Ballistic Babes by Lawrence Ganem & John Zakour.
New York: DAW Books 2009
Ballistic Babes a pair of novels that were originally published as separate books. The first, The Radioactive Redhead, was co-written by both Lawrence Ganem & John Zakour. The second, The Frost-Haired Vixen, was written by just Zakour. Both novels were about the adventures of Zachary Nixon Johnson, supposedly the last freelance private investigator on Earth. However, there are huge differences between the two novels.
This is a series that revels in its silliness. If you are looking for internal logic, look elsewhere; this is pure nonsense painted with fast quips and faster action.
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
The "WOW!" Signal
If December 7, 1941, and September 11, 2001, are dates that will live in infamy, then August 15, 1977, is a date that should live as a more positive time, at least among science fiction fans. This is because that was the day that the Big Ear radio observatory at Ohio State University picked up what has become known as the "WOW!" signal. Of all the signals picked up by radio telescopes, this is the one that was most likely to have been broadcast by extraterrestrial alien intelligence.
The "WOW!" signal derived its name from the notation written by graduate student Jerry Ehman who came across the signal on the computer printouts of the Big Ear's scanning of the heavens on August 15, 1977. The signal lasted 72 seconds which was the maximum amount of time that it could be scanned by the radio telescope. The frequency of this signal almost precisely matched the frequency wavelength given off by hydrogen radiation. Since this radiation is so prevalent in space, the consensus among radio astronomers is that aliens may very well use it for radio transmissions.The printouts showed that the signal in question was 30 times stronger than the background noise and was tightly focused just like commercial broadcasts are. It neatly fit almost every criteria set by radio astronomers for what a broadcast sent by extraterrestrial intelligence aka aliens would be like. That being the case, Ehman was so startled by the printout, he wrote "WOW!" on it. Hence the name of the "WOW!" signal.
Of all the signals picked up by radio astronomers, the "WOW!" signal is the only one that has withstood all challenges. You would think that the astronomers at Ohio State University would have held a press conference to announce their discovery. Instead, they opted to publish their findings in 1979 in Cosmic Search, a magazine with such a low circulation, that today there are very few complete sets in existence. Very little has been written about the "WOW!" signal so much so that this writer first learned about it from the March 2015 issue of Astronomy where it ranked 361st out of the 500 Coolest Things About Space.
One might wonder why so little has been made about this discovery. For one thing, the only criteria for determining a signal is from cosmic intelligence that the "WOW!" signal does not meet is that it has never been observed again. This is interesting given how that when we humans on rare occasions deliberately send signals to outer space, we ourselves rarely send the same signal on multiple times to the same area of space. If beings of alien intelligence were to use the same criteria that we humans do, then they would have no reason to believe that there is any intelligent life on Earth.
Another reason why the lack of coverage of the "WOW!" signal in scientific publications is the fact that when you trace out the "WOW!" signal , there are no known stars or planets in the vicinity, This is interesting because science fiction writers as well as leading scientists have long proposed that mankind construct space stations and perhaps space cities. These stations/cities could be placed in interstellar space far away from any planet or even any solar system. If we humans can talk about such ideas, then why could an alien intelligence not have the same ideas? Surely, aliens with technology far more advanced than our own could take a staple of today's science fiction and trun it into reality. Additionally, just because a radio telescope here on Earth picked up a signal does not necessarily mean that signal was deliberately sent to Earth in the first place. The "WOW!" signal could have been a SOS signal from and alien ship or it could have been originally sent by one alien ship to another and reached planet Earth long after the original broadcast was sent.
There are about 80 radio telescopes surveying the heavens located throughout the world. While there are other uses for radio telescopes, their primary mission is to search for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. Of necessity, their searches are limited to certain frequencies that are protected by international agreements. These are frequencies that are reserved for astronomers.
The fact that only certain frequencies are available to radio astronomers is a hindrance to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. If an alien civilization attempted to contact us via AM or FM radio, the end result would simply be an increase in static. There would be no way to determine that the static originated in outer space and that's assuming that there would even be an attempt to discover where that static came from in the first place. Apparently, nobody in official positions have realized that if we humans find certain frequencies such as AM/FM to be conducive to communication, then surely other sentient life forms wold find them useful as well. What is needed is to have satellites in orbit that would pick up transmissions from outer space of frequencies that are in commercial use here on Earth.
The "WOW!" signal derived its name from the notation written by graduate student Jerry Ehman who came across the signal on the computer printouts of the Big Ear's scanning of the heavens on August 15, 1977. The signal lasted 72 seconds which was the maximum amount of time that it could be scanned by the radio telescope. The frequency of this signal almost precisely matched the frequency wavelength given off by hydrogen radiation. Since this radiation is so prevalent in space, the consensus among radio astronomers is that aliens may very well use it for radio transmissions.The printouts showed that the signal in question was 30 times stronger than the background noise and was tightly focused just like commercial broadcasts are. It neatly fit almost every criteria set by radio astronomers for what a broadcast sent by extraterrestrial intelligence aka aliens would be like. That being the case, Ehman was so startled by the printout, he wrote "WOW!" on it. Hence the name of the "WOW!" signal.
Of all the signals picked up by radio astronomers, the "WOW!" signal is the only one that has withstood all challenges. You would think that the astronomers at Ohio State University would have held a press conference to announce their discovery. Instead, they opted to publish their findings in 1979 in Cosmic Search, a magazine with such a low circulation, that today there are very few complete sets in existence. Very little has been written about the "WOW!" signal so much so that this writer first learned about it from the March 2015 issue of Astronomy where it ranked 361st out of the 500 Coolest Things About Space.
One might wonder why so little has been made about this discovery. For one thing, the only criteria for determining a signal is from cosmic intelligence that the "WOW!" signal does not meet is that it has never been observed again. This is interesting given how that when we humans on rare occasions deliberately send signals to outer space, we ourselves rarely send the same signal on multiple times to the same area of space. If beings of alien intelligence were to use the same criteria that we humans do, then they would have no reason to believe that there is any intelligent life on Earth.
Another reason why the lack of coverage of the "WOW!" signal in scientific publications is the fact that when you trace out the "WOW!" signal , there are no known stars or planets in the vicinity, This is interesting because science fiction writers as well as leading scientists have long proposed that mankind construct space stations and perhaps space cities. These stations/cities could be placed in interstellar space far away from any planet or even any solar system. If we humans can talk about such ideas, then why could an alien intelligence not have the same ideas? Surely, aliens with technology far more advanced than our own could take a staple of today's science fiction and trun it into reality. Additionally, just because a radio telescope here on Earth picked up a signal does not necessarily mean that signal was deliberately sent to Earth in the first place. The "WOW!" signal could have been a SOS signal from and alien ship or it could have been originally sent by one alien ship to another and reached planet Earth long after the original broadcast was sent.
There are about 80 radio telescopes surveying the heavens located throughout the world. While there are other uses for radio telescopes, their primary mission is to search for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. Of necessity, their searches are limited to certain frequencies that are protected by international agreements. These are frequencies that are reserved for astronomers.
The fact that only certain frequencies are available to radio astronomers is a hindrance to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. If an alien civilization attempted to contact us via AM or FM radio, the end result would simply be an increase in static. There would be no way to determine that the static originated in outer space and that's assuming that there would even be an attempt to discover where that static came from in the first place. Apparently, nobody in official positions have realized that if we humans find certain frequencies such as AM/FM to be conducive to communication, then surely other sentient life forms wold find them useful as well. What is needed is to have satellites in orbit that would pick up transmissions from outer space of frequencies that are in commercial use here on Earth.
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Gary Gygax’s Post-TSR Career
Mr. Gygax and TSR parted ways in the mid-eighties due to the poor and
erratic way that he was running the company.
After leaving TSR, Gygax immediately created the gaming company New Infinities Productions with the idea of gaining revenge against TSR. Gygax wrote the outline for what became the game Cyborg Commando. Published in 1987, the game garnered poor reviews and sold poorly. New Infinities was poorly run and it went out of business in 1989.
Following this setback, Gygax next tried to get revenge on TSR by partnering with Games Designer Workshop to create a game to compete with Dungeons & Dragons D&D). At first, this project was known as Dangerous Dimensions, however TSR threatened to sue over the initials being DD, almost the same as that for Dungeons & Dragons. The new role-playing game was now renamed Dangerous Journeys, but TSR sued anyways. Eventually, TSR gained ownership of the new game and Gygax was out in the cold yet again.
In 1999, Gygax took another stab at creating a game to gain revenge upon TSR with. This was Lejendary Adventure (LA) that was published by two companies thaat were run by friends of Gygax, Hekaforge Productions and Troll Lord Games. LA has fared better than Gygax's previous non-TSR games, but it still has not been much of a rival to D&D.
In 2004, Gygax had a hand in the creation of the RPG Castles & Crusades. Its not known how important this role was, but his name was used in promoting the game. This game has only been a limited success.
Additionally, after leaving TSR, Gygax wrote two books, "Master of the Game" and "Role-Playing Mastery." He also wrote some fictional works as well. None of these books sold well. Gygax's books were of generally poor quality. They were derided by the hard core gamer members of the Little Rock Science Fiction Society of which I was a member during the years 1997-2000.
Gygax spent the last three decades of his life in Lake Geneva, WI, where he led a quiet life marked by being a frequent guest at gaming conventions. He passed away in 2008.
After leaving TSR, Gygax immediately created the gaming company New Infinities Productions with the idea of gaining revenge against TSR. Gygax wrote the outline for what became the game Cyborg Commando. Published in 1987, the game garnered poor reviews and sold poorly. New Infinities was poorly run and it went out of business in 1989.
Following this setback, Gygax next tried to get revenge on TSR by partnering with Games Designer Workshop to create a game to compete with Dungeons & Dragons D&D). At first, this project was known as Dangerous Dimensions, however TSR threatened to sue over the initials being DD, almost the same as that for Dungeons & Dragons. The new role-playing game was now renamed Dangerous Journeys, but TSR sued anyways. Eventually, TSR gained ownership of the new game and Gygax was out in the cold yet again.
In 1999, Gygax took another stab at creating a game to gain revenge upon TSR with. This was Lejendary Adventure (LA) that was published by two companies thaat were run by friends of Gygax, Hekaforge Productions and Troll Lord Games. LA has fared better than Gygax's previous non-TSR games, but it still has not been much of a rival to D&D.
In 2004, Gygax had a hand in the creation of the RPG Castles & Crusades. Its not known how important this role was, but his name was used in promoting the game. This game has only been a limited success.
Additionally, after leaving TSR, Gygax wrote two books, "Master of the Game" and "Role-Playing Mastery." He also wrote some fictional works as well. None of these books sold well. Gygax's books were of generally poor quality. They were derided by the hard core gamer members of the Little Rock Science Fiction Society of which I was a member during the years 1997-2000.
Gygax spent the last three decades of his life in Lake Geneva, WI, where he led a quiet life marked by being a frequent guest at gaming conventions. He passed away in 2008.
The "Roseanne" Cancellation Outrage
Can you think of any good reason for "Roseanne" being cancelled other than the purely political? It had been reported before this that ABC wanted her to drop the political stuff from the show because ABC is so very anti-Trump.
As for Roseanne Barr's tweets being "repugnant" well she had a reputation for tweets and other public statements and actions that were considered tasteless long before ABC brought the show back, so that explanation does not hold up.
The Daily Caller on the "Roseanne" cancellation.
As for Roseanne Barr's tweets being "repugnant" well she had a reputation for tweets and other public statements and actions that were considered tasteless long before ABC brought the show back, so that explanation does not hold up.
The Daily Caller on the "Roseanne" cancellation.
Monday, May 28, 2018
UK Judge: Knife Control Necessary to Control Violent Crime
Unbelievable as it sounds a British judge claims that the reason why violent crime is up is because the knives are too sharp.
You can't make this stuff up.
You can't make this stuff up.
Conversation With Malhavoc March 18, 2003
Conversation with Malhavoc, Leader of the allied Shadow Knights, March 18th, 2003:
237067810: (1:14 AM) I went and got ICQ, this should
help communication a little.
Chuck: (1:15 AM) Great.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:16 AM) Jewel is still sitting at
that port.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:16 AM) I should have killed him when
I had the chance. I could have kicked him off the
planet and shot him.
Chuck: (1:16 AM) yes. Do you want me to send you
Jer'le post about JLP?
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:17 AM) I saw it. The huge long one?
Chuck: (1:17 AM) no...one made today
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:17 AM) He made one today? K, send
it over.
Chuck: (1:19 AM) 1st: Jerle on Jewel:
Jewel:
Player id #1657
Login: jeweladdict
Pilot Name: Jewel
Email: Jeweladdict@clan-forsaken.com
Player id #1669
Login: -=Jewel=-
Pilot Name: Jeweladdict
Email: jeweladdict@hotmail.com
Player id #1681
Login: bigdaddy
Pilot Name: Big Daddy
Email: jeweladdict@tns.net
All three created very close to each other, all three
using jeweladdict in the email address. As far as I
can tell, Big Daddy rarely sends messages or posts
anything. You can see why the system would detect
that, and why I'm suspicious.
Can you explain the third account? It's carrying HF
wings...
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:23 AM) So why is he still around
then?
Chuck: (1:24 AM) Because he posted a photo to the HF
Forum purporting to be of him and his brothers,
Chuck: (1:25 AM) Jerle backed down, but that email
addy stuff........I wouldn't ahve backed down like
that.
Chuck: (1:25 AM) RobVanDam: (1:00 AM) oh he has a bro!
look at the pic!!
RobVanDam: (1:00 AM) [/sarcasm]
Chuck: (1:27 AM) Aeon: Among the HF ranks I'm just a
normal member. Hype has been banned from within TDZK,
but I respect your view on his membership status. If
you think that expulsion is unmerited, so be it.
Disciplinary action would still be in order though.
Hype: I know why you went on your rampage, but that
doesn't justify it.
Jewel: I am willing to review your case again, but
from what I've checked out so far it doesn't look
good.
Also, on the "brother alibi" issue, the guy from the
other alliance contacted me. This may be of interest
to some people.
---
<JeanLucPicard> My account was wrongly deleted. I
don't know what to do about it, other than to talk to
an admin
<JeanLucPicard> I am not a multi and your new
"software" has deleted me mistakenly
<Jerle> You have not been deleted. We don't delete
accounts, so possible mistakes can be corrected.
<JeanLucPicard> ok
<JeanLucPicard> how can i get my account back?
<Jerle> If you give me your player id #, I can look in
the log and see why you were flagged.
<JeanLucPicard> i think i was 498
<JeanLucPicard> 498
<I take 5 minutes to go log-crawling>
<Jerle> I'm sorry, but after a review of your account,
I do indeed view it as a multi. You are in posession
of Jean Luc Picard, and Locutus of Borg.
<JeanLucPicard> my brother is Locutus of Borg
<Jerle> There are a number of factors which
substatiate this, the least of which being the fact
that they are in the same alliance and share similar
names.
<JeanLucPicard> and my other brother is Leutenant Worf
<Jerle> Yes, but there is also one other problem.
<JeanLucPicard> check our email addy's we set it up so
that we would not wrongly be accused
<JeanLucPicard> my names Marcus
<JeanLucPicard> my brother is Michael
<JeanLucPicard> and Worf is Logan
<Jerle> Every message ever sent within TDZK is logged.
We normally don't review them, but since you asked me
to look at your case, I traced all messages sent by
you.
<JeanLucPicard>
<Jerle> In a message dated 03/15/03 14:01:21 EST, you
admitted to being a multi.
<Jerle> Thank you for alloweing me to review your
case, I can now lock the worf account that our
detection missed.
<JeanLucPicard> i see
<JeanLucPicard> will i be able to recreate my Picard
account?
<JeanLucPicard> starting over?
<Jerle> Frankly, I'm not sure. I don't take kindly to
people who serve up bald-faced lies to me.
<JeanLucPicard> I understand
<JeanLucPicard> well when you make a decision, please
email me at mbrodzki@pinecrest.edu, at your earliest
convenience
<JeanLucPicard> sorry for wasting your time
<JeanLucPicard> but i felt i had to try
<JeanLucPicard> i apologize, and meant no harm
<JeanLucPicard> bye
Chuck: (1:28 AM) I'll post it to the in-game alliance
forum too.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:28 AM) Wow, long post.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:29 AM) Why not just put a link to
it? The in-game forums should stay unclutterd.
Chuck: (1:29 AM) ok, but its in a monster 56 post
locked thread.
Chuck: (1:30 AM)
http://www.clan-forsaken.com/
Chuck: (1:30 AM) The HF leadership treated it like a
joke.......I'm very disappointed.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:31 AM) Yeah, it makes people wonder.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:31 AM) I thought HF was supposed to
have really strict rules on how to deal with rogue
members.
Chuck: (1:32 AM) Yes it is......I know of 3 members
who were expelled just for saying the wrong things on
the forum or in IRC
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:34 AM) I hope your leadership can
figure it out.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:34 AM) Not much you can do if the
big guys won't listen though.
Chuck: (1:36 AM) Part of the problem is that most of
the leadership have never ever played BBG's and hence
don't understand how bad multing is.
Chuck: (1:37 AM) From what I see the issue is BLOWN
OUT OF PROPORTION and a few of you are out for blood.
That being said, I understand how this will effect
possible 'war' within the game with IR and that is
something that we want to prevent. This should not be
a problem as the member has been banned from TDZK for
multi-accounting.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:38 AM) I've seen pieces of what's on
the HF forum.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:38 AM) I make it a point to know my
allies well.
Chuck: (1:39 AM) Up until now, didn't you have a high
opinion of HF?
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:39 AM) Yes, I did. I still think
that as a whole HF is good, but this doesn't really
merit a 'favorable' opinion from me.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:40 AM) Kind of makes me wonder.
Chuck: (1:41 AM) I've been talking to RobVanDam, a
former long time member who left recently on the
really screwy things that's happened behind the
scenes.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:44 AM) Have you reported Jewel's
attempts to kill you yet?
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:44 AM) I won't always be online to
help guard.
Chuck: (1:45 AM) Think that would make a difference?
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:45 AM) Nor will I always be in this
tank of a battleship. I plan to ditch this thing as
soon as we successfully raid.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:45 AM) I think it couldn't hurt.
Chuck: (1:45 AM) Confidential: I'm going to look for
a multi-game clan that would be willing to take in the
HF/TDZK as a clan.
Chuck: (1:48 AM) In most clans, they don't have this
recruitment period nonsense. But, if a member screws
up, out he goes without all this self-serving drivel
about how superior their standards are.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:49 AM) Would that also not violate
your own HF rules though?
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:49 AM) I remember something about
mergers being prohibited unless it was into HF. You
suggested that I merge into HF1 (which I am still
considering, especially in the light of what's been
going on)
Chuck: (1:50 AM) Possibly, but there have been 2 big
secessions from HF the past 3 years.
Chuck: (1:52 AM) Did you know that Jewel is in big
legal trouble over illegally distributing movies and
stuff on the internet?
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:52 AM) Yes, I heard.
Chuck: (1:53 AM) The HF leadership doesn't seem to see
anything wrontg with that either.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:56 AM) Well, that's sort of crossing
over into the personal area.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:56 AM) A dicey place to explore.
Chuck: (1:58 AM) Did you read the Jerle post I ICQ's
you earlier?
Chuck: (2:00 AM) Yes, but there are parallels between
the way he's acting over the multi stuff and the
copyright violations......he's in denial basically.
Thinks they are dumb laws or something.
Chuck: (2:18 AM) Anything from Iron Ring? I haven't
heard a word from them.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:18 AM) Neither have I. They seem to
have thought it was just a rogue member.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:18 AM) Which it was.
Chuck: (2:19 AM) HYper was far more serious minded in
going after Iron Ring than when he was in the Friday
night operation.
Chuck: (2:21 AM) Any ideas for Dark Realms?
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:23 AM) I was actually about to ask
you for your opinion.
Chuck: (2:28 AM) I's want to touch base with the new
HF1 leader, Bakito, Reaver and Omega Renegade on it
forst.
Chuck: (2:29 AM) Omega Renegade ins the leader of the
HF in SMR and he'll start laying TDZK soon. HF under
the name of "Omega's Renegades" is the No. #1 alliance
in SMR NG #6.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:30 AM) I tried a round of SMR. It
didn't really appeal to me. That's good if you've got
more experienced people coming over though.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:31 AM) I'm going to step up my
recuirtment some more, with the thing over my
sub-commander being a multi, and a few inactive
people.
Chuck: (2:31 AM) SMR is a pale ripoff of the original
Space Merchant. Didn't see any real reaction on the
SK forum about the recent events. Any feedback from
your members?
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:32 AM) Yeah, I've been getting a lot
of PMs.
Chuck: (2:33 AM) Any doubt on the membership's part on
the fitfulness of HF as an ally?
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:33 AM) Hmm, some are curious, but
we've still been fairly happy with our relationship so
far.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:34 AM) I see no reason to impair
relations over this.
Chuck: (2:28 AM) I's want to touch base with the new
HF1 leader, Bakito, Reaver and Omega Renegade on it
forst.
Chuck: (2:29 AM) Omega Renegade ins the leader of the
HF in SMR and he'll start laying TDZK soon. HF under
the name of "Omega's Renegades" is the No. #1 alliance
in SMR NG #6.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:30 AM) I tried a round of SMR. It
didn't really appeal to me. That's good if you've got
more experienced people coming over though.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:31 AM) I'm going to step up my
recuirtment some more, with the thing over my
sub-commander being a multi, and a few inactive
people.
Chuck: (2:31 AM) SMR is a pale ripoff of the original
Space Merchant. Didn't see any real reaction on the
SK forum about the recent events. Any feedback from
your members?
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:32 AM) Yeah, I've been getting a lot
of PMs.
Chuck: (2:33 AM) Any doubt on the membership's part on
the fitfulness of HF as an ally?
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:33 AM) Hmm, some are curious, but
we've still been fairly happy with our relationship so
far.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:34 AM) I see no reason to impair
relations over this.
Chuck: (2:34 AM) Take it that you were really
surprised to find out that JLP was a multi?
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:35 AM) I was. He was starting to
get annoying, but I didn't think he was a cheater. I
kind of respected him.
Chuck: (2:37 AM) I was really surprised with Jewel. I
kind of knew about the legal stuff and noticed that he
and his brother ween't ever in the game at the same
time, same with being on IRC, but it never really
crossed my mind that he might be a multi. In
retrospect, it seems obvious.
Chuck: (2:41 AM) Jerle hit the nail on the head.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:43 AM) I'll try to post up plans for
another raid tommorow.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:43 AM) In the meantime, perhaps you
can coordinate the mine campaign?
Chuck: (2:43 AM) ok...thanks. I'll try. HF/TDZK is
in turmoil right now,
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:47 AM) I'll see what I can do to
help stablilize things tommorow.
w
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:47 AM) I'm gone for the night
237067810: (1:14 AM) I went and got ICQ, this should
help communication a little.
Chuck: (1:15 AM) Great.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:16 AM) Jewel is still sitting at
that port.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:16 AM) I should have killed him when
I had the chance. I could have kicked him off the
planet and shot him.
Chuck: (1:16 AM) yes. Do you want me to send you
Jer'le post about JLP?
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:17 AM) I saw it. The huge long one?
Chuck: (1:17 AM) no...one made today
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:17 AM) He made one today? K, send
it over.
Chuck: (1:19 AM) 1st: Jerle on Jewel:
Jewel:
Player id #1657
Login: jeweladdict
Pilot Name: Jewel
Email: Jeweladdict@clan-forsaken.com
Player id #1669
Login: -=Jewel=-
Pilot Name: Jeweladdict
Email: jeweladdict@hotmail.com
Player id #1681
Login: bigdaddy
Pilot Name: Big Daddy
Email: jeweladdict@tns.net
All three created very close to each other, all three
using jeweladdict in the email address. As far as I
can tell, Big Daddy rarely sends messages or posts
anything. You can see why the system would detect
that, and why I'm suspicious.
Can you explain the third account? It's carrying HF
wings...
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:23 AM) So why is he still around
then?
Chuck: (1:24 AM) Because he posted a photo to the HF
Forum purporting to be of him and his brothers,
Chuck: (1:25 AM) Jerle backed down, but that email
addy stuff........I wouldn't ahve backed down like
that.
Chuck: (1:25 AM) RobVanDam: (1:00 AM) oh he has a bro!
look at the pic!!
RobVanDam: (1:00 AM) [/sarcasm]
Chuck: (1:27 AM) Aeon: Among the HF ranks I'm just a
normal member. Hype has been banned from within TDZK,
but I respect your view on his membership status. If
you think that expulsion is unmerited, so be it.
Disciplinary action would still be in order though.
Hype: I know why you went on your rampage, but that
doesn't justify it.
Jewel: I am willing to review your case again, but
from what I've checked out so far it doesn't look
good.
Also, on the "brother alibi" issue, the guy from the
other alliance contacted me. This may be of interest
to some people.
---
<JeanLucPicard> My account was wrongly deleted. I
don't know what to do about it, other than to talk to
an admin
<JeanLucPicard> I am not a multi and your new
"software" has deleted me mistakenly
<Jerle> You have not been deleted. We don't delete
accounts, so possible mistakes can be corrected.
<JeanLucPicard> ok
<JeanLucPicard> how can i get my account back?
<Jerle> If you give me your player id #, I can look in
the log and see why you were flagged.
<JeanLucPicard> i think i was 498
<JeanLucPicard> 498
<I take 5 minutes to go log-crawling>
<Jerle> I'm sorry, but after a review of your account,
I do indeed view it as a multi. You are in posession
of Jean Luc Picard, and Locutus of Borg.
<JeanLucPicard> my brother is Locutus of Borg
<Jerle> There are a number of factors which
substatiate this, the least of which being the fact
that they are in the same alliance and share similar
names.
<JeanLucPicard> and my other brother is Leutenant Worf
<Jerle> Yes, but there is also one other problem.
<JeanLucPicard> check our email addy's we set it up so
that we would not wrongly be accused
<JeanLucPicard> my names Marcus
<JeanLucPicard> my brother is Michael
<JeanLucPicard> and Worf is Logan
<Jerle> Every message ever sent within TDZK is logged.
We normally don't review them, but since you asked me
to look at your case, I traced all messages sent by
you.
<JeanLucPicard>
<Jerle> In a message dated 03/15/03 14:01:21 EST, you
admitted to being a multi.
<Jerle> Thank you for alloweing me to review your
case, I can now lock the worf account that our
detection missed.
<JeanLucPicard> i see
<JeanLucPicard> will i be able to recreate my Picard
account?
<JeanLucPicard> starting over?
<Jerle> Frankly, I'm not sure. I don't take kindly to
people who serve up bald-faced lies to me.
<JeanLucPicard> I understand
<JeanLucPicard> well when you make a decision, please
email me at mbrodzki@pinecrest.edu, at your earliest
convenience
<JeanLucPicard> sorry for wasting your time
<JeanLucPicard> but i felt i had to try
<JeanLucPicard> i apologize, and meant no harm
<JeanLucPicard> bye
Chuck: (1:28 AM) I'll post it to the in-game alliance
forum too.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:28 AM) Wow, long post.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:29 AM) Why not just put a link to
it? The in-game forums should stay unclutterd.
Chuck: (1:29 AM) ok, but its in a monster 56 post
locked thread.
Chuck: (1:30 AM)
http://www.clan-forsaken.com/
Chuck: (1:30 AM) The HF leadership treated it like a
joke.......I'm very disappointed.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:31 AM) Yeah, it makes people wonder.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:31 AM) I thought HF was supposed to
have really strict rules on how to deal with rogue
members.
Chuck: (1:32 AM) Yes it is......I know of 3 members
who were expelled just for saying the wrong things on
the forum or in IRC
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:34 AM) I hope your leadership can
figure it out.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:34 AM) Not much you can do if the
big guys won't listen though.
Chuck: (1:36 AM) Part of the problem is that most of
the leadership have never ever played BBG's and hence
don't understand how bad multing is.
Chuck: (1:37 AM) From what I see the issue is BLOWN
OUT OF PROPORTION and a few of you are out for blood.
That being said, I understand how this will effect
possible 'war' within the game with IR and that is
something that we want to prevent. This should not be
a problem as the member has been banned from TDZK for
multi-accounting.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:38 AM) I've seen pieces of what's on
the HF forum.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:38 AM) I make it a point to know my
allies well.
Chuck: (1:39 AM) Up until now, didn't you have a high
opinion of HF?
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:39 AM) Yes, I did. I still think
that as a whole HF is good, but this doesn't really
merit a 'favorable' opinion from me.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:40 AM) Kind of makes me wonder.
Chuck: (1:41 AM) I've been talking to RobVanDam, a
former long time member who left recently on the
really screwy things that's happened behind the
scenes.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:44 AM) Have you reported Jewel's
attempts to kill you yet?
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:44 AM) I won't always be online to
help guard.
Chuck: (1:45 AM) Think that would make a difference?
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:45 AM) Nor will I always be in this
tank of a battleship. I plan to ditch this thing as
soon as we successfully raid.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:45 AM) I think it couldn't hurt.
Chuck: (1:45 AM) Confidential: I'm going to look for
a multi-game clan that would be willing to take in the
HF/TDZK as a clan.
Chuck: (1:48 AM) In most clans, they don't have this
recruitment period nonsense. But, if a member screws
up, out he goes without all this self-serving drivel
about how superior their standards are.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:49 AM) Would that also not violate
your own HF rules though?
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:49 AM) I remember something about
mergers being prohibited unless it was into HF. You
suggested that I merge into HF1 (which I am still
considering, especially in the light of what's been
going on)
Chuck: (1:50 AM) Possibly, but there have been 2 big
secessions from HF the past 3 years.
Chuck: (1:52 AM) Did you know that Jewel is in big
legal trouble over illegally distributing movies and
stuff on the internet?
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:52 AM) Yes, I heard.
Chuck: (1:53 AM) The HF leadership doesn't seem to see
anything wrontg with that either.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:56 AM) Well, that's sort of crossing
over into the personal area.
malhavoc_tdzk: (1:56 AM) A dicey place to explore.
Chuck: (1:58 AM) Did you read the Jerle post I ICQ's
you earlier?
Chuck: (2:00 AM) Yes, but there are parallels between
the way he's acting over the multi stuff and the
copyright violations......he's in denial basically.
Thinks they are dumb laws or something.
Chuck: (2:18 AM) Anything from Iron Ring? I haven't
heard a word from them.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:18 AM) Neither have I. They seem to
have thought it was just a rogue member.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:18 AM) Which it was.
Chuck: (2:19 AM) HYper was far more serious minded in
going after Iron Ring than when he was in the Friday
night operation.
Chuck: (2:21 AM) Any ideas for Dark Realms?
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:23 AM) I was actually about to ask
you for your opinion.
Chuck: (2:28 AM) I's want to touch base with the new
HF1 leader, Bakito, Reaver and Omega Renegade on it
forst.
Chuck: (2:29 AM) Omega Renegade ins the leader of the
HF in SMR and he'll start laying TDZK soon. HF under
the name of "Omega's Renegades" is the No. #1 alliance
in SMR NG #6.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:30 AM) I tried a round of SMR. It
didn't really appeal to me. That's good if you've got
more experienced people coming over though.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:31 AM) I'm going to step up my
recuirtment some more, with the thing over my
sub-commander being a multi, and a few inactive
people.
Chuck: (2:31 AM) SMR is a pale ripoff of the original
Space Merchant. Didn't see any real reaction on the
SK forum about the recent events. Any feedback from
your members?
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:32 AM) Yeah, I've been getting a lot
of PMs.
Chuck: (2:33 AM) Any doubt on the membership's part on
the fitfulness of HF as an ally?
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:33 AM) Hmm, some are curious, but
we've still been fairly happy with our relationship so
far.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:34 AM) I see no reason to impair
relations over this.
Chuck: (2:28 AM) I's want to touch base with the new
HF1 leader, Bakito, Reaver and Omega Renegade on it
forst.
Chuck: (2:29 AM) Omega Renegade ins the leader of the
HF in SMR and he'll start laying TDZK soon. HF under
the name of "Omega's Renegades" is the No. #1 alliance
in SMR NG #6.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:30 AM) I tried a round of SMR. It
didn't really appeal to me. That's good if you've got
more experienced people coming over though.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:31 AM) I'm going to step up my
recuirtment some more, with the thing over my
sub-commander being a multi, and a few inactive
people.
Chuck: (2:31 AM) SMR is a pale ripoff of the original
Space Merchant. Didn't see any real reaction on the
SK forum about the recent events. Any feedback from
your members?
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:32 AM) Yeah, I've been getting a lot
of PMs.
Chuck: (2:33 AM) Any doubt on the membership's part on
the fitfulness of HF as an ally?
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:33 AM) Hmm, some are curious, but
we've still been fairly happy with our relationship so
far.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:34 AM) I see no reason to impair
relations over this.
Chuck: (2:34 AM) Take it that you were really
surprised to find out that JLP was a multi?
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:35 AM) I was. He was starting to
get annoying, but I didn't think he was a cheater. I
kind of respected him.
Chuck: (2:37 AM) I was really surprised with Jewel. I
kind of knew about the legal stuff and noticed that he
and his brother ween't ever in the game at the same
time, same with being on IRC, but it never really
crossed my mind that he might be a multi. In
retrospect, it seems obvious.
Chuck: (2:41 AM) Jerle hit the nail on the head.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:43 AM) I'll try to post up plans for
another raid tommorow.
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:43 AM) In the meantime, perhaps you
can coordinate the mine campaign?
Chuck: (2:43 AM) ok...thanks. I'll try. HF/TDZK is
in turmoil right now,
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:47 AM) I'll see what I can do to
help stablilize things tommorow.
w
malhavoc_tdzk: (2:47 AM) I'm gone for the night
Fire Ricky Renteria
First Renteria took Covey out for no apparent reason, then he took Avilan after just one pitch and now he's making all sorts of pitcher changes and substitutions just like he's the Mad Hatter of baseball. Baseball is not Wonderland, folks and its time that we stop making excuses about how he's a rookie manager and let him learn from his mistakes. He's shown himself incapable of learning anything about baseball.
Fire Renteria now before he becomes an even bigger laughingstock than Terry Bevington.
Follow the conversation regarding this post
at Soxtalk and White Sox Interactive.
Fire Renteria now before he becomes an even bigger laughingstock than Terry Bevington.
Follow the conversation regarding this post
at Soxtalk and White Sox Interactive.
2018 Top White Sox Pitching Starts
Here are the best pitching starts for the White Sox:
5) Shields, 5/1: .283 4) Shields, 5/6: .254 3) Lopez, 5/20: .240 2) Covey, 5/23: .228 1) Shields, 5/17: .228
5) Shields, 5/1: .283 4) Shields, 5/6: .254 3) Lopez, 5/20: .240 2) Covey, 5/23: .228 1) Shields, 5/17: .228
White Sox Minor League OPS's
Here's the OPS's of the top White Sox hitting prospects:
Eloy Jimenez (AA): .992 Laz Rivera (A): .939 Luis Gonzalez (A): .907 Luis Alexander Basabe (A+): .897 Zack Collins (AA): .896 Seby Zavala (AA): .877 Micker Adolfo (A+): .867 Joel Booker (A+): .819 Blake Rutherford (A+): .792
Not a single prospect with over 1.000 OPS. Not a good sign for the future.
Eloy Jimenez (AA): .992 Laz Rivera (A): .939 Luis Gonzalez (A): .907 Luis Alexander Basabe (A+): .897 Zack Collins (AA): .896 Seby Zavala (AA): .877 Micker Adolfo (A+): .867 Joel Booker (A+): .819 Blake Rutherford (A+): .792
Not a single prospect with over 1.000 OPS. Not a good sign for the future.
White Sox Power Hitting
Here's the list of the White Sox players who hit a home run in their first game at the major league level:
Russ Morman 8/3/1986 Craig Wilson 9/5/1998 Carlos Lee 5/7/1999 Joe Borchard 9/2/2002 Miguel Olivo 9/15/2002 MATT SKOLE 5/28/2018
Go White Sox!
Russ Morman 8/3/1986 Craig Wilson 9/5/1998 Carlos Lee 5/7/1999 Joe Borchard 9/2/2002 Miguel Olivo 9/15/2002 MATT SKOLE 5/28/2018
Go White Sox!
Saylor University
Saylor University is a major source of free online college level courses that are also "self-paced."
Looks like something that's well worth checking out.
Looks like something that's well worth checking out.
Open Culture
Perhaps the most interesting and important free stuff website is Open Culture where you can access such free goodies as online courses, movies, "Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) from great universities," audio books, textbooks and more, You can really fill in a lot of gaps in your learning for free here.
The Phoniness of So-Called "White Privilege"
The leading black intellectual John McWhorter is at it again. In a new essay for The American Interest webzine, he calls out the phony purveyors of the whole rotten idea that there is any such thing as "white privilege."
Here are the key paragraphs:
Some might see all of this as a healthy sign of moral advance. And I suppose if I had to choose between this performativity and the utter contempt most whites had for any discussion of discrimination 50 years ago and before, I’d choose our current moment. But goodness, it piles high and deep, this—well, I’ll call it fakeness. The degree of fantasy and exaggeration that smart people currently let pass in the name of higher-order thought on race parallels, again, Biblical tales.
The self-affirming part is the rub. This new cult of atonement is less about black people than white people. Fifty years ago, a white person learning about the race problem came away asking “How can I help?” Today the same person too often comes away asking, “How can I show that I’m a moral person?” That isn’t what the Civil Rights revolution was about; it is the product of decades of mission creep aided by the emergence of social media.
What gets lost is that all of this awareness was supposed to be about helping black people, especially poor ones. We are too often distracted from this by a race awareness that has come to be largely about white people seeking grace. For example, one reads often of studies showing that black boys are punished and suspended in school more often than other kids. But then one reads equally often that poverty makes boys, in particular, more likely to be aggressive and have a harder time concentrating. We are taught to assume that the punishments and suspensions are due to racism, and to somehow ignore the data showing that the conditions too many black boys grow up in unfortunately makes them indeed more likely to act up in school. Might the poverty be the key problem to address? But, try this purely logical reasoning in polite company only at the risk of being treated as a moral reprobate. Our conversation is to be solely about racism, not solutions—other than looking to a vaguely defined future time when racism somehow disappears, America having “come to terms” with it: i.e. Judgment Day. As to what exactly this coming to terms would consist of, I suppose only our Pastor of White Privilege knows.
Here are the key paragraphs:
Some might see all of this as a healthy sign of moral advance. And I suppose if I had to choose between this performativity and the utter contempt most whites had for any discussion of discrimination 50 years ago and before, I’d choose our current moment. But goodness, it piles high and deep, this—well, I’ll call it fakeness. The degree of fantasy and exaggeration that smart people currently let pass in the name of higher-order thought on race parallels, again, Biblical tales.
The self-affirming part is the rub. This new cult of atonement is less about black people than white people. Fifty years ago, a white person learning about the race problem came away asking “How can I help?” Today the same person too often comes away asking, “How can I show that I’m a moral person?” That isn’t what the Civil Rights revolution was about; it is the product of decades of mission creep aided by the emergence of social media.
What gets lost is that all of this awareness was supposed to be about helping black people, especially poor ones. We are too often distracted from this by a race awareness that has come to be largely about white people seeking grace. For example, one reads often of studies showing that black boys are punished and suspended in school more often than other kids. But then one reads equally often that poverty makes boys, in particular, more likely to be aggressive and have a harder time concentrating. We are taught to assume that the punishments and suspensions are due to racism, and to somehow ignore the data showing that the conditions too many black boys grow up in unfortunately makes them indeed more likely to act up in school. Might the poverty be the key problem to address? But, try this purely logical reasoning in polite company only at the risk of being treated as a moral reprobate. Our conversation is to be solely about racism, not solutions—other than looking to a vaguely defined future time when racism somehow disappears, America having “come to terms” with it: i.e. Judgment Day. As to what exactly this coming to terms would consist of, I suppose only our Pastor of White Privilege knows.
Saturday, May 26, 2018
John Hawkins Proves Himself Wrong
Back in January, John Hawkins of Right Wing News declared that he would be shutting his website due to the machinations of Facebook and Google. Currently Ranking.com has Right Wing News at 16,967 out of millions of ranked websites. In other words, RWN is once again flying high as an independent website and it appears that Hawkins no longer has any plans to shut it down.
Jungle Frolics
Jungle Frolics is one of the absolute best sub-genre specific blogs or websites in existence. Check it out!
Michael Bloomberg is an Elitist Pig Whoremonger
Ex-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a control freak who believes that because he is a billionaire that gives him the right to ruin other people's lives. For instance, he advocates massive tax increases that are targeted to afflict the poor and blue collar working class people. He claims that this is necessary to force the poor and downtrodden to make the right choices in life just as if they are incapable of deciding for themselves what they want to do.
Here's a link to a video in which Bloomberg lays out his vile bile.
Here's another web page with the same video that goes into greater detail about Bloomberg's control freak desire to ruin other people's lives.
Clearly Michael Bloomberg is an opulent piece of work.
Here's a link to a video in which Bloomberg lays out his vile bile.
Here's another web page with the same video that goes into greater detail about Bloomberg's control freak desire to ruin other people's lives.
Clearly Michael Bloomberg is an opulent piece of work.
The Myth of the Clean Obama Administration
Over at the Tablet webzine, Lee Smith has written a crackerjack account of the Obama Administration's willful abuse of power to punish dissent. First, Obama engaged in corruption to punish those who disagreed with him on Iran, then he broke the law to screw the incoming Trump Administration.
The key paragraphs:
The key paragraphs:
“At some point, the administration weaponized the NSA’s legitimate monitoring of communications of foreign officials to stay one step ahead of domestic political opponents,” says a pro-Israel political operative who was deeply involved in the day-to-day fight over the Iran Deal. “The NSA’s collections of foreigners became a means of gathering real-time intelligence on Americans engaged in perfectly legitimate political activism—activism, due to the nature of the issue, that naturally involved conversations with foreigners. We began to notice the White House was responding immediately, sometimes within 24 hours, to specific conversations we were having. At first, we thought it was a coincidence being amplified by our own paranoia. After a while, it simply became our working assumption that we were being spied on.”
This is what systematic abuse of foreign-intelligence collection for domestic political purposes looks like: Intelligence collected on Americans, lawmakers, and figures in the pro-Israel community was fed back to the Obama White House as part of its political operations. The administration got the drop on its opponents by using classified information, which it then used to draw up its own game plan to block and freeze those on the other side. And—with the help of certain journalists whose stories (and thus careers) depend on high-level access—terrorize them.
Once you understand how this may have worked, it becomes easier to comprehend why and how we keep being fed daily treats of Trump’s nefarious Russia ties. The issue this time isn’t Israel, but Russia, yet the basic contours may very well be the same.
ACLU Challenges Amazon Over Human Rights
A number of organizations led by the ACLU that includes the Electronic Frontier Foundation have
issued a challenge to Amazon over that behemoth's violation of fundamental rights.
Here's the key paragraph:
People should be free to walk down the street without being watched by the government. Facial recognition in American communities threatens this freedom. In overpoliced communities of color, it could effectively eliminate it. The federal government could use this facial recognition technology to continuously track immigrants as they embark on new lives. Local police could use it to identify political protesters captured by officer body cameras. With Rekognition, Amazon delivers these dangerous surveillance powers directly to the government.
issued a challenge to Amazon over that behemoth's violation of fundamental rights.
Here's the key paragraph:
People should be free to walk down the street without being watched by the government. Facial recognition in American communities threatens this freedom. In overpoliced communities of color, it could effectively eliminate it. The federal government could use this facial recognition technology to continuously track immigrants as they embark on new lives. Local police could use it to identify political protesters captured by officer body cameras. With Rekognition, Amazon delivers these dangerous surveillance powers directly to the government.
Friday, May 25, 2018
Hold Campus Administrators Liable for Free Speech Violations!
At recent congressional committee hearings the case was made that college administrators be held liable for their egregious violations of First Amendment violations of free speech. This is something that Congress should act on and pass into law right now without further delay.
The 1776 Outrage
Everyone knows that 1776 is a glorious date in American history since thaat is when we delared our independence from the tyranny of King George III. However some black trolls are claiming that 1776 was a year of slavery. What's worse is that a high school principal sided with the trolls and openly declared his hatred of America. People like him are nothing but traitors and should be treated as such.
President Trump Pushing Space Business First Over Space Exploration
Unfortunately for all of us who have always supported a strong civilian space program, President Trump is instead hell bent on "modernizing" America's commercial space policy to make the universe safe for greedy businessmen and corporations. Trump has even thrown in the snake oil about some day going to Mars.
Bryan Brandenburg Victim of Sexual McCarthyism
The co-founder of the FanX Comics Convention Bryan Brandenburg is stepping aside in response to a series of baseless attacks by Shannon Hale and other professional writer trolls. Experienc has shown that appeasing these trolls will do nothing to appease them, rather it will only embolden them to press on until they have achieved their twin goals of killing the convention while winning maximum publicity for themselves,
A Nerd & Tie Disappointment
The normally excellent Nerd & Tie recently had an unusually poor podcast entitled "The Regressives in Our Ranks." It failed to go after the regressives who were behind the Hugo Award slates and it wallowed in wholesale political correctness. A most regrettable effort.
Troll Definition
For the first decade of this century, one of the very best NHL team specific fan sites was Frank Porcelli's BlackHawk Zone (BHZ). For much of BHZ's existence, I was one of the forum moderators, eventually becoming the chief moderator. As such the definition that we used to identify trolls, that Porcelli provided us, was follows:
A troll does nothing but attempt to rankle posters and incite arguments at every turn. They do nothing to add to the discussion.
Instead they force their views down the throats of others, while supplying little fact or knowledge to back up their arguments. When asked to substantiate their opinion with fact or stats, you'll normally see them either disappear or ignore the question all together. There's nothing wrong with changing one's mind, as long as the opinion you're changing is not one that you've tried to beat other posters to death with.
Jon Del Arroz Trolls OdysseyCon
The biggest troll in science fiction, Jon Del Arroz, is at it again. Earlier this year, he posted that OdysseyCon had "learned" never to give an inch to his fellow trolls. Although he linked to the OdysseyCon website, he clearly did so with a preconceived agenda so much so that he failed to read what he was linking to. Had he done so, he would have seen that there will not be an OdysseyCon this year and there is also the very real chance that there will never will be another OdysseyCon, period.
As they say, a troll never learns,
As they say, a troll never learns,
Defining Impeachment Down
Also, in The New Republic is an incredibly ignorant opinion piece by former Clinton mistress Elizabeth Drew who claims that criticizing Amazon is an impeachable offense. If criticizing scofflaw corporations is a grounds for impeachment, then every president could have been impeached on those flimsy grounds. She also claims that lying is also grounds for impeachment, but when her beloved Billy Boy Clinton lied all the time, Drew claimed that you can't be a good president if you don't lie. We are heading to the point where just breathing could be called grounds for impeachment.
Is that really where we want to go?
Is that really where we want to go?
Elon Musk Exposed
The New Republic has just weighed in on Elon Musk's anti-news media crusade and the result is an expose of Musk's sleaziness.
Here's the key paragraph:
[I]t’s clear that Musk isn’t interested in ensuring that people have better access to information. His media criticism is linked, instead, to the fact that, after years of being treated as a kind of demigod, he’s now being treated as a human: flawed, greedy, maybe even corrupt. It’s an experience he clearly doesn’t like.
Here's the key paragraph:
[I]t’s clear that Musk isn’t interested in ensuring that people have better access to information. His media criticism is linked, instead, to the fact that, after years of being treated as a kind of demigod, he’s now being treated as a human: flawed, greedy, maybe even corrupt. It’s an experience he clearly doesn’t like.
Unclear on Laura Resnick's Concept
One thing that I've often noticed is just how many blogrolls and lists of links have links to blogs and websites that are either inactive or don't even exist any more. One example of this is from Laura Resnick's otherwise well done website. Resnick offers her readers links to four stories on the Internet, none of which work. One wonders just why this is. Is she lazy? Or just incompetent? Or does she delight in inflicting her sadistic tendencies upon her poor readers? To be sure, she does offer a free story at he bottom of the web page entitles "The Story of my Unlife" which is a piece of pornography which does not come as a surprise given the fact that her father is the vile pornographer Mike Resnick.
The Anti-Renewable Fuels Cliche Attack
Over at the Obsidian Wings blog, there was a well-considered post abut Volkswagen and its problems. The very first comment however, was yet another cliche-ridden attack on renewable fuels such as ethanol. Basically, the claim was that ethanol was at the root of all the problems, which is absurd. Renewable fuels are the solution to this country's energy problems and yet all these oil company investor types continually attack ethanol, biodiesel and the like because they see renewable fuels as standing in the way between them and even greater returns on their investments.
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Dann Studies U.S. Politics
There is another blogger named Dann who has taken the time to study U.S. politics and here are his conclusions:
- Hillary Clinton is a misogynist. Her achievements as a legislator are vanishingly small. Her stint as Secretary of State was unproductive. She either believes herself to be above the law or she is incompetent when it comes to obeying the law. Her financial history reeks of corruption.
LIghtspeed Magazine Racism,
In a move that showed the prevalence of Politically Correct racism in science fiction, Lightspeed Magazine is doing a Kickstarter campaign for a special issue that basically consists of giving minorities publishing opportunities just for the sake of being minorities irregardless of the actual quality of the work in question. And this despite the fact that white males continue to be the most discriminated against group in America.
Purge Newsletter May 7th, 2003
| Purge Newsletter - 7 May 2003 |
Well Well...
Well its sure been a while since the last Purge newsletter, but now that Purge has been released and Hap has a little more time to contribute to the newsletter it should turn into some sort of bi-weekly newsletter to keep you informed to the happenings of the great game Purge. This week it is just going to be a short newsletter to basically introduce Hap's new Soapbox articles.
Soapbox #1Long time no see. Since Purge has finally shipped, I am discontinuing the "By Design" newsletter articles, and replacing them with Soapbox articles.
Purge should be in the stores by now. Should. Most stores still don't have Purge or any other new TSI published game for that matter. EB seems to be the only chain reliably carrying Purge. GameStop has shelf signs advertising TSI products, including Purge, but there is no Purge (or Bandits or Knight Rider) stocked. I had hoped to send out the Soapbox article after Purge reached mass distribution. But Nick has been bugging me for a new newsletter for a while now.[How to run a gaming site] Purge has been getting game reviews of varying quality. It is important that people read these reviews with a grain of salt. We've been reading reviews that are blatantly wrong. Where the reviewers just didn't read the manual and doubtfully even played Purge any longer than to take screenshots. I've read how a reviewer claimed the Android was too powerful because he could make unlimited Ion Barriers. Simply untrue. The Android can make 4. It is clearly stated in the manual. He also did not know that a Nuke/Angelfire could destroy multiple Ion Barriers/Wards nice and easy. I've read all kinds of nonsense in reviews that untrue, like the player runs too slow. They didn't know Agility could control the run speed. And then I've read conflicting reviews where one review would complain since XP is saved, people get too powerful and another review where they wish XP could be saved. These writers didn't spend the time read the manual where it explain clearly XP saving (called Persistence) is purely server optional. It this kind of half-assed game review and make you wonder what kind of reviewers they are hiring. Well I have an idea. How? We used to run content websites. We wrote hardware and software reviews and guides. This was back when dot-coms were still hot stuff and web advertising was reasonable. We started during the very peak of the dot-com boom... I think you can figure out the story there. We just came in a little too late. Fortunes, or lack thereof, aside, what it taught me was how gaming content websites are run. And how you can run your own gaming site too. During the height of the dot-com, a common phrase heard was "content is king". The higher quality your writers, the better your articles, the more visitors you got. And the more visitors you got, the more page impressions (known ambiguously as "hits") you would get. The more impressions you got, the more money you made off ads. Remember the huge Thresh Quake Bible? We were no strangers to good writing either. For example, Adam wrote System Shock 2 guide, which generated a large number of new visitors. That was the past. When web-advertising prices started falling so did quality. Now many gaming websites have unpaid writers. They take free labour as often and as possible. One Purge review on a "major" website was written by a high-sophomore. That means a 14-15 year old wrote a Purge review and this site just played it off as if a professional writer did it. And how much did he get paid for the writing the review. Zippo. Nothing. I don't think anyone can make the argument a free article by a 14 year old is going to be a quality. Another "major" US-based website got free German writer to review Purge. The writer demanded we cater a good game at 3 AM (yes our time) or he would give us a bad review. I told him that he was crazy, and his response "not my problem". So this is it pretty much how gaming websites are run now. You've probably noticed that websites lack the quality strategy guides that you saw 2-3 years ago. Those that still write strategy typically are unfinished or worse; require you to subscribe to their service. This is because writing guides are expensive for the gaming website. You can't get free labour for an un-aged kid to churn out guides. They person would actually have to play the game and want to spend days writing 20+ page articles. That means... dun dun dun... full time, paid writers. It just isn't profitable when web ad rates are floating around $1-2 CPM (cost per mille or thousand impressions). (Consider when we first started running websites, ad rates were $10-15 CPM with some big sites getting up to $25 CPM.) Now some ads only pay per unique user. The current content situation is churned out crap as fast as possible. I know all the dirty tricks to do that. I was in the business. Some people don't even write reviews. They don't review games. What they do is read the reviews from two other sites and summarize them into their own review. So they don't ever actually play the game. There are few Purge reviews that the quite suspect of being an amalgam of other reviews. I have an eye for this; I've dealt with writers who have been accused of this. Bottom line, is gaming websites are not run like CNN or Fox News. There is not professional journalism. The number 1 goal is manufacture as much crap as possible as cheaply as possible. Many high profiles, seeming big gaming sites are run with one head guy and bunch of freelance, unpaid writers that submit articles over the Internet. That wouldn't be a big problem, if maybe the site paid the workers to do it full time. But mostly, you just find anyone who will work for free and "some" command of the English language. No Journalism or Communication college degree needed. All these writers get in return a free copy of some game. (This is easy to get once you have a few PR contacts.) Now you know how to run a gaming website. Domain Name: $30. Web hosting: $30. Games: free. Writers: free. Latest News Well there really hasn't been that much news, however one thing that Hap forgot to mention in the Soapbox is that if you think there is a feature that would go well in Purge that you could in-fact request it at the request a new feature thread in the forums. Latest Files If you have not tried out Purge and would like to you can download the Purge demo, which is now version 1.4.4d. If you've bought the full version of Purge the current version is 1.4.4. If you do not have that version you can get it here.
Fan site of the week
Surprisingly enough there are currently no fan sites that cover purge to our knowledge. If you would like to start one up however we've put together some great images to be used that you can check out by downloading the Purge Fan Kit. |
Tesla Model 3 Fails Consumer Reports Test
The widely respected magazine made it official: Tesla Model 3 is a Grade F car complete with awful brakes.
The key paragraphs:
The key paragraphs:
Tesla’s Model 3 represents the electric automaker’s first attempt at a more affordable mass-market car. In Consumer Reports’ tests, we found plenty to like about the luxury compact sedan (which starts at $35,000 but goes all the way up to $78,000), including record-setting range as well as exhilarating acceleration and handling that could make it a healthy competitor to performance-oriented cars such as BMW’s 3 Series and the Audi A4. Our testers also found flaws—big flaws—such as long stopping distances in our emergency braking test and difficult-to-use controls.
These problems keep the Model 3 from earning a Consumer Reports recommendation.
The Tesla’s stopping distance of 152 feet from 60 mph was far worse than any contemporary car we’ve tested and about 7 feet longer than the stopping distance of a Ford F-150 full-sized pickup.
The Best Essay Yet on Jordan Peterson
Self described left winger Carol Horton has just written a most insightful piece for the insightful Quillette webzine about Jordan Peterson.
Here's the key part:
Here's the key part:
The hyperbolic uniformity of the leftist attack on Peterson is emblematic of the growing tendency to reduce left-of-center thought to the status of a rigidly simplistic ideology. Increasingly, what passes for progressive political thought today offers little more than a scripted set of weaponized hashtags (you must be pro- #metoo and anti-patriarchy, no further thought required). This narrowing of our public discourse is disturbing, and worrisome on multiple, mutually reinforcing levels.
The Downward Spiral
First, it’s unconvincing to everyone who’s not some sort of true believer or faithful follower (or, more cynically, a journalist looking to please an editor demanding yet another Peterson hit piece). No doubt, I’m not the only person who’s wondered what all the fuss is about, decided to take the time to listen to one of Peterson’s YouTube lectures, and come away feeling that the Left’s commentariat is trying to sell me a fake bill of goods. The gap between Peterson’s obvious intelligence and the Left’s scathing denunciation of him as an alt-right idiot is simply too large for many of us to ignore.
Second, the Left’s attack on Peterson is so unrelenting, so superficial, and quite frequently so vicious, that many of us who work and/or live in left-leaning social environments feel scared to speak up against it. We don’t want to alienate our friends, damage our professional reputations, or attract the attention of fire-breathing activists.
The problem here is not simply that this is unpleasant for people like me. More importantly, our silence further impoverishes everyday political discourse by eliminating more nuanced left-of-center voices. This, in turn, reinforces the already powerful trend toward weaponized hashtag ideology instead of serious political thought. It also drives more people to right-of-center alternatives or away from politics altogether.
Peterson is just one example of this larger trend. Viewed as such, the situation he represents is extremely concerning, and even dangerous. We desperately need a revitalized Left that’s capable of speaking to today’s pressing issues of socio-economic inequality, environmental devastation, and spiritual malaise in informed, intelligent, and inspiring ways. Instead, we’re inundated by shallow ideological crusades dedicated to demonizing thoughtful conservatives like Peterson, who actually have some important ideas to offer—just not on the issues that properly concern the Left.
Repositioning Peterson
Given my life-long identification with the social democratic (or, in U.S. terms, left-liberal) side of the political spectrum, I’ve reflected quite a bit on why my response to Peterson seems so out of step with dominant left-of-center discourse. It may be that I’m actually not as alone as it seems. Although I can’t prove it, I suspect that there are many others who feel as I do but are keeping quiet, as they don’t want to risk the blowback that comes with countering the often frightening force of today’s ideological tides.
Tesla Horror Story
While yuppy scum Elon Musk preens and prances around, Tesla is in reality a Hell hole for its workers.
Here's the key paragraphs in the Reveal piece about apartheid pig Musk's crimes against the working class:
Here's the key paragraphs in the Reveal piece about apartheid pig Musk's crimes against the working class:
Safety officials found Tesla didn’t provide adequate training and protective gear and failed to make sure that only a qualified electrical worker performed the task. After Tesla appealed the citations, the $70,000 fine was reduced to $40,400.
Tesla has had electrical problems outside the factory as well. An employee received electrical shock and burn injuries in December while working at a solar energy facility Tesla operates in Massachusetts.
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
John Ziegler on Trump's False Narrative
The very best and most perceptive pundit writing about Donald Trump is John Ziegler of Mediaite. In his latest post, Ziegler exposes the false narrative that the die hard Trump supporters are dreamng up. The purpose of this narrative is for Trump to survive the challenge to his reign by Special Counsel Robert Mueller the same way that his good buddy Billy Boy Clinton survived the challenge posed by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr.
Here's the key paragraphs:
Here's the key paragraphs:
The cries of “Witch Hunt,” “The investigation is taking too long,” “The FBI is corrupt,” and “They have proven nothing” are as based in fantasy as they are eerily reminiscent of how Bill Clinton’s attack dogs helped him survive impeachment. The reality is that, to thinking people, what we have learned so far, and continue to do so on almost a daily basis, indicates an increasingly likelihood that Trump and his campaign committed very serious acts of wrongdoing.
And much like with what happened with Clinton, Trump’s supporters are trying to make the argument that he is just too valuable to not defend to the death, no matter how heinous the allegations, or credible the facts may become. Clinton effectively won that battle in a way that harmed our country, and it appears that Trump is well on his way to doing the same in a manner which is even more damaging to the nation.
Movie Review: Reform School Girl (1957)
The late 1950’s and the early 1960’s were the heyday of the juvenile delinquent movie. Parents during this time were worried sick that young people were going out of control. This was because of a crime wave of juvenile delinquency that rocked the nation during this point in time. Juvenile delinquent movies became so popular that even film creators such as Edward Bernds who was best known for directing comedies such as Three Stooges shorts, movies based on the long running Blondie comic strip and even the Zsa Zsa Gabor sci fi flick The Queen of Outer Space became involved with a juvenile delinquency film project, Reform School Girl.
The film begins with alleged teenager Donna Price (played by a 24 year old Gloria Castillo) standing in front of the mirror in her underwear. Turns out that she is an orphan who is living with both her crazy aunt and her sleazy uncle. The uncle is a really sleazy character who has devised a way to spy on his niece and look at her when she is more or less undressed.
Meanwhile, there is a young hoodlum named Vince (Edd Byrnes who soon found fame as “Kookie” on 77 Sunset Strip) steals a car. Like Donna, Vince is another 24 year old pretending to be a teenager. Vince is a real piece of work and he spells trouble for Donna.
Along with his good buddies Gary Metusek (Wayne Taylor) and Josie Brigg (Luana Anders), Vince shows up at Donna’s apartment. There, for the first time ever Donna’s perverted uncle is making his strong feelings open to Donna. Vince and friends show up right in the nick of time and save Donna from her evil uncle with a few quick blows to the head of the startled man. This turns out to be the only good thing that Vince does the entire movie.
If you are familiar with juvenile delinquency films, then you should be able to predict what happens in the rest of this flick. Reform School Girl is basically a formula driven movie.
However, there is one way in which Reform School Girl does not execute the formula for juvenile delinquency films. It is almost completely lacking in self righteousness and preaching to the audience about what an awful thing it is for young people to go crooked. This departure from the norm helps rob this film of the stuff that made the juvenile delinquency films of this time period seem so unintentionally funny to more modern audiences.
As unlikely as it sounds Reform School Girl actually spawned a mini-franchise. In 1986, there was a parody of this movie entitled Reform School Girls. In 1994, there was a Reform School Girl made for TV movie remake.
The film begins with alleged teenager Donna Price (played by a 24 year old Gloria Castillo) standing in front of the mirror in her underwear. Turns out that she is an orphan who is living with both her crazy aunt and her sleazy uncle. The uncle is a really sleazy character who has devised a way to spy on his niece and look at her when she is more or less undressed.
Meanwhile, there is a young hoodlum named Vince (Edd Byrnes who soon found fame as “Kookie” on 77 Sunset Strip) steals a car. Like Donna, Vince is another 24 year old pretending to be a teenager. Vince is a real piece of work and he spells trouble for Donna.
Along with his good buddies Gary Metusek (Wayne Taylor) and Josie Brigg (Luana Anders), Vince shows up at Donna’s apartment. There, for the first time ever Donna’s perverted uncle is making his strong feelings open to Donna. Vince and friends show up right in the nick of time and save Donna from her evil uncle with a few quick blows to the head of the startled man. This turns out to be the only good thing that Vince does the entire movie.
If you are familiar with juvenile delinquency films, then you should be able to predict what happens in the rest of this flick. Reform School Girl is basically a formula driven movie.
However, there is one way in which Reform School Girl does not execute the formula for juvenile delinquency films. It is almost completely lacking in self righteousness and preaching to the audience about what an awful thing it is for young people to go crooked. This departure from the norm helps rob this film of the stuff that made the juvenile delinquency films of this time period seem so unintentionally funny to more modern audiences.
As unlikely as it sounds Reform School Girl actually spawned a mini-franchise. In 1986, there was a parody of this movie entitled Reform School Girls. In 1994, there was a Reform School Girl made for TV movie remake.
The Lies of Sarah A. Hoyt
The noted bigot and liar Sarah A. Hoyt is at it again. In her latest post which is absurdly entitled "Truth," she exposes herself as a pathological liar who has no regard for the truth whatsoever. For example, she babbles about the phrase "tragedy of the commons" and claims that it is all Communist, thus exposing the fact that she does not have the slightest ides what that phrase even means. She also claims to be an expert on archaeology, biology and other scientific subjects even though whenever she attempts to write about them, she makes the stupidest errors of both fact and logic.
Hoyt is truly a nutcase for thee ages. Perhaps that's why Mike Glyer loves her so much.
Hoyt is truly a nutcase for thee ages. Perhaps that's why Mike Glyer loves her so much.
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Gary Gygax Post-TSR Essay
Gary Gygax Post-TSR Essay
Mr. Gygax and TSR parted ways in the mid-eighties due to the poor and
erratic way that he was running the company.
After leaving TSR, Gygax immediately created the gaming company
New Infinities Productions with the idea of gaining revenge against TSR.
Gygax wrote the outline for what became the game Cyborg Commando.
Published in 1987, the game garnered poor reviews and sold poorly.
New Infinities was poorly run and it went out of business in 1989.
Following this setback, Gygax next tried to get revenge on TSR by partnering
with Games Designer Workshop to create a game to compete with Dungeons &
Dragons D&D). At first, this project was known as Dangerous Dimensions, however TSR
threatened to sue over the initials being DD, almost the same as that for Dungeons & Dragons.
The new role-playing game was now renamed Dangerous Journeys, but TSR sued anyways.
Eventually, TSR gained ownership of the new game and Gygax was out in the cold yet again.
In 1999, Gygax took another stab at creating a game to gain revenge upon TSR with. This was
Lejendary Adventure (LA) that was published by two companies thaat were run by friends of Gygax, Hekaforge
Productions and Troll Lord Games. LA has fared better than Gygax's previous non-TSR games, but it still has not
been much of a rival to D&D.
In 2004, Gygax had a hand in the creation of the RPG Castles & Crusades. Its not known how important
this role was, but his name was used in promoting the game. This game has only been a limited success.
Additionally, after leaving TSR, Gygax wrote two books, "Master of the Game" and
"Role-Playing Mastery." He also wrote some fictional works as well. None of these books
sold well. Gygax's books were of generally poor quality. They were derided by the hard
core gamer members of the Little Rock Science Fiction Society of which I was a member during the years 1997-2000.
Gygax spent the last three decades of his life in Lake
Geneva, WI, where he led aquiet life marked by being a frequent guest at
gaming conventions. He passed away in 2008.
Mr. Gygax and TSR parted ways in the mid-eighties due to the poor and
erratic way that he was running the company.
After leaving TSR, Gygax immediately created the gaming company
New Infinities Productions with the idea of gaining revenge against TSR.
Gygax wrote the outline for what became the game Cyborg Commando.
Published in 1987, the game garnered poor reviews and sold poorly.
New Infinities was poorly run and it went out of business in 1989.
Following this setback, Gygax next tried to get revenge on TSR by partnering
with Games Designer Workshop to create a game to compete with Dungeons &
Dragons D&D). At first, this project was known as Dangerous Dimensions, however TSR
threatened to sue over the initials being DD, almost the same as that for Dungeons & Dragons.
The new role-playing game was now renamed Dangerous Journeys, but TSR sued anyways.
Eventually, TSR gained ownership of the new game and Gygax was out in the cold yet again.
In 1999, Gygax took another stab at creating a game to gain revenge upon TSR with. This was
Lejendary Adventure (LA) that was published by two companies thaat were run by friends of Gygax, Hekaforge
Productions and Troll Lord Games. LA has fared better than Gygax's previous non-TSR games, but it still has not
been much of a rival to D&D.
In 2004, Gygax had a hand in the creation of the RPG Castles & Crusades. Its not known how important
this role was, but his name was used in promoting the game. This game has only been a limited success.
Additionally, after leaving TSR, Gygax wrote two books, "Master of the Game" and
"Role-Playing Mastery." He also wrote some fictional works as well. None of these books
sold well. Gygax's books were of generally poor quality. They were derided by the hard
core gamer members of the Little Rock Science Fiction Society of which I was a member during the years 1997-2000.
Gygax spent the last three decades of his life in Lake
Geneva, WI, where he led aquiet life marked by being a frequent guest at
gaming conventions. He passed away in 2008.
David Weber Shows His True Colors
Trashy sci-fi hack novelist David Weber has just exposed his true colors as an anti-fan writer. ON Facebook, Weber posted that no matter how despicable a writer may be, its wrong for a fan-run convention to disinvite that person no matter how horrible a person that writer turns out to be. This showed Weber's anti-fan bigotry.
Weber is just another Baen Books sleazy hack writer whose crudely written works are chock full of spelling and grammatical errors. Its not surprising that he feels this way since his publishing company continually puts forth books that are racist in the extreme.
Naturally, Weber looks down on the fans and wishes that they get on their collective hands and knees and grovel and kowtow to him.
What needs to be done is for all sci-fi fans to boycott all Baen Books and put that illiterate company out of business for good.
Weber is just another Baen Books sleazy hack writer whose crudely written works are chock full of spelling and grammatical errors. Its not surprising that he feels this way since his publishing company continually puts forth books that are racist in the extreme.
Naturally, Weber looks down on the fans and wishes that they get on their collective hands and knees and grovel and kowtow to him.
What needs to be done is for all sci-fi fans to boycott all Baen Books and put that illiterate company out of business for good.
Elon Musk, Union Buster
Corporate Scofflaw Elon Musk has been exposed as a Union buster. The Tesla electric car company is a place where Musk has engaged inthe worst sort of anti union bigotry. He has a defender in the form or milionairess "musician" Grimes who also hates unions and called all reports of the couple's anti union activities "fake news."
What needs to be done is for Tesla to be subjected to a consumer's boycott to bring the evil corporation down to its knees.
California Boondoggle Still on Fast Track
Despite the fact that it is nothing but a pork barrel project the California Bullet Train that has far exceeded what the politicians said was its projected cost, the politicians refuse to talk about it on the campaign trail. What that means is that no matter who wins the governor's race, its a done deal that this monumental waste of the taxpayer's money will be finished and the common citizens will be royally screwed.
Movie Review: Alien Apocalypse (2005 TV)
As previously related in the review of the pathetic flick The Man with the Screaming Brain,
actor Bruce Campbell struck what many observers considered to be a questionable deal with
producer Sam Raimi. Campbell would have starring roles in several low budget productions
made by either Sam Raimi or some of Raimi's friends. One such production is the made for TV
movie at hand, Alien Apocalypse that premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel earlier this year and is
now out on VHS and DVD.
Alien Apocalypse is a piece of hack work. The basic plot has already been used in numerous flicks before and will likely be used in many more movies. Essentially, this made for TV movie is about astronauts Ivan Hood (Bruce Campbell) and Kelly (Renee O'Connor) who return to Earth after a space mission only to discover that in the meantime, aliens from outer space who look an awful lot like giant termites have invaded and taken over the world. Their reason for doing so is that they are attracted by Earth's bountiful forests and the aliens' home planet is almost all out of wood. Now it is up to Hood and Kelly to lead the oppressed human population in a bloody uprising to overthrow the evil alien conquerors.
In the advertising for Alien Apocalypse that ran on the Sci-Fi Channel, this TV flick was promoted as being a comedy. Actually, Alien Apocalypse is anything but that. There are some witty lines but the overall effect is dullness. Bruce Campbell has practically nothing to work with. The ending is flat.
Basically, the production standards especially the directing and photography are comparable to an episode of the Hercules & Xena TV series that Raimi used to produce. There is plenty of music and stock footage from the Hercules & Xena series in Alien Apocalypse.
However, the writing lacks the quality that marked the Hercules series. The writing in this TV movie is flawed, stupid and not funny at all.
The acting in Alien Apocalypse is generally bad. Bruce Campbell looks bored and not interested throughout it. He simply is not at the top of his game here. Renee O'Connor tries her best, but since she has zero talent as an actress, that adds nothing to the movie. When the humans and aliens engage in battle, it is so fake that it is almost painful to watch.
The level of the makeup and special effects in Alien Apocalypse is low even by Sci-Fi Channel standards. The wigs worn by the humans in this TV movie are downright awful to look at. Some of the fake facial hair looks like it is on the verge of falling off. There is a half-naked girl whose skin is smooth and hairless so much so, when must have a huge quantity of razor blades stashed somewhere.
Alien Apocalypse is an awful piece of celluloid. It has zero scientific credibility. The aliens supposedly conquered Earth, but whenever we see any combat, the alien’s weapons fail to work and/or are extremely inaccurate. Huge numbers of aliens perish in combat while hardly any humans die in these battles. Alien Apocalypse is a flick that needs to be avoided like the plague.
Definitely not recommended.
Alien Apocalypse is a piece of hack work. The basic plot has already been used in numerous flicks before and will likely be used in many more movies. Essentially, this made for TV movie is about astronauts Ivan Hood (Bruce Campbell) and Kelly (Renee O'Connor) who return to Earth after a space mission only to discover that in the meantime, aliens from outer space who look an awful lot like giant termites have invaded and taken over the world. Their reason for doing so is that they are attracted by Earth's bountiful forests and the aliens' home planet is almost all out of wood. Now it is up to Hood and Kelly to lead the oppressed human population in a bloody uprising to overthrow the evil alien conquerors.
In the advertising for Alien Apocalypse that ran on the Sci-Fi Channel, this TV flick was promoted as being a comedy. Actually, Alien Apocalypse is anything but that. There are some witty lines but the overall effect is dullness. Bruce Campbell has practically nothing to work with. The ending is flat.
Basically, the production standards especially the directing and photography are comparable to an episode of the Hercules & Xena TV series that Raimi used to produce. There is plenty of music and stock footage from the Hercules & Xena series in Alien Apocalypse.
However, the writing lacks the quality that marked the Hercules series. The writing in this TV movie is flawed, stupid and not funny at all.
The acting in Alien Apocalypse is generally bad. Bruce Campbell looks bored and not interested throughout it. He simply is not at the top of his game here. Renee O'Connor tries her best, but since she has zero talent as an actress, that adds nothing to the movie. When the humans and aliens engage in battle, it is so fake that it is almost painful to watch.
The level of the makeup and special effects in Alien Apocalypse is low even by Sci-Fi Channel standards. The wigs worn by the humans in this TV movie are downright awful to look at. Some of the fake facial hair looks like it is on the verge of falling off. There is a half-naked girl whose skin is smooth and hairless so much so, when must have a huge quantity of razor blades stashed somewhere.
Alien Apocalypse is an awful piece of celluloid. It has zero scientific credibility. The aliens supposedly conquered Earth, but whenever we see any combat, the alien’s weapons fail to work and/or are extremely inaccurate. Huge numbers of aliens perish in combat while hardly any humans die in these battles. Alien Apocalypse is a flick that needs to be avoided like the plague.
Definitely not recommended.
Monday, May 21, 2018
FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention
As of May 21st when this was written, there
is another fan run convention that is under attack by elitist pig professional
writers. This is the FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention. Basically, what happened was that an
allegedly bestselling author named Shannon Hale made allegations about sexual
harassment that a friend of hers, who has gone unnamed, supposedly experienced
at last year’s convention. Evidently,
what happened was that a local writer Richard Paul Evans hugged the female in
question, thinking that it’s a friendly gesture as any reasonable person would.
However, Shannon Hale is not a reasonable person. She is a professional writer who is always
out for maximum publicity even if she comes across as an absolute jackass in
the course of doing so. The wild
allegations of so-called sexual harassment that she has made after her friend
was hugged have won her tremendous publicity at the expense of what is
generally regarded as being one of the very best fan-run comics conventions
around.
Hale has undertaken this course of action
despite the fact that her friend went through the official procedures for
handling matters such as this. The
convention has two women in charge of handling sexual harassment
allegations. They investigated the allegations
and concluded that Hale’s friend was wrong, no sexual harassment took
place. Of course to an extremist like
Hale, that was not good enough so she went public with her allegations.
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