December 03, 2017
Well!
The recent update of Epic REALLY, REALLY does not like Mee.nu.
Or perhaps it dislikes Minx.
I dunno.
But enough Meta whining.
Now here's something completely unrelated that we hope you really like.
Art by Hiiro Gundan
UPDATE: Aside from the odd formatting issue with the first three lines, most of the problems seem to be fixable via browser permissions.
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November 30, 2017
Internet Fight
Two rival gunblogger's research led them to very different conclusions regarding a historical matter.
With millions in grant money at stake, only one's career will survive this confrontation!
Watch as they viciously tear into each other!
Watch as they viciously tear into each other!
Grab the popcorn as they attack each other's reputation!
Thrill as they liken each other to Holocaust Deniers!
Oh wait.
These two are scholars, not academics.
There's no blood, tears nor fragile egos.
Well, that wasn't at all vicious, but it was edifying.
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In Addition to the End-of-Semester Crunch
...this blog's content has been handicapped of late by other factors.
As some of you know, I work in the transportation industry and recent seasonal developments in the world of shipping have had a deleterious effect upon updates.
The following embedded video is related to said developments, though out of consideration for my readers it is not a completely accurate representation of my workplace.
UPDATE: Well, that's an unfortunate (though not unrepresentative) frame for the preview.
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E-Mail Alert
If you get any E-mails purporting to be from me that claim to concern "Home Warranties" or "Hey Babe" just delete them. They are all coming from AOL accounts albeit not my actual address.
Given the termination of the AIM service on January first, and how little use AOL is other than as a spam aggregator, I'm gonna end the account next month. Perhaps there'll be a final New Yea's Eve Chat with some AIM friends.
While we're on the topic, does anyone have any recommendations for non-Google affiliated Email providers?
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07:29 PM
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November 23, 2017
One Other Thing I'm Quite Thankful For
First off, the paper is over.
Done.
I do not have to do any more on that paper!
The paper is turned in.
Finished.
Despite loosing the flash drive containing the paper.
The paper got done.
On time.
And I don't have to work on the paper any more.
For this I am tremendously thankful.
Art by Gambe
Blogging will resume shortly.
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Things I am Thankful For
Art by Iesupa
There's lots, but I'm most thankful for those now distant or departed friends, who, by example, helped me to grow as a person and inspired me to strive, however imperfectly, for arete.
Thank you.
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November 12, 2017
Halp!....IT Bleg
Instapundit
The following sites are amongst those that are not accessible from my computer;
I checked, and, interestingly, 4-chan, 8-chan, and 420-chan are down too. This is interesting not because they are dens of inequity, but because (for a variety of reasons) they are all known to be on completely different servers.
However, this condition, which is consistent across Epic, Safari, Opera, Vivaldi,(Mac-side) Midori and Internet Explorer (Windows side) and has been for just over 30 hours, now seems to only be affecting my machine.
What could account for this?
UPDATE: Oh dear. It appears that Zero Hedge is inaccessible as well, which not only results in a cray-cray clickbait deficit, but could indicate involvement by the Omnipotent, Ubiquitous THEY.
UPDATE 2: OK turning off the Wi-Fi at the box and re-starting it finally solved the issue. I have no idea why that should have worked, but it's always the last thing I do before calling Verizon.
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November 05, 2017
Here. You Should Try This.
Seriously, all the cool kids are doing it and besides, Doki Doki Literature Club is free! It's also available on STEAM.
Go ahead try it!
It's a dating sim, which is not generally my cup of tea, but this game has got some interesting interactivity features that, amongst other things, give the player the option of using the word effulgent in proper context and iambic pentameter. The route I chose took about 4 hours (give or take...or give...I suppose it's a matter of perspective). I'll definitely be revisiting this.
Well, yeah... the game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed, or suffer from anxiety or depression but you aren't you aren't one of them are you?
You just gotta promise.
Once you've played it...
No spoilers.
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November 01, 2017
Antelope's Redemption
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This is Not as Bad as it Sounds, but it Could get Much Worse Soon
Plague-Tan by Heitor Amatsu
This story broke a bit over a week ago, but I refrained from posting on it, in part because I'd just posted about the DPRK biowarfare program. A Plague outbreak is, even today, fairly unremarkable, we get them every few years in the Southwestern U.S. and the disease is common in parts of Africa.
However, this was a pneumonic plague outbreak, in a crowded developing world city, and the potential for mass misfortune was real.
The story still isn't quite as bad as it seems from the headlines. It has not actually spread to 9 countries, though it is expected to. Also, 124 in a single city being killed by a disease in a week, is a pretty serious situation, but it's not as bad as the 1300 reported (that appears to be the number of infected...which, is impressive in a good way as Pneumonic plague tends to have a mortality rate quite a bit higher than 10%.
Pneumonic plague doesn't require fleas as vectors as it is airborne. It's not a distinct strain of plague, merely regular plague that gets into the lungs, and spreads via coughing. There are some strains of plague, that, if they get in the lungs, do transmit a bit better than others, but in all cases Plague is less virulent that a cold or flu, and being a bacteria, it responds to antibiotics. On the debit side, it spreads like wildfire in close quarters and can kill in 24 to 48 hours. In stark contrast to the necrotic and bubonic manifestations of plague, this has a mortality rate approaching some Ebola strains. This is, perversely, "good" news, as it tends to kill so quick, it inhibits its own spread, except in very urban areas...like where the outbreak is now.
While this is not as dire a situation as it might appear from a casual glance at a news aggregator sate, it is a very worrying development and could get very bad indeed, very quickly, if it starts airport hopping.
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October 31, 2017
Three More Hours on the Eastern Seaboard
Drive carefully, they can pop out anywhere!
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There is Already an Impressive Amount of RWBY Fan Art
Art by Esu
..for Sienna Khan, the leader of the White Fang. She's been mentioned in the show a couple of times as ruthless, but not ax-crazy. She's the one who changed the organization from one focused on peaceful protests to what can most politely be called 'direct action'. Nevertheless, she has been described as opposed to the murderous assault on Beacon in volume 3 and indeed, in episode 2 of this season, this leader of a terrorist organization is shown as the voice of reason amongst the villains. Khan is superbly voiced by Monica Rial who gives the character a regal demeanor and the impression of a mind like a steel trap.
Three episodes in, RWBY fifth (and reportedly last) season remains quite good. While the villains plot, our heroes, still scattered to the four winds, continue to do hero stuff, be likable, and make shocking discoveries. The show has really hit its stride and is doing a fantastic job of delivering genuinely surprising plot twists.
OK not all of them are twists to the audience. but it's nice to see our heroes finally in the loop.
I particularly like the idea that the only press in Australia Menagerie all appear to be bloggers.
'cause nobody trusts Lisa Lavender!
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New York...Again
Reports are that someone drove a rental truck 14 blocks down a Manhattan bike path crushing people in the process, hit a school bus, got out of his truck, engaged police with what may, or may not have been paintball guns and, before being shot, shouted "Allah Ackbar!".
No word as to motive, though a talking head on Fox is pushing the "lone nut" theory hard..
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October 30, 2017
All the Cool Kids
...are doing Halloween stuff or blogging about World of Warships. I lack time for the former and sufficient internet connection for the latter. However, through the miracle of You Tube, I can hold forth on both!
Sorta...
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Obviously Its Reporting Back to the Mother Ship
While many of us were distracted, a new comet (C 2017/U1 PANSTARRS) was observed. After a bit of math, it was realized that the "comet" was moving faster than solar system escape velocity, meaning that it had to be an extra-solar object passing through our system.
One of The Brickmuppet's Crack Team of Science Babes has some...comettary.
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October 29, 2017
Crossing the Streams
Art by Canadawbd
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October 27, 2017
Breaking the Mold
Finally there's one classic that has been pulled from You Tube, ostensibly for DCMA reasons, but given the plethora of videos of versions of that song on You Tube, its probably due to...well, see for yourself.
I mentioned in an earlier post that a vast majority of the MMD dance numbers on You Tube use stock dance choreography. There was some lamenting in the comments regarding this.
Note that 'vast majority' is not all.
Also, I think there are some official motion capture files for a few songs but for the rest of the dance videos there are some MMDers that do the original choreography that are downloaded by the bulk of the hobbyists that do that particular subset of videos. The original choreographers are generally credited in the videos. Note that there seems to be a high importance, at least in Japan placed on getting the dance moves to match the official music videos...it may be a cultural thing.
However there are some completely original arrangements as well, particularly in MMD vids that are not exclusively dance numbers..
This one was done over 6 years ago and I'm pretty sure that its animation was not frame grabbed from some Garnidelia video.
This seems to be by the same individual, and is in the same vein, albeit with an emphasis on...escalation.
As a bonus, both teach important life lessons!
Below is one refreshingly devoid of any lessons at all. I'm pretty sure that its animation does not closely follow any William Tell dance videos either.
Finally there's one classic that has been pulled from You Tube, ostensibly for DCMA reasons, but given the plethora of videos of versions of that song on You Tube, its probably due to...well, see for yourself.
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Nobody Expects the Spanish Civil War
It's a good thing that Spanish Civil Wars aren't human abattoirs that historically have tended to foreshadow even darker times to follow around the world...
Well this Catalonian secession situation certainly seems to be escalating.
Spain was plunged into crisis Friday as Madrid seized power from independence-seeking Catalonia,
The previous vote for independence was a vote to begin coordinating with Spain on a peaceful transition to an independent Catalonia. Given that the response from the Spanish government has been an emphatic "NO!", Catalonias regional parliament today flat out declared independence, to much cheering from the Catlans and jeering from the rest of Spain. The Spanish government responded by declaring the Catalan Parliament void, dissolving it, charging the Catalan PM and several MPs with felonies and declaring that there will be an election on December 21. The Catalonians, in defiance of Madrid, have called for civil disobedience in response.
Oh...
Uh...
Wait...
Perhaps now would not be a good time to remind everyone that the last remaining title of archduke in the world is held by the King of Spain.
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October 25, 2017
Some Thoughts on the Politics of the Moment
He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
— Friedrich Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil
The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.
— Marcus Aurelius: Meditations
As soon as men decide that all means are permitted to fight an evil, then their good becomes indistinguishable from the evil that they set out to destroy.
— Christopher Dawson
The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
— George Orwell: Animal Farm (Last line)
I may elaborate on this later.
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October 24, 2017
Content Substitute
Miku Miku DanceVideos (at least those that are basically music videos) frequently use stock choreography downloads which essentially rotoscope the official music videos of the songs. The one above does as well, but I do like the fact that the animator added and animated the girl with the guitar.
The one below likewise adds a few non stock elements to the standard choreography and the costumes are particularly well done.
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