Okay.. so.. In a previous post I mentioned how I had a VERY important phone call at 4pm. Well, that call was a phone interview with EA Mythic (Formerly Mythic Entertainment) a well respected computer game developer in Fairfax, VA. It went very well. I know this because at the end of the call the interviewer said, “I liked your answers to some of my questions. I would like you to come in for a face-to-face.” This was how my vacation started. I was on cloud 9 the entire time.
I would have to wait a week before I heard back from Mythic. During that week I was a mess. Every time the phone rang I would jump. Just when I thought they had forgotten about me, I get a phone call. I spend about a half hour on the phone going through another phone interview (during which I was very confused… I thought I would be coming in for a face-to-face). This new guy was very nice as well, and even told me that the first guy to whom I had spoken only had positive things to say about me. I decided that was a very good sign, and calmed down a bit
At the end of that second phone interview we scheduled a date for me to come down to the office. They usually fly people in from the west coast, so they like to make the most of their interview day. This meant that I would be interviewing from 10AM until about 2PM with lunch (provided by them) in the middle. I have never had that kind of interview experience. I was completely overwhelmed. When I first sat down with them they told me, “You wouldn’t be sitting here if I didn’t think you could do the job. This is to see how well you would fit in with us.” That both relieved me, and scared me immeasurably. Fitting in is such a subjective aspect. I wasn’t really sure what to expect.
The gauntlet of interviews (there were 5 of them in total, including the informal lunch interview and the HR guy at the end) broke me down and built me back up again. By the time I walked out of the building I was even more excited than when I first walked in. I now had to wait over the weekend to see if anything would come of it. I was told that they were making decisions quickly because they had fast approaching deadlines that they needed to meet, therefore once they had run things through the VP of Development I would hear … SOMEthing.
The weekend went by…
Monday came and I got a phone call. It was the HR guy. He was calling me to tell me I would hear something Tuesday or Wednesday. Talk about keeping me on the edge!!
Tuesday comes… I don’t hear anything. I start imagining every possible thing that would make them hate me. My friends here at work are on the verge of smacking me.
Wednesday comes. They call. They offer me a job! I was soooooooooo excited!! I have to hold it all in though, because I need to wait until I have the actual paperwork in my hand.
Thursday comes. I keep calling John to check the mail… they overnighted the offer package and I was worried it would get locked away in our building manager’s office. john finally gets a hold of it. I go home that night and go over the offer with John. I sign the acceptance letter and put it in the mail. I was a nervous wreck, let me tell you.
Friday comes, and I have the horrible duty of giving notice. This was one of the worst days of my life. I have been here for 10 years. Most of the same people are still here as when I first came in. This has become like an extended family. Everyone is so nice, and we all get along so well. The workplace is so pleasant and has such a great atmosphere because we all get along so well. I’m afraid of leaving this all behind.
A friend of mine called this my Brass Ring, and I would have been a fool not to try and grab it. Well… I grabbed it, alright! Now my life changes completely as I start down an entirely new path in my life. I will come into contact with a whole new set of people, problems, obstacles, joys, and rewards. I pray that I will be successful and that I can make my friends and family proud of me.
My first day with Mythic will be Monday, August 6, 2007. I can’t wait!!
In case you didn’t know, my friend Roy and I decided we would start doing a vidcast. “What about?” - i hear you asking. Glad you asked.
The show is called Stray Geeks, and we talk about whatever we find interesting Tech news, movies, video games.. whatever. Our first official episode was released today, but there is an “Episode 0.2″ that you can see as well (there is a 0.1, but that’s not up anywhere… far too horrifying for public viewing).
Point your browsers to http://www.straygeeks.com and you will find the blog with all the subscription links you need as well the ability to download episodes right from the post. Streaming seems to be a problem… we’re not sure why though. I suspect its a file size issue.
This is quite funny But probably only if you’re a D&D fan This comes via an email from my friend Summer:
Cute Elemental Size: Small to Chunka-munka Hit Dice: 1 Initiative: N/A (Always strikes first) Speed: Just try and keep up with one for a day Armor Class: 5 (but you have to catch it first) Attacks: Kung-Fu (if older siblings watch Power Rangers), also see below Defenses: See below STR: 3 CON: 9 (18 if it’s had a nap today) DEX: Varies, but improves when drawing on walls with crayons INT: Varies (usually 4-9, but can seem god-like for their simplicity of thought) WIS: Varies (usually 4-9, but may seem infinite as Cute Elementals may actually be shards of the Buddha/Christ Consciousness) CHA: 18 Alignment: Chaotic Good
Cute Elementals, when summoned or otherwise brought into this plane of existence, can use the following powers at will, an unlimited number of times per day:
Exude Cuteness: This power is the primary defense mechanism of the Cute Elemental, and when employed against adult humans (age 9 and up for females, 15 and up for males) can cause the target to forget whatever it was they were thinking about at the time and pay attention to the elemental unless the adult human rolls less than the sum of their intelligence and wisdom scores on a roll of d100. This effect lasts for 2d6 rounds, after which the adult human is left feeling silly for having been bettered by forces other than logic and reason for another 2d6 rounds.
Exert Will: This power allows the Cute Elemental to coerce adult humans into doing whatever the elemental desires through sheer stubbornness or tantrum throwing, and is often employed following a failed attempt to Exude Cuteness ( q.v.). This power is typically used to convince the target to do something it wouldn’t normally do, such as allowing the Cute Elemental to wear the same pajamas continuously for three days running or repeatedly picking up and returning dining utensils dropped on the floor.
Power Word “Uh-oh!”: This ability is similar to Exude Cuteness (q.v.) in that the Cute Elemental, upon doing something “bad” (i.e. dropping a fork on the floor, throwing spaghetti, drawing on walls, flushing hairbrushes down the toilet, etc.), can exclaim “uh-oh!” Unless adult humans within hearing range of the make a check against their combined intelligence and wisdom scores on a roll of d100 (at a penalty of minus 10), they will rush to the Cute Elemental’s location and show great amounts of affection for the being while knowing deep down inside they should be frustrated, if not angry.
Snuggle: Among the most dangerous of the Cute Elemental’s abilities is that of being able to keep its caretakers from getting up and going to work on time. This ability requires some preparation on the part of the Cute Elemental in the form of waking up just before Mommy and Daddy and climbing into bed with them and then employing its Exude Cuteness power to convince the Mommy and Daddy to hit the snooze button “just one more time.” Once the Cute Elemental is fully snuggled, the alarm is often shut off or ignored completely until the Cute Elemental is done snuggling and has gone downstairs to begin casting Power Word “Uh-oh!” The only known defense against the Cute Elemental’s snuggle ability is to get up before the Cute Elemental and get it dressed and ready to go to day care before it wakes up. This has a chance of failure, however, and on a roll less than 50 - (int + wis) on d100, the Cute Elemental may be able to convince the parent to get back into bed, fully dressed.
Cute Elementals typically evolve into normal children by the age of 6, and then into Tween Elementals by age 11. At this point, care must be taken to guide the development of the Tween Elemental (described more fully elsewhere in this tome), else the Tween will grown into an Emo Elemental, at which point all semblance of its former cuteness is lost and replaced with eye liner and black clothing. The Emo Elemental’s primary attack and defense modes come in the form of its Power Word “Meh” spell, but this is also discussed more fully elsewhere in this tome.
Issue 8 of City of Heroes/Villains has been released! Hurrah! At each Veteran Reward level you get one free tailor token so you can change your outfit for free (normally it can cost lots of “money” to tweak the look of your costume). There are lots of new costume options with I8! Many get released as you gain higher Veteran Rewards.
My main Hero is Third Angel (if you’re interested… the name comes from my Adventist heritage. We believe we are living in the time of the third angel’s message of Revelation 14). Here are some pictures of him in the outfit i created for him tonight:
Okay… so it seems that the Wiimote is not as super-rific as Nintendo portrays it on TV. Woooooo… big surprise. When is anything advertised 100% honestly, with all shortcomings announced up front, and without exaggerating details? Whatever.
The Wii’s claim to fame thus far has been its new controller system. For those of you who don’t know, Nintendo revolutionised the video game industry before with a “new” controller design. We were all using variations of the joystick theme when Nintendo first came out with the cross-hair controller. Now, that’s the industry standard. Here they are again, trying to see if they can revolutionise the industry with a new controller concept.
But there are bugs (As always). There is an issue with the sensors not working in direct sunlight (true gamers don’t have to worry about that though ;)) and the controller’s “sphere of influence” is rather small. This new product from In2Games promises to clear up those problems… for ANY game console.
These controllers will be usable on any game system, and (they claim) provide superior motion tracking capabilities. I don’t know if what they say is true… the controllers aren’t out yet (these are only conceptual drawings), but even if they perform as they promise, there are two things that are for sure: one, it was Nintendo that brought this to the table. In2Games’ development of their own motion tracking controllers simply proves that Nintendo continues to set industry standards. 2) Nintendo does what it does with a single controller (sensor controller, anyway), rather than having separate controllers to buy for different games.
[shrug] What can you do… I’m a die hard Nintendo fan (is it obvious?) so I plan on getting myself one of these Wii consoles at some point (AFTER the holiday rush, I assure you). In2Games will make it easier for Playstation and Xbox fans to stick with thier consoles now. It will just be more expensive for them, thats all. Heh… that’s fine.
(Note, I will most likely also own a Playstation 3 as well… but that’s beside the point)
Okay.. so.. In a previous post I mentioned how I had a VERY important phone call at 4pm. Well, that call was a phone interview with EA Mythic (Formerly Mythic Entertainment) a well respected computer game developer in Fairfax, VA. It went very well. I know this because at the end of the call the interviewer said, “I liked your answers to some of my questions. I would like you to come in for a face-to-face.” This was how my vacation started. I was on cloud 9 the entire time.
The show is called 
Tech news, movies, video games.. whatever. Our first official episode was released today, but there is an “Episode 0.2″ that you can see as well (there is a 0.1, but that’s not up anywhere… far too horrifying for public viewing).
as well the ability to download episodes right from the post. Streaming seems to be a problem… we’re not sure why though. I suspect its a file size issue.
At each Veteran Reward level you get one free tailor token so you can change your outfit for free (normally it can cost lots of “money” to tweak the look of your costume). There are lots of new costume options with I8! Many get released as you gain higher Veteran Rewards.
The Wii’s claim to fame thus far has been its new controller system. For those of you who don’t know, Nintendo revolutionised the video game industry before with a “new” controller design. We were all using variations of the joystick theme when Nintendo first came out with the cross-hair controller. Now, that’s the industry standard. Here they are again, trying to see if they can revolutionise the industry with a new controller concept.
These controllers will be usable on any game system, and (they claim) provide superior motion tracking capabilities. I don’t know if what they say is true… the controllers aren’t out yet (these are only conceptual drawings), but even if they perform as they promise, there are two things that are for sure: one, it was Nintendo that brought this to the table. In2Games’ development of their own motion tracking controllers simply proves that Nintendo continues to set industry standards. 2) Nintendo does what it does with a single controller (sensor controller, anyway), rather than having separate controllers to buy for different games.
