Game Marketer. Game Developer. Libertarian.
"There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other." - Douglas H. Everett
Applying Programming to Life
By Tommy Leung on 07/13/2008 in Life
I never knew I would be doing so much programming professionally. I grew up wanting to be an artist. Drawing was my thing; I drew a lot and loved doing it. I loved Disney cartoons and comic book superheroes. I didn’t care about the great European painters. My parents would always say that artists didn’t make any money and that I’d starve to death as an artist. I was way too young to care much about money so that didn’t mean anything to me.
Life progressed and I basically fell into programming. I only learned how to code to make games–I also only drew because I wanted to make comic books and cartoons. I don’t really do much programming outside of work these days and drawing has fell completely off the radar. I’m mostly engaged in politics, economics, money, and business now. But, I have been programming for a good many years professionally and on my own and there are a few incredible parallels to life that I’ve discovered.
Jim Rogers on Asia, Dollar, and Fed
By Tommy Leung on 07/10/2008 in Games
I’ve read Rogers’ books and have seen many of his interviews. I consider him a pretty smart guy when it comes to investing and economics. He discusses Asia, the US Dollar, and the Federal Reserve in this video. Rogers’ predicts the Federal Reserve will be gone within the decade–I would hope so.
Don Harrold July 4th
By Tommy Leung on 07/10/2008 in Politics
I’ve been watching Don Harrold’s videos on YouTube for quite a while now. He makes a lot of good videos about the markets, CNBC, Mad Money with Jim Cramer, etc. I didn’t see this particular 4th of July video until now and felt compelled to share. Check it out!
Public TMI
By Tommy Leung on 07/08/2008 in Life
In New York City, a lot of people are walking around talking on their cellphones or just talking to each other and they get overheard. That is expected and a lot of times the few snippets of conversation that you overhear are pretty funny. There are other times where you are confined with strangers–like on a public bus–and forced to hear about their life’s dramas. Those who talk politely without disturbing everyone else on the bus are fine but, there is always that one clown who can’t help but tell the entire bus his life story.
I take the Express Bus home from Manhattan to Staten Island–it is usually pretty tranquil. Tonight, this guy was sharing his unnecessary drama with someone on the phone–and everyone on the bus. I don’t want to be stereotypical but, I am pretty sure this guy was gay. I have no problem with gays and know quite a few myself. He bordered on being a “queen”, had an attitude, and a Staten Island accent. His conversation consisted of this person fighting with that person and this slut fucking someone. I don’t know if anyone around him gave a shit but, we all had to hear about it.
Cellphones today have this awesome feature called text messages. I think we should all use that when we are in confined public places. Telling everyone within earshot about your life is too much information. Please spare the innocent. :)
From Starbucks to Dunkin Donuts
By Tommy Leung on 07/07/2008 in Marketing
A few months ago I stopped buying my coffee from Starbucks and started going to Dunkin Donuts. I don’t know what exactly prompted me to do that. I had been buying Starbucks coffee for years and would specifically look for Starbucks when I wanted coffee. It might have had something to do with the economy going south–do I pay for gas and food or expensive coffee? Starbucks was also going through–and still is–a rough patch. Their stock price was down and the company had plans to close a great number of stores.
Then came their new marketing campaign. I’m not sure about Starbucks stores outside of New York City, but they started putting up little signs on every Starbucks that said something to the effect of having the best neighborhood coffee. Starbucks was trying to go back to their original image of small and local. I find that rather difficult in NYC when there is a Starbucks on every other street corner.
Video on Gas Prices
By Tommy Leung on 07/07/2008 in Politics
Found this video at The Freetarian blog, you might know him better as Val Venis of wrestling fame. Does a great job explaining the real reason behind why the price of gas is so high today. I’ve wrote about it but, this is a quick two minute explanation; perfect for those who don’t like to read. :)
