Christoforo and Ocean Marketing

Well, it has been two days and the fallout over the Paul Christoforo fubar is still going.

To put this to some degree of context... Here is what was posted on Penny Arcade:

I got an incredible email today from a Penny Arcade reader. Dave shared with me an email chain between him and Ocean Marketing (the folks behind the Avenger controller) Trust me when I tell you that this is one wild ride. I’m serious, Mr. Toad would look at this ride and just give a slow clap while shaking his head. I have tried to arrange this as best I can in chronological order. I’ve also removed email addresses and other private information. So let’s just jump right in, here is Dave’s first mail to Ocean Marketing:

From: Dave
To: Ocean Marketing
Dec 16, 2011, at 1:34 PM

I ordered 2 of the upcoming PS3 controllers (invoice xxxxxxxxx—Nov 3, 2011). Any chance of getting an update of when these items will ship? I’m not really happy about being forced to pay upfront then have the advertised date of “Early December” be completely missed without any sort of update on availability. I really need one of them for a X-mas present as well. Anyways, looking forward to finally using one of these bad boys. Thanks and happy holidays.

-Dave

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Dave
Dec 16, 2011 2:45 PM

Dec 17

- Paul Christoforo

From: Dave
To: Ocean Marketing
Dec 19, 2011, at 11:02 AM

Thanks for the reply Paul. Can you clarify whether my particular order already sent or if Dec 17 was the first day shipments went out? I have not received any sort of shipping confirmation email or tracking information.

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Dave
Dec 19, 2011 11:21 AM

They still haven’t shipped yet on the way here from china

From: Dave
To: Ocean Marketing
Dec 20, 2011 4:29 PM

So then delivery to customer doors by December 24th is no longer likely correct? Do you have an estimated date of when units will arrive in California? Thanks.

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Dave
Dec 20, 2011 5:11 PM

They are in the USA now in customs so its wither before or after Christmas.

From: Dave
To: Ocean Marketing
Dec 26, 2011, at 9:47 AM

I noticed the updated info on the webpage, and I don’t understand why there is absolutely no benefit given to those like me who have already ordered, and paid their money. You’ve had my money interest free for nearly two months, yet now ANY new order will get $10 off….meaning I should just cancel my order for 2 controllers, get my money back, then re-order.

My other questions is regarding item compatibility. Ocean Marketing seems to be involved with the Xtendplay controller holder, so I was wondering if the Avenger N-Controller can be used in conjunction with the Xtendplay (for both Xbox and PS3)? Thanks

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Dave
Dec 26, 2011 10:14 AM

Yes it can be used with xtend play if you remove the stand and no one is allowed to cancel and re order if we catch anyone doing it we will simply just cancel your order all together and you can buy it retail somewhere else.

Things happen in manufacturing if your unhappy you have 7 days from the day your item ships for a refund. You placed a pre order just like any software title the gets a date moved due to the tweaks and bugs not being worked out and GameStop or any other place holds your cash and im sure you don’t complain to activision or epic games so put on your big boy hat and wait it out like everyone else. The benefit is a token of our appreaciation for everyone no one is special including you or any first time buyer . Feel free to cancel we need the units were back ordered 11,000 units so your 2 will be gone fast. Maybe I’ll put them on eBay for 150.00 myself. Have a good day Dan.

At this point Dave is (I think) understandably frustrated. His next email is sent to me as well as Kotaku and a few other news sites.

-Gabe



From: Dave
To: Ocean Marketing
Dec 26, 2011 12:11 PM

Then cancel my order if you want to. I’m making a legitimate complaint about your poor communication and you’re the one stooping to childish levels, a patronizing attitude, and threats. Hell you can’t even get the spelling of my name right.

And Gamespot pre-orders…wow what a terrible comparison. Retailers take a couple dollars IF THAT for you to guarantee your game availability on the release date, whatever that is. That’s the understanding and that’s what you get. Plus, I don’t have to complain to Activision or Epic games about these issues because they’re usually not missing the street dates for their AAA titles.

Now let’s take YOUR situation:
1) You’ve promised a new product based off the design for an existing, working product
2) For the longest time, you’ve stated on your website (your failure to update regularly is another issue) the initial/special/limited batch of your new product by early December, obviously in time for the all-important holiday gift-giving season. I and thousands of other customers GIVE YOU OUR MONEY, INTEREST FREE on the promises you made online.
3) I reach out to you, on Dec 16 (AFTER you have FAILED TO MEET YOUR ADVERTISED DEADLINE AND FAILED TO COMMUNICATE TO ANYONE WHAT THE SITUATION IS) obviously a little frustrated but more curious about when I and other customers can expect the product we paid for.
4) Your reply to me is a cryptic “Dec 17” with absolutely no explanation of what that means. In the mean time you having been using funds from pre-paid customers to complete Research & Development, product redesigns, and manufacturing mis-steps.
5) You force me to follow-up with an email asking for clarification about what “Dec 17” means since the day has passed and I have yet to receive any new information about my order. Now you instead of ANSWERING MY QUESTION OF WHAT THE NEW DELIVERY DATE IS, you tell me the goods have yet to leave China… Why are you telling me this? I’m not your employee I’m your goddamn customer! TELL ME WHAT THAT MEANS IN TERMS OF MY TIME AND WHEN I CAN EXPECT MY PRODUCT I PAID FOR.
6) So great…I have to email you AGAIN trying to get a CLEAR answer from you whether a Dec 24th delivery date is possible and if not, what the new date is. Rinse & repeat: You give me an update of the delivery process (wow, thanks…you haven’t told me anything I don’t know about the order of international shipping procedures) but instead say “...so its wither before or after Christmas.” WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN? GIVE ME A DATE!? One that you’re actually going to follow, because I already see “late Nov to early Dec”; “Dec 17”; and now “CHRISTMAS” in my rear-view mirror.
7) So I guess what’s left for me to do but just wait? Oh but what’s this, you’ve updated your website…Ok at least you’ve clarified the dates more, I can expect my controller my latest first week of January. But now as a “token of our appreciation” to all your “loyal customers” (you mean like customers who put up cash for you hold an use?) you’re giving a $10 coupon. Let me get this straight…so you held my money interest free for 2 months to help bring this product to market, and now some new customer can place an order and pay $10 less than what I paid? You have financially penalized me in two ways for being a “LOYAL CUSTOMER.”

I’m SURE you’re getting tons of other inquiries and I’m sure you’re not enjoying the fact that your product is not out when you wanted it to be. I and everyone else understands that “sh*t happens,” but if you want us to be understanding of that, then you need to keep us in the loop. You’ve already set yourself up for failure by making explicit promises that aren’t even “likely” given that the design and manufacturing are still be refined. Then you make sure you’re going to fail by actually taking all of our money, Not just a little bit….THE WHOLE F*CKIN BEEFALO. Why wouldn’t we trust that you’re going to deliver our merchandise on time? Besides…it’s based off an existing product so how hard can it be? Well as your youtube video shows, making any consumer device is hard and requires many iterations and improvements. But I’m not going to apologize for holding your feet to the fire. You created these expectations by acting like the release was already a done deal and by hiding the fact that it was faaaar from it.

I want my two n-controllers. I 1) PAID FOR THEM 2) WAITED 3) DEALT WITH YOUR UNHELPFUL ASS. I also didn’t want to feel like my trust and loyalty as a customer was being abused and then actually punished in comparison to other customers. But I guess we can’t have it all… so right now I’ll settle for getting my merchandise and hopefully never having to deal with you again. I’ve spent enough time writing this email which I hope you gain some insight from. If you actually do want to screw me over by not fulfilling my order, then I assure you be hearing more from me or people representing me.

You show a surprising lack of business polish for someone who’s quite established, AND an lack of awareness of your customer base: Hardcore gamers. We’re a demanding, vocal customer but the flip side is we’re loyal and eager to spend. It’s lucky for you that I really want this product because it seems really deliver on making the gaming experience more effective and enjoyable. Hell, I want to combine the aventer-controller with the xtend play to make the ugliest, most comfortable, most awesome controller ever. And I’ll still buy the xtend, so let that be a testament to your products, the rise above your poor representation.

-DAVE with a V

p.s. You look really douchy be having one youtube video complaining about the noise of traffic next to your home and then another video showing off your obnoxiously loud rice rocket (which is nice, I gotta hand it ya).

p.p.s. Welcome to the internet, bitch. That’s how I roll.

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Dave
Dec 26, 2011 2:19 PM

LOL Thanks for the Free PR I know the Editor N Chief of Kotaku , IGN , Engadget I’ll be meeting them at CES .The noise complaint was for people high up on the food chain in a corporate world of real estate you have no clue about. Thanks for the Rice Rocket Compliment too love me some motorcycle . Send that over to Engadget you look like a complete moron swearing and sending your customer service complaints to a magazine as if they will post it or even pay attention do you think you’re the first or the last what are they going to do demand us to tell you were your shipment is or ask for a refund on your behalf … Really ... Welcome to the Internet ? Son Im 38 I wwebsite as on the internet when you were a sperm in your daddys balls and before it was the internet, thanks for the welcome to message wurd up. Grow up you look like a complete child bro. I Don’t have my controller so im gonna cry to the world … Really ?? Hey take that free time and do something more productive. All you had to do was check the like everyone else , people have inquired but you’re the douchiest of them all J

To all our pre-order customers looking for information on the status of their orders after a busy couple of months The PS3 Avengers are on their way from our Manufacturing plant overseas. We are aware that everyone is anticipating having their Avengers under their Christmas Tree and were doing our best to get these orders shipped out as fast as possible. We appreciate you as loyal customers and for supporting our company. Customers will start receiving their products this week before Christmas and After Christmas and into the New Year. As a token of our appreciation we are offering all our pre-order customers and new customers 10$ off your next order with us just enter Avenger1001 at Checkout. Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Oh and FYI When a street date gets pushed by a publisher on a video game you pre ordered do you cry to them too ?

You just got told bitch … welcome to the real internet check kotaku in 2 weeks when they are reviewing free PS3 Avengers we send them as well as G4 and all the other majors hell yeah , don’t forget to check Amazon, gamestop.com, play n trade , Myers , Frys and a ton of other local stores coming your way you think you speak for billions son your just a kid you speak for yourself no one cares what you think that’s why were growing and moving 20-50 thousand controllers a month. We do value our customers but sometimes we get children like you we just have to put you in the corner with your im stupid hat on. See you at CES , E3 , Pax East ….? Oh wait you have to ask mom and pa dukes your not an industry professional and you have no money on snap you just got told.

The Pax East comment gets my attention and I decide to engage. I tend to have a calming effect on these sorts of arguments.

-Gabe



From: Mike Krahulik
To: Dave, Ocean Marketing
Dec 26, 2011 at 8:45 PM

Holy shit this is unbelievable. Dave, if this guy has a booth at Pax east we will cancel it.

From: Dave
To: Mike Krahulik
Dec 26, 2011 at 8:53 PM

Hey thanks Mike. It’s truly a shame because I think this device is great for gamers with disabilities and problems. I think of Child’s Play and if anyone’s gonna need greater accessibility when using complicated gamepads…it’s sick kids! Shit man, I’m really gonna feel bad if I think that sick children may somewhere down the line have fewer avenger controllers because I got into a pissing match with a sad old man. Please don’t cancel their booth on my account. As much as I hate this asshole, I still WANT his product and think it should be out there. GAH, I wish I was in a position to make a competing product to really stick it to guy.

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Mike Krahulik
Dec 26, 2011 at 8:54 PM

Hey Mikey,

We’re not renting a booth at pax east this year , bigger and better shows to be at we got nothing from the show . Oh so you know this guy has sold over 500 thousand dollars of product in Dec and is my main distribution arm landing us in GameStop , fry’s , Myers , Best buy , Activision , MLG , play N trade and a lot more . Were in 6 countries and you’re not going to take my money for a booth that’s a crock I can guarantee I’ll get a booth if I want one money buys a lot and connections go even further. He’s a native Bostonian from Little Italy . Who are you again ?

Oh Teh Noes!

-Gabe



From: Mike Krahulik
To: Ocean Marketing
Dec 26, 2011 at 9:08 PM

I am mike krahulik, Pax is my show. Feel free to google me=) I can promise you that you will never have space at any future Pax event.

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Mike Krahulik
Dec 26, 2011 at 9:33 PM

OK Mike whatever you say lol , are you sure hour not in Boston I spoke to the person who ran the show in Boston last year. If you let some little kid influence you over a pre order then we don’t want to be a your show ,Ill be on the floor anyway so come find me , I’m born and raised in Boston I know the people who run the city inside and out watch the way you talk to people you never know who they know it’s a small industry and everyone knows everyone. Your acting like a douchbag not that it matters pax east pax west , e3 , CES , Gamer Con , SSXW ,Comic Con, Germany I’m all over the place. If we want to be there we will be there with industry badges or with a booth you think I can’t team up with turtle beach , Callibur or Koy Christmas , I can’t get Kevin Kelly to pull some strings or G4 , Paul Eibler Ex CEO of take 2 , Rich Larocco Konami , Cliff Blizinski Epic who were working with on a gears version , Activision who were working with on a MW3 and Spider man Bundle , The Convention Center Owners themselves , Mayor of Boston come on Bud you run a show that’s all you do and lease a center in Cities you have no pull in its all about who you know not what you do. I’ll see space where ever I want , with who I want when I want and where I want so many ways around you and so many connections in this industry its silly. Anyway , I have no issue with you Sean Buckley Engadget, Scott Lowe IGN and the list goes on and on. Little kids unhappy with a PRE ORDER starting trouble and you email that to us , he’s a customer unless you’re his boyfriend then you should side with the company not the customer. Be Careful

From: Mike Krahulik
To: Ocean Marketing
Dec 26, 2011 at 9:40 PM

I do run Pax, but I also run a website called penny arcade. It’s kinda popular.

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Mike Krahulik
Dec 26, 2011 at 9:41 PM

Love penny Arcade !!

From: Mike Krahulik
To: Ocean Marketing
Dec 26, 2011 at 9:42 PM

I’m glad you like it! You will be on it tomorrow:)

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Mike Krahulik
Dec 26, 2011 at 9:46 PM

Great !! Love PR

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Mike Krahulik
Dec 26, 2011 at 9:46 PM

Mike I’m not trying to fight with you I’m really not , you should give me the benefit of the doubt before judging over one person’s bitching . Did I feed into his emails a little bit too much yeah ok . But it’s one person dude for real. No disrespect intended for you , My name is good in this industry and I know a lot of people. I’ll be at CES are you going ?

From: Mike Krahulik
To: Ocean Marketing
Dec 26, 2011 at 9:47 PM

Please remove me from this mailing list

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Mike Krahulik
Dec 26, 2011 at 9:57 PM

Your spamming me you’re not on a mailing list you idiot ! You sent me an email remember . Make sure you stir up a lot of controversy about us the more the better we needed some drama gets good blood flow going about the new product launch . Your sites amateur at best my son could put together a better site than yours and you run PAX ?? Wow , Ill put my marketing team on a smear campaign of you and your site and your emails , I have about 125 dedicated people to run PR , Blogs , Articles , Videos you have no clue who I am . Thanks again





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I can’t wait for the Penny Arcade smear campaign!

Oh and I’ll just leave this here:

-Gabe out



info@avengercontroller.com
Ocean Marketing Paul Christoforo on Twitter - @OceanMarketting
800-492-5455

As I was reading this on the 27th... It was like I was having the shades of my old job with the less than intelligent, younger, no IT experience manager running an IT department. Full of wind and belief that he knew what he was doing, but didn't. Now one thing I should point out, IT has some customer service involved. Even with the admission that some, if not most IT people people are not going to be the most socially couth type of people, this is a prime example of what NOT to do as a customer service rep. But then again, this is a guy who is a "president" of a PR company called 'Ocean Marketing'.

So... Putting aside the horrible grammar, the insincere attitude to an irate customer (Which, yes, there are times I will even admit I would like to bitch out a person about certain things in their face), Christoforo has done something that no person should do to a customer. Brow-beat a customer with no backing of anything what so ever.

While Christoforo believes this will blow over in time, I feel it is important for people to not let him live this down and also not hold a job with public relations of any sort. Here are the reasons:

1) Public Relations is about smoothing things over. I am no PR guy, but when I speak to people in marketing or in public relations, they try to smooth things over, to get people to calm down. Christoforo started off trying, but eventually fail to make the customer happy. His excuse for his insincere attitude? "You caught me on an extremely bad day and I had been dealing with 100’s and hundreds of emails trying to explain the situation to everyone on where the product was and you just pushed me a little too much" (Cited from his apology letter to Dave, http://gamerfront.net/2011/12/ocean-marketing-a-study-on-how-to-destroy-your-reputation-with-just-a-few-emails/15199) Sorry... Everyone has a bad day, even I do. But as a front facing individual, you do not take it out on the irate customer and definitely not in the way shown.

2) Never cite something you can't back up - In his e-mail to Dave, he cites "We do value our customers but sometimes we get children like you we just have to put you in the corner with your im stupid hat on. See you at CES , E3 , Pax East ….?" This is what set off a lot of people, particularly the gamers and Mike Krahulik (Gabe) in motion. Name dropping and bringing attention to yourself when you may or may not be established, is a good way to make a pariah of yourself. When I have argued on forums, I ask people, "How familiar are you with this?" I find out first their familiarity with a situation. I look up things to back up my stance. But one thing I also try to do is KEEP AN OPEN MIND with the person I argue with, especially if I find out I am in the wrong about something.

3) Actually take the time to be coherent - After a while... Trying to READ the emails Paul started sending in response back to Dave was like reading a 5 year old tantrum, trying to get the last word and be a form of self-gratification that I could only best describe as a person who is trying to emulate Charlie Sheen's most recent self delusion that seems to be fueled by some sort of drug, (And yes, while I cannot confirm Paul may be a Steroid user... Or a domestic abuser as many have dug up so far...) things like "Son Im 38 I wwebsite as on the internet when you were a sperm in your daddys balls and before it was the internet, thanks for the welcome to message wurd up." Yea... Reading that made me want to facepalm.

4) Try and keep straight who the hell you are talking to... Seriously. Don't say you like a site, then berate them late for having an amateur site. While I am no Penny Arcade fan or follower, the fact I ran across it reading another tech site, seeing the PR nightmare created by the e-mail chain alone that would have been better if it was between two drunk friends jibing than an actual honest to god communication between a company and a customer and then a company to another person who literally tells you to take the time to look who he is.

5) Name dropping - Learn how to do it right. The reason Paul Christoforo is getting dropped like a pariah is that he started spouting names to justify his responses. While even taking into account that Dave did fire the first shot to justify the whole pissed off argument, Paul used names as a means to make himself seem important.

6) Threats - For the love of god, just don't do it. Paul did the one thing that I can only cite that complete and utter idiot would do... That would be to use a threat. Where was the threat? "Wow , Ill put my marketing team on a smear campaign of you and your site and your emails , I have about 125 dedicated people to run PR , Blogs , Articles , Videos you have no clue who I am . Thanks again " To be honest, this is a threat. Any intentional declaration of a smear campaign is a threat. What I am posting here, is not a smear campaign, but me pointing out the foolishness and stupidity that can only be what it is... Foolish and stupid.

Now there is something to be said about the Internet Juggernaut that has been beating Paul down some. While it was successful in making him no longer representing a product in question, there are some lines that should never be crossed.

1) Death Threats - Seriously... Don't do it. Death threats, while done anonymously and may/may not be carried out, does not serve the greater cause. Directing it at his family, even if he is a jerk and douche, does not make you any better than the person in question.

2) Family in general - I think it is punishment enough that the family is already related to him. Again, leave the family alone. While I know this goes on deaf ears, to be honest, an Internet Retribution should only be directed to the person in question.

Tablet Wars...

Speaking of wars, might as well pipe in about the current tablet wars.

I will admit... I am not an Apple Product fan. I will also admit, I used to use a Mac before Windows 95 came out.

I am a PC user, mostly because I am a gamer, I like being able to do other things with my computer and also deal with annoying issues that Windows has brought upon itself. I also play a little with Linux variants, but not enough to really be one of those people to run linux on my main computer.

Apple is, by no means, an original company. The iPod? Yes, it was the first Music Player to host a large hard drive to store music conveniently. But there have been MP3 players a year or two before that, using flash memory to story megs of music. MP3 players have been around for years on computers.

The iPhone? Only semi-Original. I say semi, because it was their attempt to get into the wireless phone industry and they did it well, by hitting Blackberry and the other cellphones where they hurt, the lack of music. But like the iPod, it stylized and its design made me question wanting to have it as a phone, namely, the lack of a replaceable battery. The entry cost of one and lack of replacement battery made me feel like if the battery goes bad, I have to get another iPhone versus just swap the battery.

The iPad? Sorry, but Tablet PC has been around for a few years with Windows XP. It just was never implemented or caught on because manufacturers didn't do a wonderful job in making hardware to make the Windows XP Tablet OS be worth a damn, and to be honest, not many things really made it worthwhile.

And to be fair, the iPad is a good step, and when it started out, its apps were mostly iPhone related and only improved when iPads drew people to look into them.

Now, let's look at Apple's competitors.

Blackberry - The originator for the SmartPhone. It took Palm's PDA organizer and made it deal with e-mail and act as a phone. However, Blackberry's evolution stunted itself and when the iPhone's Touchscreen came out... The Storm which was suppose to be their answer to the iPhone petered out due to the awkwardness of the OS in handling the touch screen as well as the 'push click' process. The other thing that kicked Blackberry hard is their lack of an App store which came a bit late... Getting apps for the blackberry was like pulling teeth from an alligator until they finally started putting in an app store.

Microsoft's Mobile Phone OSes - Has tried on numerous levels to be good. But to my honest opinion, it just hovered in place and never really caught on. The Windows 7 Phone ad... To be honest, it also made me go, "Uhm... No." 'A phone to save us from our phone.' That motto is terrible, the motif to make Windows 7 Phone seem so much better failed to inspire me and the initial looks was not impressive. The demonstrations of it were terrible as well.

Android - I will admit, I am an Android fan, but one thing I should note... Android has been around for a few years. I did not hop onto the Android bandwagon until the Motorola Droid. I will point out one thing... Verizon's Droid viral ads were the best hook to get people. While some believe it made the Motorola Droid seem like the iPhone killer, I went in with the belief that it was a good iPhone competitor. It wasn't until later, I found out that the Android OS has been around for a while, which has been, strangely enough the T-Mobile HTC MyTouch phone with the celeberties standing there, showing off a phone with its own little wallpaper reflecting them.

T-Mobile's Android ads were not the best example of getting people interested in Android phones. To me, it was just another lame phone from one provider to coax people to go with them. Verizon hit where it count to get people who didn't like the iPhone to see an alternative they didn't know they had, and with so many introduction of things, such as the Car Navigation system that the Motorola Droid offered, enticed people with the 'all in one' device capabilities. The preview pictures with regards to customizing the look of the phone was also one of the selling points for me.

Getting back to the Tablets, the iPad is the second of its kind. As I said before, there was Windows XP Tablet devices, and in fact, its really more of a 4th or 5th generation device. Palm Pilots and Windows Mobile Devices have implemented 'similar' concepts, but were small and bulky (Bulky as in thick with some weight). iPad took the PDA based devices further by incorporating the WiFi and Cellular wireless support and a larger screen with a slimmer form factor.

The Galaxy Tablet and the other tablets used hacked Android Phone OS to be the 'first Android' based tablets. However, even Google, the creators of Android, stated this was a bad idea. Notion Ink, a tablet I was looking forward to, however, after the FCC tear down of the device, I was having second thoughts about it due to questionable issues with it as well as the actual internal design was a scary looking device to make me not want to get it.

The Xoom, on the other hand... I got myself, and I also attribute Verizon again for how they promoed it. The demonstration of it looked weak at first, given again, being the First Android 3.0 implementation and not many apps designed directly for the Xoom, I didn't get it when it first came out. I did, however, go and play with it at a Best Buy.

I liked some of the implementation, much more than I did some of the other tablets as well as the screen, even though I question Motorola's design of the tablet (Rear firing Speakers - Bad idea)

I will state, when I showed the Xoom to some guys at work... Some of the apple fans stated that they wished some of the Xoom features were part of the iPad. What more, they were disappointed with the iPad2 announcement, as some of the hardware improved, but the general UI did not. The ones I talked to liked the fact that Xoom had a customizable desktop, a dashboard that you can setup yourself (One of the reasons I liked my Droid over the iPhone).

Again, the Xoom is not going to be the iPad killer. It is a good competitor. There are more on the way, hopefully with the Android 3.0 OS, and along with it apps that will make the experience even more enjoyable.

Battle: LA

Well, I think I will start off with the most recent movie I went to go see:

Battle: LA

Before I went to see it, I pretty much went, "YAWOTW Movie" (Yet another War of the Worlds) movie.

In some ways, it was, and in other ways it wasn't. In most of the War of the Worlds movies, we are greeted with Alien War Machines that are fairly unstoppable. I saw the train wreck that was 'Skyline', which followed the tried and true formula of the unstoppable Alien War Machines. While it was grotesque in the way it was 'unstoppable', which was basically, machines powered by using the brains of the humans it captured and harvested, the movie was pretty much the tried and true of Aliens beating the crap out of the humans, only to end with one of those humans becoming one of the aliens and fighting within.

Battle: LA, on the other hand, puts an interesting twist. The aliens are attacking, but not necessarily unstoppable, just overwhelming and completely alien in regards to the conventional warfare.

Now some spoilers of the movie will be mentioned, so you might want to skip reading this if you don't want it spoiled.












In the movie, majority of the technology seems just slightly more advanced than ours. Some Anti-Grav for some of their vehicles, but not many beam based weapons, only the drone ships seem to have that. The alien soldiers are fairly armorplated, but not completely protected. The difference here is the fact they are alien, you can't kill it like you can a human, which obviously is resilient, but not impossible to stop.

The aliens take out military forces fairly expediently, which later is proved how that happens. They locate based on transmissions from the soldiers. They also fight less conventionally, a lot of military tactics are based on ground fighting, literally from building to building and from ground positions, however, the Aliens are attacking from rooftops of some 1 or 2 story houses, which usually don't have easy to get onto roof without assistance.

One of my gripes with the plot is the statement with regards to Earth's Water. Yes, the concept of using water as a reactor source is hardly something new. For those of you who don't know it, science has always theorized the use of water as a means to power a fusion reactor. Our current reactor technology is Fission, which is breaking down of Plutonium to Uranium (I believe) which heats water in a controlled fission reaction. Fusion, on the other hand, is the energy release when an element combines and breaks down. Our Sun is a fusion reaction, constantly going from Hydrogen to Helium conversion and vice versa. My rough understanding of the water based fuel is basically breaking down Water into Hydrogen and Oxygen, or often times creating heavy water (H30, 3 Hydrogen molecules and 1 oxygen molecule) to facilitate a fusion reaction.

Anyways, the complaint I had was how one of the commentators made out the alien's attentions. That Earth's water is in a convenient state. Yes... And No.

Within the range of our known science, there is probably planets with similar situations. In most cases, there are comets or other places where water is in an ice state. Physics of Water is that at Room temperature, its volume is 1 to 1 with its weight. However, when frozen, water's volume is slightly larger than its weight. Which is why ice floats, the density of ice is less in its solid form than it is in its liquid state. And while ice might not be 'convenient', the water of earth is hardly 'pure' or convenient for fuel than ice.

The one thing I noticed with Skyline and Battle: LA... Is that the Military is shown as knowing it is coming. Like Independence Day, it is observed coming, and the military is active for the most part. Unlike Independence Day, they don't make a showy appearance and blast a city, or like Skyline where a weird time, suck up a lot of people, then cause of lot of fighting, they try to assault and make a beach head and start pushing inward, then start rolling in their hardware behind their troops.

Over all, the movie was reasonable to enjoy.

Meanwhile... On the road...

After getting the part about the music ranting, time to put in some good old fashion Road Rage on the net.

As someone once said, and this was coming from a Southern Californian, "So Cal people don't know how to drive in the rain." Which is true... We have idiots who drive without the lights on, so obviously they think just cause they can see other cars in a hazy mist, that people with windows spotted with water and a misty air, can see them without their headlights on.

Come on, So Cal People... Wake up. The law states you should have your headlights on during FOGGY DAYS as well as RAINY DAYS. There is a reason for that, especially you people in your SILVER like cars.

One of my other rants is just plain stupid people driving out there. Like people who do last minute "Oh crap, exit is here!" and do sharp lane changes. Or people who make turns in lanes they aren't suppose to. If my old DMV instructor saw you people out on the road doing that, he would be yelling at you and throwing things at you. Me, I just call you *bleepin* moron. Cause, in all honesty, you are.

The cops may not be out there to catch you, but honestly, you shouldn't be doing that even if the cops aren't there. You aren't saving time, you are going to get someone killed who can't react, all in the effort to 'save time' for your stupidity.

Do the world a favor... GET OFF THE ROAD. I will admit, I speed a little, I want to save time, but when I make a mistake like miss my exit or my turn... I don't try to fix it by doing something even more stupid like make sharp lane changes or turn where I am not suppose to.

Remember, the best thing to do is to show up late than not show up at all because you got in an accident or got someone else in an accident trying to save time.

More on Tron Legacy

Yup... Talking more about Tron, this time about the music. I decided to get the music and start listening to it. Some of it I liked, other parts, not so much.

So I did a little reading up and see a few reviews where people were condemning Daft Punk for not doing well with the music.

Well, to be honest, the Music alone is not going to stand out... Especially after I started looking at some of Daft Punk's other stuff, like "All around the world" or "Technologic". And to be honest, the music for Tron Legacy isn't like the norm for Daft Punk's earlier style.

The problem is, style changes over time. But also the fact that the music fits more for the movie, not just the over all Daft Punk's usual ways.

When I listen to some of the songs that one reviewer states where they did a good job in mixing Synth with Strings. To be honest, I also try to picture the scene or the mood that the music goes with it.

I want to point to another person, Frank Klepacki... Not many people know of his name at all, but those who have played the Command and Conquer series or even Westwood's Blade Runner game... He is the one who composed the majority of the music.

One I enjoyed the most from Frank is him doing 'Hellmarch' Which has been redone again by him and then someone retouched it slight for their 3rd Red Alert game. The point here, however, is the music and the mood. The reviewers tried to fit the music to the Artists. And to be honest, the artists made the music to fit the scene, just as the other composers they speak of, like John Williams. Some of these scores are composed to fit the mood of the scene.

While I admit I would have loved to hear a longer version of Derezzed to get psyched in the mood, same with End of Line, I started checking out some of the remixes and note, remixes also are fueled by people inspired by the music composed.

Sometimes, you just can't be 'purist' to things.

Tron Legacy...

Well, it has been a while since I have written, partly due to having to find work again and then getting work, dealing with WoW Cataclysm.

But what I want to write about is Tron Legacy.

Just to put it in perspective, I was a kid when I saw Tron. In fact, I loved it to death right next to Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica and other Sci-Fi stuff. And like some, I was anticipating the movie to see what they had in mind with it.

Of course, Ebert posted a scathing review of it... Boring as hell and probably find a beer label more entertaining.

Well, to be honest, it is a Disney Movie. It wasn't setup to be a major adult movie, hell, the Pirate series hasn't exactly been one to be one for a lot of adults either, although it did try to stay true to the pirate motiff and didn't exactly follow general 'morals' either.

But back to Tron Legacy.

One of the things I will state, this post will have some spoilers, so if you don't want to read the spoilers, stop reading. If you are one who doesn't care or read Wikipedia entry about it which probably has the plot distilled already...

But one thing that was interesting, and probably ignored by some, is something we should be aware of. In Tron Legacy, Kevin Flynn, one of the heroes from the Original Tron movie, sought to create the 'perfect system'. And for those people who are not Tron Fans, probably didn't look to get the comics that sort of lead up to the movie, one of which sets up what happen when Kevin Flynn disappeared that fateful night. It is retold by Kevin to Sam, but there was a little more to it.

Clu, the movie's Villain, is a second generation program. Created by Kevin Flynn to 'take his place' according to the graphic novel. As Kevin was running Encom, and in the graphic novel, he had a wife who was having his child. He wanted to spend more time with his wife as his daily Encom Business and his work in the Grid was making him constantly late. In the Grid, there were problems that Tron and he could not keep up, mostly 'bugs' in the system. Clu was created to help build the perfect system that Flynn was striving for.

However, the problem with 'perfect' is that 'perfect' is relative to the person. And while Tron makes 'programs' seem like people within the computer, the inevitable problem with a directive is how does one define 'perfect'.

Now I will point to Babylon 5 for a second... Jeffrey Sinclair mentioned to the weapon that was to 'destroy anything that was not pure Ikaran (Or whatever the name of the race was)' But he pointed out what is 'pure'... There is always someone who is too short, too tall. Too dark, too light... The definition of pure is blurred.

Perfection is the same problem. In both the graphic novel, the game and the movie, the introduction of ISOs (Isometric Algorhythms) are programs that were not created by Flynn. They are programs that evolved from the system. Clu's directive believes that this disrupts the Perfection of the system. They were not part of the original system.

And here is where the moral of the movie points out. The corruption of the 'good intention' that most might not understand. People driven by purpose, for the 'good', will be corrupted into doing something that is no longer for the good but for the self interest.

Clu becomes like the evil that Flynn once fought in the original Tron. He takes programs of the grid and repurposes them, as he cannot create programs, he takes their 'function' and changes them to something else, in this case to make them into an army. In the beginning of the movie, we hear Flynn's speech about how the computer world is where our destiny is... This is echoed by Clu, where he wishes to 'perfect' the User world. All of this is driven around the fact that when the ISOs come to the Grid and how Flynn is in awe of it and focusing his attentions on them and then almost literally abandoning Clu to do his job while taking care of his son.

Like many other stories, it shows how the creation given the task to do the most difficult, only to be ignored and never appreciated. And much like our own history, Clu also twists it so that he makes others 'hate' or take down what he considers imperfect, which is the ISOs.

Does this sound familiar from our own history?

Now, again, the plot wasn't really 'great', but then again, depending on how you look at it, the movie does point out something interesting. The duality of man. Just as in the first movie, Flynn talks to Tron saying, "You know, you run around doing what you think you are suppose to be doing?" "That is how it is for us programs." "Well, I hate to break it to you, Tron, but that is how it is with Users as well." The good and evil in all people. Clu was made with good intentions, trying to do good, but in the end, became evil, corrupted and focused on the wrong principles, just as many others have in the past and will in the future.

I am sure many won't care about one possible meaning of the story. The visuals were pretty good, although not so sure about the 3D effects if you went to see the 3D showing of it. But remember this, there could be a deeper point in the movie, of course, my interpretation of it might be reaching a bit.

The joys of certain programs... And people...

Well, I must show some disdain for some programs... Such as McAfee... To add to my trials and tribulations, I was forced to get a new laptop, in this case, a Dell Inspirion 17R. It is a nice laptop, works reasonably well. What I have disdain for McAfee is how I tried to uninstall it, it didn't uninstall nicely.

McAfee tries very hard to help in keeping viruses out, however, it left itself on there for vbscript. When you have programs making use of vbscript and McAfee leaves its registry information in there, you can't run vbscript without making sure you get a program remover cleaner to fix the entries it changes or leaves behind because the installer doesn't de-install cleanly.

Lately, a lot of programs have become very sloppy. Programs designed for computers with more than necessary memory and CPU requirements. Not surprising as nowadays, the need to write programs faster takes priority over programs done properly. The old way of writing programs have become rather unnecessary as programming tools are put out to make things easier.

The real problem is, today's programmers and people who make the modern code these days never consider the 'idiot factor'.

The 'idiot factor' is situations where some one will do something idiotic that will make a program break down. Most programmers assume, "No one would do this..." And a hacker will go, "Hey... I can do this and use it to bypass something."

Sad thing is, a lot of people also fail this, as they assume people won't know your password or what not, and use very simple or easy passwords that they can remember, but fail to understand certain password security and the need for strong passwords as well.