Memory is a strange thing (or is it just the effects of interplanetary travel?)

I finally got bored of Snood the other day, so I downloaded Deimos Rising from Ambrosia Software. I’ve been playing it for a few days, and just now finally cleared enough levels to get to the point where I need to give them money to keep playing. This is the point at which I stopped playing Mars Rising when it came out years ago. In a nostalgic moment, I downloaded Mars Rising and fired it up (I don’t use the Classic environment much, but when I want it, I’m always glad it’s there, and always impressed at how well it works).

I discovered something strange: When I first started up Deimos Rising the other day, my first thought was how similar it was to Mars Rising. In fact, it seemed nearly identical. The only differences appeared to be that they’d made some new levels, added some new baddies, and made it run native on Mac OS X. Otherwise, the games seemed pretty much identical. When I actually ran Mars Rising, I realized how much memories can be affected by a few years of misuse. While the gameplay was very similar—similar enough that the Deimos Rising skills I’ve been honing the past few days got me all the way to level 4 of Mars Rising—the graphics were entirely different, so much so as to be almost a different game. Compare the screenshots of Mars Rising to those of Deimos Rising

Deimos Rising feels modern and “3D”, where Mars Rising feels old and “2D”. I suspect that they both seemed cutting-edge for their day, and that’s why my memories of Mars Rising fit so well into the Deimos Rising experience. But it’s amazing how clunky and outdated the Mars Rising graphics feel today.

On working for Apple (me three)

Chuq and Eric both write about an email they received recently from someone interested in working at Apple (see Chuq’s entry for details). I received the same email, although unlike either Chuq or Eric, I didn’t respond to it. Not so much because I was annoyed that the person had sent a personal-looking email to several people, but because I’m lazy. Once I found out that Eric had responded to the fellow, I figured I didn’t need to. After all, I learned everything I know about working at Apple from Eric.

Actually, what I think bothered me most about the email was not that tactics the author used in sending it, but that it seemed like he might have wanted to work for Apple for the wrong reasons: “I’ve been a lifelong Apple
fan and I’ve wanted to work there since before I started high school.” Chuq recently compared Apple fans to Disney fans, and I think that’s applicable in this instance, too. There are people who go to work as janitors at Disneyland because they love Disney. This guy may be a great fan of Apple, but that doesn’t mean that he’d be a great Apple employee. He may have a particular interest or speciality, and if Apple doesn’t have a job in that area, but he takes a job as a receptionist just because he wants to work at Apple, well, I don’t think that does anyone any good. He won’t be happy, Apple won’t be well-served, etc.

If nothing else, some Apple fans may not want to work at Apple. There’s a bit of an inside-the-sausage-factory feel about the place. Personally, I think it’s a great place to work, but those who believe Apple can do no wrong may be disappointed to find out that in many respects, Apple is just like any other large company.

Americans are wusses

If I’ve learned one thing while playing Microsoft® Train Simulator, it’s that while driving Amtrak’s Acela Express, you can’t brake or accelerate enough to knock over a card table balanced on the head of a pin without having “jostled the passengers beyond acceptable limits.”

You can go from 85 kph to a complete stop in less than five seconds without the riders of the Tokyo commuter rail line blinking an eye. The passengers on the Acela route would probably come out of the computer and sue if I tried that on them. I am ashamed of my country today.

Fun new toy

After several months of planning and deliberation, today I went over to the AT&T Wireless store and picked up a couple of new phones. A Sony-Ericsson T616 for me and a T306 for Laura. I like buying new toys, so this was lots of fun. And now I have a phone with GSM, a Web browser, Bluetooth, a color screen, built-in camera, and other cool things I didn’t have before. I’m not quite sure if any of these things will make me any more productive, entertained, or fashionable than before, but for the moment I feel good. And thanks to Apple‘s corporate account with AT&T, I got 45% off of my phone, and Laura’s was free.
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I’m so old

My high school sent me a calendar in the mail the other day. Flipping through it, I came across a roster of the just-graduated Class of 2003. Looking through the names, I recognized only two, and those as younger siblings of friends of my younger brother.

The other day, Beloit College released their annual Mindset List, which they distribute to faculty and staff to help them understand the incoming Class of 2007. It’s interesting how different elements of popular culture move at different rates; many of the items in the list I identify with (“Paul Newman has always made salad dressing”), but others make me feel really old (“Pete Rose has always been a gambler”).

Actually, I suspect part of the issue is that I apparently paid more attention in history class than the average high school graduate. Even looking at the 2002 list, which is only a year younger than I am, I find many items that do not accurately describe me, not because I lived through the appropriate events, but because I’ve read or heard about them. Then again, maybe that extra year is meaningful—I have memories of the Challenger blowing up, the Cold War, vinyl albums and beige M&Ms, all things the Class of 2002 aren’t supposed to remember.