I don't think I can say it enough; thanks to everyone for sticking with us for this week's run with the air application.
Now that we've figured it out for the most part, it is game time. We're going to have a "Super Sunday Salamagundi" mini-contest.
It is underway now and it's going to be a sprint to the finish!
You will receive a question every hour from 5 p.m. today until 8:59 p.m. Sunday west coast time.
The top three finishers will win a Ringorang T-shirt of their choice.
I know that there have been people out there that have asked for a weekend challenge because they can't play the whole week, or because they want something to do during the weekend.
Now, you'll be able to play the Super Sunday Salamagundi tournament through the big game.
Also, you can answer questions using your keypad. This is an option to using your mouse and clicking on the answer.
1 is the first option, 2 is the second option, 3 is the third option, and 4 (heh heh) is the fourth option. Maybe your scores increase by using the keypad.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Big news on the video chat
From 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., we'll be hosting a live video chat. Come join us as we talk about trivia, the status of our Ringorang application, and other items.
We're also going to have some big news that we believe you will enjoy.
And we'll enjoy some more Hangman action.
You can watch the video cast below and take part in the chat.
We're also going to have some big news that we believe you will enjoy.
And we'll enjoy some more Hangman action.
You can watch the video cast below and take part in the chat.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Jordan vs. Jordan
Q:
A 2003 Gatorade ad featured what basketball player, then in his final season, playing against his younger self?
A:
Michael Jordan <<<<
Larry Bird
Magic Johnson
Lil' Penny
A 2003 Gatorade ad featured what basketball player, then in his final season, playing against his younger self?
A:
Michael Jordan <<<<
Larry Bird
Magic Johnson
Lil' Penny
Jordan's last game was as a Washington Wizard playing against the 76ers on April 16, 2003. Since the game was no longer in doubt, he sat the majority of the 4th quarter, but was inserted in the final few minutes. He was quickly fouled, and received a 3-minute standing ovation from the Philadelphia crowd as he took his shots and exited the game.
Super Bowl XXXVII also featured Jordan in a Hanes ad with Jackie Chan. Chan looks in vain for the tag of his tagless undershirt. For your sake, we will not be linking to it.
Super Bowl XXXVII also featured Jordan in a Hanes ad with Jackie Chan. Chan looks in vain for the tag of his tagless undershirt. For your sake, we will not be linking to it.
Picture this on Friday
Last Friday, when we were done with the videocast and talking about how great it turned out to be, I started thinking ahead to the next one.
And I thought to myself, "I wonder how many people are going to get on the chat and yell at us about running a sports-related week?" Well, I guess I sort of won't have to worry about that, considering everything that's been going on with the game.
So, for this week's videocast, we'll try to keep it as light as possible. I'm glad that everyone's been helping us in sharing their experiences.
It will be an abbreviated show because we're not counting down to the finish of the tournament.
So what exactly will we be doing as part of our superhappyfuntime together? I'm going to try to do some pictionary with you all. And we'll give away a prize, which I'll keep a secret until we get to that point. We'll also play a couple games of Hangman, which was hilarious.
If you want to take part, be sure to have a Skype account and add "Ringorang" to your contact lists. Then, when it's time to play, be the first to call in and you'll get your shot.
And I thought to myself, "I wonder how many people are going to get on the chat and yell at us about running a sports-related week?" Well, I guess I sort of won't have to worry about that, considering everything that's been going on with the game.
So, for this week's videocast, we'll try to keep it as light as possible. I'm glad that everyone's been helping us in sharing their experiences.
It will be an abbreviated show because we're not counting down to the finish of the tournament.
So what exactly will we be doing as part of our superhappyfuntime together? I'm going to try to do some pictionary with you all. And we'll give away a prize, which I'll keep a secret until we get to that point. We'll also play a couple games of Hangman, which was hilarious.
If you want to take part, be sure to have a Skype account and add "Ringorang" to your contact lists. Then, when it's time to play, be the first to call in and you'll get your shot.
Scoreboard watching
I'm very happy that the game, in terms of answering the question, is functioning once again.
We're currently talking to our developers about the scoreboard and scoring issues. Apparently, on the back-end of the game, they can see the updated scores. But on the front-end, we can't.
I'll give you my experiences with my scores.
I have 2,106 dallions. For the 10 a.m. question, I got the question right, but the scoreboard never updated.
For the 11 a.m. question, I was told it's gametime. And as the timer counted down to the question, I saw my updated score! But when the question appeared, the score went back to 2,106. When I answered the question (Terrible Towel), it gave me the stand-by screen, which showed my updated score.
The screen then confirmed that I got the question right and it showed my new-new score, but it quickly went back to the stats page, which showed 2,106 dallions.
From what I've been told, my experience is rare. Some guys here just haven't had their scores fluctuate at all.
I saw the back-end that has everyone's scores and statistics, and my new-new score is there.
... as I'm typing this, I was asked to refresh the browser, and I see my score that should have displayed after the 10 a.m. question. So it appears that we're one score behind.
So, if you see this, refresh your browser. It will likely be the score after the 10 a.m. result.
We're currently talking to our developers about the scoreboard and scoring issues. Apparently, on the back-end of the game, they can see the updated scores. But on the front-end, we can't.
I'll give you my experiences with my scores.
I have 2,106 dallions. For the 10 a.m. question, I got the question right, but the scoreboard never updated.
For the 11 a.m. question, I was told it's gametime. And as the timer counted down to the question, I saw my updated score! But when the question appeared, the score went back to 2,106. When I answered the question (Terrible Towel), it gave me the stand-by screen, which showed my updated score.
The screen then confirmed that I got the question right and it showed my new-new score, but it quickly went back to the stats page, which showed 2,106 dallions.
From what I've been told, my experience is rare. Some guys here just haven't had their scores fluctuate at all.
I saw the back-end that has everyone's scores and statistics, and my new-new score is there.
... as I'm typing this, I was asked to refresh the browser, and I see my score that should have displayed after the 10 a.m. question. So it appears that we're one score behind.
So, if you see this, refresh your browser. It will likely be the score after the 10 a.m. result.
At 10:05 a.m.
I got the question. I answered it.
There were no lag/double click/time delay/negative number problems. NONE!
Except ... my score didn't change. But I am happy that there's more progress.
There were no lag/double click/time delay/negative number problems. NONE!
Except ... my score didn't change. But I am happy that there's more progress.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
The gift of fail
This morning, I was given a test of a different Ringorang game. There are still a few issues to be addressed, but things are positive. Sorry, we can't give it to you all yet, and that's pretty much all I can say about it now.
In playing today's questions in the REAL contest, nothing new came up. The same bugs and problems were occurring. Sigh.
Before I end this entry, I wanted to share with you a couple links. They are of the Fail Whales that you all sent us regarding our epic application.
We have a few so far. It's hard for me to pick a favorite, although I'm probably leaning toward Pasha Phares' picture.
There were a few votes for Sloney's picture, which reminds me of something you would see in the editorial section of a newspaper.
You can see all of the pictures here.
And if you feel so inclined to make one (or another), send it to us at contact@ringorang.com. Just keep it in the spirit of Twitter's Fail Whale.
In playing today's questions in the REAL contest, nothing new came up. The same bugs and problems were occurring. Sigh.
Before I end this entry, I wanted to share with you a couple links. They are of the Fail Whales that you all sent us regarding our epic application.
We have a few so far. It's hard for me to pick a favorite, although I'm probably leaning toward Pasha Phares' picture.
There were a few votes for Sloney's picture, which reminds me of something you would see in the editorial section of a newspaper.
You can see all of the pictures here.
And if you feel so inclined to make one (or another), send it to us at contact@ringorang.com. Just keep it in the spirit of Twitter's Fail Whale.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
List of bugs in the game
We're putting together a list of bugs that are affecting the game. Now, when I mean bugs, they might not be bugs. Some of them are aesthetic issues that will affect how you answer a question.
This entry is just to list the issues. If you want to ditto us, leave a comment in the Day Two entry, or head to the feedback forum.
Do not worry, we're trying to fix ALL of these issues. (I mean, we have to, or else we'll get skewed results. =P)
* -- Question comes up more than once.
You see the question and answer it. Instead of getting the results, you get the question again. Almost everyone is experiencing this.
* -- No Network
This apparently only happens in the browser. It will likely appear after you answer a question. It means that the game is processing your response. The text should, in all reality, be different. Almost everyone is experiencing this.
* -- No Bonus City
Sorry, for this game, we won't have any Bonus City. We were told that it wouldn't be implemented with this "tournament."
* -- No sound
This is an on-and-off situation (no pun intended). First off, make sure in your preferences that the sound is turned ON. Or, if you're playing through the browser, go to the upper right and make sure the sound is turned ON. If that still doesn't work, your best bet is to restart your air client. If not, restart your computer. It used to be widespread, but it's sporadic among our users.
* -- AIR client doesn't maximize when a question arrives.
If you minimize it, the client should maximize when a question arrives. Not exactly certain how many people are experiencing this problem.
* -- Response doesn't register when you click.
Apparently, you have to click multiple times. Some people had to do it 3 times, others have to do it twice. Realistically, you have to click one time and that's it, so this is a problem we are addressing. Everyone playing is experiencing this.
* -- Negative values on the timer
I haven't experienced this, but I guess that the timer shows a negative number. Must be a rare occurrence.
* -- Information not on the game device
Apparently, some people, when playing on certain browsers, have alignment problems. There are times when the whole game screen is toward the right of the browser. That, I personally don't find a problem. But when the game screen is centered and all of the text is on the left or right, that is a major problem. It could be your browser application, so try it out in another browser, or eliminate your cache.
* -- Timing issues
The air client and the browser are not aligned. The game will always go to the air client first, then show up in the browser. Almost everyone is experiencing this.
* -- Bugs don't give exact amount of dallions
There are several issues with this. While you're answering the question, the dallions should decrease one by one (but very fast). It does that in the browser application, but not in the AIR client. Everyone playing through the AIR client is experiencing this.
When you're click on a response in either client, the amount of dallions it says you're wagering is likely incorrect. At times, it will drop down just below what you should be wagering, or it will go all the way to 100, which is the minimum. Eventually, you will see what you won or lost. Everyone is experiencing this.
This entry is just to list the issues. If you want to ditto us, leave a comment in the Day Two entry, or head to the feedback forum.
Do not worry, we're trying to fix ALL of these issues. (I mean, we have to, or else we'll get skewed results. =P)
* -- Question comes up more than once.
You see the question and answer it. Instead of getting the results, you get the question again. Almost everyone is experiencing this.
* -- No Network
This apparently only happens in the browser. It will likely appear after you answer a question. It means that the game is processing your response. The text should, in all reality, be different. Almost everyone is experiencing this.
* -- No Bonus City
Sorry, for this game, we won't have any Bonus City. We were told that it wouldn't be implemented with this "tournament."
* -- No sound
This is an on-and-off situation (no pun intended). First off, make sure in your preferences that the sound is turned ON. Or, if you're playing through the browser, go to the upper right and make sure the sound is turned ON. If that still doesn't work, your best bet is to restart your air client. If not, restart your computer. It used to be widespread, but it's sporadic among our users.
* -- AIR client doesn't maximize when a question arrives.
If you minimize it, the client should maximize when a question arrives. Not exactly certain how many people are experiencing this problem.
* -- Response doesn't register when you click.
Apparently, you have to click multiple times. Some people had to do it 3 times, others have to do it twice. Realistically, you have to click one time and that's it, so this is a problem we are addressing. Everyone playing is experiencing this.
* -- Negative values on the timer
I haven't experienced this, but I guess that the timer shows a negative number. Must be a rare occurrence.
* -- Information not on the game device
Apparently, some people, when playing on certain browsers, have alignment problems. There are times when the whole game screen is toward the right of the browser. That, I personally don't find a problem. But when the game screen is centered and all of the text is on the left or right, that is a major problem. It could be your browser application, so try it out in another browser, or eliminate your cache.
* -- Timing issues
The air client and the browser are not aligned. The game will always go to the air client first, then show up in the browser. Almost everyone is experiencing this.
* -- Bugs don't give exact amount of dallions
There are several issues with this. While you're answering the question, the dallions should decrease one by one (but very fast). It does that in the browser application, but not in the AIR client. Everyone playing through the AIR client is experiencing this.
When you're click on a response in either client, the amount of dallions it says you're wagering is likely incorrect. At times, it will drop down just below what you should be wagering, or it will go all the way to 100, which is the minimum. Eventually, you will see what you won or lost. Everyone is experiencing this.
Our new game client - Day 2
Well ... that was an experience.
Our new game client loved us so much it gave us questions, didn't give us questions, said we were wrong and then write, gave us bonus city ... did I miss anything?
I'm being told that several changes were made to the game. Among them, a new server is being used because the previous server experienced system overload.
OK, let's see what happens today. I'll be logging my experiences from this point forward until it's done. Leave your comments here and I'll try to address them as best as possible.
6:02 p.m.: Thanks for following today. We might be able to do something similar for Wednesday, but it's unlikely since the team and I will be in a meeting for most of the morning. But please, please please please please continue to give us feedback. It will only help the developers and us as we try to fix every problem.
5:43 p.m.: This is the first time I've played the question one time on each client. However, Mike and Alex said they still had the issue of Answer, Repeat, Answer.
4:07 p.m.: It did the same thing for this hour's question. I'm in fourth place in one spot and third place in another.
4:03 p.m.: I just realized that in the browser, I'm now in seventh place. But in the AIR client, I'm sixth. The scoreboard says I'm seventh. Me Confu Said.
3:42 p.m.: Something I wanted to mention because I'm not experiencing anything new in terms of answering the questions. The dallion amount is always changing. On the AIR client, it counts down in 10s. On the browser, it counts down as it should, 299-298-297-296-etc. Now, when I have to click multiple times on the answer, the countdown continues to either a really low number, or 100. But it turns out that the first time I click on the answer, that's the amount of dallions I receive.
2:57 p.m.: I got dinged. Uh, no question arrived. False alarm. LOL
2:25 p.m.: My browser was doing some Max Headroom-type stuff. It was counting down, but it would do some rapid 111011101110 ... 109109109109 ... 989898989898 ... 8787878787, etc.
1:09 p.m.: We're going to list the bugs in a future post.
12:53 p.m.: Wait a minute. I'm 3-for-3. That should mean Bonus City, but I didn't get Bonus City?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Ugh. Mike said it's something the producers are working on. So if you get 3 in a row, do not expect Bonus City for now.
12:47 p.m.: Pretty much it was the same situation as the 11 a.m. question. The wrinkle this time came when I clicked on the answer. It did not respond right away. It didn't respond for about FIVE seconds. And this happened on both the browser and the AIR client. Now here's where things were interesting. I answered on the AIR client first, with about 9 seconds remaining, and I answered on the browser with 12 seconds remaining. Turns out, it was the 12-seconds that was registered, even though I answered that second. So I got 220 dallions when it probably should have been 180 or so.
11:47 a.m.: Got dinged on the AIR client with 27 seconds remaining. But the browser showed "No Network." With 7 seconds remaining in the AIR client, the browser started to countdown, itself having 16 seconds remaining. So, it was the AIR client that had the question first. I gave the answer (Snickers) and then it said it was waiting for others to respond. As that happened, the browser showed the question. I answered it there, with about 27 seconds remaining. As I answered that, the AIR client showed the question again. I answered it again there. Turns out, on the browser, I received 300 dallions! On the AIR client, I got about 180 dallions.
11:43 a.m.: Well, that was a fun one. I got 300 dallions! Experience to come in a moment.
10:42 a.m.: Wanted to respond to Blizzard's question here. If the game becomes fully functional before the end of the week, I'm pretty certain we're going to reset the scoreboard.
10:25 a.m.: Got alerted with 18 seconds to spare. And I saw the question. I clicked on the answer (Buffalo Bills). And it said it was waiting for others to respond. But then, instead of showing that I got it right, I got the question again! So I responded with Buffalo Bills again. After that, it finally registered as correct. Still some timing issues, but we're already off to a better start than yesterday.
Our new game client loved us so much it gave us questions, didn't give us questions, said we were wrong and then write, gave us bonus city ... did I miss anything?
I'm being told that several changes were made to the game. Among them, a new server is being used because the previous server experienced system overload.
OK, let's see what happens today. I'll be logging my experiences from this point forward until it's done. Leave your comments here and I'll try to address them as best as possible.
6:02 p.m.: Thanks for following today. We might be able to do something similar for Wednesday, but it's unlikely since the team and I will be in a meeting for most of the morning. But please, please please please please continue to give us feedback. It will only help the developers and us as we try to fix every problem.
5:43 p.m.: This is the first time I've played the question one time on each client. However, Mike and Alex said they still had the issue of Answer, Repeat, Answer.
4:07 p.m.: It did the same thing for this hour's question. I'm in fourth place in one spot and third place in another.
4:03 p.m.: I just realized that in the browser, I'm now in seventh place. But in the AIR client, I'm sixth. The scoreboard says I'm seventh. Me Confu Said.
3:42 p.m.: Something I wanted to mention because I'm not experiencing anything new in terms of answering the questions. The dallion amount is always changing. On the AIR client, it counts down in 10s. On the browser, it counts down as it should, 299-298-297-296-etc. Now, when I have to click multiple times on the answer, the countdown continues to either a really low number, or 100. But it turns out that the first time I click on the answer, that's the amount of dallions I receive.
2:57 p.m.: I got dinged. Uh, no question arrived. False alarm. LOL
2:25 p.m.: My browser was doing some Max Headroom-type stuff. It was counting down, but it would do some rapid 111011101110 ... 109109109109 ... 989898989898 ... 8787878787, etc.
1:09 p.m.: We're going to list the bugs in a future post.
12:53 p.m.: Wait a minute. I'm 3-for-3. That should mean Bonus City, but I didn't get Bonus City?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Ugh. Mike said it's something the producers are working on. So if you get 3 in a row, do not expect Bonus City for now.
12:47 p.m.: Pretty much it was the same situation as the 11 a.m. question. The wrinkle this time came when I clicked on the answer. It did not respond right away. It didn't respond for about FIVE seconds. And this happened on both the browser and the AIR client. Now here's where things were interesting. I answered on the AIR client first, with about 9 seconds remaining, and I answered on the browser with 12 seconds remaining. Turns out, it was the 12-seconds that was registered, even though I answered that second. So I got 220 dallions when it probably should have been 180 or so.
11:47 a.m.: Got dinged on the AIR client with 27 seconds remaining. But the browser showed "No Network." With 7 seconds remaining in the AIR client, the browser started to countdown, itself having 16 seconds remaining. So, it was the AIR client that had the question first. I gave the answer (Snickers) and then it said it was waiting for others to respond. As that happened, the browser showed the question. I answered it there, with about 27 seconds remaining. As I answered that, the AIR client showed the question again. I answered it again there. Turns out, on the browser, I received 300 dallions! On the AIR client, I got about 180 dallions.
11:43 a.m.: Well, that was a fun one. I got 300 dallions! Experience to come in a moment.
10:42 a.m.: Wanted to respond to Blizzard's question here. If the game becomes fully functional before the end of the week, I'm pretty certain we're going to reset the scoreboard.
10:25 a.m.: Got alerted with 18 seconds to spare. And I saw the question. I clicked on the answer (Buffalo Bills). And it said it was waiting for others to respond. But then, instead of showing that I got it right, I got the question again! So I responded with Buffalo Bills again. After that, it finally registered as correct. Still some timing issues, but we're already off to a better start than yesterday.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Day 1 of our AIR app
Having been able to test the Ringorang alert client prior to the start of this week's tournament, I've been wondering what would happen when it went live. It was ... interesting to say the very least.
Therefore, I wanted to do an hourly update, because I'm a fan and player of the game as much as you all out there. In the past, if something messed up, I noted it.
But those were different times. This is a new application we're implementing, and I think for my own sake, as well as yours, I try to keep note of what happens to me. Maybe the problems I encounter are universal, or maybe they're specific to my computer (I run the oldest of the 2007 Macbooks, and I use Firefox).
Anyway, I'll be logging my own experiences throughout the day. Please, let me know here through the comments section if you're experiencing the same thing or something totally different.
This is probably going to be a challenging week for us here, but we want to make sure everything is noted. Thanks for following along.
5:44 p.m.: Alright everyone, thanks for all of your feedback. Today reminded me of the last time I had pizza from one of those fast-pizza joints. I paid the $5, got something that looked tasty, and then it was downhill from there. I'll add more tomorrow in the blog.
5:01 p.m.: Jeff and I were talking about an idea involving the game (when it works) and I think you all will like it. I'll bring it up on the blog tomorrow. Meanwhile, in regard to this game ... I didn't receive the 4 p.m. question at the time everyone else did. Alex received the question ON TIME but didn't know the answer right away (Green Bay Packers) so he answered it with little time remaining. As he gets the confirmation, I go back to my computer and I finally see the question. Aahhhhhh!
4:01 p.m.: GAAAAHHHH! I missed the Max Weinberg question. Dammit.
3:06 p.m.: Alex informed me of something he experienced while playing a morning question. The countdown went 5 ... ... ... ... ... 4 ... ... ... ... ... 3 instead of 5-4-3-etc. So, with about 1 second left, he tried to answer the question and got nothing. We're thinking that in the back-end of the game, it's counting down in real time. However, we the people are seeing the time count down in a slower manner. We believe that the only way you could answer a question is if there were "18" seconds remaining. Now, if you see "18 seconds," it really means you have about 2 seconds to answer the question.
2:34 p.m.: Wanted to try something for the upcoming question. I minimized the AIR client and stayed away from the browser application just to find out what would happen. Turns out, I was not alerted to either program. Therefore, I missed the 2:33 question entirely. I checked the browser application and I got the no network error (as a few others here did). I maximized the AIR client and I see the question and result. Also, didn't get a sound. =(
2:19 p.m.: Mike and I are reviewing our experiences and your comments. I can't understand how the test version of the game got intertwined with the actual "game."
1:50 p.m.: Someone asked about resetting the game. If midway through the week the game becomes playable and legit, the scoreboard will be reset and it will be Game On.
1:21 p.m.: Double Epic Fail. The question arrived on the client at 1:20 p.m. and I couldn't click on the answer, which is "The logo is on one side." On my internet browser (FireFox), it gave me a Network Error. Two chances to answer the question, and zero dallions for either try. The front of my skull will soon have grooves because of me slapping my hand across it so many times.
1:18 p.m.: Once the next question comes up, which should be any moment, I'll get to your responses in the comments.
12:53 p.m.: Some people have said the game doesn't give a sound when a question arrives. I've heard the ding when a question, be it random or football, has come in. See if it's turned on in your Preferences (or if you're on Windows, go to the little game icon near the clock and right click to see if it's on).
12:42 p.m.: I was told we were supposed to receive a question at 12:40. So you can probably guess what happened to me.
12:25 p.m.: Sorry people, I was in a meeting, so I'll get back to monitoring the game and your comments.
11:36 a.m.: Apparently, the alignment on IE is off to the right (covering up Kurt Warner, Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake), but in every other browser, the alignment is good. Hmm ...
11:32 a.m.: Apparently, I'm still on the test. WTH I thought I got rid of all of that. Going to the real game (hopefully)
11:22 a.m.: I responded to your comments, and in that time, I got two non-football questions. The latest one, which came at 11:21 a.m., disappeared before I could get to answer it.
11:15 a.m.: Got another question and again it isn't about football. It's "Known for pudding ..." it disappeared. Three questions in 12 minutes and none about football. Me is sad facez.
11:12 a.m.: WTH now I lost my latest update. Anyway, I got a question at 11:03 a.m. and it wasn't a football question. Well guess what? I got another question at 11:11 a.m. and it wasn't a football question (Jewfro was the answer). So now I really don't know when I'm going to get a football question. And because of those two non-football questions, I'm in second place on the leaderboard. O ..... Kay ....
11:01 a.m.: I MISSED THE QUESTION ENTIRELY. And I think I know why. Since I was logged in as my old "test game" username, I was playing under the test game, not the actual Super Sunday game that you all are playing. Alex informed me that he did get the question, but he couldn't choose an answer because the game froze. Apparently, the question came sometime about 10:53 a.m. or so. Not totally certain. Will have more at 11:20 a.m.
10:57 a.m.: I was told by Alex that I was logged into the client as my test name. Therefore, when I clicked on the Football link to see the scoreboard, I saw the "test game" scoreboard. Bah, I have to sign in as a brand new person. Luckily, I used some bland username.
11:06 a.m.: I GOT A QUESTION. But its ... "In which of these sculptures is nobody sitting down?" That is actually from the test game when we were trying it out last week. I don't think Venus de Milo or Jim Carey have anything to do with the Super Bowl. But hey, I got 244 dallions and I'm in third place! Go me ... sort of.
10:41 a.m.: No question yet. Normally, I could check the log files to see when the next question is coming up, but I can't. =(
10:18 a.m.: The idea is that when you click on the game title, you can see the scoreboard. Unfortunately, it takes you to an incorrect page. So don't click on the Football link within the client. Please note that the game is not over and BrewHaas is not the winner (Sorry, Jeff). If you want to see the standings (for what it's worth), go here.
10:09 a.m.: Logged in. I didn't need to download the client since I had it already. It automatically updated itself. Waiting for the next question.
Therefore, I wanted to do an hourly update, because I'm a fan and player of the game as much as you all out there. In the past, if something messed up, I noted it.
But those were different times. This is a new application we're implementing, and I think for my own sake, as well as yours, I try to keep note of what happens to me. Maybe the problems I encounter are universal, or maybe they're specific to my computer (I run the oldest of the 2007 Macbooks, and I use Firefox).
Anyway, I'll be logging my own experiences throughout the day. Please, let me know here through the comments section if you're experiencing the same thing or something totally different.
This is probably going to be a challenging week for us here, but we want to make sure everything is noted. Thanks for following along.
5:44 p.m.: Alright everyone, thanks for all of your feedback. Today reminded me of the last time I had pizza from one of those fast-pizza joints. I paid the $5, got something that looked tasty, and then it was downhill from there. I'll add more tomorrow in the blog.
5:01 p.m.: Jeff and I were talking about an idea involving the game (when it works) and I think you all will like it. I'll bring it up on the blog tomorrow. Meanwhile, in regard to this game ... I didn't receive the 4 p.m. question at the time everyone else did. Alex received the question ON TIME but didn't know the answer right away (Green Bay Packers) so he answered it with little time remaining. As he gets the confirmation, I go back to my computer and I finally see the question. Aahhhhhh!
4:01 p.m.: GAAAAHHHH! I missed the Max Weinberg question. Dammit.
3:06 p.m.: Alex informed me of something he experienced while playing a morning question. The countdown went 5 ... ... ... ... ... 4 ... ... ... ... ... 3 instead of 5-4-3-etc. So, with about 1 second left, he tried to answer the question and got nothing. We're thinking that in the back-end of the game, it's counting down in real time. However, we the people are seeing the time count down in a slower manner. We believe that the only way you could answer a question is if there were "18" seconds remaining. Now, if you see "18 seconds," it really means you have about 2 seconds to answer the question.
2:34 p.m.: Wanted to try something for the upcoming question. I minimized the AIR client and stayed away from the browser application just to find out what would happen. Turns out, I was not alerted to either program. Therefore, I missed the 2:33 question entirely. I checked the browser application and I got the no network error (as a few others here did). I maximized the AIR client and I see the question and result. Also, didn't get a sound. =(
2:19 p.m.: Mike and I are reviewing our experiences and your comments. I can't understand how the test version of the game got intertwined with the actual "game."
1:50 p.m.: Someone asked about resetting the game. If midway through the week the game becomes playable and legit, the scoreboard will be reset and it will be Game On.
1:21 p.m.: Double Epic Fail. The question arrived on the client at 1:20 p.m. and I couldn't click on the answer, which is "The logo is on one side." On my internet browser (FireFox), it gave me a Network Error. Two chances to answer the question, and zero dallions for either try. The front of my skull will soon have grooves because of me slapping my hand across it so many times.
1:18 p.m.: Once the next question comes up, which should be any moment, I'll get to your responses in the comments.
12:53 p.m.: Some people have said the game doesn't give a sound when a question arrives. I've heard the ding when a question, be it random or football, has come in. See if it's turned on in your Preferences (or if you're on Windows, go to the little game icon near the clock and right click to see if it's on).
12:42 p.m.: I was told we were supposed to receive a question at 12:40. So you can probably guess what happened to me.
12:25 p.m.: Sorry people, I was in a meeting, so I'll get back to monitoring the game and your comments.
11:36 a.m.: Apparently, the alignment on IE is off to the right (covering up Kurt Warner, Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake), but in every other browser, the alignment is good. Hmm ...
11:32 a.m.: Apparently, I'm still on the test. WTH I thought I got rid of all of that. Going to the real game (hopefully)
11:22 a.m.: I responded to your comments, and in that time, I got two non-football questions. The latest one, which came at 11:21 a.m., disappeared before I could get to answer it.
11:15 a.m.: Got another question and again it isn't about football. It's "Known for pudding ..." it disappeared. Three questions in 12 minutes and none about football. Me is sad facez.
11:12 a.m.: WTH now I lost my latest update. Anyway, I got a question at 11:03 a.m. and it wasn't a football question. Well guess what? I got another question at 11:11 a.m. and it wasn't a football question (Jewfro was the answer). So now I really don't know when I'm going to get a football question. And because of those two non-football questions, I'm in second place on the leaderboard. O ..... Kay ....
11:01 a.m.: I MISSED THE QUESTION ENTIRELY. And I think I know why. Since I was logged in as my old "test game" username, I was playing under the test game, not the actual Super Sunday game that you all are playing. Alex informed me that he did get the question, but he couldn't choose an answer because the game froze. Apparently, the question came sometime about 10:53 a.m. or so. Not totally certain. Will have more at 11:20 a.m.
10:57 a.m.: I was told by Alex that I was logged into the client as my test name. Therefore, when I clicked on the Football link to see the scoreboard, I saw the "test game" scoreboard. Bah, I have to sign in as a brand new person. Luckily, I used some bland username.
11:06 a.m.: I GOT A QUESTION. But its ... "In which of these sculptures is nobody sitting down?" That is actually from the test game when we were trying it out last week. I don't think Venus de Milo or Jim Carey have anything to do with the Super Bowl. But hey, I got 244 dallions and I'm in third place! Go me ... sort of.
10:41 a.m.: No question yet. Normally, I could check the log files to see when the next question is coming up, but I can't. =(
10:18 a.m.: The idea is that when you click on the game title, you can see the scoreboard. Unfortunately, it takes you to an incorrect page. So don't click on the Football link within the client. Please note that the game is not over and BrewHaas is not the winner (Sorry, Jeff). If you want to see the standings (for what it's worth), go here.
10:09 a.m.: Logged in. I didn't need to download the client since I had it already. It automatically updated itself. Waiting for the next question.
Friday, January 23, 2009
How to uninstall the old "Ringodinger"
First off, the team at Ringorang wants to thank you for playing our game. Whether you've been playing for 12 weeks or if this is your first time, we believe you're going to enjoy the game.
However, if you have played the game before, you will need to deactivate and uninstall the application you currently have. You must do this in order to play future Ringorang contests, including this week's "Super Sunday Salmagundi."
If you play the game on a computer with Windows
Go to the Start menu, locate Ringorang Alert, and click "Uninstall." From there, you're all set!
If you play the game on a Mac computer
Go to Applications folder and drag the Ringorang Alert icon into your Trash. After that, empty the trash and you're all set!
Once again, thanks for playing Ringorang, whether this is your first time or 12th time. You can head to our main page to get the new Adobe AIR client application. It won't be available until likely Monday morning, so stay tuned.
However, if you have played the game before, you will need to deactivate and uninstall the application you currently have. You must do this in order to play future Ringorang contests, including this week's "Super Sunday Salmagundi."
If you play the game on a computer with Windows
Go to the Start menu, locate Ringorang Alert, and click "Uninstall." From there, you're all set!
If you play the game on a Mac computer
Go to Applications folder and drag the Ringorang Alert icon into your Trash. After that, empty the trash and you're all set!
Once again, thanks for playing Ringorang, whether this is your first time or 12th time. You can head to our main page to get the new Adobe AIR client application. It won't be available until likely Monday morning, so stay tuned.
Hopefully a cheese-less video cast
From 2:30 p.m. until just after the last question of the week comes in, we'll be hosting a live video chat. Come join us as we talk about trivia, crunch time in our "Week 11" challenge, and other items.
Keep in mind that from 2 p.m. until 4:59 p.m., five questions will come at random times, which is a 2-question increase. We're going to spice things up here.
Speaking of spicing things up, we'll be bringing up several topics regarding Ringorang, and we'll want your opinions about them.
We also have some very important news regarding next week that you will need to hear.
And maybe we'll talk about cheese. Who knows?
You can watch the video cast below and take part in the chat.
Keep in mind that from 2 p.m. until 4:59 p.m., five questions will come at random times, which is a 2-question increase. We're going to spice things up here.
Speaking of spicing things up, we'll be bringing up several topics regarding Ringorang, and we'll want your opinions about them.
We also have some very important news regarding next week that you will need to hear.
And maybe we'll talk about cheese. Who knows?
You can watch the video cast below and take part in the chat.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Backloading
If you read the last entry, which was about what we're doing on Friday, you saw the link regarding a place to play hangman.
It reminded me of Ringorang in this sense ... never has such a basic game been so addicting. And the concept is simple: just fill in the blanks. It's that way with Ringorang: answer a question.
Speaking of questions, we're going to make a little change to the end of this week's competition. For the final three hours of the competition, you will receive five questions. That's right, we're adding two more questions.
Just to clarify, the five questions will come up between 2 p.m. and 4:59 p.m. west coast time. I'm betting that four or five of the questions will come during our live videocast, which will take place at 2:30 p.m.
So this will give you more incentive to watch the videocast. Not only are we going to play Hangman and Classic Concentration, I'll be giving out tips for some of those questions. And with every dallion precious, hints will be solid gold.
It reminded me of Ringorang in this sense ... never has such a basic game been so addicting. And the concept is simple: just fill in the blanks. It's that way with Ringorang: answer a question.
Speaking of questions, we're going to make a little change to the end of this week's competition. For the final three hours of the competition, you will receive five questions. That's right, we're adding two more questions.
Just to clarify, the five questions will come up between 2 p.m. and 4:59 p.m. west coast time. I'm betting that four or five of the questions will come during our live videocast, which will take place at 2:30 p.m.
So this will give you more incentive to watch the videocast. Not only are we going to play Hangman and Classic Concentration, I'll be giving out tips for some of those questions. And with every dallion precious, hints will be solid gold.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
L_ts pl_y s_m_ _an_man
One of the activities I did at the church I used to attend was play Hangman with some of the youth. It was a way to bide time while make an attempt to mention biblical references. The kids loved it because we'd make it challenging and fun.
I bring this up for one blatant reason. On Friday during the live videocast, we'll be playing Hangman. It's a way to not talk about cheese during the 2 1/2 hours of the show.
In one corner, it will be YOU. That's right, YOU ... wait, I want you to say it like Soulja Boy.
In the other corner, it will be the members of Ringorang. Yep, we're going to have a battle of the minds. The Team That Delivers Trivia vs. The Team That Answers Trivia.
Who will prevail in this lengthy battle of missing letters?
Oh, and that's not all. If filling the blanks in Hangman isn't your cup of tea, how about some Classic Concentration? Yep, that epic memory game, which once featured Alex Trebek on syndicated television, will be brought back to light.
If you like either game, you will want to join us on Friday during the video cast. This is going to be awesome, more epic than cheese.
How can you get involved? It's really simple.
First off, you must have a Skype account and the program itself. You might also need to have a microphone to talk through if you don't have an internal microphone on your computer.
Then, make sure to add us onto your contacts list. And our contact name is ... Ringorang (oh, we make things so easy for you here). Please, do not try to call us to test it out.
When it's time to call on Friday, we will let you know. And you'll get your shot at one of the Ringorang staff in either of the games.
Need some practice? This is one place to go.
I bring this up for one blatant reason. On Friday during the live videocast, we'll be playing Hangman. It's a way to not talk about cheese during the 2 1/2 hours of the show.
In one corner, it will be YOU. That's right, YOU ... wait, I want you to say it like Soulja Boy.
In the other corner, it will be the members of Ringorang. Yep, we're going to have a battle of the minds. The Team That Delivers Trivia vs. The Team That Answers Trivia.
Who will prevail in this lengthy battle of missing letters?
Oh, and that's not all. If filling the blanks in Hangman isn't your cup of tea, how about some Classic Concentration? Yep, that epic memory game, which once featured Alex Trebek on syndicated television, will be brought back to light.
If you like either game, you will want to join us on Friday during the video cast. This is going to be awesome, more epic than cheese.
How can you get involved? It's really simple.
First off, you must have a Skype account and the program itself. You might also need to have a microphone to talk through if you don't have an internal microphone on your computer.
Then, make sure to add us onto your contacts list. And our contact name is ... Ringorang (oh, we make things so easy for you here). Please, do not try to call us to test it out.
When it's time to call on Friday, we will let you know. And you'll get your shot at one of the Ringorang staff in either of the games.
Need some practice? This is one place to go.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Big bucks, just big bucks
There's been discussions in the past about certain things that would have played out differently if put in this generation.
Seinfeld the show is one that a lot of people point to. If Seinfeld debuted today, many people believe it would not have lasted more than half a season. It actually lasted nine seasons (1989-98).
The 1972 Miami Dolphins went undefeated and untied, going 17-0 in winning the Super Bowl. But it was obvious that the media coverage wasn't like it is now. There was no ESPN or George Michael Sports Machine. The biggest media machine was probably Sports Illustrated, and that was a weekly magazine. Had the Dolphins tried to do it now, EVERY move would have been over analyzed, much like how the Patriots' moves were scrutinized last season when they won 18 in a row.
This leads me to Michael Larson, who played Press Your Luck.
You can watch him destroy the game in these five videos here.
If there was a Press Your Luck today, could Michael Larson do what he did back in 1984?
What's the most dynamic game show out there right now involving electronics? I can't think of any. Deal or No Deal involves suitcases, Jeopardy is about reverse trivia, and Wheel of Fortune is about spinning a wheel.
I guess that you could spin the wheel at the same velocity on Wheel of Fortune and always get the same amount. But I've never seen anyone try it. And usually, the "goodies" are surrounded by Bankrupt or Lose a Turn spots.
The reason I would say Michael Larson wouldn't have been able to do today what he did in 1984 was because of the over-analyzing of the game that would take place today.
Let's say that today, Press Your Luck was in its final stages of debuting on television. I bet that the producers of the show would have a decoder go through the game and make sure that there weren't any loopholes. They probably would have figured out the six sequences that Michael Larson figured out.
A decoder also would have figured out that the rotation of the big-money boxes had NO whammies.
The decoder probably would have told the producers to postpone the show until they made the game harder. It was already hard to begin with, but the code was cracked thanks to the magic of the videocasette recorder. A VCR! Sometimes I think that I'm the last person using VCRs today (because I record video game tournaments onto VCR tapes).
Speaking of game shows, make sure to tune into the blog tomorrow morning to find out what we're doing for Friday's live video cast.
Oh, by the way ...
Seinfeld the show is one that a lot of people point to. If Seinfeld debuted today, many people believe it would not have lasted more than half a season. It actually lasted nine seasons (1989-98).
The 1972 Miami Dolphins went undefeated and untied, going 17-0 in winning the Super Bowl. But it was obvious that the media coverage wasn't like it is now. There was no ESPN or George Michael Sports Machine. The biggest media machine was probably Sports Illustrated, and that was a weekly magazine. Had the Dolphins tried to do it now, EVERY move would have been over analyzed, much like how the Patriots' moves were scrutinized last season when they won 18 in a row.
This leads me to Michael Larson, who played Press Your Luck.
You can watch him destroy the game in these five videos here.
If there was a Press Your Luck today, could Michael Larson do what he did back in 1984?
What's the most dynamic game show out there right now involving electronics? I can't think of any. Deal or No Deal involves suitcases, Jeopardy is about reverse trivia, and Wheel of Fortune is about spinning a wheel.
I guess that you could spin the wheel at the same velocity on Wheel of Fortune and always get the same amount. But I've never seen anyone try it. And usually, the "goodies" are surrounded by Bankrupt or Lose a Turn spots.
The reason I would say Michael Larson wouldn't have been able to do today what he did in 1984 was because of the over-analyzing of the game that would take place today.
Let's say that today, Press Your Luck was in its final stages of debuting on television. I bet that the producers of the show would have a decoder go through the game and make sure that there weren't any loopholes. They probably would have figured out the six sequences that Michael Larson figured out.
A decoder also would have figured out that the rotation of the big-money boxes had NO whammies.
The decoder probably would have told the producers to postpone the show until they made the game harder. It was already hard to begin with, but the code was cracked thanks to the magic of the videocasette recorder. A VCR! Sometimes I think that I'm the last person using VCRs today (because I record video game tournaments onto VCR tapes).
Speaking of game shows, make sure to tune into the blog tomorrow morning to find out what we're doing for Friday's live video cast.
Oh, by the way ...
Monday, January 19, 2009
Playing along with some of the games
The great thing about Ringorang is that you don't have to go through any lengthy tryout just to play the game. All you have to do is sign up and start playing. It's pretty much like any video game competition out there these days.
I've heard stories from people about how they try to get on different game shows and reality shows. Just this past weekend, a woman was telling me how she tried out to be the next big female reporter for Univision. She went through four rounds of tryouts and STILL didn't make the main show, where they were going to choose the reporter. FOUR TRYOUTS! Amazing.
I think it's less on various gameshows. A person in my hometown area mentioned that he went through two rounds of tryouts to get on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." Each round had four questions, and there was a time limit. Whether that's still the case remains to be seen.
That makes me wonder ... if these players pass one, two or four tryouts for these gameshows, what happened during the show that made them lose brain cells? Here's one example:
It has to be the TV cameras. It just has to.
Now, what about those kids? Could we give a pass to kids for their goofs during gameshows? Yes ... except the kid below, who wasn't told to answer a question. Instead, it was a matter of putting three puzzle pieces together. I'd rather put three puzzle pieces together than answer a random trivia question.
(Mute the sound for enjoyment)
I'm telling you, it has to be the TV cameras. How many of you were yelling at the kid to get the Shrine of the Silver Monkey correct? It's unbelievable.
Now, I was checking out this Jeopardy spot, and this "answer" has to be a gimmie. But what happened? Well ...
I've heard stories from people about how they try to get on different game shows and reality shows. Just this past weekend, a woman was telling me how she tried out to be the next big female reporter for Univision. She went through four rounds of tryouts and STILL didn't make the main show, where they were going to choose the reporter. FOUR TRYOUTS! Amazing.
I think it's less on various gameshows. A person in my hometown area mentioned that he went through two rounds of tryouts to get on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." Each round had four questions, and there was a time limit. Whether that's still the case remains to be seen.
That makes me wonder ... if these players pass one, two or four tryouts for these gameshows, what happened during the show that made them lose brain cells? Here's one example:
It has to be the TV cameras. It just has to.
Now, what about those kids? Could we give a pass to kids for their goofs during gameshows? Yes ... except the kid below, who wasn't told to answer a question. Instead, it was a matter of putting three puzzle pieces together. I'd rather put three puzzle pieces together than answer a random trivia question.
(Mute the sound for enjoyment)
I'm telling you, it has to be the TV cameras. How many of you were yelling at the kid to get the Shrine of the Silver Monkey correct? It's unbelievable.
Now, I was checking out this Jeopardy spot, and this "answer" has to be a gimmie. But what happened? Well ...
Friday, January 16, 2009
Live with Ringorang
From 2:30 p.m. until just after the last question of the week comes in, we'll be hosting a live video chat. Come join us as we talk about trivia, crunch time in our "Week 10" challenge, and other items.
We'll be bringing up several topics regarding Ringorang and the video game world. So take part in the chat.
We'll be bringing up several topics regarding Ringorang and the video game world. So take part in the chat.
The question is very simple
I went to sleep last night, seeing urthstripe with I believe a 650-dallion lead. Well, that's gone and now we have our sprint to the finish.
EXCITING.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Instant gratification
We've talked about this here in the meeting room, and it's something we'd like to implement soon.
Ever wonder how many people got the last question correct? There are times when I've asked myself that question, either because the question is so weird, insanely difficult or super easy (Yeah, let's find out how many people actually clicked on "3" instead of "4" for "What's 2 plus 2").
Look at the last question that came in:
Q:
In order to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees, English musician David Robert Jones adopted what stage name?
A:
Rob Thomas
Robert Plant
David Bowie <<<<<<<<
Dr. Dre
That question was a little difficult for me since I don't follow music history closely. And yes, I'm one of those people (up until now) who thought the guy was actually born David Bowie.
I would like to know how many people voted for David Bowie. If there were a lot of people that did, then part of me feels weird because it seems like it was common knowledge. If the results were the other way around, then I feel like, "Hey, I got one that a lot of people didn't!"
There are a lot of instant statistics that I would like to see. The ESports Entertainment Association updates stats of Counter-Strike players as they're playing the game. And they update EVERYTHING.
I have a long list of stats that I think would go well with Ringorang. But what if we were to just have a quick show of numbers after each question was posted? What would you want to see?
Ever wonder how many people got the last question correct? There are times when I've asked myself that question, either because the question is so weird, insanely difficult or super easy (Yeah, let's find out how many people actually clicked on "3" instead of "4" for "What's 2 plus 2").
Look at the last question that came in:
Q:
In order to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees, English musician David Robert Jones adopted what stage name?
A:
Rob Thomas
Robert Plant
David Bowie <<<<<<<<
Dr. Dre
That question was a little difficult for me since I don't follow music history closely. And yes, I'm one of those people (up until now) who thought the guy was actually born David Bowie.
I would like to know how many people voted for David Bowie. If there were a lot of people that did, then part of me feels weird because it seems like it was common knowledge. If the results were the other way around, then I feel like, "Hey, I got one that a lot of people didn't!"
There are a lot of instant statistics that I would like to see. The ESports Entertainment Association updates stats of Counter-Strike players as they're playing the game. And they update EVERYTHING.
I have a long list of stats that I think would go well with Ringorang. But what if we were to just have a quick show of numbers after each question was posted? What would you want to see?
On this week's videocast
After the super-happy fun times that occurred during last week's videocast, I'm going to be back for more Friday afternoon.
We're doing Show No. 3 on Friday live starting at 2:30 p.m. PST ... you know, as a journalist I can understand having to always say PST or PDT or whatever time zone is appropriate, but as a blogger, I'm calling it West Coast time, because I have to represent. Feels like part of me is restrained.
Those that have followed the past two Fridays understand that the show is off the cuff, random and fun. This time, I'm going to try to keep some sort of structure. With that in mind, here's the topics we're planning.
At the 2 p.m. hour, we'll have a guest join us ... I hope. =)
At the 3 p.m. hour, I wanted to bring up something that has crossed my mind lately regarding the video game world. Sometimes, this "thing" can make or break whether a video game is good, great or bland. And that is video game music. Don't lie, you know you play a certain game over and over because of the music. So, I want to know what your favorite video game soundtracks are. I'll share with you some of my favorite non-DDR songs and soundtracks (because if I pick DDR music, that's kind of like cheating, I could give you several songs). We'll try to have another guest as well.
And at the 4 p.m. hour, we'll do battle in Mario Kart Wii. So, at 4 p.m. West Coast time, get on the Mario Kart channel and wait for me.
Don't forget, at 4 p.m., we will race.
My Mario Kart Wii friend code: 3737 9926 8631
See you Friday afternoon. It's going to be a lot of fun.
We're doing Show No. 3 on Friday live starting at 2:30 p.m. PST ... you know, as a journalist I can understand having to always say PST or PDT or whatever time zone is appropriate, but as a blogger, I'm calling it West Coast time, because I have to represent. Feels like part of me is restrained.
Those that have followed the past two Fridays understand that the show is off the cuff, random and fun. This time, I'm going to try to keep some sort of structure. With that in mind, here's the topics we're planning.
At the 2 p.m. hour, we'll have a guest join us ... I hope. =)
At the 3 p.m. hour, I wanted to bring up something that has crossed my mind lately regarding the video game world. Sometimes, this "thing" can make or break whether a video game is good, great or bland. And that is video game music. Don't lie, you know you play a certain game over and over because of the music. So, I want to know what your favorite video game soundtracks are. I'll share with you some of my favorite non-DDR songs and soundtracks (because if I pick DDR music, that's kind of like cheating, I could give you several songs). We'll try to have another guest as well.
And at the 4 p.m. hour, we'll do battle in Mario Kart Wii. So, at 4 p.m. West Coast time, get on the Mario Kart channel and wait for me.
Don't forget, at 4 p.m., we will race.
My Mario Kart Wii friend code: 3737 9926 8631
See you Friday afternoon. It's going to be a lot of fun.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Another request - We want your avatars
Over here on the home team's locker room, we're coming up with a week to recognize everyone that's played our game. I know that this week, which is Week 10, is our way of saying thanks.
However, we're planning something else that is going to be very unique. And with that, we're asking for another request.
We've already asked you to help us out by submitting questions to be used within the game.
Now, we're asking you to submit avatars of yourself. It goes hand in hand with the questions that you the people have been giving us. The idea was presented to me just a few minutes ago, and I really like it. I think that when you see it, it's going to be awesome.
Want to get involved? Here's what to do.
E-mail us at contact@ringorang.com with the title AVATAR FOR RINGORANG.
In the e-mail, have a picture that you want representing you. If you have a microblogging link, a blogger account, or a PHPBB profile, link us there. For example, I would link to my Twitter account.
We would prefer if it's even all around, because that will prevent us from having to do any cropping work. Until I'm told otherwise (which could be in 2 minutes after this is posted) we'll be looking for a maximum 300 x 300 pixels. The avatar on my Twitter account is 200 x 200.
PLEASE keep it clean. No obscene gestures. No nudity in the you-can't-go-there places. No foul words or anything close to that (that reminds me of one of the anti-Dodger shirts one of my co-workers used to have, there were three words and the last one was Fodgers. I think you can figure out the first two.).
Also, make sure we can use the image; something from Face Your Manga gets a yea from us, but we might have to say no to something like a trademarked logo.
If you have a Twitter account, we prefer that avatar. But if you want to be represented by something else (or if the image is questionable based on our few "you can'ts"), then link us or e-mail us the picture.
As our promise, we will only crop and resize the image. If it comes to it that we have to alter the image in any way, then we probably won't use it.
Any questions, fire away in the comments section. Don't send us your link in the comments section, e-mail it.
However, we're planning something else that is going to be very unique. And with that, we're asking for another request.
We've already asked you to help us out by submitting questions to be used within the game.
Now, we're asking you to submit avatars of yourself. It goes hand in hand with the questions that you the people have been giving us. The idea was presented to me just a few minutes ago, and I really like it. I think that when you see it, it's going to be awesome.
Want to get involved? Here's what to do.
E-mail us at contact@ringorang.com with the title AVATAR FOR RINGORANG.
In the e-mail, have a picture that you want representing you. If you have a microblogging link, a blogger account, or a PHPBB profile, link us there. For example, I would link to my Twitter account.
We would prefer if it's even all around, because that will prevent us from having to do any cropping work. Until I'm told otherwise (which could be in 2 minutes after this is posted) we'll be looking for a maximum 300 x 300 pixels. The avatar on my Twitter account is 200 x 200.
PLEASE keep it clean. No obscene gestures. No nudity in the you-can't-go-there places. No foul words or anything close to that (that reminds me of one of the anti-Dodger shirts one of my co-workers used to have, there were three words and the last one was Fodgers. I think you can figure out the first two.).
Also, make sure we can use the image; something from Face Your Manga gets a yea from us, but we might have to say no to something like a trademarked logo.
If you have a Twitter account, we prefer that avatar. But if you want to be represented by something else (or if the image is questionable based on our few "you can'ts"), then link us or e-mail us the picture.
As our promise, we will only crop and resize the image. If it comes to it that we have to alter the image in any way, then we probably won't use it.
Any questions, fire away in the comments section. Don't send us your link in the comments section, e-mail it.
Where my focus is
This post will knock off a couple things that I probably should address regarding myself, and one will interlink with the other.
Someone asked that I was a former pro gamer. To that I say ... sort of.
I competed in video game competitions from 2000-06. My first few tournaments were score-based competitions through Twin Galaxies, an organization that follows high scores and time-based tournaments.
The most notable event out of that came in 2002 when I set the fastest time for a 2-game match in "Virtua Tennis." It was 1:07. Twin Galaxies then held a one-month contest to find out if anyone could beat that time. Nobody did. Although I was declared the world record holder, it had a little bit more validity because all of the challengers couldn't break it.
About a year later, Gamer TV was doing a documentary called "Around the World in 80 Games," and I was invited to be on the show because of the Virtua Tennis record. On the show, I set a new mark at 59 seconds which, to this day I still can't beat.
It was about that same time that I started getting serious in actual player-to-player games. However, the game I initially picked, DDR, isn't a player-to-player game, because what I do doesn't directly affect what my opponent does (I've brought this up several times with Ringorang).
In the summer of 2003, I won the Powerstation Extreme Tour Finals Tournament, which at the time was the only structured state championship for DDR. Yes, I became a state champion in DDR.
For some reason, I kept picking mostly obscure titles to get good at, including Mario Kart. There wasn't a national competitive scene, although there are several regions like Ann Arbor, Mich., that had monthly tournaments with really good players. I also put my hand in "Super Smash Bros. Melee" although I was beyond horrible (there's a better word for it, but I'll probably get ripped if I say it).
The Evolution Fighting Game Championships had Mario Kart DS as one of its titles in 2006. Obviously, I entered. The road to get to the Finals Tournament was amazing. But what happened in the finals is still one of the more painful experiences I've ever had. The difference between sixth place (which I got) and fourth place (which I was likely to get) was one blue shell. Before throwing pity, I should have dodged it. It was something I practiced for several months and I did it a couple times in the regionals, but not in the moment that mattered the most.
On the ride home from Las Vegas, where the tournament took place, I told myself that I couldn't keep playing competitively. Even though it wasn't pro like Major League Gaming or the World Cyber Games, to be involved competitively for so long and then walk away was weird.
Now, I say all of this (which is only the 2-minute edition, there's plenty more tales) because when I talk about strategies in Ringorang, some of it is because of my experiences with video game tournaments. There are times when sports come into mind. However, Ringorang reminds me of when I played DDR competitively. There were some tournaments where I was trying my hardest to complete a song, and my opponent is breezing by. And you can't do anything to stop them. You can only hope they mess up, somehow.
I'm going to talk about this a lot more during this Friday's videocast. We're still lining up guests, so be sure to check it out.
And for those that have won a perler bead necklace, be on the lookout for those coming soon.
Someone asked that I was a former pro gamer. To that I say ... sort of.
I competed in video game competitions from 2000-06. My first few tournaments were score-based competitions through Twin Galaxies, an organization that follows high scores and time-based tournaments.
The most notable event out of that came in 2002 when I set the fastest time for a 2-game match in "Virtua Tennis." It was 1:07. Twin Galaxies then held a one-month contest to find out if anyone could beat that time. Nobody did. Although I was declared the world record holder, it had a little bit more validity because all of the challengers couldn't break it.
About a year later, Gamer TV was doing a documentary called "Around the World in 80 Games," and I was invited to be on the show because of the Virtua Tennis record. On the show, I set a new mark at 59 seconds which, to this day I still can't beat.
It was about that same time that I started getting serious in actual player-to-player games. However, the game I initially picked, DDR, isn't a player-to-player game, because what I do doesn't directly affect what my opponent does (I've brought this up several times with Ringorang).
In the summer of 2003, I won the Powerstation Extreme Tour Finals Tournament, which at the time was the only structured state championship for DDR. Yes, I became a state champion in DDR.
For some reason, I kept picking mostly obscure titles to get good at, including Mario Kart. There wasn't a national competitive scene, although there are several regions like Ann Arbor, Mich., that had monthly tournaments with really good players. I also put my hand in "Super Smash Bros. Melee" although I was beyond horrible (there's a better word for it, but I'll probably get ripped if I say it).
The Evolution Fighting Game Championships had Mario Kart DS as one of its titles in 2006. Obviously, I entered. The road to get to the Finals Tournament was amazing. But what happened in the finals is still one of the more painful experiences I've ever had. The difference between sixth place (which I got) and fourth place (which I was likely to get) was one blue shell. Before throwing pity, I should have dodged it. It was something I practiced for several months and I did it a couple times in the regionals, but not in the moment that mattered the most.
On the ride home from Las Vegas, where the tournament took place, I told myself that I couldn't keep playing competitively. Even though it wasn't pro like Major League Gaming or the World Cyber Games, to be involved competitively for so long and then walk away was weird.
Now, I say all of this (which is only the 2-minute edition, there's plenty more tales) because when I talk about strategies in Ringorang, some of it is because of my experiences with video game tournaments. There are times when sports come into mind. However, Ringorang reminds me of when I played DDR competitively. There were some tournaments where I was trying my hardest to complete a song, and my opponent is breezing by. And you can't do anything to stop them. You can only hope they mess up, somehow.
I'm going to talk about this a lot more during this Friday's videocast. We're still lining up guests, so be sure to check it out.
And for those that have won a perler bead necklace, be on the lookout for those coming soon.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
You can help us for a future weekly challenge
We here at ringorang want to get you involved in our game beyond just answering a question.
We want you to come up with a trivia question for us, which will be used for a future weekly challenge.
Here's what to do.
1. Come up with a question that's 140 characters or less. Hmm ... sounds familiar.
2. Write the correct answer and two incorrect answers, with each answer being less than 35 characters. (I know that there are three incorrect answers, but we'll keep it a secret as to why we want just two from you)
3. E-mail it to contact@ringorang.com with the subject title: PLAYER QUESTION.
4. Include your ringorang name.
You can provide us with as many as three questions.
Now, you probably want to know what is acceptable and what isn't.
These are acceptable:
Question: V8 is known for producing drinks including what kind of product?
Correct: Vegetables
Incorrect: Milk, Tea leaves
Question: Which team won Super Bowl I?
Correct: Green Bay Packers
Incorrect: Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders
These are not:
Question: Which of these is not a bug?
Correct: Bird
Incorrect: Spider, fly
Question: What did I have for breakfast today?
Correct: Steak, eggs and hash
Incorrect: Cereal, Oatmeal
Please keep in mind that we'll have final say over your question, which means we'll edit and modify it to conform to our standards.
Also, since you are providing a question to us, you will get the opportunity to answer it when it arrives, which could be at any hour. HOWEVER, we won't be taking requests for when your question should arrive (ie: Please put my question at 4:59 p.m. Friday).
If you submit a question, you'll still be able to participate in the weekly challenge.
Any other questions? Fire away on the comments section below.
We want you to come up with a trivia question for us, which will be used for a future weekly challenge.
Here's what to do.
1. Come up with a question that's 140 characters or less. Hmm ... sounds familiar.
2. Write the correct answer and two incorrect answers, with each answer being less than 35 characters. (I know that there are three incorrect answers, but we'll keep it a secret as to why we want just two from you)
3. E-mail it to contact@ringorang.com with the subject title: PLAYER QUESTION.
4. Include your ringorang name.
You can provide us with as many as three questions.
Now, you probably want to know what is acceptable and what isn't.
These are acceptable:
Question: V8 is known for producing drinks including what kind of product?
Correct: Vegetables
Incorrect: Milk, Tea leaves
Question: Which team won Super Bowl I?
Correct: Green Bay Packers
Incorrect: Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders
These are not:
Question: Which of these is not a bug?
Correct: Bird
Incorrect: Spider, fly
Question: What did I have for breakfast today?
Correct: Steak, eggs and hash
Incorrect: Cereal, Oatmeal
Please keep in mind that we'll have final say over your question, which means we'll edit and modify it to conform to our standards.
Also, since you are providing a question to us, you will get the opportunity to answer it when it arrives, which could be at any hour. HOWEVER, we won't be taking requests for when your question should arrive (ie: Please put my question at 4:59 p.m. Friday).
If you submit a question, you'll still be able to participate in the weekly challenge.
Any other questions? Fire away on the comments section below.
The late intro
I know it's late to mention this to you, but welcome to Week 10 of our weekly challenge. Ten weeks is a long time, and we're grateful that all of you have stuck with us for this long.
And because of that, we're going to up the stakes. This week, the winner will receive a $250 gift certificate to Amazon.com. All of the other prizes will remain the same.
We over here in the Situational Room have talked about doing this for a while; we would pick a week to show our thanks to all of the players that have participated in our game. Week 10 sounded good.
Since the stakes are raised, I'm curious as to how you all will be playing this week out. Will you be more active, or just as active in previous weeks? Will you try to answer questions quicker than normal? It should be an awesome week.
With the intro out of the way, I wanted to bring up something that I saw last night.
Major League Gaming, a video game league, runs GameBattles, a site dedicated to online competition. Think of it like joining a pickup basketball game; there's a bunch of competitors and you pick one that you want to play against.
There will be online competitions on GameBattles, with the top teams earning ranking points toward Major League Gaming's live events. There's no penalty for not entering GameBattles, but it helps if you're going to Major League Gaming's competitions.
And it got me thinking ... some of you want weekend competitions. I would like to see a weekend competition as well. It's a sprint from beginning to end.
But I don't think it's big enough to where we would give a prize out. However, if we were to say, rank the players that participated and that's where you would be on Monday morning, would that be an incentive to play?
So, let's say that 30 people played in the weekend tournament. On Sunday night, the top 10 would receive 300 dallions, the next 10 would get 200 and the final 10 would get 100. The rates would change based on how many players entered the weekend tournament, but it probably wouldn't exceed 450. Regardless, if you played, you're getting dallions.
And because of that, we're going to up the stakes. This week, the winner will receive a $250 gift certificate to Amazon.com. All of the other prizes will remain the same.
We over here in the Situational Room have talked about doing this for a while; we would pick a week to show our thanks to all of the players that have participated in our game. Week 10 sounded good.
Since the stakes are raised, I'm curious as to how you all will be playing this week out. Will you be more active, or just as active in previous weeks? Will you try to answer questions quicker than normal? It should be an awesome week.
With the intro out of the way, I wanted to bring up something that I saw last night.
Major League Gaming, a video game league, runs GameBattles, a site dedicated to online competition. Think of it like joining a pickup basketball game; there's a bunch of competitors and you pick one that you want to play against.
There will be online competitions on GameBattles, with the top teams earning ranking points toward Major League Gaming's live events. There's no penalty for not entering GameBattles, but it helps if you're going to Major League Gaming's competitions.
And it got me thinking ... some of you want weekend competitions. I would like to see a weekend competition as well. It's a sprint from beginning to end.
But I don't think it's big enough to where we would give a prize out. However, if we were to say, rank the players that participated and that's where you would be on Monday morning, would that be an incentive to play?
So, let's say that 30 people played in the weekend tournament. On Sunday night, the top 10 would receive 300 dallions, the next 10 would get 200 and the final 10 would get 100. The rates would change based on how many players entered the weekend tournament, but it probably wouldn't exceed 450. Regardless, if you played, you're getting dallions.
Monday, January 12, 2009
The Wall of Players
I'm pretty certain most high schools have this. I know that the high school I attended had one, and Mike mentioned his school had it as well.
When I walk into the school's gymnasium, there's several big boards that list all of the school's track and field records. And you only got on the board if you were the record holder.
No, I was never on the board, but a lot of my friends were. Sometimes, there were brief ceremonies when the board was changed because it rarely happened.
I thought about those big boards because we're going to do that with Ringorang ... at least here on the blog.
You already know about those that have a win streak of at least 20 questions correct. Ever wanted to know who's finished a week with a perfect win percentage? Ever wonder who's broken a certain dallion mark? It's those types of things that we're going to highlight here on our Ringorang board.
It's still a work in progress, but when you see it here, I think you'll like it. The task is trying to find certain benchmarks to where it's attainable but rare. I have five in mind, but I won't say what they are because I want to know if you're on the same board with me.
When I walk into the school's gymnasium, there's several big boards that list all of the school's track and field records. And you only got on the board if you were the record holder.
No, I was never on the board, but a lot of my friends were. Sometimes, there were brief ceremonies when the board was changed because it rarely happened.
I thought about those big boards because we're going to do that with Ringorang ... at least here on the blog.
You already know about those that have a win streak of at least 20 questions correct. Ever wanted to know who's finished a week with a perfect win percentage? Ever wonder who's broken a certain dallion mark? It's those types of things that we're going to highlight here on our Ringorang board.
It's still a work in progress, but when you see it here, I think you'll like it. The task is trying to find certain benchmarks to where it's attainable but rare. I have five in mind, but I won't say what they are because I want to know if you're on the same board with me.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Live again with ringorang
From 2:30 p.m. PST until just after the last question of the week comes in, we'll be hosting a live video chat. Come join us as we talk about trivia, crunch time in our "Tribute to Trivia" challenge, and other items.
You'll have a chance to win some prizes along the way. So take part in the chat and be sure to follow us on Twitter; those will be key to winning our little prizes.
You'll have a chance to win some prizes along the way. So take part in the chat and be sure to follow us on Twitter; those will be key to winning our little prizes.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Where's the (corned) beef?
Q:
What puts the “corn” in Corned Beef?
A:
Maize
Salt <<<<
Peppercorn
Sentimental drama and bad jokes
Corned beef does not stem from cattle being fed a corn diet, although if said cattle comes from the United States, odds are it is corned in that sense, too. Maized beef, anyone?
The Old English definition of corn is “grain” or “small seed” or “small granulate.” Salt, of course, falls into that category. Add salt to water and you’ve got brine. Add beef to brine and you’ve got a protein that’ll last a good long time without refrigeration. Helpful if you're the British Army fighting Napoleon in Europe, or a Colonial American who didn't have a Sears nearby.
Still, if you have the good fortune of a refrigerator, I do recommend you use it.
Q:
According to a LiveScience.com report, what is statistically the most dangerous female sport for high school and college Americans?
A:
Diving
Basketball
Cheerleading <<<<
Debate
Click here to read the LiveScience.com article. It should probably be noted that the statistics they cite are based on total reported number of injuries, as opposed to an injury per participant stat, so maybe all this means is cheerleading is really accessible to all high school and college females. I would like to see stats on injuries related to spirit fingers.
What puts the “corn” in Corned Beef?
A:
Maize
Salt <<<<
Peppercorn
Sentimental drama and bad jokes
Corned beef does not stem from cattle being fed a corn diet, although if said cattle comes from the United States, odds are it is corned in that sense, too. Maized beef, anyone?
The Old English definition of corn is “grain” or “small seed” or “small granulate.” Salt, of course, falls into that category. Add salt to water and you’ve got brine. Add beef to brine and you’ve got a protein that’ll last a good long time without refrigeration. Helpful if you're the British Army fighting Napoleon in Europe, or a Colonial American who didn't have a Sears nearby.
Still, if you have the good fortune of a refrigerator, I do recommend you use it.
Q:
According to a LiveScience.com report, what is statistically the most dangerous female sport for high school and college Americans?
A:
Diving
Basketball
Cheerleading <<<<
Debate
Click here to read the LiveScience.com article. It should probably be noted that the statistics they cite are based on total reported number of injuries, as opposed to an injury per participant stat, so maybe all this means is cheerleading is really accessible to all high school and college females. I would like to see stats on injuries related to spirit fingers.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Become my friend, won't ya?
Here's one of the things we're planning for Friday's videocast. Sometime during the 3 p.m. PST hour, we're going to have several Mario Kart Wii races, and they'll be streamed live for you the viewer to enjoy.
Now, normally, I go home and play for a couple hours online against random people. Most of the time, I do really well, but it's against random people, so it's a little bit hallow. It's not completely because a win is a win. But there are times when I've liked to know who I've defeated or lost to.
There's been a couple times where I've raced against my friends (I usually race really late, so everyone on my friends list is asleep). The first time it was against one of the top Mario Kart players in the nation, and I got blown out. The other time, my friends and I participated in an invite tournament, and we were routed by the European players (I'd say that 80 percent of European players could beat North America's best).
So, if you have a Wii and Mario Kart Wii, I want to race you on Friday. Of course, I'm going to need your friend code to do this. Leave your code in the comments below.
My Mario Kart Wii friend code: 3737 9926 8631
Whether I'll be giving out a prize remains to be seen. Let's have some fun first off.
Oh, and I DO NOT use the wheel. Sorry.
Now, normally, I go home and play for a couple hours online against random people. Most of the time, I do really well, but it's against random people, so it's a little bit hallow. It's not completely because a win is a win. But there are times when I've liked to know who I've defeated or lost to.
There's been a couple times where I've raced against my friends (I usually race really late, so everyone on my friends list is asleep). The first time it was against one of the top Mario Kart players in the nation, and I got blown out. The other time, my friends and I participated in an invite tournament, and we were routed by the European players (I'd say that 80 percent of European players could beat North America's best).
So, if you have a Wii and Mario Kart Wii, I want to race you on Friday. Of course, I'm going to need your friend code to do this. Leave your code in the comments below.
My Mario Kart Wii friend code: 3737 9926 8631
Whether I'll be giving out a prize remains to be seen. Let's have some fun first off.
Oh, and I DO NOT use the wheel. Sorry.
"Urthstripe," the Kingorang among Unfictioners
Mychal Stanley is a Golden Domer that's so far been golden in Ringorang. If you've been playing the past few weeks, you've seen the University of Notre Dame student as "Urthstripe." He's won the past two weeks in what turned out to be very close races. Can he make it three in a row? It will be a tough road, considering that he's currently in 13th on Wednesday morning.
Mychal spent a few minutes earlier this week answering questions about his time playing ringorang.
GLENN: How did you find out about ringorang?
MYCHAL: I do believe I saw a tweet from faeryqueen21 lamenting a missed question, and I wanted to know what it was all about. When I found out it was a trivia game I was sold. Before ringorang, I rarely used twitter. I think it had been like a month since I last checked twitter when I saw faeryqueen's tweet. But now I use and check twitter all the time. Gotta keep tabs on my competition!
GC2: You've been a contender nearly every week since you've joined. How have you been able to do it?
MS: I love trivia. My mind is full of useless knowledge, and I love to prove it to people. Add on that I'm almost absurdly competitive, and you have why I've been able to succeed at Ringorang. The money helps, too. Basically, I just stay near my computer whenever I'm home, and take my laptop with me in case I get internet access elsewhere. I've been known to keep the laptop next to my pillow overnight if I need to make a big run.
GC2: Right now (Tuesday afternoon) you're in 17th place. Will we see the surge to first coming soon?
MS: We'll see. I'm kind of taking the week off, since I've won two weeks in a row, and I want to enjoy the last week of my winter break. I doubt I'll get first as it looks like rewil isn't even sleeping. I think second or third might be a possibility, depending on if my competitive streak takes hold.
GC2: You're a member of Unfiction. What is that all about?
MS: Unfiction is a community of people who play Alternate Reality Games, among other things. I joined up back in 2004 when I Love Bees was going on, and I've been there ever since. It's a great community, and it's honestly been life changing being a part of it.
GC2: How cool is it to see other Unfiction members playing the game and doing well?
MS: Like I said, the ARG community is a great one, and the people are some of the smartest I know, so it doesn't surprise me, but it's really neat that we've been able to come in here and do well. Thanks for letting us invade your game!
GC2: You have a Calvin and Hobbes avatar on your twitter. How long have you been a fan and what makes that comic so cool?
MS: Man, I've been a fan of Calvin and Hobbes for as long as I remember. I think the best thing about is it is so honest, which makes even more beautiful, clever, and funny. (Bill) Watterson really poured his heart and soul into the strip, and it shows. And to his credit, he ended it before it became stale.
Mychal spent a few minutes earlier this week answering questions about his time playing ringorang.
GLENN: How did you find out about ringorang?
MYCHAL: I do believe I saw a tweet from faeryqueen21 lamenting a missed question, and I wanted to know what it was all about. When I found out it was a trivia game I was sold. Before ringorang, I rarely used twitter. I think it had been like a month since I last checked twitter when I saw faeryqueen's tweet. But now I use and check twitter all the time. Gotta keep tabs on my competition!
GC2: You've been a contender nearly every week since you've joined. How have you been able to do it?
MS: I love trivia. My mind is full of useless knowledge, and I love to prove it to people. Add on that I'm almost absurdly competitive, and you have why I've been able to succeed at Ringorang. The money helps, too. Basically, I just stay near my computer whenever I'm home, and take my laptop with me in case I get internet access elsewhere. I've been known to keep the laptop next to my pillow overnight if I need to make a big run.
GC2: Right now (Tuesday afternoon) you're in 17th place. Will we see the surge to first coming soon?
MS: We'll see. I'm kind of taking the week off, since I've won two weeks in a row, and I want to enjoy the last week of my winter break. I doubt I'll get first as it looks like rewil isn't even sleeping. I think second or third might be a possibility, depending on if my competitive streak takes hold.
GC2: You're a member of Unfiction. What is that all about?
MS: Unfiction is a community of people who play Alternate Reality Games, among other things. I joined up back in 2004 when I Love Bees was going on, and I've been there ever since. It's a great community, and it's honestly been life changing being a part of it.
GC2: How cool is it to see other Unfiction members playing the game and doing well?
MS: Like I said, the ARG community is a great one, and the people are some of the smartest I know, so it doesn't surprise me, but it's really neat that we've been able to come in here and do well. Thanks for letting us invade your game!
GC2: You have a Calvin and Hobbes avatar on your twitter. How long have you been a fan and what makes that comic so cool?
MS: Man, I've been a fan of Calvin and Hobbes for as long as I remember. I think the best thing about is it is so honest, which makes even more beautiful, clever, and funny. (Bill) Watterson really poured his heart and soul into the strip, and it shows. And to his credit, he ended it before it became stale.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Another video episode coming Friday
First off, I want to thank all of you that took part in Friday's video chat. As I had mentioned during the broadcast, I've done plenty of video streams, but never with me actually as the focus.
And I wasn't worried about running out of dialogue for the 2 1/2 hours because, several times, I've done chat sessions that lasted at least nine hours. There's always something to talk about (and my fingers don't get cramped with all of the typing).
So with that in mind, we're going to do it again this Friday at 2:30 p.m. PST. What are we going to do? I don't know ... OK, I'm kidding. We'll have a few things planned out.
First off, there was such a big response for the perler bead necklaces that we're going to give away four more necklaces. Three of them will be from "The Legend of Zelda" (wait, WHAT? You don't know what that game is? How dare you! Go here, now now now!). The fourth will be a secret until it's time to give it away, and, in my humble opinion, will be just as sweet as the Sonic the Hedgehog necklace.
I'll also be giving out hints for the final three questions, so be sure to listen in because I'll give out the hints at any moment. Considering how close the contest has been the past couple of weeks, the hints will be just as sweet as the inner workings of a Drumstick.
Also, we're working on a way you can interact with us during the live stream aside from answering questions. Stay tuned to the blog for more.
And I wasn't worried about running out of dialogue for the 2 1/2 hours because, several times, I've done chat sessions that lasted at least nine hours. There's always something to talk about (and my fingers don't get cramped with all of the typing).
So with that in mind, we're going to do it again this Friday at 2:30 p.m. PST. What are we going to do? I don't know ... OK, I'm kidding. We'll have a few things planned out.
First off, there was such a big response for the perler bead necklaces that we're going to give away four more necklaces. Three of them will be from "The Legend of Zelda" (wait, WHAT? You don't know what that game is? How dare you! Go here, now now now!). The fourth will be a secret until it's time to give it away, and, in my humble opinion, will be just as sweet as the Sonic the Hedgehog necklace.
I'll also be giving out hints for the final three questions, so be sure to listen in because I'll give out the hints at any moment. Considering how close the contest has been the past couple of weeks, the hints will be just as sweet as the inner workings of a Drumstick.
Also, we're working on a way you can interact with us during the live stream aside from answering questions. Stay tuned to the blog for more.
Monday, January 5, 2009
What kind of swag would you want to play for?
It's something the team and I have been thinking about for a while now. I'm partial to stickers, but I wouldn't mind drinking from a coup that had a Ringorang logo on it.
Let us know what's on your mind. Did we miss something?
Tri + Via = Crazy Delicious
Q:
What Latin word roughly means “place where three roads meet”?
A:
Trial
Triumph
Trivia <<<<
Tricorder
We told you there’d be trivia about trivia, didn’t we?
From Etymonline:
As you can see, trivia is a loaded word. Its contemporary meaning stems from its use as reference to the three basic subjects of a liberal arts curriculum: grammar, rhetoric, and logic. (There were seven total components of liberal arts, with geography, arithmetic, music, and astronomy making up the “Quadrivium.”) According to the [uncited] Wikipedia page, this trifecta of subjects was only of interest to undergraduates, and thus the adjective trivial was born to mean commonplace and insignificant.
To this, we would like to add transcendent, spiritual, and all-around awesome. In his book Brainiac, Jeopardy record-breaker Ken Jennings interviews a few trivia writers about that which is trivial. One posits that trivia, like spirituality, connects you to something bigger.
And it does. Be it the world at large, or the people you play with, or the smug sense of satisfaction when you know an answer no one else does, we certainly believe trivia connects things.
Which is my way of saying thanks for playing Ringorang. Let’s do this thing!
What Latin word roughly means “place where three roads meet”?
A:
Trial
Triumph
Trivia <<<<
Tricorder
We told you there’d be trivia about trivia, didn’t we?
From Etymonline:
1432, "of the trivium," from M.L. trivialis, from trivium "first three of the seven liberal arts," from L., lit. "place where three roads meet," from tri- "three" + via "road." The basic notion is of "that which may be found anywhere, commonplace, vulgar." The meaning "ordinary" (1589) and "insignificant" (1593) were in L. trivialis "commonplace, vulgar," originally "of or belonging to the crossroads." The verb trivialize is attested from 1846.
As you can see, trivia is a loaded word. Its contemporary meaning stems from its use as reference to the three basic subjects of a liberal arts curriculum: grammar, rhetoric, and logic. (There were seven total components of liberal arts, with geography, arithmetic, music, and astronomy making up the “Quadrivium.”) According to the [uncited] Wikipedia page, this trifecta of subjects was only of interest to undergraduates, and thus the adjective trivial was born to mean commonplace and insignificant.
To this, we would like to add transcendent, spiritual, and all-around awesome. In his book Brainiac, Jeopardy record-breaker Ken Jennings interviews a few trivia writers about that which is trivial. One posits that trivia, like spirituality, connects you to something bigger.
And it does. Be it the world at large, or the people you play with, or the smug sense of satisfaction when you know an answer no one else does, we certainly believe trivia connects things.
Which is my way of saying thanks for playing Ringorang. Let’s do this thing!
Our Tribute to Trivia
National Trivia Day was Sunday. Supposedly, on that day you are to send out an e-mail to friends and family regarding a fact. It's a way of showing people that you have good knowledge. Also, you're supposed to play some type of trivia game, the biggest reference being Trivial Pursuit. The origins of the holiday are unknown.
Because of that holiday, Week 9 of our Ringorang challenge will be our "Tribute to Trivia." You're going to get severely challenged. I was looking at the questions for early in the week, and ... if someone gets a perfect win percentage and answers more than 25 questions, IMO they should get an extra gift. Don't count on it, though.
Also, I want to thank everyone that participated in last week's video chat. We're planning to do that more often, perhaps every Friday. We will let you know, for sure.
Here are some hints for today's questions:
* -- This guy was Buckwheat and Gumby.
* -- For the past eight weeks, we've been doing a weekly challenge that's all about a place where three roads meet.
* -- Chuck always seemed to wear a round kind of top hat. And he had this different type of mustache. And he'd star in black-and-white films.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Can you hear me now?
Q:
Sound designer Ben Burtt, an Oscar winner for his work on Star Wars, voiced what 2008 film’s eponymous character?
A:
Kung Fu Panda
Iron Man
WALL-E <<<<
The Curious Case of the BCS
There are a lot of successful people I’m really jealous of, not merely because they are successful but because of what they are successful at. Ben Burtt gets to do what I stopped doing around the age of 10 when I stopped playing with toys: make noises.
WALL-E director Andrew Stanton said, “I’m basically making R2-D2 the movie.” So it makes sense that Stanton would tap Burtt to bring the title character to life.
Burtt won his first Academy Award for Star Wars, a job that included bringing a small robot to life via an array of beeps and electronic whistles. “In my first discussion with George Lucas about the film, he -- and I concurred with him -- that he wanted an 'organic', as opposed to the electronic and artificial soundtrack.” So, as detailed on filmsound.org, Burtt went about recording real gadgets in the real world, and then altered them.
The lightsaber? An old TV set plus 35mm projector.
TIE fighter? An elephant bellow.
Wookies? Try walruses.
Burtt did much the same for WALL-E, as seen in this Pixar promo bit (via Synthtopia):
Sound designer Ben Burtt, an Oscar winner for his work on Star Wars, voiced what 2008 film’s eponymous character?
A:
Kung Fu Panda
Iron Man
WALL-E <<<<
The Curious Case of the BCS
There are a lot of successful people I’m really jealous of, not merely because they are successful but because of what they are successful at. Ben Burtt gets to do what I stopped doing around the age of 10 when I stopped playing with toys: make noises.
WALL-E director Andrew Stanton said, “I’m basically making R2-D2 the movie.” So it makes sense that Stanton would tap Burtt to bring the title character to life.
Burtt won his first Academy Award for Star Wars, a job that included bringing a small robot to life via an array of beeps and electronic whistles. “In my first discussion with George Lucas about the film, he -- and I concurred with him -- that he wanted an 'organic', as opposed to the electronic and artificial soundtrack.” So, as detailed on filmsound.org, Burtt went about recording real gadgets in the real world, and then altered them.
The lightsaber? An old TV set plus 35mm projector.
TIE fighter? An elephant bellow.
Wookies? Try walruses.
Burtt did much the same for WALL-E, as seen in this Pixar promo bit (via Synthtopia):
Live with ringorang
From 2:15 p.m. until just after the last question of the week comes in, we'll be hosting a live video chat. Come join us as we talk about trivia, crunch time in our "2008 Year in Review" challenge, and other items.
You'll have a chance to win some prizes along the way. So take part in the chat and be sure to follow us on Twitter; those will be key to winning our little prizes.
You'll have a chance to win some prizes along the way. So take part in the chat and be sure to follow us on Twitter; those will be key to winning our little prizes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)