Brickmuppet Blog 2.0

November 12, 2016

Late Northern Renaissance Punk!

One of The Brickmuppet's Crack Team of Ballisticians brings us news of......

"A 17th CENTURY BREECH-LOADING WHEEL-LOCK!!!"

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Thank You

For a variety of reasons I was not able to post yesterday. However, Neo, J.C. Carlton, Paterrico, Rand Simberg and Tam all have posts on Veteran's Day.

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November 10, 2016

Memorial Cheesecake

The late Steven DenBeste is deconstructing idiocies in another realm. Given his tendency to post cheesecake,Wonderduck suggested that we all post some in remembrance.

He was far more sanguine about Trump than I am and one hopes he is on some other plane taking some satisfaction from the weeks events. So, in the sincere hope that he was right about our president elect, and in acknowledgement of the surprising events of Tuesday, the and my own character flaws, we here at Brickmuppet Blog present you with topical cheesecake...

(NSFW below the fold)

more...

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November 09, 2016

A Few Quick Thoughts on this Mornings Upset

I was pleasantly impressed with Trump's magnanimous acceptance speech, which has, at least for a time, tempered the very mixed emotions I had voting for him.

In fairness, I was also pleasantly surprised with Madame Secretary's prompt and congenial concession.

The U.K. Independent, which is certainly NOT on the Trump train, has some surprisingly reassuring thoughts.

Sarah Hoyt, who, like me held her nose tightly and voted for the fellow, has some very somber thoughts that deserve to be read in full.

(Update: Kelly Anne Conway really is the acme of political consultants.)

This.

I should note that as much as we here at Brickmuppet Blog disagree with President Obama, when he was elected, we did not mock him and we defended or spoke up on his behalf on those rare occasions he did something we thought to be good, proper, sensible or at least defense-able.

So we can only react with mockery to this.

"Mock mock mockety mock."

A lot of people are worried. Even many of us that voted for him believe that Trump warrants considerable vigilance. Rest assured though that the press will provide that oversight with verve and a sense of urgency in exactly the same way that they wouldn't have for his opponent.

So lighten up.

Finally,

Takumi Yanai's work may not be the only evidence of time travel....

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HOLY CRAP!

We are actually less utterly screwed than I thought we would be this morning!

I remain deeply skeptical of Trump, but credit where it is due, he has done what most thought impossible. Whatever his flaws (and they are legion) I can, with considerable confidence, wholeheartedly and without reservation agree that by far the lesser of two evils won this election.

Hillary Clinton wasn't just singularly corrupt. She was the standard bearer for a group, a party and an self-appointed faux aristocracy that not only feels unwarranted entitlement to rule over us, but despises us with every fiber of their being.

We're in for a rough ride as a nation. Trump quite scary in his own ways. However, there is another bright side to this; the intensity with which political correctness got a kick in the groin this morning.

And that, at least, unambiguously rocks!

***********************

On a rather less serious note. It is infinitesimally less improbable that Takuni Yanai, is in fact a time traveller.

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November 08, 2016

Well, The Election Looks to......Wait. What?

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November 07, 2016

RWBY 4-2

There's no actual action in this episode, but a lot of stuff is established.

Ruby keeps having nightmares about Pyrrha and keeps hearing her voice at night.

Do you remember when the backgrounds were an afterthought if they were present at all?

We do get to see Weiss. Her family life is about what we'd come to expect.

Our heroes reach the village they've been looking for only to find it razed. The lone survivor explains that it was bandits, followed by grimm...and expires. Ren and Nora recognize....something.

Ren and Nora's history has only been alluded to obliquely. It is known that they are both orphans and strongly implied that they are the only survivors of their village(s?).

This was a solidly written episode.

This season is off to a stellar start.

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21 Minutes of Idiocy

Also Lawbreaking. In particular Newton's first.

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November 06, 2016

Flip-Flappers

It's pretty clear from the title what this show's going to be about...

When two teenage girls trying to make it as real estate speculators in Prohibition era Chicago decide to compete for top prize in a dance contest at a local speakeasy, they manage to run afoul of the mob, some cultists, a Bolshevik plot and an inept gumshoe. Our heroines must cope with bandits, biplanes, and 10,000 bullets as they...

Wait...

That synopsis may not actually be entirely accurate.

Good Grief! This show's title is completely misleading.

OK, I have NO idea what is going on in Flip-Flappers, and can't even make a guess as to the etymology of the title

But I kind of like it.

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November 05, 2016

Good Hunting, but do Be Careful

J.C. Carlton (whose blog you should be following) has a thoughtful disquisition on the state of political discourse. Out of consideration for our readers, we'll post our quibbles below the fold and post a picture of Best Oni here.

Because she's relevant.

more...

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November 03, 2016

Hoyt On The Election

Sarah Hoyt has thoughts on next Tuesday's Russian roulette session.

My own thoughts on the matter are that...

What?

"Oh God...Not politics PLEASE!"

Oh.

They're brief, but out of concern for those who are suffering from induced politicophobia, they are below the fold.

more...

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1 The Tea Party was a petition; ignored by both sides of the aisle .
Trump is a warning; hated by both sides of the aisle
What comes next against the oligarchs...?
I've two teenage daughters. I'd rather they not see the "Kosovo-ization" of America.

Posted by: Clayton Barnett at Thu Nov 3 20:30:49 2016 (ug1Mc)

2 For what it's worth, here's my reasoning for why not voting for Clinton is the least-worst choice for US voters:

It's highly likely that Russian and Chinese cyberspies have copies of all the emails Clinton sent and received on her illicit email server back when she was Secretary of State; if Clinton becomes President, it would be highly likely that the Russian and/or Chinese governments will attempt to blackmail her with those emails, in an effort to bend US policy to their will. If this does happen, I'd wager that she would not take being blackmailed very well, and that she would act out by provoking a confrontation with her blackmailers ("You can't push me around, Mister Putin!!")--a confrontation that could degenerate into a shooting war.

Posted by: Peter the Not-so-Great at Thu Nov 3 21:17:28 2016 (jS1F0)

3 I figured out months ago that there is no argument either in favor of or against either candidate that can not be convincingly refuted. I'm a bit disappointed but not surprised that Hoyt tried to reason her way to her current position...advocacy for either defies rationality. You can argue for chance, luck, or faith. But I believe the only aspect of the next for years that can be reasoned is how to deal with the aftermath, as reason has already failed in this election for President.

Posted by: Ben at Fri Nov 4 10:08:53 2016 (Q8qgB)

4 My reasoning is simple. If Trump wins, the SJW contingent will totally lose their minds. If Hillary wins, they will become even MORE insufferable.

Makes the choice easy.

Posted by: Mauser at Fri Nov 4 17:44:01 2016 (5Ktpu)

5 I'm tempted to stock up on ammunition and sell it when prices go up...

Posted by: Avatar_exADV at Fri Nov 4 23:40:17 2016 (/lg1c)

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The Road Ahead of Us Passes into Fog

All year, there have been signs.

The rules no longer seem to apply.

Things which make the world work are breaking down.

The stars are now right for chaos to be loosed upon us all.

Now we finally have proof.

That the end times,

are upon us.

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November 02, 2016

In Which the Word Literally Could Literally be Used Literally

Thank you Dustbury. I just broke my chair....but it was worth it.

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November 01, 2016

More in the "2016 Sucks" Department

Dr. Jerry Pournelle's wife Roberta suffered a stroke yesterday morning.

Dr. Pournelle is asking for prayers.

He is himself recovering from a stroke he suffered some years ago.

His tip jar is here.

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October 31, 2016

Happy Halloween

Halloween Mercy by Tako Seijin

Touhou's Marissa by Bakanoe

Idolmaster drama generators by Ilo/Mairo

Blake the Candy Pirate by Lesupa

Finally, if the above images are just too pleasant for you, there is always the Halloween episode of Gumball, which has Gumball, Darwin and the ghost girl who haunts their school encounter the most accurate depiction of a shouggath ever.

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October 30, 2016

RWBY Season 4 Begins

When last we left our intrepid heroes in team RNGR (or JNRR, there is some disagreement on this point) they had struck out across the continent in the hopes of finding out who was behind the destruction of Beacon Academy, and the devastation of Vale.

This episode takes place between 6 and 18 months since the last one and there have been some developments....

This person, despite not a whit of dialog, seems to be significant.

We do learn several things, including the true nature of Pumpkin Pete, but mostly that three years of practice and a major increase in budget allow for a tremendous boost in quality. This looks gorgeous! The fight sequence was much more in the spirit of Monty Oum than the trailer, which I was somewhat critical of. the voice work is still very good and the pacing is excellent.

On the debit side, most of the new additions to the villian side seem to lack the panache of the ones we know, and seem to be mimeographs of cardboard cutouts, though their screen time was brief and that may well change moving forward.

This series went through a dramatic shift in tone and direction at the end of last season to something rather darker than many of its fans had grown accustomed to. That hasn't changed, however it is refreshing to see that the show has not lost its sense of humor or heart. This season is starting off promising.

Note that as I type this, RWBY is not on Crunchyroll's front page, but it is viewable there.

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October 28, 2016

I Don't Think That Punnett Squares Work That Way

Art by Nukomasu

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Meanwhile.....

While all eyes are on today's explosive developments in the Sinclair Lewis, Ian Fleming and Judy Blume collaboration that is the presidential election, we should take this time to at what else is happening.

Russia just completed a civil defense drill that involved 40 million civilians.

China's Premier, Xi Jinping just got promoted to "Core Leader" which means that he's now essentially got as much power as Mao did.

India and Pakistan are expelling diplomats.

Iran is seizing U.S. hostages....since this has been such a lucrative business in the past.

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Oh Look! I'll Have to Buy Some Froot Loops

Crunchyrool will start running RWBY tomorrow at 08:00, so I guess I should go in for the whole Saturday Morning cartoon experience.

I haven't watched anything this season. I'm curious about Flip-Flappers, mainly because its name indicates a certain whimsy or at least the potential for something that's entertainingly bad.

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October 24, 2016

Steven DenBeste 1952-2016

Steven DenBeste has passed away.

I just received word from Steven's brother, graciously thanking me for making the welfare call to the police and confirming that what many of us feared had indeed come to pass. I did not inquire as to specifics, but Steven had been in very poor health of late, having had a stroke just under four years ago.

Steven was brilliant, a former engineer with a crackerjack mind. His old blog, U.S.S. Clueless was tremendously important in the early days of the 'blogosphere'. It is hard to overstate the importance of U.S.S. Clueless and the brilliance of his analysis. Sadly, that site went down this past week as well, when Steven's server failed. That site was immensely influential to many of us, and I am far from the only person he inspired to blog or helped along.

Bill Whittle once described Steven as

..brilliant, insightful, inspiring and ALWAYS RIGHT.

Bill, like so many others, was positively impacted by Steven's writings and inspired to do his own. Mr. Whittle also described Steven as one of the most gentle people he had known.

Some years ago, due to declining health and vicious internet trolling, Steven started Chizumatic to focus on less consequential topics, but he continued to be inspirational and influential in his new bailiwick.

Pete describes it thus:

Named after a character in Mahoromatic, Chizumatic was one of the oldest anime blogs.......

.....From the beginning, Chizumatic offered a strong editorial voice for the most competent direction and the cutest girls, as well as an excellent understanding of the classical blogging, which Steven brought with him from the political arena. Explanations and WMG were another hallmark. Did you think too that the crow in Haibane Renmei represented Rakkaâ€™s dog? We arenâ€™t getting such insights anymore and animeblogging has become poorer for that.

Steven DenBeste had an overwhelmingly positive influence on the world despite his physical frailty, one out of all proportion to his resources. The world today is undeniably a better place for his having lived, but it is a bit dimmer today with his loss.

He will be sorely missed.

UPDATE:

Others, far more talented and eloquent than I have opined on this sad turn of events.

Rand Simberg, Dustbury, Aziz, Bill Quick, Neo-Neocon, J.C. Carlton, Ed Driscoll, Ace of Spades, Jim Geraghty, Wonderduck, Suburban Banshee, Paterrico, Cold Fury, and Pixy has a whole other set of links. Sarah Hoyt, being a professional author, summed it up pithily

We shall not see his like again.

It looks like most of the U.S.S. Clueless archives have been saved and others in the comments to this post are working on additional backups.

Thank you for all you did Steven DenBeste.

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1 I didn't want to post this at the main site as that should be for memorials instead of the world, but I can't help but wonder if his last blog post, titled "Board up the windows, 'cause they's a storm coming!" won't turn out prophetic for us all.

Posted by: StargazerA5 at Mon Oct 24 14:12:40 2016 (5YSpE)

2 I had some small dealings with Steven, met him once, and he was an extraordinary man. Godspeed

Posted by: Roger Simon at Mon Oct 24 16:54:45 2016 (FthRF)

3 I never met him but did take the time to write him a comment at USS Clueless telling him how incredibly impressed I was with something he had written. He was truly a brilliant man blessed (or cursed, as you wish) with trenchant insight. He will be missed. However, as I've said about my late father recently, maybe we should be grateful for him that he's no longer here to see what has happened to this country.

Posted by: mac at Mon Oct 24 17:02:57 2016 (eI49Y)

4 RIP. Steve was a huge influence on me, both intellectually and for his appreciation of the films of Miyazaki. This is just sad.

Posted by: Travis at Mon Oct 24 17:05:46 2016 (AvzDP)

5 The Internet lost a great mind. He was one of the first blogs I found and read him every day. His site introduced me to wretchard the cat, i.e. The Belmont Club. Miss his commentary and insight. I think I have USS Clueless website downloaded somewhere.

Posted by: Bart Calder at Mon Oct 24 17:09:43 2016 (zzFQG)

Without Steven, I'd likely have never discovered anime. From there, manga and visual novels. Thus, I'd never have become a writer in my dotage. His effect upon my life is incalculable.

USS Clueless and Instapundit were the two pillars of the dextrosphere in the early days. Chizumatic and Glenn's site have been daily reads of mine for over a decade. In the coming storms of the West, his wisdom and intelligence shall be sorely missed.

+May Almighty God bless you and take you home.

Posted by: Clayton Barnett at Mon Oct 24 17:10:43 2016 (ug1Mc)

7 Aw Crap.

Posted by: William O. Blivion at Mon Oct 24 17:13:20 2016 (YfNDp)

8 What a loss. His was a daily read, along with Eject!Eject!Eject!, Instapundit, and Belmont Club. We are losing many of our first important bloggers so fast.

May the Lord watch ever over him, and his family be given peace.

Posted by: nbpundit at Mon Oct 24 17:23:54 2016 (DPeBZ)

9 A huge loss. Condolences to the family, close ones and all who desire to live in freedom.

Posted by: Steve DiSciullo at Mon Oct 24 17:26:58 2016 (3myMJ)

10 I am saddened beyond words. Thank God I have the complete archive of the USS Clueless

Posted by: Peter Burke at Mon Oct 24 17:27:51 2016 (qCPlA)

11 thought highly of him, found him to be thoughtful, and on an increasingly acidic internet, don't remember him ever being cruel. And, he went to Oregon State University so I thought that was sort of cool, in that I went to UO about the same time. Am amazed that I find myself tearing up at his departure ...

Posted by: Nancy Gee at Mon Oct 24 17:31:51 2016 (EvFB4)

Thank God I have the complete archive of the USS Clueless

May I forward your e-mail address?
If so, someone may be contacting you soon.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Mon Oct 24 17:33:15 2016 (KicmI)

13 I would never have taken off with out SDB and USS Clueless. Not only did he send me a lot of traffic, I learned SO MUCH from him. Absolutely brilliant and the most soft-spoken man I have ever met.
BW

Posted by: Bill Whittle at Mon Oct 24 17:38:10 2016 (eOjzd)

14 This is terrible, if not wholly unexpected, news. SdB meant a lot to those of us just striking out into the blogospheric wilds many years ago, and we will mourn, because that's what we do when we lose one of our best friends.

Posted by: CGHill at Mon Oct 24 17:38:40 2016 (TkuZj)

15 Very sad to hear this news. I briefly knew him back in the 80's at Tek, and enjoyed the experience and humor he had to share with a freshly minted engineer.
Was amazed later when I found USS Clueless, and found he had additional depths and insights not apparent in the surface contact from a work setting.

RIP, Steven

Posted by: PlainBill at Mon Oct 24 17:54:25 2016 (t4cn6)

16 USS Clueless was one of the first blogs I read. Steven was a true thinker and I always looked forward to his posts. He opened my eyes to many things. Although we never met, he has had a big influence on the way I think and look at things. Rest in peace, Steven. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

Posted by: Dan Schalk at Mon Oct 24 18:09:26 2016 (1yx5a)

17 A great man and a terrible loss. I know he's been ill for some time, but it still seems sudden, and far too soon.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at Mon Oct 24 18:17:46 2016 (PiXy!)

18 He was unique. One of a kind, As Sarah Hoyt said over on Insty, "We shall not see his like again."
He will be missed - and I hope there's some way to get that archive back up. It was on a personal server at his home, IIRC.
I suspect his brother might be amenable to shipping it somewhere.

Posted by: Kathy Kinsley at Mon Oct 24 18:25:38 2016 (c4lKd)

19 SdB was great when Glenn Reynolds was just good.
(give something for Insta to aspire to...)

Posted by: Thomas Roberts at Mon Oct 24 18:31:23 2016 (BCHQJ)

20 I hate 2016.
You will be missed Steven.

Posted by: SPQR at Mon Oct 24 18:47:38 2016 (dW1Y+)

21 I read his work religiously and can trace my skepticism about solar power to him (by virtue of him doing the math and show just how little effect the technology will have).

This, on top of everything else, confirms that this is a cursed year.

Posted by: Bill Peschel at Mon Oct 24 18:55:52 2016 (SHTHL)

22 Everything just got a little darker.
I read him regularly in the very early days, and it would always brighten my day to see him leave a comment somewhere for me to come across unexpectedly more recently.
May he finally have time to watch every episode of every series that he was interested in, and for him to understand them without subs or dubbing.

Posted by: koa at Mon Oct 24 18:56:37 2016 (2sH9z)

23 He will be sorely missed.
Back in the early 2000s, when he still lived in San Diego County, I tried to convince him to talk to one of my TV news station's reporters for a story we were doing about blogging. Those were the early days, and blogs were still a novelty. Den Beste declined, citing his health. I didn't fully realize, back then, how precarious his health actually was.
USS Clueless was so important to the early blogosphere.
Farewell, Captain.

Posted by: L at Mon Oct 24 19:00:18 2016 (v9mey)

24
What the man wrote and posted on U.S.S. Clueless had such a profound effect on so many.

Thank you for sharing your towering intellect with us, sir.

You made a difference and your life made the world a better place.

Posted by: Aether at Mon Oct 24 19:01:07 2016 (Nw2ea)

25 Several times today I've found myself automatically heading to the link to Chizumatic. Every time I've realized that there will be nothing new there (aside from the occasional message in his last post from a friend of his) my eyes have teared up...

RIP, Steven.

Posted by: Civilis at Mon Oct 24 19:04:50 2016 (mtf6N)

26 SDB and USS Clueless was THE first blog I ran across when I started reading blogs. It was a daily visit without fail.

Damn. Sad news to hear.

God Speed.

Posted by: exsanguine at Mon Oct 24 19:07:29 2016 (QJ3mM)

27 Sometimes there just aren't any words. USS Clueless was a daily read for me, and I missed it when it ended. Farewell, SDB.

Posted by: ClydeS at Mon Oct 24 19:25:18 2016 (xeajn)

28 I just want to throw up. Look at all the progress we have made since USSC.

Posted by: pawn at Mon Oct 24 19:30:25 2016 (vMllE)

29 For me too, USS Clueless was one of the first blogs I routinely read--I came for the science and political commentary, and I stayed for the anime (yes, including the cheesecake pics) when he switched to Chizumatic. His death is a shame, doubly so when you consider that if 1952 actually is the year of his birth, he was only 64 years old.

Posted by: Peter the Not-so-Great at Mon Oct 24 20:09:57 2016 (jS1F0)

30 What a sad day. I heard about it just as I was putting in the DVD for Shinmai Maou no Testament BURST when I glanced at my laptop and found out about Steven's death. Once I finished my business, I darted to the Internet to read the depressing news. This can't be happening! Does anyone have contact info for Steven's brother?

Posted by: Dr. Stephen J. Krune III at Mon Oct 24 20:11:18 2016 (3u2M9)

31 He should go down in history as one of the best, a Columbus or Vespucci, exploring an unknown world. Godspeed, Navigator!

Posted by: joemack at Mon Oct 24 20:49:25 2016 (lCc6O)

32 I have been working so much this last couple of weeks that I haven't had time to check my usual blogs. So I was blindsided by this loss. And it is definitely a loss to us. But I truly hope that Steven is in a better place now. It made my heart sink to read his occasional references to how his physically accessible world kept growing smaller and smaller.

Even if there's no public funeral, I wish there could be some sort of memorial service. Maybe there could be some kind of scholarship or something fitting, so that his name would live on.

And yes, I definitely hope that the HMS Clueless archives can be found and kept somewhere forever accessible to the world. They are a valuable part of history, as well as something we would like to be able to read and remember.

Posted by: suburbanbanshee@gmail.com at Mon Oct 24 21:01:23 2016 (S0Svy)

33 I too have the USS Clueless archive, waiting for me to go through it all. I may have commented on it once - back then I was following Eject!^3 and LGF before it went mad. I rediscovered him at Chizumatic (After the format change), and we had exchanged emails on several topics. I left after we had a falling out, and I guess rapprochement is moot now.

I guess it falls to the rest of us to see if collectively we can make up for the loss to the Anime blogging world.

If there's one lesson we can take from this, the Internet may SEEM to take care of all our social needs, but it can't be there for you when reality knocks on the door. We need people in our offline lives to see to our well-being as well. Hermitage is life without a net. And as much as our pride tells us we can go it alone, we need people in our daily lives.

And 'muppet, good on you for stepping up and calling in the rescue, even if, unfortunately, it was not a false alarm.

Posted by: Mauser at Mon Oct 24 21:08:40 2016 (5Ktpu)

34 Rest well, Steven Den Beste. Thank you for your intellect and your courage in sharing it with those willing to receive the truth.

I have missed your words for years but remember well how impactful they were.

To The Brickmuppet, thank you for this space to mourn his passing.

Posted by: Emily Bennett at Mon Oct 24 21:27:33 2016 (Ql7Qt)

35 Another lurker of the early blogosphere here. USS Clueless was a staple of my blogroll, and I was ecstatic to find another conservative otaku, particularly a witty, intelligent one who was never a dull read. (alas, most of whom are progtards) He will be fondly remembered and greatly missed.

Posted by: Saber Alter at Mon Oct 24 21:34:34 2016 (Z8ySM)

Those USS Clueless archives would be a treasure.

As was Mr. Den Beste, himself. We're beyond fortunate that the early 'net let such giants become known to us all.

Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at Mon Oct 24 21:42:36 2016 (v5iqM)

37 RIP Steven. I'm another guy who's been reading his intelligent musings since around 2002. I can't really add anything to what others have already so eloquently said about him.
You'll be missed terribly. Godspeed, sir.

Posted by: Tex Lovera at Mon Oct 24 21:47:04 2016 (8MFrj)

38 I think, most days, he was happy. Certainly I was happy to have known him.

Posted by: Avatar_exADV at Mon Oct 24 21:59:30 2016 (/lg1c)

39 RIP Steven. USS Clueless was brilliant and Chizumatic was a great introduction to anime. He and I had some email conversations back in the day. I actually made a chibi of him some years ago.
He will be missed.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at Mon Oct 24 21:59:32 2016 (AroJD)

40 Bravissimo, Steven.
A man in full and life well lived.
I loved your mind and your wit since 2001.

Posted by: Kimmon D. Johnson at Mon Oct 24 21:59:55 2016 (q5uid)

41 Farewell and following seas, Captain.

Posted by: Foodog at Mon Oct 24 22:07:23 2016 (0faRj)

42 What a tragedy. The loss of such a respected mind will surely leave the anime blogosphere a shadow of it's former self.

Posted by: Darius J. Wolfe at Mon Oct 24 22:10:11 2016 (HAq2P)

43 Nice fellow Took time to answer my questions.
Jason

Posted by: Jason at Mon Oct 24 22:11:43 2016 (6rHZ7)

44 USS Clueless and its captain Steven Den Beste helped me to navigate in the storms after September 11, 2001. I owe a great debt to both because they helped me to clarify my thinking.

I very much hope that someone will preserve a full archive of USS Clueless online for posterity. Few blogs deserve to be part of a permanent museum of the blogosphere, but USS Clueless is a must.

R.I.P. to Steven and condolences to his family and friends.

Posted by: Stakhanov at Mon Oct 24 22:12:15 2016 (K525C)

45 I am without words. Steven was without equal. I felt we had lost an irreplaceable warrior when he discontinued Clueless, but at least I knew he was out there. I just can't believe it.

Posted by: David Wall at Mon Oct 24 22:22:31 2016 (FKCX6)

46 (sigh)

Well, hell.

Posted by: Wonderduck at Mon Oct 24 22:39:33 2016 (vZvpB)

47 I will always remember his well written post on why alternative energies could not be scaled up to replace conventional energy. It was an eye opener to me. He will be missed.

Posted by: Teri Pittman at Mon Oct 24 22:39:41 2016 (Lqy/e)

48 The many kudos you will read in the next few days just don't convey the impact that Steven had in the early days. He was (and is) a legend.

Posted by: Norton at Mon Oct 24 23:08:36 2016 (Kq7+h)

49 Like many others, I was a fan of his USS Clueless blog. I remember the great sense of loss that I felt when he stopped blogging on Clueless. Now I am reliving that great feeling of loss once more. I hope the archives can be saved, so that others will be able to enjoy them in the future.

Posted by: Lewis at Mon Oct 24 23:16:49 2016 (PetUs)

50 Another lurker checking in to say that Steven has been a daily visit for several years now. I owe much of my exposure to anime to him.

Back in his USS Clueless days, Steven posted a brief autobiography, and while denbeste.nu is down, the Internet Wayback Machine has it preserved here. In his memory, I will note that this is a proper hyperlink instead of a URL just dumped into the comment, and that he was born in 1953.

Posted by: benzeen at Mon Oct 24 23:27:14 2016 (JpDcM)

51 @50, I remember the matrix of selfies in that post!

Sadly, I'm pretty certain that most things that I had said in his blog, when weighed against the scales of "good comment" vs "bad comment", would have put me on the "bad comment" side. He did appear to be happy the one time I had posted that I didn't remember the contents of the post due to the fascinating images in the top rotation (cough).

Sigh. The world's IQ has dropped a bit with his passing. I felt the same when my father passed away.

Pleasant dreams, Mr. Den Beste. You have touched more people than perhaps you knew.

Posted by: Mark A. Flacy at Mon Oct 24 23:44:03 2016 (w0U7L)

52 He will be sorely missed.

I have a full copy off the USS Clueless site as well, if it's needed.

Posted by: SundogUK at Tue Oct 25 00:19:10 2016 (SBDA0)

53 Back when Steven first shut down USS Clueless, I was concerned that the contents would be lost. He sent me, at my request, an archive of the site, and I hosted it on Electric Minds for a time. I have once again made that archive available here.
He was a great influence on everyone that read his writing, including me. He will be sorely missed.

Posted by: Erbo at Tue Oct 25 00:31:05 2016 (5yK0B)

54 Thanks Erbo.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at Tue Oct 25 01:33:46 2016 (PiXy!)

When I saw the post on SDB's passing at the Puppy Blender's site I felt my heart fall and fall and fall. USS Clueless was the first blog I bookmarked. SDB taught me how to sharpen the BS detector in my brain and his musings on energy and engineering were a master's course in critical thinking. Thank you Steven for the positive impact on my life.

Several posters have said they have the archive of USS Clueless. If anyone plans to get in online then a link would be appreciated.

Rest in peace Steven.

Posted by: Tom at Tue Oct 25 04:27:15 2016 (TMr+G)

56 He was a great writer, a brilliant man, and was nice to me when he didn't really have to be. Farewell, Steven.

Posted by: Mike at Tue Oct 25 05:34:33 2016 (uQC7i)

57 Yes. As so many have said, Steve was a formative influence in my life, early in the blogosphere's history
He was insightful, brilliant, and oh so right. Perspicacity became him, and I felt happier and smarter just to read him.
Thank you.
What a man!

Posted by: Orson at Tue Oct 25 06:51:47 2016 (fqmY9)

58 Sorry to learn of his passing,
read him from the start, super-smart,
never forget his telling of how he got his last name.
See you again someday, Mr Den Beste!

Posted by: mccaff at Tue Oct 25 07:16:30 2016 (ve4ik)

59 Sorry to read this; he was one of the first bloggers I had started to read.
May he rest in peace. My condolences to his family and friends.
Tom

Posted by: Tom Burroughes at Tue Oct 25 07:31:58 2016 (XsY8/)

60 Huh, we often agreed but sometimes also crossed swords, but he was one of the Original Gangsta Bloggers, for sure, back when we were "warblogs". Godspeed Denbeste.

Posted by: Perry de Havilland at Tue Oct 25 08:03:37 2016 (EaVcu)

61 Is there an archive for USS Clueless? Can the server be saved? Who will be Steven's executor?

Why? Because I'd like to get some of USS Clueless published.

Posted by: Tom Kratman at Tue Oct 25 08:37:29 2016 (0NULD)

62 Col. Kratman,
There are several sites mirroring it now; and I agree. It's not "like" it's not "Should" it's "MUST BE PUBLISHED."

I'd have volunteered to edit the moment I thought of it, but the family (whom I presume has the rights) doesn't know me, and I don't have the chops (experience) to take on a project like that. Baen was the first publisher I thought of though -- but please, keep Eric Flint as far away from it as possible.

See https://erbosoft.com/ussclueless/

Posted by: ubu at Tue Oct 25 10:43:34 2016 (SlLGE)

63 USS Clueless was either the first or second website that I ever bookmarked. It was a daily read for me. Chizumatic wasn't, but I did drop by occasionally.
I almost always learned something from his posts at USS Clueless. I downloaded his archives, but I think I lost them when the computer I had at the time died.
I'm sorry to hear that he's gone. My condolences to his family, and to anyone else who misses him.

Posted by: wheels at Tue Oct 25 11:01:18 2016 (PRLW0)

64 Steven had granted me permission to mirror the content of USS Clueless when he sent me the archive, and he had a note up for a time on the site itself to that effect. I believe that permission still holds. I also believe he wouldn't have wanted all of it to be lost when his server finally died.

Posted by: Erbo at Tue Oct 25 11:49:37 2016 (GEYqS)

65 You can confirm the above in a snapshot from the Internet Archive: the text he put up was:
"20040917: For whatever it's worth, Electric Minds has put up a mirror of this site (with my permission)."
The link was to www.electricminds.org/ussclueless. At the time, Electric Minds was still running, and I was the administrator of the site. I still hold the domain, even though it's no longer in use.

Posted by: Erbo at Tue Oct 25 11:54:00 2016 (GEYqS)

66 Did anyone save/archive the Chizumatic review index? I realize it's more ephemeral than his work as USS Clueless, but I really liked his reviews and show meta. I'll be sad if I never see them again...

Posted by: Elena at Tue Oct 25 13:21:11 2016 (SWGHZ)

67 Elena, there's a pretty complete archive at Archive.Org. The last copy was taken a few months ago, and I think he'd been posting almost exclusively at his mee.nu blog since then.

Some of the images are missing, but all the posts seem to be there.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at Tue Oct 25 17:27:49 2016 (PiXy!)

68 Dammit ..... the bad news we've all been expecting.
His allowing me a glimpse into the inner workings and clarity of a mind much more powerful than mine forever changed my perception of higher reasoning.
His Clueless postings were the most enjoyable reading I had ever come across.
They each left me with neural envy.
.... and I admired his belligerence just as much.
He posted somewhere that the period of his life where he had such clarity of deep thought was chemically induced, and he couldn't reproduce it otherwise.
I think he was just tired of sharing his brilliance with us.

Posted by: Redneck Texan at Tue Oct 25 17:50:40 2016 (vZ0KM)

69 Another 'lurker' here, in the sense that I never really had any direct interaction with him. His USS Clueless was one of my first bookmarks, and I'd never even thought of Anime as a 'real' art form until he started chizumatic. But since he was writing about it, I felt it must have some merit.
If the family has a memorial, or an obit, where the thousands of us he touched by his writing can at least leave a few kind words I'd love to know about it. For all we know his family might not know about the depth of his audience over the years and how well respected he was in certain circles. They may have though him to be a shut-in with a weird hobby. I'd like to leave a few words, or send some flowers, so they know he will be missed by many.

Posted by: Jim at Tue Oct 25 19:13:22 2016 (1O/uG)

70 My condolences.

He was one of the first bloggers that I read, all the way back in undergrad. While I've never had enough to say over as broad a range of topics as Steven, he inspired me to try blogging myself.

He's one of the very few bloggers out there that seemed like a "kindred spirit": Someone who thought about the world in the same sort of way, albeit with more experience and clarity.

Posted by: MadRocketSci at Tue Oct 25 19:45:16 2016 (VF34g)

71 That's some pretty sad news. The world is worse for his passing, and heaven even more blessed.

Posted by: Rusty Shackleford at Wed Oct 26 16:52:43 2016 (OmqbN)

72 Mr. Den Beste was my favorite blogger, ever. No one else has ever come close, ever. He was a better writer than any nationally known commentator I ever read, ever. Did I say 'ever' too much? I think not enough. I wish I could better express how sad this makes me.

Posted by: Doug Purdie at Wed Oct 26 21:12:27 2016 (GdkZ7)

73 The link labelled "Ed Morrissey" should be "Ed Driscoll".

Posted by: muon at Thu Oct 27 00:00:34 2016 (vMYTH)

74 Thank you Muon.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Thu Oct 27 14:11:12 2016 (KicmI)

Anyone else here from the old days in Usenet? I knew Steven from back in the mid-90s during the OS wars between Windows and OS/2. We had been in contact ever since, I received the last email (he didn't email often) a few months ago.

Needless to say, I miss him. I was one of the very first readers of his blog. We had spoken on the phone once (this was actually mentioned on his blog), he even sent me a Christmas present many years ago.

If anyone remembers details from the early 2000s, I was the friend from Germany and later Ireland he sometimes mentioned.

This absolutely sucks.

Rest in peace, Steven. Your Dutch ancestor was a smartass.

Posted by: Andrew Brehm at Thu Nov 17 04:10:41 2016 (7Ha66)

76 are you happy

Posted by: me at Thu Jun 4 19:50:51 2020 (zkHXH)

77 Agree with this comment
He was unique. One of a kind, As Sarah Hoyt said over on Insty, "We shall not see his like again."
He will be missed - and I hope there's some way to get that archive back up. It was on a personal server at his home, IIRC.
I suspect his brother might be amenable to shipping it somewhere.......................................

Posted by: Victoria at Sat Sep 12 02:47:41 2020 (5SVvz)

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