Brainless software developers

From my classic moronic programming files:

"Oh, that 100 byte character buffer in the function with the comment "Don’t remove this"?  I know it isn’t being used, but I put it there because without it, the program crashes"

My first experience buying used console games

I just had a pleasant experience in a Video resale store

I’m late to game consoling (just bought my first this past December).  I chose XBOX because though I knew it wasn’t targeted primarily for kids, there were enough kids titles to choose from and I wanted one console the entire family could enjoy (8yr Girl, 6yr Girl, 4yr Girl, Mom, Dad).  OK I admit it, a console I really wanted that worked for my kids too.

It was great to have a knowledgeable person at Planet Replay to help me pick out some XBOX games.  I just canceled my GameFly subscription, which I subscribed to primarily to help me preview games I might be interested in buying.  I didn’t want to waste time buying games that turned out to disappoint me and my kids.  So I was ready to own some more games than the three that came with the XBOX (NCAA Football, TopSpin, Crimson Skies).

The store manager, Paul, was friendly and eager to be helpful.  He answered all my questions and on my suggestion, was willing to call me if I game I was interested in came in.

The best part was the fact that Paul was a gamer himself (owned all the game consoles) and was familiar with many of the games I was interested in.  He was able to talk about the violence in the games, and could even compare earlier version of games with the latest.  Though he didn’t necessarily know about all the kids games I was interested in, he could recommend some kid friendly games that I wasn’t aware of, and was able to pass along comments from customers about a game he was recommending.  I bought 5 games, only one that I had planned to!

Being the evangelist for blogs and RSS, I can’t help but think what a great way to promote their store and increase sales by having an RSS feed of their inventory.  A store like theirs with unpredictable  inventory that changes daily depends on the right title being available at the exact time the right customer comes in.  For repeat customers, an RSS feed could sell new games the same day they are placed into inventory.  There are several games I know I would buy.  Other than the fact I had already dropped over $100 today, if not today then in the future, I would buy these games if they had them.  But if they depend on my coming in (which I won’t do very often) the time the games happen to come in, then that sale will not happen.  The RSS feed would also not require any sales person’s time other than the time to enter the inventory item on their website.

Real entrepreneurs don’t raise venture capital

I have a lot very good friends who are VCs,  and they tell me the same thing over and over again: DON’T RAISE  VENTURE CAPITAL! VCs tell me this!!!

Go to the article…

Groupware Bad

build software that people want to use instead of software that
managers want to buy

[via Joel]

The princess is in the house.

This morning I experienced one of those traumatic moments a father inevitably experiences.  I had a wardrobe selection malfunction.  My wife was at work and I was responsible for getting my 4 year old to pre-school.   It was time to leave and as I hurried to get my youngest dressed, even though she and her mom picked out the outfit the night before, she exclaims "I don’t like these pants".  I’ll spare you the details of the next few minutes but there was frustration and crying involved and not all of it from my daughter.  Drawers were overturned, clothes was strewn, and finally I called my wife to bail me out.  Suffice it to say  a satisfactory outfit was agreed  upon and the scary moment for me passed.

Serialization

Open source serialization at C++ Boost

Serization: the reversible deconstruction of an arbitrary set of C++ data structures
to a sequence of bytes

Handhelds

Review of Dell Axim X50

Barbie Horse Adventure: Wild Horse Rescue for XBox

I don’t get it.  Here is a game as clean as can be.  One of the few console games directed at young girls. Actually pretty well done (I rented it from gamefly.com) with very nice graphics.  But it appears to be out of production, at least for the XBOX.  Most stores don’t have it in stock and if they do they are charging a premium.  I know the XBOX isn’t as popular for the young but I bought mine specifically because it seemed to be the best overall system for my entire family.