Grand Theft Auto: Time sink.

by Stepto
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And I thought Rock Band was bad. I sit down to play just a mission or two in GTA4 and next thing I know it’s three hours later.

While the violence, misogyny, bad language, and promotion of illegal activity stack up like thick societal woe waffles drenched in antisocial syrup, the game is still tamer than a violent movie. But even its moments where it tries to be good for a bit result in it earning its "M" rating. For instance the bowling, pool, and darts mini games are all harmless fun. There’s no swearing or violence about them. Until you realize that playing them all with Michelle results in the game rewarding you by you getting to sleep with her.

Multiplayer is amazing. A massive world that rewards careful and reckless exploration alike. I played with Lance Bubo last week and thrilled to boarding the Blackhawk chopper for a spin around Manhattan to the tune of The Who’s "The Seeker". Later when our inept piloting resulted in a midair collision during a Blackhawk duel, we ejected (out of helicopters!) to land in the water near Ellis island and launch rockets at the boats passing by to see how long the range was.

And did I mention the game is gorgeous? It’s gorgeous.

I can’t recommend it for everyone however, but since it sold more copies this month than there are stars in the sky I suppose you already know its hyper-violence and themes can at times make you feel like you are for sure going to hell for playing it and having fun. To wit, I didn’t just chuckle when one of my rockets caused a passing speedboat to pinwheel in the air into someone’s Cabin Cruiser. I actually chortled. Then felt the flames already.

Xbox Live policies and Gamertags

by Stepto
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[EDIT: I’ve gotten a surprising amount of email today accusing me or Microsoft of being homophobic. Allow me to clear that up real quickly.

The rights of Gay, Lesbian, or Transgendered individuals is a civil rights issue. I support the right of these individuals to marry and have those marriages recognized the same as anyone else’s, equally. (not civil unions, which insults me as much as "separate but equal" does as a racial strategy, but marriage as it exists for heterosexual couples)

I support their right to adopt under the exact same criteria heterosexual couples enjoy. I support legislation that protects their rights in the workplace and in society and am very proud that the Microsoft corporation is a leader in this area. I could say a lot more, but the very notion that I am a homophobe or that Microsoft is somehow homophobic is just taking the matter too far. Hopefully these public declarations will put that matter to rest.]

I’ve gotten some questions today regarding a recent name change my team issued against the gamertag "TheGayerGamer". As I have mentioned before, the community brings content that may potentially violate the terms of use to our attention via the complaint system.

For text and profile complaints we actually review every complaint against the Code of Conduct and Terms of Use to determine whether the complaint is accurate. We DO NOT take action based off the number of complaints, or how often people complain in a given day. All complaints we get into the system against a Gamertag or content are reduced to one so that our agents merely review the content against the terms of use. Whether it’s one complaint or 20, we will look at it the same way. That’s the metric we use and that we have publicly communicated that we use.

And the Terms of Use clearly disallow content of a sexual nature:

"[a member may not] Create a Gamertag or use text in other profile fields that may offend other members. This includes comments that look, sound like, stand for, hint at, abbreviate, or insinuate any of the following: profane words/phrases, sexually explicit language, sexual innuendo, hate speech (including but not limited to racial, ethnic, or religious slurs), illegal drugs/controlled substances, or illegal activities.

Emphasis mine.

We received a complaint on the Gamertag and determined that it did indeed contain sexual innuendo. Now granted, there could be an argument that the text is not pejorative to homosexuality and should therefore be allowed. But there is no context to explain that. Gamertags are visible to everyone and it would be hard for me to defend to a parent of a young child who saw it that the name did not contain content of a sexual nature.

We view these situations objectively during our review under the terms of use. To answer the question another way, yes "TheStraighterGamer" or "TheHeterosexualgamer" would have gotten the same treatment and would have been found to be in violation and forced to be changed. We’ve actually done that to tags like that before.

Racism, hate speech, bigotry, homophobia, all these things have no place on Xbox Live and are in violation of our Terms of Use and Code of Conduct. My team works hard reviewing the complaints every single day and taking action on them where appropriate. We also work very hard to be present in our LIVE community actively playing and looking for bad behavior so we can take action when we see it (for some proof of this you can check the Xbox Forums each morning for people complaining about their suspensions and that they were only ‘kidding around’!) The good news is that I have said before complaints as a % of our total users still remains a tiny tiny fraction. But be sure if you see bad behavior to let us know via the complaint system!

I just wanted to provide some transparency into the reasoning we put into the process. Hope that helps!

What I sent in advance to the Obama CD delegates tonight.

by Stepto
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I assume due to the sheer number of people that want to be national delegates to the convention as a result of the fantastic inspiration of the Barack Obama campaign, our original three minute speech segments have been cut pretty significantly. Now I think we get a minute. In the past two weeks I have received roughly 10 emails and 5 or so direct mails by people running for national delegate. They are all insanely qualified and awesome.

So tonight I sat down and wrote this to the delegate list, since I probably won’t get three minutes to talk to them. The below incorporates parts of my original three minute speech that I have been slaving over the past week, as well as some touches that I felt were at least relevant to the point. Anyways here it is, enjoy if that’s your thing:

(Bcc’d the delegate list so it’s easier just to reply to me.)

“The world is changing so fast, and we’re all running to catch up.”

– Jurassic Park

Hello everyone, My name is Stephen Toulouse. Everyone calls me “Stepto” (pronounced Step-toe)

Wow, I have been just humbled to the core by the passion and the qualifications of the delegates I have been exposed to that want to be national delegates, both in email and direct mail. I think I would be proud to have any of them serve to represent our community and our neighbors for Barack Obama. So impressed and confident in fact, I was tempted to withdraw… I’ve decided to stay in to make some points I think are critical to this election that I will share with you.

I think this election has changed so many dynamics that the above quote from the film Jurassic Park has a lot of impact. From fundraising, to primary and caucus processes and mechanisms, to organizing, to involving those that have had so much of their apathy and cynicism darkly nurtured by a broken political process; we can see now that the world today is different if we chose to make it so. Barack Obama and his campaign have inspired Democrats across the country to create this new world, and this primary season has provided a stark contrast to those that came before it. We as Democrats can evolve and thrive in a world without the crass politics of division and opportunistic cold calculations of momentary whim, or become extinct. And I don’t think we can afford to allow a single Democrat to become extinct in this election. It is our moment, right now, to bring everyone together into a world we believe gives everyone an opportunity for support AND dissent.

I view the role of national delegate in this unique election as not just someone who pledges complete faith to the candidate they represent the votes of and the platform for their community, as I do.

Those things are what got us all to this point, I would hope we all share them equally.

No, the role of national delegate in this election is probably far broader and more unique than at any point in modern electoral history for our party.

The national delegate must work hard to bring along all Democrats into this new conversation that has been started, a conversation where our candidate believes almost more in us than we in the candidate. This isn’t just a point about Barack Obama and presidential politics! The national delegate must remember that the work doesn’t end with the casting of a vote in Denver, but to be the helpful and watchful steward of this new politics that embodies our core values for all candidates for all offices.

A politics boldly, and for once truly, unsullied by the lobbyists or the special interests. The national delegate must remember that above all else they have been entrusted with the idea that in this new dynamic, our communities inform the greater whole.

The inspiration of Barack Obama is not about the man who is running. It is not about our platform. It is not about our passion for making America the beacon of a better world. All these things have been within us all this time and in our candidates. That is not what is groundbreaking about this election cycle.

Instead this is about our moment, our opportunity. In this time, in this place, we have the rare chance to forge anew the inspiration of leadership that for so many Americans died with Kennedy in 1963. To revive the dream of a grander world for all humanity that for so many Americans died with Martin Luther King in 1968. To earn, by example, the brotherhood and confidence in America that flared like a nova world-wide on September 11, 2001 and withered a little more than a year later.

To grab hold again the spirit of community focus and self determination that was born in 1776.

This is our task, I believe. It is something that I have seen in individual parts in each email and letter I have read from my fellow delegates.

Again I am humbled by all of our passion. I wish all of us the best of luck, and I could not be more proud of my community, my friends, our party, or our country as I have been in the past few months.

A word about myself, quickly. I was formally the head of crisis response communications regarding computer security for Microsoft. Whenever there was a virus or hacker attack against Microsoft products I was the one who helped coordinate communications to our customers regarding what to do and how to protect yourself and your computer. I served in this role during some of the largest virus outbreaks in the past 10 years. I’m at home in the pages of USA Today or the New York Times or on broadcast through CNN or MSNBC or NPR. Currently, I am the Program Manager in charge of policy and enforcement for Xbox Live, working to help make our online gaming experiences safe and enjoyable for all. My wonderful wife Rochelle and I live in the farming community of Duvall with our two Golden Retrievers, Adia and Buddy.

Rather than bore you with an even more long winded email, I thought perhaps I would list the most relevant links I have posted about my support of Barack Obama in this primary season (these are also duplicated on the main Barack Obama web site):

My endorsement of Barack Obama, in which I confess my past political apathy as well as my stupidity in voting for George Bush in 2000 and why:

https://www.stepto.com/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=396

My caucus experiences:

https://www.stepto.com/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=397

https://www.stepto.com/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=423

Other posts about Obama:

https://www.stepto.com/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=398

https://www.stepto.com/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=401

https://www.stepto.com/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=408

I will be posting this to the Washington Obama delegates website as well as a flyer there later tonight.

Thank you for reading, and may our citizens protect the constitution of the United States of America. I wish you and yours peace and prosperity and look forward to our fellowship on the 17th.

S.

Satellite Radio: A rant.

by Stepto
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So when I got my car I finally succumbed to the allure of Satellite radio, specifically Sirius. My first introduction to the awesome/suck combo of the medium was when, during sign up, they kept talking about "Serious Sirius fans. Seriously!"

Thanks to the net/mp3/ipod epoch, a glorious time in which new stuff appears every day to make our lives amazing and have less money, I’ve not listened to the radio at all. I typically for the past couple of years had a six disc mp3 changer in my car so I usually had like dozens of hours of music available. Oh yeah, and normal radio is awful like the underside of a goat scrotum. And I’m obviously being polite about that description since said scrotum is very close to a particular orifice I could have described.

Seriously!

So why did I get satellite radio if I already had the music angle covered? The sweet sweet nectar, the unadulterated high fructose corn syrup of human discourse, that paragon of all that is high calorie with no nutritional value at all: 24 hour cable news networks. That’s right! CNN Headline news, CNN, MSNBC, Fox audio feeds from their TV broadcasts! It was all here, 24/7, in my car! And besides that, more nutritional content was available such as Sirius World News and BBC.

Had to have it. Had to.

I fooled around with the music stations a bit (There’s a 24/7 all Sinatra channel. I mean, how fucking cool is that?) but really all I got it for was the news stuff. That’s when I discovered the bait and switch of satellite. They say no commercials (commercial free Sirius Radio! Seriously! Seriously Sirius!) but that really only refers to the music channels. All the news and talk radio networks have commercials. And not just commercials from the TV broadcast feed either. I could maybe live with that. Oh no, this is the worst of the worst of radio advertising spliced into the feed. A morass of suck so deep and so wide as to be almost Windows ME-ian in its scope.

It basically breaks down into three groups:

The Conversation

This one is by far the most common commercial type. It consists of two men, or a man and a woman, having a conversation about a topic that there just happens to be a good or a service that addresses it! Weirdly, it’s never two woman or on a topic that might be interesting to women. Instead it’s truck insurance, erectile dysfunction, truck insurance, erectile dysfunction, truck insurance dysfunction, fast acting tablets to correct erectile dysfunction, and truck insurance. Oh and I think there is one on breast enlargement. Call me Sherlock if you will but I’m guessing the satellite radio demographic is probably 99% 60+ year
old male truckers. The worst one, by far, is for the tablets of fast acting Viagra. Here’s a brief snippet, verbatim:

Older sounding guy: Hey, have you ever tried Viagra?

Guy who sounds like he’s 20 (!): Yup! Miracle of modern medicine!

Older Sounding guy: What about Levitra or Cialis?

Guy who sounds like he’s 20 (!): Uhhhhhh never got around to those.

Older Sounding Guy: Ever wonder if Levitra or Cialis would work too?

Guy who sounds like he’s 20 (!): hrmmm. Now that you mention it!

Older Sounding Guy: Well, then you should head on over to [insert website for pills]

This is disturbing on a couple of levels. I know it’s hip with the kids these days to use Viagra or other "Male Performance Enhancers" but to have such an obvious young voice in this conversation means that some old guy and some young guy are casually talking about their lack of erectile acumen. Now, maybe such a casual conversation is occurring between two guys who are lovers, or maybe they are just that free and open about flaccidity as a matter of daily discourse. I have no problem with the former, and in fact that would make me feel a ton better about the commercial. The latter makes me shudder a little bit.

The Idiotic Slogan

This one is less common but centers around repeating the slogan several times during the commercial. Two of my favorites, and no I am not making these up:

"It’s the biggest no brainer in the history of the planet Earth"

"It’s time to get rich, eventually"

Scripted Spontaneity

This one can only be truly appreciated for its idiocy through transcript:

Announcer: "Term life insurance script in 3…2…1."

Announcer: "[insert 5 second term life insurance pitch]"

Announcer: "Wait wait wait I don’t need a script [tearing paper sounds] there’s the script it’s gone. Let me speak from my heart…"

Announcer: "[insert same pitch that he started with]"

Despite this, I’ve conditioned my brain to glaze over during these moments, since the audio feeds from news stations all take commercial break at exactly the same time since they are TV. It’s not unlike what I forced myself to do during the Vista SP1 Bruce Springsteen video. Or any given Tim Russert interview.

Primary Colors, Part 2

by Stepto
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[EDIT: MSNBC has a nice write up of the Washington State primary experience here.]

I’ve never caucused before, so I was looking forward to the experience. Caucusing in my little farming community of Duvall was done at the only elementary school in town.

Caucus process rules stated the caucusing (just keep saying it out loud over and over. Caucus. Caucus. Caucus.) began at 1:30. We were running a little late due to MASSIVE TURNOUT. The democratic caucus room was a small elementary school gym:

Wow lot's of people

Then more people came, they suddenly had to scramble to bring in more tables, then more chairs.

Getting full.

More and more people started coming in, and it started to become SRO.

Fuller...

My rough count was well over several hundred people given the number of precincts and how many people were just in my precinct (which seemed small compared to the others). All this for a small farm town of a few thousand people.

Obama support was everywhere. People wearing buttons, and placards outside. There was not a single Hillary button to be seen, nor a poster.

We opened the caucus with the pledge of allegiance. It’s been a while since I spoke the words, and people were there, saying it loudly and saying it proudly. It felt good.

Immediately after it, people were chattering excitedly and shaking hands. Party business commenced for 15 minutes and then our Precinct officers obtained our caucus declaration sign-in sheets. I carefully printed out my information and signed for Obama and passed the sign-in sheet down. It all seemed so archaic doing everything with paper and pen and signatures but there was a camaraderie to it that made the process fun.

Our precinct was allocated four district delegates. On the first pass we were split 50% for Obama, 25% for Hillary, 25% undecided. Here’s where a caucus is far more fun than a primary. The Obama people had the numbers, so we were allowed to each speak with the undecideds first to sway their vote. Each one of us presented why we were for Obama. I went last and gave an abbreviated version of my blog entry from yesterday. Then the Clinton supporters got their turn.

In the end we won over the undecideds and my precinct voted to send three delegates for Obama and one delegate for Clinton to the district level. I was chosen as one of the delegates for Barack Obama. So on April 5th I will represent my area for Obama at the District level.

The whole process took about an hour and a half, and I met some great people who were super passionate about this election. The atmosphere was incredibly upbeat, and if my overhearing of the other table caucuses is any indication, I would estimate Obama won in a big way. Many people went to see him yesterday at his speech in Seattle, and those that went gave excited reviews of the speech to those that didn’t.

Yesterday I contributed to the Obama campaign, today I caucused for him and I will represent my area’s caucus vote for him at the district level. It’s hard to believe this election has really only just begun.