Tag Archives: Apple

June 27, 2024 · 01:17

The side not illuminated

The BBC (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5111qxl2nro) is giving us ‘Apple in breach of law on App Store, says EU’ We get a few sides, but one side is not given to us. We are given “European Union regulators have accused Apple of being in breach of new laws designed to rein in big tech companies” It sounds nice, but at present the station “rein in big tech companies” is at least sanctimonious. We are also given “The firm charges developers an average of 30% commission on its App Store” and the penalty is given as we are given “The firm faces a potential fine of up to 10% of its global revenue if it fails to comply with the rules”. You see the one part we are NOT given is that all these developers get a channel to publish their work. The get their million by harassing people with advertising. These developers have no interest in giving gamers a real gaming satisfaction (some, but massively too little). So the EU should consider the fallout. You see Apple and Google could do two things. Pull all the games with an advertising channel, stating that this is not permitted. The second part is that they can start charging for the service. The bulk of these gaming ‘companies’ will soon thereafter collapse. You see when all these companies get CHARGED for spreading these games and cyber security. The net thing we see is that these companies will go somewhere else and the dangers of servicing hackers becomes rather large. 

The next part is that this becomes a new setting where the UAE and Saudi Arabia will get the option to offer the same thing Apple and Google did, but charging a mere 5% to 10%, the rest will probably going to China, making the EU and US lose even more revenue. 

All this because the shareholders of Epic Games wanted more revenue and they got this by throwing a tantrum like a child so that they get charged less for services. And lets be clear, they were eager to accept the deal when they were small, now that they are big they can afford to pay for the services. But that is not the only part. Epic Games wanted another path and when even one of these 3rd parties get to be hacked and the players get the damage, Epic Games will face the largest class action lawsuit in history. At that point I wonder how the shareholders will reflect on a pay cycle that will cost them billions. They had a safe environment with Apple and Google, but when that falls away these two will help to give the victims all the numbers and all the support they need to clean out the vaults of all the game developers who took the greedy way out. In addition the EU will get a new problem. As game makers fall flat and optionally move to China or the Middle East the EU will lose revenue. In the last 8 years 10 games made $13,000,000,000. So what will the EU do when that goes to China (or the Middle East)? There are over 200 companies, 105 made over $500,000,000. This was a bad call. These politicians have a socialistic mindset, Take from the rich, but they forget that these rich companies set the foundation of growth. Sergey Brin, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos were real innovators. The mediocrity of Microsoft is pushing them back more and more. And whilst they might be shown as the richest, they are losing more and more ground. Now with the EU, more and more business will move to better (read: non-European and American) shores. 

And the EU did this to themselves. Consider the DMA:

  • Business users who depend on gatekeepers to offer their services in the single market will have a Fairer business environment (But these services come at a cost, no more Freebees)
  • allow third parties to inter-operate with the gatekeeper’s own services in certain specific situations. (If hacked those services become nullified)

Just to part, the first will nullify these innovators, they cannot afford these services and they will go to a cheap solution making them a target for hackers. The second part will end some games, gamers have no patience and no humour. So when their game stops they will all cry like little children, their toy was taken away and when a hacker does get to upper hand, the class actions will come calling for all these companies. It is a war that the EU cannot win and the larger companies will become empty shells (my prediction). 

Until this first case was decided there was merely a threat of things, now it is coming to pass. 

I wonder what happens to the ‘fake’ economy in Europe when this starts. When advertising through gaming stops. What will the damage be? Amazon, Apple and Google have other means for getting advertising revenue. The others? Anyones guess, but there is a chance that a few hundred companies are sweating because no revenue meant no cost and that could stop now. So they need to find bankers. And what will those bankers demand? All issues that the DMA (Digital Markets Act) did not consider. I believe that this Apple case is opening a can of worms  no one is ready for and the implications are long term.

And now it is Thursday, Enjoy this day when you get to this point.

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June 20, 2024 · 18:02

Changing the game

There was a setting that was designed with the recently departed Google Stadia and the Amazon Luna in mind. I set the premise to 50 million systems in phase one and up to 200 million in phase two in mind. Alas Amazon wasn’t attracted to such a sales venue. Last night I pondered a few items and I occurred to me that the Apple Vision Pro was equally set to that premise. There is a limitation, they would have to be able to run Unreal Engine 5 environments. When that is possible the rest would auto fill in, the other parts would not need UE5. Take that and like it to the Apple Arcade and they would make Microsoft irrelevant within a year, optionally to years. It is the setting that will show the other players (like Kingdom Holding) that they lost out. When this setting goes to apple, they can define a new niche customer base. Apple Arcade matter because not everyone can afford the Vision Pro. Even if a cheaper version comes to market close to 75 million people would be left in the cold. And I reckon that Apple wants the entire cluster of people. The fact that you get an arcade setting that could be upgraded to Vision Pro almost sells itself. And my predictions were conservative. 200 million is a little over 10% of the entire cluster with Indonesia, Bangladesh and Egypt leading the way. Places were Apple have great growth potential. That and a largely untapped advertisement potential as well. In the end It is a market that will end Microsoft, it gaming and their edge population (the little they had in the first place). I have been going over the numbers in the first place and I can see no downfall here. 

Apple’s first task is to set the Vision Pro to deal with Unreal Engine 5, it is the cornerstone of success, or at least it will be. In the end Apple will have to open (or enhance) a data cloud in Saudi Arabia with later on added clusters in Indonesia and Egypt. But I reckon that when they pass 100 million added people it would be a trivial expenditure. And if they surpass the 10% group (which requires data insight that I cannot lay my fingers on) the entire setting will cost Microsoft and Facebook revenue that they currently think is ‘safe’. But they didn’t count on a wildcard and it was lost because they never looked behind them. Their was billions in revenue and it was left on the floor. I wonder if Apple ever considered that. Apple has no blame, their mission statement was based on their niche market. But technology and requirements changed. With Brics it changes even more. Now they have Tencent Technology to content with. Tencent might not have the Vision Pro, but my system was initially designed without it. The Vision Pro has as  see it a larger benefit, but it is a mere ‘nice to have’. You see, sales engineering has a three tiered awareness approach. It is set to ‘must tell everyone’, ‘nice to have’ and the rest. When you focus on the first line, most people tend to ignore the ‘nice to have’ but it is there that the setting gives people outside the designated clusters are found. So don’t set to the wealthy, just make sure that they see the upside, and Vision Pro would do that. It sets the premise of a solution from 5 billion in phase one up to 18 billion in phase two and that will not include advertisement money over a dozen countries. I reckon that this is more than I can imagine (because this has not been done before) and several parts were found be looking behind me, something the current captains of technology industry aren’t doing. They are all looking forward, to the mystical AI (which does not exist). I decided to look at what was forgotten and tinkered it into a new mould. This implies innovation patents and all that is outside of the AR and printable displays (see other stories on this blog). All that and more are a future stage for the implementor of this solution, which was exactly why I got to Kingdom holding. On the far end of that, there was the real estate upgrade I considered. In light of what I noticed around Dubai. A side not considered, because all these web solutions couldn’t think out of their pond. But water is here it is and as such they didn’t consider it and it is here were I saw a side that could elevate Tencent and Huawei to a larger profit margin, not just for Dubai, but a global solution that allow real estates on a global setting to elevate their business to unfold. Dubai makes it clear. Yet it will not stop there. As the song goes New York, London, Paris, Munich they will all see the benefit and after that all metropolitan areas will follow suit. So do you think I was kidding when I said that Google et al fumbled the ball here? They ignored billions in revenue and they are all chasing a false AI dream. In a few years they will realise that a hype is merely a path to awareness and not towards revenue. Revenue needs to be real and achievable. For that we get “fake and deeply flawed Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rampant”, a quote by Frederike Kaltheuner based on works of over 20 writers. You see what the people regard s AI is merely to sides if it. LLM (Large Language Models) and DML (Deeper Machine Learning), both powerful and both opening all kinds of doors, but it is not AI, or Real AI as they now call it. Like other awareness hypes created, it isn’t real and in the mean time I created the idea for something real that could the right party give up to 18 billion a year. So when did these parts hit you, does it make sense that Google and Amazon lay off around 35,000 jobs? I will let you decide on that. In the mean time I will place more IP online so that it can only continue as Freeware. The Public Domain will show the rest on what they all missed out on. It might give me some cash, it might not. But I Will get the last laugh. I will have kept it out of the hands of Microsoft.

Have a great Thursday.

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June 14, 2024 · 12:30

The teeth that bite

It is a phase we see, the teeth are the realisation that issues are catching up with the world. They knew already, but they decided to keep you all in the dark. For this we need to go to ‘Will China Replace the US As Saudi Arabia’s Main Ally?’ (at https://thediplomat.com/2024/06/will-china-replace-the-us-as-saudi-arabias-main-ally/) there we are given the setting that China is ‘optionally’ replacing the United States as the main ally of Saudi Arabia. You might wonder what this is about. You see, I predicted this happening on June 3rd 2023, a little over a year ago (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/06/03/would-you-believe-that/) in ‘Would you believe that?’ I even inferred that earlier, but that was more speculation then the application of Business Intelligence. A year ago, Now lets be clear, I am nowhere near as gifted in analyses as the people in The Diplomat are (or should be) so this is where I got to ‘they decided to keep you all in the dark’, the writing as on the wall and it will become worse. Even as the United Stated is no playing nice to the Middle Eastern nations (Saudi Arabia and the UAE mainly). Their need for cheap oil, their need to keep involved but it is too little too late. Saudi Arabia is catching on and China is there to take up the slack. Brics was an element, but a small one. China was already catering to the needs of Saudi Arabia. 

And that is also my new setting of sales. You see I created the IP that could give Saudi Arabia (or the Kingdom Holding, owned by Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud) And it could give either 5 billion a year in phase one and continuing to 20 billion a year in a later stage. Billions deserted by Google and averted by Amazon and Tencent Technologies as well (Microsoft was not invited). It merely required them to open their eyes. And with this setting there is a clear showing of elements where these players are shown where they lost out. For the most they are all on the AI horse (which does not yet exist) and more importantly, as this IP matures, the moment LLM (Large Language Models) and Deeper Machine learnings grow up and interact, the setting will become even brighter. One pillar of this could cost Facebook a little over 10% in the beginning with around 20%-30% later on. All because the captains of industry were asleep at the wheel. 

And do they connect? Yes, when China wakes up to this revenue and they see that they can go after the treasure trove of Facebook, they will have a vindication of TikTok, more importantly, TikTok could become the main driver in the Middle East, which should partially hurt Google as well (an unintended side effect). Now that the ties between Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are strengthening, the game changes even more. When Bangladesh is reeled in the loss for America and Wall Street is nearly complete. Egypt is already on board, so 3 out of 4 are on the side of Saudi Arabia, all that because people are running after hypes and (more often then not) asleep at the wheel. 

Perhaps a little reminder is in order. Chasing hypes is the consequence of marketing, not sales. One is wishful, the other is an achievement. China seems to have it partially worked out, how far they have come is unknown to me, but the setting that the Diplomat needed to give credence to this stage implies that the controlling powers are now scared that the stage is taken away from them. I think it is already being taken away, but we need to see the news on that (if they even report on this). 

The stage is set to the discussion on China replacing the United States and the west, but the one part that they do not report on is the impact that this economically has. You see, this would push well over $135,000,000,000 from the US and EU towards China. It seems like it will be ‘regarded’ as small fry, but the lack of these funds will definitely hurt the EU and the US, should my IP have the larger impact than the stage changes even further. Consider the UK reporting on a loss of 4 billion, the EU on 65 billion and the US 66 billion loss, how much tighter will their belts end up being? In that same setting Beijing will get the extra revenue which will open door to second and third tier revenue. 

We can argue that I am not seeing this correctly and that would be fair. But I have been right for well over a year, the writing was on the walls on this one. And consider one little extra. I came up with the IP. Not Amazon and not Google, so when you realise that they were asleep how much revenue did they miss by chasing a non existing AI horse? And Apple? Not sure where they stand, they have been minding their own niche which is fair enough. Yet when we consider that they too left (for other reasons) billions in revenue. What learning should we take from that? I say learning because when you are focussed on a niche that is part of a market and you mind your store, you are not doing anything wrong. We need to also see this. But Amazon and Google should have picked up on this. They cannot hide that failure. Merely my point of view.

Have a great day.

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May 12, 2024 · 23:42

Microsoft and Microsoft?

I am back after 10 weeks of open heart surgery (life is a bitch). So I had some time to think.
Yes dubious is it, but I get a doze of Google bullying me to install something which I never wanted. At least 50 attempts were made and then at 02:00 I got a message and as I reacted I pressed the wrong button and now I have that bloody add-on EVERYWHERE. So the company that was about user choices, was about customer first has become nothing more than a second Microsoft. Well done Google. Perhaps this is the moment I switch to iOS.

But that is not what this is about. You see in Saudi Arabia there are all kinds of plans and they look very futuristic. But in this A thought occurred You see the line and Mukaab need waste management, any building does, but when you have that many people the numbers start adding up fast. So my mind started to grind the cogs. In 2021 I wrote the other path (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/05/20/the-other-path/) it is one of a few parts but it reverberated in me. You see that brought me to the concept of printable displays. You cannot solve all the parts, but what will be saved when you enter a stage of a paperless society? 

All that junk mail and advertisements stricken from waste management? It should be quite the saving. Add to that a setting for AR and the setting becomes a larger fuel point. Zo why printable displays? Consider that this display is as small or as large as you want it to be, not some x-inch display, be a flat surface and these could be anywhere in these places. Advertising, informing and optionally advising with optional QR codes. No paper used. 

The fun part is that these displays can be private (shops) public (malls and open places). People will be informed and they will be alerted to any event. Yes displays do the same but consider that Mukaab has hundreds of shops, hundreds of eateries and hundreds of events. How much paper is involved? The Line will be even bigger and a bigger headache in waste management, as such paperless seems the way to go. Now you cannot dismiss all paper (that would be silly), but consider the junk mail you had in one week and multiply that by 3,000,000 that is one saving worth considering. 

They already advertised that Mukaab has holographical options, now consider AR to add the shops. Consider the installation of secondary systems to draw in the crowds and these systems could be globally deployed. I wrote about that in the past. There is a interesting setting. In a time when innovation should be reigning, Google is about to become just another Microsoft. I wonder who programs their Generative AI, The fact that it ignored “I don’t want this” is enough to make me wonder whether the only worthy players remaining are Apple and Amazon. Time will tell.

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March 1, 2024 · 23:53

The dream connecting

This started yesterday, I was contemplating yesterdays article. I thought there was no connection, now I am not certain. I have been through a lot, my sternum was cut in half, my heart got a new valve and that was the start of a few issues. One if them is NSW housing stating that turning down an apartment on reasons of heart failure is not enough a reason, even the setting that I am in ICU did not sway them. So as such I have 2 weeks to get the papers in order. My life sucks!

So the dream was weird. It was like in some tropical French place. He was handing out food to all who wanted it. He was in relaxed clothing handing out palm leaves with fish and a side order of rice to all who wanted it. I also joined the queue and I took a leave from him. He said ‘hello’ and ‘welcome. Drinks are on the tables’ I said thank you mr Bowie and I started to turn whilst he continued ‘Mr Bowie is my dad, I am David’ Sorry David, I said and took a step towards the patio with benches and coolers with ice-water and drinks. I took something that looked like lemon based and I was surprised, it was lemon based with rum, sweet and delicious. It went nicely with the fish. The fish was lovely as was the rice. 

Whilst eating I was watching the people. They seem overly happy to be in this place. Some of the women were flirty and talking with him, but they kept their distance. His wife was still alive as such she would not be here. So why was I there?

It bothered me, I was still alive. So why was I allowed a look?

Then it came to me you see the EA list is set by the shakers and makers. Those who made the ranks at EA didn’t want that list to change, but the next iteration of gamers think differently, they see different sides and Streaming games will give them that and Apple and Android with their games advertisings will suddenly see a new rankings evolve. That is where Luna and its Tencent opposite can set new strides. It will be at some coin, but there is a chance that it will ruin the day that Apple and Google saw no further then there bankroll. I was stating that this will set a change of 50 million gamers, it could be more a whole lotta more and that is what is at stake. 50 or 100 million gamers who have had enough of advertisement. My line cancels out on 225 million gamers in stage two. If that proves to be correct it would create a streamer player list at the top, followed by Sony and then Nintendo. The question who could it be? A player who set the mark will win 

(as long as it isn’t Microsoft) the nice side is that streaming is new, really new and it will not hinder Nintendo or Sony, they have their own niches. This will be a new niche. A new order of gaming, where the happy moments are counted, not the achievements. And face it, can some of the older games even consider achievements?

So this side and the previous article give a more structural soundness. I just didn’t see it that way yesterday. But now I know more, there is always more. 

Enjoy the end of this week

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January 30, 2024 · 00:57

The Apple conundrum

Yup, it is a mystery and honestly I do not get it. Now lets be clear they haven’t done anything wrong. But a few cogs started grinding after an article in the Guardian. The article (at https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/dec/11/apple-macbook-pro-m3-review-beloved-laptop-is-back-in-black-battery-screen) was placed last year, on December 11th. There we see the new MacBook Pro and it is a beauty, especially when you have been exposed to silver editions for about a decade, that jet black is a black diamond, nothing less. It isn’t cheap, but the Apple M3 Max chip with 16‑core CPU, 40‑core GPU and 16‑core Neural Engine can be upgraded to 128GB RAM (I would select the 64GB RAM for sentimental reasons) and can be upgraded with 8TB storage, a little much to my liking, so I would chose the 4TB edition. I wrote some time ago about an Apple/Adobe deal and Apple should consider it for the configuration I am ‘considering’. You see vloggers either go big or they can go home. The market is that way and too many are working below par. They either strap up or become irrelevant and the MacBook pro could allow for that. But that is not why this article is here. You see, Apple has another stallion in its stables

The old iMac’s were not my thing (I had the G4, G5), the old iMac didn’t do it for me, this one is a beauty and for vloggers the workstation to have, or is it? You see the iMac can only have 24GB of RAM, which is enough for the bulk of all vloggers, but the limit of 2TB is not. I have no idea why Apple didn’t allow for the upgrade to 4TB. Now, with the vlogging groups and medium format digital camera’s (at 100MP), having 4TB makes perfect sense. Why don’t the people at Apple see that? Doing the Microsoft path with extra external drives doesn’t hold the mustard. And this is not a time setting, the MacBook Pro is out for a while now, that means that in addition to that, Apple had 3-8 months to mull things over. So why wasn’t this done? The iMac is gorgeous, as such any vlogger would love many hours behind their workstation with that 24” screen making their videos look absolutely perfect. And yes, to get that level of result Adobe is pretty much a minimum requirement. Nothing against the GoPro and its software, which (as far as I have seen it) is pretty good, but today’s vlogger needs to edit and past basic options the only real player here (with no competition) is Adobe. 

All this is pretty much basic information out in the open, am I the only one seeing that? Consider that 2TB is a lot, but it already needed the operating software, other software (whatever you also need it for) and 100GB for the complete Adobe suite (as far as I can tell), now at this point you will see that 2TB is enough. However, 4K vloggers need 45GB per hour, as such you require the max of that iMac within a year and then you better clean up fast and much of it. This is why the 4TB is enough and gives you enough time. Consider one project, 2 hours, editing space that is quickly amounting to 200GB space, so 5 of these and the first TB is gone. Space gets lost pretty quick and those salespeople relying on you keeping your space clean have never considered the creative mind. This is why the 4TB matters and the MacBook Pro does that (even more then needed), so why wasn’t the iMac offered that option at present? I get that it might not have been an option when it released, but now? And consider that this requirement was clearly visible for almost a year. The lack of space doesn’t make sense to me. Should that person rely on medium format digital camera’s that space gets lost even faster. Consider that this could allow for PSD files up to 2GB (their Maximum), consider that a photoshoot could be anything between 50-300 images making this a 600GB nightmare and nightmare is the right word. You see any pro photographer has 1-2 photoshoots a day and managing system space is not their highest priority, making the Apple stance even less comprehensible (to me at least).

I see a lack of interactions, a lack of outreach to the photographer environment (a slight assumption) and in all this Apple is coming up short. What frightens me is that I expect these shortcomings from Microsoft, to see them from Apple is a little bewildering. But that could be me.

Enjoy your day.

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January 29, 2024 · 15:40

Pushing buttons

That is the name of the exercise and this time it is not just having a go at Microsoft, it is time to call Apple to attention as well. You see we have been pushing buttons on a keyboard for years, optionally for decades. Yet when did we see ACTUAL evolution in these contraptions? The most interesting evolutionary step was seen in CSI Miami in 2002 when an episode evolved around a laser keyboard display.

It didn’t go far enough, but it was a start, since then for 20 years. two hundred and forty months no less, both Apple and Microsoft have been spinning all kinds of innovation, but leaving a larger gap. You see, the world is globalising and both were part of that, but they never embraced the world, they merely pushed American values which are not the same.

Now consider this image below. The black keys are small LCD screens (or something similar). 

This is not a leap, this technology, all parts exist. On the iMac you can literally change the keyboard on your screen, a decent case can be made to make the iPad the Keyboard to ANY other Mac, but that is a different conversation. You see, the next part makes sen se if you know more than one language, this example shows us an Arabic version.

A setting that many have seen (millions actually). Japan, China, Korea, Arabic Nations, Pakistan, Ukraine and that list goes on for a while, even in Europe (France, UK) they have different setups. 

So here is the screen below

A simple example from Hiragana. With a home font (the white character) and Hiragana. This was not rocket science. The elements have been around for DECADES and Apple kept itself asleep at the wheel (no one cares about that snoring dumbo Microsoft). A setting that is strangling market research, Advertising and any corporations with foreign needs. I get it, such a keyboard (for now) isn’t cheap (expected $399), but over time as these edges of technology are explored more and more, the prices will go down and two multi trillion companies couldn’t figure this out? And Apple is even in more hot water. They could have set this up by having an iPad (which has 99% of these abilities) at the ready, to make that iPad a Bluetooth keyboard for any other Mac (MacBook or iMac) and they just didn’t look that far? Too many blinders mister Timmy the Cook? 

I wrote about these part (not to the complete degree now) a few years ago and none of these two entertainment jollies (clowns seem too harsh an expression) didn’t catch up? This is the issue with those proclaiming innovation and iterating themselves into the next decade year after year. Innovation comes from making the jump no one else considered and commerce is nice. You see when Apple comes with this idea at $399, someone will reengineer the idea into a $129 solution that works. It is iteration grown from innovation, but Apple made the innovative step, from there evolution comes. Was that hard? 

Are there issues?
Of course there are. Pricing might be a problem, but the keyboard has been neglected for decades, time to open that rusty door. In the end Apple can only start the setting, what comes next is up to the actual innovator. At the ready the iPad could become the start of new Bluetooth technology, which could lead to iPad based keyboards (more rectangle) and with a decently stronger screen. All options in front of the eyes of the Apple cook who seemingly overlooked it all and never looked beyond the blinders they all had. And as for the issues. Is it my job to fix all their shortcomings? Nope it is not, but with the IP at the ready and optionally a massive pay package, I can hand over some idea showing the others that I have a much stronger hand that is not out in the open (Amazon take notice please). You see Amazon could see this too, which means that multi character set design systems will take a much larger stage next, a stage that Azure/Oracle doesn’t actively has and that gives opportunity. You see the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is investing $200,000,000 in all kinds of IT solutions, the UAE has a $2,000,000,000 portfolio ready for startups. 2.2 billion and Amazon has options, so who else is asleep at the wheels (plural intended). Is it all to be had? Of course not, but gaining a slice of a 2.2 billion dollar cake is better then nothing and some people need to realise that the Middle East is here to stay and it is investing. So why not wake up, have a coffee and see where that could lead you? 

It is merely a thought, but who else gave you the option to consider a slice of a 2.2 billion yummy cake? And it all started with a keyboard, so where are these so called innovators now?

Enjoy Monday. 

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January 14, 2024 · 22:25

Creating new gaming IP

That happened to me today. I think it started yesterday. Yesterday I watched the walkthrough of God of War 2. I hadn’t seen that since I played the game in 2007 on the PS2. I might have replayed it in 2008. I am not certain. I do know I played the game more than once. But since then the PS3, PS4 and PS5 came and I forgot about it. I replayed the God of War 3 on PS4 (remaster) as well as the original release and watching GoW2 set something in motion and it came to fruition with GoW3. To be clear. This is not some GoW clone, or sequel setting. I believe that would be Santa Monica Studio IP and it would be theirs. I suddenly thought it through as a new IP. More of an RPG but set in ancient Greece. Set in Byzantine Greece (around 400AD) we get a shifting setting but that could benefit the story. I am not revealing too much here, as I am still working things out. But consider what we know, important is also what we do not know and we get the optional setting for a very different IP. An RPG that involves the Greek gods, Greece, history and events that are often overlooked or forgotten. A new kind of educational IP with optional slash and sneaky sneaky (I was always up for sneaky sneaky). Now consider that setting and with two options. Normal and VR play. I do not know too much on VR play as I never played it, but I reckon that if we get this right the interest might be enormous. Even now I am thinking outside the box. Making the player optionally learn ancient greek in the process. There is so much out there and so much to be included that it almost boggles the mind (almost is not always a given). Did you know that it was Aristotle who came up with the Aristotle’s Hole. A pinhole camera in 500BC. There was no film yet, but the foundation of the Camera Obscura is that old. So what happens when we twist that in another way? What happens when the journey is not slaying, but educational? What happens if the game is about repairing (or breaking and repairing)? When (apart from the movie Wreck it Ralph) did you see a game that was about fixing stuff? It doesn’t seem to appealing, but it could be. You merely need to twist the setting on what is broken and why it is broken. 

I myself have always been a huge fan or replayability. As such the RPG has a little snag. You need to create allegiance and throughout the game that allegiance is the guiding star in the game. But what happens when you replay it with another allegiance? What will you fix then, there will be overlap, there will be some similarity, but consider that one part is never seen again for each of the directions you chose. Also, we need to hit other snags. Not complications, merely the outcome of choices you make in the game. So you could replay the game several times giving you optionally other outcomes and other challenges. To this degree a game was never created because those in charge wanted 99% coverage on one game. That time has gone and passed. The impact of Skyrim is making that clear as day and the fact that some people have well over 1000 hours invested in that game is ample evidence that there is space for such a game. I would say that this is up to Santa Monica Studios, but they have their own IP (and they are busy with a new game). So this gets to go towards the non Microsoft indie developers. I still think Amazon is the best choice, but a case now could be made for Tencent and their handheld. I am not ruling out Apple with their Arcade. Yet Apple tends to ‘hide’ in niches and that is not a place where truly great games are made, good games yes, great games a lot less so. And I like my IP to grow beyond expectations. As such I am not ruling out Apple, but I am not holding my breath. That being said Ultima III (by Richard Garriott) was released on the Apple II in 1983. That game got me hooked on RPG games (I had the CBM64 version). 

The moment you think with blinkers is the moment the gaming world passes you by and that is what I did. I removed the blinkers (unintentional) and my mind created the foundation of a new game. One never done before (as far as I can tell) and it is not a small game either. Alexandria, Antioch, Mystras, Ephesus, Mesembria, Reggio Calabria and several other places. That could open a door to a whole range of other games too (not sequels). 

A stage one walkthrough opened the door to. Whilst Microsoft is making new waves (and adding things to Windows 10) whilst we see more issues, what did I do? I created something new. Whilst we get ‘FTC Demands Microsoft Unveil Plans for Ubisoft Amid Activision Blizzard Scrutiny’, I came up with a novel idea. Whilst Bethesda is still releasing patches to a game they released in September 2023. I came up with yet another gaming IP. 

The $0.02 question
You see, what I claim and what is to become can be very different. I think this will be a success (if executed properly), but that is no guarantee that it will be, I do know that. What I also see is that I have come up with several pieces of IP, all whilst Microsoft buys its way to an early grave (with not much to show for it in the end).

Am I right? Am I wrong? That is for others to decide. I know what I have and what I am placing here is a setting that is now public. Over time I will add a lot more and that is also evidence on how those larger players keep on failing. Alexander Hamilton once said “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”. In this, I stand for innovation, I stand for the pathways ignored. It doesn’t make me better, wiser or wealthier. But it does make me more creative and with cleaning data and gaming that is an edge you should never ignore. It cannot be bought, it could merely be borrowed for a time and the person who has it is the real gem in any crown. Feel free to disagree, but the evidence for well over 2000 years have shown that to be true. 

So here I am feeling happy with another piece of IP I need to work out (still working on a script) as such I might not be posting part 2 of this in the next few days, but it will come.

Enjoy the day, For me Monday is now 100 minutes away.

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January 11, 2024 · 23:45

Clutter

It sometimes happens to any of us. Our brains get cluttered in all kind of ways and I am no different. For me it all started yesterday when Final Draft gave me a free update to version 13. It felt like that very late Christmas present you never expected, but when that email arrives you are more than double happy and I really felt the happiest I have felt that entire year (relax it was only day 10 of that year) but there you are. It was that happy surprise. 

So, as I am continuing that stride with the first script, this one meant for Al Saudiya, I see that I have a lot of work ahead of me. There is a mini series, a three season TV series and another series which has no defined size yet and all of them have parts all over my blog, as such I have plenty to do.

It was that point when I saw ‘Amazon to Lay Off ‘Several Hundred’ Across Prime Video, Amazon MGM Studios, 500 Cut at Twitch’, it wasn’t the Variety version I saw first, but it was the first that turned up now (at https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/amazon-lay-offs-prime-video-mgm-studios-1235867454/) there we are given “Additionally, 500 employees — or 35% of the workforce — are being let go at Amazon-owned livestream platform Twitch” this is not trim ming the fat. Even as Amazon has broken expectations all over the board. This is about tax year 2024 and this is about meeting the shareholder expectations, or at least that is what it comes over at for me. Mike Hopkins gives its staff members “It is hard to say goodbye to talented Amazonians who’ve made meaningful contributions on behalf of our customers, team and business. Thank you for your dedication and work. To help with the transition, we are providing packages that include a separation payment, transitional benefits as applicable by country, and external job placement support.” The fact that this is not some hard time point makes it a lot harder for some. 

But for good measure here is the music by Emil Stigler (at https://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/collection/185/093).

You might think I am making fun of the situation, but I am not. This one piece of music is now part of the Library of Congress. I don’t think that the composer imagined that when he wrote this in 1866. His music would outlive him by some length. Did we have any idea how timeless some movies would become half a century later? There was Jaws, Alien (not the short movie), Close Encounters of the third kind and Star Wars. 

All 4 movies relatively close together, these 4 and one in particular on the mind of movie watchers three generations later. To be honest, I never cared about Twitch, its not my bag of tea, but it has a following. Twitch streamers optionally earn money from sponsorships, affiliate links, some advertising, and a variety of other methods. Now, what comes next is largely speculative. Never cared ab out Twitch, but that service has 140 million Monthly Active Users as of 2024. The total number of active Twitch streamers is around 7.5 million. This number was 7.1 million In July 2023. That is a population that matters, this is not about trimming fat. I reckon that Twitch is up for offering but when it is offered it needs to become a clean package and now the 35% staff reduction starts to make sense. Amazon is gearing up for something, what for? I have no idea and this is largely speculative. I have no idea what is up and perhaps Amazon fears the competition it faces from Apple, Disney and Netflix. It might see what I expected would happen. People are unable to afford all four and in that race Amazon is the first cut from consideration. I honestly don’t know if Apple or Amazon is better, but Apple is making presented strides, as far as I can tell Amazon at present is not. 

So what gives?
March of the Amazons (1866) shows us that some gems are kept and in movies that matters. To have any of the previous 4 still on the mind of watchers matters because streaming is graded on what is watched and for how long and those 4 really broke the mould. The important part is that we cannot tell that at present with the new series, this process takes time and board members of any modern age are not a patient lot, they need to see overwhelming results or they cut things. I personally think it is a setting when the merely expect searing steak, all whilst the slow cooker presents its own kind of deliciousness. One is not the other and I personally think that the old metrics and approach do not work on streaming systems. That being said, Amazon seemingly dropped my IP not realising what 50,000,000 subscriptions in the first phase alone will get them. It is a cluster they never had and others never had either. Yet when we see this we see an optional speculation on what they are missing and speculation is where it is at. I have no clue why they are trimming the fat. I am guessing it is the 2024 results, to meet them head on and people are dropped because of that. However, I could be wrong.

I honestly wonder what possessed makers like Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, and George Lucas to make what they did. Not the normal setting, but what drove them from the inside and did they know or realise that they created cinema greatness? I never doubt that they wanted to make the best they could, but were they aware just how good it ended up being half a century later? Consider that movies in those days were made for a year, perhaps 2-5. We see movies like Coma, Chinatown and Deliverance and we all agree that they were great, but these 4 outlasted them all. Time works different when it comes to books, movies and music. So how to prevent to cut the people who could be making the next whatever. It was at this point that I realised that something had gone wrong. At some point someone thought that it could always be redone, the movie greats of the 70’s are largely gone. Perhaps monumental movies like Dances with Wolves are bound to happen, but when you consider the 4 from the 70’s, what is left? Dances with Wolves? Titanic? You tell me, but I personally fear that as Hollywood started to snag the process, they lost something and there is a chance that Amazon at present it digging its own grave, even thought they cannot see it yet. Even as they are (as speculated) trimming the fat. But there is one consideration. With that job loyalty is bound to go out the window as well. They might not care, but what happens when the next Herman Melville? You might not remember the man, but you do remember Mobi Dick, the book he created in 1851. That book is on some minds almost 175 years later. The slow cooker needs a different process, any chef can tell you that. I wonder how long it takes for the streamers realise that their process is set to different elements, to different seasoning. Just a question, but they appeared as I was dealing with the clutter in my brain. And as for the march of the Amazons? Consider that The Phoenix by Fall Out Boy is an average song, but when the speed is increased 17% it becomes a whole different story, yet this is the consequence of re-arranged music. As such I doubt that Emil Stigler is that, but I never looked at that part (I am not a musician), did you? We are unlikely to see another Darth Vader march by John Williams, I doubt that even he saw that his song would be so iconic 44 years later. That song calls for an image with billions, not something I would have imagined when I first heard it. I knew it was stellar, we all did, but this iconic? Streamers have a like minded setting to some music, different metrics are in play (still speaking speculatively) does Amazon realises that?

Just a question, enjoy your day, my Friday starts in 30 minutes.

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January 5, 2024 · 13:59

Is it more than buggy?

Very early this morning I noticed something. Apple had made a booboo, now this isn’t a massive booboo and many will hide behind the ‘glitch’ sentiment. But this happened just as I was reading some reports on AI (what they perceive to be AI) and things started to click into place. You see AI (as I have said several times before) does not yet exist. We are short on several parts and yes machine learning and deeper machine learning exist and they are awesome. But there is a extremely dangerous hitch there. It is up to the programmer and programmers are people, they will fail and with that any data model connected will fail, it always will.

So what set this off?
To see this we need to see the image below

It was 01:07 in the morning, just after one o clock. The apple wedge gives us on all 4 timezones that it was today. Vancouver minus 19 hours, making it 06:07 in the morning. Toronto minus 16 hours making it 09:07 in the morning. Amsterdam minus 10 hours making it 15:07 in the afternoon and Riyadh with its minus 8 hours making it 17:07 in the afternoon. And all of them YESTERDAY. Now, we might look at this and think, no biggie and I would agree. But the setting does not en there.

Now we get to the other part. Like hungry all these firms are tying to get you into what they call ‘the AI field’ and their sales people are all pushing that stage as much as they can, because greed is never ending and most sales people live from their commission.

So now we see:

In addition there is Forbes giving us (at https://www.forbes.com/sites/joemckendrick/2024/01/04/not-data-driven-enough-ai-may-change-that/) where we see ‘Not Data-Driven Enough? AI May Change That’ where we are given “Eighty-eight percent of executives said that investments in data and analytics are a top priority, along with 63% for investments in generative AI.” To see my issue we need to take a step back. 

On May 27th 2023 the BBC reported (at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65735769) that Peter LoDuca, the lawyer for the plaintiff got his material from a colleague of his at the same law firm. They relied on ChatGPT to get the brief ready. As such we get: ““Six of the submitted cases appear to be bogus judicial decisions with bogus quotes and bogus internal citations,” Judge Castel wrote in an order demanding the man’s legal team explain itself.” Now consider the first part. An affidavit is prepared by the current levels of machine learning and they get the date wrong (see apple example above). An optional mass murderer now gets off on a technicality because the levels of scrutiny are lacking. The last part of the case in court gives us “After “double checking”, ChatGPT responds again that the case is real and can be found on legal reference databases such as LexisNexis and Westlaw.” A court case for naught and why? Because technology isn’t ready yet, it is that simple. 

The problem is a little bot more complex. You see forecasting exists and it is decently matured, but it is used in the same breath as AI, which does not yet exist. There are (as I personally see it) no checks and balances. Scrutiny on the programmer seemingly goes away when AI is mentioned and that is perhaps the largest flaw of all. 

There is a start, but we are in its infancy. IBM created the quantum computer. It is still early days, but it exists. Lets just say that in quantum computers they created the IBM XT computer of Quantum, with its version of an intel 8088 processor. And compared to 1981 it was a huge step forward. What currently is still missing due to infancy are the shallow circuits, they are nowhere near ready yet. The other part missing is the Ypsilon particle now ready for IT. The concept comes from a Dutch Physicist (I forgot the name, but I mentioned it in previous blogs). I wrote about it on August 8th 2022. In a story called ‘Altering Image’ You see that will change the field and it makes AI possible. In the setting the Dutch physicist sets the start differently. The new particle will allow for No, Yes, Both and None. It is the ‘both’ setting of the particle that changes things. It will allow for gradual assumptions and gradual stage settings. Now we will have a new field, one that (together with quantum computing) allows for an AI to grow on its data, not hindered (or at least a lot less hindered) by programmers and their programming. When these elements are there and completed to its first stage an AI becomes a possibility. Not the one that sales people say it is, but what the forefather of AI (Alan Turing) said it would be and then we will be there. IBM has the home field advantage, but until that happens it will be anyones guess who gets there first.

So enjoy your day and when you are personally hurt by an AI, don’t forget there is a programmer and its firm you could optionally sue for that part. Just a thought. 

Enjoy THIS day.

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