It was my birthday on the 23rd of July. Here are some pictures.
Blog
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Jack Thompson Targets The Sims 2
Florida Attorney Jack Thompson, the same individual who claims that video games are murder training tools, has now shifted his focus onto EA and The Sims 2.
His allegations however are conflicting. He is blaming the mod community for a pre-existing in-game cheat in this very game that would allow for users to view nude Sims.
Thompson wrote: “The nudity placed there by the publisher/maker, Electronic Arts, is accessed by the use of a simple code that removes what is called ‘the blur’ which obscures the genital areas. In other words, the game was released to the public by the manufacturer knowing that the full frontal nudity was resident on the game and would be accessed by use of a simple code widely provided on the Internet.”
There are three things wrong with his allegations. First off: the mod community is not responsible for cheats that come included with a game. Second of all, that supposed cheat that would allow to see nude sims does not actually exist. Third of all, the texturing for the sims in the game does not include genetellia. That means if that anyone ever did manage to remove the blur, they would still not see any obscene body parts.
Clearly this is an example of just how ignorant Thompson is upon the issue. Unfortunately, the repercussions are dire. Thompson updated his letter, and stated “I urgently ask Electronic Arts to stop this modding activity by appropriate means, otherwise the “T” rating given the game by ESRB means, for all practical purposes, nothing and breaches trust with parents.”
First of all, it is simply ridiculous that a product be judged not on its own merit, but on the merits of what one user could unexpectidly modify that product to do. Anything can be made “obscene” by other individuals: think adding a “strip club” building to SimCity, or having planes with pornographic images painted on them in Flight Simulator 2004. As anything can be made obscene, does that mean that logically all games should be given an “AO” (Adults Only) ESRB rating off the bat? Even if the game is “Math Reader for Grade 1”?
Of course, it does not end there. Think of movies and shows: should we rate all movies “R”, even Bambi, because someone modified the DVD post-production to allow for obscene content to be included? Obviously, in any situation, the developper should not be responsible for the actions of others. It is common sense; something I find lacking in Jack Thompson.
Ultimately, the mod community is a great one. Selflessly giving away free content to users and allowing them to enjoy their video games further. Much of it appeases to all masses; only a small fraction of a fraction is obscene in nature. Furthermore, many mods go on to become full-fledged video games which bring in much revenue (Counter-Strike, Tactical Ops, Desert Combat [to BF2]). Having as a target this selflessly and well balanced community truly displays just how ignorant Jack Thompson is.
Jack Thompson stated in his letter that EA was “cooperating, gleefully, with the mod community to turn Sims 2 into a porn offering.”
There’s been other coverage on Jack Thompson before. GameRadio recently discussed letters that went back and forth between him and a non-anti-videogame advocate. Needless to say, Jack Thompson cares nothing about the games themselves, his accuracy, or creating any substantial argument to fuel his cause.
It will be interesting to see how the ESRB reacts to all of this.
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Piracy Movie.
Piracy Movie – Status:
Working on it.The expected release date has shifted. I don’t know if I can make it in time for October. We shall see. Mind you the editing process ought to be easier this time round: I will principally rely on Interviews for the brunt of this documentary, a la BBS Documentary. Interviews are significantly faster to edit together than making countless custom animations as I did with EYNTO.
That said, I’m still working through the Research Materials. Not yet into the script-building (though I have a rough outline) or shooting portion of the development. I’ll add another update with what I plan to include in the film soon.
Update: I’m also changing the title of the film. It will now be known as “The Corrupt War on Piracy”. Throughout all of this, it has been my focus to target not on the ethics of piracy itself; but the consequences of the war in terms of mass media misinformation and consumer impacts (DMCA, etc.) By avoiding the moral question of whether piracy is right or wrong and focusing on the hard issues surrounding intellectual properties, I will prevent the alienation certain key audiences.
After all, the goal of the movie remains the same: inform people as to make solid decisions reguarding the future of Intellectual Property; and not let governments be lead by the few [and naturally overly bias] media content industries.
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Blearh.
Well, things are good. I’m healthy. I have a good job. Physics, for better or worse, is over. I have no sorrows; no ennemies; no quarrels with friends.
But I can’t bring myself to smile. Here, I am, living – but I feel so empty. It is as if I have nothing to look forward to. Just a repetition of days past. Life feels like a never ending cycle.
Sure, that’s how its meant to be. But its also meant to be with spice – a love… a travel… something that changes… a life that’s not the same day #1 than it is day #245.
Else one doesn’t see the point of life.
I’ve resolved to travel. I haven’t had a week off in at least 4 years. But university is so expensive; taking a week off of work… or even an extra few days off – is irresponsible. Fine then – no travel. Being in love would be dandy – but… well that can’t be something one decides. There was a girl. We went out. For 2 years. We kissed. We played around. We did more. Buut she didn’t love me (something which she never expressed while proactively kissing me).
At one point I thought I had my days off to look forward to. But that ended up being a source of mental torture – for reasons I can’t explain here. Let’s just say that a few people were intent on removing any joy I had of my days off. That reinforced with the fact that physics took all my free time up.
So that sucks. I’m in a deadlock. I want out. Its my fault though – I’m hindering it somehow. I just don’t know how.
There is light at the end of the tunnel. My days off should be mine soon. I’ll be able to get projects underway – there’s a few websites I told myself I would do for people. There’s this special thing I’m doing for my mom. But despite that, the days still feel shallow.
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OPM
There’s a new feature included with Microsoft’s new OS, codenamed Longhorn. It’s OPM, short for Output Protection Management. It works with a chip fitted inside new monitors.
So what does that mean? Well, if the industries feeding you [legal] television and movies do not like the monitor you’re watching their content with, they can opt to reduce the quality of their feeds. Supposedly, its to minimize piracy.
Of course, as all piracy protections go, this too will be easily defeated. Leaving consumers to suffer for the stupid decisisions of corporate heads who understand nothing about what it means to shell out $30 for a DVD; only to find out it won’t play on your computer because the corporate heads are snobby prick bastards. *gasps for air*
This would all be fine if I payed $30 for a low-quality DVD. But to pay $30 for a high-quality DVD and have the quality purposefully reduced because I chose to buy a certain very suitable monitor? Pshh.