My Master Plan

[12-20 12:11] Twyst: i just thought of a craszy idea for SW:TOR
[12-20 12:12] Matt: go on
[12-20 12:12] Twyst: you could go in and whenever you meet people ask them if they know about revan or the exile
[12-20 12:12] Twyst: and have a guild that is like 'church of revan' or somesuch
[12-20 12:12] Twyst: and spread the truth in game
[12-20 12:12] Twyst: say that it has been a conspiracy
[12-20 12:12] Twyst: that powers that be dont want you to know the truth
[12-20 12:12] Twyst: but you have heard, and you know it is true
[12-20 12:12] Twyst: etc
[12-20 12:13] Matt: hahahaha that's awesome, you mean like, rallying against what BioWare and LucasArts have done?
[12-20 12:13] Twyst: yes
[12-20 12:13] Twyst: but do it all RP styles
[12-20 12:14] Twyst: like 'we are taught that revan went into deep space, and was never heard from, but it isnt true, the teachings are wrong'
[12-20 12:14] Matt: i kinda like it
[12-20 12:14] Twyst: me too.
[12-20 12:14] Matt: maybe force them to do something
[12-20 12:14] Twyst: 'brother/sister, have you heard the story of the exile? do you know of darth treya?'
[12-20 12:16] Matt: anything that brings revan and the exile to the forefront

More snow, from street level, yo!

SNOOOOOOOW

PSHome

In concept, Playstation Home is fun.
In practice it is everything bad about MMOs and social networks that i have seen.

It is a forum for harassment and poor management.


1 - everything costs money. This implies that this is a device for sony to make money, and isnt really for the enjoyment of the fans. Clubs cost money, new shirts cost money etc. I know that investors LOVE the mircopayment system, but it is a huge turnoff for me.
2 - Poor implementation of chat filters. it doesnt seem like you can turn them off, they filter all occurances of 'bad words' (ie, when someone says 'hello' it appears as '****o'.
3 - you cant whisper people in game
4 - the harassment is rampant. In the 40 minutes that i played, i probably placed 10 complaints due to people directly harassing me. I contemplated making a male avatar so that they would leave me alone.
5 - the avatars live deep deep in uncanny valley. i feel like i should be given a shotgun to take care of them all, they look like zombies. Going for realism was a scary mistake.
6 - not controlled by sony, but the people there have no sense of personal space. You get crowded, and people spam you, and get in the way. In real life, do you walk up to someone and say the same thing over and over? ugh
7 - as pointed out by penny arcade , this is what happens when marketing makes a game. they have, like Tycho says, built scarcity into the game. You have to wait if you want to play a game, wait to bowl with your friends, wait to fly the little UFO out in the common area. WTF. Sony, the choices you made were BAD.
thumbs down i think.

PSHome

[11:00 AM] Twyst: oh man
[11:01 AM] Twyst: i just found out all about PSHome
[11:01 AM] Twyst: it is stupid!
[11:01 AM] Twyst: It made my voice go all high
[11:01 AM] the boy: what's that?
[11:02 AM] Twyst: that is the Playstation version of Miis/Xbox miis/secondlife
[11:04 AM] the boy: do you have to use it?
[11:05 AM] Twyst: i am not sure.
[11:05 AM] Twyst: BUt they have micro transactions to get clothing and furniture
[11:05 AM] Twyst: cuz you have an apartment
[11:06 AM] Twyst: brother and i have decided that our chars will wear nothing and live in (SEPARATE) shacks like scary hermits on the edge of the PS world
[11:07 AM] the boy: if you have to pay, i'm guessing that you will be living in shacks in the middle of the ps world, with the clothed weirdos all living on the edge
[11:07 AM] the boy: and besides, we both know that all sony has to do is implement the colour red and they'll get your money :P
[11:08 AM] Twyst: aww burn
[11:08 AM] Twyst: i assume i can use default clothing
[11:08 AM] Twyst: see, i will buy the little big planet ones, cuz i can wear them IN GAME
[11:08 AM] Twyst: i dont spend TIME in the MENU
[11:09 AM] Twyst: what the heeeeeell
[11:09 AM] the boy: i know what will make you buy them
[11:09 AM] the boy: if the default shirt is pink
[11:09 AM] the boy: you will spen $40 to change it to red
[11:09 AM] the boy: *spend
[11:10 AM] Twyst: hahahahahahahaah
[11:10 AM] Twyst: TRUE
[11:10 AM] Twyst: that would be funny
[11:11 AM] Twyst: if it asked 'what is your fav colour? what colour do you hate most?'
[11:11 AM] Twyst: and owned you

An issue of confidence.

I dont really make long posts. I do rant to my friends. For those that dont get the whole 'Canadian Government' thing, this is how i understand it:

[12:05 PM] American Friend: suspended parliament? huh?
[12:05 PM] Twyst: UGH
[12:05 PM] Twyst: UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH
[12:05 PM] Twyst: So we have a minority government, the conservatives are in power
[12:06 PM] Twyst: however every issue in the house is coming up as a confidence issue, an issue that could topple Parliament and call a new election
[12:06 PM] Twyst: this last election was called cuz Harper (the Conservative PM) , thought that he would win a majority
[12:06 PM] Twyst: he didnt
[12:06 PM] Twyst: and the most recent budget came out with no support for the current economic crisis
[12:07 PM] Twyst: So the other 3 major parties said this is non-confidence, we dont trust this dick
[12:07 PM] Twyst: he also tried to cut funding
[12:07 PM] Twyst: right now, for every vote that a party gets, they get a dollar, i think it is
[12:07 PM] Twyst: which is how most parties that are small stay afloat
[12:07 PM] Twyst: so he tried to cut that
[12:08 PM] American Friend: fuck
[12:08 PM] Twyst: So, the other parties saw thru this
[12:08 PM] Twyst: this was a bid to get rid of the competition
[12:08 PM] Twyst: because the conservatives get a lot a LOT of external funding
[12:09 PM] Twyst: they and the liberals would be the only ones who could afford to stay as parties
[12:09 PM] Twyst: and clearly, because the liberals didnt have enough to get a majority, they wouldn't be running the country for the foreseeable future
[12:09 PM] Twyst: and he could do whatever he wants
[12:10 PM] American Friend: what a monster
[12:10 PM] Twyst: and when i say he is a liar and a villian, i mean it. He was trying to get senators to cross the floor, and side with the conservatives to get more seats
[12:10 PM] Twyst: there was a dude who was literally on his death bed
[12:10 PM] Twyst: dying of cancer
[12:11 PM] Twyst: he admitted, in court that, he tried to buy this guy by saying that he would pay his medical bills and insurance for his family
[12:12 PM] Twyst: SO, the other parties, the NDP, the Liberals and the Bloc (Quebec Separatists) formed a coalition, a party that would share leadership, to oust the PM and jointly rule
[12:12 PM] Twyst: which is fucking amazing
[12:12 PM] Twyst: but of course, Harper is on TV saying the Liberal leader is trying to steal power and that it isnt legal
[12:12 PM] Twyst: which is an out and out lie
[12:12 PM] American Friend: he sounds insane
[12:12 PM] Twyst: But before anything can happen, the Governor General had to approve
[12:12 PM] Twyst: she is the Queen's Representative in Canada
[12:13 PM] Twyst: she is the actual head of the government
[12:13 PM] Twyst: and she listened to Harper, she has suspended Parliament, so now, nothing will happen for over a month, and during that time, Harper is going to try and gain supporters
[12:22 PM] Twyst: Ok, correction: They submitted what amounts to a min-budget that didnt address the economic issues at all. Which lost him favour with the public.
[12:22 PM] American Friend: okay
[12:25 PM] Twyst: So then they form the coalition, and Harper keeps calling the Bloc 'separatists'. Which WAS true, but they found out that it wasnt economically viable to separate.
[12:25 PM] Twyst: They represent Quebec's interests, and the protection of the culture.
[12:26 PM] Twyst: and he forgot to mention that he almost aligned with the Bloc to get powers.
[12:26 PM] Twyst: The issue is that he is misrepresenting what a coalition is, its legality and his interests. Parliament isnt in trouble, his leadership is.
[12:26 PM] Twyst: But now he has the opportunity to gain ground with the suspension until Jan.
Addition:

*tag team in my History degree toting brother (who also has a post on his blog)*
[12:27 PM] Matt: the other thing that i feel deserves mentioning is that he is basically saying a coalition government is wrong and a non-confidence vote is wrong and undemocratic
[12:27 PM] Matt: even though about 3 years ago TO THE DAY
[12:28 PM] Matt: he did/tried to do the SAME thing
[12:28 PM] Matt: that's how Martin went out

Movie Meme!

Ok, Dan tagged Robert, who tagged me.

We tweet, you see, and it's lunch time, so i will bite.

--

Here’s how it works:

1. Pick one film to represent each letter of the alphabet.

2. The letter “A” and the word “The” do not count as the beginning of a film’s title, unless the film is simply titled A or The, and I don’t know of any films with those titles.

3. Return of the Jedi belongs under “R”, not “S” as in Star Wars Episode IV: Return of the Jedi. This rule applies to all films in the original Star Wars trilogy; all that followed start with “S”. Similarly, Raiders of the Lost Ark belongs under “R”, not “I” as in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Conversely, all films in the Lord of the Rings series belong under “L” and all films in theChronicles of Narnia series belong under “C”, as that’s what those filmmakers called their films from the start. In other words, movies are stuck with the titles their owners gave them at the time of their theatrical release. Use your better judgment to apply the above rule to any series/films not mentioned.

4. Films that start with a number are filed under the first letter of their number’s word. 12 Monkeys would be filed under “T.”

Here we go:

(I made this hard on myself by trying to list only movies I own, *'s, i dont own)

A. Armageddon (haha, Sephiros!)*

B. Boondock Saints

C. Chasing Amy

D. Dogma

E. Everything's Gone Green

F. Finding Nemo

G. Garden State

H. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

I. Iron Man

J. Just Friends

K. Kill Bill

L. Love Actually

M. Memento*

N. The Nightmare Before Christmas

O. Office Space

P. Pirates of the Carribean

Q. Queen of the Damned (shut up)

R. Disney's Robin Hood

S. Southland Tales

T. Toy Story

U. Underworld

V. Van Wilder*

W. Wall-E

X. X-Men

Y. You've Got Mail * (ugh, i could not think of another movie!)

Z. Zathura

I am gonna tag:

fyreball13
hush_lorentz
sephiros
(you can reply in comments, or link to your blog, i am too lazy to find them :P)

Mirror's Edge Bag!

Love!

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
- Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

RIP Grandpa

Keith Olbermann can say it better than i can.

I hadnt seen Keith Olbermann until the recent election. Gravitas, he has it.

He is a pro at this, and he echos my sentiments on the matter.

Welcome to the party, EA.

"We’ve learned a lot about casual entertainment in the past two years, and found that casual gaming defies a single genre and demographic," EA said in a statement.

No shit. This is what gamers were telling all the business people that coined this phrase when pogo.com started getting popular.
Thanks for getting up to speed, EA.

*Not* a 3$ costume

Jay takes the cake, his costume is that of our studio's Chakku!

What does a 3$ Batman costume look like?

Cape: 2$
Black Cardboard: 1$
Being HoboBatman: Priceless.

The Pumpking King!

My friends Angela, Joe and Ted bought me a pumpkin a little while ago, so i could carve me up a jack-o-lantern. Tonight the boy and i brought Jack Skellington to life (in pumpkin form):

We also watched Nightmare Before Christmas in blu-ray, and i highly recommend it!

Death-defying!

We are on the 5th floor of an office building -- we are pretty high up in the sky - especially for this critter:


He ran along our whole office space, and then back again. How in the world did he get up here?
Godspeed little fellow/lady!

Snowing!

First snow of the year, ugh! It's hard to see, but i assure you, it's happening.

More Super Hero Squad arrive!

Spidey is a little falling over, but they are here!

LittleBigPlanet delay.

If you know me, you know that i have been super excited for Little Big Planet.
Today it was announced that the game is going to be delayed by a week, and those shipped copies (at retailers) are to be recalled.
Am I dissapointed in this turn of events? Yes.
Am I even more dissapointed in the out-and-out hate mongering that is going on? Yes.

This is why gamers get a bad name. You can't read any of the news sites that speak of the delay without encountering disgusting, hate-filled comments.

This is a game people. A game.
And it is a game with little sackpeople in a happy world of stickers and flowers.

Get a grip.

Introducing, Scarlet!

I recently had a new addition to my family, my new netbook, Scarlet. She is a Lenovo IdeaPad S10, 10.2" screen, in red (red and white are available, more colours coming, apparently).


And an added pic of my work desk Spider-Woman collection.

Captain America's Girlfriends!

I googled this, and couldnt get an answer, Twitter is now on fire with this convo, so i am going to post it here:

Peggy Carter (WWII)
Sharon Carter
Wanda Maximoff
Bernadette Rosenbaum (fiancee)
Diamondback
Sersi
Black Widow

Top 5, from Snark Free Waters