The entire Rhino Records catalog is on sale at Tower right now. Rhino is an excellent label, with something for everyone from Tom Lehrer to Space Ghost to The Monkees to The Cars and everything in between and around (no, I’m not gaining anything from this plug besides spreading the joy of wonderful back catalogs of recent music history).

A while back, brig wrote: “i really despise company functions. more than likely because i’m an introvert, but i just really dislike being forced to have fun and socialize. especially since it’s all the extroverts who think it’s a good time and want to force you into attending.” It reminded me of thoughts I’ve had on the culture of software companies, especially the typical, conflicting (ideally with positive results) relationship between marketing and engineering.

Once at a previous company, we software engineers had been working intense, long hours on a major release. We were all tired and cranky, grumpily plowing through our bug lists. Some marketing types came in after normal office hours to decorate the office for a Halloween party. They put on loud music and had a loud, giggly time stringing up streamers and cobwebs, as we tried to concentrate on our code. We complained that they were being loud and they turned down the music. And then the next day we were pretty much forced to participate in silly Halloween activities (they were probably fun, not just silly, and, yeah we probably needed a break, but we were pissy about it anyway).

Well, the marketing people were very upset by our attitude because, in their minds, they were trying to create some fun for us, and they did not understand why the last thing we wanted to do was dress up in costumes and carouse with the entire company. Well, the only thing I wanted to do at that point of the release was crawl into a comfy little hole and sleep for a few months. It’s tough creating a comfortable environment for everyone. A mix of personality types creates the best software. But how do you create a productive social atmosphere for everyone? Be understanding of everyone’s needs and don’t make people feel bad if their idea of relaxation doesn’t match yours.

The Craft of Adventure: Five articles on the design of adventure games. It includes a Bill of Player’s Rights, such as the right to “Not to need to do boring things for the sake of it” and (since my links are all Canadian today) “Not to need to be American”. There’s some great stuff in this set of essays and it took me back to some long hours plowing through Zork on my Commodore 64, and to my CS101 final project, which was a zany game wherein you chased toothpaste thieves through Disney World (luckily, my professor had a good sense of humor). (via Bovine Inversus)

I read about the Canadian post office offering personalized stamps (I think this is the Canada Post web page about it) and remembered that I once had this strange thought sequence about customized stamps. When services like E-Stamp were launching, I thought that it would be cool if you could print your own stamp designs. My next thought was that perhaps there could be free postage paid for by having the stamp be an ad. Then I realized that the impressions for an ad on something sent through the mail was pretty low so that was a stupid idea. Then I thought, well, discounted stamps or not, there could be specially licensed stamps with the latest fashionable logo (Tommy Hilfiger, Pokemon, Nike, etc) so people could “brand” their letters. But then I realized that the people in that target market probably just send email these days, so that wouldn’t go over so well. Maybe there’s something viable in that train of thoughts. People still send wedding invitations, thank you notes (I hope!), birth announcements, etc.

Two quotes from delivery trucks spotted on 101 (or, as the natives call it, “the 101″):
“Poultry in motion.”
“I only have ice for you.”
I don’t need to tell you what kind of delivery trucks they were, do I?

In the ongoing theme of digital vs physical, Wired has an article called “Who Can Dig Digital Books?” For the next five years, University of Pennsylvania Library will make all the history works produced by Oxford University Press available electronically. They hope to find out how digital texts are used, whether they take the place of or supplement books. As you know, five years is a lot in Internet time, and I wonder how vast the evolution could be over five years. One breakthrough in affordable, highly readable screens could cause a revolution. Of course the evolving use of books with the availability of electronic text may be a slow transition, and I assume the study will be designed to record the evolution, not just figure out how to deal with it. The study has a limited range of books, and it may not be able to reflect what could happen if electronic books catch on for the mass market. But I suppose readers will find less benefit in dynamically searching Danielle Steele than a more scholarly title. Then again, some people may like skipping forward to the good parts of fluff novels. Someone could write a search algorithm for the effective perusal of romance novels (you know what I mean).

I sent my dad the link to the squirrel-zapping bird feeder and he replied that he also needs a crow-proof and deer-proof bird feeder. Great.

I’m currently reading Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine. It updates or outright debunks quite a few “facts” which I learned in school, those many years ago. It made me realize that scientific knowledge continues to be gathered and sometimes disproven, and I shouldn’t assume that theories I learned in school are still considered true. It must be both fascinating and frustrating to be a medical doctor and have to keep up with all the research and new evidence that may be against accepted practices. I’ve had a few run-ins with doctors who refuse to listen to new information I bring to them (I always do my own research). One MD told me: “That study isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on!” But I digress. Buzz is well-written, well-researched, and may significantly update your understanding of these substances. Now that I’ve learned all about why it’s not completely true that alcohol is a depressant (but that’s what they told me in school!), I’m moving onto the caffeine portion. The author, Stephen Braun, has a new book out which also looks fascinating: The Science of Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Mood.

I was surfing around Inconspicuous Consumption and suddenly recognized something I own. It’s an MP 4000 Postal Scale. Now I know the official name for my little postal scale. I’ve always loved how elegantly simple it is, and it is perfectly accurate. Hmmm, you know, Restoration Hardware should really sell these — maybe they already do. As our gadgets become more digital and electronic, items like these become more firmly ensconced under the heading of “quaint”. There must be devices that electronics will not replace, but I can think of electronic replacements for many things. Even plain old toothbrushes are being superseded by fancy gizmos. I’ll hang onto my whistling teakettle. One day maybe those will have configurable “whistles”. “Tea for Two” would be my pick.

It’s about time. Thanks to Steve and twernt for the news that Peter Gabriel is about to release a new album. The music is from the Millenium Dome show he helped create. Did you know that Tuesday is the day to hit the record store for new releases?