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I realized this morning that this blog is supposed to be about my innovations and frustrations as an innovator. And I’m getting there. I just have to keep writing and writing in order to get myself back into the habit. But I just read a piece about the infamous Steve Jobs – you know, the one guy that named his company after a fruit and he made some cell phones. As much as I might bash and hate Apple products (while secretly envying them and wishing I could find something almost as good as iTunes to handle my music), I can’t help but admire this guy. How is he so damn awesome? Probably because he decides to do something and, well – he does it.

I decided that I’m going to be an entrepreneur, and an innovator, but I don’t think I’ve exactly locked down on what things it is that I want to make better. The best way to be a self-employed business owner is to find something that is already good and make it better or find a need that people have that isn’t being fulfilled and to fill that gap. For me, I’m very much into the idea of making games very central to our human experiences. Most of the way that we learn through as children is through games. To that end, I have already been working on some applications that kind of pit the competitive nature of games against procrastination. I did this because I know that for me, I get the greatest drive to do when I am competing against other people. I am terribly competitive, and at times I can be a terrible sport when I lose. Ask my boyfriend what happened when he, a rookie gamer, beat me at Marvel Vs. Capcom at the mall.

So to that end, I figured, it’s time to figure out some of the things that I want to innovate.

  • Methods of Studying – Growing up, I was That Kid. The kid that never had to study but still got A’s. And even when I did have to study something more advanced, I competed against others to get better grades. I always had to be the better person or be beating someone for me to care about it. To that end, I have an application I’ve been expanding upon that will do just this. Games and education can be paired together well, and social media’s just another boon to the mix…
  • Storytelling – I’m not sure that this will count as an innovation. As a little girl, I wanted to work for Square-Enix. I wanted to work on the next Final Fantasy 28. I even speak Japanese. But now, I’m wanting to make my own studio, and my own brand of interactive storytelling experiences. Right now, I’m getting back into writing, but I’m also learning about the Japanese phenomenon of visual novels. I plan on utilizing that base and integrating aspects of it to make a storytelling experience that will be emotionally involving for players to a brand new level. Book meets game.
  • Professional networking – Let’s face it. LinkedIn is great, but it’s a touch stuffy, and it’s not exactly the angle that every industry needs. That’s why you still have sites like Model Mayhem. They cater to a different niche with different needs. I’ve found a niche with a need, and pairing this with mobile technology, I’m pretty sure I’m onto something.
Sometimes I wonder if I should just focus on one thing. Sometimes I just want to focus on everything. For the time being, I’m working on different projects for chunks of time, then switching over when my interest wanes. It’s been working out decently for me, so I think I’ll keep to the pattern. However, as projects get closer to being wrapped, I’ll be focusing on them exclusively.
Here’s to the future Tearyne, and hoping that she’ll be all that she’s ever dreamed of being.

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I spent a chunk of time yesterday doing some really quick, SEO-style freelance writing assignments. Several of them have already been accepted by clients. I’m trying to generate some ideas for myself to write about so that I can post them to my Constant-Content profile… If you know anyone that’s in need of copy writing, send them my way. I can do a diverse range of topics, and I can get things punched out fairly quickly. I am doing rates of approximately two cents a word right now.

Still working on getting KaaliBilli.com set up. Got the domain name purchased and the name servers setup. Wish me luck. I’m also peering into being a contracted person for the majority of my endeavors from this point out… Like the flexibility aspect a lot more. Will result in a lot of lifestyle changes like purchasing and budgeting in bulk, but it’s what I’ve slowly been working toward. Will involve piling up savings, chipping away at them, etc. I’m very excited. Working on the skills associated with that.

Personal stuff is gnawing at me. I’ve started back up my livejournal. That’s mostly the raw, ugly, horribly emotional stuff that rips me to shreds and that I can’t get out. I posted a note to Facebook, but I doubt anyone will read it or notice it. Ah well.

That’s it for today. 🙂 Bai.

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Image courtesy GamasutraHey guys. I’ve been playing The Sims Social on Facebook for a few days now – not sure if I let you know about that. But over on Google+, a friend of mine linked to this Gamasutra article talking about some of the negatives associated with anti-social game mechanics employed in social games, particularly in The Sims Social. Overall, I agree with the article. I stopped playing Facebook games for the longest while, mostly because I got tired of the crazy wall posts and begging people to come do X, Y, and Z for me in my imaginary world. Looking at The Sims Social, it has a few of those downfalls – on top of the fact that the items are CRAZY expensive when it comes to their costs in real-world cash.

I’ll do a full-write up of my experience with The Sims Social later on this week, but I’d like to know what your take is on this. Do you think that The Sims Social has anti-social game design? What do you think of The Sims Social as a whole? And what’s your take on social gaming’s actual “social” effect as a whole?”

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This week, I completed the plot draft for my story about two of the reptile people in my novel universe. That was a real accomplishment for me. I had the basics of the story already down and written out, but I felt as if the story was landing flat. There was just boy meets girl, conflict, and then resolution. I went in and looked up a story plotting graph – because believe you me, it’s been quite some time since the last time I looked at one of those. I know how to write a story still, and I am pretty good with words, descriptions, and things like that, but I haven’t really written anything engaging in a long, long time. Thanks to the graph, I was able to add in some more events that will build the characters along with describing their world and their dilemmas. I’m really excited about that.Continue reading

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Sue happy lawyers strike again! Farmville giant Zynga is being sued by Agincourt gaming over patents related to prize redemption patents. In it they are asking, essentially, for damages and for the courts to shut Zynga down. Now, I’m not a fan of Zynga for a variety of reasons, but honestly, guys: it seems like less and less people are being innovative and instead of making money through their hard work (something it seems a lot of people are wanting to do less of nowadays), they are instead making their money through lawsuits.

What do you think of this situation? Does Agincourt really have a leg to stand on? And what do you think about the recent rash of software patents as a whole?

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I’ve been really thinking hard about the direction I want my career to go in, and I’ve had to make a couple of decisions that make me somewhat sad, but push me further toward my goals…

As far as game design goes, I’ve decided that my focuses are in casual games, visual novels, and mobile apps. I always wanted to design a hit game for a major console system, but I feel that at this time in my life, this is where my interests and skills most strongly lie. I will be taking a number of steps to develop myself to follow this path.

I still plan on  doing writing, as that tends to get bills paid, and it’s great exercise besides. I’m also working on getting the new site design up and running. Once I get started it shouldn’t take me much more than two days.

I’m also pretty fed up with Facebook, at this point. It’s a total time sink, aside from when I get to use it to push my content. I’m trying to determine how to split out my posts, but I’m thinking making Kaali Billi Innovation’s page live and linking it to this blog would be good. Or maybe even a different blog, we’ll see. I’ve been thinking about changing the domain name I have registered for here. I’ll come up with some actions  for that and let you know.

Lastly, I’m going to lose 10 pounds this month.

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So I had an epiphany right now. I am motivated by competing against and doing better than others. I am planning on entering more contests related to my chosen creative fields to capitalize on this…

I just have to stay on that.

Does anyone have any painting, writing, or game design contests that they know of?

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I have a bone to pick with News One right now, about an article TheGrio featured where they turn X-Men First Class into a piece of “comic book racism”. It’s pretty clear from the article that they have never read the comics, and that they are probably basing their assumptions off of the movie universe of X-Men. If not, they need to fire their resident fanboy. For those of you who have not seen the film or are not familiar with the X-Men Universe, you may want to skip over certain spots in here. I’ll try to keep as many spoilers out as possible, but we need to cover the bases.Continue reading