback. We appreciate the fact that you took the time to convey your thoughts to us and truly value everyone’s perspective. Your feedback will be forwarded on to management for review. The Walt Disney Company prides itself in providing quality entertainment and merchandise for all and we will continue to make every effort towards achieving that goal. We look forward to future opportunities to meet or exceed your expectations. The DisneyStore.com Team

Yup… yet ANOTHER email not doing anything to actually improve the situation.  So as I type this on Jan 12^th.. 4 days later.  Still have the $55.25 charge on my credit card and nothing from Disney.

Yes, that is your legendary Disney customer service in 2014!  Show your #disneyside !

Book Review: Droidmaker: George Lucas and the Digital Revolution

So I just finished the book titled DroidMaker - George Lucas and the Digital Revolution and I thought I'd share my thoughts
Amazon link to book

The book is prefaced around George Lucas and his eventual efforts into digital to support his film habits :) The book starts with introducing George's early days, including his time in film school, and then his tutalage under Francis Ford Coppola. This section gives great insight into the 'anti-establishment' attitude Lucas is known for, as well as his insistence on owning his works.

One of the best aspects of the book is, as people are introduced, footnotes give you their film credits right on that page. A large part of the book is seeing and following just how critical people's paths cross and merge at various times to create some of iconic films and companies that we came to love.

Significant for Disney buffs is, the Pixar founders, and most centrally in the book, Ed Catmull, are deeply wound through this book. George picks Ed and Alvy to basically be the founders of the digital computing efforts in Lucasfilm.

The book is a fascinating look into Ed Catmull and the teams he helped organized as they moved from the challenges of simple computer images, to the aspirations of film quality CGI, and ultimately into the vision of a full CGI feature film.

This book is not really heavy on ILM.. (tho there is a lot of talk about it leading up to Star Wars. including some ILM history).. this book is mostly about Lucas and the computer division.. and how that division's people came together, their impacts, the challenges they tackled, and their progression as Lucasfilm expanded and then contracted.

Disney gets a few cross-overs in the book.. but this is more about the guys at Lucas, and ultimately Pixar. The lack of detail about the CAPS projection is one of the disappointments for me from the book. The other is, the book I think does a poor job benchmarking the computer division's progress against what else was out there at the time. We go from talking about how they struggled with technology to even see their images due to memory constraints, all while largely ignoring the shipping products of the time like video games. They do talk about Atari quite extensively in the book, but the timelines and 'progress' in the industry outside of the computer division isn't linked up quite well I think. This is particularly troublesome in the sections talking about digital audio.

Where the book excels is enlightenment into Lucas, and how/why he started these divisions and how they eventually morphed into what became Pixar. It also goes heavy into the film editing aspects, which was one of the driving motivations behind Lucas' investment into technology. The book also gives great insight into contrasting Lucas and Coppola's efforts in these spaces.

The book was a fascinating read and I feel like I gained a ton of knowledge from reading it. I highly recommend the book for anyone interested in computer animation, CGI, Pixar, or just the technology revolution that computers brought to Hollywood.

4.5 out of 5

Harmony 650 Review

 I've had several Harmony remotes (880x2, 890, Harmony One, and now this) and while this remote loses all the checkbox fights against the higher-end Harmony remotes, I will tell you it's the best bargin of the bunch!

No it doesn't have a big touch screen like the One.. but is that worth $120+?? After owning this, I will tell you no! Unless you are the type that is constantly in your device view on the touchscreen, the smaller screen is more then plenty.

I was originally concerned about the fixed activity buttons at the top.. no worries.. activities are shown on the screen as well.. just like the bigger remotes.

The key availability is the same as the bigger remotes.. it has the color keys for BluRay players, and a good layout for DVRs, etc.

It runs on batteries vs rechargable. Well anyone who has owned logitec rechargables over the years will tell you over time the charging contacts get worse and worse and often are the death of your device. The early harmony remotes were REALLY bad with this. I've had this remote now for almost 4 months and I'm still on my first set of batteries with no end in sight. The AA battery design is going to be more reliable in the long haul and has plenty of battery life.

5 Device limit - unless you have a big home theatre you are trying to setup.. this will be MORE then plenty for most people.

Not all the buttons light up like the higher end remotes, but that is a reduction in features I haven't missed in real world use.

Undeniably, unless the 5 device limit is constraining you, this is THE harmony remote to get. It's far cheaper and looks like it will hold up without problems for the long haul. Even if it didn't, at 1/3rd the cost you can afford to buy a replacement if you had to!

This remote has all the same device compatibility as the other IR Harmony remotes so no worries there.  It also uses identical software to the other remotes for programming, so no differences there either.

Really the difference between this and my 3x as expensive Harmony One is...
- AA vs recharging dock
- Smaller screen, no touchscreen
- Rubber buttons vs clicker buttons on the H-One
- 5 Devices vs 15 devices
- Design

After owning both - I can tell you undeniably without hesitation, unless you gotta have that 'sexy' remote on the table or are buying a remote for a huge system, buy the 650.  At Amazon right now it's only $40!  Most IR learning remotes are $20-$30.. this is only a $10 premium for the best type of remote out there.

The software does require someone not afraid of computers to use to setup the remote, but its pretty straight forward and has gotten much easier to use over the years.  This should not be a factor for anyone unless you are the type that just wants it to work right out of the box.  If so, pay your kid or your neighbor's kid $10 to set it up for you :)

A touching Father-Son Story about Buck Showalter

Great Story - worth checking out about the O's new manager Baltimore Sun - In Showalter, O's have baseball lifer

All Phones drop signal.. and other ways to avoid the topic

Steve Jobs favorite line... every phone drops signal when you hold it a certain way. Sure Mr Jobs, but is that spot right on 'every phone' right where it's natural to hold the phone like it is on your phone Mr Jobs? Funny you skip over that 'detail'.

Today's conference was a joke. Glad you are making steps to appease those who are financially affected - but shame on you for saying 'its not us' still again. Every boat has holes too Mr Jobs... but if you design a boat with a hole below the water line and the boat sinks.. you don't say 'well all boats have holes'. Where the 'hole' carries significance! Just like where your 'magic spot' that affects all phones has significance.

Apple needs to stop playing cute and just face the music. Today's conference was the closest we've ever seen (that I can recall) the company saying explictly 'we screwed up'. But instead they still blame everyone else (oh.. and physics too!) rather then face up to acknowledging they missed this.

Location has relevance Mr Jobs. Face up to it.

So now the question becomes is.. what is Sept 30th? Well that should be the end of Apple's fiscal year.. so it might just be accounting related - to cap this write off in this fiscal year.

I also like the defense about how its impossible for them to make enough bumpers... really so you can ramp up production on a high density consumer electronic... but you can't figure out how to outsource simple injection molding of a single piece device to ramp up production? Put it in a plastic bag, make one color, and make it by the millions. I'm sure you could find plenty of action in China willing to be your friend.

Apple's arrogance seems to shine through even when they are trying to concede..

Standing on the Event Horizon

Today I stand on the Event Horizon of Video Conferencing as we've known it.

Today is the closing date for Cisco's acquisition of TANDBERG. The date of no turning back. From this date forward - we are now Cisco. Sure the technical integration points (a badge, paycheck, etc) will take another month or so, but today Cisco puts their money on the table. 3.5 BILLION worth. Does that number seem insignificant? How many of you have heard of TANDBERG before if you don't use our products? Have you heard of WebEx? Cisco paid more for TANDBERG then WebEx. This is Cisco's second largest acquisition since the DotCom boom behind only their buy-out of Scientific-Atlanta and 6th largest ever. It's the 3rd largest in the tech world of 2009 -

As I stand on the event horizon, you can not help but look back. Next month represents my 14th anniversary of starting in this industry and company. 14 years ago I was still at University of Maryland and struggling with things in my personal life. Through the co-op office at school I sent out a bunch of resumes for co-op opportunities to alternating semesters working and going to school. Only one company replied. I found myself in what (today's terms) was a small company. It was a company with multiple locations, and people spread all around US and Canada. Yet, it was small enough that everyone knew everyone. You knew everyone's families. Someone walked around every Friday collecting money to fund the beer for the night. We'd hang out on the loading dock.. and just shoot the shit. The biggest decision was if and who was heading to the bars afterwards.

My planned semester on, semester off plan didn't really quite go as planned, and I stayed on part time. Eventually too this got messy, and I left to go back to school full time with less distractions, with the plan to return after school. When I had started, the company had just gone through a touch realignment due to the partnership that originated the company between BT and MCI being sold to the Canadian interest in the deal. This lead to a huge disruption in things like production, project management, etc. But being the new little guy, it all fly right over my head. Then in 1997 while I was back at school, TANDBERG bought the company outright. This transition was quite severe for the Canadian interest... but my outfit in Virginia was all gain. Socially, the Norweigans were something like you've never seen before. Proper, polite, sometimes overly direct, but good lord they went insane when partying.

As I returned to the company in May of 1998, the company's size and products had changed, but the core was essentially the same, but energized by TANDBERG. It quickly became our own. We grew in size, but the core remained as focused as ever. It was a 'task driven' environment. There was no such thing as 'dead weight'. No one told you what to do each day - each person was expected to find what needed to be done and do it. If you couldn't or wouldn't.. you didn't last the first few months. Working 8-8 was common. Working weekends was common. But this was because you were pushing so hard to make YOUR WORK happen. YOUR work, not the company.. yours. There was a passion for the goal. You worked your tail off and everyone around you did. When I was hiring people, I'd walk around introducing people and say 'If you are still here after 6months, you'll never leave'. And that was the truth. The process vetted people and those that were truly passionate and capable excelled. It was the type of company I was only 2 people away from the CEO. But the CEO wasn't just some owner who held every title in the book.. the company was virtually flat, and everyone was empowered to drive results.

Then there was the period where they wanted to take the company to the next level. A new CEO came in. A CEO scared to death of the culture the company had. A CEO who brought all his cronies with him to make the company into his company. He put on the company on the fast track for growth. The old leadership stepped back and gave him the reigns. He took a company that was really a group of people doing something together and made it into a 'corporation'.

Our growth was fueled not by new ideas, but simply brute force.The opportunity we had was so under developed simply due to manpower. So they hired.. and hired and hired. The purse strings were opened and people fell from the sky. You no longer knew everyone. We had 'dead weight'. We had people that were just here for a job. The company was no longer held on the backs of a view... but held up by the constant bubbling action of activity underneath of it. People that knew they didn't need this started to leave. Many of the best simply picked up and walked away.

But with this new found checkbook, the company was open to expand it's products too. All too long we had laser focused on one area, and relied on others for the rest of the solution. The single biggest decision of this era was to expand beyond our comfort zone and acquire talent. At this point in time, acquisitions were about talent, not product/customers. We acquired two software groups (IP Technologies, and Delente) that built our management suite. We acquired Ridgeway, a team that built our Call Control platform. We walked away from the traditional MCUs on the market and started building our own. We acquired teams in Holland, and New Zealand. We had become a truly global company with teams all around the world; All contributing to a new portfolio that in large was dead-on, addressing key customer needs, and had great focus on what we hoped to deliver. This was lead in the R&D world by key individuals whom as a 'brain trust' drove this engine, and found high gear.

But brewing at the top was an alternative motive. All along, the CEO had been setting out to take this company to a 'real company', make it grow up, and groom it. Groom it... to be acquired. Grooming it and courting the likes of Cisco (his former employer)... to position the company at all costs to be the fit for Cisco. The running joke was 'Im wearing a Cisco Polo to see if it will get me a promotion'. The company was being ran at full bore with the motivation to be acquired and drive financials. The culture was in turmoil. Key people were fleeing. And yet the acquisition goal just could not reach the top of the mountain. When I asked the CEO during a leadership retreat if he was concerned about the turnover... he blew it off as normal. A recurring almost 30%? The hired psychologist said we had to take the initiative ourselves. A notion completely blasted by those of us who had been doing just that and found no support. The fascade was falling... and insides were ill. That was the last leadership retreat the company had.

But then the CEO was ousted... Budweiser was sent on his way... 'Thank you for flying Lufthansa!'. A refocusing of the company on it's successful core started a refocusing on the company's core values. But we were big now, it wasn't quite the same as before.. but there were bright new horizons in the industry. We continued to invest, including the biggest acquisition of TANDBERG's history.. the acquisition of Codian. While smaller physically then TANDBERG, Codian represented a much larger overlap of people, roles, and technologies in R&D then previous efforts. While the walls are down from that move, the people, roles, and philosophies still has some long term settling to happen. TANDBERG has still not lost stride in any of this, and continues to blow through the market.

And then there was October 2009. In Oslo, the hints started to fall in line. Subtle changes in behavior, things that stood out -- we knew it might just finally be happening. Out at the bar well into the morning the bets were placed... not everyone thought it could be true.. we had nothing directly saying it.. but the old guard could feel it in the air. The next morning, the mails came out, the party tent was out.. and low and behold John Chambers himself had come to Oslo to make the announcement along side the old TANDBERG guard.

In fitting irony... the old CEO who had worked so long and hard to try to get Cisco to buy us.. had just been hired in July to 'save' our #1 competitor. The company struggling to reclaim the previous crown they had.. they thought they hire the guy who made TANDBERG what it was right? Oh, but the joke is on them. Andrew Miller didn't make TANDBERG what it was - he was just the first outsider who was given the space to spend where no one previously would. Polycom doesn't have that challenge ahead of them trying to grow from a tight small company, to a big grown up corporation. They can't 'fix' things by just growing. So now, after years of failing to achieve his goal at TANDBERG... just 3 months after being hired to take down the competition that had knocked Polycom out... the Cisco deal is announced. Oh what I would give up to hear/see the conversations that happened that day with Andrew Miller.

But here we stand just 7 months later... a process delayed by investors pushing Cisco for more value in TANDBERG... Regulators deciding what conditions to put in play.. Cisco raising their offer (something I've heard has never been done before)... and uncertainties coming into focused realities. Here, on April 19, 2010 , we have closing day. So now we stand on the Event Horizon.. no longer looking back at where we came from, but looking forward to where we are going. Beyond the point of no return, we look now to accelerate our movement forward. To find new opportunities, new powerful assets behind us, and lives within a new company. A new day, as part of company that has now grown by 4100% around us.

At least now I'll never have to spell my company name anymore.. making sure they don't miss the D in TANDBERG or explain what we do. It's a new day as Cisco.. hang on for the ride.

Blizzard of 2010

Well it's a doozy... and our third snow storm for the week. Check out some pix here http://flynnibus.smugmug.com/Home/Blizzard2010

Automatically signing into your Xbox Live Account

This seems like such a simple topic - but its complicated by dirty little details you probably didn't realize.
Question: When I start up my xbox 360 - My Xbox Live profile does not sign in automatically, how do I change this?
Answer: Everyone says just find it in your profile's settings. But in the NXE dashboard, you've searched and searched and searched and can't find it. Why? Here's the dirty little detail. Didn't you know.. not all your settings are IN the dashboard? The Guide button on your remote (the big X button) when pressed brings up a quick menu, that gives you quick access to various things on your xbox. But did you know.. there is configuration that is ONLY accessible via this menu? Yup.. and that's where auto sign-in is. When you hit the Guide button, goto the settings blade. Then click Profile. This menu looks identical to when you edit your gamer profile in the dashboard... except... now there is an auto sign-in option! Set it here and go home happy.
Maybe sometime soon Microsoft will fix this lapse of reason in their NXE experience. The identical pages are NOT identical in the guide vs dashboard. Poor UI Microsoft.. Poor UI.

Nissan 370Z Revealed - Spy Shots at the Ring

Looks like the 370Z - the update to my 350Z is finally making its final passes before coming offical. Looks like the car without much camo has been spotted at the 'Ring in Germany. Check out the autoblog post for the gallery http://www.autoblog.com/2008/10/08/spy-shots-nissan-370z-caught-undisguised/

How to feel out of shape

For a team building event - we were going to have a bike ride to a cabin. Knowing a bit about Norway.. most of these cabins are up in the hills and wilderness, so this isn't a ride around town!

Turns out we were going to Kikustua which is a popular spot to ski to in the winter, and bike to in the summer. The cabin in is the area just north of Oslo called the Nordmarka forest. Quite a beautiful area, one even you are not even allowed to drive into without special permission.

We started our adventure at Bogstad Camp - A recreation area just on the edge of the city. Distance to Kikustua? About 20 kilometers! Or almost 12.5 miles!

I don't have any information showing the elevation change, but from the terrain view of Google maps, it looks like probably a total elevation change of about 200meters from the start point and finish points. But more significantly - there are some serious hills between them! Check out this view from Google Maps. The path followed is not exactly what we did, but pretty close.

Lets just say some of the hills - absolutely brutal. There are stretches for 3+km that are nothing but uphill.. and very steep for such a long distance. I tried to take pictures, but it was almost impossible. Why? Because these hills are evil! They go up and around the hill. So while you may be able to see a few hundred yards in front of you, and you think.. I'm almost there! Just as you get to the top, you see its not the top, just a curve in the road, and the hill just keeps on going! There was never a spot you could see anywhere near how far you had gone or were going.

Some said 'just keep your speed up'. Keep it up? The hill is 3kilometers in a single stretch of nothing but UP!

But when we finished all the climbing and were really on the home stretch. We stopped for a beer break. Check out the view


And the beer break..

Check out the view from the lodge overlooking the lake

Needless to say - I don't know how I finished the ride. On the way back, you really felt like 'how in the world did anyone get up this hill??' they were that long and tall. But I did survive both the ride out and back the next day. Some heavy walking was required to get up several of the hills - but I managed to start and finish on a bike without killing myself :)

But to put it in perspective.. on the way back. We had probably 4-5 serious hills in the first section, that was considered 'almost all downhill'. That's because you went 11 kilometers before you reached the flat valley area!! That's right, almost 25 minutes and 11 kilometers of almost all downhill riding. Riding at the top speed of the bike on a gravel road no less. Luckily the road was worn, so there are tracks that were not loose gravel.

There are some more photos from the trip including views along the way and once we got to the lodge on my flickr photostream

Lego Wonders

I played with Legos a ton when a kid - and still love them. I have even tried to get my kids into them with some marginal success. Legos fanatics come up with some crazy builds. There are cool kits that blend your favorites such as Star Wars and Lego.. but the kits are big bucks for the big cool toys. Then of course the issue is where do you put them?? :) Then we have the extreme editions.. Did you have this Lego set as a kid like I did? The famous yellow Lego castle.. before Lego cheaped out and made most of the kits out of large pre-fab pieces Check out this project where they did.. uhh.. a supersized version of the kit :) Photo Gallery and Story at Gizmodo I think one of the most insane ones is this Aircraft Carrier. It's over 17ft long and the attention to detail is absurd. Check out the gallery at brickshelf. here are just some teasers Then you have the huge Star Wars kits everyone wishes they could have.. The M Falcon - $500 The Star Destroyer (now only $199!) .. and now.. the Death Star! Check out these videos of the unboxing and sorting of what one of these kits like these mean. Insane - Part I - Part II But some of the blogs have been following some of the Lego Conventions and other things that come up when Lego makes the news. Here are some clips/links of some crazy stuff. How about the Kennedy Space Center? Must See Video Or if Football is more your thing.. how about a stadium with 30,000 lego figures (minifigs) in it?? Insane
What about Stand-Up Comedy plus Lego? You get these great stop-animation using Lego to depict this sketch from Eddie Izzard about the Death Start Cantina What about Music Videos plus Lego?
There's even a whole site dedicated to the genre of stop animated Lego films - check 'em out http://www.brickfilms.com/films.php

Browse the web the easy way

Ever wonder how those friends of yours always find those links to wild stories or other things.. and how they always seem to be on top of all the news? It's not through brute force surfing or through a vast email network of sources you don't - its simply using the simple tool of RSS. You've see those links on the pages, its built into your broswer, but it may still seem kind of funky to use. I used to put some of them on my Yahoo portal, but that isn't very effective for high volume sites. And I'm too lazy to actually click through dozens of bookmarks every day, its so much easier to just browse quickly and see if anything interests you. Well my friend 'Mr Linux' pointed me to a site that really brings the power of RSS to you in a SUPER simple format that I think any user can use. It's called bloglines and it's got me hooked. To see an example of what it does for you.. goto my public view of the feeds I watch. When its your own, it even shows you which are new, with different fonts, etc. Its simple and effective. I highly recommend trying it. The tip I leave you is to ignore the group stuff they try to start you with... I found it confusing to try to customize. It's better to grab the bookmark they provide for you and put it in your toolbar. Then when browsing a site you like, just click on the bookmark and it will automatically search the page for a feed and automatically add it to your bloglines page! It couldn't be easier! So then you just add the feeds from sites you normally may come across but don't visit every day. Then you'll have this easy browsing format. You'll be the news genius of your group of friends in no time!

I finally enter the 1990s

Well, after years of head in the sand -I've finally decided to try to keep a web presence via a blog. I've never been a fan of posting everything and anything online, but what really has been powerful on the web since the emmergence of search engines with such powerful relevance hits like Google is the power to find someone who has experienced the same thing as you. A common joke is 'The best developer we have is Google'. Now when someone experiences an error - they don't open Microsoft's site, or their MSDN CDs - they type the error into Google. And more often then not - you find your answer. It's simply amazing how much work is done and time is saved by these search engines. And the key is, it's not the search engines making the answers, but users contributing their experiences online. Now the search engines make these experiences so easy to find. After years of mooching - I've decided its my turn to try to contribute to the collective as well. So this blog will hopefully be a home base for me to share experiences, neat things found around the web, and probably an occassional rant thrown in as well. Hopefully I'll figure out this UI so I can setup catagories so you can view or hide what you are interested in. Thanks for stopping by!