Bootwhistle
After my last post I realized that while blogging this site is definately fun, my writing style is becoming increasingly juvenille. Not really a bad thing for a weblog however it would be nice to have a more professional sound. Unfortunately that would mean more work, editing entries and actually looking for and quoting sources, creating links and so forth. As well I've been advised that a few visual aids may make the page look better... *sigh* (wonder if that is proper style) anyway, with the next post it should be easy to see any changes. Though the prospect of outsourcing sounds appealing, wonder if there are any bloggers in need of some extra ranting space.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Bootwhistle
Life is stranger than fiction, in most cases anyway - haven't seen any penguins riding unicorns lately (must be the wrong season). Anyway a while back a very loud and... well loud lawyer by the name of Jack Thompson started a crusade against violent and obscene video games/media. He got especially upset with the GTA series of games lambasting (hehe lambasting) the creator Rockstar games for making a 'cop killing simulator' and was representing the families of cops shot in the line of duty. Well for the most part Jack seemed like the good ol'crusader of decency/medical malpractice lawyer however the more he opens his mouth one realizes that he is about six different kinds of crazy. If what I've read can be believed (its like a 50/50 chance anyway) Thompson has a bit of a persecution complex... to put it mildly. The deal closer is an interesting tale, at some press conference Jack challenged developers to make a game where:
[t]he CEO of fictional company Take This, Paula Eibel, is murdered along with her husband and children. Should any developer agree to make the game, Thompson will donate $10,000 to the charity of choice of Paul Eibeler, the CEO of Take Two.
(http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=12259)
Now challenging computer geeks isn't really a good idea, unless it involves some form of physical activity. Of course his challenge resulted in a slew of games ranging from text based adventures to a mod of GTA: San Andreas. Jack declared that his statements were meant as satire, and not to be taken literally... I can understand the part of the CEO killing game being satire but donating to charity doesn't seem like 'satire', then again I'm not a lawyer.
Here is where it gets really interesting, a couple of guys from the online comic/store Penny Arcade decided to donate the $10 000 to charity and even put the donation in Jack Thompson's name! Surprisingly Jack didn't take this too well and wrote a letter to the police demanding the guys from Penny Arcade be arrested for defamation and threatening him!? Clearly any credibility this guy had is slowly (make that super turbo nitro speed) circling the drain, even the National Institute on Media and the Family of whom Jack claimed support decided they really wanted nothing to do with this raving madman, even demanding he take links to their site from his webpage.
Looking at all of this the real question I have to ask is - why on earth did anyone pay attention to this weirdo in the first place?
Life is stranger than fiction, in most cases anyway - haven't seen any penguins riding unicorns lately (must be the wrong season). Anyway a while back a very loud and... well loud lawyer by the name of Jack Thompson started a crusade against violent and obscene video games/media. He got especially upset with the GTA series of games lambasting (hehe lambasting) the creator Rockstar games for making a 'cop killing simulator' and was representing the families of cops shot in the line of duty. Well for the most part Jack seemed like the good ol'crusader of decency/medical malpractice lawyer however the more he opens his mouth one realizes that he is about six different kinds of crazy. If what I've read can be believed (its like a 50/50 chance anyway) Thompson has a bit of a persecution complex... to put it mildly. The deal closer is an interesting tale, at some press conference Jack challenged developers to make a game where:
[t]he CEO of fictional company Take This, Paula Eibel, is murdered along with her husband and children. Should any developer agree to make the game, Thompson will donate $10,000 to the charity of choice of Paul Eibeler, the CEO of Take Two.
(http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=12259)
Now challenging computer geeks isn't really a good idea, unless it involves some form of physical activity. Of course his challenge resulted in a slew of games ranging from text based adventures to a mod of GTA: San Andreas. Jack declared that his statements were meant as satire, and not to be taken literally... I can understand the part of the CEO killing game being satire but donating to charity doesn't seem like 'satire', then again I'm not a lawyer.
Here is where it gets really interesting, a couple of guys from the online comic/store Penny Arcade decided to donate the $10 000 to charity and even put the donation in Jack Thompson's name! Surprisingly Jack didn't take this too well and wrote a letter to the police demanding the guys from Penny Arcade be arrested for defamation and threatening him!? Clearly any credibility this guy had is slowly (make that super turbo nitro speed) circling the drain, even the National Institute on Media and the Family of whom Jack claimed support decided they really wanted nothing to do with this raving madman, even demanding he take links to their site from his webpage.
Looking at all of this the real question I have to ask is - why on earth did anyone pay attention to this weirdo in the first place?
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Bootwhistle
Quick blog today... Choice. Decisions, destiny, fate - the diverging of options stemming from a singular action. The results are unknown only possible realities. According to some sciencey theory an infinite number of universes exist wherein the different paths of reality are played out. Unfortunately those dimensions have yet to develop reality TV so there is as yet no way to discover how things would have been different. So probably the only thing people can count on is the expected outcome vs risk... a simple analytical program we all run everyday from judging whether or not to cross the street to ...uhm, fighting the impulse to run naked through the streets yelling 'I love Telus, unions suck, and don't eat at Joey's seafood' (actually sound advice). Hmm, okay getting on with a point... is that... huh, actually haven't a clue, just thought I'd choose to type a few words. No clue at all.
Quick blog today... Choice. Decisions, destiny, fate - the diverging of options stemming from a singular action. The results are unknown only possible realities. According to some sciencey theory an infinite number of universes exist wherein the different paths of reality are played out. Unfortunately those dimensions have yet to develop reality TV so there is as yet no way to discover how things would have been different. So probably the only thing people can count on is the expected outcome vs risk... a simple analytical program we all run everyday from judging whether or not to cross the street to ...uhm, fighting the impulse to run naked through the streets yelling 'I love Telus, unions suck, and don't eat at Joey's seafood' (actually sound advice). Hmm, okay getting on with a point... is that... huh, actually haven't a clue, just thought I'd choose to type a few words. No clue at all.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Bootwhistle
The world turns, well at least that what science tells us. It's probably old news but I don't think I've blogged about the creationism vs evolution fad. From what I gather (usually second hand) there are a number of 'religious' groups trying to get creationism... oops I mean 'Intelligent design' taught in science class as an alternative to evolution. This really annoys me, though honestly I could care less if the world was created through random mutations or the Flying spaghetti Monster, however don't pass off religion as a science and pretend you're not shovelling it out with both hands. If people want to push religion into schools do it the honorable way, and if the parents really want religion taught, petition for a religious studies class. Seriously if religion can't handle evolution as a valid scientific theory (at least according to my breakfast cereal) then there are deeper problems than worrying about being related to a monkey (it would probably be insulting to the monkeys). I guess what really scares me is that normal people could have such amazingly narrow minds and claim to promote science!, while I could even accept the blind faith in Bush on some level since politics is so full of bullshit usually people don't bother sorting through it anymore. But to twist science to push ... Lets be real a Christian agenda, is underhanded in a way that couldn't be something a truly enlightened 'religion' should be capable of. Do the ends really justify the means - what would Jesus do?
The world turns, well at least that what science tells us. It's probably old news but I don't think I've blogged about the creationism vs evolution fad. From what I gather (usually second hand) there are a number of 'religious' groups trying to get creationism... oops I mean 'Intelligent design' taught in science class as an alternative to evolution. This really annoys me, though honestly I could care less if the world was created through random mutations or the Flying spaghetti Monster, however don't pass off religion as a science and pretend you're not shovelling it out with both hands. If people want to push religion into schools do it the honorable way, and if the parents really want religion taught, petition for a religious studies class. Seriously if religion can't handle evolution as a valid scientific theory (at least according to my breakfast cereal) then there are deeper problems than worrying about being related to a monkey (it would probably be insulting to the monkeys). I guess what really scares me is that normal people could have such amazingly narrow minds and claim to promote science!, while I could even accept the blind faith in Bush on some level since politics is so full of bullshit usually people don't bother sorting through it anymore. But to twist science to push ... Lets be real a Christian agenda, is underhanded in a way that couldn't be something a truly enlightened 'religion' should be capable of. Do the ends really justify the means - what would Jesus do?
Monday, October 10, 2005
Bootwhistle
For some reason the later I stay up the more creative I feel, hmmm maybe shutting down some parts of the brain helps one be more uninhibited... or makes things seem like a good idea. Anyway honestly I have not looked at any news in almost a week, the only thing I can say for sure is that the weather is getting colder... global warming ? what warming? (I apologize for that overused joke) Well one thing that's is pretty visible is the Telus strike which doesn't seem to show much sign of stopping. What puzzles me is that niether side seems to be doing much to really end the strike, for the longest time they didn't even negotiate with each other. Each side prefering preasure tactics to make the other side capitulate... and unfortunately for better or worse the union is at a 'slight' disadvantage here. Telus has already taken this opportunity to cut back on jobs, deciding to open call centers in India and closing down the ones the operate in Canada. It probably is smart buisness and will save the company in the long run, but one can't help but sypmathize with the workers who are going to lose their jobs because the union doesn't know what its doing... well at least it seems that way, it could be some master chess-like strategy but somehow I doubt the people in charge are ever that bright.
For some reason the later I stay up the more creative I feel, hmmm maybe shutting down some parts of the brain helps one be more uninhibited... or makes things seem like a good idea. Anyway honestly I have not looked at any news in almost a week, the only thing I can say for sure is that the weather is getting colder... global warming ? what warming? (I apologize for that overused joke) Well one thing that's is pretty visible is the Telus strike which doesn't seem to show much sign of stopping. What puzzles me is that niether side seems to be doing much to really end the strike, for the longest time they didn't even negotiate with each other. Each side prefering preasure tactics to make the other side capitulate... and unfortunately for better or worse the union is at a 'slight' disadvantage here. Telus has already taken this opportunity to cut back on jobs, deciding to open call centers in India and closing down the ones the operate in Canada. It probably is smart buisness and will save the company in the long run, but one can't help but sypmathize with the workers who are going to lose their jobs because the union doesn't know what its doing... well at least it seems that way, it could be some master chess-like strategy but somehow I doubt the people in charge are ever that bright.
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