On Sunday, reddit user mercenary-games began an AmA session (Ask Me Anything) titled “IAmA Former FullTime Zynga Engineer – quit 6 months ago.” They alleged former employee says that they worked at Zynga for 8 months and eventually quit. They also make a point to say that this isn’t about a grudge -

No, this isn’t payback, or about a grudge. This is just word from someone who’s seen what this industry is capable of doing. Good, and Bad. No, I was not under contract, I was full time, offered stock (common shares, not that options bullcrap). I sympathized with contractors on how they were treated, most of the time. No, I was not some IT mangler. I worked for one of their “game studios”, basically the front lines where content made it to the masses.

The user offered proof in the form of a Zynga termination certification letter, available for your perusal here.

So there’s the evidence. Either this person is genuine of full of it – take your pick. If you choose genuine, then what he has to say about Zynga is pretty interesting.

When asked about some “creepy” stuff that the company does, our engineer talks about information gathering and how that is used to target a specific type of player:

Spying on players. Getting intimate gaming data, their habits, their networks, and how to effectively monetize given X.

Here’s another example;
Internal metrics researchers often give studio wide talks on what trends are going on. They’ve basically tracked down very popular players and also players who’ve spent an excess of 10k into the game. We often tweak our features to match and maximize for a particular gaming habit. We do this for massive populations of players. Players are not aware of this. To me, that’s a big brother like issue, someone is measuring and monitoring your behavior intimately, and you don’t know how that data is going to be used.

They go on to call the super users ($10,000+) Zynga Black or “Whales.” They apparently make up about 5% of Zynga players.

They are the “hardcore” crowd Zynga caters too. Every other player is treated as a spammer.

[Zynga] designs the game purely to fit the needs of the “whales”. Everyone else is treated as an “enabler”; spam messages, beg for tools, etc

Our former engineer elaborates on “creepy”:

The creepy factor at Z comes when they start designing for “behavior” instead of game design and fun. Behavior is what they are looking for. Behavior is what they measure, on a massive scale. It’s not about having fun to them, its about monetizing the fun, cloning games, buying indie studios, and suing the shit out of other companies. THAT is creepy.

On the issue of gameplay, they say that the actual gaming part of Zynga’s plan is secondary. Marketing is key:

Another issue was skewing gameplay for the sake of profit, example; I actually resorted to BAD MATH, to make the case for making a feature more fun. At the end of one sprint, a QA dude was complaining about the drop rate of a specific item being absurdly insane, and therefore UnFun. I looked at the code, and tweaked some values, gave it back to QA guy, and fun was restored. Product Manager overrides this, goes for unfun, yet more profitable version.

And later, “Zynga is a marketing company, not a game company.”

The treatment of contractors was also a topic of discussion:

Z treats them like second citizen employees, they almost have no feedback or say on their work schedule. I’ve seen people waiting to turn full time, but only spend more time as a contractor because of office politics. Worst of all; they are NOT welcome to company events, they are openly excluded from them. Yet, they want them to work twice as hard as regular full timers.

Have you swallowed your salt? Yes? Good. However, sure is interesting, right?

Now that the celebration is over, we can get into the stuff that really matters on the Kinect for Windows front – software. Over on the Microsoft blog, the Kinect team detailed changes being made to the beta 2 SDK that will move the Kinect software up to version 1.0. As previously reported during CES, the retail price of Kinect for Windows is $250 with special academic pricing being set to $150.

The list of features added to version 1.0 really helps to set Kinect for Windows development apart from its Xbox 360 equivalent. People should be able to take the device to new highs with these new features. As an aside, it can be assumed that some of these features will be showing up in Kinect for Xbox 360 dev kits as well.

Support for up to four Kinect sensors plugged into the same computer.

Significantly improved skeletal tracking, including the ability for developers to control which user is being tracked by the sensor.

Near Mode for the new Kinect for Windows hardware, which enables the depth camera to see objects as close as 40 centimeters in front of the device.

Many API updates and enhancements in the managed and unmanaged runtimes.

The latest Microsoft Speech components (V11) are now included as part of the SDK and runtime installer.

Improved “far-talk” acoustic model that increases speech recognition accuracy.

New and updated samples, such as Kinect Explorer, which enables developers to explore the full capabilities of the sensor and SDK, including audio beam and sound source angles, color modes, depth modes, skeletal tracking, and motor controls.

A commercial-ready installer which can be included in an application’s set-up program, making it easy to install the Kinect for Windows runtime and driver components for end-user deployments.

Robustness improvements including driver stability, runtime fixes, and audio fixes.

Microsoft hopes to release updates to the SDK and runtime two to three times a year. The team is already working on the second update as you read this. They are also continuing to invest in other programs like the Testing and Adoption Program and the Kinect Accelerator. They will continue creating new programs in the future to support their developer and partner ecosystem.

With the amazing stuff people have already put out using the beta drivers, it will be interesting to see what developers do with custom-tailored for Windows software. It’s also safe to assume that whatever the Kinect for Windows team cooks up will make its way to a Kinect for Xbox 360 near you as well.

Related Article: Kinect Star Wars: May The Force Be With Scott Pratt

To see what Kinect for Windows can already do, have a video of Skyrim on PC being controlled via Kinect:

The preview is the first time the company shares its work with a select group of customers, under non-disclosure agreements.

“These customers play a key role in our development process by testing early builds and providing feedback, which we incorporate into the final release,” says PJ Hough, CVP of Development on Microsoft’s Office Division.

“At this early point in our development cycle, I’m not able to share too much about Office 15, but I can tell you Office 15 is the most ambitious undertaking yet for the Office Division,” says Hough. “With Office 15, for the first time ever, we will simultaneously update our cloud services, servers, and mobile and PC clients for Office, Office 365, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, Project, and Visio. Quite simply, Office 15 will help people work, collaborate, and communicate smarter and faster than ever before.”

The public beta will come this summer, the company says. At that point, more details about the release will be made public, obviously.

The current preview program is full, and closed to any additional participants.

That’s where Mykonos comes in, a security company that protects Web sites from attacks by wasting a hacker’s time instead of using an easily breakable wall.

“If you break in, I want to have fun with you,” David Koretz, CEO of Mykonos, told Technology Review. He says that the computer security industry is “too timid” and that the solution is making hackers’ lives “tedious and difficult.”

The software goes into action when it detects an intruder by offering false data and phony software vulnerabilities. This is intended to waste the hacker’s time and force them to give up out of desperation.

The company has received $4 million in funding this week from a number of Web and technology leaders.

The company’s software is primarily aimed at hackers who use automated tools that identify and exploit weaknesses in Web sites.

Koretz says that wasting a hacker’s time “changes the economics” of attacking Web sites. He said that the software makes hacking more like bank robbery, which is easily managed.

The software first makes sure that it isn’t attacking a legitimate user. It does this through the use of small snippets of code injected into Web pages that are sent out to a computer using the site. If the data snippet is altered, the software automatically notes the IP address of the potential hacker.

If the hacker is using a Web browser to probe the site, a small tracking file known as a “supercookie” is injected into it. If they aren’t using a browser, the hacker’s computer is fingerprinted. When the same computer returns, the software knows and reacts appropriately.

The software sets up the illusion that the hacker is making progress. “We can intercept their scans and inundate them with fake values,” Koretz said. “It takes much longer [for an attacker to scan a site], and the results are useless.”

He said that a scan might usually take five hours, but would take 30 with his software. The other tactic is to offer up a fake password and log in page. They are essentially hacking the hacker.

Some computer security experts are not convinced though. They’re concerned that annoying hackers would just lead them to come back more powerful than before, fueled by vengeance.

Koretz agrees that a revenge outcome is possible, but he hopes that most hackers will just ascribe the deception as bad luck and move on to another target.

He predicts his tactic will become more widespread once traditional anti-hacking methods are proved ineffective.

Open source development is a great thing. With NASA opening a new open source software-dedicated Web site, it allows street coders to access and improve the source code that NASA is working on. This can lead to new discoveries that the professional engineers at NASA could possibly never think of.

In 2009, the White House issued the Open Government Directive, which required federal agencies to achieve milestones while keeping their business transparent. NASA’s plan has been one of the best. They were even among those who received awards for going above and beyond hte call of duty in the “Participation and Collaboration” and “Flagship Initiatives” categories of the Open Government Directive.

“The site represents a natural extension of NASA’s efforts to inform, educate and include the public in our mission to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research,” Deborah Diaz, NASA’s Deputy Chief Information Officer, said. “Citizen involvement in our work is a critical component of our success.”

NASA Open Government launched the Web site as part of its Open Source Software Flagship Initiative. The goal is to showcase existing projects, provide a forum for discussion and guiding internal and external groups in open development, release and contribution.

“We released the site on January 4 and since have received an overwhelming response from people interested in using our code,” Nick Skytland, Program Manager of NASA’s Open Government Initiative, said. “Our goal is to provide the public direct and ongoing access to NASA technology.”

William Eshagh, NASA Open Government co-lead on the project at NASA’s Ames Research Center believes that the future of their space program will be built in the open with the help of the public working on their open source code.

For those who want to take a crack at NASA’s code, you can check it out here.

Facebook gives users the ability to earn virtual currency by completing advertiser offers. For app developers, these offers can be a valuable additional source of revenue by helping them monetize users that may not otherwise pay for virtual currency. Today we’re launching in-app currency offers, which lets developers award users with their own in-app currency (e.g., Fred Currency in Fred’s game) upon completing an offer.

Previously, developers were able to integrate Credits offers, where users earned Facebook Credits by completing offers. The new in-app currency offers product is in addition to the Credits offers product, and you can utilize either or both in your app.

Honestly, the concept that app developers can “monetize users” sounds a little crazy, as if we’re all being shoved into a transmogrifier in order to be zapped into money that can be used to purchase things, but that’s pretty much the best way to describe it. Just check out the screen grab below to preview your future lived as currency if your name is Fred:

That’s right, Fred: you, too, can now be spent.

The new app product works alongside two previous virtual currency models on Facebook, Offerwall and Dealspot, although it’s not exactly spelled out what exactly Facebook users can spend the in-app currency on. Maybe you can buy more ads to watch from the app developer. If anybody knows out there, comment below to share your experience with trading in or utilizing in-app currency on Facebook apps.

Now, a new software package from 4Media Software Studio aims to streamline the process of getting your own content onto your iDevice. The company announced this morning that they had released iPad Max Platinum. The software, which is available in both Windows and Mac versions, promises to be an all-in-one content solution for your iOS device. Features include iPhone ringtone creation, DVD ripping, downloading YouTube videos, and a host of other features. What’s more, it appears to work on copy-protected DVDs (screencaps on the DVD ripping How-To show demonstrate ripping and converting Pixar’s The Incredibles).

iPad Max Platinum is free to download, or you can buy a license for $62.99 (normally $69.99). The descriptions on the site are a little vague as to what buying a license gets you, apart from discounts on future purchases and a few customer service perks. Considering that it’s free, it’s definitely worth a shot. Try it out and let us know what you think in the comments.

Before the test, GetResponse offered a free trial for their service – but it wasn’t prominently displayed on their homepage. Instead it was buried deeper on the site, on other pages. Bottom line: is wasn’t a well promoted option for browsing customers. On the other hand, the “buy now” button, allowing people to directly purchase their services, did have prime real estate on the homepage.

They wanted to know what would happen if they displayed their free trial option directly beside the “buy now” option. Would it significantly decrease the number of paid accounts?

There was a perception that providing a “Free Trial” button will decrease the number of signups so it was quite a critical test. They used Visual Website Optimizer to quickly setup an A/B test in which variation had an extra “Free Trial” button next to the “Buy Now” button.

Here’s what A looked like:

And here’s what the B variation homepage looked like:

What they found was that not only did the prominent free trial button increase free account signups by 158%, it led to no significant decrease in the number of paid accounts that people were signing up for via the homepage button.

Agnieszka Dabrowska of GetResponse had this to say about the results:

It’s worth testing different variations of Call to Action (CTA) on the homepage. We expected that by adding a free trial button on the homepage the number of paid accounts would decrease. We were positively surprised by the results. Not only did we manage to keep the sale at the same level, but we also noticed a huge increase in the number of free trial accounts, which will also result in a bigger number of upgrades in the future.

Of course a case study is just that – a study of one case. There’s no guarantee that adding a “free trial” button to your homepage would produce similar results. But it does show that it’s probably worth a try.

Can you attest to the advantages and disadvantages of this? Let us know in the comments.

While that may very well be the main reason for Google’s most expensive acquisition to date (provided it gets regulatory approval), there are certainly other factors at play and other bonuses that Google gets with the acquisition.

Henry Blodget at Business Insider thinks the whole thing could be a disaster. “Well, for starters, the deal creates major channel conflict: Google is now competing with its partners,” he writes. “And hardware manufacturing is an entirely different kind of business than Google’s core business. And hardware manufacturing is a crappy, low-margin commodity business. And Motorola is massive–Google has just increased the size of its company by 60%. And the deal appears to be purely a defensive move, not an offensive one. And so on.”

HTC, Samsung, LG and Sony Ericsson have all lent their public support of the deal. They all pretty much say the same thing: “We welcome it.” I’m guessing the reaction isn’t quite as simple out of the public eye.

Meanwhile, Larry Dignan at ZDNet gives six compelling reasons why it “makes sense” These (in a nutshell) are: “Integration may be all that matters” in wireless, the patents “treasure trove,” TV (Motorola’s set-top box business), Google can likely keep hardware partners “in the fold” at least for now, the deal forces Microsoft’s hand, and Android “boxes in Nokia and RIM”.

The point about the set-top boxes is quite interesting. It’s no secret that Google TV hasn’t quite worked out the way the company hoped, at least as of yet. Could owning Motorola Mobility provide a needed boost to give Google TV more legs to stand on?

There’s also things like:

The Motonav GPS, Modems and routers, and even Baby Monitors. Here’s a look at Motorola’s product page:

Then there’s the various software, like Motoblur, Media Link, Motospeak, etc.

Last year, Motorola Mobility acquired Aloqa, a mobile service that notifies users of places, events, music, movies and other activities based on location and personalization. One has to wonder if Google will do something with this:

Motorola Mobility also acquired Zecter last winter. This was a media sync/streaming company. This could come in handy as the company competes with Apple’s iCloud.

At the time of this writing, Google stock is down 2.58%.

Rene Schimmer, the Offering Manager for Social Software for IBM Collaboration Solutions, told us that shunning social media might not be a long-term option.

“Avoiding it is not going to be an option for much longer,” he said. “We [IBM] see these tools as a fundamental instrument to work.”

Is social media becoming a necessity in business? Let us know your thoughts.

It is completely understandable that businesses are concerned about the risks, but, as Schimmer said, social media is becoming fundamental in just about everything. People today that are hired are not going to be able to abandon all their social media practices and rely solely on telephones and email.

IBM is very aware of these potential risks, as well as the benefits, and recently expanded its social software portfolio in an effort to better meet business needs. The platform is called IBM Connections and is an offering for social collaboration within a business.

The main focus of this platform is to help businesses with compliance concerns. For this reason, IBM partnered with Actiance, to bring logging and archiving to the offering. Together, the companies provide a social networking platform with real-time compliance capabilities.

For example, if someone comments on a wiki, the action is logged. If that same person goes back 5 minutes later and deletes the comment, that action is also logged. In other words, there is always a trace, which is very beneficial when it comes to auditing.

Schimmer told us that platforms such as this help businesses feel comfortable about using social media. Every business knows there are risks involved, but having a way to manage those risks is comforting.

“If we can provide a solution that allows organizations to know that their employees cannot circumvent the system, either by intent or just not knowing how to do it properly, that creates that comfort level, so they are able to roll out social systems and work with them,” he said.