Digital Dave

Well that was an exciting week.  Not that the prior sentence alone could justify my excitement.  I am extremely happy and fortunate that I was blessed with this opportunity.  In a California economy with 10.5% unemployment, and 1.95 million people unemployed, I find this unbelievable.

So the week involved a lot of training on Disney, IMD, and the union.  I also spent a lot of time learning about a few of the many, many systems that make up IMD’s pipeline.  So far things are going great.

I even got my first coding assignment (started on Friday)!  I knocked out the first task and nearly finished up the rest of the tasks (will finish those up on Monday).  It involved writing some integration tests for a new tool we will be releasing.  Linux and the shell are still very new to me,  but I didn’t let that get in the way and knocked it out.  The good thing is that I learn very fast when I’m hands on, which they’ve taken notice to.

So I’m the second ATD to join the team.  What makes this cooler is that they are looking for a third.  Why is that cool?  A few reasons, but primarily I won’t be the lowbie anymore.

None of this is new information, but if you’re not aware, our first feature is A Christmas Carol.  Jim Carey plays a ton of roles in the feature, and by all accounts it looks like it’s going to rock (seeing some of the renderings, and clips which blow my mind).

So!  Our work area is extremely intriguing.  If you were not aware we occupy two old aircraft hangars on the old Hamilton Air Force Base (decommissioned in ’74).  This is beyond awesome due to my history with the military.

This is what the hangars look like.  We actually have the hangar with the flight tower, which is epic.

This is the hangar (7) where all the artists and animators hang out at.  Why I didn’t take a picture of hangar 9 (where I’m at), I don’t know… But you can see it in the reflection at least!

Guess who our next door neighbor is? Ok, I’ll tell.

2K Games! *peeks into the windows*  ;p

But yeah, the area is rich with history.  Hit up Wikipedia or Google and look at some of the old images of this place.  It’s pretty sweet.

Not that it is any surprise for whom I picked.  I’ve been following Obama for the past 2 years, after initially following Hillary for a brief point of time (a month or so) before I realized who this Obama fellow was.  I’ve always kept an open mind about who I vote for being an independent. But I just can’t envision seeing a Republican hold the office of the presidency for the next four to eight years.

In a largely republican state, people often question why even bother voting.  I’ve fought for this privilege in Iraq, and served with extreme honor for this country.  I, truly, appreciate the value of having the right to vote in our election cycle because I understand.  I understand that nations around the world bleed just to make their voices heard, while others don’t even have that luxury.  I understand that if you want anything to happen, your voice is your only chance to carry your desires to the next level.   I understand that to have this nation fall further is not an option, our voices are needed now more than ever.  To take a spare moment of my day to bubble in an ballot sheet is hardly a feat compared my day-to-day activities, and the kind of things that I’ve devoted my time to in the past.  With the ease of absentee voting, there really is no excuse to not be part of the system.   Find a democratic friend, and ask them about the candidate.  Find a republican friend, and ask them, too.  Hear the opinions, and decide for what YOU believe in.  It’s your voice, why keep it bottled up inside?

So why in the world did I chose Obama?  A largely unknown figurehead in US politics?

I have little concern for a deep history of a candidate.  I’m much more concerned with somebody who can speak intelligently, who can inspire a world, who can use his judgment to surround himself with bright people, and somebody who cares about the future of this country.  I want somebody who is not afraid to challenge the norm, and most of all I want somebody who is ready to try something vastly different.

I also am a true believer that prosperity does move from the ground up.  I hope to own a business some day, and if I made a lot of money, I would fully support playing into the system.  You only need so much greed before it becomes mundane.  Yes, you were very, very lucky to get to the position that you’re at.  You probably worked your ass off to become that wealthy.  Does that mean that people need to be so damn greedy that they can’t try to bring up another generation of businessmen and women?

We have a saying in the military, “You’re only as strong as your weakest link.” Time to focus on our weakest links.

Dies at 58… Out of nowhere…

Absolutely, stunning… And sad.

There is no doubt this has a huge impact on the people.  Digg even has a post with 4347 diggs at this time.

I know I’ve enjoyed listening to him, through my short time following politics, for the last eight years.  I was really looking forward to watching him tackle Barack Obama and John McCain. This guy loved politics, and was extremely fair and was a straight shooter.

And tomorrow is fathers day… Way to knock one out of the park, God. ;\

It’s no secret, I’ve been a Barack Obama supporter since the day I noticed he was out there.

But… John McCain…

Being a POW for 5-1/2 years doesn’t define your presidency (Tell me how doing nothing, being abused, mistreated, and not learning anything for 5-1/2 years, makes you a better person).  I’ve been in War myself, and nothing about it made made me a better person.  I understand the culture a little better, I learned that losing friends suck, and I learned that it’s a waste of time…. but that’s about it.  Yet, we see it in almost every ad. Scare tactic? I think so.

But that’s not what is going to hurt McCain.  It’s his own political self, combined with the fury that is the internet.

Just look at the list that is already out there (and we have months to go…):

• Not too important to bring troops home.
• Hot water and babies?
• Putin… President of Germany? (Lack of Communication Skills)
• Left Prior Wife for a new Trophy, because of her unfortunate accident. (Opportunist)
• Believes wiretapping is constitutional.
  
• Falsely Claims to have supported every investigation into Katrina Failures.
• GOP Worried about McCains Chances. (Your very own party…)
• Admits to spying on Americans.
  
• Let’s keep people in Iraq for 100 years. (Imagine Vietnam for 100 years, it doesn’t make sense)
• Disrespects his own wife in the public eye.
• Doesn’t understand the middle east culture. (But, hey! He was a POW for 5-1/2 years! He does understand!)
• Said that Czechoslovakia still exists… (Failure to Communicate)
• Has claimed Baghdad was mostly safe… Anybody who has seen this conflict wouldn’t call anywhere in Iraq safe.
• Admits to not understanding economics.
• Criticizes others for pork barrel projects, yet requests it himself.
• Wrongly claimed he never supported amnesty.

And this list could easily be longer, but I wanted to find stories that have been on Digg (2000+ diggs), and stories that I remember watching on TV that I knew someone had written about online.

Don’t vote republican JUST because you are a republican…. Vote for the better person.  Forget democrat/republican.

I just donated $50 to the Obama camp.  We seriously need to get this man elected.

This is also my first time ever donating to a political campaign.  There is a first for everything, and this man looks to be a great first to receive it.

Watch This

This if you’d like…

Vote

Ever since I joined the Marine Corps, I started to have a huge interest in watching news and following what is going on in the world.  The biggest reason is, as a leader, you really want to try to stay away from complete and utter surprises.   For example, imagine if you were in the Military, like me, and never followed the news and really didn’t pay attention to much that was going on around you (though, it was hard to notice).  All of a sudden, you’re told you are going to war, and the plane leaves in 4 hours. Ugh..

Anyway, I admit that I am not a very huge fan of the policies of this current administration and I am really wanting complete change.  That change, I believe, shines  in the eyes of Barack Obama.   Apparently, the people of Iowa believes that too.  Obama took first (38%) with Edward (30%)  and Clinton (29%) following behind him.  That speaks huge for his campaign and I hope it leads the way for the rest of the caucuses.

In other news…

I’m in the process of coming up with a game design idea for an independent study project for next semester.  Talk about tough.  I’ve got a lot of idea ‘pieces,’ but putting them together into a semi-unique game experience is proving to be a little tough.  Tomorrow I want to sit down and set in stone what I want to do.  At the beginning, I thought that doing a 3D game, like a 3D bomberman game, would be a great way to start learning 3D. While that is true and works, I really want to try to find something of my own this time.  Anyway, I’ll begin writing about the project when the semester starts.