August 13, 2013
What I Learned this Evening on Crunchyroll
It's the school festival episode of Stella [REDACTED] Club C Cubed and I learned all sorts of stuff today.
The survival club is out of money. They're going to be hard pressed to pay the entry fee to get into a much anticipated '24 hour tournament'. They decide to go for broke and try to raise enough money at the festival.
I learned a new Japanese word.
In Japan a commercial shooting stall with electric target retriever is called a "massine'.
It may SOUND like they're saying 'machine' but it's a brand new and distinct word meaning 'shooting stall with electric target retriever'. I know this because the subtitle-ers spell it that way. Every. Single. Time.
more...
The survival club is out of money. They're going to be hard pressed to pay the entry fee to get into a much anticipated '24 hour tournament'. They decide to go for broke and try to raise enough money at the festival.
I learned a new Japanese word.
In Japan a commercial shooting stall with electric target retriever is called a "massine'.
It may SOUND like they're saying 'machine' but it's a brand new and distinct word meaning 'shooting stall with electric target retriever'. I know this because the subtitle-ers spell it that way. Every. Single. Time.
See? They learned something too.
I have serious doubts that 'learning' that has made me any wiser but I learned some other things as well. For those that have seen the episode, here's what I learned...more...
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August 12, 2013
Moby FAIL!!
Hah! Saw this on Instapundit. It is rich.
It seems that ABC sent a bunch of actors to incite anti-gay asshattery at a blue collar diner in Texas. For comparison they did the same at an upscale restaurant in NYC....because...'Journalism' means that narratives must be reinforced.
Well, things did not go as planned.
Whaever WILL we do about these provincial
bigots and their pre-conceived notions?
It seems that ABC sent a bunch of actors to incite anti-gay asshattery at a blue collar diner in Texas. For comparison they did the same at an upscale restaurant in NYC....because...'Journalism' means that narratives must be reinforced.
Well, things did not go as planned.
Whaever WILL we do about these provincial
bigots and their pre-conceived notions?
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HYPERLOOP!!...HYPERLOOP!!...HYPERLOOP!!
Elon Musk's much hyped and speculated about design for a transportation system which was unveiled today. The 57 page PDF is here. One of the Brickmuppet's Crack Team of Science Babes is on the case trying to digest all that info...(or at least digest a sweet potato).
It turns out that this concept is not the vac-train many people predicted so it doesn't have the same technical issues that people have been bringing up for the last few months. It has completely different technical issues.
I think the notion that right of way issues are no greater than power-lines is wildly optimistic as well as discounting what a legal pain running powerlines can be. The idea of using Inrerstate Medians is a good one that we here at Brickmuppet Blog have long thought to be the only viable right of way option for new rail lines...assuming they could be made economically viable (a BIG assumption). However, keep in mind that attempts to expand a commuter rail system ON EXISTING RAIL LINES here in Hampton Roads faces environmental impact statements and studies that will take up to a decade for some proposed lines. An attempt to install high speed rail tracks next to the existing AMTRAK rail lines is facing a similar issue and delay. The extension of the northeast highspeed rail corridor south is actually an idea which makes good economic sense (unlike most US HSR proposals) but even using existing infrastructures for a well understood technology is taking decades and costing millions before any tracks are even laid. This new tech will give the regulators all sorts of ammunition to mandate all manner of studies. So there is at least one huge political/legal hurdle not addressed.
As to the technical issues, this is a bit out of my comfort zone, but I'm a tad skeptical of the 100% solar power idea (particularly north of the Mason Dixon Line) and maintaining pressure differentials in well traveled tubes measured in megameters looks to be challenging to say the least.
Brian Wang (who tends to be very sanguine regards mass transit in any form) is running the numbers here, here and here. He looks at the costs here.
That little potential asphyxiation issue notwithstanding this is a very interesting proposal and I'd really like to see something like this made viable.
However, the biggest red flag is not technical or legal...it's Elon Musk. This is something that Ace touched on the other day and I think it's valid. With the exception of Pay-Pal, all of Musk's business ventures have involved government (via taxpayer) subsidies. Tesla and SolarCity are totally dependent on this sweetheart deals and strong-arming rivals via his patrons in congress and CalGov. Even Space-X which is an inspiring and innovative endeavor, exists because it was awarded the space station contract while other less politically connected companies were passed over (perhaps justifiably, perhaps not).
We here at Brickmuppet Blog would dearly like for this to work... But given Musk's past business models the thing this most reminds us of is.....
Elon Musk's much hyped and speculated about design for a transportation system which was unveiled today. The 57 page PDF is here. One of the Brickmuppet's Crack Team of Science Babes is on the case trying to digest all that info...(or at least digest a sweet potato). It turns out that this concept is not the vac-train many people predicted so it doesn't have the same technical issues that people have been bringing up for the last few months. It has completely different technical issues.
I think the notion that right of way issues are no greater than power-lines is wildly optimistic as well as discounting what a legal pain running powerlines can be. The idea of using Inrerstate Medians is a good one that we here at Brickmuppet Blog have long thought to be the only viable right of way option for new rail lines...assuming they could be made economically viable (a BIG assumption). However, keep in mind that attempts to expand a commuter rail system ON EXISTING RAIL LINES here in Hampton Roads faces environmental impact statements and studies that will take up to a decade for some proposed lines. An attempt to install high speed rail tracks next to the existing AMTRAK rail lines is facing a similar issue and delay. The extension of the northeast highspeed rail corridor south is actually an idea which makes good economic sense (unlike most US HSR proposals) but even using existing infrastructures for a well understood technology is taking decades and costing millions before any tracks are even laid. This new tech will give the regulators all sorts of ammunition to mandate all manner of studies. So there is at least one huge political/legal hurdle not addressed.
As to the technical issues, this is a bit out of my comfort zone, but I'm a tad skeptical of the 100% solar power idea (particularly north of the Mason Dixon Line) and maintaining pressure differentials in well traveled tubes measured in megameters looks to be challenging to say the least.
Brian Wang (who tends to be very sanguine regards mass transit in any form) is running the numbers here, here and here. He looks at the costs here.
That little potential asphyxiation issue notwithstanding this is a very interesting proposal and I'd really like to see something like this made viable.
However, the biggest red flag is not technical or legal...it's Elon Musk. This is something that Ace touched on the other day and I think it's valid. With the exception of Pay-Pal, all of Musk's business ventures have involved government (via taxpayer) subsidies. Tesla and SolarCity are totally dependent on this sweetheart deals and strong-arming rivals via his patrons in congress and CalGov. Even Space-X which is an inspiring and innovative endeavor, exists because it was awarded the space station contract while other less politically connected companies were passed over (perhaps justifiably, perhaps not).
We here at Brickmuppet Blog would dearly like for this to work... But given Musk's past business models the thing this most reminds us of is.....
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We Are SO Down With This!
It looks like Russia is trying to popularize tankery.
Now that's a headline that cries out to be double checked so I did and well.... Sure enough.
Russia is challenging the US to compete in a "Tank Biathalon".
Note that Germany and Italy have already agreed to attend.
Of course this being Europe I suspect that the few US civilian tank paintball teams will not be able to participate. (this is a rather different set of rules anyway). BUT THIS IS THE FIRST STEP TO HAVING HIGH SCHOOL TANK TEAMS!
It's also a neat and a decent (if bizarre) gesture given the current diplomatic 'issues'.
more...
Now that's a headline that cries out to be double checked so I did and well.... Sure enough.
Russia is challenging the US to compete in a "Tank Biathalon".
"In the tank biathlon, every tank runs almost 20 kilometres at a maximum possible speed, while firing from all weapons the targets, which are rising in different directions and distances. On the course, a tank has to pass repeatedly a ford, fences, a rut bridge, high-speed sections and overtaking passages. At all the times, the crew remains constantly in the firing position."
Note that Germany and Italy have already agreed to attend.
No word on the Japanese.
Of course this being Europe I suspect that the few US civilian tank paintball teams will not be able to participate. (this is a rather different set of rules anyway). BUT THIS IS THE FIRST STEP TO HAVING HIGH SCHOOL TANK TEAMS!
It's also a neat and a decent (if bizarre) gesture given the current diplomatic 'issues'.
more...
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August 11, 2013
Nerve Gas at JFK?
I just blundered into this story, There's nothing on Drudge as I type this so It may be nothing...it may be breaking.
That from this Daily Mail article. I'm quite doubtful the Chicoms are sending us nerve gas. If it IS a terror attack it could just as easily been sent from LA or Savannah.
Interesting times.
UPDATE: Now they're saying it was beauty supplies.
A Postal Service mail sorting facility at New York's JFK International Airport has been quarantined today after a suspicious package tested positive for VX nerve gas.
Two Customs agents were sicked Sunday morning after inhaling the strange odor coming from the package, which unconfirmed reports indicate was shipped to the United States from China.
That from this Daily Mail article. I'm quite doubtful the Chicoms are sending us nerve gas. If it IS a terror attack it could just as easily been sent from LA or Savannah.
Interesting times.
UPDATE: Now they're saying it was beauty supplies.
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What's in a Name?
As part of her general policy of displaying awesomeness in the comments, Suburban Banshee points out that the name of the new Japanese 'destroyer' has great cultural significance, approaching that of Ise or Yamato.
Interestingly, in stark contrast to ships named Yamato, the Izumo's naval namesake was one of the longest serving and most storied Japanese ships ever.
Built in 1898 in England Izumo was an armored cruiser armed with 4x8 inch and 14x6 inch guns. An off the shelf export design that Armstrong/ Elswick developed for developing nations navies, Izumo outlived most of her half sisters by decades.
She was the flagship of the cruiser force and very heavily engaged in the Russo-Japanese War, leading the raid on Vladivostok, participating in the hunt for the Russian corsair squadron, and seeing action at the pivotal battles of Ulsan and Tsushima. After the war the ship also did all manner of diplomatic missions and saw action in the Mexican civil war (rescuing Japanese nationals). During WW1 the ship served in the Pacific, Indian ocean and also was flagship of the Japanese force in the Mediterranean. Izumo oversaw the internment of the High Seas fleet, and finally escorted the war prize U-boats to Japan.
In the interwar years she did show the flag operations as a training ship.
During the Sino Japanese war the old ship was assigned as the flagship of the naval contingent, served as a shore bombardment vessel and during the naval battle of Shanghai sank a Chinese warship and shot down a warplane.
During WW2 she captured USS Wake and sank HMS Peterel. After that, the old ship served as a training and coast defense ship until sunk at Kure in 1945 by USN planes launched fro.....
Wait.
Back up.
DDH 183's namesake was the flagship during.....Oh.
Oh my.
Messages indeed.
UPDATE: Oh never mind...Teh Banshee had already said all that in an earlier comment.
Interestingly, in stark contrast to ships named Yamato, the Izumo's naval namesake was one of the longest serving and most storied Japanese ships ever.
Built in 1898 in England Izumo was an armored cruiser armed with 4x8 inch and 14x6 inch guns. An off the shelf export design that Armstrong/ Elswick developed for developing nations navies, Izumo outlived most of her half sisters by decades.
She was the flagship of the cruiser force and very heavily engaged in the Russo-Japanese War, leading the raid on Vladivostok, participating in the hunt for the Russian corsair squadron, and seeing action at the pivotal battles of Ulsan and Tsushima. After the war the ship also did all manner of diplomatic missions and saw action in the Mexican civil war (rescuing Japanese nationals). During WW1 the ship served in the Pacific, Indian ocean and also was flagship of the Japanese force in the Mediterranean. Izumo oversaw the internment of the High Seas fleet, and finally escorted the war prize U-boats to Japan.
In the interwar years she did show the flag operations as a training ship.
During the Sino Japanese war the old ship was assigned as the flagship of the naval contingent, served as a shore bombardment vessel and during the naval battle of Shanghai sank a Chinese warship and shot down a warplane.
During WW2 she captured USS Wake and sank HMS Peterel. After that, the old ship served as a training and coast defense ship until sunk at Kure in 1945 by USN planes launched fro.....
Wait.
Back up.
DDH 183's namesake was the flagship during.....Oh.
Oh my.
Messages indeed.
UPDATE: Oh never mind...Teh Banshee had already said all that in an earlier comment.
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Time to Give A Shout-Out to IndieGo-Go
Recently we discussed the potential KickStarter has for shaking things up and bypassing normal gatekeepers and FTC issues.
Well, they have issues of their own.
According to PopSci (link via Rand Simberg) Kickstarter recently made a small, quite specific, change to their terms of service. one that RETROACTIVELY removed the stretch prizes from an already funded project.
The project, to create bio-luminescent plants, received $484,013 of a $65,000 goal by the time funding closed and was going swimmingly until it attracted the ire of some...I dunno...luddites or something who, on May 31, started an online petition to get Kickstarter to block the project. Kickstarter knuckled under on July 1.
This is bigger than depriving the projects $40.00 backers of their glowing leeks...this is an ex post facto decision breaching a contracts in response to an internet petition.
Which brings us to Indiegogo which is another outfit with a similar buisness model that few people had heard of before Kickstarter decided to spurn the faint green light of and embrace the darkness of anti GM hysteria....and break contracts.
So lets hear it for Indiegogo...at least at the moment they don't seem to be opposed in principal to biotech startups.
...and all that that implies.
Kickstarter does good within what appear to be self imposed limits. Beyond those limits it's good to know that there is competition.
Well, they have issues of their own.
According to PopSci (link via Rand Simberg) Kickstarter recently made a small, quite specific, change to their terms of service. one that RETROACTIVELY removed the stretch prizes from an already funded project.
The project, to create bio-luminescent plants, received $484,013 of a $65,000 goal by the time funding closed and was going swimmingly until it attracted the ire of some...I dunno...luddites or something who, on May 31, started an online petition to get Kickstarter to block the project. Kickstarter knuckled under on July 1.
This is bigger than depriving the projects $40.00 backers of their glowing leeks...this is an ex post facto decision breaching a contracts in response to an internet petition.
Which brings us to Indiegogo which is another outfit with a similar buisness model that few people had heard of before Kickstarter decided to spurn the faint green light of and embrace the darkness of anti GM hysteria....and break contracts.
So lets hear it for Indiegogo...at least at the moment they don't seem to be opposed in principal to biotech startups.
...and all that that implies.
Kickstarter does good within what appear to be self imposed limits. Beyond those limits it's good to know that there is competition.
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August 10, 2013
Well, The Thought Was There
Bill Whittle, whose videos I link to frequently, does a very interesting podcast called The Stratosphere Lounge in which he takes questions and holds forth on a wide range of eclectic topics ranging from film to space travel to politics to history. He builds his shows around questions submitted via Facebook in a brief window before the podcast.
Well this weeks show included a question from a viewer about anime. Mr. Whittle expounded for a few minutes on why anime is not his cup of tea. This disquisition however, quickly dovetailed into glowing praise for someone who does not share his opinion on the medium. According to Mr Whittle, someone named 'Steven Den Beste' is brilliant, insightful, inspiring and ALWAYS RIGHT. Mr. Whittle spent several minutes talking about how important Mr. Den Beste's USS Clueless was in the early days of the blogosphere and what a joy it is to read the editorials Steven still occasionally does. After this genuinely heartfelt tribute, Whittle directed his anime attuned listeners to Mr. Den Beste's "Anime Manga...HENTAI..That's the word I'm looking for.. Hentai blog Chizumatic"
....because Steven Den Beste is just the cat's meow and if you're into that hentai stuff Chizumatic is where to find it!
While Mr. Whittle did mention as an aside that he wasn't entirely clear on the meanings of Manga, Anime & Hentai, I suspect that Steven's incoming search terms will be amusing for a bit.
UPDATE: Just to clarify: Hentai is pr0n. Chizumatic is not a hentai blog. The caption is in jest..
Well this weeks show included a question from a viewer about anime. Mr. Whittle expounded for a few minutes on why anime is not his cup of tea. This disquisition however, quickly dovetailed into glowing praise for someone who does not share his opinion on the medium. According to Mr Whittle, someone named 'Steven Den Beste' is brilliant, insightful, inspiring and ALWAYS RIGHT. Mr. Whittle spent several minutes talking about how important Mr. Den Beste's USS Clueless was in the early days of the blogosphere and what a joy it is to read the editorials Steven still occasionally does. After this genuinely heartfelt tribute, Whittle directed his anime attuned listeners to Mr. Den Beste's "Anime Manga...HENTAI..That's the word I'm looking for.. Hentai blog Chizumatic"
....because Steven Den Beste is just the cat's meow and if you're into that hentai stuff Chizumatic is where to find it!
While Mr. Whittle did mention as an aside that he wasn't entirely clear on the meanings of Manga, Anime & Hentai, I suspect that Steven's incoming search terms will be amusing for a bit.
UPDATE: Just to clarify: Hentai is pr0n. Chizumatic is not a hentai blog. The caption is in jest..
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Surprise Haiku
What I put my milk
and cereal in was a
strainer not a bowl
*
What I put my milk
and cereal in was a
strainer not a bowl
*
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"Lawyers are Trained in Theatrics, Illusion and Magic." WHO KNEW!?
I had no idea that by not pursuing a law degree I was condemning myself to mugglehood.
We have just been directly and indirectly made aware of individuals who really really does not like this silly "jury system" that stands in the way of their preferred justice. Popehat discusses a judge who recently berated a jury for doing the unthinkable and finding someone innocent. He also links to this execrable piece (Warning the "Z Word" is used) that seems to contend in complete seriousness that lawyers use sorcery to muddle the minds of foolish jurors. The post title is an actual quote from the piece. It gets stranger from there.
Unusually, I urge you not to read the whole thing. It's quite incohate and if you fail your saving throw you'll lose 1D6 SAN. Read the annotated version instead.
There does seem to be a growing feeling in the country that the purpose of a jury is to convict. Period.
With that in mind I'll link to this...which needs to be linked to periodically by everyone with access to something corresponding to our 5th amendment. It's actual footage of a Defence Against the Dark Arts class at Regent University. Do watch the whole thing. It's 48 minutes long...but it is vitally important and will cost you no SAN.
"Be sure to use your spellchecking quills"
* Young lady with broom is Shiny Chariot from Little Witch Acadamieas. Her actual status with the bar association is unclear.
Obviously a Lawyer.
Allow me to explain.We have just been directly and indirectly made aware of individuals who really really does not like this silly "jury system" that stands in the way of their preferred justice. Popehat discusses a judge who recently berated a jury for doing the unthinkable and finding someone innocent. He also links to this execrable piece (Warning the "Z Word" is used) that seems to contend in complete seriousness that lawyers use sorcery to muddle the minds of foolish jurors. The post title is an actual quote from the piece. It gets stranger from there.
Unusually, I urge you not to read the whole thing. It's quite incohate and if you fail your saving throw you'll lose 1D6 SAN. Read the annotated version instead.
There does seem to be a growing feeling in the country that the purpose of a jury is to convict. Period.
With that in mind I'll link to this...which needs to be linked to periodically by everyone with access to something corresponding to our 5th amendment. It's actual footage of a Defence Against the Dark Arts class at Regent University. Do watch the whole thing. It's 48 minutes long...but it is vitally important and will cost you no SAN.
"Be sure to use your spellchecking quills"
* Young lady with broom is Shiny Chariot from Little Witch Acadamieas. Her actual status with the bar association is unclear.
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August 09, 2013
Definitions Are Important
For example: What is a loaded gun?
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12.5 Seconds
The ad for the last installment of Yamato 2199 is by orders of magnitude far the shortest of them all.
Fingers are crossed.
This has been a superb series. They've done 22 episodes thus far, with only one dud. They just need to not screw things up for these last 4 episodes.
This has been a superb series. They've done 22 episodes thus far, with only one dud. They just need to not screw things up for these last 4 episodes.
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When Does Smacktalking Cross The Line?
Via Paterrico comes a fascinating piece by Ken White over at POPEHAT who has a very long, informative and downright creepy piece on his (and others) dealings with a particularly nasty internet stalker whose attentions he attracted when he did pro-bono work for a gentleman on the stalkers hate list.
I urge you to read the whole thing. It goes into detail about just how hard it can be to take legal action against the sort of cockroach that knows just how far he can go with online harassment without engaging in actionable threats and incitement.
It's part of a larger story that is pretty disturbing as well involving some bloggers whose posts brought them to the attention of a politically active convicted terrorist and his buddies....who harass them to this day. There's a bit of background on that here.
He leaves no sense of what values he promotes, only of what groups and individuals he hates. There's only one circumstance when you get a sense that he's enjoying what he does, that he has a craft or a calling. That's when he's describing someone being raped, murdered, or otherwise abused, or when he's pursuing the families of someone he hates.This has led to trouble.
I urge you to read the whole thing. It goes into detail about just how hard it can be to take legal action against the sort of cockroach that knows just how far he can go with online harassment without engaging in actionable threats and incitement.
It's part of a larger story that is pretty disturbing as well involving some bloggers whose posts brought them to the attention of a politically active convicted terrorist and his buddies....who harass them to this day. There's a bit of background on that here.
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But Is It Art?
Art...indisputable art by Tomioka Jiro
I have a friend who does art. He used to be a professional animator and he's done a bit of small press work in comics. He's been doing art in various capacities for 30 odd years and has a wide range of interests.
He also haets himself some Miku Miku Dance.
I mean anything involving MMD or Poser will get under his skin and if applied for more than a few minutes will send him into a white hot rage rage. It's rather bizarre, its like his IQ drops 35 points and until the offending media is removed all he can say is "Duuhh..I hate dat stufff..." Now this is not a rational response and would seem to be a matter of personal preference and pig-headedness but he recently made an interesting argument when I pointed out that he'd seemed to like The Incredibles.
Well he does like Pixar films...mostly. His argument is that the MMD videos and such aren't actually art because unlike the big studio productions they're just using someone else's creativity. The person doing an MMD video on YouTube in his eyes isn't doing much more than posting a paint by numbers painting and calling it his. The programer has done all the art.
Now, as it happens, I'm tinkering with MMD right now, but I'm not making much progress because, I'm not artistically inclined and doing that on a Mac is clunky. With MMD one is manipulating these wire frame models and even at the most basic level choosing ones choreography. However the facial expressions in particular ARE all built into the program and were put there by the programers as are (I'm told) some basic movements). It's my understanding though, that MMD can be used to produce things like this....
I'm unsure of the provenance of these .gifs (which I nicked from 4-Chan) except that they seem to be from some Touhou fanfic. I understand that one can download Touhou "skins" for MMD wireframes now (fans made those available some years ago) However, even if the creators of this did use off the shelf " paper dolls" for their character designs there is the matter of the choreography and the subtitles which imply writing a script. Of course this is Touhou so it's fanfic anyway. However the potential seems to be there and is certainly present in the professional versions of Poser to apply ones own skins to the products frames. Such additions would require artistic ability (and being 3d would be akin to rendering a sculpture), but the objection of my friend is that those using this medium are using someone else's art.
My feeling is that this is akin to using Legos or perhaps a paintbrush. I'm of the opinion that even MMD can teach aspiring animators about computer animation, choreography and editing, which in the computer age are quite different skills from what they used to be. However, I don't do art, my figure drawing makes Randall Munro* look like Da Vinci so this is most definitely a layman's perspective. I'm really not sure how much ones brush needs to stray outside the numbers before ones effort becomes art.
I'm pretty sure that this piece done with Poser qualifies though
He also haets himself some Miku Miku Dance.
I mean anything involving MMD or Poser will get under his skin and if applied for more than a few minutes will send him into a white hot rage rage. It's rather bizarre, its like his IQ drops 35 points and until the offending media is removed all he can say is "Duuhh..I hate dat stufff..." Now this is not a rational response and would seem to be a matter of personal preference and pig-headedness but he recently made an interesting argument when I pointed out that he'd seemed to like The Incredibles.
Well he does like Pixar films...mostly. His argument is that the MMD videos and such aren't actually art because unlike the big studio productions they're just using someone else's creativity. The person doing an MMD video on YouTube in his eyes isn't doing much more than posting a paint by numbers painting and calling it his. The programer has done all the art.
Now, as it happens, I'm tinkering with MMD right now, but I'm not making much progress because, I'm not artistically inclined and doing that on a Mac is clunky. With MMD one is manipulating these wire frame models and even at the most basic level choosing ones choreography. However the facial expressions in particular ARE all built into the program and were put there by the programers as are (I'm told) some basic movements). It's my understanding though, that MMD can be used to produce things like this....
I'm unsure of the provenance of these .gifs (which I nicked from 4-Chan) except that they seem to be from some Touhou fanfic. I understand that one can download Touhou "skins" for MMD wireframes now (fans made those available some years ago) However, even if the creators of this did use off the shelf " paper dolls" for their character designs there is the matter of the choreography and the subtitles which imply writing a script. Of course this is Touhou so it's fanfic anyway. However the potential seems to be there and is certainly present in the professional versions of Poser to apply ones own skins to the products frames. Such additions would require artistic ability (and being 3d would be akin to rendering a sculpture), but the objection of my friend is that those using this medium are using someone else's art.
My feeling is that this is akin to using Legos or perhaps a paintbrush. I'm of the opinion that even MMD can teach aspiring animators about computer animation, choreography and editing, which in the computer age are quite different skills from what they used to be. However, I don't do art, my figure drawing makes Randall Munro* look like Da Vinci so this is most definitely a layman's perspective. I'm really not sure how much ones brush needs to stray outside the numbers before ones effort becomes art.
I'm pretty sure that this piece done with Poser qualifies though
...but at what point on the spectrum between that piece of magic and simply having Lady Hatsune make a leek face it stops being analogous to stickers on ones Trapper Keeper...well I'm not qualified to answer that.
*Of course his humor certainly IS art.
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August 06, 2013
Of All The Days
As Steven reminds us in the comments of a previous post, the Japanese, earlier today, launched the latest and largest of their 'Destroyers'. We've discussed this nomenclature issue recently. However, it's important to remember that a nations warships are not just tools to be used in desperate times, they are symbols that can send messages.
Because the international dateline can lead to some confusion on dates, I just checked and yes indeed, when the vessel was launched it was Tuesday in Japan.
So. Japan launched its largest warship since WW2...on August 6.
China is not the only nation being sent messages.
Because the international dateline can lead to some confusion on dates, I just checked and yes indeed, when the vessel was launched it was Tuesday in Japan.
So. Japan launched its largest warship since WW2...on August 6.
China is not the only nation being sent messages.
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August 05, 2013
A Gripe
As I post this, it's a bit more than an hour before episode 5 of Stella-Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch airs on Crunchyroll. I note this is almost a WEEK after most all the cool kids have seen it.
more...
I've been judiciously avoiding spoilers, but here's not much point in blogging this one.
UPDATE: OK. For those of you who've already seen this.....
UPDATE: OK. For those of you who've already seen this.....
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
11:08 PM
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August 04, 2013
The Perils of Niece-Sitting
They need a different container....
....this is NOT toothpaste.
Also: "Blargh...Ptooey! Ptooey!"
....this is NOT toothpaste.
Also: "Blargh...Ptooey! Ptooey!"
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
12:57 AM
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August 03, 2013
The Malay Word For 'Hnnnnng'
While gathering data for Pixy on a particularly pernicious spammer I think I learned something.
I'm not implying that I learned anything correct or useful mind you. Hell I don't even know for sure that it's Malay...but dealing with that assault was quite the melee.
" I think this is wrong and probably offensive."
I'm not implying that I learned anything correct or useful mind you. Hell I don't even know for sure that it's Malay...but dealing with that assault was quite the melee.
" I think this is wrong and probably offensive."
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
08:06 PM
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Post contains 59 words, total size 1 kb.
My First KickStarter
UPDATE:
Ah.
Kickstarter widgets only work for Pixies.
Anyhoo, after looking long and hard at next semesters finances, I just donated to a rural library project and sent a cool C to support Little Witch Academias 2.
Of course at this point the issue is not in doubt a all except that there are only 4 days left to partake of the goodies.
Kickstarter is a pretty awesome concept. Currently its niche seems to be micro-financing of artistic endeavors. I do wonder how long it will be before it gets regulated out of existence.
For now though it is a really neat concept that has, for one thing, helped a lot of creators bring forth their visions to the world.
Ah.
Kickstarter widgets only work for Pixies.
Anyhoo, after looking long and hard at next semesters finances, I just donated to a rural library project and sent a cool C to support Little Witch Academias 2.
Of course at this point the issue is not in doubt a all except that there are only 4 days left to partake of the goodies.
Kickstarter is a pretty awesome concept. Currently its niche seems to be micro-financing of artistic endeavors. I do wonder how long it will be before it gets regulated out of existence.
For now though it is a really neat concept that has, for one thing, helped a lot of creators bring forth their visions to the world.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
06:23 PM
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Post contains 123 words, total size 1 kb.
August 02, 2013
But Nobody Reads the TOS
Given that it is a group blog by a bunch of lawyers, I was surprised to learn the extent to which the terms of service at the Volokh Conspiracy are much shorter and straightforward than most.
And yet......
And yet......
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
06:38 AM
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