Max Engel - the 8BitKid

The New Video for Gravity

8BitKid — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:02:45 +0000

I’m happy to introduce the first video for the new startup I’m a part of: Gravity.com. We’re building a site that allows people to come together and discover people and discussions that match their interests so they can engage in discussion. We’re currently in private beta, but if you’re interested, please sign up to request an invitation. This video is a fun way of showing what we’re about. Enjoy!

Lego Universe CES Trailer

8BitKid — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:27:55 +0000

I absolutely cannot wait for this game to come out. While I haven’t traditionally been an MMO player, I think this might strike the perfect balance for me. It evokes nostalgia, seems playful and fun, and will feature a more casual gameplay. The game will also feature a brilliant feature: the ability to bring your digital creations to life and have your in-game constructions mailed to you for assembly. The game is due out in 2010, but it can’t arrive soon enough.

Best Songs of 2009

8BitKid — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 20:32:44 +0000

Well, I may be a bit late in doing a “year in review” post, but I figure better late than never.

Here are my top songs from the best albums of 2009 (in no particular order):

New Year’s Eve in NYC

8BitKid — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:05:44 +0000

I continued my tradition of spending the holidays back east remembering what the cold feels like. It was great to spend time with family and friends, and to ring in the new year on the right coast.

What I’ve Been Up to: Gravity.com!

8BitKid — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:39:32 +0000

I know I’ve been off of the radar since I left MySpace, and I’m happy to finally be able to talk about my newest project: gravity.com. We’re officially out of stealth now, and it is a great feeling to be able to now talk about something I have been pouring my heart and soul into over the past six months. We’ve assembled an amazing team here, and today we’re unveiling the site and the problem we are tackling.

The online conversation space has been historically undeserved, with outdated tools that create fragmented and unwieldy discussions. Our mission is to help people engage in meaningful conversations about their passions. Be it gadgets, cooking, Voltron, or whatever you may fancy, Gravity will provide users with a place to have discourse with other people who share their interests. Traditional tools like forums, group email lists, and collaborative blogs haven’t offered users with simple, functional, and fun way to interact and share. When we talk about what we’ve built, we like to describe it as a turn-based conversation site. This isn’t about allowing for chatter, but instead about creating a destination where we provide a framework for people to better share and communicate. We’re focused on building out the Interest Graph for the web to help people connect with their passions and discover people and topics that are personally relevant. Additionally, we’re embracing the distributed nature of the web, current movements in open API’s and technology, and are looking at how we open up our technology while inter-operating with others.

Please check out this TechCrunch post that delves into more detail on the company and our mission, and be sure to follow us on Twitter at: @gravity. This is an exciting moment for me personally and professionally, and I can’t wait to share more about the project, and more importantly, give everyone a chance to play with the product and tell me what you think.

Harvard Yale Football Game ‘09

8BitKid — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:31:48 +0000

I made the trek back to New Haven to catch up with old friends and enjoy the grand tradition that is the Harvard Yale Football game. Unfortunately, we lost this year, but I didn’t even ever make it inside the stadium and out of the tailgates. Then again, “The Game” has never been about the game…

The Muppets Do “Bohemian Rhapsody”

8BitKid — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:14:51 +0000

An Ol’ Kentucky Wedding

8BitKid — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:12:38 +0000

Two weeks ago, a friend from college got married in Louisville, Kentucky. It was a fantastic time as we got a chance to explore the history of the town, catch up with friends, and celebrate the occasion. Plus, we made it to the race track! Here are the pictures from the festivities.

Google’s New Chrome OS Tested (with Screenshots)

8BitKid — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:42:15 +0000

Today Google announced their new Chrome OS, which is an operating system optimized for always-connected netbooks. The OS focuses on users who already leverage web-based applications, and forgoes any native software for leveraging HTML5 and the Cloud. While certainly an interesting concept, the OS seems more geared towards casual users who already use Google apps and don’t need to perform serious tasks offline (although Google Gears could help with this). The OS boasts syncing with the cloud and robust security, and also boots incredibly quickly.

I spent the time to build the Chromium OS, which is the developer build. While it was a time-consuming process, it was fairly straightforward, and instructions can be found here. This initial build doesn’t give you much to play with, but considering that the OS isn’t planned for launch until a year from now, they have plenty of time to build this promising project into something more exciting. Once you play around, you immediately see that Google really is cutting out the application layer to connect the browser to the kernel, and anyone who has played with Chrome will feel right at home. Additionally, the fact that the entire OS leverages web standards, it will be interesting to see how this could help evolve various open standards initiatives.

For some videos that explain the OS, check out the official YouTube page for the project here.

Play the New “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney” Demo

8BitKid — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:41:53 +0000

I’ve always been a big fan of this series for the Nintendo DS. While a point-and-click adventure game about a lawyer may not seem like a blast, any fan of old Encyclopedia Brown books, old “Whodunit” TV shows, or general problem solvers will get a kick out of these games. Plus, the games have a great campy writing style and a host of memorable characters.

The newest chapter, “Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth”, is about to come out, and Gamespot has an exclusive Flash version of the first level of the new game. i definitely recommend you give it a go.

Click here to play the demo!