CS4 Photoshop

In my opinion, the most jaw-dropping new feature of the upcoming Photoshop is the “seam carving” resize tool.

Traditionally, if you want to resize the width of an image, but not the height, you’ve had to accept some distortion as the image was stretched. Last year, however, two researchers came up with a technique known as seam carving, or intelligent resizing.



The opposite works as well. If a region of an image needs editing — say, a tourist standing in your otherwise pristine scene — you can use the Seam Carving tool to remove the tourist and leave the rest of the scene intact. It’s one of the cooler things we’ve seen Adobe add to recent version of Photoshop. Even just using the beta version, we’ve become addicted.

I probably sound like such a Photoshop geek, but this new feature is going to rock the number of techniques available in the Photoshop world. I'm not sure where I would even start... I'll probably just standby and see what the web comes up with first.

Air @ YuGongYiShan

Unexpected Goal in Life: See Air live. Check.

I've always been a fan of Air, but they just bumped up to favorite band status after I saw them live at my favorite venue Yugongyishan last night.

Air is a French two piece set: bass and keyboard (with drummer support). They play all their downtempo songs live and perform all their vocals between the two of them (both guys).

Last night they played all of their popular tracks including those from 'Moon Safari' and 'the Virgin Suicides'. Some of the songs simply brought me to another world, it was ecstasy. I've never been as wowed by a downtempo band.

Best thing at Beijing since the Olympics.

How to work on Quitting your Job

The average blog that runs ads, according to Technorati, is actually making money:

Among those with advertising, the mean annual investment in their blog is $1,800, but it’s paying off. The mean annual revenue is $6,000 with $75,000+ in revenue for those with 100,000 or more unique visitors per month.

According to the survey, more than half of these bloggers have blogged for more than 2 years (the 46% of professional bloggers). I think what this is really telling us is that if you are committed to writing about a topic day in day out, you can start a business that will allow most writers to either quit their day job or make a great buck in their spare time (while at work).

In my opinion, this is a pretty straight forward way to start a lifestyle business. You write about what you are passionate about and you work on your own schedule. I'm under the presumption there are still a lot of niches out there that are not being covered yet.

Now start blogging, read a few books about starting good blogs, and you'll be off to liberty.

my MGS4 review

I'm going to do another gamer review post today. I actually finished it a month ago, but I feel like I owe this one because it’s Metal Gear Solid 4...


Best Metal Gear of the entire series (so far)? I sure think so. Back when I started this blog in the December of 2001, I rated MGS2 a 9.8. And if I were to stick to that scale, MGS4 belongs at 11.

MGS4 is emotional, gripping, satisfying, and a gaming experience never been quite as polished as before. It does the impossible of tying up the convoluted story of the entire series into something more digest-able while still bringing new elements into the plot to provide something new and refreshing. MGS4 is the series at its extreme, it is everything that was introduced in the previous titles and it all somehow works and makes sense.

If Kojima were to end the series with this bang, then the title has lived up to all its hype and expectations. And that’s no small feat giving it is practically the first major ‘must-have title’ on the Playstation3. It seems like most reviewers have also come to similar conclusions about this title. MGS4 is a work of art for its time.

I wonder what Konami has up its sleeve as far as recouping development (and PS3 exclusivity) costs for this title. For one thing they've definitely developed some major technology and processes along the way. I would expect them to make pretty good use of that in their up-coming titles.

Kojima Productions' stealth action shooter moved three million units since its June 12 debut, propelling Konami's PlayStation 3 business to 57.3% of its total sales in the quarter ending June 30.

Three million units is pretty good. I would suspect MGS4 sales to stick through until the end of this year. I tried to do a search on their upcoming titles without much luck, they don't have any big titles announced other than Silent Hill and Pro Evolution Soccer (Winning Eleven). This makes me convinved that they are working on a few secret titles that have yet to be announced.

Music Sept 20th, 2008

Cheers

So the 2nd wave of financial meltdown has finally arrived upon us this week. I don't mean to hate on any specific individual, but I'm secretly glad this has happened. I just simply don't agree with finance and their culture of 'see who can come up with the biggest scam' to afford their big yachts, nice fancy dinners, and ridiculous egos. Honestly, some of them don't deserve it. I'm not saying finance is bullshit, I'm just saying half of it is.

Job security is for those who don't realize that there is no such thing out there anymore. The fact is businesses all have a bottomline, and history has repeatedly told us that these bottomline's are measured in bills and not the people that make up these companies. You never know when you may be cut for reasons beyond your control.

Business school applications entering 2009 are going to sky rocket this year. I guess I got lucky on this one, I would rather not be part of that rat race.

my SPORE review

Good work to Will Wright and Maxis for their latest masterpiece, SPORE.

Spore is the type of game (or simulation shall I say) I dream of having played when I was a kid. It is a game of evolution developed for the masses done right! I don't understand why critics all over are claiming that it lacks depth or appeal in its individual parts. I would bow down to Spore's game design anyday. Evolution is not an easy subject to simplify for the masses, and definitely not for a video game. Will Wright has created a game even kids can understand and enjoy.

The design behind Spore I admire most is the creature/object creation tool. Not withstanding that the tool is a technical marvel in itself, what I like about the game design is the tool evolves throughout the different phases of evolution. The game is about the character creation tool and it is the component that unifies 'evolution' throughout the experience. This is why I believe the game shouldn't/can't be sized up through its individual parts.



I can probably go on and on about how Spore is a mind boggling experience. What I do want to question today is the game's business model: $50 a pop sold in retail.

Is Spore going to break-even? Time will tell right now, but I hear it will take 8 million sold copies to break-even. Let's reference some other games to get an idea of what type of calibur title we're looking at:

+ Final Fantasy VII (PS1 – 9.8 million)
+ StarCraft (9.5 million)
+ Mario Kart Wii (6.42 million)
+ Super Mario Galaxy (6.1 million)
+ Halo 3 (8.1 million)
+ Gears of War (4.7 million)
+ Diablo II (4 million)
+ Half-Life 2 (4 million)
# The Sims (50 million, 70 million including expansions)
# The Sims 2 (13 million)

I'm sure EA has a stable of business-minded soldiers at their helm to monetize their development costs, but if you ask me, maybe they're not looking hard enough at various other biz models and distribution strategies. The online components of Spore reek of opportunity. Micro-transactions, SNS apps, and many other online related gameplay elements is what's needed to keep the Spore revenue stream coming in for years (instead of just one-time customer payments). And best of all, solid online features automatically cut down on piracy. Gamers are cheap bastards who will pirate if possible.

Updated my Portfolio

Finally updated my chunky user unfriendly flash portfolio www.erikchan.com with some of my works from earlier this year. I figured if I were to procrastinate on it anymore, it wasn't going to happen (especially with school starting).

It took me 6 hours altogether. Ugh!

Soil & “Pimp” – Death Jazz From Japan

SOIL & “PIMP” SESSIONS are a six person Japanese Jazz outfit consisting of Shacho (agitator, spirit), Tabu zombie (trumpet), Motoharu (sax), Josei (piano), Akita Goldman (bass) and Midorin (drums). They preform their own intense brand of alternative, aggressive jazz they call “Death Jazz”.

What if I had 100 Million

For a long time while I was in college, I asked what I'd do with the money I make later in life. I didn't really have an answer other than to buy a dope house. Lately, I figured what that would be.

I will invest in a record label, game studio, and high-end fashion label/brand.
Specifically, the bands will promote my clothing label and the music game will be based on the bands and their music. I love synergy, collaborations, and building legos.

Tell me if I'm wrong but I seriously believe in a tipping point in one's career where things become easier and easier based on your resources and/or skills you accumulate. It's kind of like a huge poker game except that there is no such thing as buy-in and most players start off at the table scrapping for as many chips as possible to create their playground.

Actions speak louder than words.

Growing older allows you to realize who people really are behind everything you think they are.

It's scary because in most cases what you think they are is most ideal. And the reality is that over time they aren't and you either face the truth or continue to blind yourself in your own biases.

Actions speak louder than words. Its so simple, nobody is perfect.

Chinese Cab Drivers

Random facts to keep me in my seat and working:

* Cab drivers in Beijing make 2000-3000RMB per month

* Cab drivers take 15 days off a month

* Two cab drivers alternate between 24 hour-long shifts

A new demo track

I made a new demo track with my guitar and trusty drum machine around a month ago. The plan was to spend a few more days to mix it properly and maybe do a few re-recordings here and there to polish it up, but it's looking less and less likely that will happen in the near future. So here it is until I get around to that.

Click Here

For those who are interested, the track was created using the Line6 Riffworks software and my Epiphone Les Paul Custom. It took me two days: 6+ hours on day one to do the recording and 6+ hours on day two to do the mixing. So yeah, that explains why it needs work.

Pics from Olympic Events

USA vs. France


Japan vs. Korea


Yao and Lebron

Beijing Olympics 2008

So the 2008 Olympics are finally at an end. A cool US$45billion spent on the event, worth it?


A quarter of the budget was spent on the Birds Nest, Water cube, Airport, Olympic village and other venues. The rest of the budget on upgrading city infrastructure such as communication, transportation, support, and technology. Many of which I presume would happen sooner or later and sped up due to the event.

I'm under the impression the money was well spent. It was an extravagant party for sure, but sometimes it's necessary to flaunt and celebrate when you can afford it :D
Aside from minor misdemaneours like Tibet and the pre-recording of the Opening Ceremony girl singing (how is that a problem?) China showed the world how far they've come and what they are capable of. The entire event was like an excuse to host a lavish party and mingle with the world. And any president with a little bit of brains was smart enough to make attendance.
Throughout the process, China grew and its people received plenty of international exposure and respect in return. You can't buy some of those things with money.


Now ain't I glad to have moved here at the right time to enjoy this upgrade.

The Hong Kong MTR (subway station) is by far the best subway network I've come across in my travels. It's clean, safe, uniform, and incredibly well maintained over the years. They demonstrate how a subway operation should be run.

We don't realize what cards we've been dealt until you look outside.

+++ Hotel Costes vol.11 +++

Beardyman

I actually wanted to talk about the insane Beijing Olympics opening ceremony...but maybe in my next post. Below is probably the smartest human beatbox I've seen.

The Wave of Downloadable Console Games..

PixelJunk: Eden, one of the few online download-able games at the PlayStation PS3 store, makes me feel like I should still be in games. I'm not going to bother explaining how the game works because it's not going to make sense, but it's definitely worth the 12USD when you're hanging out on the couch with two other buddies (3 Player Co-op!!!).

As a 'casual gamer' & developer, I feel like this is where the small guys can make big waves. Other interesting titles include 'flOw' and 'Everyday Shooter' (or 'Braid' on Xbox Live Arcade). I still swear by Harmotion along with these gems.

Inline with the Beijing Olympics ceremony today, here is a short BBC feature by the masterminds of Gorillaz (Damon Alburn & Jamie Hewlett).

Janelle Monae

If you're looking for something new to listen to...

Janelle sounds like a female Gnarls Barkley

The Chinese Internet Gold Mine

I hate writing business plans. Writing a business plan is equivalent to having a proper technical design document of an entire software project scoped out. You need to spell out the entire venture and chances are that in execution nothing will go as planned.

So while I plough through my own business plan, I thought I'd share some of my research about the Chinese internet:

- As of June 2008, China has the most netizens in the world. This is around 18% of 1.3billion people compared to second place; the United States has 223.1M netizens which is around 71% penetration.

- Research firm BDA China Ltd. estimates that China’s online population will keep growing by 18 percent annually - a modest estimation, considering that this growth was 56% this year - and reach 490 million by 2012.

- According to a report by professors at HKUST, they expect the Chinese economy to surpass that of the U.S in purchasing power terms between 2012 and 2015; by 2025, China is likely the world’s largest economic power by any measure.

- Survey of 16-25 year olds:
I live some of my life online: CN 86%, US 42%
Online is as real as offline: CN 37%, US 16%
I have a parallel life online: CN 61%, US 13%
The Internet helps me make friends: CN 77%, US 30%

Sorry, I hate sourcing, but i'll send them to you if you ask. Now back to my business plan...

2008 Beijing Olympics Mascot

In a move towards getting my blog banned in China (where it already does every once so often), I'm going to hate on the olympic mascot today. Well, I'm open to comments (especially if you can change my mind about them), but my honest opinion is that they are ugly. Period.

I like the Olympics logo, but the mascot just doesn't quite cut it. It's as if they had hired me to be their character artist. And even so, I would have been smart enough to outsource it to someone who can do a better job. Characters like those can only bubble up the chain when people either don't care, have bad taste, or are corrupt.

Macau

I was in Macau with my family last week. We went to see team USA basketball take Turkey apart at the Venetian.

From January through November 2006, Macau casinos took in $6.485 billion from slots and table games, beating the Vegas' $6.079 billion, according to Macau's Statistics and Census Service and the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Although I still have my doubts about truth of those numbers, its surprising to know that gambling revenue of Macau has already surpassed that of Las Vegas. That automatically makes Macau the ultimate future destination of sin.

Designed some new Business Cards

I designed some new business cards for a project I've been working on lately. To tell you the truth, I'm not totally sure about them myself...the reasoning being that nearly everybodys business card is so pathetic looking around here, I would feel like I'm making too flashy a statement with mine.

But then again, if it were my company (and it is), the last thing I want is crappy looking business cards.
I suppose the project I'm working on is obvious enough?

Score

Its been getting hot here in Beijing. Thankfully this weekend was a hit with the adventures. I spent Saturday at a champagne pool party getting pissed under the sun. It was everything you'd imagine at a hipster LA pool party without the pretentious swingers. Great people, venue, music, and drinks. Now only if the summer can last longer...