David V. Kimball

The Best Clockwise Alternative: Sync Your Calendars

David V. Kimball — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Clockwise announced it's winding down, and a lot of people are scrambling for replacements. I was a Clockwise user too, and after some tinkering I found a Clockwise alternative that actually works better for my needs. Hopefully it helps you!

The Problem

I have two Google accounts: a personal one (Gmail) and a work one (Google Workspace, @lilagents.com). I need people booking time with me (clients, teammates, friends, really anyone) to see my actual availability without me manually blocking things off.

Clockwise solved part of this. But it was also doing a lot I didn't need, and when it shut down I realized the core thing I depended on was simple: keep my calendars in sync so my availability is always accurate.

Layer 1: Calendar Sync

I built a small Python script that runs every 30 minutes via GitHub Actions. It reads all "busy" events from my personal Google Calendar and creates "(Busy)" placeholder blocks on my work calendar. No event titles or details get copied, just the time slots.

The Python script:

When I move, cancel, or change a personal event, the blocks update or disappear on the next run. It tracks which blocks it created using Google Calendar's extendedProperties, so it never touches events it didn't make.

Total cost: $0.

If you don't want to roll your own, ScheduleSync looks like it does the same thing as a hosted service. I haven't used it myself, but the pitch matches: connect multiple Google Calendars, sync availability without leaking details.

Layer 2: Scheduling Links With Cal.com

I use cal.com for both my personal and work scheduling. One instance connects to my personal Google account, the other to a shared lilAgents Workspace account. Both see the same availability because of the sync layer above.

Layer 3: The Team Scheduling Hack

Google Workspace's basic plan only gives you one scheduling link per user. That's annoying when you're a small team and want different booking pages for different needs.

My workaround: I connected cal.com to an admin Workspace account that has a shared booking calendar visible to the whole team. The event types use keywords in the title: "Sales," "Dev," "Design," "Team." A Zapier automation watches that calendar every 15 minutes, parses the title for those keywords, and adds the right people to the invite.

Someone books a "Sales Team" call, me and our account manager get added. "Dev" goes to me and our CTO. "Design" gets our creative director and myself. "Team" gets all four of us. The shared calendar is the source of truth, so even within the 15-minute polling window the chances of getting double-booked are low because the time is claimed the moment it's booked.

The Full Stack

Layer	Tool	Cost
Calendar sync	Custom Python script on GitHub Actions	Free
Personal scheduling	cal.com (personal account)	Free tier
Work scheduling	cal.com (Workspace account)	Free tier
Team routing	Zapier + shared Google Calendar	Free tier

Another case of finding a free way to get a premium service.

(My colleague Dylan calls this D.A.P.: David-Approved Pricing.)

Was Clockwise Worth It?

Yeah, when it worked it was useful. But looking back, the part I actually needed was way simpler than what Clockwise offered. I didn't need AI meeting rearrangement or "flexible meetings," I just needed my calendars to talk to each other.

If you're looking for a Clockwise alternative, don't overthink it. Figure out which piece you actually relied on and solve that one problem.

Focus

David V. Kimball — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

With focus, there are no distractions. No ambiguity about where your attention is. You can be fully present.

==Focus== is my word for 2026.

Lately I've become obsessed with removing any and all superlative elements from my periphery, or at least minimizing them.

Reflected in this site itself and sites like it, when you have fewer options in front of you, you're forced to contend with what you're seeing in front of you. This improves your productivity by spending less time on distractions and more time doing meaningful work.

(This prioritization of "less" seems to run counter to a PC Setup optimized for multitasking with multiple monitors. So I'm still figuring that part out.)

ToDos and ToDon'ts

Turns out what helps to turn ideas into completed projects is something like a daily ritual where you look at your ToDo list. That's building a ritual of focus each day. As this habit becomes normalized, getting through the noise of life (or "the whirlwind" as described in The 4 Disciplines of Execution) becomes easier. Life will hit you with unexpected changes, but a commitment to focus will get you through it, and back on track to where you want to prioritize your time and effort.

Building a "ToDon't" list is another valuable exercise. List the things you maybe have been involved in previously for which you'd like to build an exit strategy.

When you achieve true focus, your best deep work can happen.

Focus in Software

Forcing software to be simpler and tighter to your needs is a mixed bag. Often software doesn't let you do that by default, or you have to brute force it. Sometimes it allows you to make tweaks to it to adjust its noisiness, but not always, and rarely in the exact ways you'd want.

When you do have an optimized setup with your streamlined, tweaked software, though, that's when you get immensely satisfying digital flow. You just need the discipline to get there.

This is what my screen looks like right now:

As you can see, it's tripped down to its bare essence: typing words on a page. This is Obsidian using the Zen Mode plugin within Vault CMS.

You can take a deep breath. Fortify your thoughts. Write down what comes to mind. Edit and refine.

This is how writing was meant to be! Focused and distraction-free. It may just take some calibrating to get there.

More Present Family Time

You can have singular focus on the wrong thing.

Sometimes after a day of purposeful, engaging work, it's difficult to stop thinking about it when the work day ends.

Maintaining control of a wandering mind can be very difficult. I find a "shutdown" ritual helpful here, where I load up my ToDo list for the next day or my notes with what's in-progress and where I need to direct my attention for the next day, and getting that out there can help me task-switch to family time. I know it's accounted for, set aside, and ready to be resumed when tomorrow begins.

Focusing Without Trying

Hyperfixation is a focus superpower. Makes it feel effortless. There's nothing like being in the zone when everything naturally just comes together. At that point, you aren't even trying and things just work.

I love that feeling.

The History of My Personal Website

David V. Kimball — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Something I keep coming back to is finding new and fun ways to create online, whether that's making videos on YouTube, creating projects on GitHub, or writing blog posts here.

And while I've dabbled in making websites since 2006, I really started taking it more seriously in 2012 when I purchased davidvkimball.com. I had used Bravenet in the past, tried the now-defunct Webs.com (formerly freewebs.com) and settled on Weebly. They let you use a custom domain name for free (~~although that wouldn't last~~)!

Metro-Inspired

I was very into what Microsoft was doing around that time particularly with Windows Phone and their other consumer products, so I modeled my website after the Metro UI design language.

My blog was hosted on Tumblr, and initially separate.

I refined the Weebly site over the years, by 2015 I had multiple custom animated GIF images with glow animations for the live tile-based design and a merged the blog into it. I was still grandfathered into their free plan with a custom domain name.

I made an over-the-top intro trailer for it for fun.

Beyond Metro

I had published a book on Twitter and started a podcast about social media, which led me to create a custom website using Tumblr. Why? The service also let you use a custom domain name for free, so I used that for the Beyond Tweeting Podcast site. It was a natural fit for blog posts that had SoundCloud podcast episode embeds in them.

Finally I attempted to go a different design direction and go for a more independent look in 2017. I was leaning more into my Twitch stream and professional platform on LinkedIn. Still on Weebly.

Moving to Static Site Generators

By 2021, I discovered the best free option to creating a custom website and went for it. I found a free HTML5 theme and published it hosting on GitHub and deploying with Netlify.

At this point I was fairly involved with the Super Smash Bros. community and had created a documentary covering the development of Super Smash Bros. Melee, among other things. So it was a central focus of my content on YouTube and in other places.

However, I couldn't merge the blog because it was too difficult for me to figure out how to do with static site generators at the time and use them with the theme I wanted. So I created a separate blog using Gatsby with the help of a friend.

I had also created Blippi.gg (now melee.tv) which furthered my comfort level in custom websites, using a template from HTML5 UP.

In 2023 I purchased a new website theme and tweaked it to add a dark/light mode toggle. I decided to migrate my blog to Hashnode since I enjoyed the user experience and I could use a custom domain name for no charge.

Discovering the Indie Web

Around this time, I started experimenting with creating other websites, and discovered the indie web, a quietly growing network of small, distinctive websites that mimicked the feeling of the 90s and 2000s internet.

So in the spirit of fun, I created a Neocities website. It felt a lot like the first website I made in 2006.

Then I created create.dvdv.kim (formerly david.qa). This was a site that helped users create websites, specifically allowing them to blend the retro/indie web aesthetic with the modern static site generator tool options.

Something that kept me coming back to these alternative sites was their simplicity. They didn't demand a full-screen width or over-the-top animations. They were simpler and more focused.

The biggest pain was updating dynamic blog content. You had to update the HTML files manually, and that got tedious quickly. There was some enjoyment in the process, but I'd much rather spend my time getting ideas and resources out there, not updating "previous" and "next" blog UI links every time I wanted to post.

Discovering Astro

In mid-2024 I was casually browsing new website / blog themes on GitHub and stumbled upon Fuwari. It used Astro which I hadn't heard of before. It was a bit of a learning curve at first, but quickly I adapted to it.

Then I realized the content were comprised of Markdown files on my PC. So I tired opening the content folder with Obsidian. And it worked.

Using the git-based workflow, Astro, and Obsidian together felt amazing. I just had to tweak the theme a little bit so that it "just worked" and after I went back and forth with ChatGPT, I was able to get them all to work together seamlessly.

This started an obsession with Astro sites and themes - I was blown away by how speedy and performant they were. This lead me down a rabbit trail of discovering new site designs and frameworks I wanted to try.

So I created an experimental, daily blog called david.qa using the Chiri Astro theme.

I was enthralled by how minimal it was. It was so focused. Every detail showed up. There were no superfluous elements. Everything in the design served a purpose.

I wanted to try my hand at making my own custom Astro theme - so I began with Astro Modular. I wanted to for something "optionally" minimal; users could get a decked-out, feature-packed experience or a totally-stripped down design.

Here's how it looked when all of the features were enabled on the homepage:

The same theme, but just with most of the elements stripped out a different color palette:

In parallel, I was developing Vault CMS. I codified the workflow I was utilizing to use Obsidian and Astro together into a formal content management system, consisting of various plugins an an opinionated Obsidian vault of configurations.

Astro Modular served as the perfect use case for it working well. It was fun to work on, and it quickly gained momentum.

2026 Design

After publishing Vault CMS documentation via the Starlight theme, I was ready to remake my personal website with all of the knowledge I had acquired.

And that's the website you see today.

You'll notice in that screenshot, the this blog post's title is faded out. That's because it's a draft and I'm writing it right now. It's an example of the little features I'm able to add - like when using pnpm dev, let draft posts not show up in production, but show faded while testing locally.

Design Philosophy

I didn't merely want something minimal, I wanted something focused.

Over the years I've gradually acclimated to a particular workflow where I've actively simplified the software I use by reducing it to just the functions I'd use. I've also become a lot more keyboard-centric relying on even more keyboard shortcuts, macros, and keyboard layers than I have in previous years.

As a fan of the Metro UI design language, I appreciate the content, not chrome philosophy. The content itself can be the design. You don't necessarily need to add in extra shiny buttons of flashy elements for their own sake.

The command palette is another feature born from these ideas. You can open it by pressing CMD / CTRL + K. You can instantly start typing and get results. Pressing TAB will let you cycle through the options of posts, pages, and social links, while using the arrow keys lets you move between results, and hitting Enter opens the highlighted result. It's so snappy and satisfying to use.

When you open a new page on the site, elements float in elegantly. It's snappy enough so you're not waiting for an animation to finish, subtle enough to maybe not even notice it, but enough to where it adds that bit of polish to the experience.

I've added icons throughout, added an optional updated date for pages and posts, added a fun easter egg page, and more. Not to mention the fact that it works perfectly with Vault CMS and even has a few custom Obsidian plugins made specifically for it that I haven't released publicly. 👀

Effectively I can effortlessly link between posts, pages, and other content in Obsidian, all using the native features like you would for taking notes, and it "just works" when translated to Astro. I don't have to edit relative links or fix Obsidian extended Markdown syntax to conform or work for Astro, it just works. Graph view, backlinks, properties work as you'd expect and translate perfectly in a way Astro understands them, too.

Here's a view where you can see me testing locally directly within Obsidian. I'm using the Terminal community plugin and the web view core plugin to do that.

In the center you can see the graph view, with all of my posts and pages connected via links and tags. On the left you can see I'm using Folder Notes where index.md is the content I'm writing, and all of the images and other assets are within that folder. Keeps things more organized as you can see here:

Using This Theme

If you'd like to use a version of this theme yourself, it's available here as the Axis theme.

Design Inspiration

These are the websites where I gained inspiration:

What's Next

I'm not naive enough to think I won't change my site design again in the future. But for now, I love my current design. Some may consider it aggressively minimal, but I find it to be perfect. Expect additional tweaks, maybe a few more pages, and definitely new blog posts coming. You can always subscribe to get new updates monthly.

Oh, also, zero AI was used in composing this blog post. Not sure if that's valuable information to anyone or not, but worth mentioning for my own sake, when I use AI for so much now.

As always, thank you for reading!

My Obsidian Plugins and Themes

David V. Kimball — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Lately I've been blowing up GitHub with new plugins for Obsidian. Many of them were made specifically for Vault CMS, but almost all of them are standalone utilities that work on their own.

Plugins

Here's the list I have so far:

If you want a sense of how a lot of these work together, check out the Vault CMS Documentation site.

Themes

I also published an Obsidian theme, Oxygen and its accompanying plugin Oxygen Theme Settings. It's a fork of the popular Minimal theme created by Obsidian's CEO, Steph Ango.

Templates

I've also created Sample Plugin Plus and Sample Theme Plus which are forks of their respective Obsidian templates, but with built-in linting and improved AI development assistant features. They come bundled in with the Obsidian Developer Skills I created, too.

Tooling

I'm using a variety of tools, including Cursor, Antigravity, Claude Code, and DeepWiki to create these. I'm absolutely loving it.

Vault CMS: Use Obsidian To Write Astro Blog Posts

David V. Kimball — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

What is Vault CMS?

Vault CMS is an open-source headless content management system that turns Obsidian into a publishing platform for Astro.

It's injectable into any Astro theme. Install with CLI or by cloning on GitHub.

Set Up Instructions

It's as simple as running pnpm create vault-cms in the root of your Astro project. Then it's just a matter of opening your install directory as an Obsidian vault. The wizard walks you through the rest.

This video goes over exactly how to get started and set it up initially.

6 Months In The Making

This has been an effort since August of last year, and it's finally ready to show off. I hinted at it with the Astro Suite for Obsidian blog post, but it was in a much earlier state then.

I'm excited to talk more about it in-depth, but for now I'll just publish this post as a stub.

In the meantime, check out the dedicated Vault CMS Documentation and explore all it has to offer.

Obsidian as a CMS

Here's an example of what it looks like, using the Home.base view.

Turning Ideas Into Completed Projects

David V. Kimball — Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

During 2025, I helped run my own marketing agency, raised a newborn to a full-fledged 1-year old with my wife, got more involved in my church, made weekly content on LinkedIn, maintained a YouTube channel, ran a Discord server / community, and built over a dozen plugins for Obsidian on GitHub.

That's a lot to manage! So I wanted to share my process for taking the ideas I have and producing them into something tangible.

Capture and Execute

I used to think there had to be just one tool to rule them all for productivity. However, the more I think about it, the less sense it makes.

Ideas are messy. They can come at you during inconvenient moments. You need a zero-friction, flexible way to capture what you're thinking and store it somewhere later and forge it into something more useful.

Once you have it fleshed out a bit more, you can construct a plan or set of tasks. Then the real building begins.

Frictionless Idea Capture

Not only does it make a great shared to-do tracking app, but Todoist is incredible for just getting ideas out of your head and sorted quickly. Particularly with its new Ramble feature. Simply speak your thought aloud, and it will automatically create tasks with descriptions for you to sort. I put all of my ideas into the inbox, and can just leave it if I need to for sorting later.

Basic Initial Sorting

I can return to the Todoist app and sort my ideas into projects, categories, or tags. I use projects around things I'm actively thinking about or working on, but you can handle this any way you'd like to.

Fleshing Out and Planning

When I'm ready to work on my ideas and fully flesh them out, I migrate them to Obsidian. I'll create a note for each item, and a set of tasks underneath it, and include any other details, links, screenshots, or whatever else I might need. I'll also link it to other relevant notes also.

Time Blocking and Execution

The last step is to use my Google Calendar to block time to do the things I planned to do. I talk a bit more about that in my Digital Productivity blog post. This works because it's easy to view and manage on both desktop and mobile, and it's something I look at every day.

The calendar is also where our social lives, family activities, and other non-project plans live, so I can always see how my projects can fit in around the priorities in my life (family, church, community).

Daily Practices and One-Off Tasks

Aside from these projects are daily tasks which typically don't change from day to day. I keep these in a Daily Note in my Obsidian vault. I review it each night and make sure I did the things I need to do.

Time-bound, one-off tasks that aren't daily tasks or things that don't roll up into larger efforts I add as Google Tasks. This way my phone bugs me if I don't do them, but they're also not something I really need to store in any permanent location (things like take the trash out, reminder to check the mail, etc.).

Send Off

This is the method I've used to build, maintain, and expand all kinds of various different projects, and manage my time effectively in order to juggle them all. I hope this helps you out, too!

How to Use Bitwarden to Manage Your Passwords

David V. Kimball — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Emergency Situation

[!Danger] Danger You are in likely dire straights.

Current status: critical. You're likely in a situation where your passwords are so insecure and you're storing them in such a compromising way you should divert all of your attention to finding a better home for your passwords and a reliable system to manage them.

Video Guide

Core Philosophy

Here's how you're going to treat your password management from now on.

You're going to turn over a new leaf and not settle for putting yourself (and your loved ones by proxy) in jeopardy.

Security will no longer be a risk for you.

Operating Principles

One source of truth: your passwords are always up to date. You reject using browsers or insecure note apps to keep track.
Don't rely on your memory: you don't memorize any of your passwords except for your master password, because they're too secure to be remembered.
Database-approach: you tie any other important bits of information to each login. This can be flexible to accommodate security questions, pins, or other important account-related details.

Setup Steps

Create a Bitwarden account
Create a secure master password that you can remember. Write it down on a piece of paper and keep it with your passport, birth certificate and other important documents. Whenever you change it, update it there, too. Along with that, write down the recovery code.
Import passwords from your primary browser.
Install the browser extension for your primary browser, and install the mobile app and sign in on both.
Customize "account security" behavior. Unlock with biometrics, unlock with pin, or never lock (depending on how you secure your device itself). I have biometrics unlock on my phone and a pin unlock on my desktop.
Customize the "generator" settings. I like to do 20 character passwords, include capital letters, lowercase, numbers, and special characters with a minimum of 2 each.
Change your passwords for your most important accounts, going to the item in Bitwarden, generating a new password, and setting it. Password history will always store your earlier passwords for you.

Optional Steps

Disable password saving for your passwords in your browser, and consider deleting browser password data altogether. You have a up-to-date copy of it in Bitwarden now.
Store other important bits of information - your vehicle details, credit cards, whatever you need secure, quick access to.
Experimental: passkeys can make signing in even easier.
URI will make it pop up for the correct website - so make sure it's set. CTRL + SHIFT + L to load the last used login.
Use folders to organize types of passwords, for example separating work logins from the rest with a Work folder. Set custom equivalent domains in settings.

[!Tip] Tip Share passwords securely with your spouse.

Set up an "organization" and when you want to share passwords, share it to that organization. Takes some getting used to, but it's very handy.

Further reading: Top 5 Productivity Apps for Couples

Astro Suite for Obsidian

David V. Kimball — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Background

I've been using Astro in combination with Obsidian for over a year now. It's been my primary method for publishing blog posts. I've grown to appreciate Astro's content-centric yet flexible nature and have especially loved using Obsidian, to the point where I use it as my daily notetaking app also now.

A Perfect Match

Since Astro is markdown-based, it's a natural fit for Obsidian. I'm hardly the first person to use the two together, but I still think it's a wildly underrated combo. There are lots of great Astro themes that complement Obsidian, too.

Astro Composer Plugin for Obsidian

Astro Composer helps automate the creation of Astro blog posts as Obsidian notes. You can define a default location for new notes (like a posts folder within the src/content folder), automatically create a kebab-case file or folder name based on your a post title you write, define a set of properties that are automatically set and detected as Astro frontmatter, and even convert internal links like Markdown-based links to your other posts or Wikilinks to standard links.

This plugin will accelerate your blog writing process and simplify the whole experience. For months I was using a combination of Shell Commands and Templater plugins to get the outcome I wanted, but it still didn't quite do what I wanted.

Some Astro-dedicated plugins exist already including Markdown Blogger and Static Site MD Exporter, but both push files to another directory instead of just using your project files directly, which I prefer.

Astro Suite Obsidian Vault

To accompany this plugin, I wanted to give Astro bloggers a vault they could just plop into their projects and start using it right away. It uses Obsidian bases as a common directory, resembling lots of blogging CMS dashboards.

That base file becomes the Homepage and Default New Tab Page as well with the titular plugins enabled. Depending on the Astro theme you use, you'll want to customize the base properties view to fit the frontmatter of your posts.

It almost resembles a CMS, doesn't it?

CTRL + S now automatically standardizes the frontmatter of the active note and converts the internal links to work with Astro via your Astro Composer settings thanks to the Custom save plugin.

I've also bundled in Image Inserter and Paste image rename as well, which is very useful for finding images quickly and setting solid slug-friendly filenames to attachments right away (even images you paste from your clipboard).

Title-Only Tab pulls the note's Title from the title property and uses that as the tab's name so you can use that instead of the file name (which is usually the post slug).

Enable the Git plugin and publish directly to your site with CTRL + SHIFT + S without even leaving Obsidian.

Astro Suite Obsidian Vault (Minimal)

Another version of the vault and plugin combination, except with the addition of the Minimal theme, Minimal Theme Settings, Style Settings, Hider, ProZen, custom CSS snippets, and custom keyboard shortcuts set. This is a far more "opinionated" vault, centered on focus and a distraction-free experience.

Similar, but more stripped down as you can see.

Common Technical Barriers and Limitations

There are some built-in barriers however. Here are some of them:

Astro will try to process Obsidian files depending on where you insert it into your project
Frontmatter of Astro templates doesn't always match Obsidian's native properties (like tags or parsing dates)
Some Obsidian features like callouts aren't standard markdown and won't natively be rendered by many Astro themes

Despite these common issues, with just a few tweaks any Astro template can be modified to fit all of these requirements (in fact, I did this myself with the Fuwari Astro theme).

Roadmap

Here's what I want to do next:

Get Astro Composer published in the Obsidian community plugins directory (currently awaiting manual review)
Create a MDX plugin that works with bases (or ask a current MDX plugin maintainer to add support for bases API when it releases)
Optimizations for a better experience on mobile

Example Custom Vault

I use a version of this for this website, here's the homepage view:

I've defined some properties that set the image for each cover (when one exists). I've also added those same images to the note view itself with the Simple Banner plugin and added property icons with Iconic:

Download Links

::github{repo="davidvkimball/obsidian-astro-composer"}

<a href="https://github.com/davidvkimball/obsidian-astro-composer" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="btn-large" name="button">Astro Composer (plugin)</button></a>

::github{repo="davidvkimball/obsidian-astro-suite"}

<a href="https://github.com/davidvkimball/obsidian-astro-composer-suite" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="btn-large" name="button">Astro Suite (vault)</button></a>

Hope you use this suite and elevate your Astro + Obsidian workflows to new heights.

Happy writing!

Platform Self-Referentialism

David V. Kimball — Mon, 18 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT

[!info] Definition Platform Self-Referentialism: when users of a communication-based product or service primarily engage with it to discuss or document the platform itself, rather than its broader intended purpose.

Similar to fourth-wall-breaking, self-referentialism is a cycle of recursive usage - a "meta loop."

Signs of a Platform Self-Referentialism:

Most posts mention the platform's features, news, or name.
Content focuses on comparisons to competitors rather than original creations.
Novelty overshadows practical use.

Joining Bluesky just to talk about Bluesky and how it's not X, writing notes in Obsidian only about the Obsidian software or plugins, or using Discord primarily to chat about Discord features. These are just some examples.

This self-referential rut is usually a sign that the affected platform may have not yet matured or hit critical mass.

"Retro" website-making services like Neocities, Nekoweb, or Hot Glue aim to recapture the pre-social media internet with custom website creation offerings often associated with the 90s web - but many users' websites mention the nostalgia factor within the site content itself, thus being caught in the meta loop. If an about section mentions "I found the indie web", that's another example. These websites aren't allowed to stand on their own, rather they tend to deliberately reference the fact that they are made to be nostalgic.

Any platform seeking growth will accept any kind of usage, as long as the active users are there - but most of them want you using their product or service to discuss or document anything other than the platform itself. Even worse - constantly being compared to their biggest competitor and living in its shadow.

The risk of being trapped into the meta loop is you only end up appealing to the early adopter crowd and you never hit the mainstream. No one texts each other about the wonders of SMS technology, it's just a tool that's become ubiquitous with how we reach each other. That's the ideal state for a platform seeking widespread adoption. The alternative is something like the ill-fated Airchat or Blab that were unique and compelling platforms that were too caught up in being used to discuss themselves rather than broader topics.

The existence of topic-based groups on platforms certainly help in preventing this phenomenon. Reddit for instance is made up of specific groups focused on a singular topic via subreddits, relegating any meta loopage to /r/reddit and keeping it out of most other areas of the site.

Self-referential activity isn't all bad, however, and can even be a sign of platform health. As long as it's not the majority of the content on your service, discussing the platform itself may be unavoidable and can even be helpful to improve user retention (YouTube creators talking about how to grow on YouTube for example).

For anyone wanting mass adoption for their new social media website or communication app, think about how you avoid being subsumed by the meta loop. Bring things in from the world - whether topic-based or otherwise - and make it a frictionless experience for users to connect with each other based on their interests. A seamless onboarding experience that helps the user jump into the intended path leaves less room for ambiguity and prevents the aimless wander into the platform self-referentialism that can easily occur otherwise.

Any successful communication platform melts into the background so users can focus on engaging with their passions, ideas, and communities, rather than the platform itself.

Cool Minimal Astro Blog Themes

David V. Kimball — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT

What is Astro?

Astro is a web framework for markdown-based websites and blogs. I enjoy using it, especially when paired with Obsidian for drafting site content.

Previously, I use a tweaked version of Fuwari for davidvkimball.com, and have been for just over a year now (when this post was originally written). However I'm considering switching to a more minimal theme (which I have!), so here are the ones I'm looking at.

Each theme is open source, so I'll link to a live demo of the theme along with a link to the GitHub repository. And of course, they each have a light and dark theme.

Zaduma

I love its understated design, but something that really stands out is this command button on the top right.

With it you can toggle the site's theme with a keyboard shortcut or quickly search through posts. I really like it and would love to think of way to implement something like this on my own site.

::github{repo="hasparus/zaduma"}

<a href="https://zaduma.vercel.app/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="btn-large" name="button">Preview Zaduma</button></a>

Astro Modular

This is a theme I created. Designed to be flexible and really look however you want. There's a "minimal" preset you can use or you can go all-out and enable all of the bells and whistles.

The search icon on the top right can also be worked into a command palette. It's a snappy way to get to content quickly.

It has native Vault CMS integration and optional features that work natively with Obsidian like graph view.

If you're looking for complete customization and flexibility, this is one I highly recommend. Especially if you like using Obsidian.

::github{repo="davidvkimball/astro-modular"}

<a href="https://astro-modular.netlify.app/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="btn-large" name="button">Preview Astro Modular</button></a>

Astro Nano / Astro Micro

This theme gives you a little bio, latest post section, a work experience section, and a recent projects section on the main page.

Each project works sort of like a blog post as separate items.

I particularly enjoy the subtle pop-in effects when a page loads, it's elegant without being overbearing.

A fork of Astro Nano called Astro Micro adds a sleek quick search function (via Pagefind) and also has comments (via Giscus), although I think adding comments may take away some of the appeal of a minimal theme.

Nevertheless, it seems like the defacto version of the design.

::github{repo="markhorn-dev/astro-nano"}

<a href="https://astro-nano-demo.vercel.app/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="btn-large" name="button">Preview Astro Nano</button></a>

::github{repo="trevortylerlee/astro-micro"}

<a href="https://astro-micro.vercel.app/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="btn-large" name="button">Preview Astro Micro</button></a>

Minimal

What I love about this theme is how Obsidian-like it feels. From the typeface choices to the purple highlights, it just feels like it's something straight from the Obsidian team. In fact, it's not dissimilar from their CEO Steph Ango's design.

::github{repo="ekmas/minimal"}

<a href="https://astro-minimal.netlify.app/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="btn-large" name="button">Preview Minimal</button></a>

Chiri

Chiri is great because it truly lets you focus on the content and not get distracted by fancy buttons or other visual distractions.

In particular I enjoy the hover effect on posts, and the snappy but subtle fade animations between page loads. It all feels very deliberate and premium.

::github{repo="the3ash/astro-chiri"}

<a href="https://astro-chiri.netlify.app/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="btn-large" name="button">Preview Chiri</button></a>

Which One?!

There are lots of cool Astro templates to pick from, even beyond the minimal ones I mentioned here. Check out this huge collection of Astro themes. I've prefiltered the link to be just open source themes, but there are paid options as well.

Astro's official website has their own collection of themes, too.

As for whether or not I'll make a switch, I'm not sure yet. I'm definitely tempted.

LLM SEO - Get Cited in AI Responses

David V. Kimball — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Get Mentioned in ChatGPT, Grok, and Claude

How do you get your website in an AI response, whether that's ChatGPT, Grok, or Claude? How do you get mentioned, sourced, or cited in these tools?

We're going to cover that in this post. It all starts with SEO. Not merely search engine optimization, however, but rather search everywhere optimization.

Understanding Search Everywhere Optimization

Many terms try to describe AI optimization, where you optimize specifically for LLMs (like AIO, LLMO, GEO, AEO), but none are very good. So I think sticking with SEO, but modifying the middle word to "everywhere," best describes this practice.

The key point: think beyond search engines to anything used for searching.

Websites should be easily readable by humans and machines, with content hyper-targeted to your audience.

Making Your Website Machine-Readable

By machine-readable, I mean age-old methods - from the 90s and earlier - to tell robots what your site's about, which pages matter, and where things are. This includes robots.txt and sitemaps, elements not meant for humans. People don't view them (though sitemaps were once user-facing). Over time, they've become purely machine-readable.

More recently, there's the proposed llms.txt protocol, adopted only by Perplexity so far. Hopefully, other LLMs will recognize it soon. It's a markdown file for LLMs to quickly grasp key pages and context.

This could be important eventually, but for now focus on classic SEO: good AI optimization roots in solid basics like rel="canonical".

Humans can deduce things - like when search results show paginated pages, it's not duplication but query responses. Search engines might not, so use rel="canonical" markup to clarify.

Another example: schema markup. Structured data feeds search engines and AI tools your organization's details, including FAQ schema or aggregate ratings. As a human user, you might see reviews in Google before clicking, but this way you're supplying machines that info directly.

Finally, mirror conversational questions from LLMs on your site, related to FAQ schema. If users ask "How much does this service cost?" or "Where can I find this?", use that exact language.

Creating Human-Consumable Content

Human-consumable really just means good user experience. Does your site load quickly? Is it beautiful with intuitive navigation? Easy to use? Responsive design for mobile, desktop, tablet - even VR?

Consider design flexibility, like dark mode options enabled by default or respecting browser preferences.

Accessibility matters, too. Are you using alt text for images? Can visually or hearing-impaired users access it equally?

For content, ensure it's relevant and authoritative - not just some random opinion, but grounded and helpful.

Part of that: Does it sound AI-generated? There's buzz around em dashes right now, but other signs can make it seem AI-written, even if it's not.

All this builds good UX. Personally, if I suspect content came from a prompt with no human touch, I'll skip it. Increasingly, folks are getting savvier around this and can spot it.

UX Signals That Machines Understand

Many UX aspects, like web design or written content that might "sound like AI", aren't easily measured.

But signals clue AI models and search engines: fast load times are objective nd measurable via PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix. Accessibility shows in proper site markup. Design theory, like contrast, uses hex codes; tools check if it's sufficient.

Behavioral indicators: Bounce rate (quick exits), click depth (pages visited), time on page - these reflect relevance and navigation quality. If users don't tweak options like dark/light mode, it suggests the display matches expectations.

Detecting AI writing is trickier; tools like GPTZero aren't always accurate, but expect this to improve soon - more sophisticated and precise.

Building Authority Through Signals

Authority comes from backlinks (how many sites link to yours) and traffic volume - signals machines use. Google advises creating valuable, human-readable content for your audience - that's allegedly their goal.

But you're ultimately getting machines to index your site, no matter what the Google executives claim. Is your website technically sound for indexing, scraping, scanning?

On the other hand, if your site is engineered purely for machines, you'll get penalized. Google is cracking down; cheap AI content won't cut it.

Finally, heed your data. Bounce rates and other measurable metrics signal to Google and scrapers that your site deserves indexing and serving for those coveted queries.

Final Thoughts

Much of Search Everywhere Optimization is just good traditional SEO, expanded to include natural language and maybe a new protocol or two.

Lots of it is still evolving and who knows, next month it could change. For now, though, this is the path to appearing in AI responses.

As a bonus tip for Grok specifically - having a presence on X (formerly Twitter) is key as its a primary source by xAI. I've tested this myself and it will often go there first before even an official website to serve results since Grok prioritizes timeliness and recently in its sourcing.

The Illusion Of Ownership

David V. Kimball — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Video

Our reliance on digital tools and services cannot be understated. Email, media, cloud storage, and social media platforms feel like they're ours. But the truth is, many of the things you think you own, you don’t. Let’s dive into why true ownership matters and how you can take control of your digital assets.

The False Sense of Ownership

You might feel like your Gmail account, your purchases on Prime Video, or your Squarespace website belong to you. After all, you’ve invested your own money into them with an account in your name. But the reality is, these are often leased, not owned. A single platform decision, whether it’s a terms-of-service violation, a licensing issue, or a company going bankrupt, can wipe out your access overnight. Let’s break it down with some examples.

Your Email: Not as “Yours” as You Think

Your Gmail or Outlook account feels like an extension of yourself. It’s tied to your bank accounts, your phone, your contacts. Basically, your email address is the key to accessing some of the most important parts of your life. But what happens if Google sends you a dreaded “Your account has been suspended” email? Maybe you unintentionally broke a rule, or maybe it was a mistake (it does happen). Instantly you’re locked out of your bank, your two-factor authentication fails, and you can’t respond to critical emails (with potential legal or business implications).

The Fix: Buy your own domain name (something like yourname.com). By owning your domain, you become platform-agnostic. You can set up your email with a provider like ProtonMail or Zoho Mail, and if that provider fails you, you can easily switch to another without changing your email address. No need to update every account you’ve ever created. It’s a small investment for a massive payoff and time-save.

Your Media is Borrowed, Not Owned

Streaming services like Netflix, Spotify, or Apple Music make it easy to access music, movies, and games. But read the fine print of those end-user license agreements: you’re not buying, you’re borrowing. Platforms can and do remove content, even if you’ve “purchased” it. For example:

Amazon Prime Video removed Final Space for undisclosed reasons, leaving buyers without access.
Apple iTunes revoked movies like Cars for users who moved to a different country due to licensing restrictions.
PlayStation Store pulled MythBusters and other Discovery shows, despite users owning entire seasons.
Epic Games Store delisted Dark and Darker over a lawsuit, erasing purchases.
Google Play Music failed to transfer many purchased albums when migrating to YouTube Music.

The Fix: Keep local backups of your media. If you care about owning what you’ve paid for, store it on a hard drive. Streaming is convenient, but it’s not ownership. A physical or local digital copy ensures you’re not at the mercy of platform whims.

Your Cloud Storage is A Ticking Time Bomb

Cloud storage services like iCloud or Google Drive are nice storing files and accessing them across devices, but they’re not foolproof. If your account gets terminated or the service goes down, your files could vanish. Those family photos, business documents, or creative projects? Gone.

The Fix: Always maintain local backups on a hard drive, and back up those backups. Cloud storage is great for convenience, but it’s not a substitute for owning your data. A simple external drive can save you from a world of pain.

Your Website is Likely Tied to a Platform, Not You

Using Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress.com might feel like you own your website, but you’re tied to them. If they suspend your account, change features, or go out of business, your site could disappear or become unusable.

The Fix: Host your website with a provider where you control the files, like GitHub or GitLab. Keep a local copy of your site’s files on your computer. If one host goes down, you can move to another without losing your site. Ownership allows you the freedom to migrate.

Why Platform-Agnostic Ownership Matters

The common thread here is control. Platforms like Google, Amazon, or Wix can make decisions you have no say in like bans, suspensions, licensing changes, or bankruptcies. Even paying customers aren’t immune. By being platform-agnostic, you avoid these risks. You’re not begging for a mishap when you own your domain, your media, and your data.

Practical Steps to True Ownership

Here’s how to take control of your digital assets:

Buy Your Domain Name: Secure yourname.com or a relevant domain. It’s an appreciating asset that gives you email and website flexibility. Providers like Cloudflare, Namecheap, or Porkbun are good options.
Back Up Your Media Locally: Store purchased music, movies, or games on an external hard drive. Don’t rely solely on streaming services.
Maintain Local File Backups: Keep critical files on a hard drive, with a secondary backup for redundancy. Cloud storage is a supplement, not a replacement.
Choose Flexible Hosting: Use web hosting providers where you control your site’s files. Avoid proprietary platforms like Wix that lock you in.
Opt for Open-Source Alternatives: Do not purely rely on ecosystems like Apple or Adobe where migration is tough. Open-source tools or easily transferable platforms give you the freedom to move if you need to.

Ownership is Empowerment

The main benefit of true ownership is the control it affords. Where platforms can pull the rug out from under you, owning your email, media, data, and website is non-negotiable if you care about longevity. Don’t let convenience lull you into a false sense of security. Ensure your digital assets are truly yours.

Digital Productivity Just Requires Discipline

David V. Kimball — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Digital Discipline

In the world of productivity influencers, a misconception exists about analog vs. digital tools.

The idea espoused is: in order to get actual work done, you must use analog options like note-taking with pen and paper or a physical to-do list because it's the only way to avoid digital distractions.

That is not true and a cop-out.

Two things can be true at once: you can be wildly productive using digital tools while simultaneously not allowing digital disruptions to interfere with your work.

It simply requires discipline and a system.

I'm not saying there's merit to physically writing things down or using analog tools - there are certainly some benefits. I just want to clarify that doubling-down on using digital tools doesn't consign you to distraction.

Your First Discipline: JUST DO IT

This is your sign - stop merely thinking about being productive. Quit wishing you got more done.

It's time for you to actually do it.

Lock in and read this blog post.

I don't care if you're currently feeling overwhelmed or distracted.

Close every other tab, turn off every other screen in the room, and just read this.

[!tip] Tip Well done, you're already 70% of the way there.

Be Digital-First

Using digital tools means they're always accessible in your pocket, or on your desktop, or on your wrist. In other words, there's a single source of truth available anywhere. You are not confined or constrained based on a physical location or limited by a physical medium.

As a digital-first producer, you understand the limitations of physical alternatives but also the pitfalls of endless digital options.

With the right structure and system, you can accelerate your productivity exponentially using just 0s and 1s.

[!example]+ Example I use a custom-built desktop PC I use primarily, a Surface Laptop 4, and a OnePlus 12R Android smartphone for on-the-go productivity.

Prioritize Relentless Focus

One million things are competing for your attention at any given time. Sometimes things completely outside of your control.

Seize what is in your control and calibrate it perfectly to suit your ability to focus.

Control Your Physical Environment

Whether it's your office or a coffee shop, you must optimize your environment for focus.

It could mean a clutter-free desk, or a cozy corner spot in a cafe.

Whatever it means to you, having an environment with the right lighting, temperature, and comfort level will make a huge difference in your ability to focus.

Headphones and earplugs can do wonders in more chaotic environments.

Control the Digital Noise

Even if your physical environment is accounted for, digital notifications can still bombard you.

Use a focus profile on your mobile device or PC to snooze notifications during a deep work period or use notification managers like Buzzkill to take control over who pings you and when.

Make it a habit to unsubscribe from every email in your inbox that comes in. Seriously. If there's an "Unsubscribe" link in an email, you probably don't need to read it. Whitelist the newsletters you actually care about, and then click unsubscribe on everything else. This will save you hours in the long run.

Remove Outlook's "Focused" inbox and Gmail's inbox tabs. Take control over your own inbox.

[!example]+ Example I have a unique home office setup that helps me maintain my focus and get more done. I use Buzkill to go a layer deeper with notification handling. I've used Unrollme in the past to help with mass-unsubscribing from email and consolidating newsletters. Although now I don't have to use much, since consistent unsubscribing and modifying default notification settings over the years means I reach inbox zero and get 500% fewer notifications every day.

Embrace Cognitive Offloading

We hold a million things in our brain at any given time.

Rather than remembering trivial details about something that won't matter at all in a few days, save your brain space for something more important, like enjoying a moment with your family or entertaining a philosophical ponder.

There are some great tools that can help you do that.

Calendar

If you aren't using a digital calendar to keep track of the events in your life, begin today, right now.

Start tracking all upcoming events in your life and place them into your Google/Apple/Proton calendar. Get comfortable with using it.

Whenever someone asks you when you're free, there's no ambiguity - your digital calendar will tell you.

If you have a work calendar, import it into your personal calendar so you can see all of your events. You can even share your calendar with your spouse.

Task Manager

Time-bound to-dos ensure they'll be done at a certain time, especially if they keep bugging you until you do them.

Since you've taken the time to remove all of the unneeded notifications from your phone already, the notifications you do get (like to remind you to get your tasks done) will be that much more meaningful to you.

Don't overthink this. Just jot down what you need to get done, and do it.

Note-Taking

Don't let your ideas die. Write them down.

Even better, turn your ideas into something more.

Using the right system, you can take one-off fragments and turn them into research papers. Follow the paper trails of your brain - you can go deep into your thinking and produce something valuable.

[!example]+ Example I use Google Calendar in combination with Cal.com for my event and scheduling needs. For tasks I use Google Tasks that integrate right into my calendar and ToDoist as an inbox to dump my ideas for sorting. I then either take it to my note-taking app, Obsidian (which is also the tool I'm using to compose this blog post right now), or organize it into a project for review later.

Think in Organized Systems

Everything should have its proper place. Create a system that makes sense to you, and then execute. It won't be perfect the first time, but try to be mindful about how you organize your workflow. You can always tweak and perfect it over time.

Consistent Folder Structures

Whether you're using a local file storage system like on Windows or macOS or a cloud storage system like Dropbox or Google Drive, you'll want a consistent folder structure.

For using Windows, I like embracing the user folder with Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos, etc. I created some folders of my own, like Projects and Development which complement the user folder structure baked into the OS.

Particularly for something like video editing, you'll want to be strict about housing all related media, files, etc. into one folder dedicated to that particular project. This prevents broken projects or confusion when you need to move project folders around. No broken links or missing directories.

Clear Naming Conventions

Try to give everything a human-readable name. By this I mean, your files shouldn't be labeled "attachment.pdf" or "Screenshot (2).png", they should have actual names that help you understand what they are. This will help you in the long run, even though it takes a few extra seconds to give your files a proper name if they don't already have one.

Standard Operating Procedures

SOPs can be helpful for each new project you create. For example, maybe a new project always gets a new folder with a descriptive name, an abstract document with a particular title, and a to-do list page to help you stay on task.

Creating an SOP isn't meant to be a rigid, dogmatic process, but something that helps you get to flow state faster. Setting up a routine or ritual will help you get into the zone and start getting work done. Especially if you return to it later, there won't be an ambiguity about where you are in the process - it's all been laid out and set up properly for you by your past self.

[!example]+ Example Depending on the kind of project, I will usually make a folder in my Projects folder with the name of the project in title case, like My Project. Or I'll create a folder within Development in kebab-case, like my-project. For video projects I make sure the project file and any assets are all within the same parent folder.

Evaluate and Adapt

The beauty of digital-first productivity systems is that they can evolve. At the end of a productivity session, evaluate how it went, and think about what barriers you encountered in getting more done. If it was cognitive, maybe you can build in a new mediation ritual to get you in the right mind space. If it was your tools failing you, consider a different platform or system.

Attaining a frictionless process is the goal. Enough structure to help you stay disciplined, with enough creative freedom to unleash your productivity and get real work done.

Better yet, emerging technology can help improve your habits of discipline and accelerate your workflows further.

Go Forth and Produce

I'm excited for you to regain your focus and come up with a great system. I hope you've found this helpful!

AI is Here To Stay. Now what?

David V. Kimball — Wed, 28 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Artificial intelligence is changing the world. Is AI a net-positive or net-negative for the world? Only time can really say - but I'm excited. Let's dive in together.

Repeating History

We've seen monumental shifts like this before. Consider the horse and buggy industry, which was probably terrified of motor vehicles. Or how the technology leap of the photograph took business away from portrait painters' business.

With each new technological leap, established jobs of the century were supplanted, sometimes by new jobs, and sometimes by nothing. Nevertheless, prosperity grew.

For innovation to take place, there are always sacrifices. Those who figured out how to adapt stay in the game. So how do you adapt?

Everyone Can Use AI

You may question what on earth you'd use AI for. Twenty-five years ago, might have you asked the same question about the internet? The answer is anyone can use AI for any reason they might be using Google now, and there is a large volume of additional use cases.

A work consultant, a mini therapist, a legal expert, and a health advisor (insert required "always consult a real lawyer, doctor, or other expert" here) are just some examples. What makes using generative AI categorically distinct from an internet search is your query can be hyper specific to your needs. If your traditional internet search is obscure enough or too specific, sometimes no search results will appear - not so with generative AI.

Good Tech Always Beats Bad Tech

Advertising became mainstream when companies realized they could concisely communicate their products' value and get more business. However, this coaxed consumers into believing everything they read, which led to betrayal when some bad actors lied about their products. As distrust and cynicism grew, independent reviewers began to gain authority rather than the businesses themselves. When some independent sources were bought out by those companies, that's when online reviews came in. Once fake review generation started to occur, tech identifying the validity of reviews emerged. We can expect a new corrective tech in the future that will further improve any new issues and lead to greater transparency, accountability, and knowledge share.

This is why I'm an Optimistic Futurist. Historically speaking, bad tech has always been outdone by better tech. I can't see a reason why this would change. AI is the final frontier of innovation in many ways, especially as AI begins to create AI (which is already to happening). It will kick-off a vicious cycle of radical improvement never seen before!

Maintaining The Human Element

Once organizations figure out AI can replace many things, they will try to jump into the deep end. Ultimately, though, humans desire to work and interact with other humans, and that intrinsic need will never go away ("it is not good that man should be alone"). So the best implementation of AI is automating what should be automated, and giving the tender loving care any piece of work requires to come across authentically.

For example, creating a tech spec sheet. Maybe you already have all of the documentation ready as a database to source and can automate most of the creation of the sheet. So you have ChatGPT or Grok do an initial pass, but ensuring you look over it and make any necessary modifications is vital.

Doing this "bare minimum" will actually set you apart from most trying to use this technology. While AI will automate a large swath of tasks with a level of polish unmatched by human effort, a market appetite will emerge desiring messy, "human" endeavors.

One example of this is a resurgence of lower production value viral YouTube videos. Overproduced videos still have their place, but there's a renewed desire for authenticity and content that feels more human.

Human vs. AI Mistakes Track Record

As you use AI more as a tool, I encourage you to take count in your own life of how often humans make mistakes that affect you vs. how often AI makes mistakes that affect you. In my experience, generative AI has actually made fewer mistakes (in proportion to work output volume) than working with actual customer support agents.

Recently I used AI to push back against a lawyer who was intercepting a legal agreement incorrectly - something unfathomable even just a few years ago. That's because in theory, AI can have perfect knowledge. If you provide the right prompt and the right information, it will give you the right answers. Of course there's a chance for a hallucination - but you can count on humans to make mistakes, too.

Humans have intent and generative AI can have innate biases from that intent (don't forget, AI was created by humans after all). As long as there's a commitment to transparency and accountability, perhaps built within the AI model itself, we can identify those biases and better understand what outputs we can expect from it.

The Worst It Will Ever Be

You may still be skeptical. After all, sometimes it's obvious when text was written by ChatGPT or an image was generated by Midjourney. Bear in mind - this is the very worst this technology will ever be. It's only going to get better from here.

For now we can still play the game of identifying every AI-generated giveaway phrase like "it's not X, it's Y" in a LinkedIn post or "I hope this message finds you well" at the start of an email. But soon will come the day where it will be significantly more difficult to discern what was penned by human hands vs. what was compiled from some Large Language Model.

For example, Humanize AI is a human-readable language translator from AI's standard output. It's used to foil services like GPTZero which attempt to figure out whether or not a body of text was generated with AI or written by a human.

No doubt this hyper-real wave of generative AI images and text will bring about an entirely new level of skepticism by the general populace. How can we know anything is real or true? You may not be able to rely on your rational faculties for long. AI is about to seem as real as the real thing.

Using AI For Good

As an optimist, I strongly believe AI will bring about more good than harm. We can now build tools like never before, assemble useful information in the blink of an eye, and accelerate research into any topic you could dream of.

Drudgery can be automated. Humans will be able to focus on doing more human things and let robots do robot things. Productivity will continue to soar and we'll see leaps in technology and innovation we can't even imagine today.

Everyone should be excited about what the future holds. Sure there will be growing pains like everything else, of course there will be bad actors, and AI can certainly be used for ill. However the positives far outweigh the negatives.

What I'm Doing About It

I use AI every day. It helps me make decisions, brainstorm ideas, and help people in my life. Rather than replace work I do, I try to use it to accelerate it so I can do more in a day.

Some colleagues and I recently started a company called lilAgents. It's an AI-first marketing organization. There are not many of us - but we can act as a team 10x our size through the use of automation. But it's not simply the fact that we use automation that helps us move quickly and allows us to deliver stellar work - there's 15+ years of experience in marketing, design, and development there.

Hopefully you can tell - I'm very excited about it. I've wanted to take the plunge on starting a company before, and it turned out it was just a matter of finding the right cofounders and being the right moment in time.

I'm reminded of the 10 Commandments of Team Dynamics - the importance of trust, communication, and a shared vision - and that is abundant here. We've been dialed in and building amazing things for clients, and we're about to share some free products that you'll probably find very useful.

I can't wait to share more. For now, follow us on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok - or wherever else you like to hang out. You can find us with the @lilAgents handle.

A Christian's Guide to Civil Online Discourse

David V. Kimball — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Trent Horn recently published a video talking about how his wife was the target of unwarranted verbal attacks. Something she said was taken out of context, misconstrued, and then turned into a false rumor. Trent addresses the accusations, provides the full context, clarifies, and then proves them to be falsehoods.

At the end of his video, he includes some scripture verses I found really helpful in framing how to conduct yourself with online discussions (that can often get out of hand). Here are some of the principles and verses I'd like to share, plus a few of my own I'm adding in.

The Fruit of the Spirit As A Framework

Galatians 5:22-23 says: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law."

These key attributes are the framework by which we ought to start, continue, and end any of our online discussions. In particular, are we actually exercising patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control? Generally those seem the first to go if we don't check ourselves.

Especially when engaging with anonymous profiles, it's easy to dehumanize the person behind the profile picture. However, we shouldn't fold. God created every human being in His image.

Speaking with Grace & Living Peaceably

Colossians 4:6 says: "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person."

Not only does this set a standard for a certain level of conduct, but it also suggests that we should be responding to people in the first place. Some may want to opt-out of discussions entirely, but to me that seems like we're abandoning our responsibility to respond.

Romans 12:18 says: "If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all."

"If possible" is the key phrase here - many will refuse to play ball, and that's OK. But so far as it depends on you, you must make an effort to live peaceably with everyone.

Exposing Sin and Speaking the Truth in Love

Ephesians 5:10-11 says: "...try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them."

Just because we're supposed to conduct ourselves in a gracious manner doesn't mean we're not supposed to expose evil when we see it. And for those higher in trait agreeableness (the personality trait), it may be tough to venture down this road.

1 Peter 3:15 says: "...but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect..."

Often Christians feel being nice to everyone is the top priority, compromising their own values in the process. However it's clear we need to defend our faith. To be true apologists for the gospel we must speak the truth in love to anyone who asks - and sometimes challenge a sinful status quo unprompted.

And Ephesians 4:15 says "Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ..."

There's a fine line between understanding what's petty and what's exposing something more serious. This requires prayer, discernment, and resisting a mere knee-jerk reaction. It's imperative to be prudent and not resort to an emotional outburst, but instead to proceed with biblical wisdom.

Even Jesus' Words Were Misconstrued

Mark 14:57-58 says: "...some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, ''We heard him say, 'I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.'''"

Meanwhile, what Jesus actually said was: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." (John 2:19)

Those who hated Jesus wanted to interpret what he said in the least charitable light possible, even to the point of lying about what he said.

I'd argue most people who've engaged in online discourse have felt their positions were unfairly mischaracterized, whether maliciously or not. And that's incredibly frustrating, especially when you want to send a particular message.

Put Your Frustrations on God

1 Peter 5:7 says: "Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you."

There's no reason to hold onto feelings of hatred or malice - it actually is a burden to you, not the subject of your frustration. Christ invites us to give up all of our burdens to him.

In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

We Should Forgive Those Who Wrong Us - Even if They Don't Want It

When Jesus was reviled and mocked, here's how he responded:

In Luke 23:34, Jesus prays: "Father forgive them, they know not what they do."

He didn't resort to name-calling or retaliation. He offered a prayer on their behalf, asking for forgiveness.

Philippians 2:3 says: "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves."

Personally speaking, it's incredibly freeing to do this. When combined with casting your frustrations to God, you're free to forgive those who have wronged you and are no longer burdened by it.

Surely, there's a limit to how many times you should forgive someone, no?

Matthew 18:21-22 says: "Then Peter came up and said to him, 'Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?' Jesus said to him, 'I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.'"

Surely not your enemies! Or those who don't deserve it!

Matthew 5:44-4 says: "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."

The point is to forgive always, regardless of who it is, because God forgives even us, wretched sinners.

Being Persecuted is a Blessing, Actually

Matthew 5:11-12 says: "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven."

You should feel emboldened to speak the truth, especially the gospel, regardless of the consequences (easier said than done of course). Maybe be more like Paul:

In Romans 1:16, Paul says: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

1 Peter 4:15-16 says, "But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name."

Trolls (Typically) Aren't Worth Responding To

Proverbs 26:4 says: "Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself."

While the Bible instructs us to prepare ourselves to respond to anyone, there is a provision for those who are essentially trolls. Often they are not worth responding to. We must patiently endure evil, but we should have nothing to do with foolishness or ignorance.

2 Timothy 2:23-24 says: "Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil."

There are occasions, however, where engaging with trolls is an opportunity to help spread the gospel further, or to make clearer a point of truth.

Proverbs 26:5, immediately after the verse mentioned above, says, "Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes." You can respond earnestly to any snarky, disingenuous, or bad-faith rhetorical questions. It's a way to make the truth known without taking the bait, so to speak.

Conclusion

First of all, while I consider these tactics to be in-line with the teachings of Christianity, I'll be the first to admit I do not follow them perfectly. Far too often I have given in to my passions and let my emotions take over.

Secondly, I acknowledge this is a difficult standard to maintain with discourse, especially online. Nevertheless, I believe it's worth striving towards.

In my experience I've noticed a drastic change in character from an otherwise completely hostile actor. When an initial reaction to something I've said is fiery, I try to respond with a thoughtful question or kindness rather than barking something back. On numerous occasions they've radically softened their countenance and other times I've gotten actual heartfelt apologies, and that feels like a victory.

Mud-slinging back in reply doesn't make you special. That's merely surrendering to your carnal instincts. Try killing with kindness. That will generally leave you far more satisfied than settling for a tit for tat squabble - and more importantly, it's what God wants us to do.

5 Radical Principles for Excellent Work

David V. Kimball — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Here’s a Radical™️ claim: there is a right way to do business.

Have you ever joined an organization that did something so well you thought, 'Yes, this is how it should be handled at every company'?

Maybe it was onboarding, team meetings, operations, performance reviews, or something else entirely.

During my career spanning over a decade, I’ve distilled what I've observed into 5 Radical Principles that have elevated some companies above the rest.

✨ Radical Automation - Automate anything that's easily repeatable. Why do costly, time-sinking, repetitive work when it can be intelligently done for you? Harnessing this power properly can allow a team of 2 to produce the output of 100.

🧪 Radical Improvement - Always iterating and testing to get the best possible result. A/B test everything - there's no reason not to. Find a winner, use that, and then try something else based on what you learned. Never stop learning.

💽 Radical Centralization - Unifying all available data into one source of truth to guide informed decision-making. There's no reason information should live in silos. Everything should talk to each other. There are plenty of tools to bridge the gaps: and it's only getting easier to do so.

🔎 Radical Transparency - Sharing knowledge of key metrics across the organization and even externally. Worrying about giving what makes you win is old school thinking - why not build in public? Transparency increases trust, accountability, and allows for the Truth to be known.

💬 Radical Responsiveness - Open, direct communication ensures continual progress towards objectives. Timely responses ensure team alignment without undue delay, even while working asynchronously.

This is a cross-post from LinkedIn. Also check out the Radical landing page.

My Software Of Choice (With Links)

David V. Kimball — Sat, 08 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Here's a list of almost every piece of software I use on a daily basis. Hopefully it serves as some help to you!

PC Operating System

First, some background: I've been using Windows ever since I first touched a computer. I tried MacOS briefly during my college years, and use a Linux Debian machine on the side, but so far I've come back to Windows as my daily driver.

"Fixing" Windows: If nothing else - make sure you install WinAeroTweaker or something like it. It's the only way to make Windows functional these days. I use it to remove the intrusive ads, bloatware, and lift the arbitrary restrictions to configure the operating system the way I like. It's got a lot of great tools to customize your experience and is updated pretty frequently, I totally recommend it.

Word processing + notetaking: I'm using Obsidian for knowledge management. It's handy to quickly and easily format notes in markdown. I also use it to write the blog posts on my website like this one. I keep everything synced with git (even on my phone) and host it in GitHub. I used to use Microsoft Word and will still turn to it on occasion, but have switched completely from OneNote. Sometimes I use Google Docs if I need to collaborate with others online.

Bulk-software installs: I use Ninite for this. For anyone installing Windows 11 afresh, here's a guide I've put together of some recommendations for new installs, that includes which software I use and what settings I adjust. Perhaps you can make use of it as well!

Phone-PC connectivity: I use Phone Link between my Android phone and Windows PCs to make responding to text messages a little less tedious and even more for copying and pasting between devices seamlessly. It's particularly useful for quickly copying 2FA/MFA codes quickly to login to services.

Web Browser

I returned to using Firefox in 2019 after ditching it for Chrome in the late 2000s on my Windows XP machine. It's definitely my recommended browser for anyone. Except in the occasional case where Chromium-based browsers are for some reason required for compatibility, Firefox offers a fantastic web browsing experience with way less bloat and privacy concerns.

That being said, if you absolutely have to use a Chromium browser, Brave and Ungoogled Chromium are good options.

Addons/Extensions

Must-have extensions include:

uBlock Origin - an open source and lightweight ad blocker with lots of customization.
Bitwarden - an open source and secure password manager.
Multi-Account Containers - lets you open multiple instances of a session at once with container tabs. Really helpful for logging in on the same site with multiple accounts simultaneously.
Sponsorblock - automatically skip sponsored segments in YouTube videos.
Return YouTube Dislike - see dislike counts again on videos.
Unwanted Twitch - remove categories, channels, or tags you don't want to see.
TWP - Translate Web Pages - instantly translate web pages in your browser.
Video DownloadHeper - helpful for extracting any type of media from a webpage.

Mobile

I use Android as of 2017, and before that I used Windows Phone for 7 years. As such, I am partial to the Metro UI design and interface the former platform featured, so I found an Android launcher that mimics it extremely well.

Launcher and Home Setup

Square Home is a distinctive Android launcher inspired by the Windows Phone interface of a home screen with live tiles. I find the Whicons icon pack pairs with it very nicely, and the Meteored weather widget fits perfectly as well. I use Widgetshare to send photos to my wife to appear on her phone's home screen, and she sends me photos that appear on mine.

When I want to switch things up, I use Niagara Launcher, another excellent Android Launcher.

Favorite Applications

F-Droid - FOSS "app store" for Android, featuring lots of applications not available on the Google Play Store.

ReVanced is a popular modified version of YouTube that removes ads and adds features. Use it with Micro-G for it to work.

Literal Word is my favorite Bible app out there. Completely free, no-frills, just the word of God in NASB, LSB, KJV, and (my preferred) ESV translations. It has dark mode and an intuitive interface that keeps me reading daily.

X, formerly known as Twitter, remains my favorite social network for connecting with anyone.

Discord - my go-to communication application. Seamless across desktop and mobile with high quality video and audio chat. I also have a Discord server where I spent a decent amount of time engaging in great conversations.

Obsidian - my go-to notetaking app for mobile and "CMS" for this website.

GitSync - what I use to sync my Obsidian vault. Effortless and simple.

Todoist - for adding quick ideas or todos.

ProtonMail - I've fully migrated from Gmail and Outlook to ProtonMail. I can use my own domain name and it's got some great privacy features.

Beeper - a messaging app that nicely consolidates redundant messaging services. I combined WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal into one app that keeps things tidy and convenient for me to manage. I wrote a bit about my experience with Beeper last year.

Swarm, formerly Foursquare, is a geolocation social network that helps me keep track of places I've visited. As a user since 2010, I have a good amount of data there and love fighting for mayorships even in 2025.

ChatGPT offers an incredibly handy mobile app experience, especially when activating the voice assistant.

Venmo is my go-to money moving application. It's wildly convenient. I even use a Venmo debit card from time-to-time.

Monarch Money is my favorite budgeting app since Mint. In many ways, it's actually superior to the ill-fated budgeting app by Intuit. A key component to Monarch's success was the seamless migration features offered from Mint - all of my historical data transferred from 2015 forward, meaning I have spending, earning, and investment data spanning over a decade. It's incredibly helpful for handling my family's personal finances.

Lovewick: Relationship Tracker - nice for keeping track of important anniversaries and notes about my wife. You can can automatic reminders and there's a section called "Forget-me-nots" where you can list your spouse's favorite food, gift, or anything else and either share it between you or keep it private for only you.

MGit - an open source Android Git client.

Video Production Software

Live Streaming

OBS Studio is the gold standard - as well it should be. It's widely regarded as the best free, open source software for live streaming and screen recording.

SE.Live is StreamElements' plugin for OBS that helps me manage my SE overlays, alerts, and other interactive elements. It also enables my custom davidvBot chatbot user account while I'm live.

MixItUp not only powers my chatbot further with features like a custom game queue and automated channel point rewards, but it's packed with even more features for streaming. It's extremely versatile and can be pseudo-programmed to handle really anything you can think of.

Video Editing

For now I use Adobe Premiere Pro, but I'm not against ditching it and relearning an entirely new video editing program someday.

4K Video Downloader is my go-to YouTube video downloading application. I have a license for a Pro version that just expired this month, but it allows full quality bulk-downloads from playlists.

Web Development

VS Code is my IDE of choice - and Cursor for AI-assisted development.

SourceTree is my GUI for Git. I host on GitHub and deploy my sites with Netlify.

If you're interested in this workflow and want to create a website of your own, I wrote a blog post to help you with that!

My Thoughts on Rivals of Aether II

David V. Kimball — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Since it's release about a month ago, I've been really enjoying my time with Rivals of Aether II. The shiny new platform fighter makes its way onto Steam after its predecessor, Rivals of Aether, had been getting updates for nearly a decade.

I wanted to share my thoughts on Rivals 2 as it's an interesting cross section of what I really love and appreciate about platform fighters, and has surprised me in several ways, with just a few complaints.

Game Feel

In short: it feels great. Thanks to more generous input windows compared to Super Smash Bros. Melee (ala Project M), even technical movement can be executed with relative ease. This is great for picking up and playing from Melee or Project M, or really any other platform fighting game.

My first and main complaint about the game is its insistence on a mandatory input buffer system. This means, within a 6-frame window, your timing can be "off" and the input will still execute during the first available frame. For example, if you press A too early from a tech roll, you'll still jab. But this "benefit" doesn't always help. As an example, I'll often be mashing an input with an intended purpose, and somehow get interrupted by an opponent, and find myself doing an aerial I didn't intend to do, sometimes leading to my death. Anyone coming from Melee and PM, which has absolutely no input buffer whatsoever, tend to prioritize responsiveness and would likely appreciate a toggle to turn off the buffer system.

That complaint aside, the controls feel snappy and connecting custom combos feels extremely satisfying. Dash dancing feels fair across the roster, little landing lag for most aerials keeps games moving, and it feels like every character has plenty of movement options. Even the early preview I tried at Pax West 2023 felt super polished, and I'm happy it's managed to remain feeling great even today.

Gameplay

I appreciated the first Rivals of Aether game (I even got to try it at a 2014 Seattle local in its extremely early phases) but could never quite get behind the core mechanic differences. Reliance on walljumps as a primary movement option off-stage, as well as no ledges, shields, or grabs was too much of a departure from the rock, paper, & scissors dynamic I was used to from the Super Smash Bros. titles - attacks, shields, and grabs ledgehoging, etc. It afforded more aggression and high speed gameplay in some ways I admired as a spectator, but I couldn't ever quite get used to actually playing with it.

Rivals 2's return to form in many ways is welcomed from me. Since there's no helpless state after an air dodge and every character can walljump, it feels like a great compromise between Rivals 1 and Melee, biasing more towards the Melee side, and all mechanics and options considered, it ends up playing a lot like Project M (which is a good thing).

That being said, new mechanics exclusive to this game like ledge specials, get up specials, and pummel specials with parries all feel like natural extensions to existing mechanics, and I love that shield + B is parry like in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's HewDrawRemix mod. Giving us more options while not overwhelming us with new mechanics is a challenge with platform fighters, but I believe Rivals 2 strikes that balance very well.

Characters + Kits

I'm not sure if it was the simpler pixel art style or just my initial unfamiliarity with them, but I had a tough time connecting with the Rivals characters and the Rivals world in Rivals 1. This time around though (ironically it could be in part because I recognize them from other Aether games), I have really begun enjoying the characters - not just aesthetically or design-wise, but also in terms of their unique moveset and kit.

Dan Fornace and team's really smart character kit design was probably always present in these characters, but in Rivals 2 I've actually really started appreciating it. I think because it took concepts I had previously discarded as gimmicks before, and managed to package them into a more comfortable and accessible way for someone like me as a Melee-first/PM-biased player. I felt more free to experiment and try in a more familiar-feeling environment so it just clicked.

This helps underscore how each character feels entirely unique and well-thought out, and by contrast, how padded some other fighting games' rosters are with clones. I'm not necessarily saying more options is bad, but sometimes less is more.

I started off playing Ranno because I play Sheik in Melee, and I enjoy him a decent amount. But more recently I've really been playing Forsburn, so I think I'd consider myself a Forsburn main now. I also enjoy switching to Zetterburn and Kragg. I can play Clairen, Fleet, and Loxodont as well, but I'm pretty mid with them. However I'm abysmal with Wrastor, Orcane, and Maypul. Maybe that will change with time.

Music + Sound

The music remixes from the first game are absolutely stellar. Rivals 1's music was already great to begin with, and Rivals 2's new tracks are the perfect upgrade. No complaints there.

Sound design is also excellent when it comes to hits, punches, slashes, etc. Some of my favorite SFX in any fighting game. I'm very grateful, however, for a separate voice sound effect slider in settings, because some of the vocal performances are a little annoying to me. I've experimenting with setting the voices to 0 and haven't felt the need to turn it back on since. This critique extends a bit to the overall presentation, particularly the opening cinematic - it feels a tad cheesy, but I can't put my finger on exactly why. Maybe I just found the voice acting too heavy-handed in general.

Game Modes

I spent most of my time playing online in casual matches. 1v1 is where this game really shines obviously, but I've had a lot of fun in 2v2s and even some free-for-all matches. Incentivizing otherwise unpopular game modes with an increase in EXP is a brilliant way to make sure each game mode has players. Obviously the game is still new and in the height of its launch window surge, but I have never had to quit because it couldn't find me a match.

Ranked mode is great too, but I'm not sure how I feel about whether or not you should receive a global rank, or character-specific rank. Currently it's global, meaning you are ranked based on your overall performance (wins vs. losses and against whom) irrespective of the character you're playing. I'm also assuming this will get tweaked, updated, and improved in the future, so I'm not too worried about it.

It's easy enough to queue with your friends and get matches going. No complaints there.

For single player experiences, it feels a little sparse. I've completed each character's arcade-style single player mode on each difficulty, and I appreciate that "game overs" only translate to more time added to the clock. That makes it more engaging and I'm much more likely to try higher difficulty settings as a result. I do wish the target test stages were available separately (I'm sure they will be soon in an update).

Training mode is satisfactory for someone at my level - but there are almost endless possibilities there to give players tools to improve. I look forward to more single player options (even character-based tutorials like in the first game) in the future.

Online Play

Rivals 2 uses rollback netcode and it feels great to play online. I've tried to limit it to folks just near my location, but even in free-for-all matches, games feel great. Once and a while I notice some warping from a player with a poor connection, but it's nothing too different from what you might experience on Slippi.

Art Style

Game looks great. The cell-shaded art style has proven to age well in the past with games like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, or even in "modernizing" visual overhauls like Melee's Animelee modpack. I've noticed some really noticeable jagged, blurry lines on the beta backer retro skins, but otherwise the visuals pop and look really clean. Background environments also have enough detail to not feel barren but aren't overwhelming visually either.

Not only does it look great, but it's a great art style for visually-impaired or colorblind individuals. There's enough visual contrast on the models, character effects, and background to make things easy to see.

The game's UI and HUD is a little basic, and the menus look a little rough and are even buggy in some places, but overall serviceable. In-game HUD is clear enough and the most important to get right, while menu functionality and visuals can be improved in the future.

Stages

A platform fighting game should have good platforming stages. And Rivals 2 definitely delivers. As discussed above, visually they look great and there isn't any ambiguity about what's walkable and what isn't. There are a couple of stages I don't like personally, but overall they're all solid choices. Nice neutral stages that don't get in the way of gameplay, with enough variety and unique platform layouts to keep things interesting. A couple clearly inspired by Project M stages which I particularly appreciate, too.

Cosmetics, Skins, and Store

By far, the most surprising aspect of this game I love are the cosmetics, skins, and the store. I have been thoroughly impressed not only with the variety of unlockables available at launch, but the quality and frequency of new packs of skins, themed designs, and other items you can buy in the store so soon after launch.

From what I know from Animelee, Smash players love custom skins. And apparently I'm no different. There are unique palette swap options, but also custom skins with unique models, graphical effects, and even sound effects. I easily spent the $20 to get the starter pack, which gives you a bunch of coins, Aether bucks, and a 20% increase of coins. Coins and Aether bucks are the in-game currency which you can achieve by playing the game normally, participating in in-game events, or buy buying with actual money.

I never thought I'd say this, but I absolutely love this model. There's no "pay-to-win" angle at all, no exclusive gated content paywalled (at least seemingly so far), and plenty of options for players. If you want to grind the gameplay to achieve the store items, you can do that. Or you can pay cash and support the game / developers. The FOMO (fear of missing out) factor is sometimes enough to pressure me into wanting to pay to get a skin early, but I can usually resist with the knowledge that I can get it myself given enough time by just playing the game.

Future Plans

I know they plan to do a full adventure mode-style single player experience, which I'm excited about, and I'm sure there will be new characters and content to look forward to in the future. I don't have any expectations or strong feelings about which characters get added to the roster, just am excited for anything they could add.

Regarding player-created or custom content, I'm not entirely sure what they'll be doing with Steam Workshop this time around. The barrier to entry is much higher when it comes to asking people to create custom meshes / modeling, rigging, UV-wrapping, weighting, etc. Nothing will come close to Smack Studio's accessibility when it comes to custom content in my opinion. However, I'd love to be surprised.

Conclusion

As you may have surmised from this review, I'm certainly no top-level platform fighting game player, nor am I merely a casual. I'm somewhere in the middle (I believe it's called pro-amateur?). I appreciate a skills-based responsive game that's deep but also accessible and easy to pick up, and Rivals 2 certainly fits the bill. I've had fun just trying each character and, while I can't for the life of me get comfortable with all of them, I still find myself coming back to a handful I enjoy playing.

It's honestly impressive how quickly Aether Studios has turned this game around, and the polish and quality of the product launch has been impressive to witness. Many forget, holding a Triple A studio's standards against a small indie team is not remotely realistic - and even so, this game has a level of polish and care given to it that has exceeded my expectations.

Sound like something you'd be into? Get this game! You can join my Discord server and play some friendlies with us if you'd like.

Technology-Aware Parenting

David V. Kimball — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Just Days Away

My wife Esther and I are expecting a newborn son in the coming months. Time moves so fast that I might as well consider it mere days at this point.

Amid the excitement and myriad of other complex emotions - I'm feeling a sense of uneasiness, specifically around technology use around my children-to-be. I don't want to use screens as a crutch to raising them if at all possible (maybe it's a naïve sentiment to think I can avoid them to begin with?). Regardless, I want to safeguard against impairing brain development or stunting an attention span too early on.

In Derek Sivers' blog post, Parenting: Who is it Really For?, Sivers makes the case that cultivating a long attention span for your kids doesn't only help them, but it helps you as well.

"Whatever he’s doing right now, that’s the most important thing. So I encourage him to keep doing it as long as possible [...] Of course my adult mind wanders to all the other things we could be doing. But I let it go, and return to that present focus."

I'd like to explore this concept more. So let's dig in.

Screen Addicted

It's no secret that I am a screen addict.

I work from home full-time where work on screens. Then I create videos for YouTube which uses screens. Occasionally I'll watch a movie or show with my wife: more screens. And just about anything else I would consider a hobby other than actually spending quality time in-person with friends and family - you guessed it, it involves screens. The blog post I'm writing right now is happening on a screen.

My chief concern at this point is - will I pass that addiction on to my son?

He's going to want to do what dad does; it seems inevitable.

What can I best do to protect him from it? The way I see it, I have two options:

Do nothing and hope I can manage to curb his behavior without affecting my own
Attempt to reform my own behavior by finding new hobbies or instilling habits that aren't screen-first

Assuming 2 is the better choice, I'll have to think through how to modify my habits to be less screen-reliant.

Battle Plan

The easiest way to curb a particular behavior is by offering yourself a viable alternative. It's extremely difficult to quit something cold-turkey without replacing it with something else.

Generally I feel uncomfortable when people ask me about my hobbies. It's not because I don't have any, but when I talk about them they never seem to fit into what you're supposed to say. I like making videos, making new websites, having discussions about niche topics, or researching 90s and 2000s era video game media. Things like that.

One big reason, I think, that my hobbies are centered around screens is they're cheap, align with my interests already, and are convenient. Relatively speaking, the resources required to create a YouTube video, for example, may involve some upfront cost of equipment and software, but after that it's essentially a rinse and repeat process, where I can always pick a new subject of interest.

Physical activities like walking, working out, or hiking are also relatively inexpensive, but generally don't hold my interest like others do.

Regardless, I need to pull off the Band-Aid and decide a new, non-screen hobby is worth the investment, even if it involves spending more than I generally would to indulge in one of my more familiar hobbies.

My first goal, therefore, will be to take up a new hobby. Even if it's a small commitment. So what should I be trying?

New Hobbies

I've taken a stab at a few hobbies. Here's what I'm considering at the moment.

Reading

Commitment: low
Cost: low

So far I have been starting to read more. Not just listening to audio books (which certainly have their benefits), but actually reading a physical book.

The goal with this new reading hobby is threefold: (1) get used to regular activity without a screen, (2) instill a habit which forces me to elongate my attention span, and (3) start practicing an activity I can do with my son early on.

So far my wife and I have read Expectant Parents together. It had some great insights from a Christian perspective for what we can expect from the birthing process and just after. We're also making our way through Street Smarts by Greg Koukl, which is about the art of asking good-faith questions to the unbeliever.

I'm doing some reading on my own as well, including John Gottman's 7 Principles for Making Marriage Work and Sean Ellis' Hacking Growth (although I confess the latter is an audio book).

I'm optimistic about this hobby. One checked off at least. How many more can I add?

Climbing

Commitment: medium
Cost: medium

A friend of mine recently invited me to go indoor rock-climbing and it was good fun. However I quickly rediscovered how out of shape I am. This was a rude reminder about my failed New Year's resolution from earlier this year.

Despite being out of shape, I did have fun. Figuring out how to successfully complete a section of a wall was a surprisingly engaging challenge.

This hobby worked as a one-off, and the nearest climbing gym is just a 7 minute drive. On paper it seems like it could be repeatable - so what are the costs?

Any gas I'd use to spend going each time down and back
$24 per visit or $88 a month if I get a membership

It's tough to rank this based on cost, since I'm not used to paying this much this often for my hobbies. But I'd guess it seems like a medium amount to pay all things considered?! I don't know.

This is also an activity I couldn't do easily with my son early on. So it might turn into something I do to take a parenting break in the future.

I'm unsure about this hobby. I can see myself hyper-fixating on it and getting super into it, but not sure for how long. To be determined.

Piano

Commitment: medium
Cost: low

Taking piano lessons for nearly 4 years can stick with you a bit. Every once and a while I might play a little, as long as there's sheet music, and struggle a little to incorporate the left hand.

We own a portable keyboard that can bust out and play, but I hadn't touched it for months when it was setup in the house. So it's in the garage for now.

Perhaps it would be good to pick this up to refine my skills and get into singing and playing songs to my son. Esther is also great at singing and can play a bit herself, so it probably makes sense.

This is something I'm thinking about getting into again. Feeling good about it.

Limiting Screen Usage

The hardest part for me will be forcing myself into situations where using a desktop or laptop computer isn't an option. Limiting my phone use isn't necessarily a problem as I'm often frustrated with the inefficiency of the small touch screen input method. As a result I gravitate towards a PC: a form factor designed more ergonomically and with more screen real estate to boot. Consequently, I have computers everywhere in the house.

Thankfully, we have at least one room in the house we can use as a nursery, which which will be screen-free. We just have to watch any mobile phone use there (Esther included!).

Another question to be considering is am I OK with being "bored"? When given an option, the answer is no. But in this case, I imagine there will be numerous boring, tedious, or monotonous moments in parenting I'll need to endure. And while it's ultimately in service of the needs of my son, it might not be the worst thing for me either.

In Cal Newport's book Deep Work which I finished last year, he talks about how constantly stimulating your brain with distractions depletes your energy levels more than you might think, even causing disruptions in your uninterrupted focus time later in the day. The cost of constant distraction isn't worth it. So if you find yourself waiting in line, maybe instead of distracting yourself on your phone, maybe save your energy take in the surroundings instead.

In the last 10 years, I've been extremely mindful about phone usage during mealtimes or during in-person conversations. My tolerance for it is already low, so I will stop speaking if the person with whom I'm talking looks at their phone, and patiently wait for them to finish before I continue. Or if I'm with friends or family at a dinner table, I almost never take my phone out, even if it's going off like mad.

So I've got my phone somewhat under control and have at least one room in the house that's screen-free, but what about when we finally do want to watch media with our son when he's old enough?

The Media We Do Watch

When my son is a newborn until about age 1 or so, I won't have to worry about watching movies or a show in the living room. But eventually, we'll want to be particularly wary about any high-stimulus media he may be consuming.

I asked /r/predaddit recently about how best to prepare for screen time with my son and got a wide variety of answers. Lots of other dads talked about the struggle to not fall into the screen time trap. It's worth browsing to read the advice shared.

Something I'm keeping a close eye on is Sherwood Kids, a purportedly low-stimulus media streaming website. When it comes to content my children consume, I'd like to at least curate a safe list of media they can enjoy. I always assumed it would mean organizing some selections of videos, movies, shows, and music and either saving files locally and playing them that way, or even reverting to using DVDs and CDs to keep things simple. But maybe livestreaming options will exist for families who are mindful about the potential harm of screens for kids at an early age.

One thing's for certain - my son will not be browsing internet videos at his own leisure. Somehow I don't think I'll be trusting YouTube's "For Kids" settings even ten years from now.

I hope to see more services catering to families who are looking to be more mindful about the media their children consume. After all, we're still studying the long-term effects of all of this screen time on our brains.

It's Intimidating, But Not Impossible

While it can be overwhelming to think about raising kids in this tech-first world, I don't think it's out of the question. The biggest challenge will be reforming my own habits and preferences to prioritize more tangible forms of entertainment and learning that will help my son-to-be's brain develop. When I consider that aim, I feel more motivated to disconnect.

How his own interests and hobbies evolve is another exciting prospect. Who knows what will capture his imagination and what sorts of things he'll be passionate about one day! Even if it ends up involving screens, like his dad, that will be OK.

A Deep Dive into Melee's Cut Stages

David V. Kimball — Sat, 14 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Through hacking the game and accessing debug mode, we can discern quite a bit about Super Smash Bros. Melee's cut content, including its stages.

Here's a guide with some visuals for what's left on the disc, plus a few concepts for what the other cut stages could have looked like.

Cut Stages Left on the Disc

These stages were left on the disc and can be access in-game via debug mode through hacking.

DUMMY

While it can be accessed in-game from the debug menu, DUMMY plays no music and is a complete empty stage aside from a single platform. Its blast zones are broken, with the characters’ and cameras’ y axis values exceeding its bounds. Usually, this causes the game to crash on load, however using a Gecko code can force it to work. The platform is so small that if a character doesn’t land on it in a precise spot, they will miss it and fall infinitely. It is well below the stage’s camera placement.

The purpose of this stage is unclear, although based on its name it’s possible it could have been used as a placeholder for debug purposes.

TEST

TEST is a long, sprawling stage that plays the Corneria music.

It has a background image of Caffé Verona in Palo Alto, California, which was commonly used for OpenGL testing at the time of Melee’s development.

It has a variety of slants, slopes, moving platforms, and varying ground types. It feels like a playground. As its name suggests, this stage was almost certainly used for testing and debug purposes. Interestingly, though, there are no grabbable ledges nor can you drop through any of the platforms.

TSEAK

Originally, Sheik was going to have her own Target Test stage apart from Zelda’s, TSEAK. The remains of the stage are left on the disc. It is one gray platform, with grabbable ledges and three targets. The blast zone on the left is oddly close to the stage.

Cut Stages with References

These stages, while not having actual assets remaining on the disc, either have references from within the game's files or externally on sites like Smabura-Ken. The provided screenshots are from fan-recreated Melee mods which serve well as concepts for what the stages could have been like.

ICETOP

Originally, ICETOP would have been a second Ice Climber stage. A duplicate of this entry, 10-2, would have loaded after 10-1 in Adventure Mode, which is of course is Icicle Mountain. Usually it crashes upon load, but through hacking it just loads Icicle Mountain without the music.

However, a fan recreation exists in the modding community. Thanks to Fruit_Sauce for this stage! In this concept, we can see several base platforms from Icicle Mountain, and a stage model similar to Brawl’s Summit, with the various vegetables making an appearance in the background and a moving cloud platform.

It’s also fair to assume something even closer to Brawl’s summit may have been intended for this stage slot in Melee, since its name was going to be Peak, Mountaintop, or Summit. In Ultimate, Summit’s file name is Ice_Top, confirming this theory.

AKANEIA

The file name AKANEIA references the continent featured in the first and third Fire Emblem games, Archanea as it’s called in the west. Originally, the stage would feature a castle, dragons, mages, and even catapults with stones. Brawl’s Castle Siege should come to mind.

Modder Anchorman has recreated a version of this stage in the Melee art style, inspired from the Smash 2 stage.

This version uses a violet blue and simpler background.

Sprout Tower

Although no references to this stage exist in the game itself as far as I’m aware, we have a direct reference to this idea from Sakurai on the Smabura-Ken official website for Melee.

This concept was created by modder puffy for Beyond Melee, which features two gold Bellsprout statues, a wood design and a shifting column. This takes inspiration from the location of the same name from Pokemon Gold and Silver.

Ultimately, it was replaced by PokeFloats due to time constraints.

Why I Pay for Email Now

David V. Kimball — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT

In the early days of the internet, I was always on the hunt for free services.

Whatever was free. Sign me up.

Email was no exception. I started with Yahoo Mail in 2005, and it felt like magic to send messages instantly to anyone around the world at no cost.

Quickly I realized there were better options out there (that were still free somehow), like the promising competitor Gmail. I still remember the excitement of receiving a beta invite. It was sleek, had tons of storage, had cool new features like labels, and made email more intuitive with a threaded view of conversations. Their Why Use Gmail video still strangely pops into my head sometimes.

After loving what they did with Zune, I found myself knee-deep into the Microsoft ecosystem with Windows Phone in 2010. Outlook.com and the upgraded Outlook mobile app were a clean, ad-free experience I really enjoyed. I thought I would be using it as my email client forever. I even switched all of my accounts over for it.

But as time went on, the cracks started to show. I realized my dependence on my inbox was a lot bigger than I had imagined. Bank accounts, work credentials, and other critical systems relied upon my email address now somehow. Also ads became more invasive, even disguising themselves as emails in some cases.

Stories of accounts being suddenly suspended or deleted had me worried. What if Google or Microsoft decided to shut down my account? It's not just a matter of losing the data associated with those accounts, but losing the associated email address or alias(es).

Bottom line is: if I lost my username/email address name, I'd be locked out of an untold number of accounts (and if you lost yours, you probably would be, too). Therefore, I knew it was time for a change.

Why I Switched

After much research and soul-searching, I made the decision to start paying for email. Here's why:

Privacy and Security

Free email providers often scan your emails to serve targeted ads. At least in theory, by paying for a service like Proton Mail, I can ensure that my emails are encrypted and not being mined for data ~~as often~~.

No Ads

The rest of my life is essentially ad-free, and when something that I use as often as email isn't, it hurts. Of course uBlock Origin still works on desktop, but if you want to use a first party app, mobile is much trickier to deal with.

Custom Domain

By using my own domain with my email, I've future-proofed my online identity. If I ever need to switch email providers, I can do so without changing my email address. Or if I had to, I could even use simple forwarding services, often provided by domain registrars or services that handle DNS like Cloudflare or NameCheap.

Reduced Risk of Account Termination

Paid services have a more direct financial incentive to keep their customers happy. While no service is 100% guaranteed, the risk of having my account arbitrarily terminated is allegedly lower with a paid provider.

More Features

Paid email services often offer advanced features like catch-all email addresses, more aliases, and integration with other privacy-focused tools.

The Transition Process

Switching to a paid email service isn't a decision I made lightly. I had accumulated over, well, let's just say MANY accounts tied to an old email address. The thought of updating all of these was daunting, to say the least.

To make the transition manageable, I developed a strategy:

I transferred my domain to Cloudflare for cheaper, long-term registration.
I set up Proton Mail with my custom domain, creating aliases for different purposes (e.g., one for service sign-ups, one for subscriptions, etc.).
I'm gradually updating important accounts to use my new address, while keeping less critical ones on my old address for now.
I've set up email forwarding from my old addresses to ensure I don't miss anything important during the transition.

Balancing Act: Old vs. New

One challenge I've faced is maintaining connections between services that rely on a common email address. In the past, I could use one email address for everything, making it easy to link accounts and be recognized across platforms.

Now, I'm having to be more strategic. For some services, particularly those tied to Google (like YouTube and my personal calendar), I still need to use my Gmail address. For Microsoft services, I'm keeping my Outlook.com address active.

But for new sign-ups and important accounts, I'm using my new Proton Mail address with my custom domain. It's something I have to manage now but I believe it will pay off in the long run.

The Cost-Benefit Analysis

Paying for email means an additional expense in my monthly budget that didn't exist before, in a category that didn't exist before. But when I consider the value of "owning" my email address name, it quickly becomes worth it.

For those curious, I opted for Proton Mail's Plus plan, which at the time of writing costs about $4 per month when paid annually. For this, I get:

15 GB of storage
Support for my custom domain
10 email aliases
Support

Not sure if I'll stick with this or upgrade to Unlimited or Duo in the future. Or just switch back to using free email options. We'll see.

Final Thoughts

If you're still relying solely on free email services, I encourage you to think about what would happen if your email provider just shut down your account one day. Changing over to another provider might seem daunting at first, but with some planning, it is entirely manageable. Although, if you're not using a password manager by now, you should be. This makes things way easier.

Everything We Know About Super Smash Bros. Melee's Development

David V. Kimball — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Super Smash Bros. Melee Development Documentary

To start things off, I present to you my first documentary about Melee's development, Elevated: The Development Story of Super Smash Bros. Melee. This is a 2021 video I uploaded that covered most of the story.

Here is Sakurai's video covering Melee:

Super Smash Bros. Melee Development Timeline

Based on the incredibly helpful Melee development timeline from SourceGaming, below is a chronological list of when we know things happened by date.

May 1999:

Masahiro Sakurai reveals Melee's existence.
Sakurai creates a poll on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! website asking fans what they want in a theoretical Smash 2 game.
Top 5 requested characters: Bowser, Peach, Wario, Dedede, and Ganondorf.

July 5, 1999:

Sakurai completes the project proposal and initial design documents for Melee. However, the final game would differ greatly from its original proposal documents.
Includes concept to modify controller to include a jog dial.

August 2000:

The modeling and rigging for the Meowth trophy was completed, used for Spaceworld's "Meowth's Party" technical demo.

Early Fall 2000:

Development of Melee begins.
Only had access to GameCube emulator without full power of the actual dev kit.

September 2000:

Super Smash Bros. Melee's development team gets actual Dolphin development kits.

January 2001:

Sakurai begins work on storyboards for the opening cinematic, forgoing his planned New Year's vacation
Ganondorf was not yet confirmed at this point, but Mewtwo was in development[^l]

February 14, 2001:

The team decides to move forward with an orchestral soundtrack for the game, headed up by Shogo Sakai, taking over for Hirokazu Ando.

April 2001:

Recording of over 4,000 original sound effects begins.
Sysdolphin 1.0 finished development.

May 17, 2001:

Melee is revealed at E3 2001, featuring the opening cinematic.
A playable demo is available on the show floor.
Melee's development team has grown to over 50 people.
Yuji Naka (Sonic Team CEO) and Hideo Kojima approach Sakurai about including their characters, but it's too late in development.

August 24, 2001:

An early build of Melee is used in its first ever tournament called Premium Fight at Spaceworld 2001.

October 31, 2001:

The Japanese and North America NTSC build is completed, just in time for production (version 1.00).
The Japanese demo was finished shortly thereafter on November 3rd, 2001.

November 21, 2001:

Super Smash Bros. Melee is released in Japan.
Just a day later on November 22, NTSC-U and NTSC-J version 1.01 would be completed.

December 3, 2001:

Melee is released in the United States (still v1.00).
Development of the US demo has completed on the same day.

December 22-23, 2001:

Jump Festa 2002 hosts the first Melee tournament featuring the final version of the game.

February 13, 2002:

US and Japan's version 1.02 is completed.

March 13, 2002:

Version 1.03, created for the PAL region, has finished development.
March 25th is when the PAL demo has finished development.

Early 2002:

Toys R Us' competition, Fighting Road 2002, was held in Osaka and Tokyo Games, and Hiroshima, with the final competition taking place on March 3, 2002. Participants wrote about their experience (also here).

May 24, 2002:

Melee is released in Europe (version 1.03).

May 31, 2002:

Melee is released in Australia.

August 27, 2002:

The New Japan Philharmonic performs an arrangement of Melee's music in Tokyo.

Sakurai's video about the Smash Bros. DOJO!! websites:

Development Trivia

Melee uses "Ready... Go!" instead of "3, 2, 1... Go!" because of the "lengthy" loading times compared to Smash 64.[^y]
Melee removed skeleton models from Smash 64 because the team ran out of time and they weren't sure it was possible to read and retain bone models from a disc rather than the cartridges used for the previous game.[^z]
Sakurai has desired a reply function at least since Melee.[^a]
Originally, Corneria and Venom's stage music were swapped.[^c]
The full title of Marth's debut game was omitted because of the game's in-game character count limit for game titles listed on trophies.[^d]
A name tag showing up during Shiek's recovery was a feature they didn't have time to remove.[^f]
Sakurai acknowledged that Pichu technically can't learn Skull Bash or Agility in the Pokemon games, but had to use those moves anyway as Pikachu's clone character.[^h]
Glancing blows (phantom hits) were an intentionally added feature in Melee. [^i]
The tracks in Melee's OST that use an orchestra include:[^k]
- Melee's Opening
- Great Bay
- Fountain of Dreams
- Corneria
- Venom
- Pokemon Stadium
- Every character's victory fanfare
- (Mute City uses live electric guitar)
Sprout Tower was the original backstage for the Pokemon franchise which became PokeFloats.[^m]
Melee stages were made deliberately smaller compared to 64's to help with character visibility.[^n]
Continued from Smash 64, Sakurai used the Japanese Mario Kart voice actor for Luigi as a reference, which is why his voice is higher-pitched than Mario's.[^o]
Kingdom of Akaneia was a canceled Fire Emblem stage, which would feature trebuchets, dragons, and mages.[^q] This is likely what the empty stage AKANEIA on the disc is.
Smooth landing (L-canceling) was modified from Smash 64 from cutting the landing lag to 0 to cutting the landing lag in half.[^r]
Exchanging battle data and exchanging trophies was planned for Melee, but cut due to risks of accidents occurring on the new GameCube hardware.[^s]
Grabs and throws were made deliberately weaker in Melee compared to Smash 64.[^t]
Assist Capsules, the precursors of Assist Trophies, were considered at one point as items, but were scrapped.[^u]
Fox and Falco's unique dialogue for specific winning conditions was a cut feature, but the audio lines were left on the disc accidentally.[^v]
Navi would have appeared in Link's taunt, but the team ran out of time.[^w]
Stamina Mode originally had players start with 170HP instead of 150HP.[^xx]
Roy was added specifically to promote the upcoming Fire Emblem game, The Binding Blade on GBA.[^yy]
Zelda with a Sheik transform was decided from the very beginning of Melee's development.[^z]
Sakurai wanted to include the Dark World theme from Zelda: A Link to the Past as a music track but was unable to for an unspecified reason.[^aa]
Showing hitboxes in Training Mode was considered, but ultimately cut because it would have "taken away too much of the fun."[^bb]
Venusaur and other Pokemon originally were to appear on the Pokemon Stadium stage (like in Saffron City in Smash 64) and use moves. But due to the complications around getting the models and animations to appear with the programming constraints, the feature was removed. He did, however, retain as much of this progress as possible into the Pokeball item. Whether or not canonically Pokemon could use the moves they were using in the game was not as much of a priority although some research was done. The main priority was not overlapping with other Pokemons' abilities.[^^cc]
Summit was a stage considered as the back Ice Climber location. It was planned but was eventually canceled (likely ICETOP on-disc).[^dd]
Sakurai considered unique model swaps as costumes for characters more challenging than mere color palette swaps due to character creators valuing their creations' individuality.[^hh]
Had the dev team had more development time, Sakurai would have prioritized resting and recovering from his overwork rather than developing new content.[^ii]
Fire Emblem trophies were planned for Melee, but because of the complexities of the models that would be required to create, they ended up scrapping them.[^jj]
Sakurai wanted to keep Samus' gender a mystery in Smash 64 akin to how it was a special reveal in the first Metroid game, so he intentionally chose to not give her voice sounds in Melee as well.[^kk]
Board the Platforms was initially planned for Melee, but was cut.[^ll]
Sakurai included Mach Rider music in Melee because he liked it.[^mm]
Mewtwo's Confusion used to have less lag, but was changed when you could use it for a nearly infinite combo.[^nn]
Giga Bowser and Bowser are separate characters. Bowser and Giga Bowser's portrayal were both inspired by Sakurai's perception of the "beastlier" Bowser with which he was familiar from the NES era games, despite Nintendo's direction to take the character in a "cutsier" direction.[^oo]
DK being hit by that ball of energy in the opening movie is in fact Mewtwo's shadow ball.[^pp]
Deciding to include Mewtwo had to do with considering what an interesting moveset that would include using supernatural powers and also the voice actor of a leading character in a worldwide movie may have mass appeal.[^qq]
Sakurai acknowledges the utility of a wavedash, calling using the technique a kind of backdash, when a fan explains how he discovered it with Luigi. However, he questioned how useful it was.[^ss]
Sakurai himself came up with the voice lines for the characters, including Mewtwo's victory lines.[^tt]
Ditto was originally a Pokemon in the Pokeball item and a reference to it was accidentally left in the player's guide. Remnants of Ditto remain on the disc where you can see him appear through hacking and hear his Japanese cry when it appears.[^aaa]
Music tracks for Temple and Onett went through several revisions, you can hear early versions of it in various uploaded media.

Flat Zone has several unused animations for the Game & Watch games Fire and Parachute that still exist in the games files.

Corneria has some unused animations as well, with some of the buildings collapsing (thanks, nyancat128!).

Considered Characters

Other retro reps: Balloon Fighter, Urban Champion, Bubbles, Excitebike Racer.[^vv]
Takamaru from the Mysterious Murasame Castle was considered for a Smash 64 sequel game, but didn't consider it likely.[^yyy]
Ayumi Tachibana from Famicom Detective Club was considered, but ultimately only included as a trophy since an overseas audience wouldn't be familiar with her.[^ww]
Lucas from Earthbound 64[^2]
Wario, if just one more character could have been added to Melee. But instead, Sakurai opted to include Marth, Roy, and Mewtwo instead.[^g]
Sukapon wasn't able to appear as an in-game item where characters could ride him due to complicated circumstances (and that appearing in later installments would be unlikely). But he was planned and had progress made at one point.[^e]
Mach Rider came up when a fan asked Sakurai about who he'd include in a Smash 64 sequel. His reason was simply he liked the character's name. He mentioned people from his generation would want more characters from Mach Rider and The Mysterious Murasame Castle.[^zz]

Requested Characters

Hideo Kojima begged Sakurai to include Solid Snake in Melee, but the game was too far along in development for the inclusion to be feasible.[^xxx]
Sonic the Hedgehog was a request from Yuji Naka to Sakurai at Space World, where Sakurai responded and said "I wish you'd have said something sooner!"[^j]

Acknowledged Characters

Banjo and Kazooie, which Sakurai mentioned would be a character pair thought to be an obvious inclusion in the game, were sadly absent due to complicated matters.[^x]
Sakurai confirmed there were never plans to add Saki from Sin and Punishment.[^b]
Sakurai states characters from Animal Crossing are clearly not suitable for Smash.[^ee]
James Bond was "blocked on all sides" due to representation of real guns, actor's portrayal and likeness, original work is a movie, not a game, and the associated game is by Rare.[^p]
Meta Knight, mentioning both Marth and Roy already have swords, and Meta Knight is also surprisingly versatile - so those would be considerations if decided.[^ff]
King Dedede can't be added as a mere model swap of Kirby.[^gg]
Regarding both Meta Knight and Dedede, he noticed they were fairly high up on the popularity polls, and would keep it in mind for the future.[^rr]
Slippy and Peppy were acknowledged as interesting picks, since "it would feel more satisfying to have the whole team together, wouldn't it?"[^uu] They, along with Falco, were also once considered as alternative costume options for Fox in Smash 64.

The Continued Story of Super Smash Bros. Melee's Development

A follow up to my first documentary, I go a bit deeper into the archives of HAL Labs, E3 2001 footage, and interview former Nintendo World Report staff member Jonathan Metts as he recounts his experience at E3 2001. I also review some of the newer videos Sakurai's uploaded that has shed some light on Melee's development in the years since my first documentary.

Specifics from early E3 footage

All shields were red.
You could grab the ledge of the laser cannon on the Great Fox on the Corneria stage.
You could jump again after an air dodge.
Link's sword had no swing trails.
Hitstun and the timing for Falcon punch were identical to Smash 64.
Various character animations were less exaggerated and simpler.

Post-Release

Sakurai continues to answer fan questions on the Melee News Flash site until February 8, 2002.
The game sells over 7 million units in its lifetime, becoming the best-selling GameCube game.
Tournaments and events continue to be held, promoting the game and its competitive scene.
Players discover advanced techniques like wavedashing, which were unintended consequences of the game's physics engine.
Sakurai expresses some regret about the game's high skill ceiling, feeling it may have affected accessibility.
Brawl used Melee screenshots for his Final Smash concept in the Brawl proposal document.
Leslie Swan voice lines for Peach used early on instead of Jen Taylor.

Ocarina of Time Link can be seen in an earlier version of Brawl.

My Very First Games of Super Smash Bros. Melee

On June 19th, 2002, my brother and I got to play our first Melee matches on the retail version of Melee, version 1.0, on our cousin's GameCube.

Captured in all its VHS glory, you can watch below.

Additional Details

Sakurai clarifies when he says "adult circumstances" he just really means complicated circumstances.
Sakurai states that fans can't really realistically conceptualize how many more characters could have been added to Melee had they removed other unrelated features. It's not a 1:1 situation. Changing properties of clone fighters is significantly easier than creating new animations, making significant model changes, or programming new abilities. A removal of a clone character, therefore, wouldn't necessarily mean it would be possible for a completely unique character inclusion. For example, Sakurai said he couldn't just add King Dedede as a model replacement for Kirby.
The development team had a spec sheet they'd use to consider characters, and as they scrapped each one, they'd mark the character's face with an "X".
Satoru Iwata stepped in to help with debugging in the final weeks of Melee's development.
The game's opening cinematic was created by multiple animation studios and required extensive coordination.
Unused content includes alternative voice clips, scrapped items, and planned features that didn't make the final cut.
The game's success led to numerous promotional events and tournaments in Japan and internationally.

Full Jonny Metts Interview About E3 2001

Here's my full interview with Jonathan Metts, formerly of Nintendo World Report back when it was Planet GameCube and his experience going to E3 2001.

Digital Flow: A Tech-First Approach to Productivity And Presence

David V. Kimball — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT

I write a lot about technology and productivity generally, but today I'd like to talk about an approach to interacting with the digital world and provide a definition I haven't seen articulated before (at least holistically). It's deeply personal to me because it's connected to my love of technology and communication, and at the same time relates to my personality type, how I process information, and how I get things done.

When "digital flow" (as I'm calling) it is properly employed, I feel like all cylinders are firing. It's deeply satisfying and usually helps me create something I'm happy with. A proper environment - that is, both physical and digital - can lead to flow state. For now, let's focus on the latter.

I hope you find this methodology about using software valuable. 😌

Digital Flow: A Definition

[!note] Definition Digital Flow: Achieving efficient, focused output using digital tools.

Employing Digital Flow effectively requires thoughtful selection, customization, and progressive mastery of software and digital tools.

Over the years, I've explored countless digital platforms and tools, always seeking the next killer use case. This exploration led me to develop a unique approach I call "Digital Flow." Unlike Cal Newport's Digital Minimalism, which focuses on carefully selecting a minimal set of digital tools based on core values, Digital Flow embraces a wider range of digital tools while emphasizing intentional use, continuous refinement, and maximizing utility. Both approaches share a focus on intentionality, but differ in their stance on the breadth of technology adoption.

Digital Flow also encourages creation over consumption. It's concerned with leveraging technology to free our minds for deep work and meaningful engagement with the world around us. Here's what it embraces:

Progressive complexity - grow your sophistication with the tool as you continue to use it and understand it better.
Creative output over consumption.
Both work and fun projects.
Cognitive offloading to digital tools.
Healthy digital boundaries without complete abstinence.

Having our digital lives in order frees up mental space to engage more fully with our physical environment. When we cut the fluff and create content that resonates, it contributes meaningfully to the world around us.

As we navigate an increasingly digital world, it's crucial to develop intentional strategies for engaging with technology. Digital Flow offers a framework for doing just that.

Key Principles

Intentional Selection: Carefully choose digital tools that align with personal goals and values, prioritizing those that offer the most significant benefits for achieving the ideal outputs. Be a constant learner and always be ready to try something new if it's better.
Progressive Complexity: Start with the simplest implementation and gradually increase complexity as proficiency grows. Avoid over-engineering a system - complexity for complexity's sake gets in the way of optimal functionality.
Remove Interface Barriers: Streamline and personalize user interfaces to focus on core functionalities for a particular use case to improve focus and reduce distractions.
Practical Automation: Leverage smart shortcuts and macros to simplify complex tasks and optimize day-to-day workflows.
Cognitive Offloading: Utilize digital tools to manage information and tasks, freeing up mental resources for deep work, creativity, and interpersonal engagement. Staying organized helps with this, too.
Mindful Engagement: Establish clear boundaries for technology use, prioritizing important real-world experiences and relationships over digital interactions.
A Unified & Secure Identity: Maintain a consistent online presence across platforms to build trust and use a reliable process for securely managing accounts to reduce security risks and save time.
Creation-Consumption Mindfulness: Optimize the digital environment to facilitate both efficient content creation and avoid mindless consumption.

Intentional Selection

It's important to consider your goals when selecting your platforms or software of choice. Be mindful of the features, settings, compatibility, and limitations of each. If its a paid tool, is it a monthly fee or one-time payment? If it's free, is there a catch?

Generally speaking, you aren't held back by choice. There are an abundance of options (almost too many) to solve whatever need you may have. Sometimes the best choice for you isn't the loudest, most popular option. This may require some careful research or personal referrals. Websites like Product Hunt or Reddit can be great places to niche down and see what tools are being used for your particular use case.

For example, I use a very particular set of tools for this website. When I originally wrote this post in 2024, I used Astro-based theme Fuwari, which is currently actively updated and maintained. To write blog posts like this one I use Obsidian, push to a GitHub repository with SourceTree, deploy with Netlify and make code changes with the Visual Studio Code text editor (by the way, if you want to create your own free website hosted on GitHub, I have a guide for you).

If you're considering switching platforms, tools, applications, etc., run a cost-benefit analysis of changing and weigh the pros and cons.

Progressive Complexity

Have you ever tried to start using a new application or piece of software but instead got completely overwhelmed and gave up? This may happen if you try to use every feature from the get-go or build too complex of systems right from the start. An example might be a ToDo list app - instead of just jotting down a few to-dos, you feel you have to leverage every part of the application to make effective use of the tool.

In reality, over-engineering a tool can be crippling and kill its effectiveness altogether. If you're spending more time managing the system instead of spending time actually achieving the outcomes you want, it's actively working against you.

That said, you can work your way up to a more complex system that works in your favor. A great example includes the split keyboard I started using. There were many steps to take before I was familiar enough to be just as productive as I was with my previous keyboard, and I had to take each of them one at a time. First getting used to the new positioning of my hands, then trying a thumb cluster, then using my right thumb for backspacing, etc. Each got its time to slowly implement and repeat until it became second nature.

If you'd like to use a complex system - start simply, and work your way towards your ultimate desired use case.

Remove Interface Barriers

An interface setup for "most people" is rarely an interface that's perfect for you individually. To the degree applications are able to be customized, why not adjust them to be a perfect fit for you? The options there and can make a huge difference in your efficiency.

I find one barrier to using tools effectively are extra UI elements I am certain I will never use. If it's a UI element you don't understand yet, no need to touch it, but if previous screen real estate is being taken by something you know you won't use, there's no need for it to be there.

A great example of this is setting up new Windows installs. Microsoft throws in all kinds of junk no one needs (especially these days with Windows more as a "service" than just an operating system) and now I have a whole ritual I need to go through of just removing or minimizing the distractions and unhelpful features they try to shove down your throat.

Look at all of this bloatware that comes with Windows now.

Of course this can be additive as well, like installing browser extensions that improve your experience, or plugins to make the software you use more powerful. However an underutilized and underrated option is to just simplify your user interface. It can do wonders to increase the enjoyment of using a given application or getting more done with it.

Using software means we can sometimes even tweak an experience that wasn't meant to be customized. Browser extensions like uBlock Origin or Dark Reader modify the websites we use and can help us create the experience we want. There are even site-specific extensions, like Return YouTube Dislike, Unwanted Twitch, and X.com UI Customizer. Violentmonkey, Greasemonkey, and other similar browser extensions go a step further give you even more power to control your experience online. WinAeroTweaker lets you customize Windows and remove some of its more annoying quirks. There are many more to list.

Don't be afraid to click unsubscribe on that newsletter for which you don't remember signing up. Use Twitter / X.com's mute button for any account that distracts you from what you find valuable about the platform. Curate your feeds to be what helps you the most and cut the noise. Removing distractions and fluff or improving the UX of a platform or service can often make a big difference in increasing the quality of the time you spend using it.

Practical Automation

Something as simple as a keyboard shortcut can drastically accelerate your productivity. For instance, with Alt+Tab, Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C, Alt+Tab, Ctrl+T, Ctrl+V, and Enter you can quickly switch to a text editor application, select all of the text in a text area, copy it, switch to your web browser, open a new tab, paste it, and enter the query all without moving your mouse, and it would be done in about 5 seconds if you were practiced. To repeat these steps by manually clicking to open a program, clicking and highlighting text, selecting Edit > Copy, etc. would take much longer, and this adds up if you do tasks like this often.

If you're looking to create some custom keyboard shortcuts, most operating systems and some software applications allow you to set your own. Or you can use something like AutoHotKey to create your own shortcuts and macros, and some keyboards have that functionality built-in as well.

One simple macro I use on my keyboard is a key to simply type in my email address for me. I need to enter it often enough which makes it much easier to sign up for services or save credentials in my password manager. It has the added benefit of not taking up my clipboard so I can easily add my email and copy a new, unique password without any conflicts.

A more complex example of automation is something like a Stream Deck. I use one and I love it. I use it for things like turning on my lighting setup with a button press or opening a PowerToys utility, or just providing a quick visual as an emoji picker if I need it. I also use it to automate many of the things I need to do during my live streams.

Cognitive Offloading

Accept that your brain isn't as good at remembering things as a system is. Whether it's a physical notepad and pencil, or a software application, offloading information storage will give your brain room to focus on thinking, learning, and creativity instead.

Using digital calendars like Google Calendar for time-blocking, scheduling future events, and setting reminders solves many of these problems. Note-taking applications like OneNote or Obsidian can become databases of your brain.

Staying organized from the beginning helps you spend less time trying to find what you need and more time using what you need. If you can create an intuitive folder structure and pin the most important items in your file manager, the more you can not worry about where things are every time you need to retrieve a document. Don't pick the expedient route (put everything important in the Downloads folder or on your desktop), pick the route that provides the most long-term benefit and time-saving (an organized folder structure).

Conserving brainpower in these ways gives you more energy for deep work activities or creative endeavors that move the needle. Overstimulation, though, can also deplete valuable cognitive energy, which I discuss in the my next point.

Mindful Engagement

In Cal Newport's book Deep Work, he argues our brain has a finite amount of energy and filling every waking minute with some kind of digital consumption is bad for us. It depletes our attention and our brainpower and actually diminishes our efficacy during periods of work time where we try to get meaningful work done (what he calls deep work).

Mindlessly browsing a social media feed on your phone while waiting in line may be depleting more energy from your brain than you might think. Newport advocates for taking the time to just be there in the moment, look around, and be content with just doing nothing sometimes. I personally make a commitment to my friends and family that I will not use my phone during meal times at the table, whether we're in a home or a restaurant.

It's important not to demonize tech, I think, but we should have our priorities in order. Existing in the present and spending time with people in person should generally take priority - using your portable device in people's company can be taken as a signal that they're less important to you. At the same time, friendships made over digital mediums shouldn't be dismissed out of hand, either. Meaningful, lasting friendships can still be made online.

A Unified & Secure Identity

According to NordPass, the average American has between 100-200 passwords/accounts to manage. There's no question at this point that you need a password manager, and relying on your own memorized passwords for every single account is either foolhardy or a security concern.

BitWarden is currently my manager of choice, but KeyPass is another great option. I recommend creating passwords of 20 characters or more using a combination of capital and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. Using a password manager is another helpful organization hack to minimize your cognitive load and saves you from wasting time with constant password resets.

A unified online identity just makes things easier to manage. You might start with picking a unique, original username. I posted this a while ago of some of the top considerations when selecting one:

A username, or handle, is different from a display name. A display name isn't unique, and anyone can use it.

If you have a consistent identity online, not only does it make much easier to manage on your side, but it's also easier for the world to connect with you in a platform-agnostic way. It may be difficult to predict which online service might die next or which future platforms might emerge, but if you have a consistent identity with which to connect each one, migrating from one to the other becomes more seamless.

Creation-Consumption Mindfulness

I was born too early to be considered a digital native, but from the age of 3 I knew I loved to make stuff even before I used a computer. I drew practically every day during my childhood, with just a simple sketch book of blank, white paper and a standard Ticonderoga #2 pencil.

Watching a movie or reading a book was fun enough as a kid, but I truly felt engaged when I was creating something. Whether it was drawing a map of an island from a fictional universe or building a new LEGO set, I adored the process of creating. Video games were a particularly inspiring medium for me, where my imagination ran wild and I'd sketch hundreds of made-up video game concepts and ideas in my sketchbook.

In today's world of content overload, it's increasingly more tempting to spend more time consuming. As we discussed earlier, there is a sneaky cognitive cost to consumption, even if it seems like a mindless activity. Modern platforms are tailor-made to encourage non-stop consumption, despite there also being more tools than ever and fewer barriers than ever to create.

This isn't to say consuming content is inherently bad, but I do think on average we don't spend as much time creating as we could. When you construct a digital environment that lends itself to getting more done, you end up producing more than you would have otherwise. So a byproduct of Digital Flow is creating more cool things more often. And that's awesome.

Final Thoughts

As I review what I've written here, I think a lot of what makes digital flow so effective is creating an environment you enjoy. Anyone with ADHD or OCD tendencies should be the first to know how important a low-stimulus habitat is to help with concentration and focus. It can be very frustrating if you can't control the volume level of outside noise or other distractions.

Thankfully with technology we can do amazing things to perfect our environments. Insofar as you're using software to get something done, you might as well make it the best version of what it can be for what you need. What of our physical environment, though? Maybe that's for a future post.

Competitive Stages Are Actually The Best Casual Stages, Too

David V. Kimball — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

I've written about competitive vs. casual fighting game player preferences before, but here I'd like to focus on just platform fighting game stages.

Of course, what better showcase of this topic than beginning with the Super Smash Bros. series? By far the most popular games in the platform fighting game genre - it has a healthy dose of both competitive and casual players to consider.

Novelty vs. Predictability

A question I posed in my previous blog post on the topic is how do you measure fun for a casual audience vs. a competitive audience? It's some combination of novelty and predictability. If everything is the same, there's no gameplay variety. If everything is chaotic and random, the funness evaporates when a winning outcome seems based more on luck than skill (this is the balance a good Mario Party title has to strike for example).

What comes to mind when you think about a casual stage in Smash Bros. vs. a competitive stage? For casual stages you might think of Hyrule Temple or PokeFloats from Melee, or on the extreme Super Mario Maker or New Donk City from Ultimate. For competitive stages, you might think about Battlefield or Final Destination, or even frozen variations of Pokemon Stadium.

The chief distinction between casual and competitive stages, then, is their level of novelty and predictability. What someone probably considers a casual stage is likely high in novelty and low in predictability - usually resulting in a more chaotic stage, with hazards, random factors in variables like NPCs, destructive environments, or other random events. A competitive stage is generally more conforming to a symmetrical layout with predictable (or no) platform movement, no hazards, and thus a lower novelty factor.

Another way to conceptualize "competitive" stages might be standard-sized stages with more neutral layouts where the player maintains control. A neutral, symmetrical stage that's predictable to play on affords each player relatively equal footing thus an appropriate degree of influence over the result of a match.

Players' Favorite Smash Stages and Why

Now that we've established what a casual stage is and what a competitive stage is, it seems like a casual player would prefer casual stages, and competitive players would prefer competitive stages. But interestingly, that's not exactly what we find.

Source Gaming Poll - Player Preferences

Source Gaming created a poll a couple of years ago asking players what Smash Ultimate stages they liked the most and why. This was their third poll, and the first one established some rough demographics from their audience, asking questions like whether or not Smash Bros. Ultimate was their first Smash game, how competitive they considered themselves, which game in the series was their favorite, etc. They have over 2,000 participants!

Here are some key results from the first and third polls they ran:

69% said Ultimate was their favorite Smash game
68.6% said they played either casually exclusively, or a little of both (31.4% said they were mostly or exclusively competitive)
80%+ were very satisfied with the stage selection in Ultimate
For Stage Morph, 13.54% said they turn it on, 45.78% said sometimes they turn it on, and 40.67% say they never turn it on
Stage Hazards: 16.02% never turn them off, 29.22% always turn them off, and 54.76% said sometimes they turned them off

An immediate takeaway from these numbers is it's pretty surprising that the vast majority of people either never turn on Stage Morph or sometimes turn it on. Stage Morph, of course, would add a gimmick to any stage - having it transform into another one randomly. It's also particularly interesting to note that a larger percentage of players always turn off stage hazards compared to players who deliberately leave them on (especially since they are on by default).

(To get a bit granular, there are actually issues with Ultimate's hazards toggle, since it turns off animations and movement of some platforms, meaning that even in competitive play, typically hazards are never turned off. Therefore, it's not a perfect gauge of players' preferences. Nevertheless the findings are still interesting.)

Top Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Stages

With all that in mind so far, let's take a look at the 12 most popular stage choices and why. Remember, Smash Ultimate has an enormous variety of stages (over 100 in fact). So this gives us the best idea about what a mostly-casual audience might prefer.

Fountain of Dreams (10.71%)
Dracula's Castle (9.23%)
New Donk City Hall (4.91%)
Final Destination (3.27%)
Temple (2.93%)
Battlefield (2.88%)
Great Plateau Tower (2.78%)
Magicant (2.78%)
Midgar (2.33%)
Fourside (2.23%)
Pokemon Stadium 2 (1.69%)
Pokemon Stadium (1.54%)

Considering how few competitively-viable / neutral stage layouts there are in Ultimate compared to casual options, it's shocking to see as many competitive stages as there are in this list. In the top 12, nearly half of them could be considered neutral layouts (with hazards turned off). And two of them are the iconic Battlefield and Final Destination.

Another interesting piece of data are the reasons listed for why these stages are loved. Check these out:

Fountain of Dreams

Aesthetically, one of the most beautiful stages in the game
Has a great atmosphere
Faithful to it’s Melee variant. Happy to have it back
Gimmick is subtle and not intrusive

Dracula’s Castle

A unique stage layout
Access to the Castlevania music
Great references and details to the Castlevania series

New Donk City Hall

Fun visuals
Happy to see a Mario Odyssey stage
Different layouts are all simple
Fun cameos from Pauline and Captain Toad

Final Destination

Any music can be used on this stage
The simplest stage of them all to play on
Really like the background visuals

Temple

THE multiplayer map, great for 1v1 but also great for 8-player Smash
Many players favorite Melee stage, happy to see it return again
Looks at its best in Ultimate

Battlefield

Any music can be used on this stage
A fun and simple stage to fight on, adding a bit more depth than Final Destination
The best looking design for Battlefield so far

Great Plateau Tower

Its main gimmick is not intrusive
Makes the player feel like they are in Breath of the Wild
A good stage layout, especially when the roof part breaks

Magicant

A great visual style, looks fantastic in HD
Many players favourite stage from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
Lots of references to the first two Earthbound games (Flying Men, Brick Road, etc)

Midgar

A simple stage, but with a bit of spice from the summons
Summons are a great reference to the Final Fantasy series
A great looking stage

Fourside

Has a unique stage layout
The hazards don’t completely disrupt the battle
Great visuals
Many players favourite Melee stage

Pokemon Stadium 2

The layout was perfect for competitive play, so the stage is better now that hazards can be turned off
The changes that do happen aren’t to intrusive

Pokemon Stadium

The changing layout keeps fighters on their toes
The hazards aren’t too intrusive in this stage
Great for competitive play when hazards have been turned off

Mostly the compliments for these top 12 stages talk about the visuals, references, and the atmosphere. Occasionally the layouts are praised as well, but what's fascinating about that is almost every time hazards or layouts are brought up, the stage gets praised for its simple design, or that the gimmicks aren't too intrusive.

When you broaden it to the entire list of ~100 stages, most of the top stages were praised specifically for their visuals and atmosphere, roughly 35 stages were praised for their simplicity or non-intrusive gimmicks, and only about 19 or so stages were praised for unique layouts or mentioning their hazards in a positive light.

Even so, generally speaking, gimmick-heavy stages were typically near the bottom of the list.

The data tells us that, for a majority-casual audience (~70%), in general players care more about a simple layout with nice visuals than a unique layout. Nostalgia, fanservice, and other interests are certainly factors which can sometimes circumvent layout preferences, however.

In fairness, an option in the poll was also "Gimmick Free Stages Only" which only got 0.15% of the vote with the reason cited: "More enjoyable to fight without RNG disruptions." But I think this has more to do with what people consciously consider when thinking about it directly vs. what they subconsciously decide to do when they're actually playing (more on this later).

Also only 0.74% of people said they only play on Omega / Battlefield-only forms - which indicates to me that most people want some stage layout variety, even if the theming is unique. No surprises there. But the competitive scene actually has more than just two stage layouts - something I'd like to get into a bit next.

My Experience as a Stage Modder

Something I noticed pretty early on in the Smash Bros. competitive scene for Super Smash Bros. Melee and Project M is that the criteria for what was considered a "legal" or competitive stage choice was fairly strict. This meant even though dozens of stages choices were available to players, only a handful were ever selected during tournament and friendly matches.

While fewer options made it easier to practice and focus on improvement, the stage music and scenery often got repetitive. So I had an idea to create 1:1 stage reskins - alternative versions of tournament-legal stages that played identically to the original but with unique theming. They'd have the same blast zone radius, platform and base collision values, and stage bounds, but might differ visually.

This idea certainly wasn't original to me, but I decided to double-down on it by creating some.

Melee Battlefield, a visual alt stage for Project M 3.6's Battlefield stage that offered the same layout but with a unique look.

This opened a whole new set of possibilities for stage theming, music choices, and visual styles that provided additional variety while not compromising on the original stage's tournament-viable layout design.

Brinstarfield, one of the earliest 1:1 stages I made for Legacy TE that was a tourney legal Brinstar-themed variant of Battlefield.

I spent nearly 5 years creating custom stages for Project M and more recently about 2 years creating custom Melee stages with this 1:1 tourney reskin philosophy in mind. In fact, this was the basis upon which Legacy TE was born - additive, tournament-friendly content would give more customization and variety to any friendlies or tournament match set.

Nuances in Stage Differences

After spending so long designing and making stages, I learned that aesthetics really do matter - even to competitive players. In fact, there's utility in use of colors and lighting to help make what's happening clearer on-screen. Making decisions to not obstruct the player's view, for example, by having objects in the foreground is vital.

When you begin stage modding, you're often tempted to add extra pizazz or something to it (superfluous objects, wild colors, flashy special effects, etc.), but if it at all causes visual impairment for the player, it's never worth it. Often going overboard here betrays the habits of a more amateur stage designer.

Neutral Stage Variety Showcase: Project M 3.6

You might be wondering - does this just mean people only want to play on different versions of Battlefield?! And not at all, that's missing the point (as we saw in the poll above, only a tiny minority of players only want one or two layout options).

For one thing, there are many factors that go into a stage beyond how many platforms it has:

Base stage shape (does it have walls that go past the blast zone? Is it a hovering island? etc.)
Base stage slopes (if any)
Platform movement
Platform angle
Blast zone sizes
Overall stage boundaries
Hazards, degree of intrusiveness (or lack thereof)

The result is many, many unique layouts that offer fun experiences. Project M 3.6 offered a great variety of neutral stage layouts - here are some examples:

Delfino's Secret

A stage with walls and unique 3 platforms that moved in interesting ways.

Smashville

A thin base stage with a moving top platform that moves side to side.

Distant Planet

A stage with walls and 4 platforms where the outter-most leaf platforms move under the weight of characters.

Dream Land

A revamped, HD version of Dream Land from Super Smash Bros. on Nintendo 64.

Norfair

A two-platform stage with longer platforms.

Battlefield

The standard Battlefield layout (with some slight differences from Brawl's)

Final Destination

The platformless Final Destination from Melee.

Fountain of Dreams

Two of the three platforms move vertically.

Green Hill Zone

One platform that swings from left to right.

Pokemon Stadium 2

Just like the original Brawl stage with a new coat of paint and hazardless / no transformations.

Bowser's Castle

A more basic stage with 3 platforms and walls.

Wario Land

A 4-platform stage with walls and closer blast zones.

While not every Project M competitive scene adopted every one of these stages as tourney legal options during the 3.6 years, the amount of choices here is great, and while each of these stages have garnered some level of complaining from more decorated PM players, these still serve as great examples of the variety available to be experienced even within the more confined context of simpler, neutral layouts.

Other Platform Fighting Games' Stages

Rivals of Aether and its sequel, Rivals 2, famously only have neutral stage layouts. None of their stages have absurdist hazards or crazy layouts. That being said, those games are certainly targeted towards the competitive crowd, so no surprises there.

When I helped work on Smack Studio, I was an outspoken advocate for neutral stage layouts. While Smack Studio certainly targets a more casual audience, having a balance between novel options and neutral options is key. Luckily, with its stage editor, the community will eventually be able to share their creations online, and create their dream layouts to use.

Smack Studio's Dash City - a stage with a layout similar to Smashville - has quickly become a favorite and the starter stage option embraced by its fledgling competitive scene. Neon Metro, Snow Fields (Hazardless), Battlegrounds, and Final Stand are also very commonly-chosen stages by the players who have the most hours of playtime in the game, and are each unsurprisingly additional tournament-legal stage choices.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 has a variety of casual and competitive stage layout variations which works well for the variety offered - but the vast majority of stages chosen are - you guessed it - the neutral layouts. In fact, they go a step further and actually let you select which stage layout you want and you can pick the theme / visual setting from there!

Fraymakers and Rushdown Revolt also have mostly, if not all, neutral layout stage options.

MultiVersus also has neutral layouts, despite it's more casual audience target.

The Best Stages Get Out of the Way

Really, the biggest lesson I think we can take from these findings is the best stages are neutral stages - not because players like plain or boring play options, but because they want to focus on the core elements of what makes platform fighting games fun: control during gameplay. If your game has amazing movement, in-game physics, and a cast of characters with kits that are fun to use, you want as few barriers to enjoy that as possible. And it turns out a neutral stage layout with predictable properties gives you, the player, the most control possible, and thus the most amount of fun.

In isolation, it may seem like wackier, gimmicky, or generally more novel stage layouts might be appealing to casual players. In the beginning, they certainly can be - but over time, as the player gets more comfortable and familiar with the game, chances are they won't be returning to a chaotic stage more often than they have to - even players who play strictly casually. And it has a lot more to do with the feeling that they have influence or control over the game's outcome.

If you were to ask your average casual Smash Bros. player what their most memorable stages are in Smash, they might offer up more gimmick-based stages - and that makes sense, they're novel. But if you were to gather data about the most-played stages by any Smash player, you may find that the more neutral stages got the most playtime.

(Ironically, the most chaotic stages are probably most fun in semi-competitive scenarios. Have you heard of top Melee players deciding to gentlemen at PokeFloats? The absurd moving layout of the stage is the reason why it's jokingly sometimes selected as a stage during tournament sets - it becomes another level of competitive to just survive. However, these examples are far and few between.)

Players are more concerned about being able to play the character they chose, and play them well. A stage can aid or hinder that process - and so ironically, a stage attempting to add some novel chaos might be enough to zap the fun out of a casual player's experience.

Of course, every individual has their own unique preferences, so exceptions to this rule exist. However, by and large, based on the data that's been recorded and my anecdotal evidence as someone who's been playing platform fighting games since 1999, I think it's safe to say (if given the option) stages with neutral layouts will always be the winning picks for both competitive players and dedicated casual players alike.

A Note for Stage Creators

For stage creators and modders who actively choose to incorporate more gimmicky elements or hazards into stages - there's still a place for that. It's impressive and fun to do something unique with stages! Novel factor is definitely important in doses, and depending on what kind of experiences you want to offer players.

However, when it comes to stages that are played on the most, just bear in mind the more neutral options will probably get the most playtime over stages with a gimmick or hazards. If that doesn't matter to you, then great. May main point is to get rid of this notion that casual players only prefer to play on gimmicky stages and don't touch more neutral options - it's simply not true.

Also - what you do is awesome. Keep making amazing stages for Melee / Animelee, Project+, Rivals of Aether, Smack Studio, Fraymakers, or whichever game's tools you're working with.

The Antidote to Too Many Messaging Apps

David V. Kimball — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

How many messaging applications do you use? Here's a few of them:

SMS / RCS text messaging
Discord
Slack
Facebook Messenger
LinkedIn Messaging
X / Twitter Direct Messaging
WhatsApp
Signal
Instagram Direct Messaging
Telegram

Imagine being able to use all of these in just one app organized by threads. That actually exists!

A relatively new app called Beeper aims to be a one-stop-shop for all types of messaging apps. According to their manifesto, they created the app based on the belief that the current landscape of messaging options were too siloed and "ambi-social" - meaning users had to keep track of which friends were on which network in order to message them.

Image sourced from Beeper's blog.

At first I was extremely skeptical since each platform has its own ideocracies (reactions, embedded replies, media uploads, etc.) and I wondered how this new app would account for those differences. However, I soon found in general it gracefully handles those features.

For it to work well, it involves installing a desktop application, connecting all of your accounts, and then after that, using the mobile app, you can scan a QR code to pair any other device you need. So it's theoretically a one-time connect process for each network.

For context: I actually do use each of these platforms and have active threads/direct messages active in each of them as of the past month or two.

I gave it a week, moving every app (except for Slack) to it and using it full time. Here were my initial takeaways:

It broke on me one time, so I had to reinstall it. But not a big deal since the desktop app made it easy to reinstall and not have to reconnect everything.
I'm shocked at how good the UX is. It captures reactions, replies, and a bunch of network-specific activities I didn't expect it to.
It can't do EVERYTHING though. For example, you can't react to peoples' messages with Discord emotes.
It was nice as a way to group notifications together for some networks, and it was annoying for others (like Discord and SMS).

My conclusion when I was 1-week in is that Beeper is fantastic for the messaging apps you use less frequently or don't care about that much. It's a great way to aggregate your "etc." messaging apps into just one.

So after that, I pulled out SMS/RCS and Discord from it, and kept those independent. But I'm happy to continue combining Twitter DMs, LinkedIn messages, WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, FB Messenger, and Instagram DMs into the Beeper UI and have it handle notifications as well.

For weeks two and three, I've been using Beeper in a partial capacity to handle those "etc." apps and it's much more convenient to manage. I have one Signal group chat and and a WhatsApp group chat that are particularly active, so being able to just see them as threads next to each other with their respective names in one list is extremely continent - not to mention much tidier from a notification standpoint. I'm now far more messaging platform agnostic since I can add anything pretty easily to Beeper - and for that I'm grateful!

On top of these benefits, it hasn't broken on me at all since the first week.

Keeping Discord sperate has been nice, mostly because I use it for so many other things and the ability to use custom Discord emotes to react is something I surprisingly missed. SMS / RCS being handled separately just feels right as well, but it's definitely from "old-school mobile phone" thinking. Combining text messaging with web-based messaging apps just feels odd to me for some reason.

Other than a few hiccups now and then, the app is surprisingly reliable considering all it's doing. The biggest headache is going in to each app you have installed like Instagram or LinkedIn and manually turning off notifications for messages specifically. But that's not too bad.

I wonder what pricing model Beeper will use going forward. For now it's completely free to use, but there's an optional paid subscription coming, and I'm not sure what features will be offered or removed from the current free tier.

All-in-all, I do recommend giving it a try, especially if you think it will simplify your life. There is an initial bit of setup to do, but once that's done it's smooth sailing. For now I have just SMS/RCS, Discord, and Beeper on my phone's home screen, and it works out perfectly.

9/4/2024 Update: I've since had to remove Instagram and Facebook Messenger from the application. Instagram thought my account was suspicious or automated and temporarily limited it, and Facebook just kept signing out and it was annoying to repeatedly have to reconnect it. I may pair it down to just WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram.

Super Smash Bros. Melee Twitch Stream Overlay Tour

David V. Kimball — Sun, 21 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Background

I've been streaming on Twitch for 10 years now, and my stream setup has gone through a lot of change in that time - and so has my overlay design.

I decided to create a video that goes through each element of it, and I wanted to do a more detailed write-up as well. So here we are!

To get everything to work, I use OBS Studio with StreamElements (SE.Live), MixItUp stream bot, a Stream Deck XL, and a GoXLR Mini audio interface. I may go over my stream setup in more detail in a future post.

Video Tour

The first ~2 minutes or so cover the opening sequence ("stream starting soon" screen), followed by the camera scene, gameplay scene, alerts, standby scene (or "BRB" screen), and finally the credits sequence.

Opening Scene

For the whole sequence to function properly, I use a Stream Deck multi-action function key to automate it. It mutes my mic, sets it to the right scene, reloads my StreamElements overlays, launches the correct music, and activates the right OBS sources at the perfect times.

Visually, it is inspired by the beginning of Melee's Adventure Mode.

Instead of saying "Stage 1" the message says "Stream Starting Soon" in typical Twitch opening scene fashion.

Huge thanks to Cjag for helping with codes to make this work properly in-game, and also creating the custom Yoshi's series emblem model that appears during the Yoshi's Story stage that doesn't normally ever appear in Melee.

A keen eye may also notice the cell-shaded design of Melee's stages in the opening scene - this is Animelee, an aesthetic mod of Melee I've covered extensively. Definitely worth checking out if you're interested.

A few other details to point out here - the timer on the bottom right uses the same font as Melee's in-game timer - SchulbuchNord Normal. I've increased it's scale horizontally to match as well.

For the timer to function, I use OBS Studio's countdown.lua script.

You can see the audio visualizer responding to the music also. No directly Melee inspiration, but I did use the same yellow as the main menu item colors from the game. For this I used Waveform Visualizer.

For the countdown, I have re-created the "5, 4, 3, 2, 1" visual sequence using the same in-game font at a high resolution.

The audio of the countdown come directly from voice actor Dean Harrington's voice lines from the game.

Overlay

There are several elements that comprise the overlay itself, so let's go through them each.

Stinger Transition

A stinger transition is a type of animated video which combines transparent video animations into a full-screen overlay using a timed cut to create a visual transition. This may look familiar to you if you've watched any of my YouTube videos.

The design is heavily inspired by the menus of Melee, which you'll find is a common theme here.

Event List

Speaking of the main menu items, you can also see them appearing as the "Event list" at the top of my screen. It basically shows, in order, the most recent stream events that have occurred. For example, the latest follower, resubscriber, tipper, etc.

This was custom built when I commissioned tryptech to build it. I recommend his services if you're looking for custom overlay widgets or elements.

On the top right I just have a small button with my username which is inspired by the "back" button on Melee's character selection screen.

Chat

Along the bottom you can see a minimal horizontal chat. Over the years I realized the utility of having chat on-screen is more of a visual indicator for stream viewers than anything else, so giving it a slim part of screen real estate made the most sense. For this I am using Minimal Chat by MrBoost.

While sharing my desktop, what works out very well is that the Events List covers the menu bar of the active window and the chat covers the Taskbar, both fairly unnecessary to show to the viewer.

Camera

Pictured above, you can see that my camera appears on the bottom right during my gameplay scene, and I give it a certain width and height to make it easy to move to another corner of the screen if needed. I can easily resize it or toggle it on or off, but I reserve the right-center section for stream alerts.

Alerts

For each alert, again I wanted to reference something from Melee.

Melee's in-game notices were an obvious choice, so I went with those as a catch-all for bits, tips, and merchandise purchases, using a custom icon on the top left to differentiate each one visually.

Tip Alert

Anyone who tips via my tip page will be featured with their name and amount.

Each notice-based alert was recreated in CSS and JS by tryptech.

Bits Alert

Every bit alert gets a custom animated bits graphic depending on the type of bits cheered.

Merch Alert

Anyone who buys an item from my merch store will get a shout out on stream. Here's what it looks like.

Follower Alert

For new followers, I wanted to reference the "Got it!" animation from the trophy lottery.

For the alert, I used "New Follower!" as the text and the username of the new follower in the black box. This was another tryptech commission.

Subscriber Alert

For a subscriber alert, I wanted it to mimic the single player mode stage clear screen and play the same fanfare.

Depending on the number of resub months, I would tweak it visually slightly by color. It would play one of the two fanfares randomly.

Patron Alert

For Patreon, it gets its own unique alert from the Patreon StreamElements widget, which I was able to skin to give it a Melee theme as well.

Raid Alert

For raids I decided to borrow from Melee's "Challenger Approaching" theme, as if a streamer who raided me was a new character to be unlocked.

The automated raid alert looks like this.

I've also got an optional full-screen takeover version as well which can pop up if I hit a Stream Deck key. The raider will also get a shout out.

Standby Scene

Often referred to as a "BRB" (be right back) scene, the standby scene is helpful for when I step away for a moment. For this I wanted to use the "Continue?" screen when you lose a stage in the single player modes.

I also wanted something more visually interesting than just one trophy, so I instead have it cycle through each character's trophy. Mostly I use the classic mode trophy, but sometimes I use the Adventure mode trophy, like in the case of Fox, Falco, Ice Climbers, and Mr. Game & Watch.

To achieve this I chose a different camera angle in-game using Dolphin's free look feature and green screened out the background. Then I layered it on top of the background and put the other HUD elements on top of it as well.

I don't show it off in the tour video, but the coin counter dial can also be modified via chat commands by VIPs and subscribers.

Credits Scene

To end things off, what a more appropriate option than to use the credits scene from Melee directly and repurpose it?

For the accompanying music, I use the main menu theme from the medley piece on the Smashing... Live! orchestrated original soundtrack.

Thanks to WorseDoughnut for creating the widescreen version of the end credits game HUD border!

To achieve this, I removed all the credits through Dolphin texture loading. Then I captured in widescreen at normal speed, and changed the speed in post-production. I also replaced the signs with custom images using the same method.

Older Layout

For fun, I've included a video showcasing an older version of this overlay so you can see how it's progressed in the last 4 years.

This is probably the earliest version of what would become my current overlay. But overtime I got rid of lot of clutter and extra scenes I didn't need.

Thank you for checking out the details of my Super Smash Bros. Melee-themed overlay, I hope you've found this deep dive helpful.

If you'd like to see it yourself, please follow me on Twitch and stop by sometime when I'm live. You can also get alerted in the Discord server when I go live if you so choose.

Top 5 Productivity Apps for Couples

David V. Kimball — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Background

My wife Esther and I have been looking for helpful productivity software and apps we can use to help with scheduling, organization, budgeting, and getting things done.

While admittedly I was the driving force behind this pursuit initially, she has adapted quite well to our tools and I think we're in a good rhythm now.

We have established repeatable processes for life occurrences. For example: we get invited to a social gathering? We check our shared calendar. We have a new online account we need to share with sensitive info? We use our secure password sharing app. We need to get things done? We check our shared ToDo list app.

Our Priorities

Before we get into the list, here are the things that were important to us in the productivity software choices we made:

Simple to use and implement. We don't want to overengineer these solutions or make them so complicated that they become debilitating to use. Usually using the simplest option or features is more than serviceable for our use cases. We want repeatable processes that are clear to follow with little ambiguity.
Free or as cheap as possible. We're not going to just pick a solution because it's the most popular, especially if it means we have to pay for something you can get for free with a competitor. Paying for something to support the organization is fine, though.
Great user experience on both desktop and mobile. I am on my desktop far more often than my phone and Esther is the opposite - so being able to use both easily was important for us.

[!Note] Disclaimer I am not sponsored by any of these services, they are simply ones I use and recommend.

Best Shared Calendar App for Couples: Google Calendar

While there are many productivity-specific calendar apps out there, we've found that Google Calendar is simply the best calendar app for couples. And of course, it's free.

Not only is it deeply integrated into our Android phones, but it's the most commonly-used calendar across what our friends and family use, as well as our employers.

How to Share Your Google Calendar with Your Spouse

The way we set it up is like this: I have a personal calendar associated with my Google account, and Esther has a personal calendar associated with hers. We've shared our calendars with each other and can quickly toggle on/off views as needed.

To share your calendar, simply open your calendar, select the ... button next to the calendar you want to share, and select "Settings and sharing."

Find "Share with specific people or groups" and click "Add people and groups." I like giving Esther permission to view event details and make changes to events. I have the same permissions for her calendar.

And that's it! Now you'll have the option to view and manage another calendar both on your PC and your phone.

[!Tip] Tip Consider how you want to manage mutual events.

Esther and I generally use my calendar as the master one, and we just know if we're both going to the event or not. However, you more options here. You could either:

Invite your spouse to events where you're both participating or
Create a third "family" calendar of events where everyone is involved. This can be helpful if you have children or extended family that want family events synchronized.

We'll probably use method 2 in the future as our family grows.

<a href="https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="btn-large" name="button">Open Google Calendar</button></a>

Best Password Sharing App for Couples: Bitwarden

While I've been a LastPass advocate in the past, unfortunately they've radically limited functionality in its free plan to only one device - meaning you can only have it on your phone or your PC, not both.

The move to Bitwarden has been phenomenal. The initial importing phase of passwords and identities was seamless and everything works great. You can have as many devices synced/connected as you'd like.

Using the Organizations Feature

Within the context of securely sharing passwords amongst couples, there's an underutilized feature of Bitwarden that works perfectly for this.

Bitwarden organizations allow you to store your passwords, logins, secure notes, identities, and more in one centralized place. I have an organization called "Shared" where we keep our shared info.

Free accounts can create one organization, and add one additional user to it - which is just perfect for a married couple!

So just add your new password or other item as normal:

And then, make sure to scroll to the very bottom and select your new shared organization!

Now when you visit a website that matches the URI of your shared item, it will show up automatically for both you and your spouse with the little organization symbol.

As an aside - it looks like Bitwarden's Secrets Manager would also work (it's free for 2 users), but I haven't tried it myself yet.

No more excuses for insecurely texting passwords to each other. 😃

If you're new to password managers, I have an entire guide for you to get started.

<a href="https://bitwarden.com/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="btn-large" name="button">Download Bitwarden</button></a>

Best Budgeting Software for Couples: Monarch Money

I was a prolific Mint user before it shutdown. In a panic, I looked at all kinds of alternatives: YNAB, Simplifi, EveryDollar, and even Kredit Karma (which Intuit claims is a replacement for Mint... It's definitely not).

But after I tried all of these, the clear winner was Monarch Money. Apparently Monarch was founded by an early Mint team member, and it shows.

The import process was fantastic. I was worried that when I left Mint, I would be losing nearly 10 years of historical income, net worth, and spend data - but all if it was able to be captured and preserved. 🎉

Setting Up Our Budget

I found the key features to be perfect for my wife and me. Our process was to sync our payment accounts and bank institutions, set our spending categories, label our income sources, define a budget based on our income forecast, and make sure we were updating transactions as they came in. We did a lot of this before with Mint, but we had to share a single account.

Unlike Mint, Monarch Money actually has a feature to add a household member with their own account and access.

It's also got a handy AI assistant where I can ask questions like "how much have we spent on groceries on average per month in the last 3 years?" and it will give me an answer.

The main downside (if you could call it that) with Monarch Money is it is not free. Pricing is about $100 a year, but I feel it is worth it. It's also nice not to be constantly sold to through advertising - one of the main headaches of Mint.

If you're interested in signing up or even just trying out using my referral program link will get you an extended 30-day trial, and I will be financially compensated in return.

When combined with Bitwarden and Privacy.com virtual cards, making secure online transactions is extremely convenient and easily measurable, and no one needs a physical payment card or use a banking website to make and track purchases.

<a href="https://www.monarchmoney.com/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="btn-large" name="button">Download Monarch Money</button></a>

Best ToDo List App for Couples: Todoist

This is probably the recommendation about which I feel the least strongly. Todoist is a good app - solid UX on desktop and mobile, syncs with your account, you can share it - it's just a straightforward ToDo list app that does everything you'd expect. But honestly most to do list apps will do something similar.

Thankfully I happen to be grandfathered in to more than just 5 projects - the normal limit for free users.

ToDo List App Must-Haves

If you are looking for a ToDo list app that works for you and your spouse, here's what I'd consider:

Can you create multiple lists?
Can you create subtasks underneath tasks?
Can you easily share lists with your spouse?
Can you add due dates?
Does it have both a mobile app and a desktop app / proper web app?

In truth, there are a whole host of great to do apps from which to choose.

I sometimes use Google Calendar's Tasks feature, but those are more for one-off reminders for myself than a shareable list of ToDos for my wife and me.

Use what works best for you!

<a href="https://todoist.com/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="btn-large" name="button">Download Todoist</button></a>

Best Browser Extensions for Couples: Multi-Account Containers

This option is more of a specific use case for Firefox users, and won't be relevant to anyone who uses Chrome. So I understand if you pass this suggestion by - but it is really helpful for Esther and me.

If you have a shared PC, chances are you'll want the option of being logged in with different accounts on the same website simultaneously. Some websites allow account switching, but it can be annoying if you want to be able to switch between tabs and both be logged in at the same time.

If you've had to solve for this in the past, you maybe either setup multiple profiles in your browser, used multiple different browsers, or opened a private window to create a separate session - but each of those solutions can be cumbersome to manage.

Firefox's Multi-Account Containers extension is the smartest way of handling it. You can create containers which represents an independent instance and then login to whatever sites you need and it stays separate from your regular tabs.

Our most frequently use case for this is YouTube. In our living room, we can have one set of recommendations on one tab, and another set of recommendations on another tab.

It's also useful to separate work accounts and personal accounts and keep things organized. But that's for a blog post to be written in the future.

Update: the latest versions of Firefox actually have the multi-account containers feature built into the browser natively. You just have to enable it in settings.

<a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="btn-large" name="button">Install Multi-Account Containers</button></a>

The Bottom Line

Ultimately the best productivity apps for couples are what work for you and your spouse. What works for Esther and me are Google Calendar for a shared calendar, Bitwarden for secure password sharing, Monarch Money for budgeting and financial tracking, Todoist for keeping track of tasks, and Firefox's Multi-Account Containers for web browsing on shared PCs.

I have no doubt someone's figured this out in their own way - if you've discovered a system or set of tools that works for you and your spouse, please let me know! I'd love to learn from you.

The Utility of the Alias

David V. Kimball — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Think of an alias like an alternative path to the same destination. It can apply to domain names, subdomains, and email addresses.

For example, Hashnode allows for custom URLs for FREE. If you own your own domain name, you can turn your blog into [domain].com or blog.[domain].com.
Or you can get a short URL! Like dvdv.kim. If paired with the bit.ly or similar URL shortening service, you can share and track your own branded URLs and track clicks. With bit.ly you can have the root domain forward to your website or blog (sadly this is only available to paid customers today).

Email address aliases are cool, too.

If you use a domain name, some domain registrars permit domain address forwarding. So you can setup name@[your domain name] to forward emails to your personal inbox.

If you have an Outlook account, you can go to Settings > Add an alias. If the end of your address is @hotmail.com or @live.com, you can get an @outlook.com address that goes to the same mailbox. You can create up to 10 aliases you can use to send and receive email.

After you do that, you can use inbox rules to filter messages sent to certain addresses.

For example, make an inbox rule that "when To: field = [alias address], put in [alias] folder."

This means you can virtually manage several separate inboxes in one mail account organized by folders.

Another example is ProtonMail. You can use yourname@protonmail.com and you can also accept emails to yourname@pm.me which is much shorter. You can't send as pm.me though unless you're a paying customer.

Yahoo email addresses have ymail.com as an alias for any yahoo.com email address user.

With Gmail, you can create tag-based aliases that allow you to add + and whatever you'd like. For example, you could do yourname+service@gmail.com and you'd have a unique sign in name just for that service but it would go to your same inbox.

Gmail also has googlemail.com as a useable alias. Not sure why you'd want to use it, but you can.

Gmail has another type of support for aliases using a period . to create unique "aliases" that can be helpful. For example, if you have johndoe@gmail.com, you also also have john.doe@gmail.com to use as an alias.

You can usually create multiple accounts on the same website using this trick, just make sure to keep straight which account uses which email address variation!

The Ultimate Animelee Guide for Slippi

David V. Kimball — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Are you trying to use Animelee, the cell-shaded aesthetic mod for Melee and play online? You've come to the right place. This guide will provide you with all you need to know about setting up the mod and how to customize your experience.

What is Animelee?

For those unfamiliar, Animelee is a mod of Super Smash Bros. Melee that gives it a cell-shaded look. It's purely aesthetic, meaning none of the changes affect gameplay in anyway. This allows for compatibility with Slippi, the fork of Dolphin emulator made for playing Melee online, allowing you to use play online using Animelee even if your opponent uses a standard Melee ISO. While it's primarily known for its two main packs, Complete Edition and Dragon-Ball Z Edition, Animelee's tagline is more broad: "modernizing Melee." This is articulated by Animelee's creator, Primal, and his his Combo Counter is another good example of this.

There's a small but mighty team of Melee modders led by Primal who maintain the main builds. But there's also a growing Animelee modding community, making custom content matching the same cell-shaded aesthetic as well. While Primal has created the vast majority of the assets, just searching "Animelee" on ssbmtextures.com will yield many results (sadly, this website is shutting down soon).

Animelee's beautiful visuals can be enhanced further with Dolphin texture loading. Not only can you bump up the in-game resolution to 1080p or 4K (well beyond what GameCube's 2001 hardware was capable of), but you can also massively upgrade the in-game textures (at the cost of more demanding PC performance).

Key Animelee Links

Link	Description
Animelee.xyz	The official Animelee website where you can download Animelee CE and DBZ versions.
Animelee Discord	The official Discord server for Animelee, maintained by the team.
Primal's Patreon	Additional Animelee content gets posted here for patrons. A list of additional Patreon Animelee creators are available here.
Animelee m-ex	A custom Animelee build by me that adds skins, stages, and enhanced UI elements into one package.

Prerequisites

To follow this guide, you'll need a few things first in order to play Melee online.

A Super Smash Bros. Melee NTSC 1.02 ISO file ripped from your disc. Get Melee online.
Slippi - a fork of Dolphin - the GameCube emulator for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
A PC running Windows 10 or newer.
Recommended: A GameCube controller with a PC adapter. Adapter options I recommend include either Input Integrity's Lossless Adapter, Nintendo's GameCube Controller Adapter, or the MayFlash GC Adapter (further reading).

Once you have a rip of the game on your PC with the emulator installed, you're ready to roll.

10/13/2025 Update

[!Warning] Warning For m-ex based builds to work, you must use the Slippi code below as of 2025. Otherwise your build will crash on the stage selection screen.

Slippi has been updated, so you must use this Gecko Code for any m-ex build to work (both the "Full Experience" and the "Custom Experience" below):

$Skip Slippi SSS [KELLZ]
C20166B4 00000016
3D808001 618C6204
7D8903A6 4E800421
7C7E1B78 7C0802A6
90010004 9421FF00
BE810008 3C60801A
60635014 80630000
3C804082 60840010
7C032000 4182005C
80610000 80630000
80630000 82830004
3C608025 6063A9DC
7C141800 41820018
3C608025 6063A9EC
7C141800 41820008
48000028 BA810008
80010104 38210100
7C0803A6 7FC3F378
3D808001 618C66BC
7D8903A6 4E800420
BA810008 80010104
38210100 7C0803A6
7FC3F378 00000000
C20163F8 00000016
3D808001 618C6204
7D8903A6 4E800421
7C7E1B78 7C0802A6
90010004 9421FF00
BE810008 3C60801A
60635014 80630000
3C804082 60840010
7C032000 4182005C
80610000 80630000
80630000 82830004
3C608025 6063A9DC
7C141800 41820018
3C608025 6063A9EC
7C141800 41820008
48000028 BA810008
80010104 38210100
7C0803A6 7FC3F378
3D808001 618C6400
7D8903A6 4E800420
BA810008 80010104
38210100 7C0803A6
7FC3F378 00000000

Copy the above code and follow step 9 below for managing Gecko Codes but select the "Add" tab instead, paste the code and click save. Make sure it's enabled.

The Fast Experience

If you want the quirk-and-dirty, simplest-possible Animelee setup, the Fast Experience is for you.

You'll be downloading Animelee Complete Edition directly from the official Animelee website.

Initial Setup (Animelee CE)

Visit animelee.xyz.
Click "GET ANIMELEE."
Under "Grab the Complete Edition now!", click Download.
Click Download on the download page.
Open the .zip file you just downloaded, and extract the contents to folder you can find later.
Click and drag your Melee ISO onto the Drag your Melee NTSC 1.02 ISO Here.bat file.
Wait a few minutes while the patcher builds the new ISO. Press any key to close once finished. If you've gotten an error, there's likely something wrong with your ISO. Ensure the version of Melee is 1.02, and that your ISO isn't scrubbed or compressed.
ANIMELEE - COMPLETE EDITION.iso will be generated and be ready for use!

Getting it Working with Slippi (Animelee CE)

There are just a few steps to get Animelee working with Slippi:

Move your Animelee ISO to a memorable location (maybe in the same directory as your vanilla Melee ISO for example).
Open Slippi and click Settings.
Click "Select" underneath Melee ISO File within General Settings > Game.
Browse to your Animelee ISO file and select it. Slippi will change the "Valid" tag to "Unknown" which is expected since a patched Melee ISO will differ from vanilla.
Close settings and select Play. You'll now be able to play Animelee with Slippi online!

The Full Experience

If you're looking for getting the most visually with Animelee while getting more character and stages skins and more functionality too, go with the Full Experience. You'll be downloading Animelee m-ex which happens to be a custom version I built that combines community-created creations and functionality into the most ideal way to experience Animelee for Slippi online (no bias, of course).

Character textures, HUD elements, and in-game effects have been overhauled and upscaled. You'll want to crank up your Slippi/Dolphin settings to get the most out of your experience - I'll walk you through that, too.

Initial Setup (Animelee m-ex)

If you prefer watching a video instead of reading, I've got you:

Here's the written guide:

~~Visit the Animelee m-ex download page, click the hyperlinked text Mod File: Animelee m-ex towards the bottom of the page, and download the .zip.~~ UPDATE: SSBMTextures.com is shutting down, so I've moved the download link to MEGA.
Extract the contents once it's finished downloading and open the folder.
Open the Create your ISO here folder, and drag and drop your Melee 1.02 ISO onto the Drag your Melee NTSC 1.02 ISO Here.bat file.
Wait a few minutes while the patcher builds the new ISO. Press any key to close once finished. If you've gotten an error, there's likely something wrong with your ISO. Ensure the version of Melee is 1.02, and that your ISO isn't scrubbed or compressed.
ANIMELEE-M-EX.iso will be generated and is ready to be used! But setup isn't quite ready yet to get the full experience. Let's tweak the Slippi / Dolphin emulator a bit first.

Getting it Working with Slippi (Animelee m-ex)

Go to the root folder from the .zip you extracted, and copy the GALE01 folder. This contains the pack's HD textures.
Find the Copy the GALE01 folder to this location shortcut folder and open it, and paste the folder there.

[!Tip] Tip If you haven't already, get the Melee HD Texture Pack for Slippi.

Downloading the Melee HD texture pack will get you the non-Animelee textures of the game HD like the menus and other UI elements. If you don't have it yet, download it and paste the GALE01 folder in the same location. Having this pack and your Animelee pack will not conflict with each other.

Open the Slippi Launcher, and click Settings.
Click Netplay under Dolphin Settings and click the Configure Dolphin button.
Once Dolphin opens click Config. Select the Interface tab, and uncheck Use Panic Handlers. Close out of the Config window.
Click Graphics and on the General tab change both Fullscreen resolution and Aspect Ratio to Auto.
On the first Enhancements tab, select 3x (1920x1584) for 1080p and increase the Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering to the highest setting your PC will allow without performance issues.
On the Advanced tab, check Load Custom Textures and then Prefetch Custom Textures. Then close the Graphics window.
Close out of the Dolphin emulator and open the Slippi Launcher again, this time clicking the Manage Gecko Codes button.
Ensure the Optional: Widescreen 16:9 box is checked. Then click away to go back to Settings.
Click Game under General Settings on the left-hand side and click the "Select" button to choose your new Animelee m-ex ISO.
Browse to your Animelee m-ex ISO file and select it. Slippi will change the "Valid" tag to "Unknown" which is expected since a patched Melee ISO will differ from vanilla.
Close settings and select Play. You'll now be able to play Animelee m-ex with Slippi online!

[!Tip] Tip You can use Alt + Enter to toggle full screen.

The Custom Experience

Love Animelee, and can't get enough of it? If you like to customize your experience, the Custom Experience is what you'll choose.

You can add your own character and stage skins to the game very easily and customize other parts of the game, too. You can use either Animelee m-ex or the expanded Animelee m-ex Template that comes with a bunch of additional character slots and placeholder cosmetic silhouettes for easy costume replacement.

Initial Setup (Animelee mex-template)

I have another video tutorial for you if that's more your speed:

You'll want to basically follow the steps of the The Full Experience written instructions above, and once you've generated your ISO, that will bring us to the new step 1: setting up the mexTool! You'll be using this to customize your build. Maybe you've used DAT Texture Wizard or HSDraw before to customize your Melee build.

Download and install the mexTool.
Extract the .zip file to a memorable location and open the folder. Run mexTool.exe. Click "Download Update" on the top right if available.
Click File > Open ISO and locate your Animelee m-ex/m-ex Template ISO file. Now immediately select File > Export As > File System and select a permanent, memorable location. This will be your working directory where you will make changes and updates to your build.

[!Important] Important If you intend to make a custom Animelee m-ex build, use a File System as your working directory.

I can't stress this enough. Do not rely on exporting and importing ISOs over and over to make changes. That will quickly become a nightmare. Instead, get into the practice of maintaining your File System as your source of truth, and only use m-ex to open and modify that File System, and export ISO files when you're ready to test or play.

When you're ready to make more changes, open that File System again and use that as the base, exporting ISOs and saving over old ISOs as needed. I also recommend making a few backups just to be safe - so in case you accidentally screw something up, you can go back to a previous version. A good practice is to export a "stable" version you can reliable go back to if you really break something.

If you're extra fancy, you can setup version control with something like git to keep track of changes, but I won't be covering that in this guide.

Customizing Your Build

For this section, rather than write out all of the things you could do, I recommend watching the video linked above starting at 5:18. That will give you a great foundation so you know your way around mexTool and the dynamic alt stages functionality. It's pretty intuitive once you've done it a few times.

Dolphin Texture Loading and Dumping

Here's a short video guide on how texture loading and dumping works, if you want to mess with the HD textures yourself.

Getting it to Work with Slippi (Custom Animelee m-ex)

Really just follow the same instructions from here but with your custom ISO you've exported and making sure you've migrated your custom HD textures to the GALE01 folder in Load > Textures. I like placing Melee ISOs in a common directory so it's easy for me to choose which build I want to use - I usually launch Dolphin from the Slippi Launcher instead of launching the game directly when clicking Play.

Featured Custom Animelee Content

Here are a few examples of really cool custom content you can download that work well in making your own Animelee builds.

David V. Kimball's Custom Animelee Build

With yet another self-plug, my personal build. It showcases all of the ways you can customize your build, including custom character and stage skins, custom in-game HUD, custom menus, and even custom music!

<a href="https://mega.nz/folder/NUUF1AxD#8dX0pBttXY-Gi445lXOp4g" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="rounded-lg h-10 btn-primary px-3 text-lg" name="button">Download David's Animelee Build</button></a>

Animelee GFX Texture Overhaul

While the majority of this is already included in Animelee m-ex and Animelee m-ex Template, it's worth calling out. Professor Randl rolls out updates first to his patrons on Patreon, and then to everyone else - so support the project!

<a href="https://ssbmtextures.com/other-mod-types/assets-non-character-specific/animelee-energy-texture-overhaul/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="rounded-lg h-10 btn-primary px-3 text-lg" name="button">Download Animelee GFX Texture Overhaul</button></a>

Claymation Yoshi's Story

One of the most visually fun and unique stages I have ever seen! Created by Chief Neif.

<a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/claymation-story-89248228" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="rounded-lg h-10 btn-primary px-3 text-lg" name="button">Download Claymation Yoshi's Story on Patreon</button></a>

Animelee Stage Variety Pack

Four Animelee-style stages I made! Two Battlefield stages, Moonfield and Grassfield, and two Yoshi's Story stages, Vaporwave Story, and Winter Story.

<a href="https://mega.nz/folder/QMlzxRKY#5K2Qi2urlMjrTU-eahGkSA" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="rounded-lg h-10 btn-primary px-3 text-lg" name="button">Download the Variety Pack</button></a>

Monochrome Animelee Pack

A unique approach to making characters monochrome in their colors - really cool for a minimal or themed Animelee build. Created by Maraschino.

<a href="https://ssbmtextures.com/characters/monochrome-animelee/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="rounded-lg h-10 btn-primary px-3 text-lg" name="button">Download the Monochrome Pack</button></a>

Dragon Ball Z Pack

A DBZ-themed pack from Primal.

<a href="https://www.animelee.xyz/dbz" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="rounded-lg h-10 btn-primary px-3 text-lg" name="button">Download the DBZ Pack</button></a>

Precursor Battlefield

A stage by Triwing.

<a href="https://ssbmtextures.com/stages/battlefield/precursor-battlefield-animelee/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="rounded-lg h-10 btn-primary px-3 text-lg" name="button">Download Precursor Battlefield</button></a>

Burritopher's Animelee Skins

A nice variety of Animelee skins.

<a href="https://ssbmtextures.com/author/csharrison025/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="rounded-lg h-10 btn-primary px-3 text-lg" name="button">Download Burritopher's Skins</button></a>

Simple Stages Pack

Minimalist stages created by the absolute Melee modding juggernaut Gay Lord Erika, easiest to find under the "Rainbow" hashtag.

<a href="https://ssbmtextures.com/tag/rainbow/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="rounded-lg h-10 btn-primary px-3 text-lg" name="button">Download the Simple Stages</button></a>

Blade Runner Stadium

An Animelee, doubles-friendly version of the stage, created by Syrox with help by Cjag/Barry Barrows and UnclePunch.

<a href="https://ssbmtextures.com/stages/pokemon-stadium/blade-runner-stadium-fixed-2024/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="rounded-lg h-10 btn-primary px-3 text-lg" name="button">Download Syrox Stadium</button></a>

Neo Destination

Light blue FD I made with the background from the Link encounter in the Temple stage from Melee Adventure mode.

<a href="https://mega.nz/file/8MsyRRgA#UQZZzU4Sefeyl8z_HSrma_R3gZJzjWj3037RwAd-lnw" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="rounded-lg h-10 btn-primary px-3 text-lg" name="button">Download Neo Destination</button></a>

Bowser's Fury Bowser

Really sick costume variants of Bowser with a unique application of the Animelee outline. Created by Nunderscore.

<a href="https://ssbmtextures.com/characters/bowsers-fury-bowser/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="rounded-lg h-10 btn-primary px-3 text-lg" name="button">Download Bowser's Fury Bowser</button></a>

And Friends Pack

XRunRiot's custom Animelee build.

<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ycv3HctP20zFGmxaiulcSgOXEobNDAFt/view" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="rounded-lg h-10 btn-primary px-3 text-lg" name="button">Download the And Friends Pack</button></a>

Kame House

Part of the DBZ Pack, but Primal also offers a standalone version of this Final Destination stage. I also made a DBZ-agnostic version called Kame (no house).

<a href="https://ssbmtextures.com/stages/final-destination/kame-island-no-house/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="rounded-lg h-10 btn-primary px-3 text-lg" name="button">Download Kame House</button></a>

Jordan 1s Mario

Mario wearing Jordan 1s. By Lazlo.

<a href="https://ssbmtextures.com/characters/jordan-1s-mario/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="rounded-lg h-10 btn-primary px-3 text-lg" name="button">Download Jordan 1s Mario</button></a>

Free Melee Peach

Spamitburns' Peach skin with modeled eyes based on artwork by Sworderailer.

<a href="https://ssbmtextures.com/characters/animelee-free-melee-peach/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="rounded-lg h-10 btn-primary px-3 text-lg" name="button">Download Free Melee Peach</button></a>

So much more!!

It was difficult to showcase content because of how much good stuff there is on ssbmtextures alone. I encourage you to browse the #Animelee tag on the website and see what you find.

Animelee Creators

Here's a list of every Animelee Patreon creator with which I'm familiar. It won't be an exhaustive list, but I've subscribed to each of them for at least 1 month so I can vouch for their work personally.

These creators have created some of the best Animelee content yet. Go check them out and support them if you're keen!

My Experience Using a Split Keyboard

David V. Kimball — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

My Experience

After nearly two months of consistent mechanical split keyboard use, I'm finally ready to share my impressions of this unique keyboard experience.

What is a Split Keyboard?

A split keyboard is a type of ergonomic mechanical keyboard that separates keys into two distinct halves, allowing for a more natural hand, wrist, and shoulder position. Unlike traditional keyboards, split keyboards can be adjusted to various angles and distances, helping to reduce strain and improve typing posture.

Most split keyboard are ortholinear, which means they use equally sized keys that are laid out in a uniform grid, rather than the staggered design you see in typical QWERTY keyboard layouts.

Often split keyboards are also smaller in size compared to standard keyboards. If a keyboard is typically comprised of your standard keys, modifiers, a number row, function row, navigation, arrows, and a numpad, split keyboard may only be 75% or even as 40% of the size.

If you're interested, Keebio did a great writeup on mechanical keyboards for beginners and goes into more specifics here: First-Timers Guide to Mechanical Keyboards

Benefits of Using a Split Keyboard

Using a split keyboard comes with several advantages:

Ergonomics: By allowing a more natural position for your hands and shoulders, split keyboards help prevent carpal tunnel syndrome, wrist pain, and other repetitive strain injuries.
Customization: They offer extensive customization options, including programmable keys, layers, and macros - but also more hardware options like custom switches, key caps, hand rests, tenting kits, and LED lights.
Functionality: With features like key layers and macros, users can increase their productivity by having quick access to frequently used functions.
Space Efficiency: Split keyboards often take up less desk space compared to traditional keyboards, or even just allow you to use your space in a smarter way. I've seen a couple of users talk about how they enjoy using the space between their keyboard halves for their coffee cups.

What I Used Before

Before switching to a split keyboard, I was using a WASD mechanical keyboard purchased in 2018. I removed the letters to cement my already instantiated touch-typing habits. Here's exactly how I had customized it:

I had some macros setup and it served me well for 5 years, but near the end I started noticing discomfort particularly on my wrists. I bought some wrist rests which helped a bit but wondered if there was something better out there.

Upon learning more about unique keyboard designs, I started to consider how a better layout may serve me better - and for example, I realized my right thumb was not being used for anything. Yes, I'm a weird left-thumb-only spacebar typer. This inspired me to get something new.

My Desired Use Case

I wanted a keyboard that could better utilize my right thumb and provide key clusters for additional functionality for my thumbs in general (thumbs are your strongest finger, why are they so underutilized on most keyboards?!). My goal was to have a more ergonomic setup that could help reduce strain and improve my PC-use efficiency.

Because I already had a Stream Deck XL for live streaming, I knew using a keyboard with fewer keys wouldn't be a problem.

The utility of the Stream Deck is a blog post all on its own. Maybe I'll work on that next!

The Spit Keyboard I Ended Up Buying

I decided on the Ultimate Hacking Keyboard V2. It used a more traditional staggered key layout so it would be comfortable enough for my existing muscle memory, but allowed both a split configuration or the option to join the two halves together.

I bought two rubber hand rests, a key cluster for my left side, and a trackball module for my right side. Key cluster was an obvious purchase, for anyone considering this keyboard this should be a no-brainer. But I wasn't quite as sure about the trackball. I think if there was an option for a right-side key cluster I would have gotten that instead.

This purchase was not cheap - but I was hoping this would be an investment that would make me more productive and lead to a healthier outcome.

When I first set up the keyboard, I immediately swapped the Spacebar and Mod keycaps. Here's a photo of it the day it arrived, you can see the Stream Deck there also.

The First Set of Layers I Used

I started with a basic layer that mimicked the default UHK layout (aside from swapping the Spacebar and Mod keys). Initially, I also used the Mod layer essentially as-is with its default keybindings.

If I held the Mod key, it would unlock an entirely new set of keys available to me in the Mod Layer I was able to configure with the UHK Agent PC software.

What I also appreciated about the keyboard right away is that there was space on the side of the keycaps to indicate Mod layer functions for that same key.

But even after just 1 day, I decided to switch things up, as you can see from my Discord message here:

The first thing I wanted to put to use was my right thumb. So I assigned the Mod key to Backspace instead, and used the right case key just below it for the mod layer instead (this didn't last long though).

How Long It Took to Feel "Normal"

It took about two weeks for the split keyboard to feel completely normal. For the first few days, angling my hands felt a little odd as I adapted to the new layout and experimented with rotating each keyboard half independently. Interesting, learning to use my thumbs for different functions was not nearly as difficult as I thought. After consistent use and some practice with typing tests like keybr.com, it became second nature and I was back to my standard words per minute and accuracy.

You can check out my experience typing on this keyboard via my keybr profile:

I actually outperformed my usual speed and accuracy on my previous keyboard, which was about 95 word per minute and 95% accuracy. By day 2 I was at 129 word per minute and 99% accuracy!

One Month In

About 30 days into using it, I wanted to make a couple more tweaks. So I purchased some new key cap set, some OS key caps, and a riser.

[!CAUTION] Caution Do not tent your keyboard an extreme amount to start. Start shallow.

Theoretically, the more of a "handshake" angle your hands are, the less strained your arms will be. But if you're not use to it, keyboard angled rising can feel very awkward. So I recommend a more conservative angle to start.

What I Miss from a Traditional Keyboard

Honestly - nothing. When I'm not at my desk, I still use my Surface Laptop 4 (especially for travel), and while it's a great device overall, going back to the traditional keyboard layout is just a downgrade. I find myself occasionally using my right thumb to try and backspace - but assuming your setup isn't too unorthodox, overall you should be able to differentiate muscle memory between traditional and split and function just fine.

Quite frankly, even if you aren't ready to jump full-on into split keyboard territory, I suggest you at least get a mechanical keyboard. I promise once you try a better keyboard, you'll start going down the winding trail of new layouts soon enough!

My Current Setup

Currently, my setup includes several customized layers and macros. Here's a breakdown:

Base Layer: Standard QWERTY with minor adjustments for volume control keys and a couple of macros to type my email address and username. I never used the right Shift, Ctrl, or Windows keys, so replacing those was an obvious choice. And making use of the case keys was fun for the macros.
Function Layer: Essentially has replaced the Mod layer for me entirely. I like it because of the convenience of the Fn key on both sides of the keyboard, so it's within reach with either thumb. Most used on this layer are the arrow keys on the right, but also Esc, and the WinKey + directional arrow shortcuts for manipulating windows quickly. I want to eventually get used to using Fn + Z, Fn + X, etc. instead of Ctrl + Z, Ctrl + X, etc. to give my left pinky a break from holding down Ctrl and Shift so often. But that's down the road.
Mod Layer: Mod key is now where the Caps Lock key normally is, I use this for video editing. Most-used editing shortcuts are mapped as shortcuts on my left side, so my right hand can just be on the mouse. I can double tap the Mod key to have it "lock" into the Mod layer, and double tap to return to normal - or just hold the key down for a quick one-off key use.
Left thumb key cluster (all layers): The way I set it up gives me easy access to Delete, Backspace, and Enter keys. Using my thumbs for Delete and Backspace have become second-nature, especially with the Spacebar. In additional to using Enter on the cluster, my right pinky has gotten a nice a break from overuse of Backspace and Enter in all of the Discord and Slack messages I send. I currently don't have this customized for each layer yet, since I want to still just get used to using the cluster as-is, but down the road I may customize the cluster on a per-layer basis as well.

If this all seems complicated to you - you may be surprised to hear this is barely scratching the surface of what's possible, and quite conservative change-wise compared to many UHK power users.

Something I'm still figuring out is the Trackball module - I very rarely use it and again, wish it was just another key cluster. That being said, being able to move the mouse and click around without leaving the keyboard is nice once and a while, and the left cluster has a smaller trackball for scrolling on webpages which comes in handy sometimes.

I also haven't used the Mouse layer much - something many on the UHK Forum swear by. Maybe I'll give it another shot down the road.

Combining It with Stream Deck XL

Integrating the split keyboard with a Stream Deck XL has been a game-changer. I use the Stream Deck for additional macros and functions so I didn't have to over engineer my keyboard. It's also nice if I want a visual indicator and not have to memorize a modifier key + standard key combination.

It sits conveniently between the two halves of the split keyboard and fits there perfectly. Here's a screenshot of the pages of my layout:

Many of these I assign to Shift + F13-F24, and are Microsoft PowerToys utilities.

I will make a blog post outlining how I use this for daily PC use and for streaming, but for now you can just imagine the possibilities.

Combining It with an Ergonomic Mouse

To further the legitimacy of my ergonomic setup, I paired the keyboard with a Logitech MX Vertical ergonomic mouse. I upgraded from the Logitech Triathlon (at the time hesitant to change from a wired to wireless mouse) and while it served me well, this was definitely an upgrade. Not having to rely on replacing batteries and the ability to recharge it, plus the addition of a handy top button are two improvements I enjoy aside from the unique ergonomic design.

The combination of mouse and keyboard ergonomics has significantly reduced strain on my wrist and improved my overall comfort during long working hours. When paired with a standing desk and a good chair - it's the home office dream!

Bottom Line

Switching to a split keyboard has been a worthwhile investment in my health and productivity. It took a shockingly short time to adjust, and the benefits of reduced strain and increased functionality have made it a valuable part of my daily workflow. If you're considering making the switch, I highly recommend it for anyone who spends a significant amount of time typing each day. That being said, a few words of caution and some recommendations.

[!Important] Important Spit keyboards are not for everyone

Just because I've had a great experience doesn't mean everyone will! If the idea of a split keyboard sounds interesting for you, then pursue it. If the idea baffles you, you should probably avoid it.

[!Warning] Warning Do not overwhelm yourself with layers, macros, and shortcuts.

Once you get a keyboard like this, it will be tempting to try and optimize every little thing day 1. However, do not fall into this trap. Mostly because if you try to change everything at once, you won't be able to gradually learn to use them and will just not use any of it.

[!Tip] Tip Try changing just one thing at a time.

The key is to start with small changes and work them into your typing habits and muscle memory until it becomes second nature. Then once you have that done, gradually incorporate new functionality until you have the ideal setup for your use case.

[!Tip] Tip Experiment with training wheels or imposing limits on yourself to curb old habits..

Something that helped me unlearn using a key a certain way was to just disable it so I had to use the new one. For example, I disabled the standard Enter key until I used it on my key cluster instead. But once I was done, I turned back on the standard Enter key so I had the option of using both, and each are helpful in its own context - and thankfully I'm just as comfy using both now!

[!Note] Note Functional changes you make to your keyboard work on the hardware level and do not require software.

UHK Agent software makes changes to your keyboard's firmware, meaning any macros, shortcuts, or key behavior updates you make to your keyboard will work even if the PC you connect to doesn't have the Agent software running.

If you're interesting in getting a spilt keyboard yourself, there are a few others I looked at - the ZSA Moonlander and the lulu by Boardsource. Ultimately I didn't go with either option mostly because of their ortholinear layouts. There are plenty of less expensive options out there, too, especially if you're comfortable with soldering or doing a bit more building yourself.

If you enjoyed this review or have any questions, please give me a shout on your platform of choice! I'd love to hear your thoughts.

If you'd like, you can follow the journey I shared in my Discord server and see what our little community discussed about keyboards and macros we use.

Download Windows 11 Folder Icons

David V. Kimball — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT

These are the folder icons that come with Windows 11 in .ICO format, including custom folder icons.

Examples of custom folder icons that display at any size include:

Dropbox
Google Drive
Podcasts
Default (No Shadow)
MEGA.nz
Adobe
Steam

These custom folder icons only show at the largest size:

TV
Settings
HTML
Backup
Software
Batch
JPG
PNG
PSD
Meetings
Powershell
Screenshots
Projects
Registry
USB

How to Install:

Download the .zip attachment and extract its contents to a permanent location you can find later.
Locate your user folder by navigating to C:\Users[YOUR-USERNAME].
Either find the folder that you'd like to customize or create a new folder.
Right click the target folder and select "Properties."
Under the "Customize" tab, select "Change Icon...".
Navigate to your custom .ico file and select it, and click Apply.
- Note: it's recommended to find a permanent place to store your custom .ico files so they don't get moved.

Check out my ongoing collection of custom folder icons here: Custom Icons for Windows 11 Thread

Design Your Own Windows 11 Folder Icons

I have built an app that helps you design your own custom Windows 11 folder icons, Windows Folder Designer: check it out!

[!Warning] Warning This app is currently in alpha, so tread carefully! You may lose your work.

<a href="https://winfolders.davidvkimball.com/" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="btn-large" name="button">Windows Folder Designer</button></a>

::github{repo="davidvkimball/windows-folder-designer"}

Repository

Thanks to jbcarreon123, a Windows 11 app has been created to easily create custom folder icons based on my icon set. Check it out!

::github{repo="customWin/customIcons"}

Recommended Setup and Software for Windows

David V. Kimball — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

I've set up many Windows installs before, so I figured I'd share what I typically use to setup Windows 11 in the current year.

This isn't an exhaustive list, but what I'd consider my "minimum viable Windows 11 setup." Hope you find it useful!

Force Windows 11 Upgrade to any Windows 10 Device

Download a Windows 11 ISO.
Mount it with File Explorer by double clicking it.
Run CMD in the directory of the mounted ISO (like D:\).
Run setup /product server

It will say "Windows Server" throughout setup but you can ignore that, just continue with the steps and you'll be upgraded to Windows 11, bypassing any TPM or CPU requirements.

Initial Installation Steps

Clean install Windows 11.
Select English-Global instead of English US. This skips installing the bloatware. If you want the Microsoft Store, you will need to set your region to EN-US if you wish to re-enable it later.
Use the "I don't have internet" method to pick the username of your choice that will be your User folder name.
1. (You can use Rufus to skip the hardware check requirements and create a local user by default).
Opt-out of all data collection.

Debloating Windows (Optional)

At this point, you can optionally run Talon, which will remove the bloat in Windows and give you a simplified Windows Experience. I say this is optional because it strips Windows of features you may use or like. But for someone who knows exactly what they want, it's a great option.

Windows Setup Post-Install

Enable Dark Theme.
Open Edge, visit Ninite.
Install the following programs from ninite.com:
1. Firefox - primary browser.
2. 7-Zip - archive software.
3. Discord - communication software.
4. VLC - media player.
5. WinMerge - quickly compare files and folders.
6. Malwarebytes - anti-malware software.
7. WinDirStat - quickly see what folders/files are taking up the most space on your PC.
Install additional software:
1. WinAeroTweaker - make adjustments to Windows.
2. FreeFileSync - backup your files in a straightforward way.
Sign in with Microsoft Account. Now you have a custom-set User Folder name, and also the benefit of using the Windows Store / account sync etc.
Sign into Firefox, confirm the following extensions are installed:
1. Firefox Multi-Account Containers - manage multiple instances/accounts on one browser session.
2. uBlock Origin - block ads.
3. SponsorBlock - blocks out annoying segments in YouTube videos.
4. Return YouTube Dislike - brings back the dislike button on YouTube.
5. Bitwarden - password manager.
6. Dark Reader - toggleable forced dark theme on any website.
Malwarebytes: Enable Dark Theme + Disable Premium Free Trial + Turn off All Notifications.
1. Open Malwarebytes.
2. Click settings cog icon.
3. Click Display.
4. Select "Dark" under Theme.
5. Click account.
6. Click "Deactivate."
7. Click "Notifications" tab, uncheck every option.
Setup WinAeroTweaker
1. Click "More info" and then "Run anyway" when the Windows protected your PC window pops up.
2. Once installed, visit "Ads and Unwanted Apps" from the Behavior folder and check "Disable ads in Windows."
3. Select "Disable Online & Video Tips in Settings."
4. Select "Disable Cortana."
5. Select "Disable Windows Ink Workspace."
6. Select "Enable Classic Paint."
7. Select "Disable Telemetry and Data Collection."
8. Select "Disable Action Center."
Disable Widgets.
Enable Clipboard history (WinKey + V).
Disable all Taskbar Items and Item Corner Overflow.
Left-align Taskbar.
Set Communications Activity behavior to "Do nothing" in Windows.
1. Settings > System > Sound > More sound settings
Turn on Network Discovery.
Enable Ultimate Performance Power Plan.
Disable most applications on startup.
Pin Recycle Bin to Start, then remove it from the desktop.

Obviously everyone will have their own workflows and desired software/setup. I figured I'd share mine nonetheless in case it helps someone out!

Further reading: Windows 11 Unsuckifying Guide by Jared Wilcurt.

Tailored Education Models and Video Games

David V. Kimball — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMT

I recently hosted a webinar via emerging Austin-based middle school Esports Academy in which industry experts discussed how tailored and personalized education can benefit students. Helping students find their passions early and hone their craft makes them more eager to learn, and actually helps them learn 2x-5x faster than traditional schools.

One such expert was Harvard-trained psychiatrist Dr. Alok Kanojia of HealthyGamer.GG, who explained how video games are inherently designed to match the player's skill level and pace of learning - just like Esports Academy's 2hr Learning model.

In video games, players start at level 1 and progress at their own pace. Tailored education similarly meets students precisely with where they are currently, and then adapts based on performance. Games provide immediate feedback when you make a mistake, allowing you to quickly learn from errors and try again until you master a skill. Personalized learning platforms and assessments, in this same way, give students real-time feedback so they can course-correct and fully grasp concepts before moving forward.

Whereas traditional schooling often teaches to the middle and fails to adequately challenge gifted students or support struggling students, tailored education like 2hr Learning accelerates or remediates based on the individual. This prevents boredom at the top and frustration at the bottom. Research shows learning is most optimized when material is presented at the appropriate level, pushing students just beyond their comfort zone. Mastering skills before advancing also builds a strong foundation.

The "respawn" mechanic in video games enables players to immediately retry after failing. This persistence pays off, rewarding grit and tenacity. Likewise, a personalized learning system gives students multiple attempts to demonstrate mastery. This growth mindset says skills can be developed through effort. Setbacks are reframed as opportunities for improvement, rather than being permanent labels like "C student."

Gameplay and tailored education both track progress and performance. Online ranking systems constantly match you with opponents of the same skill level, creating uniquely engaging experiences that push you to become better.

Today's students are accustomed to receiving tailored content from digital platforms in their personal lives. It makes sense to align education with this effective method of engagement and skill building.

Esports Academy's co-founder MacKenzie Price highlighted that with such adaptive learning models, students only need to spend 2 hours a day with core subjects like Math, Reading, Science, and Language. This gives them 4 hours a day to spend on their passions with dedicated coaches who help them unlock their potential and "find their fire" even beyond esports, forging students into producers, event planners, content creators, and leaders, preparing them for high school and beyond.

Esports Academy is set to launch soon in Austin, TX. Its sister school, Alpha, uses the same 2hr Learning model and has seen students who previously struggled in school reach the top 10% of students nationally within just 2 years.

Many gifted students turn to video games when school bores them - so if you have a student who wants to avoid school, he or she may just be in the wrong learning environment. You should consider Esports Academy - your child prodigy will go above and beyond what you might ever expect.

A sincere thank-you to webinar guests Danny Martin of Esposure Inc., Dr. Alok Kanojia of HealthyGamerGG, and both MacKenzie Price and Brian Holtz from 2hr Learning for chatting with me about this topic. And thanks to all of the Esports Academy folks for asking me to host the webinar.

The Case for a Better Web

David V. Kimball — Sat, 19 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMT

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/davidvkimball/episodes/The-Case-for-a-Better-Web-e289vae/a-aa8n343

In the 21st century, the Internet stands as a testament to the fruit of human innovation, potential, and collaboration. But somewhere along the way, it has lost its true essence, replaced by a monotonous hum of superficiality, addiction, and vanity.

At some point, divisiveness, hostility, and sensationalism became the primary mainstream view of online interaction and engagement. But it wasn't always like this. For a time, the Internet was associated with learning, exploration, and self-expression.

It is vital, therefore, to rediscover and understand the core values that make the web a great place to be today, and elevate us beyond the confinement of current perceptions. Regarding the online space, how ought we conduct ourselves? What should we strive to accomplish? And where are the best places to hang out?

A Web Built On Shared Values and Interests

We live in a hyperconnected world. No longer are we bound by the limitations of the past (like physical boundaries) - which means we are connected to many people in a variety of ways. So this begs the question: what are the most meaningful, significant ways we can be connected?

First and foremost, having a relationship with God is the most important connection there possibly is or could ever be. Secondly, the family unit is the strongest, most important set of connections within the material world. Next, there's a duty and obligation to your local neighbors, your church, and your community. But after that, connecting with people comes down to two things: shared values or shared interests.

Today, many internet users settle for maintaining dormant or stagnant connections online, whether that's based upon someone you used to bump into in high school, someone's friend of a friend you met at a party one time, or an obligation to accept a connection request from that one work colleague.

I'd like to set you free from that - you don't need to maintain online connections with everyone you may have met "in real life." That isn't to say you should go out of your way to close off those connections, but I would encourage you to budget your time and attention to focus on new, potentially more fruitful connections. It's a matter of opportunity cost and the finite time we have here on Earth.

What kind of music do you like? What is your dream vocation? What belief or cause do you feel strongly about? Who have you always wanted to meet? What wild and wacky hobby have you thought about, but never dove into? These are the questions you should ponder - and then seek out connections related to those things.

You can jump into the social network you use now, use an online forum, find a chatroom, request access to a video game lobby, or join a Discord server to find new people to meet. The possibilities for making meaningful connections are almost endless!

An Others-Focused Web

Most people default to being self-focused. So instead, opt for a more others-focused presence online. Use your words to lift others up, ask about their dreams, aspirations, what they love, and be others-focused. Many modern platforms are designed to bring attention and focus to yourselves instead of others - so brave that uphill battle and be creative about how you can draw attention to other people.

An over-emphasis on self can produce a particularly nasty kind of narcissism that ultimately ends in depression and loneliness. While self-expression is a gift, carried too far and without restraint, the end product is suffering.

In a more extreme example, a prioritization of self-indulgence over all else is destructive. Left unchecked, hedonism is a path to slavery to your vices. Sir Edmund Burke put it this way:

"Men qualify for freedom in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains on their own appetites. Society cannot exist unless a controlling power is put somewhere on will and appetite, and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters."

-- Edmund Burke (1729–1797)

Creating your online profiles, filling out your "about me" sections, and even publishing a personal website is great. But ultimately it should be serving a higher aim than merely being a "temple" for yourself. Instead, view your web presence as your vessel to make new connections with others whose lives you may benefit or enrich.

An Authentic, Truthful Web

Drop the vanity, the pretense, and the pride. Share what you genuinely want to share. Your motivations shouldn't be related to how you come across, but rather what properly communicates your message to the world. Share what you think is important, fun, interesting, horrifying, sobering, surprising, mysterious, and what it is in which you desire others to participate in awareness.

Don't worry about presenting yourself in an overly polished way. Perfect is the enemy of great. Put something out there - it doesn't have to be excellent the first time.

Tell the truth online, or at least don't lie. "Misinformation" has become a buzzword within the last several years, but don't confuse true misinformation with "information you personally do not like." Grapple with the distinction between truth and opinion, and don't get them confused to the best of your ability.

Assume the best from those with whom you disagree. Establish common ground and clarify aims - it should be to reach the truth (and come to a consensus if possible), not to win. Reducing the goal of debate to simply wanting to "be right" is a waste of time and energy.

For anyone you come into contact with who aren't interested in authenticity and truth, try to steer them a bit in that direction and do it out of love. The truth will set them free.

A Web of Creator-Consumer Mindfulness

Currently, the vast majority of time spent on the internet involves consuming rather than creating. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but ultimately you are in control of your time, so you might ask yourself: what creator-consumer ratio do you want for yourself?

Examples of consuming include watching YouTube videos, reading social media posts, or listening to a podcast. You might have a certain level of input and involvement, but ultimately you're being served someone else's work.

Creating is like building a website, writing poetry, or editing a video. You have complete control over what's made. It's the fruit and result of your labor - not even always necessarily something created from scratch, but also something ongoing or honing your skills in a particular discipline.

Sometimes the lines can be blurred between creation and consumption, and that's OK. One of the internet's many benefits is the ability to participate in interactive mediums humanity hasn't experienced in previous generations.

A Web Devoid of Chronological Snobbery

Claiming "newer is better" or "things were better back then" can be misguided. Nostalgia's charm and today's luxuries both have their place and don't have to be mutually exclusive.

To me, this point is particularly relevant with the "old web" revival going on recently. Various manifestos imploring us to go back to a time when the web was more wild, wacky, and fun have popped up as a response to the homogenization of modern social media platforms.

It's tempting to think websites from 2004 should be the standard for today for their charm and personal touch, but it's fair to say there are aspects of the modern web we'd be missing. Better security, more widespread internet access, an abundance of relatively cheap hardware, and browser extensions are all examples of improvements we enjoy today that don't detract from what made the web special in the late 90s and early 2000s.

Mobile responsiveness is a great example. A modern website will look fantastic and optimized for widescreen displays, while also flexing automatically to fit a vertical visual format like a mobile device. It's an overall better experience for a wider number of site visitors on a larger variety of form factors.

An Accessible Web

Related to mobile responsiveness, consider the way you use the internet, including your motivations for using it, the hardware peripherals you use, the software you use, or even the protocols. Each of these aspects that characterize your use of the web may not be how someone else may use it. People with disabilities, who use alternative platforms, or have a more limited internet connection can benefit greatly from your deliberate efforts to make your contributions to the internet more accessible.

Whether it's including alt-text on your images, subtitles in your video content, or well-structured markup on your website, consider how to format what you create in a way that's as accessible as possible. Participate in tagging and linking to relevant places, resources, and individuals. Research standards and best practices and align yourself to those if it's feasible.

A Distraction-Free Web

Leverage crowdsourced solutions to issues like privacy, security, and a better user experience. You don't always have to settle for what services provide out of the box - you can customize your experience! Ad blockers, privacy enhancers, and browser extensions are just a few examples.

If you find yourself addicted to a social media website or spending too much time using a mobile app, set up boundaries for yourself. There are plenty of guides, resources, and software that can help you minimize or remove distractions (even if the distraction is online usage itself) so you can get back to prioritizing what's important in your life.

A Decentralized, Self-Hosted Web

As tech becomes more accessible and easier for the layperson to use, seeing an increase in platforms that aren't controlled by one company or entity can be an improvement in several key ways:

You have control over your own data (where it's hosted, what's shared, what's used)
More ability to customize for the needs of each user
Not reliant on an external third party for access to vital online services
Helps foster a DIY spirit, increasing your knowledge and skills
Potential cost savings and consolidation, with fewer accounts to manage
True "ownership"

Current barriers to this being more fully realized include the technical knowledge required, having to still interface with third parties to stand up a solution, and understanding the relevant laws and regulations involved. Hopefully, in the future, these issues won't be as big of a deal, and self-hosting will be more common.

The Web3 movement touches on this a bit, using blockchain tech to give more power to the user. But it's too early to tell whether or not this is really the direction the web will be going in its current form.

As Google recently announced, Gmail accounts that have been inactive for over 2 years will be deleted, effectively shutting down access to millions of created accounts and causing a loss of billions of files. This is inevitable if we continue to use free email services that are ultimately owned by other companies.

Conclusion

An endeavor for a better web isn't about embracing or rejecting progress. It's about embracing the best of both the old and the new. It's focusing on a set of principles that are grounded in truth, honesty, and integrity. It's about love.

"The three most important things to have are faith, hope and love. But the greatest of them is love."

-- 1 Corinthians 13:13

Ultimately, our online presence is a reflection of who we are as people: our values, preferences, likes, dislikes, hopes, dreams, and priorities. So to create a better web, we have to focus on striving toward holiness first. Then we can take our renewed spirits to the digital realm and help make a positive impact.

PS. If you want to help make a better web by creating something positive in the world, check out my new ongoing project, create.david.qa. It's a website answering your questions about making websites. Check out the website and start creating!

Fighting Game Preferences: Casual vs. Competitive

David V. Kimball — Mon, 07 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Although this is an admittedly niche topic, I'd like to discuss some of the misconceptions about the casual and competitive fighting game crowd.

There's a simplistic, binary way of thinking that goes something like this:

"Competitive players prefer to play the same character (with no RNG) on just 1 stage with no platforms that doesn't move, because the more boring it is, the more competitively satisfying it is."

and....

"Casual players only want crazy stages with random hazards, unpredictable RNG-based characters and moves, because the more chaotic and wackier it is, the more fun it is."

Both of these characterizations miss the mark - and also reveals that anyone who thinks this way doesn't truly understand either audience.

Fighting games at their best showcase a bit of variety, and a bit of predictability (or uniformity). While the more casual audience might prefer more wild, unpredictable elements as an element of fun, the true nature of fun has more to do with risk and reward. No fighting game works as a pure RNG, "merely roll the dice" type experience.

A great example of this is Mario Party. While it's alright to have a few mini-games completely rely on randomness, those mini-games specifically are generally not the most favorite or revisited experiences. For a party game aimed at a casual audience, usually, a mix of both skill and luck is ideal.

The same is true for a more competitive crowd. Take the competitive scene of Super Smash Bros. Melee, for example. Even it has elements of RNG, like Mr. Game & Watch's side special (Judge) or Peach's down special (turnip pull). Adding in some RNG or moving elements, such as Randall the cloud on Yoshi's Story, adds some dynamics to the game that even competitive players appreciate.

What matters more than any of these factors is replayability. What makes a fighting game endlessly replayable? Too many gimmicks and you'll leave players frustrated and wanting to move on to something else. Too much conformity and you bore players who will move on as well.

The best games give players options and possess enough risk and reward elements that both casual and competitive players can play the game endlessly. I think Super Smash Bros. Melee fits that description perfectly.

Unique characters with unique movesets on unique stages give plenty of dynamic combinations of matchups that give you a lot of variety and challenge. If backed up with tight, satisfying gameplay, it becomes difficult to put the game down.

Such a winning recipe, however, can be suddenly eroded by too many random elements - Brawl's tripping mechanic is a fantastic example of this. Even if you enjoyed Super Smash Bros. Brawl's gameplay overall - very few enjoyed this tripping mechanic (casual and competitive players alike), which was intended to combat the perceived "overly competitive" nature of Melee. Instead of making the game more fun, the choice to add tripping in Brawl made playing a frustrating experience.

In conclusion - if you are designing a fighting game and considering casual and competitive audiences, it's important not to dismiss either of them outright. While casuals might make up the majority of your audience in sum total (most games do), competitive players may have the potential to sink the most time into your game, so their preferences matter a lot as well. If you strike this balance well enough, who knows? Your game could be enjoyed 10, 20, or even 50 years into the future.

Edit: In a future blog post, I go even more into depth on this topic specifically talking about competitive vs. casual stages. Check it out: Competitive Stages Are Actually The Best Casual Stages, Too.

Is catering to both the new web and the old web futile?

David V. Kimball — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Last night I had a ponder.

Is it possible to participate in both the old web revival while also maintaining a current presence on the modern web?

Well it's obviously physically possible, but are you somehow betraying the edicts of the yesterweb powers that be? Many retreat to the old web not just for nostalgia and self-expression, but to escape from the status quo.

What can be said, then, for someone who enjoys both like me? Am I creating this website for an audience of one?

On one hand, it seems silly to try and pretend the current state of the web doesn't exist, as we're benefiting from certain modernizations like a more secure protocol for browsing, HTML5 and CSS3 standards, and even pretty fancy JavaScript in some cases.

On the other, I can see why incorporating too much of the modern web would defeat the purpose of enjoying something that's intended to feel like another era.

In an ideal scenario, I'd participate in both "worlds" fully as myself and share resources to both the old-web craving audience and the current-day average users (who may be completely unaware of the old web revival in the first place).

Especially for those who never experienced it, I see create.dvdv.kim as a gateway drug to enjoy a simpler, more personalized online experience. And I would love for anyone to experience it.

It's staggering just how many amazing tools are made and put out for free - not only to keep the old web going, but also more modern tools that would satisfy the needs of your current-day webmaster.

I'm going to keep working on this project as I have time and am able, and hopefully by doing so I'm not alienating either audience. I know I won't please everyone, but I'd like for this to be a useful resource people trust.

Free Trials Trick: Stop Paying After They End

David V. Kimball — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMT

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/davidvkimball/episodes/Free-Trials-The-Trick-to-Never-Paying-After-They-End-e26r5r5/a-aa459st

Most of us have fallen into the "Subscription Trap" where a service will offer a free trial over some time - 7 days, 30 days, etc., but we forget and start paying for a service after the free trial ends.

After reading this article, this should never happen to you ever again.

Here's how to never pay after a free trial ends:

Sign up for Privacy.com. Privacy.com is a free service that allows you to create virtual payment cards that connect to your bank.
Create a virtual card. You can set a lifetime limit of $2 to validate an initial check by the service you're signing up for.
Use that virtual card information when you sign up for free trials. After the trial period ends and it tries to charge you, Privacy.com will alert you via email and you can close the account or card. For someone as cheap as me, this has worked wonders. I've used this method for years and haven't fallen into the subscription trap even one time since I started using it.

Step-By-Step Guide

Begin by signing up for Privacy.com.

Add your email and create a password.

Confirm your account through the email you receive.

Once confirmed, select "New Card."

Skip the suggestions and create a custom card with a $2 lifetime spend limit:

In this example, I've created a card called "Free Trial."

Select "Finish Signing Up" and say you're using it for "Myself" rather than your business.

Add your personal details, including your name, DOB, address, and phone number.

It will also ask you for your SSN - I understand if this is a deal-breaker for you, but this service has served me well so I think it's worth it.

From here you'll connect your bank account.

Once you connect your bank account, you can start using your cards. Here are some of the ones I've used:

Enjoy saving money?

You might enjoy my video course, CheapMarketing.io. It's for content creators who want the cheapest possible way to grow their brand and reach their audience.

Or you can check out my guide on setting up a custom website with zero hosting costs.

What ways have you found to save money? Please share them in the comments below. 🙏

How I Got $8,367 of Free Perks by Being "First"

David V. Kimball — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMT

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/davidvkimball/episodes/How-I-Got-8-367-of-Free-Perks-by-Being-First-e26qru3/a-aa44can

Grandfathered-in perks are an often-underutilized benefit of early adoption in the software-as-a-service sphere.

As startups or tech platforms try to gain adoption and enter the mainstream, they'll sometimes give users generous perks in service of an aggressive user adoption strategy.

Sometimes early adopters get features so generous, it's not a sustainable business model. Interestingly, though, rather than completely taking those features away from existing users, they usually just remove them as features for new users going forward.

If something seems too good to be true, grab it while you can, and there's a chance you can hold onto it - at least for a while.

Platform Feature Timeline

Below is a list of when various features were added or removed - usually beginning with a platform's launch and removed later in its life as it matures.

2006

G Suite from Google launched with an unlimited free option

2007

Todoist allowed unlimited projects for free users
Microsoft launches SkyDrive with 25GB of free storage

2008

GitHub pages launched, free websites must use a public repository
Dropbox launches, lets you connect with unlimited devices, and gave you an additional 250MBs of storage for each new user you invited
HootSuite launches with a free plan
Spotify launches in Europe with unlimited ad-supported music listening

2009

Facebook rolls out unique usernames for profiles
YouTube allows custom vanity URLs like /[yourname] based on username

2010

Weebly allows free users to use custom domain names and multiple websites
Tumblr allows free users to use custom domain names, automatic /forward redirects, and multiple blogs
IFTTT launched, entirely free with unlimited applets

2011

Spotify removed unlimited ad-supported listening on the desktop version, instead only allowing 10 hours per month for free users. Legacy users were not affected

2012

Weebly turns off custom domains for its free users, only allows 1 site per user
MailChimp allows 2 audiences and custom email templates to free users with 2,000 contacts and 10,000 sends per month
G Suite turned off the free option, and existing free users were grandfathered into their accounts
Microsoft's SkyDrive (now OneDrive) changed the free storage space to 7GB, but allowed grandfathered-in users to opt in to keep their storage

2013

Spotify removed the 10-hour listening limit for free users
Patreon launches with a flat 5% fee for all creators

2014

Netlify launches with a free plan, allowing websites to be deployed from private GitHub repos
OneDrive changed the free storage limit to 15GB, added to legacy / grandfathered-in users (who now had 40GB)

2015

Bitly allows free users to use custom domain names, as long as they're short enough
YouTube no longer allows custom usernames for channels without a discriminator - changes to youtube.com/c/channelname. Legacy vanity URLs of /[name] and /user/ still work
Lynda.com partnered with public libraries and allowed free access with a public library card

2016

OneDrive free users had a reduced storage limit of 5GB, which did not affect grandfathered-in users that opted to keep their storage

2017

Discord allows once a Partner, always a partner type benefits (free Nitro, vanity URL, etc.)

2019

Dropbox limits free users to only 3 devices (grandfathered in existing devices if more were connected)
Tumblr kills the custom automatic /forward redirects feature for its site pages, legacy users keep their existing redirects but can't make new ones
Patreon changes its options to Lite, Pro, and Premium, legacy accounts keep what's called their "founders" plan, kept what they had without additional costs

2020

Discord changes partner requirements to be conditional, allows legacy partners to keep vanity URL for life for their server
IFTTT got a paid plan, but free users were grandfathered into their number of applets (but got limited for new ones)

2022

YouTube launches new @username handles for every channel. Legacy vanity URLs /[name] and /user/ and /c/ still work
MailChimp changes free plan to only 1 audience and 1,000 sends a month. Grandfathered-in users keep their original plan
Todoist significantly cut the number of projects you can have to just 5 for free users, legacy users were grandfathered into whatever number they had previously

2023

Tumblr turns off free custom domains for its users - allows legacy users to keep their custom domains
Weebly forces legacy custom domain users to pay
HootSuite no longer has a free plan, legacy free users get to keep their account
Discord username rollout prioritizes partnered, verified, Nitro-subscribed and early Discord accounts first
G Suite (now Google Workspace) free users were kicked off
Patreon discontinues its Lite plan, so the lowest cut went from 5% to 8%

So, how much value have I gotten for free, based on the lowest-possible monthly pricing?

G Suite/Google Workspace: $1,320 (grandfathered in)
Todoist: $50 (grandfathered in)
OneDrive: $840 (grandfathered in)
MailChimp: $150 (grandfathered in)
Weebly: $980 (grandfathered in)
Discord: $250 (partnership + early adopter)
HootSuite: $700 (grandfathered in)
Dropbox: $375 (grandfathered in)
IFTTT: $48 (grandfathered in)
GitHub $512 (thanks to Netlify)
Spotify: $240 (grandfathered in)
Lynda.com/LinkedIn Learning: $2,880 (via the public library system)
Patreon: $22 (grandfathered in plan)

Based on these estimates, that's $8,367 in total value saved.

The Takeaway

If you have an opportunity to become a user of a SaaS product with a free option early - you should. You don't know what's about to hit the mainstream, or what currently-free features you have now will be deprecated in the future.

Other Ways to Save: Cancel Your Free Trials

Everything listed above doesn't even take into account starting and canceling free trials, which I've done a lot of as well. Audible, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Adobe, LinkedIn Premium, Asana, Xbox Live - you name it!

Start the habit now: don't let the allure of free trials trick you into unintentionally paying for premium services. Instead, start and then cancel or set a reminder in your calendar to cancel just before it ends.

Or even better - just use Privacy.com and create a virtual card with a lifetime spending limit of $2, and then you'll never accidentally get locked into a monthly subscription ever again.

If you want to learn about more tips like this - check out my course for content creators, CheapMarketing.io. I dig into how you can leverage deals and free tools to maximize your cost savings and optimize your online presence.

Content Creators: the Champions of DIY Marketing

David V. Kimball — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMT

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/davidvkimball/episodes/Content-Creators-The-Champions-of-DIY-Marketing-e26r4fs/a-aa4566d

I recently wrote about how many industry practitioners overcomplicate marketing.

In this blog post, I'd like to suggest that content creators are the best marketers.

They're scrappy, experimental, early adopters, and know how to work the social platform algorithms in their favor. To be successful in their highly competitive space, they have to be.

Usually, though, content creators don't have the budget to hire an agency or spend money on advertising to get their names out there. Instead, they rely on bootstrapping - leveraging all of their current resources and making the most out of them.

Whether you're a cooking YouTuber who wants to share your recipes with the world or a software developer who wants to live stream your work, you'll find yourself engaging in some DIY marketing to be successful.

Regardless of what kind of content creator you are - you have to touch marketing at some point. You'll need to figure out how online platforms work, be comfortable with tech and software, and be bold to set yourself apart from the competition.

This kind of DIY marketing is what helps content creators understand not just the digital landscape they're a part of, but their target audience and the value their content can bring them.

Why Content Creators are Inherently DIY Marketers

As a self-starting, independent endeavor, the practice of becoming a content creator itself is DIY. Creating content is only valuable insofar as an audience can consume it - which necessitates the ability to market yourself or your content.

The most successful content creators are demand generation experts without fully realizing it. They are creating value for an audience that can't get enough of what they're offering.

Key Examples

Some of YouTube's most recognizable creators - Ryan Higa, PewDiePie, and Mr. Beast - these creators had incredibly humble beginnings using whatever equipment they had on them at the time.

Since then, creators like them own their own companies, hire their own production teams, and outsource lots of talent. But each of them started by putting in the work themselves and understanding how YouTube worked.

Even YOU Can Become a Marketer

You may be thinking you don't have what it takes - but you do! Many marketing tools and platforms out there have inexpensive or even free options to get started.

The beauty of digital marketing is how accessible it is. Anyone with access to a phone or PC can become a marketer - they just have to find out where all of the tools and best deals are.

I recently published CheapMarketing.io - a video course specifically for content creators who want to get started with building their brand, finding their audience, and launching their own website within 1 week.

You will learn a lot of the practical DIY marketing tips the most successful content creators have used to build, grow, measure, and win within their niche.

Get the video course now! 👉 CheapMarketing.io

Bullcr*p Marketing Doesn't Work Anymore

David V. Kimball — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMT

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/davidvkimball/episodes/Bullcrp-Marketing-Doesnt-Work-Anymore-e25tcnl/a-aa179dc

Marketing is getting attention from the right eyeballs at the right time. No need to overcomplicate the concept itself; it's surprisingly simple.

Throughout the years, marketing has gained a negative connotation. For some, marketing is manipulative, materialistic, or misleading. However, while that description may fit some marketing practices done in the past, it's no longer effective in the modern world: consumers can easily see it's bullcrap.

In "David's Bullcr*p Marketing Video" above, I feature a few surface-level forms of this deceptive practice we've all seen and can easily point to and laugh at: cheesy stock music, overly fancy transition filler, businessy-looking icons and generic stock video (the corporate jargon is just a bonus).

But why do those things bother us? In a word, they're inauthentic. They feel fake - which puts them in a categorically different type of marketing altogether: bullcr*p marketing.

What is bullcr*p marketing?

Here's the definition:

[!Note] Definition Bullcr*p marketing is the practice of employing disingenuous and manipulative marketing strategies for short-term gain.

Why am I starring out the "a" in "bullcr*p marketing"? It's a bit of a jest, but also to illustrate that even the term itself isn't fully transparent, much like the tactics it describes.

Effective marketing doesn't involve grandstanding or deception, it's authentic messaging targeting the right audience. Ideally, you're solving a need for someone and offering it to them directly.

History shows us that trust between business and consumer wins over the short-term benefits of deceitful self-fluff.

Marketing: ruining mass communication since the 1600s

Marketing as a practice has existed since the dawn of man, but scholars tend to agree that mass marketing started with Gutenberg's printing press in 1450.

From there, a pattern arose in which each new form of mass communication was hijacked by some form of marketing or advertising. Around the 1600s, paid advertising began in Italy, England, and Germany across flyers, brochures, and newspaper advertisements. As print became more scalable, marketing tactics followed.

In London during the 1730s, more than half of the space in newspapers was devoted to advertising. In 1864, the telegraph was used for unsolicited spam for the first time. Radio advertising began in the 1920s, just 20 years after radio itself was invented. It didn't take long for ads to creep into television (1941), phone calls (systemized telemarketing in the 1950s), email (the 1970s), and the rest of the early web (starting in the 1980s).

Finally, we've seen how marketers have dominated social media with display ads, utilizing influencers, and with branded social profiles in the last 15 years or so.

Or as Gary Vaynerchuk puts it:

"Marketers ruin everything."

Effective marketing is authentic

Thankfully, we know that despite the proliferation of advertising and marketing messages in our lives, getting a targeted, relevant message is a more pleasant experience, especially if it helps solve an immediate need or want.

A study by Marketing Dive suggests 71% of consumers prefer personalized advertising, a product of the modern era. Havard Business Review finds targeted marketing messages are more effective than traditional advertising.

Therefore, marketing has gotten better, but only as a consequence of more faithfully serving the needs of the recipients of its intended audience. This means authenticity, transparency, and adding value should be at the top of the list for any marketing strategy. Just blowing hot smoke won't cut it anymore.

Generation Z in particular can't stomach fakeness. Research suggests that Gen Z specifically values authenticity and transparency in the companies they support, more than previous generations. They're also less loyal to brands. Gen Z is currently one of the most powerful consumer forces, spending $44 billion currently or $600 billion if you count the influence they have on their parents. Needless to say, businesses should be paying attention.

Case Study: Discord's launch campaign

One of my favorite examples of marketing done right was the launch of the instant messaging social platform Discord in 2015. Their growth and adoption were insane, with 11 million registered users in the first year, and a projected 200 million monthly active users today.

What did they do right? They spoke directly to their target audience, which was mostly younger users who enjoy video games as a hobby. Discord HQ identified their audience's main pain point, which was the need for a simple, easy-to-use voice and chat tool to communicate with their friends when they played games together.

This video encapsulates it perfectly:

Their brand voice was fun, punchy, and spoke in plain English.

I got to talk directly to the Discord marketing team at PAX West 2017 (shout out to Zac Citron!) and it turns out every video they made up to that point was mostly just 2 people - one to do the video direction and voice over, and the other to do the video editing and graphics. Shows you how a small but mighty team can help drive impressive growth.

Although their branding has changed significantly since 2020, I will never forget the initial impression they made, and their success today can be attributed in part to their authentic, laser-focused marketing efforts. I even ran a partnered 10,000-member Discord server myself for several years.

How to avoid inauthenticity in marketing

Even though we know it doesn't work long-term, it's easy to get swept up in marketing nonsense. It's a competitive enterprise and there's a lot of pressure to be viewed in the best possible light expediently. Achieving so-called "quick wins" in this area over authenticity can be tempting. So here's a quick list of how to avoid being inauthentic:

Don't lie. Even the smallest embellishment should be avoided. There may be short-term positive effects from deceitfully fluffing up your image, but lies come back to bite eventually, no matter how practiced you might be.
Don't exploit. As we've seen with keyword stuffing, link farms, and fake reviews, trying to bend the rules in your favor inevitably ends with platforms and services penalizing its abusers (more on this later).
Focus on problem-solving for your target audience. It should be well understood that a single business, brand, product, or service can't be all things to all people. If you begin to lose focus on who you're serving, you start to enter bull territory by casting your net too wide and saying nothing at all.
Don't virtue signal. One PR tactic is to try taking a stand on a socio-political issue for public karma. If your business or brand truly aligns with it, then that can work as a strategy. However, too often, decisions are made to have a public stance that doesn't truly reflect the core values of that business or brand - or worse, it's even inconsistent with how they operate. Anyone familiar with whatever the particular issue may be can smell virtue signaling from a mile away.

A history of bullcr*p marketing trends

Old-school marketing methodology doesn't work well in today's world.

Here's a timeline of bullcrap ways marketers have tried to fluff up their chances to be noticed, which inevitably end in being penalized (also see: black hat SEO).

The 1990s: Keyword stuffing and invisible text

In the early days of search engines, websites would stuff their pages full of keywords, often to the point of making the text unreadable, to boost their visibility in search results. Some even took to using invisible text or placing white words on a white background to deceive search engine algorithms. Thankfully, Google's algorithms evolved and started penalizing these tactics, promoting the idea of high quality content over keyword manipulation.

Early 2000s: Pop-up ads and spam emails

Around the turn of the millennium, the internet was besieged by a torrent of pop-up ads ("Congratulations, you've won!" - does this sound familiar?). These intrusive messages were seen as a clever way to capture attention, but they rapidly became one of the most despised forms of advertising. Similarly, email inboxes were flooded with spam messages, often of dubious legitimacy. The backlash was significant, leading to legislation like the CAN-SPAM Act in the U.S. and more sophisticated ad-blocking tools.

Mid-2000s: Link farms and doorway pages

Link farms, which are websites created purely to link to other websites, and doorway pages, low-quality pages filled with keywords designed to trick search engines, were other practices that came to prominence in the mid-2000s. These schemes sought to exploit search engine algorithms and were ultimately detrimental to the user experience. Like with earlier tricks, the response from search engines was clear: anyone who used these tactics would be penalized, further emphasizing the importance of genuine, valuable content.

2010s: Fake reviews and clickbait

With the rise of social media and online shopping, the 2010s saw an increase in fake reviews and clickbait titles. Companies started paying for positive reviews, while sensationalist headlines or "clickbait" were used to drive traffic. However, these tactics resulted in widespread mistrust and dissatisfaction among consumers, forcing platforms like Facebook and Amazon to crack down on these practices.

2020s: Misleading influencers and "deepfake" advertising

In recent years, influencer marketing has taken off, but it's not immune to deceptive practices. Some brands have been accused of not marking sponsored content clearly, while others have used deepfake technology to create misleading advertisements. Both these tactics have drawn criticism for their lack of transparency and authenticity. As a response, social media platforms are developing stricter guidelines to promote clearer advertising.

So, what's next?

While it's difficult to predict exactly what the future holds for marketing, it's safe to say that authentic, transparent, and targeted messaging will always outperform gimmicky, misleading tactics. Anything that compromises a good user experience will likely be penalized. There's no doubt that companies will have to work harder than ever to win the trust and loyalty of their customers.

Natural language processing models like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's LaMDA are powerful tools with lots of potential, however they shouldn't be relied on exclusively for content creation. Anti-cheat education software Turnitin has developed tech that can already identify whether or not text was generated with ChatGPT, and they're not alone. Princeton computer science student Edward Tian has already built something similar himself, GPTZero.

As user adoption continues to climb for AI chatbots, and sophistication increases in spotting when language learning models are used in content, it will become easier and easier to spot in the wild. Don't think copywriters will be out of a job any time soon.

Conclusion

In the modern world of marketing, most attempts to trick the system, exploit loopholes, or deceive the market are destined to fail. Instead, the focus should be on creating value for your audience through relevant, high-quality content that addresses their needs and wants. Only then can you steer clear of the bullcr*p marketing trends of the past and ensure your marketing strategy is effective.

Marketing Tips for Content Creators

I'll be writing more on the topic of marketing - specifically for content creators who want to up their online presence game.

If you fit that description, you can subscribe to my newsletter to get new posts sent to your inbox directly.

Topics I'm considering are tips for effective personal branding, choosing the ideal online username, profile best practices, social platform-specific tips, and growing your own community, just to name a few.

Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment with any thoughts. 🙏

Your Online Reputation Management Guide for 2024

David V. Kimball — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Whether you’re managing an organization or an individual (person), maintaining an effective digital presence is vital for business. Your discoverability, marketability, and credibility are on the line. Online reputation is a key element of how your brand is perceived by potential customers, clients, or employers. If you don’t have your ducks in a row online, now’s the time to get it right, not later.

What is Online Reputation Management?

Broadly speaking, online reputation management is the discipline of proactively controlling the connected digital footprint of an individual or group. A positive online reputation can help you be perceived as an authoritative player in your space, regardless of your industry. This can span social media sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube — or directory sites like Foursquare, Yelp, Google Business Profile, or Apple Maps. The platforms you decide to optimize will largely depend on your target audience and business outcome goals. Some platforms simply require a “set and forget” approach, whereas the majority require you to be more proactive in your management.

If you’ve ever created a profile for yourself or your business online, you’ve participated in online reputation management in some way. Every decision you made when creating that profile, from the selfie profile picture you selected, to inputting your real, actual birthday in the “birthday” field all help shape the potential of your online reputation effectiveness. Every piece of content you post is telling a story about you, and this is reflected in your online reputation as well. Your replies to inbound messages on Twitter, or a leaked Instagram direct message — all of this affects your online reputation in varying degrees.

You can organize online reputation management into four key areas:

Profile/listing optimization
Content marketing and curation
Social media listening and engagement
Reviews strategy and response

Why is Online Reputation Management Important?

A strong online reputation is important for multiple reasons. First, managing your reputation effectively online can help you get discovered. Secondly, a positive reputation helps establish your credibility and can solidify your authority within a space. Thirdly, a well-maintained online reputation can drive business.

Get Discovered

As online directories continue to become more sophisticated, users rely on online discovery mediums to get solutions to their problems. When was the last time you looked in a phone book to find your closest gas station? The very notion seems comical to any current-day smartphone owner. 45% of the world own smartphones, and likely wouldn’t think of anything other than a smartphone to get that quick answer.

Therefore, optimizing your digital presence for maximum discovery potential is paramount. It’s not a question of whether or not you should be on digital platforms, but rather a question of on which digital platforms you should be present. It’s never a good idea to try and be everywhere, so instead focus on your strongest potential platforms.

Know your audience. In order to know where you should be, you have to know where your target audience is first. What does your research say? Survey your existing audience or dig into analytics on your website and figure out where they spend their time. Maybe you’re a brick-and-mortar arts and crafts shop, and 40% of your website’s traffic is directly from Google organic search. You should be turning your attention to your Google My Business profile. Is it full of current and accurate location data? Is the phone number up to date? Does it have an appealing cover photo? These are a few examples of what optimizing a profile looks like.

Once you know where your audience spends time and determine the platforms on which to focus, you’ll want to own those profiles and listings. Literally, in some cases, you’ll need to make an account and claim a listing if it already exists to own it or create a new one if it doesn’t exist yet. I use profiles and listings interchangeably here because the principles are the same. A listing is just a more specific type of profile that’s listed in a particular directory, like a business Yelp page or a Google My Business page. Businesses will likely want listings in a variety of business directories depending on their industry. A staffing company might want to optimize its Indeed listing, whereas an HR company might care more about its Glassdoor profile.

After you own the pertinent listings and profiles, you can begin optimizing them. Above all, make sure you are building your profiles with current, accurate, consistent, and complete data. Fill in every field that’s available to you, as leaving any stone left unturned is missing out on discovery potential. That includes description fields that talk about you or your company, website fields where you should link to your website homepage, and other contact information. Assuming you optimize multiple profiles, make sure they’re as similar as possible — consistency is king. From an SEO perspective, authoritative websites agreeing with others will improve the rank of your listings. For example, if your Facebook page’s address matches your Yelp profile’s address exactly, Google will trust that data even more, especially if it matches up with its own Knowledge Graph data.

Use consistent, branded visuals. For an individual, this can mean using the same professional headshot for each of your profile pictures. For a company, this can mean incorporating the brand colors into the cover photo. Be intentional about your choices and think about how each piece fits into the element of the profile. Use a 1:1 aspect ratio image for your profile picture, and an image that works in both square and circle treatments. Test, test, test. Create a dummy profile if you have to. The look of your profiles matters, so make sure you’re using the correct specs and accounting for a variety of devices and screen sizes.

Become Credible

Building profiles and listings with good, complete data means you can now focus on producing content. Whether you’re creating original pieces yourself or curating content, your posts will reflect the kind of person you are: what you like to talk about, what you think about, and the larger message you want to send. This is your brand voice. Think very intentionally about it. Everything you post, like, or engage with in some way is not only another chance to be discovered, but also an opportunity to build a history of online interactivity. The more present you are, the more authoritative you seem — assuming you’re publishing influential, valuable content and meaningfully connecting with others on these platforms.

Say you’re managing a business. After a few months of managing your listings, hopefully, you’re getting reviews. Both negative and positive, you should be responding to them. Keep in mind, generally speaking, reviews are different than most social media messages. You can’t delete reviews simply because you don’t like them, you only have a chance to reply once, and they’re always public. Unlike the privacy of DMs or the power you have to delete comments on your own posts, it is tougher to control reviews. Of course, this is by design. Your ability to respond both quickly and tactfully will significantly impact prospects’ perception of you. Not only should you be addressing any concern of the reviewer, but you are taking this opportunity to communicate to onlookers that you care. Nothing looks worse than a rude or dismissive response to a negative review that was posted 7 months after the initial review was posted.

More reviews are almost always better than less. The utility of reviews is to accurately reflect the experience of a user. Google, Facebook, Yelp, and other platforms are fairly strict about the practice of review gating — meaning, you can’t simply engage with users that had positive experiences and ask for reviews from them only, you have to engage everyone. This can seem counterintuitive since you don’t probably feel it’s in your best interest to ask for a review from someone who had a bad experience. The solution is to ask for reviews often from everyone. If you’re providing a good product or service, then by and large, you’ll get good reviews. Expect outliers and trolls, they just come with the territory. Google, Yelp and others have policies against fake reviews and reviewers, so if you feel something is fishy you can report the offending accounts. So use that option when you need to. Reviews aren’t all negative, though — make sure to celebrate successes when you get hearty 5-star praise.

Drive Business

Optimized profiles: check. Responding and engaging with users: check. You’ve now established yourself or your company as a leader in your space. People are discovering you and your influence is growing. Now it’s time to play your cards right so you can drive potential customers, clients, and employers to do business with you. How do you do this? By including a call to action on every single one of your profiles.

When it comes down to it, mediums like social media sites, listing directories, and SERP snippets are simply the conduit to get to you. Managing your online reputation properly means you have the end goal in mind. Getting discovered first and establishing trust second is the path to eventually connecting with someone — that’s what all of this is for!

Determine your ideal customer journey. What would you like a prospect to do? What is the one place you want to drive a client towards? Maybe it’s a website. That means every website field, in every one of your profiles should link to that one destination. If they want to call you, how are you accommodating for that? Use one phone number for every listing/profile. Pick one contact email to use. You get the idea — figure out where you want customers to end up, then use every presence you have to funnel them toward that.

Google Business profile has analytics around how often visitors clicked on driving directions, phone numbers, or a website link on your listings. Facebook allows you to place a call to action button on the top of your business page. YouTube lets you link to a connected website at the end of a video — assuming you’ve earned the feature. These are all examples of thinking strategically about using your presence to drive toward your goals. Maybe 80% of clicks on your Google listings are for your website? Try optimizing your landing page for Google traffic. Your audience on Facebook is more comfortable sending you a Messenger message over an email? Make the call to action button a Facebook Messenger button. Do viewers of your YouTube video want to check out your eBook? Give them a link to that eBook at the end instead of getting them to your homepage. Just a few examples.

Closing Thoughts

Online reputation management is an exciting discipline. You have the power to shape perceptions about yourself or your company and get to observe how the actions you take manifest into your realized brand online. As long as you’re being truthful, putting your best foot forward, and thinking intentionally about where you’re spending your time online, success will follow.

Debates: Finding Common Ground

David V. Kimball — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently has been: how do we find common ground with people with whom we fundamentally disagree?

One aspect we all share is being human. There are certain universal truths about the human condition we must accept. For example:

Humans are finite: we have limited knowledge, are bound by our experiences in many ways, and can only possess a limited perspective. Everyone is bound by time: we all die eventually.
Humans are fickle: based on our experiences, knowledge, etc. we might change our minds. Very rarely does a person hold to all of the same opinions they had from 10 years prior.

There are other aspects that most humans share, but not all. For example:

Most humans are capable of rational thought: despite possessing emotions, which can sometimes cloud our judgement, we can use reason and evidence to come to conclusions. This is possible even without education or experience.
Most humans communicate: we are able to share information between minds via verbal or written methods.
Most humans consciously suffer: the existence of pain is universally understood, since everyone has experienced it.

It’s a humbling exercise to come to these terms. “Nothing is new under the sun” — a conclusion we may come to kicking and screaming. There are certain aspects of being human that we cannot change. We’re bound to them by simply being.

On the other hand, it’s these same shared characteristics that can establish common ground. Communication itself is predicated on our ability to cooperate in some form or fashion. So if we’re able to use the same language to exchange information between minds, we’re likely to cooperate in other ways as well.

Perhaps it’s this that gives us hope in our current cultural tribalism. When examining conflicting ideologies, we can feel worlds apart. But in reality we are all humans in the same universe, with many shared characteristics, that go even beyond what I listed earlier.

When debates arise over a disagreement, there are sometimes too many mental misalignments to produce anything productive. For example, one person might use a word or phrase with a presupposed, self-ascribed definition that doesn’t align with the receiver’s definition.

Consider this statement: “I believe in human rights.” An argument can arise simply from misunderstanding the definition of “rights” here — two people could actually technically be in agreement, but because they aren’t aligned in their definitions of the word “right” here, they start an argument over it. What is meant by rights? Or more specifically, human rights? It’s worth a discussion for what would constitute human rights to begin with before you start debating whether or not you believe in them.

So how do we align to make sure we have productive conversations? The first step is finding common ground. Establish where there’s alignment first, and progress from there.

To find common ground, though, we have to first examine our own presuppositions: our fundamentally-held assumptions that subconsciously inform our worldview. This will help you frame the discussion in a way that everyone can see more clearly — and it also helps you pull back the curtain to the presuppositions of others.

You can start by defining some of the key words or phrases that are relevant to the discussion and get unanimous agreement on them. If there is a disagreement over the definition of those words or phrases, you now have arguably the root of the difference of opinion, and you can begin there. This is much more advantageous of a position than jumping in the deep end, assuming what you’re saying is being received the same way you’re intending to send it. Have you ever had a debate with someone and felt you were talking past each other? That’s what happens when you don’t align and establish common ground.

Along those lines, here are some helpful tips to find common ground and have more productive debates (assuming the end goal is learning and improving your position on the debate topic):

Start with identifying your own presuppositions coming into the discussion
Use empathy to boost your understanding of the opposing side (put yourself in their shoes)
Listen carefully
Define key words or phrases and get consensus as a group
Ask clarifying questions, or restate what was just said to you
Steel man their side to give it the most charitable interpretation possible
Be honest about the arguments with the best merits, and consider them: even if they seem to contradict your position
Allow yourself to entertain even the most seemingly absurd notions to understand the other side — you do not need to accept them
Never lose focus on the original debate point: keep those rabbit trails in check

Hopefully by employing these tactics, you can achieve a greater understanding of the other side and thus have more productive conversations.

What tips have you found to find common ground in your conversations?

Zune's Design Language and How It Evolved

David V. Kimball — Thu, 23 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Zune was a line of digital media products and services developed by Microsoft that included portable media players, software, a music streaming service, and an online store. Zune was launched in 2006 as a competitor to Apple’s iPod and iTunes ecosystem. However, Zune never gained much popularity and was discontinued in 2012.

One of the most distinctive features of Zune was its design language, which was later adopted by Windows Phone and other Microsoft products. The design language was originally called Metro but was later renamed to Modern UI or Microsoft Design Language. In this blog post, we will explore how Zune’s design language evolved into Windows Phone and its distinctive features.

One of the most compelling parts about the Zune's interface was its focus on typography and content above chrome. Rather than being filled with glossy, round buttons or gradient-saturated menus, Zune's UI used text-based navigation and motion as primary design principles. Although Microsoft inevitably brought the Zune brand to an end, its legendary user interface would live on.

What is a design language?

A design language is a set of guidelines and principles that define the visual appearance and interaction of a product or service. A design language helps create a consistent and coherent user experience across different platforms and devices. A design language also reflects the identity and values of a brand or company.

Some examples of well-known design languages are Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines (HIG), Google’s Material Design, IBM’s Carbon Design System, and Microsoft’s current Fluent Design System.

What was Zune’s design language?

Zune’s design language was inspired by Swiss graphic design, Bauhaus art movement, public transportation signage systems and international typographic style. It aimed to create a simple, elegant and functional user interface that focused on content rather than chrome (the graphical elements that surround the content).

Some of the key elements of Zune’s design language were:

Typography: Zune used large, bold and sans-serif fonts (mainly Segoe) to display text in a clear and legible way. Text was often used as a primary navigation element, with words being cut off at the edge of the screen to create a sense of movement and dynamism.
Color: Zune used a limited color palette that consisted mainly of black, white and accent colors (such as magenta, orange or green). The accent colors were used sparingly to highlight important information or actions. The background color changed according to the album art or theme selected by the user.
Grid: Zune used a grid system to align text and images in a consistent way across different screens. The grid also helped create a hierarchy and contrast between different elements.
Animation: Zune used subtle animations to enhance the user experience. For example, when scrolling through lists or menus, the text would fade in or out smoothly. When playing music or videos, the album art would rotate slowly in 3D space.
Minimalism: Zune avoided unnecessary visual clutter such as buttons, icons or gradients. Instead, it relied on gestures (such as swiping or tapping) to perform actions. The interface also left ample white space around text and images to create a sense of openness.

Metro UI's Origins

Metro UI's origins go even further back to Windows Media Center in 2002 and even make an appearance as early as Encarta '95. Bill Flora is credited as the original creator of the design language.

Segoe UI (known as "Zegoe UI" in Zune and "Segoe WP" in Windows Phone) is the font family used in Metro. This sans-serif typeface was specifically chosen due to it's simplicity and clean, modern look. One variation of the design includes all-caps headings, with all non-caps subheadings. Text size also plays a role in UI hierarchy and design, removing the need for alterations such as underlining, italicizing, or bolding text.

Metro UI's name is inspired by the variations of signs in the King County Metro transit system in Seattle, WA (not too far from Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond). Many transit systems utilize minimalist icons and large typefaces which catch the eye.

How did Zune’s design language evolve into Windows Phone?

Zune’s design language evolved in Windows Media Center (a software application for media playback) and was formally introduced as Metro during the unveiling of Windows Phone 7 (a mobile operating system) in 2010. Metro was designed to be “authentically digital”, meaning that it embraced rather than imitated physical objects such as paper or glass.

Metro also aimed to create an integrated user experience across different Microsoft products such as Xbox 360 (a video game console), Outlook.com (an email service), Windows 8 (a desktop operating system), Bing (a web search engine), Skype (a video calling service), OneNote (a note-taking app), etc.

Some of the changes that Metro brought from Zune were:

Live tiles: Live tiles were square or rectangular icons that displayed dynamic information such as weather updates, news headlines, social media notifications, etc. Live tiles could be pinned to the Start screen (the main screen on Windows Phone devices) for quick access.
Hubs: Hubs were sections that grouped related content such as photos, music, contacts, games, etc. Hubs could be accessed by swiping horizontally on the Start screen. Hubs also integrated content from different sources such as online services, local storage, social networks, etc.
Panoramas: Panoramas were screens that extended beyond the width of the device. Panoramas allowed users to explore more content by swiping horizontally. Panoramas were often used for hubs or apps with large amounts of data.
Pivots: Pivots were screens that divided content into categories such as albums, artists, and genres.

In addition to these changes, Metro also refined and expanded on Zune’s design language. For example, the typography became more polished and refined, with a focus on clarity and legibility even on smaller screens. The color palette was expanded to include more accent colors, and the use of animations became more subtle and refined.

Metro also introduced a strong focus on content and typography, with text becoming the primary navigation element. The interface was designed to feel fast and responsive, with seamless transitions between screens and an emphasis on touch-based interaction.

Over time, the design language evolved even further and was renamed to Modern UI and later to Microsoft Design Language. The principles of simplicity, elegance, and function remained at the core of the design language, with a continued focus on content and typography. Modern UI and Microsoft Design Language have been used across a range of Microsoft products, including Windows 10, Office, and Surface devices.

In conclusion, Zune’s design language was a key factor in the evolution of Windows Phone and other Microsoft products. By embracing a minimalist and functional design language that focused on content and typography, Zune set the stage for a new era of digital design that has continued to evolve and influence the technology industry to this day.

The Story of Melee’s Craziest Speedrun (Documentary)

David V. Kimball — Wed, 06 Jul 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Join me as I uncover the secrets behind Super Smash Bros. Melee’s insane 100% speedrun category, All Trophies. We’ll hear from the category runners, ncb1221, bwells626, and aMSA as they share their experiences from the past several years of running the category.

To solve the mysteries behind this run, we’ll examine the category’s requirements, dissect the best route, and learn how to shave off time from the runners’ best practices. At the end, the current world record holder will share their most clutch moments.

What if you wanted to run this category yourself?

Route Notes

Route Checklist

Whether you’re thinking of running this category yourself or you’re just a spectator, hopefully you get value out of this post. Thanks for reading!

How to create a free, custom website in 15 minutes

David V. Kimball — Thu, 05 May 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Humble beginnings

I built my first website in 2006.

And by that I mean, I used a free web hosting service to publish my site for me.

There were very few templates from which to choose, and intrusive ads I didn't like ran on my website constantly.

The service I used was a product of Bravenet, Bravehost. It was very... 2006.

It was serviceable, but not ideal.

Also see: The History of My Personal Website

A free option without ads!?

Soon thereafter I began to pursue a solution for free hosting with no ads served. The closest I ever found was, of all things, Tumblr. Not only could you use a custom domain name for free (example.com) but you could even use custom redirects (example.com/forward), however, both features have since unfortunately been sunsetted.

Tumblr is surprisingly robust and there are a wealth of custom themes, which you can even edit to create your own themes or even make them from scratch.

However, Tumblr has its own limitations. If you want a blog, it has to be on the homepage. You can completely cut out the blog functionality though if you'd like (although that may be against their terms of service, I'm not entirely sure), and they lock down certain features you can add to normal websites.

Something truly better

I used Tumblr for years, but finally I found a superior solution that allowed for free hosting, and all of the features of a standard website you could imagine with no strings attached.

A combination of GitHub and Netlify.

I had learned about Git and had used it for game-related passion projects, and realized how truly powerful it was.

Let's be clear about something here - I'm a marketer, not a developer. But some very patient coders walked me through how Git worked and now I use it for a lot of things!

GitHub itself has a website hosting feature, but requires your repository to be public for free accounts. If a repository is public, the source code is open to everyone and users are free to download it, fork it, clone it, etc. This basically means it can be freely copied.

This is when a good friend introduced me to Netlify. It integrates directly with GitHub, and will deploy any repository (public or private) as a website, even allowing for a custom domain name.

So today, I'd like to share this with all of you.

Prerequisites

A GitHub account
A Netlify account
A PC
Git software like SourceTree or the GitHub desktop app
A text editor like Notepad (I recommend Visual Studio Code)
Optional: a domain name (like example.com) - I use the domain registrar service Cloudflare

Of the above, the domain name is the only item that's not free, but it is optional. You can use something like yourname.netlify.app if you'd like. But domain names can be as cheap as $15 a year - and I totally think it's worth it!

Build your website

Now you have everything you need to get started! I realize some of this can seem intimidating to get into, so as a relatively tech-savvy non-dev, I'll assume you're a tech-savvy non-dev too.

Step 1: Decide what kind of website you want

Browse websites like HTML5UP that provide free HTML5 templates to use. Make sure you're reading the license agreement - in the case of HTML5UP, you'll want to attribute the template creator, usually by linking to their site in your website footer. You can see an example of this on this site I created for Super Smash Bros. Melee players, melee.tv.

Once you find a template you like, understand the license agreement, and download the template. Save the files somewhere you can remember, and extract them if it's in a .zip file. We'll use "Strata" for our example.

Step 2: Create a GitHub project

Visit GitHub.com and select "New repository" from the + drop down menu on the top right.

Name your project whatever you'd like, and include a description if you want. I'm naming my website melee-center. Select "Private" to create a private repository.

Select the checkbox next to "Add a README file."

You can ignore the rest of it, and click Create repository.

Now you should see your new repo with a single README.md file in it.

Step 3: Add a new site on Netlify

Under "Sites" select "Add new site" and pick "Import an existing project" from the list.

Sign into GitHub and connect your account to Netlify.

Then, select the repo you created from the list.

You can ignore the next screen and just click "Deploy site."

Step 4: Use Git to push your first website commit

Use Git software like SourceTree to push your website template files to your new GitHub project.

With both SourceTree and the GitHub desktop software, you'll want to sign into your GitHub account. On SourceTree you can find that under Tools > Options > Authentication.

Click File > Clone / New. Then visit your GitHub project, under the "Code" dropdown menu, copy the HTTPS URL for your repo. It should be something ending in .git.

Then paste the URL into your Git software and click Clone. Take note of the path it lists, either remember it, or define your own path (usually it's something like C:\Users\YOURNAME\Documents\YOURPROJECTNAME). This will be your website's root directory.

After not too long, you'll see the same README.md file you created on GitHub when you initialized the repo.

Once that's finished, simply copy and paste the extracted files from the website template you downloaded to the root directory of your repo. It should look something like this:

Once SourceTree identifies the changes you've made, click Stage All, and then "Commit" on the top left.

You can see a preview of all of the files you're about to push for your commit on the top.

Below you'll want to check the box that says "Push changes immediately to origin/master" and include a short summary of your changes (this is just for you, and can be helpful reference later). Then click Commit on the bottom right.

Once that's completed, your first push is done!

Step 5: View your live site and set your unique site name

Visit your Netlify site and find Site Settings. Under Site details, click "Change site name."

There's some default gibberish as a placeholder which you can replace with whatever you want that's available. I'm using melee-center for my example, which makes the final URL melee-center.netlify.app.

Once you've set your custom name, visit that URL and see your live site! It should look similar or identical to the template that you selected.

Step 6: Make changes to your site

Once you've confirmed that your site is up and live, now it's time to customize it.

This may require some basic HTML editing skills, but honestly you can just start replacing text and see what happens. It may benefit you to take some basic courses in HTML and CSS if you'd like, but honestly just replacing what's there can work also.

If you're not sure where to start, find the index.html file from the template you downloaded on your computer and open it in Notepad (or even better, Notepad++ or Visual Studio Code).

If you have the index.html file open in your text editor and in a browser side-by-side, you can preview the changes you're making to your site in near-real time by saving the file and refreshing it on your browser. Here's an example of me replacing the headline from this:

To this:

To see your changes, simply hit CTRL+S in your editor to save your changes, and then hit CTRL+R on your web browser to see the changes.

Once you're happy with the changes you've made, go to SourceTree and click "Commit" on the top right, "Stage all," make sure the box is checked, write a brief summary of your changes, and click Commit on the bottom right, and your change should be live on your website in seconds.

You can make as many changes as you'd like! If at any point you make a mistake, you can revert to a previous state with Git (I won't cover that in this guide, though. Google is your friend).

Step 7 (Optional:) Setup your site with a custom domain name you own

This is useful if you own a .com or another TLD and want to use it for your site. You can also do this with subdomains (like site.example.com).

In Netlify, you'll want to go to Site settings > Domain Management and select Add custom domain.

Type in the domain name you own that you want to use. In my example, I'm using melee.center.

Once you click Verify, Netlify will tell you it's already registered and prompt you to configure your DNS settings. Click Add Domain.

Next, you'll want to visit your domain registrar's website and manage the DNS settings. I enjoy using Cloudflare but some other common registrars are NameCheap or Porkbun.

Via what Netlify recommends, you'll want to create two A records (or edit existing A records) for @ and www. For me it told me to use 75.2.60.5 as the value for each.

Save your DNS settings!

After you do this, return to Netlify and request a SSL certificate. This is an important step if you care about a good experience for your visitors. If you don't enable HTTPS for your domain, you'll only have HTTP and risk browsers telling your users that your site isn't safe.

Scroll to "HTTPS" under Domain management and click Verify DNS configuration.

Click "Provision certificate" and see if it works. If you get an error message, it may just be because the DNS settings haven't fully propagated yet. In my experience it usually takes under 5 minutes, but maybe give it an hour or so.

Once it's been provisioned, you'll see a message like this:

And that's it!

You now have a live, working site you can do anything with. I hope you got value out of this guide and it wasn't too cumbersome or intimidating.

There are many other steps I recommend to maintaining and tracking any site, including installing Google Analytics, Tag Manager, adding metadata and alt text to images, etc.

If you'd like to learn how to do all of those things, you can check out my video course CheapMarketing.io and learn all about it!

What I've Learned From Running a 10K Discord Server

David V. Kimball — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 00:00:00 GMT

I created a Smash Bros. Discord server in 2016. Since then, I’ve seen the Discord platform develop into what it is today while achieving Discord Partner status along the way.

And Discord’s adoption rate isn’t slowing down. This voice and text chat app for gamers has grown from 10 million active users in 2017 to 140 million active users in 2021. That growth is nuts.

Discord is the best communication app I’ve ever used

So what makes this platform so special? For those of you who don’t know, Discord was initially an app for your phone or PC made for gamers. However, recently it’s expanded to cater to a broader range of users. Imagine Slack and Zoom had a baby, and that’s approximately what it’s like.

10 Things I’ve Learned

Are you looking to start your own server? Here are a few things I’ve learned from growing a one from 0 to 10,000 in about two years:

Determine your Discord server’s purpose and optimize for it. Why are you creating a Discord server in the first place? Is it for chatting with friends? Is it around a type of game, or a theme? Once you’ve decided what your server is for, build text and voice chats around it. You can use categories to group similar chats to make it easier for members to navigate your server. Utilize the channel descriptions to provide more context for a new member.
Set some clear server rules and stick to them. Typically the first text “channel” or chat in a Discord server contains the server rules. You define them - they can be as strict or as loose as you’d like. I’ve found this rule to be wildly helpful: This server is not subject to your definition of “fairness.” This makes it much easier to avoid silly quarrels when members don’t like how you run your server (remember, they can always leave if they like). Usually it’s a good idea to include what kind of behavior and content is/isn’t tolerated (i.e. not safe for work content, taboo topics, advertising, etc).
Build a team of moderators you trust. As your server gets larger, chances are you won’t always be around when chaos ensues. The internet is full of trolls and ne’er-do-wells, and any moderately-successful internet community is going to receive an unwelcome visit at some point. Make sure your mods understand the rules clearly and are engaged enough to be privy to community happenings.
Do not flippantly use @everyone - treat the ping sacredly. Nothing makes users more angry than a pointless notification. Using @everyone notifies every single person in a server - so use it sparingly. Reserving pings only for important announcements is ideal. Make sure to remove most users’ ability to use @here and @everyone in your server permission settings, too.
Establish rewards for engaged members. Building an active community can take time - but rewarding special roles or privileges to active users can help incentivize more activity. This can be like a special color for their name, high spot on a list of users, or the ability to react to messages with emotes.
People don’t read unless they have to. This means there’s a good shot people won’t have understood the rules in your server, despite your best attempts to do so. You can either force them to by setting up a bot to have them type in a special phrase to acknowledge they read the rules, or you can let your moderators remind unread users about the rules. Play this by ear.
Don’t be afraid to swing the ban hammer. Trolls or problematic members can cause a community to become toxic. So be on the lookout for users that are stirring up trouble or have bad attitudes. Remember, this is your server. You have the freedom to remove anyone who you think may be contributing negatively to your domain.
Get comfortable with roles and permissions. Setting up roles and permissions are very helpful for establishing mod powers, hidden channels, the ability to mute users, and plenty more. Roles can be highly customized, and Discord does a good job of preventing a user from locking themselves out by accident.
Discord is addicting. Make sure you take breaks. Like other online communication platforms, it can be easy to get sucked in and never want to leave. So be mindful of that!
Dark theme is the only theme. OK, so there’s light theme, too… but if you use it I will incessantly make fun of you. Dark theme is way better.

Bonus: share your Discord link and invite users to join on other digital platforms.

A huge reason the server grew were the series of calls to action we’d include on videos, social media posts, and blog posts that drove fans to the Discord.

Here’s a trailer I made that included a tease for one of the Legacy mods from years ago. Notice the call to action at the very end is to join the server. I also included a link to join it in the description.

Closing Remarks

A huge thank-you to the other administrators and moderators for helping make that Discord server an active, engaged community.

Do you have any tips to run a Discord server that I may have missed? Maybe you just are curious about the platform? I’d love hear about your insights and experience! Just @ me on Twitter. Or you can join my personal Discord server, I’d love to have you!

My Super Smash Bros. Melee Collectables Collection

David V. Kimball — Sat, 12 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMT

There wasn’t too much in the way of Super Smash Bros. Melee-specific merchandise that was released, and these collectables can be hard to come by.

Above is a photo of my SSBM collectables display in my house’s office room.

Within the cubby are first party Nintendo-related Melee items, and on top are tangentially-related or fan-created items.

Let’s start with the official Nintendo / Melee merch items:

Super Smash Bros. Melee (NTSC-U game, 1.02, complete box, instruction manual, and disc) + (1.02 Player’s Choice version, not pictured) (2001, 2002)
Dairantou Smash Brothers DX (NTSC-J game, 1.02, complete box, disc)
The Official Nintendo Power Guide to SSBM
Nintendo Power Issue #151, Jan 2002 - Super Smash Bros. Melee
Spaceworld 2001 Melee employee badge with GameCube lanyard (2001)
SSBM Movie Disc (yellow case) (2002)
JR West Sweepstakes Melee pins (x4) (2001)
JR West Sweepstakes Melee Lunch box (2001)
SSBM Limited Edition Tournament Champion pin set (2002)
SSBM Bandana special prize (2002)
SSBM Postcards (x9) (2002)
Smashing… Live! Orchestral Soundtrack CD (UK version) (2002)
SSBM Nintendo Power GameCube memory card sticker (2002)
SSBM Battle Cards (2005)

Melee-related merch:

Nintendo E3 2001 Artwork CD
Nintendo Power’s Guide to E3 2001
SSBM Promo Strategy Guide (2002)

Bonus items:

Nintendo GameCube Controller JPN import (white), signed by pro Melele players Hugs, Chillindude, Milktea, PewPewU, and SilentWolf.
3D Print GC Controller stand
3D Print Melee Peach Trophy
3D print GameCube console
3D Print Smash symbol
World of Nintendo Fox McCloud figure
World of Nintendo Falco Lombardi figure
True Customs SSBM pin: Sheik
True Custom SSBM pin: GameCube console
Melee 69% sticker
“Greetings from” postcards: Final Destination, Dream Land, Onett
“Think About the Video Games” book by Masahiro Sakurai

Missing official merch:

Melee game versions: NTSC-U and NTSC-J 1.00, 1.01. Missing Korean version of 1.02. Missing PAL 1.03 release (2001-2002)
Melee red Sample disc (2001)
Melee blue Event disc (2001)
JR West rubber stamps (2001)
Official SSBM T-shirt (2001)
Smashing… Live! Nintendo Power USA OST version (2002)
Interactive Multi-Game Demo Disc - January 2002 (USA)
Dairantou Smash Brothers DX Jitsuen-you Demo (Interactive Multi-Game Demo Disc, November 2001 Japan)
SSBM Nintendo GameCube bundle set (2005)
A multitude of Melee promotional printed posters

Missing Melee-related merch:

Nintendo Dream 2001 August Issue
E3/GameCube launch-related promotional material that includes Melee assets

If you’re interested in Smash Bros. Melee collectable stuff, I encourage you to check out these resources:

Melee Merchandise in Japan (SourceGaming)

A List of SSBM Merchandise (SmashWiki)

A List of Ever Known Super Smash Bros. Melee ISO (ConnorRentz)

Super Smash Bros. Melee DLC Character Calls

David V. Kimball — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Voice actor Dean Harrington, voice of the announcer, Master Hand, and Crazy Hand in Super Smash Bros. Melee, lent his talents to us for Smash again in 2016 when he met with MelonSpeedRuns and I to record some lines. He did this pro bono and has been very supportive of the scene.

Yesterday, jfaz remastered the tracks to match the in-game Melee sounds even more closely!

You can download them here.

Here’s the GitLab project provided by jfaz.

Please support Dean Harrington if you can for creating this with us.

Dean Harrington Interview

SourceGaming interviewed Dean Harrington shortly after he got into contact with me and it’s a great listen!

He begins to talk about working with us at 40:50 in the video.

We can’t thank Dean enough for providing us with these awesome voice lines!

Charizard and Diddy Kong in Melee?!

David V. Kimball — Sun, 26 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMT

Akaneia Build - Version 0.8 Update Trailer

This trailer, lovingly created in the style of Melee Special Movie, showcases the three new-to-Melee characters, Wolf, Diddy Kong, and Charizard, while also sharing the new costumes and game modes.

You can also hear a unique Star Wolf theme that was created by @Sarveproduction on Twitter and it sounds OUTSTANDING! It feels right at home in Melee.

Altogether a wonderfully constructed trailer that feels like it could have been made by HAL Laboratory in 2001.

Two New Characters Join the Fight

Based on their Project M counterparts, Charizard and Diddy Kong join Wolf and the rest of the roster in the latest Akaneia build for Melee.

Of course they’ve been given the Melee design treatment to fit in with the rest of the cast.

Some liberties were taken with the special moves, like Charizard’s side B and up B, and giving him Rock Smash on down B. Diddy Kong’s side B is simplified to be more “Melee-like.” All-in-all, they fit in well.

Right now Charizard’s dash dance doesn’t rumble quite the way I’d expect it to - but UnclePunch and team are aware.

With that minor complaint aside, these additions are pretty cool.

New Costumes + New Game Modes

A slew of new costumes are available for the whole cast!

Tag, All Star Versus, and Turbo Melee modes have been added to Melee’s new options under the added “Games” menu option. Note, these will not appear if you’re using Slippi.

Volleyball, Peach’s Castle, and Wolf got some tweaks also.

Wolf and Diddy Kong’s design are based on Smash 2‘s models.

Shout out to KTH, ConnorRentz, MaZone, Super4ng, Pik, and duccW, for their work on this update!

See the video at the top of this post to see the trailer they released for this update. It’s very well done!

* Edit, Team Akaneia on Twitter clarified that Project M was not used as a reference for the new fighters, rather they used official releases and tweaked based on their own preferences.

Super Smash Bros. Melee 20th Anniversary

David V. Kimball — Sun, 21 Nov 2021 00:00:00 GMT

On November 21, 2001, Super Smash Bros. Melee released in Japan on Nintendo GameCube.

20 years later, it remains my favorite video game of all time.

I created a tribute and released it today to celebrate the game and its community:

Last week, I created an animated concept video for what the opening movie from the game may have looked like if it had included all of the playable characters:

Earlier this year, I also created a documentary about the development story of the game you can view here:

If you’re interested in other videos I’ve created about the game, check out my entire Super Smash Bros. Melee YouTube playlist! There’s a lot more content to explore.

If you’ve been impacted by this game, and would like to post in celebration of it as well, #Melee20th is the hashtag we’re using.

Windows 11: What Needs to Change Before Release

David V. Kimball — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMT

As of July, Windows 11 has been available to test as a preview release to anyone included in the Windows Insider Program. While it’s in its earliest stages, we don’t know for sure how much will really change from now until launch, other than the biggest news items like Android apps coming to Windows 11. So for now I’m assuming the Windows 11 we have now will look a lot like the one that’s released for this year’s holiday season — hopefully with some bugs squashed and performance improvements.

Generally speaking, there’s as lot I like about Windows 11 so far. Although right now, it feels mostly like a newly designed Windows 10. I love the new interface, sounds, etc that contributes to the new UX, but feature wise it doesn’t feel much different than Windows 10. While some nice quality of life changes like more flexible window snapping and virtual desktop management are nice adds, there a few odd things about the OS right now.

So let’s talk about what things in Windows 11 should be changed.

Windows 11 Needs Some UI / UX Uniformity

Finding other “universal” visual changes to design like what they’ve done with rounded corners and keeping them as consistent as possible. Here are some examples:

Right click context menu: designing a right click context menu that accommodates the modern design but doesn’t remove any of the old functionality. I know one difficulty here is lots of Windows programs shove in their own right click context menu items into the right click and junk it up. But maybe creating a design system that works around these obstacles.
True, universal dark theme: a dark theme that extends not only from Explorer and the taskbar but actually modifies legacy Windows applications as well, as mentioned earlier in this thread.
System icon audit and replacement: the Windows team needs to go into the .dll files of their core system and update any icons that aren’t brought up to Fluent Design standards. There are so many legacy Windows icons still part of Windows 11 it’s baffling to me.
Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and other programs of that ilk: why does it still look so dated? Bring these out of the Windows 7 age please!
Figure out what to do about Control Panel and be consistent: I love using Control Panel but only because it feels the most complete, especially compared to the Settings apps in Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, but with Windows 11 they have an opportunity to fully replace it. However, there continues to be things you can only do in Control Panel, while they ALSO straight up remove items from Control Panel (like Windows update). I don’t like having to switch between two settings applications all of the time. It’s clunky and makes no sense. I say just put everything in the new Settings app, and then have a “God Mode” option that makes it appear in a huge list like IT pros want.

Windows 11 Needs More Customization Options

While I am thankful for the customization options available in Windows 11 today, there are some tweaks to my system I want to make without having to use Winaero Tweaker or some other third party app.

Ability to remove ads & suggestions: I understand why Microsoft doesn’t make this easy, but I want to remove anything remotely intrusive from my Windows experience, and annoying suggestions from things I don’t care about takes the cake as the main thing I don’t want.
Better Start Menu customization: I’d like to modify my Start menu to remove the search bar, remove suggested section, and have folders akin to a smartphone app drawer design.
Ability to create custom shell folders: I might be the only person on the planet that cares about this, but I’d love for the ability to create custom shell folders easily. For example, being able to place a folder into my Users folder and have its location be pointed elsewhere, like on a different drive on my PC. I know what I want can roughly be accomplished with folder shortcuts or libraries, but I find those experiences to be clunkier than just using a shell folder approach.
Uninstall all bloatware: there are just some Windows 11 apps I don’t want and will never want, and I want to have the ability to remove them. For example: Cortana, Maps, Video Editor, Xbox Game Bar, etc. Why can I uninstall Windows Terminal, Paint, and Calculator but not Cortana or Xbox Game Bar?! It makes no sense.
Animated desktop backgrounds: I don’t know why Windows still doesn’t have native animated/video wallpapers as an option. I’ll continue to use Wallpaper Engine if I want to do this for now.
Stop forcing defaults and also make setting default programs easier: a huge turn off from using the Widgets or Windows built-in search is how they force you to use Microsoft Edge or Bing. Most consumers won’t ever change this, just give techies a choice. I want links to open in Firefox and searches to be done in Google. Also, setting your default browser in Windows 11 is somehow even more of a pain than it was in Windows 10 or 8.1. Just make it easy to pick the program/app you want to use, and let me click “set as default for everything.”

Windows 11’s New Feature Set Could Be Improved

The Widget Panel: widgets are extremely lacking in my opinion. I’d love for this to be the “live tiles replacement” it’s trying to be, but right now it has very little that’s compelling. 99% of the news sources from the “interests” I select are irrelevant and there’s not a good way to really customize them to just the sources or topics I care about. We live in a world of niches, I’d like to apply a custom set of sources to get meaningful information to me. Weather is one thing, but “Esports” being news about every competitive video game on the planet makes me not want to use it at all.
Improved calendar app on taskbar: I live and breath my Google calendar, and I’m delighted it integrates in the Windows 11 Calendar app. So why can’t I get more meaningful connections to it on the taskbar calendar? In Windows 10 it showed more relevant agenda info, and they took that away with 11.
Microsoft Teams is a weird choice: I get they want to compete with Zoom, but having Microsoft Teams baked into Windows as a replacement for FaceTime or Facebook Messenger just seems like a strange move. Thankfully they’re switching from Electron to ReactJS so this new Teams client will be significantly less of a resource hog than the Teams app you might be using today, but despite the improvements I can’t help but think about how they put Skype and Lync in the grave, and wonder if this will be any different. Unlike popular voice/video/text chat clients like Discord, I anticipate Teams will have a tougher time breaking into the consumer market, as its considered more of a Slack competitor within the business realm.
Improved partitioning compatibility and feature set: something Windows could really benefit from is some superior partitioning native tools and also just being able to work with more hard drive formats. This is more nebulous but it is a continual annoyance for me.
See more specific PC info: being able to view more advanced PC info, like how hot my CPU is running (akin to Resource Monitor). Should all be visible in System. I shouldn’t have to use third party apps like Speccy to get that information.
Ownership issues: I don’t know why even as an admin of my own machine I always have to specify that I have permission to access folders like WindowsApps. The way permissions are setup sometimes in Windows makes no sense.

Minor Windows 11 Gripes

I want a Task Manager shortcut when I right click the taskbar still. I know I can use CTRL+SHIFT+ESC, but still.
I want to be able to easily hide my Microsoft account email address in Windows settings when I do screenshares and such. It’s annoying that it always has to be visible in Settings.
I wish the folder icons for Favorites, Games, Contacts, Links, and Searches all kept their unique folder icons instead of transitioning to normal folder icons 64px and lower.
I never want “Quick Access” to my default page in File Explorer. I’d much rather it be my User folder or This PC.
I want to pick what appears on the left panel in File Explorer. For example removing OneDrive or adding a Project folder that I’d like to be able to expand and collapse.

Conclusion

Assuming your PC can even run Windows 11, there’s some nice quality of life changes to look forward to. However there there are a good number of tweaks I personally hope to see as Windows 11 continues to receive updates in beta or see included in the fully shipped product post-release.

Are you using Windows 11 early? What do you think of it so far? Throw me a response with your thoughts.

Download Windows 10 Icons

David V. Kimball — Wed, 05 May 2021 00:00:00 GMT

App + Service Icons

The Dropbox link contains four folders, two called “black” and two called “white” each with its respective color of the icons. Each color has .png and .ico versions. Each icon is 256 x 256 and supports transparency. I found most of these icons by hunting in the Windows 10 system files.

To get them, download them from Dropbox.

System + Folder Icons

Two folders here, one is virtually a direct extraction of the .dll files in Windows 10, and the other is a version of the icons in PNG (some icons didn’t convert, however, and are missing). Download here.

Note: these are for personal use only, and Microsoft owns the rights to most of these images.

So, You Missed MozCon 2019? Here's a Full Recap

David V. Kimball — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 00:00:00 GMT

MozCon 2019 in Seattle, WA featured dozens of speakers and a wealth of information.

Every year since 2006, SaaS company Moz hosts their own digital marketing conference, and this was the first year I've been able to go. Despite the large crowd, I found everyone to be extremely friendly compared to other summits I've been to.

Any digital marketer can gain quite a bit from going, however obviously not everyone is able to go. Or you did attend and your dog ate your notes (that excuse still works, right?). So I thought I'd impart as much of a helpful synopsis of this year's event as I can muster - hopefully making your lives a little easier.

Keep in mind these summaries will be full of my own biases about what was the most impactful and helpful to me personally in each presentation, so feel free to download the slides by clicking the titles if you're looking for more details - or clicking the presenter's name below and reach out to them on Twitter. Every image links to its respective source.

Now, without further ado, here's the MozCon 2019 recap you've clicked to read.

Day One

Web Search 2019: The Essential Data Marketers Need by Rand Fishkin

Projections aren't necessarily true. For instance, despite many predictions that new mediums kill old ones, old media tends to stick around (see radio, TV, apps not replacing websites, etc). Latest example is "voice search killing web searches" - not founded in the data.

Google still sends the overwhelming majority of traffic.

Both mobile and desktop are still important enough to consider for websites + search.
Voice may not be worth a big investment just yet.
Web-based video, websites, and podcasts are still excellent investments while mobile apps aren't as much.
Zero click searches are now 48% of all searches across mobile and desktop (last year that percentage reflected just mobile searches).

Among the ranking factors, coming from a trusted source and has having the most accurate info are trending as important in 2019.
Social is becoming more about viral content instead of traditional shares (see: Twitter showing you tweets with lots of engagement, even when you may not be following the user).
Rich snippets on SERPs continue to be a big focus, but that also means less trackable marketing. 😞

Human > Machine > Human: Understanding Human-Readable Quality Signals and Their Machine-Readable Equivalents by Ruth Burr Reedy

Folks in the SEO field tend to focus on inputs like keyword use, link volume, metadata etc, but you also have output data on the SERP. Be looking at the output data for clues.
Natural language processing is evolving - see "why does my TV look strange" = a snippet explaining the soap opera effect phenomena.
Try Google's Natural Language API demo and see it in action (you really should, it's cool!).

Improved Reporting & Analytics Within Google Tools by Dana DiTomaso

When thinking about Tag Manager, Analytics, and Data Studio, think about them working together like the factory, warehouse, and showroom respectively.

When setting up Google Analytics, name things clearly and document what you did. If you don't explain why it exists, you might forget later.
An advanced tip for Analytics: save the CID, which is GA's client ID, as a custom dimension. Below is how you find it in Inspect Element, and here is the custom script you can use on CodePen.

Create a custom parameter in Google Analytics (how to) that can talk to a webhook platform like Zapier.

Utilize Google Data Studio to blend your data together and have it appear in one place. Here are some cool chart examples.

Local Market Analytics: The Challenges and Opportunities by Rob Bucci

By and large, there's no such thing as a national SERP - every results page is refactored depending on the user's perceived location.
Across a dataset of 1.2 million SERPs, 73% conatined some kind of local feature.
15%-85% saw variance with a simple change in searcher's zip code for the SAME TERM.
Multisampling is your friend - tracking terms in a multitude of zip codes simultaneously.
What do you know, Moz is coming out with a tool that specializes in that (nice plug)! Get an invite: Mz.cm/LMA2019

Keywords Aren't Enough: How to Uncover Content Ideas Worth Chasing by Ross Simmonds

You want to make content that has a high likelihood of driving results, no? Here's a hint: look at what's worked in the past! New methodology: research, rethink, remix.
Research is about knowing which platform your audience is on and the channels they're visiting.
Rethinking is gathering ideas that have already worked, like searching by top posts on sites like Reddit or niche forums that focus on the content your target audience has already upvoted or content that's gone viral.
Remixing is imagining how you could reinvent what's worked in the past to be applicable today. This is not straight-up copying what was done before.
ProductHunt is a cool website to see what tech products and platforms are trending (thank you Ross for mentioning this site - I'm a huge fan of it myself!).

How to Supercharge Link Building with a Digital PR Newsroom by Shannon McGuirk

Planned Editorial: Preparing content for an event that's coming - as much as you can until you have the last bits of information to hit publish (think: the birth of a celebrity child).
Planned Reactive Editorial: Focusing on interest and responses gained from your planned editorial items (think: featuring a common reaction to child being born).
Reactive Editorial: modifying your content to react to outside phenomena or hot news (think: relating recent birth to pattern of children being born during month of June).
When done properly you can get a heavy amount of all three in one larger, all-encompassing piece of content. But you need to proactively seek out reactive editorial opportunities.

From Zero to Local Ranking Hero by Darren Shaw

When it comes to creating a GMB presence from scratch, primary category and additional categories are the most effective way to optimize the listings.
Generally, filling out every field and using the latest features allow for engagement signals and potential conversions.
We don't exactly know if a GMB homepage helps the listings rank, but it doesn't hurt. And an actual website helps the listings rank better.
When building citations, use a secondary phone number to avoid spam calls, but use it as the additional phone number field on your GMB listings to make sure the data is still tied together.
Use the Google Indexation Tester to determine if your citation links are paying off.
Adding multiple service areas to a listing doesn't help rank, it's simply visual.
Google posts and reviews helped in ranking. But with enough volume, it hits the point of diminishing returns.
Other highlights: track local rankings from multiple zip codes around the city, ensure your citations are indexed, an aggregate of all activities that will move the needle.

Esse Quam Videri: When Faking it is Harder than Making It by Russ Jones

The goal should be to be rather than seem.
Old SEO practices were all about seeming rather than being, we now call that black hat SEO.
How do we move from seeming to being? By content thoroughness, accessibility, and page speed.
Focus on adjustments that improve the user experience.
When it comes to tactics, there's plenty of room for SEOs to play around in while staying kosher.

Day Two

Building a Discoverability Powerhouse: Lessons From Merging an Organic, Paid, & Content Practice by Heather Physioc

Rather than aiming to have complimentary team dynamics, strive for interdisciplinary.
Settling for complimentary means you can divide up into silos as your team grows, and the reports you send clients or your stakeholders easily reflect that.
Cross-training means each team member can speak intelligently about what the other one is doing - multi-channel reporting should be done in the same room and not cobbled together.

Brand Is King: How to Rule in the New Era of Local Search by Mary Bowling

Fine tuning Google SERPs involves keeping the item's data accurate, visually appealing, and complete. Google wants GMB to be about "real things in real places."
From 2004-2014 Google was still using the closest US Post Box to measure distance to listings, since then it's measured by the user's location (thank the Lord).
To show up, Google cares about three things: Relevance (gauges whether or not the listing provides what the user is looking for based on what's provided in the GMB listing + reviews + social), Prominence (how well-known is it based on if it's linked to or if others are talking about it), and Proximity (is the listing close enough to be considered good?).
Depending on the query, listings may show up in different orders. "Near me" may prefer literal proximity, where as "open now" will deprioritize listings that are closed at the time of the user's search.
Since 2015, Google has doubled-down on local search, as they've been continually improving how listings look on mobile with new features and enhanced UI.
The GMB cover photo is a critical image that will be the first impression users see.
It's possible to allow stars to appear on organic listings if you use proper schema and as long as you don't do review gating.
Google posts can be better than blogging.
Be proactive on Google A+Q - answer the questions or someone else will.
Try other new features like GMB Profile Messaging, Bookings, and Services as it relates to your industry.
If you focus on being the best brand, you'll be rewarded.

Making Memories: Creating Content People Remember by Casie Gillette

Unfortunately, 47% of B2B marketers don't measure ROI from their content marketing strategy - but luckily 70% prioritize content quality over quantity.
Two great, free tools for getting keywords: KeywordTool.io and KParser.com.
The most frequently used visual content are Stock photos (40%) and infographics (37%).
Helpful image tools: Pixlr.com (web Photoshop), remove.bg (background remover), snappa (creating online graphics).
Folks remember stories 22 times more than just facts.

20 Years in Search & I Don't Trust My Gut or Google by Wil Reynolds

[Wil is pretty angry at Google for using suckers' money to pay themselves for platform flaws]
In general, most companies are wasting a lot of money on CPC helping fund Google's sometimes-sloppy keyword logic (example: assuming GA = Georgia and adding irrelevant phrases to the mix).
Be careful with the word "with."
The main four problems with the state of keyword research is: your data is too small (monthly search volume is a joke metric), your data is too siloed (you need to look at paid data, too, when considering SEO opportunities), your have bias (when data says your assumptions are wrong), and your data is slow (use his thing!).
It's scary how there's an actual limit on negative terms, because of course there is. Too many limitations and that would prevent Google from making more money.

Super-Practical Tips for Improving Your Site's E-A-T by Dr. Marie Haynes

This quote from Ben Gomes, the VP Search at Google is pretty intriguing: "You can view the rater guidelines as where we want the search algorithm to go. They don't tell you how the algorithm is ranking results, but they fundamentally show what the algorithm should do." Source.
Here's how Google Fights Disinformation. It's basically by seeking out trustworthiness.
According to Jon Mueller, setting up author profiles on your website that contain the proper structured data can help tell Google who the authors of your piece of content are.
Running tests is an important practice.

Fixing the Indexability Challenge: A Data-Based Framework by Areej AbuAli

"Technical problems are people problems."
We often codify our amendment findings to sound like we're more authoritative than we are to avoid looking stupid. AKA The Supplementary Findings are actually more like The Findings I Should've Found The First Time Round But Didn't So I'm Choosing To Call It Supplementary Findings To Sound Like An Expert. (this cracked me up!)
As a tech SEO, the best you can do is influence priorities, but you're not actually able to implement them.
Instead of arguing for every change with a list of 50+ recommended tweaks, pick 1 of the largest, most impactful changes and push for those. If results improve, the nice-to-haves can follow.
Not all stories are successes, but we should be able to learn from each one nonetheless.

What Voice Means for Search Marketers: Top Findings from the 2019 Report by Christi Olson

75% of hosueholds will have at least one smart speaker by 2020.
Search is moving from answers to actions.
Voice is so accessible, a 1-year old can use it.
AnswerThePublic is a cool tool that gives you a visualization of questions and comparisons for similar terms and phrases.
Voice is being used for finding a quick fact, asking questions, getting directions, and much more.
Optimize featured snippets for voice, utilize voice schema, use bots and actions for vCommerce.

Redefining Technical SEO by Paul Shapiro

Technical SEO is a much broader term than most assume, since it can be applied in almost every link building, digital PR, content strategy, or "traditional" SEO situation. Therefore it's a mistake to relegate the definition to simply "website infrastructure."
So here's a new definition: "Any sufficiently technical action undertaken with the intent to improve search results." Thanks, Russ Jones.
Checklist technical SEO is what most generally consider to be website infrastructure-related items.
General technical SEO is made up of crawling, indexing, rendering, and internal linking analysis.
Blurred-responsibility technical SEO relates to user experience, front end web development, and structured data.
Advanced applied technical SEO would be like testing, data science, and automation.
Knowledge of coding can make applied, more advanced technical SEO much easier. But, it's not the only access to the practice.

How Many Words Is a Question Worth? by Dr. Pete Meyers

There's a relatively new section on Google SERPs known as the People Also Ask section. Here's what it looks like.

PAA has recently blown up. Even though it looks like a featured snippet, CTR is actually pretty low.

The Inverted Pyramid for Answers goes Answer > Detail > Data.
Want to get your top 20 questions for your own website or topic? You can sign up for them here: https://moz.com/20q Thanks, Dr. Pete!

Day Three

Fraggles, Mobile-First Indexing, & the SERP of the Future by Cindy Krum

Mobile-first indexing is entity-first indexing. The knowledge graph is growing, and featured snippets are increasing in number.
People Also Ask is exploding (here's a similar blue graph to the one we saw from Dr. Pete above but its colors are inverted).

Generally it's difficult to track and attribute traffic from SEO - so we need to constantly be doing searches ourselves to see what its doing.
Over time Google realized pages are an inefficient way to organize answers, so hello Jump Links on AMP Featured Snippets. Not only will it grab just the part of the page it thinks is relevant, but a click will have the page move immediately to that part in the paragraph and highlight it for the user. Chrome users will be able to share links to words or phases on pages soon.
Google wants to index more than just websites - and windowing content into a SERP is how Google plans to do it.
Try indexing via API instead of crawling - it's faster and less reliant on links.

Killer Ecommerce CRO and UX Wins Using A SEO Crawler by Luke Carthy

When it comes to conversion rate optimization, there could be potentially thousands of places where demand is outstripping supply.
What if your eCommerce site's search results got indexed for 0 result pages? Check if they're a proper 404... if not, you're probably getting a lot of frustrated users landing on your pages from organic searches (lol Best Buy).
Custom extraction allows you to scrape any data from the HTML of web pages when crawling. Thanks, Screaming Frog, for that definition.
You can use Screaming Frog as the tool to perform a custom extraction by hitting Configuration > Custom > Extraction.
Curious about custom extraction? Here are some good reads: Uproer - Brian Shumway - PMG - Search Engine Journal
35% of what people purchase on Amazon, and 75% of Netflix watches are based on recommendations. I guess they're pretty important.
Figure out what "bolt on" products customers proactively buy at scale and vet your category navigation URLs in main menus - make sure they're not too thin.

Content, Rankings, and Lead Generation: A Breakdown of the 1% Content Strategy by Andy Crestodina

It's generally true that folks that land on a blog post are less likely to convert than people who land on a purchase page. That just makes sense - it's based on intent. But think about what people are more likely to link to - your blog content of course! That is, if it's incredible and not crap.
Bad content is worthless, amazing content is incredible.
75% of articles have zero external links.
Make your content worthwhile. How? Try starting with presenting original research. Only 27% of companies publish original research, it's a huge opportunity to be the authoritative source to something that no one's done before. Imagine being the best page on the internet for your topic.
Relationships in content marketing are invaluable, so collaborate with influencers. Since content creators are the 1% and consumers are the 99%, don't let go when you find a good one. As a result, you'll getbetter content quality, better social reach, while also growing your professional network.
Write guest posts, you coward.
You don't need 1000 articles, you need 100 really good ones.
Upgrading to visual formats means finding unicorns to make baby unicorns. Make your blog posts infographics, videos, or something else.

Running Your Own SEO Tests: Why It Matters & How to Do It Right by Rob Ousbey

SEO is changing. The top 10 local ranking factors of 2005 aren't the same as the top 10 2019 ranking factors.
Poor user experience has shown massive decreases in traffic. See: Forbes post-ad attack.
Best practices aren't as clear cut as some may suggest. The same optimizations can result in improvements on one website, but do completely nothing to traffic on the other. This is why testing is so vital.
After a change, it takes 2-4 days on average to see changes. Luckily Google can discover and index changes quickly, and the effects of changes are reversible as long as you're quick.
Best case scenario: setup a parallel universe. Take two pages that have very similar traffic and are similar in general and apply changes to one while leaving the other as your control group. Give some time and see what performs better. Then update everything to the one that did better.
Make sure to have numbers attached to each of your potential changes to keep track of them.

Dark Helmet's Guide to Local Domination with Google Posts and Q&A by Greg Gifford

Local Search ranking factors are: Link signals, on page signals, and behavior signals.
Google My Business got 32% bigger than last year - so embrace it as your new home page and give it some love. It might just be the first impression users have, so spruce it up and use the new features no one else is using.
Google Posts stay live for 7 days (unless you use the "Event" type of post) and attached images are 1200 by 900 pixels (for now) - but they're cropped oddly depending on screen form factor. Also try uploading videos - you use any video under 100MB or under 30 seconds.
Be wary that depending on the type of post you choose, you'll have a different potential amount of real estate to use. For example, a "What's New" post gives you the most with 3 visible text lines and a CTA link.
Add UTM tracking to CTAs - then you can know if they're performing.
Google Q+A: check it regularly. If you're not answering, someone else will. 3 upvotes on an answer have it show up naively, but the most upvoted answer shows first. If you include a phone number or URL in your response they will get filtered - so avoid it.
A good number of people don't really get the feature and type random stuff in - they either think it's a review or a lead form. Pay attention!
Load your own questions on Q+A and answer them yourself! That's totally allowed.

How to Audit for Inclusive Content by Emily Triplett Lentz

Ableism refers to discrimination in favor of able-bodied people.
When writing for your website, think about inclusive, gender-neutral language.
Using words like "crazy" or "stupid" can be potentially upsetting - beyond that, they're often stand ins for more accurate, precise words.

Image & Visual Search Optimization Opportunities by Joelle Irvine

85% of consumers place more importance on visuals than on text information when shopping online for clothing or furniture according to The Intent Lab.
62% of millennials would like to be able to search by image.
58% of millennials would like to be able to click to purchase directly from content.
Pinterest is the platform for visually-based purchases.
Product images should: be on brand, be clutter free, have a clear focal point in the foreground, provide context, use customized stock photography, include multiple angles, and add value.

Factors that Affect the Local Algorithm that Don't Impact Organic by Joy Hawkins

The #1 thing that factors into ranking into local results is location / proximity. Case study.
Use LocalFalcon to put in a business, then a keyword and scan. Get some local pack insights.
PlacesScout also provides visibility by providing map pack reporting.
Use UTM codes in Google My Business. The native reporting tools aren't great.
Tracking calls from Google My Business is a good idea.
Something Joy observed is when she changed the GMB listings' "website" field from the local page on the website to the homepage, traffic went up, even though the page's content was less relevant. But test this for yourself.
Reviews account for 15% of how Google ranks a local business. Review gating is a big no (asking for an experience, sending positives to review and negatives to submit a private form). GatherUp is a good platform that provides alternative methods that are Google-compliant (also Aaron and Mike are really cool guys!).
Keep in mind, "removed" reviews aren't truly deleted - they're just hidden.
The Possum Filter occurs when Google believes that two listings in the same industry that are very close together are actually duplicates, and it hides the weaker of the two.
Keyword stuffing in GMB titles massively improves ranking, but don't do it because it's against Google's TOS and you may get removed permanently if you try it.
Speaking of suspension, Google removed 3 million listings in 2018. If you find a garbage / fake listing, you can report it!

Featured Snippets: Essentials to Know & How to Target by Britney Muller

The types of featured snippets are: paragraph, list, table, video, and accordion (similar to People Also Ask).
2 main takeaways: Always be testing, create high quality content for people, not machines.
National SERPs don't exist, it's about very specific locations.
24% of SERPs have a featured snippet.
People Also Ask is featured on 93% of featured snippet SERPs.
Featured snippets are only on 34% of PAA SERPs.
65% of all SERPs have a PAA box.
50% of all FS are part of a carousel.
Keep start word triggers in mind. Lists, paragraphs, and tables each have trigger words like "how," "does," or "best."
Top 5 domains that use rich snippets are YouTube.com, Wikipedia.com, Nerdwallet.com, Study.com, and Investopedia.com. Generally financial and educational sites dominate featured snippets.
Keep written length in mind - if you write something beyond 270 characters, your competitors 115 character answer might show up as the snippet instead (also think about voice - shorter answers are better).
Constantly re-indexing to see results may result in being penalized, although it can't be proven.
Google's Natural Language Processing API has a front end available for free.

That's a wrap

I hope you found this recap helpful. If you're a presenter from MozCon 2019 and you believe I've mischaracterized some of your points or felt I didn't present your findings accurately - please leave me a comment on this post or shoot me a tweet and I'll make some edits. ✌

Edit: Also worth reading is Ariel Macon's Top Takeaways list. It's the TL;DR version, and I highly recommend it.

What else I'm doing...

Recently I've founded a team of family-friendly Twitch streamers called Family Friendly Live. I made a video for it that explains what it is and you can watch it here on FamilyFriendly.live. 🎥

Save Your Eyes! A How-To Guide for Dark Theme Purists

David V. Kimball — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 00:00:00 GMT

Dark theme: the only respite for our computer screen-glued eyes.

White text on a black background? It seems a bit strange at first. However, if you haven't already given it a try - I encourage you to give it a shot. If you use screens indoors for extended periods of time, you likely won't go back to light mode.

Based on a study by the Nielsen Norman Group and careful research, it's been found that reading light text on a dark background is actually a superior experience compared to dark text on a light background. It increases legibility, improves text-reading accuracy, and is less harsh on the iris. And when you're working on computers all day, it really adds up.

Tech, web, and creative professionals are quickly becoming loyal dark theme adopters. For many the thought of even using a light theme is laughable when dark theme is an option. Recently, gaming chat and voice app Discord made removing light theme as an option their April Fool's Day joke.

Dark theme caught my eye with the ill-fated Microsoft Zune range of devices. Its gorgeous, minimalist interface was the start of a design trend that would transform the software behemoth into what it is today. And it nailed dark theme.

But even in 2019, not all apps have adopted a dark theme option yet... and for some that have, they can be pretty well-hidden hidden. So here's what you need to get dark theme on your favorite apps and websites.

Facebook Messenger

Getting dark theme on Messenger is a little strange... you actually have to type in this moon emoji 🌙 to yourself in a message. Yes, this means searching for your own name and sending a message to your own account. After a fanfare of moons fall down the screen, dark mode is unlocked.

Google Chrome

For the app itself, its simply a matter of selecting a different theme from the Google store. My personal favorite is Material Dark.

For browsing websites in general that are normally not light theme, you'll need another Chrome extension to render webpages differently. This option is more hit or miss, so I generally skip this one. But an example would be Dark Reader.

Microsoft Outlook (2013 and newer)

To enable a pseudo dark mode on Outlook desktop (2013 and newer), click File > Office Account and then select "Black" from the Office Theme dropdown menu.

It will look like this. The actual body of the email won't change to dark theme, though.

Microsoft Outlook (Web)

Dark mode on Outlook web is a bit more sophisticated and all-encompassing. It's just a setting you can toggle. Works both on outlook.com and portal.office.com for Office 365.

Windows 10

Within Windows 10 settings you can also enable Dark Mode. This will make certain apps, including Windows Explorer (the file system) dark. Just click Start, click the Settings gear, click Personalization, then Colors. It will be available at the bottom.

MacOS

To enable dark mode on MacOS, go to System Preferences from the Apple menu. Then click "General," and at the top change the Appearance section from Light to Dark.

Slack

Slack doesn't have a true dark mode... but you can use a few advanced guides to get some. Here's one for Mac OS and here's one for Windows. It's not the most elegant solution but it is an option.

Twitter

Simply go to settings and enable it... this can be done both on desktop and mobile. Settings > Display and Sound > Dark mode for mobile, and just open the hamburger menu on desktop to reveal the option.

YouTube

This is a setting you can turn on by clicking your picture and selecting "Dark theme!"

Twitch

You can enable this same option on Twitch in a similar fashion without even signing in!

Discord

You goof, Discord has dark theme on by default! Thankfully text editors like Sublime Text and design programs like the Adobe Creative Cloud applications are dark mode by default also. Let's hope other applications follow suit... for all of our sanity.

If you have an application that's currently in light theme, do some quick digging in settings and see if there's a dark theme option hidden somewhere!

When it comes to helping your eyes, dark theme helps, but it's not everything

So here's another tip... get flux! It's an app for Windows and MacOS that removes the more harmful blue colors and replaces them with software, more orange colors, and changes during the time of the day. This can be tweaked and set depending on your needs. For example if you're a graphic designer or someone who needs color-correct viewing, you may have to disable it more often.

As of 6/29/2024, here's a list of additional services and platforms that have added Dark Mode:

LinkedIn
Google Suite Apps
Facebook
Microsoft Teams
iOS

The Story of PMBR Stages in Project M 3.6

David V. Kimball — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 00:00:00 GMT

Introduction

Recently the Smash Bros. Legacy Twitter account tweeted out a poll asking which version of stages are used in Project M local tournaments that people go to.

There was a lot of confusion about what this meant and so I wanted to clarify by providing some background and my personal thoughts on the whole situation.

Firstly I want to say, I’m not pretending that this is an objective take on the situation. It simply isn’t and I’m not going to force it to be. I do however want to shed light on how I see this happening. I also wanted to post personally on this and not as Smash Bros. Legacy since I’m sure the opinions expressed in this video aren’t necessarily shared by the entire Legacy TE team.

For those of you who don’t really know what Project M is, it’s a mod of Super Smash Bros. Brawl that increases the speed of gameplay and a bunch of other stuff inspired by the mechanics of Super Smash Bros. Melee. Started in 2011, the mod quickly became the most popular Smash Bros. mod ever and garnered a huge following. Unfortunately the Project M Development Team formally disbanded in December 2015, with Project M 3.6 being the latest version, despite being on the cusp of releasing another update.

With that brief background out of the way, I’m going to assume you’re generally familiar with the situation, since this is mostly to address people already familiar with Project M.

Post-3.6 Attempts

What you might not know is this conflict of wanting to change Project M 3.6 content has been happening since almost immediately after the Project M Development Team disbanded. A community project known as PMCC quickly began work trying to continue the development of the project without the PMDT, using post-3.6 leaked assets and the work of the Brawl modding community.

This effort failed mostly due to poor team management and an unrealistic expectation that a cohesive effort could be worked on simply by “the community.” There was a lot more to it but that was sort of the first real effort.

Broadly speaking, the modding community has worked on a few spiritual successors to Project M. Things like ALM’s Remix or Legacy XP for example, kind of change up PM 3.6 and add new characters to it. But few have tried replacing Project M completely and use the same Project M name. And the ones that have have ultimately fizzled out due to inability to become adopted across the board.

What makes Legacy TE Different

Amidst all of the non-Project M-named PM builds out there, one stands out. That’s right, I’m going to shill for my own build here. Legacy TE was special because it was created with the express purpose of carefully maintaining Project M 3.6 gameplay while providing additional quality of life features, additional costumes, and stages, without disrupting gameplay. You could think of it as Project M’s equivalent of Melee’s 20XX TE mod by Dan Salvato.

I began work on Legacy TE in mid 2016 just before Legacy XP released its first beta. LXP and other builds built off of Project M made some questionable decisions like quote unquote fixing Link’s grab, something that would have happened in 3.61 for example. What bothered me about this approach is that it immediately disqualified it from being legit for use in tournaments and the Project M tourney scene is what I really wanted to cater to, and was where my true passion lied.

A Troubled Unveiling

Around the same time as Legacy TE was being developed by me and my small team, growing unrest about the ill-fated 3.61 update and Project M 4.0 updates continued to fester. The former PMDT were pretty adamant about these leaks and unreleased progress not being included in any builds or iterated upon.

However one former PMDT member you may know named Lunchables decided to take it upon himself and a handful of others to work on a Project M 3.6 patch of sorts with some gameplay changes he and other believed would improve the game. A pseudo 3.61 as it were, albeit with some additional custom changes.

Without going into details, basically he was convinced to not release it even though it was nearly completed as far as I’m aware. With the clout and credibility he had the in community, the fact that it never released was deeply frustrating for tourney goers who wanted to see their game continue to improve and get new updates just as it had for the 5 or so years prior with the PMDT.

So this meant by the time Legacy TE was revealed at Olympus, the largest Project M Circuit tournament bracket, it did not receive a warm welcome. Just before Top 8 a trailer I made that showed off what Legacy TE was and was something my team had worked very hard to make was met with scorn and many “this isn’t Lunchabuild” comments. The line “Familiar 3.6 roster,” which in my head was a selling point and not a drawback, was not appreciated. I distinctly remember seeing the frustration in the Hitbox.tv chat over points like that.

A Revolution

Despite that however, through our consistent updates, high quality content, Fracture’s working replays, ds22’s memory leak fixes, and our commitment to preserving 3.6 gameplay, Legacy TE became more and more of a staple in the community. By the time we released TE 2.0 with Cosmetic Standardization Project and the code menu, most Project M builds at tournaments were Legacy TE builds.

Something unprecedented happened: a mod of a mod which maintained identical core gameplay effectively replaced the game for which it was created. This would be like if there were more 20XX TE setups than Melee setups in the world.

Legacy TE 2.0 was well-loved across the board.

A New Authority Steps In

This is where the PMBR enter my story. Now to avoid confusion, it should be noted that the PMDT, the creators of Project M, formally went by PMBR. PMBR stands for Project M Backroom, and over time PMDT re-branded themselves in part to differentiate themselves from the rule officiators / TOs / etc. While they used to be one and the same, eventually the PMBR split off. When the PMDT disbanded, the PMBR became even more of distinct group. They continued to create tier lists, help organize community efforts, and sought to maintain the Project M tourney scene as a whole.

Before Legacy TE 2.0 came out, there was talk over the game’s stage list. PM players in general couldn’t really agree on one set of stages to use for tournaments. In fact some scenes, notably Australia, made up their own stages for tournament use, that were made completely outside of Project M 3.6. There were several standards that were adopted by different regions or scenes, like Paragon’s stagelist, the Nebraska Nine, Evo Eight, and variants in between. So talk of a standard stagelist across the board begun bubbling up.

If you’re familiar with Legacy TE, you’ll know about the START alt stages we have in the build. They’re a true 1-for-1 re-creation of stages intended for tournament use, meaning they have the same blast zones, collision data, and camera as the stages upon which they’re based. The advantage of them is a completely unique aesthetic. For example think about Final Destination in Melee vs. the rainbow-colored Final Destination stage in 20XX. Gameplay-wise they are identical, but have a different aesthetic.

For the most part, with the stages and costumes we included, we made sure to add, not replace core Project M 3.6 content. This was deliberate as the idea was any Project M 3.6 match could be 100% recreated. So if some Project M scene wanted to include 3.6 Castle Siege in their tournament stagelist in Legacy TE, they could do that just like they could in Project M 3.6.

A Conflict of Ideology

The Legacy TE team decided based on top players’ opinions and what we’d seen adopted, Paragon’s stagelist was the most standard option within 3.6. These stages included Battlefield, Smashville, Pokemon Stadium 2, Green hill Zone, and Delfino’s Secret as starter picks, and Final Destination, Dreamland, Wario Land, and Fountain of Dreams as counter picks. So we optimized our stage Start alt choices to reflect mostly the Paragon stagelist (with the spare slot going to a 1:1 of Bowser’s Castle). However this did not prevent anyone from using any other 3.6 stagelist.

This is where the story gets weird. PMBR members had begun work on their own versions of 3.6 stages. It did things like change the blast zones of Dreamland and Wario Land, completely change the platform movement in Delfino’s Secret, and add in Metal Cavern HD, but completely change the stage’s shape. Now in my head, whether or not these changes could be considered an improvement or not didn’t matter, modifying these stages so drastically would fundamentally change base Project M 3.6 content in such a way that it should have immediately disqualified them from being included in PM 3.6 tournaments. Or this build with new stages should have made this just another derivative project like another Legacy XP. But no, not only were these gameplay changes being promoted within the PM community, they were trying to call it the same game and the same version of the same game.

There are a lot of details I’m leaving out and I won’t go into all of them, but basically they went with a “2E” title for these stages as an attempt to differentiate them from the proper 3.6 versions. I do appreciate that they added some visual indicators in-game like changed the color of the Delfino platforms so the changed stages would be easier to identify, but the effort to include non 3.6 content and full-on replace 3.6 content with something completely different felt very disingenuous. This seemed like a Lunchabuild update shoehorned into 3.6. It definitely felt off.

An Attempt to Reach Out

Something else I appreciate about them is they did reach out to us and try to get us to include these stages. Lunchables, who was part of the PMBR at the time, specifically reached out to me to talk about my aptitude for including them in TE. I unfortunately misunderstood what he meant and seemingly indicated that I would be interested. So they trudged forward with their updates and assumed the Legacy TE team would include them with open arms.

As you can guess, this was not the case. As soon as I caught wind of what was really happening I cautioned strongly against doing this. Changing stages like this sets a dangerous precedent moving forward for others who want to arbitrarily change things and still call the game Project M 3.6. Amidst the myriad of branding and positioning problems this presents, this also risks splitting the community. The Project M 3.6 meta had roughly 3 years to develop and changing it would risk fragmenting the userbase.

New Stages: An Awkward Release and A Counter Argument

Without naming specific names, the PMBR stages had a sub-optimal release to put it lightly. One of the stages was completely broken – however in their defense they were releasing candidates for testing, and you can’t always account for every bug and issue with something that’s new. There were almost immediately versioning issues but the community was still eager to try these new tournament standard stages.

Luckily some regions understood this for what it was, and were as concerned as I was. TheParty, JasonWaterfalls and folks from AZPM to name a few. But by and large it just seemed like people didn’t care. In their minds, PMBR stages were just another update to PM like Legacy TE was, and few understood the important distinctions between purely aesthetic changes, gameplay-changing edits, etc. So I made a blog post that the entire Legacy TE team reviewed talking about the 6 different types of changes you can make to a Project M build.

Here’s the list:

Aesthetic changes
Net-new inclusions
Quality of Life feature additions
Crash fixes
Hardware-viability balance changes
Gameplay-changing modifications

My argument was out of the six possible kinds of changes you can make to the game, only 1-5 should be considered for Project M 3.6. Since Brawl and by proxy PM is so easily modded, I think it’s vitally important to make distinctions between the kinds of changes that can/should be made. Something I always enjoyed about the Project M scene is how regions could put their own personality in their builds. It might be as simple as changing a menu color and logo, or even feature a PR costume. It made me think: why am I OK with these changes? And it basically came down to: the gameplay is fundamentally the same. But as soon as you start replacing or modifying base content in the build, it means you can’t re-create matches from other 3.6 tournaments, and therefore it isn’t the same game.

This spurred its own series of debates. I even discussed this on the Project M Nexus podcast with reslived, the then-leader of the PMBR. Interestingly he was against them at first, but via popular vote he changed his mind and went with the other PMBR members and pushed for these stages. I truly believe these stage modifications weren’t born out of ill-will, or trying to split the community. Quite the opposite, however I don’t think they were thinking carefully about the repercussions of their actions.

Project+: The Endorsed Project M Successor

This now brings us to Project Plus. Something very odd that came up in the PMBR debates, and an argument that I made is that, as soon as the community accepts and adopts stage changes, character changes are next. I have a tweet that basically predicted what would become Project Plus.

Hilariously we were assured that the PMBR had “taken a vote” and were certain they wouldn’t change characters, as that was crossing the line. I didn’t believe them for a second. What’s funny is I’m sure they would argue they stayed true to that stance… but if you take a look carefully at who was involved in the PMBR, who ended up leaving the PMBR, and joining Project Plus, I think you’ll find it’s directly in line with my predictions. Many current Project Plus members were former PMBR members.

Also, when I say Project+ is the endorsed Project M successor, I’m sort of being cheeky. In the past former PMDT members would actively advise against making PM-derivatives that expressly sought to replace Project M, and even take action to obfuscate them. But this time around, former PMDT leadership didn’t seem to mind. I won’t even go into the details of the Project Plus shenanigans, but it’s important to at least bring it up.

PMBR stages in 3.6 vs. Project Plus

Many people assume that since PMBR stages are in Project Plus, I’d naturally have a problem with Project Plus. And the truth is, I don’t. The difference between PMBR shoehorning their own arbitrarily edited stages into 3.6 and those stage stages existing in Project Plus is quite simple. One is calling itself Project M 3.6, and one isn’t. The one calling itself Project M 3.6 is disingenuous, because it replaces core 3.6 content. The one calling itself Project Plus is actually accurate in the sense that it’s a derivative of PM, but also not Project M expressly.

Do I think Project Plus will split the Project M community? Absolutely. Do I have a problem with that? Other than being sad, not really. If part of the community chooses to move onto something else, that’s what just happens. But when all of this is over and Brawl mods are ever revisited or remembered, I’m fairly confident that Project M will be the game people remember, and I want to make sure its preserved as much as I can. So while Project Plus is built off of Legacy TE (and by the way, I’m happy about that too, I think it’s great), Legacy TE proper as maintained by the Legacy TE team will remain truthful to 3.6. If anyone wants to use Legacy TE as a base for something else, that’s fine. All’s fair in the modding world. Just please be thoughtful about how you position, name, and implement your mods.

Lots of people saw the blog post I wrote, debate I had with reslived on the Nexus Podcast, and heard my rants on Twitter and felt my response was reactionary. But that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Legacy TE has always been true to 3.6, whether or not it was popular at the time to be so. At any time our team could have added Knuckles, or changed stage blast zones to be something we felt was “better,” but the point is I never felt my team was the appropriate authority to make that call. And that’s because the former PMDT are the only people who should make that call – Project M is their game.

To Sum It Up

In conclusion, PMBR stages in 3.6 shouldn’t happen. In a long list of attempts to change Project M and still call it Project M, it’s just the latest edition, albeit with more backing and community support compared to previous attempts. With Project Plus about to release, I’d like to formally ask every TO and community organizer that has the power to control what’s put in Legacy TE / Project M builds that you keep the PMBR stages in P+ and don’t include them in 3.6 builds. Please. You don’t need the edited stages in 3.6, just play Project Plus and host tournaments for that instead.

Thank you for listening to this and I hope to hear from you in the comments.

The 10 Commandments of Team Dynamics

David V. Kimball — Wed, 13 Mar 2019 00:00:00 GMT

At work, you can't always pick who your coworkers are, and you can't pick who your boss is.

Unless you happen to own your own business or do freelance work exclusively, you generally don't get to choose who you work with. Working with all kinds of people becomes a valuable skill in the professional world as a result - it's not simply about what skills you bring to the table, but also how well you get along with the people you're tasked to work with.

However, when it comes to your side hustle, everything's for you to decide! The world is your oyster: who you work with, when you work on it, what the goal is, and all the rest. This means picking your team members knowing how to work with them are some of the most core, crucial decisions you'll make.

So you might ask - where do you begin? Look no further - just ahead are what I consider to be the 10 commandments of team dynamics for your on-the-side project that you don't get paid for y̶e̶t̶. These principles can apply both to you - the project leader - and also to team members.

Sometimes the line blurs between your "side hustle" and "hobby" - either way, if you have multiple people involved in your project, let's set you up for success.

Commandments

1. Thou Shalt Find People That Do Not Suck

The first and most important commandment is finding good people. I phrased it this way because it's generally more tough to find someone you can trust than someone you can't... so basically, look at selecting team members by answering these two question:

Can you trust them?
Do they have a good attitude?

If you've said "no" to one or both of these questions, don't bother. They probably suck.

What's the effect of adding sucky people to your project? Well it's something like this:

A common defense for adding people you don't trust is "but they're very skillful!" To this I say, someone can possess the right skills, but if their character is bad, it's not worth it. There's no pay check keeping them accountable, no promise they won't bail or damage your work, and no reason for you to deal with it. So just don't!

When you do find valuable, trustworthy people - reward them by giving them more control and do whatever you can to make them feel valued!

2. Thou Shalt Communicate Well

Since career and personal lives come first, you can't always be actively involved in this side hustle. This goes for anyone on your team also.

However regularly communicating is vital to a successful project. Depending on whether you meet in person or over a digital platform (like Slack or Discord) maintaining regular contact will help keep the project moving.

If a team member keeps the leader in the dark, the project significantly slows and can lead to stagnation. There's no 9-5 schedule here, so either impose a schedule and stick to it, or set up other healthy boundaries to facilitate strong team communication.

For all-team meetings, use tools like when2meet.com to get the best times for all concerned. If you can't make the time, communicate! Don't just ghost the group.

3. Thou Shalt Be Skilled Or Possess A Willingness To Learn

Consider these questions for yourself and for each member you invite to join your project:

What value can (X) add to the team?
What skills does (X) already possess, and which ones can be taught?

A member that may not have many skills on the outset may be able to learn. Especially if they are someone you trust, have excellent communication, and a strong aptitude for learning - it may be worth it. That's your call to make.

4. Thou Shalt Stand Firm

Do not compromise your values! Stick to the vision you have for your project from the beginning, and rarely waver from it. That being said, some compromises are wise - this will be something you should have top-of-mind.

People should be excited they've been selected to be part of your project. Once they've joined, continue to provide incentive for them to stay engaged. Maybe set some expectations for activity with a risk of being removed from the project if they don't meet those expectations. And don't feel afraid to confront a team member if you feel they are under-performing. Don't do it in a combative way, but frame it in a question, "Hey there, I feel like you haven't been as engaged in (project X) as were you in the beginning, is everything going OK?" This will fascinate a positive, honest conversation about what can be done to improve engagement in the project.

Sometimes a team member will try to usurp a leader's authority and change the direction of a project - be careful about that. This leads us to the next commandment...

5. Thou Shalt Find People That Share Your Vision

When you're recruiting team members, find people that are just as excited about your project as you are.

The result? They'll go the extra mile to see your project succeed.

It also helps prevent a mutiny or general resentment - if everyone's aligned towards the same vision and goal, that will help push everyone towards a positive net result.

6. Thou Shalt Define A Specific Scope

A vital part of establishing a project is determining the point at which the project is "finished." If your project is iterative, think about what might make it a "version 1.0."

Defining a scope creates that light at the end of the tunnel all team members can work towards. Failing to define a scope means the project can become potentially endless, since there are nearly an infinite number of ways to improve or adjust a product. That's also known more generally as development hell - something you want to avoid!

Here's what a project's scope might look like:

Start with your end goal, then think about what steps are required to get there at a high level. These can be considered milestones.

7. Thou Shalt Establish Deadlines

Yes, I get it. Deadlines seem scary. But not only are they helpful, they're immensely relieving for everyone involved.

Establishing deadlines looks something like this:

Determine tasks and build out a task list
Delegate aforementioned tasks to specific members on your team
Communicate with those members and offer deadline suggestions until one is agreed upon

See, that wasn't so hard, now was it?

Assuming (#1) your team members don't suck, (#2) their communication is good (#3) they're fairly skilled at the completed their task, and (commandment #4) they share your vision, just the act of creating a deadline in and of itself is often motivating enough for a team member to get the task done quickly.

Setting those due dates helps motivate everyone involved by adding a little urgency to the task. It helps them visualize and flesh out exactly what's being asked of them and gives them a clear timeline towards which to work.

If something comes up in their personal life or career, the deadline might have to get pushed back. That's OK - feel free to work with them on this. These aren't hard and fast rules, they are just goals to keep the project moving. I think you'll be delighted at how well carefully established deadlines assist the flow and ease of getting your project realized.

Here's the graphic from above, with a little extra detail added in to show how deadlines assist realizing the scope:

Within each milestone, there may be several steps or tasks. Build out each milestone until everything has a deadline and a task owner!

8. Thou Shalt Lead By Example

Don't be afraid to do dirty work. No one likes the more manual, tedious parts of any project but they're almost always necessary if you want your project realized. Investing yourself into the project at any level often inspired your team members to do the same thing.

This goes for the deadlines you set from #7 also - if you respect the deadlines you set yourself, so will your team. If you set up deadlines and then ignore them, your team will ignore them also.

9. Thou Shalt Recognize Excellence Both Publicly and Privately

If you have some talented team members, who are fantastic trustworthy rockstars, you're bound to encounter some seriously stellar work. So the opportunity then arises to recognize that excellence! There are two main ways to do that within the team: publicly (so all team members see) or privately (simply communicating to the single team member).

Public recognition inspires the team as a whole. Not only does it show you notice, but gives the rest of the team another reason to go above and beyond in case they too get recognized. Everyone loves to be recognized for their accomplishments, and work done in side hustling or hobbies is no exception.

Private recognition strengthens the bond between you and the team member that did well - and can be the source of building a strong relationship with that person.

10. Realize Team Roles and Expectations

Team roles help focus team members' efforts. If a team dynamic is naturally strong, roles will evolve organically. But if you so choose, spelling them out explicitly can also be a good idea.

When it comes to side hustles and hobby projects though, I'd discourage you from trying to create silos. In other words, just because a team member has a job title, don't try to limit their contributions to things related to that role. With the exception of someone who's simply overworking themselves, allow team members opportunities to expand their skill set!

Conclusion

There you have it. Now you have everything you need to make something cool.

So, what are you waiting for? Get your A team together and make your dream project.

If you're curious about some of the projects I've released with this tactic, I'll give you one:

Family Friendly Live online broadcasting team on Twitch.tv

Resources

A SlideShare presentation of this topic is available. If you'd like a downloadable version of it instead, it's also available here as a PDF.

Project M 3.6 Content Integrity & Legacy TE

David V. Kimball — Wed, 09 May 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Last night we tweeted a tease for the next version of Legacy TE, something we've been very excited about for a very long time. We're happy to finally break the silence!

Before we reveal anything about it, however, we'd like to visit a topic of recent interest. Specifically around modifying tournament legal stages in Project M 3.6 builds.

Our stance has never changed from Legacy TE's conception: characters and stages from 3.6 are the only acceptable versions of Project M content for tournament use. TE was made with this ethos in mind, and has never wavered, despite numerous attempts by the community to use unfinished leaked Project M content or community-modified deviations. We'll continue to make sure the integrity of Project M 3.6's content is intact.

In some discussions on the Project M subreddit and other places, there has been some confusion over what types of changes you can make to the game, and what kinds of changes should be considered acceptable. To help clarify this issue, we'd like to supply a few key definitions that will help distinguish between the many different kinds of "modifications" one can possibly make to Project M:

Aesthetic changes: visual or audio changes that don't affect gameplay, but can sometimes adjust players' perceptions and at worst be deceptive or distracting. This is a gray area, as some players use particular audio or visual cues when playing that can potentially be disrupted.
Net-new inclusions: additions to the game that simply give more of the same in a careful way, as to never replace key tournament content or result in any kind of gameplay change. i.e. Kirby's 9th and 10th costume options, alt stages
Quality of Life feature additions: net-new additions to the game that enhance non-gameplay changing features. ie. working replays, edit controls from the CSS.
Crash fixes: file edits that don't necessarily change aesthetics, nor in-game behavior, but simply correct potential game crashes. Examples are memory leak fixes, or Kart ROB’s Clear Mode edit.
Hardware-viability balance change: Changes to the game that only directly affect hardware-related aspects of the game to make the experience more consistent across every type of hardware i.e. UCF
Gameplay-changing modifications: any edit that would result in gameplay changes, including but limited to: character moveset changes, some PSA adjustments, some animation tweaks, stage collision changes, blast zone changes, etc

It's our belief that of the 6 possible types of changes above, only definitions 1-5 are worth considering. Changes as defined by definition #6 are never permissible, and have no place in a PM 3.6 build.

Why, you might ask? What's wrong with "balancing" a stage's blast zone or "improving" a collision? Well the first question to ask is, who truly has the authority to make that call? The Project M Development Team have been disbanded since December of 2015, so there is no true authority to be making these changes. In light of this reality, no matter how "good" the change might be, no gameplay-changing modifications should be made.

Let's ignore that for a second, and assume a group comes together and assumes the role of "authority" of the game's development and get away with it. Let's also assume the group came to a consensus where all parties were satisfied over what changes to implement. A push improperly executed will leave the community split, frustrated, and confused. There's a branding issue there, too. What "version" are each of these edited stages? They can't be called 3.6 stages. They can't be called 3.61 stages either. So there really is no good title for them. Good luck explaining this all to new players or less involved community members.

Not to mention this opens the floodgates to variety of other possible changes that can be argued to be made, including character balance changes, or additional characters on the roster.

This only scratches the surface of potentially problematic outcomes that could result from such a change.

The "gameplay update" debate has been a contentious topic since the PMDT disbanded in 2015. There's been a desire to correct mistakes left in 3.6, and not for no reason: it's not a perfect game. But what Smash game is perfect? Is disrupting a healthy meta 3 years in the making really worth a few little tweaks?

Since this is a longer post, we'll give you a TL;DR summary: Legacy TE is committed to being faithful to Project M 3.6 as always. This means we will reject any non-3.6 variations of PM content and will not include them in any build.

Are 3D Mario Games Getting Shorter?

David V. Kimball — Sun, 29 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT

I purchased Super Mario Odyssey on April 16, 2017 on pre-order.

The game arrived on October 28th, 2017.

I completed Super Mario Odyssey on October 28th, the same day.

This is going to be a different review than others. I’m going to look at gameplay elements from Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy in order to compare and contrast them with Odyssey.

The question I’m going to try and answer is: how was I able to beat Mario Odyssey in a single day?

Beating 3D Mario Games

I think to start, we need to look at what “beating” a game really means these days. In Super Mario 64, you could complete the game’s story with a minimum of 70 stars (assuming you’re not using speedrunning strategies). But there were 120 stars in total, giving you a special ending.

Mario Sunshine on the other hand, used a few key objectives in all levels (Shadow Mario fights) as the requirement to advance to fighting Bowser, where at a minimum you could get away with about 50 Shinesprites. There is a brief special screen at the end for getting all 120 Shinesprites in this game.

In Galaxy, you need a minimum of 60 stars to fight Bowser. However when you collect all 120 stars, you need to fight Bowser again, and then you unlock Luigi, and are challenged to complete the game all over again with slightly different placements of stars.

So for this review, we’ll consider “beating” a game completing it’s main story. What’s funny is in Super Mario Odyssey, the game continues its story after the main story, which occurs after you collect a bare minimum of 124 Moons, so it’s a bit different than the other games in that regard. I won’t go into it much but there are well over 500 Moons you can collect in this game. And to avoid spoilers myself, I haven’t looked into what happens after you unlock that new world post-completion of Odyssey, but I assume there is more based on how the story is continuing. This means the barrier to completing the story is much less strenuous to complete since there aren’t as many bottleneck events that could hold you back from continuing the game’s story. With so many potential paths you can take to beat the game, this would be mark 1 of why Mario Odyssey might feel like a shorter game.

Completing Objectives in 3D Mario Games

So now we’ve established a baseline for how each game is “completed,” we’ll look at the basic means of beating each game: completing objectives.

In Mario 64, each level had 10 objectives, each awarding you a star. Depending on which objective you selected, the level would adjust itself to make obtaining that star possible. In some instances, you could obtain an objective’s star without “unlocking” it per say, if the world allowed you to access while pursuing a different objective. This meant some multitasking was available, but it was a fairly rare occurrence. The 100 coin star for example would actually let you continue playing and not exit the level like most stars would. In fact, you have to enter/exit levels in Super Mario 64 at least 9 times each if you wanted to obtain all of the stars.

Mario Sunshine is in a similar boat, with even less flexibility to explore other objectives along the way. Depending on which Shinesprite you were trying to obtain, the world could drastically change, even isolating only certain parts of it for you to play on until you collected that sprite. The first star/objective in the Hotel Delfino level, for example, was particularly tough, and took place outside of the hotel, which meant that if you weren’t able to collect that first star/complete that first objective, you could not explore any other part of the level.

Mario Galaxy was even more restrictive, with specific pathways being paved per level depending on which objective/star you were trying to obtain.

In Mario Odyssey, it turns everything on its face in this regard. When you collect a Moon, typically the game lets you continue from where you left off to collect other Moons and explore the level further. Moons are often a lot more commonplace than collectibles in the previous games. When I completed Odyssey’s story I had about 140 Moons, with many objectives not completed. This means the flexibility is at its max, allowing you not only to multitask, but even skip some boss battles which award you multi-moons if you collect enough secrets along the way. This could be another sign why Mario Odyssey might feel shorter than the other games - its potential efficiency in completing objectives. The game is not bloated by having to continually exit and enter levels.

Hubworlds in 3D Mario Games

Next let’s talk about the hubworld/lack thereof in these games. Mario 64 had the memorable Peach’s Castle, which served as one of the most beloved hubworld of any video game in history. There were even objectives to complete in the hubworld itself, which made exploring it even more fun.

In Mario Sunshine, the hubworld was also well loved, and it expanded on the special events in the hub world from 64, by offering new objectives to complete that even coincided with the main story.

In Mario Galaxy the hub world similarly to how it did in both previous installments. In Galaxy 2 they got rid of the hub world entirely, which had mixed reception, but it meant there were no barriers to getting from one level to the next.

Mario Odyssey decided to nix the hubworld also. But in its place, each world feels like a sandbox environment, which fulfills the desire the hubworld instilled of exploration, while at the same time not creating arbitrary barriers from one level to another. As soon as you unlock one, you can go there. You don’t need to complete a puzzle or walk to the other end of a building to get there. Yet another reason why Mario Odyssey may feel like a shorter game - it’s more direct method to go from level to level rather than use a hubworld.

Level Design in 3D Mario Games

This segways into our next topic, level design. Mario 64 levels felt vast and open, and capitalized beautifully on the then-new 3D environments gamers could experience. You could go pretty much wherever you wanted, and thanks to the game’s controls, it felt like a playground of exploration. However, in order to get from one side of a level to another to get that next star, you essentially had to go over the same paths over and over again just to get to that location.

In Mario Sunshine levels were a bit more limited in scope depending on what your objective was, but not much. Levels were even larger than in 64 in some cases, and you had F.L.U.D.D. to help support platforming. Although I still can’t decide if F.L.U.D.D. feels more like a crutch or an aid to the game in that respect. This more direct approach often cut time of walking over to the objective, but not always. Sometimes you had to walk on the same paths over and over again.

In Mario Galaxy, the levels are very linear. Depending on which objective you chose to pursue, your path was very direct and the options of exploration essentially boiled down to turning a corner or finding a hidden pipe. In this respect, Mario Galaxy feels like a puzzle game more than an adventure game. But it wastes no time in getting you on the correct path, meaning there is little to no redundancy in travel time.

Odyssey levels are virtually completely open. There are no equipment or “new move” barriers, meaning you’re never relying on some power up, special equipment, or unlearned move to use in order to advance. The one exception would be objectives you can unlock depending your attire. If you want to reach somewhere, it’s practically all accessible. You just need to find the correct enemy to “capture” (i.e. possess and use their abilities), flip the proper switch, or perform the correct set of moves. That being said, with the early objectives, they do help guide you along to what objectives will help you move forward with the game’s story, but you’re mostly free to obtain whatever objective you want along the story objectives. Not only that, when you capture flags in certain areas of the level, you essentially create warp points so you can easily visit that area of the world again. Warp points in levels drastically speed up maneuvering through the game, which could also contribute to why Odyssey seems short.

Controls in 3D Mario Games

Next the controls. I won’t go into detail about each game, but Mario Odyssey manages to capture the best parts of each previous installment’s control options on even less buttons (this works with using a JoyCon on its side!). I will say a few of the moves, particularly the air dive, feel a little convoluted, but for the most part this is perfected 3D Mario controls. His movement feels responsive, agile and flexible, which is exactly what you need in a Mario game. He has the long jump/triple jump/back flip/etc. from 64, the dive and spin jump from Sunshine, and a slew of new moves like rolling, squat jumping, and of course the hat throw. You also don’t take fall damage, so you never get punished for moving quickly and boldly. Capturing enemies means you can experience brand-new character playstyles at any given moment to accomplish something more specific more easily. The controls in Odyssey deserve the highest praise! This could be another reason Mario Odyssey feels shorter - you can literally move more quickly.

Boss Fights in 3D Mario Games

Boss battles vary in each game also. I would say the biggest differentiation between them is how many “hits” Mario can take. In 64 and Sunshine, Mario could be hit 8 times before he died. In Galaxy, it significantly decreased to 3, sometimes 6 if the game decided to give you that option. Odyssey adopted a similar health ethos to Galaxy in that way, with mostly 3 hits but sometimes 6 hits until death. As a result, bosses had to either be easier or more predictable from 64 and Sunshine since you had a higher likelihood of dying with less health to work with. For the most part, fighting a boss in Odyssey means “identify its pattern, capitalize on its mistake, and then punish by hitting its weak point 3-4 times,” not dissimilarly from NES/SNES era Mario games (also Mario Galaxy), and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. At its worst, boss fights in video games are tedious and frustrating. At their best, they keep you engaged and give you a sense of accomplishment when you defeat them, and I think Odyssey achieves that. Having you wait for a 5th or 6th cycle doesn’t do much to improve the boss fight experience - it just adds another arbitrary time of waiting. Boss fight momentum and straightforwardness also contributes to why Odyssey feels shorter.

So far we’ve discussed each game’s requisites to be beaten, ability to multitask while completing mainline story objectives, lack or inclusion of a hubworld, level design, controls/movement, and boss fights. In each respect, Mario Odyssey wins out as the most flexible option. All of these factors probably explain the outstanding pace of the game - you just keep moving. It probably took me around 7 or 8 hours to beat the game’s story - but I was enthralled the entire time, and there is still a lot more to do and discover.

Collectibles in 3D Mario Games

The last element I want to talk about are how Nintendo dealt with Odyssey’s coins/non-Moon collectibles. I think Nintendo realizes that “beating” games doesn’t mean the same thing as it used to. In Odyssey, you don’t even possess lives anymore, upon death you lose coins. Nintendo’s adopted the idea that people love getting SWAG and vanity items with special references, which may be some of the reasons for the special costumes / ship details you can purchase with in-game currency. For the first time in a while, collecting coins in a Mario game truly felt like a means to an end - one that I care about. I actually want to purchase the special costumes and stickers, not get coins to get more lives that don’t really make sense for modern video games anyway. In the NES era - losing lives meant you would have to start the game over. In today’s massive scope for video game stories and worlds, the breadth is typically too great to simply say “alright, you lost your lives, start over from the beginning.” So removing the arbitrary “start over from the beginning of the level” to a “start over from this spawn point” would be another reason why this game probably feels shorter.

Final Thoughts

To get to the review part of this analysis - there really isn’t anything I can contribute that hasn’t already been said. This game is an absolute delight. The story, characters, controls, level design, music, graphics, and game objectives are excellent. It’s a masterful mix of core Mario 64 gameplay with Mario Sunshine cinematics/polished atmosphere and Mario Galaxy’s scope and accessibility, plus a brand new layer of mechanics and objectives that make the game feel fresh. It’s chalk-full of references from other Mario series games from 1981 until today. There are so many awesome Easter eggs and rewards that you will not want to put this game down once you start playing it.

All-in-all, Super Mario Odyssey is a dazzling modern 3D Mario game that manages to satisfy the itch all the Super Mario 64 fans have been waiting for while also providing an abundance of brilliant net-new experiences. Whether it feels shorter or not matters less than how each minute felt packed with excitement, wonder, and adventure.

What are you waiting for? Buy this game.

Nintendo on Mobile

David V. Kimball — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 00:00:00 GMT

There are many that have been saying that Nintendo on mobile was inevitable and that they should have done it a long time ago.

And to those people, I say yep, you’re right, it happened.

But that’s not necessarily a good thing.

Look at Pokemon Go, a tremendous success in the beginning. It exploded and for a while everyone was pretending they were a fan of the Pokemon franchise.

But that soon faded and now it’s not as big as it was.

And pretty soon Mario Run will come out on iOS and Android... what some would consider an accomplishment for Nintendo, I consider it a tragedy.

Mobile games have rarely done a good job of competing with full-on console or PC games. They are abbreviated experiences, nothing more than time-wasters, compared to something like a Legend of Zelda, or Metroid Prime, or Harvest Moon. Clash of Clans, Angry Birds, and Plants vs. Zombies do not have the lasting appeal of the former.

I’m reluctant to see Nintendo on mobile because one of my favorite parts of Nintendo games are their timelessness and carefully-crafted feel. Pokemon Go is a step backwards in a significant way, however it did push Pokemon Sun and Moon to have the highest number of pre-orders for any Pokemon game ever. So the compromise-ridden experience of Pokemon Go did help boost the sales of the “real” games.

So on one hand, Nintendo could utilize mobile “games” as a marketing tool, reaching the audience that have never owned a Nintendo console. I just hope Nintendo steers clear from the freemium model of their core games, and they stay the premium game makers we’ve come to love so much.

RIP Windows Phone/10 Mobile/Whatever the heck it is

David V. Kimball — Sun, 02 Oct 2016 00:00:00 GMT

I'm fed up with MS... Ultimately their mobile strategy has failed. It's pivot after pivot after pivot. Now I have to explain why anyone I got on the ecosystem has to uninstall their useless eBay app, or Amazon app, or why they still have to use the web for a non-third party YouTube experience.

I guess it’s my fault for not seeing the failure sooner and sticking with it. Most friends that had Windows Phone devices have ditched them at this point, and now my parents are wondering what to upgrade to next and I hesitate completely from recommending the platform that they now know and understand.

It’s pitiful how things have ended up.

Until next time, Lumia fans. Lumia is dead, Windows 10 Mobile is basically dead. And this universal Windows platform stuff is set up to be failure story part 3.

Edit: I really have more to say.

I’m going to predict the responses: “David, how short sighted of you, don’t you know what they’re planning to do next?” And my response to that is: that’s always what we say. “Just look at Microsoft’s OneMicrosoft vision! I mean, yeah we’re failing left and right, but just imagine the comeback when [insert MS Mobile initiative here] ends up working and being adopted!”

Basically, no one adopts it, it’s just a flash in the pan, and then nothing.

Microsoft, I’m not happy

David V. Kimball — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT

As a long time Windows user, Windows Phone user, and appreciator of “Metro UI” since it’s birth in Zune 30 and pseudo-death in Windows 10 Mobile, I’m feeling a bit lead on.

What we have in Windows 10 Mobile is an absence of the core UI and UX principles that made Windows Phone 7 so great, and we’re left with a sorta-Android-looking Android-like-performing app-crashing OS that happens to have live tiles.

I’ve been one to support Microsoft and their vision, and I still am. However the “mobile first, cloud first” mantra doesn’t seem to be taking the effect I thought it would. It’s more like “cloud first, unless you’re a legacy OneDrive user, and mobile first, if you’re on iOS or Android.”

After advocating for years for your products, I’m finding myself less and less likely to recommend the services and devices you offer. And that makes me very sad.

I hope you hear this and step up your game. Because a company that made products that I once loved is now creating mediocre products that have performance and consistency issues.

I hope you change in 2016.

Sincerely,

David

Which Blogging Platform Should You Use?

David V. Kimball — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 00:00:00 GMT

With so many publishing platforms out there, it's difficult to decide which one to use.

I'd like to share some of my favorite blogging sites and explain what I see as some strengths and weaknesses of each.

WordPress: WordPress has been a popular blogging platform both for free accounts and self-hosted .org accounts. It's highly customizable, with an overwhelming number of themes, add-ons, plugins, and other options. However it isn't always the easiest to understand, and has to update frequently. Where it might lack in user friendliness however, it makes up for in utility. Many use WordPress to manage their primary website, so it's only natural to add the blog element to it. WordPress is very compatible with many other publishing tools out there, so you shouldn't run into any issue on that end.

Tumblr: What I love about Tumblr is its highly-social features. Following, favoriting, reblogging, etc. are pinnacles of the platform. Where Tumblr shines is its simplicity with power. You can also customize the themes with HTML and CSS like with WordPress, albeit with a few limitations. You can also use your own domain name for free. You can either use a subdomain or top domain, which many services like Twitter do (Twitter Status). A few downsides of Tumblr are a few limitations, such as plugin support and theme customization (although you can relatively easily create your own themes). Also visually-heavy posts often gain more traction on this platform if you're looking to create viral pieces of content.

Blogger: Since it's owned by Google, it's got some cool integrations with YouTube, Google+, and Google Search. It's also another solid choice for simple blogging. Like Tumblr, you can use a domain you own for free. Nothing particularly special about Blogger, but provides a user-friendly experience and does a good job of focusing on getting you to write.

Medium: Medium has integration with Twitter, which means followers carry over from the other social network. Medium is blogging at its most simple. You can follow users and be followed, and its very stripped-down interface pushes you to write. It lacks fluff and chrome, and breaks it back down to straight blogging. That being said, there are no options for customizing a theme. You can "recommend" other posts, like them, and comment. Medium can be viewed on mobile with the same ease as desktop.

Svbtle: Even more stripped-down than Medium, Svbtle is a mobile-first blogging community. Its only form of customizability is to pick a color, and an icon to represent the brand of your blog. You can "give kudoz" to posts by holding your mouse cursor in a certain area, which is like "liking" a post. But there is not a place for comments. A strength of Svbtle is the dashboard, which is a place to scratch down topics and ideas for writing. It's helpful to get you in the zone and start writing. No plugin support, but you can put links to an external site and add your email address for another level of interaction.

LinkedIn Pulse: Writing posts on LinkedIn is a great way to establish credibility as a professional. The service itself doesn't offer much compared to other blogging platforms, but the community is driven and dedicated to writing professionally. Pulse is less a personal blogging platform and more of a way to share your insights on business.

There are plenty of other blogging platforms - Quota, SquareSpace, TypePad, LiveJournal, Weebly, just to name a few. And, if you love premium, distraction-free services like Svbtle, here's a Mashable post about more of them: 16 Blogging Platforms That Won't Distract From Your Writing. However it all comes down to what platform you believe fits your needs

So which platform is for you? It all comes down to what platform you believe fits your needs best. Hopefully this post helped you understand some of the differences.

Windows 10 Tips and Tricks

David V. Kimball — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 00:00:00 GMT

What to do immediately after you upgrade (5 things)

If you followed the steps in the video above, you should have been able to: customize your start screen, customize your taskbar and action center, customize Microsoft Edge browser, figure out how to pin important apps, files, and websites, and lastly discover how to use some of the great apps to which you have access.

Fix tile icons that are disappearing

There's a small bug where tiles will become blank. To fix this, just resize a tile by right clicking it, then resize it again, and your tile's icon should be restored.

Save battery on your phone

If you're using a Windows 10 PC, you're already receiving app alerts. So you can turn your phone on to battery saving mode and continue getting app notifications on your PC, while getting SMS and calls still on your phone.

Remove the "Get Office" and "Get Skype" "apps"

These are tiles that are just links to download pages. They're not actually applications. You can get rid of them by right clicking and selecting "uninstall."

Utilize the touch gestures

Like in Windows 8, the left and right edges of the screen work with a touch screen. You can switch between open apps on the left, and access the Action Center on the right, whether you're in desktop mode or tablet mode.

Modify task manager

By default, task manager is the abbreviated version. Click "more details" to use the traditional version of task manager. You can also set up startup programs from here to make your PC start up even more quickly.

Use task view and multiple desktops

It might not be natural to you at first, but try them out. Force yourself to use them by choosing one app to run on a virtual desktop (like a music app), and start with that.

Use OneDrive on the web

If you're concerned about losing the "online/offline only" features in OneDrive from Windows 8.1, you can still access similar features by accessing OneDrive from a web browser. You can move files from a folder not on your drive to a folder on your drive via the web!

I Wrote a Book and Started a Podcast

David V. Kimball — Sat, 04 Jul 2015 00:00:00 GMT

I've been very busy this past month. First there's the traveling, work, and life stuff, then there's the extra stuff I've been tacking on lately.

I was inspired to write a book about Twitter, so I did.

As I was writing, I was inspired to create a podcast. So I did!

You can download the Beyond Tweeting book here:

davidvkimball.com/book

You can listen to the Beyond Tweeting Podcast here:

beyondtweeting.com

I've been overwhelmed with the support of my friends and family throughout this process, and all of the new relationships I'm building as a result!

If you buy my book, leave a review on Amazon with a title and comments. You'll be entered to win in a $5 Amazon Gift card. How's that for some incentive? You could get 500% of your money back if you buy the book!

If you listen to my podcast, it's free. If you enjoy it, please leave a 5-star review on iTunes!

If you do, you'll also most likely get a shout out in the next episode.

Hope you're all having a happy 4th of July weekend!

Analysis of Microsoft's Logo & Design

David V. Kimball — Fri, 22 May 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Microsoft's Current Logo

I created a SlideShare presentation about my interpretation of the design ethos of Microsoft's logo. Check it out below!

Principles of Modern UI

I also created an analysis of Microsoft's Design Language, Modern UI.

For the most part, something constructed in the Microsoft Design language is built with dark backgrounds and white text in the Segoe UI typeface. The Segoe UI family is a sans-serif font, which is more easily read in the digital medium.

Large type represents the top of a hierarchy of text, such as a heading. Sometimes all caps or all non-caps can be used to represent an identity as an element in the interface, rather than a piece of copy or part of a body of text.

Elements are generally oriented from left-to-right rather than centered, although there can be exceptions.

General guidelines: if you want something to look like the Microsoft design language, think simplicity, iconography, typography, motion, and flatness. Utilize contrasting colors and align margins of elements in the medium so it looks clean and organized.

Only use movement to enhance the role of the design element, not distract from it. For example, text flipping back and away to make room for new content can convey progression or advancement.

Don't use gradients, and make sure to use transparency in icons. Don't grab any old image off of the internet because it will most likely be a picture on a white box. Search for PNG images that support transparency, and pick high resolution images when at all possible.

Use full-sized images to convey effect! They're worth a thousand words, after all.

When in doubt, strip it down, make it shorter, or simpler. Use simple, flat icons to represent ideas. Be consistent in your arrangement and clear in your visual language.

Remember, the design language is digitally-authentic. This means it is the polar opposite of UX skeuomorphism (a design principle that takes cues from applying a "realism" approach to digital UI by making elements appear or mimic physical, real-world objects or material).

A New Frontier of Interactivity

The "new" Microsoft is growing out of its adolescent stage.

Post-Vista Microsoft has been stepping up its game in the consumer space by making authentically-digital software and even entering the world of hardware with Surface and Lumia.

Part of this re-branding was a significant aesthetic shift from glossy icons to flat, minimalist design elements.

A difficult part of this shift was convincing consumers that this change was good.

Some decried Microsoft's UI and UX change to flatness, simple icons, and minimalism, calling the look "a regression."

However others championed Microsoft's new image and celebrated it as the modern look and feel other tech companies ended up mimicking.

Now it seems this UI change has paid off with HoloLens.

Why? Now the only way to differentiate holograms and scrolling menus and/or floating screens is their perceived depth. Flat icons and menus assist the HoloLens wearer in distinguishing between text and menus from 3D hologram objects.

For example, in this image below shows navigating a flat menu with HoloLens:

And here's an example of 3D hologram objects existing in a space.

Now flatness can be associated with touch screens and simple hologram menus while 3D UI elements can coexist with 3D holograms and the physical environment.

Tl;DR: Microsoft's flat design works well with HoloLens because it contrasts beautifully with any 3D hologram elements being projected.

Disclaimer

This is my interpretation of the design language, and does not necessarily reflect any of Microsoft's thoughts on the matter.

How to Give a Stellar Presentation

David V. Kimball — Wed, 20 May 2015 00:00:00 GMT

It's been a year since I started doing presentations with Microsoft, and I've learned a few tips and tricks along the way.

Here are a few tactics that help me communicate clearly in a public speaking setting.

Preparation and setup:

Do research - You're speaking about something when you present. So research that thing until you feel confident answering questions about it. In other words, don't merely understand the bare minimum of what you are presenting, try to dig deeper and grasp a fuller understanding of the subject. You should be ready for that Q&A session at the end.

Prepare attractive visual aids - Whether it's a PowerPoint, slideshow, video clip or something else, it's usually a good idea to make sure the supporting media to your presentation is, well, supporting, and doesn't detract from conveying your message. Note: not all presentations need visual aids necessarily. Some can be done just with your speaking voice.

Practice, practice, practice - In order to be confident and well-prepared,
practicing is a must for any presentation. Practice for timing, delivery, technical setup, etc. of your presentation is critical. You can do this alone, or even better, with a practice audience (they also might be willing to critique you and give you feedback). Practicing in front of people is probably the most important piece of advice I can offer.

Be ready for a technical flub - Chances are you'll be using some sort of device for a PowerPoint presentation or displaying some other visual content, so have a backup plan in case something suddenly stops working. If you're presenting to a big group, keep in mind sound systems and/or microphones can give you trouble, so try to have another mic handy.

Show up at least 15 minutes early - Showing up early to wherever you present can help you get acquainted with your environment as well as give you time to setup and test the technical equipment involved. This will calm your nerves, ensure a greater degree of stability on the technical side of things, and instill confidence in you.

Delivery:

Speak slowly - Usually out of nervousness, presenters tend to talk too quickly when they speak. Because you're usually speaking within a time limit, it's understandable. But pace yourself by practicing speaking at a steady rate so you don't lose your audience's attention.

Utilize vocal range - Monotone is not your friend here. Feel free to start a new sentence or thought with a slightly higher-pitched vocal sound, and end with a lower variation. Play around with this until you find a way that's comfortable, yet not monotonous. Be dynamic here!

Use pauses for impact - Like speaking too quickly, forgetting to pause once and a while can disrupt the impact of your words. Let the momentum of your speaking get disrupted once and a while so that your last words can sit in peoples minds for a few seconds. And while you pause, be calm and don't fidget. If you appear to be nervous, people might get the idea you're stumbling, which you shouldn't be!

Project your voice - You can't convey your message if you can't be heard. While nonverbal communication is paramount to being understood, make sure your voice is at a good volume level as well. Don't talk down to the ground, project and face forward.

Content:

Use stories - Stories are an amazing tool for connecting your presentation's content with the listening audience. People relate to stories because we all have one to tell. So tell a story using visual, descriptive language.

Use humor - If used correctly, one of the best attention-getters in all of public speaking is utilizing humor. This is a tough one because there really is no science to it. The varying factors are (1) the kinds of people in your audience, (2) the subject matter, and (3) the relationship you and your audience have with the subject. If these three variables aren't properly accounted for, your allegedly-hilarious line can fall flat on its face. Using humor also works better if you are relaxed, smiling and appear to be comfortable, which in turn makes your audience comfortable. If people can't be comfortable with you, they won't laugh. So make that happen and you'll have an easier time!

Make it relevant to your audience - Find ways to apply your content directly to your listening audience. This will help with keeping their attention on you and help them retain your content. You don't even need to change the core content necessarily, just find small ways you can relate it to them through examples or audience participation.

Get audience participation - This is a big one! It's a great way for your audience to engage with your content and feel more involved throughout your presentation. It could look like telling a story and asking for a show of hands for who can relate, or taking a quick poll in the beginning, or even asking if the audience has questions about what you talked about. Try to make time for this, it makes a significant difference in audience attention.

Remember to say "thank you" at the end - These people just gave up part of their day to listen to you, so thank them! Never take that for granted. Even if they paid you for it, thanks are in order for their time.

Go out, be heard, entertain, and bore no one!

Here's Brian Hall from the Surface team, presenting Surface Pro 3 on launch day in New York City, NY. Photo cred: Twodudes & A Booth Photography

Having Patience with the Technology-Impaired

David V. Kimball — Sun, 22 Feb 2015 00:00:00 GMT

When I describe the following scenario, does a loved one you know come to mind?

When searching for an online video type "google.com" into their Ask search toolbar on their web browser, click the first search result (Google.com), types in "youtube," clicks the first result (YouTube.com), and then finally types his/her search query.

If you didn't see a problem with that, you might be one of them yourself.

Here's how to work with the technologically handicapped

1. Start from the beginning. In some cases, this may even include “turn on the computer.” You can’t assume they know anything if you want to be the most helpful. You can ask questions like "where do you normally start?" and gauge their familiarity and comfortability first and go from there.

2. Listen. While you think you may be being very helpful with your articulate, beautifully-executed explanation, it may be going completely over their head. During your explanation process, be sure to check on them with each step with questions like, “Does that make sense?” or “Is anything unclear?” Also, allowing them to reiterate what you said in their words is a helpful clue to see if they understood you.

3. Avoid abbreviations, acronyms and other tech jargon at all costs. They're just not going to get it. Instead, try to think of helpful explanatory metaphors. If you’re following steps 1-2 correctly, at some point the light will go on and the person you are helping will say something like, “Oh, so it’s like a car, and you’re just filling the gas tank!” Although their “Eureka!” moment didn't quite click with you, it did click with them. And that is the beginning of lasting learning process.

4. Have them practice. Even if you think they heard you and seem to understand everything you've just told them, let they try it themselves before you move on. They might have heard you wrong or you could have misspoken. One of the best ways to learn is by experience, so observe them as they give it a go.

5. Keep in mind: they probably know more than you in a different area. Before you get frustrated, remember that while they may be ignorant about tech, you are probably just as ignorant in another area and you should continue to be gracious.

So the next time someone says, “How do you find your favorites on the computer? I left-clicked the 'e' but nothing happened…” for the fifth time, don’t allow your blood to boil, instead, kindly lend them a hand using the five steps above.

Modern Social Media Icons

David V. Kimball — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 00:00:00 GMT

FINALLY - a full set of Modern Social Media icons that are up to date.
Here you are, hand-PhotoShop'd by yours truly. Each icon is natively 80x80, but I have provided 64x, 32x, and 18x versions as well.

If you use - PLEASE GIVE CREDIT!! You can link back to this website and use "David V. Kimball" as my name.

I also take suggestions - if I missed any social media site you would like me to include, I'll update this.

Enjoy!

<a href="https://www.deviantart.com/davidvkimball/art/Modern-Social-Media-Icons-513814974" class="no-styling no-underline" target="_blank"><button class="rounded-lg h-10 btn-primary px-3 text-lg" name="button">Download on DeviantArt</button></a>

Update 1: Updated to now include Meerkat and Periscope icons.

Update 2: Added Medium, Svbtle, Vidme, Crushee, Glympse, Banjo, Tripit, Yik Yak, Patreon, Kickstarter, Pushpay, Wallapop, Product Hunt, Mobli, Socialcam, Beam, and GoFundMe icons.

Update 3: Added Website, Email, VK, Last.FM (updated), Flickr, Digg, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, Google Currents, Google Drive, Google Maps, Flipboard, Origin, Bandcamp, Cinemagram, Crackle, IMDB, Deezer, iTunes, eBuddy, Sourceforge, Blab, Clammr, Spreaker, CrowdBuzz, and Musically.

Standing Out - Your Personal Brand

David V. Kimball — Sat, 07 Feb 2015 00:00:00 GMT

In 2015, we are barraged with information. In fact, the amount of content shared online each year is doubling.

This means you need to stand out. But what sets you apart from the average Joe?

You need to be more than just a user, you need a to be a brand.

People need to think of Joe Blo as Joe the Trumpet Guy, or Joe the Cruise Coordinator. Brands give you an identity, a set of goals, and lots of opportunities.

What is your brand? Think about your passions. Think about what you want to be known for, or what you want to be associated with.

I want to be known as an advocate and evangelist, a persuader, and an influencer. I want to be associated with technology, social media, and networking. This is how I built my brand.

You can do it, too. If in doubt, ask friends and peers what they associate you with, or have them tell you what you are passionate about.

Try to make your brand niche. "Bob the worker" is too generic. Use a combination of your skills and passions to give you a unique spin. Make people think of you as "Bob the comedic caterer" or "Bob the financially-secure environmentalist."

Once you find your brand, embrace it. Steep yourself in it. Become active in communities relating to it. Write on it. Connect with others that share similarities with it.

Here's an article I wrote with more information on utilizing your passion to network with others.

Find your brand and start engaging with it now.

Have a question or just want to say hi? Send me a tweet.

What Happened to Foursquare?

David V. Kimball — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 00:00:00 GMT

When Foursquare came out in 2009, I was a huge proponent of the service. Checking in was cool for keeping track of places you've been and seeing where friends are. The discounts and leaving tips were also amazing features.

I always felt it was extremely underused by the general public. That may be why they recently changed to become more of a Yelp service, simply as a database indexing businesses with tips from users, reviews, pictures and other content, but the "check-ins" component of it is gone. Instead, Foursquare made an app called Swarm to replace that function.

Now transitioning a Foursquare account to Swarm is surprisingly easy, but one must ask the question why have a separate app? What's wrong with the check-in service being integrated in Foursquare like it was in the first place?

The rationale could be Foursquare is for finding specific places and Swarm is for seeing where your friends are and what they're up to. But I still don't fully understand it.

Since Swarm, even less users have been checking-in I feel, and almost no businesses support the check in Specials anymore. I find it to be tragic!

What do you think? Were you a Foursquare user?

Introducing My New Website

David V. Kimball — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Because live tiles play a significant role in the Microsoft design language, I thought I'd make some livelier ones for my website.

Check out this live tile:

Pretty neat, huh?

Each tile on my website's Start page now has an animation (except social media icons).

I've also updated all of the pages with the most up-to-date information.

If you'll notice, I now have a prominent "Twitch Streaming Schedule" sections under the games page. I've begun streaming on Twitch! Please follow me if you're a user and tune in on Mondays at 7pm (the first stream is tomorrow!).

Does Author's Intent matter in literature or games?

David V. Kimball — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 00:00:00 GMT

While there are some progressive modernists that might argue that author's intent doesn't even matter in literature, I'm going to make the case that it does. A poem's meaning derives from the mind of the poet, whereby they convey an idea or set of ideas particular to the message they want to send in written form. In order to truly understand the written piece, you must attempt to understand the original writer's intent.

Now take the famous poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, for instance. If someone decided this poem was about hiking in the woods, they wouldn't get much out of it. But by taking author's intent into account, the reader is able to appreciate the nuances in Frost's writing as a contributor to the poem's allegorical message. While we can oftentimes discover the author's intent merely from the poem itself, the goal is inevitably to view the poem through the lens of the author's intent.

Video games, however, are an exception to this rule. Take a game like Super Smash Bros. Melee, for example. Masahiro Sakurai specifically intended for Smash to be a party game. Melee features a host of Nintendo characters from other E-rated franchises, and includes a variety of cartoonish punching, kicking, and exploding sound effects. Based on its advertising, its target audience, and the game's manual, its clear the game is oriented more to a casual audience.

Or at least that's the intention, anyway.

What Nintendo found was that fans of Melee, soon after the game was released, discovered that it was one of the most technical fighting games ever created. It was Sakurai's beautiful accident, and by 2006, there was a fairly strong competitive Super Smash Bros. Melee scene.

In contrast to readers of Robert Frost's poem, players of Super Smash Bros. Melee gained more from the game as an art medium through making it their own as a community, and virtually abandoning the author's (Sakurai's) intent.

What do you think about author's intent in various art forms? Is it an important context to consider, or simply an irrelevant perspective of the past?

How to Network Online

David V. Kimball — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Occasionally, people I know will ask me how I, a college student, have as many Twitter followers and/or LinkedIn connections as I do. The answer I tend to give them is that networking online essentially comes down to three parts: be geeky about something, communicate well, and be passionate about benefiting others.

Now before we get to those steps, I need to establish a few key points. Firstly, networking online isn't for everyone. Sometimes people aren't comfortable with sharing personal information about themselves or their interests online and that's OK. This article is probably not for those people. Secondly, you need to accept that social media isn't some sort of silly game: it can be used - and is used - as a powerful networking tool. When I hear folks tell me that I spend time "playing on the computer," it still irks me. Making meaningful connections with real people online does happen, despite what some people might assume. Thirdly, I'll provide my favorite definition of "networking" from Dictionary.com: "[Networking is] an association of individuals having a common interest, formed to provide mutual assistance, helpful information, or the like." What's so great about online networking is that you're not limited by the constrictions your physical location - you can network with anyone, from almost anywhere, at any time.

With those items out of the way, let's get to it.

1. Be geeky about something

Find your interests and stick with them. There's a good number of studies out there (like the findings of this Forbes article) that prove working on what you're good at is much more beneficial than trying to counter what you're bad at by focusing on your weaknesses. If a subject in school fascinates you, go wild researching it and learning more about it. If you're a big fan of a TV series, start a club about it. Whether it's writing fan fiction, memorizing song lyrics, or inventing something entirely new, do what makes you excited about the thing about which you're most passionate. Find strategic ways to share this content with the internet, for example, utilize a video to demonstrate your skills, or share a thought in written-form via a blog. The more valuable content you share from your heart, the more like-minded individuals will start to notice and will see you as an innovator or leader in your particular area of geekery.

2. Communicate well

When handling responses on the web, be receptive. When in doubt, be positive and uplifting, not negative and discouraging. There's been research that says people that post more negative than positive content tend to get unfollowed more rapidly - but even besides the risk of losing followers, you should want to build a network of positivity around what it is you are passionate about, not merely offer another cynical perspective and a barrage of complaints. Encourage follow-up and outside interaction to your online contributions, and treat those who respond to your web content with respect. Even if you don't share their perspective or agree with them, candidly engage them anyway. If you detect that an individual is attempting to troll you (or get a rise out of you), however, feel free to respond by ignoring them - you don't need to respond to everything.

3. Be passionate about benefiting others

It's not all about you - meeting new people is for their benefit, too. When you make meaningful connections with people, remember that it's a two-way street. As an individual, not only do you benefit from meeting people, but you also are able to be an asset to others by offering your skills, talents, and potential, even by just giving a few pieces of advice, or becoming their next employee. Remember to get excited about that - by meeting someone else, you have the chance to improve their life and get them to be in a better place than where they were before they met you. If you're networking purely to bring yourself up, you're doing it for the wrong reasons.

So what are you waiting for? Start utilizing the internet!

What is it that you are passionate about? What is that thing that, if you were asked, you would do for free? Discover your interests, capitalize on your strengths, and connect with others that share your affinity for what it is you love.

Disclaimer: the viewpoints and opinions expressed in this article are my own and are not (necessarily) shared by any of my employers.

5 Reasons Windows Phone is the Best Choice

David V. Kimball — Fri, 16 May 2014 00:00:00 GMT

So what makes Windows Phone stand out from the rest? Here’s the concise rundown:

1. It's fast.

Windows Phone’s UI is designed to get you where you want to be as quickly as possible. Live tiles provide the user with a dynamic glance-and-go experience.

2. It's feature packed.

The default applications on Windows Phone are deeply connected with the services you care about like Xbox Games, Microsoft Office, OneDrive, and more. Cortana, the personal assist AI of Windows Phone, is there to help you set reminders, send texts, find restaurants, and more with your voice.

3. It's socially connected.

Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are deeply integrated into the OS, which makes sharing easy. Finding a friend’s recent status update is just a glance at their contact card on your phone.

4. It's personable.

Your Start Screen is entirely yours to customize, with a variety of tile sizes and an array of colors from which to choose (or even choose a custom background image that defines you). Your favorite apps and the people you care about are right where you need them.

5. It's photo friendly.

Each Windows Phone device has a shutter hardware button on the side for instantly capturing a moment. Snapping a photo is just a button away no matter where you are. Not only do some Windows Phone devices take outstanding low-light photos, the lens features makes editing and adding filters to your pictures seamless.

David V. Kimball, Product Presenter at Microsoft

David V. Kimball — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Today, a new leg of my journey begins.

I am happy to announce that I am now part of Presenter Group: a Microsoft vendor dedicated to wowing and amazing audiences with the presenting of various Microsoft technologies. In about a month from now, I will be traveling across the country with an elite team of evangelists and presenters and will be showcasing Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Update 1 to Microsoft's clients and partners.

There is much more to come, so stay tuned.

Travel Blog: Follow it!

Edit: I just launched my travel blog, which will be detailing my adventures with Microsoft starting on May 19th and continuing until June 6th. Visit the blog!

How to Download your Xbox Live Avatar to your PC

David V. Kimball — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMT

There are several ways to get an image of your Xbox Live Avatar on your computer.

Assuming you use your avatar in your Xbox profile picture, an easy way to download your Xbox user picture is use this these URLs:

Method 1 (Xbox One method):

Since the launch of the Xbox One, you can now download a large resolution image by using this URL:

https://avatar-ssl.xboxlive.com/avatar\[GAMERTAG]/avatarpic-xl.png

Here’s mine: https://avatar-ssl.xboxlive.com/avatar/davidvkimball/avatarpic-xl.png

Note: This link won’t work for you if you haven’t set up a X-large version of your avatar picture yet.

Method 2 (avatar picture):

https://avatar-ssl.xboxlive.com/avatar/[GAMERTAG]/avatarpic-l.png

Use your gamertag where GAMERTAG] appears in the URL above. For example, mine is:

Large: https://avatar-ssl.xboxlive.com/avatar/davidvkimball/avatarpic-l.png

or:

Small https://avatar-ssl.xboxlive.com/avatar/davidvkimball/avatarpic-s.png

Method 3 (avatar body):

A way to get a full image of your Xbox Live Avatar is to use this URL:

https://avatar-ssl.xboxlive.com/avatar//[GAMERTAG]/avatar-body.png Here’s mine: https://avatar-ssl.xboxlive.com/avatar/davidvkimball/avatar-body.png

Some Quick Twitter Basics

David V. Kimball — Thu, 27 Feb 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Felt inspired and sent a coworker a few guidelines when she asked me what hashtags were. Here they are for your perusal:

Don't use a symbol in a hashtag, like "'" "/" or "-" because it breaks it. Example: "#That'sWhatISaid vs #ThatsWhatISaid. The hashtag with the apostrophe is broken.
Don't start a tweet with an @-username, or else only the followers you have already following that particular @-username's account can see it. Example: "@WarrenBuffett said: '[MISC QUOTE].;" vs ".@WarrenBuffett said: '[MISC QUOTE].'" One tweet has a period in front of the username so all followers can see it, even those who don't follow @WarrenBuffett. The reason for this is when you start a tweet with an account's username, Twitter treats it like a reply and hides it from most people.
Use spaces in between hashtags or @-usernames, or else they won't work. Example: "#finance#business#wealthmanagement@WarrenBuffett" vs #finance #business #wealthmanagement @WarrenBuffett" The first tweet, none of the hashtags or hyper-linked @-usernames worked. The second time, they did, because there was a space in between each item.
Don't be annoying and use too many hashtags. It looks spammy and cheap.
If you favorite and retweet other people's tweets, that will make them happy. Do it strategically.

Repurposing Social Media

David V. Kimball — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

A friend of mine shared this link with me today titled: Five Questions to Ask Yourself Before Posting To Social Media .

The questions in this article include: Am I seeking approval? Am I boasting? Am I discontent? Is this a moment to protect? Is it kind?

These are really good questions to consider. But I've found that Facebook and the particular way it is structured as a platform was the main offender in that these were issues in the first place.

I don't use Facebook to grovel in the worries of being liked, rather I use Twitter and meet people I don't yet know. Building new relationships and networking is what I see as the superior repurposing of social media (realized in sites like LinkedIn). Not only is this emphatically more productive of a mindset to have when using a web platform, but it allows you to avoid a lot of the prat falls of the typical issues of meanness, boastfulness, and seeking the approval of others.

These barriers are removed because you can focus on finding others with your shared interests, which means you'd gravitate more towards honesty to find other people like you.

I hope more people adapt this model of using the web, although I doubt it will become mainstream for quite some time. But over 3 million people deactivated their Facebook accounts last year, and Twitter continues to grow, so I'm seeing a hopeful trend in this area. :)

When did I begin using social? Probably 2007, but since then, I've certainly learned a lot about it (especially with experimenting with over 100 different social networking profiles).

My last point is that I don't think people understand the power of social media. For example, the most overused and incorrectly used word on Facebook, "hacking," (aka signing in as someone else and posting something) isn't funny anymore. You're affecting a friend's image, and essentially, their brand. It can be the difference from getting a job or not as well as personal perception.

Social media isn't a silly internet game, it's a real-world strategy.

Windows Phone "Evangelism" Story

David V. Kimball — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Since 2010, I’ve helped well over 20 friends and colleagues switch to Windows Phone from their previous mobile platform. Not only have I made it known that Microsoft’s mobile operating system is a compelling platform that stands out from its competition, but that its innovation in design won’t only transform the mobile market, but the future of software UI and UX as a whole. Subsequently, I’ve incorporated Microsoft’s Windows Phone design language, oftentimes referred to as “Metro UI,” in my personal branding and academic endeavors.

In 2008, I sensed the imminent birth of a new Microsoft. Their Zune product line was taking them places in UX and UI to which that they had never before ventured, including what became the precursor to their current design language. Code-named “Metro,” this new transformation in user interface would end up being featured in Windows 8, Xbox, Office, and other a host of other Microsoft services.

Before Windows Phone was released, I connected with Josh Phillips, who was a Senior Program Manager at Microsoft (who had previously worked on Zune), and planned on shadowing him to observe and test pre-release Windows Phone devices. Although I submitted the non-disclosure agreements and set a meeting time, unanticipated scheduling conflicts (involving me being stuck in Europe due to hazardous weather) prevented the job shadow from occurring. Despite this unfortunate setback, I was still curious about the platform, and was compelled to learn more about it.

When Windows Phone 7 was released in 2010, I became an early adopter of the new mobile platform with the purchase of an LG Quantum and my first 2-year contract with AT&T. A software update released soon thereafter, titled “NoDo,” that I was able to load onto my device early. My fascination with the direction that the platform was going really began here during my senior year of high school.

In 2011, Windows Phone 7.5, named “Mango” released, wherein I began to sway others to switch to the platform from other mobile offerings. At this point, I began contributing to the online Windows Phone community as well as attend the Seattle Windows Phone “Inner Circle” event (with my friend and colleague Nick Dunne) which showcased the Mango update. This is also where I met Ben Rudolph (Windows Phone Evangelist) and other Microsoft employees. I also wrote a paper entitled “Windows Phone: How a Revolutionary OS Will Transform the Mobile Market” for an MLA Research Writing college course on the 1st anniversary of Microsoft’s mobile OS.

In January of 2012, my brother Donald Kimball purchased his own Windows Phone 7 device (a Dell Venue Pro), switching from his Android handset. Along with Alec Moore (student and programmer-in-training at the time), Donald was able to take a mobile development class from Jared Potter, the Windows Phone Design Integration Lead at the time, who taught part-time at my brother’s high school. As a result, I have been able to connect with Jared on several occasions.

Several months later, I had converted 5 people to Windows Phone, and generated enough awareness to receive the unofficial “Windows Phone Salesman Award” presented by Northwest University Resident Assistant Luke Hicks on my dormitory floor. During spring finals week at college, I upgraded to a Nokia Lumia 900, Nokia’s Windows Phone 7 flagship device. During the summer and into the 2012 fall semester, I continued to spread the word about Windows Phone, and my influence continued to grow in the immediate area as well as online. I was able to leverage my various positions as a college student and use them as networking opportunities to meet other Windows Phone enthusiasts and developers. For example, due to my position as a Foursquare On-Campus Ambassador and SuperUser, I was able to give Jeff Wilcox (Principal Software Development Lead at Microsoft) early input about his Foursquare Windows Phone app, 4th and Mayor.

At this point, I began to align my personal brand with Windows Phone, and published my personal website and social profiles with the Windows Phone-style “Metro” interface. This ranged from creating “Me Tile” avatars on my web profiles (emulating the “Me Card” tile seen on Windows Phone Start Screen), to Windows Phone-themed tiled Twitter backgrounds, and custom Metro UI Facebook cover photos. Despite these images often being created with rudimentary freeware programs, such as Microsoft Paint and GimpShop, many Windows Phone enthusiasts and Microsoft partners took notice to my creative design, and sought me out. I was contacted by Software Senior Developers Dale Goff and Alex Golesh via Twitter and was given a job creating a Developer Staffing website with the Metro UI design language for Sela Software.

In December of 2012, soon after the release of Windows Phone 8, I upgraded my handset to a Nokia Lumia 920, Nokia’s first Windows Phone 8 flagship device. Nokia’s innovation reached a new peak at this point, with wireless charging, the newest guerrilla glass technology, and a PureView camera which took incredible low-light photos. These selling points became points of conversation amongst my friends and colleagues, and at this point I had converted somewhere upwards of a dozen smartphone users.

Early 2013 is where my Windows Phone influence really took off. As I continued networking on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media platforms, I connected with some key individuals: Edwin Rodriguez-Duplesis, Robert Shurbet, Swapnil Bandiwadekar, Brenna Gould and Greg Sullivan.

Edwin Rodriguez-Duplesis, an Information Systems and Technical Services Specialist, was particularly active in the Windows Phone online sphere where we connected. He soon added me to a Facebook group he co-created called “Tech Posse,” which was a circle of around 50 individuals at the time who were passionate about technology news and adoption. Through this group alone I made many more Windows Phone-enthusiast connections including Graphic Design student Chris Lindhartsen and Windows Phone Central Managing Editor Sam Sabri.

Robert Shurbet, a Senior Application Developer and Senior Programmer Analyst, developed a Windows Phone Twitter app called Hashtastic, to whom I gave feedback as an early adopter. Using his app, I was able to post weekly “Follow Friday” posts on Twitter in an automated, streamlined process which helped me extend my online reach. Since then, I’ve participated and have been featured in numerous Hashtastic press releases, including showcases of major updates, private betas, and new features.

Swapnil Bandiwadekar, an Independent Information Technology and Services Professional from the Mumbai area in India, had taken an interest in my writing on Windows Phone and took initiative to connect with me. We decided to form a short-term partnership wherein I would write several articles for his tech news blog, TheSwapFiles, and in turn, I would get some extra exposure as a writer. We ended up collaborating on several blog posts, wherein I contributed my own original content to his site. My additions to TheSwapFiles included a “Top 25 Best Windows Phone Apps” post which was featured on the Windows Phone subreddit and other places. Swapnil also connected with Nokia US, and coordinated the delivery of a Nokia Lumia 521 review device which I was able to review.

Brenna Gould, a Business Administration and Management Information Systems student (now graduated) from Western Washington University connected with me on Twitter as a fellow Windows Phone enthusiast. Eventually, I added her to Edwin’s Tech Posse Facebook group where she became a valuable contributor. A few weeks after she was added, Brenna shared an opportunity with me to see Greg Sullivan, the Senior Marketing Manager of Windows Phone. She explained that Greg was visiting her school to give a presentation on marketing. When she invited me, I took up the opportunity. As a result, not only was I able to meet Brenna in-person, but Greg as well.

After Greg Sullivan gave his presentation at Western, I was able to set up a meeting with him for the end of spring finals week. He invited me to visit his office at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, WA where he gave me a tour of campus and shared a little bit about his work history at the company. Since then, we’ve remained in contact.

Starting in the summer of 2013, I developed Windows Phone-themed designs for social media profiles, such as Facebook covers and Twitter backgrounds. Since July 2013, I began offering to create “Me Tile” Windows Phone-themed avatars for fellow Windows Phone enthusiasts. This free service was meant to raise awareness for Windows Phone and allowed fans to connect with each other. As this initiative began to gain momentum, I reached the point of being overwhelmed with requests, especially after it was posted on the Windows Phone subreddit. Ertay Shashko, a Microsoft Student Partner and Expert from Struga, Macedonia connected with me and, with my permission, used my idea to build a Windows Phone app called Tile Me! This unique app allowed the Me Tile-creating process to be automated and done by the user (check out Daniel Rubino’s WPCentral story about it). As of October 2013, the app has received over 60,000 downloads.

I’m featured in several places in the app, as well as the promo video created for Tile Me! (created by Ertay’s brother, Alpay Shashko). In addition, I worked with Ertay to produce an app update (in November of 2013) which included a feature to change the user’s Twitter background to emulate a design similar to one I created. This background displays the user’s Windows Phone, a custom screenshot, and showcases their particular handset’s features and specs.

With my upgrade to a yellow Nokia Lumia 1020 last October, never before have people noticed Windows Phone so much. Not a single other competing mobile device can match it’s photo quality, and that stands out. I continue to hear comments from iPhone and Android users like, “I would switch my carrier just for that phone.” For every person that has switched from iOS or Android to Windows Phone, I’ve been happy to help them in the transition. More often than not, the result is a happier smartphone user than before, finally free to encounter a faster, more dynamic, and emphatically personal experience.

In addition to connecting to all of the people mentioned above, I’ve delivered speeches, given presentations, and written academic papers on Windows Phone and am continuing to build even more connections to Microsoft’s mobile operating system. Post-college, I plan on expanding my passion and enthusiasm for Windows Phone to something beyond just a hobby: namely, a career.

Top 7 Ways Windows Phone Must Improve

David V. Kimball — Tue, 23 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMT

I’d like to start off saying Windows Phone is an amazing platform, and definitely my favorite of the top three (you can read why I have that opinion here). Not only that, but we’ve seen significant improvements over the years since Phone 7 and even since 7.5. Browsing files on the phone via PC, multicore support, screenshot capture, copy and paste, NFC, tethering support, higher resolutions, turn-by-turn navigation, general build quality, and a Halo Xbox exclusive title for WP are just some of the advancements.

However, there are some features in Windows Phone that are sorely missing (still after three years of existing as a platform). I addressed some of the issues a few months ago, but would like to reevaluate the shortcomings of the platform.

1. Still lacks basic volume options, including some sort of “Do Not Disturb” mode - This has been a problem since the beginning. Hitting the volume rocker buttons allows a user to toggle from vibrate+ring from vibrate or vice versa, but there is no silent option. You have to go into settings to turn both vibrate and ring off. Considering iOS 7 has a “Do Not Disturb” option right in their new command center, Windows Phone 8 has got to do something about it in WP 8.1.

2. Still no unified notification center - This has been a complaint ever since it was supposed to be in Apollo. Live tiles and lockscreen icons alone don’t cut it for everyone. While personally, I have no need for a notification system like iOS or Android’s, many consider it a missing feature.

3. Music management is still a nightmare - Zune has been missed sorely. Xbox Music is still rough to put it lightly (although the version in Windows 8.1 isn’t as bad), and using iTunes or Windows Media Player on desktop is just awkward. They need to fix this quickly.

4. Can’t be charging and turned off at the same time - If you turn off your Windows Phone, and plug it in to charge overnight, it will turn on. It is impossible to charge your phone and have to stay “off.” This would likely be less of a problem if there was a “Do Not Disturb” option (see point #1 above).

5. No custom text tones - Custom RINGTONES exist, but no custom text tone option unless you root your phone. This is silly, because it seems it would be a very easy feature to implement.

6. No orientation Lock - This feature has been present on other platforms for a long time. It should be on Windows Phone, too. It’s frustrating sometimes to have the screen flip orientations on you when you’re trying to show a friend a picture from across the table or lay down on your side to read an article.

7. Those capacitive buttons still somehow get in the way - If you’re a WP user, you know what I mean - maybe you’re browsing the web, or playing a game…but BOOM. All of a sudden, Bing is launched. You have no idea how it happened, and then you look down to see that your thumb had grazed the search button on your phone. Whoops. I’m not sure what Microsoft could do for this issue per sey, as this is a hardware issue. But this is still a problem that should be addressed.

I was tempted to include the typical “WP needs more apps,” but I’m deciding not to list it at this point. Actually, this area is where Windows Phone is improving (albeit ever so gradually). More apps are coming to the platform than ever before, with over 165,000 currently in the Store. If an official app doesn’t come out, a third party developer is soon to make one instead.

Still, the user experience as far as the app ecosystem is concerned is a bit fragmented. Users basically have to search for the official app they want, and either hope the third party version they see in their search result is any good, or scroll through the results to find the official app (if it exists).

I hope Microsoft and the Windows Phone team can address these issues soon, because they need to for their own good and the survival of the platform.

A Guide to Using Computers and the Internet

David V. Kimball — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMT

This will be ~~the reader's digest version~~ an overview of getting set up with cheap and/or free ways to get you set up with a great system.

Basics - The Hardware side

This is the very beginning of getting started. If you already are comfortable with your rig, skip this section.

1. Get a computer. This is obviously the most important step of this guide. You must choose carefully what kind of computer you want. Adhere to this blog post to keep in mind what's important when purchasing your laptop/desktop PC. If you want great all-around computing, I'd advise at least 4GB of RAM with at least 500 GB of space. If you are planning on moving around a lot or using your computer as a student to take notes, you should get a nice laptop. I'd go for Asus or Apple hardware. If you're fine with being less portable, I recommend a desktop. With desktops, you will always get a better bang for your buck. You can also easily add more monitors, change them out at your leisure, and switch out the keyboard. Desktop computers are also more easy to customize in general. For any purchase you make, I'd advise either building it yourself with parts, or getting a whole machine from NewEgg. I've seen the best quality, price, and options from that website.

(There is a lot to making sure you get a good computer, especially if you're building a custom one. I may make a more detailed post on that later).

2. Get a solid mouse and keyboard. You will be using these a lot, so look up reviews, watch videos, and try keyboards and mice until you find a pair you really like. Remember, you can adjust thing like typing speed, cursor sensitivity and more on the software. So just focus on how the mouse feels in your hand and how the keys feel when pressed. It's up to you whether or not you want wireless, wired, ergonomic, thin, thick, light, heavy, or slick. Try all of your options.

3. Get a comfortable chair and a good desk. Unless you already have a designated space for computing, it's extremely important to get a good comfortable chair for the ~~hours upon hours of~~ time you spend at your computer. If you need a decent chair cheaply and quickly, look at a thrift store. You can find some great ones there! Also goes for desks if you need them.

4. Consider buying an electric fan. You want to try and keep your computing environment as cool as possible, and using a fan is a great way to do that.

5. Buy cleaning supplies. This may involve a can of compressed air for combatting internal dust, a cleaning cloth, a screen protector, a cover case, or whatever else you feel is appropriate for keeping your hardware in good condition.

6. Buy a power strip. Not only will you need a lot of outlets to plug in your electronics, but you'll want a surge-protected power strip to protect them. This device kills two birds with one stone.

Next Steps - The Software Side Windows or Mac? The computer's operating system will play a large role in your computing experience. This is just one question to consider on the software side.

Note: Much of the software can be downloaded at my computer help site here. Also, I strongly encourage you to visit Ninite.com. It's an awesome website for installing must-have apps in bulk!

1. Decide what OS you want. If you want OS X, I wouldn't attempt to go the Hacintosh method (running OS X on a Windows OEM machine), although it has been done. Grab a MacBook Pro. Those things are beasts! They can stand a lot of heat, are portable, and do a good job overall. If you want Windows, I'd go with either something form Asus (desktop or laptop) or HP (desktop). You could even purchase a MacBook Pro and run OS X's BootCamp and put Windows on your Mac. It's a great option and I can attest that it works (Parallels is another option for running OS X and Windows simultaneously).

2. Get Virus Protection. If you're running Windows 8, Windows Defender is built in and does a great job, but I'd also install MalwareBytes for Malware. If you're running Windows 7 or before, download Microsoft Security Essentials and MalwareBytes. If you're running OS X, I recommend Sophos Antivirus Protection (the whole "Macs never get viruses is a fallacy, by the way. Always be protected). Note: You do not necessarily need to pay for an antivirus program. Norton, McAfee, AVG and others do a lackluster job, and I generally don't recommend them.

3. Get a decent browser. And by decent browser, I pretty much mean Google Chrome. Although each one has its benefits, I've found Google Chrome to be the best for me (although I use Firefox and Internet Explorer as well). No matter what browser you use, make sure to utilize bookmarks (Ctrl+Shift+B to toggle view on Windows, Cmd+Shift+B to toggle the view on OS X). Using bookmarks/favorites saves lots of time and allows you to get to the websites you care about quickly. Ctrl+D (Windows)/Cmd+D (Mac) will favorite the web page you are viewing. Name it something you will understand, and put it in a folder to start organizing your bookmarks. Also, make sure to utilize a browser's third party addons from their store. Look up reviews to find the best ones.

Google Chrome users: Get these addons. Addons are great features and here are a few I recommend to anyone:

Adblock - Blocks ads on webpages. Make sure to turn it off to support the sites you care about, though! FB unseen - Removes the "Seen by" from your friends message inboxes, so they won't know whether or not you've read their messages. Helpful in plenty of scenarios... Readability - Removes the clutter and lets you read the webpage in a clean, simple interface. Helpful for printing online articles, too. WiseStamp - Email signature creator for Gmail. Helpful for embedding a picture, phone number, social icons, and more into each of your emails.

Firefox users: Get these addons.

Adblock Plus - Similar to Adblock for Chrome. VideoDownloadHelper - Great addon for downloading YouTube videos in HD and other content sources. DownThemAll! - Download manager/accelerator that makes it easy to mass-download content from a webpage.

4. Get tools to make your PC faster. Download CCleaner for Mac and Windows. It will remove temporary files stored on the system. Make sure to utilize Disk Cleanup, Defragment and other features on Windows as well as OS X's Disk Utility Manager tools. Regularly run these programs to keep your computer running smoothly. Keep track of the files that take up the most space by using WinDirStat (for Windows).

5. Get photo editing software. Right now, Adobe's website is practically giving away it's CS2 Adobe Creative Suite for free! Although they are optimized for older operating systems, they still work (on Windows, anyway. I had a harder time trying to get the Mac version to work on OS X 10.8 / Mountain Lion). Other great free programs are Gimp (or GimpShop for Windows), Inkscape (for Mac, also available in the Appstore), Paint.NET and Irfanview are also great tools. A program called InstantEyeDropper for Windows is helpful for grabbing a Hex code of a color.

Modern UI-specific photo software: Syncfusion's MetroStudio and Microsoft Expression Design, both free.

6. Get a word processor. If you're a student, this is a must-have. Arguably all of Microsoft Office is really a must-have. If you're a student, look out for student discounts and deals, as Microsoft often has cheaply-priced copies ready to hand out to students. You can get Office 2013 for Windows, or Office 2011 for Mac. iWork works well if you're running OS X as well. If you don't want to spend money, iWork is rolling out on iCloud for web use and Microsoft's web versions of Office are online as well (integrated with SkyDrive). Google Drive also has Google Docs, Google Spreadsheets, and Google Presentations which are great web apps (and free).

7. Get a remote access program. Have multiple computers? Or need to access a computer from another one? Download TeamViewer. It's free for non-commercial use and its extremely useful for managing multiple computers from just using one.

8. Download legit video editing software. Video editing is good skill to have. Windows Movie Maker is a solid program for Windows (although it lacks advanced features), and iMovie is a very good application for OS X. Not everyone can afford Adobe After Effects, or Final Cut Pro, but keep on eye out on free programs. A cheap alternative (not free) and a SOLID movie editor is Cyberlink PowerDirector. It has a lot of advanced tools and it very user friendly for editing and producing video content.

9. Run updates regularly. Don't put off or ignore updates unless you absolutely must. Otherwise they will stack up and become a hindrance. Not only that, but you won't be running the potentially best, most secure version of the software you paid for. Also - Java is not evil, it improves your web experience. Please install its updates.

10. Laptop users - keep your laptop charged. Don't let the battery run out due to your negligence. Charge it whenever you can! You'll thank yourself later.

11. Use cloud storage. I can recommend Dropbox or SkyDrive for Windows and Mac. In case of a hard drive failure, it's important to keep your most important files in the cloud so they're safe and accessible anywhere. Many student friends of mine lost their 7 page essays due to computer/hard drive failures and that should NEVER happen to anyone. Dropbox and SkyDrive puts a folder on your computer that constantly synced with the cloud, to make sure you can recover your most important files.

12. Get a client to organize your computer games. I can recommend Steam for both Windows and Mac. You can load all of your games onto it and its a great way to organize and keep track of your gaming library.

13. Get video chatting software. You can use Skype, which is the most common, but if you want multiple video chat for free, I recommend Oovoo or using Google+ Hangouts.

14. Get a versatile video player. Sometimes your camera creates your videos in strange file formats. When Windows Media Player/iTunes can't play them, you need VLC Player. This beast video play can play pretty much any media file.

15. Get a music library organizer/player. Zune (Windows only) is my personal favorite, but iTunes and Spotify work, too (Mac or Windows).

16. Get an archive opener. I recommend 7-Zip. It's free and the most versatile manager. You use these programs to open .zip files.

17. Adjust your power settings. This is especially important if you have a laptop. Adjust when your computer goes to sleep, powers off, etc. This will vary depending on how you want to use it.

Good Computing/Internet Habits

Adhere to these to have a stress-free computing/web experience.

1. Clean your computer regularly - software and hardware. Use the installed programs to clear junky files out of your system, and cleaning supplies to clean the hardware of your machine.

2**. Organize your files.** You will likely be downloading/managing a lot of files. Use the folders into the OS and create subfolders to group your files. Think ahead - create a method to your madness early. You don't want your Downloads folder to become your single directory for...everything.

3. Keep your passwords SECURE. I wrote all about that in a previous post. This is important to enjoying the many services you will be using on your computer and on the web.

4. Find a secure, safe way to keep track of your accounts/passwords. You're liable to forget your credentials every once and a while, so find a safe way to keep track of them. I keep a list somewhere of all of my online accounts, with hints to my passwords. If I forget, I can refer to this list.

5. Don't install bloatware and a ton of useless programs. Let's be honest, are you going to really need that Kitten Internet Toolbar? If you don't really need it and it seems sketchy, don't download it.

6. Read each step when installing a program. Oftentimes, freeware will try to trick you into installing extra programs you don't want. READ CAREFULLY everything that is check-marked by default, and when in doubt, select "Custom" rather than "Express" to make sure these settings are what you want.

7. Submit your credit card information sparingly. If you don't see an "https://" preface in the URL, do NOT submit your credit card number or other information. You must make sure the website is secure before giving personal information.

8. If you're a Gmail user, utilize labels and filters. This will help you organize your mail. For example, every time I receive an email from my University, it gets labeled. I can also label other relevant messages. So if I ever need to see messages only from my University, I can view my label to find them. It will make finding that lost receipt or random bit of account information that much easier.

9. Keep your drives open when unused. This includes safely removing USB drives when you disconnect, and not leaving in DVD/CDs in your disk drives.

10. If you're not sure, don't do it yourself. If you aren't sure if a site is secure, a program is good, your files are deleted, whether or not it's a good idea to upgrade your OS, or mostly anything else, make sure you get some advice from a knowledgeable friend. If you don't have a tech-savvy friend to talk to, go onto help forums. EightForums.com is a great resource for Windows 8 questions and Apple support is excellent, too.

11. Take a break. It's easy to spend long amounts of time on your computer. Make sure you take breaks to stand up, move around, and stretch. Take a walk. Go outside. Do something active. Keep your health in mind.

If you have any questions on any of these steps, feel free to visit my PC Help website or send me a tweet (@davidvkimball).

9 Tips For Making An Awesome LinkedIn Profile

David V. Kimball — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMT

These days, having a LinkedIn profile is imperative to connecting with business professionals and networking. Consider it your professional online resume. Here are some tips for creating a killer profile.

1. Use a professional profile picture - If you don't have one, get one taken. It doesn't need to be extra fancy, just decently professional. Just think of your LinkedIn profile is like your business card - use a business-appropriate photo of yourself.

2. Use a succinct title - if you can, make your title pertain to your profession. And definitely keep it short. It's one of the few lines that everyone sees in your abbreviated LinkedIn contact card. It should summarize what you do.

3. Register a vanity URL - if you claim a URL name of your own, you can direct potential clients and friends to linkedin.com/in/YOURNAME. It's an easy way to remember your online identity to share with others by word of mouth.

4. Write a summary - in the first area of your profile there's a "Summary" section. This can be whatever you'd like it to be. I'd suggest writing a few sentences on an overview of your experience in your particular field, along with whatever other information you'd like others to know about you that wouldn't fit on another part of your resume.

5. List your positions - you should mainly include jobs you're holding now that are relevant to your current position. It's up to you if you want to include that part time job you held in high school, but for the most part, I'd suggest only putting your most recent/pertinent positions in your profile. Tip: Make sure you link your position with the associated business' LinkedIn company profile (if it exists). This way you'll show up in the list of workers and your profile will be linked to that company.

6. List your Skills and Expertise - put key words or key phrases that pertain to skills in your profession. Another LinkedIn member can endorse you for a particular skill, boosting your credibility in your network. Tip: If you want endorsements, don't simply ask for them. Endorse your connections for their skills, first! Usually the favor will be returned to you.

7. Embed pictures and other content - recently LinkedIn has given users the ability to upload images, documents and more to their profiles. Utilize this feature to show off your projects, a good photo of you at work, and more. Be creative!

8. Include where you went to school - if you attended college or a university, make sure to include where you went, and when. You can also add the courses you took if you think it would increase your credibility.

9. The rest is up to you - you can add projects in the Projects section, mention honors and awards you've received, as well as list organizations of which you are a part. Explore the options available to you, and think about how each feature might be beneficial to you.

5 Quick Tips on Purchasing Technology

David V. Kimball — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMT

I recently gave some advice to a friend on buying technological stuffs and I thought I'd share with my followers. Here are some general rules for buying something like a smartphone, tablet, piece of software, laptop, desktop PC, really anything with a digital UX (user experience).

Prior to purchasing, accomplish the following:

1. Read online reviews. Learn from other people, even if they're not experts. Read written reviews, look up videos, and find other content relating to your piece of tech. If you're techy, I encourage you to review the specs of the system as well.

2. Try it yourself. Remember, your relationship with technology is solely yours. If possible, go to a local store and try the electronic device you're interested in. Make sure and test the features that people praised in the review, and the features that people weren't as crazy about. You may find out that you have a completely different experience than most people.

3. Compare prices. Never just buy the first deal you see. Make sure you're getting it a good price. I can recommend checking NewEgg.com and Amazon.com for good deals. They often offer fairly competitive prices. If you want an especially good deal, look at Craigslist for cheap ones in your area (but be warned, purchases can be sketchy. Use the service at your own risk).

4. Get a warranty. There's nothing worse than dropping a device or having a computer crash within the first year of owning it. If you can afford it, I highly encourage you to make sure your purchase is covered by some sort of warranty so you can replace any broken parts early on.

5. Buy something to care for it. Along with your purchase, make sure you keep it properly protected. If you buy a smartphone, get a screen protector or phone cover. If you're getting a laptop, buy a cover or cleaning kit for it. If you're purchasing a tablet, get a cleaning cloth to take care of fingerprints. You'll likely be using your technology a lot - even daily, and you need to make sure you're keeping it in good shape for longevity's sake. **Make it last. **

6 Great Windows 8.1 Apps I'll Never Use

David V. Kimball — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Other than new tile sizes and the Start button, Windows 8.1 boasts a lot of new features (especially on the back end). You can now snap apps half-and-half, have a multitude of new settings to choose from, and there are even some new default apps thrown into the mix (also with UI overhauls to already-existing apps).

My Windows 8 PC is either my laptop or desktop OS, and many of the "Metro" apps on Windows 8 are really more suited to a touch-enabled tablet. So this brings me to the new apps that are pretty cool, but I just don't think I'll end up using...

1. Alarms: While this is a useful application in theory, my phone is my chief notifier for the most part. I don't see the point in creating more sets of alarms on multiple devices.

2. Bing Health and Fitness: An excellent service with helpful exercising tips, a fitness tracker, and a TON of other features, but something I'll never likely use...

3. Bing Food and Drink: An awesome application for any kind of cooking. It's filled with recipes, pictures, techniques, and world-renown chef bios. But cooking isn't really my thing, so I'll be passing on this one, too...

4. Calculator: Didn't...we already have this? So now when you search "Calculator", now two apps come up in the search results. The legacy desktop calculator app, and the new metro one...Awkward?

5. Reading List: Likely an alternative to Instapaper and/or Read It Later (Pocket is what it's called now). But...I don't do most of my reading in the metro-app environment. So this isn't particularly useful for me.

6. Scan: I wouldn't use a metro app to scan something. I'd use the desktop side.

I suppose my qualm with the metro applications are that...they are just built for touch. While they're beautiful, insanely intuitive, and are PACKED with features, I just prefer using a desktop/laptop OS!

That being said, I don't hate Windows 8's Start screen at all. I see it as a beautiful way to display your favorite programs/apps, and the desktop can stay clean that way. And no, I do not believe the metro side of Windows 8 interferes with the desktop side. I think they can continue to coexist just fine.

I included a screenshot of Xbox Music because it's much better now, thankfully.

What is your opinion on Windows 8 or Metro apps? Have you tried 8.1 yet?

5 Things Microsoft Needs To Do with Windows Phone

David V. Kimball — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

1. Get more well-known apps on the platform. I’ve said before that getting official applications like Pinterest, SnapChat, Instagram and Path are MUSTS if Windows Phone is to become a compelling platform for everyone. At this point, it’s almost there. It’s REALLY close, it only really needs one last final push. Can you survive without the missing apps? Absolutely. But that shouldn’t have to be the case.

2. Get Windows Phone, Xbox ONE, and Windows 8 to be more cohesive. Xbox 360 and Windows Phone 7.x/8 integration wasn’t awesome. Xbox LIVE titles did come to WP with achievements and all, but I didn’t see much of an ecosystem there. It would have been neat if a game purchased on the Windows 8 appstore worked on Xbox LIVE Arcade and Windows Phone as well. There are SO many ways in which these platforms could become more cohesive. With Xbox ONE, each will actually share a kernel. The possibilities are endless.

3. Get a notification center. Whether it will be included in the Windows Blue (or 8.1) update is unknown, but we can only hope. Live tiles and lock screen status icons are helpful, but limited. If Microsoft intends to continue to bolster Windows Phone’s integration with social media, it has to find a way to include more social networks in its notification system (picture above is a concept by Peter L.).

4. Improve Xbox Music and Windows Phone apps. This may be beating a dead horse, but seriously, why couldn’t they have just rebranded Zune? It worked, and it worked well. At least they can begin making Xbox Music and Video more Zune-like. And as far as the Windows Phone app goes, allow it to be functional. Managing my music is a nightmare, and I’ve resorted to continuing to use my Zune HD for all of my music (which is, luckily, what I prefer). But that won’t work for everyone.

5. Add a bit more customizability like VPN support, orientation lock, more landscape support (in general), possible alternative keyboards, and being able to make custom text tones. These features are just lacking in Windows Phone right now and I think with a few minor tweaks it could easily become a reality (for example, adding the ability to take screenshots in WP8 from WP7 was possible via relatively simple code).

Windows Phone 8 Hack: Make your own Metro tiles

David V. Kimball — Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

One frustration I have with some applications is their live tile doesn't match my Windows Phone's accent color. Only some developers give their tile such properties.

There's a way to make your own tiles with your own icons. This method works for People tiles and Wallet tiles, so it isn't particularly useful necessarily (unless you want to pin your credit cards to start), but it looks cool.

Photoshop

Use Photoshop (you can download CS2 for free from Adobe's website here) to edit an image of the card you want to use. Make the background transparent, and use the paint bucket to make the shapes white. Save it as a PNG format. Also make sure to save the image with square dimensions for best results.

In the example below, I'm using AT&T logo for the "AT&T Account" Payment method that comes default in Windows Phone 8 wallet for AT&T phones. The image on the left is the stock image, and the image on the right is the transparent logo.

Email It

Then locate the saved file on your computer and email it to yourself. Open the email on your Windows Phone, open it, and save it to your phone.

It should look white with a fully-black background like in this image.

Open Wallet App

Once the image is on your phone, open Wallet, and open an existing credit card (or make a new one).

Tap the pencil charm to edit and then change the photo to your recently downloaded icon (see screenshot). Here we're changing the existing non-metro friendly image and replacing it with the logo we made earlier.

You should see your new icon with a black background. Tap the save charm at the bottom.

Pin your card to start, and it should look something like this:

You can also make more tiles by going to the "deals" area of wallet and adding new items.

A title will appear on your tile from the "Deal name" field, so if you want a title displayed, name it there.

You can add as many as you want:

It works in any accent color you choose, and changes instantly.

Have any questions about this process? Tweet me at @davidvkimball and I'll lend you a hand.

Vanity URL Tips

David V. Kimball — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

What is a vanity URL? You probably have a few. We'll use Twitter as an example. When you sign up for an account, you are asked to create a username. Your username becomes your "Twitter handle" or "@username" and also your vanity URL. For instance, If Bob created a Twitter account with the username "bob", his vanity URL would be twitter.com/bob.

Here are some general vanity URL tips:

Keep it professional

This will vary depending on the service, but oftentimes you can't change your vanity URL once you have set it. This means that facebook.com/L33tSk8r27 might not be an impressive vanity URL if you plan on making any professional connections.

Use your name

Not always a "must" but generally a good idea. A vanity URL is a type of identification, so you should try to create authentic usernames that most accurately represent you.

Be consistent (if you can)

Try to keep your username the same across multiple networks, especially for your social media profiles. If you're mentioned in an Instagram post and the caption is shared on Twitter, you want to be sure both names are owned by you. Plus consistency is important on the web not only for establishing brand and identity, but helpful for SEO as well. Plus it always saves you a step when you don't have to remember a different username every time you want to log in to a service.

Make it unique

It's cool to have twitter.com/bob because it's very short, but you're likely to run into frustrations when facebook.com/bob and instagram.com/bob are already taken. So try to balance a uniqueness factor to your username while keeping an eye on its length. Try not to go over 15 characters.

What if it's too late?

Already set a username? Don't fret! You may be able to change it still. Facebook allowed one change, and when they rolled out updates that gave every user a Facebook.com email address, they allowed an additional change. Just look under a services settings or contact the support team if you want a different vanity URL.

Me? Well I'm davidvkimball on practically everything. It's worked for me so far. It's unique (so it's generally not taken by another user), it's descriptive, and it's professional.

Analysis of Henry V's Saint Crispian's Day Speech

David V. Kimball — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Analysis

Shakespeare’s Henry V is a masterful play with many memorable lines. Amongst the memorable lines is what has been known as Henry V’s “Saint Crispian’s Day” speech, in which the king inspires his soldiers to fight a French army five times their size. Not only does he convince his army to fight for him, but he empowers them to the point of victory. Against incredible odds, King Henry’s army manages to defeat the French. What united Britain despite it being torn apart due to numerous civil wars, apathy, and discouragement? Shakespeare gave his character Henry V the power to persuade and his mastery of language. By playing on surrounding historical context, Henry V’s Saint Cripsian’s Day Speech has influenced generations of famous speeches with its use of victimage, inspiration, persuasion, and imagery. Shakespeare’s masterful ability to use the English language has resulted in a poetic masterpiece.

Prior to delving into the speech itself, it is imperative to observe the historical context surrounding William Shakespeare. Shakespeare was an English playwright and poet who lived from 1564 to April 23, 1616. He married his wife, Anne Hathaway at the age of 18 and had three children. He began his career as a teacher and became an actor soon after, beginning to write the majority of his comedies and histories around 1589. Growing up secretly Catholic (he was a “surface Protestant” for legal reasons), he knew the Bible well, having made 42 references to the Bible throughout his works (Dobson 45). Shakespeare’s plays were almost always multi-facetted - they had multiple players of meaning - and he was able to do so with his mastery of the English language. Not only did he popularize drama and the theater in this way, but he coined phrases and even invented words that would be used by influential leaders of future generations. Shakespeare’s impressive knowledge of history also aided him in writing his historical plays, as he was able to incorporate historical figures and events into his plays and portray them anew. Shakespeare’s company, King’s Men, erected a theater near the River Thames called the Globe where he performed his plays and became very wealthy. Although retirement was not a common practice in that day, Shakespeare was able to retire at age 49.

Shakespeare’s *Henry V *is the final part of a tetralogy which includes Richard II and both parts of Henry IV. In the previous plays, Henry V’s character is portrayed as an undisciplined playboy who goofs off the majority of the time as prince. In Henry V, however, we see a dramatic shift in the protagonist’s character, as he transforms from irresponsible lowlife to courageous king. He even rejects Falstaff, his mentor who lead him down the wrong path, early in the beginning of the play. Soldiers Bardolph, Nym, and Pistol represent Henry’s old lowlife friends, and they are repeatedly contrasted to Henry V, oftentimes being portrayed humorously. As Henry changes for the better, he’s faced with the 100 Years’ War, and is seeking to claim France, which is rightfully his. He has a “divine right” to claim the land, and makes his purpose to overtake it known. Prior to the Battle of Agincourt, Henry rallies his troops with his famous Saint Crispian’s Day Speech which empowers and inspires the army to fight spectacularly. As they conquer the land, Henry tries to woo Princess Catherine and the French king allows Henry to be the successor to the throne. Henry’s winsome character and courageous disposition suited him perfectly to become the dynamic leader Britain needed, and his Saint Crispian’s Day Speech testifies to this truth.

The Saint Crispian’s Day Speech employs the method coined by Allen Monroe, the Motivational Sequence. Henry first calls attention to what great feat lies before his army; conquering a nation. He points out that failure to win is indeed a possible outcome of their efforts, yet the treasures of triumph would far outweigh the costs. He presents a particular need to his audience next, which is honor, “…if it be a sin to covet honour, I am the most offending soul alive.” He explains that this need cannot be met by material goods (“such outward things dwell not in my desires”), and that he wants all he can get. Satisfaction is realized by Henry minimizing the weak and unsure in his army by publically inviting them to leave the ranks and not fight with them, “We would not die in that man’s company who fears his fellowship to die with us.” Since only the strong remain, they will fight and become victorious. This is visualized clearly when Henry talks about how future Crispian’s Day holidays will be celebrated by remembering the brave who fought that day, “Then shall our names…be freshly remember’d.” Fathers will teach sons about the fight and their names will be famous. Henry’s call to action is to fight together as kin for the glory of themselves and England, “For he to-day that sheds with blood with me shall be my brother.” He further emphasizes his point by saying the men who chose not to fight with them will have to consider themselves secondary citizens in comparison to those who did choose to fight.

Totaling 396 words, 47 lines long (lines 2255 to 2302 in the play) and written in iambic pentameter, Saint Crispian’s Day Speech is one of the most eloquent speeches by Shakespeare. He constantly contrasts with comparison, “If we are mark’d to die, we are enow to do our country loss; and if to live, the fewer the men, the greater share of honour.” He begins with the sobering thought of death, and finishes his thought with the word “honour” here. “Honour” is used three times in the first 12 lines very intentionally as the hook by which Henry captures the attention of his audience. Henry also restates his points with repetition, “I am not covetous for gold, nor care I who doth feed upon my cost; it yearns me not if men my garments wear.” These three lines enhance his credibility, as he makes it clear that he has no exterior motives or agendas. He employs repetition in other ways as well, “I pray thee, which not one man more…wish not a man from England...O, do not wish one more!” He uses these three lines in the first half of the speech to be clear that he is confident enough in his men and craves glory enough to put a rest to any possible worries about being outnumbered. He promotes this idea by using imagery of glory being literally taken from him (or “shared” from him) if more men were added to their numbers. Just as Henry makes his audience feel strong and proud, he challenges them all by extending an invitation to quit, even offering to pay their way home. But he quickly reintroduces the idea of honour here again, “We would not die in that man’s company who fears his fellowship to die with us.” This is his second reference to dying alongside his soldiers, and it foreshadows his final reference near the end of the speech.

The second half of the speech is dedicated to visualization and a final call to action. He begins with an introduction to the current day’s holiday, “Today is called the feast of Crispian,” and explains in the following lines how much they will be remembered, honored, and celebrated as war heroes. He continues to say that they will be “household words,” celebrated every single Saint Crispian’s Day following that battle. In the final eight lines, Henry begins with repetition, “we few, we happy few, we band of brothers” adding a modifier to “we” each time. He then makes his third reference to dying with his army (which was alluded to earlier), “For he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.” Here he combines repetition with “band of brothers” and also completes his dying-with-army analogy. The last four lines reiterate his points of honor, small numbers, and the significance of the holiday,

And gentlemen in England now a-bed Shall think themselves accursed they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Saying the “gentlemen in England now a-bed” were considered less of men combined with the image Henry conjured up to imply an overall intense desire to be one of the elite “few” brings the speech to its climax just before the last line. At this point, the mythos is strongest and his audience has an overwhelming sense of patriotism just as Henry makes the final mention of the holiday “Saint Crispin’s Day” at the end. Variations of the word “Crispian” are used three times in the middle of the speech and three times at the end.[1]

Henry’s mastery with identification and victimage is apparent from the beginning. He points out that having a low number of soldiers is something to be proud of, and even championed. By explaining that he has no ulterior motives, he leverages his position with his army by introducing a common focus: honor. This not only gives him credibility but establishes his identity with them. Rather than victimizing the army against the enemy (the French), Henry is instead demonizing the men that did not join them in England as individuals who do not care enough about honor. He says himself that he covets honor, which means he demonizes those who do not. And since he knows his audience craves honor too, he knows he can easily establish identity with them in this way. He masters alienation to further unify his band by inviting the weaker men to leave (as mentioned earlier). Because the soldiers are already worn and tired out from a miserable civil war, using the analogy of showing off scars is a powerful visualization of the glory they would receive. Most prominently, Henry uses identification when he says his famous “We few, we happy few” line at the end of the speech[2]. For a high and mighty king to call his subjects his “brothers” was significant, and Shakespeare knew it would have hit home.

Themes and phrases in this speech have been adapted and referenced generations later by other famous speakers and even in culture. For example, “Band of Brothers” is a ten-part television miniseries on World War II, and its title is a reference to the Saint Crispian’s Day speech. “Household Words” was an English weekly magazine that Charles Dickens edited back in the 1850s, which also references the speech. In the 1995 movie Braveheart, William Wallace uses similar rhetoric to Henry: “Aye, fight and you may die. Run and you’ll live – at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance…” The imagery of beds is used (“gentlemen in England now a-bed”), and the first part of this quote echoes the visualization in the beginning of the Saint Crispian’s Day Speech (…mark’d to die…but if to live.”). He also emphasizes the significance of “today” and says freedom worth the sacrifice (comparable to Henry’s “from this day till the end of the world but we in it shall be remembered”). General George Patton adopted many elements from Henry V’s speech as well in his famous 1944 speech to his army. He talks about when his soldiers will be “home once again” after that war, and visualizes they will have conversations with their grandsons, similarly to how Henry mentions that “this story shall the good man teach his son.” Patton visualizes the future by saying, “You can look him straight in the eye and say, ‘Son, your GrandDaddy rode with the Great Third Army…’” in a way that teases to what Henry visualized, “’These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.’” Patton’s speech is similar to Henry’s in that a man of high rank and authority is coming down to the level of his audience to inspire them.

Shakespeare’s genius is unparalleled, and Henry’s Saint Crispian’s Day Speech is evidence to that understanding. Future leaders such as Presidents Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan would persuade their audience by adapting Henry’s claim that their fights were justified and derived from a moral cause. Henry uses consubstantiality to unite his troops, and in response his army shares a feeling of kinship with their leader. He is able to instill patriotism, and future speakers have looked at the speech for inspiration for their own speeches. These themes are timeless, and Shakespeare understood how rhetoric and persuasion were executed well. His achievement with this speech can be summed up with his own words, “And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by, from this day to the ending of the world, but we in it shall be remember’d.”

Works Cited

Dobson, Michael, and Stanley W. Wells. "Bible." The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. N. pag. Print.

[1] Crispian and Crispin were actually two different saints, and the holiday (October 25) celebrates twin brothers who represent leather workers, tanners, and cobblers in the third century.

[2] Historically, King Henry V was really reported as saying “We humble few” to refer to his army.

My StrengthsFinder Strengths

David V. Kimball — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMT

My results from the StrengthsFinder exercise, done in 2012.

My Strengths

Woo

Shared Theme Description: People who are especially talented in the Woo theme love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person.

Your Personalized Strengths Insights: What makes you stand out? Instinctively, you may be known for your ease with language. Perhaps this ability serves you well when you need to talk with newcomers or outsiders. Your vocabulary might allow you to tell stories or express your ideas with clarity. It’s very likely that you may enjoy drawing strangers into casual chitchat or interesting discussions. Perhaps your even-tempered, non-threatening approach tells outsiders and newcomers you are friendly and cordial. Driven by your talents, you are sometimes unreserved. Perhaps you share personal information and stories with first-time acquaintances as easily as with old friends. Chances are good that you may feel the absence of your friends more deeply than some people do. Perhaps you long for the emotional support these individuals provide when miles separate you or circumstances make communication impossible. Because of your strengths, you may acknowledge newcomers and/or welcome outsiders to your workgroup, team, or class. Occasionally you invite visitors to join a discussion or engage in friendly chitchat. Perhaps you are comfortable starting conversations with some strangers.

Communication

Shared Theme Description: People who are especially talented in the Communication theme generally find it easy to put their thoughts into words. They are good conversationalists and presenters.

Your Personalized Strengths Insights: What makes you stand out? Instinctively, you relish talking to others. Frequently you help people express their opinions, thoughts, or viewpoints with enthusiasm. Your words frequently energize individuals or groups. It’s very likely that you spontaneously regale people with funny anecdotes, timely jokes, witty comments, or whimsical ideas. Amusing others brings you pleasure. You have a gift for making people laugh out loud. Driven by your talents, you may possess enough strength in language to express your ideas and feelings with ease. Maybe you rely on words and phrases your teammates can readily understand. Chances are good that you occasionally feel comfortable telling certain individuals stories about your personal habits, qualities, experiences, or background. Your forthcoming nature might enable some people to share their thoughts and feelings with you. By nature, you are somewhat comfortable talking about yourself. You may also enjoy listening to people describe their talents, limitations, goals, worries, or successes. Perhaps these insights help you discover what someone thinks or feels. Maybe you acquire information about the individual’s style of thinking, learning, working, playing, problem solving, or studying.

Connectedness

Shared Theme Description: People who are especially talented in the Connectedness theme have faith in the links between all things. They believe there are few coincidences and that almost every event has a reason.

Your Personalized Strengths Insights: What makes you stand out? Driven by your talents, you routinely isolate facts that link ideas, events, or people. You are especially sensitive to how one person’s optimistic or negative thoughts can affect the entire human family. This prompts you to pay close attention to what individuals and groups think and do. By nature, you have no doubts about being linked in some way with everything in the universe. This includes all creation and all humankind. It’s very likely that you sense that everything in life is somehow interrelated and interdependent. This idea steels — that is, fortifies — you to calmly face most of life’s challenges and difficulties. Because of your strengths, you consider people more important than things. The value you place on humankind guides your decision-making. It also influences what you say and do as well as what you choose not to say and do. Instinctively, you sense every event is somehow the consequence of a series of actions, reactions, or lack of actions. You can accept that which cannot be fully explained using logic. You say there are no accidents. You are confident that things are linked together for a purpose that may or may not be revealed to you.

Context

Shared Theme Description: People who are especially talented in the Context theme enjoy thinking about the past. They understand the present by researching its history.

Your Personalized Strengths Insights: What makes you stand out? Chances are good that you might ask lots of questions when you are meeting someone for the first time. Your curiosity and interest in someone’s past occasionally helps you put your relationship with the person into a framework that makes sense. Driven by your talents, you sometimes research historic events to understand their impact on today’s people or events. Maybe knowing what occurred in bygone days helps you make sense of current conditions or the behavior of certain individuals. Because of your strengths, you periodically set aside time to examine past events or the lives of key figures. You may construct timelines when you need a framework within which to sort through historic evidence. You might research topics intensely before you draw any final conclusions. It’s very likely that you periodically investigate some of the events, policies, or people whose actions contributed to worldwide wars. You might delve into materials that reveal how these global conflicts were brought to an end. By nature, you occasionally study what occurred in days gone by to understand why some things happened. Maybe you wonder why certain people behaved the way they did. A few of your insights about the past might cause you to reflect on what you need to do better or more perfectly today.

Positivity

Shared Theme Description: People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.

Your Personalized Strengths Insights: What makes you stand out? Driven by your talents, you occasionally inspire people to try new things or adopt a more upbeat outlook on life. Perhaps your words and/or your attentiveness bolster the self-esteem of others. By nature, you sometimes move into up-close and personal relationships with people. Knowing what makes individuals unique may provide you with clues about the best way to support or inspire each person. Because of your strengths, you are sometimes big-hearted. Maybe you give things away. Perhaps you bestow gifts or favors on people. To some degree, this might strengthen the relationships you have forged with certain individuals over time. Chances are good that you might be a cheerful and easygoing person. Maybe you emphasize what you have in common with people. Occasionally you are diplomatic, and you sidestep areas of disagreement. Perhaps your eventempered nature and friendly disposition permit you to see good in practically everyone. You may feel sad for those who look for the worst in others and are gleeful when they find it. It’s very likely that you lavish compliments on others. You make them feel good about themselves, how they look, or what they have contributed. You probably describe things individuals have done well. You usually point out evidence of professional progress or personal growth.

A List of Good Childhood Experiences

David V. Kimball — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMT

My Theatrical Pursuits

In my first play Tom Sawyer at the Lakewood Playhouse in Washington, I received the lead role of Tom when I was twelve. I was actually relatively nervous about auditioning for Community Theater initially, and I wanted more of a minor role. I even specified that I would not be interested in the role of Tom Sawyer due to the part’s line load and romantic interactions. Despite this distinction, however, I was still called by the play’s director and asked to play the part anyway. I accepted, and did not regret the choice. Although it took a lot of time and work to memorize the lines I had and the blocking onstage also took a while to remember, the result was rewarding. It was incredible to get to know the other actors and actresses I was blessed to work with, and even made some lasting friends from the group.

A few months later, my family assisted two other families in coordinating a homeschool drama group. I was Robin Hood in Robin Hood. This was my third play, and I had begun to understand developing a character beyond the script. Our director had us create backstories for our characters, and soon my Robin Hood had various quirks, likes and dislikes, and multi-dimensional temperaments. Understanding who my character was allowed me to act more naturally in my role.

I continued to play as lead roles in community theater performances, including Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Peter in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Benedick in my high school's performance of Much Ado About Nothing. My role as Benedick was by far my most difficult part, with the longest script and most amount of lines I've ever had (not to mention attempting to understand Shakespeare's lines of iambic pentameter), but it was also my most successful and favorite performance to date.

Setting aside time in my day for studying my lines and blocking was not easy, in fact there were many days when I wanted nothing to do with it. But despite the business of my senior year of high school, persistence and patience allowed me to memorize the needed lines. In addition to knowing the lines and blocking, I had to focus on understanding the correct pronunciations of unfamiliar Shakespearian words and work on perfecting my vocal variance to maximize comprehension by the audience. The English language has changed quite a lot in four hundred years: it’s my job to deliver my lines clearly.

Not only have my theatrical pursuits taught me dedication and patience, but they have improved my communication significantly. I’ve come to realize that non-verbal communication is just as important as spoken words. Poise, disposition, and using your hands expressively play a major role in sending a message to the receiver. I have managed to achieve jobs because of successful interviews, been suggested to become Community Builder for NU, and been offered a scholarship-paid orientation leader summer position at NU. In addition, I was able to use my drama skills in an audition and am now receiving a drama talent scholarship at Northwest University also. I have good connections with the professors here, and feel at liberty to speak with them whenever I please due to my comfort with speaking to authoritative figures.

As an orientation leader at Northwest I was able to greet new students and coordinate games and activities with groups. I was able to use my personality and my new communications skills to orient students to life at NU and become familiar with classes. I worked with a team of CBs and OLs and we worked with the CB coordinator to organize the entire event. My communications skills were exercised in this way as well.

Since I was young, my drama experience has helped me in many ways. I have improved my communication skills, I can express myself more clearly, I have developed skills for memorizing information, I’ve learned to get along in a group, I’ve learned to work under pressure and even make up for others when they fall short, and it’s enhanced my time-binding abilities by transcending my current experience to that of my role’s/character’s. This has allowed me to adopt another’s point of view, which tends to make me more empathetic in discussions. If I can further adopt these traits into my future career, I can be more successful and glorify God with my work. For it is Him who I must thank for these experiences.

Created Modern-UI Styled Websites for SELA Software

This story goes back to 2008 when I began to look for a new mp3 music player. At the time, I had a fairly basic Samsung mp3 player, and was ready for an upgrade. So I saved my money and purchased a Microsoft Zune 8GB player. I loved the device. It was, in my opinion, the competing iPod’s superior in many ways: namely its sound quality, hardware specs, radio capabilities, wi-fi, and most noticeably in software user interface. The use of typography and motion were fascinating to me, and they drew me to one of the first devices to use Microsoft’s new interface, “Modern UI,” formerly known as Metro UI.

As I grew accustomed to the music player, the Zune’s software intrigued me further. Using the four-way-touch directional pad to navigate the clean looking menus to access content was fun and interesting. The Zune software application on my Windows computer was also a joy to use. I found it to be less clunky and less of a ghastly spreadsheet layout that iTunes had. Zune’s software focused on motion, typography, icons and images, and brought the content to the user first.

When I learned a new touch screen Zune was coming out in 2009 in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacity, my excitement grew. Not only did it have features like HD radio, HD video-out, internet browsing and unlimited music streaming, but it also bolstered an enriched Zune user interface built for touch-screen capabilities. Again, I saved my money and during November, purchased a 16GB Zune HD, my favorite MP3 player to date.

While I enjoyed using the Zune’s interface to browse my media collection, including music, videos, pictures, radio and games, I saw it as something that could do even more. The Zune’s interface that would become Microsoft’s Modern UI had an incredible amount of potential. That’s why when I heard rumors of an upcoming Zune Phone, I got very excited. Finally, my favorite software combined with something I’d use every day? The very thought of it was enticing. Microsoft had my money at that very moment.

It turned out, however, that the rumor was only partially true. The “Zune Phone” later became revealed as a completely overhauled version of Windows Mobile 6.5, which was the current phone software Microsoft sold at the time. Not much was revealed about it in early 2010, except it would release later that year, and it was called Windows Phone 7 Series. This was the first product to officially make use of the Modern User Interface.

When it was finally released as Windows Phone, Microsoft’s new mobile platform was relatively well-received as a new alternative to iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry. Even in its early stages of development, the Windows Phone UI featured typography, motion, and an emphasis on content that the Zune interface had initially inspired. As soon as my birthday came along, I purchased an LG Quantum Windows Phone for the Black Friday sale’s price of $0.99.

The result? I became an early-adopting fan of the Modern UI interface. I love how it looked, how it worked, and what it produced. I began to look into the interface and attempting to find Microsoft’s inspiration for the design elements of Modern UI, and the principles of that design. Why colorful tiles? What about the motion of the transitions between backing out of an app and opening an app was so appealing? Why was simple typography used? How was content such a primary ingredient in the design? And lastly, how did the combination of all of these elements create such an enticing, beautiful interface?

I began to add people on social networks that shared my passion for Microsoft products and their new software. Once I learned that Microsoft’s next laptop/desktop operating system, Windows 8, would be sporting the same interface I had learned to love, I grew even more excited. I began to create themes and background wallpapers that were my own interpretations of Modern UI, including creating a custom Twitter background. I even revamped my resume to adopt principles of Modern UI such as cleanness, simplicity, and the use of icons and typography.

When an event in Seattle promoting an update for Windows Phone was announced, I was eager to go. Little did I know that my Twitter and Foursquare activity would get me noticed. While I attended the event, I uploaded pictures, posted tweets, and engaged in more social-networking activities. I was simply sharing my excitement with my online community.

About three weeks later, I got an email from someone who worked at Sela Software, asking me if I could give him a call and if I was interested in Microsoft’s design language. When I did get around to calling him, I asked him how he found me. He said that a Microsoft employee saw one of my many tweets, and he noticed I had a passion for Modern UI and saw my Modern UI-themed Twitter background.

The call was unexpected, but pretty exciting. After a while, he asked me if I wanted to design some websites for him, and I would get paid to create some Modern-style UI sites. I said I had some experience in web design, and that I would gladly do the job. So after a few Skype calls with him and a member of Sela’s marketing team, I began to design this website. A bit later, as I was perfecting my own website, he noticed and asked me to make another website for him.

All in all, it has made me happy to pursue something I’m passionate about and even to be sought after for it. I don’t know for sure what the future holds for me, but I hope it’s with technology, and design and user interface are certainly skills I’d love to master.

The Crow

Since early grade school, I’ve been exposed to a wide variety of poetry. First through ninth grade I was homeschooled and taught through the Sunlight Curriculum, a literature-based curriculum. We read different sorts of poems daily, such as works by Robert Frost, Oliver Wendell Holms, Rudyard Kipling, and many others. As I transitioned into 10th grade, I began to write poetry, including hymns and sonnets. I grew to appreciate iambic pentameter and how naturally the sound ebbed and flowed when read aloud.

In the beginning, I sought help from my high school English teacher, because I wasn’t sure about my abilities. When he reviewed it, however, he said that I had a gift for writing poetry, and I was able to convey the many experiences I had had reading and listening to poems in my previous years of learning.

One work of poetry that particularly stood out to me was Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven. It was written in a unique rhyme scheme, and included an ending line in each stanza that rhymed with all of the other ending lines. Poe was considered a writer of more darker themes in his poetry, and this aspect of his work intrigued me. When I read The Raven, I felt compelled to somehow emulate the classic. I had to think of what to write about, however. That was next.

As we studied the poem in English, I looked into ravens and my source said they were beautiful, majestic black birds that had a singing voice. I decided just then that, rather to find a similar topic, I would use the antithesis of such a creature, a crow, as the main element in the story. My poem would be a humorous rendition, a sort of parody, of Poe’s classic work.

I began by making the poem sound eerily similar to *Raven *with the exception that the man was reading a piece of sheet music instead of a novel. When he heard a sound from the “impending door,” he gets startled (similarly to how he gets startled in Poe’s poem) and heads for the door. I built up a similar tension and a familiar, brief reminiscence of a long lost woman he had previously loved. Once he arrives, however, he finds that it is an awkward, “dim-witted bird, and nothing more.”

When the bird charges in and lands inside, he sits and waits for it to respond. I hinted that he himself may have read Poe’s poem, and thus was inspired to hear an eerie sound emit from the bird. But rather than saying something like “Nevermore…”, it remained silent until it lead out an awkward squawk. The anti-climactic nature at this point should be sharply contrasted with the original work’s mysterious and uneasy nature (verging on terror). Then, instead of fleeing out of fright, he begins to swing at it with a baseball bat and try to kill it. When he finally hits it, it flies out of the window, and that is the end of the poem.

While it wouldn’t make much sense to the everyday reader, educated individuals that are familiar with Poe’s work may come to enjoy The Crow and find the humor in it. If you’re curious about reading it, you can find it here: The Crow

Won the NU Embargo Super Smash Bros Brawl Tournament

Ever since it released in 1999, Super Smash Brothers on the Nintendo 64 has always been a favorite game of mine. Around that time, every Sunday, my brother and I would have our two friends over and play that game after church. Not only was it a time to play one of our favorite games, but we grew closer as well. My brother and I, particularly, developed skills in teamwork. Although I would win most of the matches, my brother and I preferred fighting alongside each other. Mario and Kirby were my top characters in the original.

When we purchased a Nintendo GameCube, the first game we bought was the games sequel, Super Smash Bros Melee. This is the game that my brother and I probably invested in the most heavily, since we were around the more competitive age. We’d play with friends, but also we would practice fighting on a team and fighting the highest level CPU characters. My favorite characters to use in Super Smash Bros Melee are Marth and Sheik, but I tried to be somewhat decent with every character. I even took the time to memorize all the character’s movesets.

When rumors about a new Super Smash Bros game began culminating, my brother and I got very excited. It had been more than five years since Melee, and we were ready for an upgrade. Around the same time as the rumor, an official Nintendo Website called Smash Bros DOJO!! was launched, and the title was revealed as Super Smash Bros Brawl. My brother and I checked the website daily for posts and updates regarding new characters, items, stages, trailers, music, and more. We were both happy to see returning characters that we loved, as well as new characters. They only removed 4 characters from Melee, and modified the character of one, adding more than a dozen new characters.

On the midnight release, my brother and I stood in line to purchase Super Smash Bros Brawl. We were very excited to try it the next day. When we played it, we beat the game in just a few days and unlocked all of the characters. Unlocking the remaining stages and other items took longer, but eventually we had unlocked everything, trying each character out, developing new tactics, and playing with friends. We had many Smash Bros fans eager to try the newest installment of the series. My best characters were Zero Suit Samus and Ike, but I made it a point to try every character and develop a tactic to use for each one.

Then my brother and I began to play with other gamers at our local library. Every Monday and Wednesday we would meet after school to play. There were two people that out-performed my brother and I skill-wise, but aside from them, we were in the top percentage of players. When we fought on a team, however, no one could beat us, not even the two best people combined. Although I was away for the event, my brother ended up achieving second place in a Brawl tournament and won a gift card as second place prize.

Later in high school, many of my friends had played Melee when they were growing up like I did, but some had not even tried Brawl. So when I got together with some of them and began to play, we all ended up enjoying it a lot. Not only did it bring back nostalgia for some, but it was a great past time that engaged us and brought us closer. I held a tournament at my house and we played casually in other settings. I had successfully made Super Smash Bros Brawl our class’ game.

In my first year of college, I also began playing against others in Super Smash Bros Brawl. There were many fans like me who enjoyed playing, and it was fun to get to know them. I also learned that, while I wasn’t the most talented player of them all, I was certainly in the top 5 or so. But when Embargo hosted an event for a Super Smash Bros Brawl tournament to raise money to help stop human trafficking, I gladly joined. Since I was new, many of the other participants did not know me, but surely, one by one, I defeated them and won the tournament. As the prize, I received a basket of mountain dew, a t shirt, chips, and other things. Although it wasn’t the largest tournament I had been a part of, it was fun to win one.

Since then, I’ve won a handful more tournaments, and continue to enjoy playing competitively. I hope we can try a team tournament so I can play with my brother and see if we go undefeated just like we did before.

The Tech Standard vs. Underdog Dichotomy

David V. Kimball — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMT

This is a matter I've been meaning to write about for quite a while now.

Apple and Microsoft share an interesting relationship. In the PC realm, Microsoft currently possesses the dominant operating system: Windows. Apple has OS X, which is gaining usage, but still the minority in sales and the smallest percentage of profit compared to their iPhone and iPad lines. According to recent reports from NetMarketShare, Windows currently holds 82.78% of the market, whereas OS X only has 6.70%.

Attention: most of the following information is theoretical and not based on facts. They are my speculations and conjectures.

Undoubtedly, a good number of users among that percentile of OS X users are devoted to their OS and swear by its superiority to Windows. Many of the Windows users bought Microsoft's OS because it was cheap, what they were used to, or seemed the most convenient at the time. Theoretically, not many people purchased it for other reasons.

In the portable device market, we can see similarities...

Back in 2006, Apple dominated the MP3 player market with their iPods. Microsoft released Zune that year in an attempt to compete in the market. There was a small Zune cult that evolved and spread, but not widely enough. Eventually, in 2011, Microsoft stopped selling Zune hardware altogether and is currently in the process of re-branding the whole music sect of MSFT. But a high percentage of Zune users would swear their product was better than any iPod. Most iPod users bought them because they were the standard MP3 player that everyone had, were the most convenient, or they simply didn't know Zune existed.

I'm finding this to be the case with Windows Phone. According to this bgr report, Android dominates the smartphone market by 61%, iOS has 20.5%, and Windows Phone has 5.2%. As the underdog, Windows Phone users are relatively cultish about their devices, and in the iOS realm, there is a lot of ignorance.

For example, watch this Jimmy Kimmel Live video.

Although this may not accurately represent iOS users, it encapsulates my point. Because iPhone is the standard device, most people have purchased it merely because everyone has it, whereas a Windows Phone user may more likely be able to actually identify their device.

Let's say they did a similar study with PC users. Say they gave a Windows 7 Ultimate laptop to current Windows users and called it Windows 8, we would probably see a similar reaction. However, If you handed an OS X Lion-MacBook Pro user an another OS X Lion laptop and told them it was OS X Mountain Lion, they would probably be able to tell you were lying. I would argue they would have a better understanding of their Apple OS than a Windows user would about their Windows OS.

My hypothesis is that when people choose the underdog (Frost's "the path less-traveled by"), they tend to have a very specific, informed reason for doing so. It may be influenced merely by personal preference, or something more meaningful to them.

So...how does this relate to being a hipster? For example, did someone in 2006 choose to purchase a Zune just to be different? Or to be "not mainstream"? It sounds silly, but it's food for thought.

What reasons do you use when making the decision to purchase some kind of technology?

Past, Passions, Purpose

David V. Kimball — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Past

After being accepted to five different liberal arts colleges in the area, I finally decided to go to NU for its extraordinary environment while being the least expensive option with scholarships. I was born in the Tacoma area, and have lived there since moving up to NU. My church background has been heavily non-denomination with some charismatic-style churches early on and more Presbyterian-leaning churches later. I regard myself as a Protestant with Calvinist leanings. I'm the oldest of two brothers. David means "beloved one" and I have passed on my middle name from my grandfather.

Passions

Technology is a big passion for me. I love Windows Phone and Microsoft's new Metro-style design language. It's responsive, intuitive, modern, and clean. Meeting people and getting to know them is another one of my passions. Just prior to college, I received a Washington State Scholar award for finishing in the top 10% of high school students in the state. I also received a "Best Stock 1970-1981" award in a Chevrolet Camaro car show. Lastly, I recently was given the responsibility of handling all of the social media for my father's financial planning business, CK Financial Services.

Purpose

I plan to harness my communication skills and knowledge of business and gear them towards a field in technology, whether it's presenting the newest gadget to an audience, offering tech support, or becoming a programmer. I plan to go wherever God leads me, and am prepared to listen to the people I trust for advice. I have a lot to learn before I can make any major decisions at this point.

The Crow

David V. Kimball — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Once during a late-night hour, I lounged austere and sour
Mulling over a musical piece of unusual score
And when my eyes did close, I heard a cry of interpose
At which I arose, and looked to the offending door
Mused I then, “This strange noise I must explore.
This will be all, and nothing more.”

With pertinence do I recall, the walk through the silent hall
The many dwindling candles spread throughout the room
A vivid song of pearl did in my mind a-swirl
As a mask for my lost girl; my dear long lost Lenore!
The beauty who all humanity did adore
She who had departed, forevermore.

The door's handle I did reach, but stay! I heard a screech
Muffled through the door's ancient oak
And at this I was certain, that at pulling the curtain
A horrendous beast would surely show—
So I looked: but it was only a crow.
A dim-witted bird, and nothing more.

So I opened the ingress to confront the distress
But before my astonished eyes did lie
The crazy-winged floppings amidst the many bird droppings
And sprinkling feathers ‘round: wherefore
I lurched and sneezed with quite a roar!
Chaos, chaos, all the more!

Before I understood this mess, the crow flew in (with no finesse)
All sprawling and sideways it did impend
And when it came a-landing, I just stood there standing
“Most surely this has happened before;
Possibly in some sort of old folklore?
“Yes, a forgotten poem, and nothing more.”

There it perched on the bust, of some Greek-god I trust
Cocking its head in a doleful manner.
It looked grossly dull upon that decorated skull
And I waited for it to say a word or four
But standing there became quite a bore
Yet I stayed-just to make sure!

I watched as my soul grew quiet, I wanted it to talk like parrot.
For I know I missed a companion
Which got me thinking, and led my heart to sinking
On the figure of my lost damsel Lenore!
The one who was christened Lenore!
Reminiscing thus, and nothing more.

Amidst my unruly thought, I heard! I noticed! I caught!
A sound from the awkward bird of ebony
Intelligible at best, but still I obsessed!
“You have completed the chore!
Now just a word or two – I implore!”
A noise it made, but nothing more.

In place of wanted talk, it merely let out a squawk.
Awhile my malice was slowly building
“Speak! You dumb bird! I thought I heard
A word emit from your beak for sure!
I won’t give up: this means war!
“A permanent battle forevermore!”

At this the crow flinched, and so stiffly it clinched
That the bust which it sat cracked right to the ground.
With the bird in the air, and my gaze with its stare
We met eye-to-eye: that crow and I bore
The burden of unadulterated, painful eyesore
A pathetic staring contest, and nothing more.

As I grabbed a bat, I swung and I swat
I swirled and twirled and mingled and mired
Until the bird I did hit, and with its wing split
It flew out the window; right into the snow
So I closed the shades as I foreswore
To teach that crow nevermore!

David V. Kimball

The Best Clockwise Alternative: Sync Your Calendars

The Problem

Layer 1: Calendar Sync

Layer 2: Scheduling Links With Cal.com

Layer 3: The Team Scheduling Hack

The Full Stack

Was Clockwise Worth It?

Focus

ToDos and ToDon'ts

Focus in Software

More Present Family Time

Focusing Without Trying

The History of My Personal Website

Metro-Inspired

Beyond Metro

Moving to Static Site Generators

Discovering the Indie Web

Discovering Astro

2026 Design

Design Philosophy

Using This Theme

Design Inspiration

What's Next

My Obsidian Plugins and Themes

Plugins

Themes

Templates

Tooling

Vault CMS: Use Obsidian To Write Astro Blog Posts

What is Vault CMS?

Set Up Instructions

6 Months In The Making

Obsidian as a CMS

Turning Ideas Into Completed Projects

Capture and Execute

Frictionless Idea Capture

Basic Initial Sorting

Fleshing Out and Planning

Time Blocking and Execution

Daily Practices and One-Off Tasks

Send Off

How to Use Bitwarden to Manage Your Passwords

Emergency Situation

Video Guide

Core Philosophy

Operating Principles

Setup Steps

Optional Steps

Astro Suite for Obsidian

Contents

Background

A Perfect Match

Astro Composer Plugin for Obsidian

Astro Suite Obsidian Vault

Astro Suite Obsidian Vault (Minimal)

Common Technical Barriers and Limitations

Roadmap

Example Custom Vault

Download Links

Platform Self-Referentialism

Cool Minimal Astro Blog Themes

What is Astro?

Zaduma

Astro Modular

Astro Nano / Astro Micro

Minimal

Chiri

Which One?!

LLM SEO - Get Cited in AI Responses

Contents

Get Mentioned in ChatGPT, Grok, and Claude

Understanding Search Everywhere Optimization

Making Your Website Machine-Readable

Creating Human-Consumable Content

UX Signals That Machines Understand

Building Authority Through Signals

Final Thoughts

The Illusion Of Ownership

Contents