Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Soapbox: “Social Activism” is Trolling

trollfaceEven as I am typing this post I can already hear the subtle sound of exploding heads just because of the title. I will admit it right now, before all of you, that I am a Facebook troll. My trolling is augmented when Facebook becomes inundated with pro-<insert controversy> or anti-<insert controversy> posts. You know when I do it I’m just trying to piss you off, most of the time I could care less if you know where I stand on the issue.

By the way, I hate to rain on your [pride] parade but I really doubt a justice of the Supreme Court is going to base their decision on how many of you changed your bloody profile pictures on Facebook. In fact, just like me, they probably don’t give a shit. Changing your profile pictures is probably about as effective as changing your t-shirt. I should hope that they will vote based on their own rationale and the facts that have been presented to them.

Although now I have this rather humorous, and ludicrous vision of all the justices sitting in the Supreme Court with a computer hooked up to a projector and they are all looking at Facebook and counting how many profile pictures are red equal signs.

I don’t care if people want to be gay. It’s their lifestyle and I’m not the one whose judgement matters. I will say that if a gay couple wants to be legally married, then that’s just peachy with me. However, the moment religious institutions start to be persecuted because they either A) refuse to perform a same-sex marriage because it violates their beliefs or B) because they won’t acknowledge a same-sex marriage as a legitimate marriage then I have a problem. If you want people to respect your lifestyle then you need to respect the fact that other people will not necessarily agree; its a two way street, folks.

But I digress; this isn’t about gay marriage.

Yes, you can post whatever you want on Facebook, change your profile to be an equal sign, a peace sign, or a blasted middle finger. It’s not going to rally the troops, cause a revolution or incite some kind of movement. Let’s be honest people, call it what it really is.

It’s trolling.

The MMO Times: It’s PAX-tastic!

mmotimesheaderIssue 68: It’s PAX East week so there will be several posts that talk about what was unveiled. The one everyone is really anxious about is Blizzard’s “Something New”. We already knew about the Diablo III PS4 migration so if you weren’t paying attention to the PAX news then I guess you will have to read on to find out what Blizzard unveiled (I’ll be honest though, its not really that epic).

Beyond that we have a couple of new tidbits about the upcoming Age of Wushu MMO (due out April 10th). The first piece of news about Patch 5.3 for World of Warcraft. A new MechWarrior Online trailer. And more!

Soapbox: Forking & Dongles

overworked-290x290The tech industry is full of phallic terminology. Every day I make a double entendre about something in the computer and/or programming industry. Granted I’m cognizant of my audience and anyone that might be able to hear what I’m saying. In the case of Adria Richards vs A-Predominately-Male-Industry, while I don’t dismiss her right to be offended, the way she handled it wasn’t prudent either; especially when the comments weren’t even directed toward her.

Be that as it may, the tech industry is dominated by males; and, as a male myself, most of us are neanderthals! I’m not saying that women are not welcome in the tech industry, in fact I encourage more women to get involved because its already too much of a “sausage-fest”. Yes, there is a time and a place for certain remarks and perhaps those boys at PyCon could have picked a better time for their sordid conversation but boys will be boys; and in an industry where stress is as necessary as caffeine, stress needs an outlet. Actually most of the women I know that are in this industry often partake and sometimes take it to a whole new level.

If women like Adria Richards cannot handle an industry full of “forking code”, USB dongles and “fscking” a computer then perhaps you’re not a good fit. I don’t care how much you tweet or blog about how “sexist” these terms are, you cannot change decades of standard vernacular. People, like me, will not stop using appropriate terminology just because it might sound inappropriate (in which case I ask who’s the real pervert).

There are lessons on both sides of the debate here. Be more aware of the volume of your conversation and courteous of those around you. At the same time, be careful what you post on the Internet because the world will see it and you just don’t know what you will stir up. Tibetan Philosophy states “Don’t start none, won’t be none” (source).

/end soapbox

Need Kindle Owners!

quillCalling all Kindle owners! I don’t have a Kindle but I read about a new WordPress feature today called “Send to Kindle” that allegedly will save my posts to your Kindle for you to read later.

I’m really curious how well this works so if you own a Kindle and you are reading this, please click on the button and let me know if it works and how well you think it works.

Source: engadget article

Biggs’ Cinema Scoop: Short and Sweet

at_the_movies

Statler: I guess all’s well that ends well.
Waldorf: Doesn’t matter to me, as long as it ends.

(New category of Biggs cortical cogitations – in these posts I am going to talk about some of the latest noteworthy minutiae in cinema. Movies are my second favorite pastime. I love the movie making process from acting to lighting, special effects, soundtrack and cinematography. If you like movies, I hope you find these tidbits interesting as well.)

Short and Sweet!

The Rock Possibly in Expendables 3. I think every guy has those badass, testosterone enduced movies or movie franchises. I’m ready to admit that Expendables is one of mine. Despite what others might think of him, I’m actually a bigger fan of Dwayne Johnson the movie actor then WWE superstar; so yea, I’d really like to see him in an Expendables movie. No confirmation yet, but I guess he and Sly are good friends.

Thirteen Wants to be Wonder Woman. Olivia Wilde (aka Thirteen from House) has expressed interest in playing Wonder Woman in the Justice League movie. Umm, Yes Please!!!! In addition to being hot, I think she is also an under-appreciated actor. The other films I’ve seen her in (ex: Tron Legacy), I thought she did a fantastic job. While I think sci-fi is more her forte, I think she could easily pull of a super hero.

Alan Cumming Will Reprise Nighcrawler. Despite some of the negative commentary from the peanut galleries, I’m still optimistic about the next X-Men movie. Day’s of Future Past was a very pivotal story arc in the X-Men comic series. I’m pretty excited to see how the movie pans out and so far I think its looking really good. Alan Cumming has been confirmed to come back as Nightcrawler and he did a great job portraying Nighcrawler previously in X2.

That’s a wrap!

The MMO Times: Habemus Novum Content

mmotimesheaderIssue 67: “We Have New Content!” World of Warcraft’s 5.2 patch is officially in full swing. This past week was the first week when the new raid, Throne of Thunder, became available for the games LFR system (giving raiding guilds an opportunity to experience the new raid content first). But enough about World of Warcraft, that isn’t the only cool game out there right now with new content.

In this issue, which is a bit overdue, has more details about the upcoming China MMO Age of Wushu, some information on the new title Defiance, even some information about Lord of the Rings Online, which I don’t talk about much. There is also some content news for The Secret World and some double experience in the near future for SWTOR players. Check it out!

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