The American Way

Author: Tommy Leung | 06.30.2008 | Category: Politics

“Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government” – United States Declaration of Independence

We often forget what it means to be Americans and usually that means we forgot the American history that we were taught in school. Every reputable textbook on American history has a copy of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution in it. If you were anything like me, you never bothered to read them–even though it was assigned. The schools probably could have done a better job making it more engaging and helped us better understand the older English but, they didn’t. Those documents didn’t really mean much to me as I never really understood them. There has always been an unconscious idea of American principles that I’ve carried around. Only recently have I been able to consciously express them. I place a much higher value on the Constitution and Declaration of Independence today because of its ideas and its message–also known as the American Way.

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You Are Being Robbed

Author: Tommy Leung | 06.26.2008 | Category: Economics, Money, Politics

The talk of economics usually puts people to sleep. We feel the affects of high food and gas prices and we know it has something to do with inflation. What if I told you the reality is that you are being robbed? Inflation is the talk of the town these days. That is why prices are so high. Not the other way around. The prices are not causing inflation–popular thought is a misunderstanding of cause and effect. I’ve read headlines and articles that keep referring to inflation as an increase in prices. Simply put: it is wrong. The truth is, you are being robbed.

The concept of inflation is not hard to understand. It is not mystical and not a topic we the people can’t grasp. Trust me, you are smart enough. The Federal Reserve met today, the 26th of June, and decided that they were not going to change the interest rates. So, what the hell does that mean? It means that the Federal Reserve decided not to rob us. When interest rates are lowered, money is more freely available through loans. This increases the amount of money in circulation. The law of supply and demand tells us that if there is a greater supply of something, it will be worth less. That is the net effect of a lowering of the interest rate. The rate has been lowered several times in the last year.

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George Carlin on the Environment

Author: Tommy Leung | 06.24.2008 | Category: Videos

I spent some time watching George Carlin videos on YouTube today. He is one funny man and his opinions are well worth listening to. Though I’ve never been a huge fan of Carlin, I’ve seen some of his work in the past and recalled it when I saw it again on YouTube today. Enjoy this one on the environment.

The Absurd James Hansen

Author: Tommy Leung | 06.23.2008 | Category: Politics, Science

NASA’s James Hansen, a leading climate scientist, called on Congress to try the CEO of oil companies for high crimes against humanity. You read correctly: high crimes against humanity. Who knew that providing the energy to allow us to live the lives we do today was so terrible? What does Hansen think powers NASA’s horribly inefficient rockets? Hansen compared the CEO of oil companies to CEOs of the tobacco industry years ago when they tried to cloud the link between smoking and cancer.

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Wheels of Fury Game

Author: Tommy Leung | 06.23.2008 | Category: Internet, Video Games

I had finished programming this game a while ago and now Cartoon Network has finally put it online! Cul-De-Sac Smash 2: Wheels of Fury is a sequel to the original game based on the Ed, Edd n Eddy cartoon series on Cartoon Network. TinyMantis did the programming on the original before I started working there and we got the programming gig for the sequel so I ended up handling the project–the nice folks at Templar Studios did the art (their website has not been updated since forever).

The Special Attacks are actually really awesome. My favorite is Johnny’s Plank Attack. Theoretically this newer version should run faster than the original since I made some optimizations but, I’m going to doubt anyone will notice. I’ll end this by letting you in on a secret. When you get to the Garage screen, press the ESC key and a Cheat Codes menu will come up. Type in “Jackpot” for free money–you can use it as much as you want. Enjoy the game!

Edit: While I’m pimping games I’ve recently been a part of that have been published, check out Lil’ Bush: Iraq Hero at Comedy Central–programmed by yours truly.

End of Income Tax in Massachusetts?

Author: Tommy Leung | 06.21.2008 | Category: Economics, Politics

This November, on the Massachusetts ballot will be an initiative to eliminate the income tax of the state of Massachusetts. With the economy getting worse everyday and prices skyrocketing thanks to government’s addiction to inflation, citizens of Massachusetts are looking for relief.

Some state legislators say it will cripply state services–like their salaries. The tax accounts for about 40% of the state’s income. This means $11 billion dollars will be better used in the hands of the people instead of wasted by government. Social services advocates, legislative leaders, and the Massachusetts Taxpayer’s Foundation are against this measure because they won’t benefit from it but, the people of Massachusetts will.

A similar initiative received 45% of the vote in 2002 when the economy was doing better. I hope this passes in November. The people need the money a lot more than the government.

Developing Facebook Applications

Author: Tommy Leung | 06.19.2008 | Category: Business, Internet, Marketing, Money

I’ve worked on several Facebook Applications since the beginning of the year and although none of them have been massively successful hits, I’ve learned a couple of things about developing Facebook Applications. Hopefully, I can share some of what I’ve learned and experienced. I’m not going to talk much about the technical development process but instead, more of the marketing and business aspects. I’m also going to try to not make broad assumptive conclusions based on my experiences but instead, share my experiences and give conclusions that I’m pretty confident in. Some of us are making applications because we want to share our great ideas with the world but, all of us would like to monetize our ideas–don’t lie, you know you do. :)

Facebook launched their application platform in the middle of 2007 and it has done very well since. Thousands of people have made applications for it and some businesses have sprouted from it. I was generally cautious of the Facebook Platform and did not look into it until mid-January of 2008. As of today, I have four active Facebook Applications that were developed solely by me and one other that I worked on. My applications aren’t drawing any significant number of daily active users–I don’t even have an application that has 1000 installs yet. The total combined user base of all my applications probably falls in around 1500 – 2000 installs. It isn’t impressive but, keep reading.

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