Month: March 2015

Recreational Cannabis in Washington State

Active recreational marijuana business licenses across the state, as of March 10th, 2015. Shown are 402 Producers, 359 Processors, and 127 Retail stores. Created on Google MyMaps, based on publicly available information from WSLCB.

Marijuana in America is quite a hot topic these days. With the majority of Americans now in support of full legalization, we are poised to finally end seven decades of cannabis prohibition, and the enforcement of drug policies that have been accused of being racially discriminatory, violating individual freedoms to choose your lifestyle, as well as indirectly funding criminal cartels by forcing the entire economy into the black market. Over those many years, millions have been jailed, countless lives ruined, dis-proportionally large number of them minorities, many billions of dollars wasted on campaigns across the world.

It’s about time that things changed. I won’t go into the whole history here, but let’s note that while things are changing quickly now, it’s been quite a long road to get here.

Growing Support for Marijuana Legalization
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/11/05/6-facts-about-marijuana/

Few predicted the rapid speed at which legal regulatory frameworks have spread since Washington and Colorado first passed citizen-driven initiatives. Let me take a moment to say, I love democracy as conducted out here. Whereas Illinois has no method of passing citizen-driven legal initiatives, Washington is one of 24 states that have methods for citizens to get issues directly on the ballot, bypassing the legislature and all of its political nonsense, and in 2012, used this method to drive home initiatives to legalize both gay marriage, and recreational marijuana. The story of the campaign pushed by Allison Holcomb is told in Evergreen, an awesome crowd-funded documentary covering the issues of 2012, and the days leading up to election day. (View it on Netflix here!).

While federal policy lags behind, states, as the laboratories of democracy that they are, are moving forward and trying out a variety of legal frameworks. These are far more than decriminalization measures that were discussed in previous decades, where possession wouldn’t lead to charges, but production and distribution still carried hefty sentences–rather, I-502 in Washington, and Proposition 64 in Colorado, created entire legal frameworks for licensing, taxing, and sale of cannabis allowing the legal recreational industry to be born. In 2014, Alaska, Oregon, and Washington DC also passed similar measures, and more are predicted for 2016. Far from being a state experiment, legalization of cannabis in the 2010s is shaping up to be a full movement. The general consensus among government watchers is that this genie is not going back into the bottle.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/10/the-senate-marijuana-reform-bill-would-bring-federal-policy-in-line-with-medical-research/

 

In Washington, the state Liquor Control Board has been tasked with developing and managing the legal framework, and has been moving at a cautious pace, having only opened up sales in July of 2014. Unlike Colorado, which essentially extended it’s medical market to allow for recreational sales, Washington created an entirely new economic model for I-502, separating out businesses into Producers, Processors, and Retailers, which basically work like this:

  • Producers (Growers): These are the growers of material; they have physical property where they grow seeds or clones and manage the raw material through harvest. They can sell unfinished product in the form of flower directly to retailers, but they cannot reproduce other products without a processing license.
  • Processors (Product makers): These are the product developers and makers that provide added value to raw materials. They can only buy raw material from producers, and sell only to retailers (no sales to consumers)
  • Retailers (Store owners): These are the only business that can sell to the end customer. They are forbidden from having an “economic interest” in either producers and processors.

As of March 2015, nearly a thousand businesses have been issued licenses, all trying to make it big in this new legal world. While there is much fanfare and enthusiasm, as well as mutual support in the industry while everyone tries to figure out the landscape, I expect to see quite a bit of churn, given the variability in price, supply, and the eventual commoditization of the majority of the products. While the market isn’t exactly cutthroat, the price pressure from the unstable supply, along with rather burdensome tax requirements have brought about unique challenges to many businesses operating in the space. Interesting figures include seasonal variability in price, as well as the significantly higher numbers of tourists than expected making up the customer base, upward of 50% of total sales, and closer to 80% of the retailers close to border states.

Legalization has also brought out innovative thinkers and venture capitalists looking to invest in the next big thing, producing products that otherwise might never have seen the light of day. Non-commodity products, like this marijuana-infused sex lubricant, to mainstream brands contemplating entry into the market may offer unique brands a chance to thrive, however, I do expect the majority of producers to find themselves in a price war to the bottom.

How will things change once the legal recreational market fully takes hold? I can only imagine that the impact of the industry will accelerate, I suspect in years hence, we’ll see new business models, new social activities (MJ games > drinking games), and other creative developments in what was previously a closet industry. In Seattle, a city councilman proposed a new legal concept–a licensed marijuana bar/vapor lounge.

Quite interesting times here!

More resources:

  • http://cannabisandsocialpolicy.org/
  • http://norml.org/
  • http://www.cannalawblog.com/

R.I.P. Maxis (1987-2015): In Defense of Simcity

I was originally writing this post to be a defense of Simcity, but in light of the recent shutdown of EA Maxis’s Emeryville studio, the headquarters of what was once Maxis, after years of poor management by EA, I felt the need to speak out on this travesty. There are more complete obituaries of Maxis online–notably this one, which I enjoyed reading; this one is my personal story with Maxis and their games.

I’ve been a long time fan of Simcity, having played every version since Will Wright’s original in elementary school. Each iteration attempted a daunting task and presented the challenge to the player: the simulation of an entire city and its various layers of operation. Nothing gives you more appreciation of urban planners around the world like a game that gives you exposure to various simulated aspects of city building. Maxis took this idea and wrapped it up with addictively fun game mechanic has no formal “end”.

The studio long had a reputation for fun and intellectually fascinating edu-tationment oriented simulation games, which I had become familiar through Scholastic Apple catalogs we’d get from school. I found nearly every offering compelling because, aside from the hugely interesting subject matter, nothing like it was out there (this was the early 1990s). The real lasting appeal to those who love to explore was that many of their games never needed to end and they encouraged you to explore the limits of the simulation. SimLife and SimCity in particular could be endlessly perfected, generating a fascinating steady state of a living ecosystem, whether an entire planet, or a booming metropolis. The Maxis of the 1990s provided great experiences through quirky games like SimAnt, SimLifeUnnatural SelectionSimTower, to smash hit simulations like SimCity 2000. I played each of those, and loved them all. It was the early ’90s and was the golden age of DOS and PC gaming.

Simant (1991) – This was the first game that I ever bought for my DOS computer – This was in second grade, so I was 7 years old, in 1992. The computer I played it on was our family PC, a 386SX 16MHz / 4 MB / 60 MB HDD, and the game came on a single 1.44 MB floppy. I still have the manual.

Being a weird nerdy kid, I loved reading manuals and guides to things, and I loved the literature that Maxis provided, both in their physical manuals and accompanying publications, but also their in-game “lore”, in the form of scientific summary. I learned more about ants while playing SimAnt than I did anywhere else. Oh, the good old days, when Maxis actually cared about the subject matter, and indeed, felt more authentic to the subject matter and left the game mechanics develop around it.

The story of Maxis is a prime example of the sad fate of independent artists and thinkers when forced to operate under a profit machine. Maxis, as one of the most quirky and inventive studios may have had no hope under a monotonizing corporate giant, and sealed its own fate when on July 28th, 1997, it signed away its soul to EA. A quick read through the comment thread of the Ars article shows that this move was little surprise to many:

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/03/ea-closes-simcity-studio-maxis-emeryville/?comments=1
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/03/ea-closes-simcity-studio-maxis-emeryville/?comments=1

 

The Tale of Two SimCities

My latest experience with a Maxis product was Simcity 2013, and the Cities of Tomorrow expansion. Having thoroughly enjoyed both, it’s quite a challenge to reconcile the experience with the online negativity surrounding the game. It has incredibly unique IP, a great game engine, wonderful content and replayability… yet collapsed under the collective weight of player expectations, and poor management by EA. If one came to appreciate it at it’s best, it’s an incredibly awesome simulation that is quite unlike any other mainstream game out there, but I guess in EA’s world, that’s the end of the line.

After buying the game on a whim at the end of 2013, I’ve been pleasantly surprised can say that if you try to enjoy it for what it is, rather than what previous Simcity has taught you expect, or what else you want it to be, then you can come to appreciate that it is an incredibly intricate simulation of a city, that has an incredible amount of dynamic activity that come together in fascinating, sometimes unexpected ways–often in the form of snarling traffic.

Indeed, I too have had many frustrating issues, and the issues that plagued Simcity at launch continued intermittently throughout my play time. A lot of forgiveness later, there still is a thoroughly enjoyable game that is well worth whatever fire sale price it can be had at now. I’ve played quite a bit, and over time, I’ve gotten quite good at building wealthy, highly educated, virtual cities, with wacky transportation options:

Simcity - Endeavour City

Simcity - Endeavour City-2

I won’t address those criticisms individually, but I can say that the game is much more enjoyable when creating an ecosystem of cities, rather than a single gigantic one, and as i got better at engineering entire urban regions, the strategic element of game play became quite rich and enjoyable. As I came to understand the model behind the game, I became increasingly appreciative to the intricacies of what was being simulated. Dan Moskovitz gave a great talk at GDC 2013 on the SimCity engine, Glassbox, after which, I much better understood how to work with the underlying engine.

The game itself, when it works right, is quite fun, and like I mentioned before, is quite like managing a living, breathing entity in some sort of equilibrium. My favorite times in the game would be when I rescued a struggling city, and built it up into a stable steady state, and i could sit back and watch it go. I would say it has the same therapeutic benefit as tending to a garden or watching fish in an aquarium. It helps that the game has a stellar soundtrack, which alone is worth the purchase price for me–I particularly love the soundtrack from the expansion:

All of which, makes the bungled launch, the excessive in-app-purchase like add-on content, and the incomplete feature set at launch (no single player mode?), seem like a series of publisher date/design-meeting compromises, along with an odd review-score changing incident that ultimately dinged the game so badly that I can only imagine that sales must have suffered. A shame really, as it likely was the final excuse EA needed to axe what was left to go fund cheaper projects like EA Sports: XYZ 2016.

In the end, what’s left is an odd lesson on corporate acquisitions and the impact on one’s identity and soul. None of this should be news to any studios today, but Maxis, for it’s long personal history with me, is one that I’ll remember passing. As for Simcity, it’s truly unfortunate that it’s legacy is going to be the one that self-destructed under EA, but for what it’s worth, I know history will remember Maxis for the incredible contributions it made to millions of kids like me, growing up to love games and tinkering around with systems and agents.

But as you’ll notice that the internet has since dumped it’s hate on the review score. Oh well, thus is the life and end of EA franchises. I hope the spirit can live on.

Life with a Makerbot Replicator

TL;Dr: There’s a learning curve, but I believe that the increasing availability of content creation tools, the network effects of content creation and sharing communities, and the sheer utility of being able to make anything you can think of, will inspire more to seek out the skills necessary to participate. For a tinkerer like me, the simple joy of turning idea into matter, or something more purposeful, like replacing a broken knob or a missing shower curtain, are all are fun opportunities to make rather than buy what I need.

Today marks three years since I got my first 3d printer, a Makerbot Replicator. Since then, I’ve printed hundreds of hours worth of things and designed a few of my own for practical or artistic purposes. It’s mostly a hobbyist’s tool now, but I’m convinced that the creation of items via 3d printer will become a mainstream experience in the near future.

As any hobby, it has it’s challenges, but it’s also highly fulfilling and focused on the act of creating. I’ll often find myself preferring to choose a home made solution over a purchased product. It’s not always economical–at prices around $50/kg, the raw material is not cheap, but that amount can go quite a long way when you’re printing small things in plastic. Whether it’s a fun trinket, or a useful tool, 3d printed objects have a wide range of applications in everyday life.

I keep my Replicator at home, so I’ve had it available whenever I feel the creative urge. I’ll admit, there are long periods of time when it’s gathering dust, for those times when I do have it, I’m quite glad that I do. Other times, it’s just a cool conversation piece in the living room. And it’s (mostly) a lot of fun! Other times, I want to set it on fire.

A model of JJ Abrahm's Enterprise from Star Trek (2009).
A model of JJ Abrahm’s Enterprise from Star Trek (2009), about to be printed.

My first experience with 3d printing was in a mechanical engineering course I took while at Illinois. We had access to many tools used during product prototyping and made use of Autodesk Inventor–my favorite parametric modeling tool–to create models for the course, and as candidates for 3d printing. I loved the idea of being able to take an idea and turn it into a physical object without going through the hurdles of traditional manufacturing. Still, that 3d printer was $30,000, and always scheduled out so far in advance, that access wasn’t practical for the range of casual applications I was considering.

I imagine this mirrors the early days of computing at universities and corporations, when access to computer time was a valuable commodity. This was in 2005, after all. Then, 3d printing was one of the advanced prototyping tools available to lucky mechanical and structural engineers, not so much the casual creator or artist with grand vision and perhaps a deft hand on 3ds max (another favorite modeling tool of mine). Amazing what a few years can bring.

Fast-forward to 2012, and Makerbot had just announced their second consumer product, the Makerbot Replicator. With the declared their early intent of focusing their product at small business and even consumer price points, their message was clear: 3d printing was quickly becoming accessible to the masses. I decided to make the investment (no small sum, $2,250 at the time for the dual-extrusion model I have), and while I can’t say it’s for everyone, it’s definitely a cool tool to have around. Since then, other players have come on the scene, bringing down the price of 3d printing even further.

Bre and Makerbot’s message that the tools of manufacturing was coming to the masses, was highly appealing, particularly to those like me with hopes of creating and tinkering with things in the physical realm. Makerbot took it a step further by creating Thingiverse, the online platform for sharing and remixing “things”. It’s the 2010s and “content” is social; the act of creating is rarely a solitary affair, and there are a variety of platforms for people that love to create to share their wares. Some of them, like Thingiverse are free and geared toward educational uses, while others like Shapeways are more commercial.

I love being able to find what others have made and shared up on on community sites like Thingiverse. I love even more that we’ve now bridged the gap between idea and physical good. There’s a learning curve, but I believe that the increasing availability of tools, the network effects of communities of content creators, and the sheer utility of being able to make anything you can think of, will inspire more to seek out the skills necessary to participate. For a tinkerer like me, the simple joy of turning idea into matter, or something more purposeful, like replacing a broken knob or a missing shower curtain, are all are fun opportunities to make rather than buy what I need.

Some things I’ve printed:

  • Shower hooks – I was still using shower curtain hooks I got at IKEA in my post-college years, and over time, some had gone missing some. I put up with it for  while but the girlfriend told me that it looked really sad. So after contemplating going to Bed Bath and Beyond, I found these on Thingiverse. Rather than spending $10 on a dozen or so shower curtain hooks that I didn’t need, I printed a a few, and tada, problem solved! The mentioned post also reminded me of this truth: “You’re a MakerBot owner. You live for these moments.” Indeed.
  • Key and Wallet Holder – I made this to solve a very annoying problem of mine–misplacing my wallet and/or keys at home. I wear a myriad of outer wear, and would often spent a few minutes looking for my stuff before heading out for the day. Cumulatively, I must have spent hours looking for my commonly used items, not to mention the annoyances caused by being delayed in the morning. I designed and made this, and solved my problem. I’m also pleased to know that at least 250 others have found it useful.
  • Cat Toy Sword Handle – This was originally meant by the designer to be an umbrella hilt, but I found a better purpose in fashioning a cat toy sword out of it.
  • And others, including: Smartphone stand, jewelry mockups, Ar.Drone parts, custom shaped clips, custom attachments, obscure knobs and levers, bookends, toy models, robot frame parts, etc…

Here are some examples of prints there I’ve printed. Some are my own, the rest are from Thingiverse. Find me on Thingiverse at http://www.thingiverse.com/skyrien.

 

So that’s it, consider this my resounding endorsement for 3d printers–that if you have the means to afford one, and the patience to learn a new skill to a hobby-grade or more, you will find 3d printing a high enjoyable pastime, and tool to add to your creation toolset. Especially true if you possess 3d modeling skills, or access to a 3d scanner.