New Site/Old Site

 As you can see below - I've not updated this blog in a long time. I've left it up as there as some posts I occasionally refer back to. In the meantime, newer site up at www.kimpallister.com .

The Giants of Surfing... and Game Development?

One of my all-time fave documentaries is Riding Giants, a documentary about three of the pioneers of big wave surfing. It focuses on three different 'eras' of surfing, telling the story of an innovator from each. I often recommend it to friends, and sometimes have commented that it makes a good parallel to innovation in the games industry. I'd never written up why I feel this is the case.

Recently, I recommended it to a friend, Mare Sheppard, who asked "Who is gaming's Laird Hamilton?". I figured I'd write up some thoughts as a response.

I love the documentary for many reasons. great footage and soundtrack, superb editing and pacing, etc. However, the thing I like most is that of the three innovators at the heart of the movie, each innovates in a very different way.

The film starts with coverage of Hawaii's north shore in the early 60's and Greg Noll. Noll is a big, brash tough guy with brass balls, who basically muscles his way onto waves no one else will tackle. He innovates with brute strength. In gaming, Noll's equivalent is maybe Rockstar, or Wargaming, or EA. Pick a goal, throw a pile of money and bodies at it. Take that hill.

The latter part of the movie covers Laird Hamilton. He (and to be fair, some others), invented "tow-in surfing", using zodiacs and jetskis to pull them into giant open-ocean waves at high speed - waves too big to paddle into. They innovated through the use of technology. In gaming, Hamilton's equivalent is Valve, or Epic, or Crytek.

The best part of the movie though, is the middle section, which focuses on Jeff Clark, the first person to surf Mavericks in Half-moon Bay, California. After a couple years of looking at a giant wave breaking off the coast into a death-trap of stones, Clark just decides to do it - because in his heart he knows he must. And then, after no one believes he did it, HE SURFS IT ALONE, WITH NO ONE WATCHING, FOR FIFTEEN YEARS! Clark's innovation is driven by passion. By love of the act itself.

Who is gaming's Jeff Clark? All those indies working on those perfect gems of games that have to be done the best possible way. Jon Blow, Chris Hecker, Robin Hunicke, Dan Cook, and so many others I have the privilege of knowing... including Mare Sheppard, which is why I recommended the film to her to begin with! :-)

[btw, while I recommend the film, if you haven't seen it, at least watch this clip on the Jeff Clark piece]

Book Review: It's Complicated

I've scaled back the book reviews on my blog. Combination of being busy and just being less interested than in the past in doing so. That said, I intend to make a point of adding reviews for books I deem important, and danah boyd's book, It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens , is just such a book.

I've had the pleasure of meeting danah through mutual friends and she's one of those crazy smart people that would make you feel woefully inadequate, were she not so personable and engaging. It's Complicated represents the culmination of over a decade's worth of her research into American teens and how they use technology and social media. It is a groundbreaking, nuanced, thorough look at the topic and it's many facets.

The book opens with a discussion on 'networked publics', the virtual spaces created by online participation, and the ways in which these spaces overlap and collide with each other and the real world networks in which we live. It then goes on to discuss the many ways in which youth today use and participate in these networks as part of their participation in society and as part of their growing into adults.

From the closing passage of the book, boyd summarizes why I think the book is so important:

"Growing up in and being a part of networked publics is complicated. The realities that youth face to not fit neatly into utopian or dystopian frames, nor will eliminating technology solve the problems they encounter. Networked publics are here to stay. Rather than resisting technology or fearing what might happen if youth embrace social media, adults should help youth develop the skills and perspective to productively navigate the complications brought about by living in networked publics."

Ultimately, this is a book about modern teenage life in our society, how it differs from the actual and idealized world of their parents' teenage years, and the role that technology does and doesn't play in that difference. It's also about media literacy and how kids and parents are struggling to make use of, and sense of, a shifting landscape of technology that is reshaping how we view our relationships to one another.

I started reading the book as a technology guy looking to learn more about where things were heading. However, I think the side of me that is a father of three will-be-teens-before-you-know-it kids got the most out of it.

Strongly suggested reading for anyone in tech and anyone with kids.

It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens

2013 in Books (continued)

I've many things I've mean to post, but being early-jan-going-on-mid-jan, I'd better post my annual summary of the year's reading.

Last year, I decreased my target number of books to read from 48 to 36, and then missed that by one, having read 35.

I read 16 works of fiction and 19 non-fiction books (about the same percentage as last year). Format-wise, 9 were audiobooks, 10 were paper-based, and 16 were e-books (e-books trending up for me, and audio books trending down probably due to lowering my target for the year.

Favorite non-fiction books of the year for me were: The Information, The Signal and The Noise, the Blind Giant, and Born to Run. Favorite works of fiction: Nexus, Wool, Metatropolis. (see links below)

Here's the list grouped by topic, asterisk next to recommended titles, two asterisks next to highly recommended books.

Business
Good Strategy: Bad Strategy
The Coke Machine

The Signal and The Noise**

Overdressed*  (haven't written review yet, but it's good)
Stewardship (haven't written review yet)

Salt Sugar Fat*

Politics/History
Griftopia*

Culture/Art/Media
The American Way of Eating

Sleights of Mind

Future Perfect

Here's Looking at Euclid

Technology
The Information**
Who Owns the Future
The Blind Giant**

Fitness/Health/Self-help
Becoming a Supple Leopard*
First: What It Takes to Win

How will You Measure Your Life

Born to Run**

Biographies/memoirs
Love with a Chance of Drowning

Fiction
Amped
Makers*

Nexus**
The Hangman's Daughter (haven't written review yet)
You
Wool** (haven't written review yet, but it's good)
Robopocalpse
A Crack in Space

Pirate Cinema*

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (didn't bother writing review)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (didn't bother writing review)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Tears in Rain
Metagame*

Metatropolis**

Graphic Novels
The Technopriests BookOne

2013 in Books

More detailed post later, but here's the gallery version: