Have you ever noticed how voting is religiously regarded here in the States? You can insult anything and anyone you want, you can do a standup comedy routine lambasting world religions, cultures, war, death, sex, relationships, your own parents, but don't you dare suggest that someone does not vote.
I am not voting this November. Why? Because at this point, the burden is on the politicians and my "elders" to convince me that voting is worth a f*&k. When will people get it through their heads that nothing changes? You can vote for one of your two parties, or you can even be a "rebel" and vote for a third party, and nothing will change. It's the same political rhetoric year in and year out.
I understand we have to have authority and governance, but the Federal government is not working. Maybe it did at one time (I doubt it) but now there are too many people of too great a diversity for them all to be seved by one big governing body. Local governments need to pick up the slack, and to start making decisions on a state-by-state basis. Maybe then I'd start voting.
The problem with voting is that when you vote, you're signing an agreement. It's similar to playing a video game; you buy the thing, and you break the seal, you put the disc in and go to play it and the first thing you see is this thirty page license agreement that says "oh by the way, now that you've bought the game and opened the packaging, in order to actually play it you have to sign this legal document about what you will and will not do with it, and giving us all of the rights to rule over your ability to play the game". Well at that point you're screwed; what are you going to do, cancel out, repackage it, and return it to the store? Maybe it's technically possible although probably not without a fight. What are you going to say, "oh it's ok, i didn't agree to the licensing terms". When you vote, you're saying you'd rather have one man in this supposedly important office, but you're also validating the very system that you are convinced is not working. You're saying you want change, but you're agreeing that change should not happen because, well, you're just going to keep voting anyway.
Not me. I'm not voting, and in so doing, I'm voting for real change. Bring it on.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
ChromeBook
Just got that new Samsung Chromebook. Oh my gawd is it cool. For $250 I have a really nice laptop, great operating system, and a cool new little piece of the future! I don't know if "The Cloud" is really the future (I hope it isn't) but this is an interesting stab in a new direction.
You should go look at one if you haven't seen it and at the price point, if you are in need of a new laptop, I can't see what on earth could keep you from buying one!
You should go look at one if you haven't seen it and at the price point, if you are in need of a new laptop, I can't see what on earth could keep you from buying one!
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Borderlands 2. Oh yes.
I've said before that Borderlands is my favorite game ever. I've also expressed disappointment in the original Borderlands DLC. I'm talking serious disappointment. And it was that disappointment that made me a little nervous to finally try Borderlands 2. I was really afraid that they would have screwed Borderlands up, that the whole game would be a big, badly done DLC pack.
Thank God I was wrong!
Borderlands 2 is Borderlands! They didn't mess it up, they extended and expanded everything that you loved from the original and made it into a solid sequel. Now I've barely even started it so I don't have too much critique or insight, but I will say that Claptrap is thankfully very funny and very true to himself, the other characters are pretty much dead on for Borderlands characters, and the atmosphere is still there. I'm so relieved.
Enough talk. Back to the Borderlands!
Thank God I was wrong!
Borderlands 2 is Borderlands! They didn't mess it up, they extended and expanded everything that you loved from the original and made it into a solid sequel. Now I've barely even started it so I don't have too much critique or insight, but I will say that Claptrap is thankfully very funny and very true to himself, the other characters are pretty much dead on for Borderlands characters, and the atmosphere is still there. I'm so relieved.
Enough talk. Back to the Borderlands!
Embarrassment of Riches
OK, so let's talk about anti Lara Croftism and the state of modern "feminism". Last post, I clarified my feelings about "feminism", so I want to relate that back to my original Tomb Raider post.
For me, that cliche anti Lara Croft sentiment, and actually a lot of "feminist" protests, is largely an embarrassment of riches. We women can complain that we are objectified and that we are placed on a pedestal because - we are! Does that mean we are also not objectified and placed on a pedestal sometimes? Yes it does.
As a female, I'm not objectified and don't suffer barrages of sexual comments because I don't permit it. I don't play into that game, I don't doll myself up in purty dresses and cutesy outfits and put on a lot of make-up, at least no more than most of my guy friends. Sure I'll dress up for a special occasion and put on make-up, but usually it's just me and a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Am I a tomboy? Not really, at least I've never felt like I was. But I'm also not a drone who follows feminine fashion mindlessly, and then get upset that people seem to think I'm just eye candy.
At the same time, I don't think someone who decides to be very girly "deserves" to be treated badly. Don't think I'm saying that. And no, I'm absolutely not saying that anyone deserves harassment, bullying, violence, or discrimination. But once again, that's not just a female issue, technically. Guys who are a little bit "too girly" get that, too, sadly. Is it right? No. Is it a feminist issue? Not really. It's a human issue, and we need to teach our kids not to do that shit.
My point is that women can complain about how horrible it is to be so pretty because that's what women are being. When individuals stop posing naked for their music album covers, stop doing fashion shows, and stop modeling so they're gawked at by millions, then that complaint will go away. But you know what? that's not going to stop because women like being pretty, they like getting attention, they like being coddled and taken care of. And what's more, so do men. Look at all the pretty boys and models and actors - men vying for your attention based on their rugged looks and too-cool-for-school attitudes.
In other words, we're all human, and it's built in to our chemistry that we like sex. That's not going away, and the politics of how to get noticed and how you feel loved isn't going away. If we want it to change, we can't tell everyone to stop being sexual, we just have to teach our children that looks aren't important, that being nice and honest is what really matters, and so on. And hey, even then, you're still going to get sexualized images and stories, because that's just what some people really like.
But you're not going to hear me complaining about Lara Croft because she has breasts or because her breasts are too big and that males get to look at them during game play. Because if you don't like breasts, then you need to take that up with Nature, not game designers and game players.
For me, that cliche anti Lara Croft sentiment, and actually a lot of "feminist" protests, is largely an embarrassment of riches. We women can complain that we are objectified and that we are placed on a pedestal because - we are! Does that mean we are also not objectified and placed on a pedestal sometimes? Yes it does.
As a female, I'm not objectified and don't suffer barrages of sexual comments because I don't permit it. I don't play into that game, I don't doll myself up in purty dresses and cutesy outfits and put on a lot of make-up, at least no more than most of my guy friends. Sure I'll dress up for a special occasion and put on make-up, but usually it's just me and a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Am I a tomboy? Not really, at least I've never felt like I was. But I'm also not a drone who follows feminine fashion mindlessly, and then get upset that people seem to think I'm just eye candy.
At the same time, I don't think someone who decides to be very girly "deserves" to be treated badly. Don't think I'm saying that. And no, I'm absolutely not saying that anyone deserves harassment, bullying, violence, or discrimination. But once again, that's not just a female issue, technically. Guys who are a little bit "too girly" get that, too, sadly. Is it right? No. Is it a feminist issue? Not really. It's a human issue, and we need to teach our kids not to do that shit.
My point is that women can complain about how horrible it is to be so pretty because that's what women are being. When individuals stop posing naked for their music album covers, stop doing fashion shows, and stop modeling so they're gawked at by millions, then that complaint will go away. But you know what? that's not going to stop because women like being pretty, they like getting attention, they like being coddled and taken care of. And what's more, so do men. Look at all the pretty boys and models and actors - men vying for your attention based on their rugged looks and too-cool-for-school attitudes.
In other words, we're all human, and it's built in to our chemistry that we like sex. That's not going away, and the politics of how to get noticed and how you feel loved isn't going away. If we want it to change, we can't tell everyone to stop being sexual, we just have to teach our children that looks aren't important, that being nice and honest is what really matters, and so on. And hey, even then, you're still going to get sexualized images and stories, because that's just what some people really like.
But you're not going to hear me complaining about Lara Croft because she has breasts or because her breasts are too big and that males get to look at them during game play. Because if you don't like breasts, then you need to take that up with Nature, not game designers and game players.
Feminism vs Modernism
In my tomb raider post, I ranted a little about the modern state of Feminism. A few friends told me that my point didn't really get through, and I agree. I made little sense. So I'd like to clarify my feelings on the subject.
To reiterate, I don't consider myself a feminist, but I do think most modern young people are basically feminist. The fact that we don't all think women should stay in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant basically makes us "feminists" by the strictest and original definition of the term.
The reason I don't consider myself a feminist is because I don't believe it's a valid word any more. It certainly doesn't describe one specific movement or train of thought. To one person, "feminism" means that you believe women should be treated exactly the same as men, in a professional setting, and that women have the same civil rights as men, in a governmental setting. With that brand of feminism, I'd agree. But really, I think most people do, these days, so I don't really think of that as feminism so much as modernism.
To other people, feminism means that women should be given special treatment because they're women, and they should be "equally represented". If there's a group of men, you're obligated to remove one man and put a woman in his place. If you have two job candidates in an all-male business, you're obligated to hire the woman for equal representation. I understand this view, and I do think it has its place just to buffer against the anti-modern holdouts who are going to fight like hell to make sure women are excluded from their club. But mostly, I disagree with this because it's treating a symptom rather than the cause. Why would a business or club or whatever have only men? well, because women aren't applying in the first place. Why aren't they? because their parents are entering them into beauty pageants and sending them to proms and telling them that the most important thing in the world is finding a good man to take care of her.
And finally, there's the extreme feminism which is a lot more anti-man than anything, where everything in the current world, which sucks by the way, stays the same except that women are in charge and men are what women used to be 50 years ago. That to me is just stupid because it's not even treating the symptom, much less the disease.
So no, I'm not a feminist, and I think that modern "feminism" is often a horrible mish-mash of all of the above. Most people (I mean, men and women alike) don't understand that there are different strains of feminism, so even when a girl starts questioning why she should get entered into beauty pageants and why she'd not encouraged to pursue computers and technical skills, all she gets back is this bug mutated lump of "feminism". It usually ends up as a series of combo moves. Press button A to Hate On Men. Press button B to Rant About Pay Scale Inequality. Press button C to Shop For Shoes. I mean, wtf.
To reiterate, I don't consider myself a feminist, but I do think most modern young people are basically feminist. The fact that we don't all think women should stay in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant basically makes us "feminists" by the strictest and original definition of the term.
The reason I don't consider myself a feminist is because I don't believe it's a valid word any more. It certainly doesn't describe one specific movement or train of thought. To one person, "feminism" means that you believe women should be treated exactly the same as men, in a professional setting, and that women have the same civil rights as men, in a governmental setting. With that brand of feminism, I'd agree. But really, I think most people do, these days, so I don't really think of that as feminism so much as modernism.
To other people, feminism means that women should be given special treatment because they're women, and they should be "equally represented". If there's a group of men, you're obligated to remove one man and put a woman in his place. If you have two job candidates in an all-male business, you're obligated to hire the woman for equal representation. I understand this view, and I do think it has its place just to buffer against the anti-modern holdouts who are going to fight like hell to make sure women are excluded from their club. But mostly, I disagree with this because it's treating a symptom rather than the cause. Why would a business or club or whatever have only men? well, because women aren't applying in the first place. Why aren't they? because their parents are entering them into beauty pageants and sending them to proms and telling them that the most important thing in the world is finding a good man to take care of her.
And finally, there's the extreme feminism which is a lot more anti-man than anything, where everything in the current world, which sucks by the way, stays the same except that women are in charge and men are what women used to be 50 years ago. That to me is just stupid because it's not even treating the symptom, much less the disease.
So no, I'm not a feminist, and I think that modern "feminism" is often a horrible mish-mash of all of the above. Most people (I mean, men and women alike) don't understand that there are different strains of feminism, so even when a girl starts questioning why she should get entered into beauty pageants and why she'd not encouraged to pursue computers and technical skills, all she gets back is this bug mutated lump of "feminism". It usually ends up as a series of combo moves. Press button A to Hate On Men. Press button B to Rant About Pay Scale Inequality. Press button C to Shop For Shoes. I mean, wtf.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Why Closed Source Software is EVIL!!!
OK, when I was a kid, there was a software application called Appleworks that you could buy for your Mac. It was an office application, so it did word processing and spreadsheets. It saved to its own proprietary format of .cwk
At some point along the way, Apple stopped making Appleworks. Most people saw that coming and converted all their old .cwk documents to something more generic like .doc or even MORE generic (and more open) like .txt or whatever, before getting rid of their old computers and buying a new one on which Appleworks wouldn't run even if only to open their old .cwk documents.
So, what would happen if you were a kid and didn't know any better, and didn't think to change your documents from .cwk to something else? or if you were that kid's parents and weren't really very tech savvy, so you didn't know to convert the documents before Apple killed off the program that created them?
Well, it turns out that you're basically screwed.
Because the .cwk format was closed source, so no application knows how to open them.
You'd think a company would at least have the common decency to say "well, at one point in our history, we created the .cwk format, so our new products, at least, will still support opening .cwk documents" but no, that's not how many companies work.
You might also wish (though you'd be foolish to expect it) that a company might go so far as to say "since we created the .cwk format, we should open up at least the information required to READ .cwk files, so other applications could open those files. ESPECIALLY since we're not even supporting .cwk ourselves any more..."
But again, that's not how many companies work.
In other words, a lot of files out there are now digital paper weights that can not be opened by any modern computer. Did you write the great American novel as a .cwk file? too bad, it's gone. Are important family or financial records in .cwk format? too bad, those are gone too. Are files of pure sentimental value in .cwk files? too bad; your memories are worthless.
Closed source software is truly evil. It doesn't respect you, or your data, or your memories, or art, or self-expression. Oh, maybe it does right now...but just wait. It will screw you over in the end.
That's a depressing way to end this post, so, let's hear about...
The Alternatives
Open source software wants you to be able to get to your data FOREVER. This means that its file formats are OPEN so anyone who wants to open them CAN. That doesn't mean Apple or Microsoft will bother letting you do it, but other open source applications will.
The data formats are also based on well-known standards, so even if (and that's a big if, so far; Free Software has been around since about 1983 or so, and there's yet to be a format that's been left behind) - but if a format does go out of fashion and everyone stops supporting it (again, a really unlikely scenario), then someone could still write a program JUST to convert that data to something else. It's basic file parsing; it's done all the time when migrating from one database to another or from one email application to another. Not a big deal - as long as you can look inside the data. And with open source formats, you always can.
So, really, future-proof your digital life. Go open source.
At some point along the way, Apple stopped making Appleworks. Most people saw that coming and converted all their old .cwk documents to something more generic like .doc or even MORE generic (and more open) like .txt or whatever, before getting rid of their old computers and buying a new one on which Appleworks wouldn't run even if only to open their old .cwk documents.
So, what would happen if you were a kid and didn't know any better, and didn't think to change your documents from .cwk to something else? or if you were that kid's parents and weren't really very tech savvy, so you didn't know to convert the documents before Apple killed off the program that created them?
Well, it turns out that you're basically screwed.
Because the .cwk format was closed source, so no application knows how to open them.
You'd think a company would at least have the common decency to say "well, at one point in our history, we created the .cwk format, so our new products, at least, will still support opening .cwk documents" but no, that's not how many companies work.
You might also wish (though you'd be foolish to expect it) that a company might go so far as to say "since we created the .cwk format, we should open up at least the information required to READ .cwk files, so other applications could open those files. ESPECIALLY since we're not even supporting .cwk ourselves any more..."
But again, that's not how many companies work.
In other words, a lot of files out there are now digital paper weights that can not be opened by any modern computer. Did you write the great American novel as a .cwk file? too bad, it's gone. Are important family or financial records in .cwk format? too bad, those are gone too. Are files of pure sentimental value in .cwk files? too bad; your memories are worthless.
Closed source software is truly evil. It doesn't respect you, or your data, or your memories, or art, or self-expression. Oh, maybe it does right now...but just wait. It will screw you over in the end.
That's a depressing way to end this post, so, let's hear about...
The Alternatives
Open source software wants you to be able to get to your data FOREVER. This means that its file formats are OPEN so anyone who wants to open them CAN. That doesn't mean Apple or Microsoft will bother letting you do it, but other open source applications will.
The data formats are also based on well-known standards, so even if (and that's a big if, so far; Free Software has been around since about 1983 or so, and there's yet to be a format that's been left behind) - but if a format does go out of fashion and everyone stops supporting it (again, a really unlikely scenario), then someone could still write a program JUST to convert that data to something else. It's basic file parsing; it's done all the time when migrating from one database to another or from one email application to another. Not a big deal - as long as you can look inside the data. And with open source formats, you always can.
So, really, future-proof your digital life. Go open source.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Tomb Raider
I just picked up the Tomb Raider trilogy for PS3 because it's been years since i tried Tomb Raider. I always liked it, and I love the movies. So call me a latent Tomb Raider fan.
With a new Tomb Raider game coming out next year, I'm actually really excited to get back into the series, and also a little annoyed at the way controversy follows Lara Croft around.
Originally, I think the controversy was basically that her breasts were too big. Why that's a problem I do not know. Pop culture is very extreme about anatomy, they both love and hate the fact that we're all human with different kinds of bodies. So I'm sorry, Feminists and Religious-Right activists, that women have breasts and that men like them, but not really...actually I'm not sorry at all. It's a fact of life and I see nothing wrong with it.
And now the problem seems to be that Lara Croft is getting beat up in a game. Well, I have news for the critics. In video games, people get beat up. And if the character you're playing in the game is a woman, then she's going to get beat up. It's not "violence against women", it's a video game.
I'm lashing out a little over Tomb Raider, but modern feminism basically disgusts me. Feminism probably meant something once, but at this point I don't even think Feminists know what they want. They want women to be able to be women, but also to achieve the same stupid shit men do in the world. Personally if I'm going to join up with a feminist revolution, it's not going to be to overthrow men and then do exactly what they are doing only with women in power. I don't know if it's because of the testosterone or not, but the world as it is is pretty f***ed up, so emulating when the big strong men do is just useless. That's not feminism, that's wanting to pretend like you're a man except when inconvenient.
OK, back to Tomb Raider.
So Tomb Raider should be the modern feminist's dream game. Strong female lead who is exactly the same as any male lead in any other game, hugely popular, attractive, and kicks ass. And we have people complaining about this?
Tomb Raider is a great series, with a great lead character who has been consistently great in each game release, both movies, and it looks like she'll be better than ever in the new game. So quit it with the controversy. Lara Croft is a modern woman and I'd sooner follow her to a female utopian society than any of the real life feminists making noise out there in the real world.
With a new Tomb Raider game coming out next year, I'm actually really excited to get back into the series, and also a little annoyed at the way controversy follows Lara Croft around.
Originally, I think the controversy was basically that her breasts were too big. Why that's a problem I do not know. Pop culture is very extreme about anatomy, they both love and hate the fact that we're all human with different kinds of bodies. So I'm sorry, Feminists and Religious-Right activists, that women have breasts and that men like them, but not really...actually I'm not sorry at all. It's a fact of life and I see nothing wrong with it.
And now the problem seems to be that Lara Croft is getting beat up in a game. Well, I have news for the critics. In video games, people get beat up. And if the character you're playing in the game is a woman, then she's going to get beat up. It's not "violence against women", it's a video game.
I'm lashing out a little over Tomb Raider, but modern feminism basically disgusts me. Feminism probably meant something once, but at this point I don't even think Feminists know what they want. They want women to be able to be women, but also to achieve the same stupid shit men do in the world. Personally if I'm going to join up with a feminist revolution, it's not going to be to overthrow men and then do exactly what they are doing only with women in power. I don't know if it's because of the testosterone or not, but the world as it is is pretty f***ed up, so emulating when the big strong men do is just useless. That's not feminism, that's wanting to pretend like you're a man except when inconvenient.
OK, back to Tomb Raider.
So Tomb Raider should be the modern feminist's dream game. Strong female lead who is exactly the same as any male lead in any other game, hugely popular, attractive, and kicks ass. And we have people complaining about this?
Tomb Raider is a great series, with a great lead character who has been consistently great in each game release, both movies, and it looks like she'll be better than ever in the new game. So quit it with the controversy. Lara Croft is a modern woman and I'd sooner follow her to a female utopian society than any of the real life feminists making noise out there in the real world.
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