Trapper Markelz

A signature fading away...

A few months back, I, along with my buddy Steve, were lucky enough to be in Seattle for a business trip, and took a little side adventure to meet J Allard. As the guy who managed the development of the Xbox, for an Xbox guy like me, it was a fun experience. 

We talked for over an hour about a wide range of topics related to entertainment, user experiences, centered around what we did at 360voice.com and how that might impact other types of interaction with entertainment devices in the future. 

At the end of the meeting, I pulled a super-geek move and had Allard autograph my Zune music player as Allard was also responsible for the technical development of that device as well. If I had my Xbox in my pocket, I probably would have had him autograph that too. Here is what the Zune looks like:

Sadly enough, the signature is starting to wear off... I use my Zune pretty much every day... so it was bound to happen. At least I will always have the memory of having a Zune autographed by J Allard. :)

I held off blogging about my experience with J Allard, because in a professional way, it seems strange to blog about people who you interact with in your career. It still feels strange... so that is why this is more about the fading signature than about J Allard the person. 

I will say that meeting him was a memorable experience... and our conversation solidified in my mind that there are still some really amazing innovations that will come to the consumer entertainment space... and it is fun knowing that 360voice has been a part of that in some small way by impacting the thinking of many innovative people.

Another night, another mix

Techno = Therapeudic. If you have a hard day... a little electronica seems to turn it right around. Although I probably look like a fool jumping around in my basement with my headphones on at midnight... so be it.

1. Redanka - Ghosts in the mist2. Christian West - Quench (Part 1)  
2. Shmuel Flash - Chilling Moments
3. Lemon 8 - New York, New York (Out of the Sancuary mix)
4. Ashtrax - Digital Reason (Filterheadz Remix)
5. Midtone - Pearl (Original Mix)
6. Gus Gus - Desire (Burns' Dirty F*cker Remix)

Listen Now! (mp3) 

Compared to my last House mix, these song selections are Trance.

I miss my techno

It has been over five years now since I was living and breathing electronic dance music. When I wasn't listening to music, I was at record stores listening to new releases and buying stuff... when I wasn't in the store I was online doing it... when I wasn't listening I was practicing beat-matching on my turn tables... I was selecting songs... drawing up set lists... and spending lots of fun time with my other techno junky buddies throwing parties and putting together DJ events.

It was awesome.

For Father's Day, I put my turn tables up in the basement... and I have been going through a small selection of my hundreds of records listening to them again. The songs are a snap shot from that moment in time... and so every song comes with a memory of why I bought it, when I first played it, and who was there to hear it.

This evening I put together a small 42 minute set of some music selected from my house records.

1. Wax Poetic - Angels (Morgan Page Remix)
2. Sidechained - Cityscape (Dub mix) 
3. Synthetic Funk - Ice Dragon 
4. Trisco - Ultra (Stompa Phunk Remix)
5. Morel - Dreaming of LA  
6. 21st Century Fux - Thinking of You  
7. John Silver - Come on Over (Flatline mix)

Listen now (mp3) 

I had a bit of a problem mixing into track #5... you will hear me rest after the train wreck starts... ah well... a little rusty after all these years :) But I come back with a solid mix into Thinking of You that worked great. Good times.

Summer is here

Spy Pond Splashes
Originally uploaded by Markelz Family

I love summer in Boston. Last year we had just moved in... the job was new... things were pretty crazy so we didn't really get to "enjoy" the New England Summer. Our plans are much different this time around. We have some familiarity with the area... have a good group of friends... which should make for some good exploring.

We also have a pretty solid stream of people coming through. Maureen's parents were here for a week. My sister came through... Maureen's brother and wife are headed this way in a few weeks... Maureen's sister after that... all kinds of good fun.

June is a great baby... so that is helping out a ton. Moving from two kids to three has been quite a jump... given that you are always outnumbered where ever you go. But June has been sleeping well... eating well... doesn't spit up much... doesn't cry much... pretty much a model new born. We can't complain about that.

Things at gamerDNA continue to rocket a long at warp speed. Each month I give a board presentation and the sheer list of awesome keeps getting longer and longer... our press has been great... our product progress is on track for an awesome end of summer revamp... all kinds of great things that continue to make it exciting to be at work each and every day.

We are in a pretty good grove here in Boston. Although every time I say that, something crazy happens... so I guess we will see what happens next!

The Last Colony by John Scalzi

What a brilliant ending to a three book series. The Last Colony was everything I wanted it to be and more. It takes all of the characters set up in Old Man's War and Ghost Brigades and uses all of those introductions, political machinations, and introduced alien cultures and brings it all to a fantastic climax.

Not only was the story good, but the solution that the main character (John Perry) use to more-or-less save the day is an idea that I have often had when thinking about international politics, which made me appreciate the ending that much more.

Turns out there is one more book that takes place in the Old Man's War universe called Zoe's Tale which I plan to pick up Monday... so I don't quite have to leave the characters yet. :)

Running across a writer like John Scalzi makes me excited to know that there are so many undiscovered writers out there that I have yet to stumble upon. I am the kind of reader that likes to keep a small number of authors close to my heart... because it isn't realistic to follow the works of everyone... and I like always having some names I can look for when I go into old used book stores and such. That said, it is obvious there are so many good stories to read out there (not even counting the sci-fi classics which I never find myself motivated to tackle). I also have a new found respect for multi-arch paperbacks... you can just crank through them and because they are told over multiple books, the universes get to be so rich and fulfilling.

So, now I am on a search for the next thing... after Zoe's Tale of course. Any suggestions?

 

The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

The sequel to Old Man's War... awesome as ever. I am now 100% hooked by this series... reading The Last Colony as I type this.

The Ghost Brigades is awesome because it takes an entire class of characters introduced mysteriously in Old Man's War and gives you an origin story (with a twist of course!). Lots of fun stuff in this one as you get a picture of Scalzi's world from the perspective of yet another super soldier.

Besides the new scenery, layers of political intrigue are introduced and piled on... plenty of action... plenty of moral dilemmas. It was a fast and interesting read.

I don't think I will be sick of Scalzi's universe any time soon. I also discovered there is another book after Lost Colony which isn't a direct sequel but takes place in the world called Zoe's Tale. Consider it purchased!

Two weeks of beard growth

Two weeks of beard
Originally uploaded by Markelz Family

It has been a tradition with my other two kids that I grow a beard for two weeks after they are born. It started with Hannah... in that I took two weeks off of work and decided to not shave.

With Lucy, I figured I would continue the tradition. I didn't take as much time off of work, but I did get some nice growth.

So this picture is the result for June. Looking back in Flickr at all my other attempts, they all look pretty much the same. For some reason it felt like I got some better growth this time... but it doesn't look that much different. I guess I am at the peak of my growing abilities. :)

Old Man's War by John Scalzi

I was looking for something new to read... and came across a review that said "If you like Forever War by Joe Haldeman, you will love Old Man's War by John Scalzi". That was all I needed to jump in the car, head to the book store and pick up a copy.

The review was right. A deep universe... rich characters... fantastic ideas about culture and technology.

Old Man's War has a simple premise. In the far future, an alien technology allows you to be young again. The price of admission? You have to serve in the military to get it. So the only people who can sign up for the military are people that are 75 years or older. This makes for great fun. The military isn't full of young 18 year olds with no experience... it is littered with people with lifetimes of experience... weird habits, opinions and all.

I love this book. I am reading the sequel right now and plan to check our all of Scalzi's work. He writes just like Haldeman in many ways... which is a good thing.

June Elise Markelz, Born!

June Elise Markelz
Originally uploaded by Markelz Family

The 3rd Markelz has landed. June Elise Markelz. She was born today at 3:17pm, weighing in at 8lbs 4.5oz. Labor was longer than Hannah, but shorter than Lucy, but harder than both due to her size and position in the womb.

We delivered at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA. They were fabulous... and the Midwives here were awesome. Knowledgeable and attentive.

The whole experience was awesome, and I found myself the most emotional after this birth, maybe because this is probably our last baby. That means the Markelz Family is complete. The next phase of our lives begins... so ends the baby era... not begins the school and childhood era!

The Unincorporated Man by Dani Kollin & Eytan Kollin

Every once in awhile you stumble across a random book that you really enjoy. The Unincorporated Man is just such a book. I was actually at the store to pick up a paperback... and happened to walk by the new releases in Sci-fi hardcover... and this one just jumped out at me... I read the inside flap... the first few pages... and I was hooked.

The unique spin on this book is that it takes place in the future... where everyone is incorporated. When you are born, you are given 100,000 shares... these are spread around between yourself, your parents, the government, and anyone that wants to invest in your future. You don't own a majority of yourself when you are born... and most everyone's lives is spent trying to buy enough shares of themselves to have "majority" so they can do what they want to do and aren't told by their shareholders what jobs to take... how to live... etc.

This book is really deep and fascinating. It comes up with a completely creative economic system, and spends the entire book debating if that system is good or not in the face of the Grand Collapse which was a social and economic meltdown of unimaginable proportions that is played out in very visceral detail for the reader to experience.

This book is pretty much an instant classic for me. I recommend it highly to anyone. By the end there was such a push and pull between the moral centers of the characters that I really didn't know who I was pulling for.

I will be following the Kollin brothers (authors) closely.

Switching from non-fiction to science fiction

Because I work for a business... and I have started businesses... and I have to understand business to do my job, I find myself reading a lot of non-fiction business books. The trouble is... I find them difficult to get into... and they take a long time to read (except in the rare case where they nuke your brain and you can't help but turn pages faster than a speed reading android). The last thing I often want to due is climb into bed with a business book after spending an entire day living the real deal.

So there I was one evening... sitting on the floor of Barnes & Noble in the "Business" book section... and I was flipping through some new release about simplifying... going small... something like that... and there was the statement that you should watch non-fiction on TV and read fiction before bed. I found this interesting and memorable... because I had to read a business book that specifically said to stop reading business books.

Given how much science channel I watch, I figured this bit of advice was pretty solid... so I decided to take a break from the business books and expand my science fiction reading. I have to say that I have found my inspiration and creativity coming back.

So it was fun to come across a similar idea stated on the TechCrunch blog the other day:

One thing I get a lot of are review copies of various business books. A very few are worth the read, although mostly I like the case studies for learning about business and technology history, rather than the lessons they necessarily teach. Most books are a chapter of advice with a whole lot of additional junk thrown in to make it book thickness...

...If you really want to stoke your imagination, spend all those hours reading science fiction instead. Every good entrepreneur needs a certain amount of imagination to envision the future. Science fiction books tend to keep the imaginative juices flowing. And the better ones have moral or other life lessons that are a lot more fun to read entwined with the drama of an unfolding story that involves spaceships, time travel or other worlds.

Read More

The writer then goes on to identify some favorite science fiction.

I only mention all this because I agree... and I would implore many of you to join us in the pursuit of science that is of the fictional variety. It can be quite refreshing... and mind expanding.

Daemon by Daniel Suarez

My friend Russell turned me onto this book. I don't know how he heard about it, but I am glad he did because Daemon is one of my favorite books I have read lately. I highly recommend it to anyone who is any of these things:

• A gamer
• Working in technology
• Loves science fiction

The crazy part is that this book is not in the science fiction section of the store... it was in the literature section.

The gist of the thing is a famous (and slightly crazy) game designer builds a series of automatically running programs (Daemons) that trigger themselves based on events that happen in the world. The software scans news sources... and uses game-like AI and other programs to operate a complex web of mystery and intrigue. Many characters are introduces throughout the book, each unveiling a part of the Daemon creator's master plan.

This sucker is a page turner, reminding me of how I sped through the various Dan Brown books. I will definitely be watching everything this author creates going forward... and probably buying the books on day one.

What you will probably find, like I did, is how very realistic this book is. The technology to do much of this, while expensive and possibly not quite as ready for prime time as it is in the book, is definitely within reach these days. My favorite part was when a detective is introduced to a massive multi-player online game for the first time. It is hilarious, because how the author describes it is so true.

This is the kind of book that you tell your friends about. Definitely pick up a copy.

Happy Easter everyone!

MY PRECIOUS!!!!11
Originally uploaded by Markelz Family

This photo just cracks me up. Lucy had a rough time coloring eggs... she didn't quite get why she wasn't allowed to touch anything. Hannah had a good time with it though.

Our Easter plans consist of putting a brunch together with a few friends... other than that... just taking it easy and having fun as a fam.

I hope everyone has a good Easter full of egg salad sandwiches of awesomeness and way too much candy, hopefully with peanut butter in it.

Toast by Charles Stross

After finishing Saturn's Children, I was looking for more Stross and came across Toast. It is strange to come across this book so late in my Stross reading... because many of his stories ideas come straight from many of these short starts. The most blatant being the story "Lobsters" which is the first part of Accelerando.

In general, this is a great collection of stories if you are a Stross fan... although I found that many of them are so inside Stross' head that I often found myself reaching the end of them wondering exactly what happened... Although for me, this is the marker of good science fiction... it challenges you.

My favorite was probably A Colder War... where humanity unleashes something that it can't control. Much of the sci-fi I have been reading lately seems to come down to humanity thinking we have the power to control certain things (biology, technology, etc) and in the end, we find ourselves one mutation away from chaos.

I guess that is often what I feel when reading crazy science fiction like Stross... complete chaos. There is another story in here called Dechlorinating the Moderator, where it covers a convention far in the future where people (when they get bored) decide to merge their brain patterns with computers and leave their bodies behind... that is what I mean by chaos. It is refreshing though... to read things that are so fantastic.

365 Days of gamerDNA

It has been a year since I started the wild journey that is gamerDNA.com. Sometimes it is hard to fathom that it has only been a year... but what an exciting year it has been. The product itself has come a long way... more so than you can see... I made a list of the main things and sent it out to the team... but I wanted to republish it for my friends and family... some of you will know what I am talking about, others will simply say... "nice list of computer stuff."... I feel like many of you say that all the time anyhow... :)

So where has gamerDNA come from over the last 365 days?

Well there was our first day in the office... no projector... no coffee... barely any chairs... such humble and exciting beginnings... we were all so innocent... we could not concieve of the volume of effort that would be cranked out over the next 12 months.

1. Convert the GuildCafe brand into the gamerDNA brand. A full site redesign in two months with a complete relaunch.
2. In the process of that, convert the site (most of it) from PHP to Ruby-on-Rails
3. Build out a product architecture that would serve as the back bone of our underlying systems that still provide us the flexibility to iterate to this day.
4. Implement the Xbox 360 data capture
5. Implement Steam data capture (pc game data)
6. Implement Xfire data capture (pc game data)
7. Build out an automatic experiences system (with auto-narratives) - a conversation catalyst. Since retired, but hey... it was fun. :)
8. Revamp the World of Warcraft Character/Item/Guild capture to pull more accurate data with better consistency.
9. Construct a new registration process (that can be cobranded for partners)
10. Install a streamlined guild hosting sign up process.
11. Construct a gamer quiz system, write content for four genre based quizzes and install a gamer behavior trait system (how people play) underneath it.
12. Implement an OpenID authentication system in our product with co-brand capabilities and a white-label version that can be deployed to partners.
13. Import information and content of over 50,000+ games in our catalog.
14. Construct a moderated folksonomy-based game traiting system that powers a rich and extensible discovery algorithm.
15. In combination with the launch of game traiting, produce a new homepage.
    
16. Build a social media syndication system for Twitter, Tumblr, and FriendFeed.
17. Perform a full performance and caching pass on all systems and sub systems to enable faster system scale.
18. Added Warhammer Online Character/Guild capture and dynamic signature images.
19. Installed rich monitoring systems for performance of our rails architecture.
20. Begun delivering user-facing and documented Helix APIs based on REST XML.
21. Built a WoW Achievement capture system that powers dynamic signature images.
22. Deployed a full clustered architecture to allow 100% uptime upgrades and a middle tier cache model.
23. Built out a new, scalable development environment for better productivity.
24. Participated in the Child's Play Charity Drive by providing a system for communities to get involved with custom signature badges.
25. Created widget versions of all quizzes with skin/sponsor capabilities.
26. Produced a music genre quiz and matching signatures.
    
27. Created custom member profile signatures/gamerDNA cards.
28. Eliminated the DNA panel and created a new (and better, more flexible) home for all profile/gamerDNA entry.
29. Deployed new Game and Member Directories to provide more flexible options for navigating content.
30. Implemented a game activity system normalizing all game play into a single feed with multiple events and tracking/displaying those events on a game play calendar.
31. Replaced our watchlist technology with a more consistent activity feed technology.
32. Imported all iPhone games into our catalog.
33. Established casual game partnerships to import web based games into our catalog.
34. Built out a new game page with a gameCURRENT system for delivering filtered content about games.
35. Added Buy.Rent.Play actions with multiple vendors (Buy.com, Amazon, Amazon Marketplace, Addicting games, Bigpoint, Kongregate, Gamefly)
    
36. Began integrating external vendor content (pics, reviews, video).

...and the awesome continues.

I work with a fantastic team at an exciting and fun company. The work is hard, rewarding, and in the end... it is just video games! Who doesn't like video games?!?

Cheers to the next 365 days... hell the next 90 will be more exciting than the last 365, just wait and see

The heart, it is still beating.

Just wanted to put up a note that we are still here. The battle... it is still being fought... the Life... it is still being lived.... the fun... it is still being had.

My work life consists of trying to solve really hard problems in really short amounts of time. As I always tell my friends, there is no shortage of desire, but a shortage of about everything else. (sleep)

The girls make me laugh. Yesterday I strapped an old shoe box to Hannah's back, tied up with a scarf, and stuffed napkins in her shoes... and that was her scuba outfit... we went on a dive behind the couch to look for sharks.

Lucy is a book fiend... if you sit down she runs and gets a book... and plops in your lap expecting you to read it. She is also a Daddy's girl. Any time the door opens, she expects me to walk through it. That makes your heart melt.

Maureen is ready for June to be here (the child, not the month). We all are. I feel like we say this about all of our unborn, but they sure do kick and move around a lot, each one more than the next. Although June better get her exercise while she can... she is going to have a challenge keeping up with Hannah and Lucy.

The best part of life is that summer is upon us. Last year we were new to Boston, so we didn't really have friends we could get together with or neighbors that really knew us. Now we know enough people that summer should be full of parks, and lawn chairs, sun and suds (both beer and blowing bubbles), and of course kids and bikes which we can now haul around in our massive mini van. I am looking forward to it after this extended spring chill.

The old swing days

A while back, my old dance partner Tracy Hogan put together a DVD of some of our rehearsals and dances. I wanted to get a few of these online so they are part of the public record. Watching these over again really makes me miss it... the fun... the challenges... the friendships... and being that in shape!

Here is a piece that Tracy and I choreographed together. Jeep Jockey Jump.

32 and counting...

I had a birthday yesterday... 32 years old and counting. This was the first year that I can remember that I did not know how old I was. I had to do the math from 1977 to now. This entire year I thought I was already 32... so I guess this means all last year was essentially a "free year". Now that I am actually 32, it is like I get a do-over... not that I want one... last year was pretty rad.

Hannah was more excited about my birthday than me... leading up to it she fought back the urge to spoil my present... and talked about the Oreo pie that Maureen was making that I asked for. I am not much of a cake guy (another thing Hannah is unable to understand... "Dad, do you like cake yet?"), so I opted for a pudding pie of some sort... because I like pie... and I like pudding.

All in all it was a great birthday. I worked most of the day... always big things in the works at gamerDNA... which makes me feel lucky. Nothing worse than dull moments... and those are something I get very few of these days. The weather also turned really nice in the evening... which allowed me to stand on the porch and be where I was for a moment.

So 32 years in to this thing called life... no complaints.

Just think... take my current age... double it... and I still have 1 year until I can retire... things are just getting started!

Starting to enjoy the mini-van

Maybe...
Originally uploaded by Markelz Family

A few weeks back, we bought a mini-van. Which raises an important question... should I use the world like "minivan" or like "mini-van"... I am sort of digging the hyphen.

I can't say I was excited to bring home this kid-mobile... but as soon as you get into three-car seat territory and you ever hope to go anywhere with a friend, you sort of need to make the jump. We looked at every option... and sure... there were some third row options on SUVs and cross overs... but if you did that, you couldn't even fit a stroller in the back... so we decided to stop fighting it and own up to our awesome life... I mean seriously... we have awesome kids... they deserve a big-pimpin party van.

We went with the Honda Odyssey... primarily because I have owned a Honda before... and everyone we know here in Boston drives a Honda van... so we figured we would join them. It is a 2009 EX... no real crazy fancy features or anything... but the automatic opening side doors is pretty hot... and it has all sorts of neat little "surprise" features like built in sunshades for the kids... and storage compartments galore.

The other day we took our first "official" family van outing... we drove to a big-box store... bought shelving... and I didn't even sweat trying to figure out how to load it into the cavernous back end... I even parked next to another mini-van and felt like I should give the head nod to the driver like we were now in the brotherhood.

Oh and this thing has like 8 cup holders... and they shoot out at you from all directions so you can have a red bull, a medium Dunkin Donuts Coffee, a few bottles of water and an assortment of sippy cubs handy. I am in beverage wielding heaven.

The Universe of GamerDNA

Jon Radoff, the CEO of my company gamerDNA just did a massive interview at Obsessable.com. It is LONG and informative... it covers all of our major features... touches on a few older ones... and also hints at a few major changes that we are working to deploy as I type this.

It is pretty easy to forget how much we accomplish month to month (and in aggregate) when your head is so buried in the trenches. Every month when I prepare my board presentation, that often gives me a chance to peek up for a moment and realize how far we have come... but I also can see how far we still have to go!

In the end, interviews like this will be fun to hang on to years from now. This interview at Obsessable is a great snap shot of where we are and I am really proud of it all reading through it. 

I do warn you, the interview is huge. Grab a cup of coffee... and settle in... or you can skim it:

With the gaming social network space becoming pretty crowded these days — including sites like former Napster founder Shawn Fanning's Rupture (sold to Electronic Arts for an undisclosed sum between $15 and $30 million last year), former Xfire founder Dennis Fong's Raptr (check out our interview with Dennis here), Ugame based in the UK, WeGame focused around a client tool enabling gameplay video capture and sharing, and others — what does gamerDNA, originally founded as MMO social news and guild hosting site GuildCafe and galvanized into a bigger entity thanks to a $3 million venture investment from Flybridge Capital Partners, bring to the table that's different? We discovered a few key points during the interview, among them the Discovery Engine that takes a few different factors including gameplay history, the results of personality quizzes, and traits directly identified by gamers to create a gamer profile or "gamerDNA" that aims to identify something salient about you as an individual player, in order to better connect you with new games you might enjoy across gameplay platforms as well as with other players like you to connect with and share some of those game experiences with.

Read more

It is always fun to see all the features laid out like they are in the article. Makes me really amazed how far we have come... all of that we have accomplished in 10 months... and much more that isn't shown there. A pretty fun ride