I did want to remind people about the new XNA Dream – Build – Play competition that just recently launched. For any people interested in video game design, especially on the Xbox 360 platform… you need to check this out.

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Can’t wait to do it again. Yes I can… did I mention I’m exhausted.

Special thanks to Jason Mauer from Microsoft for coming down and bringing some excellent XNA action.

Check out the photos from the weekend.
Also check out the flyer from the event.

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Update: On Thursday, I met my dog Pedro Jimenez, who is a college student in the Boston area. He’s currently studying graphic design…but we met in the Computer Clubhouse. He’s tight…but I would still smash him in Halo.

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Portland Code Camp is a community gathering of software developers for the greater Portland area. Being that I was recruiting mentors for the Clubhouse I thought it would be good to go. In any case, I was invited to put together a presentation for one of the sessions. While my session was sparsly attended it ended up being a really good time for all that was there. Big ups to Tizzy…and he knows why. :).

If you missed today though…I recommend coming Sunday. There is a whole new agenda and line up of sessions. I wholeheartedly recommend it. I also will be sure to give you more advance notice next time as well. I just heard about it this week.

This Tech Tip is simple. Be there.

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Enjoy.

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We had a great showing by the team, as well as some new friends that were able to join us. Thanks to all. You can listen to the hearing here (starting at 1:36:50). In order to listen to the link you have to have Realplayer installed. I know, don’t get mad at me for that. I am suprised anyone is still using Real Audio in a professional setting. Leave it to the state to be WAY behind the times.

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In any case, I could tell you more about the book we are writing, and what it is about. But instead I’d rather just let it speak for itself. To that end, we are releasing the book piece by piece on this blog. Please comment and let us know what you think. We are anxious to get some feedback and see how people respond to what we have to say.

So with out any further ado, I am pleased to present Come Wit’ It: Lessons Learned in the Video Game Arena by Jomo & Jelani Greenidge.

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While this blog isn’t going to be overly technical in nature, I want to answer some of those questions from time to time. The hot question right now is simple: Should I move to Windows Vista or stick with XP? Now, there’s a question that would benefit from an honest answer.

That’s a loaded statement. What do you mean by that?

What I mean, if you go into a store that sells Vista, they will probably tell you the answer is yes. If you ask some industry veterans you often get a technical answer that is hard to decipher unless you understand all the terms…which if you did, you probably wouldn’t need to ask. If you ask most Microsoft haters, they will tell you no, switch to Linux, or even the Mac. I guarantee that Microsoft’s position is move to Vista, as well it should be.

But for you, the problem is that there isn’t a default answer. It really depends on a number of factors such as new PC vs upgrade, how much RAM you have, the kind of tasks you perform on your computer, etc. Not to mention, there are now so many versions of Windows Vista that people don’t know one version from another.

In my previous position, I was a Tier 2 Escalation Engineer supporting the consumer releases of Windows Vista. After spending much of the last six months working with both RC2 as well as the RTM versions of Windows Vista, I have to say I’m very impressed. Currently I run Vista Ultimate in a dual boot configuration with XP Pro, on my desktop machine, and on my laptop I use Vista Home Premium. I have a production machine that still has XP on it, which I could switch to Vista if I wanted to; I just haven’t taken the time. Let’s be clear, I like Windows Vista…but having worked nonstop with people’s problems with Vista, I understand where people have been getting into trouble. I also recognize that there are cases where people should not switch…and not because Windows Vista isn’t a good fit for them. They aren’t a good fit for Vista. One such example is people that do music production on a digital music workstation. At this point, a switch to Vista is premature. Digital music production generally requires a seamless flow of information from your PC to any number of additional devices, recorders, mixers, etc. Driver support for Vista just isn’t where it needs to be yet…and that isn’t Microsoft’s fault as much as it is the makers of those devices. They are the ones who make the drivers for their devices, not Microsoft.

For my first Tech Tip, and in the spirit of honesty, I’ve put together my top six reasons both FOR and AGAINST a move to Vista:

Top Six Reasons to Switch to Windows Vista:

1. Most people are not. Due to much of the misinformation swirling around Windows Vista, many people are fearful of Windows Vista. This provides an opportunity for you. The more you know about Windows Vista, the more valuable you are to your boss, prospective clients, and others who eventually are going to have to switch to Vista anyway. By the way, my technical career was built on this principle: having skills people need but don’t have or are afraid to learn themselves.
2. Vista Desktop Search is Excellent. Windows Vista is constantly indexing your files so to make it extremely easy to find files that you need. A quick but powerful search function is only a keystroke away at all times. One click of the Windows Key, or a click on the “pearl”, the new start button and its right there.
3. Vista is WAY more robust than XP. There are some technical things under the hood that make it more secure, more stable, and easier to recover in case of problems. That does not mean it is bulletproof, but hey…what is?
4. Vista works great with digital media. With a consumer explosion of digital cameras and digital music, PCs handle video, music and pictures more than ever before. And with Vista, digital media no longer gets treated like a Word document. Tagging, previews, basic photo editing, are all built right into the OS. My favorite is Vista Ultimate users can have full-motion video as the background of your desktop. Nice.
5. Automatic Version Tracking. Windows has something called volume shadow copy that keeps previous versions of every file you use in case you accidentally need to go back to it. Everyone who has overwritten their final draft with an blank “Document 1″, knows how valuable this is.
6. Windows Vista looks SO much better than XP. This is a big part of the WOW they keep talking about in the commercials. Microsoft has finally put together a desktop that is as cool as it is functional. The new Aero glass feature with its transparencies…so cool. Did I mention full motion video as a desktop background.

Top Six Reasons to NOT Switch to Windows Vista:

1. Your current PC setup works fine for you. While you will have to deal with the XP vs Vista argument soon enough, why stir up trouble. If it ain’t broke… don’t fix it.
2. You plan on upgrading your current system and you don’t have a backup. PLEASE BACK UP YOUR SYSTEM FIRST. I don’t know how to say that strong enough. Most people don’t… but when there is trouble they want to blame Microsoft because they can’t get their data. Your data is your responsibility, not Microsoft’s. Windows is simply a tool to assist you when you use your data. If you are using a hammer, and you forget to use it properly and accidentally hit your own hand… should you sue the hammer manufacturer? Never attempt major system changes without a backup of crucial files. Most of the horror stories you hear about could easily be fixed if a user had a backup of their data.
3. You plan on upgrading an older computer, and you only have 512 megs of RAM. Don’t do it. Wait until you buy a newer computer. This would be true for any of the minimum qualifications as well. If Microsoft says your computer won’t run Vista, don’t try.
4. You plan on upgrading to Vista to solve your current problem with XP. If your system runs really slow when it didn’t used to. If you have Limewire installed. If you regularly visit porn sites and now your computer is really slow. If you get so many pop-ups you can’t do work. If you are experiencing anything like I described, upgrading to Vista will not solve your problems. Your machine needs to be cleaned. You might have a computer virus in addition to all the obvious malware on your machine. Upgrading will only complicate your problems. You need to back up your data, and clean your system completely.
5. You have a mission critical niche product that runs on XP and the company that makes it has gone out of business, or no longer supports it. Now it is true that you can run programs under Vista in XP compatibility mode, so this may not be an issue… but do you want to risk it? Remember we are only talking about mission critical here.
6. Your sister/boss/parent/friend let you install some software on your XP box using their disks, and now you don’t have access to the disks anymore. Since your pirated software isn’t your’s legally, you can’t get another copy of the disks so you are better off waiting because even if you get your bootleg copy of Vista to install, you might lose all your other software since you don’t have the disks any more.
   Now I know this doesn’t apply to everyone, but you know who you are. Nuff said.

So whether you stay with XP, or jump up to Vista you can see there are really good reasons to do either. I, for one, am doing both. That’s the truth.

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Sometimes truth is a curse, or worse, cause it hurts.
It’s like drinking sand when you’re dying of thirst.
And we don’t want to hear it. Our worst fear is to look in the mirror,
so we lie to ourselves to keep it unclear.

Excerpt taken from Like This, Like That
By Ason, AKA Big Sonny
Beatmart Best of the Submissions

While the details of our upcoming educational initiative are not quite ready to be released to the public, I thought it would be good to begin laying the groundwork on what I am attempting to do. So first a little history.

This project of ours stems from some research I was doing back in the summer of 2000. I was finishing a seven year stint working with a Christian leadership discipleship school called The Master’s Commission - A Generational Call to Character. On one hand I loved working there, and enjoyed my job immensely. But there was a part of me that always wondered about what I was doing in Spokane, WA, when I had a passion for African-American youth. I knew at some point I wanted to go back home to Portland, to work with the kids in my old neighborhood…but how?….and why…and to do what?

Obviously I was searching. I had prayed and asked God to speak to me about what he wanted me to do. And then I came across this quote that cut me like a knife:

It’s no secret that racism, especially institutional racism, is alive and well in the world. And last I checked, there isn’t a surplus of black professors of computer science here in the States. In addition, I am no stranger to the plight of African-American achievement within our educational system, which was the reason I was doing the research in the first place. So there really isn’t any obvious reason I would be so shocked reading that quote, other than its frankness. But today, almost seven years later, I still find myself moved when I read this quote, and not even because it is true. Quite frankly, it might not be. Consider this:

• First of all, Emeagwali, clearly suffers from an inflated view of himself, as well as the awards that he has won. There are even those that consider him to be a fraud.
• Secondly, this quote is 10 years old, and hopefully there would have been enough progress that this would no longer apply. Sadly, I believe it still does.
• Most importantly, whether or not you believe this quote is or ever was true, you cannot deny that the issue Emeagwali is addressing is a valid one. Dr. Scott Williams, Professor of Mathematics at The State University of New York at Buffalo confirms as much, though as he says, the logic used to arrive at those conclusions, was “extremely confused.”

You see, the question of whether this quote is true or not really didn’t cross my mind. What did was:

1. If not for racial discrimination, how many more black computer science professors might we have today?
2. If those people aren’t teaching computer science, what are they doing with their lives?
3. Here’s where the lighting bolt hit me: I was one of those people.

You see there was a time in my life when all I wanted to do was study computer science. I was writing programs when I was 12 years old. At sixteen, I wrote a screen capture program in dBase (anybody still remember dBase?) for the hematology department at a local hospital. I was an incredibly smart kid, who’s one ambition in life was to become a computer programmer. I scored high enough on the SAT to qualify to be a member of Mensa and I only took it once…when I was a junior.

Not only that, but I love to teach. I was exposed to teaching when I first started helping people solve their technical problems, be it with sound systems, stereo equipment or computers. At 17, I became the youngest lead instructor at Saturday Academy Outreach Program, teaching discrete mathematic concepts to junior high students. Most recently, I am managing the Intel Computer Clubhouse in Portland where one of my primary responsibilities is to teach young people about technology. Teaching is more than a joy to me, it is a passion.

So what happened? It sounds like you would have made a perfect professor of computer science?

Long story short is, I didn’t go to college directly out of high school (More on that later). I eventually ended up pursuing theology instead of computer science as a primary career choice, which is how I ended up in Spokane in the first place.

One of the things I learned during my time in Spokane is how God speaks to me. God uses the things that irritate me to get me to focus on something. So once I began focusing on this quote a number of things began to get clear rather quickly.

• The continuing educational gap between black students and their counterparts is an injustice worthy of my efforts, as well as something I am passionate about.
• Serving young people teaching mathematics and technology was something that I was extremely good at.
• Spokane has an extremely small black population.
• I would be able to maximize a return on the talents God had given me, if I was in an enviroment with more black people.
• Knowing all this…staying in Spokane meant I was being an unfaithful steward of the technical skills God had blessed me with.

Ouch.

Big Sonny was right…sometimes the truth hurts.

(to be continued…)

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1. Students Must be Low-income: To enroll, the student must qualify for the federal free-lunch program and live in a neighborhood where a majority of the students in the local public school also qualify for a free-lunch.
2. Qualifying Neighborhoods: Tentatively, the school neighborhoods that would qualify would be Boise-Eliot, Clarendon, Humboldt, King, Lent, Peninsula, Rigler, Rosa Parks, Sitton, Vernon, Whitman, Woodlawn, Woodmere, Binnsmead MS, George, Lane MS, Ockley Green MS, Portsmouth MS, Tubman MS, Jefferson HS and Roosevelt HS.
3. Grant Amount: The grant would be equal to the per-student funding (ADM) amount from the State School Fund—roughly $5,000.
4. No Negative Financial Effect on Portland Public Schools: The Portland School District will not lose any state funding during the pilot project.
5. Random Selection: If more than 1,000 qualified students apply, grants will be given out by lottery.

We have a hearing tentatively scheduled with the House Education Committee Thursday, April 5, 2007 at 1:00 PM in Salem. We will be chartering a bus to take people down that would like to go and testify at the hearing. If you are interested in testifying send me an email and I’ll get you the details.

Again thanks to the other members of the School Choice Working Group. Let’s have a good showing down there. I know we have been laboring to make this come to pass — but anything worth doing is going to take some hard work. It’s not about us, it’s about the kids that will benefit from this opportunity.

Truth is…that’s the way it’s supposed to be anyway.

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