XBox 360 Rocks

I finally got by Xbox 360. Holy cow. It's awesome. I have Burnout Revenge and the detail and sense of realism is staggering. You can see cars way off in the distance where before they were just jumbles of pixels. My hdtv displays the games at 1080i. Wow. Wow. Wow. I'll never be happy playing a first gen game again.

Zions Bank Equity Adventure Game

This is a new game that I designed and programmed for Zions Bank. Play the game and let me know what you think. See if you can get past level 4.

Apple Store in Gateway

Did you know that there is an Apple Store here in Utah? I just found out. It is over in the Gateway and it opened on November 19th. I haven't made it over there yet, but I have been in the LA location and it is a cool retail experience. Good design matters and Apple Store is a prime example. Don't bring your credit card.

Polynesian Cultural Center Map

I created this map recently for the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Psychology Today Article on Creativity

This is a great article on creativity. Here is an excerpt: "We are more open to insights from the unconscious mind when we are not thinking of anything in particular. That is why daydreams are so useful in the quest for creativity. Anytime you can just daydream and relax is useful in the creative process: a shower, long drives, a quiet walk. For example, Nolan Bushnell, the founder of the Atari company, got the inspiration for what became a best-selling video game while idly flicking sand on a beach."

You Gotta See "Hoodwinked"

Trust me on this one. The critics didn't like this and I wasn't too excited to see it, but I took my kids to see it anyway. We ended up laughing through the whole movie. Definite future DVD purchase for the family.

My New Position Announced (sort of)

Okay, so I got this new position at the church - I've been promoted! See the company newsletter? Yay, Me. - Oh, wait - just a minute. Dang. It says MAX Maxwell - not Matt. I knew that I couldn't trust that Max guy!

New Redesigned Intel Logo

Hmm. Sort of a boring new Intel logo. At least the old logo had something memorable about it. The new version joins the ranks of the kajillions of other logos that are surrounded by an orbit swoop. Kinda sad. -But what do I know? I guess they had their reasons.

Maybe they hired these guys to do their logo (note that there are THREE long web pages of swoop logos). Here are more swoosh links: Link 1, Link 2.

And finally, a funny site that pokes fun at swoosh-wielding designers. Note the links on the last page in the sequence on this site.

Finally Got OS X Tiger

I bought Apple OS X for my Powerbook and for the most part it's worth the money. The Widgets were cool at first and I downloaded a million of them, but one by one I realized that most of them were unnecessary and I ended up with just a few. They seemed to be hogging my processor. What is really nice is Spotlight. Basically it is a search tool for your local files that works great. As you type the search terms, the list dynamically changes and the thing I am looking for ALWAYS ends up at the top of the list - it's almost spooky.

EyeTV EZ

My Mac is now also my TV - and my video game console - and a DVR. This new product from elgato.com costs only $150 and lets you connect a tv antenna, svideo, or RCA media jacks to your Mac. It also functions as a DVR - sort of. You can't pause live tv, but you can schedule recordings and your Mac will automatically turn on and record them.

Matt Maxwell Creative Launched

To ring in the new year, I have launched a new expanded self-promotional site. The new site, www.mattmaxwellcreative.com showcases not only my work found on www.mattmaxwelldesign.com, but it also work in progress and projects that are stuck in various levels of approval. It has new work in all categories and has two new categories, Advertising and Creative. These two sections have been added because I am discovering lately a new passion for advertising. I have also created a PDF portfolio in the Contact section. The site is password protected to safeguard privacy of some of my customers. If you would like access, email me and depending on who you are, I will give you access.

"Apprentice" Book

I just finished watching The Apprentice on DVD and it was not only entertaining, but very good instruction on how to be a leader and a model employee. I took a ton of notes as I watched it, but then I ran across this book which does an excellent job at articulating the principles taught in the show. If you find you have some rough professional edges that need smoothing, I highly recommend this book and watching the DVDs.

King Kong Video Game Rocks

I played this for the first time today and it is amazing. I have never seen such realistic effects in a video game. I have a new subscription to GameFly and it's my first game. I am going to start renting games instead of buying them. Gamefly lets you keep them as long as you want and they even give you the option of buying the game at a nice discount.

Crazy Christmas Party

In case you have never seen this done before, you cover up the upper-half of your head and put a face and hat on your chin then let your head hang off a sofa. Basically anything you say or do from that point is hilarious.

New Joseph Smith Film

There is a new film about Joseph Smith playing in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building Legacy Theater in Salt Lake City. It paints a very good portrait not only of Joseph Smith, but his wife Emma and the other early leaders of the church. I thought it was better than Testaments and Legacy, which are previous films that have played there. What was amazing to me was the new digital projection system that they have installed. This is the first movie to go digital and the detail is very rich. If you can get tickets, I highly recommend it.

Where is Jingle Bell Elf?

I have had a surprising number of people ask me this year when I would be sending out the next installment of our adventurous hero, Jingle Bell Elf. Sadly, the company that usually hires me to do this yearly game no longer exists. It has been absorbed into something else and has a new owner. So, I am not sure if I will do another installment before Christmas. In the meantime, if you would like to relive a past adventure visit jinglebellelf.com. Happy holidays!

New Family Member

We have a new family member. His name is Tucker. He was born on September 8th.

Must-read for Gringos

Okay, I admit it, I was a little uncomfortable with the noticable influx of Latinos moving into my city lately. I couldn't order a burger or even Panda Express anymore without seeing a whole staff of Latinos taking my order - and speaking 100% Spanish while they do it. "What is happening?", my xenophobic side said to myself and I indignantly wondered, "how they dare be so blatant about it? - This is America - they should speak English!". My whiteness was feeling rather threatened.
Well, this book by Jorge Ramos helped me overcome what I discovered was racism inside of me. I don't think anyone decides one day that they will be a racist - I sure didn't - many of us just grew up with it. I highly recommend this book.

Happy Halloween

Guess who? This is me unmasked. I thought I would finally come out. Yes, I am a clown. I am fed up with covering my face every morning with beige make-up and trying to look like everyone else! I just want everyone to just accept me for who I am!

Newsweek Cover Story about Mormons

Newsweek did an interesting cover story about the history and teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is pretty balanced and seems even to favor the church, where in 1997 there was another cover story on Time magazine that was entitled "MORMONS, INC. The Secrets of America's Most Prosperous Religion." which was more negative. Trumpeted Time: “The church's material triumphs rival even its evangelical advances.” They estimated the Church’s worth at about $30 Billion.