Journals of Doc Surge

Sep 28

Resetting Priorities

September 28, 2019 by Chris Billows in Business Beller, Hobby Heedings, Jets Flight Control, Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Blogging, Change of Mind

This past summer has been a time of review in relation to this blog and my ventures (billo.ws/cyber.holdings). I’ve followed enough game developers on Twitter to witness the carnage in the industry and have decided that I am not going to put any effort for the next year or two on new game projects. My plan is to re-launch CreateOrConquer.com, do some promotion to its mailing list, do exploration of viability for Urbaniacs.com, and casually work on design ideas for Heropath.com. I still love the industry as a fan and advocate, but there simply is no way to justify any serious time investment. There is almost no Return on Investment in Video Games as a game developer. The Video Games industry has become just like the other creative industries with the barrier to entry becoming so low that anybody and everybody is doing game development. This is an abundance of riches and comes with its own downside which is that it is extremely difficult to compete. My focus will shift to website properties which can developed to attract an audience. I have a couple of projects that I will be turning my attention to, one is related to Sports Stats […]

Oct 30

Playstates in the Visual Arts

October 30, 2018 by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Game Philosophy

I am beginning to recognize Playstates not only being a sorting system for play, it has also become a lens by which to discern different cultural activities. After seeing the Playstates in Books I now see that Playstates can even be applied to the world of Visual Art. Marshall McLuhan said that the medium (the singular of media) is the message. His insight was revolutionary at the time, and I believe I found a new demonstration of this insight. It occurred when I apply the Playstates model as a lens to evaluate how we interact with media, and in this post’s focus, showing how the five different Playstates are found in the medium of visual art. Below I have listed examples of all five and this has forced me to rethink my stated position that books are inherently passive. It is quite possible that there is a continuum of activeness to passivity found in all media. I will need to take some time to explore that further! Let’s explore examples of Playstates in the Visual Arts: Toygrounds or the Play of Exploration – Museums with their artifacts to admire and Galleries with their pieces to purchase. Role-Plays or the Play […]

Sep 09

Nostalgia – The Chemicals Between Us

September 09, 2018 by Chris Billows in Republic of Bloggers 0 comments tags: Defining Life, Human Condition, Republic of Bloggers, Virtuous Discourse

Thank you Chris for inviting others to suggest a topic for your Virtuous Cyborg project and thank you for your treatment of my suggestion on nostalgia. Your post elicited my own nostalgic experience. It is as if you mentioning Micronauts acted as a chemical trail to other memories such other action figures, comics, Choose Your Own Adventure, D&D, and Fighting Fantasy. I remember vividly being at home during the summer break in 1982, lying on a bed, watching music videos on a small box television, and playing Final Fantasy/Sorcery books. It was one of those moments in time that is seared in my mind and brings a smile. Thinking about the past in this way initiates a sub-routine program in myself. This is not simply a bunch of electrons firing off, there is an actual change in my mood which has been documented in people who are exposed to nostalgia. There is no doubt that computers are chemical creations (drawing a circuit board alters the state of it) and I would propose that establishing nostalgia is like the etching of a circuit board in our nervous system. We know that nostalgia makes us emotionally settled but what is it […]

Aug 28

Winnipeg Jets Former Players Summary 2011 to 2018

August 28, 2018 by Chris Billows in Jets Flight Control 0 comments tags: Jets Former Players

The Winnipeg Jets arrived in 2011 from the old Atlanta Thrashers team. Between 2011 and the most recent 2017-18 season there has been players that have come and gone. I thought it would be a fun exercise to go through all of the former Jets players who has played with this franchise and see where they are at. Below we see the list of players who played at least one game (regular season or playoff) for the Winnipeg Jets and have left the organization. Other GP is the total NHL Games Played before and after playing for the Jets. I will consider changing this in the future to count only those games played after playing for the Jets. This list is current up to June 30, 2018. Ex-Jets Status Summary from 2011 to 2018 (Regular and Playoff Seasons) Players not included: Those currently playing with Jets or Moose Player Name Pos. GP G A Pts PIM Seasons Yrs Reason Where To Other NHL GP Notable Events Tim Stapleton R 63 11 16 27 10 2011-2012 1 Did Not Resign Europe 55 Johnny Oduya D 63 2 11 13 33 2011-2012 1 Traded NHL 893 Stanley Cup Championships in 2013 […]

Aug 27

Winnipeg Jets Cumulative Trades Score 2011-2018

August 27, 2018 by Chris Billows in Jets Flight Control 0 comments tags: Jets Trades

Player Trading is a useful way for NHL Teams to supplement and refresh their roster. It becomes possible to get rid of players that need a change and giving a fresh start to the players you get or build for the future. The Winnipeg Jets used to be known to be a team that made very few trades. Since they arrived in Winnipeg, GM Cheveldayoff has made 28 trades over seven years which remains on the low end of activity. But how has the Winnipeg Jets fared with these trades? Are they winning or losing? This article attempts to answer that question. I have created a table that tracks each trade conducted by the Jets that compares traded players according to a very simple, transparent statistic called ProGames (ProGms). ProGames counts the number of NHL and AHL games that a traded player accumulates for their new team. NHL games played count as 1.0 ProGms while AHL games played count as 0.5 ProGms, and these are accumulated across both Regular Season and Playoff Games. So a traded player who plays 20 NHL and 10 AHL games for his new team will accumulate 25 ProGms for his team. So why just games […]

Aug 26

Atlanta Thrashers Prospects Evaluation 1999 to 2018

August 26, 2018 by Chris Billows in Jets Flight Control 0 comments tags: Jets Draft, Jets Improvement, Minor League Stats

The 2018 NHL Entry Draft has come and gone and the Winnipeg Jets adding to their cupboard of future hockey players. This is the eigth draft for the franchise since moving to Winnipeg. When it moved from Atlanta in 2011, the Winnipeg Jets inherited an empty cupboard of players and prospects. We just need to see the Winnipeg Jets records of marginal competitiveness for proof. The Winnipeg Jets essentially had to start restocking their prospects cupboard. Drafting and developing is the single best way for a sports franchise to build success yet you will see in the year-by-year breakdown below that the Thrashers did a very poor job of drafting good players and then did a poor job of developing them. How did I track this? By tracking each Thrasher draft prospect according to a very simple, transparent statistic called ProGames (ProGms). ProGames counts the number of NHL and AHL games that a drafted player accumulates for their new team. NHL games played count as 1.0 ProGms while AHL games played count as 0.5 ProGms, and these are accumulated across both Regular Season and Playoff Games. So a drafted player who plays 20 NHL and 10 AHL games for his […]

Aug 25

Winnipeg Jets Prospects Evaluation 2011 to 2018

August 25, 2018 by Chris Billows in Jets Flight Control 0 comments tags: Jets Draft, Jets Improvement, Minor League Stats

Following the June 2018 NHL Entry Draft, I am updating my evaluation on the cumulative draft and develop progress of the Winnipeg Jets. Drafting is the single best way for a sports franchise to build success so its not surprising that Winnipeg Jets Management has made draft and develop its central strategy. This post (and the one that preceded it) will break down how the Jets have done with their 2011 to 2017 draft picks up to the end of 2017-18 season (which is why this evaluation goes from 2011 to 2017 even thought the 2018 draft class is listed). I have created a table that tracks each draft prospect taken by the Jets according to a very simple, transparent statistic called ProGames (ProGms). ProGames counts the number of NHL and AHL games that a drafted player accumulates for their new team. NHL games played count as 1.0 ProGms while AHL games played count as 0.5 ProGms, and these are accumulated across both Regular Season and Playoff Games. So a drafted player who plays 20 NHL and 10 AHL games for his new team will accumulate 25 ProGms for his team. While the goal of the draft is to have […]

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