Crappy daaaay!

The weather is crap today. There were some flashes of lightening but i failed to catch them:

Out the office window. Nice traffic, i know.

LBP Costume Wishlist (wip)

Spider Woman (of course)
Gir
MegaMan
Splash Woman
Samus
SKRULL SACKPEOPLEEEEEE
StrongBad

Self-Betrayal (or: How i read Ult Spider-Man, vol 20)

I read Ultimates 1. And i haaaaaated it. Loathed it. Detested aaaaaaall of it.
It was everything about comics that i dont like.

Now, anyone who knows me know that i do not like whiny whiny whiny Spider-Man. In the Marvel U, 98% have it worse off than Peter Parker. And really, i think his powers are lame. I am strong! I can stick to things! Big deal.

So if you put these two things together, my stomach rolls in dislike.
However...
If you know me and my taste for comics, you also know:
1 - i love a particular set of heroines
2 - i am a sucker for Brian Bendis.

Currently i am caught up with all the things that i want to read, and i had heard thru the twitterverse that there was an Amazing Friends arc in Ultimate Spider-Man. Having been unable to get a Firestar fix elsewhere, i decided to hunt this down.
It wasnt hard. The local comic store had it.
And it was really fun (tho of course he had to spew the responsibility thing, but he was actually having fun, and not being a mopey boring whiner).
I was sad Firestar (now Liz, not Anjelica) wasnt in it and kicking butt, but now i might have to try and follow her. And sadly, i might have to track back into the clone saga and find out what the deal is with codename Jessica Drew.
I dug the art as well, which was a huge help.

But i still feel dirty.

Who was this masked man?!

[12:52 PM] Hush: Does Daredevil know Batman?
[12:52 PM] Twyst: LOL
[12:52 PM] Twyst: No
[12:52 PM] Twyst: different worlds
[12:52 PM] Twyst: Daredevil is Marvel, Batman is DC
[12:53 PM] Hush: Oh, maybe it was someone else then. Some guy on the bus yesterday was watching the Batman cartoon and there was a guy in a red suit hanging out with him and Robin.
[12:53 PM] Hush: http://www.technovelgy.com/graphics/content06/flash.jpg
[12:53 PM] Hush: It was this man!
[12:56 PM] Twyst: haha
[12:56 PM] Twyst: yes
[12:56 PM] Twyst: the Flash is part of the DC world
[12:56 PM] Twyst: Batman and he are in the Justice League
[12:57 PM] Twyst: i am posting this convo on my blog
[12:57 PM] Hush: I seeee. Yeah, they were fighting a mirror guy.

UPDATE:
[01:01 PM] Hush: Ah apparently he is one of the Flash's nemesisesae.
[01:04 PM] Hush: The episode is called A Mirror Darkly. Super sleuths solve the case againnn.

More WoW Fail

I dont have the energy to go at this at length, but WoW has announced that now you can move your PvE characters to PvP servers. This is garbage. They are totally negating any choices that anyone has made when playing the game since it started.
It's a blatant money-grab which has solidified my decision not to play. Re-cancelleing my account today.

WoW Lich King Beta

So, i got into the beta.

My account was reactivated (blasphemy, i know) when the office peeps started playing, so i could make them bags and such with my kickass warlock. But i havent actually played in a long time. I used to raid every night, we were even in Black Temple... the guild got icky... time was too short, things were being poorly run, so i quit.
When i quit a game, it's like breaking up with a person. I dont want to see them again, i have no desire to call them up just to chat, i dont care what they are up to. This is how i feel about WoW. I would *almost* like to be interested, but i am not.
So i gave the trial to the boy. He will probably make an icky Alliance character, but at least he will play.

Bored?

check out

http://manandhisfive.blogspot.com/

I want to go/move to New Zealand and learn to surf.

Frustration, thy name is Vista

I have been forced to use Vista at work, because the Nintendo DS dev. kit wont run in Linux. I had to upgrade my previous XP installation to Vista last week.
Man. It is pretty much the most infuriating thing ever.

Who was their target market? I mean really. 7 year olds? 80 year olds? Pretty sure those are the only people that would find it useful to be locked out of functionality, and 'protected' from yourself.

Listen Microsoft. I have suffered through your bullshit for the past what? 20 years? Maybe 18/19 ys. XP was fine. I mean, it was a buggy piece of crap, but at least i could make it do what i wanted it to do.
Vista, i cannot.
It sorts everything in a stupid manner, that i cannot change. It opens default programs that i cannot change.
Everything is shiny and seethru and broken.
We are in the year two-thousand-and-eight. We are able to use our computers without being protected in a layer of bubblewrap so think you cant tell which way is up.

When you work all day on a computer it is like your home. You live on your desktop, it is how you do your work, communicate, breathe. Don't come into my house and tell me what i can and cannot do. Dont prevent me from walking down my own goddamn hallways.

On WoW

[12:50 PM] Twyst: ooh
[12:50 PM] Twyst: tabbard and pet for the olympics in wow
[12:50 PM] Twyst: http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=12364.0
[12:53 PM] Nealla: i saw! was watching my bro do some arenas and people were saying in chat
[12:53 PM] Nealla: the tabard you get as soon as you win any bg
[12:53 PM] Nealla: !
[12:55 PM] Twyst: that is pretty cool.
[12:55 PM] Nealla: oh it says winning or losing doesn't matter actually!
[12:55 PM] Twyst: yeah
[12:55 PM] Twyst: the pet is random if you win
[12:55 PM] Nealla: the pet would be nice but suuuper rare
[12:55 PM] Nealla: you just gotta keep winning bgs :/
[12:55 PM] Twyst: bleh
[12:56 PM] Nealla: so those people who grind honor are in luck
[12:56 PM] Twyst: i still dunno how i feel about wow anymore
[12:58 PM] Nealla: yeah i have a weird love/hate relationship w/ it
[12:58 PM] Nealla: i find myself wanting to get back in and playing so i do that sometimes w/ my brother's rogue
[12:58 PM] Nealla: but then i'm like, meh, it's nothing to write home about
[12:58 PM] Twyst: yeah
[12:58 PM] Twyst: for me, for it to be worth it, i would have to be raiding
[12:58 PM] Twyst: and therefore i would have to spend too much time at it
[12:59 PM] Nealla: exactly
[12:59 PM] Nealla: for people to do anything really 'meaningful' in the game, they have to invest a huge amount of time into playing
[12:59 PM] Twyst: yeah
[12:59 PM] Nealla: otherwise it's just dailies day in day out
[12:59 PM] Nealla: some instances here and there
[12:59 PM] Twyst: that is just how i am too, i dont want another character, i just want to play Amu
[01:00 PM] Twyst: Joe, here at work, has like 5 70s
[01:00 PM] Twyst: but they are all brand new 70s, he dings 70, then starts a new char
[01:00 PM] Twyst: cant do that
[01:00 PM] Twyst: *i
[01:00 PM] Nealla: it's like that w/ pvp too - more 'meaningful' play is arenas but most people end up doign bgs b/c they can't find a team or it gets boring cuz they keep dying b/c they lack the gear w/ resilience
[01:00 PM] Twyst: yeah.
[01:01 PM] Nealla: 5?!?!
[01:01 PM] Twyst: yeah.
[01:01 PM] Twyst: that isnt even an exaggeration
[01:01 PM] Nealla: maybe it'll be fun to level a death knight
[01:01 PM] Twyst: fuck death knights is what i say
[01:01 PM] Nealla: yeah i've come across a few people w/ a hell of a lot of 70s :/
[01:01 PM] Twyst: i dont want to try and negotiate with people to get a group
[01:01 PM] Twyst: cuz that is what is gonna happen "My main is a ____, i will do a run with you as DK, if you go thru with me as DK'
[01:02 PM] Twyst: cuz everyone and their dog will have one
[01:02 PM] Nealla: yeah, that's totally what it's like
[01:02 PM] Nealla: then you end up w/ people who don't know how to play their class
[01:02 PM] Twyst: yep
[01:02 PM] Twyst: especially with the recruitment idiocy
[01:02 PM] Twyst: 3x the xp? Fuck you, srsly.
[01:02 PM] Nealla: cough that hunter i forgot his name cough
[01:02 PM] Nealla: w/ his druid
[01:03 PM] Nealla: yea
[01:03 PM] Twyst: 'harass your non playing friends to play so you get a zebra'
[01:03 PM] Twyst: that is loooooooooooow blizzard.
[01:03 PM] Twyst:
[01:03 PM] Nealla: i know, i want a zebra :(
[01:03 PM] Nealla: !! ugh
[01:04 PM] Twyst: they are cool, but it is such a schemy thing to do
[01:04 PM] Twyst: and you can tell they want people to start new chars., cuz 3x the XP you dont want to waste on a 70
[01:04 PM] Twyst: i was just like UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH when i read the post
[01:04 PM] Nealla: yeah, totally a catering to their business needs rather than player ones
[01:04 PM] Twyst: yep
[01:05 PM] Twyst: You can tell that a) new subsribership is lower than they want
[01:05 PM] Twyst: b) population numbers are not what they want
[01:05 PM] Twyst: it's SO painfully transparent
[01:05 PM] Twyst: i find it pretty dispicable
[01:05 PM] Nealla: a GOOD business scheme would be to augment the environment and content to attract more players
[01:06 PM] Twyst: yes
[01:06 PM] Nealla: not have some sorta deal where you win if you get more players
[01:06 PM] Twyst: increase customization, increase variation in armor, and personalization
[01:06 PM] Nealla: it's like making their customers do the work for them
[01:06 PM] Twyst: yeah, it is.
[01:06 PM] Twyst: It's like a sweat shop
[01:06 PM] Twyst: have MORE characters, play for MORE hours a day
[01:07 PM] Nealla: exactly
[01:07 PM] Twyst: Oh, you arent playing?
[01:08 PM] Twyst: Well your friend that you tricked into joining the game has said instead of going out, you should run Scholo!
[01:08 PM] Twyst: Zebra > RL? that is your choice!
[01:08 PM] Twyst: uuuuuuuuugh.
[01:10 PM] Nealla: yeah it's a pretty dirty scheme, i'm sure tons of people will end up 'tricking' their friends just to get a zebra
[01:10 PM] Nealla: my brother's already convincing our cousin jeff who used to play to just make a new account
[01:10 PM] Nealla: cuz jeff plans to start playing again and has one 60
[01:11 PM] Nealla: but if he plans to reroll, then he could just make a new account and my brother can get a zebra, heh
[01:12 PM] Twyst: ah
[01:12 PM] Twyst: yeah
[01:12 PM] Twyst: sigh
[01:12 PM] Twyst: God forbid they make the game better
[01:12 PM] Twyst: Bosses that glitch? Too bad!
[01:12 PM] Twyst: Daily quests that glitch?
[01:13 PM] Twyst: Too bad!
[01:13 PM] Twyst: Here is your zebra for peer pressuring your friends that quit to play tho.
[01:13 PM] Twyst: enjoy the new character you just leveled in 1/3 the time and now will be the bane of WoW existence for the groups you join
[01:14 PM] Twyst:
[01:14 PM] Twyst:
[01:14 PM] Nealla: yeah! and i totally agree

I made me a Marvel

Here i am, in my super hero greatness.

Listen here, self...

Note to self, be more better at blogging and sentence structure. Stop being so lazy! Agh!!

Looking at you, Bendis

I have to go to bed, i dont know why i feel like writing when i should be sleeping, but here goes.

Bendis better not kill off Jessica Drew. Seriously, i will be so sad.
I started watching Spider Woman when i was little, when she was a Spider Man ripoff, who had something approximating the same storyline, etc.
But i have come to love her.

I was playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance a few years ago, in which she is a character, and she was suddenly brought back into my mind. At about the same time Bendis wrote an origin story for her, to reboot the character, then adding her to the New Avengers.
I was elated. I really enjoyed the character, even better, rumour had it that there was going to be a series focused around her.
I waited and waited and it never came...
and then came the huge news, that Jessica Drew that i had grown to love in New Avengers was an impostor! The horror!

Recently Bendis commented that this was the reason why her solo book hadn't come out yet, because he didnt want readers reading the book, digging the character, and having it all be a lie (Like Ms Marvel??).
Then he announced that there will be a series called Spider Woman, Agent of S.W.O.R.D. for "whomever is wearing the Spider Woman costume". Now, i dont want to get all crazy-fangirl here, but if that person isnt Jessica, i will be crushed. Naturally i have come to like other characters in the series, Ms Marvel (skrull), Jessica Jones (probably a skrull), Medusa (<3)... i have also been trying to track down more Firestar books (loved her from the comics when i was a kid, found an origin book for her, have to do more searching for New Warriors books and Avengers v3 (thanks so much twitter peeps!)). But Spider Woman is my very favourite, and the reason i read comics. Pleeeeease dont let her die! D:

A side note, Lenil Yu's art for New Avengers/Secret Invasion has been amazing. If i had a genie that granted wishes, i would wish for this piece of art. It's amazing, and it makes me a little bit crazy that the piece hasnt been sold, but there is no way in the world i could ever buy it. Sigh!

Addicted to Twitter

It started cuz i saw some other people doing it, and it looked like fun. So i signed up, but didn't really see what the big deal was, forgetting about it for a while.

Then the San Diego Comic Con rolled around, and i wanted to know what was going on, from 'the man on the street', instead of watching feeds online or whatever.

That is when it's hooks got in me. I started following people, collecting them like Pokemon, checking what they had to say... for some reason interested in what they were having for dinner, or what their cats were doing.
Now, i am not totally in a vacuum. I know what i am doing. I can see myself doing it... and the 'floating head' me, the one that looks down in judgement shakes her head. But i cant stop. At first i said i would just do it at work, and just follow a few people, but then i had four days off, and on day two i had to install it... i couldn't help it! Now it's 2:22am and no one is tweeting, and i am dismayed... and wondering what they will say next.

I should go to bed.

Tweeting is too much fun... get the twitterfox addon, updates to your Firefox browser!

-- Twyst (yep, that is my twitter name too).

PS - yes, i am so lazy that i don't capitalize my i's. I took psych, don't tell me i have low self-worth, i am just really lazy. And sometimes i hit the caps lock button trying to hit the I, and that makes me mad. It is just better this way.

My Bartle Test

EAKS

EAKS players often live by the phrase 'The journey is often more enjoyable than the destination.' They are motivated by meeting the challenges of the world, but they are usually in no rush--because seeing the creatures and places of the world is even more fun.

Breakdown: Achiever 60.00%, Explorer 66.67%, Killer 46.67%, Socializer 33.33%

• People with high Achiever scores tend to prefer collecting points, levels, treasure and accomplishments that set them apart from other players--or simply present challenges.
• People with high Explorer scores tend to enjoy finding all of the unique areas of the world, often enjoying the immersion of the experience. Finding a place with unique monsters and seeing what those monsters do is usually more fun for an Explorer than defeating the monsters themselves.
• People with high Killer scores prefer the player-versus-player aspect of any game more than anything offered by the environment. They often relish the adrenaline and challenge of pitting themselves against real players.
• People with high Socializer scores enjoy interacting with other people, forming organizations, and finding cooperative solutions to the challenges within the virtual world.

Take the test!

a GTA convo

Obviously all my ideas and thoughts and feelings arent perfecltly clear in this post, my friend and i have an understanding about certain issues so i didnt need to elaborate, but i thought it was interesting enough to post -- m.

male friend: grand theft auto?
martian: everyone loves it, etc
martian: it has serious serious issues in it that no one cares about
martian: that just indicates that the world won’t change
male friend: how do you mean?
martian: the hate towards women
male friend: you think there is hatred towards women in the game?
martian: yes
male friend: I haven't played it yet soooo
male friend: why?
martian: /sigh
martian: so
martian: the internet cafe is called the 'TW@'
martian: there are only female prostitutes, you can fuck them, get a health bonus, and kill them, and get your money back
martian: essentially, this provides incentive to kill hookers, so that you don’t pay for a health bonus
male friend: yeah
martian: there are no female characters that have any depth, other than girlfriends, that you can also fuck and kill
martian: now let me make clear that I don’t agree with censorship
male friend: GTA usually doesn't have characters with depth
martian: Violence is fine
martian: sex is fine
martian: but as long as it is equal opportunity
male friend: yeah
male friend: still the thing about GTA
martian: and this is not
martian: there are characters that have stories etc
martian: but there are no females with a story
male friend: for me at least is while you CAN kill hookers
male friend: you don't have to
martian: that isn’t the point
male friend: where it becomes ridiculous is the incentive
male friend: so I agree with you about that
male friend: but also there aren't that many male prostitutes walking the streets
martian: and there are children walking the streets
martian: it is a manufactured world
martian: it is what Rockstar makes it
martian: it forces the player into a hetero role, in which you get a bonus for killing hookers
male friend: nothing wrong with kids walking the streets
male friend: but the gender thing...I prefer it when you have a choice, but sometimes you have to pick a gender for storytelling purposes
martian: I am just saying that if we are talking about representations of the real world
martian: this is not
martian: there are no children in GTA because killing children is wrong
male friend: no not at all
martian: therefore it is not the real world, and they are imposing their limits on the game
male friend: yeah
male friend: they are also going for a mostly male market
male friend: did you ever play gta3?
martian: yeah, it's fucking 2008, I don’t think that is okay anymore, and no one critiques that
martian: and no I didn’t, but I am aware that it had CJ in it
martian: and people got pissed
male friend: why?
martian: http://blog.pjsattic.com/corvus/2008/05/some-gta-iv-questions/
martian: because they said they didn’t see themselves n a black man
male friend: well I had a problem with the last one, not because I was playing a black man, but because the black man was an idiot
male friend: you can be 'street' without being stupid
male friend: gay hookers walking the street would be pretty funny actually
martian: you know what is funny
martian: I bet they didn’t do it cuz they thought people would be upset if you killed gay people
martian: but killing women is fine
male friend: that I read that article and wanted to marry a hooker and retire to the south of Spain?
male friend: yeah
martian: he says later he is giving examples from movies
martian: which are considered art
male friend: see my problem with that is the "incentive" part
male friend: not that you can kill a hooker
male friend: because if that gives the person entertainment then that just says more about them
male friend: it’s not encouraging it
martian: my issue is with the restriction
martian: only women can be hookers
male friend: yeah
martian: only hookers give health bonus
male friend: yeah I agree that is dumb
martian: they are the only characters you get your money back from
male friend: yep agreed
male friend: all stupid
male friend: and not even really fun
martian: really, in the end, what I don’t get is how this is the best game ever
martian: I don’t begrudge anyone to make their idiotic game
martian: I don’t care what they do in the game
martian: my problem is that this game is like
martian: exalted for being great
martian: and if you bring up a critique, people roll their eyes
martian: people say 'it's the sum total of its parts' and are selectively blind about it
male friend: I hate fanboys of all ilks
male friend: I had criticisms of all the GTA games
male friend: they where fun
male friend: but that’s all they really are, mindless fun
martian: yeah
martian: I just feel sad about it
martian: I feel bad about the things that it puts forth
male friend: lol
male friend: a lot of women think we are in a post-feminist world
male friend: that the battles have already been one
male friend: I just role my eyes
martian: yeah, grats on being able to work and vote
martian: too bad you're still not equal
male friend: yeah
male friend: I was reading an article by a female Obama supporter a couple of months ago
male friend: and she was saying how women have won because they are performing better in schools and in the work place
male friend: and I’m like
male friend: like
male friend: BUT YOU’RE STILL GETTING PAID LESS YOU DUMB MOTHERFUCKER
martian: yep.
male friend: personally I think the problem is extremes
male friend: a lot of women aren't think the fight is over until they are personally set back
male friend: or some women get too extreme on the other side and start arguing that women should be spelt womyn and just argue over pointless things like that
martian: yeah, I agree
martian: it's just the other side of the coin
martian: but feminism isn’t anti-male
martian: it is just equality
male friend: yeah
martian: but not thru taking away from another party
male friend: yep
martian: people are scared of the word tho
male friend: you can be forceful and still pragmatic
martian: they think it means bad things
male friend: yeah
martian: which is sooo sad
male friend: well they associate feminists with feminazis as [girlfriend] calls them
martian: yeah

List of pissoffs.

1 - Why is there no harddrive on the Wii. I want DLC for Rockband. (Update: they have announced CDs to buy... i dont think this cuts it).
2 - Why cant i find a PS3 60g. I require backwards compatibility, for gods sake - and apparently SW backwards compatibility only saves 27$. (found one!)
3 - I thought i had more.
4 - WB saying that women in leading roles dont sell movies. Well really, Catwoman? Are we basing this on Catwoman? Because i cant see how anyone would sell that movie. How about not making crap movies?
(Add) 5 - metal thongs in games. For some reason, everywhere i look today, metal thongs. Prince of Persia, Soul Calibur ugh...!
6 - Games that do well, without trying (looking @ you, WoW). You have soo much money, the game could be so much better than it is, but it seems like doing somewhere near the minimum is enough. I mean really, recolouring the same armour doesnt make it new.
7 - SecuROM on Mass Effect (thanks EA, you assholes). (crossed off) (back on)

WinAmp Remote

Ok, i get it, the Winamp people worked rly hard on this ap., and the idea is great, 'Listen to your music anywhere, zomg!'. I get popups every day asking me to use it, log in, enjoy the wonderfulness that is winamp remote. So i cave. I log in, i create passwords and accounts and secret handshakes.
Then i try and make it work.
I hit help, and it sends me to forums. What is that about? Why isnt there something that says 'click here, then here, then here'? Then i try and log on at my remote machine, and it tells me i cant be signed in 2 places at once.

Wtf. Why so cryptic? Why do you harass me to sign up in 45 ingenious ways, but you dont tell me how to work you properly?
WHY

Updated: Alright, i finally got it working, and i have to say, Orb is awesome. When i got my PS3, on first run, it found Orb as a media server and streams many more video formats than the windows server (tho i use the windows server for images).
The tricky thing with it is that you have it running on the host machine, and then access your files from a webpage, which was the bit that tripped me up, i thought that i had to access it through winamp itself. Silly me.
It looks like you can get tv streams and such as well thru orb, but i havent configured that part yet. The newest version of WinAmp will install it for you.

GH III - DLSee?

So, my Guitar Hero III for PC still says 'COMING SOON!' in the downloadable content area of the online menu. However, it WAS able to download new ads to assault my eyes with.
Deciding to play, and check if there was any online content, i was greeted with ads for KOODO mobile, which is brand-spanking new, and must have been downloaded in order to appear.

Nice Aspyr. Real nice.