Today is Bungie Day which means all kinds of weird quirky Bungie stuff. Today we have the “Bungie vs the World” playlist in Halo 3 where you can play against Bungie staff for a chance to win Recon armor (which means 13 year olds everywhere are bringing their A-game today). Erika and I will hopefully hit up that list for a while tonight and we’ll find ourselves up against some flaming heads.
Thanks for another fantastic year, Bungie!
Non facete nobis calcitrare vestrum perinæum.
I never thought I’d see the day. Google Apps is finally out of beta. But just in case removing the beta tag lessens its “cool” factor, you can re-enable the beta tag in the logo from the settings menu in Gmail.
Google may have a different view of “beta” software but I think its a wise route to go. Especially in Google’s case where they’re providing such feature rich online applications for free. Besides the obvious liability issues, they also gain some breathing room when it comes to implementing new features. If something doesn’t work the first day they put it out, they can avoid a lot of flack by saying its in beta. While that might seem like a cop-out, it allows them to test with a huge volume right off the bat to eliminate scaling and compatibility issues. Its not always ideal for the end users but that’s something you just have to weigh against its obvious benefits as well as against its competitors. Personally, I haven’t had any major issues with any of the Google Apps and they are extremely handy.
The only reason I regret to see Google Apps leave beta is that it may slow the rate that they implement new features. The Labs features will remain but they certainly won’t be moving features into the mainstream as fast as they have in the past. Of course that’s just my speculation, but taking the beta tag off usually implies they’ll keep the products stable and will try their hardest to avoid introducing new bugs. That means they’ll have a more careful and slower development cycle.
Google Apps is out of beta (yes, really) – [Official Google Blog]
Three years ago today, something amazing happened that I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand. Our oldest daughter, Payton, was born at 24 weeks. That’s 3 1/2 months early! She was 1lb 12oz and fit in my hand. She was the tiniest baby I’d ever seen. I didn’t think it was possible for a baby to be born that early and little, and fight for her life the way Payton did. She’s an amazing little girl and has been an inspiration to Erika and I.
She had such a little personality early on and that personality has grown quite a bit in three years. Like any toddler, she can be a handful at times, but overall she’s such a happy and sweet little girl. I’m looking forward to watching her grow up.
Today also marks the day we became a family instead of just a couple. It was an intense and scary day but it was a special day I’ll never forget.
Happy Birthday Payton!
Video games seem to have such a bad rep when it comes to kids. There has always been a lot of a lot of controversy over ESRB ratings, violence, language, and addiction. Most of that friction comes from parents who have no experience with gaming, have no interest in gaming, or has a child who they think is addicted to gaming. Parents who take the time to understand gaming and its effects are much more prepared to help their kids have a good experience and probably learn something from gaming. Yes, you can learn a thing or two from gaming. This quote is pretty powerful and sums up my response to any parent who opposes video games for their kids.
What was ultimately reinforced for me is a simple truth that all the legislation and media hand-wringing often misses: if a parent isn’t doing their job, then no law will fix that. Don’t worry about understanding the newest study or crunching numbers on the latest gaming statistics: if your gut says your child isn’t old enough for a game, or that they’re playing too much, listen to it.
Hit up the link for a great article:
Raising a healthy gamer: seven tips for parents – [Ars Technica]
Thanks to txshurricane for the article!