It’s been over 6 months since I’ve posted any updates or any skins, it’s been a busy few months! I’ve moved from Phoenix, AZ to Ann Arbor, MI. Got a new job at MYTHLOGIC building custom laptops. Still doing consulting for LAN centers via Dream GCS. Been a good summer so far. There’s some games I’d love to make some skins for, I hope to make some soon!
Archive for category General Blathering
Looks Pretty Dead Here
Jul 13
Shop is Down
Jul 25
Having some troubles upgrading the shopping cart plugin. Apologies to everyone who’s trying to get the Starcraft 2 skin in time for the release on Tuesday, I’ll try to have this fixed ASAP. Check back here and I’ll post when it’s been resolved.
:UPDATE: The shop is back up! yay!
Crayola’s Law
Jan 18
This was pretty relevant to my interests.
Crayola’s Law : “The number of colors doubles every 28 years” Includes a spiffy timeline showing the addition of new colors to the box of crayons over the years.
http://www.weathersealed.com/2010/01/15/color-me-a-dinosaur/
Downloader Bug
Jan 11
There appears to be an issue with the download script for the SL skins, which I am working to resolve right now. I’ll update this entry when I’ve got it fixed. Hang in tight!
All the downloads appear to be working now, the invalid URL has been corrected. Leave a comment if you’re still having trouble!
This is just getting stupid.
If our reaction to each accidental plane crash was the same as each attempted or successful act of terrorism, we would be taking each plane out and intimately inspecting every nut and bolt after every single flight. Both kinds of death are in theory preventable. What people must accept is that flying, like life, is never going to be 100% safe.
The overzealous application of manpower and resources being made to the prevention of terrorism is annoying passengers and hurting the airline industry. Once the DOT finishes its anticipated highspeed rail system, airlines will start seeing an even more massive hit, especially in the Eastern corridor.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/us/27security.html?_r=2&ref=global-home
Didn’t win the contest, but I had fun anyway. I came up with a couple quick designs for fun, and hoped to win, but I was outclassed. The guys over at http://skins.web-plus.gr/ did a great design that looks very elegant and easy to use.
Here’s the contest page with the winning entry :
District 9 is Xenophobic
Sep 16
First off, the title amuses me, as I think that’s kind of the point of the film. Looking at racism in a different light by using aliens, it’s a classic scifi storytelling tool.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/sep/02/district-9-labelled-xenophobic-nigerians?
It all boils down, as usual, to people needing to just relax and not over-analyze everything. This perceived proclimation that Nigerians are inferior could be applied to anyone by setting the film somewhere else in the world. The point is not that Nigerians are willing to do disgusting things, it’s that desperate people do desperate things, for any number of reasons. Nigeria is just where the storytellers chose to set the story.
Want to help stop racism? Stop looking everywhere for reasons to be offended, or to say that someone else might be offended.
Smartlaunch Skins
Sep 14
Posted the Aion one last week, and just now uploaded the Heroes of Newerth skins. You can find them here and here, respectivly.
Also working on some submissions for the SL5 reskinning contest (http://smartlaunch.net/SL5DesignContest/), I’ve already finished one, got a few more ideas that I should be able to prototype out before the deadline.
On Health Care
Aug 27
Good article from the Washington Post on health care in other countries. (thanks Phil and Marie via Facebook) I think the innate advantage of capitalism breaks down when it comes to health care. For several reasons. The troubling paradox with medical care is best explained as the following exaggeration : “The medical/pharma/health care industry is the only one who’s ultimate goal is to put itself out of business.”
I think this is a very sensible article on video game violence. I’m sure that the fact that this young girl was playing an M rated game at such a young age isn’t going to affect her in the slightest. Except to draw the attention of alert Wired reporters. This is a prime example of the parent being familiar with the content of the game (well, we hope so!), and having a good understanding of his child’s maturity level. This is what parenting is all about. Making informed decisions, not shielding them from the horrible reality of…. reality.
Also, after reading the part where he mentions they will have some parental controls to change/turn off the gore and blood, I have a request. I’d love to see a “G” switch to turn all the blood and gore into glittery stars and rainbows, cuz that would be goddamn hilarious.
