RKNet Blog... Thing

In case you all weren't aware: http://www.miketyndall.com/todd_goldman/

Worth taking a look at. This guy is making a mint off of ideas that are often clearly more than “borrowed from” or “inspired by”. It would appear that he's making every effort to be defensive and rude about it.

I hope this clown gets trolled so hard.

As a note of clarification regarding my opinion on this issue: I make icons for myself using other people's art. At no point would I ever have the idiocy to claim art that isn't mine, though. I don't even claim the composition of said icons as original. That would also imply I'm taking some kind of credit there. Realistically if I were approached by any artist who is responsible for any image I have used as an icon, or posted here in this blog, and requested I remove and discontinue use of of those images, I would comply and publicly apologize. It wouldn't be my place to be indignant about such a thing. I'd also never have the gall to try to cash in on someone else's creativity and hard work like that. If I've EVER done such a thing, and if I EVER do such a thing, I would sincerely hope that someone would call me on it immediately. Out-and-out art theft such as that is not something I condone at all.

Graphic design, as with any subjective topic, is hell.

Anybody have any helpful tips on how to deal with the sociological difficulties associated with trying to provide graphic designs?

I dreamt about a lot of things. I dreamt about being interrupted during what was ostensibly my high school graduation by a flirty boy who was also graduating by some kind of satellite deal so he was there/not there. The majority of my “class” was people I work with. Some strangers. Some people I actually went to school with. I kept getting distracted by that boy, and by thoughts of Zelda 2 for whatever reason. There was some EXTREMELY awkward joke about some kid with terrible hair being gay and I told him his back hair wasn't that bad at all. (Although it was pretty fuzzy.)

In another dream I was partly an observer and partly behind the eyes of a blond assassin woman who had Athena, Inc type abilities including hiding a sword in her throat! She said it was encased in a tube of that “movie glass” stuff, apparently after drawing the sword from her throat, she'd then shatter the “glass”. Since it was movie glass, her stomach would dissolve it since it's some kind of sugar and corn syrup mix or something. She was laying behind some kind of barrier with a wide crack between it and the ground. Sidling forward, she pulled out some kind of blade, she was going to ham string one of many soldiers just for the hell of it and something held her back. What it was I don't rightly remember, probably the vulnerability of her position. At any rate, she kidnaps Patton, who was played by some guy I know from work (so, assassin is fictional girl on the outside, me on the inside, this person is fictional on the inside and real on the outside), and proceeds to hold him captive for days, during which time they become lovers. She reveals to him that she's been successfully cloned many times, each clone being taught enough unique personality traits to be planted in subversive roles throughout the US without too much of a fuss. Yet she advises Patton not to worry because while her side has terrifying technology, they are also insane at their core and will fall apart. She eventually lets him go, with some story about defeating some large number of attackers and whatnot. With the excuse of completing her mission to eliminate him, she returns to where he is stationed. Some alarm is sounded at this stranger in their midst but “Patton” makes an excuse for her, including in front of his wife who appears obviously dismayed. Yet some joke was made of it that instantly mollified the situation. There was more canoodling and fretting and then the last I remember of it was she was leaping about through some kind of warehouse or some place with pipes.

The last dream I remember was quite a doozy. It actually takes place after the high school dream. Outside, sitting on the ground, some moderately heavy-set woman in a very loose knit red fuzzy body suit (and various other whatnots) made a bunch of awkward comments to me. Then I or someone was studying a bunch of paintings. 3 large panes, 2 of which had many of smaller images within the main frame, coming up with this insane theories and running into this building next to him/her/me yelling at some woman who was supposed to be a clarvoiant or something in regards to the meaning of the paintings. Then the paintings started to shift, and things got real meta, since it became the memory of a dream within a dream itself. There wer adorable colorful monsters in a crowd, and something else with an equally fat-lined drawing style. It was all moving and shifting colors a wash at a time. Then there was some business with me being in charge of some magical soda machine, which appeared to have gotten mixed up with reality since there was frozen corn and whatnot in it. Things started to fall apart right about then.

Well, they took away my neighbor in cuffs. The fire department guys hung out for a little bit longer, and that was the end of it.

Finally peace and quiet. Time to go back to playing Chaos Legion. It's pretty wild. It's like Vagrant Story only with a battle system similar to the mindless button mashing of Castlevania: Lament of Innocence.

update: well, we're down to one fire truck and the firemen are just standing around chatting. My guess is that things are A-OK.

Although now they're pointing at windows and such, I will likely hafta answer some questions.

oops. there goes my neighbor in cuffs. Boy don't that just ruin your day.

Never fear, gentle reader, the fire department is here, and I assume this is minor since I'm sitting right at the window and they didn't tell me to get out.

It would seem the lady across the hall from me fell asleep while some kind of fire-related action was occuring. Knowing her, probably smoking a cigarette. The only reason I knew there was an issue was because the lady from across the way poked her head out and asked if I need help. To which I puzzledly replied “uhmm… I don't think so…” At that point she informed me that there was smoke coming out of the window next to me. Oh. Well. I had no idea. I've had a stuffed nose for 3 days now and it wasn't enough for me to see it at the angle I'm at.

So I poked my head out the door to note thin, black coils of smoke coming from out the top of next-door-lady's door. Ah ha. Well, I called 911 and when they patched me through the lady at the fire department said “yep, they're on their way”. Some help I was.

So Now I'm sitting here, with 2 fire trucks outside, and 2 cop cars flashing outside, and a mix of unhurried but seemingly very important activity. I'm a bit bewildered as to whether or not I'm actually in danger at this point.

So now, because I can't think of anything else important to say or report….

“We need more laws with stiffer penalties to rid our community of drugs,”

Says an innocent pawn of Eris. To be sure, these laws make smuggling and selling and buying drugs more risky. That, in turn, drives up their prices - thus making them more profitable. So more money and work goes into expanding the market for the contraband - in keeping with the Law of Eristic Escalation.

Or, as the Taoist sage Chuang Tzu simply said:

“The more laws there are, the more crime there is.”

(Identification and elucidation of anerisms is a favorite pastime of politically conscious Discordians - who note that the whole text of my “Epistle to the Paranoids” on page 00069 is a psychological anerism. Goddess punished me for it, about five years later, by turning me into a paranoid myself. A conspiracy helped Her.
As of this writing, I am still paranoid - according to my friends.) (Or are they my enemies?)

Proliferation of crime in the wake of multiplication of laws is more than a matter of expanded definition. Governments are impositions of order designed to discourage theft and killing. But they wind up taking more in taxes than all the freelance crooks around could steal. Their wars involve more killing than all the meanest toughs and hoodlums can hope to rival.

– Source: Principa Discordia

Formulate your own opinions.

My comments in [] and italics. ~G

Subject: I will die bravely, like a smug bridegroom.
[how romantic is that?!]

It is open to any interested individual. [death? love? What is?]
Das Ende der Parteien 1933.
F1, F2, F3, -. F-Prot for Windows 8. [Word association game? I'm down]
To build a single sample, run the build.
But in a few minutes there were so many dolls that they filled up the yard, their little street, two big avenues and half the square. [The "Boil, little pot, boil" story, doll style?]
In some instances, these files will perform functions that necessarily require the program file to change. [Sounds like the kind of tech dialogue I read every day.]
Frequently agents go as far as deliberately damaging secret arms and equipment so that they can be written off and then sold.[National arms smuggling secrets revealed in junk mail!]
Remember that the description should explain the effect of clicking on the button. [Usability is very important, afterall.]
They turn around and head for Grand Central Station. Those who hold that this growth is essential to gain full employment are fully entitled to their opinion. [Those two sentences don't pair together at all!!]
Remember that the monsters don't like water (that goes for Ice too). [So they're fire-type, then?] Not for prophecy or. [...or what? How about: Not for prophecy or pontificiation, this product may not apply to all philosophies. Consult your local theologist before applying Rando-mail Brand Email. Side effects may include confusion, dysphoria, and mild irritation.]

The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
~ Percy Bysshe Shelley: Ode to the West Wind

Because everyone else will be espousing their philosophical and political agendas, I feel it appropriate to bring up a philosophical and political standpoint that has been on my mind a lot lately. Not as an “I told you so” or a demand for changes in the wake of disaster. Only as a question, something to consider. I like the way the linked question was phrased, for the most part. The alternate spin I would put on it is: are we all simply too involved with the world at large, above and beyond our own area communities, to go without over-arching systems of government?

I bring this up because of concerns raised by a good friend of mine in the wake of Virginia's tragedy. A large enough group of people decided it was perfectly acceptable to keep arms out of the possession of lawful defenders in that area. As demonstrated time and time again, unlawful, violent people with the intent to harm have no regard for such laws. What makes them criminal in cases like this is not so much their disregard for the laws themselves as it is their disregard for the human lives the laws were theoretically designed to defend.

Yet the question on many people's minds must be: If lawful, non-violent citizens were granted their right to bear arms within that area, would there have been as much carnage?

It is anyone's guess and the truth of the matter is the situation is over, done with, and no amount of speculation can reclaim the lives lost today.

I would implore everone to take this opportunity to respect and espouse the benefits of reason and intelligence instead of reactionary snap judgements and fingerpointing. Not only would I encourage that of anyone I have direct contact with, but I would strongly encourage all people of strength and wit to aid others through a scary time, and try to prevent the kind of fearful outbursts that cripple us all.

If we cannot be self-governing en todo, then perhaps we can at least make the democracy we have today worth supporting.

Aaaaaaaaw shit. That’s right suckers, Season 2 of the Venture Brothers is about to pop like a jack-in-the-box full of asswhuppin’!

For those who may be unfamiliar, there are a ton of clips over at YouTube and I know there are ways to watch whole episodes over at the AdultSwim website.

This show is the best thing to happen to TV since… TV was invented, I’d wager.

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