Green Pirate merchandise

"Our children should inherit our solutions not our problems."

5/2/11 - I just finished reading The Psychology of Computer Programming: Silver Anniversary Edition by Gerald Weinberg. It discusses in detail how the way programmers think can help and hurt their work. It also discusses how programmers can improve to overcome some of the psychological challenges in programming. Each section has a set of introspective questions for "managers", and a set for programmers to consider relating to the topics covered. For example, there is a section about groupthink that discussed how goals (or schedules) are often blindly accepted in a meeting because nobody wants to be the dissenting voice (or devil's advocate).

The copy I have is the 25th anniversary edition, which includes the author's comments of today on each chapter. While some of the topics he discusses are now dead (like batch systems and PL/1) the majority of the book is still relevant. I found him to be a far better writer than Fred Brooks, although I found some of Wienberg's comments to be disappointingly sexist (at one point he called women programmer's "software"). He did apologize for this in his updated comments.

4/24/10 - The Willie Nelson Peace Research Institute wrote an article about our video.

3/18/10 - It has been awhile since we updated the site. You may have subscribed to read about video game development, to read science fiction, or to see Green Pirate videos. We plan to resume the videos, but we need a new blue screen. We are also busy offline working on a perma-culture experiment.

Today we are posting a video promoting ending the war in Afghanistan. While we have been against the war since Al-Qaeda left Afghanistan, we did not expect the war to end until Bush left office. The Democrats ran a peace campaign which the recent troop surge betrayed, and so we have decided it is time to take a stand against the war. Please watch the video and decide for your self:

6/28/08 - We are starting the new season of the Green Pirate with an episode about recycling:

4/17/08 - The benefit concert went well. Here is video from the event:

3/24/08 - In preparation for season 2 we have been working with blue screens. The following is the result of our video test with the new blue screen. It came out fairly well, except for the purple shirt. Fortunately this will not be a problem for the Green Pirate series because none of the characters wear purple.

3/8/08 - Captain Greene will be appearing as a special guest at the Mawwal & Phineas and the Lonely Leaves concert to talk about solid state lighting. The concert is being presented by Rock the Reactors in Norwalk, CT at Pirate, 7 Wall St., Norwalk CT. The concert will be held April 5th, 2008 at 8:00 PM. Entrance costs $10 and the money is to benefit Green Party's Richard Durfee for his congressional campaign. The following is a promotional video for the event:

2/25/08 - Green Pirate: Season 1 is now available for purchase from Amazon.com. See all 10 episodes with DVD quality sound and video. This includes episodes I - X, a Making of Featurette, Outtakes, and Deleted Scenes. Profits will be used to offset the production costs of the series.

2/5/08 - This week we have posted a trailer for the season 1 DVD. Hopefully it will be on sale in the next few weeks.

1/21/08 - This week the final part of the Making of Featurette has been posted. This part reviews the equipment we have bought as well as what we still need. It also goes into what people can do to promote the cause.

This weekend was Arisia. We tried out a boffer LARP. Each year it's great to bump into even more friends than the previous year.

1/8/08 - This week the second part of the Making of Featurette has been posted. This portion discusses the importance of green energy and conservation to limit global warming, reduce the impact of peak oil, and to prevent terrorism.

12/31/07 - Happy New Year! Today we posted the first part of the Green Pirate Making of Featurette that will be included on the season 1 DVD.

12/2/07 - This week a copy of season 1's Outtakes has been posted.

Today we are opening a store to sell Green Pirate merchandise. Currently it only has clothing and a bumper sticker, but we will add to it in the coming months. Production costs for the Green Pirate series have already exceeded $4,00.00 with no returns. Buying from the store will help offset the costs. If you buy a bumper sticker or shirt it will also help spread the message. When the DVD is ready it will also help reduce the costs.

The Child's Play Charity is collecting donations again this year. We got a thank you note from Children's Hospital Boston for our donation.

11/22/07 - Happy Thanksgiving! Editing for the Green Pirate series has switched from iMovie HD to Final Cut Studio. This week Captain Greene discusses how some hybrids are better than others in Episode X: Hybrid Inequality. Episode X marks the end of season 1. Before we start on the next episode we will be taking a break to work on the season 1 DVD which will be available soon.

11/6/07 - This week Captain Greene discusses how to use a Kill-a-Watt Electricity meter to make an Electric Use Spreadsheet in Episode IX: Energy Audits. This is the first episode to feature double-system sound. Sound quality in prior episodes was awful. An EDIROL recorder and Sony lavalier microphone were purchased to improve the quality. This has eliminated the noise that was caused from the moving parts in the video camera. There are some other improvements planned, but they are equally expensive. If you value the information we put in the videos please share the links with friends.

I recently attended Podcamp Boston where I learned how to use double-system sound. There are other things I learned which I hope to use in the future for the Green Pirate series. Previously the only RSS feed for East Coast Games was at Yahoo Groups. That RSS feed and mailing list will continue but I have also added an RSS feed to this webpage. You will find that both feeds have the same information but the feed from East Coast Games will be more customized.

10/21/07 - This week Captain Greene interviews Dave of Green Grease Monkey for Episode VIII: Grease Cars.

10/14/07 - This week Captain Greene interviews Bill Bolch of New England Bio-Diesel for Episode VII: Bio-Heating Oil.

9/30/07 - This week Captain Greene and Dr. Alder discuss compact fluorescent light-bulbs.

9/19/07 - Happy Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day. To celebrate Captain Greene has produced Episode V: Solid State Lighting (LEDs).

9/15/07 - My father's book, In The Dawn's Early Light, just went on sale. I finished reading my copy today. It is a military sci-fi book set in the near future discussing what could happen if we continue on our current path.

I may not have mentioned my birthday in previous years but 30 seems like an important number (since we use a base-10 system). Sunday I will enjoy my thirtieth birthday by playing Laser Tag with friends and family.

9/3/07 - This week Captain Greene and Dr. Alder discuss solar power:

8/17/07 - Captain Greene is off pillaging this week. I added a section for the Green Pirate episodes. Here are two dance videos you might want to see. The first is of the Boston Hoop Troop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOEYXhhAv8g . The second is of me with various fire arts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbXDQPAHyqo .

8/7/07 - Episode III is now available. Dr. Alder and the Green Pirate discuss electric cars:

7/22/07 - Episode II is now available. Dr. Alder and the Green Pirate discuss flex fuel:

7/15/07 - The green pirate has kidnapped Dr. Alder to teach you about global warming so that he can save the rum. Watch the movie here: