After a painful 2nd month of being traffic Shaped and after a harder look at our budget due to the GFC, it was finally time for us to leave the nest that was Optus cable and look for something better.
I put in my order via Internode to get an ADSL connection done. No problem I think, after all, I'm near the exchange and I've got telephone lines already so this should be a piece of cake.
So began a comedy of errors to switch to ADSL.
First up, Internode informs us that for the first number we provided, they get a "Service Account Not Found". I was thinking this was due to us getting our phone line repaired recently, so I ask them to try again. No dice. They inferred due to my 2nd phone line being with Optus, that my phone line was being delivered via the Coaxial Cable network not via a twisted pair copper cable. Fair enough I thought.
So I asked Internode to put the ADSL service on my first phone line. After all that phone was with Telstra for a long time, so it MUST be on copper right? Hell this house came with copper before Optus was even around.
Turns out that when we switched that first phone line's bills to go via Optus a few months prior, they changed that phone line to run via the Coax cable network as well. Joy! And guess what? Optus has no copper line service anywhere (well at least certainly not my area).
So in order to get an ADSL connection, I have to go begging back to Telstra to take me back!
Luckily they were happy to have me back and switched me over for 'free'. Free as in 'costs', but as it turned out, not free in terms of 'effort'. As you might expect when working with Australia's crappiest ex-monopolist, everything was slow. I put in the order and they said, we'll be done in 3 weeks. So I ring up in 2 weeks to see progress and I find the entire order got canceled because they typed into the wrong customer account number for my current setup with Optus and conveniently forgot to inform me. They said I needed to put in another order. After some harsh words, I said I want it done in the SAME time-frame. Amazingly enough, this '3 week minimum' order got done in a week as a result. Once the Telstra tech got into the house, they were done in 10mins. Does it really take 3 weeks to schedule a technician for a 10minute operation?
As soon as Telstra activated my phone line, I rang up Internode and resubmitted my order and they did that quickly. Was I done? No. A week later, Internode asked me to ring up Telstra and collect the details for my own wholesale account number for that phone line. I don't know why I had to ask instead of Internode asking Telstra directly, but I'm guessing ISP's aren't fond of talking to each other. So after I get this number, I give it to Internode. They say thank you and say they will give it to Optus (because Optus is the wholesaler for ADSL2). So we've come 360 back to optus. Oh sweet irony.
Finally a week after all that, Internode has someone provision the exchange and also my modem arrives on the same day. Eager with anticipation, I wire everything up. I notice doing the 'speed tests' that my speeds weren't that different to Optus. In addition, the modem reports my connection as 384 up, 8,064 up. Huh? Where is the 24MB/s connection I thought I was getting. Unfortunately it appears the Optus ADSL box at my exchange isn't DSLAM equipped so I'm only getting ADSL2, not ADSL2+.
So finally after 2 months of futzing around, I finally get myself onto Internode. Ironically, this wasn't much of a change. Optus's grandfathered plans gave me 12GBpeak/24GBoffpeak @ 10Mb/s line speed. Internode gives me 25GB @ 8Mb/s line speed. However this is why I changed.
- Internode packages the phone line into the plan so I'm paying $89 a month. Optus Cable plus line rental cost us $120 a month. This was the number 1 reason for the switch.
- Whilst it looks like I have 36GB, in reality its all too easy to get screwed by the 12GB cap and end up at 64kb/s line speed for a month. 25GB flat is a lot easier to manage.
Internode has a number of unmetered services (I <3 free Steam), plus it doesn't count upload, but in reality it's the above two things that encouraged the change. Also I disliked Optus' treatment of long term, heavily committed (We had a number of services with optus) customers. A business should look after those loyal customers and providing an expensive and outdated product with no intention of providing discounts is NOT one of those.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Running and cutting with scissors.
Welcome back to our normal blogging schedule. I don't honestly know where the last few months have gone, but the fact I haven't had time for reflection can either mean I've had way too much going on personally OR that I've been living in a cocoon like state waiting for a reason to live. The answer is actually a little bit of both, but you'll see a follow up post about that. For now I'm back and ready to blog!
Now a life well lived is a life full of firsts. Whilst there have been a number of titillating firsts which I've been meaning to blog about, I'll pick one in particular for today.
So I went to get my hair cut today. Yes this sounds very dull doesn't it? But today instead of going to my regular barber, I went to a hair salon! Okay this still sounds boring, but I did have a number of requests to explain why I would be mad enough to pay so much for a haircut that (to guys) looks roughly the same as before.
I went to the Luc Espace hair salon in Chatswood Chase. My friend Dan has a brother (Nathan) who works there (which has no real benefit outside of the fact it adds that extra personal touch to the entire story).
So unlike an normal hair dresser, the minute I walked into this place, I was treated very well. I was guided into my chair and greeted by Nathan as he was finishing up his previous client. In order to make the time go past faster, they politely offered herbal tea and men's magazines to read over. Being poorly prepared as usual, I hastily scoured the magazines looking for a style that would look good on me. Unfortunately it appeared 50% of the haircuts were for pretty/nancy boys and the other 50% were for distinguished gentlemen. There didn't seem to be something that screamed, "I'm a sexy software engineer, look, my great hair proves it!". I briefly looked at Patrick Dempsey's hair, but frankly, I think it only works on McDreamy and just looks ridiculous on anyone else.
Not long after I gave up looking in frustration, Nathan dropped by to talk about what I wanted to do with my hair. I described my previous hair cuts and how I didn't want anything like those, then gave a basic guideline to avoid cutting the hair in a style that would leave me showing a huge forehead by the end and then gave him free rein to do whatever you like after that! He showed me some designs to which I agreed (more out of ignorance than any real preference) and then we got ball rolling.
Nathan delegated the 'preparation of the client' to an apprentice called Susan. The first part involved Susan putting scented oil on her hands and wafting it up and down in front of my face before giving a gentle neck rub. This actually did relax me somewhat, perhaps not as effectively as chloroform, but close. After that I was led to the comfy reclining leather chairs and tilted back into the basin in order to get my hair washed. Normally I'm quiet around my hairdresser, but I've been working on my talking to (women) strangers skills so I actually managed to have a nice conversation with her. Working in IT gives you so few opportunities to practice so I welcomed this chance with open arms.
After this came the real work of actually getting a hair CUT. This entire process is always a blur to me, mostly because I have no glasses on and all I see is shapes moving around. If someone was going to stab me with scissors there would be no chance of me seeing that in time. The actual trimming and styling process took a significant amount of time, but I didn't really notice since I was having a lively chat with Nathan. I've met Nathan before and plus I've never really had any problems maintaining a good conversation with other guys.
After the hair cut, it was off to the hair wash basins again for another hair wash. In order to clean the hair on the face I received a mild facial with oils and a massage followed by a gentle towelling off. This is probably the finest treatment my face has ever received! This was followed up by the styling which in my case was as simple as some 'grooming cream' in my hair to style it forwards. Can't say I was blown away, but it didn't look too bad either. In the process of playing with it, he did spike up the hair, which I think might be an interesting look. I should try it in my own time!
In total the process took an hour. At $75, it was worth it for the experience, but certainly not a great idea for regular hair cuts for someone on a budget.
Now a life well lived is a life full of firsts. Whilst there have been a number of titillating firsts which I've been meaning to blog about, I'll pick one in particular for today.
So I went to get my hair cut today. Yes this sounds very dull doesn't it? But today instead of going to my regular barber, I went to a hair salon! Okay this still sounds boring, but I did have a number of requests to explain why I would be mad enough to pay so much for a haircut that (to guys) looks roughly the same as before.
I went to the Luc Espace hair salon in Chatswood Chase. My friend Dan has a brother (Nathan) who works there (which has no real benefit outside of the fact it adds that extra personal touch to the entire story).
So unlike an normal hair dresser, the minute I walked into this place, I was treated very well. I was guided into my chair and greeted by Nathan as he was finishing up his previous client. In order to make the time go past faster, they politely offered herbal tea and men's magazines to read over. Being poorly prepared as usual, I hastily scoured the magazines looking for a style that would look good on me. Unfortunately it appeared 50% of the haircuts were for pretty/nancy boys and the other 50% were for distinguished gentlemen. There didn't seem to be something that screamed, "I'm a sexy software engineer, look, my great hair proves it!". I briefly looked at Patrick Dempsey's hair, but frankly, I think it only works on McDreamy and just looks ridiculous on anyone else.
Not long after I gave up looking in frustration, Nathan dropped by to talk about what I wanted to do with my hair. I described my previous hair cuts and how I didn't want anything like those, then gave a basic guideline to avoid cutting the hair in a style that would leave me showing a huge forehead by the end and then gave him free rein to do whatever you like after that! He showed me some designs to which I agreed (more out of ignorance than any real preference) and then we got ball rolling.
Nathan delegated the 'preparation of the client' to an apprentice called Susan. The first part involved Susan putting scented oil on her hands and wafting it up and down in front of my face before giving a gentle neck rub. This actually did relax me somewhat, perhaps not as effectively as chloroform, but close. After that I was led to the comfy reclining leather chairs and tilted back into the basin in order to get my hair washed. Normally I'm quiet around my hairdresser, but I've been working on my talking to (women) strangers skills so I actually managed to have a nice conversation with her. Working in IT gives you so few opportunities to practice so I welcomed this chance with open arms.
After this came the real work of actually getting a hair CUT. This entire process is always a blur to me, mostly because I have no glasses on and all I see is shapes moving around. If someone was going to stab me with scissors there would be no chance of me seeing that in time. The actual trimming and styling process took a significant amount of time, but I didn't really notice since I was having a lively chat with Nathan. I've met Nathan before and plus I've never really had any problems maintaining a good conversation with other guys.
After the hair cut, it was off to the hair wash basins again for another hair wash. In order to clean the hair on the face I received a mild facial with oils and a massage followed by a gentle towelling off. This is probably the finest treatment my face has ever received! This was followed up by the styling which in my case was as simple as some 'grooming cream' in my hair to style it forwards. Can't say I was blown away, but it didn't look too bad either. In the process of playing with it, he did spike up the hair, which I think might be an interesting look. I should try it in my own time!
In total the process took an hour. At $75, it was worth it for the experience, but certainly not a great idea for regular hair cuts for someone on a budget.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
All that I learnt about Project management that I learned from Real-Time Strategy Games
This actually an article that I wrote close to a year ago. I made it in draft in Blogger and then never got around to publishing it. There is a lot here which I think is simplistic, but it surprises me how much of it still holds true. So enjoy!
----
So after a few weeks of crazy technical work as well as project management I've got a few titbits of information on how to run a project. And amusingly enough, a lot of what I learnt had a lot of overlap with gaming.
1. Business Case / Reconnaissance & Forward planning.
In all strategy games, sending in a forward scout to figure out what is going on in the enemy camp usually will give you a significant advantage. Why are you building Anti-Infantry units when he is going straight for vehicles? Shouldn't you figure out what he is trying to kill you with first so you can build the opposite? Sure you'll take a hit to your production since you're not using a unit for mining, but it'll be worth it when your build the right units for the job. In the same vein, shouldn't you understand what your customer wants exactly rather than rushing to build something that won't solve the right problem and will simply get your project axed?
2. Team composition / Combined arms
Who goes into battle with purely one type of unit? Idiots and spammers that's who. And in any realistic game you find this will get you killed. Similarly going into a project with gung-ho hackers will probably result in a cancelled/delayed project. A team need different types and I don't just mean roles. I mean you need the visionaries, the pragmatists, the pedantic types and of course the motherly types to look after this awkward lot.
3. Stub development/ Hit and Run
Just because the bulk of your army isn't ready yet, or your economy isn't in full gear isn't really an excuse to not do lots of harassment of the enemy. So just because you don't have all the information you need, doesn't mean you can't develop by skunk-working, or writing stubs for the bits you don't understand and then doing the rest later.
4. Self-Improvement / Building a Economy
I'd like to think I encourage people to keep improving their skills even if we're running close on the deadline. In a match, often it is tempting overstretch your economy and strike the opposition. It is a balancing act. Not focusing on skills/economy will result in you losing steam before long and being ineffective, whilst overdoing the skills/turtling in your base means you're not getting out there, solving the bigger problem at hand.
5. Force multipliers.
In most games there is a unit or building which doesn't do anything by itself, but confers benefits to those units around it. These are called force multipliers since their mere existence means your entire army is now more effective. This could be a 'supply truck' that improves the damage/hit points of every unit near it. Similarly in projects, you will find some people are force multipliers which aren't very effective by themselves, but multiply the powers of others. Managers of various forms typically fall into this role, but you'll find the overly helpful tester or help desk engineer can also maximise the strengths of your development team. Some tasks are force multipliers in that if you do those tasks early, you could allow a number of tasks to start in parallel, speeding up the entire process.
6. There is a place for heroes, but communication works better.
Say what you will, heroic efforts by a single developer in software development do exist and I'm willing to say all risky projects have needed it to succeed. It is just like the guy who somehow manages to destroy the enemies economy behind the lines, ignoring the fact his allies need him at the forefront. Communication is better, and I don't mean communicating the fact you're not coming back to help. Communication is core to winning in a game and even more so in project management. You need people to know what you're doing and make sure everyone is in alignment to win the task at hand. And if this means your team provides a distraction whilst you go and kill their worker drones, so be it. As long as you agreed to that as a team.
7. Your plan will typically be screwed very quickly.
What will be instantly familiar to both project managers and gamers is that the best laid plans of mice and men go astray. Going in with a set plan is a good idea since you have a reasonable starting point. And things don't always wrong. But nine times out of ten they will. A module will be harder to implement than estimated, an ally will have raptors 'killing their manz' before they know it.
Exceptions
Unlike games where is it often black and white, you have to be careful about defining your enemy. Other teams are not your enemy and treating them as such will get you in trouble quick smart.
Also most modern RTS games make you focus on looking after each unit individually and giving them directions. Unfortunately this doesn't work when you're dealing with intelligent people. Developers don't like being micro-ed generally and trying to do so simply makes both you and him/her less effective.
----
So after a few weeks of crazy technical work as well as project management I've got a few titbits of information on how to run a project. And amusingly enough, a lot of what I learnt had a lot of overlap with gaming.
1. Business Case / Reconnaissance & Forward planning.
In all strategy games, sending in a forward scout to figure out what is going on in the enemy camp usually will give you a significant advantage. Why are you building Anti-Infantry units when he is going straight for vehicles? Shouldn't you figure out what he is trying to kill you with first so you can build the opposite? Sure you'll take a hit to your production since you're not using a unit for mining, but it'll be worth it when your build the right units for the job. In the same vein, shouldn't you understand what your customer wants exactly rather than rushing to build something that won't solve the right problem and will simply get your project axed?
2. Team composition / Combined arms
Who goes into battle with purely one type of unit? Idiots and spammers that's who. And in any realistic game you find this will get you killed. Similarly going into a project with gung-ho hackers will probably result in a cancelled/delayed project. A team need different types and I don't just mean roles. I mean you need the visionaries, the pragmatists, the pedantic types and of course the motherly types to look after this awkward lot.
3. Stub development/ Hit and Run
Just because the bulk of your army isn't ready yet, or your economy isn't in full gear isn't really an excuse to not do lots of harassment of the enemy. So just because you don't have all the information you need, doesn't mean you can't develop by skunk-working, or writing stubs for the bits you don't understand and then doing the rest later.
4. Self-Improvement / Building a Economy
I'd like to think I encourage people to keep improving their skills even if we're running close on the deadline. In a match, often it is tempting overstretch your economy and strike the opposition. It is a balancing act. Not focusing on skills/economy will result in you losing steam before long and being ineffective, whilst overdoing the skills/turtling in your base means you're not getting out there, solving the bigger problem at hand.
5. Force multipliers.
In most games there is a unit or building which doesn't do anything by itself, but confers benefits to those units around it. These are called force multipliers since their mere existence means your entire army is now more effective. This could be a 'supply truck' that improves the damage/hit points of every unit near it. Similarly in projects, you will find some people are force multipliers which aren't very effective by themselves, but multiply the powers of others. Managers of various forms typically fall into this role, but you'll find the overly helpful tester or help desk engineer can also maximise the strengths of your development team. Some tasks are force multipliers in that if you do those tasks early, you could allow a number of tasks to start in parallel, speeding up the entire process.
6. There is a place for heroes, but communication works better.
Say what you will, heroic efforts by a single developer in software development do exist and I'm willing to say all risky projects have needed it to succeed. It is just like the guy who somehow manages to destroy the enemies economy behind the lines, ignoring the fact his allies need him at the forefront. Communication is better, and I don't mean communicating the fact you're not coming back to help. Communication is core to winning in a game and even more so in project management. You need people to know what you're doing and make sure everyone is in alignment to win the task at hand. And if this means your team provides a distraction whilst you go and kill their worker drones, so be it. As long as you agreed to that as a team.
7. Your plan will typically be screwed very quickly.
What will be instantly familiar to both project managers and gamers is that the best laid plans of mice and men go astray. Going in with a set plan is a good idea since you have a reasonable starting point. And things don't always wrong. But nine times out of ten they will. A module will be harder to implement than estimated, an ally will have raptors 'killing their manz' before they know it.
Exceptions
Unlike games where is it often black and white, you have to be careful about defining your enemy. Other teams are not your enemy and treating them as such will get you in trouble quick smart.
Also most modern RTS games make you focus on looking after each unit individually and giving them directions. Unfortunately this doesn't work when you're dealing with intelligent people. Developers don't like being micro-ed generally and trying to do so simply makes both you and him/her less effective.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Road tripping to 2009
Welcome to 2009! It has been a preposterously long time since my last post and I do apologize. I'm hoping in 2009 to improve on that and get back to a regular posting cycle.
I just came back from a seven day road trip today so I'm fairly tired and suffering from typical post-vacation depression, but I'm finding doing normal activities like blogging and reading help get me back in the mood for going back to work.
I went with pretty much the same crowd that I went to Thailand with, so it all felt comfortable and familiar. We had a good mix of boys and girls to keep the group dynamic from getting too girly or too blokey. The group operated like a well oiled machine where we all knew what had to be done and would be comfortable doing it. I think I appreciated this holiday more than previous ones because I felt needed. I could drive long distances, I could help cook, put up tents and just be useful whereas on previous holidays, I was more just a participant.
The driving was an highlight for me. Driving for most people is a necessary evil, but I enjoy a uninterrupted, interesting drive through the country. We had two cars, one being a latest generation Toyota Aurion and the other being an Holden Commodore Sports Edition. I loved driving the Commodore. Being a el-cheapo 98' Camry driver myself, it is great to be being the wheel of a powerful modern driving machine. I wasn't the only one however, since all the boys wanted first dibs on the Commodore.
In terms of activities and destinations, we didn't actually do all that much on this trip. In quick chronological summary:
It wasn't quite in the same league as our trip to Thailand, which felt a little bit more 'complete' and fulfilling, but it was still an enjoyable holiday away from the daily grind. After writing this post I feel a little more comfortable, but I still fear the first day back into work.
I just came back from a seven day road trip today so I'm fairly tired and suffering from typical post-vacation depression, but I'm finding doing normal activities like blogging and reading help get me back in the mood for going back to work.
I went with pretty much the same crowd that I went to Thailand with, so it all felt comfortable and familiar. We had a good mix of boys and girls to keep the group dynamic from getting too girly or too blokey. The group operated like a well oiled machine where we all knew what had to be done and would be comfortable doing it. I think I appreciated this holiday more than previous ones because I felt needed. I could drive long distances, I could help cook, put up tents and just be useful whereas on previous holidays, I was more just a participant.
The driving was an highlight for me. Driving for most people is a necessary evil, but I enjoy a uninterrupted, interesting drive through the country. We had two cars, one being a latest generation Toyota Aurion and the other being an Holden Commodore Sports Edition. I loved driving the Commodore. Being a el-cheapo 98' Camry driver myself, it is great to be being the wheel of a powerful modern driving machine. I wasn't the only one however, since all the boys wanted first dibs on the Commodore.
In terms of activities and destinations, we didn't actually do all that much on this trip. In quick chronological summary:
- Day 1 - Brisbane
- Day 2- Noosa - Beach activities
- Day 3 - Gold Coast - Beach activities.
- Day 4 - Gold Coast - White water world theme park.
- Day 5 - Gold Coast - Shopping and lazing about
- Day 6 - Byron Bay & Coffs Harbour - Lazing around in an resort.
- Day 7 - Port Macquarie & Barrington Tops - Camping
- Day 8 - Back to Sydney. - Lots of driving back.
It wasn't quite in the same league as our trip to Thailand, which felt a little bit more 'complete' and fulfilling, but it was still an enjoyable holiday away from the daily grind. After writing this post I feel a little more comfortable, but I still fear the first day back into work.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Match-maker, match-maker, make me a match!
This blog post has been a long time coming. I couldn't write it due to a long running practical joke which finally came to a conclusion last week. A large segment of my friend base believed that I came back engaged after my trip back to Sri Lanka due to a story dreamed up by one of my best friends. Of course I decided to fan the flames of that story (all the while dropping hints) in order to see who would smell the rat and who would stay gullible.
The best lies are the ones which are half true and now dear reader, I can divulge what actually happened on my trip away in Sri Lanka.
Whilst overseas, my dad decided to take me to my uncle's home for a 'catch up' with the family and 'some close family friends'. I've known for a while that my folks have been searching for partners for me, but this was six days into the holiday and without any smell of a setup, I had gotten complacent. By the time dinner was done the 'family friends' had come over and with a daughter in tow, I knew it was a setup**. I was furious, but couldn't make a scene in front of two families so I put on a smiling face and greeted the family and the girl.
The unfortunate thing was, she was one hell of a catch. She was very forward, played sports, had an active social life, was a wonderful pianist (my dad requested her to play) and she was pretty. It was unfortunate because being the moron that I was, I decided to be somewhere between civil and friendly instead of going all out to make an positive impression. Whilst still annoyed at being in the dark about all this, I still kicked myself for botching it up. Especially since my family had gone to a lot of effort already, I decided to give this entire process a fair go and went ahead to the various setups my parents had filtered.
Girl 2: Worked in IT as a tester. I was utterly charming and she made for decent conversation. On paper it made for a reasonable match, but in reality, there was a significant lack of chemistry from my side. There simply wasn't the spark there was with the first girl.
Girl 3: Was in the middle of NOWHERE. It was a 3 hour drive through god-knows-where to get there. By the time I got there, my back was killing me from the driving and I was hardly in the mood to be charming. Luckily enough, she really wasn't my type. Way too timid for someone with an personality like mine and she just couldn't make conversation.
Girl 4: Utterly disillusioned by this point, I spent most of this one playing with my 6 year old cousin whilst my dad did the interrogation. She looked as disinterested in being there as I was, so luckily this ended quickly.
The idea is the next time I return that I have another look, but this is giving me good incentive to avoid going back for a while.
So the irony here is that I put some really high artificial barriers to entry when I'm interacting with the ladies in SL, but over here I'm knocked over by the first pretty face which is nice to me. It is an awful double standard. So, with not much happening here and no real wish to go back and continue the Sri Lankan match making process, I'm stuck.
In order to get out of my current rut, Cat told me to get myself on RSVP, which initially seems like an extreme measure until you strip away the emotional aspects. This is a classic Long Tail situation. Think about it this way. A lot of hookups and lot of incredibly good looking people appear in bars and pubs. But that said, your typical bar/pub only appeals to about 5-10% of the population you could date. Distribution is difficult because it usually requires a significant amount of courage to present yourself to another person. Filtering is impossible, because even if you could hear over the awful music, people don't tell you enough about them to make a informed decision (well unless you just want a shag, in which case the looks are enough data).
Enter the Internet.
Places like RSVP, Lava and the myriad other sites represent the long tail of the dating market.
There are thousands of people available on these sites, and whilst they don't currently represent everyone, they would probably cover another 40% of the potential market.
Distribution is easy, everyone places information about themselves onto the website, filling out what they are like. Anyone with access to a computer can do it, you don't need to argue with bouncers and its for the most part free!
Of course with this many people on the net, it makes it even more difficult to find someone you like. Luckily there are filtering mechanisms. Being able to filter out on age, race, pets, preferences towards Star Trek vs Star Wars, almost anything, gives unbelievable ability to find someone who you might be compatible with. The 'relative' anonymity of the process also improves chances of personalities being correctly portrayed rather than the usual mask people wear in public. Unfortunately you also miss 60% of the conversation due to the lack of body language.
It would be funny if there was a rating system for people as well, in the same vein as Amazon. "I dated James for two years, it was awesome. Highly recommended" - 5 Stars. It would highly flawed since the biggest problem is that breakups nearly always result in 1 star ratings of each other regardless of how '5 star' you were in the 'honeymoon' stage. But I digress.
So with this many great reasons to be listed, why am I not? I don't know, but I suspect its the same naive reason every other single person uses. We're all waiting for our Princess Charming to come along and whisk us away to somewhere beautiful.
** For those who are unaware of Sri Lankan custom, matchmaking is a fairly common occurrence even today. Both boy and girl have full control over the process and the family who does the match making simply act like a dating service, except with pre-approval from the parents already granted (since they helped set you up remember). After you find someone you like you conduct a normal courtship and if that fails, you start again. My cousin went through 89 girls before he found the right girl for him (and he's still happily married with several beautiful kids). In general the program has a incredibly high success rate.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Board games and you: A guide to a true nerd sport.
My friends pointed out, moderately bitterly, that I have an affinity to economic board games. And looking back over the past, I've noticed a tendency to win significantly above average. Which is ironic considering my real-life financial situation, but I suspect board games reward the type of behaviour which would otherwise back-fire in real life. So I figured I'd share some of these thoughts as in the hope it will lead to some more intense games in the future, rather than a grimace of "Not again".
I originally wrote this blog with specific problems and examples from each board game, but I deliberately made it generic and applicable across multiple games, for as Drucker said in the Effective Executive, 'most problems are generic and can only be solved through a decision which establish a rule or principle'. This is also partly to help anyone outside of my work group who will not understand the specialized language of the games being discussed.
* Early investment. No.1 rule is anything that provides continuous and preferably exponential investment HAS to be done early. Example 1: In Peurto Rico, an early cheap investment in a 'Small market' accelerates your money making and allows you to get a 'Large market' quickly which accelerates your funding again. Example 2: In Acquire, Forcing an early merge allows you to get substantial cash infusion which you can invest into other hotels, allowing you to become majority share owner in them as well.
* Understand your resources by themselves and with respect to the environment. Each resource has different uses in each phase of the game and you need to understand how to best utilize them. For example: Puerto rico, there is only one good you can sell at a time, so generating a tonne of coffee or tobacco is generally useless. Having one coffee available at all times is plenty.
The second point is just as important. Each resource is has different value based on what people have done. Arms races will on the other hand will kill both players. Playing contranian often works in your favour. E.g. Settlers, if everyone shoots for brick and wood, there will a flood of these resources and you, the contrarian who owns the only sheep suddenly has a lot of power. Alhambra is a prime example. Those who do an arms race to own all the "valuable" 'Purple' buildings might end up having to share points, whilst he who notices this and moves into the "cheap" 'Blue' buildings might get to keep all of those points.
* Over-diversification is a bad idea. Just like real-life, over diversification hurts more then it helps. In nearly every game, you will end up highly overstretched. In Settlers, having access to every resource-type square probably means you have a lot of settlements and no cities to accelerate cash. In Acquire, having a stake in every hotel means you'll likely not get Majority OR Minority shareholder bonuses. In Puerto rico, having more than 2 types of production means you're wasting money on production plants which should have gone to support buildings.
* Strengthening your own hand is always preferable to damaging another's. Don't try to hurt a particular person, even if they seem to be in the lead, if by doing so you sacrifice a better play for yourself. The only exception to this is if you can screw everyone else at once. Example: In Puerto rico, 'Trading' to make more cash to buy that building you always wanted is generally the best move. However if by 'Captain'ing you can force everyone else to dump heavily goods whilst allowing you to have some minor benefit, then this may be a better choice.
* Communication on and outside of your round is vital. As a general rule, you want to steer people towards making a decision that benefits you. The only way to make that succeed honourably is to help them make a decision that benefits the both of you, but screws someone else. Staying quiet can help if someone else is propositioning a decision which fits into your plans.
* Medium-term planning is your friend. As a general rule, people will make decisions (or randomness will) which will make long term planning exceptionally difficult, if not outright impossible. Medium term prediction is reasonable and advised however. E.g. In Acquire, if you have two pieces which will make a hotel, but they are far away from any merging, holding them in reserve until there are hotels closer to that location is advised. E.g. In Puerto rico, you can think in terms of up to 3 rounds in advance since with the small number of 'roles' that can be played, the role you need played before it gets to your turn has a high chance of being played in each round.
One fantastic skill that I would also recommend is keeping a good idea of what resources others have got. It's one I'm generally utterly poor at with my short-term memory, but it makes decision making a lot easier.
That is all I've come up with so far. Hopefully it gives some insights into how I play.
I originally wrote this blog with specific problems and examples from each board game, but I deliberately made it generic and applicable across multiple games, for as Drucker said in the Effective Executive, 'most problems are generic and can only be solved through a decision which establish a rule or principle'. This is also partly to help anyone outside of my work group who will not understand the specialized language of the games being discussed.
* Early investment. No.1 rule is anything that provides continuous and preferably exponential investment HAS to be done early. Example 1: In Peurto Rico, an early cheap investment in a 'Small market' accelerates your money making and allows you to get a 'Large market' quickly which accelerates your funding again. Example 2: In Acquire, Forcing an early merge allows you to get substantial cash infusion which you can invest into other hotels, allowing you to become majority share owner in them as well.
* Understand your resources by themselves and with respect to the environment. Each resource has different uses in each phase of the game and you need to understand how to best utilize them. For example: Puerto rico, there is only one good you can sell at a time, so generating a tonne of coffee or tobacco is generally useless. Having one coffee available at all times is plenty.
The second point is just as important. Each resource is has different value based on what people have done. Arms races will on the other hand will kill both players. Playing contranian often works in your favour. E.g. Settlers, if everyone shoots for brick and wood, there will a flood of these resources and you, the contrarian who owns the only sheep suddenly has a lot of power. Alhambra is a prime example. Those who do an arms race to own all the "valuable" 'Purple' buildings might end up having to share points, whilst he who notices this and moves into the "cheap" 'Blue' buildings might get to keep all of those points.
* Over-diversification is a bad idea. Just like real-life, over diversification hurts more then it helps. In nearly every game, you will end up highly overstretched. In Settlers, having access to every resource-type square probably means you have a lot of settlements and no cities to accelerate cash. In Acquire, having a stake in every hotel means you'll likely not get Majority OR Minority shareholder bonuses. In Puerto rico, having more than 2 types of production means you're wasting money on production plants which should have gone to support buildings.
* Strengthening your own hand is always preferable to damaging another's. Don't try to hurt a particular person, even if they seem to be in the lead, if by doing so you sacrifice a better play for yourself. The only exception to this is if you can screw everyone else at once. Example: In Puerto rico, 'Trading' to make more cash to buy that building you always wanted is generally the best move. However if by 'Captain'ing you can force everyone else to dump heavily goods whilst allowing you to have some minor benefit, then this may be a better choice.
* Communication on and outside of your round is vital. As a general rule, you want to steer people towards making a decision that benefits you. The only way to make that succeed honourably is to help them make a decision that benefits the both of you, but screws someone else. Staying quiet can help if someone else is propositioning a decision which fits into your plans.
* Medium-term planning is your friend. As a general rule, people will make decisions (or randomness will) which will make long term planning exceptionally difficult, if not outright impossible. Medium term prediction is reasonable and advised however. E.g. In Acquire, if you have two pieces which will make a hotel, but they are far away from any merging, holding them in reserve until there are hotels closer to that location is advised. E.g. In Puerto rico, you can think in terms of up to 3 rounds in advance since with the small number of 'roles' that can be played, the role you need played before it gets to your turn has a high chance of being played in each round.
One fantastic skill that I would also recommend is keeping a good idea of what resources others have got. It's one I'm generally utterly poor at with my short-term memory, but it makes decision making a lot easier.
That is all I've come up with so far. Hopefully it gives some insights into how I play.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Etiquette on the use of the 'L' word
And no, I don't mean Lesbian, I mean the other 'L' word. The Love word. The great tactical nuke of words. The word that if packaged into a box would have both a 'FRAGILE' sign and a 'DANGER' sticker plastered on.
People use the 'L' word for lots of things. Drunk people use it quite regularly. Heck even I've done the "I love you man!" in big group hugs. As bizarre as it may seem, as a general rule I will be free to use the L word around guys, but not around girls. You can say almost anything from one guy to another guy when you are drunk because you know you're just being silly. But when you cross genders, you have to be careful, because you don't know when someone will take it wrong.
For some people, the 'L' word can be bandied about with not a care. Unfortunately there is a large group of people like myself who take that word seriously. It took me 5 months of dating to use the 'L' word seriously with my high-school ex , and I believe it took another month for her to do the same. It has so much weight behind it that its dangerous to use it lightly.
So do you want to know what happens when you use it wrong? You cause someone to blog at 2am in the morning about using it wrong!
I went out with some friends and whilst I was leaving, a drunken friend hugged me and then dropped the L word. This is fine. Unfortunately right afterwards she reaffirmed it and then explained why she did. And of course being stunned, I immediately just mumbled a thank you and sort of shuffled off. And subsequently I have been pondering whether this was normal drunken crap, or is this someone expressing their true feelings after alcohol removed the inhibitor circuit. So now these thoughts are just spinning around and around. Maybe I should clarify it another day in a sort of side conversation, but will that be too embarrassing to bring up? Do I ignore it? Do I ask her friends what she really thinks?
See the ample amount of damage done by simply not following etiquette? It is really simple:
1. Feel free to use the L word for anyone or anything, but unless you really mean it:
2. If its cross gender, never reaffirm that you do.
3. Never explain why you do.
4. If you HAVE screwed up, playfully and visually tell others around them, the same thing so the person in question realizes its just the alcohol talking.
Would certainly help me sleep better!
People use the 'L' word for lots of things. Drunk people use it quite regularly. Heck even I've done the "I love you man!" in big group hugs. As bizarre as it may seem, as a general rule I will be free to use the L word around guys, but not around girls. You can say almost anything from one guy to another guy when you are drunk because you know you're just being silly. But when you cross genders, you have to be careful, because you don't know when someone will take it wrong.
For some people, the 'L' word can be bandied about with not a care. Unfortunately there is a large group of people like myself who take that word seriously. It took me 5 months of dating to use the 'L' word seriously with my high-school ex , and I believe it took another month for her to do the same. It has so much weight behind it that its dangerous to use it lightly.
So do you want to know what happens when you use it wrong? You cause someone to blog at 2am in the morning about using it wrong!
I went out with some friends and whilst I was leaving, a drunken friend hugged me and then dropped the L word. This is fine. Unfortunately right afterwards she reaffirmed it and then explained why she did. And of course being stunned, I immediately just mumbled a thank you and sort of shuffled off. And subsequently I have been pondering whether this was normal drunken crap, or is this someone expressing their true feelings after alcohol removed the inhibitor circuit. So now these thoughts are just spinning around and around. Maybe I should clarify it another day in a sort of side conversation, but will that be too embarrassing to bring up? Do I ignore it? Do I ask her friends what she really thinks?
See the ample amount of damage done by simply not following etiquette? It is really simple:
1. Feel free to use the L word for anyone or anything, but unless you really mean it:
2. If its cross gender, never reaffirm that you do.
3. Never explain why you do.
4. If you HAVE screwed up, playfully and visually tell others around them, the same thing so the person in question realizes its just the alcohol talking.
Would certainly help me sleep better!
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