Nick Seeber's blog

Check out my friend's game for the iPhone: BACKBREAKER

Whilst my normal iPhone gaming experiences are solving puzzles or beating the computer at Scrabble, I can be tempted to try something new.

Like an arcade-style American Football game...

A few years my friend Adam left the company we worked for to work at a start-up called Natural Motion. They do ground-breaking fully-real-time animation that features in games like Grand Theft Auto. Now though, they're working on their own game, Backbreaker. The gaming press is getting very excited about it, and just to amp up the buzz, they've released an iPhone mini game called Backbreaker: Tackle Alley.

Verdict? The best 59 pence I've spent in a long time. This game is seriously fun - everyone who's got an iPhone should have a go, if only to see what can be done on this platform.

The idea is that you get from one end of an American Football field to the other. Sounds simple? There are some seriously beefy guys who want to stop you... The controls are super-intuive - tilt the iPhone forward / back to run, sideways to turn, and use the on-screen buttons to dodge, spin, sprint, and (obviously) do an obnoxious end-zone show-boating routine.

Describing it doesn't really do it justice though. You should try it ASAP. Currently it's on sale for $1 / £0.59 which is a massive bargain - you'd pay £1 just to try something like this once in an arcade.

Finally, the best thing? Being able to see your touchdowns and tackles in slow-mo:

This game rocks. No more boring tube journeys :-) 

And if this isn't enough, check out the teaser trailer for the full game...

My university dissertation - The Use of Digital Imaging in Examining Textual Artefacts

During the final year of my degree course I had to write two primary source essays (typically around 5,000 words each) and a dissertation (10-15,000 words). The subject for mine was an examination of the use of digital imaging techniques (mostly medical) in looking at ancient texts and textual artefacts (things like scrolls, cuneiform tablets, etc.

I had great fun writing it, and was lucky enough to have one of the world's foremost cuneiform experts (and wonderful person) Eleanor Robson as my tutor. Reading it now, I've been enjoying re-opening all of the dusty memories I have of the subject matter.

It did fine when it was marked - graded 2:1 - but I think the journalistic / informative / technical / geeky slant to it let it down from an academic perspective! On the flip side, it made it fairly interesting for a (motivated) casual reader. And I like it, which is all that counts, after all. I don't think there's much I'd change.

Incidentally, I did a 'management consulting-esque' presentation of it when I was interviewed for my first job at Detica, and it very much impressed my interviewer. So the technical stuff was useful in the end.

Nick Seeber History of Science Dissertation

Negative visualisation & the rehearsal of worst-case outcomes

A Google I/O talk from the perennially thought-provoking Tim Ferris:

The messages I took from watching this 5-minute talk:

1. Negative visualisation – “What fears are stopping you achieving what you desire?”

- assuming  you took a bold move towards your ideal goal, list the potential areas for failure, and describe in detail the scary outcome
- for each outcome, rationally assess its

> probability   
> level of impact         
> longevity     

- visualise success, describe the desired outcomes in detail
- assess the probability, impact, and longevity of the successful outcomes
- weigh the outcomes, make a rational choice

2. Rehearse negative scenarios - "Is this really the condition that I feared?"

- face your fears and see if they are as bad as you imagine
- experience them first-hand to see if you could hack it
- inoculate yourself against fear by knowing that you would survive and thrive in the worst-case scenario

Next steps:

- Put this system into practice

- Read Seneca, Cato, Marcus Aurelius

An open letter of thanks to Ramit Sethi

Hi Ramit -

I wanted to write an open letter to say thanks for all of the advice that you've provided on your blog over the last year, and more recently in your book. They've really helped me start getting out of debt this year.

I decided to get out of debt in December last year and made a plan that I published on my blog. I don't really have many people who read it but it felt like I was making a public commitment which would help me stick with my plan. I've also found that a few friends have told me that they are also in debt and that it has inspired them to make a start on getting debt-free; so perhaps by bringing it out into the open it has removed some stigma for other people.

My situation in December was that in total I owed $20-25k (with exchange rate fluctuations). I'd accumulated the debt through buying unnecessary 'toys' on credit cards (stuff like camera lenses, furniture, electronics); an ill-advised bank loan on a car that lost a load of money when I sold it; and generally living beyond my means. Fun times, but a bit dumb in retrospect!

I planned to stretch myself and pay back all of the debt in 18 months (ie June 2010) and I seem to be slightly ahead of schedule as of 7 months progress. I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll achieve the target, which is fantastic and has given me a big psychological lift (also prompting me to drop you this note).

Being a 25-year-old unmarried guy living in London with a decent job (though with fairly long hours) and no dependents / mortgage, your advice has really resonated with me. In particular I rate the points about focusing on minimising interest rates on debt and maximising automation. I don't go in for penny-pinching, frugal saving - I value my free time quite highly so (for example) I'd rather pay someone $15 to do my laundry than spend a couple of hours doing it myself. However I've now started taking lunch into work, given that that saves ~$50 per week for maybe an hour's work.

Generally I think my payments are pretty automated:

• I have 10% of my pre-tax salary going into a pension, which is fully matched by the company I work for. I never really considered reducing my pension contributions, as that would have been an extremely short-sighted measure: given I'm in a 40% tax band, whilst I could have taken home 6% of my salary in cash, I would be giving up another additional 14% in long-term investment!
• I spend during the month on my bank's standard credit card and pay it back in full every month. I can see my current credit card balance online along with my current account balance (checking account in US terms), which I check twice a week, and on pay-day :-)
  
• I have a short-term loan with my bank for the balance I couldn't move to a new 0% deal. The interest rate is high-ish (12.5%) but the benefit of having the balance in front of me every time I log on to my digital banking is worth it for me (from a psychological / motivational perspective). 
• I don't have any cash savings (in the UK would be ISAs) but that's because I can't see the point of having savings whilst I have debt outstanding.
• All debt repayments come out of my account in an automated way (through standing orders or direct debits) and that seems to be working well. 
• I have a high-level budget that allows for some 'fun stuff' (meals, drinks, the occasional coffee) as well as standard living expenses - I don't worry too much about the little stuff as long as my cash and credit card spending doesn't go too high.
  

I'm looking forward to finally being out of debt next year, and have started planning what to do with the extra money I'll have available once the debt repayments are over! It's a good problem to have :-) I think savings will be a start, though I'm not ruling out some travelling... and a BIG PARTY.

Thanks again, and keep up the great work!

best regards,

Nick

Digital graffiti - Wii Spray

This is a novel concept. It's a set-up that allows you to use a Wii-enabled 'digital spray-can' to 'paint' on a screen. The technical implementation is awesome - down to the use of stencils. I have to say that the paint effect looks great. The demo shows it in more detail:

However - this isn't really what graffiti is all about.

Graffiti's an anti-establishment, subversive, pseudo-anonymous artform. It thrives on the danger and the stress of producing works of art quickly, under cover of darkness, without the chance to correct mistakes. It uses what must be some of the cheapest and most easily accessible materials - spray-paint and any available surface. People feel strongly about it, because it challenges society's norms of ownership, property, and the meaning of art.

This concept takes the idea of graffiti and guts it. It takes the danger, the illegality, and most importantly the accessibility - the low barriers to entry - of graffiti and replaces it with sterile, computer-generated pixels on a screen.

Impermanent, editable, unreal. Don't like it? Start again. Make a mistake? Ctrl-Z...It's a glorified Etch-A-Sketch. Fun, as a novelty.

Wii Spray is to graffiti, as Wii Sports is to boxing...

FitBit - Web2.0 hardware to help you get fit and sleep better

Emotionally, I like this idea - a small clip that you wear all the time and it tells you how much you're sleeping and counts your steps. You don't have to do anything - it just works - and it'll upload its data wirelessly whenever it's in range. Clever.

However...

The Wired Gadget Lab blog points out that there's a niche for well-designed bits of kit with niche applications that aren't being catered for right now. But I don't buy that this is a big or particularly profitable market in the long-run. Sure, there may be a few companies that succeed, but I don't see how a small startup can hope to compete with the economies of scale and design that comes with, say, Apple's position.

To illustrate my point - is there anything in the FitBit that couldn't be replicated as a software overlay application on the iPhone, or even the new iPod Nano (given wireless). If there is I can't see it. Also, whilst some people love their gadgets, most people don't want to carry more than they need to - hence the success of camera-phones, netbooks, etc.

So whilst I wish the FitBit guys the best with their startup (and the first indications seem to be that they'll succeed!) I think that they'll be the exception to the rule.

My blog - now in glorious 3D!

Download Google Chrome 3D to see the web in a new dimension!

Jenga pistol

This looks really fun:

Badass of the week - St Moses the Black

I just found Badass of the Week and thought it was awesome. Featured this week is "St. Moses the Black", who seems to have been quite a character:

"Not long after Moses joined the monastic community, a group of four cutthroat thieves broke into the church and started looting holy artifacts and stealing money from the collection plate. 

Well, as we have noted previously, Moses fully dedicated himself to whatever it was he was doing all of the goddamned time.  He may have become a monk to escape prosecution, but he was devoted to his calling - and a dude like Moses sure as shit wasn't going to sit around and let some punk hoodlums disrespect his new home. 

He stood up, cracked his knucles, spit, and took two steps towards the assembled, dagger-wielding cabal of robbers and murderers..."

...for the rest of the story check out the website... :-)

8 great online project management tools

Online project management tools are becoming the norm for obvious reasons - data is held centrally, it can be updated in real-time by lots of people, and they handle version control, back-up and archiving automatically.

There are lots of options out there - this is just an overview of eight of the most popular. If you find others which you think I should list here, please let me know using the comments field at the bottom of the page.

- Nick

 

Basecamp

Website: http://www.basecamphq.com

"Every day the world’s most respected brands, small businesses, non-profits, and entrepreneurs depend on Basecamp to make their projects run smoothly. Safe, secure, and reliable. Since 2004."

My view: From 37signals, who also provide Highrise (online sales process tool), Basecamp is the benchmark for all other online tools. It keeps on getting better, and is a cinch to set up and get started. The only note of caution is that XML / iCal feeds put authentication in the URL, so these should be used very carefully. Overall though - with 3 million users and almost all good feedback, very few people have bad things to say about it. Definitely worth a try if you don't mind paying for it.

Cost: $$$ - 30-day free trial, then $24 - 149/month depending on number of projects, online storage, time tracking and security options.

 

Edit 13/03/09: an option I inexplicably missed...

5pm

Website: http://www.5pmweb.com

"5pm can be your central location for project and task management, team collaboration, time tracking, reporting and more... "

My view: Somehow I'd never come across 5pm before, but it looks great, with clear, intuitive menus and some nice advanced features. Offering a one-step data migration from Basecamp is clearly a great feature, as it undercuts its larger competitor. User reviews are very positive, so this seems a 'must-consider' alternative to Basecamp.

Cost: $$$ - Free trial then $18 - $175 / per month depending on number of projects, online storage and number of users.

 

Zoho Projects

Website: http://projects.zoho.com/

"Online Project Management & Collaboration: Plan, Track, Collaborate and Manage your Projects Online"

My view: Part of the much larger Zoho product family, it's the obvious choice if you already use Zoho. Cheaper than Basecamp and you can use it for one project for free if you fancy trying it at no risk.

Cost: $$ - 1 project for free, $12/month for 10 projects / 2GB, $80/month for unlimited projects & 25GB space

 

Workamajig

Website: http://www.workamajig.com/

"As web-based job tracking and integrated project management software, Workamajig® streamlines entire ad agencies and creative firms, from new business and sales leads to staffing and creative execution, and all the way through a project's cycle to accounting and financial reporting."

My view: Squarely aimed at the creative environment, Workamajig is more specialised than some other tools, which may be an advantage for some users. Bespoke costing though, which presumably means spending tens of thousands of dollars, may be a drawback!

Cost: $$$$$ - bespoke, call for a quote

 

activCollab

Website: http://www.activcollab.com

"activeCollab is a project management and collaboration tool that you can set up on your own website. Have an area where you can collaborate with your team, clients and contractors and keep projects on track while retaining full control over access permissions and your data."

My view: A different take on the 'online project management' theme, activCollab is analogous to WordPress in that you install it on your own website and then use it online from there. It's not too pricey but will require some work in getting set up.

Cost: $$$$ - two options: Small Biz ($199 initially, $99/year from second year) and Corporate ($399 initially, $199 from second year).

 

LiquidPlanner

Website: http://www.liquidplanner.com

"LiquidPlanner is the only project management tool that lets you easily adapt your project plan based on real-life change and uncertainty. The result? Realistic schedules that make planning, collaborating, and hitting deadlines a breeze."

My view: Seems to require a lot of input to make the advanced features work. However 'per user' pricing structure will certainly be offputting for some - with 50 users would be £1250/month!

Cost: $$$$ - 30 day free trial, then $25/per month/ per user thereafter...

 

goplan

Website: http://goplan.info/

"Manage multiple projects with ease using Goplan's intuitive user interface. No click-trickery to get to the information you need to work on - all your projects are immediately accessible from your account dashboard, next to your assigned tasks, issues and calendar events."

My view: Neat-looking app with all the basic features executed well. Cheap and cheerful, with more good features coming in goplan 2 (active blog and engagement from the developers, always a good sign).

Cost: $$ - free to try, $10-$100 per month depending on options.

 

Project2Manage

Website: http://www.project2manage.com/

"Project2Manage is a free hosted project management solution that virtually anyone can use.  It’s free so sign up today."

My view: Super-simple, free tool - lacks some of the polish and advanced functionality of the competitors, but being free is a major selling point!

Cost: n/a - it's free :-)

 

Wrike

Website: http://www.wrike.com/

"Wrike is an integrated online project management solution that helps you manage projects, teams and businesses."

My view: With some interesting advanced features, Wrike seem to be selling themselves as an enterprise solution - so not the sort of thing that you'd use to build a website or organise a wedding! However that's no bad thing as it offers differentiation versus the competitors. It's priced per user, but this probably wouldn't be a problem for the target market.

Cost: $$$$- $5 - $15 / per user / month