Radio Free Market Economy

This has been muddying my thoughts recently so I thought I'd write about in the hope that it would find its way out of my brain: I have more important things to do, after all. heh heh heh

A lot of talk has been thrown around lately about how awful the u.s. economy is, how awful it is that gas prices are rising, how awful it is that the dollar is tanking, etc. etc. etc. Awful, awful, awful. Woe woe woe is me. There, there: shut up, little girl! What's happening seems (to me at least) very simple--the world economies are equalizing. As free trade increases, the market naturally migrates (in certain industries anyway) to cheaper environments, boosting the economy and quality of life in those areas and reducing it in others. Naturally, there is a (fluctuating) finite amount of wealth in the world (finite in that wealth can be defined by how much everybody thinks everything in the world is worth at that one particular moment), and as industries and markets move around, they will shift that wealth accordingly. It shouldn't come as any great surprise that the U.S. economy, which was until recently artificially protected on the world stage by trade barriers, is finding itself falling a bit--especially industries such as manufacturing. Molecules in areas of high pressure will gravitate toward areas of low pressure.

The world market is changing things, to be sure--wealth is spreading. The average american joe who had a skilled labor position and enjoyed a ridiculously high salary (when compared to like employees in a global context) is going the way of the dodo. In his stead there will be more jobs in other industries, such as software engineering, healthcare, communications, etc.; positions that take advantage of the (still) relatively high level of education and entrepreneurial spirit in this country...and the sooner people figure out that this isn't a bad thing, the better it will be for everyone. There seems to be a certain pervasive attitude in certain parts of our society that fears this change greatly and will fight, tooth and nail, to preserve the "old ways." The old ways aren't slowly dying away: they're dead already. People in this country will have to figure out a way (find a way!) to excel in the new world economy or they'll be pushed aside. Obviously many companies are already doing this, notably U.S. based companies that are heavily invested in foreign markets.

I'm not judging this situation in a context of right or wrong--I'm just pointing out that it is true. Right or wrong, good or bad, people need to embrace reality, or risk being pushed aside as irrelevant.

Oh, and if you think that most people do understand this and are ready to move on? You're wrong--I can't tell you how often I overhear some ECMC employee talking in the hall about how awful it is that "we have to give up retiree healthcare!" or "we have to give up summer-hours!" (that one always gets me...summer hours are a relic of the days when county buildings had no air conditioning, and in the summer employees were allowed to go home 1/2 hour early because of the heat.) Since ECMC has to stay open 24 hours a day, this means that its employees of course must continue to work a full day...but the hospital has to either a.) pay them more, or b.) give them extra days off at other times--all because they are working through their precious summer hours...At this point I have to point out that, even though my position is non-union, and I don't get the more ridiculous benefits like summer hours and silly holidays like election day, I still have very good benefits and in no way feel cheated, slighted, or otherwise wronged by my woeful situation.

I guess my point is that in order to adapt in the new free market economy, all people in this country, not just the few multinational corporations, have to adapt. This means you, mr. union laborer. These people aren't losing anything aside from over-inflated salaries and benefits propped up by years of artificial protection and misguided union muscle.

Now, anyone who is an economist (out of my way, I'm an economist!), or is in any way qualified to talk about the stuff that I just bandied about as if I knew what the hell I was talking about, can feel free to tell me how crazy I am.

Ah yes, regarding high gas prices. Supply and demand, my friend, supply and demand. Don't like high gas prices? Move closer to your job, get a bike, or ride public transportation. I have a feeling that we are going to move into a period in our culture where privately owned automobiles will become (slowly, perhaps very slowly) less prevalent as petroleum prices continue to rise--or at least we'll end up using the automobiles that we currently own less.(note that I'm only talking about the U.S. here. I'm well aware that automobile sales are increasing like crazy in China, which only serves to bolster my point about quality of life equalizing on a world scale.) When an alternative fuel infrastructure based on an abundant fuel source (like hydrogen, for example) is created, things will swing the other way again, but not until then. Rising gas prices, more than any other single factor, are going to affect both the impetus to create an alternative fuel infrastructure as well as the need to reduce CO2 emissions. With that in mind, are higher gas prices really a bad thing? Seriously: move into the city.

Lair on G string

This relates to my "why does everyone hate the PS3" post...

Today's discussion focuses on the PS3 game, "Lair," which is at its core a very simple action title in which the player controls giant, flying, fire-breathing dragons in several combat scenarios. Lair was released last October, but it gets the blog treatment because its developer (Factor 5) is about to release a patch which adds analogue stick control support to the title. For anyone who isn't a videogame-fiend and is unaware of such trivialities as opinions published in the videogame press, Lair has been almost universally lambasted for its implementation of Sony's motion-sensitive sixaxis controls*. It was also considered to have a poor targeting system, lousy voice acting, and an unfortunate choice of color palette (that one always makes me laugh).

Now, before I go on, let me get something out of the way. Its criticisms in the press aside, "Lair" is a flawed title in several ways: it is too short, it doesn't do enough character development, and the voice acting is generally lousy. Other than these few gripes, Lair is frigging awesome. Maybe I'm weird, but I think controlling fire-breathing dragons in inherently fun.

I often wonder why seemingly no reviewer enjoyed the sixaxis control scheme of the game. After all, it is a bold, innovative step in an area that rarely sees changes. Conversely, Nintendo's Wii is universally lauded for its revolutionary motion-based controls. Yet here we have poor little Lair getting dumped on for being different. Shame on you, video game press. I suppose it is important at this stage to point out that I found the controls quite easy to use, once I had taken the time to learn how to use them. Similarly, anyone who has tried the game in my presence has had a little trouble at first, but within 5 minutes had intuited most of the games functions. Obviously one can now infer that the controls are not "broken" as they are suggested to be by most reviewers. Essentially the game is challenging insomuch as it forces the user to learn a relatively unusual control scheme, and then master it to the point that said user can complete the game. To me, this is not a reason for complaint, it is simply a game-challenge paradigm that hasn't been used much since the last major shift in console game controllers (obviously excluding the current generation of games consoles, I'll give the nod to the Nintendo 64 for making the last major controller change, being the first to implement an analogue stick). Complaining that Lair sucks because it is hard to control is kind of like complaining that the game of football sucks because it's hard to throw a football. No, football doesn't suck: you just suck at football. (disclaimer: football probably does suck for several other reasons, but not because throwing a football is hard. Also, at this point I will stop using the word "suck.")

Now, are Sony's sixaxis motion controls as easy to use as the Wii motion controls? Certainly not. They are not nearly as intuitive, and yet are clearly not meant to be. Sixaxis is a design compromise, intended to bridge a gap between a new type of intuitive, motion based control and more traditional, manipulative controls that require manual dexterity. As a design compromise, it is inherently imperfect. That said, I think developers who take risks in order to be innovative should be applauded and rewarded for their efforts--even moreso when the product is actually fun.

And now, the punchline: Lair is good. Oh, and about that patch that made me want to write this in the first place: if you still really hate the sixaxis controls, the patch allows you to play it with your ol' analogue sticks. Personally I think this would detract from one of the most entertaining and challenging aspects of the game, but to each his own. Oh, and you should really learn how to throw a football.

*sixaxis controls allow the user to use intuitive movements rather than manipulate buttons and control surfaces in order to interface with a game.

Maaaagic

So, Orlando is a whole lotta no fun. Aside from the 8 hours every day listening to bullshit and droning on and on and foaming at the mouth and falling over backwards from the happy folks at Amicas, I went to Epcot Center one day for about 1.5 hours. It was enough. The rest of Orlando? Well, I was there for only a few days which means I'm no expert, and of course I'm sure there are nice parts, but the entire area reminded me of Niagara Falls Blvd between Sheridan and the 290.

hockey update

Another game, another loss. 5-1. It was a bad game all around, but to be fair we only had 8 guys on our bench compared to roughly 50 for the other team. Or 16: I'm no scientician. As for me, I played well in the 3rd period, but there were two early goals I would like back. Who knows: if we were 2-1 instead of 4-1 heading into the 3rd, it might have ended differently...