The day after Thanksgiving has always been something of great interest to me. Over the years, I have racked my brain, trying to come up with an answer to one question: Why?

That shouldn't need any further explanation, as there are so many possible applications of the term "Why" when it comes to Black Friday. To say that I have a morbid fascination with the entire phenomenon would most likely be correct, but I like to think it goes deeper than that, into the realm of analytical analysis.

I did not partake of participating in this event until recent years, but one of my little holiday joys used to be waiting for my mother to arrive home from her day of shopping and regale me with stories of heated arguments, fist fights, brawls, mobs, and public service involvement (Police, fire, paramedic, and sometimes all three).

Last year, when the Mrs. and I ventured out on BF, not only did we manage to make it home in one piece, we also got every single item we quested after (It satiated my inner loot-whore quite nicely). It was this nice, pleasant experience that led me (Mistakenly) to believe that this year, what with the economy in the shoddy state that it's in, our day could only turn out the same, or better. Fuck me, was I wrong:

From the top...

( Read more... )

So that, my friend(s) (Hello? Anybody still reading this thing?) was my Black Friday experience. If you have one to share, please do, I eat that shit up. Just don't mention any name brands, especially if they're cheap shit.

On a side-note: I jumped on a Pre-Thanksgiving deal for a 22" 1080P monitor w/ HDMI for $120, because I thought for sure the AOC at OfficeMax and Office Depot would be long-gone. SHIT, NOBODY BOUGHT ONE. 10:30AM and the little table at the front of OD was FULL. To cap it off, my monitor arrived at the UPS hub in Wilmington yesterday morning @ 7:00AM, and should have been delivered today - but it wasn't. The last straw was passing the goddamn UPS man coming from our road, pulling up, rushing out of the car, finding nothing, coming inside, checking the tracking information and seeing a "Scheduled Delivery Date" of 12/02/2009. I plan to send them a strongly-worded complaint, not that they'll care.

*EDIT*

Just to add further injury: I found out that the HDD I bought from Office Depot was also available on their website for the BF price, WITH free shipping, so I could have skipped stopping there and got it tax-free. I'll learn, one of these days I'LL LEARN.

Current Mood: exhausted

So Gearbox (Makers of the oh-so-loved but hated by me Gears Of War) have drawn the ire of gamers this past week for their new method for dealing with PC game piracy in their latest release, Borderlands. What is it? Allow them to play online.

No, you heard me. Whether you paid $50, or you downloaded the game off of Usenet, you have completely equal treatment. What's worse, pirates had the game late on Thursday the 22nd, when people who had pre-ordered had to wait until Monday before they could play. Pirate party weekend? You betcha.

Actually Borderlands uses a new form of SecuRom called Electronic CD-key. It's supposed to eliminate in-box keys, and deter theft of keys, but at the same time does nothing to stop pirated copies from accessing the Gamespy network.

In the November issue of MaximumPC, Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox talks about Borderlands and piracy in an article. In it, he says:

"I think I look at piracy a little differently than most people. It sucks as a content creator who has invested a lot of, not just our money, but our souls, our creativity, and our time, to know that someone's stolen something, That feels bad."

"On the other hand tough, the PC gaming retail experience can be inconvenient and risky. Half the time you don't even know if the game is going to run on your PC. DRM has been handled terribly for so many years. For example, false negatives are a disaster for everyone. I'd much rather have a false positive, and allow thieves to play, than prevent a paying customer from playing my game. The industry has destroyed a lot of good will with DRM problems."

"I'd rather have pirates play our game, rather than harming the legit user with intrusive DRM."

MaximumPC November 2009 Issue, page 60.

Read the whole thing here *EDIT* Sorry, previous link was members-only, changed it to an earlier, but similar interview w/ Randy.

The arguments have become very heated on both sides, and all week I have been sitting back and watching the drama unfold. Now I think I'll lay in with my two-cents:

To all you kiddies on your soap boxes, who believe you have better morals than us heathens just because you actually bought the game, I have a few questions I would like you ask of you.

Why does it bother you so goddamn much that some guy fired up his Usenet client and downloaded the game, while you had to shell out $50 to buy it? Minimum wage is like what, $7 now in most places? Nine hours of work and BAM!, you have a brand new game. When I was working, I made $9.50 plus the occasional tip, and I could have bought this game in about 6 hours. But times, they are tough, and given the circumstances, I can't exactly afford to buy games. Does that mean that I'm going to leave my buddies to their swashbuckling endeavors on a private Hamachi server? FUCK NO.

So I'm a dirty, dirty thief. Believe it or not, so are you, and I'll prove it.

You're going to waste your fucking time to come all the way to the boards where I am to complain at me, and people like me about some guy you know who downloaded Borderlands and saved $50 while you "had to pay"? News flash: Most of you fucks have AT LEAST A FEW TIMES downloaded something illegally off of the Internet.

How many of you have ever downloaded a movie? What about music? TV shows? How about watching something on YouTube (Yes, watching your favorite band's latest music video on YouTube is copyright infringement, and it's also a form of piracy. If piracy = STEALING, then you my friends are fucking A certified criminals too)? How about using your TiVo's, or a DVR? They are a form of piracy as well, because you are saving backups of copyrighted materials that aired on television to watch over and over again, for free (Off-topic: I hope you know that if the networks had their way, you would have to pay a fee to re-watch things you record onto DVR's).

So now that we have the "OMFG, THIEF!" angle covered, what's the real reason you are "SO ANGRY zOMG NERD RAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGEEEEEE!!!!11111eleven" at people who Borderlands for free? Sheer jealousy. Proof? Damn straight.

Let us use a similar argument here: People who speed up while driving, trying to catch the light before it turns red. Their action does not negatively effect you whatsoever (Aside from the occasional fool who runs the light and causes an accident, but that is not the point here). So, the guy in the Honda Civic next to you speeds up and catches the light before it goes red. Meanwhile, you're stuck sitting at the light. What do you do? What can you do? Nothing. You can not do anything. He saved a couple of minutes off of his traveling time yet you're sitting there for a few extra minutes at a red light. Why does THAT rile you up so much? Because you are jealous. The same goes for speeding. Why get angry at someone going 80 on the interstate while you insist on going the speed limit of 65? What are you going to do about that? Again, nothing. But just because you can't do anything to prevent the other person from doing things you can't/won't doesn't stop you from envying them. Be honest, own up to your feelings.

Try as you might to throw up arguments like supporting devs to ensure future games (Like internet movie and music piracy has stopped new movies or albums from being produced), the true source of your anger comes from wanting equality.

Here's some nice samples of what Anti-pirates say to try and lay guilt:

"Let me sum it up real nicely for you wise-ass.

Pirates are cowards, and nothing else. Want proof?

If it's no big deal, how about next time instead of downloading the torrent, you walk into Best Buy and try to steal the game from there. But noooooo you wouldn't dare do that, because there are very real and realistic consequences to doing that where as the form of theft you're performing is insanely difficult, if not impossible to track on a widespread basis.

But go ahead, keep trying to defend illegal activities. It's cute. You'll be an adult someday and realize how stupid you sound."

and

"I see a bunch of people complaining about how PC users are getting treated by game companies, and then they turn round and download a pirated game?! WTF, Does anyone else realise that if we keep pirating games we will be getting NONE?! Dosnt anyone realise to make games, companies need money, spend the 50$ and keep your developers in buisiness!! Im sick of seeing people say "I cant believe this might be the last days of PC gaming its so lame, by the way i found a great place to get games for free want the link thats what im doing!!"

STOP being selfish, stop beign cheap, stop being stupid!! BUY your games!


inb4 i get modded because someone thinks its offensive to call piraters stupid even though its illigal and selfish."

^ Tempted as I was to clean those up enough to make coherent sense, I thought it would be better to leave them as they were posted.

This brings me full-circle: WHY does piracy bother you so much, and why can't you just LET IT GO?

You all can step off of your high horse now. Come on, your quarter is spent, and the ride is over. Some people downloaded the game for free and get to play online with their friends, while you paid $50 for it. Deal with it. Better still, why not try befriending us? Next time your boss busts your hours down at work, and you're really jonesing for a gaming fix, maybe *MAYBE*, we'll hook you up ;)

*EDIT*

I forgot to mention how awesome the game is. It's basically Fallout 3, - Vats, +4-person party multiplayer questing via public/private Gamespy server or private Hamachi server, and it support Ventrilo. If anyone wants to MP, I've got a level 27 Mordecai Hunter/Sniper build ready to go, bring your Siren :)

In case you missed it, PC gaming died this past Saturday. Not with a whisper, nor a bang, but with a muffled scream that, over the coming weeks, will increase in volume until it shakes the foundations of the entire world.
Yes, I'm talking about Black Saturday, the day that Rob Bowling, impromptu leader of Infinity Ward dropped the BOMBSHELL that Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Hereafter MW2) will not allow dedicated servers.

In case you've been living under a rock somewhere, or are a console gamer, dedicated servers are THE REASON to be a PC gamer. There's nothing quite like finding a nearby dedi, filled with people on your skill level, that you can stand to talk to for 5 minutes, and with whom you can form real-life bonds. Gone, all of that gone. In it's place? IW.net, a P2P console-style matchmaking client that is about as far backwards as it is possible to go.

The reactions from PC gamers has ranged from 'WTF" all the way to "Boycott. NOW.". Adding to the shitstorm of controversy are the host of other changes Activision and IW are imposing:

*EDIT #1* Here's the full list of atrocities:

No demo

No dedicated servers

No mods or custom maps

No Console

No PC tools

$10 price hike for no reason other than sheer greed

No Collector Edition's for the PC

9v9 Max. match-ups

Mouse controls are now a 'Feature', IW's way of saying "controller required"

No Lean

IW.net matchmaking done by ping first, then skill

Unable to kick/ban offensive users in ranked matches

Players can not control who hosts

Host has 0 ping advantage

n00bs now have deathstreaks, so skill now = nothing

5 second delay for host migration if current host leaves during match

Clans now rely on party features to stay together, but cannot play ranked matches as a group if their ping + skill levels don't match (TBH clans can not function on this game AT ALL. IW should have been honest and said "We hate PC gamer culture, so we're going to try and kill it")

(BTW, don't take my word for any of this, read it for yourselves Here)

Since Saturday, a 100,000 180,000 signature petition has sprung up, but IW is having none of it. In a Gamespot interview, Jason West and Vince Zampella stated that the changes were made to "prioritize the player experience above the modders and the tuners".
They even went so far as to suggest that PC gamers who were angry over the changes were cheaters, pirates, and profiteers. IW personnel have also taken to twitter and facebook to taunt boycotters.

So what is this really all about? Money.

Activision, more accurately their CEO (Bobby Kotick, former head of 4Kids Entertainment), are trying to force PC gamers to pay for the same shit DLC that is forced on console users. Somehow they seem to think that the COD fanbase will buy whatever they choose to release, and for a premium price. They think by using terms like " gameplay concerns" and labeling the opposition as thieves and isolationists that they can cover this up, but it doesn't take a genius level IQ to figure it out. By taking the side of console gamers, IW has sparked their jealousy of PC gamers freedom, and have started a flame war, which they will use as ammunition in future battles.

So, why is this the end of PC gaming as we know it? The ripple effect.

If IW is allowed to get away with this (If the boycott fails, and MW2 reaps record PC sales), other gaming studios will attempt to emulate their success.

So what can people do to send a message? Simple: Stay away from MW2.

Don't pre-order it
Don't buy it
Don't steal it
Sign the petition

If you have already pre-ordered the game, go and cancel it.

Send a clear message that PC's are not consoles. We will not be their sheep.

If you give in now, what is to stop DICE or Valve from trying something similar in the future? They would try, and why not? They would have a clear example that it works.

No to matchmaking
No to draconian DLC
No to price hikes
No to name calling
Just NO.

That is all.


*EDIT #2*

Since the launch, a great many people have crossed the picket line to go and drink Activision's kool-aid. Then they shout out "It's okay guys, it's really not as bad as we thought!" (Yeah, just ask arstechnica).

So far the reviews are par for the course, all 9's-10's, each one bought and paid for (Except one). Not even metacritic was immune this time, scoring the game well above where it should be, despite the fact that user reviews keep the console versions at around 5.0, and the PC version at a paltry 1.3.

Then there's all this backlash aimed at those of us who tried to rally against this mess. I don't know, I guess there's some sort of mentality about going against the grain in life. People hate Hannah Montana, but more people seem to like her, so the majority turns on us "haters" for having taste in music. Here's an example of what people are saying:

"ITS A FLIPPING GAME

Whether you play a game on a console or a PC ITS STILL A GAME and one doesn't make you a better person than the other.

especially when you come on here and throw mindless insults around that have nothing to do with anything.

Infinity Ward, Activision, EA, whatever the company, is in the business to make money. They make a product, they OWN the product, and they sell it for what they want. You don't have to buy it. In fact most people on the PC steal it...maybe thats why they decided to make the game the same price as the consoles. It doens't matter why...it doesn't matter what you think the game should be. They made it NOT you.

I don't hear the masses screaming because car companies charge 3000 dollars for a sun roof and all weather tires. If you don't think its worth it you don't have to buy it. Its not the gamers job to tell developers what to put in their games or how to make them. When did "the customer is always right" turn into this? They make the decisions and we pick the products to buy. If you don't like the product then don't buy it. its that freakin simple, or you can complain about it at a place where you aren't making a difference whatsoever!"

That's all fine. Most PC gamers don't care if consolers pay any attention to what we say, because we already know the truth about the situation. Hell, I have people say to me "You aren't making a difference, go away" all the time. I'm pretty much talking to myself here on LJ anyway, AFAIK only Jennifer even reads my blog anymore, but I will continue to say what I want, and to fight tooth and nail against greedy corporations that attempt to RUIN EVERYTHING just for the sake of money, whether anyone fucking reads it or not. Moving on.

As far as the actual game is concerned, I have not played it, and probably won't. The LAN option is confirmed to work with Hamachi and Tunngle, but that is so far beyond the point right now. Pirating the game, even to play the (5 1/2 hour) single-player campaign would just give IW something to use in order to not have to make a PC port at all for their next CoD game (Trayarch's CoD WILL have one in 2010, it's already been confirmed).

I guess we'll see in a month or so when the real sales figures come out just how well the boycott went.

*EDIT #3*

The day after MW2 unlocked for Steam players, someone released hacked tools for the game. Aimbots, wallhacks, the usual. Also, someone managed to create a working MP crack for pirates who have tired of SP (The only requirement is Steam and a fake name). The official word from Activision and IW is that VAC is working. Yeah, we'll see.

Hot on the heels of that bombshell came the announcement from Activision that there are plans in the works for an IW.net monthly fee. Ok, I think they must have gotten tired of waiting for gamers to get desperate enough to fall for their trap and started drinking the Kool-aid themselves, because we all know that no sane person is actually going to PAY for their shit service.

Never fear though, because the big news this morning is dedicated servers are officially back. Bless their black pirate hearts, they even managed to hack in lean XD. How long IW will sit by without at least trying to stop it remains to be seen.

Current Mood: angry

A new Rasmussen poll has shown that 57% of Americans would like to vote every person in Congress out of office and start over from scratch. Not really anything new, as the "Throw the bums out”
movement has been around since last year.

However some of these new numbers are intriguing. The same poll shows that 18% aren’t sure Congress is doing a good job, and only 25% of current registered voters would vote keep current members of Congress in power.

70% of Americans who have no political party affiliation would also vote to get rid of the collective of current members, while 43% of registered Democrats would vote to keep all current members in power (A number which has risen 18 percentage points since last fall).

The majority of registered voters also feel that they understand more about health care reform than the current Congress does. Only a measly 22% of registered voters feel that congress has a good understanding of the issue, and 74% think that they have a better judgment of the economy than Congress.

This, is progress. I know how people like to say that poll data is heavily skewed to reflect popular opinions, and that polling does not represent what the collective majority believe, but I am optimistic about this.

Let's say that America really does want to "Throw the bums out!" in 2010. Will they actually do it? Do they have the GUTS to stand up and say "Enough, is enough, is enough, WE the PEOPLE want you SCUMBAGS, OUT of our government"? I somehow doubt it. The more likely scenario would be that more Republicans are replaced by Democrats, no minor party or independent gains, and the liberals cement their stranglehold.

Oh how I wish this were true, how I *want* to believe that people are finally going to rise up, kick ass, and clean (the) house. But alas, not in our lifetimes.


Source: http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/08/30/poll-57-percent-of-americans-would-vote-to-reboot-congress/

At a rally today outside the Abortion & Contraception Clinic of Nebraska near Omaha, several Pro-life groups, led by Operation Rescue, converged to demonstrate. However, they didn't plan on being outnumbered. Demonstrators in favor of Abortion rights chanted "Welcome! Welcome! This clinic stays open"

The clinic in question is run by LeRoy Carhart, longtime friend of Dr. George Tiller, who was shot point-blank in the head by Scott Roeder, an anti-abortion activist, at Reformation Lutherist Church back on May 31st of this year.

Abortion rights supporters outnumbered the abortion foes 2 to 1. A lone protester who screamed out "Don't kill your baby!" at a woman who was entering the clinic was drowned out by the members of women's rights groups who had converged on the clinic's property.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/29/nebraska.abortion.protests/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Sounds like a good thing, right?
( Read more... )

Current Mood: sick

Early last spring, the general public was alarmed when a bill that would give the White House the power to disconnect private computers from the internet appeared before the senate. The general noise caused it to quickly vanish. However, senate Democrats have been spending many months behind closed doors creating a new version of this bill, and it has now resurfaced.

This bill would grant the president new emergency powers, and allow him to declare a "cybersecurity emergency", which would let the government shut down private servers connected to the internet. The president of the Internet Security Alliance which represents companies such as verizon stated:

"I think the redraft, while improved, remains troubling with it vagueness, it is unclear what authority Sen. Rockerfeller thinks is necessary over the private sector".


Read the whole article.

Seriously, what the fuck is up with this massive power grab the liberals are making? From 2006-January 2009, I listened as the Pelosi monster cried from her unholy pulpit about the abuses of power committed by Dubya. I guess this doesn't qualify as an abuse, because everyone knows the internet if only for piracy and porn /sarcasm.

So, any thoughts? You ought to have some, Fragile, since you seem to be pretty left-leaning. BTW, are Omar and Fernanda still together? I haven't spoken to either of them in a couple of years.

Current Mood: distressed

I seriously need to get back into shape. When I was 8 years old, I had washboard abs. No, seriously, I had an 8-pack. They're still there, I can feel them (Rock hard, too), it's just that parking my ass on the sofa for a year has covered them with stubborn extra layers.

True story: I got into a fight once back in Elementary school with this jerk who decided I was an easy mark. He thought he was going to get me down easily by aiming a cheap shot at my stomach. Two strange things happened though: All the knuckles on his hand popped, and nothing happened to me. He jerked his hand back quickly and just stared at me. I probably could have finished him off right there, but I was in shock.

So, has anybody got any good tips on how I should get started? I'm not expecting miracles, I would just like a little more definition (My body type is pretty close to Paul Levesque, only I would never shoot up, I'd like my bits to stay this size XD).

Current Mood: hopeful

I've been having a lot of fun with this game. It's not nearly as open as AG3, but at least with @HomeMate, there's a point to playing.

I found this interesting:

( Read more... )

...somehow I doubt she'll find it that amusing.

*Gets a running head start*

Current Mood: amused

I honestly don't know why I bought that car. Well, other than the fact that it's shiny and loud. Hopefully I can recoup my investment, because I have rent to pay, and I guess it wouldn't hurt to sock something away for Yuletime.

"An Idaho Republican gubernatorial hopeful insists he was only joking when he said he'd buy a license to hunt President Barack Obama.


Rex Rammell, a former elk rancher slated to run against incumbent C.L. "Butch" Otter in the May 2010 GOP primary, made the comment at a Republican rally Tuesday in Twin Falls where talk turned to the state's planned wolf hunt, for which hunters must purchase an $11.50 wolf tag.

When an audience member shouted a question about "Obama tags," Rammell responded, "The Obama tags? We'd buy some of those."

Rammell told The Associated Press Thursday he was just being sarcastic and sees no reason to apologize for the comment."


Okay, I'll say it first: WHAT A FUCKING DUMBASS.

Even if the guy wasn't sitting in the White House, why would you want to bring that kind of heat on yourself? When are they (Everyone besides the Liberals) going to realize that the only person who can take Obama down is himself. Any harsh words, especially now in the face of all of the socialized medicine controversy are not going to be taken as a sarcastic joke. He's damned lucky if the MIB haven't hauled his ass off to one of those FEMA compounds yet XD

Current Mood: amused

"I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot. I don't want you to write to your Congressman, because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street.

All I know is that first, you've got to get mad.

You've gotta say, "I'm a human being, goddammit! My life has value!"

So, I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell,

"I'm as mad as hell,

and I'm not going to take this anymore!!"

- Howard Beale, Network News (1976)


I APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE FOR HIJACKING YOUR FRIENDS PAGE, BUT THIS IS AN URGENT ISSUE THAT REQUIRES THE IMMEDIATE ATTENTION OF ALL ANIME FANS.


World, it is time to wake up, wake up, WAKE THE FUCK UP RIGHT NOW, your freedom is UNDER ATTACK.



Back in March, a woman named Christina Quinn, who is a New York City Council Speaker, stumbled across a copy of Rapelay.
Supposedly 'horrified', she alerted the media to the existence of the game. The intial shitstorm was bad enough, but once people started to dig, they realized that this relatively obscure Japanese game hit closer to home than expected.

Completely uncensored versions of the game were found to be available for purchase on both Ebay and Amazon. The sites, in order to cover their own asses more than anything else, immediately banned the sale of the game. But the furor would not die.

A feminazi group, called "Equality Now", used the press to their advantage, and managed to get the EOCS to ban rape games in Japan. However, unsatisfied with that, and the recent attempts of the Japanese eroge industry to fight off regulation and self-police themselves, they have now gone too far.

EN has gone to the United Nations, which has in turn demanded that Japan BAN HENTAI NOW.

What does this mean? Well, it means ALL HENTAI, or ANYTHING THAT COULD BE CONSIDERED HENTAI WOULD BE BANNED OUTRIGHT. This covers ANIME, BOOKS, MAGAZINES, IMAGES, MANGA, FILM, GAMES, ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING. BANNED. FOREVER.

We have to stop this. Anime fans everywhere need to band together and STOP THIS NOW. If there ever was a time to repel the invasion of the morally-correct into our daily lives, it is HERE and it is NOW. Can you even FATHOM what the effects of a ban like that would have? Groups like Equality Now would have a legal presidence to reference in their crusades to ban anything that they don't like. THIS IS YOUR FREEDOM DYING HERE, FOLKS. Oh, and if you don't think this concerns you, I'd like to direct your attention to this quote:

“In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.”

- Martin Niemoeller, Lutheran minister who lived in Nazi Germany during the 1930s and 1940s.

Listen to me, this is an OPEN ATTACK on ANIME. This affects you. Hey Final fantasy fans, this affects you. RPG fans, this affects you. An across-the-board ban would criminalize your precious fanfics, your fandom, YOUR VERY SOULS. WAKE UP. GET MAD. FIGHT THIS.

Do I seem angry? Well, I am, but mostly at myself. Why? Because I feel partially responsible for this. See, I'm the guy who wrote the walkthrough guide for Rapelay. I never intended it to be widely distributed, but apparently eroge pirates liked it so much that they decided to bundle it with .iso's of the game. For over a year, I would get 2-3 emails a day from people requesting help (Or offering kudos) for Rapelay. I responded to each in the same way: I am not responsible for that torrent, go away and leave me the FUCK alone. But it seems that Mrs. Quinn refused to go away. What she has started, just might be the most terrible thing in Anime history, and for me...my name, to be associated with that...I can't bear it.

What's worse is I suspect that the aforementioned illegal copies being sold on Ebay and Amazon might have contained copies of my walkthrough guide. You have to understand that, should the criminality of eroge spread to a worldwide status, and copies of Rapelay remain availabe through illegitimate means, each and every copy that is discovered with my fucking name plastered all over the only file in Engligh is going to make talking to me the government's #1 priority. Something that I very much wish to avoid.

So, what can we do? Well, we start here: http://www.yestofreedom.org/

Print this letter out:

and mail it to the address listed. LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD.

In the coming weeks, I will be updating this thread to include more information, links to news stories, and any new information that comes down the pike.

In the meantime, here is a rather large collection of articles to get you caught up on the issues at hand:

( Read more... )

Current Mood: angry

As most of you have probably heard, the latest entry in the X-men movie franchise has been "leaked" to the internet. How/why it happened is irrelevant (I'll get to that), what's important is what kind of impact will this have on the scene.

For those who haven't been following the sad tale of X-men Origins: Wolverine, allow me to sum things up:

( Read more... )

Another day, another unprovoked response from Sony to justify
Why their $500 George Foreman grill should be ruled king of
Video games.

I am just so sick to death of seeing people blindly support
This console without stopping to view the facts. That is why
I feel the need to rant a little.

I wrote this article back in late 2007, as a counterpoint
to the Sony Defense Force. Some of the details have changed
since then, but I don't really have the time nor the energy
to re-write it. I did interject some new commentary pieces,
and some updates for the more extreme changes, but otherwise
the article remains unchanged.

Despite the fact that I have been a loyal Xbox user since December, 2002, this is not a "Pro-Xbox, Anti-PS3" article. All of my points are valid, the data is not skewed, and I remain neutral.


*WARNING*

Just like my other opinions on life, this is bound to piss
a lot of people off. I do not believe in holding anything back,
so if you have a quick temper, or are prone to hot-headedness,
then do not read this.

Also, if you have nothing to contribute to the article and
are only looking to pick a fight, then please, do NOT comment.
I won't respond. Oh, and if your response to Sony-bashing is to bring up RROD or E74, I'd like to direct you to this:

http://www.fixya.com/support/p201379-sony_playstation_3_console

That's right Sony Defense Force, fuck you.

( Read more... )

My ranting is done. If, after hearing all of the evidence, you still choose to support Sony's Bullshit, then I sincerely apologize for wasting your time.

Current Mood: angry

I read on GwoP about an interview that John and Kate Gosselin did on CBN this week, so I decided to brave the website to check it out. While I was waiting for the video to load, I began reading some of the other headlines (Stuff like Do you know Jesus? - No douche, and neither do you!) and came across something that surprised, shocked, and angered me:

( Read more... )

I swear, I just cannot understand the human race anymore. Over the past month, I have been face to face with at least one 'WTF' moment every single day.

( Read more... )

http://timesonline.typepad.com/uselections/2008/09/palin-linked-el.html

Since it's okay for the Evangelical right to use 'witchhunters' for inspiration, I'll assume it will be equally right for some of us 'witches' to become BITCHhunters if this scumbag whore makes it into office.

*Sigh*, this is quickly becoming 'Descision 2004' all over again, a choice between the lesser of two evils. Whomever wins, the lying Nazis or the lying Communists, I predict they won't last a year in office before they eat a bullet.

Current Mood: infuriated

Are actually things that I had delved into a couple of years ago, and become impassioned about once again since joining the (Rapidly growing) ranks of the unemployed.


Fair warning, this post is bound to piss people off.

( Read More )

Current Mood: pissed off

Who could ever forget one of the greatest spoilers in human history. A carload of idiots, who had all downloaded Harry Potter book six from the internet, decide to cruise over to Books-A-Million and do a "Drive-by" on Potter fans heading in to wait in line. When one of said fans fights back by throwing things and shouting "YOU BITCH!", the gang becomes hysterical, so much in fact that they failed to watch the road...

Thankfully, this time around, hopefully the LAST TIME, things are a bit more complicated. In the past week, I have perused many sites, checking out the metric ton of "fake" Deathly Hallows copies, and reading the fake spoilers. But yesterday, somehow someone got their hands on the real book, and as a member in good standing with Demonoid (Really, I'm a member in a league of my own; 2.25TB uploaded and counting), I was able to snag it.

Does it bother me to read the book early? Not in the least. I've more than enough books on my physical queue as it is, and while I *might* be tempted to forgo Eddings and Salvatore for the last Potter book, really it isn't that big a deal (And besides, Belgarath the Sorcerer owns Harry Potter 24/7/365).

I have managed to skim the last nine chapters of the book, and am satisfied enough at the outcome of the story. I won't bother anyone with any *REAL* spoilers, but here are some of the *FAKE* spoilers that I have run across:

*Harry Potter dies ...what, did you think that was going to happen? No, stfu-kthx.
*Ron dies
*Percy dies
*Harry is a Horcrux
*Neville Kills Bellatrix
*Hermione takes over St. Mungos
*Harry becomes a freelance Auror who lives alone

I could go on, but some of the spoilers are very close to the truth, and I could think of a lot better books to be murdered over...

So how do I *know* I have the real Deathly Hallows and not another fake? The ISDN, SKU, and LoC numbers are all a match. Faking one might be possible, but not all three, unless you had access to a real, physical copy of the book.

Overall, DH isn't a bad ending, a tad predictable, and very cliche, but not bad. Still, I reiterate my belief that all of the stories that Rowlings ripped shreds from are 10,000 times better.

Now that the phenomenon is over, I hope that you die-hard Potter fans don't go jumping on the Eragon bandwagon. Rather, I hope that you will seek out the books that have no need to piggyback on Rowlings success. Here's a (Short) list of recommended post-Potter reading:


The books of the Art (The Great and Secret Show and Everville) by Clive Barker
The books of Abarat by Clive Barker
Belgarath the Sorcerer by David Eddings
Polgara the Sorceress by David Eddings
The Belgariad by David Eddings
The Malloreon by David Eddings
The Rivan Codex by David Eddings
Basically everything ever written by David Eddings
The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
The Wheel of Time saga by Robert Jordan
The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King
Everything ever written by Robert Salvatore
Ditto for J.R.R. Tolkien


Have fun waiting in line tomorrow night.

Current Mood: satisfied

This is both hilarious and yet mildly disturbing:


A recent survey of Australian workers has uncovered that more than twenty percent have had a sexual encounter at work, and twenty-five percent have formed a long term relationship with a colleague based on said workplace sex. Eighty-seven percent do not believe that romance in the workplace is unethical.

Responses to the survey suggested that a number of possible reasons behind the results are due to the fact that people are spending more and more time together, because they are forced to work long hours, and that people in similar fields often have similar interests, which leads to base attraction.


Source: www.news.com.au


I think I still have at least one or two aussies on my friends list. Let me know if this is actually true XD