raymond padilla, Author at RPad.TV

Coffee Talk #661: Coffee Naps — Are They Really a Thing?

Earlier this year, several Bay Area friends tried to get me to buy into coffee naps. They swore that coffee naps are the most efficient way to refresh and recharge during the workday. To me, the practice sounded like the latest Silicon Valley trend — the kind of thing that employers love because it gets their underlings to work more and employees use to justify their overzealous efforts. I’m still unsure if coffee naps are truly effective or if they’re a placebo, so I thought I’d use today’s Coffee Talk to think out loud and get your opinion on the practice.

If you’re not familiar with coffee naps, the idea is to quickly drink a cup of coffee before taking a short rest. While you’re napping, the coffee is working its way through your system. By the time you’re done resting, the stimulants will have kicked in and you won’t feel sluggish when you awake.

Initially, I thought that coffee naps sounded ridiculous, but after reading about the relationship between caffeine and adenosine, I wondered if there might be something to the practice. While they’re hardly a proper substitute for getting a full night of sleep, there’s a chance that coffee naps could be effective for some people.

Unfortunately, I am not one of those people. I tried coffee naps and completely failed at them. My problem is that I’m slow (mentally, physically, etc.). With coffee naps, you want to drink your coffee quickly so that the caffeine doesn’t have time to kick in. As a slow person and a coffee nerd that enjoys the flavor of the beverage, it usually takes me 30 minutes to finish a 16-ounce cup of coffee. It just doesn’t feel right to down a good cup of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe because I want to nap more efficiently. The handful of times I attempted a coffee nap, the caffeine was already playing around in my brain and I couldn’t sleep.

Anyway, I wanted to get your opinion on coffee naps. Do you think that they’re useful or are they another silly Silicon Valley trend? Do you see yourself trying them out? Leave a comment and let me know (please!).

Ultimate Warrior A Life Lived Forever Interview

Here’s an excellent chat between two excellent people about an excellent book. The book is Ultimate Warrior: A Life Lived Forever, by my friend Jon Robinson. Jon is a longtime videogame journalist and lifelong pro-wrestling fan. We’ve been on many road trips together and I’m amazed by his transition from videogame writer to best-selling author. The interview is a PaulSemel.com exclusive. Paul is also a longtime videogame journalist and former writer for the magazine Gene Simmons Tongue.

Since many of you RPadholics are WWE fans, I thought the interview and book would interested you. The Ultimate Warrior was one of the biggest stars in WWE history, but he was also an enigma. Chosen to carry the torch after Hulk Hogan, there was a point where Ultimate Warrior was the top guy in pro-wrestling. Unfortunately, he was a bit of a nut job and bought into his own gimmick, going as far as to legally change his name from Jim Hellwig to Warrior. He could have had it all, but pretty much self destructed.

Here’s an excerpt from the PaulSemel.com interview with Jon Robinson:

The Ultimate Warrior was one of the most fascinating characters in the history of professional wrestling, and the book breaks down everything from how he started out just hoping to make enough side money wrestling to open his own chiropractic business to how he ended up headlining WrestleMania against Hulk Hogan. Everything about Warrior was intense, from his face paint to his crazy physique, and all those aspects are detailed and displayed in full color.

When Warrior was growing up, he wasn’t even a wrestling fan. I just thought that was funny because he is such a memorable character, I would’ve thought he grew up watching the greats. But he was such a comic book fan, he found his inspiration for The Ultimate Warrior in the pages of DC and Marvel instead. I think that actually helped make him stand out even more.

When you have a chance, please check out the interview. If you dig the book, please buy it here.

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Fast & Furious To End With a New Trilogy

While I was busy having a spectacular birthday celebration, Vin Diesel posted a Fast & Furious update on Facebook. After scrolling past his goofy face, you’ll see that the legendary thespian wrote, “I promised the studio I would deliver one last Trilogy to end the saga. I will announce the directors on my next post…” So the Fast & Furious crew will definitely be going on one last ride…followed by two more last rides.

Obviously the executives at Universal would love to cash in on three more Fast & Furious movies. Furious 7 raked in a preposterous $1.5-billion. Millions of moviegoers will surely pay for three more Vin Diesel-powered (*snicker*) heist films. Those certainties aside, there are a number of questions that make me wonder about the future of this storied franchise. How do you replace Paul Walker’s mesmerizingly bad acting? I don’t believe that it can be done. The franchise is also running out of permutations of titles that use the words furious and fast (Fast & Furious, Fast 5, Furious 7, etc.). Will the wordsmiths at Universal be able to conjure up three more catchy movie names without adding another word?

While I’m not sure about the movie titles, there is a possible solution for filling the void left by Paul Walker (as much as it can possibly be filled). Perhaps Michael B Jordan — fresh off his pathetic performance in Fantastic Four — could join the crew. If Jordan can bring a Fantastic Four-level performance and Vin Diesel spends the entire movie indecipherably mumbling then maybe the pair can do a bad enough job to properly honor Walker. The key is tandem acting that’s so bad that it’s practically hypnotic. Between Diesel’s warbling and Jordan bring Jordan, they just may be able to pull it off!

On a more serious note, I love that Diesel managed to slip in the word “family” in his Facebook post. It wouldn’t be Fast & Furious without him muttering about family. On a completely serious note, I will likely pay to see all three films in the Fast & Furious closing trilogy. The franchise is one of my favorite series of dumb movies ever and hitting a tenth film would cement its place in history.

Now, who’s with me?!? What do you want from the last three Fast & Furious films? Who would you like to see direct them? Any suggestions on replacing Paul Walker? Will Universal add another token Asian guy (TAG) to boost the international box? Please leave a comment and let me know.

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Coffee Talk #660: I Love Hearthstone. I Hate Hearthstone.

Ah, Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft…. I have such a love/hate relationship with this game. In many ways, it feels like being in a broken relationship. There are times when I love Hearthstone — when playing it leaves me utterly fulfilled and satisfied. There are times when I hate Hearthstone — when playing it pisses me the f*ck off. And like being in a broken relationship, a lot of it is my fault and I knew exactly what I was getting into.

While I messed around with Hearthstone during the beta period, I only really got into it last year. My friend Marcus and I were goofing around with the game when we had downtime during Blizzcon 2014. We had a lot of fun and it kind of steamrolled from there. Hearthstone is pretty much a daily habit for me, while Marcus…he actually plays on the pro circuit now (follow him on Twitter, please).

What I love about Hearthstone is its marvelous blend of complexity and simplicity. It’s just an extremely well executed card game. It’s easy to get into and difficult to master. It’s also extremely addictive and I tend to gravitate towards addictive things. Hearthstone has kept me completely entertained for dozens, if not hundreds, of hours.

What I hate about Hearthstone is that it’s blatantly pay-to-win. Out of sheer stubbornness, I refuse to buy card packs. This leaves me at a severe disadvantage in many games. As you can imagine, my card collection is modest, ergo it absolutely sucks going against players with stacked decks. I’ll think I’m in the middle of a good game when all of the sudden some trust-fund kid busts out five legendary cards in a row. Hearthstone has angered and frustrated me for dozens, if not hundreds, of hours.

With the release of The Grand Tournament expansion, the pay-to-win aspect of the game has become even more pronounced. The first couple of days after the expansion was released, I played several players that had tons of new cards. It’s safe to assume that most of those players spent money to get those cards and didn’t grind 24/7 for freebies. It was frustrating coming across new cards — especially new legendaries — that I had no counters for. It made me feel helpless, which isn’t a feeling that I want to have while playing a game.

Like many people in dead-end relationships, I’m not going to do anything to change my situation. I’m going to stick to playing Hearthstone as a free-to-play guy. Yeah, it’s going to suck and be frustrating a lot of the time, but there will also be moments when the game gives me sheer joy. Or perhaps I should seek out a Hearthstone therapist. If you know a good one, please let me know.

Download and Play PickSix For iOS (Please)

Okay, dear RPadholics. I need you guys and gals to do me a favor. At your earliest convenience, kindly download PickSix for iOS. I don’t ask you for a lot (possibly untrue), but I would love for you to check out this app (certainly true). PickSix is a fun and simple fantasy pick ’em game with all sorts of possibilities. Currently, you can bet on NFL and League of Legends games, but the content opportunities are tremendous. It’s easy to envision PickSix used for the Oscars, the 2016 US presidential election, Premiere League, the MTV VMAs, etc.

In some ways, the extensibility of PickSix reminds me of the versatility of QuizUp. They both use a simple core mechanic to extend the fun of existing events by adding an interactive social layer to the mix. Similarly, both apps can be used for a wide variety of topics. Whether it’s a small group of friends or the millions of people enjoying a particular event, PickSix can make anything more fun through gamification. Of course, I want to hear about the content you’d like to see on PickSix, but before we get to that, I need to share my nerdy idea.

I’d love to see WWE PPVs on PickSix. The cards are usually set the week before the event and it would be fun betting on sports entertainment. I’m going to use the last WWE PPV, “Night of Champions,” as an example of what a WWE PickSix looks like in my (silly) head.

1) Out of the five WWE championships being contested at “Night of Champions,” how many will change hands?

2) Who will win the WWE Divas Championship match?

Charlotte
Nikki Bella
No Contest

3) Seth Rollins is defending two championships. What will his “Night of Champions” record be?

4) How many “Night of Champions” matches will end in a disqualification?

5) How will Ryback vs. Kevin Owens end?

Ryback retains Intercontinental Championship
Kevin Owens wins Intercontinental Championship
Disqualification or schmoz

6) How many tables will be broken during The Dudley Boyz vs. New Day match?

0-2
2-4
5 or more

(On a side note, my friend Kate says that I would use my WWE contacts to…influence PPV outcomes. I assure you that I have no such power and if I did, I wouldn’t use it that way.)

Obviously I didn’t give these questions too much thought, but I think you get the idea that PickSix can work for all kinds of things. Now it’s your turn! If you’re an iOS-using RPadholic, please download the game. I fully expect you to challenge me to some betting. Irrespective of your mobile OS, I’d love to hear about the content you’d like to see on PickSix. Please leave a comment below with your excellent ideas.

Coffee Talk #659: Nerd Canon and You

Canon is a touchy subject for nerds. Fundamentalists loathe when their beloved sci-fi and fantasy properties are taken in different directions by creators of non-canonical works. Others appreciate when established properties are taken in all-new, all-different directions. Today I want to talk about a few nerd-specific cases of canon and hear your feelings on the matter.

Star Wars: Let’s kick things of with one of the hugest nerd properties in existence. Many Star Wars fans were delighted by tales of the Expanded Universe (EU). The EU had several excellent Star Wars books written by several great authors. When Disney purchased Lucasfilm, it wiped out the existing EU and rebranded it as Star Wars Legends. Shortly after that decision was made, Disney created its own EU.

Many Star Wars fans were outraged by the move. They loved the books and felt robbed that they were no longer part of the proper Star Wars universe. While I empathize with that point of view, killing the previous EU didn’t bother me. I enjoyed the many Star Wars books I read and nothing can take that away. It doesn’t matter that these stories are no longer “official.” They entertained me and that hasn’t changed.

Gotham: Yesterday in the RPadTV Google Hangout, the Gotham television show was briefly discussed. This reimagining of a pre-Batman Gotham is controversial among nerds. Some people hate that Batman’s rogues gallery was up and operating well before the Dark Knight arrived to Gotham. I believe it was RPadholic Smartguy that said that having Joker without Batman doesn’t make any sense.

I definitely agree with the sentiment that having most of Batman’s villains in pre-Batman Gotham is silly. Like many comic-book fanboys, I am of the opinion that superheroes and villains fit into a nerdy chicken-and-egg scenario. Gotham is full of weird villains because some rich guy in a bat costume started being a vigilante there. Having these colorful criminals established in Gotham before his arrival doesn’t make sense to me.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t bother me that Gotham isn’t canon. What bothers me is that it’s a crappy show. The writing is trite and the acting is mediocre to poor. Bruce Wayne once said that criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot. Apparently they’re middling television actors too.

Marvel Secret Wars: Closing things out is Marvel’s Secret Wars crossover series. Due to a confluence of ridiculous events, the Marvel multiverse has become a singular mashup. The past few months of Marvel stories featured reimagined worlds and reimagined characters. All of this will lead up to the all-new, all-different Marvel Universe.

I have a few problems with the Secret Wars. The obvious one is that most of the stories aren’t very good. The secondary problem is that the crossover event interrupted several books that I was enjoying. Lastly, none of these stories matter in a canonical sense. The Marvel Universe is going to reboot and my time has been wasted with months of filler stories. While part of my problem with Secret Wars has to do with canon, most of it is that the damn thing is taking too long and most of the writing has been forgettable.

Your Take: Looking back at what I just wrote, I suppose canon doesn’t matter much to me. A good story is a good story, whether it’s official or not. Naturally, I want to hear your thoughts on nerd canon. Feel free to use the examples above or bring up any of your own. Do you place a high value on canon? Or is something entertaining simply entertaining?

Vaping Diaries #347: Mad Carpenter Curve V2 Box Mod Interview

The Mad Carpenter makes some of the most beautiful handcrafted box mods in the vaping business. The company’s Curve Mod featured gorgeous workmanship and an ergonomic design. Its followup, the Curve v2, features the same design language as its forerunner and adds a Yihi SX350 variable-wattage chip. At Vape Summit III, I caught up with The Mad Carpenter owner and craftsman Brandyn Young to talk about the Curve v2.

While the original batch of Curve Mods features various types of woods, the Curve v2 combines wood burls and Alumilite resin. The latter material has allowed Brandyn to get super creative with numerous color combinations. A lot of my friends at the show were enamored with the beautiful aesthetics of the Curve v2. I was absolutely smitten with the red, blue, and purple box Brandy was holding throughout the interview.

I’ve always found it amusing that so many mod collectors are high on various European box mods. In my opinion, companies like The Mad Carpenter and Harlequinn Woodworks make box mods that are every bit as beautiful as anything coming out of Europe. As someone that places high value on customer support and service, I’m more comfortable purchasing a high-end American box mod than a high-end European box mod, simply because it’s easier to get something fixed should something go wrong. Personally, I feel happy when I buy a made-in-the-USA product from an American small business.

The politics of personal economics aside, you should definitely check out my chat with The Mad Carpenter Brandyn Young on the Curve v2 box mod. Curve v2 mods are beautiful pieces of vaping art that are made right here in Southern California. The video below shows various finishes available. If you have any ideas for a custom Curve v2 color combination then check out The Mad Carpenter on Instagram and drop Brandyn a line.

Vaping Diaries #346: The Beginning of the End E-Liquid Interview

From the vault comes a Vape Summit III chat with The Beginning of the End manager Casey Doty. A friend from another e-liquid company told me to check out The Beginning of the End because he knows that I’m from New York and miss New York cannolis. Said colleague hails from Brooklyn, so I took his word that this company had an amazing cannoli juice. I was delighted to discover that The Beginning of the End makes a fantastic cannoli e-liquid. RPadholic N8R and I were also charmed by the company’s Southern hospitality — really warm and fun people. In the interview below, Casey told me about the company’s concept, the background of the juice maker, and three current flavors.

The Beginning of the End e-liquids are made by Christopher Bowman. Trained at Le Cordon Blue culinary school, Christopher uses his background to create layered and complex e-liquids. The Beginning of the End juices that I tried featured multiple notes, offering different (and delicious) flavors on the inhale and exhale.

The three flavors Casey told me about were Trinity, Serenity, and Verticality. Naturally, I was enamored with Trinity, as it was the only cannoli e-liquid I was aware of when this interview was filmed. If you’ve enjoyed cannolis in the past then you must try this juice. If you’ve never had a cannoli then go out and eat one before trying Trinity. Next up, Casey told me about Serenity. Vaping this e-liquid is just like eating a lemon bar at a coffeehouse. You get the tangy lemon, sweet crust, and powdered sugar. Last, but not least, was Verticality, a strawberry pastry e-liquid that Casey equated with a Pop Tart.

Casey also told me about an upcoming e-liquid from The Beginning of the End. It’s a rum-infused peach cobbler that’s aged in oak barrels for two months. I tried a bit at the show and loved the direction the juice was heading in.

To learn more about The Beginning of the End, check out my chat with Casey below.

Guitar Hero Live Preview

Once one of the biggest franchises in videogames, Activision’s Guitar Hero series has been dormant since 2010. That’s going to change on October 20, 2015 with the release of Guitar Hero Live. With a reimagined guitar controller, a revamped visual style, and an all-new GHTV mode, Activision hopes that Guitar Hero Live will appeal to a new generation of gamers and longtime fans of the series.

The biggest and most obvious change to Guitar Hero Live is the controller. Instead of a single row of five buttons, the new controller features two rows of three buttons. In normal and harder difficulties, the new button arrangement is pleasantly challenging; you’ll often have to hit multiple buttons in multiple rows. For newcomers and those that enjoy music games but aren’t very good, the easier modes allow for single-row play.

It took me several songs to get used to the new controller and even then I didn’t have enough time with it. I enjoyed being challenged by the different permutations of button presses. The dual-row “chords” make the game more interesting and difficult (in a good way). While some claim that Guitar Hero Live approximates power chords, I disagree. The game is certainly more fun with the new controller, but still a far cry from playing an actual guitar. I don’t see that as a fault at all (go play Rocksmith for that) — just disagreeing with some game writers.

The first three Guitar Hero Live songs I played were a mess due to a combination of the new controller and songs I was completely unfamiliar with. I recall butchering a song by The Black Keys, murdering a Fallout Boy song, and demolishing two songs by two bands I never heard of (I fail at modern music, fyi). After getting accustomed to the new controller and switching to a different kiosk that had songs I knew, the game was easier. Part of it was simply spending time with the controller, while part of it was my deep love of Warrant and Faith No More.

Guitar Hero Live adds some significant visual changes too. Instead of cartoon-like graphics, the game uses live concert footage from the perspective of the guitar player. You’ll see your bandmates and the crowd as you play. The visuals change depending on your performance. I’ve never paid too much attention to the graphics in previous Guitar Hero games and the new graphics were mostly lost on me in the bit of Guitar Hero Live I played. I’m so focused on the notes that I block out most of the visuals. That said, it was cool to watch other people play and there are plenty of gamers that watch the whole screen while they play music games.

In addition to the main “Live” mode, Guitar Hero Live features GHTV mode. This mode features different channels of music, allowing constant access to a variety of new songs and different genres. Songs in GHTV mode feature music videos from the associated acts, as opposed to concert footage in Live mode. While you can play along with a GHTV song as it’s streaming, replays require a microtransaction purchase. It’s an interesting approach compared to traditional scheduled downloads, but I’m not sold on it just yet. I need to experience GHTV when it’s full functional and accessible to millions of players before making any judgements.

If you’re interested in the developer of Guitar Hero Live (and I hope you’re interested in all creators of the games you play) then check out FreeStyleGames. Acquired by Activision in 2008, the company has experience with music games, including B-Boy, DJ Hero, and Sing Party.

For the most part, I enjoyed the brief time I spent playing Guitar Hero Live and am excited to play more. Part of it is that I haven’t touched a music game in years and part of it is because the new controller is lots of fun. I’m confident that fans of the old Guitar Hero games will enjoy Guitar Hero Live and curious to see if it will appeal to younger games (i.e. those pesky Snapchat kids).

Guitar Hero Live will be available on October 20, 2015 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Wii U, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.

Today’s Poll: Ellen Hoog vs. Darya Klishina

Similar to my weakness for female bass players, I have a soft spot in my heart for female athletes. Beautiful women that are high-level athletes make my brain shut down. I just can’t process it. Let’s take Darya Klishina and Ellen Hoog, for example. The former is a statuesque Russian long-jumper, while the latter is a Dutch field hockey player. They both excel in their respective sports and they’re both stunning. Which athlete do you think is sexier? Kindly take today’s poll and let me know. If you need more photos to decide, I’ve posted a photo of Darya followed by a photo of Ellen after the poll.

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