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With fond memories of the Atari 2600 and NES I had as a child (Sega was forbidden in my mind), I remember hours spent in front of the television attempting the same level, dying repeatedly, hypnotized by the repetition until I beat the problematic spot and was declared the victor. Now as I close in on thirty years walking this earth, I still have a child-like love for video games, yet when actually playing them I find I truly enjoy few and far between. (Praise to Insomniac for the Ratchet & Clank series!)

Everybody knows of the Grand Theft Auto series - I, like everybody else, have played these games to death and beaten all of them. The main difference between most gamers and myself? I cheated. Massively. I can input R1-R2-L1-X-L-D-R-U-L-D-R-U faster than anybody I know, with only a sliver of life left - BAM! Back to full health, new armor and guns blazing.

Searching for new cheat codes at GameFAQs, I found a deep resentment towards cheaters, as if my cheating some how ruins their own personal satisfaction of a job well done. Perhaps I would feel the same if I was 13, procrastinating homework by trying to fly the plane through that last ring (that ‘learn the plane’ mission sucked), but now I’ve got a lot more on my plate. Preparing to launch a business, launching multiple websites, helping friends with their sites, mounds of reading both online and in print to keep up with - not to mention the (understanding, kind) staring eyes of the girl drilling into the back of my head, annoyed at the explosions and car crashes rumbling through our abode.

The threat of cheating is rampant in GTA - the game even warns you that the sky may fall if you save with a cheat code activated. I know there are certain codes that are irreversible, and this may be all the developers are intending to warn against - but why the ambiguity? Reading through FAQs, there are no straight answers; some say one cheat code will ruin your chances of properly beating the game, others say only specific codes are harmful. Numerous times I almost quit playing for good, unsure if my cheating had trapped me from progressing further or if I was just incompetent.

When I flip my PS2 on, it’s usually for no more than 30 minutes. So you’ll forgive me if I cheat - I actually want to enjoy the game I dropped $50 on. Spending 30 minutes trying to scrap together the money to purchase a gun that I’ll lose when I die 4 minutes later doesn’t equate to fun in my book. As the average age of video game players rises, I’d have to assume that I’m not the only one in this situation. I play games as an escape, a few minutes to relive stress and enjoy the world the developers have created, and I want to get to the part where I’m the untouchable superhero, el jefe that can burst into the room of 500 enemies and leave without a scratch. I don’t want to earn that right - I earned it by plunking down my hard earned cash.

So this is a call out to video game developers - if your game requires tons of hours invested before the actual fun as advertised starts, please give me a way around it. Leave the character-building to the people who want it - I just want to be a badass for a little bit.

What about you - are you pro or anti-cheater?

Burton’s custom board configurator, Series 13, has just flung the doors open for business, allowing you to customize a snowboard in a multitude of ways. The site looks good, similar to all the other Burton sites and is easy to use. I admit, I felt a twang of disappointment because I was hoping to be able to put whatever artwork I wanted on the topsheet and base, but instead, you choose from 10 or so themes of Burton’s choosing - I’ve read they will be rotating new themes in regularly. Once you’ve picked your theme, it’s on to the color chooser, which constitutes the bulk of the customization. You can choose from a few Burton/Series13 logos, a more limited selection of base options (dependent on your inital topsheet choice) and sidewall colors.

One of the most interesting parts was the option to choose between Burton’s 3D system or a 2X system for your bindings. I’ve used both and feel that the 3D system gives you much better adjustment of your stance, but there are the regular complaints about any propriatary system - namely that you’re locked in to their equipment, while a 2X system works with nearly every board manufacturer.

I love the certificate of authenticity signed by Jake and the list of everybody who worked on your board. Hopefully those touches are as well-made as the board. Plus you get a custom leather bag with your Series13 - although they don’t want to deal with shipping your board to you, so you have to pick it up from an authorized dealer. Not an issue up here in Oregon, but if you travel long distances to reach snow, that might be a bit inconvenient.

Overall, I think it’s a small step forward, and one Burton would be most likely to make first (seeing as they have the biggest market share), but I’d really only consider it when I can create the artwork from the ground-up. Until then, it’s Lib Tech for me.

I’m as guilty as the next person of an over-reliance on technology and constantly entertain the thought that if I cut back on my usage of my laptop (ha!), I would somehow find myself more productive. Trying to find that killer app for each software category, and then learning each new piece of software seems to be a never-ending cycle that keeps any actual work from getting done, while keeping me “busy”.

With the resurgence of the index card, via the Hipster PDA among other ideas, I’ve thought of going that way, especially since I’m not a fan of iCal and gave up my Palm when the screen shattered. Of course, that’s another system I’d have to learn, and so then I’m right back at square one. I love the speed of the system, but carry a tiny voice recorder as a last-resort for those situations I can’t pull out the canson or the powerbook.

Stephen Labuda has an interesting system for dealing with his sales/networking efforts, and while reading the post I was getting sucked into the low-tech mindset again, until the end of the article, when he details the “upgrades” he’s considering for additional functionality; adding support for birthday reminders, specific dates not within the current month, etc.

Immediately, I remembered why I know I’ll never follow through with the low-tech system, as enticing as it sounds. Applications like SugarCRM create the exponential functionality (birthday reminders, projected income from leads, intertwined relationship management) that makes the low-tech solution antiquated. A well thought out interface & workflow would make the high-tech solution that much easier to implement. If you know of an app that combines the ease-of-use and project management of Basecamp with robust CRM, do tell!

Of course, you don’t get a hipster label with a proper CRM solution, but I’m not sure fashion/lifestyle labels should be my focus in planning my workflow . . .

What is the deal with eBay’s new “What Is It?” advertising campaign? A few weeks of teaser commericials, playing coy to what “it” is, a website with a countdown to (seemingly) something special, and then … nothing. (Well, I guess you CAN view all the commericials, but that doesn’t really excite me.)

Seriously, we don’t need the teaser - it’s not as if we haven’t heard of eBay before. I’m pretty sure they’ve reached the tipping point. If they spent that money so that I can realize that “it” is whatever I want it to be, then that’s a waste. I was fantasizing about a redesign of the site or some revolutionary change in how we deal with online auctions.

The only reason I can see for the hype is because maybe eBay has been feeling neglected lately - at least in my circle, I don’t know anybody who really uses it for anything other than something rare or misspelled. The only news stories I’ve read in the last few months deal with the bizarre (virgin mary on everything, etc.) - but why build hype with nothing new to offer? I was actually (manipulated into being) excited about eBay again, but now I’m more apathetic than ever.

When an album has featuring artists, and is tagged as such in the Artist slot - how do you deal with that on your ipod? Do you allow 10+ entries under the Artist view, even though it’s one album?

I cringe everytime I use the Artist view, but just recently undertook a major cleanup and took out every “featuring Whoever” bit in the tag, unless it’s on a compilation album (which I hate now as well due to it throwing a thousand one-song artists into the Artist view!) - much cleaner. Of course, now I don’t know who that special guest artist is, but I’ll pay that price for a clean and orderly ipod.

A new cafe just opened up two blocks from my house - the girl and I have been quite excited as it was being remodeled. It has been open to the public for the past couple of weeks, even though they have a sign posted as saying that it isn’t “officially” open for yet a couple more. We went to the cafe last night and had an amazing time - excellent service, great food, good atmosphere for productivity (she hates the florescent lights, but at least they keep you awake…) - so I decided to go back today, to get out of the house and try and get some writing done that I’ve been procrastinating.

What a difference. Surly, unhelpful people (the day you can be “cool” and helpful will be a happy day indeed), unwilling to make the same food made the night before (”Well she wasn’t supposed to do that…”), and just a general contempt for the customer.

Empowerment of your staff should be taught as rule No. 1 in every lesson plan on starting a business. How could the extra pennies those roasted peppers I wanted be worth the bad taste in my mouth? Instead of a glowing recommendation to my sphere, it drops to a shrug.