Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Biggs On: Dress In The Workplace

There is some subjectivity to this topic. Obviously what you wear to work will depend on what your job entails. I’m going to be speaking from the perspective of the day-to-day programmer. I’d say probably about 15 years ago (give or take) you would typically see programmers dress anywhere from business casual to business professional (i.e. dress shoes, button down shirt and a tie). Currently I wear business casual which is a nice collared shirt, khaki’s and nice shoes, but that is because it is the dress code of my firm and I will adhere to those policies. Personally, I don’t buy into “the better you dress the better you work”.

I could never wear a suit and/or a tie to work everyday and be as productive as I am when I wear jeans or even lounge pants. Honestly the more comfortable I dress the easier it is for me to focus on writing code. When my brain isn’t distracted by the attempted asphyxiation of a tie or the constricted nature of some dress shoes, that extra energy can be directed toward problem solving and writing code.

Honestly, I think that is one of the reasons why I am actually more productive on the days when I need to work from home. Some may argue that working at home presents more opportunities for distractions, but that isn’t the case for me. The fact that I am sitting in a far more comfortable office chair and wearing far more comfortable clothes is a better environment for my brain to focus. After all, it is the same desk and chair that I use when I do any kind of extra curricular programming at home.

I do understand the rationale for wearing professional clothing. In fact in college I had a course on conflict resolution and negotiation and we actually had an exercise over this exact topic and I was on the side that defended professional dress. I did the research on professional dress but, despite what I found, I still believe that the more comfortable you dress the easier it is to be more productive.

/cheers

SoapBox: I Can’t Wait Until November

I am so frakking tried of all the political commercials and the party bashing. I don’t care what side of the fence you sit on, what is the damn point of the merciless verbal bashing of the other party or supporters of the other party. I’m glad that I have DVR because every other commercial is a political slander ad. I don’t even turn live TV on anymore and I won’t until November 7th when I know that I will be free of all the frakking ads.

The hypocrisy is disgusting, the media just perpetuates it and the Internet throws gasoline on the flames. If someone like Natalie Portman or Tom Hanks expresses who they support, they are worshiped; but when Clint Eastwood exercises his right to free speech, or Stacey Dash tweets her support for the opposition, then everyone is quick to demonize and chastise. Show me where it is written that if you are a celebrity you must always support the same candidate the rest of Hollywood supports. Why are celebrities treated so much differently then everyone else??

This is why I admire some celebrities, like Mila Kunis (who, btw, shares an opposite political viewpoint then myself) who treats the social networks like they should be treated, to socialize. She doesn’t flaunt her personal philosophies in an attempt to sway others to vote like she does. She just likes to reach out to her millions of fans. It breaks down that barrier between celebrity and average citizen. Celebrities are people too and have the same rights to free speech as everyone else.

People will vote for who they feel is the right person for the job. Verbally berating them and making blanket derogatory remarks about their political affiliation isn’t going to change their mind. In fact it may have a greater probability of further enforcing who they are voting for; viciously attacking the other party only makes your own party look bad. It’s time to grow up and act like adults, folks!

On the same note, don’t let others (celebrities, on Facebook, on Google+, on Twitter, etc) dictate to you who you should vote for. Learn about the issues, learn where each candidate stands on that issue, and vote for the one you think best represents how you feel about the issue. Have a mind of your own for frak’s sake!

/endsoapbox

The MMO Times: Lots of Beta Going On

Issue 49: Greetings again, Gamers! I hope all of you have been enjoying your time in Pandaria (if that is your game of choice right now, if not then I hope you are enjoying the realms of your other games). I took an extra couple of days for this issue so we could have a few additional headlines to talk about. There hasn’t been too much going on in the MMO world since there was so much that has gone live in the past couple of weeks.

In this issue there are several beta announcements. You will see beta news for RIFT, The War Z and Marvel Heroes. Some interesting statistics for World of Tanks as well as some more content news for Allods Online and Guild Wars 2. So if you need a break from your adventuring, or your realms are offline for maintenance. then check out the following headlines to pass the time. Read on and game on, friends! 

The MMO Times: Emerge from the Mists

Issue 48: Hello Gamers, I know there are probably quite a few of you leveling your way through Pandaria (either on a main or you have moved to an alt already). Hopefully you take a break from your panda-induced adventures to take a look at this weeks MMO headlines.

I think the launch of Mists is also the reason for the short post. There hasn’t been too much news going on because everyone is leveling up to 90 or checking out the new Monk class. You can find more information on Blade & Soul in this issue, as well as SWTOR and TSW patches that went live. Read on and game on, friends!

WoW: Mists of Pandaria Impressions (thus far)

I’m going to try to talk about what I think of the Mists of Pandaria expansion without revealing too much about what is happening lore-wise. I know its only been a couple of days since the expansion has gone live, but I feel like I already have enough to talk about to warrant this post.

The premise is the war between the Horde and Alliance has heated up to volcanic proportions as a result of the senseless demolition of Theramore. The fighting between the two factions has brought them to the shores of Pandaria, a peaceful and lost island of the Pandarians. The presence of this island has only now been revealed thanks to Deathwing’s attempted re-ascension. Now both sides are battling for control of this island and the Pandarian’s are stuck in the middle, forced to choose a side.

I know the European launch seemed to have gotten off to a rocky start but I think the seamless launch in the US went off flawlessly. I would even go so far as to say that this is probably the smoothest launch Blizzard has had with a WoW expansion.

I haven’t played the Horde side yet, but so far the Alliance side is pretty fun. The battle pretty much starts right away as you are sent to the island in search of something very precious that has been lost. Although, about half way through questing in the Jade Forest you are ready to smack the little punk. I have only just begun my adventure and I have only reached level 86 so far (because of that whole “real life” thing that gets in the way).

I have also tried out the pet battles, which is pretty much WoW-style Pokemon, but its still pretty entertaining. If you are an avid pet collector, like my wife is, then you will find this component to be very fun and will only exacerbate your addiction. The nice thing is, since pets are not account wide, it doesn’t matter what toon you are on, or what server you are on, any pet you capture as a result of your pet battle, all of your toons will have it.

I am anxious to reach the max level and try out the scenarios, new dungeons and new raids. Perhaps I will have a follow up post after I have progressed a bit more into the new content. Feel free to post your thoughts and comments from your MoP experiences thus far.

/Cheers!

Biggs On: Replacement Refs

We are now three weeks into the NFL season and it seems every week the calls from the replacement referees seem to be getting worse. There will be blood soon. I suspect that right now the NFL and the Referees Union are playing chicken, while the rest of us twist and turn in anguish as we see bad call after bad call. I have seen more and more people suggesting a boycott of the games by either not attending or turning the TV off. As avid of a football fan as I am, I am actually considering this suggestion.

Unfortunately for me, turning off football is like asking a crack addict to put down the syringe. I can appreciate what both sides are trying to accomplish, neither party wants to feel like they are getting screwed over. Sadly the fans and the players are the ones getting screwed over while this feud persists. I’m not suggesting that either side just capitulate, the professional referees should feel like they are properly compensated, but the NFL shouldn’t just bow down to the unions (unions in this country have enough power as it is).

It’s a conundrum that I wish I had an answer to, not that I have the power to influence the NFL directly. Week 4 is approximately a quarter of the way through the regular season. I think if something doesn’t happen this week, and we have another weekend of blundered calls, I think we are going to see a huge backlash and even I may consider leaving the TV off until something is resolved.

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