In the beginning...

I'm starting this blog at a moment that I view as a crossroads.  I've spent many years honing my programming skills primarily as a web applications developer, which has been more than fine for me.  The languages and technology I've used up until now have been plenty diverse and challenging, so I felt no reason to drastically switch gears.

Until this came along.

The Oculus Rift - the greatest thing to be invented since God

I have been obsessed with Virtual Reality since that weird Pterodactyl game came out in the mid-90's. I still remember my disappointment when Sega announced that they were not going to be releasing their Virtual Reality goggles due to some ridiculous health concerns (I think it had something to do with blindness).

And yet that obsession slowly waned as the technology seemed to inexplicably drift farther and farther away. I say inexplicably because to me, the technology was so amazing, it was perplexing why more people weren't trying harder to make it practical.


But they are now.  The Oculus is here, and my inner obsession is back with a vengeance. Except now I have years of programming experience under my belt.  Which means not only is now the time to get into game development, it's time to get into 3-D, virtual reality game development.

Oh, and since the motion-tracking technology of the Kinect is cool, too, it's time to get into that, as well.

Which is why I consider this a crossroads.  I'm switching programming gears, and jumping into an aspect of the field that I'm pretty sure I know very little about.  And since I'm certain there will be significant bumps along the way, now's the perfect time to start documenting.  After all, if it weren't for all my peers who documented their own struggles and solutions, I wouldn't be the programmer I am today.

Now I should be very clear here, I am NOT a prolific blogger.  I've tried blogging before, twice, and I've failed miserably, twice.  However, things are different now.  First, I'm no longer trying to blog about cartooning (in a previous life I was a professional amateur cartoonist); and second, I'm DEFINITELY not trying to blog consistently. I had read somewhere awhile back that in order to be successful at blogging, one had to be consistent; that only by blogging every day or so would one create and maintain a growing readership.

And so, when I started my previous two blogs, that advice was taken to heart.  ...in the beginning.  And then, relatively quickly, I started to slack.  Eventually, the only thing that I posted consistently were apologies for not posting consistently.

So let it be known right now that this blog is not going to be consistent.  I will post something when I want to, and that's it.  I will not promise massive ten-part tutorials, and I will not care about maintaining a readership base. 

But, as I explained clearly in my Mission Statement, I will post.  After all, it's time to be part of the dialogue, and not just an active listener.