Welcome!
…to my personal website! My name is Miko Charbonneau, and I have trouble answering the question “What do you do?”
I suffer from a problem that I suspect is common among most avid internet users: information overload. I’m simply overwhelmed by all the websites I am a part of and all the things I’ve done online! So having this website as a sort of network to everywhere else is convenient for me, and possibly you as well.
You can find out more about me and my hobbies using the links at the top of the page! If you want to contact me, my email is evali [at] wego4kyo (dot) com.
Or follow me on Twitter @Evaliation
Slowly updating website…
In preparation for GDC 2012, I’m trying to update every part of my page. It’s so out of date it’s not even funny! I’m also making some very ambitious business cards. I see a lot of photoshop in my future…
Windows 8 is Revealed!
That means I can talk about my summer!
I was one of the 100 interns assigned to make Metro Apps for the new Windows. We were able to access all the code and confidential information about Windows, but we also had to build our projects while everything else was still being coded up!
During the keynote given at BUILD this week, Steve Sinofsky talks all about the vision for Windows, so check it out!
You might want to especially check out the end, where he gives props to us and lets the crowd cheer for a few that were selected to attend the conference!
And then he shows a documentary about the program, and oh wait-
A screenshot from the Windows 8 documentary.
That’s right. I didn’t get to go to the conference, but me and my shark shirt made an appearance! (No link to the actual video yet, but it’s at the end of the keynote. I mostly blather on so you aren’t missing much.)
And that wasn’t my only video appearance this summer. The Huffington Post thought this was an important new event and even wrote an article about it. They didn’t like our faces though:
This was such an amazing summer. I’m really proud to have been part of this experience, and of course, it wasn’t all work! There was plenty of outdoor activities:
And of course, breakdancing! Our teachers Fever One and Jeromeskee were the best and really helped my power moves! And look at the crew of Microsoft interns I assembled to go to class!
In summary, I love Seattle, I love my intern friends, I love my coworkers, and I love being a Program Manager! What’s next: Dissertation writing, and plotting a lot of personal projects. But I won’t announce them yet just in case they all fail! How’s that for positive thinking?
Lets Talk About Lets Play
One of my dreams is that I will actually use either this space or my professional blog to talk about games with interesting design properties. And one of the reasons I haven’t yet is that most of the people I meet at conferences have no idea what a Let’s Play is. I’ve had considerable writer’s block trying to express why game researchers should be watching these and how they can help us workaholics stay informed about a wide variety of games.
Thank god for Yahtzee, who just released a straightforward introduction to the subject:
The Escapist : Extra Punctuation: Lets Talk About Lets Play.
I agree with him so much that it’s a little disturbing. I also watch LPs in the background while I work, and I am an SA member who rarely touches Youtube LP content. The only thing that Yahtzee skipped over was legality; if someone plays through an entire game and you watch it, why would you buy it? As it turns out, some buy these games because they fall in love with them via the LP. It enriches the interactive experience. I usually buy or recommend these games for friends because I already know the quality of them. Also, new releases aren’t allowed until several months have passed, and many of the most interesting LPs are for titles that never came out in certain countries or have been out of print for years. This could be the only way you’ll ever experience them.
So I am all for quality Let’s Plays. You should be too if you’re interested in game design. But now that that’s out of the way, I don’t have any excuses to stop me from blogging about all those games I’m always ranting about in person. Except for the five projects I’m currently working on, of course!
A big decision.
As usual, too much has happened since I last updated. But I needed to make an announcement. It’s a big deal to me, but it’s okay if it’s not a big deal to you.
First, some general updates:
-I have accepted an internship at Microsoft and will be in the Seattle area from May through July. Would love to see some friends out there but keep in mind I have no car!
-My wrist cast came off so I’m now getting back into breakdancing, but still pretty sad to see all the strength and dexterity I’ve lost along the way.
-I was a volunteer at GDC 2011! This experience was not only fun, but completely inspirational and the main reason I am going through with this post.
-I now write for the print magazine OtakuUSA. I am in charge of cosplay content. PLEASE, if you are interested in writing an article or having your photos featured, email me!. The last thing I want is for this to become one dimensional with only my own opinions. I will edit your text, so don’t fear that you are a bad writer. Just send me a message or tweet at me or email me if you’re interested.
Some other important things happened, but I’m not ready to discuss them so I’ll go right into the important stuff.
Today, for the first time in ten years or so, I have added my real name to my personal website (www.evaliation.net).
Many of you probably think this isn’t monumental, but it is for me. I’m half Japanese, half French. Until about a year and a half ago, there was no other person on the internet with my name. That meant every link that was searchable was essentially me. everything from the DBZ essays I wrote when I was thirteen to the Kung Fu tournaments I placed in. And I have always wished that it wasn’t so.
First of all, there’s a safety issue here. I have friends who have had their jobs compromised by people in various fan communities, and I didn’t want that to happen to me. But I’ve also had pressure from my school. My first advisor was horrified that I spent an hour a day doing something other than work for him on computer science research. I had heard rumors that classmates had taken photos of me at conventions and were passing them around, but none of them ever approached me about it. I didn’t feel free to be myself entirely. I felt embarrassed of my hobbies and passions. I was certain that I could never become a professor if they were easily accessible on the internet.
Well, this day was inevitable as social networks have become more invasive. I can’t separate my name and my face for much longer and I’ve finally convinced myself to stop trying. Now that my research is clearly game related, there’s not as much judgment regarding my personal life. And yes, I still worry someone will kill me or go harass my mom. I have very strong opinions about privacy, but I can’t do much to stop the way the internet is now. All I can do is at least take advantage of the positive aspects and let people know more about me.
I am Miko Charbonneau. I do a lot of different stuff. You can find it all in one place now
Bye America!
I’m taking a small hiatus to Japan for awhile. It’s not too long, but enough to relax and recover from my various health related issues, post-con depression, and crazy coding deadlines.
See you later! B)
DragonCon 2010 Article is up!
My first timer guide to Dragoncon is up at OTAKU USA! Man, those were good times. Here’s my favorite picture from the set:
How Puzzling…
Thank you, Alex, for this adorable pictures of Andrew and I doing Professor Layton cosplay! More can be found at ACParadise for now.
These were supposed to be ghetto costumes but I ended up working on that more than I should have anyways. The new game is awesome.
I am still struggling with updating my internet life more, but school and real life have to come first. WordPress keeps sucking me in to its customization but I keep getting stuck before things are working perfectly…
Glee Cosplay Preview
Here’s a small video of our time at AFO 2010 causing some mayhem in the hallways. I have a lot more video that I’m going to put together and post soon 
To me, this is the real fun of cosplay. Gathering together a bunch of people to celebrate something everybody loves.
FanFiction Night 3
Tomorrow, around 9pm, we are gathering for Fanfiction Night 3. I want to encourage you people that live far away to join in the fun by connecting with me, Laina or Kamanda via Skype or AIM. (Yes, I’ll actually be on AIM for the first time in like 4 years.)
I’m sure everyone knows what fanfiction is, but probably not what we are up to. It’s essentially a big drunken get-together where we give each person fanfiction prompts. These are terrible prompts that no sane person would actually write about. We have a joint acct that everyone posts to when they are done. The worse they are, the better.
So chat with us, read the horribleness as it goes up, and contribute your own work!
Dreams
My new Twitter profile pic! So these photos are from a shoot I did with Andrew to see if he had any talent for taking pictures when I needed something quick. I’m happy with the results! Also, Andrew is my ‘new’ boyfriend.
Interesting dreams… I assume many of you have seen Inception recently. Well I have all the fun types of dreams constantly: lucid, nesting, sleep paralysis, etc.
The last few naps have been very busy. I just woke from a really interesting metaphorical one where someone was being unreasonable and I totally confronted them and made them feel small for being such a mean person. Upon waking, I realized that I had been that other girl in real life, but more understanding. So my mind reversed the roles; was it a test to see if I really am being fair? I still think I am. Yeah, this makes no sense; sorry.
Last night I went to Four Your Soul, a breakdancing jam. It was absolutely packed with people. I have to start training harder. But I finally felt like a ‘bgirl’ even though I barely went out on the floor. I met a couple girls that were really friendly, and many of the local guys kinda remember me now. It feels nice to start belonging to a community.
Finally, I entered a Persona contest and won fourth place with Orpheus and Minato. It was limited to members of a certain forum so most of our Persona crew couldn’t enter; I tried to win one of the higher prizes so I could give out prizes to some of you, but I guess the competition was too tough! :O As a result I had to go buy a PSP to play the new Persona 3 PSP, which was my prize. As a system, the PSP kind of blows in my opinion, but there are some cool games on it that I am looking forward to owning now! As far as the game, I freaking love Persona 3, still. The female S. Links are total fan service and everything I’ve always wanted.
On the horizon for me: the monster that is September. Dragoncon, Big Scary Paper Deadline, AWA, Grace Hopper Conference… Expect small things with BIG impact.