Meme-ing for future reference.

Internet Market Research Reports

This is a related website to the "Electronic Gaming Business" newsletter. Lots of interesting reports and data here.

EGB: Electronic Gaming Business

] Top Ten Industry Facts
]
] 1/ U.S. computer and video game software sales grew eight percent
] in 2003 to $7 billion -- a more than doubling of industry software sales
] since 1996.
]
] 2/ In 2003, more than 239 million computer and video games
] were sold, or almost two games for every household in
] America.
]
] 3/ Half of all Americans age six and older play computer
] and video games.
]
] 4/ The average age of a game player is 29 years old.
]
] 5/ The average game buyer is 36 years old. In 2003, 94
] percent of computer game buyers and 84 percent of console
] game buyers were over the age of 18.
]
] 6/ Thirty-nine percent of game players are women.
]
] 7/ Eighty-five percent of all games sold in 2003 were
] rated "E" for everyone or "T" for teen. (For more
] information on ratings, please see www.esrb.org.)
]
] 8/ Ninety-two percent of parents surveyed who have
] children under the age of 18 say they monitor the content
] of the interactive games their children play, and 55
] percent of parents say they play interactive games with
] their kids at least once a month.
]
] 9/ Forty-three percent of game players say they play games
] online one or more hours per week, up from thirty-seven
] percent in 2003 and thirty-one percent in 2002.
]
] 10/ More than half of game players expect to be playing as
] much or more 10 years from now as they do today.

Good resource for sales and demographic data factoids.

Entertainment Software Association - Sales and Demographic Information

Decius wrote:
] I have nothing but admiration for the fortitude and grit of
] all Olympic competitors, especially in the more obscure events
] where there is no pecuniary reward. I also have nothing but
] respect for what scientists and doctors do. But that doesn't
] mean I want to watch them in action.
]
] Does anyone care? Even a little?

I care, and I watch. I've got the TiVo set for every single gymnastics competition. I'll also watch the other events when I have time. For example, I quite enjoyed watching the synchronized diving events.

The Olympics are also a good "family time" show. I enjoy watching events with young nieces and nephews, and explaining to them about how important it is to "stick the landing", and the difference between the different color medals.

I'm definitely *not* a sports person. The Olympics are one of the few sports-like events that I'll watch on TV, ever. But I enjoy the international flavor, I enjoy the sense of watching the "best of the best" -- These are the 1337 of the sporting world. :)

The opening ceremonies were fun too. Watching the "flying" runners with their torches, and then the actual torch-lighting ceremony always gives me a thrill. Plus I'm reminded of the story when our own LaughingBoy cloned the Olympic flame... LB, you still got that website up? :)

RE: It's the Olympics

] If you must use descriptive variable and function names,
] misspell them. By misspelling in some function and variable
] names, and spelling it correctly in others (such as
] SetPintleOpening SetPintalClosing) we effectively negate the
] use of grep or IDE search techniques. It works amazingly well.

The programmers in our ranks will get a good laugh out of these essays. Under the "Oh god, it's so true, it's funny," category. ;)

How To Write Unmaintainable Code

*Great* political humor. Lampoons both sides, with a catchy tune, too. :)

Political Humor: 'This land is our land'

] NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fay Wray, the shrieking blond beauty
] who earned fame as the frightened girl stalked by King
] Kong up the Empire State Building, has died at age 96.

'King Kong' Star Fay Wray: 1907-2004

] Funk legend Rick James (search), best known for the 1981
] hit "Super Freak," (search) died Friday, apparently of
] natural causes, police said. He was 56.

The man was extremely talented, I'll give him that. But I have to wonder how much his life was shortened, by the drug excesses of his youth. :/

Singer Rick James Dies at 56

I just got a really nice email from a soldier in Afghanistan:

I just wanted to drop you a line and tell you that I really enjoyed your website. My interest in cryptography and the like is a fairly new one, and your site was most informative. I am a soldier currently stationed in Kandahar, Afghanistan (surgical tech). Hopefully I will eventually be allowed to return to KC, but all information regarding a departure date is rumor at best. So, when things are quiet here, I get online and try to learn something new. What better way to pass the time?

Awwww. A little letter like this can make all the hours of HTML coding worth it. :)

] For alongside our famous individualism, there’s another
] ingredient in the American saga.
]
] A belief that we are connected as one people. If there’s a child
] on the south side of Chicago who can’t read, that matters to me,
] even if it’s not my child. If there’s a senior citizen somewhere
] who can’t pay for her prescription and has to choose between
] medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it’s
] not my grandmother. If there’s an Arab American family being
] rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that
] threatens my civil liberties. It’s that fundamental belief—I am
] my brother’s keeper, I am my sisters’ keeper—that makes this
] country work. It’s what allows us to pursue our individual
] dreams, yet still come together as a single American family.
] "E pluribus unum." Out of many, one.

Wow.

I'd heard about Obama's speech, but hadn't had a chance to watch the video until just now.

Having seen it, I have to agree, yes, it really was that good. :)

He's a great speaker, and I liked that he was talking about ways to bring the country back together, instead of preaching more divisiveness.

I look forward to seeing more of Obama in the future. As for his promotion of Kerry, it didn't persuade me. But if the Democrats were to pull Kerry off the ticket and put Obama on, then yes, at this moment, I think I'd be voting for Obama!

Video: Barack Obama's Keynote Address at the Democratic National Convention