I started doing the daily portrait thing.
Casey McKinnon even invited me to the Daily Self Portrait group. If you're doing it too, you should join.
I've been blogging on my Tumblog a lot lately. I prefer to keep my well-thought-out essays to here, and my short, poignant thoughts (and links) to Tumblr.
And that's me right now. Hope your V-Day was more chocolate-y than mine!
It's like TV, but on the Internet. Revision3 creates the lineup of shows and then streams them, one after the other, much like commercial television. It's a cool idea, very easy to get into. The danger here is that it's a step towards IPTV becoming commercial TV, something I think it should be moving away from. We should be aiming to segregate IPTV rather than merging it with its Jurassic counterpart with their old-world philosophies.
That's not to say people in the IPTV industry shouldn't aim for a wide audience, but this ancient method of streaming one show after the other is contradictory to what makes IPTV so great. Commercial television tells you when you have to sit down and watch something, and if you don't sit down to watch it then, you miss out. IPTV is all about letting you choose when to consume the product. If TWiT started doing a similar thing while Revision3 was running theirs, you would have to start choosing between the two. I love MacBreak Weekly, and I love The Totally Rad Show. One is from TWiT, one is from Revision3. What if MacBreak Weekly was streaming on TWiT's channel at the same time The Totally Rad Show was? I'd have to miss one.
Thankfully Revision3 only offers this as a supplement to their main service, which lets you download/stream the shows whenever you want, and I don't think that will change in the near future. Something to watch out for, though.
I went to a party last night. It was pretty lame, me and my hetero life mate were too cheap to buy alcohol so we drank water, and the chick had a spa but we forgot our full-body wetsuits so we didn't get a slice of that cake either.
But the worst part happened just minutes after I arrived. After getting into the house and reacquainting myself with everyone (old school friends), a girl ran up to me and hugged me. Now, I'm a smart, attractive guy, but usually I do something to provoke such a response. Not this time.
I looked over to my friend who had a puzzled expression on his face. I said to him "Me and her have history..."
The girl looked up and said "Really? I don't even remember you!"
Turns out this was the girl who made my first few months going to a completely new school that much harder. I then spent the next 10 minutes trying to get away from her, but she insisted on telling me how sorry she was, and how she doesn't even remember, and "Are you serious? Was I really mean to you?". You'd think after the tenth time I'd answered "Yes" she would get the hint.
Awkward.
In response to this article about England's way of dealing with obesity:
England, in its anti-obesity campaign, is encouraging parents to limit amount of time children spend on their consoles. They're missing the point.
We shouldn't be encouraging obese kids to play less, but instead to exercise more. Just like eating less chocolate won't make you thinner, but doing more exercise will.
Instead of discouragement and negative reinforcement, we should be preaching encouragement and positive reinforcement. I'm going to lay some of the blame on parents here. If they made themselves more available to assist their children in going out and spending time with their friends in RL, maybe people wouldn't spend so much time in doors online. It's about convenience. If you can make it similarly convenient for a child to go and play outside with his friends, then they will gladly do so. People who stay in doors don't have an aversion to outdoors, they are just lazy. This is why they don't do exercise, because they are lazy. So make it seem easy enough that they won't mind doing it. A lot of parents are too absorbed in their careers to actually want to put in effort to make a change in their child's life. The parents are also lazy. Do you see what I'm getting at?
We're living in a time of ultra-convenience. If your kid thinks he can come to you at any time and ask to go to a friend's house, then he is more likely to do so rather than at first believing "Dad/Mum is probably busy". Perhaps it isn't realistic to be available to go anywhere, any time, but this is a goal we should all be working towards if you actually want to make a difference.
I'm speaking from experience.
First of all, props to Corey for fameballing so rapidly. You know Corey, right? That tool who unfortunately lives in the same country as I do (thus besmirching our good name, and I need it to be unsmirched) and had that party. The big party. Yeah, that one!
I just saw on TV an ad for tonight's edition of Today Tonight. In it, they let the audience know that they're going to blow the lid on the wondrous promotion of this idiot. The implication in the ad seemed to be that rival station Channel Nine is responsible for Corey's fameballing, as if they are part of a conspiracy. They imply that Channel Nine are the ones responsible for Corey's fame.
What a bullshit hypocritical comment. Anybody that comments on Corey and his shens is responsible for his continued existence in the spotlight, including Today Tonight.
Just another example of how idiotic these people really are. More at eleven.
Ego-inflated Diggers award themselves self-importance.
Bring your torches and pitchforks, folks. The kids are up in arms.
I've decided to start writing reviews on independent films I find on YouTube. There's a lot of great talent out there, and I'd like to showcase some of it.
Hahaha, just kidding. Writing with consistency is for chumps.
The film in question: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WqzwhNnL8U
Early in 2007, I heard that Firefly (of the Pure Pwnage community) was making a zombie film from my friend Dan (who Firefly was seeking help from apparently). The updates trickled in until tonight, I finally saw the film.
To quote my favourite reviewer Ben Croshaw "This is the part where the reviewer talks about the plot to put off having to make any valid points", only I'm not going to do that because the plot is little more than a premise. Infection ravages the world, people start turning into "zombies" a la 28 Days Later. Also, some people shoot bullets and unconvincingly shout "FUCK FUCK FUUUUCK".
Left 4 Dead takes very little variation from the zombie formula. It starts off after the pandemic takes hold and follows a rough gang of survivors with mysterious proficiency in the use of big fucking handguns. Therefore, as George Romero owns the genre, there's little to praise here in terms of creativity plot-wise. That is not particularly the director's fault, the zombie genre has been done to death (don't pardon the pun, its a fucking hilarious pun) from every angle. The film never gives the zombies a sense of threat. Never do I feel like the protagonists are in trouble. Usually in zombie movies, there's either a horde of zombies or the zombies are fast and strong. In Left 4 Dead, the zombies lumber so off-balance and look so drug-fucked that a solid kick to the chest looks like it would break them in half, leading me to the acting.
The acting in this film was not terrible. Neither was it good. It was fine up until about 2:30 in when "CC" (played by the wonderful Cecilia Tan) runs along the sidewalk up to her cohort. There's no sense of immediate danger, but CC seems to be holding her gun in such a way that would suggest she could get attacked by the fucking ground. We later find out there are zombies in front of her. Logic dictates that if there is an enemy in front of you, you would hold your weapon appropriately. It takes an extra second to swing your arm up, steady yourself, and fire, than it does when your gun is already up. But the logical fallacies don't end there.
When CC reaches her fellow slayer, he takes out a zombie standing against a power pole (this is the first example of fantastic makeup and effects which I'll get to). If you're standing around waiting for someone, why would you let some zombie casually lean against the power pole across the road from you?
Cut to 2:54, a woman is leaning against a wire fence seemingly taking cover. Behind a wire fence. Meanwhile her zombie-killah friends stand out in the open popping off rounds into the off-screen unliving. The only time this scene changes it for (what I thought was a brilliant shot) a second of blood exploding at the camera. Other than that, its just a bland shot of four people shooting guns. There was a lot of potential for this scene to create tension in preparation for the next scene in the warehouse, but it went to waste.
Next, the warehouse. Zombies waddle in one by one and are easily picked off. This scene was set up like it was going to be a stand-off, with the main characters standing defiantly in the middle with their guns raised. A guy stands there while his fingers are fucking bitten off by his former friend-turned-hellish-minion who bears a striking resemblance to Amber Benson. He stands there like a mute with a Keanu Reeves-esque (that is to say totally emotionless) facial arrangement while his fingers get eaten. Then he bitch slaps her and kicks her in the ovaries, presumably to prevent her from having zombie offspring. Now, if that was me, the second she got within arm's reach I would've taken half of her face off. This scene might've evoked more emotion if the guy looked like he cared about what his friend had become, but no. More wasted potential.
Then we find out Baldy is deaf as he gets ambushed by two or three zombies who burst through the door behind him. What follows is CC backing into a corner half-smiling, which I suppose was meant to be a look of disgust, depression and a dash of "holy-shit-what-the-fuck" and a man putting a bullet through his head. Cut, that's a wrap.
The effects and makeup in this movie is fantastic. In fact, the only thing that made this film above average was the editing, which rings true to my suspicions that Firefly is a brilliant editor, an Adobe Premiere guru, and possibly the reincarnation of a wizard.
Left 4 Dead was an entertaining short film but only came through in post-production. An ancient concept, a mediocre screenplay and sub-par acting made me feel like I was watching Uwe Boll. Uwe Boll.
TLDR: 3/5
Good for a directorial debut.
PS: I welcome your defence or rebuttal.
Over the years, you've been unfortunate enough to read my cynical babbling about a myriad of topics. So let's start the conversation about something like predictions and how true or false they've become. They do it all the time on TWiT (or so I hear, I haven't listened to it since Merlin went on internetional hiatus). Starting from the start.
Hiyo! Hak.5 on diggnation?
Link: http://jayc.vox.com/library/post/hiyo-hak5-on-diggnation.html
Prediction: Hak5 + Diggnation = Uber tea... no wait, what?
Diggnation is still running strong at just over seven million episodes. Where is Hak5? A crumbling community infested with script kiddies asking how to "hack the skool" (Haha, no, really) and an irregular release schedule has led to this podcast being all but failed. High on production quality, low on content quality. Hak5 + Diggnation would roughly equal cat piss. Outcome: False
Google buys YouTube... sigh
Link: http://jayc.vox.com/library/post/google-buys-youtube-sigh.html
Prediction: Google will do something amazing to capitalize on YouTube's success.
Google is widely known as a very innovative company. YouTube gave voice to hordes of idiotic, angsty teenagers, which turns out, was a medium in demand. Oh, and it gave a place for independent film-makers to host their idea balls. Therefore this was a match made in heaven.
Too bad Google hasn't done shit with YouTube. Other than frequent UI changes, the biggest new feature introduced since the Google buyout was the ability to see which users are watching the video at the same time as you, and the ability to bury idiot spammers. Genius!
Meanwhile Vimeo is still making leaps and bounds, kicking ass. Vimeo released HD content earlier this year, and the ability for users to upload HD videos and watch them in beautifully high resolution. It's a shame both Zach Klein and Jakob Lodwick (the founders of Vimeo who were both so passionate about the medium of internet video) left the company earlier this year. Outcome: False
The internet epidemic
Link: http://jayc.vox.com/library/post/the-internet-epidemic.html
Prediction: I used to be a much better writer than I am now.
I re-read "The internet epidemic" and found myself laughing out loud. That says something about my self-indulgent frame of mind, perhaps, but I haven't written anything lately that I really enjoyed reading, just a lot of depressing self-reflection, and I'm guessing you feel the same.
I ripped in Mikey a bit in that post. He actually seems like a pretty nice guy. Not meant for the camera though.
Outcome: True
I'm the most genius person in the world
Link: http://jayc.vox.com/library/post/im-the-most-genius-person-in-the-world.html
Prediction: I'm the most genius person in the world
Outcome: True
Technology: Help or Hindrance
Link: http://jayc.vox.com/library/post/technology-help-or-hindrance.html
Prediction: Technology is ushering in an era of laziness and complacency
I frequently use this post as an example that I'm some kind of being of supernatural intelligence because it portrays, what I feel, to be the smartest opinion I've ever put to paper (pixels?).
The argument in a nutshell is that technology is making life too convenient, so we never expect to have to put in hard work to accomplish something. As unemployment rates rise, more people die from exhaustion after playing WoW days in a row, and I continue to feel like the dishwasher should be packing itself, the Outcome is slowly becoming True.
Very exciting time
Link: http://jayc.vox.com/library/post/very-exciting-time.html
Prediction: I will launch a video podcast
Hahaha, ludicrous.
Outcome: False... ;-)
Somebody set digg up the bomb
Link: http://jayc.vox.com/library/post/somebody-set-digg-up-the-bomb.html
Prediction: Public outcry will not stop companies from conforming to DRM as a standard practise
I couldn't have been more right. Not only has this not stopped DRM, DRM has become more prevalent since then. Probably not as a cause of the fiasco on Digg, but nevertheless. Ironically, all the movie studios are decreeing their swimfannian love for Blu-Ray (Betamax of the new generation) so nobody who is serious gives a shit about HD-DVD anymore. Except the people that paid $200 USD to get an HD-DVD player for their Xbox 360. Hahaha. Outcome: True
Party night
Link: http://jayc.vox.com/library/post/party-night.html
Prediction: I drink responsibly at an 18th
Outcome: False
Pownce - Innovation or mashup?
Link: http://jayc.vox.com/library/post/pownce---innovation-or-mashup.html
Prediction: Despite criticism of Pownce being an old technology in a new dress CulverBurkaRoseShawn will make it successful.
I wrote this before I'd actually used Pownce, and from initial speculation from Digg comments (usually the most credible of sources, I assure you). Fortunately, Pownce has been a great success. While I'm not sure what the total revenue from Pownce Pro sign up is, I do know that Pownce has a user base of hundreds of thousands, and just had its official launch. Congrats Megatechtronium.
Outcome: True
Terrible dream
Link: http://jayc.vox.com/library/post/terrible-dream.html
Prediction: Nick Douglas will cease to exist
Sometimes, my dreams come true. One time when I was in Primary School, I dreamed my teacher walked down the stairs while we were gluing stuff into our scrapbooks and said "Since you're all working so quietly, you can all have a Freddo". A 'Freddo' for those unfortunate enough to have experienced it, is a chocolate frog. Lo and behold, this happened days later.
Praise to the mayonnaise that this one didn't come true. Do you know what the world would be like without Nick Douglas? Fucking bleak.
Outcome: False
Wow, I didn't intend that to be a perfect 10, but how about that.
Life can be simplistically related to elements of World of Warcraft, in order to put the futility of the daily grind in perspective.
The first material financial milestone in a young person's life is a car. The car is like the mount you get at Level 40. You save, and save, and save. You spend time advancing levels (from your L's to your P's) in order to get to a sufficient level in order to ride the mount/drive the car reliably. Your University education is your epic mount. Once again, you save, and save, and save, and then save a lot more, because it's a lot more expensive. In fact, its so expensive that you need a loan in order to pay for it. But eventually you get it, and it feels good. Never mind that you're paying off the loan for the next 10 years (levels). The epic flying mount is your house. This is so expensive that you need another loan, and this loan is so big they gave it a special name. It's called a "mortgage". You'll be paying this off for the rest of your life. After that, you don't really have any material financial milestones. You can go raid (work) for hours on end to acquire more money, and more items. You just keep accumulating junk and grinding away to get more of this junk, grinding grinding grinding, until your "subscription runs out" (you die).
I guess the secret is to be content with the amount of junk you have, and to avoid lusting after more junk. Because in the end, it's just junk.
I had a lot of time to think about stuff today. My internet died again (fucking ISP), so in between bouts of frustration in trying to fix it (of course, it's Sunday, so there's no tech support), I pondered many things. It was a "challenge your beliefs" day for me.
Around July of 2006 I started playing World of Warcraft, which I became obsessed with to the point of it seriously affecting my life. I'd refuse to go out with friends, citing I had 'lots of chores to do' and 'tonnes of homework' just so I could stay home and grind. It totally overcame me. I was forced to quit by my parents. Ever since the day I stopped playing, I've felt it tugging at my mind. I needed some sort of closure with the characters I'd related to for several months of hardcore play. I needed some time to say goodbye.
The opportunity to do so arose several weeks ago. My friend started playing again, so I thought I might re-install it and key in the 10-day Burning Crusade trial code Blizzard sent to all previous subscribers. Of course, my parents didn't know this. I got wrapped up in the game again, emerging myself in the world of Azeroth. The first thing I noticed was that my old guild, Vicarious, had broken up. Vicarious was an awesome guild, not only because I helped start it, but because so many good times were had. The GM was a laid back, cool ex-Skinhead who played with his wife, and some of the Officers were RL friends of mine. I was part of the guild community. I took some minutes to reflect on the times I had with Vicarious. It made me realise how I'd taken it for granted. This was where the revelations began.
So after the 10 day trial was up, I purchased a 60 day game card. I've been playing WoW almost every waking hour for the past three weeks. Yeah, pretty fucked up. Fortunately, that kind of rigorous playing has an upside (or downside, depending on your perspective). I've gotten 30 levels in 3 weeks, and now I'm burned out. I can't even bring myself to run around in Battlegrounds, a feature of the game I found the most compelling previously. I'm bored of running the same few instances 20 times a day and getting the same loot over and over again. They say the game begins at 70, but it doesn't seem that way. It seems that when you hit 70, the only thing that "begins" is the end of your life, as you spend twenty hours a week raiding.
I am still going to play it, but not as much. Where I used to wake up and think "Alright, gotta get x amount of exp and get those new shoulders from Mara", I now think "What can I do to amuse myself for a couple hours while my torrents finish downloading?" I can finally get back to my past life of obsessively posting inane, seemingly profound statements on Pownce with no context to make them seem even more zen, reading RSS feeds of people more intriguing than I am and watching old TV series'. I say old TV series' because due to the WGA strike, there's no new episodes, so I'm stuck with incomplete seasons a la Heroes and Moonlight.
Great, now you know why I haven't posted much in the past month or two. I've been busy getting my shit together. Now that exams are over and holidays have begun, I expect to keep you updated on the many exciting things that happen in my day. I'm actually right in the middle of giving you a detailed overview of tomorrow's adventure: Brushing my teeth. Seriously though, I'll try to stop posting so many diaries and get you back to my usual acerbic wit and food for thought.
PS: I'd also like to thank some of the assholes in my new guild, Rabid Ants, for being total assholes, thus contributing to me being less enthusiastic about logging on each morning. Get over yourself, fucking Keyboard Warriors.
on Wallstrip interview with Jakob Lodwick