I recently heard a quote pertaining to my daughter's want to be an author when she grows up. "You don't want to be an author you either are one or you aren't" I am probably mangling it and I have no idea who said it but it is brilliant. You are something or you aren't, I have spent a long time wanting to be a few things like a game developer. So of course while wanting to be one I was stopping myself becoming one.
With this revelation I have become a games developer and an artist. My art form is creating systems and worlds. As much as I think it is lame to call yourself an artist I have to accept that is what I am and I am becoming.
Speaking of being an artist, I have to be part of the movement to redefine what art is to include interactive entertainment. As much as Cinema can be art so can the video game. The video game is a modern fine art and fill the same niche that poetry, theatre and painting fill.
Tuesday, 31 July 2007
Wednesday, 25 July 2007
More Politics
Please write to your congress rep and your senator and request action be taken to sort this mess out.
Monday, 23 July 2007
Richard Dreyfuss on Democracy
I ran across this at inktank.com when I was trying to find the old Angst Technology comic archive and I was blown away.
The aspect of personal responsibility in government really does two things for me, it strikes a chord in that this is what is missing from the world and that I need to get off my lazy behind and take up for action in government.
I need to ensure that I am not a hypocrite and that I am active politically, I should go write a senator a note ;)
The aspect of personal responsibility in government really does two things for me, it strikes a chord in that this is what is missing from the world and that I need to get off my lazy behind and take up for action in government.
I need to ensure that I am not a hypocrite and that I am active politically, I should go write a senator a note ;)
Friday, 20 July 2007
Razor's adventure in Berkshire
With the floods today I had to make my own way home. I was cut off from my family by a series of floods. The first object in my way was the lake at the end of the road from my office. I met up with some co-workers there and chatted for a bit before I was able to catch a ride over the lake and start the long walk home. I found all the buses had been cancelled but I continued on despite not knowing how many roads were out.
I hitched my first ride of the day with a Lady and her daughter on their way home from school, they tried to get me to the Bull at Arborfield but all the roads were blocked. So they dropped me at the Bull in Barkham.
From the Barkham Bull I had to ford a swollen river to cross where the cars dared not go. Half way accross a 4x4 passed me by and didn't respond to the magic thumb of hey give me a ride please!
I trekked on and approached the second river but this time I was able to catch a ride with a 4x4 over the river and to the Bull at Arborfield.
Continuing along my trek to get home to my kids a lovely lady and her daughter (new set) picked me up and took me most of the way home where Scarlet and the kids picked me up. We had to ford two more river to do that.
I just want to say thank you to all the people that helped me out today even though you will never read this. To those stuff in your offices and elsewhere, hang in there you will get home :)
I found out that the water main near my office burst and the road has sunk :( I hope my co-workers can get home tonight. Last I spoke to someone at the office they were all stuck.
I hitched my first ride of the day with a Lady and her daughter on their way home from school, they tried to get me to the Bull at Arborfield but all the roads were blocked. So they dropped me at the Bull in Barkham.
From the Barkham Bull I had to ford a swollen river to cross where the cars dared not go. Half way accross a 4x4 passed me by and didn't respond to the magic thumb of hey give me a ride please!
I trekked on and approached the second river but this time I was able to catch a ride with a 4x4 over the river and to the Bull at Arborfield.
Continuing along my trek to get home to my kids a lovely lady and her daughter (new set) picked me up and took me most of the way home where Scarlet and the kids picked me up. We had to ford two more river to do that.
I just want to say thank you to all the people that helped me out today even though you will never read this. To those stuff in your offices and elsewhere, hang in there you will get home :)
I found out that the water main near my office burst and the road has sunk :( I hope my co-workers can get home tonight. Last I spoke to someone at the office they were all stuck.
Guitar Hero III on Wii!
I am excited I just found out that GH3 is coming out for the Wii. I have wanted to play this series but I don't have a PS2 or Xbox360. Now that is is coming out for Wii I will have to pick up a copy and shred some tunes with my kids :)
Global Warming? Surely you jest!
I am sitting in what is expected to be the worst rain storm England has seen in recorded history. Two years worth of rain is expected to fall; and that was just the 6 hour forecast.
I didn't ride my motorcycle into work today and I am glad that I didn't the roads were all flooded, almost to the point in some places that I didn't want to take my minivan through the puddles. So given all this and my last post on the "War on our Freedoms and Safeties" I figured I would take a moment to weigh in on another great liberal talking point.
So here it is my view on Global Warming and climate change.
It is real, it is happening, you just have to look out my window to see where all that water from the melting ice caps is going. The auto and oil execs need to pull their heads out of their asses and stop promoting more ways with which to destroy ourselves. We need alternate energy sources and we CANNOT continue to burn fossil fuels at the rate that we are.
The first step is further development into the Bio-fuel this is the way forward for the auto-execs not only will they have a sustainable business model here but they can then get the kudos for taking action and starting to clean up the world. Bio-fuel from corn crops has been shown to be carbon neutral (the carbon released from burning the fuel was cleaned during the growing of the crop thereby no more carbon being added to the equation). With the changing weather patterns we should have a more violent weather and tidal system, this gives us our next best option for clean energy, wind and tidal. I have heard about dual generators that sit a bit off shore and collect power from both tidal movement and wind. This sounds fantastic to me. Just put a safety grill around the tidal generator and away we go.
Solar power is of course a viable option especially for the developing world around the equator (not so viable here in England we would need sun for that).
Here is where I will get into trouble with the liberal set; I think that nuclear power is a viable way forward. I will add the caveat that the waste is dangerous and we need to dump tonnes of research into ways to clean it up and ensure that it does not head up toward a future like the nightmare I envision for Scarletrazor. But I must insist that we not fear this source of energy and we must research and develop safer cleaner ways of producing the energy that we crave to continue our “ideal” modern lives.
So there it is my view on Global Warming, and alternative energy sources ;)
I didn't ride my motorcycle into work today and I am glad that I didn't the roads were all flooded, almost to the point in some places that I didn't want to take my minivan through the puddles. So given all this and my last post on the "War on our Freedoms and Safeties" I figured I would take a moment to weigh in on another great liberal talking point.
So here it is my view on Global Warming and climate change.
It is real, it is happening, you just have to look out my window to see where all that water from the melting ice caps is going. The auto and oil execs need to pull their heads out of their asses and stop promoting more ways with which to destroy ourselves. We need alternate energy sources and we CANNOT continue to burn fossil fuels at the rate that we are.
The first step is further development into the Bio-fuel this is the way forward for the auto-execs not only will they have a sustainable business model here but they can then get the kudos for taking action and starting to clean up the world. Bio-fuel from corn crops has been shown to be carbon neutral (the carbon released from burning the fuel was cleaned during the growing of the crop thereby no more carbon being added to the equation). With the changing weather patterns we should have a more violent weather and tidal system, this gives us our next best option for clean energy, wind and tidal. I have heard about dual generators that sit a bit off shore and collect power from both tidal movement and wind. This sounds fantastic to me. Just put a safety grill around the tidal generator and away we go.
Solar power is of course a viable option especially for the developing world around the equator (not so viable here in England we would need sun for that).
Here is where I will get into trouble with the liberal set; I think that nuclear power is a viable way forward. I will add the caveat that the waste is dangerous and we need to dump tonnes of research into ways to clean it up and ensure that it does not head up toward a future like the nightmare I envision for Scarletrazor. But I must insist that we not fear this source of energy and we must research and develop safer cleaner ways of producing the energy that we crave to continue our “ideal” modern lives.
So there it is my view on Global Warming, and alternative energy sources ;)
Tuesday, 17 July 2007
The War on Terror
I have been thinking about the "war on terror" today. Who is really winning? The terrorists certainly aren't you can't win when you are dead. The Middle East isn't, look at Afghanistan and Iraq. We certainly aren't, check out the Patriot act and other fear inspired legislation in the western world (I am specifically speaking of US/UK). So who is winning?
We have government sponsored torture camps; didn't we use that as a justification to bomb Iraq back into the Bronze Age?
Our governments spy on us and increasingly have more power to ignore our rights. Didn't we use that as justification to attack Afghanistan?
We segregate our own society, Saddam may have picked on the Kurds but we are picking on anyone of Arabic/Persian decent.
Our freedoms are being eroded. Our governments are quickly becoming our enemy, and more than when I was a young egoistical idealist of an anarchist I believe it and have reason for believing it.
The people winning are those that want to control western people and control what we think and what we buy. Not the Islamic idealists that continually throw themselves at us in a hopeless Jihad. The Christian conservatives that think we have to many freedoms and that we are dreadfully out of line are the ones getting what they want. And I think that scares me most of all....
We have government sponsored torture camps; didn't we use that as a justification to bomb Iraq back into the Bronze Age?
Our governments spy on us and increasingly have more power to ignore our rights. Didn't we use that as justification to attack Afghanistan?
We segregate our own society, Saddam may have picked on the Kurds but we are picking on anyone of Arabic/Persian decent.
Our freedoms are being eroded. Our governments are quickly becoming our enemy, and more than when I was a young egoistical idealist of an anarchist I believe it and have reason for believing it.
The people winning are those that want to control western people and control what we think and what we buy. Not the Islamic idealists that continually throw themselves at us in a hopeless Jihad. The Christian conservatives that think we have to many freedoms and that we are dreadfully out of line are the ones getting what they want. And I think that scares me most of all....
Friday, 13 July 2007
Is death the final high?
I am a suicidal depressive. I have attempted suicide a few times in my life and I am supposed to feel good that I failed. But as time continues on I start to run out of things to get myself out of bed for. I have been told on countless occasions that I have to find a reason for me to continue on and that I have to life for myself. But if that were true I would have euthanized myself along time ago and not bothered with the inhumane thing they call life.
Its sick that I live with constant wishes just to be gone but I am tied here by bonds that I don't know I should have entered into. I constantly take medication that makes me feel bad and gives me a foul smelling digestive track so I can "feel better" with the kicker of I get constant harassment about it. They want to reprogram my brain with cognitive behavoiral theapy so that I can fit into the round hole they have for me. I don't want to feel better, I don't want to be reprogrammed. I just want to be left alone ot deal with it in my own way to to be given the respect to be able to make my own desission between life and death.
For now I will continue to live for my family but it is fast becoming not enough, I need something more. Sometimes I wish I was stupid and that I didn't uderstand the futility and idiocy of faith and hat I believed that there is an all powerful and loving God directing me to some grand destiny. Must be nice to have that security blanket to wrap around yourself and keep you warm at night.
Life is such a game and
I'm not really sure I wanna play
I'm a bad seed I have a damaged brain
There's no way back only death will heal me
Venus De Milo - D.I.
Its sick that I live with constant wishes just to be gone but I am tied here by bonds that I don't know I should have entered into. I constantly take medication that makes me feel bad and gives me a foul smelling digestive track so I can "feel better" with the kicker of I get constant harassment about it. They want to reprogram my brain with cognitive behavoiral theapy so that I can fit into the round hole they have for me. I don't want to feel better, I don't want to be reprogrammed. I just want to be left alone ot deal with it in my own way to to be given the respect to be able to make my own desission between life and death.
For now I will continue to live for my family but it is fast becoming not enough, I need something more. Sometimes I wish I was stupid and that I didn't uderstand the futility and idiocy of faith and hat I believed that there is an all powerful and loving God directing me to some grand destiny. Must be nice to have that security blanket to wrap around yourself and keep you warm at night.
Life is such a game and
I'm not really sure I wanna play
I'm a bad seed I have a damaged brain
There's no way back only death will heal me
Venus De Milo - D.I.
Thursday, 12 July 2007
Online Gaming the key to future success?
Just a bit of background before I delve into this; I have been a gamer for the better part of two and a half decades from the first time I tried my hand at a video game. I have since moved into P&P, online and every other type of gaming I can get, I have been an officer, raid leader and guild leader in several guilds.. Currently I run one of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes' top 15-20 guilds Ex Umbris. Does this give me the skill set to run a major corporation? IBM and Seriosity think so.
Game Daily Article
This seriously puts a twist on my life and resume, should I be putting down that I run a virtual org that has included over 300 people in its existence and run it from inception in the beta phase through the launch of Vanguard and the troubled times VG is currently experiencing? I can certainly see what IBM is talking about. I have to daily ensure that the people in my guild are motivated and aren't going to be quitting no matter what problems and bugs there are in the game. And I do all of this with out the ability to reward people with RL cash. I set vision statements, I keep people updated on the state of the guild and I ensure that those that are working hard are thanked and recognised.
So maybe one day I will be CEO of a corporation?
Game Daily Article
This seriously puts a twist on my life and resume, should I be putting down that I run a virtual org that has included over 300 people in its existence and run it from inception in the beta phase through the launch of Vanguard and the troubled times VG is currently experiencing? I can certainly see what IBM is talking about. I have to daily ensure that the people in my guild are motivated and aren't going to be quitting no matter what problems and bugs there are in the game. And I do all of this with out the ability to reward people with RL cash. I set vision statements, I keep people updated on the state of the guild and I ensure that those that are working hard are thanked and recognised.
So maybe one day I will be CEO of a corporation?
Tuesday, 3 July 2007
the subtle lure of anarchy
One of the cornerstones of the punk rock movement is Anarchy and as a concept it is very ambiguous. What I used to speak of as a utopian society free of the limitations imposed by petty bureaucrats is a far cry from the hellish chaos that others imagine it to be. It all comes down to what you believe about the basic nature of humanity. Do you believe as I do that people are basically good and that given the opportunity people will pull together to make things better for each other (I can be a bit naive at times), or do you believe that with the threat of punishment that the law holds is the only thing that keeps people from preying on each other?
What I have come to realise over the years is that to me Anarchy is the symbol for finding out who you really are on the inside. With all the fear of prison or the retribution of a collective societal contract what would you do and who would you be. I think that I would be one of those that would form a tribe and work together for a better life, not turn into a ravager feeding as a parasite from my fellow man.
/edit a friend of mine recommended this link to me after reading this post.
I have to say that it strike a deep cord with me and it is good to see others that see the world in a way similar to myself
http://thepolymathreview.blogspot.com/2007/06/philosophy-of-liberty.html
What I have come to realise over the years is that to me Anarchy is the symbol for finding out who you really are on the inside. With all the fear of prison or the retribution of a collective societal contract what would you do and who would you be. I think that I would be one of those that would form a tribe and work together for a better life, not turn into a ravager feeding as a parasite from my fellow man.
/edit a friend of mine recommended this link to me after reading this post.
I have to say that it strike a deep cord with me and it is good to see others that see the world in a way similar to myself
http://thepolymathreview.blogspot.com/2007/06/philosophy-of-liberty.html
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