July 16, 2000
Whew! It's been a while since I updated, no? I'm working on retooling the
site, but for now, I'm just dealing with scaling back a bit. I'm not sure
whether or not to implement full Flash stuff, or to just have a section or two
playing with it.
What's been going on in my life? Well, in February of '99 I started working for Midway here in Chicago. I've been there since. Things have been fun, frustrating, and relaxing at the same time. They've been changing quite a bit, and I may be a bigger part of it in the future. Then again, I may not!
Personally, I've been tinkering more and more with Win32 stuff, and I may have some better software than the crappy stuff that's up now. I have added my Genetic Playground program -- that I really should do some documentation for -- and I hope to have more software soon.
Fantasy Football season is approaching, and I've got to get my butt in gear. This will be my third season as the commissioner, so I hope to continue to impress the league. The site for that part will be up soon here.
If you're really interested in more, drop me a line!
November 29, 1998
Well, it's been a while. It was comforting to have a few people drop me
some mail asking when I'm going to update my site. Anyway, it's being done now.
I have had quite a few months. Here's the full story:
At the beginning of August, I starting working for Fasa Interactive. A friend of mine had been working over there for a while, and I needed the money! He was kind enough to get me in, and I started doing level design for some of their games. I met some really cool people. In many ways, it was great working there. It had its downsides: kinda corporate structure, long commute to North Michigan Ave., and the hours were long. The long hours are the major reason that I have been negligent in updating this page. I was keeping 13-14 hour days with the commute.
Ok, so earlier this month, Fasa announces that they're talking with Microsoft about a publishing deal. The deal gets more and more firm. Soon, they announce that a deal will be cut shortly. I have a problem with this. I have friends working on the case for the DOJ, and from what little they can share I have been disgusted with Microsoft's approach. I could not in good conscience work for a company that would do business with Microsoft. I let them know. I know, you're probably thinking "What a dumb move," but I had a good friend working there, and it would have been a bastard move to leave them in the lurch quietly. I've always been an honest person. Anyway, I was basically allowed to quit, although I was told when to do it. I was ushered out a bit earlier than we had agreed, and on the day I left, Fasa announced that Microsoft had absorbed them. Many people were left without jobs, and the whole operation (what was chosen/remaining) was being moved out to Redmond, WA.
So I was basking in my prophetic nature and now I'm looking for work. I just hope that I can keep my head above water long enough to make my own way instead of continuing to support the greed of corporate America.
Lesse, on other notes, I'm sucked into Zelda 64 now. It's very cool. I also saw the Underworld show at the House of Blues last weekend. It was *way* cool. I'm also having the worst fantasy football season of my five year stint. Such is life.
July 3, 1998
Finished my ninth column on Tuesday. I've been cruising along with those.
I just hope I can keep the ideas coming! I've also picked up doing reviews
for Happy Puppy's Pawprint Press. My first review is linked to on the
articles page. It's not as open ended as my column, but a) it's work,
and b) I hope to use it as a stepping stone.
I've been working with Scitech's Windows libraries. Couple that with some learning about Win32 coding, and Peon may take place after all! I'm not giving up, and I hope to keep plugging away at Windows coding. It's very different from the structured programming I'm used to.
Summer is hot so far in Chicago. If this keeps up, we may be due for another 100+ degree scorcher! At least I have central air this time. When I lived in Evanston, it was a royal pain.
I've also been named acting commissioner of our fantasy football league. I hope to do great things, and we'll be having our web site here. If you've ever been curious I hope that I can get you excited to try. Fantasy football adds a really exciting dimension to watching football.
May 1, 1998
Things are going well in Chicago. I've been working on a side design
project that I hope will continue. Depends on whether the game gets
picked up. The column is going well. Only five on-line so far, but I
submitted the seventh about two weeks ago. It's really going well, and I
hope that I can parlay it into other writing work.
Software development end is going slowly due to the making a living drag. I don't anticipate to continue like this, but I'm sure if you look below I was saying that almost a year ago!
Changed service providers to Enteract. They seem to be much better as far as service is concerned, and they have a lot more cool web stuff that I hope to use soon.
March 11, 1998
Well, I've settled in a bit in Buffalo Grove, and I'm hopefully going
to determine my fate for the next year by the end of the month. I've got
a couple of promising offers, and they should allow me the freedom to
continue to bolster my programming skills (and libraries). At least I've
managed to remain somewhat freelance.
I'm kicking around some ideas for JavaScript games, just to show what can be done with the language. I hope to play around with the ideas and keep you informed.
The column is going great. The response has been favorable, and I'm moving up (page-wise) in the mag every issue. Here's to hoping that I can make the cover someday! If you haven't checked it out yet, follow the link on the Main Page or below in Feburary's entry.
Also, I've registered madopal.com, so you may see a change in e-mail and web site address soon. Keep your eyes out for a redirection when you visit this site in the future!
Feburary 9, 1998
I made it back to Chicago! The move was hectic, I blew my knees out
loading the truck in Jersey for seven hours, and the leasing office in
Buffalo Grove closed early making for a change of plans. After a week
of unpacking, I'm finally getting settled.
Funny story: Esme & I have a cat, Suki. Our landlord came by when we were moving out of Jersey and Suki, being a timid cat, ran and hid. At one point, Esme & I were out by the truck with my landlord. He needed to use the phone, so he went back to the apartment. When we returned, he left. We didn't see Suki for a while. We called for her, but she didn't come out. After an hour and a half of looking, we began to panic. It was getting dark, and Suki is a black cat. She's never been outside really, so we were worried that she somehow got outside, got scared, and was hiding. After another hour of searching, Esme heard a scratching in the kitchen. Turns out that she managed to crawl into a cabinet, onto a shelf in the cabinet, and climb into a kitchen drawer! Damn, that cat can hide!
Well, Peon is coming slowly due to art concerns, but I'm working on it. No dates mentioned yet. I'm trying to find ways to make ends meet in the meantime.
I've completed three columns for GameWEEK so far, check out my articles page.
Also, The Steiner Brothers broke the luck streak and took the 1997 OFFL Championship! A definite coup for my fantasy football luck!
December 10, 1997
Ok, well, I had intended to do an update in October, so if you see
any October references, e-mail me. I've been working away at contracts
to make my bills, as things have gotten tight since I left Millennium
RUSH. It was expected, though. I've had some slow points with The
Peon. No dates will be mentioned for it; it'll get done when it
gets done. I'm working away on that as well as some other projects.
The best news is that I gave my notice for my lease. I'll be moving back to Chicago in late January or early February. I'm looking forward to getting back. It's been a rough two years out here, and I miss my friends and family. Plus I have to see Michael play once live before he retires!
In other news, I got a column in a video game trade magazine. It will be debuting in Feb., and the magazine is called GameWeek. It was called VideoGame Advisor, but it'll be going to a new format next year, and they're changing the name. I've got a national voice now, look out!
In fantasy football, my team has made it to the Super Bowl for the first time ever! I've cracked that 0-4 playoff record, and I'm going for the gold! After another great season (11-3), it's about time.
Well, I've also been working with a group on the on-line distribution front, and Daedalus' Labyrinth may be on another site. Keep a look out here for more information.
September 5, 1997,
First off, Bo died on August 16th. It was a hard time for me, and
I'm planning some memorial stuff as soon as I get the cash together
to do something about it. To the best of our knowledge, he didn't suffer
the final moments. Take care of your pets and spend time with them now.
Anyone who doesn't have a Macaw or suitably long-living pet will have
to go through pain and loss. I wonder why the birds aren't immortal and
*we* can die instead. However, let it be a lesson to all of you with
birds:
They hide their sickness. Take them to the vet at the *first* sign of trouble.
Ok, so The Peon is coming along well. I've had to sidetrack for a week or two to earn some money. I still hope to have something up here by the end of September. If I'm off on my prediction, too bad. It's my first time coding my own project, and I'm gonna take the time to do it right.
Also, my lease in New Jersey is up at the end of January. At this point, it looks like I'll be heading back to Chicago at that time. I'm looking forward to getting back to the Midwest. I guess I'm just a Bulls fan at heart.
Finally, fantasy football season has started. I'm 0-1 already, and I'm not going to bore anyone with rosters and records. Suffice it to say that my Sundays are a bust for the next 14 weeks (at least).
August 7, 1997
Well, the project is coming along nicely. It's going to be called
"The Peon," and I'm not saying anything more than that at this time.
I hope to have something downloadable on this site by the end of August,
or mid-September at the *latest*. I know I'll regret putting a date in
writing, but that's what life is about! I'm growing by leaps and bounds
as a programmer, and I'm glad that I got the chance to concentrate
working on this project. Even if I end up back in my parents' basement,
it was worth it!
Bo is gaining weight and pulling through, but we don't know if he'll ever be able to maintain his body temperature again. He may have to live in an incubator cage for the rest of his life (which I *hope* is about 15 more years). It's not that bad, we just put a heating pad in the bottom of a cage and wrap the cage in towels. He's got a few places where he can see out, and we can take him out for brief periods. Thanks to all that expressed concern!
Special thanks to all that have been giving me bug reports and feedback on the site. Keep up the good work!
June 16, 1997
My stay at Millennium RUSH ended over a month ago. I'm working
on a project that should be out shortly, and it will be featured
heavily on this site. The changes to this web site have
also kept me busy as of late. Since this is probably up after E3,
I'm assuming many of you didn't see me there. Sorry, but money is
kinda tight when you're out of work! I will definitely be there next
year! Other than that, I'm just pluggin' away, trying to make it in
the entrepreneurial system. Keep your fingers crossed! And the Bulls
won, so I can get back to a normal life.
I'd also like for you to all to give some positive thought to my bird, Bo. He's an Indian Ringneck Parakeet, which is actually a parrot. Anyway, he's been sick lately, so any good karma and energy you can pass his way would help me greatly. Thanks!
Keep watching the site for some major changes in the next few months. I hope to have my Web-zine up, and I also hope to have some screenshots from my upcoming project!