Spending Addicts

I’ve harped quite a bit that the US is living on the edge and that people need to get used to a reduced standard of living in the future. The reason is simple: the government and most people are consuming much more than their incomes can justify. The sad thing is that there doesn’t seem to be any repentence in the face of a crisis, just the same old deferment of apocalypse with deficit spending (see California). Somehow, the piper needs to be paid, which means much higher future tax rates or a collapse in the value of the dollar (either through inflation or default). Pick your poison. Get through the pain now while it’s still reasonable or have your children endure much greater suffering.

The CIA’s report of life in 2020 is quite gloomy, but reflects what is quite possible given exploding deficits. In short, start saving now and get used to living ascetically. Alternatively, you may choose to move to another country that has more stability, such as Canada or New Zealand.

Are Netbooks Worth It?

Since my European backpacking adventures is almost upon me, I’ve been thinking of taking along a netbook as my primary computer. That got me thinking about the popularity of netbooks in general and whether they are sufficient as one’s only computer. In my last post, I speculated that the performance is good enough to perform office tasks and web surfing. Streaming video and games are not there yet. This time around, I was sorely tempted by the Asus Eee PC 1000HE, which offers 9.5 hours of battery life, 3lb lightweight design, and 92% full-size keyboard. Sadly though, I could not justify spending more on extraneous luxury products given the economy (a paradox, since my spending would help drive growth).

During my research, I found that Intel is trying to downplay the desirability of netbooks as a mass market device by casting them as toys for kids and cheap gimmicks. Still, consumers aren’t buying that argument. There is clearly pent-up market demand for small, mobile, cheap, and light computers that can all of what most people expect and desire. If Intel avoids leading the market, VIA and AMD need to pick up the slack in offering alternatives to the Atom. VIA’s Nano is a good start, but the company lacks the ability to get OEM penetration (a marketing skill), so sadly there are very few models available using that CPU.

Update (09/19/09): Funny comments from Nvidia’s CEO shamelessly promoting the Ion platform

Dollhouse Update

Well, a lot has happened over the past few years with respect to television. Ratings in general are on a perpetual spiral downward, but Dollhouse blew them all out of the water in comparison by scoring abysmal ratings (finale was 1.0 share), even lower than Firefly, which you remember was promptly canceled. Thus, everyone was expecting the worst for Dollhouse. Much to everyone’s surprise, the show was retained for another season. It turns out that angus63’s dire predictions of generals fighting the last war are not coming to pass for a few reasons:

1. Joss Whedon. Whedonesque is ecstatic about Joss’s ability to deliver in a second season, citing Buffy and Angel as the prime examples.  It seems that Fox is aware of this as well and is hoping for a more solid and coherent show.

2. Kevin Reilly. The president of Fox Broadcasting has a reputation for nurturing promising shows (see: The Office). Whedon has stated that the whole team at Fox has changed from the ones that destroyed Firefly, and it seems to be true: Whedon’s posts state that Fox is behind the show and gets the premise.

3. The importance of new media.  Perhaps due to being placed on the Friday night slot, Dolhouse didn’t perform as well by the Neilson ratings as indicative of its popularity. DVR, Hulu, and iTunes views undoubtedly influenced the decision, convincing the execs that the show has avant-garde viewers watching in nontraditional fashions. Now it’s up to broadcasters to monetize that population.

4. All in the family (acknowledgements to NickC).  Since Whedon (in the form of Mutant Enemy) and 20th Century Fox are also producers, Fox Broadcasting could ask them internally to reduce the show’s price tag and shoulder a larger share of production costs.

Despite the hope injected by the renewal, I feel that Whedon still has to tighten up the plot to attract viewers. Whedonesque speculates on why the show is not succeeding. If you ask me, it’s due to a lack of relatable characters. There is no sense of family or any romance, as was in all of Whedon’s previous forays into TV. Instead, all the characters put up barriers, making it difficult to become emotionally attached to anyone. Also, the fact that the show focuses on the gray areas between solid moral boundaries of technology, regular viewers lack a “hero” or a “villain” to identify with and root against. Each character on the show is complex and motivated by different priorities, which makes for an intriguing novel but a dense show (see Ice and Fire).

The Best Linux Games

A careful selection of the best games, given my 4 years using Linux.

OSS:
pingus
wormus
nexuiz
wesnoth
supertux
lincity
frozen bubbles
freeciv
freecol

Proprietary:
UT 2004
Neverwinter Nights
ETQW
sid meier alpha centauri
heroes of might and magic III

Windows Native on Wine
warcraft 3 (including all blizzard games)
aoe 2
medieval 2 total war
morrowind
spiderweb software games
baldur’s gate