Have some haunted houses in real life, famous authors in costume, and, if you like suspense but not gore, twenty-five of the most suspenseful films ever made.
Because Halloween never lasts long enough, frankly.
Every now and again, I still hear words from on high...
turning radius: Hey, whats up?
turning radius: You on?
turning radius: Are you still sleeping never?
So, interesting story with that...kind of yes, kind of no? It's odd. But in the main, my apologies, Lord--I was on, but I was killing spiders, skeletons, and werewolves in Neverwinter. Sorry?
Words of wisdom from a mountain? I've got that.
In the meantime, if you'd seen or heard of the latest Miss Universe pageant's...unusual...take on national costumes, I've dug up part of the full country line-up. You can find a few more here, and here, if you're really interested. For me personally, I'm not sure I'd honestly be able to pick out more than five--maybe five--that are even tenuously related to the national costumes of their countries, and top of that limited list is Miss Japan (Yukimi Matsuo) and Miss Korea (Yumi Kim). And even those aren't exact.
The SLebrity Sim is currently hosting the SLebrity City Holiday Fair. What's so unique about this is that all the things you'll find there are transferable as gifts. Now, that's a neat holiday concept.
[18:46] Santi Knight (vxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx): booo
[18:46] Santi Knight (vxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx): i need your blood
[18:58] Emilly Orr wanders back to the keys and scoffs.
[18:58] Emilly Orr: You're kidding, right? No biting. Go 'way now.
[18:59] Santi Knight (vxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx): jajja ok
Some days people irritate me. Days like this, though, I just loathe them all in general.
Showing posts with label web comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label web comics. Show all posts
08 December, 2013
11 September, 2013
just leave me out, you name-dropper, stop trying to catch my eye
Yes, yes yes, I wandered away again. I know. It's been a somewhat exhausting week.
Part of it is we're coming close to the end of the summer event--the Midsummer Festival of Sune--in Neverwinter. Sune is the goddess of love and beauty in Faerûn, the game setting in which the Neverwinter MMO plays out--for some obscure reason known only to the writers of game quests--most of her celebratory events involve fighting.
Being as the worship of Sune involves meticulous care to be sweet of word and pleasing of feature, one would think the contests would involve writing poems, singing songs, practicing temple dances, and exclamations of courtly love. Instead, they're divided into three main quests, in three different areas of Sune's festival grounds:
And these three things must be done every day, because we need the ingredients to make the things that will get us the festival garb, or special flower-bedecked armaments, for...reasons. Oh, and there's a dirty pig we can buy with the flower petals, too, that will--I'm being serious, here--roll in the mud and scatter that mud on enemies, distracting them enough to ignore us for a bit while we kill them.
MMOs are strange.
I'm thinking I'm going to start culling through the many, many pictures I've been taking over the past two or three weeks, too, and start tossing them up, but sadly, I no longer remember the sims in which I took most of them. More's the pity.
In the meantime...some links! And we're starting with the iodine clock reaction first seen on io9. Now, it's been some time since I was involved in chemical experiments--and, among my friends and I, that usually meant things that blew up, whether we wanted them to or not--but I remember the iodine clock. And it's just as fast as it seems to be. It's like...magic, in a sense, only it's pure SCIENCE!
And science is cool, so there, link, go watch, be amazed.
There's a certain link on translating British English to American English that's gone viral, and it's absolutely brilliant. I rather wish there'd be a version where American English is translated into proper British terms, for reverse understanding, but...I have a feeling it would involve cursing, or something else vastly inappropriate.
In other news from the Telegraph, I can't figure out if this link is a joke, or not. Because it sounds so very much like something the Onion would write up. If it's not a joke, things have gotten very, very odd in Turkey and Egypt.
In comics news, I'm increasingly unhappy with Dan Didio. Actually, it's more a general unhappiness with DC Comics in general (last week simply being the most stunningly stupid example of the tar-laden flailings of DC Comics as a corporate entity that I've seen in some time.
But the signs have been there for some time, I've just been trying to ignore them. Because, in the brand-loyalty department, I've always been a DC girl. I've liked the characters better, the plots better, and then...current management took over. And by "current" I mean "the idiot micromanagers who've been destroying DC for the last five years".
Most particularly, though, the straw that broke my figurative camel's back in this instance surrounds their callous treatment of Harley Quinn as a character. To wit, from the official DC link describing the contest:
Which I suppose would have been tenuously fine, save for two things:
And in the meantime, very nearly effortlessly, Marvel's figured out the trick to keeping fans happy: giving them real characters of depth, that can get married no matter what gender--or species--they are, that have real problems in spite of being superheroes, that we can relate to as fans, as fellow beings, and as consumers of media--be that media movies, television or comic books.
You'd think DC would've figured out the same thing, but no, they're still the mammoth in La Brea, slowly sinking, without ever really seeming to comprehend why. It's deeply sad, but they're still stupid for doing it.
Part of it is we're coming close to the end of the summer event--the Midsummer Festival of Sune--in Neverwinter. Sune is the goddess of love and beauty in Faerûn, the game setting in which the Neverwinter MMO plays out--for some obscure reason known only to the writers of game quests--most of her celebratory events involve fighting.
Being as the worship of Sune involves meticulous care to be sweet of word and pleasing of feature, one would think the contests would involve writing poems, singing songs, practicing temple dances, and exclamations of courtly love. Instead, they're divided into three main quests, in three different areas of Sune's festival grounds:
- Protecting the Feasting Grounds. Given that part of the Festival involves keeping the feasting tables piled high in hospitality, there's a great deal of cooking that goes on. The main "grilling grounds", however, have been set upon by mountain trolls, for...some reason. Our job as celebrants is to...kill the trolls. No, really. And we're rewarded for doing so with a few bolts of blue and green fabric, lightweight linen thread, filigree trim, and flower petals.
- Harvesting Fireflower blooms. Apparently the only time the Fireflower blooms is during midsummer, and it is apparently both a vital currency to the clergy and an important ingredient in making...festival garb. No, I'm not making that up. So, as a result, we as celebrants are sent off to gather blooms. The catch: the blooms are guarded/preyed upon by kobolds, who are addicted to the flower, and it makes them territorial, aggressive, and angry. They're kind of like kobold PCP. Our job: well, what else? Kill the kobolds. For this, we get packs of flower petals, plus various harvest foods we can use to make into squash soup, caprese (not even kidding, it's called that in the game, and that's exactly what it is), and...watermelon sorbet. Again, not kidding.
- Harvesting and Herding. Lastly, mystical, blessed corn needs to be gathered--because apparently, clerical barbecue requires roasted corn--and chickens and pigs must be herded into the pens so the...erm...messy stuff can happen, to get meat to the grilling grounds, and...that's our task, too. At least this one doesn't involve battle, just frustration. Our task: run towards chickens or pigs until a bright, radiant sun appears over their heads, then run them towards the pens until they cross the glowing green barrier and are 'counted'. We get one point for ten ears of corn harvested, two points for each chicken brought in, seven points for each squealing pig, and--should we be lucky enough to encounter one--thirty points for the larger, named 'Golden Chickens' that pop up now and again. And again, for doing all this running around trying to herd animals, and gather corn, we get more farm-fresh vegetables, more flower petals, and...I suppose...a sense of accomplishment about everything?
And these three things must be done every day, because we need the ingredients to make the things that will get us the festival garb, or special flower-bedecked armaments, for...reasons. Oh, and there's a dirty pig we can buy with the flower petals, too, that will--I'm being serious, here--roll in the mud and scatter that mud on enemies, distracting them enough to ignore us for a bit while we kill them.
MMOs are strange.
I'm thinking I'm going to start culling through the many, many pictures I've been taking over the past two or three weeks, too, and start tossing them up, but sadly, I no longer remember the sims in which I took most of them. More's the pity.
In the meantime...some links! And we're starting with the iodine clock reaction first seen on io9. Now, it's been some time since I was involved in chemical experiments--and, among my friends and I, that usually meant things that blew up, whether we wanted them to or not--but I remember the iodine clock. And it's just as fast as it seems to be. It's like...magic, in a sense, only it's pure SCIENCE!
And science is cool, so there, link, go watch, be amazed.
There's a certain link on translating British English to American English that's gone viral, and it's absolutely brilliant. I rather wish there'd be a version where American English is translated into proper British terms, for reverse understanding, but...I have a feeling it would involve cursing, or something else vastly inappropriate.
In other news from the Telegraph, I can't figure out if this link is a joke, or not. Because it sounds so very much like something the Onion would write up. If it's not a joke, things have gotten very, very odd in Turkey and Egypt.
In comics news, I'm increasingly unhappy with Dan Didio. Actually, it's more a general unhappiness with DC Comics in general (last week simply being the most stunningly stupid example of the tar-laden flailings of DC Comics as a corporate entity that I've seen in some time.
But the signs have been there for some time, I've just been trying to ignore them. Because, in the brand-loyalty department, I've always been a DC girl. I've liked the characters better, the plots better, and then...current management took over. And by "current" I mean "the idiot micromanagers who've been destroying DC for the last five years".
Most particularly, though, the straw that broke my figurative camel's back in this instance surrounds their callous treatment of Harley Quinn as a character. To wit, from the official DC link describing the contest:
PANEL 4Now, if you look at the page as it stands--which has been substantially revised--there are other comic panels added. There's also been a fair amount of explanation and context given as to why they thought this was a good idea to do in the first place. According to officials within the company, this was never about supposedly "sexualizing" suicide, it was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek meta-commentary on the absurd directions DC writers--and, by extension, comics writers in the industry as a whole--take on occasion with female characters under their purview. (See TV Tropes' excellent description of the 'women in refrigerators' concept that's plagued comics for over three decades, at least.)
Harley sitting naked in a bathtub with toasters, blow dryers, blenders, appliances all dangling above the bathtub and she has a cord that will release them all. We are watching the moment before the inevitable death. Her expression is one of "oh well, guess that's it for me" and she has resigned herself to the moment that is going to happen.
Which I suppose would have been tenuously fine, save for two things:
- They released the fourth panel alone, on the original contest page, with no meta-context given at all for why this was happening; and
- They announced the contest during Suicide Prevention Week, thus raising this to a PR nightmare the likes of which was only seen before during the dickwolves debacle on Penny Arcade.
And in the meantime, very nearly effortlessly, Marvel's figured out the trick to keeping fans happy: giving them real characters of depth, that can get married no matter what gender--or species--they are, that have real problems in spite of being superheroes, that we can relate to as fans, as fellow beings, and as consumers of media--be that media movies, television or comic books.
You'd think DC would've figured out the same thing, but no, they're still the mammoth in La Brea, slowly sinking, without ever really seeming to comprehend why. It's deeply sad, but they're still stupid for doing it.
29 May, 2013
back into the boneyard badlands we run
This is, quite possibly, the best Borderlands cosplay video in existence. With the kind permission of Gavin Dunne from Miracle of Sound for the song, and the full cooperation of the Jazzhands Cosplay Group of London, it was an impressive endeavor. Humble kudos to all involved.
(Oh, and the song used in that video? It's called "Breaking Down the Borders", and it's from the Level III album, available on Bandcamp or iTunes. The entire album comes highly recommended, but that song in particular, since it was written about and for Borderlands 2 as a game.)
The best preserved mammoth in paleontology? Maybe. The question is, what are they going to do with it now?
Oh, and before I forget:
 |
| (from the media album, and the Girl Genius Kickstarter) |
The Wulfenbach patch unlocked as an add-on for the Girl Genius Kickstarter. We don't have art yet, but I did have to grab this banner and link it, because with four days to go, suddenly $300,000 seems potentially doable!
Do you have old game consoles and peripherals that you no longer use, that are taking up space? Do you want more game peripherals that are actually useful for more than just taking up space? I have one potential answer for those questions. Turns out an Etsy firm called Greencüb out of Ogden, Utah, is slowly repurposing old controllers, buttons, and power switches for resale to the public. Kind of a nifty concept.
It's not enough just to have dare foods anymore, we apparently have to dare during the dare foods. As Chuck from the Bronx displays, by eating a ghost pepper whilst skydiving. Yes, seriously.
It gets better--there are occasional text pop-ups on the vid that tell us what's going on, and one of them says that he had trouble swallowing the pepper that he popped in his mouth at the beginning of the jump. So it wasn't just eating the ghost pepper (which, for the uninitiated, averages about a million Scoville heat units, per pepper, and remains the single hottest naturally-grown pepper to date), but, it was lightly macerating a ghost pepper against the sensitive mucus membranes of his mouth, then HOLDING IT THERE during most of freefall, enhancing and substantially increasing the burn. Dear gods. No wonder he does not so much land at the end of the video, but slide to an ungainly stop. Dear gods.
If you really like trees--or, more importantly, are a big fan of wood--you may need to buy this book. Published by Taschen, it's actually a reprint of a rare, fourteen-volume set that was researched and compiled in-depth of species at the turn of the last century--many of which have disappeared today. Taschen went to the heart of Romeyn Beck Hough's masterwork, reprinting only the actual photographic plates with their usual exacting faithfulness for color and detail preservation. Since a set of the original works goes upwards of $30,000--assuming a fond reader can find them at all--this is a lovely way to acquire the visual sections for later perusal, without the price tag and expense of tracking Hough's set down.
YouTube now offers a slow-motion post-processing effect for uploaded videos. I still don't know why, but it's now there. Make of that what you will.
And, also from the Laughing Squid blog, Inception meets recursion. You're...welcome?
24 May, 2013
you built up your heaven on the back of hell
Studio Foglio will now have all twelve of their Girl Genius volumes reprinted! On June 2nd, their Kickstarter will be fully funded, which means for the next eight days, it's just play time and stretch goals. Considering some of their stretch goals involved pancakes on various Foglio family members, I'm dying to know what they're going to do next.
Couple weeks back, Disney announced the "official" arrival of Merida as the next Disney princess. Which is all well and good--the coronation announcement was both splendid and a great deal of fun, on May 11th--but it's not the announcement itself that seems to be irritating people. It's the sparkly, slimmer redesign for the two-dimensional version that seems to be getting under peoples' skin.
Merida's creator criticized Disney for this move, there was a petition that garnered a great deal of signatures, and Disney quietly caved--for once--and put the original Merida up on the princess page.
But I think my favorite fan reaction, all things considered, was John Kovalic's. That's very nearly perfect.
Sent from a friend, from a profile she wandered across:
The White House has awarded Sally Ride a posthumous Medal of Freedom for her efforts in both scientific endeavors and in expanding the reach of the space program. Her partner, Tam O'Shaughnessy, accepted the award on her behalf, and NASA has announced a new internment program to allow up to ten deserving students each semester to study alongside NASA research scientists and engineers, in partnership with Sally Ride Science, the grant set up in Ride's name. While she was the third woman in space, her achievements--especially in the field of educational inspiration, long after her death--have been significant, so this is wonderful news.
This, also, may be the single most beautiful ad for a funeral home ever. Not only that, but we need more ads involving mortality leading to new life. Most of the funeral home advertising--in the US, at least--tends towards far skyborne vistas, stately aged trees, sunlight on water...that whole 'eternity' vibe, when what they should be reinforcing is that we all die, and that's okay, because the flowers still grow and the children still play.
Couple weeks back, Disney announced the "official" arrival of Merida as the next Disney princess. Which is all well and good--the coronation announcement was both splendid and a great deal of fun, on May 11th--but it's not the announcement itself that seems to be irritating people. It's the sparkly, slimmer redesign for the two-dimensional version that seems to be getting under peoples' skin.
Merida's creator criticized Disney for this move, there was a petition that garnered a great deal of signatures, and Disney quietly caved--for once--and put the original Merida up on the princess page.
But I think my favorite fan reaction, all things considered, was John Kovalic's. That's very nearly perfect.
Sent from a friend, from a profile she wandered across:
"Breaking News: The Pity Train has just derailed at the intersection of Suck it Up & Move On, and crashed into We All Got Problems, before coming to a complete stop at Get the Hell Over It. Any complaints about how we operate can be forwarded to 1-800-WAA-WAAA. This is Dr. Sniffle reporting LIVE from Quitchur Bitchin'. If you like this great, if you don't, suck it up cupcake! Life doesn't revolve around you."I like that.
The White House has awarded Sally Ride a posthumous Medal of Freedom for her efforts in both scientific endeavors and in expanding the reach of the space program. Her partner, Tam O'Shaughnessy, accepted the award on her behalf, and NASA has announced a new internment program to allow up to ten deserving students each semester to study alongside NASA research scientists and engineers, in partnership with Sally Ride Science, the grant set up in Ride's name. While she was the third woman in space, her achievements--especially in the field of educational inspiration, long after her death--have been significant, so this is wonderful news.
This, also, may be the single most beautiful ad for a funeral home ever. Not only that, but we need more ads involving mortality leading to new life. Most of the funeral home advertising--in the US, at least--tends towards far skyborne vistas, stately aged trees, sunlight on water...that whole 'eternity' vibe, when what they should be reinforcing is that we all die, and that's okay, because the flowers still grow and the children still play.
01 August, 2012
hurt, the measure of blind ambition
[Help] UberSlash: can anyone teach me how to play?
OMG GET OFF MY GAME.
My apologies, that was hostile. Gentle sir, pray avail yourself of the many, many teaching resources that can be found in the Paragon Wiki and various other online resources dedicated to improving the daily play of City of Heroes. Alternatively, you may mark yourself with the title "Help Me!" and more experienced players will do their best to help you learn the ropes.
But if you ask that again, GET OFF MY GAME.
Also, back on the Singularity viewer again. Why? Because when I had downloaded (the CORRECT version!) of Nirans to the brand spanking new uber-comp...I had severe lag and an inability to set things to where I could even see the stores I was in. The hell. Logged out, downloaded Singularity, cursing my fate, making dark promises that I'd upgrade to v3 whenever I could force my brain into it...and it works fine, I can see things, and no lag in the stores I was in. Well. FINE, then.
Now, I know, the title of this next link may put you off, but trust me, you want to listen, because it may well baffle your brain into killing off a few weaker brain cells.
Let it. You don't need them anyway.
In an article beneath a Gutters comic page called "Till Crossover Event Do Them Part", we find these words:
But this one? It was a throwaway side mention. Why?
OMG GET OFF MY GAME.
My apologies, that was hostile. Gentle sir, pray avail yourself of the many, many teaching resources that can be found in the Paragon Wiki and various other online resources dedicated to improving the daily play of City of Heroes. Alternatively, you may mark yourself with the title "Help Me!" and more experienced players will do their best to help you learn the ropes.
But if you ask that again, GET OFF MY GAME.
Also, back on the Singularity viewer again. Why? Because when I had downloaded (the CORRECT version!) of Nirans to the brand spanking new uber-comp...I had severe lag and an inability to set things to where I could even see the stores I was in. The hell. Logged out, downloaded Singularity, cursing my fate, making dark promises that I'd upgrade to v3 whenever I could force my brain into it...and it works fine, I can see things, and no lag in the stores I was in. Well. FINE, then.
Now, I know, the title of this next link may put you off, but trust me, you want to listen, because it may well baffle your brain into killing off a few weaker brain cells.
Let it. You don't need them anyway.
In an article beneath a Gutters comic page called "Till Crossover Event Do Them Part", we find these words:
Given the multiple series that are currently running AvX tie-in stories, it's entirely possible (read: entirely likely) that I'm missing a very heartfelt and emotional scene between Storm and T'Challa regarding the dissolving of their marriage.Moss is absolutely right--normally, marriages (and separations/divorces) have been sweeping, emotional story arcs that are designed, start to finish, to provoke loyalty, love, and strong emotion.
Because if I'm not, the scene in Avengers Vs X-Men #9 that ends their marriage kinda reads something like this:
Storm: Hey man.
T'challa: Hey, I annulled our marriage.
Storm: Really? We should totally talk about that later.
T'Challa: Totally. Now get out of my country.
The whole exchange took less than three panels!
But this one? It was a throwaway side mention. Why?
25 March, 2012
I can't be trusted to wait on hard times
Cxxxxxx Pxxxxxxxxxxxx: Linden Lab has some very poor business strategy. Oskar Linden, head of quality assurance, publicly stated that he's not allowed to do his job. All he can do is advise. He has no power to stop or delay a release, due to quality issues.
So...listen, I know jobs are hard to find and all, but I have a couple questions that spring urgently to mind:
1. Why work for a company who devalues your efforts like this? And
2. Why hire someone and then refuse to let him do his job for you?
Also, I'd love to know where he said this. A search on (my assumption of) common terms on Google turned up no public statements to this effect, but, to be fair, there's a lot of office hours transcripts I didn't read.
My first reaction to this next one: "Hey, guess who's back?"
But I was wrong. This is not an Evony ad. This is...an ad for the new Godfather MMO? Seriously?
Yeah, seriously. Clicked the ad and everything. I would have sworn this was the latest iteration on Evony. And I was thinking even as I clicked it--to prove that it was from the Evony lot--"My gods, guys, why don't you just give up and start a porn company?"
So now I'm trying to figure out how the waiflet figures into the Five Families game. Is she someone's daughter who went astray? Is she a standard-issue gun moll waiting for her 1920s update? Did the Godfather production team get together with the Evony ad people, and this is what they came up with?
Because let me tell you, while I clicked the ad, I clicked it knowing I wouldn't play a game whose main initial goal seems to be getting girls undressed as quickly as possible. Not that that can't be fun now and again, but seriously, day in and day out that's kind of wearing on the player.
This is the weirdest thing I've seen this week (and yeah, that counts the trailer for Cabin in the Woods, but on reflection does not include watching The Oregonian--and if you think that's a recommendation for The Oregonian, you'd be wrong). Apparently this is a coming series? If so...and I'm wary of saying this, but...when?! Because this is the women of DC on fast forward through the spin cycle. I have to know what comes next.
And I found a new music blog. Titled The Right Side of a Good Thing, it weighs in heavy on alt-country (as well as traditional country), but there's enough good early pop and early rock (think late 1950s to mid 1870s, overall) to make the doses of twangy mournful country tolerable.
Finally, there's been some discussion of the fast and superfast where superheroes are concerned. The fellow behind Nodwick, of course, puts it in the most amusing light. But he's got a serious point--when we're already being told that someone locked into a human frame can travel twice the speed of light with no signs of injury, why even both factoring in how normal human frames would react, realistically? It blurs so deeply into the realm of the impossible that we generally choose to shrug it off and go on, because we all have bigger things to worry about.
So...listen, I know jobs are hard to find and all, but I have a couple questions that spring urgently to mind:
1. Why work for a company who devalues your efforts like this? And
2. Why hire someone and then refuse to let him do his job for you?
Also, I'd love to know where he said this. A search on (my assumption of) common terms on Google turned up no public statements to this effect, but, to be fair, there's a lot of office hours transcripts I didn't read.
My first reaction to this next one: "Hey, guess who's back?"
 |
| (from the Games album) |
But I was wrong. This is not an Evony ad. This is...an ad for the new Godfather MMO? Seriously?
Yeah, seriously. Clicked the ad and everything. I would have sworn this was the latest iteration on Evony. And I was thinking even as I clicked it--to prove that it was from the Evony lot--"My gods, guys, why don't you just give up and start a porn company?"
So now I'm trying to figure out how the waiflet figures into the Five Families game. Is she someone's daughter who went astray? Is she a standard-issue gun moll waiting for her 1920s update? Did the Godfather production team get together with the Evony ad people, and this is what they came up with?
Because let me tell you, while I clicked the ad, I clicked it knowing I wouldn't play a game whose main initial goal seems to be getting girls undressed as quickly as possible. Not that that can't be fun now and again, but seriously, day in and day out that's kind of wearing on the player.
This is the weirdest thing I've seen this week (and yeah, that counts the trailer for Cabin in the Woods, but on reflection does not include watching The Oregonian--and if you think that's a recommendation for The Oregonian, you'd be wrong). Apparently this is a coming series? If so...and I'm wary of saying this, but...when?! Because this is the women of DC on fast forward through the spin cycle. I have to know what comes next.
And I found a new music blog. Titled The Right Side of a Good Thing, it weighs in heavy on alt-country (as well as traditional country), but there's enough good early pop and early rock (think late 1950s to mid 1870s, overall) to make the doses of twangy mournful country tolerable.
Finally, there's been some discussion of the fast and superfast where superheroes are concerned. The fellow behind Nodwick, of course, puts it in the most amusing light. But he's got a serious point--when we're already being told that someone locked into a human frame can travel twice the speed of light with no signs of injury, why even both factoring in how normal human frames would react, realistically? It blurs so deeply into the realm of the impossible that we generally choose to shrug it off and go on, because we all have bigger things to worry about.
21 March, 2012
drunk and I am seeing stars
There are a lot of big changes from Minecraft 1.2.3 to 1.2.4. Chief among them: various trees now give various colors of wood. I'm still not sure what the jungle trees are called: based on the spreading upper-canopy leaves, I've been saying baobabs; the people behind the Painterly Pack say mangrove; a friend of mine calls the wooden planks derived from jungle trees mahogany (though truthfully, if we're trying to match wood types to oak, pine, and birch, the existing trees, and it's jungle biome-based, it should be teak); and the folks behind the Minecraft wiki just cheat and call them jungle trees.
So the up side of having four different colors of wood: We can now make patterned-wood floors, walls and ceilings, and build with the tone of wood we most prefer. The down side? Four different colors/types of wood means that wood planks derived from them will no longer stack. Well, hell.
There's also apparently four colors of sand/sandstone, now. The "traditional" sand, which is a single block that can be dug out of deserts, and is affected by physics; crafted sandstone, which takes four cubes of regular sand to make; "smooth" sandstone, which is made from four cubes of 'regular' sandstone; and "hieroglyphic" sandstone (which is anything but, being a sand block with dots and dashes on it and a creeper face), which takes the crafting of two sand slabs, then piling those slabs one on top of the other in a crafting table, to make. Complete and utter fail, for me, but then I run under the Painterly textures, where I've had a crafted hieroglyphic sandstone block for over three years--with actual recognizeable heiroglyphics, thank you.
From the "Little Vampires" web comic, comes another handy information placard on things that should never be vampires. And it's true, chicken teeth are rare enough as it is, we don't need them pointed.
(There's a whole bunch of them on that site, if you just keep hitting previous. Prepare to be baffled, and/or giggle, a great deal.)
There's now a free universal adapter kit for construction toys--plans for 3D printers are available on their main site, which includes a definition of all parts used that can be manufactured commercially, or printed out on something like the MakerBot, f'rinstance. Ten different styles of connectors means you'll never face half a Legos set and half a TinkerToys set with a sense of abject failure again.
Nokia, meanwhile, has applied for a patent for a ferromagnetic fluid that can be injected like tattoo ink through the first few layers of human skin. It will then be able to pick up cellphone signals after being programmed (in some as-yet-unnamed fashion), so people will be able to feel the tattoo vibrating when calls or text messages come in.
So far, the universal reaction from my friends and family has been that this will be the worst tattoo advancement since the introduction of iron oxide inks in the first place--and any MRI given to someone who has one will likely pull it right out of their skin. Fairly sure they're not wrong, which is on the scary side. (Not that they're right; that pretty much you can have the Nokia tattoo, OR an MRI: but you can only pick one.)
And I'm still sorting through tons of pictures, so the next few posts may be simple picspam entries. Warning everyone now.
So the up side of having four different colors of wood: We can now make patterned-wood floors, walls and ceilings, and build with the tone of wood we most prefer. The down side? Four different colors/types of wood means that wood planks derived from them will no longer stack. Well, hell.
There's also apparently four colors of sand/sandstone, now. The "traditional" sand, which is a single block that can be dug out of deserts, and is affected by physics; crafted sandstone, which takes four cubes of regular sand to make; "smooth" sandstone, which is made from four cubes of 'regular' sandstone; and "hieroglyphic" sandstone (which is anything but, being a sand block with dots and dashes on it and a creeper face), which takes the crafting of two sand slabs, then piling those slabs one on top of the other in a crafting table, to make. Complete and utter fail, for me, but then I run under the Painterly textures, where I've had a crafted hieroglyphic sandstone block for over three years--with actual recognizeable heiroglyphics, thank you.
From the "Little Vampires" web comic, comes another handy information placard on things that should never be vampires. And it's true, chicken teeth are rare enough as it is, we don't need them pointed.
(There's a whole bunch of them on that site, if you just keep hitting previous. Prepare to be baffled, and/or giggle, a great deal.)
There's now a free universal adapter kit for construction toys--plans for 3D printers are available on their main site, which includes a definition of all parts used that can be manufactured commercially, or printed out on something like the MakerBot, f'rinstance. Ten different styles of connectors means you'll never face half a Legos set and half a TinkerToys set with a sense of abject failure again.
Nokia, meanwhile, has applied for a patent for a ferromagnetic fluid that can be injected like tattoo ink through the first few layers of human skin. It will then be able to pick up cellphone signals after being programmed (in some as-yet-unnamed fashion), so people will be able to feel the tattoo vibrating when calls or text messages come in.
So far, the universal reaction from my friends and family has been that this will be the worst tattoo advancement since the introduction of iron oxide inks in the first place--and any MRI given to someone who has one will likely pull it right out of their skin. Fairly sure they're not wrong, which is on the scary side. (Not that they're right; that pretty much you can have the Nokia tattoo, OR an MRI: but you can only pick one.)
And I'm still sorting through tons of pictures, so the next few posts may be simple picspam entries. Warning everyone now.
05 November, 2011
I know I can't take one more step towards you, 'cos all that's waiting is regret
Welcome to the Steam Emporium (and a tip of the hat to Miss Terry Lightfoot for finding it). Among my favorites: their strange and wonderful bookends collection, and their steam walking sticks collection. Most of these items are for sale, but keep in mind that they are one-of-a-kind collectibles of their type, so prices are high.
Towards more American-centric creations, Dippin' Dots has filed for bankruptcy. Obscurely, they also assert that they will remain in business. I guess futuristic ice cream isn't as profitable as they thought it would be, all those years ago.
More news from the world beyond the screen--today is Bank Transfer Day. To that end, here's a list of seven banks that are actually amazing at customer service and fairly high-yield checking and savings accounts.
In other news, I'm introducing Surviving the World on the sidebar. Dante Shepherd is a research scientist working out of Maryland in a fairly prestigious thinktank, and this is what he does in his spare time. Lucky us, because he's funny, smart, and well worth reading. I've been following him for a while and I've finally decided he needs to be a daily read.
And for some unknown reason, the FBI is suspicious of Second Life. Yeah, I have no clue why either.
And finally, over on Laughing Squid, there's mention of the new Kina Grannis video: using 288,000 jelly beans--provided by Jelly Belly, of course--and taking over two years to complete, start to finish. Even better? It's not a bad little song. Kudos to her, and kudos to Jelly Belly for donating the beans.
The best part? Joining her mailing list gets you a free download of the acoustic version of the song. A great stop-motion vid and a free song just for getting news about the artist? I'm there.
Back to the last names JIRA, last seen here:
This has been running for at least six months. Another variant that often pops up is a referral site they've set up called "2ndlife.com", for Google searchers who can't spell, one would imagine. I'm also curious how many people sign up for IMVU thinking it's Second Life from these paid ads.
So making Second Life appear more like IMVU? Not in anyone's best interest unless the Lindens are actually angling to sell the property to IMVU.
Yeah. Like that ever would have gone over. That lead balloon never left the ground for one single second, nor should it have.
In City of Heroes, at least, you can change your global name...once. (After that it's kind of a pain and involves paying the company for a formal name transfer token.) But before you change it, your name is your first character.
Of course, this wouldn't work in Second Life, because so many people want their alts to remain alts, with zero connection to their main accounts--and believe me, I understand why. And trust me on this, it's not always for prurient kinky sex options--for instance, say you're a major estate owner (waves at Des). You have alts and, though most of them are known, not all of them are. And sometimes, you might want to just get out and wander the grid, without having to worry about anyone contacting you for support, sim help, estate issues, rent questions...whatever.
I'd imagine the same thing would go for major store owners, but even getting away from rental issues or store support, there are valid reasons why people would want that sense of separation.
Instead, what we have now is a group of people who use main accounts and alts, who use titlers for specific roleplay or store-group identification, who have last names...and another group of people who may be intelligent, charming, witty, wonderful people, who are nigh instantly dismissed for being Not of the Tribe, stupid, unintelligent, children. Yeah. That worked, Lindens, what's your next plan? Set your server room on fire?
Towards more American-centric creations, Dippin' Dots has filed for bankruptcy. Obscurely, they also assert that they will remain in business. I guess futuristic ice cream isn't as profitable as they thought it would be, all those years ago.
More news from the world beyond the screen--today is Bank Transfer Day. To that end, here's a list of seven banks that are actually amazing at customer service and fairly high-yield checking and savings accounts.
In other news, I'm introducing Surviving the World on the sidebar. Dante Shepherd is a research scientist working out of Maryland in a fairly prestigious thinktank, and this is what he does in his spare time. Lucky us, because he's funny, smart, and well worth reading. I've been following him for a while and I've finally decided he needs to be a daily read.
And for some unknown reason, the FBI is suspicious of Second Life. Yeah, I have no clue why either.
And finally, over on Laughing Squid, there's mention of the new Kina Grannis video: using 288,000 jelly beans--provided by Jelly Belly, of course--and taking over two years to complete, start to finish. Even better? It's not a bad little song. Kudos to her, and kudos to Jelly Belly for donating the beans.
The best part? Joining her mailing list gets you a free download of the acoustic version of the song. A great stop-motion vid and a free song just for getting news about the artist? I'm there.
Back to the last names JIRA, last seen here:
Strange that just a seemingly minor change like this could cause Second Life to lose so much of it's charm. Regardless of intentions, it's a comlpete mess as it is and really ought to be fixed.Spelling not corrected, and partially, that's because it did make Second Life different from other MMOs, and even other social networks (because let's be fair, SL is both, and neither).
On Blue Mars the log in is unknown to the public and the display name is all that is shown. It was great (sarcasm) to have someone take my name, throw numbers and ascii into it and walk off laughing. Last names mean individuality, an individuality which was taken away. Resident was not the way to go.Again the charge (and the not at all inaccurate charge) of impersonation of existing names and avatars, which is a real problem. (And yet another problem that the Lindens seem to care nothing about.)
I believe removing this option only makes it easier for people to make alts that grief. I'm not saying that people with the last name resident are griefers/smappers/bots etc, but it certainly looks like it immediately.The "Resident" surname, or even worse, now, the lack of any surname at all (which is seen now and again in the comments in that very JIRA), makes this sort of knee-jerk rushing to judgement not only easier, but encouraged. It's a very bad trend that the Lindens should step in and stop.
SL without proper last names, be then LL provided or not, makes it feel like IMVU.Speaking of which, IMVU has for many months now, deliberately been treading on the toes of Second Life. To wit:
 |
| (from the miscellaneous album) |
This has been running for at least six months. Another variant that often pops up is a referral site they've set up called "2ndlife.com", for Google searchers who can't spell, one would imagine. I'm also curious how many people sign up for IMVU thinking it's Second Life from these paid ads.
So making Second Life appear more like IMVU? Not in anyone's best interest unless the Lindens are actually angling to sell the property to IMVU.
I wholeheartedly agree. SL names are a part of the culture of SL. SL is not Facebook. SL is not Google+. They are them and we are us.But it is interesting that both Facebook and Google+ seem so insistent on real names, to the point that the Lindens briefly flirted with the concept of real names only...with "display names" being the solution to the "problem".
Yeah. Like that ever would have gone over. That lead balloon never left the ground for one single second, nor should it have.
Last names actually contributed to the creativity of residents. The first thing you got to do in SL was to choose a last name, and then, with that as a parameter, create a first name. The last name encouraged people to take care with their first name, think about it, because they were creating a NAME, an identity, not just an account label. Now residents are just creating an account label.This is an excellent point, too. I'm thinking of other games I've played, like Runes of Magic--I chose one account-level name, with every character created tied to that account name, but not dependent on it. City of Heroes does it slightly differently--you have one global name (which is known if you friend anyone or they friend you), and then all your heroes and villians (or Praetorians), that are sub-categories off that global name.
In City of Heroes, at least, you can change your global name...once. (After that it's kind of a pain and involves paying the company for a formal name transfer token.) But before you change it, your name is your first character.
Of course, this wouldn't work in Second Life, because so many people want their alts to remain alts, with zero connection to their main accounts--and believe me, I understand why. And trust me on this, it's not always for prurient kinky sex options--for instance, say you're a major estate owner (waves at Des). You have alts and, though most of them are known, not all of them are. And sometimes, you might want to just get out and wander the grid, without having to worry about anyone contacting you for support, sim help, estate issues, rent questions...whatever.
I'd imagine the same thing would go for major store owners, but even getting away from rental issues or store support, there are valid reasons why people would want that sense of separation.
Instead, what we have now is a group of people who use main accounts and alts, who use titlers for specific roleplay or store-group identification, who have last names...and another group of people who may be intelligent, charming, witty, wonderful people, who are nigh instantly dismissed for being Not of the Tribe, stupid, unintelligent, children. Yeah. That worked, Lindens, what's your next plan? Set your server room on fire?
13 September, 2011
and you won't make a sound, or be nervous around
First came the announcement. Then the going to stare at the sign.
Followed by the moment of falling down in hysterics.
Then the moment of wearing them.
Followed by more falling down in hysterics.
Trust me, if you can see mesh at all, you owe it to yourselves to grab a pair and walk around for a while in them. That's comedy.
Also, I may have to see Arang again. Getting a comment on that post reminded me how much I liked that film, even with its flaws.
Extra Credits has just released a tasty new episode on cut scenes. I wholly agree with them, especially since I just sat through a video walk-through of Metal Gear Solid 4 (though admittedly, Chip and Ironicus are pretty good to listen to between the cut scenes) and am currently slogging through Uncharted 2 (same guys, they're good). (And while we're on the topic, I think the Uncharted team should just give up and make a CGI movie already--or hells, a real one! They can even cast Claudia Black in the same role, come on!)
(As long as you're there, if you're looking for comedy, check out 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. For horror, I highly recommend the walkthrough for Condemned.)
So, just trying to test understanding here...Linden Lab had an attorney...then fired their attorney...then hired a crooked attorney? I mean, okay, backdating stock options isn't premeditated murder, but it's still a crime. What the hell, Lindens?
This is why translation is occasionally amusing.
From the fields of technology, first a very techno-lusty device (it comes with its own easel!), and second, the development of polymer gel means we can potentially have thinner, more easily shaped batteries for electronic devices in time. (That is a very, very good thing.)
Things not to do as an artist? We've got a list for that. I particularly favor #3.
I really, really love the detail involved in the SL lingerie blog, but they haven't posted since July. What happened? And gods, I wish I'd known about them sooner!
And I'm not gonna lie, I cackled like an idiot reading this. Go Grant Morrison!
I think that's all on this one I've got for now; I think it's been a slow week, post-JLU. Other than, start to finish (now that I've finally seen it) I really, really enjoyed Torchwood: Miracle Day. Don't get me wrong, there were flaws--and sometimes big ones--and there are still people I miss who were in the original show. But for what it was--and for America's usual ham-handed reinvisioning attempts with other shows--it was very, very well done.
Followed by the moment of falling down in hysterics.
Then the moment of wearing them.
Followed by more falling down in hysterics.
Trust me, if you can see mesh at all, you owe it to yourselves to grab a pair and walk around for a while in them. That's comedy.
Also, I may have to see Arang again. Getting a comment on that post reminded me how much I liked that film, even with its flaws.
Extra Credits has just released a tasty new episode on cut scenes. I wholly agree with them, especially since I just sat through a video walk-through of Metal Gear Solid 4 (though admittedly, Chip and Ironicus are pretty good to listen to between the cut scenes) and am currently slogging through Uncharted 2 (same guys, they're good). (And while we're on the topic, I think the Uncharted team should just give up and make a CGI movie already--or hells, a real one! They can even cast Claudia Black in the same role, come on!)
(As long as you're there, if you're looking for comedy, check out 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. For horror, I highly recommend the walkthrough for Condemned.)
So, just trying to test understanding here...Linden Lab had an attorney...then fired their attorney...then hired a crooked attorney? I mean, okay, backdating stock options isn't premeditated murder, but it's still a crime. What the hell, Lindens?
This is why translation is occasionally amusing.
From the fields of technology, first a very techno-lusty device (it comes with its own easel!), and second, the development of polymer gel means we can potentially have thinner, more easily shaped batteries for electronic devices in time. (That is a very, very good thing.)
Things not to do as an artist? We've got a list for that. I particularly favor #3.
I really, really love the detail involved in the SL lingerie blog, but they haven't posted since July. What happened? And gods, I wish I'd known about them sooner!
And I'm not gonna lie, I cackled like an idiot reading this. Go Grant Morrison!
I think that's all on this one I've got for now; I think it's been a slow week, post-JLU. Other than, start to finish (now that I've finally seen it) I really, really enjoyed Torchwood: Miracle Day. Don't get me wrong, there were flaws--and sometimes big ones--and there are still people I miss who were in the original show. But for what it was--and for America's usual ham-handed reinvisioning attempts with other shows--it was very, very well done.
31 August, 2011
I used to have a home, now I don't even have a name
Marc Rossmiller invited you to join him on Google+
No. Die.
Moving on--how about an entire page of great fandom cakes? And man, some of these are amazing. Not a cake wreck in the batch.
More Hurricane Irene news: LordKat, an occasional correspondent through That Guy With the Glasses, lives in Staten Island. This is relevant because for the past couple of days, he pointed his webcam out onto his street. (And no, the film's not shown in reverse; the car near the beginning does back up and out of the street because it was blocked.) From a mild drizzle to Atlantis and rising damp in 48 hours. Impressive in a slightly unnerving way.
So yesterday, I mentioned the whole Alyssa Bereznak fiasco, and there's been a couple new points of interest pop up. First, Dork Tower actually put out a strip commemorating the whole controversy, and there was a link at the end to another article. That's where the real interest for me picks up.
See, apparently, Ms. Bereznak, forgetting she worked as a geek blogger, and that her little 'ew Magic he's so gross' post would turn into the shot heard 'round the geek world, changed her blog entry twice over the course of the next day, trying to make herself sound more like a victim, and Finkel more like a bad date that any thinking woman would have fled from. (Which doesn't really fly, either, because Australia's branch of Gizmodo preserved the entire thing so they could rant about her, too. But--interesting side note--even the Australian version of the article has now been edited to take out her copious links to Finkel's Wiki page, YouTube videos, and personal details she gave out that made him seem like the worst form of predatory stalker. Way to stay classy, Alyssa.)
But it gets better. Forbes Magazine thinks she made that post deliberately, just to get page views. There are now parodies. She's been made into both an online Magic: the Gathering card, and an online meme at once. Buzzfeed gathered up the ten best responses to the article and posted those. The Renaissance Dork got involved. Federico lo Giudice calls the whole thing a witchhunt. Dr. Nerdlove calls it a horror story. MovieBob jumped into the fray. The lady behind GeekGirlDiva included a ton of fun links at the bottom of her rant.
And ultimately--whether or not it was linked to this faux pas of epic proportions--Alyssa Bereznak was terminated from her position at Gizmodo.
I think for me, the story's pretty cut and dried: she's a shallow woman with all the depth of character of a lunch tray, and she went out on a date with someone who, to her, fit whatever criteria for "normal" she holds in her head. Who then revealed his geeky side, after, it must be remembered, she revealed that her brother is a gamer. Finkel's likely side of that conversation: "She has a brother who games. I have a gaming hobby. This could be a fun topic." Bereznak's side...is blurrier, because apparently--at least according to everything she's written--she was either deliberately angling to discover nerdy skeletons in his geek closet, or chose Finkel because she knew he was a gamer, and thought it would be a good article? Or maybe she was really that clueless and vapid.
Either way, as others have pointed out, this then shifts the blame to Gizmodo, for deciding to run with the article--because...again, because why? Why would they deliberately do anything that would tarnish further their reputation with their own readers?
Maybe they thought it would be funny, a bit of fluff to fill the day's quota, a light humor piece that their ardent readers would embrace, inhale, and subsequently discard. What they never sawn coming was the fact that most of the online world would rise up against Berezak, including women gamers (more on that in a bit).
In short, bad decision-making all around, but also, it's definite and final proof that no one is writing in a vacuum--if it's on the net, anyone can read it, react to it, and lay blame for it, pro or con. Me, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, overall. Stand behind what we say, say what we mean, then--"mean" or not--we're taking responsibility for ourselves. Which Ms. Bereznak clearly did not.
Now, getting back to Susan Arendt's apology to Finkel. It contained this line:
I know, 100% know, no doubt whatsoever, that anyone I have ever mentioned on this blog by name--be that "real" name, Second Life name, online handle, business, blog, whatever--I have done so with no intention of seeming "cool", or making myself seem superior, or even in the right, at all. Humiliation has never been my game, though I will freely accept, nay even embrace, the "mean" part of that statement. Put plainly, that's never been the point.
I have wider goals, sure, and some of them, to long-term readers of the Train Wreck, should be obvious by now. I also have more than my fair share of aggrieved pettiness, and that I'll own too. But I've never sought personal gain by mentioning anyone in an entry.
That having been said, especially after I spent four hours yesterday gutting out any mention of Miss Insect on this blog (by her request), I think it's time for an official change of policy.
Unless it is an estate owner (think people like Desmond Shang), a Linden (I refuse to anonymize Linden-made statements), or a maker of things I want people to be able to find (by mention of proper name, business, or blog), I'm going to do my level best to anonymize anyone I feel the need to directly mention. This may mean blurring of faces, changing of names, changing of locations, because frankly? My former insistence on the authenticity of names being important has dissolved completely. Facing the growing-endless hassle from people who've Googled themselves, and then freak out entirely that I actually (ohthehorror, you'veruinedme, I'mabrokenwoman, youFIEND) mention people on whatever entry it happens to be...yeah, I'm done with it.
[Expansion from the Editrix: I'm also not going to anonymize names and comments pulled from the JIRA, and from the forums. You're on your own lookout, there.]
Also, Mr. Dagger designed a new banner that I quite like, but I'm now pondering a change back to sepia tones for the blog. Why? Because it's a sepia banner. And while I could tint it, I like it the way it is.
But that means finding (or making) a new background, possibly altering the layout slightly, et cetera and so forth, and that will take a few days, depending on how busy I am. Still, expect a new look no more than two weeks away.
No. Die.
Moving on--how about an entire page of great fandom cakes? And man, some of these are amazing. Not a cake wreck in the batch.
More Hurricane Irene news: LordKat, an occasional correspondent through That Guy With the Glasses, lives in Staten Island. This is relevant because for the past couple of days, he pointed his webcam out onto his street. (And no, the film's not shown in reverse; the car near the beginning does back up and out of the street because it was blocked.) From a mild drizzle to Atlantis and rising damp in 48 hours. Impressive in a slightly unnerving way.
So yesterday, I mentioned the whole Alyssa Bereznak fiasco, and there's been a couple new points of interest pop up. First, Dork Tower actually put out a strip commemorating the whole controversy, and there was a link at the end to another article. That's where the real interest for me picks up.
See, apparently, Ms. Bereznak, forgetting she worked as a geek blogger, and that her little 'ew Magic he's so gross' post would turn into the shot heard 'round the geek world, changed her blog entry twice over the course of the next day, trying to make herself sound more like a victim, and Finkel more like a bad date that any thinking woman would have fled from. (Which doesn't really fly, either, because Australia's branch of Gizmodo preserved the entire thing so they could rant about her, too. But--interesting side note--even the Australian version of the article has now been edited to take out her copious links to Finkel's Wiki page, YouTube videos, and personal details she gave out that made him seem like the worst form of predatory stalker. Way to stay classy, Alyssa.)
But it gets better. Forbes Magazine thinks she made that post deliberately, just to get page views. There are now parodies. She's been made into both an online Magic: the Gathering card, and an online meme at once. Buzzfeed gathered up the ten best responses to the article and posted those. The Renaissance Dork got involved. Federico lo Giudice calls the whole thing a witchhunt. Dr. Nerdlove calls it a horror story. MovieBob jumped into the fray. The lady behind GeekGirlDiva included a ton of fun links at the bottom of her rant.
And ultimately--whether or not it was linked to this faux pas of epic proportions--Alyssa Bereznak was terminated from her position at Gizmodo.
I think for me, the story's pretty cut and dried: she's a shallow woman with all the depth of character of a lunch tray, and she went out on a date with someone who, to her, fit whatever criteria for "normal" she holds in her head. Who then revealed his geeky side, after, it must be remembered, she revealed that her brother is a gamer. Finkel's likely side of that conversation: "She has a brother who games. I have a gaming hobby. This could be a fun topic." Bereznak's side...is blurrier, because apparently--at least according to everything she's written--she was either deliberately angling to discover nerdy skeletons in his geek closet, or chose Finkel because she knew he was a gamer, and thought it would be a good article? Or maybe she was really that clueless and vapid.
Either way, as others have pointed out, this then shifts the blame to Gizmodo, for deciding to run with the article--because...again, because why? Why would they deliberately do anything that would tarnish further their reputation with their own readers?
Maybe they thought it would be funny, a bit of fluff to fill the day's quota, a light humor piece that their ardent readers would embrace, inhale, and subsequently discard. What they never sawn coming was the fact that most of the online world would rise up against Berezak, including women gamers (more on that in a bit).
In short, bad decision-making all around, but also, it's definite and final proof that no one is writing in a vacuum--if it's on the net, anyone can read it, react to it, and lay blame for it, pro or con. Me, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, overall. Stand behind what we say, say what we mean, then--"mean" or not--we're taking responsibility for ourselves. Which Ms. Bereznak clearly did not.
Now, getting back to Susan Arendt's apology to Finkel. It contained this line:
Except humiliating someone by name online to make yourself seem cool is disgusting, unfair, and mean.Which did make me stop and think, involving the various 'name' fiascos that have hit this blog.
I know, 100% know, no doubt whatsoever, that anyone I have ever mentioned on this blog by name--be that "real" name, Second Life name, online handle, business, blog, whatever--I have done so with no intention of seeming "cool", or making myself seem superior, or even in the right, at all. Humiliation has never been my game, though I will freely accept, nay even embrace, the "mean" part of that statement. Put plainly, that's never been the point.
I have wider goals, sure, and some of them, to long-term readers of the Train Wreck, should be obvious by now. I also have more than my fair share of aggrieved pettiness, and that I'll own too. But I've never sought personal gain by mentioning anyone in an entry.
That having been said, especially after I spent four hours yesterday gutting out any mention of Miss Insect on this blog (by her request), I think it's time for an official change of policy.
Unless it is an estate owner (think people like Desmond Shang), a Linden (I refuse to anonymize Linden-made statements), or a maker of things I want people to be able to find (by mention of proper name, business, or blog), I'm going to do my level best to anonymize anyone I feel the need to directly mention. This may mean blurring of faces, changing of names, changing of locations, because frankly? My former insistence on the authenticity of names being important has dissolved completely. Facing the growing-endless hassle from people who've Googled themselves, and then freak out entirely that I actually (ohthehorror, you'veruinedme, I'mabrokenwoman, youFIEND) mention people on whatever entry it happens to be...yeah, I'm done with it.
[Expansion from the Editrix: I'm also not going to anonymize names and comments pulled from the JIRA, and from the forums. You're on your own lookout, there.]
Also, Mr. Dagger designed a new banner that I quite like, but I'm now pondering a change back to sepia tones for the blog. Why? Because it's a sepia banner. And while I could tint it, I like it the way it is.
But that means finding (or making) a new background, possibly altering the layout slightly, et cetera and so forth, and that will take a few days, depending on how busy I am. Still, expect a new look no more than two weeks away.
28 June, 2011
not bloody cotton swabs and lies, stolen checks and empty eyes
Sometimes we look back, and see the world as it was through new and different eyes. Sometimes this gives us that gloss of nostalgia, and it's a bittersweet but enjoyable reflection.
Other times we wonder about M Linden's Twitter feed and we get unbearably depressed. Kingdon never, never, ever understood SL. At all. Saddest thing in the history of sad Linden things, and something that Second Life is still struggling with, months after he left.
In happier news--or at least weirder--a couple of folks have come out with a Minecraft hack that allows you to 'roll up' the world, aka Katamari Damacy. It's bizarre to watch.
In video game news, the Supreme Court, led by the landmark decision of Justice Scalia, voted against a California law that would require government-level restrictions on the sales of video games to minors. While I profoundly believe that some games should be restricted by ratings to exclude sales to people under certain ages--just as we do with movies--I am also profoundly against such restriction to be based around existing obscenity laws. And it turns out, Justice Scalia agrees with me. Yay!
Comics, Everybody! explains how the Green Lantern saga couldn't possibly be explained in one movie. I think that's my biggest complaint, honestly--that they not only tried, but that they then did such a bad job that there will never be another Green Lantern movie.
(Unless, you know, kids are involved.)
In scientific news, Markus Kayser has built two amazing devices, both designed to use what the harsh climes he's currently in have in abundance: namely, sun and sand. It's fascinating stuph, and, while purely in the realm of scientific possibility, I'm rather with the writer--who views them as "magical".
Meanwhile, God still pops up now and again with odd requests:
I love your supple back: emmmmm
I love your supple back: play tf2
I love your supple back: i wont stab you in the back
I love your supple back has changed their name to i want to stab you in the back.
Needless to say, I did not go play TF2.
Other times we wonder about M Linden's Twitter feed and we get unbearably depressed. Kingdon never, never, ever understood SL. At all. Saddest thing in the history of sad Linden things, and something that Second Life is still struggling with, months after he left.
In happier news--or at least weirder--a couple of folks have come out with a Minecraft hack that allows you to 'roll up' the world, aka Katamari Damacy. It's bizarre to watch.
In video game news, the Supreme Court, led by the landmark decision of Justice Scalia, voted against a California law that would require government-level restrictions on the sales of video games to minors. While I profoundly believe that some games should be restricted by ratings to exclude sales to people under certain ages--just as we do with movies--I am also profoundly against such restriction to be based around existing obscenity laws. And it turns out, Justice Scalia agrees with me. Yay!
Comics, Everybody! explains how the Green Lantern saga couldn't possibly be explained in one movie. I think that's my biggest complaint, honestly--that they not only tried, but that they then did such a bad job that there will never be another Green Lantern movie.
(Unless, you know, kids are involved.)
In scientific news, Markus Kayser has built two amazing devices, both designed to use what the harsh climes he's currently in have in abundance: namely, sun and sand. It's fascinating stuph, and, while purely in the realm of scientific possibility, I'm rather with the writer--who views them as "magical".
Meanwhile, God still pops up now and again with odd requests:
I love your supple back: emmmmm
I love your supple back: play tf2
I love your supple back: i wont stab you in the back
I love your supple back has changed their name to i want to stab you in the back.
Needless to say, I did not go play TF2.
20 May, 2011
spare this child your sideways smile, the crack in your veneer
Meet Indus. The Indus system, btw, gives me serious technolust.
Tiki Dalek!
Thinking of something impressive for your next Hallows party? Inject a little science into the proceedings with Boo Bubbles! (A little dry ice, a little dishsoap, and clean-up after seems like it'd be dead easy.)
This next bit's going to take a small amount of explanation. So, Sony somehow (I don't recall how at the moment, but it's not at all difficult for me to envision multiple potential pathways for the specific how) pissed off a group of hackers, and they attacked, and took down the PlayStation Network, compromising some vital information on behalf of their users. The PSN was down for some time (longer, even, in Japan, who told them in no uncertain terms that they would not be reinstating it in Japan until they could prove their security was sound), but finally, a workaround was employed, and customers were asked to log in again after changing their passwords.
Whereupon it turned out that Sony had been compromised again, in what external commenters initially said was a second hack, and what Sony stated officially is just an "URL exploit"--which they say, by the way, is now closed.
Frankly, an URL exploit that allows anyone who knows the email and the birth date of the potential target account, to reset the password of the account itself--I don't care if that's a specific hack, an URL "exploit" would be bad enough! Especially because that was part of the information that was hacked out of the servers in the first place!
I guess the end result for the lot of us is: don't trust Sony. Ever.
And people are talking, once again, about William Gibson's Neuromancer hitting the big screen again. The one thing we're all hoping? Is that the director doesn't tap Keanu Reeves to be Case.
NOTHIN'S GONNA STAND IN OUR WAY: OH
NOTHIN'S GONNA STAND IN OUR WAY: MY
NOTHIN'S GONNA STAND IN OUR WAY: GOD
NOTHIN'S GONNA STAND IN OUR WAY: Joey Comeau wrote me back
NOTHIN'S GONNA STAND IN OUR WAY: I said how I'd been re-reading asw and finding it all relevant and shit and he thanked me
NOTHIN'S GONNA STAND IN OUR WAY: I have touched the face of God
NOTHIN's GONNA STAND IN OUR WAY is now Away
This was the original tweet he sent; and yeah, I'm kind of in the same boat. I don't think I could ever write Comeau a fan letter, but I have A Softer World pretty much permanently linked on the sidebar with the (few, but sadly growing) selection of web comics I read.
Why? Because it's painful. Because it's raw. Because it's meaningful. Because it reminds me of my friends on occasion (that one, in particular, reminds me of Stiv). Because sometimes it's funny. Because on occasion, I go back and read the really hysterical ones in the archive, the ones that still make me ponder, the ones that make me shiver, the ones that still make me giggle even as I'm shaking my head.
It's definitely not a comic for everyone, I know that. And I know that part of the reason I resonate with Comeau so deeply, and by extension, comedians like Christopher Titus, is because Titus, Comeau, and I--and, let's be honest, some of my best friends, as well as the rest of my family--are damaged people. In greater or lesser ways, there has been past damage, and it shows.
Let me be very clear, here--I am not saying this is always a bad thing. As Titus says, at the time he wrote Norman Rockwell is Bleeding, 63% of all American families were considered dysfunctional. Father gone, mother gone, father addicted, mother insane, aunts and uncles alcoholic--something. Abuse, neglect, illness (either physical, emotional or psychological), addiction, compulsive behaviors, interpersonal violence, brushes with the law both major and minor--all of these leave their marks on developing psyches.
From then, it's up to us to figure out our lives around the damage. Integrate it, understand it, accept it, move to minimize it--whatever our personal responses are, and they do vary: but it's our call.
Christopher Titus? Became a comedian. Joey Comeau writes A Softer World, and the occasional book (and newly, a horror blog). Me? I'm working through things, and working on getting back to writing the Great American Space Epic in the background.
We all take hits in life. Sometimes they knock us all the way to the ground. Sometimes we find other people there. Sometimes, we find people who already found their way back up. In rare cases, people who've been there, who know how hard it gets--they help us stand again.
So I understand why Stiv got emotional over the personal thanks. Because for him, and for me, Comeau's one of those people that helps us get through the bad things, sometimes simply by reminding us the bad things exist, and can hurt us, still. Understanding that bad things happen, and that sometimes, there just aren't any good reasons why--sometimes, that's all we need.
Plus, Joey Comeau has a very similar life motto to me. From his mini-biography on the comic's bio page: Joey is a firm believer in the idea that if you can't be a good example, you have an obligation to be a horrible warning. Indeed. So am I.
Next entry: more Minecraft. I'm thinking I need more fluffery and nonsense after this entry.
(You can buy Christopher Titus' Norman Rockwell is Bleeding DVD on his site, btw. If you like his comedy stylings, it's well worth the value of the purchase, and it hasn't been out on DVD that long. And A Softer World has a web store, with products from Emily Horne, the photographer, and Joey Comeau both.)
Tiki Dalek!
Thinking of something impressive for your next Hallows party? Inject a little science into the proceedings with Boo Bubbles! (A little dry ice, a little dishsoap, and clean-up after seems like it'd be dead easy.)
This next bit's going to take a small amount of explanation. So, Sony somehow (I don't recall how at the moment, but it's not at all difficult for me to envision multiple potential pathways for the specific how) pissed off a group of hackers, and they attacked, and took down the PlayStation Network, compromising some vital information on behalf of their users. The PSN was down for some time (longer, even, in Japan, who told them in no uncertain terms that they would not be reinstating it in Japan until they could prove their security was sound), but finally, a workaround was employed, and customers were asked to log in again after changing their passwords.
Whereupon it turned out that Sony had been compromised again, in what external commenters initially said was a second hack, and what Sony stated officially is just an "URL exploit"--which they say, by the way, is now closed.
Frankly, an URL exploit that allows anyone who knows the email and the birth date of the potential target account, to reset the password of the account itself--I don't care if that's a specific hack, an URL "exploit" would be bad enough! Especially because that was part of the information that was hacked out of the servers in the first place!
I guess the end result for the lot of us is: don't trust Sony. Ever.
And people are talking, once again, about William Gibson's Neuromancer hitting the big screen again. The one thing we're all hoping? Is that the director doesn't tap Keanu Reeves to be Case.
NOTHIN'S GONNA STAND IN OUR WAY: OH
NOTHIN'S GONNA STAND IN OUR WAY: MY
NOTHIN'S GONNA STAND IN OUR WAY: GOD
NOTHIN'S GONNA STAND IN OUR WAY: Joey Comeau wrote me back
NOTHIN'S GONNA STAND IN OUR WAY: I said how I'd been re-reading asw and finding it all relevant and shit and he thanked me
NOTHIN'S GONNA STAND IN OUR WAY: I have touched the face of God
NOTHIN's GONNA STAND IN OUR WAY is now Away
This was the original tweet he sent; and yeah, I'm kind of in the same boat. I don't think I could ever write Comeau a fan letter, but I have A Softer World pretty much permanently linked on the sidebar with the (few, but sadly growing) selection of web comics I read.
Why? Because it's painful. Because it's raw. Because it's meaningful. Because it reminds me of my friends on occasion (that one, in particular, reminds me of Stiv). Because sometimes it's funny. Because on occasion, I go back and read the really hysterical ones in the archive, the ones that still make me ponder, the ones that make me shiver, the ones that still make me giggle even as I'm shaking my head.
It's definitely not a comic for everyone, I know that. And I know that part of the reason I resonate with Comeau so deeply, and by extension, comedians like Christopher Titus, is because Titus, Comeau, and I--and, let's be honest, some of my best friends, as well as the rest of my family--are damaged people. In greater or lesser ways, there has been past damage, and it shows.
Let me be very clear, here--I am not saying this is always a bad thing. As Titus says, at the time he wrote Norman Rockwell is Bleeding, 63% of all American families were considered dysfunctional. Father gone, mother gone, father addicted, mother insane, aunts and uncles alcoholic--something. Abuse, neglect, illness (either physical, emotional or psychological), addiction, compulsive behaviors, interpersonal violence, brushes with the law both major and minor--all of these leave their marks on developing psyches.
From then, it's up to us to figure out our lives around the damage. Integrate it, understand it, accept it, move to minimize it--whatever our personal responses are, and they do vary: but it's our call.
Christopher Titus? Became a comedian. Joey Comeau writes A Softer World, and the occasional book (and newly, a horror blog). Me? I'm working through things, and working on getting back to writing the Great American Space Epic in the background.
We all take hits in life. Sometimes they knock us all the way to the ground. Sometimes we find other people there. Sometimes, we find people who already found their way back up. In rare cases, people who've been there, who know how hard it gets--they help us stand again.
So I understand why Stiv got emotional over the personal thanks. Because for him, and for me, Comeau's one of those people that helps us get through the bad things, sometimes simply by reminding us the bad things exist, and can hurt us, still. Understanding that bad things happen, and that sometimes, there just aren't any good reasons why--sometimes, that's all we need.
Plus, Joey Comeau has a very similar life motto to me. From his mini-biography on the comic's bio page: Joey is a firm believer in the idea that if you can't be a good example, you have an obligation to be a horrible warning. Indeed. So am I.
Next entry: more Minecraft. I'm thinking I need more fluffery and nonsense after this entry.
(You can buy Christopher Titus' Norman Rockwell is Bleeding DVD on his site, btw. If you like his comedy stylings, it's well worth the value of the purchase, and it hasn't been out on DVD that long. And A Softer World has a web store, with products from Emily Horne, the photographer, and Joey Comeau both.)
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it's just your shadow on the floor
(This section was written on July 11th...) Great. Sat myself down today after oversleeping, and told myself sternly I was not going to log...
