tag:www.saturatedmarket.net,2008:/weblog//1 2008-05-24T00:51:15Z Movable Type 3.35 tag:www.saturatedmarket.net,2008:/weblog//1.87 2008-05-23T23:30:49Z 2008-05-24T00:51:15Z

There's a lot of buzz going on right now with cars and alternative fuel or electricity. Major car manufacturers are giving in and making cars (or promises of them) that use electric motors or experimental fuels to get us from...

JW There's a lot of buzz going on right now with cars and alternative fuel or electricity. Major car manufacturers are giving in and making cars (or promises of them) that use electric motors or experimental fuels to get us from point A to point B. They've gone from being made for environmentalists and people with dreadlocks and Birkenstocks to being for the sensible family that wants to do their part for the environment. And that might be just the problem. Now, I'm not going to comment on the feasibility of the technology; I think we have a long way to go yet, but the progress we're making is encouraging. My issue is how to make environmental cars more appealing to the serious gearheads who are clutching to their V8 midlife crises. And you know? I think it CAN be done. Right now, because of the type of people who buy hybrids and would want an electric car, they're all very sensible, very low key, very A to B. But the serious drivers, and even the 10 year old in all of us, don't WANT sensible. Every car lover, every driver who wants to drive around rather than drive somewhere, everyone who's ever gone to a car show or had a poster of a Lamborghini Countash on their wall wants something insane and vulgar. Plenty of cars are considered cool for all kinds of reasons: they're fast, they're sexy, they have character, and more. Hybrids, however, are counting on being cool for saving money on gas, or saving the environment. But that's not quite cool in car terms. Look at the poster child for hybrids: the Toyota Prius. It is, in my opinion, somewhere between ugly and bland. Not great. And particularly surprising, because I love the new styling on every other Toyota passenger car. They've proven that they can make fast cars with aggressive styling...and then they make a lump with a battery in the front. But this doesn't mean all enviro-cars need to be this way. Take the Chevrolet Volt for example; still in development, this car is fully electrical, and according to one of the woman showing it at the auto show, they've got it up to 160-something horsepower already...and it looks like a serious muscle car! I would have one of those any day, no matter how many extension cords I would need. And that's the thing! The biggest way to get green cars to catch on is to have them match or exceed the performance of gasoline or diesel; but I think we could speed things up a little if we could spice them up a bit. Even if it only hit 80 kph and I had to hook the battery up to an exercise bike every half hour, I'd buy an electric car if it looked as good as an Aston Martin. We're still a ways off from totally clean, high performance cars...but I think we could do a little more to make them stylish. Because let's face it...green is cool, but green cars could be cooler. Until next time, JW tag:www.saturatedmarket.net,2008:/weblog//1.86 2008-05-12T23:36:03Z 2008-05-12T23:59:33Z

Yes, I know, I've been gone a while. The lame excuse is that I have a job. The lamer excuse is that I bought a Wii and Mario Kart. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about this site, I get an...

JW Yes, I know, I've been gone a while. The lame excuse is that I have a job. The lamer excuse is that I bought a Wii and Mario Kart. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about this site, I get an average of five emails a day from my comment filter telling me that xrhgbklafd has soma online pharmacy. But I digress. I'm here to once and for all make a bold claim, one that might be a little unpopular. If you're an opinionated gamer, you're going to hate me. If you're not, you're going to hate this article. I can't lose! So, what is it that has my hackles up? I hate unlockable content in videogames. Yeah, I said it. I hate it. Not dislike. Hate. I understand the idea of it; it adds replay value, it's a little bit of extra reward for playing a lot, and you get to say "Hey, I got this little extra here. That's great!" But the problem is, it means that if you don't unlock those extra things, or you can't, then you tend to feel a little cheated. I'm a casual gamer. My "games finished" to "games started" ratio isn't particularly high. Oh, sure, I have my games where I'll play nonstop until I beat them, and maybe play a few more times, but they're few and far between. I like to have fun, and that means the games should remain that way. I hate that if you're a casual gamer and you shell out full price for a game so you can play it with your casual gamer friends, you get half a game. If you want to take advantage of all the bits and bobs, you have to plunk yourself down on the couch (often by yourself) and curse your way through all the nooks and crannies of every level. Secrets have been in video games forever, but it's only as they've become more integral to the game that they've become a problem. If I didn't open up the coin ship in Super Mario Bros. 3, it was okay; I could still play the game. But if, say, I had Mario Kart, and say, one of the coolest things was that you could use your own personalized Mii (your little avatar on the Wii console), but, say, you couldn't use it until you met certain criteria, you might feel...a little put out. Particularly if you're what the kids these days call a "noob", or if the game is...for the sake of argument...@#$%ing impossible. In fairness, with all of these games, it is possible to play without the unlockable content. And some of them do set the bar somewhat low for some challenges. But I stand by my statement that if the content becomes so central to the game, then it becomes a problem. I feel cheated if I can't play a new level because I didn't score X number of points, or I didn't win a certain challenge. I prefer the old style of "Hey, you got through that last level, here, have another". And I can't ignore it either, because I know deep down that I paid for a game, but I'm only getting an engorged demo. If a golf game has 20 courses, I don't want to just play 12 of them. So I plunk myself down, alone, and clench my teeth. Why? Because suddenly the game stops being fun, and starts being work. I stop focusing on "gee, I'll have fun and just see what happens", and start focusing on winning at all costs. And from here, minor frustrations are amplified, and my patience thins. I just want to be able to play with friends and have fun, but this emphasis on single-player completist gameplay is going to be the death of me. Until next time, JW tag:www.saturatedmarket.net,2008:/weblog//1.84 2008-03-02T02:52:17Z 2008-03-02T03:17:10Z

The computer is a strange thing. Beyond the myriad of things it does to make our lives easier, there is something that truly baffles me: the ability to spontaneously stop working. I, and others like me, have been tearing their...

JW The computer is a strange thing. Beyond the myriad of things it does to make our lives easier, there is something that truly baffles me: the ability to spontaneously stop working. I, and others like me, have been tearing their hair out for years when their perfectly good computer has suddenly, and for no reason, decided to "glitch", which is a cute word designed to disguise the fact that the computer did something WRONG. I know, this has been said a thousand times before, but this is Saturated Market, and we thrive on adding to the din of voices. Let me describe for you the final straw: I was watching a concert DVD on my laptop because the tv room isn't heated, and it's winter in Canada. Now, my laptop is only 4 months old, and I spent a lot of money to have some extra power built into it; computer geeks have told me it's a good computer, and it runs some heavy duty programs. So you'd expect it to handle a task that is performed by the progressively inexpensive dvd players of the world. Not so much. It got stuck and stuttered a couple times, and eventually froze. With the loud music stuttering. I tried everything; mute button, alt-f4, ctrl-alt-delete, closing the computer...I'd have unplugged it, but alas, it's a laptop. It did finally turn off a minute after I pressed the power button. It then turned off again when I tried to turn it back on. Now, playing DVDs is something my 5 year old computer I replaced with it was able to do. That same DVD, in fact. But beyond that, there's no reason for a new computer to just crash. And this wasn't exactly the first time. This computer already shows glitches and mistakes and problems. I know there are plenty of people who will point out that's because of Vista (that's another entry altogether), but let's stop lying to ourselves: Apple or PC, 1980 or 2008, computers still stop working. For seemingly no reason. And that's what bothers me the most. How did we let this happen? Technology companies, faced with unfathomable market competition are releasing products years before they should be, full of problems. And they release "patches" after the fact. And once it's finally almost perfect, they come out with the next generation (XP to Vista, anybody?) and the cycle begins anew. And of course, a patch won't fix a computer that just doesn't want to work. My parents seem to be cursed with getting lemons. I'm still baffled by the fact that when something breaks or doesn't work, it's for seemingly no reason. Computers come back from shops with the problem completely unresolved; techies write it off as a "glitch"; normal users assume they've been "hacked" or they just used it wrong. Show me a broken part. Show me a system where if something goes wrong, it gets fixed. I'm unimpressed by a little message that says "notify us about the problem" and never gets resolved. And how did we get duped into the idea that when it stops working well, we should just get a new one? These aren't cheap bits of plastic, they're expensive pieces of technology! I refuse to tolerate something that costs this much and fails this often. Would we tolerate this in any other industry? Would you buy a car that had to have bits installed in it every week, or that broke down once a month without a single part failing? Would you buy a house that was still having doors and windows installed while you lived in it (referred to as security updates)? Then why buy a computer and software that doesn't work when you first get it, and keeps breaking? Until next time, JW tag:www.saturatedmarket.net,2008:/weblog//1.83 2008-02-27T23:59:29Z 2008-02-28T00:23:39Z

I'm committing what some people may call blasphemy: I'm leaving Facebook. No, it's not a grand protest against the privacy intrusion, or being driven away by applications. It's just outlived all usefulness for me. I know this baffles some people,...

JW I'm committing what some people may call blasphemy: I'm leaving Facebook. No, it's not a grand protest against the privacy intrusion, or being driven away by applications. It's just outlived all usefulness for me. I know this baffles some people, and has even driven a few of my colleagues to speak out and ask me not to leave. So I figure this is as good a way as any to explain myself.]]> Nothing new Facebook offers me very little in terms of services I don't already have. Rather than a more or less public messaging system that is limited by who's joined and who actually checks their site, I already have a telephone, email and an instant messenger; each of which is, in my opinion, far more convenient and robust than the wall or message inbox will allow. Really, nothing new Also, I have found that nothing happens on Facebook. I would sign on every day to decline invitations to events I don't care about in cities I don't live in, to read about the current status of people I haven't spoken to in years, and to delete calls to join groups I'll never check and applications I'll never add. Nothing of interest happens on Facebook, and frankly, I have no time for websites that don't enrich my life somehow. A better photo album If you want somewhere to put your photos, might I recommend Flickr? No limits on the size of your photo albums, the ability to avoid being tagged in embarrassing pictures, and far fewer drunk people. Also, you can store your photos at their original size, and view them at any range of standard sizes. This is a vast improvement over Facebook's "one size fits all" mantra. Yes, to get the most out of Flickr you have to subscribe, but I offer these three tips that really made it an obvious choice for me: 1) Even without paying, you still get fairly decent service for smaller scale use 2) I'm willing to pay for something if I think it's worth it, and this is 3) The community is terrific, and sometimes even give away subscriptions. My current subscription was a gift from a total stranger who helped me out on the forum when I was having trouble with my credit card. I would like to mention this point before I move on: Flickr has been bought by Yahoo!, and so their customer service (through Yahoo!, of course) is remarkably uninspired, I was not overly impressed. But the actual site is so fantastic, I was willing to put that aside. Not Applicable I know, I know, I keep saying that it's not the applications. But I really hate applications, and I can't write about Facebook without giving them a shout-out. Facebook's applications are like the comment boards on most websites: they irritate me simply by their presence, and I would give anything to be able to choose not to see them. Where are the widgets and gadgets when you need them?! Long time no see In the end, Facebook became something I would go on out of habit to clear any debris away and see whose profile picture had changed. It gradually dropped off until I would only go when I received an email that somebody had written on my wall or sent me a message. So away I went. Guess who's watching? One final note: I know everyone's heard this song and dance before about Facebook and your personal info, and all the conspiracy theories that go along with it; but seriously...Microsoft paid $240MM for a 1.6% stake in the company. Microsoft isn't in the business of just giving away money. There must be something there worth paying all the cash for such a pittance...and it's called marketing databases. Until next time, JW]]> tag:www.saturatedmarket.net,2008:/weblog//1.82 2008-02-25T23:47:07Z 2008-02-26T01:25:20Z

There are few people who, in my mind, are more self-delusional and pitiable than people who shift their automatic transmissions. Those poor souls who put their automatic shifter over to the side, and insist on pushing it up and down...

JW There are few people who, in my mind, are more self-delusional and pitiable than people who shift their automatic transmissions. Those poor souls who put their automatic shifter over to the side, and insist on pushing it up and down towards those + and - symbols that are supposed to represent up and down gears. And it's a growing group! Plenty of people who dropped an extra $1000 per car to avoid learning how to drive with an extra pedal are trying to pretend they're street racers who know just how to get the most out of their car. It's so prolific, Mazda, among other car companies, is using this behaviour in their advertisements (and not just in SUVs where you have little choice...watch the latest Mazda 3 commercial, you'll see what I mean). Now before I really begin proper, let me qualify something: there is NOTHING wrong with driving automatic. Automatic transmissions were invented for a reason. Actually, several reasons, two of which are traffic jams and hills with intersections on them. My issue is with people who get an automatic transmission, and then try to behave as though they didn't. It's a way of lying to yourself, but it's also not as effective as you might think, because these pretenders have forgotten the meaning of the entire premise: it's automatic. Not semi-automatic, not kinda-automatic, not automatic-most-of-the-time-except-when-I-don't-feel-like-it. Automatic. If you know how an automatic transmission works, you're one of 3 people: an automotive repair technician, an absolute car nut, or somebody with an internet connection and plenty of free time. But as someone who could be debated to be the 2nd or 3rd type, I've gone to the trouble of learning. Let me tell you, these things are a masterpiece of engineering. Whatever group of automakers sat down and banged this out ought to be commended for coming up with something so clever. And here's a nifty bit of information about automatic transmissions that not only shows how brilliantly they were designed, but also how nearly foolproof they are: various driving conditions (the speed of your car, how straight it's going and how flat it is) affect the ability to shift. In other words, if the car doesn't WANT to change gears, you CAN'T make it. Automatic transmissions are designed to eliminate bad driver decisions when it comes to shifting in order to preserve the gear box and give you a smoother ride. It makes smart decisions about what the engine is doing to optimize performance and acceleration. So not only do you not NEED to try to tell it what gear to use, it knows better anyway. You don't have to tap it to the - symbol to get it to gear down for better acceleration, you just have to jam your foot down and it will kick into overdrive. Incidentally, as somebody who's driven standard his whole life at varying degrees of skill, this is PHENOMENALLY fun. It's rare that in everyday driving you'll have to floor it, so getting to do so every time you need to pass somebody on the highway or simply want to merge is a giddy little thrill that makes me forget how foolish I look in an automatic car*. So we've seen that it's totally unnecessary, especially considering people paid a fair amount to get that transmission that does it all in the first place. So why would people do it? We need to remember that people are not exactly rational. We, as humans, excel at doing things that are foolish or ill advised. Smoking, drinking, gambling, self-mutilation, crime...these things aren't exactly healthy. But we do it anyway. So how does faux-shifting come into it? Popular culture has made racing "cool". Movies, television, motorsports, they've all ingrained the idea of the fast-driving gearhead into a cool personage. And never do you see these icons drive an automatic car. No, they drive stick. They need ultimate control of their vehicle, and they know how to use it in just the right way. There's also the violent jerking of the driven (no pun intended) racer aggressively changing gears; you can't judge desperation and intensity just through their face, or their turning...okay, you can, but it's not the whole picture. And dropping that pedal to the floor only works at the start of the race as the tires spin and smoke. That intense constant shifting adds excitement and emotion. Often the way they do this simple act shows their personality and state of mind. Contrasting the jerky motions described above, the driver who calmly and smoothly changes gears during a race has a different allure, that of the person who never cracks under pressure. I could go on forever. Finally, there is the fact that driving stick takes a little more skill than driving standard. I know, I'm biased, but any extra steps involved in driving makes it a little more complicated. You take the normal necessities of driving awareness (speed, other cars, pedestrians, road conditions, laws), and add on that you have to know what gear you're in, when to shift, and how to shift without taking your eyes off the road to look. And of course knowing how to combine the pedals. Even veteran drivers still stall sometimes. So that adds to the perception of coolness, that you can do this thing that not every driver is able to. I would liken it to Guitar Hero. If you can't play guitar, but want to pretend that you can (and that you can do it well and in a famous rock band), this is a reasonable facsimile. You know it's not real, everyone ELSE knows it's not real, and there's a machine doing all the actual work. But you can get a contact buzz off of it, and dammit, it's fun. In my opinion, that seems to be the basis. Driving stick is a skill that not everyone has, and that has been glorified by society and the media. So in an attempt to at least pretend you're part of that group, the allure of trying to fool your transmission isn't that hard to understand. There are plenty of things I can't do, but sometimes pretend I can. But it doesn't cost me a thousand dollars. Until next time, JW * - People who are accustomed to driving standard always look a little silly in an automatic car. Whether it's the fact that they keep kicking the left side of the car floor or braking incorrectly because they don't have the luxury of gearing down when stopping, there's just a sense of barely perceivable discomfort, like somebody's made one of their shoes just the tiniest bit smaller. tag:www.saturatedmarket.net,2008:/weblog//1.80 2008-02-09T22:03:10Z 2008-02-09T22:33:52Z

When I did seminars on planning websites for entrepreneurs, one of the most common questions I would get was whether there were less expensive or free options for web hosting. My answer would be that there is no shortage of...

JW When I did seminars on planning websites for entrepreneurs, one of the most common questions I would get was whether there were less expensive or free options for web hosting. My answer would be that there is no shortage of free hosting out there, but that it comes with limitations, and that it does have to be paid for by something: advertising. When you use a free website host, they will pay for their service by putting ads on your site that they have selected. This is less of a problem for personal sites, which are more often the clients of these companies. However, there remain drawbacks, chief amongst them is the lack of control.]]> I have no problem with advertising. As a marketing professional, that goes without saying. But as a consumer, I don't mind having my products and services subsidized. Sometimes the commercial is even clever (the first few times). Though I'm still not signing on with the over-use of them, a guilty pleasure of sports; I don't want to sit through a commercial break, come back for a play then return to commercials (especially the same commercials I just saw). But when you use ads yourself to pay for something, it's so important to be in control of what shows up. Rather, you need a veto. I've used many services that required me to put up with ads for things I don't care about. My old webcomic was paid for by ads, often for other comics or the service that hosted me. That was cool. My facebook is paid for by ads that insist I'll know who has a crush on me if I click and sign up for their subscription service (I wasn't aware those were still around). That was cool, if only because I got good at ignoring them. And my free, less entertaining personal blog used ads to buy me more services from the site. But then you start running into problems with content, and this is something I see with using Google ads. Now, as I said, my personal blog used ads to increase the services open to me. That didn't bother me, because I didn't pay much attention to them. While they were usually something random, they also gave me ads relating to interests of mine that I specifically stated when I signed up. And since it was powered by Google ads, there were also many cases where it would look at the content I was putting up, and deliver things based on keywords. This is alright (albeit creepy) when they hit the mark. Ads about Bruce Springsteen after I write about an album or show? Great! Ads about tv shows I watch? That's fine too! This is advertising I can live with. However, it then picked up on some remarks I'd made regarding a controversial political issue, and decided to put up an ad. For the other side. And I'd like to point out that this is an issue where the other side (for both sides, that is) isn't just an opposing viewpoint, but is HIGHLY offensive. I find those who don't agree with that to be offensive, and they think the same of me. So needless to say, I was more than a little upset. Where am I going with this? There were consequences, minor though they may have been. I lowered my account back to free, but without ads. And spread some of the hate to some like-minded associates. On the whole, was that a big dent for the hosting company? Probably not. But that doesn't mean the same can't happen to others. If you're going to use ad revenue to power your site, you have be careful. You've worked hard to understand your market or your readers; you should have a decent idea of what they want to see. So turning things over to someone who might make a massive error in judgement is a good way to lose customers/subscribers. Take control. It's your site, so take care of it. Until next time, JW tag:www.saturatedmarket.net,2008:/weblog//1.79 2008-01-21T23:40:59Z 2008-01-22T00:31:01Z

One of the things I find truly fascinating is the concept of social dynamics. Partly because they're so tricky. It puts an extreme emphasis on context, rather than the general. There are so many seemingly insignificant factors and effects that...

JW One of the things I find truly fascinating is the concept of social dynamics. Partly because they're so tricky. It puts an extreme emphasis on context, rather than the general. There are so many seemingly insignificant factors and effects that can change how people interact, get along, and relate. And the truly interesting thing: even if you try, there are some things that you can never truly understand because of your situation. You can be aware, you can be knowledgeable, but you never really understand. This refers to things like inequality. If you are privileged, you don't know what it's like to be limited. You can study and research and empathize all you want, but in the end, only those who live it know what it's like. It's like the expression about walking a mile in someone's shoes. Sure, that's all well and good, but it's just a mile. You can take those shoes off. And they're probably a different size than you wear anyway. This doesn't just refer to the privileged vs. the limited. It even relates simply to common groups of people. I often see people try to generalize behaviour to a large section of the population, when it might be that they can only really generalize to the specific group of the few involved. I saw an example where people were arguing about a case where a woman cut off contact between her boyfriend and his friends because she was offended at the way they spoke to him during a poker game. Instantly there were people saying "she doesn't understand because that's how guys talk to each other!" shortly followed by "they probably went too far and they're too macho to admit it", "I'm a guy and I don't treat my friends like that", "I'm a woman and I act like that, it's not just a guy thing", and so on and so forth. My point is, there's no way ANY of these people can really say for sure. We aren't part of the group, so we don't know what normal behaviour is for them. Also, we weren't there, so we don't know what was said to cross the line or not. We love to people watch, and we love to people judge. But we are often far too removed from context to really do it well. It's not just the factors that cause division and inequality. It's also the things that bring people together that is intriguing. I find that a strong bond between people is that of shared beliefs and ideals. Many groups of people are formed around shared values. People are often grouped by the type of music they listen to, the politics they support, what they find important to them. There's much to be said for personalities, but you can almost watch the entire structure of a social group change just from a sudden discord in values. Many adults no longer associate with their friends from childhood or high school; it's called growing apart, but it's not all because they didn't have the internet. As we all become adults, we form new opinions and see the world differently than we did before. The subtlest things can affect our attitudes. And so as we and those around us grow and mature, we often find ourselves at odds in terms of our beliefs. And if it doesn't break friendships, it can certainly strain them. Going back to what I said about music, this is a big one. It's not just that people are drawn together because they are more attuned to a certain beat, but often because of the implications that come from that music. Every sort of music comes with ingrained ideas about the kind of values subscribed to by the people that listen to it. And it's not just in the words or the attitude of the song, but even in the social connotations that come from them. Rap, punk, classical, heavy metal, emo, blues, country...each of these words refers to a body of music that has incredible breadth and depth. To an outsider, sure, they all sound the same. But the people who enjoy each type can go on and on about the varying degrees of meaning and sound, and about how there are even vast subgenres. However, to mention any of those above words brings certain assumptions to the fore. I'm sure you've heard them before, so I won't repeat them here. Some of these are untrue, some aren't. But those assumptions remain, and are often part of the value set of people who listen to these types of music. And that is part of what brings them together: assumed similar values. I'm going to return to my earlier point about social groups forming around similarities, because I want to talk about what I just said: assumed similar values. So often we get ourselves into trouble because we make generalizations and get ensnared in these assumed values. It's the cause of many internet flame wars, foot-in-mouth moments, workplace disciplinary action, and so on. We think we're surrounded by like-minded people, only to discover that everyone's either vastly distanced in their opinions, or maybe they all agree...but not with us. These assumptions get made regularly. The clothes someone wears, the way they speak, the places we're interacting with them, the music they listen to, even arbitrary factors play a huge role. But often it's because there ARE shared values in play, but we mistakenly assume that these values go part and parcel with some others that we hold, but others don't. That's part of what makes friendships and group dynamics so volatile sometimes. Everyone gets along fine until a previously unmentioned topic shows up, and it turns out everybody doesn't quite agree so much anymore. This is far from comprehensive (or maybe comprehensible, you can decide that one), there is just far too much involved in this topic to give it a really thorough look. At least, in one go. Maybe more another time. Also, this is not to say there aren't other reasons for what I've talked about above. Like I said, there are tons of factors which contribute, both major and minor. I just think these ones are a little more fun to think about. Until next time, JW tag:www.saturatedmarket.net,2008:/weblog//1.72 2008-01-08T01:36:17Z 2008-01-08T01:39:44Z

Okay, so, I'm going to talk about guitars. I like guitars. Like, kind of a lot. I have three. And I'm seriously working on getting another. But more on that in a minute....

JW Okay, so, I'm going to talk about guitars. I like guitars. Like, kind of a lot. I have three. And I'm seriously working on getting another. But more on that in a minute. of the feedback because I'm a dork, then deleted it because I realized how dorky that was. On to more guitar things. I've been playing Guitar Hero 1 through 3 as well as Rock Band, and it is fun. It frustrates me sometimes as a guitar player, because it doesn't behave as I expect or want it to. But it's fun to play with friends. So I resolved to buy a PS2 and all those games. About a week later I scrapped those plans when I realized that money would be far better spent on an actual guitar. Remember, I have 3. But I don't have this one. Yet. Also, I want it in Black, which you can select in the dropdown below the picture. Because every electric guitar I own has to be black...? I dunno. That's just how it is, I make no apologies. Believe it or not, I have actually begun taking care of my finances and making records, something I really should just DO. But I'm doing it so I can spend my money on a very fancy guitar. Also, I contend that unless you are (A) a guitar geek like me, (B) averse to video games, or (C) both, you will not see the logic in my math. You see, to get all those fancy games would cost me anywhere from a few-hundred to near $1000 (depending on if I had to buy a next-gen system to play Rock Band). Not to mention with a video game system I could buy other games too. But I have decided my money would be better spent on a guitar that costs anywhere from $1500 to $3000 or even more. Trust me, it works out. Honest. Anyway, it'll take me some time to squeeze those funds out of my budget. But good things are worth waiting for. And writing about. Because I know I can't be the only nut out there who this makes sense to. I feel bad that I didn't mention my other two guitars. Then again, I play them plenty already. But they are both awesome. Trust me, I could justify having 100 guitars. Well, justify it to myself, anyway. Until next time, JW]]> tag:www.saturatedmarket.net,2008:/weblog//1.71 2008-01-08T01:34:14Z 2008-01-08T01:36:09Z

I give up. I'm not a business expert, I'm not a music critic. I'm just some dude with a webpage. I think my reasons for wanting to do this were all wrong. So I'm going back to the basic reason:...

JW I give up. I'm not a business expert, I'm not a music critic. I'm just some dude with a webpage. I think my reasons for wanting to do this were all wrong. So I'm going back to the basic reason: I like to write. So that's what I'm going to do. Write. Write about whatever I feel like, and that's how it's going to be. And that's how I like it. Until next time, JW]]> tag:www.saturatedmarket.net,2008:/weblog//1.70 2008-01-05T02:27:43Z 2008-01-05T02:39:32Z

I'm back, in a way. Sorry for the long absence, I've been in a state of transition. Not that anyone's reading, mind you. Since my start at "The Corporation" (which shall remain unnamed), I've been quite pre-occupied. Also, I've found...

JW I'm back, in a way. Sorry for the long absence, I've been in a state of transition. Not that anyone's reading, mind you. Since my start at "The Corporation" (which shall remain unnamed), I've been quite pre-occupied. Also, I've found my time monopolized by holidays and a little electronic product called The Orange Box (I'll leave that up to you to find out what it is). As far as how I've been (and how are you?), I'm well. My job satisfaction is at an all time high, the holidays were very good to me, I'm looking to relaunch my comic, and I won a contest I had no idea I had entered. Well, I did knowingly post, but I had no idea I would be entered into a contest. Glad to know my writing and ready wit are good for something. On the rough side, I'm very disappointed in myself for not keeping this site going, completely failing in my attempts to keep a music blog, and I may need to re-evaluate what I'm doing here and why. In any case, 2008 looks to be exciting, and hope that is the case for you and yours. Until next time, JW]]> tag:www.saturatedmarket.net,2007:/weblog//1.68 2007-11-21T23:35:53Z 2007-11-21T23:53:56Z

There's a saying that goes something along the lines of, "if you try to be something to everyone, you're nothing to noone," though I may be completely off base. What I mean is, you need to find a core, you...

JW There's a saying that goes something along the lines of, "if you try to be something to everyone, you're nothing to noone," though I may be completely off base. What I mean is, you need to find a core, you need to find what you're really in business to do, and make sure you stick to it. Because if you try to venture too far outside that, you could lose sight of where you started. And I'm going to convey this with the use of an allegory.]]> When I bought my new computer, I had to reinstall all my favourite programs and set up all my options again. But I decided, on the advice of several tech-savvy associates, to use Opera as my internet browser instead of my old standby, Firefox. At first, I was very happy. It was fast, it had the functions I was accustomed to, and I really liked the gestures and speed dial. Gestures allow you to perform ordinary functions (back, forward, new tab, close tab, etc) by using quick mouse movements. For example, holding down the right mouse button and flicking the mouse left would take me back a page. And the speed dial allowed me to set up to 9 pages in a special bookmark page (reached whenever a new tab opened or all other tabs were closed) so I could click on them. Pretty nifty. But then the problems started showing up. Many websites, sites that I use frequently like Google Maps, would not load. I could refresh until the cows came home, but no luck. Also, changing default options such as changing Google.com in the search bar to Google.ca required actually hacking a system file. And I could select dropdown menu options. I'd open the menu, click on what I wanted, and the menu would just close. I'd have to use the arrow keys to move to what I wanted; particularly irritating when updating this site, as I have to use one to select the category and one to tell it to publish. Now, this doesn't sound like reason enough to leave. So a few pages weren't loading. So changing the search bar default wasn't intuitive. So I couldn't use dropdown menus. Is that so bad? Yes! I would contend that if your internet browser doesn't browse the internet, that is a problem. Opera came in with all these new features, but seems to fall short on actually displaying web pages. And that's what its primary goal is. For the record, while gestures and speed dial were cool ideas, they weren't enough to save this browser. I didn't use them enough to justify it. If I want to go back, or forward, or use tabs, it's not like it's a complicated process. Point and click is just as simple as click and flick. And speed dial? Why do I need a second bookmark folder? The one I have is good enough. So in the end, I have returned to Firefox thanks to Opera's feature creep. The cool stuff wasn't enough to make up for poor performance in what I originally needed it to do. There is a moral to this story. I hope you remember not to be like Opera, or the fat lady may start singing for you. Until next time, JW tag:www.saturatedmarket.net,2007:/weblog//1.67 2007-11-21T02:03:03Z 2007-11-21T02:20:07Z

Ever get mad? Ever get so flippin' angry you want to scream? Ever get so blinkin' gosh-durn angry you open up the email, or pick up the phone, or fire up the blogging interface to give someone a piece of...

JW Ever get mad? Ever get so flippin' angry you want to scream? Ever get so blinkin' gosh-durn angry you open up the email, or pick up the phone, or fire up the blogging interface to give someone a piece of your mind? Let me join the already deafening roar of people who are frantically screaming: DON'T!!!]]> Okay, this is sound advice for all kinds of situations. Many people have written or spoken about the myriad dangers of letting fly with your anger-fuelled opinions. But I'm not going to talk about email or telling off your coworker. My beef today is with bloggers who just have to blow their top. It happens. We all get angry. And for anyone with a blog, there is often a tendency to use it as an outlet. This can be dangerous. You hope that your vitriol will emerge in such a way that the masses will cheer you on, because you're right, and because rants are always amusing in a dark humour way, so bravo! You're dead wrong. I remember I was once well known for my rants as a teenager. Friends and coworkers would gather to watch and cheer as I railed against some common threat. I saw myself as part social commentator (is that even a word? I really must check that), and part comedian. But I'll bet my new computer that at least part of their amusement can be traced back to "Ha ha, Jason's a spaz." So while you might think your rant is the star, you may just be making an ass of yourself for everybody's amusement. But it's dangerous on the internet. Instead of your associates who know you to be doing it for fun or just numb to the idea, you're putting it out there where you're going to find people who disagree with you. A lot of them. I still do it now and again. I have thrown caution to the wind and blogged in anger. And it's landed me a foot in the mouth and an apology. So far I think I've only erred on personal blogs, though I came close here once. I have a post sitting in "unpublished" mode that really I ought to just delete, just in case. The problem is, with a debate or opinion piece, you can talk it out. You can reply to any detractors logically, and they may join the conversation that way. And if they can't be civil, you look all the more balanced. But with a rant, you have lost the high ground. If you have any words in ALL CAPS and a small army of exclamation points, you may get a fight on your hands. Remember, on your blog, you have to control the conversation. You set the tone. So if you get into the public eye with an angry rant, anyone who disagrees is going to respond in kind. Because you'll get THEM angry, and so they just rant back. And it can get out of control very quickly. I've said this before, there is always another side to the story. That's why it's good to at least fairly address objections in a civil manner in your article, rather than going for the jugular. There are plenty of ways to avoid this. You can take a step back, and think, do I really want to post this? Maybe sleep on it. If it still looks good later, go ahead. Or get a voice of reason. I once narrowly avoided embarrassment by asking a trusted friend to look at something I wrote about, and decided against posting it based on her counsel. Emotion drives writing, but there is a difference between passionate writing and crying all over your keyboard. Until next time, JW tag:www.saturatedmarket.net,2007:/weblog//1.66 2007-11-15T15:55:57Z 2007-11-15T15:59:27Z

I figure it's only fair to come clean, finally. I wrote in this post about Chuck's decision to reveal his age. And I wanted to wait until now to reveal mine, simply because today is my birthday. Yes, shameless, I...

JW in this post about Chuck's decision to reveal his age. And I wanted to wait until now to reveal mine, simply because today is my birthday. Yes, shameless, I know. I also wanted to use this to point you to the struggling part of my site, because I'm trying to get back onto writing about music. So if you want the answer to "how old is Jason", you can find it here. Until next time, JW]]> tag:www.saturatedmarket.net,2007:/weblog//1.78 2007-11-15T15:29:59Z 2008-01-08T01:41:21Z

One of the great things about Neil Young is the fact that his songs often reflect milestones in a person's life. There are plenty of songs that achieve this goal, but the ones I really want to point out are...

JW One of the great things about Neil Young is the fact that his songs often reflect milestones in a person's life. There are plenty of songs that achieve this goal, but the ones I really want to point out are the "coming of age songs" that pinpoint exact ages, and I think really capture the feeling you get when you hit that time in your life. Sugar Mountain When you're turning twenty, you know you're reaching a new part of your life. No longer a teenager, you have more responsibilities; you've been out on your own for a bit, and now you're starting to feel it. This is a time to really reflect on the past, and realize that even though you were in a rush to grow up, you start to realize that hey, maybe being young wasn't so bad after all...and you maybe miss it more than you think Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain, with the barkers and the coloured balloons. You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain, though you're thinkin' that you're leaving there too soon. Powderfinger This isn't just one of my favourite songs of all time, it's also a great coming of age song. It's an allegory for suddenly finding yourself responsible for dealing with some big crisis or just life in general, and realizing that you're on your own; nobody's around to take care of it for you anymore. It's that first big step into the real world. When you're 22, that's when a lot of people are hitting that big career step; you're wrapping up school, or an apprenticeship, or maybe you're finally ready to start your own thing. And you find out in a big way that maybe you weren't as ready as you thought you were, but there's no turning back. Daddy's gone, my brother's out huntin' in the mountains; Big John's been drinkin' since the river took Emmy Lou. So the powers that be left me here to do the thinkin'. And I just turned twenty-two, I was wonderin' what to do, and the closer they got, the more those feelings grew. Old Man The last of the milestones is 24. You've been out in the world and experienced a bit, and you start to identify a little more with your elders. You maybe see parents or other authority figures in a new light, especially as you start to find yourself in those very roles, and the roles you maybe resented when you were younger. It's finding that maybe you finally 'get' adults, if only a little. I waited to do this post until now, because today is the last of my Neil milestones. I turn 24 years old today, and I have to say, every one of these songs has more meaning for me having experienced what they seem to get at. If you haven't heard them, give them a shot; you may agree with what Neil's saying. I know I do. Old man, look at my life, twenty-four and there's so much more. Live alone in a paradise that makes me think of two. Love lost, such a cost, give me things that don't get lost. Like a coin that won't get tossed, rolling home to you. Old man, take a look at my life, I'm a lot like you. I need someone to love me the whole day through. Ah, one look at my life, you can tell that's true. Until next time, JW]]> tag:www.saturatedmarket.net,2007:/weblog//1.64 2007-11-14T01:17:46Z 2007-11-14T01:23:19Z

You may remember that a while back I wrote about my adventures in job hunting, and how to ace an interview. Well, it turns out I was on the money after all. 5-6 months after applying, and after going through...

JW You may remember that a while back I wrote about my adventures in job hunting, and how to ace an interview. Well, it turns out I was on the money after all. 5-6 months after applying, and after going through two levels of interviews and a lot of nervous waiting, I've been offered a position with "the corporation" as I will continue to call them. What does this mean for the site?]]> I'll still be blogging. Of course, I will keep reinforcing that I will NOT discuss ANYTHING related to my job. Because I love it and don't want to lose it. I will keep talking about other marketing things I'm interested in and of course tips for small business. I have a post coming up about my personal branding exercise, which I hope to hammer out by the end of the week. So stay tuned! Until next time, JW