Monday 30 June 2008

A new project is underway!

Those following my D&D blog will be aware of a project I'm spearheading involving a new set of D20 rules.

I wanted to start a project by fans for fans, to make a better system than the ones out there at the moment. It would not only be a n improved system for current D&D 3.5 fans, but a basis for many fandom-based D20 games.

And so, a little time later; I have a shiny new forum and the member count is steadily increasing. Not only that, but I've been checking up on the legality of the project and so long as everything is declared as Open Content, with a copy of the license, we can make profit from it (if we need to). I doubt that we'd try to. How would you divide profit by so many people?

Still, knowing that we could is nice. The thing is, other publishers would be able to sell our stuff too, with it being Open Game Content. so prhaps we should attempt to sell a few anyway...maybe at conventions or something...

Oh well, it's not that important. What I'm more pleased with is the idea that this could be a good way to get in to proffesional writing. Not only that, but I'm taking my brother on as his agent. (Although he still needs some convincing, but I'll bring him round. Talking to people is something I'm good at.)

In the meantime though, I'm thoroughly skint.

I'm back up at my parent's place for a few weeks. I have a resit exam in august and I have to resit a few of my worse modules. This was mostly what I wanted, after all. Without going in to too much detail, last year was a rough time for me so things took a few turns for the worse.

The resits are certainly copable but they'll be pricey. so I have to find sufficient work to pay for going part time with my course...but I have to have enough time to actually do the course...which will be tricky.

I may see if I can churn out a radio play or two. There's always a demand for those.

I also need to badger the woman who's meant to be building my website for me. She took on the project before christmas. It's a good thing she didn't want me to pay her until it was finished...or maybe this is why. Perhaps she always knew she'd goof off or lose interest, or something.

Oh well. If anybody fancies designing a website for practically nothing, you let me know *sigh*.

Actually, since I'll be using it to host parts of the 3.S system, you'll be credited in the books as Web Designer...so that should get your name out there if you're after some exposure.

I'm looking forward to being back home, in Stoke; especially with my -one-time housemate coming back to live with me. It's been a bad year and it was hard to not feel alone about it.

One issue concerned feelings for a lass, which in hindsight I was bloody foolish for having. I also happened to be suffering from depression at the time so the chemicals in my head were thoroughly against me.

One of my housemates at the time doesn't particularly like me (or that's the impression I get) and he wasn't particularly forgiving, so it was hard to talk to him. He got on with the lass in question better so he's living with her.

The other, I got on well with and he was supportive and thoughtful. He's moved away too and I'm going to miss him thoroughly. Lol, and he was kind enough to at least feign interest in some of my interests. Hee hee, bless him.

Still, I get my old-time housemate back. I've missed him terribly and he's always somehow been a pillar of chipperness and stability. We've got a new entry too, a lad we were with in halls. He was a very quiet lad when we knew him but he seems more confident. In either case, he's a sound bloke so I'm looking forward to living with him.

In even happier news, my landlord and I met and he's happy with me living there indefinetely. Which is just as well, because I adore that house (not to mention my sofa and bed).

Well, that's about all for this update kids. Tomorrow, I'll be sharing my thoughts on why Slugs are unnatural and clearly some kind of monster...

HMR

Sunday 15 June 2008

Three poems I wrote a while ago...

Saved here solely for the sake of posterity: -

---

Gather round all, and attend the tale,
of a creature called Rob, a man made of fail.
He'd prod us and bug us, in infantile bliss,
"Go away Rob! You're taking the piss!"

So off he would go, in a miserable skulk,
in to his room, for a bit of a sulk.
Though a bit later on, this he'd forget,
he'd baffle and bug us, regardless of threat.

So on it would go, his crap we'd endure.
He could go on forever, of that I am sure.
There'd be something wrong, with whatever he said.
Myself I'm convinced, he's wrong in the head.

For ages he'd waffle, though I'd stifle a yawn,
About transformers or his masses of porn.
"To be honest Rob, I don't really care,"
"I'm sick of your face, and your long girly hair."

It may be appear obvious, that I might have a grudge,
But Rob is a menace, on this I wont budge.
This opinion too, I know you would keep,
if he'd threatened to kill you, as well in your sleep.

And now that you know, about this odd man,
You may stay away, or run if you can.
Whether you dislike him, or think I'm not fair.
I've just one thing to say: Saying that, chair...

I'd explain that last last line, but I don't want to. It's something of an in-joke...

---

a poem for Phoeni ^_^

(Apologies for it's suckiness...I was rather sleepy when i started it)

Our forumspace is filled;
with a multitude of class;
But beyond them all there happens to be;
a certain type of lass.

A prettyful case of lithe and grace;
to which we all adore;
And she's cute, to add to the list;
of charm and so much more.

And if, by chance, you meet this girl;
myself I'd know you'd find;
A radiant glow about her smile;
(and a rather cute behind).

Propertied with nymphian wile;
a sparkling wit and keen in guile;
And if you saw I know you'd smile;
Enraptured, held in lost beguile.

Held in gaze of gentility;
In awe of favoured kin;
Our Phoeni, whom we love so much;
Is undoubtedly made of win.

---

W00t.

With hopefully some birthday cheer;
And may it last until next year;
Resplendant now, with cake and booze;
The celebration now ensues.

So quaff your fill and then be merry;
'Til sense and action be contrary;
And hopefully you'll find a lass;
And gleefully the night shall pass.

And when you wake, dry and wappened;
And quite unsure of just what happened;
A roynish romage upon the floor;
We wish you well for ever more.

---------

That's about the extent of my poetry attempts thus far, although I must admit that I enjoy it somewhat. I may have to give it another go sometime ^_^


Have fun kids.


HMR


Saturday 14 June 2008

I MUST know more about this game!

I've recently stumbled upon the trailer of what appears to be an amazing-looking new game.




I urge you to check out the website and sign up to the newsletter. If anybody knows anything about this game, I'd love for you to get in touch with me.

Have fun kids.

HMR

Resist Bush!


I got bored and I was on a half-life 2 high, so I got photoshopping.

Truth to tell, it's awful and I got bored once I'd started and settled with this. Never mind.

However, it's still a potent message and I've done a set of t-shirts (one of which I'll be buying for myself later on).

If you want, you can find it here although I imagine there are better ones out there.

I will however, award a prize to the first person to send me a photo of them wearing or holding one of them. Another prize for the best one too, methinks.

Oh well, back to what I was doing, anyway...

HMR.

Friday 13 June 2008

Ridiculous fundamentalist quotes...

I thought I'd take a moment to offer you all a link which was brought to my attention.

The attached link is a collection of the most bigoted and ridiculous quotes perpetrated by the fundamentalists of the world.
These range from the ridiculum of: -

No, everyone is born Christian. Only later in life do people choose to stray from Jesus and worship satan instead. Atheists have the greatest "cover" of all, they insist they believe in no god yet most polls done and the latest research indicates that they are actually a different sect of Muslims.

(Who knew I was a muslim? I'd better get to work on that beard.)

To the downright insulting: -

Athiests as a Majority

This is what it would be like, if the majority of people were athiests.
ATHIEST KID: Mom, I'm going to go fuck a hooker.
ATHIEST MOM: Okay, son.
ATHIEST KID: Afterwards, I'm going to go smoke pot with my friends, since it's "not addictive."
ATHIEST MOM: Okay, come home soon!

The athiest kid leaves the room. The father comes home from work several minutes later.

ATHIEST DAD: Hey!
ATHIEST MOM: Hi, honey! I'm pregnant again. I guess I'll just get another abortion, since "fetuses don't count as human life."
ATHIEST DAD: Okay, get as many abortions as you want!
ATHIEST MOM: Oh, and don't go in the bedroom.
ATHIEST DAD: Why not?
ATHIEST MOM: There are two gay men fucking eachother in there.
ATHIEST DAD: Why are they here?
ATHIEST MOM: I wanted to watch them do it for awhile. They just aren't finished yet.
ATHIEST DAD: Okay, that's fine with me!

Suddenly, their neighbor runs into the house.

ATHIEST NEIGHBOR: Come quick, there's a Christian outside!
ATHIEST MOM: We'll be right there!

The athiest couple quickly put on a pair of black robes and hoods. They then exit the house, and run into the street, where a Christian is nailed to a large, wooden X. He is being burned alive. A crowd of athiests stand around him, all wearing black robes and hoods.

RANDOM ATHIEST: Damn you, Christian! We hate you! We claim to be tolerant of all religions. But we really hate your's! That's because we athiests are hypocritical like that! Die, Christian!

THE END

Scary, isn't it?


You can find that particular douchebag here.

It made me wonder just what kind of riduclous quotes I could find attributed to atheists.

Guess how many I found...

Yup, none. Although maybe my googling skills are just rusty.

Oh, I'm going to be looking in to the allegation that myspace.com has been deleting atheist groups because it was "offending religious groups."

However, my laptop is on the fritz (well, the power supply) so it may take a while. Hmm, maybe it's a punishment from god for being such a heathen...perhaps not.

In closing, I'll leave you with a wonderful quote I found that only the most unreasonable of people couldn't see the point of: -

"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours." --Stephen Roberts.

Have fun kids,

HMR.

Saturday 7 June 2008

The things I get myself into...

I was lamenting today about the amount of attention cute lasses get for the sheer virtue of being cute, sparked by facebook (of course). Complete strangers seem to think they are allowed (or even supposed) to post shameless flirtations to complete strangers, just because they're attractive.

I was also lamenting the fact that cute women on the Owned application (an absorbing and addictive game) seem to win effortlessly...so I proposed myself a race.

And so...

Meet Mozouhin Komusume: The completely made-up japanese woman. The name actually translates to "ficticious girl" (or at least roughly) and I set myself a challenge. Could I create a fake account with this woman and get to a net worth of 2,000,000 before my main account, without trying?

The answer is a resounding and definite "probably" (hee hee) but I figured that in the interests of science that I would do it anyway.

Within hours of setting all of this up, I get three messages in my inbox and I cannot help but laugh...




Cody Ryan Brelsford
Cody Brelsford
Today at 10:11pm
just to say ur pretty -dc if its weird just thought i tell ya
You Own Cody
Reply
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Own Cody
Give To A Friend
Give A Human Gift
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New!
Shane Stone
Shane Stone
Today at 10:09pm
view more
You Own Shane
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Own Shane
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Cody Ryan Brelsford
Cody Brelsford
Today at 10:03pm
ty for buying me lol tis diff
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Stoker Macintosh
Stoker Macintosh
Today at 10:02pm
thank you..i love your sexy body ;)...wow..
You Own Stoker
Reply


Wow...and that is after less than an hour of this woman existing. I never get messages like that *sniffle*. Doesn't anybody want to nibble on my nipples?

...Anybody?

Ok, perhaps not but I'm beginning to find this rather educational. Naturally, I'll be replying in Engrish, thanks to the trusty Babelfish.

Heh heh heh...

EDIT: -

Less than ten minutes later...

From Andy Clark: -

"wow! i would happily be your pet for the rest of my life! please own me!あなたのペットになりたい!お願いしまã"

I'm not joking...

-----------------

EDIT THE SECOND!

A matter of moments later, I get a chat dialogue on the bottom of my screen. I realised in horror that I had forgotten to disable it.

And so, determined to play this through, I began talking back...

3:54amKristopher

hey

3:55amMozouhin

Hi

3:55amKristopher

how ar u

do u got a yahoo id

3:55amMozouhin

No.

3:55amKristopher

aim

3:55amMozouhin

No.

3:55amKristopher

any messager u use

3:56amMozouhin

I am use IRC

3:56amKristopher

wat your id on there

3:57amMozouhin

立ち去りなさい [This translates to "Go away"]

3:59amKristopher

u gota webcam

3:59amMozouhin

Iie, There was one in me, but when he moved, the companion of my room took that

4:00amKristopher

ok

That seemed to shut him up ^_^
I love Engrish. I can only imagine where he was imagining that camera to be now...

---------------------

[EDIT 4: - I just wanted to further remark upon the fact that nobody has seemed to notice that all of the pictures used are of different women...]

The thing about hardline Christians is...

I've been exploring facebook (because I'm supposed to be packing and I'm determined to procrastinate) when I stumbled upon an atheist group.

Being an athiest (or as Calum calls me, a reasonist) I decided to have a look and came across the following question: -

"I only joined a moment ago, and the first three discussion board topics are headed by religious people!
Why is this so? Are they even allowed to be in the group?"


It was a good question. I went looking and noticed that Christians (and I've noticed it's only Christians...no Muslims, no Bhuddists, no Sikhs...just Christians) had been joining atheist groups to troll.

Of course, I must stress that this does not neccessarily represent the views of the majority of Christians. I know a fair few and they are peaceful, kind and mature folks. The kind of people who troll like this are in the minority.

However, despite the fact that they are the minorty, they're still shouting the loudest and they are the ones with the most influence and charisma to put forward their hardline views.

With that in mind, this is really about a minority of Christians who feel the need to attack atheists, who believe that homosexuality is evil, who believe that a book compiled centuries ago (and then edited and censored by a vatican who chose what went in based on the message they wanted to give out) for a literal account of the past despite the many contradictions.

It is these minds that trolled and went on the attack, as is what won't to do...

Anyhow, back to the question: -

"I only joined a moment ago, and the first three discussion board topics are headed by religious people!
Why is this so? Are they even allowed to be in the group?"


Well, I'll simply share my response, word for word...

"Personally, I think that evidence and scientific method are threatening to their beliefs and that scares the hell out of them, even if they're not conscious of it.

As a result they get angry and feel a overwhelming need to "defend" their faith.

Realising that their faith has been wasted and that, overall, organised-religion is dangerous is a big and frightening step and whilst I think that reason must win out in the end, I understand their fear and reluctance to accept this outcome.

It takes some convincing to get them to realise that right and wrong still applies if you're atheist, that being a good person is still a worthwhile thing to be, etc...So many times, I've had responses from Christians asking "How would you now right and wrong if you're not Christian?"

In short, it's hard not to pity religious folk sometimes and hardliners (such as the Westborough baptist church *See picketting the funerals of homosexuals*) are bloody infuriating...in the end we must be patient.

I'm confident that reason will eventually win out in the end. We're approaching our cultural and technological singularity, so hopefully we'll know within our lifetimes."

So there you have it.

If you don't know what I mean about the singularity, then click here. It's well worth reading.

That being said, it is my opinion that if anything could halt the curve of accelerating return, it'll be religion, greed and fear...greed and fear being the two main reasons for organised religion anyway.

Fear of death and hopelessness hooks the followers, whilst fear of non-conformity and hell is encouraged to them and the greed of those in charge keeps everything moving as these organisations get richer and gain more power and influence...all done through fear.

Anyway, I should really be packing so I'll be off now.

Have fun kids ^_^

HMR

Monday 2 June 2008

Facebook: Spam and Applications

Through an array of circumstances I came to the decision to create a new facebook account.

This happened through my guilt at having to forward applications and wondering how many of these things there were.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1301982370

In any case, we now have a pretendy person, intended to take some of the spammish flak (so that you don't have to bother at least one-less person with it) and to see just how many I'd have if I didn't deny any.

As we go I'll be reviewing applications, so by all means add this profile and see me your crap.

Keep up with the mess that will no doubt ensue by checking out the link above.

Have fun spamming facebook-kids ^_^

HMR

"Yuwie" - Website review


I'm making myself useful this evening in having a quick look at a website I've been offered to join.

I say "offered," it as an advertisment in the midst of a forum for a facebook application. Which application isn't important (although I'll be getting to those some other time), just that I found this advertisement: -

$GET PAID BY DOING WHAT YOU DO ON FACEBOOK$ !

1) Facebook makes over $8 million a MONTH from advertising alone.
2) Myspace makes almost $25 million

WE, the users, don't get any of this, even though WE are the ones making the pages, writing the blogs and uploading the pictures!

There's a brand new networking site which actually pays its members just to use it!
The site has all of the features of facebook, but here's the best bit, the more you use it, the more you get paid!

You think Facebook has everything you need- That's fine! I love facebook, Just give it a try by simply joining with this link:
http://f6l.com/social



Obviously, I was somewhat sceptical but feeling in a playful enough mood to give it a go.

As soon as I've clicked the link, I'm presented with a video of a casual-yet-smartly-dresed man who seems chipper enough to tel me what a wonderful opportunity this is, citing how unfair it is that I don't get paid for the advertisements facebook and myspace use.

So I figure that there's no harm and click register and stick in my details. for a start, this is clearly a new site because i got to have the personal URL I wanted. I end to go by "HearMeRoar" on the interwebs and usually it's already taken when I encounter bigger or older forums and websites.

So already I'm questioning how profitable a community it's going to be. Afterall, that's what I'm here for, right?


Firstly, I'm offered some deal for a holiday home which I just glossed over. I've seen these too many times to bother reading anymore. Though in the interests of fairness, it was offered by the folks at *checks* seasonsholidays.com.

Thankfully, I had the option to skip this and so I did.

And now the registry is complete. I'm presented with what appears to be a fairly intuitive screen, with a change to modify my profile...which I'll do in a moment. First though, it wants me to upload a picture. I pick a fairly recent one, of me looking (or attempting to) edgy with a cigarette hanging from my mouth. [Although I've just noticed that the flash banner at the top is somewhat annoying]


Now that that's done, it asks me if I want to invite any friends.

Methinks I'll skip that one unil I've decided if this is any good.

It asks me if I'm sure that I want to skip that step...



It's nice that they're so concerned about me losing out...isn't it?

They then present me with the following statement: -

Yuwie.com is registered through Go Daddy, Inc. Due to large amounts of spam complaints against Yuwie.com, we have agreed to be bound by GoDaddy.com's anti-spam policy.

A WARNING TO POTENTIAL SPAMMERS

Go Daddy does not tolerate the transmission of spam. We define spam as the sending of Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) or Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE), which is email sent to recipients as an advertisement or otherwise, without first obtaining prior confirmed consent to receive these communications from the sender. This can include, but is not limited to, the following:

- Email Messages
- Newsgroup postings
- Windows system messages
- Pop-up messages (aka "adware" or "spyware" messages)
- Instant messages (using AOL, MSN, Yahoo or other instant messenger programs)
- Online chat room advertisements
- Guestbook or Website Forum postings

Upon receipt of complaints, Go Daddy will investigate the situation. Once Go Daddy determines there is a problem with spam, Go Daddy will take the appropriate action to resolve the situation.

We will not allow our servers and services to be used for such purposes. In order to use our products and services, you must not only abide by all applicable laws and regulations, which include the Can-Spam Act of 2003, but you must also abide by Go Daddy's no spam policies.

Commercial advertising and/or bulk emails may only be sent to recipients who have already "opted-in" to receive messages from the sender specifically. They must include a legitimate return address and reply-to address, the sender's physical address, and an opt-out method in the footer of the email. Upon request by Go Daddy, conclusive proof of opt-in may be required for an email address.

If Go Daddy reports your account to Yuwie for violating any of these rules,
WE ARE REQUIRED TO DELETE YOUR ACCOUNT.

Yuwie, Inc. has agreed to these terms from Go Daddy so that we can keep Yuwie.com online for all the users who are not spamming.


*Sigh* Isn't this what the original mandatory terms and conditions page said?

I click on...

And at last it's over. I now have the whole of this website at my fingertips. Now is the time to try and find out if this is the social networking website the advertisement promised it would be.

First I take a quick look at my profile, which you can find here.

At first glance, there isn't much to do. I go loknig and find various categories at te top of the screen, offering me such things as groups, blogs, videos, etc.

I select groups and I'm presented with a list of groups on this site, ordered by newest to oldest. Immediatly I notice that all of these groups seem only interested in getting more friends, promising more cash by joining.

Is there anybody here who isn't just in it for the money? It doesn't appear so. However, there are varieties of groups to be found to the right and so I look under "fangroups."

This is what first appears: -



Hmmm...slim pickings it would seem, but I'll go with some of these. So I join up with a variety of clubs including "Sci fi club" "I want to be friend" "Naruto Fan" and "The boys in Red."

Once theseare all joined, I now have a groups screen populated with groups. It's not the most extravegant of pages but it's concise and simple, at least.

After looking at some the groups I find myself relieved to find that thre are some genuine groups in there...They're just not the first thing you see. I'm treated to some interesting messages on the Naruto group forum and I see a cool video about a real-life Sharingan.

So I'm a little happy. But what is there for me here that I can't get at facebook or myspace (not that I really use my myspace page anymore)?

Some searching may be required.

"Browse" allows me to look at the profiles of any person joined, as you'd expect. What's unlike facbook and more like a dating site, is that you can browse and filter by age, body type, waist, height, and marital status.

So have I misunderstood this site? Is it not as innocent as facebook is meant to be?

Let's find my perfect lass then and see what happens. Remember, this is in the interests of science...



The result was a depressing "No matches found." I even try more permeatations, becomming less and less picky each time...with no luck.

There's nobody home.

Oh well, the Browse feature was an abysmal failure. Let's try "Videos."

This time I get a variety of things. I've got some things which sound suspiciously like porn, full anime episodes and music videos, as well as articles on time travel, mind-numbing drivel from Britain's got talent and ahost of other gobshite. I doubt I'll be watching much of this...

Except for the anime...and the porn...

Moving on, we come to the "blogs" section.

Unlike the blogs section on myspace, this section show you a link to the blogs of everybody. They aren't sorted by category, only by when they were updated and the number of posts. You get the title of the blog next to a picture of the owner. It's a little voyeristic methinks.

A lot of these seem to be advertisements anyway, or promised ays to again "get more page views."

However, I became concerned when I found this entry.

Taboo maybe?? Does Yuwie Work?add to favorites
Has anyone been paid yet? Anyone reading this is mainly here for that, but has anyone already financially benefited?

We're encouraged to refer people to make profit, but "word is bond" and credibility is important to me, I imagine a lot of you too. So if you could help, I would really like genuine "testimonials" that this works. By this I mean people who have already benefited. Before I go telling all my friends about this I want to make sure I'm not lying...

Thanks,


Juan L.A.


A good question Juan. It then occured to me that I had not once yet been asked to provide details of where my promisedcash would go. I needed to check this.

After a few minutes I easily find the required tab on my contro lpanel and I have the whole thing set up to paypal me my money, which is rather useful. It means I don't have to worry over giving out my address.

Sadly though, that seemed to be all there was to this site. It's worth it for free animes, especally whilst the society remains so small (and likely will because folks are scepticle as to the "generosity" of this site) so there's a chance it wont be removed for a while.

There are some good groups and joining really doesn't take any hassle from you.

My verdict: -

It's worth a look and joining up if you've got some time and nothing better to do, but you probably wont find yourself visiting much.
And once it gets bigger though, it'll probably sink so this probably isn't something you should take seriously.
s for the money thing, I can't see it working but I'll let you know how I get on.

Anyway, I'll put my referall up in case any of you feel like signing up. If you do, drop me a line and say hello or something. You never know, I might actually read it.

http://www.yuwie.com/r/9879/

Hav fun kids,

HMR