Wicked sick.

Just so you all know, I'm sick and not blogging much.  It's a nasty flue of some sort.  Here's hoping today is better.

Friday

Friday is here and do you know what that means?  Google searchable clue help!

But first...

Nah...I got nothing today.  I actually haven't been feeling all that well the last few days.  I'm not sure what's going on but I'm feeling spacey and unfocused.  Occasionally I'm a little dizzy and I have a weird facial twitch  right under my left eye that is bugging the hell out of me.  I'm sure if I plugged everything into WebMD, they'd tell me that I have some horrible brain disease.  That wouldn't be fun.

Here's hoping a little warm weather and sunshine will help get me back into things.

FRIDAY CLUE!!!!!!!!!!

(Update:  Redbeard's prize should have gotten to him by now.  If not...I hope it comes soon.  Just to prove that you can indeed win prizes by prize blogging.)

It's not lacquer.  Lacquer is a polymer that does basically the same thing.  It's just oddly named.  Lac...funny word.  Comes from Sanskrit..."One hundred thousand"...which is neat.  

Anyway.  Let the Google racing begin.  

Hi.

You'd think with all the technology at our disposal there would be mounds of work at home type jobs.  It's wishful thinking perhaps.  Companies have to set up secure servers, ensure people have proper at home equipment and of course pay more IT costs to maintain the work at home network.  It's a daunting project to setup for work at home if you're a company that isn't very tech savvy.  There's a lot of numbers out there that says that working from home raises productivity and reduces lost work to sick days and such.  So employees think it's the best thing in the world (which it probably is) but to the company it's a major shift in operations that can be scary.  

We are on the edge of a major shift in worker familiarity with technology and mobile devices.  The mid-thirties crowd is fully digital and integrates technology into our daily lives with ease.  This first full digital generation is starting to influence how business operate.  A mid-thirties individual running a small business these days is going to have a huge advantage over an aging comparable business run by someone in their 40's or 50's.  The younger person knows how to setup an online shop because they shop online all the time.  They know how to use cloud storage and mobile devices to keep up on things when their out of the office.  They can take care of their own minor tech problems and keep their IT costs down.  Tech isn't a tool to figure out and manage like another employee, it's a friend that helps you get things done.  I guess the best way to describe it is the way each generation viewed tech helpers growing up.

Older generations grew up with robots being the height of technological assistance.  Somewhat mindless drones that had to be ordered around and were usually clumsy.  Cold and impersonal automatons.  

Younger generations grew up with artificial intelligence being a disembodied personality that is your friend and partner.  KIT from Knight Rider for example.  Jarvis from Iron Man as a recent example, or the computer from Star Trek: The next generation.  Also we play a lot of video games and become attached to certain game characters.  We connect with technology on a friendly level rather than it simply being a wrench.

Soon then, this younger crowd will push the old guard out of the top ranks of business and start breaking down some of the old traditions of work flow.  It will be a few years but I think we will see some big changes in the way we define a 'job'.  Working at home, a person could have four or five part time gigs and be more of a contractor.  Their workload would be fluid and ever changing as companies start and scrap projects.  Companies would benefit by only paying out for work done rather than paying someone to be around in case there is work to be done. It's going to get messy at tax time...

CLUE 4!

This product is natural and come from bugs!  Neat! 

What the what?

Tuesday was a crazy day.  Hugo Chavez passed away, the DOW hit an all time high and my wife thought I was dead.  Crazy day indeed.

Dead?  Yes.  Dead.  Scary really but a little funny in hindsight.  After shoveling the walks last night I was pretty worn out, then I went over to Mark B's to hang out and had a few drinks while we chatted.  I went home and proceeded to get comfortable on the couch while watching Saturday Night Live on Netflix.  Turns out I was more tired than I realized and passed out with the television blaring.  Beth got home a little later and after saying 'hi' a few times with no response she came into the living room where I wasn't moving.  I was sleeping hard apparently because I didn't wake up until she physically shook me a bit.  

After waking this morning she told me all about it and how she thought I had slipped into some sort of coma. Freaky.  I am not dead though, so don't worry.  Hugo Chavez is...not me.  

Seriously?  The DOW hits an all time high after favorable economic reports are released?  Crazy.  I thought this country was spiraling into oblivion and Obama was a dictator now.  No?  I guess certain media outlets should just settle down...or at least take a refresher civics course.

Anyway.

CLUE #3!

You most likely find it in a can...in a basement or a garage...if you were going to find it in someones house.

Tuesday.

Spaceships!  I'm very excited about this new space viking game that is in the works by my friend over at Froydlandia Studios.  ;)  Doing concept art is interesting.  A development team is like a weird body made of bodies.  Certain parts do certain things to get the job done but you can't share a brain so you have to guess what the other parts are going to like.  Even if you have some parameters, it is still difficult to know if your creations match what the person in charge had thought of.  It's a little weird.  Luckily, after tossing my sketches over last night I received no complaints.  That was good.  Now I can start cracking down on the final designs!  Can't wait.

CLUE #2!!!

Some people find it's source and method of preparation quite disturbing.  I think it's neat.

Running late!

If you're going to change your alarm to a different time on a weekend, you should really remember to set it back for Monday morning.  I made it on time to get things going at work but sadly there is no time to blog this morning.  Never fear however as I will be giving you a clue!

This weeks mystery thing is inspired by a weekend project that we worked on to spruce up our kitchen a little.  Good luck.

CLUE 1:

You've put stuff on it, maybe put it on stuff and probably even consumed it without even knowing!

Avians attack!

In a burst of inspiration last night I got the bare bones of the avian theme done.  I'm very excited because I had been lagging badly trying to get another theme done after the first ones were made so quickly.  Bolstered by my progress I decided to jump right into the arachnid theme but that didn't go as well.  

I think it's fantastic to be able to have the technology to have an orchestra at my command.  I want a trumpet part, I get a trumpet part.  It's amazing.  However, there are certain sounds and instruments that the software just doesn't do very well.  This becomes frustrating when you are working with a few instruments that sound amazing then you go to throw in a third and it sounds wrong.  It really takes the wind out of your sails when the sounds coming out don't match what you have in your head, you have to stop and decide what instrumentation to use instead that sounds more realistic.  

It's this kind of speed bump that really puts a damper on my creative process.  I have terrible sense of pitch which makes writing without the computer difficult.  I spent a bit writing down the bones of the arachnid theme the other day on paper.  I thought I was pretty close to what was in my head but when I punched it into the computer it sounded terrible.  Combine that with instrumentation that doesn't match what you want to hear and you have a pretty disheartening result.  

I won't be giving up though.  Not a chance.  It's worth it when things do mesh up right and after just a little work you have this music pouring out at you that you created.  When the trumpets and the strings sound just right and are playing the perfect notes it's amazing.  I'm not that good of a composer, my theory is terrible but there is something amazing about hearing your own work being "played".  Even more than the electronica than I write, the classical soundtrack work is by far the music I enjoy listening to the most.

Oooh.  Fun.  Hold on one sec...okay.  This is just a promo-video I made for a failed TV show but I wrote this theme in no time.  It just came out and I liked it.  Give a listen:

That's it for the week.  Congrats to Froyd for the win this week and next week I promise a better quiz!