RIP - The Constitution of the United States of America: July 4,1776- March 21,2010

Waterstones, the famous book sellers, is soon going to be famous (infamous?)for not being able to edit quickly enough. An article for the new Elder Scrolls book by Greg Keyes, The Elder Scrolls: Infernal City, the page editor put up this interesting tidbit:

"A novel that takes place forty-five years after the Oblivion Crisis, which is the story of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion game and the expansion pack Shivering Isles. It partly bridges the gap for the next game, which is set 200 years after the Oblivion crisis."


They got to it, but not soon enough that it wasn't noticed and AJ Glasser of kotaku.com is to thank for quick reporting.

Personally (might get flamed for this one) if Hip-Hop fell off the planet tomorrow, I'd be cool with that, it's just not my thing. However, I can and do appreciate that most of the artists involved are genuinely talented (or I'd be making my dole that way too).

Hip-Hop was never, and still isn't taken seriously..enter making money. Ahha, now you're a legitimate business / art / whatever and litigation happy America jumps in.

This film looks promising, really does, give the preview a whirl and sound off :)

What promises to be a superb documentary on musical sampling, copyright law and their effects on creativity will see its official launch in January 2010. No harm in taking an early preview though.

Copyright Criminals: This Is a Sampling Sport is an upcoming documentary which examines the creative and commercial aspects of musical sampling, and I am personally really looking forward to this one.

A major component of the documentary is the effect copyright law has on creativity and, of course, how good old-fashioned greed and money come into play. If you happen to like hip-hop too, thats a real bonus, but not a necessity by any means.

The documentary will ask a critical question:

Is it possible to own a sound?

Copyright Criminals will have a general release in January 2010, but an early free preview is available if you’re near The Rotunda (40th and Walnut) in Philadelphia this upcoming Tuesday October 20th at 19:00.

It's very mod, we like it...now David Tenant simply needs to get together with Tom Baker and have their DNA combined by some whacked out in the head scientist type to make the end-all-be-all Doctor and the world can keep right on wobbling.

Galactic Heroes, I love'em, they're cool. They're tiny, they're tooney, and well, they're just a little looney....etc, etc. (Sorry Warner, et al.)

Of the Galactic Heroes, anything Fett or remotely Bounty Hunter related is smoking hot and one's headed for the desk and another for the "Closet of Wonders" where we hide all of our goodies that we one day will get graded and then sell for millions on eBay for huge cash to send the kid off to college in style.

That said, seeing this little number at Entertainment Earth got me hopping.

You get a little "Han in Carbonite", you can never have too many of those catching dust around your house, a "galactically deformed" Slave I, and...the man himself, Boba Fett - most notorious Bounty Hunter (despite what Cad Bane says) in the galaxy.




Of course, the problem with this little bit of plastic fun, like all of them, is we'll need two, one to keep hermetically sealed in a tomb of inert gas behind UV blocking bulletproof glass that has and will never be removed from the box....and another that will catch dust with the other Fett stuff scattered around my desk. Oh...the joys of collecting toys :)

We should all boycott the news channels. All of them, even the local broadcasts. Ignorance is running rampant making the world an unsafe place for rational people.

Today, I typed into my preferred search engine, "How to commit the perfect murder". According to some theorists, if people around me suddenly start dropping dead under mysterious circumstances, I'm screwed.

The wife and I are still laughing about the moronic state of affairs we find ourselves in. That, and her idea that I'm typing this out so I can off her conveniently in the near future and have an alibi or something to confuse the prosecution.

Recently, the torrent search site, Demonoid.com went offline thanks to harassment, in part, from the CRIA. We're really glad to see their efforts to get back up and running paying off.

This, from their website:

September 26

Status

The site will return as soon as possible, but there was a problem that caused data loss and the person who can help us get the data back is not able to help at this moment. The site will return when we can get his help

A loss of a some months worth of activity including registered users and torrent submissions is to be expected because the backup we are hoping to get back is not up to date, so please be prepared for it

Oh yeah, we've been just horribly, terribly, unforgivably not keeping up with our CyberGeek Hottie of the Week / Month / Whatever.

Geek Girl Diva to the rescue, as she puts up a cleavage shot for a good cause, Breast Cancer Awareness.

It is terribly unfortunate that I couldn't make it to SDCC for their signing, and early on, I threatened GGD with being suckered into the spotlight of Hottie of the Week.

Now, without warning! She's it, *tag*.

(Though if I could still get her in a Star Trek skirt and draped across that Enterprise Captain's chair, well, the wife would shoot me, but might be worth the bullet) *wink wink nudge nudge*

Oh yes, and savethetatas.com, though tongue in cheek, is serious business, do check their site out, buy some merchandise, throw it on the bumper or whatever.

isoHunt.com, Torrentbox.com, and Podtropolis.com (collectively we'll call them isoHunt.com) have taken a "First Strike" stance with the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA).

Recently, under threats from the CRIA, Demonoid.com first went offline (maintenance) and then came back up, though they had to block searchers from their own country of Canada, and now seem to still be a little bit on the shaky side as to availability.

Since Gary Fung, the admin for isoHunt.com has now sworn an affadavit that isoHunt.com does not violate the Copyright Act and has, in fact consistently complied with demands by the CRIA to remove trackers from it's search engine that the CRIA has indicated are not authorized for internet distribution by their clients, the ball is now in the hands of the CRIA.

ISOHunt Petition to the Court

They get to try and explain to the Courts how a search-engine, that stores no files that violate copyright, is breaking the law. That's kind of like telling the local public library that they are in violation of copyright law if they maintain a copy machine in their building, though no one may have ever used the copier in an illegal manner. Last we checked, and we don't want to besmirch the efficacy of the Canadian Courts, the plaintiff does have to prove that a law has been broken.

The Petition to the Courts for injunctive relief from harassment by isoHunt.com is pure poetry, music to our ears, and overdue. Not every file, though we won't pretend that some may, belongs to the RIAA, MPAA, CRIA, BRIEN, or any of their members / clients.

If, they'd like proof of that, then I'd like to point out the fact that Aeria Games (sorry for pulling you into this guys, your certainly not by yourselves) distributes their software clients for games by bittorrent. Are companies that distribute their own product by torrent to be denied the ability to use this excellent technology? Can the CRIA not be bothered to take the time to point out the files they wish removed that specifically pertain to them? Because of this need for the CRIA to not be bothered with trivialities like providing proof of copyright violation are they entitled to shut down entire search engines, websites (probably blogs next) to protect their profit margins?

Grant isoHunt, it's sister sites and all others similar in scope this injunction against unlawful harassment. Maybe when the CRIA's lawyers stop being paid exorbitant sums (relative to a blog editor, I can assure you of that) the retail prices of entertainment can go down in proportion and the economy might start recovering earlier.

Geek Girl Diva is thinking about a possible contest, geeky goodness galore, and a little alliteration from moi.

Check out her ideas hereand let her know what you think!

Hopefully, the above video will not be taken off of YouTube anytime soon. Comments have been disabled for the video directly on YouTube, but, all "three" of my readers (Hi Mom!) can comment here. Thank goodness for backups. Fair warning, if you haven't noticed already, it has absolutely nothing to do with, directly, our usual geeky fare of video games, etc.

The video does however, touch directly on the area of free speech and the effort being made by some to stem it when it goes against their ideology.

I believe, that free speech is a non-partisan aspect of the United States, after all, it is a part of the Constitution.

Sitting here, before I wrote this, I wanted to have my facts entirely straight concerning the officer featured prominently in the video. We telephoned the Baton Rouge Police Department, were given a direct number to the Sergeant in charge of "Media Relations" and unfortunately had to leave a message. In the message, we gave, as best we could, the link for the video and the request for the officers name to go along with our article, and precisely what statutes and authority (because we're certainly not going to second guess) the officer had utilized to contravene the Bill of Rights.

Large organizations, whether they be the MPAA, RIAA, (which we have frequently discussed here) MediaSentry, or non-governmental organizations like ACORN (with budgets of 100 million US$ annually) need to not believe they can trample upon the rights of every US citizen.

MediaSentry, specifically, gathers information without the license of the Private Protective Bureaus of several states. We should know, they've been blocked by our computers, but they often knock.

The RIAA employed MediaSentry in their anti-piracy efforts, then smartly canned them. We're pretty sure where we know the MPAA sits on suing people for 675,000 US$ at a pop, that's a matter of public record.

We're certain, that at some point along the line, we'll be labeled as "Right Wing Extremists" and totted up with others on some half-secret tax payer sponsored government report. Cool beans if we do.

We'll remain there, until the Constitution is treated with the respect it deserves or an ammendment is made banning free speech. When that happens our IP will be coming from somewhere else.

Those crazy plumbers and goofy dinosaur must have finally pushed too far, and now, it looks like they are gonna pay for their "Bloop bloop bloop, bloop bloopa loop'ing" transgressions.
Desktop Nexus: Wallpapers > Video Game Wallpapers > Mario Wallpaper

Nice job to the artist, Caylee Huckabay, this is my new wallpaper :)

Yes, we are horribly and some say, unreasonably, critical of these companies that work hard to provide us safe, fun video game entertainment.

We believe though, that it is unreasonable to release a product that if it were an automobile would certainly be recalled for safety concerns, to the public for consumption.

Online gaming is a "Booming" marketplace, many are jumping into the "gold rush" of profits to be made by crossing digital toys with physical ones you can pick up at your nearby toy store. Nothing however, destroys a kid's (or a big kid's) enjoyment of a game when it's infrastructure can't deliver.

No, we're not just picking on Nanovor, we love the game around here, but we want to see it better before it goes much farther towards the, "Great game Joe, but I could never log in.", road.

I hated giving up my Phase Stormer 2.0, the basis for achieving the newest Nanovor, the Phase Spiker 1.0, but, it had to be done.

A word of caution, if you don't want to see spoilers about how to gain the Phase Spiker, stop reading now.

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Ok, you were warned!

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First off, obviously, you'll need to take your Phase Stormer 1.0, gained as a random badge reward, or via Booster Packs bought using the currency of Nanovor.com, nanocash. Noticing a trend in naming...me too.

Evolve the Phase Stormer 1.0 into it's 2.0 version,

using the following Evolution Formula:

These are easy enough to find, the basic ones, in the Nanovor.com - Nanolog

From the Phase Stormer 2.0, things become more involved, as you must discover "Doc Zap's" secrets in the first puzzle that Nanovor.com has thrown out. Figuring this part out, garners you a new badge and unlocks the evolution tree to your new goal.

If you're into Nanovor, and goodness knows the kids are loving it and the commercials that are splattered all over Cartoon Network, then you'll want to know about this guy.

He's an uncommon Nanovor, and like his Circuit Flyer 2.0 variation has the dodge ability, and for my energy, that's one of the best overrides in the entire game. The Circuit Flyer's dodge is a whopping 25%, the highest so far of any Nanovor and a real tide turner in a fight.

The EM's you need to evolve your 2.0 into it's 3.0 progeny are on the right side of the image. Have fun!

If you've ever wondered what on earth makes your comp go more than a bit nuts sometimes, maybe you're infected with Nanovor.

That's definitely what Smith and Tinker want you to think, and now their commercials have hit Cartoon Network and the toys are flying off the shelves. A quick check at Amazon showed only three of one type left, and another sold out. Is a CN cartoon series far away, in the vein of Bakugan, Pokemon, Chaotic? We'll see, for now, there are nine small episodes on their website for you to check out.

Fan sites have mushroomed, a notable one being Nanovor101, with it's own forum for arranging trades, battles, and sharing evolution information.

So, we of course had to set up a "Guardian / Parent" account and throw the game to our test group of kids. They love the splatters, that was the second thing out of their mouths, right after, "Umm, gee, this is kinda slow, what's happening?"

That is the largest issue for Nanovor so far, either their infrastructure is really strained and showing it from a huge influx of players, or they're suffering from seriously poor planning, and that's showing in performance.

Special thanks go out to "pokemon37dmk", a Nanovor user that gave me a bit of help testing out some things, good luck in the game.

Lately, though real life is busy and hectic as all get out, I've managed to spend some time hanging out at "The Vampire's Gaze" the forums for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines - Companion Mod.

If you are not familiar with, what is likely, the best (though originally bug-ridden and a nightmare of corporate mis-management) ports of a paper and dice / storytelling rpg to PC, then take a look around.

A testament to how good a concept and game a release truly is, in my opinion, is the longevity the fan base grants it with work to continue the life of projects like Vampire: The Masquerade.

Dheu, the driving force behind the "Companion Mod", has expanded upon the abilities of, in particular the Ventrue, all the vampire clans in the original release in the game by allowing them the ability to gather "companions". For those familiar with The World of Darkness, a Ventrue's power to control and manipulate others is what allows them to rest firmly in the seat of power while avoiding getting their hands personally dirty.

This, is very important to playing the Ventrue, and in the interest of balance and those that wish to dive into other clans while still enjoying the CompMod, Dheu worked out an item that grants all clans the ability to worm their way into the minds of other characters.

There are many interesting aspects to the mod, not all of them Companion related, and as a Kindred "purist" of a sort, I definitely put my stamp (for what THAT's worth) of approval on this mod.

This, my friends, is priceless.